Into the Wasteland: Commie Ghouls

While raiders tend to be the primary adversaries in post-apocalyptic settings, I like the idea of encountering remnants of the enemy communist army, even if they weren't major players in the later Fallout world. Fallout history has Red China as America's WW3 opponent, with the Russian Soviets being on the sideline.  However, Vermillion Miniatures has a great set of Soviets (Red Menace pack) that I couldn't resist. So they are going to be the bulk of my Commies, along with a few PLA navy ghouls by Marco R. Sassi from Fallout 4.

The Red Menace pack can either be made with the troops as ghouls equipped with old weapons, or normal humans with high-tech weapons. I liked the ghoul idea, so went with that route.

Soviet Commander and Scientist. Though I took some liberties, I  based the officer's coat on ones used in the 1980s. Though it looks fairly blue in the photo, it's actually a cool grey in real life. The officer also has a cybernetic arm behind his back. Both versions of the scientist are only available in human form, so I'm having to assume he's been in some sort of statis if he arrived before the bombs. I tried to make his clothing look vinyl/rubber with more pronounced highlights and a satin finish, but I'm not 100% sold on the final effect.

Soviet Science Officers. I thought the metal grating on the bases looked a bit plain, so I've added scraps of old propaganda posters to try and give them more visual pop.

Soviet Troopers. As the center trooper is wearing a gasmask (something ghouls shouldn't need) I assumed he was another regular human from statis. Again, clothing colors are inspired by the 1980s.

Soviet Power Armor. I used 1980's tank colors for reference.

Finally, there is Captain Zao and some crew from the Yangtze-31 submarine, as seen in Fallout 4. Though probably not appropriate for the deserts of New Vegas, they were an order freebie so I'm not going to complain. The pack usually has two different feral ghouls, but my free set had two duplicates.

Overall I'm really happy with this faction and I think they should be able to bring a bit of firepower again the New California Republic and the Brotherhood of Steel.

Into the Wasteland: Caesar’s Legion and Scatter Terrain

So far I have been using 3D printed proxy miniatures for my Fallout project, but I took the plunge and bought the offical figures for Caesar's Legion from Fallout New Vegas. While the Vermillion Miniatures proxy Spartans are nice, I wanted something with more firepower that looked game accurate. The listed price for the box of eight miniatures on the Modiphius site is US $60.21 ($7.53 per figure), which isn't justified, but I was able to find a box for a little over half that price elsewhere.

The figures were produced in a flexible resin and needed to be assembled.  The casting quality was average, with some flash buildup and a few of the bases having chunks missing off the edges. The sculpting was fairly decent, but nothing better than the unofficial 3D prints on the market. For painting, I used Fallout New Vegas screen captures for reference, but opted to brighten the reds to give them more pop on the table.

So here are the figures in detail:

Legion Recruits 

Prime Legionaries

Legion Explorer and another Prime Legionary

A Centurion with salvaged power armor elements and a thermic lance, along with a Decanus commander.

In addition to the troops, I also painted up some more scatter terrain. Many of the elements were 3D prints from Etsy (they often came as part of the figure sets from Vermillion Miniatures), but I also picked up some nice resin pieces from TT Combat.

Phoenix Fizz vending machines from TT Combat. You can build them with the doors open or closed, and the back panel can be left on or off.

Bits of furniture.  The dressers could be assembled with different drawer layouts for variety.  

A raider throne from Vermillion, along with a mix of junk from both companies.

Small rock formations from Vermillion, along with a Deathclaw nest.

3D printed piles of street debris (both pieces are the same, just rotated). The 3D print lines were fairly prominent, but I opted not to spend the time needed to fully sand everything down. I think they will still look good on the table.

 

Into the Wasteland: Super Mutants, Behemoth and Billboards

I've added some more dangers for my survivors to encounter as they wander the wasteland. These Fallout-style super mutants are designed by Vermillion Miniatures and were purchased off of Etsy from a couple of vendors.  The bulk of them are from the "Atomic Mutants" set, but I've also included a few figures from "The Atomic Unity" and "Cafe of Broken Dreams" sets.

First up is a proxy for the named super mutant Marcus, from Fallout 2 and New Vegas. For his paint scheme, I've done my best to mimic what was seen in the video games. 

Various super mutants. All of them came with various weapon options, so you can do a bit of customization. They run about 40-45mm to eye level, depending on the pose.

A super mutant behemoth.  This guy is a brute, standing about 70mm to the eye. 

I just love the detail of the dead vault dweller on the supplied base.

I've also added a few billboards from TT Combat. While they were easy to assemble and look good for MDF, the one issue I have with this is they are very top heavy and the position of the sign means they can tip over backwards quite easily.  I may add bases or weights in the future to help with this. 

For the signs themselves, I selected images from Fallout New Vegas. While they print out already distressed, I added more grime and streaks using Army Painter Quickshade.

While I know Nuka Cola is the iconic beverage of the Fallout franchise, I decided to buck convention and go with its competitor, Sunset Sarsaparilla.  I figured this lesser known brand would also be easier to use in non-Fallout settings.

