Soviet Arms Factory on my Table-top - Getting ready for KWC Open Day

Soviet Arms Factory

We decide to have Late war Soviet Push for Berlin game at the annual open day.

I realised that I had a great deal of unpainted and half-built Armourfast Soviet tanks and tank busters sitting under my work area, so out came the glue and paint:

Pretty soon Su-85s, T34-Obr 1943s and T34-85s were rolling off the production line

A lone halftrack makes a quick getaway, while tigers huddle in their plastic container.

Awaiting tracks, guns fitted

One model had been waiting so long that it somehow lost its gun mantlet. KV1 mantlet and green stuff to the rescue

Fires of October: Interesting What if ? for Wargamers

1962. The US invades Cuba. Wargaming of a "What If ?" scenario beckons

What if the US had invaded Cuba in 1962: An interesting scenario to play. A new book contemplates what could have been and newly declassified information. Apparently it came close to happening...

Fires of October is a critical and detailed analysis of the military aspects of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
This now tops my reading list!

 It describes how close we came to a nuclear conflict by outlining the strength of Soviet tactical and strategic nuclear weapons in Cuba, and how the use of these weapons was delegated to commanders in the field.
What is unique about this book?

This is the first book that explores the great “what if” of the Cuban Missile Crisis – the planned US invasion of Cuba. In a subject that has had hundreds of books and articles written about it, Blaine Pardoe has broken new ground in an area previously glossed over by most historians. With this book, readers will get their first glimpse into what the invasion, code-named Operation Scabbards, could have been like and what the US would have faced on Cuba.

What research material was used?

Fires of October has leveraged newly declassified materials from the US National Archives and other government agencies to tell the story of a military campaign cancelled only hours before initiation.  Many of these materials have only just come to light, having been incorrectly labeled and catalogued.  The author spent five years meticulously piecing together the information into a coherent narrative.

Just how close did the US come to invading Cuba?

The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the most fluid and potentially dangerous situations that the US faced in the Cold War.  The United States was just 48 hours from initiating the air campaign, which would have been followed by a massive airborne and amphibious assault on the island ten days later.

Would it have been a cake walk?

Many authors have alluded to the fact that the US possessed overwhelming military might, and would have crushed the Cubans and Soviets on the island. But contemporary research shows that the US intelligence assumed only 12,000 Soviets were present, but actual forces totaled over 40,000.  The opposing forces had numerous front-line Soviet tanks and armored vehicles. The Cubans were deeply entrenched and prepared for an American attack as well, with over 100,000 troops ready and mobilized.

OP Plan 316-62 – Operation Scabbards – called for airborne assaults to seize airfields which, unknown to the Americans, were less than two miles from Soviet headquarters positions. Much of the fighting in and around Havana would have been vicious urban combat, which always favors the defenders.  The Americans were seriously hampered from landing the necessary tanks, and lacked sufficient armaments for a prolonged campaign.  It is quite possible that invading Cuba could have slipped into a Viet Nam-type campaign.

What about nuclear war with the Soviets?

Mr. Pardoe has sifted through Civil Defense and Department of Defense information to carry out the impact of nuclear conflict with the Soviets as a result of an invasion. He covers the potential nuclear trigger points and, using a simulation from only a month prior to the crisis, recreates what the potential impact might have been on the United States – city by city.

Blaine Pardoe is an award winning author of numerous books in the science fiction, military non-fiction, true crime, paranormal, and business management genres.  He has appeared on a number of national television and radio shows to speak about his books.  Pardoe has been a featured speaker at the US National Archives, the United States Navy Museum, and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. He was awarded the State History Award in 2011 by the Historical Society of Michigan, and is a two-time silver medal winner from the Military Writers Society of America in 2010 and 2013.

In 2013 Mr. Pardoe won the Harriet Quimby Award from the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame for his contributions to aviation history. Mr. Pardoe is also a board member of the League of WWI Aviation Historians.

His works have been printed in six languages, and he is recognized world-wide for his historical and fiction writing.

