From GregB: 15mm WW2 Russian Assault Engineers and Scouts (62 Points)

Some Russian WW2 infantry in 15mm.

Hello again and happy new year to all of the Challengers! For my second submission, my brushes return to a setting which has been largely absent from the past few years - World War 2.  These are 15mm Russian infantry from that era - a platoon of assault engineers, and a squad of scouts.  The engineers are metal figures from Battlefront, while the scouts are from Peter Pig.  All of these figures had been sitting in my "primed-but-not-yet-painted" pile (i.e. "pile of shame") for at least two years - the scouts had originally been intended as a theme submission in Challenge VII or VIII...so it feels good to finally get around to them and get them finished!

LMG teams on oval bases...you can also see one of the flamethrowers on an oval base. He's by himself...nobody wants to stand too close to the flamethrower guy on a battlefield...

It is common to base 15mm figures in groups (as often seen in "Flames of War"), but these particular figures are all based individually for games like "Battlegroup", "Bolt Action" and "Chain of Command".  I enjoy WW2 gaming a lot - probably too much, as I paint the period in a number of different scales. I have found that playing games like "Bolt Action" with 15mm figures gives a great look on the table in terms of engagement ranges on a 6' x 4' table.  So while I have a lot of 15mm figures on group bases, I have been adding 15mm units that are based individually as well.  An additional advantage is that one Company-sized box of 15mm infantry from a company like Battlefront provides more than enough models for any scenario at a great value.

The eight-man squads are configured for "Battlegroup", but of course can be re-organized for any particular WW2 skirmish rules.

The downside to individual 15mm figures is that it can be difficult to work out which weapons are being carried by who (an MP40 and MP44 sure look similar at that size, for example). It also hard to see who is the officer, details which are easier to pick out on a 28mm figure, but not so much on the 15mm foot sloggers.  To work around this I use a similar basing system to one Curt has developed - senior officers (like the platoon CO) are on a hex-shaped base, NCOs are on square bases, and special weapons (in this case, the flamethrowers and the DP LMG teams) are on oval bases.   It is an easy and quick way to ID the notable infantry figures even with smaller scale models.

Platoon commander on a hex base, along with a couple of flunkies to "bite the bullet" for him when the time comes...

The metal assault engineers from Battlefront are fantastic sculpts.  They are wearing SN-type body armour, carrying SMGs and are loaded down with explosives, ropes and other combat engineer goodies.  The platoon pack also provides quite a few flamethrowers. It's a great value, and the sculpts have a lot of character and dynamism, impressive considering they are only 15mm in size.  I'm glad I picked up a couple of these packs a few years ago, as these metal figures (and so many others) are gone from Battlefront's product line up, sacrificed as the company debases itself further and further before the false gods of plastic figures (and releases new versions of its rules every four months).

For the Motherland! Crush the Fascist invaders!

The small group of scouts are from Peter Pig's top-shelf lineup of 15mm WW2 figures.  I'm not sure why I only have five of them...probably something to do with a Chain of Command game I had in mind back in 2017.  At any rate, I tried to "pop" the green out a little more than one normally would, just to help them stand out a bit on the tabletop.

Five of these figures were painted prior to the commencement of AHPC X.  So while I have gathered 36 of them together for these propaganda photos, only 31 of them will count, which should provide another 62 points. Onward and upward!

15mm figs on individual stands, you mad b*$£@!d. These do look really great and a fine piece of work. Bolt Actionin 15mm is a great idea