Bolt Action... Цель достигнута

After I finished my first Soviet LMG squad for Bolt Action, I set myself the target of completing a second LMG squad and an SMG squad (that's a grand total of 30 PBIs!) before I started messing about with other peripheral stuff like officers, artillery, tanks and the like. The theory being, that once I started modelling the supporting cast, I would struggle to get back to the bread and butter, nuts and bolts, hard core of the army.

Well, apart from one small lapse, when I just couldn't resist building and painting a two man crew for an anti-tank rifle, the target has been achieved! On the afternoon of Saturday 24th November 2018, the 30th Soviet infantryman rolled off the painting table and three squads were complete. Less than three months passed from first starting them to the last brush stroke, and, considering that only one week of that was holiday, that is probably the greatest number of figures painted while going out to work every day! Two squads needed basing and that was done over the rest of the weekend.

One strategy employed in achieving the target was to leave the tank and the other supporting troops wrapped up in the boxes that Warlord posted them in when they were ordered! Out of sight, out of mind seems to work!

For the past couple of months, I've done really well to keep focussed on building and painting troops for my Soviet platoon, even though Warlord almost managed to drop a massive spanner in the works by announcing the release date for their 'Cruel Seas' naval game, just as I was coming to the end to painting my SMG squad.

I spent way too much time watching John Stallard on UTube and browsing pictures of coastal forces hardware, but the fact that there was nothing that I could actually buy and paint kept the brushes dipped in Russian Uniform Green. A good job, as it turns out, that the Cruel Seas release date was December rather than November.

Hopefully, things ought to get a little less stressful now and I can concentrate on the smaller, more enjoyable, tasks of building and painting the supporting cast. The Lieutenant and his side-kick are already on the bench and I'm experimenting with ideas for something a bit unusual for the sniper team.

And here's a sneak preview of the lieutenant, struggling to get his map orientated properly, and his mate, who appears to have strong views about which way is west!