KWC refights Kursk: Prokhorovka

The Kapiti Wargames Club re-fought 

The Battle of Kursk's deciding battle, Prokhorovka, at the weekend:

Much like the initial stages of Operation Zitadelle it appeared that Army Group South may succeed in encircling the Soviets:

More photos and brief battle report on the KWC website:

http://kapitiwargamesclub.blogspot.co.nz/2013/08/armourgedon-death-ride-at-kursk.html

Soviet Female Soldiers - Snipers and more

WWII Soviet Female Soldiers and Fighter Pilots

While researching the role of snipers on the Eastern Front I came across some fascinating facts about the role women played, and the phenominal success some of the Russian female snipers and pilots had:
Women played a large part in most of the armed forces of the Second World War. In most countries though, women tended to serve mostly in administrative, medical and in auxiliary roles. But in the Soviet Union women fought in larger numbers in front line roles.

Over 800,000 women served their Motherland in World War II
Nearly 200,000 of them were decorated and 89 of them eventually received the Soviet Union’s highest award, the Hero of the Soviet Union. They served as pilots, snipers, machine gunners, tank crew members and partisans, as well as in auxiliary roles. Very few of these women, however, were ever promoted to officers.

Lydia Litvyak

August 18, 1921 – August 1, 1943 (age:21)

Also known as Lydia Litviak or Lilya Litviak, was a female fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II.

With 12 solo victories and either two or four shared, gained in 66 combat missions, she is one of the world’s only two female fighter aces.

After the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, Litvyak tried to join a military aviation unit, but was turned down for lack of experience. After deliberately exaggerating her pre-war flight time by 100 hours, she joined the all-female 586th Fighter Regiment (586 IAP), which was formed by Marina Raskova. She trained there on the Yakovlev Yak-1 aircraft.

She flew her first combat flights in the summer of 1942 over Saratov. In September, she was assigned, along with Katya Budanova, six other pilots, and accompanying female ground crew, to the 437th IAP, a men’s regiment fighting over Stalingrad. She flew a Lavochkin La-5 fighter, and on September 13, 1942, she shot down her first two aircraft over Stalingrad. The first victory, won during Litvyak’s second combat mission, was a Junkers Ju 88 bomber that she helped her regimental commander shoot down.

Minutes later, she scored the first solo kill ever by a female pilot, destroying a Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-2 “Gustav” piloted by an 11-victory ace, three-time recipient of the Iron Cross, Staff Sergeant Erwin Maier of the 2nd Staffel of Jagdgeschwader 53. Maier parachuted from his aircraft, was captured by Soviet troops, and asked to see the Russian ace who had out-flown him.

When he was taken to stand in front of Litvyak, he thought he was being made the butt of a Soviet joke. It was not until Litvyak described each move of the dogfight to him in perfect detail that he knew he had been beaten by a woman pilot.

On August 1, 1943, Lydia did not come back to her base of Krasnyy Luch, in the Donbass, from an escort to a flight of Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmoviks. It was her fourth sortie of the day. As the Soviets were returning to base near Orel, a pair of Bf 109 fighters dived on Lydia while she was attacking a large group of German bombers.

Soviet pilot Ivan Borisenko recalled: “Lily just didn’t see the Messerschmitt 109s flying cover for the German bombers. A pair of them dived on her and when she did see them she turned to meet them. Then they all disappeared behind a cloud.” Borisenko, involved in the dogfight, saw her a last time, through a gap in the clouds, her Yak-1 pouring smoke and pursued by as many as eight Me 109s. Borisenko descended to see if he could find her. No parachute was seen, and no explosion, yet she never returned from the mission.

Litvyak was 21 years old.

Roza Yegorovna Shanina

Born 1924 – January 28, 1945 (age: 21)

She was a Soviet sniper during the "Great Patriotic War"

She was responsible for 54 confirmed kills, including 12 enemy snipers, during the Battle of Vilnius

After attending Arkhangelsk Teacher’s Training College, she became a mentor in the kindergarten. Then, she voluntarily joined the Vsevobuch and later the Central Female Sniper Academy in Podolsk. On June 22, 1943, Shanina enlisted in the Red Army and on April 2, 1944, joined the 184th Rifle Division, where a separate female sniper platoon was formed. She was awarded the Order of Glory on June 18 and again on September 22, 1944.

