LeeH: My Winter War Soviets are ready for the offensive!

So, how do I wrap up this year’s Challenge? If I’m being totally honest, I didn't get quite as much painted as I originally hoped. My "to-do" list was definitely more ambitious than my "done" list! But you know what? I got the essentials finished, and in this hobby, that’s a win in my book.

Despite the slower pace, I managed to hit two major milestones: My personal 600-point target was officially crossed, and I'm happy with that. Of course, no competition compared to the top of the leaderboard, but I'm happy with what I got done.  Second, I completed everything I wanted to get done, meaning my Winter War Soviets: These guys are complete and will give me plenty of options when list-building for games of Bolt Action or Chain of Command. They were the missing piece for my collaboration project with RayR, and I’m thrilled to have them ready for the table.

The dream now is to get my Soviets and Ray’s Finns into a proper scrap. However, we’ve got a bit of a "one in, one out" policy happening right now. We have a few urgent projects that need to be cleared off the workbench before we can play with these guys. Our big focus for the immediate future? Two 1812 Retreat from Moscow games. We're working on a skirmish ruleset with a friend, and alongside this, Ray and I want to run a big battle with our collection for a demo game at Broadside in June. Once we have these playtested and polished, the second half of the year is looking very clear, and very wintery!

From RayR: Russo-Finnish Winter War 1939/40 - Finnish Infantry and Machine Gun Bomb! (330 points)

  

How are we into the final week of the Challenge? I really wish it would go on for another month or so, I always seem to push myself to get more painting done. When its ended I have a painting lull, I suspect most of you, my fellow challengers are the same?

I am hoping this won't be my last post, but this is a biggy, for me anyway. This last week, I somehow found a lot of time to paint 65.5 figures, all for my and Lee's Russo-Finnish Winter War project. Here's a few photos of what I painted this week.

8 Officers and 1 Suomi KP/31 Sub Machine gunner 

A radio Operator and his lookout

A Lahti-Saloranta M/26 Light Machine Gun firing and 2 x 2 man teams carrying the M/26..

A 10 man Infantry squad

Another 10 man Infantry squad

A third 10 man Infantry squad

A fourth 10 man squad!

And an 8 man Infantry squad

Simo Häyhä , famously known as "The White Death", was a Finnish sniper during the Winter War. He is widely regarded as the deadliest sniper in military history, credited with at least 505 confirmed kills in fewer than 100 days of combat.

What Finnish army would be complete without some soldiers throwing, Molotov Cocktails, Satchel Charges (Kasapanos) and hand grenades.

A close up of the Lahti-Saloranta M/26 Light Machine Gun, I have 1 other that I painted up previously in the Challenge.

And to go with the 2 M/26 machine guns, I have 2 teams carrying the weapons, so on the table you can use these to move the figures around the table, then the others when they set up. (Sad I know)

Close up of some of the infantry, the kneeling figure on the right is an NCO, but I'll probably use him as a normal infantryman.

Officers, the one in the centre is a Russian figure!

And here they all are in their new home.

64 standing or kneeling figures

3 laying down figures.

65.5 figure x 5 points (66 figures x 5 points)

Makes a nice fat total of 325 (330) points!

 

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Sylvain: I'm blinded by the glistening snow! Nice production and outstanding job on these figurines! It will be a treat to read battle reports when you engage Lee's forces. Bravissimo!

 

From LeeH: Last of the Winter War Soviets

My Soviet forces for the Winter War have taken rather longer to finish than I originally planned. That, I should admit, is entirely self-inflicted. Taking on several projects at once seemed like a splendid idea at the time—right up until I discovered the universe had stubbornly refused to add extra hours to the day. Still, today’s additions mark the final figures for the force and give me a healthy range of options for my Soviet army in Bolt Action.

First up are a pair of Light Machine Gun teams. Some of the LMG squads I painted earlier are sculpted advancing between positions, and I wanted the option to swap them out for deployed figures once they reach cover. These crews are operating the 7.62mm DP-28 light machine gun, a gas-operated weapon that became the Red Army’s standard squad support gun and remained in widespread service until an improved version appeared in 1944.

