| Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy | 25 Feb 2015 8:24 a.m. PST |
I am literally just putting the finishing touches on my early war German Zug for Chain of Command and Bolt Action. (the bases are drying right now) It's time to start thinking about which OpFor to paint up. Soviets are on my short list of possibilities. Who makes 28mm Soviets in summer uniforms that have a distinctly early war look such as wearing Ssh-36 helmets and the like? I've never cared for the look of troops in great coats, so I'm not interested in figures in winter uniforms. Does anyone make something that would fit the bill? Martin |
 Jeff Ewing  | 25 Feb 2015 8:30 a.m. PST |
For the 36 helmets, Battle Honors is, I think, pretty much the only source: link The Workbench has an article on painting them: TMP link |
| Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy | 25 Feb 2015 9:01 a.m. PST |
Thanks for the heads up on that. I see the photos of the command figures from the Workbench article. Does anyone have any pictures of the other figures in the line? Martin |
| Martin Rapier | 25 Feb 2015 9:59 a.m. PST |
All you need is figures in drop collar Gymnastorkas without shoulderboards, you can paint the jazzy collar tabs things on then. Not sure the Ssh36 was hugely widespread, even in 1941. |
Dervel  | 25 Feb 2015 10:34 a.m. PST |
Warlord spruces are a mix of summer and winter and only one of the heads on the sprue has the old helmet… What about wargames factory? |
| Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy | 25 Feb 2015 10:40 a.m. PST |
Martin (the other one)-
True enough. The Ssh40 helmet was introduced into service before Barbarossa and was quite common. But I'm looking for something that is distinctly early war in appearance. Likewise the vast majority of Soviet figures I've seen have shoulder boards and the stand collar. Dervel-
Wargames Factory's Soviets are very late war in appearance. They are pretty awful, in my opinion, anyway. Martin |
| Pizzagrenadier | 25 Feb 2015 1:19 p.m. PST |
I think the Battle honors early war Soviets are the most complete range. They have the early helmet but some are also wearing the side cap and the pilotka (I think that's what it is called). I might be mistaken about that last part though. That cap might be on their winter early war figs. The only problems are that the figs have shoulder boards. That's really easily solved by clipping it off and working it with an X-Acto or file. The only other issue is that the packs are set up wrong for early war squads. Too many SMGs and the wrong type And not enough figs in the pack. That can be remedied by ordering from the 19th Century Miniatures and requesting specific figure assortments. Put the packs you want in your shopping cart but then add a comment to your order specifying what you want in each pack. They charge an extra $5 USD (per pack IIRC) for this however. I think their Soviets are great minis. I want to do an early war force myself. I have a late war force I use a lot. Good luck with your search and project. |
| Jeff Ewing | 25 Feb 2015 6:55 p.m. PST |
I had forgotten about the PPSh/PPD thing! Good thing 19th Century can straighten that out. BTW, the pilotka is the side cap; the ushanka is the fur hat, and the Budenovka or bogatyr is the pointed cap. The one thing lacking for early war Soviets is the 50mm mortar. This is pretty easy to scratch build, however. |
| Dervel | 26 Feb 2015 7:09 a.m. PST |
ooops, post got deleted? Anyway Martin, thanks for the heads up. I have not tried the Wargames factory ones yet. I like Warlord's Plastic Russians. |
| Jo Jo the Idiot Circus Boy | 26 Feb 2015 2:41 p.m. PST |
Dervel- I found the Wargames Factory figures to be substandard. They are spindly, not all that detailed, and (to my eye anyway) simply look wrong. Worse than that, I found they did not fit together very well at all. I have not tried the Warlord Soviets, but I just put together two boxes of their Blitzkrieg Germans, and they are head and shoulders in quality above the Wargames Factory models. Other's millage may vary of course…. Martin |
| Come In Nighthawk | 27 Feb 2015 8:06 a.m. PST |
1) How many figures come in a pack, anyway?? 2) $5.00 USD/pack??????? BTW, I am not seeing on the website where the fee is mentioned anywhere at all… 3) Do ANY PPD SMG gunners come in the infantry packs, or only figures carrying the PPSh? 4) How many SMG gunners come in each pack of infantry that would have to be substituted? It might be cheaper to use sprue or green-stuff and a) "convert" PPSh guns to PPD, and the excess SMG gunners to other purposes!! |
| Pizzagrenadier | 27 Feb 2015 9:25 a.m. PST |
1. Packs are always 10 figs unless otherwise specified. 2. It's not mentioned on their site. 3. As far as I know it is all Ppsh. No Ppds. Though their Finns have pPpds so it's possible I could be wrong. 4. Most infantry packs have one or two SMGs. |