 Out of the Fallout proxy figures I've painted so far, I have to say the mutants were my favorites.  The sculpting quality was top notch, and I particularly loved the detail in the faces. Vermillion Miniatures has just released another super mutant set with some great looking figures (including another behemoth), so I may be adding more in the future. 

Early Italian Wars: More Units and Final Army

The refurbishment/expansion of my Late Medieval/Early Renaissance army for the Holy Roman Empire is now complete. 

First up is another commander flying the Hanseatic League banner, which is also the coat of arms of the lead Hanseatic city of Lübeck.  The figures are plastics from Perry's War of the Roses line. 

More mounted knights in plastic from Perry. While the overall combined height of horse and rider is similar to my Front Rank knights, the riders are much smaller and the overall bulk is less. Having both units on the table looks fine, but I wouldn't mix figures into one unit.

A supply cart from Front Rank.

Early Landsknecht pikemen from The Assault Group. I only needed 30 for my pike block, so used the other two as another command unit. Size-wise, they are around the same height as Old Glory and only slightly smaller than Perry.

Old Glory miniatures arquebusiers painted in the colors of Münster.

A mix of Old Glory and Perry plastic arquebusiers from Kiel. The Perry figures are a little taller and more slender than the Old Glory figures, but I think the variety of poses allows them to mix well enough in this unit.

Perry, Crusader, and Wargames Foundry arbalest crossbowmen from Lübeck. The Perry and Crusader miniatures are sculpted in a very similar size and style and blend in quite well.  The older Foundry figures, while nice, run on the smaller side, so you'll have to be a bit more careful with how you mix them in. 

And with that my army is now complete. It was fun to revisit a project I started nearly 20 years ago for Warhammer Ancient Battles and I am really happy they are now getting time on the table with my Hail Caesar group after so long in storage. So far they have managed to beat the Hussites and Hungarians in two close battles, but we'll see if their luck continues to hold.

Into the Wasteland: Feral Ghouls and TTCombat Terrain

I'm back with some more 3D prints from Vermillion Miniatures and purchased from TeenageWastelandUS. These ghouls come from the Necropolis set.

I opted to paint three of the figures as Glowing Ones. Originally I tried to mimic the computer games color schemes, with the glow coming from the recesses and the skin being darker, but I never managed to get it to look right.  As such, I flipped it around and think it looks much better, even if it's not fully accurate. I also kept the clothing with the same green tint as I thought other colors looked distracting.

Your standard feral ghouls. A few of them had some broken fingers, but I only opted to replace one hand out of the bits box and left the others missing as a sign of rot. 

A bit of scatter terrain. As is unfortunately common with 3D prints, you can see the print lines on the toxic waste barrels. I did a little sanding, but didn't feel they were worth the effort needed to get the fully smooth. However, I think they still look pretty good once painted.

I needed a break for painting figures, so decided to switch over to a bit of terrain.  There are a couple of companies making ruined modern terrain, but I selected some of TTCombat's MDF kits, as they were relatively budget friendly, seemed sturdy, and had the types of buildings I wanted.  The kits did not have labeled parts and the downloadable instructions were not always clear, so at times it could be challenging to figure out what I was supposed to be constructing at a particular step. I also found some instances where the pieces didn't fit well and either required sanding or putty to fill gaps. As such, I recommend dry fitting everything first before adding glue. The kits also included some MDF accessories such as a dumpster and cola machine, but their MDF nature was very obvious.  I decided not to use them and will look for resin or 3D print replacement options (which TTCombat also sells). That said, I am still happy with the final results.

First up is the ruined Stan's Drive Thru restaurant.  The roof does not lift off, but there is a large enough gap on the back to allow you to place miniatures inside.  It also comes with a sperate destroyed sign. Overall, a very nice kit.

Next is the ruined Dinogas gas/petrol station.  This kit ended up being much larger than I expected, but I'm not complaining.  The roof of the building lifts offs, but the collapsed section is attached to the roof with two tabs and comes off with it. The cover for the filling bay also attaches to the building, but it is only by a single tab. To me, these are going to be significant weak points that will fail if you try to glue the tabs in, so I'm just dry fitting them together for play and will store the building in parts.

The kits are advertised as being for 28mm-32mm figures, but I think they are actually oversized for this. The doors on both kits are around 50mm tall, which is around 1/43 scale compared to a standard American door height of approximately 7 feet. As you can see, my regular 32mm trooper looks pretty short next to it, though the larger power armor figures seems a bit more reasonable.  Considering this, I would definitely not try to use these with smaller figures. 

 

Bolt Action: Battle of Mutanchiang 1945 AAR

For our latest game of Bolt Action, Art and I decided to fight the Battle of Mutanchiang from 1945. The Soviet Union had declared war against Imperial Japan and launched an overpowering night assault against the city of Mutanchiang, which was being used by the  Kwantung Army as a base of operations. The Japanese army decided to fight a rearguard action, leaving a skeleton force to slow the Soviet advance while the majority of the army evacuated to Tunghua.