Once, upon receiving a battalion commander’s order to immediately return to the rear, Shanina replied “I will return after the battle”. The words later became a title of the book From The Battle Returned by Nikolai Zhuravlyov. On December 12, 1944 Roza was shot in the shoulder, and on December 27, 1944 was awarded the Medal for Valor among the first woman snipers

Shanina died in a battle near Rikhau. Her battle diary and several letters have been published. Streets in Arkhangelsk and in the settlements of Shangaly and Stroyevskoye were named after her.

Katya Budanova

1916 – July 19, 1943 (age: 27)

Yekaterina Vasylievna Budanova was a female fighter pilot in the Soviet Air Force during World War II. With 11 victories, she was one of the world’s first two female fighter aces along with Lydia Litvyak.

She was born into a peasant family in Konoplanka village in Smolensk Oblast. Working in an aircraft factory in Moscow, she became interested in aviation and entered an aeroclub where she received her pilot training. She served as a flight instructor starting in 1937. She also took part in several air parades, flying the single-seater Yakovlev UT-1.

After the German attack on the USSR in June 1941, she enlisted in military aviation. She was assigned to the 586th Fighter Regiment. This unit consisted entirely of female pilots. She flew her first combat missions in April 1942 over Saratov. In September, she was assigned, along with other women (among them, Lydia Litvyak), to the 437th IAP, engaged in the fighting over Stalingrad. She soon became known for her aggressive attacking and high piloting skill.

She flew Yak-1 fighters. On October 6, she attacked 13 Junkers Ju 88 bombers by herself, shooting down her first aircraft. In November, she downed two Bf 109 fighters and a Ju 88. In the following months, she was credited with several more aircraft. In January 1943, she, along with her friend Litvyak, was moved to the 73rd Guards Fighter Regiment of the 8th Air Army. She soon was given the right of “solo hunting”. On February 23, she was awarded with an Order of the Red Star.

On July 19, 1943, during a solo combat with three Bf 109, she shot down one, but was shot down herself and killed near the town of Antracit in Luhansk Oblast.

There are different data as for Katya Budanova’s victory score in different publications, with no official tally. The most common quote is 11 kills (6 individual and 5 team kills). She was awarded the Order of the Red Star and the Order of the Patriotic War (twice). Although it was proposed, she was not awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union during the war. On October 1, 1993, she was posthumously awarded with the title Hero of the Russian Federation.

Lyudmila Pavlichenko

July 12, 1916 – October 10, 1974 (age: 58)

Lyudmila Mykhailivna Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper during World War II, credited with 309 kills, and is regarded as the most successful female sniper in history.

In June 1941, 24-year old Pavlichenko was in her fourth year of studying history at the Kiev University when Nazi Germany began its invasion of the Soviet Union. Pavlichenko was among the first round of volunteers at the recruiting office, where she requested to join the infantry and subsequently she was assigned to the Red Army’s 25th Rifle Division; Pavlichenko had the option to become a nurse but refused “I joined the army when woman were not yet accepted”.

There she became one of 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army, of whom about 500 ultimately survived the war. As a sniper, she made her first two kills near Belyayevka, using a Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle with a P.E. 4-power scope.


Pvt. Pavlichenko fought for about two and a half months near Odessa, where she recorded 187 kills. When the Germans gained control of Odessa, her unit was pulled to be sent to Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, where she fought for more than 8 months. In May 1942, Lieutenant Pavlichenko was cited by the Southern Army Council for killing 257 German soldiers. Her total confirmed kills during World War II was 309, including 36 enemy snipers.

She recorded 309 confirmed kills, including 187 in her first 75 days on the job during the fierce fighting at Odessa, before the Soviets were forced to withdraw. Among her total confirmed kills, she knocked off 100 officers and 36 German snipers, including supposedly one who himself was one of the more decorated snipers in history, recording over 500 confirmed kills according to a log found on his person. (No info on the name of that German sniper though and only a few reputable sources that cite him, so take that latter fact with a grain of salt.)

It should also be noted that Pavlichenko’s actual total number of kills was probably significantly more than 309 because in order for a kill to count towards her total, an independent party had to witness it. Her real total is thought to be closer to around 500.

