STALINGRAD Bolt Action Mega Battle!

To quote Wayne England from the first Wargaming magazine that I ever bought, White Dwarf 135, ‘An occasional wounded model in a unit is very effective’. H e also described how to add a drop of blood red paint to a wet surface, which I tried soon after and was impressed by the effectiveness of the trick. His last gem on the subject was ‘It’s best to underplay these effects- a whole unit drowned in gore looks terrible’.

I added a touch of brown to the red, so to look like partly dry blood on the bandages.

Siberian Veterans boxed set

Scenery by 4Ground with a degree of decoration from myself.

Miniatures by Warlord Games:

Blitzkrieg German Infantry plastic boxed set

By the time of the Battle of Stalingrad, the PAK (PanzerAbwehrkanone) 36 anti-tank gun was seriously underpowered. The stop gap measure of developing a hollow shaped charge (with very limited range) was taken to prevent the 15,000 or so of them being totally useless in the face of superior Soviet tanks such as the T34 and KV series.

In game terms, I love the model and the in game challenge that this model presents. It has +4 pen that makes taking on a T34 a serious challenge at short range, and nigh on impossible at long range and against the dreaded KV series heavy tanks. However, if either of these beasts are foolish to enter half range (24 inches and under) it can fire a stielgrenate and gain a +6 pen, which can deal a killing blow.

Realistically I intend to use it to take on enemy infantry in cover, and get the odd shot (even if it’s just to put pins on) opposing vehicles and armour.

The crew have been fitted with heads from Warlord’s Plastic Blitz Opal passenger sprue, so that the whole Platoon have the same look.

Scenery by FactoruM/4Ground.

Miniatures by Warlord Games:

Blitzkrieg German Pak 36 anti-tank gun with stielgranate

Sometimes it’s not all about being one of the BIG-BOYS, as my old school mate “Slappy” will tell anyone willing to listen.

Having a low compact form will be an advantage in a city fight such as Stalingrad, but also in any pretty much any theatre, particularly the low walls, fences and hedgerows of much of mainland Europe and Asia.

The BT-7 and the T-70 tanks have identical basic profiles in Bolt Action, however the much smaller T-70 has a real advantage when placed in much of my scenery in comparison to it’s bigger team mate, being significantly smaller, and able to hide behind enough of it to gain cover.

Bolt Action is a game where evening out the odds as many times as possible will have a real impact on the survivability of your models in game.. Being in cover gives the enemy a -1 (Soft Cover) 0r -2 (Hard Cover) to hit. Being small and low enough to hide easily gives the T-70 a lot more survivability than most tanks. It is also low enough to hide behind buildings and shoot through the windows.

I love both these models, but the T-70 is now my go-to city fight light tank. It’s unlikely to take down a Panzer III or StuG, but that’s not a problem as I intend to use them for taking out enemy weapons teams and whittling down infantry squads.

Does anyone have any interesting thoughts, experience with gaming or historical images of tanks hiding please?

If you are thinking of buying the either or preferably both of the two smashing models, or indeed anything else from Warlord, please follow my affiliate links so that I can earn a small amount of cash that keeps to project going?

Soviet T70 Light Tank

Soviet BT-7 fast tank

Scenery by 4Ground.

I have always loved Osprey books, ever since I first encountered them as a bored Secondary School Boy, who found them to be a light in the darkness of dull educational volumes, and even worse tweenager novels, when we were forced to pick a book in the school library.

As a keen historical wargamer, these books are an absolute must. The ‘Campaign’ series have really come into their own as background reading paired with  Campaign’ books for Bolt Action. Very quickly I have found that an Osprey book can turn a brief over view of a Battle or Campaign into an in-depth understanding, with areas of specialist knowledge.

This book is great for designing my own battles building up to the great city battle (the battle of Stalingrad was in reality a campaign), and has given me inspiration on what forces and units to work on, such as the 24th Panzer division. This book has also inspired me to model rear echelon forces such as Hiwis and workers from Organatzion Todt using converted and kit-bashed Warlord kits.

I don’t wish to spoil the contents for any potential readers, but I would thoroughly recommend this book as for it’s historical information to add depth and inspiration to any wargamer interested in this major moment in World History, and there is a wealth of inspiration for my future games of Bolt Action.

Please follow the link to the Osprey website:

https://ospreypublishing.com/stalingrad-1942-43-1

Yes, yes and YES!

I have had two of these guys sitting and staring at me for nearly 2 years. It’s a great feeling to have all of them done, and I can field them together as a complete ‘Tank War’ platoon on the table top.

These guys have the ‘Heavy Tank’ armour rating, and the ‘Armoured all round’ special rule, and resultantly are very difficult targets for the Axis anti tank guns and Tanks taking them on.

They are also ‘Slow’, so I will have to think carefully when deploying them.

They are equipped with Medium Anti Tank Guns, which are reasonable when taking on StuG’s, Panzer III and Iv’s.

With such an high and all round armour rating, they will be of serious concern to the Axis players, as their tanks will be at a serious disadvantage when taking them on.

I enjoyed painting them up in a uniform manner. I have weathered them heavily to represent their continued use since the the Molotov/Ribbentrop pact went sour.

I used star stencils from Anarchy Models (find link below) with a few controlled blasts from my air brush. Compared to transfers the difference is staggering, the Soviet Stars really stand out, with no reflective shine, and weather in with the rest of the model.

If you feel inspired by any of my work, or wish to checkout the featured products, or even just buy anything from Warlord Games, please follow my affiliate links:

KV1/KV2 Platoon Box Set:

KV1/2 Platoon

Tank War Rule Book:

https://store.warlordgames.com/products/tank-war-bolt-action-supplement?aff=42

Anarchy Models Stars:

https://www.anarchymodels.co.uk/hs02—allied-stars-39-p.asp