From BenF: Der Kommissar at Sander's Sand Dunes (38 Points)

I've been busy the last few weeks, and have completed a load of figures which I'll be posting over the next week or so. We've got a large fall of rain which means that many of the fires which were menacing Sydney and the Central Coast of NSW are now in hand, thanks as well to the superhuman efforts of the Firies, and the volunteers of the Rural Fire Service.

For my belated first entry to the infamous Challenge Island, I chose to make landfall at Sander's Sanddunes and embark on the path of History. The theme of Red worked quite well with several projects I'm working on, but I settled on this pair of committed communists from the RKKA, better known as the Red Army.

They are the first of what will be a platoon sized force of WW2 Soviets for Chain of Command, a project inspired by my visit to Russia in 2018. I've based both on hex bases, which I use to quickly identify leaders in Chain. As with my other Chain forces, the Russians will be in 20mm, and these two are from Battlefield/Blitz.

The rather portly chap in the blue cap is a political officer, better known as a Commissar. I liked the sculpt, as it portrays the stereotypical apparatchik, getting fat of Stalin's regime while many go without.

The bloke in the green cap is an officer of the NKVD Border Guards. While part of Stalin's secret police organisation, with all that that entails, I do have a soft spot for the border guards. Highly motivated communists tasked with policing the border of the USSR. This task meant they were among the first to face Hitler's invasion of 1941, fighting bravely, often suicidally so, as was the case in the siege of Brest fortress. Many border guard regiments served throughout the war, even fighting in the Battle of Berlin.

Anyway, this pair should net me 8 points, plus the bonus for my first Challenge Island step.

My next entry, which is the Curtgeld, will be up in a few days.

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Great work Ben - as a long-time WW2 gamer (and general political dork) I had always known of the Commissars, but I had never really given a thought to the NKVD Border Guards, or the fact that Border Guard Regiments continued throughout the war! Learning these neat little bits of history is always one of the best parts of the Painting Challenge - that, and the great brushwork.  Well done. 

That will be 38 points for you. 

GregB