Sniping being an extremely hazardous job, often with the sniper positioned in no-man’s land between the lines of friendly troops and the enemy (Pavlichenko often camped around 600-1000 ft. in front of her unit), Pavlichenko didn’t always come away unscathed. In June of 1942 during the siege of Sevastopol, she was seriously injured for the fourth time, this time by a mortar shell that had exploded near where she was hiding. Because at this point she’d become something of a celebrity and a public symbol, officials within the Red Army were unwilling to risk her being killed, so they put her on a submarine and got her out of Sevastopol and assigned her a new job as a sniping instructor and a public spokesman, with the rank of Major.

Pavlichenko was sent to Canada and the United States for a publicity visit and became the first Soviet citizen to be received by a U.S. President when Franklin Roosevelt welcomed her at the White House. Later, Pavlichenko was invited by Eleanor Roosevelt to tour America relating her experiences. The United States gave her a Colt automatic pistol, and in Canada, she was presented with a sighted Winchester rifle, the latter of which is now on display at the Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow.
Having attained the rank of Major, Pavlichenko never returned to combat but became an instructor and trained Soviet snipers until the war’s end. In 1943, she was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and was commemorated on a Soviet postage stamp.

American folk musician Woody Guthrie recorded a song in 1946 entitled “Miss Pavlichenko” as a tribute to her kill record, believed to have been written in late 1942. It was released as part of the Asch Recordings.

Pavlichenko died on October 10, 1974 at age 58, and was buried in the Novodevichye Cemetery in Moscow.

Kursk Order of Battle: Protagonists Part 2: The Russians

Kursk Protagonists Part 2: Soviet Forces 

Western Front 

(Vasily Sokolovsky)

50th Army (Ivan Boldin)

11th Guards Army (Ivan Bagramyan)

1st Air Army (Mikhail Gromov)

Bryansk Front 

(Markian Popov)

3rd Army (Alexander Gorbatov)

61st Army (Pavel Belov)

63rd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi)

15th Air Army (Nikolai Naumenko)

Central Front 

(Konstantin Rokossovsky)

13th Army (Nikolay Pukhov)

48th Army (Prokofy Romanenko)

60th Army (Ivan Chernyakhovsky)

65th Army (Pavel Batov)

70th Army (Ivan Galanin)

2nd Tank Army (Alexei Rodin)

16th Air Army (Sergei Rudenko)

Voronezh Front 

(Nikolai Vatutin)

6th Guards Army (Ivan Chistiakov)

7th Guards Army (Mikhail Shumilov)

38th Army (Nikandr Chibisov)

40th Army (Kirill Moskalenko)

69th Army (Vasily Kriuchenkin)

1st Tank Army (Mikhail Katukov)

2nd Air Army (Stepan Kravsovsky)

Steppe Front 

(Ivan Konev)

5th Guards Army (Alexei Zhadov)

5th Guards Tank Army (Pavel Rotmistrov)

5th Air Army (Sergei Goriunov)

 Composition of forces: 

1. Western Front 

(Vasily Sokolovsky)

50th Army (Ivan Boldin)

 38th Rifle Corps (Alexei Tereshkov)

17th Rifle Division

326th Rifle Division

413th Rifle Division

49th Rifle Division

64th Rifle Division

212th Rifle Division

324th Rifle Division

11th Guards Army 

(Ivan Bagramyan)

8th Guards Rifle Corps

11th Guards Rifle Division

26th Guards Rifle Division

83rd Guards Rifle Division

16th Guards Rifle Corps

1st Guards Rifle Division

16th Guards Rifle Division

31st Guards Rifle Division

169th Rifle Division

36th Guards Rifle Corps

5th Guards Rifle Division

18th Guards Rifle Division

84th Guards Rifle Division

108th Rifle Division

217th Rifle Division

1st Air Army (Mikhail Gromov)

2nd Assault Air Corps

2nd Fighter Air Corps

8th Fighter Air Corps

1st Independent Tank Corps (Vasily Butkov)

5th Independent Tank Corps (Mikhail Sakhno)

2. Bryansk Front (Markian Popov)

3rd Army (Alexander Gorbatov)

41st Rifle Corps (Viktor Urbanovich)

235th Rifle Division

308th Rifle Division

380th Rifle Division

269th Rifle Division

283rd Rifle Division

342nd Rifle Division

61st Army (Pavel Belov)

