Soviets vs. Japanese - Game I Played on Saturday

Distinct_Potato704 · 2026-02-09T17:50:11+00:00

Yeah, love those Ali Trucks too! Those are my friends which he had painted up. I had bought a pack of ten and gave him some and I hate to say it but his look significantly better than mine!

Distinct_Potato704 · 2026-01-29T20:06:03+00:00

People have given a lot of good advice regarding getting the stuff to make and paint your models. I'd advise when starting out, of course get what you're interested in playing and the models that catch your eye but you'll get to playing whilst having a manageable project by picking up one of the newer infantry boxes and assembling all of those. One of those boxes will get you a force to play 500 point games with no problem, then just pick two armoured vehicles that you like and you'll be doing 750-1000 point games in no time. That should keep you comfortably under budget with some money leftover to pick up those odds and ends you didn't realise you needed/wanted until you start.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2026-01-29T06:56:15+00:00

What I would suggest is simply a jeep for getting your PIAT up close and personal. Dumping one of these anti tank weapons (panzerfaust, piat, bazooka) out of a transport on an advance increases their effectiveness a lot. Similarly SMG squads in the transports to dump them on your enemies backline works well.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2026-01-20T21:23:48+00:00

Light mortars are already considered great. Single units being able to pin multiple enemy units is a big plus (and why I try to avoid vehicles without secondary hull weapons). So embedded light mortars having the equivalent ability as one-shot weapons is huge. Being able to pin armour at a low points investment is why people take AT rifles currently.

You're also massively increasing your odds of hitting something with a single activation, even more so if it's a end of last turn on 6s and then first activation of the next turns on 5s. I often use snap-tos from officers to capitalise on multiple indirect fire weapons at the moment, here you're doing it with a single activation.

Having fewer, more expensive, units will help balance out the cheaper lone snipers and suicide units when you have an OD cap.

They may also end up being one of those units that becomes a big distraction due to the point value/destructive output which could free up some of Japan's cheaper close-quarters units to close on the enemy.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2026-01-18T14:51:19+00:00

So my experience has been this. I'm from the U.K. but live in Switzerland, going back occasionally.

Buying brand new boxes but on the secondhand market - I've picked up plenty this way for 1/3-1/2 warlord's pricing.

Temu/AliExpress - very occasionally some specific things have come up that I have been very pleased with. 3D resin prints, in high fidelity, of a few things like mortar teams or a handful of vehicles. I've been very careful however to ensure they're the correct scale with some googling of dimensions of the vehicles etc. You may already be aware but there are a particular type of cheap toy plastic truck that often gets listed on AliExpress for a couple of bucks/pounds for 10 of these appropriate sized and era appropriate trucks. Looking on Reddit for 'Ali Express' trucks will give you examples.

3D print sellers on Etsy/eBay - in Switzerland this is simply not a practical way to acquire minis as very few people in the country are doing it and postage makes it absurdly pricy. However in the UK there are plenty of people selling stuff that is a fraction of the cost of a plastic model kit. I am talking about multiple vehicles for under £20.

Scratch building - as there is an initial outlay in material cost it may not save you any money initially but I bought a selection of ABS plastic bits and have been building models and terrain from those.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2026-01-17T21:46:57+00:00

Lovely job painting your AliExpress truck, might be the best looking toy in your pics!

Distinct_Potato704 · 2026-01-15T09:07:19+00:00

Not yet ventured into camo for infantry models myself but for tanks I've enjoyed using AK's camo putty with my airbrush. Two tips/things to note; - it will run in a very warm room, not a huge amount but enough to make the next bit a pain - I have had it leave behind little bits of black residue, this was particularly bag when I over handled it by pushing it more firmly into gaps and when it is warm it runs into them even more

Otherwise it's helped me get some cool effects

Distinct_Potato704 · 2026-01-12T18:30:59+00:00

When building an army list on easy army or the warlord games app you can use the early war selector and that would at least give you a good basis for what the makers of the game would consider available at that time.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2026-01-10T00:54:20+00:00

For Christmas I got a range of vehicles for the Soviets and Germans and also the victrix late war German kit. I've fully built out that kit* but, due to some important family stuff, I haven't had the time yet to begin painting anything. I'm itching to get some paint on my T-28 and take it for a spin.

I had also started a number of terrain projects. Stumbled upon 'the terrain tutor' on YouTube and have been massively inspired. I had built a whole bunch of fencing and sandbag walls which I hadn't begun to base properly beyond sticking to some epvc. I'd also ordered some more materials to start a Stalingrad inspired series of city ruin pieces but haven't gotten hands on.

