6mm Cold War Soviets and West Germans

All,

First, Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Americans!

Apparently my massive sale was exactly what I needed!  Clear out some detritus to make way for real progress, and real progress it's been: I have now completed my second major project since the sale!  This was a Cold War project, Soviets and West Germans in 6mm from Heroics and Ros.  Right now, at least, I don't intend on actually playing Cold War stuff, but, as is my wont, I will be using these in my alternate history blog, Cuba Libre, to play out the Fall of Cronistria.  So the West Germans will be standing in as Free Cubans, and the Soviets will be Communist Cronistrians and their Yugoslavian backers.

So, what did I do?  Well, first and foremost, I'm a solo gamer, so I always have to do both sides, and when I do both sides, I typically build them not to 'real-life' Tables of Organization and Equipment (TO&E), rather, I build identical capabilities.  Because when I do actually get to play against another human, it's my 9-year old son, and so I like, as much as possible, to keep things fair.  And you'll see it in some of the games, as I do it not just with force structure with troop capabilities.  Rather than play the 'normal' NATO kills WarPac at a 3-1 ratio, I make an M-1/Challenger/Leopard II equal to a T-64/T-72/T-80, I make a Bradley/Warrior/Marder equal to BMP-1/BMP-2, etc...  In any case, this may look a little weird because I took Soviet Motor Rifle Division and Tank Division and sorta 'bathtubbed' them, where each battalion is represented by two vehicles. So an MRR has six BTRs and two T-64s, while a TR has six T-80s and 2 BMPs.  Additionally, each regiment has a two-gun (self-propelled) artillery battery, and there are divisional command, recce, and anti-air assets.  Then I copied it and did the same for the West Germans, ostensibly creating either a Panzer or Panzergrenadier Division.

Let's get to the pics!

The whole thing, Soviets on the left, Germans on the right (with a bit of unpainted leftovers at top center).  Again, everything is 6mm from HR.  The painting went quick, except all those damned wheels! ;)

A look at the West Germans, from right to left: Panzer Regiment (six Leopard IIs, two Marders, two dismounts), Panzer Regiment (same), Panzergrenadier Regiment (two Leopard Is, six Fuchs, six dismounts), Panzergrenadier Regiment (same, except M-113s replace the Fuchs), recce element (three Luchs and two Jaguar SPAT), three artillery batteries (M-109s), and the command element (M-60, M-577, Gepard, and ADATs*).

*It should be a Roland, rather than an ADATs.  I love HR, but the reason I used an ADATs instead of a Roland is because I'm not particularly fond of the superstructure on the Roland model.  I bought one, it looked messed up, so I bought another one, and it looked the same way, so I figure it's an issue with the mold (the entire superstructure, i.e., the missile launchers, the 'tower,' and the radar, all sort of lean to the right, and, try as I might, I couldn't straighten them out).  It's one model, the ADATs works fine, so no big deal.

The Soviet force, set up exactly the same, albeit with Soviet equipment ;)  The Tank Regiments are T-80s* and BMP-2s, the Motor Rifle Regiments are T-64s and BTRs, Recce is one BMP-R, two 'normal' BRDMs, and two BRDMs with AT5 Spandrel ATGMs, arty is 2S1 122mm SP howitzers, and command is a T-55, an MTLB-LBU (ACRV), a ZSU-23-4, and an SA-6 Gainful.

*It appears I actually bought T-90s instead of T-80s.  I can live with it if you can ;)

A closer look at the "Panzer Regiments."

And the Panzergrenadiers.

The West German recce element.

Their artillery.

And their command.

A look at the West German infantry.  I used HR's relatively new "M28 Soviet Motor Rifles" for both sides, and I love them.  I'm a fan of all the HR infantry I've come into contact with, but these are the best I've seen, really great poses and proportions.

And over to the Reds: the two Tank Regiments.

And the two Motor Rifle Regiments.

Soviet recce.

Soviet artillery.

And the Soviet command.

Leo IIs on the prowl.  I've always had an affinity for the Leopard II, just a really beautiful (in a martial way), deadly looking beast.

And I've always been a fan of the German Marder IFV.

Leopard Is. I think I may have accidentally bought the Canadian model?  Not sure, I'm not much an expert on the various models of Cold War tanks; that is, I know the various types (M-1, Challenger, Chieftain, Leopard, etc...), I just don't know all the different models (couldn't tell the difference between a T-64A and a T-64BV)...

The Fuchs armored personnel carriers.  A little Star Trek looking to me, but pretty cool.  I can still remember seeing my first one at Camp Lejeune, NC, back in 1995, with 2nd Marine Division, the NBC Platoon had some.

M-113 armored personnel carriers.

The Luchs ("Lynx") reconnaissance vehicles.  Those things are absolutely huge!

Two Jaguars with HOTT missiles.

M-109 Self-Propelled 155mm howitzers.

The West German command element; my clumsy ass knocked one of the muzzle brakes off the damn Gepard.  A very cool model, I'll have to buy a replacement.

My Soviet T-80s (T-90s).  Yes, I actually did camouflage!  It's been awhile.

BMP-2s with Spandrel ATGM and 30mm autocannon.

Early model T-64s.

BTRs, actually BTR-80 models.  Painting all these wheels (combined with the BRDMs, Fuchs, and Luchs) nearly stole my soul...

Soviet recce.

And the BRDMs with Spandrels.  Yes, it's a rule that anytime I paint AT weapons I have to put some yellow on them...

Soviet 2S1 SP 122mm howitzers.

The Soviet command element where you can see the T-55AM2.  I love the Shilka, while my youngest boy (five years old) is in love with the SA-6.  What kid wouldn't be? ;)

Some closeups of the infantry.  These are West Germans, who, for some reason, I decided to give camouflaged helmet covers to, in 6mm...  Great little sculpts.

Again.

And some of their Soviet counterparts.

And one last pic.

Very cool, so happy to knock this out and need to get them on the table, but I've got a bunch of work to do in South Leon before I can get back to Cronistria.  Soon...  It may seem like a bit of a travesty, but I'm going to do up some good guy and bad guy infantry in desert bases, and all these vehicles will also be used for when Cuba deploys to the sandbox in support of Desert Shield/Desert Storm!

More to come.

V/R,
Jack