9th Guards Rifle Corps (Arkady Boreiko)

12th Guards Rifle Division
76th Guards Rifle Division
77th Guards Rifle Division
97th Rifle Division
110th Rifle Division
336th Rifle Division
356th Rifle Division
415th Rifle Division

63rd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi)

5th Rifle Division

41st Rifle Division

129th Rifle Division

250th Rifle Division

287th Rifle Division

348th Rifle Division

397th Rifle Division

15th Air Army (Nikolai Naumenko)

1st Guards Fighter Air Corps

3rd Assault Air Corps

 25th Rifle Corps

186th Rifle Division

283rd Rifle Division

362nd Rifle Division

1st Independent Guards Tank Corps

3. Central Front (Konstantin Rokossovsky)

17th Guards Rifle Corps (Andrei Bondarev)

6th Guards Rifle Division

70th Guards Rifle Division

75th Guards Rifle Division

18th Guards Rifle Corps (Ivan Afonin)

2nd Guards Airborne Division

3rd Guards Airborne Division

4th Guards Airborne Division

15th Rifle Corps (Ivan Liudnikov)

8th Rifle Division

74th Rifle Division

148th Rifle Division

29th Rifle Corps (Afanasy Slyshkin)

15th Rifle Division

81st Rifle Division

307th Rifle Division

48th Army (Prokofy Romanenko)

42nd Rifle Corps (Konstantin Kolganov)

16th Rifle Division

202nd Rifle Division

399th Rifle Division

73rd Rifle Division

137th Rifle Division

143rd Rifle Division

170th Rifle Division

60th Army (Ivan Chernyakhovsky)

24th Rifle Corps

42nd Rifle Division

112th Rifle Division

30th Rifle Corps

121st Rifle Division

141st Rifle Division

322nd Rifle Division

Independent 55th Rifle Division

65th Army (Pavel Batov)

18th Rifle Corps

69th Rifle Division

149th Rifle Division

246th Rifle Division

27th Rifle Corps

60th Rifle Division

193rd Rifle Division

37th Guards Rifle Division

181st Rifle Division

194th Rifle Division

354th Rifle Division

70th Army (Ivan Galanin)

28th Rifle Corps (Aleksandr Nechaev)

132nd Rifle Division

211th Rifle Division

280th Rifle Division

102nd Rifle Division

106th Rifle Division

140th Rifle Division

162nd Rifle Division

354th Rifle Division

2nd Tank Army (Alexei Rodin)

3rd Tank Corps

16th Tank Corps

16th Air Army (Sergei Rudenko)

3rd Bombing Air Corps

6th Mixed Air Corps

6th Fighter Air Corps

Independent 9th Tank Corps

Independent 19th Tank Corps

4. Voronezh Front (Nikolai Vatutin)

6th Guards Army (Ivan Chistiakov)

22nd Guards Rifle Corps

67th Guards Rifle Division

71st Guards Rifle Division

90th Guards Rifle Division

23rd Guards Rifle Corps

51st Guards Rifle Division

52nd Guards Rifle Division

375th Rifle Division

Independent 89th Guards Rifle Division

7th Guards Army (Mikhail Shumilov)

24th Guards Rifle Corps (Nikolai Vasilev)

15th Guards Rifle Division

36th Guards Rifle Division

72nd Guards Rifle Division

25th Guards Rifle Corps (Gany Safiulin)

73rd Guards Rifle Division

78th Guards Rifle Division

81st Guards Rifle Division

Independent 213th Rifle Division

38th Army (Nikandr Chibisov)

50th Rifle Corps

167th Rifle Division

232nd Rifle Division

340th Rifle Division

51st Rifle Corps (Petr Avdeenko)

180th Rifle Division

240th Rifle Division

Independent 204th Rifle Division

40th Army (Kirill Moskalenko)

47th Rifle Corps

161st Rifle Division

206th Rifle Division

237th Rifle Division

52nd Rifle Corps (Frants Perkhorovich)

100th Rifle Division

219th Rifle Division

309th Rifle Division

Independent 184th Rifle Division

69th Army (Vasily Kriuchenkin)

48th Rifle Corps (Zinovy Rogozny)

