Bolt Action Plastic T-34/85

For my birthday I got a very useful kit for my Soviet Army, (thanks Colin!). The Bolt Action T-34/85 isn't one that would have picked myself but it will be very handy for future BA games where some German player just must have his kittys. (Panthers or Tigers). I've heard there is a T-34/76 turret available on its own somewhere. Anyone?

Everything fit nicely but I got a good tip about bogging the surface.

I did some butchery of the mudguards as it's a lot easier with platic kits vs resin.

Waiting on final detail and tank riders!

Soviet Naval Infantry and SU-76M

Finally got some completed Soviets to show after months of back burner work. I also have some completed pics of the SU-76 I got on Poochs suggestion. Very cool model as I mentioned back a bit. The Naval Infantry models are a mix of all of the Bolt Action ones and a few Black Tree Minis as well I think.

1st and second squads will be joined by a third and costed as tank riders. The partizans are the free conscript squad. I also have a Maxim and a 82mm mortar in the works.

1st Squad

2nd Squad

Partizans

SU-76M

SU-76M crew compartment

Bolt Action Armour WIP

I've been doing some modelling between writing and enjoying the summer. I obtained a couple very useful models for my lists, one you've seen already. The other is Warlord Games' very nice resin SU-76M. It has a quality of resin that I like quite a bit, it's softer and more pliable, perhaps to help remove it from the mold. Most resin kits that I've used in the past are very brittle and require a huge chunk of material to be filed away. As the resins are supposedly very bad for you I am loathe to do it every time. My imagination I'm sure.

Warlord Game's SU-76M. Copper wire mods look great. 

An easy mod that really helps is replacing the corners with wire. I had some laying around from another resin kit, the Verlinden V-100. Which incidentally had a ton of flash to get rid of. Anyway quick work with the pin vise and voila. (For you completeists, the observer's periscope and radio are missing. No big deal for me, I doubt that they all had them.) It does come with two very good crewman, but no head for a driver.

Tamiya and other stowage. The plastic Soviet box is very useful!

 One other bonus of the Verlinden V-100 was the excellent stowage. Very nice tarps. How is that for a line? I also had a bunch of Tamiya stowage from the very handy 1/48 Jerry Can kit. The icing on this cake is probably the weaponry assortment in the Soviet Infantry plastic box. Very useful and fun to help craft your crewmen's gear with. I plan to grab a twig to use for an extraction log on the right side of the assault gun.

Rubicon M5 with random stowage and M1919 MG. Note missing empty case hatch.

The Rubicon model needed a ton of help as far as I was concerned. I am used to better detail with Tamiya and felt the need to compensate. The Tamiya Jerry Can kit helped, as did the leftovers from the V-100. The SU-76M freed up this multi-use M5 to focus on the Pacific. Goaded on by other former Marines I am going for a 1943-44 camo scheme as well as a katana and a ton of stowage. I've also modified a Warlord M1919 to fit along with a TAG infantryman to serve as a veteran TC. (This kind of thing rarely happens in real life...) I may make a tarp over the M1919...

Mostly Tamiya with some random bits from Pooch. Hmmn , needs paint.

Next up is very fun stuff. Camo painting the Stuart to match some photos. Shading the SU-76M to the proper green, or I may camo it up as well! Now I need a Tamiya M4A2 next to convert into one of the very cool looking, specialised USMC tanks from Operation Detachment or Iceberg.

28mm WIP Partisans and others

Just to let you all know that I have got some things done. Or rather that I've started on a few things.

I still need decals for my M10, whereas my Stuart just needs some non-denominational numbering and stowage so it can be Russian or American depending on who shows up.;-) Because I just got an SU-76 I may make the M5 more recognisably Yank. (ie with the M1919 AA MG)

This is my partizan recce team

My Black Tree partizans are looking pretty good and are nearly done now. They will do double duty as well, being part of my Russian WW2 list and the Nemesis RPG I'm running now.

Partizan demolitions team

There are some cool personalities in their sculpts. Some could be from further west.

Partizan overwatch team

Delta Green, thanks Keane!

