I have been slowly putting together a Russian forced themed around the Battle of Moscow, for some time now between other projects to play in Bolt Action. This kicked off last Christmas when Northstar Military Figures put on a cracker of a deal on the new Winter Russian range from Crusader Miniatures alongside a T-34/76 from Rubicon. Along the way I collected other figures from Black Tree Design, Warlord Games and vehicles from Trenchworx, Warlord Games and Company B.
The inspiration for the colour schemes came from photographs of the military parade held on the 7th of November, 1941, through the Red Square in Moscow where the formations continued marching straight to the front and into combat. I also wanted this force to really stand out on the table and be different to what is normally seen, so the grey became the dominant colour.
I have also tried to design this force to have clear distinction between types of units to add to the visual aspect as well as making it easy to determine troop quality and types. For this army the grey is for veterans, white for scouts and the yellow for regular and support troops.
There are some quirky Russian early war units included such as a pair of Ampulomets (Warlord Games), which are a 24"-range AT weapon that can also do 1D6 HE, and a vehicle mounted quad Maxim AA platform (Company B).
For vehicle support there is a Warlord Games Zis-6 truck for transport and then some choice vehicles from the armoured might of the Russian arsenal. There is a pair of T-34/76's (Whitewashed from Rubicon and Russian green from Trenchworx) as well as some fantastic early war support in the form of BT-7 and T-26 light tank. I have an SU-76 in there and whilst I know it is a little early for them they are so iconic I wanted one in the force. I have done a review of the Trenchworx vehicles here.
With this range of vehicles, it can give me the option of having some fun. Like dual inexperienced T-34/76s, which would be good for a laugh!
I am hoping this force will give me a unique looking army, that will play slightly differently to what has been normally seen around the event scene and may even surprise a few people with its effectiveness. As always I love themed armies and now it is time to think about what comes next!
