Project Progress - Konflikt 47 Soviet Heavy infantry

Sorry folks...It's been a busy week!

Work/sickness/real life all get in the way some times but, after all, for a grown man playing with little metal men should come after such things! (Brother Handro: "never!")

Today I give you what little progress has been made - assembly of my Soviet Heavy Infantry for Konflikt 47.

I tried to ensure that there were no identical poses/combinations. The sculpt is clearly uniform, with two hammer wielding, and the rest split between two dual weapon systems and one dual weapon system.

These guys have since been primed and will be painted green. I may use a muted white stripe to demarcate the NCO, historically identifying your NCO too clearly wouldn't be wise, but historically your NCO wouldn't be in a rift powered armour suit fighting undead Nazi's, werewolves and weird bat things....

I plan on basing in a winter/rubble/blasted terrain theme - to match with my current winter Bolt action terrain and the, soon to be started, winter Stalingrad/urban/ruins board.

Stay tuned for some more articles over the next few weeks!

Der H

Project Progress - Konflikt 47 Terror Squad

Some progress today - I actually built something!

Recently we showed off the Bolt Action Soviet Terror Squad for Konflikt '47 - The blog post can be seen here.

Since then, I have been a slightly busy bee and have built the kit (Brother Handro: "you remember that they're basically finished already right?....")

As with a lot of my kits, I have added some conversion work to vary the sculpts.

Nice and simple, with a slung PPsH and right hand holding a grenade.

Simple Molotov conversion!

Why stab when you can bludgeon with a chain...

Simple weapon swap....why not!

I did have to keep one standard!

What do you guys think - Im quite pleased...now if only I painted things...

Der H

Der H's T-34-88 (or not...)

Today I am going to pontificate upon a conversion I am planning with my new T-34/ZP. The idea for this conversion came from the World of Tanks T-34-88 - a lovely little beasty that I run regularly!

There are several interpretations and accounts of various tanks (on all sides) using captured equipment in WWII. One of these is the account of T-34/85 sporting an 8.8cm gun from theTiger I. tanks-encyclopedia think this unlikely:

"The T-34/85 turret is hardly a likely candidate for holding such a long, heavy gun. It would probably cause the suspension serious problems – it is widely known that the attempts by the Soviet to fit a 100mm gun to the T-34/85 caused the suspension to buckle and break during firing. Secondly, there would have to be extensive and incredibly precise engineering in order to actually fit the huge gun in the T-34’s gun mount (and being able to give it any elevation or depression), something probably not available to any units outside of heavy factories of Germany. Thirdly, the gun itself was huge and complicated. In fact, the KwK 36 L/56 took up most of the internal space for the Tiger I turret. It is extremely unlikely that there would be internal space in a T-34/85 turret in which to accommodate such a large gun."

What ever the truth, It is very pretty, and in game terms would look good as a command tank in Bolt Action's Tank War supplement. To this end, when Warlord had their sale, I decided to buy a few bits!

The standard T-34/85 plastic kit (a thing of beauty!) comes with most of the parts needed including the hull, fuel tanks, storage box, turret and cupola seen on the T-34-88. The main changes will be the gun and the bustle. The gun had two main options; the Tiger 1 8.8cm (as in the story) or the smaller but similar looking PzIV gun from the PzIV H.

The Tiger I gun is larger (of course) and has three thicknesses, the Pz IV H gun has a similar muzzle break, but less of a step down.

The ammo box on the back of the turret of the T-34-88 is very similar to the Pz IV H turret box. HOWEVER, the other reason for buying the Pz IV is to force my good buddy Handro to make the PzV/IV aka Rammpanzer (hull of a panther with turret from a Pz IV). The ammo box is pretty vital for that plan!

The box on the T-34-88 could be made from scratch, and so I will try this before destroying Handro's Pz IV dreams!

I'll hopefully get this done this week and get some pictures up soon!

