Wargaming Wednesday: We're Back (for the Motherland!)

Well...it's been a loooooong time since we've posted on the old blog. Too long, in fact. Something like almost three years since a serious post, not merely a book review reposted from Goodreads. So, due to one of those "life events," I find some spare time on my hands so I'm going to resurrect this bad boy. I'm also considering starting up a real YouTube channel, but we'll see.

Therefore, this blog will begin to have regular posts again. Yay. The format is a minimum of three posts a week. Monday is Media Monday; I will discuss books, movies, shows, whatever happens to catch my interest over the previous week.

Wednesday is Wargaming Wednesday. Today, I'm discussing my miniature table top hobby and anything pertaining to it.

Friday is Fantasy Friday, a day on which I will talk mostly about tabletop RPGs. This might also include computer gaming as well. This is fantasy in the broad sense of fantastical fiction, not just elves and wizards. 

Also, I'm monetizing the blog with Amazon links, so if you see something you like, please feel free to click-and-buy! :)

On to today.

Let's look at Bolt Action, a WW2 skirmish game, which I've been neglecting for the past month. Life. Sigh.

I picked up 2 more boxes of Soviet assault engineers to round out my force. Once they're finished, I'll be able to field up to 3 full squads of engineers or tank riders in body armor. Just have to leave the flamethrower at home for the танковый десант. There are two offerings from Warlord for these. Both are metal and all wear body armor. One box retails for $24.95 and consists of 10 figures: 8 SMG gunners, 1 DP-28 LMG gunner, and one chap with a couple of panzerfausts. One fellow is also carrying a land mine, and another is throwing a grenade. These are one-piece figures.

This Week's Haul

The second box retails for $19.25 and consists of 8 soldiers, several in the same poses as box #1: 5 SMG gunners, 1 DP-28 LMG gunner, the guy with the panzerfausts, and a flamethrower operator. These are castings with separate heads so you have to glue on the heads. Normally, this is minor, but their poses are such that's it's hard to get a good angle on them.  On the plus side, I was able to use a female head from another Warlord kit to add a female engineer. One of the joys of the RKKA (the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army) is that there were women in the ranks as well. 

In a Soviet Army Army List, a full squad of fully decked out assault engineers consists of:

1 NCO with SMG

8 Infantry with SMG

1 Infantry with Light Machine gun (requires loader)

1 Flamethrower (infantry) team

Entire squad equipped with body armour

Entire squad equipped with anti-tank grenades

Entire squad equipped with mine clearing gear

2 men have Panzerfaust in addition to other weapons

....for a grand total of 308 points. Ouch! On the flip side, veterans with body armor, so they die on a 6. Keep a medic nearby for more sustainability!

A full tank riders squad with body armor consists of:

1 NCO with SMG

9 Infantry with SMG

1 Infantry with Light Machine Gun (requires loader)

Tank Riders

Entire squad equipped with body armour

Entire squad equipped with anti-tank grenades

....for a grand total of 240 points regular or 273 points for vets. I recommend a T-34 for the host vehicle or, for more punch, a KV-2 early war, IS-2 late war.

Here are the affiliate links to Amazon for the squads for your collection:

10 man: https://amzn.to/32nhsU2

8 man: https://amzn.to/2MJP6Ne

What about tanks?

T-34/76: https://amzn.to/2OTciex

T-34/85: https://amzn.to/2MjL4fE

KV-2: https://amzn.to/2MN6pNy  (This kit has two turrets so you can have a KV-1 or a KV-2 depending on your list and/or whim.)

IS-2: https://amzn.to/2IUBvkY

If you want a medic, you'll need the command group consisting of 1 medic and 2 officers: https://amzn.to/35FJ6he

Well, I guess this is a good place to wrap it up for today. I'll have a longer post next time. Until then remember:

За Родину! За Сталина!

Your baby-faced blogger as a Soviet Guardsman!