"Eureka adds 15mm Modern Russians, Nato, Chechens..." Topic

They have added new lines of Chechens, Modern (1991-present) Russians, and Modern Eastern European Nato (Fritz helmet with AK) to their "300" 15mm pre-order lines.

Each line (depending on the number of orders, of course) should have numerous different riflemen poses, support weapons and a few command figures.

For anyone (if there are any) not familiar with the "300" club process, once Nic at Eureka gets 600 pre-orders of a specific line then he recontacts the orderers to see if they still want the minis. Only then does the line go into production. You are not charged upon making a pre-order. Only when the minis are ready to ship.

These 3 will all make great additions to the current "Modern 15mm" minis available. I congratulate Nic and Eureka for offering them.

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Full marks for the misleading subject line….

I concur.

Aaargh Uesugi!! I saw this and almost hit the cancel button on an online order I was in the middle of finishing off! Luckily, I read on…..

It is an interesting bit of news, and I'm always keen to see what you've found, but can I please ask in future you pop something into the topic line like "Eureka 300 Club" or phrase it like "Eureka might add 15mm…" etc.,

Crap. I thought the same. I don't get excited about 300 and 500 "clubs".

Mia culpa! No attempt at trickery or false advertising. Just trying to spread the good word.

At over 400 figures already pre-ordered, at least somone benefitted from the announcement!

;-)

Ok, now that the shock of my unintended, ill-worded subject heading has past, every person who posted a comment above needs to get out there and order at least a platoon of these.

Hear me out, its not like any other company out there has plans to release any of these in the next 6 months anyway! (Rebel Minis, ignore that last bit! ;-)

So come on, dont be Debbie Downers and support 3 potentially good lines of figures. Eurekas other Moderns have been fantastic. I'm sure the same standards will apply to the 15's.

Begging over.

just bumped the Russians up into the 300 club by putting myself down for 99, so uh, yea, get to sculpting thar sirs~

I hope theres alot more than 4 different poses

If you take a look at the Indo-China range that should give you an idea of what the ranges may look and feel like:
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According to Nic, the more pre-orders, the more poses he can afford.

For those wondering about troop types and "variety" within each range, here is what I submitted for each mini range to Eureka. Obviously these can be added to or expanded depending on how many "pre-orders" there are. The more orders, the more poses….etc…

"Chechens"
Description: Chechen or "Caucus" Rebels, Insurgents, Terrorists. Basically
will look like Ultra-modern russians but in mixed kit, some with bald heads, most with beards, many in track shoes, track suits, parkas, and cold weather headgear or ski caps.

Basic 4 man ak-rifle group, 1 with an underslung 30mm grenade launcher.
4 man speacialty group (RPK, sniper, 2x rpg's)
4 man command element.
2 man heavy-mg crew.
2 man mortar/arty crew.

Easy line to do that can cover many areas including middle east, balkans, and former soviet republics.

"Ultra-Modern Russians, 1991-present"
Description: A complete range of 15mm Ultra-Modern (post Soviet, ie. post 1991) Russian infantry. Suggested figures as follows:
4 ak74-series rifle armed troops (1 standing shooting, one advancing, 1 prone shooting, one kneeling with underslung 30mm grenade launcher.
4 Command figures (radioman, officer pointing & holding ak, officer looking through binoculars w/ slung ak, officer talking into headpiece mic with
slung ak).
4 man special weapons (2 standing gunners and 2 prone gunners (1 each with an RPK SAW and a PKM machine gun).
4 special weapons troops (1 SVD sniper, 2 RPG gunners, and 1 firing an RPO fuel-air rocket launcher).

If this series is a success, 15mm Spestnaz and interior ministry (MVD or OMON w/ blast-shield style helmets) sets could follow.

References: Most of the material I have seen is on the internet and relates to the two Chechen Wars and the recent Georgian War.

"Eastern-European Nato"
"Eastern European Nato" troops. This would cover modern Bulgarian, Croatian,
Macedonian, Romanian, Polish, Ukrainian and even a few african countries
that wear US (NATO) "Fritz" style kevlar helmets but still carry AK-series
weapons.
4 ak rifle armed figues, 1 w/ underslung grenade launcher,
2 rpk (saw) armed figures and 2 rpg figures,
2 PKM machine gunners with2 assistant gunners,
2 officers.
If these do well, maybe some mortar and HMG crews.

Hope that is encouraging to people on the fence.

Russians really need Kord and AGS CSWs

Status update on pre-orders:

Russians at 400+ orderd (3/4 of way to production),
Chechens 200+,
Eastern European Nato 200+.

Thanks to all who have helped out by making pre-orders.
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I pitched in……

Duck

Thanks Duck! Thanks for submitting PLA too. I ordered my company's worth!

Chechens are now over 300, and Russians over 400!

Pre-orders update:

Modern Australians 200+
Eastern European NATO infantry 300+
Current Chechen Rebels 300+
Current Russian Infantry 400+
Current PLA (Chinese Communist) 200+

Glad to see everything doing well! Only 2 companies of Russians left to order and we go into production! Woo-who!

