Russia Resurgent Project Update #1

Hello everyone!

My apologies for the lack of posts recently.  We hit the holidays here and I've been busy with family (camping and such).  Rest assured though, progress has been made at a steady pace.  So, what have I managed to get done?

Well, I order lots of stuff, and most of it has arrived.

Modern Russians

I've managed to get all the vehicles assembled as pictured below.  They are just about to start getting painted.  12 vehicles in all, 3 x T-90, 3 x T-80, 3 x BMP-3, 1 x BTR 80, 1 x BTR80A, and 1 x ZSU-23-4 Shilka.  Lots of firepower here!

Next up in my Russian infantry platoon with support.  I sent these figures off to the most excellent Steve Dake and he is already finished painting them ... they should be shipping back to me very soon for basing.  He sent me a couple of preview pictures ... not the best quality pictures but it gives you the general idea.

So the Russians are coming along nicely.  The vehicles will be done in about 3-4 weeks depending on how timing works out.  I'll get the Russians based and take proper pictures when I get them done up.  I'll be in Las Vegas for work next week, so it will likely be the week after next that I get them done.

I've also started putting together my Hind ... :-)

Modern French

I ordered 1:48 scale kits from Gaso.Line (from www.quarter-kit.com).  I took a risk here as there are "large" and "regular" scale 1:48 kits.  The regular scale 1:48 kits mix well with the Empress 1:50 and HLBS 1:48 scale kits.  Large 1:48 are just too big ... border line 1:43 scale IMO.  I have mostly good news on this front (since French armour is very difficult to come buy, and Gaso.Line has just about everything for modern French you can imagine).  I had ordered:

1 x Leclerc MBT
1 x ERC 90 Sagaie
1 x VBCI IFV
1 x VAB (specifically GAS50203K)
1 x AMX 10 RC Giat

The Leclerc, ERC 90 Sagaie, VAB, and AMX 10 RC Giat all worked great with the Empress Miniatures vehicles (pictures below with comparison).  Only the VBCI was out of whack ... and I mean waaay out of whack ... it was larger than teh Leclerc MBT (the MBT is 9.7m long whereas the VBCI is about 7.5m long ... and the VBCI kit is longer and larger than the MBT ... something is off there with the kit ... it says 1:48 but is easily 1:43).

Left to right:
VAB, ERC 90, AMX 10, Leclerc MBT

So great news as I'll use the VAB for my French infantry transports/IFVs.  I order 2 additiona VABs and 1 x command VAB, along with another AMX 10 and Leclerc MBT ... 9 vehicles in all will fill out the French armour.

Here are some comparison pictures with an Empress Leopard 2A6 and my WIP Canadian LAV III conversion ... I reverse the position of the vehicles so you can see how the depth of the photo changes the perceived scale ...

My order from Eureka Miniatures with my modern French infantry showed up today and they did a great job getting me all my requested miniatures.  I have the following:

1 x Officer
1 x Medic
1 x Sniper team
2 x Milan ATGM teams
3 x Infantry sections (2 x 3 man teams each)

Pictured below ... I need to clean them and ship them off to Steve Dake for painting.

French infantry platoon
with support elements
from Eureka Miniatures.

So now I'm just waiting for the remaining armour that I've ordered from France and then I'll have everything I need for my French force.  I expect to be playing my first game of Russians versus French by mid-August.

Modern Canadians

I've started pulling together what I need for the Canadians.  I'm still waiting for the infantry packs to be released by Full Battle Rattle miniatures.  I have what I need to do my LAV III and Bison conversions.  The base of my LAV III conversion is the Empress Stryker body with the LAV 25 turret.  For the Bison I'm using the LAV 25 body and the MG turret from the Stryker.

I got the basic assembly of one of the LAV III's done ... the turret is just sitting on top of the hull at the moment ... still a lot of work to do but the basic premise is there ...

WIP LAV III

WIP LAV III

I've also assembled 2 of the 3 Leopard 2A6 tanks I'll be using for the force ... here is one pictured below ...

I'll be converting 3 Bisons total ... 1 command and 2 APC's that will carry support teams and such.

So there you have it ... forward progress and gaming in sight!