Der H

Soviet 203mm B-4 Howitzer

A conversation sprung up on Facebook's Bolt Action page (Seen here) about the Soviet 203mm B-4 Howitzer. This is a heavy (HEAVY) artillery piece mentioned in the Armies of the Soviet Union book from Warlord Games (The description can be seen in this post).

Specifications

Weight

Combat: 17,700 kg
Travel: 19,000 kg

Crew: 15

 Shell: Separate loading charge and projectile

HE: 100 kg (220 lbs)

Caliber: 203 mm (8 in)

RoF: 1 round/min

Muzzle Velocity: 607 m/s

Maximum firing range: 18 km (11 mi)

The conversation started with "Does anyone know of or can recommend a good quality one made in 28mm for BA?". Thankfully the internet responded!!

The main kits found are available here:

BeardyWargaming

Heer 46

Special Artizan Service Miniatures

There is also a video on YouTube reviewing the kit...

Gasoline

I had previously bought from Heer46 - It is a very nice beasty, which to date has seen glue, Halfords grey and a nice Soviet green!

There is then the issue of rules/viability in game. Several comments on Facebook related to this artillery piece went as follows:

"Pretty much only an objective, yes?"

"It's a corps level artillery piece. It has no place in a platoon level game."

I can certainly see their point of view - It is a big scary piece of kit, and one that certainly wouldn't be common place in a field in the Eastern front...but then I saw this gif...

I believe this to be from Berlin and it shows this artillery piece being used as direct fire in urban situations to deal with larger emplacements or dug in troops. For my own part, I have the two breech-loading mortars which also fit this category, but in larger games, or games in which my Soviets are dug in/defending such a piece of artillery I think it is fair game....

....now if onyl I could find a suitable artillery tractor in 28mm....

...any way...I now leave you with some pictures of this gorgeous B-4 Howitzer in action. Check back soon for progress (hopefully!)

Der H

Cheering myself up - AKA SHAME

Well...I would say it was going well, but that children is what we call a lie!  

Package 1 of 2 from Warlord Games, adding to (or starting!) my Konflikt Soviets. I love Tank War, and love T-34s so why not add to my unpainted army; 

- 10 Soviet heavy infantry

- T-34/ZP

- PzIV

Part of this purchase is to convert up a T-34-88 as seen above, more details to follow!

I managed to cock up my initial order but the guys at Warlord are AMAZING, and Lorenzo sorted out my order in minutes on the phone. 

Great customer service, 5*, can't fault them, not sponsored....they're just that awesome!! 

Anywho, where were we? Oh yes... 

Der H 

Bolt Action - Soviet 160 mm Mortar M1943

After my first game of Bolt Action (grey and unfinished as it was) I fell in love with the mortar/artillery mechanics. The first shots never hit, but they add something tactical to the game. Successive barrages on a target that haven't moved are easier. Coupled with a game with such an innovative turn sequence (where even going first isn't necessarily a good thing), and weight of numbers (Handro: "bloody Soviets....grumble grumble") adding a bucket load of dice (Der H: "until they all get pinned and die....") artillery can really put pressure on an opponent.

I loved the miniatures for the small mobile artillery pieces, and have several, but I really wanted some big guns!

I came across a sorry looking Italian Autoblinda AB41, and (at that price!) couldn't say no! The wheels were metal too!

Out came the knife and away I went! I'd read in the Armies of the Soviet Union book that the MT-13 160mm breech-loading mortar was an example of the heavy mortar in the rule book - I had to figure it out!

After studying some reference pictures I set to work!

The basic parts were pretty easy to put together, but the super structure took more time.

I tried to get features like the angle from the axle to the base, the uprights and the control surfaces relatively recognisable, although no where near accurate!

The finished mortars, with jeep towing plugs!

This was a fun project, but as with many in the basement, it has taken a back seat. They currently sit unfinished, but at least they have some paint on them! This blog and this post will hopefully spur me on to finish them!

Der H