Soviet Naval Infantry

The 142nd Naval Infantry Battalion - ready to storm ashore to attack the fascists in their lairs.  Famous for the defense of Leningrad, Novorossiysk, and Sevastopol; but naval infantry fought throughout Europe and in the Far East as well.

Here is the battalion:

There are three infantry companies, with their commander:

 The heavy weapons company.

And a forward observer ready to call in the fire of the fleet.









This force will be extended to a brigade.  I have followed a standard infantry battalion structure with this unit, but I have since discovered that I could have been far more generous with the assignment of machine guns and mortars.

Soviet Field Artillery

The 346th Artillery Regiment supports the 80th Rifle Division.  This is the still-mustering 1st Battalion

From the unit's right, two Zis-3 76.2mm guns and a 122mm howitzer.  The rightmost gun crew is Minifigs, the others are Pendraken.  On the unit's far left, the forward observer.  The kneeling observer is Pendraken, the mounted horseholder is Wargames South, and the empty horse is Perrin.  My Perrin Franco-Prussian war project did not have legs but they are unusual in casting riders and horse separately so have been a source of convenient horseflesh.

A close-up of the howitzer.  All these guns should have horse-drawn limbers -- a fact that is high on my completions list.

Of course, much of the time they will be off table, with the observer calling in fire.

An Independent Tank Regiment

The 119th Separate Tank Regiment was an interesting real-world unit formed as part of the Red Army by ethnic Armenians.  This representation is a bit understrength - it needs three more T35/85's to make up full strength.

The formation has a sub-machine-gun company, a command element, reconnaissance, and of course two tank companies.

SMG and Command are all Pendraken.

The T34/85 Tanks are from Wargames South.  They are some of the nicest models on the market; they do come at a premium price.

The recon armored car is from Minifigs; the crewman having a look-see was a Minifigs artillery crewman.

A Red Army Rifle Regiment

To be specific, the 410th Rifle Regiment, 80th Lubanskaya Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class Rifle Division.  I am basing the formation on the late war Soviet TOE to be found in the Army Overview pdf from Command Decision:Test of Battle.  I have modified the details to work with the Blitzkrieg Commander rules, which has very different command rules but the same stand=platoon backbone.

First, the regimental assets:

From the unit's right, front rank:

• 45 mm AT gun, Pendraken gun and crew.  The limber is from Pendraken's WWI line but the rider is from Wargames South.  
• The regimental scouts, in their cammo suits.  Recon is a big deal in any good WWII game -- in BKC well-employed recon increases the command value of a nearby command stand.
• The commander himself, with his team. The burned-out Panzer IV is from Minifigs. I found the sample a bit fiddly to assemble; wrecked I could manage. The mounted officer is a very handy figure; he was designed as the commander from the Pendraken WWI Russian cavalry. 
• On the left flank, the 120mm Mortar (Pendraken again) with its limber.
• Right-rear the anti-tank riflemen of the AT company, and the Sub-machine gun company on the left; a handy regimental reserve.

The regiment is missing its 76.2 mm regimental gun  I prefer the look of the M27, but no-one makes one at the moment.  Every tank some kraut scribbled a picture of on the back on a napkin, but not a basic weapon like a regimental gun of which some 16000 were made.  Go figure.  The M43 was built on the 45mm AT gun carriage, so kit-bashing one is my back-up plan.

In Blitzkrieg Commander the typical battlegroup is a re-enforced regiment; the command stand is therefore set up to be the highest ranking stand on the board.

Next, the 1st Battalion:

 

Command stand, 6 rifle stands in three companies, 2 machine gun stands, and a mortar.  All Pendraken

Likewise,  2nd Battalion:

Except -- the officer in the right front rife stand waving his pistol over his head to encourage his men is from Minifigs.  The Minifigs figures are slight but can be mixed in moderation with Pendraken figures when the equipment size differences are not too jarring.