Generic agents in macintoshes. One hard man with a shotgun. Not sure of manufacturer. I have a few more to go of these as well as some Hasslefree armed civilians to go with them. Skirmish Zombie?

Wizard for Frostgrave

I found this in my pile of very old RPG minis. I think it's an old Reaper mini, but not sure. Welcome to my new Frostgrave army, as yet unnamed, selected or played.;-)

[Bolt Action] Soviet Naval Infantry, help wanted.

So no time really but had to get a project of some kind going. Haven't painted anything since finishing up my ANZAC's for the Great War exhibit diorama. I've actually spotted a couple of the minis I painted. Which I didn't expect, but I realised that there were a few sculpts that I painted all of.
Anyhow need some help.
Here's what I have;

Mixed Black Tree and Warlord sculpts. 

The partisans are all Black Tree, as is the Maxim.

thats two 12 man Naval squads, roughly 9 Ppsh41, 2 Mosina and a DP each. Just one officer as well as a maxim gun with crew and a PTRD.
For support I have 12 partisans with papasha as well as a couple sniper rifles.

I figure I should get a Zis-3 and a 82mm mortar. Flamethrower?!
But what else do I need?
More troops?
Tanks?!
I'm very jealous of Craigs M3 armoured car.

Any ideas are appreciated. People with the Soviet books chime in!
Jamie and Craig I'm looking at you.;-)

[Bolt Action] Marine reinforcements

After my first couple games of Bolt Action I realized that I needed bigger squads. I also realized that the M1919 MMG and my 60mm mortar were nerfed but that's another story.;-) I've been slowly collecting the minis and even more slowly painting them!

Chesty Puller was a helluva Marine

First up is Lt. Col. Lewis "Chesty" Puller, he came with the Armies of the United States book, and in fact was a real motivator for me to buy the book. (Thanks Jamie!) If you aren't familiar with him then read the wiki link, complete badass, and a true hero.

Now both squads have three BAR's, one shotgun and one SMG. 3 BAR's sounds good doesn't it?

These four BAR gunners and the shotgun armed NCO are from The Assault Group. I also got some Vietnam era minis, more to come later, WIP.

Setting up the 60

 Despite it being nerfed I bring one along but pay for a 81mm medium mortar and keep the grumbling to a minimum.

3 Browning M2 .50 cal MG's

This Water Buffalo is finally mmodelled with the MG's it would have had, haven't got around to the M1919 yet but I will. Now my force is right up to 1000 points and set up proper. Well a proper mix of realistic and gameable anyway.;-)

[Bolt Action] On Sakhalin Island, there will be blood!

Had a good throw down with Jamie for the first time in yonks. He had just got the new Soviet book from Warlord games so he had a proper list for his awesome minis that he's been working on for some time.
These included the fearsome Soviet sappers, complete with flamethrowers and body armour. He had two short squads of them, plus a squad of my fave Razvedki, a sniper team, a 120mm mortar and observer as well as his officer and the free squad of conscripts.
I noticed that he had forgotten his T-34/85, I began to breathe easier.
I had my usual guys. I will continue to bring my AT grenades, and upgrade my 60mm to a medium mortar, but I will not forget to upgrade the Water Buffalo to HMG's. I am ordering a few BAR's to stiffen my squads up and I should probably get a bazooka...ahem. Shopping list post coming up soon.
Anyhoo roughly 675 points each.

Assault Engineers are as scary as they are expensive! 21 points each.

We rolled and I was defending in the same scenario as last time, defender gets half on, rolls to enter the last quarter, attacker goes all in! (I decided the other day when this was arranged, that we were fighting on Sakhalin island, trying to restore Japanese sovereignty to them, we suspected there was oil reserves...)
I plonked down a rifle squad on my right in a ruin. The MMG team went to the extreme left in a wood and my Scout Sniper team went right next to the objective. My Officer and Corpsmen units approached quickly thereafter.

The oft mentioned 'free' squad of conscripts. That's 12d of shooting folks!

His squad on conscripts was right in front with a squad of assault engineers on both sides of them and the sneaky razvedki crawling through a wood on right, aiming for the ruins as well.

My favorite Soviets, the Razvedki. This photo doesn't do them justice.

