Lend lease AA and halftracks

 To play the game Flames of war it is the diversity that 

is half of good experience.

To give my 15mm soviets an extra edge I will use Spetznaz-units.

In the rule book they drive stolen Sdkfz 251/252 and a 

Sdkfz 250(command vehicle) but I will use M3 halftrack and 

a the Sdkfz 250. The M3 was a part of lend-lease between

the allies and I like the vehicle a lot and it is a nice model.

When I asked in a forum for Flames of war I also was offered 

two M16(quad-MG AA) and 

one M15A1 (double MG and one 37mm gun) for only 4 Euros 

and 3 M4-shermans for 1 Euro each. A great second hand-deal 

but it will need some fixing.On the M16 AA two 50-cal

MG´s are missing and will be scratchbuilt.

The shermans are divided in two tanks with the smaller 75mm 

gun and only one 76mm and I will either modify the two to look 

like the bigger version or try to buy two 76mm-towers. 

The two M3-half tracks are still mounted on the sprue and looks like

real nice models and fun to build.

The 3 AA-guns above were a very powerful threat to all german 

aircrafts and in the rule book(version 3) it is written that you can use 

this together with your HQ and this I will. 

Soviet spearhead

I already got a lot of soviets and models in my collection but

I have learnt the "hard" way that a armour-attack without a

"solid" spearhead often loose momentum.

To adjust this I have invested in 4 heavy tanks named JS-2 from

Plastic soldier company. All the tanks are originally fitted with 

Dshk-anti aircraft MG but only one "survived" the trip in the

package so I will have to improvise the rest.

These JS-2 together with ISU-122 (I have 5) will be a heavy punch

to any defending germans in the trenches...

I also bought one Katuysha BM-13 to have a complete artillery-barrage

of 8 trucks.

Last but not least I got some PBI to fill up my ranks.I am not very fond

of plastic-figures but to fit my russian artillery and staff they will

do. As soon as I have painted all my soviet models and miniatures

I will make a complete lign up but until then stay tuned. :)

More soviet support

 This week I have come across sime more soviets 

to complete my collection.

The seller was real bad in making a package to send but 

I have manage to repair and save the most of the models.

The package contained 5 tank-killers (SU-85) and two 

Anti aircraft guns(85mm)and two rocketlaunchers fitted 

on Studebaker US6-trucks (BM-31-12).

And also some russian tank-riders.

The tank-killers could be used as SU-85 or the more powerful 

SU-100 and they are a big threat to any enemy-tank placed on 

the gaming-table.

The AA-guns also have a versatile role and can be placed as 

either AA or a devastating anti-tank cannon. I already have two 

of the AA 85mm and together they will form a company-formation.

The Andryusha-rocketlaunchers are a devastating artillery-weapon 

and can grind down the most dug in stronghold if they only have 

the time to fire without any counterattacks.This truck-mounted 

rocketlauncher is the predecessor of the famous Katyusha BM-13-16 

rocketlauncher but upgraded and arrived to the front in 1944.

The number of rockets are only 12 from originally 16 but the range 

is 4235m(earlier 2800m) and the calibre of the rocket is also stronger 

from originally 130mm to 300mm. 

Last but not least are the tankriders that looks very good and give the 

big formations of my T-34/85-tanks the right edge.

In this very moment I am waiting for the final delivery of my second-

hand buys and this will be written about in my next report. To be continued. :)   

FJ machinegun-platoon and Soviet armour

Last but not least I have bought a machine-gun platoon in

the 15mm-scale. I have bought it for only 5 Euros on

second hand it is original Battle-front-figures.

The figures are Fallschirmjägers and the kit contains both

MG-34 and MG-42. I like the models and I think the will

look real good with some paint.

Next up is some soviet armour. To support an attack the

soviets used SU-76 and basically it is a anti-tank-cannon

on tracks and they are "cheap" to use in the game Flames

of war so I bought 5 of these from Gustavsson spel.

To make my small collection of T-34's complete I also 

bought 5 of these lovely models from plastic soldier

company. Nice buys indeed.

German elite-troops and support

In my big project: Flames of war, eastern front 1944-45 I

plan to recreate the battle for Seelow heights and the final

battle in Berlin. To make this more accurate I was earlier

in short of both german elite troops and infantry-supportweapons.

A week ago I came across a very nice second hand stock

of german tinsoldiers in the scale of 15mm.

The soldiers are very nice sculpted and I will paint them

as Fallschirmjägers, Waffen SS and Volksgrenadiere.

I also got a lot of Machineguns and Panzerfausts and this will

be much needed when trying to stop the red "storm".

In the package I also received 3 armoured cars (sdkfz 222).

I like these models very much and they will be used as recon.

A Marder III without gun will probably be a used as a 

Munitionschlepper. Another gem is a 2cm AA-gun that will

be converted and much needed on the gaming table.

Very nice models and figures indeed. Next up will be some 

paintjob of the PBI(poor bloody infantry). :)