I’ve also completed another 50mm mortar team, armed with the M1938/39 mortar. The main reason for adding this crew was flexibility: I now have the option of fielding a second mortar in support of the infantry when the scenario calls for it. In reality, the weapon had its limitations. Its range was fairly modest and its explosive charge was roughly comparable to that of a hand grenade, which meant its battlefield impact was often underwhelming. As a result, it was gradually replaced by the far more capable 82mm mortar.

Finally, there’s some much-needed anti-tank capability in the form of the 45mm M1937 anti-tank gun. Finnish troops nicknamed this weapon the Piiskatykki (the “whip-gun”) because of the sharp crack produced by its high-velocity rounds. It was the Red Army’s standard light anti-tank gun during the Winter War and proved effective against the limited armour available to the Finns. Ironically, when Finnish forces captured these guns, they were more than happy to turn them around and put them to good use themselves.

With these final additions completed, the Winter War Soviets are finally ready for the table... assuming, of course, I can resist the temptation to start yet another project before the paint on them has properly dried.

5x28mm Prone = 12.5pts
7x28mm Foot = 35pts
1x28mm Gun = 10 pts
Total = 57.5pts

From DaveD . Another project gets to table ready state . A useful top up in capability there too Lee.

From LeeH: Another Soviet LMG Squad (60 Pts)

This week, I finished my fourth Light Machine Gun squad for my 1939 Winter War Soviets, which means I’m finally within sight of the end of this Bolt Action painting run. Four squads lined up together give the force a real sense of cohesion. On the table, they look like what they’re meant to represent: mass infantry built around automatic fire.

Soviet infantry tactics of the period leaned heavily on firepower at the squad level. The light machine gun was the anchor, with riflemen supporting it rather than the other way around. In theory, this created a base of suppressive fire that allowed advances by weight and momentum. The Red Army’s pre-war doctrine emphasised aggression, coordination, and overwhelming force. In open terrain, backed by artillery, that approach could be brutally effective. On a Bolt Action table, four LMG squads make that doctrine tangible—steady, grinding pressure rather than elegant manoeuvre.

The reality in 1939, however, was far messier. The army that invaded Finland had been badly damaged by Stalin’s purges of the officer corps in the late 1930s. Experienced commanders were removed, imprisoned, or executed, and their replacements were often younger, less seasoned, and understandably cautious. Initiative became dangerous. Junior officers learned that independent action could end careers (or lives) if outcomes were unfavourable. The result was rigidity. Orders were followed, sometimes blindly, even when local conditions demanded flexibility. Against Finnish forces who excelled at small-unit tactics, mobility, and exploiting terrain, that lack of adaptability proved costly.

With this fourth squad complete, the core infantry element of the army is ready. I’m still waiting on an artillery crew and gun to round things out, and I have a handful of spare figures that may end up as smaller specialist teams if I can find a home for them. For now, though, these LMG squads capture both the theory and the tragedy of the 1939 Red Army: a force designed for massed firepower and relentless advance, but hampered by structural weakness and fear at the command level. 

12x28mm Foot = 60 Points

From DaveD.  Nice winter additions Lee , are you starting to get snow blindness yet ? The whole force will be looking like a proper mass when we see it . 60 it is .

from RayR - 25mm Russo-Finnish Winter War 1939-40 - 37mm Bofors - Oh Rats! 80 pts .

 

For my next entry it's back to the 1939-40 Winter War, the figures are once again from Parkfield Miniatures, great range packs WWF33 the Bofors and WWF34 the crew. You get 5 crew in the pack, but only need 3 crew in Bolt Action, but I thought It might as well paint them all up. The base from Charlie Foxtrot and is a spare from my Retreat from Moscow French.

The 1939 Finnish 37 mm Bofors anti-tank gun was a highly effective, Swedish-designed weapon that played an important role during both the Winter War and the Continuation War. Originally developed by Bofors in the early 1930s, it was intended to provide infantry units with a lightweight yet powerful defense against armored vehicles. Weighing only about 370 kilograms, the gun was easy to maneuver and could even be towed by a single horse in Finnish service, making it well suited to Finland’s rugged terrain and mobile tactics.

