15mm WWII Soviets - Urban

 All,

So here's the first 'urban' force I want to show you, my Soviets.  I had tried several different 'urban' basing schemes and didn't like any of them, and I was talking to my buddy AJ, and he said he's got it down pat.  I'd already painted up my Soviets, so I just boxed them up (and some Germans, which you'll see in the next post) and sent them to AJ, asking him to work his magic and base them up for me.

I'm very happy with how they turned out, and they do a pretty good job of matching the mat I bought.  Them not matching perfectly is not AJ's fault at all, I actually bought the mat while he was still doing the painting and basing.

So here's the whole force, comprised of:
-A Commanding Officer stand
-A Forward Observer stand
-Six Rifle Platoons (three squads and a Platoon Commander -PC-, each)
-An MG Platoon (three Maxim guns)
-A Mortar Platoon (three 120mm mortars)
-An Anti-Tank Gun (ATG) Platoon (three 45mm guns)
-An Artillery Platoon (two 122mm howitzers)
-Three 50mm mortar teams
-Three PTRD Anti-Tank Rifle (ATR) teams
-Three Flamethrower Teams 

Another look.  Zoomed out, the bases are an okay mach for the mat.

The Commanding Officer's stand, with three babushkas leading their troops to victory.  Again, I painted the troops, AJ did the basing.  I love the cat lounging on the radio (right).

Zoomed in, the bases are a much better match for the mat.

Another look.

And one more.

The Forward Observer stand.

Another look.  And as I look closely I'm laughing at myself; those are not Soviets, those are US troops from Battlefront.  Whatever...

A look at a couple of the Rifle Platoon command stands.

Pretty proud of my brushwork.  Simple, but effective I think (hope).

Another one, this time with Kommissar.

Some Soviet rifle stands.  I neglected to mention that most of these troops are the new Battlefront plastics from the Soviet Rifle Company box, which is a fantastic deal, coming with riflemen, command figures, machine guns, flamethrowers, 50mm mortars, and ATRs.

A closeup.

Another.

Urrah!

The machine gun platoon, with three Maxims on wheels.

A closeup.

Another.

The Mortar Platoon.  I'm not sure why I went with 120mm mortars vice 82mm mortars, probably what I had lying around at the time...

A closeup.  These are Battlefront metals.

Another.  Those things are massive.

The ATG Platoon, with the venerable M1937 45mm guns.  

A closeup.  These are Battlefront metals, too.

Again.

One more.

The two 122mm Howitzers, also Battlefront metals.

A closeup.

Another.

The three flamethrower teams, plastics from the rifle company box.

A closeup of one of the flamethrower poses.

Opposite side.

The other flamethrower pose.

The three ATR teams.

A closeup.  The only problem is the barrels can be a bit bendy.

Another look.

And one more.  Also plastics from the Rifle Company box.

And the three 50mm mortar teams.

Not great pictures, but nice little sculpts, plastics from the Rifle Company box.

Again.

And a couple stands fighting amongst the rubbled out landscape of Stalingrad, maybe?  

So there it is, for better or worse, my concept for pulling off some WWII fighting in bombed out cities (or on the surface of Mars).  Next, we get ze Chermans!

V/R,
Jack