Sure enough, first move they edge further forward but are still out of line of sight.

Marine Scout Sniper team lurking and trading shots with their opponents.

The sniper duelling commences, getting multiple hits on each other but no kills other than a hapless Soviet flamethrower that we shot for entertainment purposes.

First squad holding my right flank. This would be the main point of effort.

I knew he was going to through a lot at my first squad, but they had to hold out! Second squad was on the way. In a critical move when they did arrive I moved them into direct support of the first.

These guys attracted a lot of attention from my MMG and sniper and would pay for it.

Jamie cheekily runs this squad of sappers right at me in the open, albeit at long range. We obligingly machine-gunned them  repeatedly. Eventually pinning them completely.

If my mortars would only range in.

While they massed for the assault I couldn't get my mortars to range in, they kept moving!

The Razvedki are my new sneaky neighbors

The Soviet recon boys moved in next door and then their sapper buddies flamethrowered first squad!

Last three standing in first squad after getting torched!

They held their positions though. At least until a direct hit from a 120mm mortar round killed them all!

Things were looking grim!

The 'old man' arrives to do his part supporting his brothers.

The Lt and his Platoon Sergeant and RTO move into the gap. Firing on the move from their Thompsons as they occupy another ruin and wait for the onslaught.

The flamethrower team gets their first kills of many for the night.

Seeing the opportunity Pfc Spunkmeyer runs forward of second squad and flamethrowers the razvedki to such an extent that the few survivors flee. (He may have been goaded into action by his A-gunner, Chesty;)

After this I got some dice one after another. The LVT moved up and MG'd the Soviet officer and his adjutant to pieces.
Then second squad moved into the smoking ruin that the razvedki had just fled.
Next turn this allowed them to assault the second sapper squad which had been whittled down by the flamethrower again! (Rolled to not run out of fuel twice.)
After that there was just the mopping up really. Including, yes, flaming the conscripts and machinegunning the mortar.

Fun game Jamie! I should remember to borrow your dice more often, as I will settle for ones that don't act in strict defiance of math.
Sadly I need to man my LVT in order to shoot it. It looks like my Corpsman will be cruising around with them in the future.

[Bolt Action] Pacific island hoppers versus Army Group South

It's historical folks!;-)

So we finally got a game in. I had been trying for a bit, and had my whole weekend free and everyone cancelled due to sickness etc. Wtf!

Booked games that got cancelled blocked potential games etc. Real logistics bummer.

So finally, on Sunday night, an arranged game didn't fall through.

Bolt Action! Cool, but the contenders are all Axis except for my USMC Rifle Platoon.

Nathans Germans, Jon's Hungarians and Jason's Japanese! So it's decided that Jas and I will team up against the other bad guys. LOL.

[Sorry about the small number of pics but very few of the few I took turned out.]

Our allies, the Japanese! (Sorry for the unpainted pic Jas, most of your army looks great and is painted!)

 I'm still very much learning the rules. Embarassingly I even forgot my list. Oh well.

M1919 MMG team getting lit up by a PzkfwII Luchs

So yeah, my attached teams don't have AT grenades. Which never really existed btw.

MG42 team opens up on my rifle squad

 The Marines were holding the much contested, it turned out, left flank of the encirclement. We got hammered by a ton of ordinance. I was also called upon to defend American television, sadly I declined.

The Luchs! (Cool model Nathan!)

 The tanks are very ineffectual, so I'm quite happy with my LVT-2's two MMG's, despite it's lack of armor.

USMC Rifle squad

 These boys took a shed load of Hungarian and German machine gun and rifle fire and held their positions keeping the left flank secure, while our Japanese comrades went up the guts. In assaults is when the body count stacks.

When Buffaloes attack! (and rifle squad)

 My two unpainted minis appear in this photo. Sorry folks. Look an LVT!
Also, this entire fresh squad was killed in an assault attempt right after this picture.

Our Japanese allies with a M14/41 proxying a Jap tank.

Highlights were, Nates awesome building models, Jas's brilliant jungle fighters and Jon's really cool converted Germans.
Lowlights, my learning curve. Not surprising. I hate the arty rules, as well as the super-powered assault rifles.
SMG's get penalized for moving?

