From DavidL - 28mm "Defenders of Leningrad" (275 points)

"Next week, hopefully, a modest points bomb..." 

So spake I three weeks ago. Well, that's what I get for making promises, I guess.

But here, at last, is the promised modest points bomb: a platoon of Soviet naval infantry along with a KV-2 tank and a gaggle of citizen militia. This is a 1,000-point Bolt Action force modeled on forces defending Leningrad in early 1942, somewhere towards the end of winter and beginning of spring.

I've long had an interest in the "Black Devils" of the Great Patriotic War. Long ago, I had a platoon of them in 20mm scale. After getting into Bolt Action last year, and finding an opponent who enjoys early-war Eastern Front games as much as I do, I set about putting together a naval infantry force in 28mm.

First Squad

Manufacturers are Warlord and BTD. There's a nice mix of black pea coats, blue middy blouses, and army-issue telogreika.

Second Squad

Although I appreciate the authentic mix of uniforms, this is chiefly what slowed me down the most (especially with the extra militia squad in their civvies thrown in for good measure!). I'd anticipated that this project would paint up quickly--it was supposed to be just a bunch of black uniforms, after all. No such luck.

Third Squad

Speaking of the black uniforms, I'm pretty pleased with how those turned out. They look suitably dark without losing too much detail or going too gray with the highlighting.

Platoon Command: HQ, Politruk, FAO, ATR team

The Commissar's in town!

I owe this to the "Black Paint Set" from Andrea Color, a set I'll be returning to when I shift gears and start working on my Black Templars for 40K (which I'll hopefully be able to at least get a start on before the Challenge ends).

Maxim HMG team

Back to these fellows, though: When researching this force, I read somewhere that there were KV-2s at Leningrad. One of my all-time favorite tanks, I leapt at the opportunity to do one in 1/56 scale.

This KV-2 from Warlord bears the weathering of a tough winter: its whitewash camouflage largely dissolved by now, rust streaks in great abundance, tracks and running gear covered in frozen mud.

Bolt Action provides Red Army lists with a free squad of Green-quality troops, so I decided to build on my "city defense" theme by representing my free squad with "partisan" figures, here standing in for Leningrad's ad-hoc People's Militia Army.

These figures from BTD have tons of character, and I found myself making up little back-stories for many of them. I painted up their commanding officer as a dismounted Cossack cavalryman, put in charge after his horse ended up in the communal stew pot.

If I'm doing my math right, this should be 250 points: 15 for the KV-2, 10 for the Maxim, and 225 for the 45 infantry figures. Editors note I've counted noses and I make it 48 figures on foot  (including the 3 MG crewmen) plus 1/2 for the tank commander=267.5.

Wow that was worth the wait!  This is a stunning group of Ruskies David.  First of all I love the foot figures and the details you've put into their "simple" black uniforms, especially on their caps.  Secondly well done on the partial snow on the bases, this looks very much like Regina has over the last week!  And finally, who doesn't love a behemoth monster tank like a KV2.  I ad forgotten how truly massive these things were.  I love the ladder rungs up the turret and the rust/weathering details.  I am rounding up and adding in some bonus points to make it an even 275