So, on with the Russians. But the order from Warlord still hasn’t arrived so I have been somewhat restricted and been scratching around to find some other bits and bobs for the “gotterdammerung” campaign projects.
I was able to complete the anti-tank rifle team… …and two three man flamethrower teams The Soviet flamethrower is an unusual bit of kit in that the stock and the bulk of the forestock are in wood. As a result I painted duplicate figures firing or not firing. I like the idea of sneaking these up on an opponent before unleashing the force. What a bastard!
I’m not sure I have the colours of the flame right, but I am going to wait until the basing is complete before I decide whether to repaint.
Next was a Soviet sniper. I am inclined to add some rouge and lipstick and have this character as the ugliest female sniper in the Red Army. Had I thought of this before I could have added some flowing locks in green stuff. Maybe I still will do the full sex-change before it gets to the table.
Finally, a Maxim gun. Just three crew here as the rest will be made up of Warlord figures. I am not sure when or why wargame figure companies began crewing MMGs and HMGs with three men, even the crew of five that we give them in Chain of Command is a bit mean. What is for sure is that it is a damned shame as it means scrabbling around for additional crew in suitable poses. Rearrange the words: Arse. The. Pain. In.
I did phone Warlord the other day and they have been busy bunnies. Apparently I can start hoping for my order around the middle of next week. That’s a shame as I can see them arriving just in time for me to disappear off to the Czech Republic the following week. Ho hum.
One order that was super-speedy in arriving was from the jolly nice chaps at Great Escape Games. They sent me through their pack of Hitler Youth tank killers in record time. It’s a funny thing painting this lot. I watched a few clips from Downfall to get me in the mood, all of which was pretty depressing. The final fight for Berlin seems to be made up of two particularly morally moribund creeds, with children thrown into the maelstrom to defend a lost cause, and the most vile atrocities being carried out by the advancing Soviets. I personally feel that some difficult issues need to be considered when gaming some subjects which we can sometimes be too ready to gloss over. How I go forward on that is a matter for some contemplation. But that’s my problem. Here are the HJ tank killers:
And then, finally, I knocked out another brace of figures from the Artizan Thrilling Tales range as high ranking Heer officers accompanying the Golden Pheasant. Lovely figures to paint. With all of my stuff for this project I have gone with a very pale skin tone which I feel captures the near absence of human spirit and hope in the individuals caught up in such terrible events. I’m not sure it comes through in these snaps as the lighting is not perfect, to say the least.
On a positive front, two Tamiya model sets arrived today from Amazon. A BA-64 armoured car and a Russian Infantry set in 1:48 which I want to make some bespoke jump-off markers. To be honest It is a bloody expensive way to make them, and if I wasn’t almost at a standstill with the project due to delays I wouldn’t be bothering. However, with time on my hands, I thought it might be a rather fun little project.
I am still avariciously eyeing up some SU-122s on e-Bay, but thus far have avoided them. How long can this continue?