Second World War Russian infantry in 20mm

After a break of several decades I returned to miniature gaming in 2011 when my interest was reignited by the Crossfire rules. Despite the fact I hadn't been playing games with miniatures for many years I never stopped playing wargames or making models. I just did the two separately. I made scale models for display and scratched my gaming itch playing hex and counter wargames. This was the moment when the model making and gaming were reunited and was to take me down the path that led to Chain of Command. 

The Crossfire rules work particularly well for actions in close terrain, like city fights. So, with battles like Stalingrad in mind, I set about trying to quickly assemble two opposing forces, which is how I came to collect the Russians in 20mm. 

I'm old enough to be part of the Airfix generation and so my default scale for miniature gaming was always 1/72 (20mm). I'd watched the arrival of 28mm and 15mm from a distance, but I felt a natural affinity towards 1/72 which, in my opinion, works well for the Second World War. The sets from the Plastic Soldier Company seemed ideal and provided more than enough figures. 

I discovered Army Painter Quickshade dip and before long I had put together a couple of Russian companies for Crossfire (three figures to a base, each representing one squad). I did the same with the PSC Germans and so the journey back into miniatures began. I scratch built terrain from foamcore and I remember taking the pictures below and feeling very satisfied with my work.

When I first tried out Chain of Command I used the Crossfire figures - even with the multiple basing. Other than coming up with a way to mark individual casualties the multiple basing worked fine, however it wasn't long before I was enthused enough to 'disband' two of my Crossfire companies and rebase the figures individually. 

As a result my initial Russian infantry platoon for CoC started with PSC figures and to this day a few remain in service. If you've been following the blog you will know that slowly I've been replacing most of my older Second World War miniatures with those from the AB Figures range. They are beautifully sculpted and offer a much wider range than PSC (that said, they are metal and considerably more expensive).

The Soviet lists in the Chain of Command v2 rule book focus on the later period of the war, from approximately 1943-45. This is also the period I've covered with my collection. 

The rifle and SMG platoons are led by a Leytenant and a Serzhant, these two are from AB Figures. As with all my senior leaders, they are on rectangular bases.

This distinguishes them from the junior leaders who are on 20mm round bases, the same as individual soldiers.

I've tried to set the junior leaders apart from the other ranks by selecting a figure with a distinctive leader-type pose and then adding a few rocks to the base. Once again, these are all AB figures.

I've found the combination of the right pose and the rocks does the job without the need for larger or different shaped bases.

In certain situations the Russians are able to have a Political Commissar as a support option. The role of the commissar changed considerably as the war progressed and this is reflected in the rules, with their role developing into less of a political supervisor for the officers and into more of a political inspiration for the men. This commissar figure is based on one of the officers in the PSC plastic set (those older PSC figures are not totally redundant and do still have their uses). 

I've also converted the same pose by replacing the head with a bandaged head from the PSC German set to make a wounded senior leader.

The later war Soviet rifle platoon is made up of three sections, as you can see from the list in Chain of Command v2.

Copyright Too Fat Lardies

The two light sections are led by a Serzhant (junior leader) who has under his command an LMG team of three men and a team of six riflemen. 

These are are all AB Figures. Aside from being great sculpts, the AB figures are also correct in having their bayonets attached to their rifles as it was Red Army doctrine to have them on at all times. I'm also able to arm the Serzhant, the squad leader, with an appropriate submachine gun.

The third section in the platoon is the Heavy section, composed of two LMG team under the command of a Serzhant (junior leader).

This section has larger LMG teams than the Light sections with four men in each.

The Soviet SMG platoon is another common unit and could be part of either a rifle battalion or the celebrated Tankodesantniki (tank riders).

Copyright Too Fat Lardies

The platoon headquarters includes the Leytenant (a Senior Leader) and the platoon Serzhant (an Inferior Senior Leader). There is also a Sniper team (this can be composed of one or two figures, it makes no difference in terms of the rules) and in this case I have a very nice female sniper from AB Figures.

Then there are two Light Sections. Each of these is made up of a Serzhant (the Junior Leader who commands the section) with a SMG Team of six men armed with submachine guns and a LMG Team with three crew. The men are all armed with the iconic PPSh-41 submachine with supporting fire from a Degtyaryov LMG.

As with the rifle platoon, there is also a third section, the Heavy Section, which differs from the first two in that it is composed of two LMG teams. In the case of the SMG platoon heavy section, each of those teams also has a man armed with a PPSH41 SMG. Like the other sections, they are under the command of a Serzhant (a Junior Leader).

The Cambodian War Museum, which is primarily dedicated to the wars with Vietnam and the Khmer Rouge does feature a fair amount of Soviet equipment, albeit most of it post-war. However, they did have a PPSh-41 and, unlike most museums, visitors are free to pick up any of the exhibits. The PPSh-41 is quite heavy (and in this case the magazine was empty). I'm also fairly sure I'm not holding it correctly.

For the Degtyaryov LMG crews I use a mix of figures. While I prefer the AB sculpts, I still have a number of PSC figures that mix well enough with them if required. For example the two figures manning the LMG below are from PSC and don't look out of place.

So much so, in fact, that I have quite a lot of them, but as they come in only the single pose, I like to mix them up with the AB crews.

Talking of the Degtyaryov light machine-gun here is one on display in the Spanish Army Museum in Valencia.

This one is in the Imperial War Museum.

