Wednesday 25 January 2012

Kursk Russians - At Last

About a year ago (or more) I set myself the task of re-vamping my Russian army. It was originally collected for the late war, and was built to play a long 1944  'Operation Bagration' map-campaign for the advance and capture of Bobruisk in White Russia. That campaign complete (after about 2 years and 14 games), the army was looking a bit well-worn, having been carted back and forth, dropped several times, chipped, bent and with a few missing barrels. All part of the life of hard-working wargaming army.

It had also taken a bit of drubbing in the games... so I decided to invest some time and effort in making it battleworthy again, this time for battles in the summer of 1943 as a Guards Tank Corps.

So, gone were the T-34/85s, my two ISU-122 (my babies!), and the first outing of the JS-2s, to be replaced by lend-lease M3 Grants and T-70s. Not much of a trade, but it seemed to make sense at the time. I also needed some extra infantry and more T34 shell-stoppers.

It has been been a slow burner of a project, over a year of new models and re-painting, but it is now complete (well as much as you are ever actually finished). Here is whole bunch of snaps of them, ready to see battle in the wheat fields of the southern Russian steppes.

Enjoy!

The battle group's commander and signals trucks (with fuel dump).
Is that NKVD officer drunk? Must fix broken model!


Observer teams and supply trucks

Company Command tank

 
Two T34 platoons...

... and two more.


Two T-70 platoons

 The Suka battery

  Graves for Seven Brothers

 That's my Zvierboi...

... and the other one.

First motor rifle platoon, HQ and 4 squads of 8.

Their transports.

Second platoon. They will have to tank ride.

Third platoon. They will have to walk.

Infantry support, the machine guns.

Anti-tank rifle teams, light mortars and a medic.

Zis3 crash-boom battery and tow trucks.

82mm mortar battery.

120mm mortar.

Artillery, Guards Mortar battery and a 152mm howitzer.

and the VVS

 PO-2 aerial recce

 IL2-m3 - the beast

Peggy 2

 A venerable LaG fighter, about to upgraded to a lend-lease Air Cobra.

Well, I said it's done, but I am tempted to add a lend-lease Churchill squadron, a Sapper squad, maybe a fourth infantry platoon, oh and a 85mm anti-aircraft gun...

... but it will have to wait. The Germans are my next project, Fallschirmjager and a few extras.
















5 comments:

  1. I like your stuff very much!!! But there is not IL2m3, its IL2, IL2ms has the rear gunner. Im waiting for your germans.
    Regards

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  2. Very impressive indeed. A project worth emulating.

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  3. Great work - love those command stands.

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  4. Lovely figures! I really like the beat-up, weathered look of the '34s.

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  5. Great army!
    What happened to the Para article in WI?
    cheers
    David

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