For this scenario, The Soviets had to get at least half their units across the table and through the three available exit routes before time ran out. The Japanese were dug into the ruins, with additional fortifications of barbed wire, minefields, anti-tank ditches, and a roadblock. We also used the "Flare!" night fighting rules, so visibility varied from round to round.

Round 1: 

Flare were sent up by the Soviets, illuminating the city ruins. However, the Japanese chose to remain hidden.

The Soviets launched a preparatory bombardment of the city prior to advancing. Many of the Japanese units were stunned and received pin markers, but all survived. However, the roadblock and a section of barbed wire were destroyed.

Round 2:

As the flares faded, the Soviets began advancing in earnest. 

The darkness prevented any accurate exchange of gunfire, with the exception of the Soviets' Katyusha rocket launcher, which attacked the large ruins seen the previous round. A flamethrower team was killed by the explosions, but the rest of the entrenched Japanese survived the attack.

The Japanese used the rest of the round to rally troops and shed pin markers.

Round 3:

Another round began in darkness. The Katyusha launched a second rocket barrage against the ruins, this time killing the Japanese Major in charge of this sector.

A Soviet Sherman tank and the entrenched Japanese Chi-Ha tank exchanged fire in the dark. The fortifications deflected the Soviet shell, and the Chi-Ha's round was too weak to penetrate the Sherman's armor.

A second Soviet Sherman approached the Japanese defenses, wary of a patch of freshly dug earth in front of the barbed wire. It opened fire on the shadows moving behind the barricades, but was ineffective.

A Japanese machine gun team spotted arriving Soviet transports, opening fire on one.  They managed to hit a fuel tank, destroying the truck and killing some of the infantrymen.  The survivors scurried into the underbrush, their morale shaken.  

Round 4:

More flares went up from the Soviets, A Japanese sniper team worked to pick off the survivors of the burning truck.

A third Soviet Sherman arrived and quickly decimated a squad of Japanese infantrymen.  The lone survivor quickly fled into the dark. To patch the gap in the defenses, another infantry squad arrived, along with a suicide anti-tank hunter.

Soviet infantry arrived at another Japanese barricade and were quickly run across the disturbed earth by their commanders.  The lack of explosions showed there were no anti-personal mines, but likely anti-vehicle mines. With the support of  the Sherman's machine gun, a firefight broken out with the Japanese infantry.

Another unit of Japanese in the adjacent building prevented a second Soviet squad from completing a flanking attack. 

Round 5:

Under the continued light of the flares, intense fighting raged on in the roadway, while a Soviet tank destroyer also arrived on the scene. 

Hand to hand combat broke out between the second Soviet and Japanese squads, with the Soviets eventually taking the upper hand and entering the building.

With the clock ticking, the first Soviet Sherman chose to bypass the ineffective Chi-Ha and brave the anti-tank ditch.  In their haste, the Japanese had not dug deep enough, and the Sherman successfully crossed it.  The tank also spotted the suicide anti-tank hunter hiding on the other side, and gunned him down before he could run in for the kill.

Defeating the Japanese on the street, the Soviet infantrymen made a run for their exit point while dodging shots from the ruins.

The second Soviet squad eliminated another suicide anti-tank hunter lurking behind a truck.

As the Soviet tanks prepared to exit through the breached Japanese defenses, another Japanese infantry squad and suicide anti-tank hunter exited the ruins to launch a flank attack.

Round 6:

Before the Soviets could react to the new threat, the tank hunter launched himself against the rear of the third Sherman, blowing the tank and himself to pieces. 

The surviving Sherman quickly dashed down the road before the other Japanese infantry could catch it. 

The Japanese infantry pivoted in their target, and instead went after the Soviet tank destroyer. Despite their banzai passion, the attack was ineffective against the tank destroyer's armor.  However, the tank destroyer chose to beat a hasty retreat.

With time almost out, the Katyusha tried to find an exit that would keep it away from the main battle.

The surviving Soviet infantry units quickly ran past the last of the Japanese defenses to their exit point.

At this stage, not enough Soviets had made it past the Japanese defenses for a victory, so Art's only hope was for the dice to give him an extension and get one more unit off the table. Would there be a ...

Round 7:

Yes.

The last of the Soviet Shermans was unwilling to risk crossing the minefield, so opened fire on the Japanese machine gun team.

With the tank destroyer too far away for a second attack, the Japanese launched an unsuccessful attack on the Sherman. The Soviet survivors of the burning truck managed to launch a counter attack on the Japanese infantry. 

Additional Japanese reinforcements arrived, but could nothing more than man the barricades again.

The tank destroyer and Katyusha were unsuccessful in exiting the battlefield.

And with that, the battle was over. Despite inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese and moving several units past their defenses, the Soviets were still one unit short to declare victory.  The Japanese rearguard had held on long enough to get the bulk of their forces out of the city, and the war would continue.