107th Rifle Division

183rd Rifle Division

307th Rifle Division

49th Rifle Corps

111th Rifle Division

270th Rifle Division

1st Tank Army (Mikhail Katukov)

6th Tank Corps (Andrey Getman)

31st Tank Corps

3rd Mechanized Corps

2nd Air Army (Stepan Kravsovsky)

1st Bombing Air Corps

1st Assault Air Corps

4th Fighter Air Corps

5th Fighter Air Corps

35th Guards Rifle Corps

92nd Guards Rifle Division

93rd Guards Rifle Division

94th Guards Rifle Division

Independent 2nd Guards Tank Corps

Independent 3rd Guards Tank Corps

Steppe Front (Ivan Konev)

This order of battle does not show the complete composition of the Steppe Front.

 In addition to the units listed below, there are also 

the 4th Guards, 27th, 47th and 53rd Armies.

5th Guards Army (Alexei Zhadov)

32nd Guards Rifle Corps (Aleksandr Rodimtsev)

13th Guards Rifle Division

66th Guards Rifle Division

6th Airborne Guards Rifle Division

33rd Guards Rifle Corps (Iosif Popov)

95th Guards Rifle Division

97th Guards Rifle Division

9th Airborne Guards Rifle Division

Independent 42nd Guards Rifle Division

Independent 10th Tank Corps

5th Guards Tank Army (Pavel Rotmistrov)

5th Guards Mechanized Corps

29th Tank Corps

5th Air Army (Sergei Goriunov)

7th Mixed Air Corps

8th Mixed Air Corps

3rd Fighter Air Corps

7th Fighter Air Corps

Russians and Germans at Kursk

Russians and Germans at Kursk

Been quietly working away at my Russian Army for the Kapiti Wargames Club Armourgeddon Kursk Commemoration Battle coming up on 25 August.

IS-2s with undercoats still wet

Obtained some more Tank destroyers (gotta have those if we are re-fighting Kursk): Added two more ISU 122s and 2 SU 85 tank destroyers, 2 Zis 3 76mm guns.I also finished building the PSC StuGs (3 to the pack, Yay!) with interchangeable guns - 3 options, went for the 88 with Saukopf mount, but modelled the interchangable  Kurz and Lang barrels too, effectively creating 9 possible variations on the same theme!

Armourfast SU 85s (Left) and Italeri ISU 122s (Right) under construction

Have been painting (under-shading) 4 more IS-2s with 85mm guns, topcoats ready to go on now; bringing the IS-2 force up to 7 tanks. The rest consists of 2 KV1s, another (PST model) stll giving me uphill with the track assembly. (Hate those fiddly bits) But this will also give me the option of three guns: 85mm, 76mm and 54mm. I have chosen not to use the puny 54mm, and have built two turrets with the larger guns. (Again inter-changable) Stuarts will have to do for light armour, as Russian armoured cars in multi-packs for wargaming are almost unobtainable in this scale .

Winter Camo Whitewash T34/85

So my (pure) Soviet Tank origin army now  has:

3 x KV1 variants
7 x IS-2
4 x T34-76
1 x T34-85
2 x SU -85
4 x ISU 122

Plus lend-lease from my Western Front allies army:

5 x Churchills, Umpteen Sherman M4 variants, 6 x Stewart M5, 4 Lee/Grants, Soft skin vehicles etc

I'm also continuing to work on the German IG 33s, above,  survivors of Stalingrad, who saw action at Kursk, and surviving to cover the withdrawal back to Germany by 1945. 

Very limited numbers were built, so a rather unusual (but welcome) kit from Armourfast. Eventually replaced by the Brumbaer and Sturmtiger these medium armoured assault guns were welcome in  urban fighting and as infantry support.

                           Cossack unit also taking shape

 Russian Infantry coming along slowly

Falschimjaeger champing at the bit

Gun crews and SS Krad fahrer (Motorcyclists) at the ready

Pioneer zug waiting to be based on 20mm FoW bases

Early and Mid-war Wehrmacht Heer lined up for their basing. Shoudl arrive any day by post - have ordered laser cut MDF bases from my regular supplier in Dunedin.

Through Autumn's Golden Gown we used to kick our way...

Russian weapons teams based, and being painted