Ukraine Army

Here is my completed Ukraine Army (excluding armor) that will face off against My recently finished Russians.The miniatures are mostly from rhmodels  while just over a 1/4th are from elhiem. The elhiem minis are from their Syrian which have American style helmets that a number of units can be seen wearing. The rhmodels minis are all from the cold war Russian range which represents the amount of cold war equipment they are using.
I went with three different uniform camouflage patterns. This is because as the conflict wore on and the Gov. forces started going through supplies a number of European countries donated uniforms as part of non lethal aid.

The first is what I believe to be the main uniform prior to the rebellion. Here are a couple of pictures I used as reference:

Here are some of the units painted with this uniform. About 2/3 of the force is in this camo pattern though some have mixed vests and helmet covers. All the Elhime minis are painted this way as well as the six RH minis below.

Another uniform I have seen in many photos is this. It is an overall darker pattern with lots of brown. I don't know the country of origin. I painted six RH minis in this, example pictures fallow.

The last pattern is based off the multi cam used by Germany and the USA in desert/aired theaters. Though not ideal in most parts of Ukraine I imagine the donating nations simply offered them because they had a large amount in storage. 

Here is the whole force, 27 in all.

2 x radio operators

2 x medics

3 x RPG

4 x LMG

2 x HMG

4 x Sniper/designated Marksman

10 x Rfilemen

Tanks and APCs are in the mail.

Ukraine Conflict; Thoughts and Figures

Okay so first off I'd like to talk briefly about the fact that on most forums I have been told that discussing the current conflict in Ukraine is not allowed because it is affecting people who might frequent the forums and cause offense. I do not believe in "political correctness" but as Churchill once said "A gentleman never unintentional offends". Keeping that in mind I will keep my post on other forums regarding my project to re-create the current conflict on the table top battle field as vague as possible. However on here I will be very open with my thoughts and descriptions.

As a member of the US armed service I have had friends on colleges who have been affected directly by the conflicts in the middle east. Despite that I see no problem with war-gaming the theater as long as its done respectfully. I am drawn to the current conflict in Ukraine against Russian backed Separatists and in Iraq against ISIS because both are the closest there has been to a conventional war in my adult life time. The use of armor and regular (in the fighting sense) military units on both sides lends itself extremely well to the table top.

With that I have started on a number of Eastern European style buildings in 20mm as well as models to represent the Ukraine nation forces, Russian "Green Men", and Russian backed separatists. I have already finished a couple of buildings (found in last post) and will now share my Russian "Green Men"

These are some of the pictures I used as a reference for Russian Military units fighting in Ukraine

 

Here is my unit.
Modern Russians from Elhiem

Its enough to give me a leader, medic, squad of 8 (divided in to two teams of 4) and a MG team.

Here are some close up shots:

LtoR: Rifleman with optics, MG, Medic, Rifleman

LtoR: Rifleman with optics, Designated Marksman/Sniper, Grenadier

 LtoR: Rifleman with optics, Commander, Rifleman with optics

 MG gunner, assistant gunner

Close up of paint job.

Next batch of units to be finished will be the Ukraine National forces which have 6 more models left to be painted up.

Eastern European Houses

Eastern European Houses

Starting a  Ukrainian conflict project in 20mm. Figures are on order and while I wait for them to arrive I have started on terrain. Here are the first two houses:

SAGA game 2 of 2

For our second game I took command of the Normans and Willett took command of the Anglo-Saxons.

I deployed the knights into a single unit of 8 which meant they where delivering 16 attack dice before abilities. It was my hope that this would help negate the Saxon's defensive abilities.

The Saxons where all deployed on one side of the river so I put my Knights and Warlord on the same side. I kept my Peasants on the opposite side with Sergeants in support and the river as a natural barrier. 

 For the Normans first 2 turns they advanced along either side of the River. The Saxons moved up along the left on the other side of the buildings, using them to block line of sight from my bow armed Peasants. 

 Once the Saxons where close enough I launched my large group of Knights at the Thegns. However one 1 casualty was taken on each side so the Knights fell back.

 I positioned the Peasants to cover the ford and the path between the huts.

 The Thegns moved to either side of the path, keeping the huts between them and archers. Again the Knights charged in and did a bit better with a 2-1 casualties, forcing the Thegns back.

 The Thegns charged in and killed 2 knights but lost 3 themselves so had to pull back

 Wanting to show his men how it was done the Saxon Warlord charged the 3 remaining knights who had 2 fatigue on them already. Amazingly he took no hits and slue 2 of the Knights forcing the remaining one back.

 The last knight was enraged from the loss of his brothers and charged back at the Saxon Warlord. With the combination of abilities and lucky (and unlucky) dice rolls was able to slay the enemy Warlord. 

SAGA game 1 of 2

So as promised here are some photos of the two SAGA games I played. These are the first full table top games I have gotten to play since returning to the US. All the miniatures and terrain are mine. A co-worker of mine, Airmen Willett, who use to play Warhammer Fantasy was my opponent and he really enjoyed how simple and fast the game played compared to  Warhammer.

Game 1 I played as the Anglo-Saxons and Willet took the Normans.

Norman 4pts:
2 units of Knights
1 unit of Sergeants
1 unit of Peasants

Anglo-Saxon 4pts:
3 units of Thegns
1 unit of Ceorls

Here is the table layout before deployment. 

The Fields, Swamp and Ford where all difficult terrain. 

Normans deployed with both unit of knights on the left flank and sergeants in reserve behind the peasants.

 Anglo-Saxons combined the 3 units of Thegns to create 2 12 man units. 1 unit went on the right flank and 1 center while the ceorls took the left.

 Saxons advanced

 Norman knights moved up the flank

 The Thegns on the right maid for the ford as there where no hostile units on their side of the river.

 Ceorls move to deter the Knights

 We made a mistake at this point. The Norman Peasant archers fired on the Thegns in the center and nearly whipped them out. This happened because I forgot that levies roll 1 attack dice for shooting of every 2 models in the unit. Instead he rolled 1 for 1. That mistake combined with the Norman ability "Aimed Volley" meant the Thegns where done for, even though they used "Overlap Shields!". The game would have gone very different after this point had we done this right.

 Knights moved further around, drawing the brave Ceorls away from the rest of their Warband.

 Thegns make the ford and start the slow cross.

 The knights seemed to be fleeing so the Ceorls maid for the Norman line, but in truth they had set a trap for the poor Ceorls.

 When the trap was sprung the Knights charged the Ceorls from behind. Being far Superior troops the Ceorls took several casualties and was forced back. This put them in the path of the second unit of Knights who in turn charged the already weekend Ceorls.

The Ceorls few survivors where isolated and nearly wiped out.

 In respanse the Thegns, having crossed the river, charged the Norman Peasants and drove them back.

 Knight finished off the poor Ceorls.

 Sergeants tried to charge the Thegns, and while both took casualties the Thegns came out on top and the Sergeants had to pull back.

 The Norman Warlord charged the Thegns killing 2 so they fled to the side of their Warlord.

 Unfortunately the Knights came back around and road down the Saxon Warlord.

Game would have been very different if we had gotten the shooting right the first time but it was still a good game. Another thing we messed up I forgot the Saxon Levi generate 1 attack dice per 2 models and have an armor of 4 not 3. Game two to fallow shortly.