In combat, the gun proved accurate and reliable, with a practical rate of fire of around 12 rounds per minute. Firing a 37×257 mm cartridge, it could penetrate approximately 40 mm of armor at 300 meters—more than sufficient to destroy most light Soviet tanks such as the T-26 and BT series encountered during the early stages of the Winter War. Its semi-automatic mechanism automatically ejected spent shells to speed reloading, while an optical sight and protective shield enhanced both accuracy and crew protection.

Finland relied on both imported Swedish-made guns and domestically produced copies, with roughly 355 Finnish-built versions manufactured under the designation 37 psv.K/36 or VTT37-36. Although the weapon gradually became obsolete as heavier Soviet tanks like the T-34 entered service and thicker armor rendered the 37 mm gun less effective by 1943, it remained a dependable and durable asset. During the initial phases of the conflict especially, the Bofors 37 mm was a critical component of Finland’s anti-tank defences.

For the points, there are 5 figures, one of them is laying down - 22.5 pts

1 Crew served weapon - 10pts

Plus whatever Dave wants to give me for the base?

Next we have some Rats, that will fit into either the Winter War or the Retreat from Moscow.

I'm sure they didn't starve unlike the poor French and Allies, I guess they were the breakfast dinner and Tea!

I bought these at the Warfare Show last November and can't for the life of me remember the company I bought them from????? I know they came in a little round tine, with Body Parts written on it??

Anyway the 25mm Rats will add a little discomfort to our snowy game, there are 20 rats all in all, 3 are based on 25mm circular bases while the bigger horde is on a slightly larger irregular base.

I'd guess at 2pts per rat, as they're roughly the size of a 15mm horse?

But again, I'll leave that up to Dave!

From DaveD . Nice to get some more firepower on  the table Ray . Rats ! Oh blimey I look forward to seeing the rules for those . I’m make this 80 pts 

From LeeH: Soviet Tank Hunters and T26/M1931 (100pts)

I narrowly missed last week’s submission deadline by a matter of hours, so this week turns into a double offering: more Soviet infantry and a tank. 

First up is another twelve-man Light Machine Gun Squad, the nearly finished unit that never quite made it onto the blog last time. All that stood between them and glory was drying basing and a final layer of snow, but time ran out. One of my quietly declared New Year’s resolutions was to stop saying yes to every new project that wanders past. That resolution has already collapsed in a heap, leaving me busier than ever. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it does add another tick to the ever-growing “suspected ADHD” column.

Next on the bench is another tank for my Soviet forces. This time it’s a T-26 Model 1931, the distinctive twin-turret variant armed with machine guns. Unlike my previous T-26 from Rubicon, this one is a 3D print from Danger Close Studio. Aside from some minor clean-up around the tracks where the supports had been, it’s an excellent print and blends in seamlessly with my other vehicles. Historically, the T-26 Model 1931 was heavily influenced by the British Vickers 6-Ton and was intended as an infantry support tank. Its twin turrets, usually mounting DT machine guns, offered impressive firepower on paper, but in practice proved awkward to command. That complexity eventually saw the design abandoned in favour of more practical single-turret models.

Finally, there’s a Tank Hunter team. This unit consists of two men armed with the 7.62mm PPD 1934/38 submachine gun, a design based on the Bergmann MP18/1 and fed by either drum or box magazines. They’re supported by two riflemen, with the NCO hefting a Molotov cocktail. The Molotov was a small conversion, using a plastic piece from the Warlord Games Soviet infantry sprue that recently appeared as a giveaway on the cover of Wargames Illustrated, which couldn’t have been better timed. On the tabletop in Bolt Action, Tank Hunters are nasty little specialists, with rules that allow them to double their attacks in close combat against vehicles, making them a serious threat despite their size.

In short: a delayed update turned into a productive one, with a finished LMG squad, a characterful early-war Soviet tank, and a converted Tank Hunter team all joining the ranks. Progress may be chaotic, but it’s definitely moving forward.

Scoring:
15x28mm Foot = 75pts
2x28mm Prone Foot = 5pts
1x28mm Vehicle = 20pts
Total = 100pts

From DaveD . The winter coolness continues . Your forces are building up nicely . The twin turret tank is interesting , but of course entirely understandable it didn’t meet the requirements in the end . I have one in the Back of Beyond stash too. Hopefully Ray has his can openers handy . Grand stuff Lee . 100 it is