Russia Resurgent - Ultra-Modern Conflict in Europe

Using the term "Cold War Gone Hot" (CWGH) isn't really appropriate for what I'm building out with my new modern armies.  When I think of CWGH I think of the 1980's in terms of equipment for both sides.  To describe this fictitious period I'm going to use the term "Russia Resurgent" since for me this focuses around a Russian offensive across Europe (admittedly as would have been expected during the Cold War).

My plan is to build out forces for the following:

• Canadian Army
• French Army
• German Army
• USMC
• Russians

The idea is to have a platoon sized force for each, with armoured transports, IFVs, and tanks.  I have just a few odds and ends to take care of for my Iraqi project, but for the most part it is complete, so on to Russia Resurgent!

For the French force I've ordered a full platoon with support from Eureka Miniatures.  I'm using the French Foreign Legion figures in helmets for regular French units.  I will likely expand this in the future and order the FFL figures in berets to represent the FFL units.  French armour is not found easily, but Gaso.Line in Europe does 1/48th scale kits for all French armour, which is great.  It will be just a tad larger than 1/50, but I've seen lots of 1/48 scale kits used with Empress vehicles and miniatures and they look fine.  Also, to get 3D modelling done for all the vehicles and then get them printed would cost me a small fortune, so I ordered the following kits ...

Leclerc MBT

ERC 90 Sagaie

VBCI

VAB

AMX 10 RC Giat

On a separate note, I've been looking for 1/48th scale rutsacks to adorn the sides of my vehicles and I finally found them on the same site that has the French armour ...

US modern equipment 4

I'll be casting the rutsacks so I can mass produce them for the sides of my vehicles.

I'll also be doing Canadians using the Full Battle Rattle Miniatures range that is due out in mere weeks!  Check out their Facebook page.  I'll be doing a full platoon ... and I have some conversion ideas for support weapons.

I'm using the Leopard 2A6 from Empress Miniatures and I'll be converting the LAV 25 that Empress sells into the LAV III's used by Canada (minor conversion work).

I've had a Canadian G-Wagen 3D modeled (and have them in hand now and they turned out great).  You can purchase you own from Shapeways here.

I've already ordered and have a significant Russian force on the way from Empress Miniatures.  This includes:

• Full three section rifle platoon with support
• 3 x T-90
• 3 x T-80
• 3 x BMP-3
• 1 x BTR 80
• 1 x BTR 80A
• 1 x ZSU-23-4 Shilka (from HLBS)
• 1 x MIL-24D Hind (from Amazon)

I'll use the Eureka Miniatures Bundeswehr range for the Germans.  I haven't tried to track down any of the German armour yet (other than I know Empress has the Leopard 2A6 that I will use again for the Germans).  More on this in a future post.

Last but not least is the USMC.  Since I already have this force for Iraq, I figured I'll do them last but I will do them as it wouldn't be "Russia Resurgent" if the US didn't show up to the party.

Bolt Action Modern Rules & Army Lists - Version 2.1

I've finally finished all the army lists I set out to do.  I also did a bunch of clean up of typos (lots of typos ... sorry, much better now) and I've added units to almost every army list.  This also required updating and adding some special rules on the main rules QRS - so both files have been updated to version 2.1.

You can download the version 2.1 Bolt Action Modern play sheet here (updated to v3.1).

You can download the version 2.1 Bolt Action Modern army lists here (updated to v3.1).

The army lists now cover:

• USMC
• US Army
• Russian Army
• British Army
• Australian Army
• Iraqi Army & Insurgents
• Canadian Army
• Chinese PLA
• French Army (including FFL)
• German Army

Hopefully that covers that majority of the bases and gets even more people playing :-)

Bolt Action Modern - Version 2.0 (Rules & Army Lists)

Although I was travelling all this week for work, I managed to finish writing up the Bolt Action version 2.0 rules (major updates/additions).  I also managed to consolidate all of the army lists into one document that uses two pages per army list.  The army lists also now include Russians and Australians (special thank you to Spyros Staikos for the Australians).

You can download the Bolt Action Modern v2.1 rules here (updated to v3.1).

You can download the Bolt Action Modern Army Lists v2.2 here (updated to v3.1).

Here is a preview of the v2.0 rules playsheet ...

And here are all the army lists - now in a "double-sided" quick reference format ...

I know I've got more work to do on the British vehicles ... I've just got what I own in there now ... but there are many I could add ... but this should be more than enough to get people playing.