The New(ish) Model Army

The great drawback of WW2 collections has got to be the repetitiveness of the colour schemes.  Happily the addition of irregular force elements is a welcome break and a chance to paint something with a wider selection of colours. I’ve been looking for a partisan set for a while but hadn’t come across one that I like until recently. I’m not a big fan of metal as I prefer working with plastics - ease of glue and cutting etc. So it was good news when Wargames Atlantic announced they were releasing their new French partisan set. I’m now four dudes in to this set and am pretty pleased with it. The set has 32 figures offering pretty good value for money. The figures are nice - reasonable poses although only having four different bodies in the set there’s a danger of them being repetitive. The spruce has a good selection of weapons although I would have liked another rifle on there - at present each spruce only has two rifles on them which means the squads are going to be bit too heavy on...

So having finished off the Universal Carrier for the Guards I’ve added another Lend Lease wagon - a White Scout Car. With the capacity for eight dismounts I’ll be using this to run assault troops up an objective - either veterans loaded with SMGs or the mounted recce squad from the Budapest campaign book.  The Scout Car is from Butlers Printed Models. As with all printed models it carries a texture which I quite like. The only area where I think the detail has suffered appreciably is the weapons which are a bit too blocky for my tastes. Might replace them in due course. The crew models are Rubicon’s. I like sculpts, particularly the drivers padded cap and goggles. The blister came with an additional gunner which I have not used yet. Scale wise they work well with the Scout Car although the driver took a bit of wedging in. The Rubicon scale is a shade smaller than the Warlord models but not enough to be distracting I think. As with the Universal Carrier I added additional stowage an...

The first of the vehicles put together with the 15th Guards Mech insignia. The Swallow emblem has more or less worked in my own highly amateur style. For the carrier I wanted it to reflect the same approach I used when putting together my scout squads - looted German equipment, additional stores and a mix of head gear including a ushanka. The passengers are posed pretty chilled out as in the kit but their SMGs are close to hand as is a panzerfaust. The vehicle has its tarpaulin on the rear but also has an additional crew shelter bolted to the flank, spare Jerry cans on the rear and the squad’s personal equipment and med stores are in another bolt on canvas pack. I swapped out the Brens from this Warlord kit with a pair of MG42s - clearly in game these will be normal LMGs as per the Fortress Budapest book. I am tempted to swap out the pintle MG42 for a dushka at some point but will give it a game or two before making the call. I see this wagon being used for a small squad of rota razved...

The joy of the internet and in particular this site:   http://wio.ru/tank/oz/oz-en.htm . 15th Guards Mechanised Brigade, part of 4th Guards Mechanised Corps.  Fought on the Budapest Campaign and so appropriate to play through Warlord’s Fortress Budapest Campaign.  Guards honorific therefore reasonable to include some veterans in the mix as well as greener replacements.  Mechanised Brigade therefore lend lease light armour such as White Scout cars and Universal Carriers are in as well as truck borne infantry plus the freedom to bring a T-34 or two when required.  Brigade includes an independent recce company therefore scout squads are not implausible (I think).  Most of the required support options available - mortars, Zis-3 medium howitzers, Bde engineer company for assault Engrs (not that I’ve ever intended to field then) and AA MG Coy (quad maxim - why not?). The only thing in mind that I’d like to include at some point but might not be appropriate is a l...

So, to recap. I was looking for a historical unit to give a late war Soviet theme list a bit of background. I like veterans and mobile units and I’m a big fan of the Soviet Scout Squad from the main Army book.   Incidentally, my scouts are pictured - differentiated from the rest of the company by wearing a mix of Wehrmacht caps and native ushanka, the Russian fur hats, (I have a bit of a hat code in my forces for ease of ID on the pitch - all NCOs are bare headed or wear soft hats while all junior soldiers have their helmets on). I wanted the scouts to look like they were more piratical and independent minded hence the ushanka for the private soldiers. The NCO has a captured StG 44 which is treated as a normal SMG in game and the sharpshooter with the scoped rifle is treated as a normal riflemen in game. Diversion aside.  Things have been narrowed down by agreement from my regular opponent that, post COVID, we will play through the Fortress Budapest campaign.  So now look...