What would the tankodesantniki be without a tank? AB Figures do a great set of tank riders and I couldn't resist putting together this Dragon T34/85 complete with a full load.

The Red Army made much use of scouts and AB produce a lovely group wearing amoeba suits. They provide enough figures to make up the Soviet support option for a Scout Section. This is lead by a Serzhant and is composed to two three man scout teams.

The set includes a number of useful figures including a sniper and a pair that make for a good forward observation team.

The Musee de l'Armee in Paris has a great example of an amoeba suit and sniper rifle.

SHQ produce one of the few sets that I'm aware of that feature assault engineers wearing body armour. They are all armed for close assault with submachine guns and LMGs as well as a flamethrower. They are one of the few units in this collection not made up with figures from the AB range.

As I do for all my platoons for Chain of Command I have made up platoon boards to organise the units for a game and have them ready for deployment on to the table. You can see how I make them in this post.

Support options include various forms of infantry anti-tank teams. AB produce a handy set of men armed with anti-tank grenades and panzerfaust. Perfect for those late war scenarios.

You may also have noticed the mine dog and handler. This pair are from SHQ. I have yet to use them in a game, but thought it would be useful to have them in the mix. From what I understand this was always something of a desperate measure and not particularly successful. Not sure how true the stories are, but I've heard the dogs were not able to distinguish between tanks and so a Russian tank was as good to run under as a German one. It may be apocryphal, but for whatever reasons it was a tactic soon abandoned by the Red Army.

On a more practical and far more effective level, a Russian platoon would appreciate the support of a Maxim MMG team and this one is from AB.

Below is a maxim in the Spanish Army Museum, which looks like a model from the 1930s and probably goes back to the era of the Spanish Civil War.

I've seen several figures firing the Maxim in a sitting position, not just in 20mm, but in every scale, however I'm not sure whether this is based on actual fact or the perpetuation of an error. The weapon doesn't appear to be designed to be fired from a seated position without the firer exposed above the gun shield and with their knees bent almost up to their hands. That strikes me as not only uncomfortable but also hazardous, presenting too big a target. 

Quick research reveals photographic evidence from the period of the weapon fired from a prone position and I'm inclined to think AB have got this one right. Interestingly, if you look at the Maxim pictured above from the Spanish Army Museum there is a wooden device attached to the legs that looks like it might be intended as an elbow rest for the person firing. Looking at the images below, that would make sense if it was.

It also looks like it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to use the sights to aim if the firer was seated.

Neither AB or PSC make a team and gun for the DShK 12.7mm heavy machine gun and so my solution has been to use the AB maxim crew with a gun from MMS. MMS also produce a crew for the gun but I have found their figures to be rather small and slim in comparison to AB and so decided not to use those.

A 50mm mortar was a very common platoon support and this one comes from the PSC Russian Heavy Weapons Support set. I have to say it's probably my least favourite piece in the Russian collection. The figures look very clunky, but for now it serves its purpose.

The Russians continued to make use of their AT rifles long after other nations had stopped. They still packed a powerful punch and an operator that knew how to find the weak spots in German armour could cause damage. Here are two AT rifle teams, both from AB.

In addition to the female sniper figure that feature in the platoon HQ for the SMG platoon I also have a sniper that comes with the scouts. AB have a few more and I suspect I should add some of those.

That covers off the core infantry units and supports, then there are the heavier support options including anti-tank guns and artillery (I will cover Russian armour in a different post). 

This 45mm AT gun is from the Plastic Soldier Company with a crew from AB. The gun comes in a set that allows you to make up two versions of the 45mm AT gun. The earlier 1937 model with a shorter barrel or the 1942 model. The one below is the 1937 model.

Both guns used the same gun carriage and so it's really just a matter of selecting the appropriate barrel when making the kits. Below is the same PSC kit but with the 1942 model 45mm gun. In this case the three crew on the base with the gun come from the original PSC crews that come with the set, the gun commander and other crew member are from AB.

Here is the shorter barrelled version on display in the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum.

PSC also make the 57mm Bis-2 anti tank gun, a considerably more potent anti-tank weapon than the earlier 45mm. Once again the crew on the base are from the PSC set and the other two are from AB.

The barrel on the 57mm is extraordinarily long and seems even more so when you see one up close, like the one below which I saw on display at the Musee des Blindes in Saumur.

And this one at the Military Museum in Beijing.

Close range artillery support comes in the form of this M1927 76.2mm regimental gun, a plastic kit from Zvezda with a crew of mixed figures from PSC and AB.

There is an earlier model of this regimental gun in the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum.

The Zis-3 76mm gun provided both AT and HE support and was a widely used weapon. This gun is from the PSC set and all the crew are from AB.

The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum also has one in their collection.

While I will cover Russian armour in a separate post I think the SU-76 probably deserves a mention here. The T-70 light tank may not have been a huge success but the modifications made to the chassis to lengthen it and add an extra road wheel formed the basis for the SU-76, a self propelled version of the Zis-3 gun that was designed as an infantry regiment close-support asset. These were produced in very large numbers, second only to the T-34 and provided infantry regiments with considerable additional mobile fire support as the war progressed. This is the plastic kit from UM Models out of Ukraine.

The crew figures are from AB.

Another vehicle more likely to be seen in a platoon level game like Chain of Command is a GAZ jeep, this is one from S-models with passengers from AB.

Last, but not least, I have used spare figures from various PSC plastic sets to make three themed jump-off-points.