Russians now less than 100 pre-orders left to go into sculpting! Pick up a couple squads or platoons and we are across the finish line!
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Chechens now in the final stretch. Less than 100 to go!

Hopefully these can come out around the same time as the Ultra-Mod Russians (?)!
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All looked at the 500+ as a status today, any updates anyone?

Mr. Von P, the Russians have already passed the magic "600" number to go into production and have a sculptor signed onto the project. He is alated to do an initial 10 sculpts for the Russian line based on the amount of sales so far. Last I heard he is just trying to fit them into his busy schedule. You will know more as soo as I know more.

The Chechens just passed the 500+ mark this week and I have not spoken to Nic as to their actual total yet so they could be anywhere from 501 to over 600. But eiher way, they are in the home-stretch I would say.

All the Moderns at Eureka are looking pretty good. Glad to see the PLA are coming along as well!

Thanks for the interest V.P.

You know, those 'eastern european NATO' troops would also work for Iraqi national army troops…

I may need to get a platoon.

Yes they would! Thats actually one of the reasons i suggested them Lion, as well as working as Afghan national army and Georgians.

PS. Lion, dont forget…your Iraqi National Armay minis will need some Al Qaeda in Iraq figures to go with tthem! ;-)
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so is there any news yet of an actual release date for any of these?

VP, Nic at Eureka had stated to me its all up to the sculptors schedule. He had hoped to have one of the first two to cross the finish line (Russians/ Chechens) done by Summers end. He told me he hopes to have both lines by years end for sure. I would hope he will actually have the PLA Chinese as well as they appear to have met the 600 mark as well!

Hope that helps VonP. If you shoot Nic at Eureka an email, he may be able to give you a more up to date time scale.

So, approaching a year later on this, do we have any sorts of updates or new news on this front?

-Eli

Wargaming With Barks blog has pictures of the new Russians –
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-Eli

Thats is good news.

When did the Russian miliatary adopt the Sphera helmet?

They haven't completely, but not sure.

Best I could dig up on a quick search was "late 80s". They still use the older style M-60 helmets, as well as the ZSh-1 helmet.

Pictures of these minis have surfaced on the Wargaming With Barks blog ( wargamingwithbarks.blogspot.com ). Thought I would post them here.

It's an impressive array of poses and options on its own, but this isn't even all of it. According to Bark's report there are still quite a few poses left for the Russians and a full range of Chechens to come out as well.

I am waiting to hear back from Nic Robson (away at Salute) regarding the release date.

-Eli

When did the Russian miliatary adopt the Sphera helmet?

Interior Ministry forces who use the Sphera (and only MVD – regular army always seemed to have used the Ssh68 in Chechnya – with the odd throwback to earlier versions) seem to have been equipped with it in the very late 80s/early 90s. Either way the first major conflict you'll see it used is in the First Chechen War.

Thanks for updating Eli, glad these little darlings are finally nearing completion.

For those that didnt see my other post, you will be able to order the OMON troops with the Sphera helmet with the visor up or down in the assault position (score!).

Are you kidding. I have been hoping and waiting for these and they are so great looking that I couldn't help but blab about them when I saw them on Bark's blog.

-Eli

For those that didnt see my other post, you will be able to order the OMON troops with the Sphera helmet with the visor up or down in the assault position (score!).

I'm not sure you've got that right. The Sphera helmet is a 3 plate construction, with the plates held together by the fabric cover (I've got two). The helmet does not have any visor attachment points and I'm not aware of any versions with visors.

That said there are MVD helmets that do have visors, the two iconic ones being the K6-3 and the Altyn, both based on the Swiss TIG helmet (which the Russians managed to get hold of in the late 80s). These two helmets have clear bulletproof viewing sections, contained within a metal visor. I remember first seeing the K6-3 in action on the BBC news in the early 90s, in a report on MVD raids on criminal gangs. They were also used in operations in Chechnya, although the weight of these helmets meant that use was relatively restricted. There is also the Maska helmet, which looks a lot like a welding mask (or something medieval). Then bringing things up to date is the ZSH-1-2M, which has a completely clear visor.

Luckily in 15mm the shape of the TIG, Maska, K6-3, Altyn and ZSH-1-2M is pretty much identical, although the visors are all different. The Sphera is a bit more "golfball" in profile as it tends to sit quite high on your head.

There are other helmets used by the MVD (the Skif for example), but as with these things you could write a book on the subject. Luckily someone has…

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Sorry Monty, I do believe it will in fact be the MVD helmets that come with the visors down. I stand corrected.

Hey, no problem! Russian helmets and uniforms from this period are an absolute nightmare to get your head around (literally). I would never claim to be an expert either as I learn something new about the kit everyday.

Good to see these figures though and I appreciate the efforts you put in to get then produced. I had a chat with Nic at Salute about them and am very excited, even if it is a departure from 28mm for me.

Hoping the Chechens will follow w/in 6 months Monty. I think together these will present a real breakthrough in modern 15mm miniatures.