Warlord Games call in the reinforcements for their Bolt Action range of 28mm Second World War models with a raft of reinforcements for the Winter Soviet forces this week…
Soviet HQ (Winter)
Withstanding the brutal winter conditions, the new Soviet HQ rally their men for the next charge!
Like the soldiers they commanded, many Soviet officers were inexperienced and lacked training at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Stalin's ruthless purge of officers of the Red Army in 1937 had stripped the organization of leadership, and left deep scars in the survivors' minds.
Throughout the war, showing initiative was seen as a dangerous trait, and most Soviet officers would follow their orders to the letter, even if they meant marching their men to certain death. Soviet operational leadership improved immeasurably over time, but the heavy casualties endured by the Red Army indicates that overall battlefield control remained a blunt instrument.
Soviet Maxim MMG Team (Winter)
Lay down a withering hail of fire and pin your enemy with the new Soviet Maxim MMG team.
The Red Army used the venerable Maxim Model 1910 as its medium machinegun throughout the war, the very same weapon that had served the Tsarist army in World War I. It was a capable weapon that could be tripod-, sledge- or wheel-mounted, and was often given a useful shield to help preserve the crew.
The Maxim was so heavy and cumbersome, however, that unlike most other Soviet weapons, the Germans seldom made use of captured examples.
Soviet 82mm Medium Mortar Team (Winter)
The new Soviet 82mm Medium Mortar Winter Team rain high explosives upon their enemy.
The standard Russian medium mortar of the war was the 82-PM-41 or 82mm battalion mortar Model 1941. This served alongside the otherwise similar 82mm Model 1937. Both were very effective and accurate weapons with a range of about 3,000 yards.
82mm mortars were regarded as artillery rather than infantry weapons by the Russians, and were usually massed together in batteries for battalion-level support.
Soviet ZIS-2 Anti-Tank Gun (Winter)
Leave your enemies tanks as smoldering ruins with the new Soviet ZiS-2 anti-tank gun.
The 57mm ZiS-2 was developed before the war to give anti-tank artillery regiments a weapon capable of destroying heavily armored tanks. It was a rapid-firing semi-automatic gun that could shoot up to 25 rounds a minute.
ZiS-2 production was cancelled shortly after the outbreak of the war, when it became clear that the armor thickness of German tanks had been greatly exaggerated.
Soviet ZIS-3 Divisional Gun (Winter)
In games of Bolt Action, the ZIS-3 can be fired as either a howitzer or an anti-tank gun – depending upon the target… so is a very capable gun indeed… capable, that is, of punching through enemy armor, and breaking their morale!
The ZiS-3 was a truly multi-purpose weapon that was used as artillery and as an anti-tank gun by the Red Army. The Germans came to know it well, and dubbed it the Ratsch-Baum (crash-boom) for its distinctive sound.
By the Battle of Kursk in 1943, ZiS-3 batteries were routinely dug-in to fire initially as howitzers, and then switch to an anti-tank role to stop breakthroughs.
Soviet Zima Force
After the rapid collapse of the Soviet defenses against the German blitzkrieg, Stalin sought to reinforce his lines with veterans from the East. Their vast combat experience proved invaluable when holding off the Axis forces, and acted as a sturdy and resolute core for the Soviet army.
Stalin has high hopes for this task force – it contains everything a Soviet commander needs, including:
- The new Soviet HQ (Winter) blister pack
- The new Soviet Maxim MMG team (Winter) blister pack
- The new Soviet ZIS-3 (Winter) blister pack
- The new Soviet ZIS-2 (Winter) blister pack
- The new Soviet 82mm medium mortar (Winter) blister pack
- A box of Siberian Veterans
- A Soviet Scout squad blister pack
