From the Shed: Chipping away at my Winter War project.

I’ve done a few more bits for my Winter War game project which I thought I’d share.

First up a Finnish 20mm zAnti Tank Rifle. A big powerful gun- there was only a single example in use during the Winter War.

Some prone Soviets, armed with a mix of rifles and light machine guns.

A Soviet sniper pair.

Finally a couple of Maxim medium machine gun teams (although technically speaking they wear the later M1940 helmet- I didn’t have any of the early ones spare to do head swaps on them.).

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: Some more Winter War Finns.

As my last post intimated my uni work has been taken priority so hobby time has been limited. Plus both Nicola and I have been unwell (both are on the mend now though). Still I’vve managed to get a few bits done.

I’ve got some more Winter War Finns painted. I’ve made a list of everything I need from the scenario book I’m working to and I’m trying to get it all done before I start gaming. They are a mix of Euerka metal figures and Strelets plastics from the infantry and heavy weapons set. The wheeled gun is a Madsen 20mm cannon that was used in very limited numbers.

I also got some cheap Christmas decoration trees smarted up to add to the winter scenery collection.

Given the history of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union various commentators have drawn comparison between that war and the ongoing situation in the Ukraine. Whilst I can see some similarities I think that the analogy is stretched a bit too much. Besides, there are already enough wars to study we don’t need any more, I hope that there is peace in Ukraine soon.

Right, it is getting late- time for whisky and a DVD….

Cheers,

Pete.

An interesting and useful link for my 20mm Winter War project.

I’m sharing this link here so I can find it again and also because it it gives details of a small, dedicated Finnish tank killer force…

https://www.tankarchives.ca/2021/04/winter-war-tank-experience.html

It comes from the always readable and very worthwehile Tank Archives blog. Worth subscribing to if you haven’t already. The forces listed should be easy enough to assemble in 20mm and it will be interesting to see how the different skirmish rules I plan to use can replicate (or not) the tactics described. Talking of all things Winter War I’ve got some more figures on order for it, just got the bases to do to on the first batch of Soviets too.

Apologies for the lack of posts recently. i’ve hada lot of writing to do for uni which has been taking a fair chunk of my time.

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: More Finns.

I got the 2nd half of my WinterWar Finnish Platoon painted.

They have a pretty undergunned platoon compared to a lot of comparable WW2 countries organisations: only 2 LMGs and 2 SMGs with the balance being rifles. Still what the Finns lacked in firepower and equipment they made up for with tactical nounce.

The miniatures are all from 1/72 Scale Miniatures and are lovely characterful sculpts.

I also got a copy of the Skirmish Campaigns book on the Winter War.

I’ve gone through the book and worked out what else I need to get hold of to finish the project off… not that much really. I’ll look forward to playing the games using the old Arc of Fire system. Some bits are a bit clunky and their isn’t enough focus on the role of NCOs but it is still one of the better WW2 rulesets out there imo.

Next job for this project is to paint what Russains I do have as opposition and then to start playing some games.

Cheers,

Pete.

From the Shed: Winter War Finns.

The first batch for my Winter War project has been finished (no pun intended).

after the Soviet invasion in 1939 the Finns fought a desperate rearguard action against massive odds and did inflict some quite severe reverses on the Soviets… ultimately the Soviets proved to numerous and too implacable, resulting in a negotiated peace that saw the Finns lose some territory.

On to the figures though. These are a mix of the old Wargames Foundry 20mms and the more recent Euerka miniatures from Australia. The former are a nice but limited in poses. The Euerka stuff covers a lot more ground so to speak, including a nice redition of the Finnish Lahti-Saloranta M/26 light machine gun but I would say, if I was being a bit nit picking that the gun barrels look a little fragile.

Cheers,

Pete.

Assorted vehicles and terrain bits.

I’ve got these finally finished off since the new year (I’ll also do a looking forward/ looking backward post tomorrow) so I thought I’d do a big photo dump of a post to get them out there:

First up- a 6mm sized ruined factory made from bit of resin I got from a private seller on the Lead Adventure Forum.

A small house from Leven miniatures, again in 6mm.

A barricade from S and S model scaled for 20mm. I’m tempted to give the bus some more weathering.

A Armourfast 1/72 Valentine converted to a Bishop with an S and S aftermarket part; the short coming of the Armourfast suspension are evident in the photo more than in real life. I may yet do some remedial work on them.

A cheak FAI 1/72 diecast repainted and decaled into a Finnish scheme.

A trio of 1.72 Rhodesian Bush War vehicles from S and S.

A Rhodesian SAS conversion of a Unimog,

 

 

An armoured lorry.

Another Unimog conversion; this time a mortar carrier. I’ll add the crew at a later date.

Three diecast 1/72 BTR60PBs.

Firstly a simple repaint.

One converted into a command variant BTR60PAU, conversion kit by S and S.

Repainted with infantry seated on the outside Afghan style (they considered mines a bigger risk than snipers). Infantry by S and S again.

Cheers,

 

Pete.