The Obsession: Extent of the Wargames Malady Part 1
Surely every miniatures builder-painter-collector has to have an element of OCD.Getting my Russian Troops ready for Operation Bagration also inspired me to document the extent of my malady: Why not photograph all of my armies ?
So here goes: Za Stalinha! : My 1943-44 Russian Army:
I have only photographed what is just about ready to roll out on the snow-covered steppe. No lend-lease vehicles or equipment either, only the hardware made in Mother Russia:
The River of Heroes, FoW book at the ready
Siberian Ski Troops and Guards Division Iosef Stalin IS 2 Heavy Tanks
Zis 3 Battery no.1 and Medium mortars
IL-2 Sturmovik's Eye View of Soviet assault guns
The same Sturmovik taking a snap of Zis 3 Battery no 2 ...
...and 122 mm Field Howitzers
And sweeping over the Tankovy: KV 1-Es, KV 2s and a single KV-85;
T34s Obr 1941 (Stalingrad turret) and T34/76 Obr 1943s
The ungainly KV2s leading the way
T34/76 Obr 1943
T34 Obr 1941 w Stalingrad turren (I think)
Hastily applied whitewash Camo on two T34 Obr 1942 s and a T34/76
Pride of the Guard's Division: IS-2s
The heart of the Soviet assault: Strelkovy: The humble foot soldiers
Heavy mortars to beat the Hitlerites into submission
Medium Mortars too
Business end of the Medium 122 mm Field Howitzers
Cossacks on the warpath...
and dismounted
37 mm Antitank guns, and a commissar and standard bearer
(to enthuse those that may be slightly unwilling to fight for Mother Russia and Comrade Stalin)