Though we did hang on and capture the objective, Nathan was able to contest it with a few panzergrenadiers. So we agreed, as gentlemen do, on a draw.
In all, it's always  fun to hang out my friends and shoot them, but it is more fun when I roll better!

[Bolt Action] Near a vineyard, somewhere in Italy...

Had my first game of Bolt Action last night with Nathan. He has been playing his German list around a little bit vs Jamie and they looked like they were having fun so I was keen to try it out as well.
We decided on 700 points as that's about everything I have.;-)
The scenario was 'Maximum Attrition', you get the picture; enter the board and start smashing each other.
The board is a good mix of hedges and woods with a couple roads, somewhere in Italy was offered as a location?

Wehrmacht Sniper and spotter

 Nathan's army is thoroughly well designed and looks great. A mix of Warlord and Artizan mini's and a Company B Luchs. He also has a ton of panzerfausts and assault rifles!
He has a Lieutenant with Plt Sgt and RTO
Two squads of Veteran Panzergrenadiers with many assault rifles and a few panzerfausts
Two squads of Inexperienced Volksgrenadiers with the same
a sniper team
a PzKpw II Luchs Recce tank

USMC Scout/Sniper team

The game is easy to grasp and pretty fun. I like the dice based orders system it makes it very easy to manage and helps keep you from forgetting which units have acted.
My first kill was a veteran NCO by my Scout Sniper team on the right. (Sadly they spent the rest of the game celebrating this, as it was also their last. Very unprofessional guys.)

Grunts moving up on the left

My Water Buffalo was my only regular unit and it was opposed by the aforementioned Pz II. As soon as we started the LVT was trying to hide from the 48" range of the Lynx's 20mm cannon!

A frikkin tank!

The LVT actually survived the first bursts from the autocannon and tried to threaten the advancing Landsers on their right but couldn't get activated in time. Only one 90 degree turn per move as well. Remember that.;-)

Flamethrower team running from the Water Buffalo that's on fire!

There was nowhere to hide though.

Pushing up the middle

Taking advantage of the distraction provided by the flaming LVT my veteran Marines grab the center. They immediately begin taking heavy fire from their right for their insolence.

German Veterans advancing on our left

As Jerry advances on my left, I have to get my boys moving as well. The 24" range of the assault rifles matches my rifles range but with two dice each!

Veteran Landsers and VG advancing on our right

The inexperienced Volksgrenadiers have a special rule that may let them suddenly advance in experience. Maybe all the way to Veteran status. It never happened in this game though. I also never concentrated my fires enough to finish off a single VG squad. I was playing for position.

VG in the center

The VG as well as the sniper team in the center are providing constant harassing fire once we get into the wood on the left. Not very effective against my veterans though the sniper does bag a mortarman, leaving two Marines to handle the 60mm. I really dislike the light mortar rules so far. 12-24" range, only one die etc.

(I used to be an A-gunner on these things and we could fuck shit up let me tell you.)

Jarheads pushing onto the objective, now just hold it!

 On my left Nathan and I are trading casualties. One here, one there and the din would have been huge!

The Germans haven't gone far, but are a continuous line

Shooting is a single die for each rifle and goes up from there. Modifiers include moving (not for Yanks with M1's or BAR's though), cover (ignored by snipers), over half range as well as  inexperience.

The firing lines face off on the left

After finishing the Marine squad on the right the VG shift to the center

On the right my rifle squad was finished off by the huge volume of fire from the Luchs as well as the veteran infantry squad facing them. My sniper teams inability to get a single hit after the first was a bummer.

"Next turn we are going to waste that damn flamethrower team."

Chesty is merely security here

First we light up the VG's because they are in range, well one is in range. He burns. We roll and there is still some naplam left!

"Now we roast a Luchs!"

Guess what my, luckily, first activation is? That's right payback MFr! (120 odd points?)

Slugfest continues on the left

And we call it for time. Nathan has wiped out my LVT as well as a veteran Marine squad.

I have merely killed his Pz II. So a narrow victory for Nate and a fun game for both of us!

I'll be playing this again and now I know what I need to buff up and what I need to leave at home.