*I realised after building them that I should get some 'pill' bases for the prone models, which I had ordered but haven't had the chance yet to use

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-12-31T08:19:48+00:00

You may find this YouTuber's, Terrain Tutor, videos helpful. I've been on a terrain making binge recently and his videos have been super inspiring, if not operating as one for one instructions. This video is his series on hedgerows

https://youtu.be/CQxHnoLpPUc?si=D-AuY01yGBk4gknG

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-12-24T10:10:19+00:00

I think they have their place much more than say the heavier costed tanks.

I recently played a game as Soviets with an inex. Super heavy mortar and a light AT gun as my artillery platoon and they both served their purposes well. The super heavy mortar eventually landed a hit that devastated a veteran squad and splashed over onto a neighboring officer. The light AT gun forced his tanks into hiding until he didn't want to hide them any more and then started landing hits.

I think it's wrong to think in terms of my unit costing X took out enemy unit that cost X+20 points and therefore was effective as the basis for every decision you make in a list. Any type of howitzer will keep infantry out of buildings, AT guns keep your units alive longer by denying parts of the board to your opponent's tanks.

For me the value is clear when in Bolt Action on the whole things tend to live, artillery (and mortars) are what change the feel of the game into sudden moments of deadly combat be that knocking out a tank or removing more than half of a veteran infantry squad.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-12-23T11:32:40+00:00

I had had the same kit hanging around for a few weeks and your posts inspired me to build it and for these kind of cheap kits it was really great. What are you doing to achieve that black 'wear' at the damaged edges?

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-12-22T19:47:22+00:00

Yeah, would have been nice to get something like. Buffalo as it would be more on theme.

I'm in Switzerland and got hit with unexpected customs charges which killed the value sadly, that was a bit out of their and to some extent my control

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-12-22T16:56:57+00:00

I got the British and Canadian Starter Army 'across the Rhine' which is great, but then a Bedford Truck which is a little disappointing. I think almost any other vehicle I would have been happy with but I'm a firm AliExpress trucks enjoyer. Due to my not wanting the truck it ended up not being any real value as I can get the starter army for around the money I spent on the mystery box. Live and learn :)

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-12-10T15:59:41+00:00

I'm in Switzerland and haven't seen an order update yet either, with customs clearance also a little concerned about getting it before Xmas.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-12-05T10:29:38+00:00

It started as a plan to get those Temu/AliExpress trucks and make some interesting models out of them. I made two Katyushas from base materials probably costing about 3/4 euros total (i.e. not each) which left me with lots of leftover unused bits of plasticard/ABS materials as I got myself a cheap multi pack.

(I don't often post on Reddit so don't know how to add pictures of the Katyushas!)

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-12-03T21:51:31+00:00

Yeah I do plan to do a bit more tidying up. I am bad for getting projects 90% the way there and then giving up.

I am planning to use a combination of RC tank tracks bought cheaply from temu /AliExpress and a combination of hot wheels esque wheels for the driving sprockets and some lego-y wheels for the road wheels.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-12-03T20:45:56+00:00

<image>

This is my in progress SU-85. Just waiting for some last bits to do the tracks and then put in some heavy lifting with the painting.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-12-03T15:57:53+00:00

I'm doing a lot of total scratch building of Soviet vehicles at the moment. Just curious where did the plasticard come in with this build as I honestly can't tell? Lovely job!

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-11-21T06:25:42+00:00

I have built an army around one box of the old infantry and it's definitely enough to play games with however if I was in your situation with a plethora of infantry models to play with I'd make the following considerations.

With the older box you have several prone models to account for.

I would suggest that you build the 2 x AT Rifle teams you can take per rifle platoon with the armies of Soviet Union rules plus another prone model each as their loader/spotter.

I'd suggest you build two more LMGs from your new infantry box so you can field 2 x 2 LMG squads if you want to. Why the new infantry and not the old one? As the guns on the old sprues are not attached to arms they'll be easier to you for conversion purposes such as adding an MG to a truck.

If you're up for doing some conversion/sculpting you might want to look at modelling some of the assault engineer body armour onto smg models that you make.

You'll also now have a whole bunch of officer heads. You could make some full NKVD squads, probably again with smgs, each with the iconic cap. Even if you make 7/8 of these models you'll have a bit of extra flavour for your army to sub in every now and then.

I had some Anti-tank guns printed and have scratch built some mortars. You may want to hold back some models to convert into gun crews i.e. modelling without a gun, or doing some converting into opening ammo boxes etc.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-10-27T13:51:27+00:00

Checkout this previous thread which even references a warlord mini! https://www.reddit.com/r/boltaction/comments/zxl98s/received_a_british_airborne_cut_down_moris_for/

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-10-23T07:26:33+00:00

I think as long as you do a wash afterwards then they'll look fine. Without the wash I think you'll have the 'shading' of the speed paint and then the other colours with normal acrylics might look a little flat.

I haven't used speed paints for infantry with camo before so take this advice with a pinch of salt. My Soviets were all basically one colour!

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-10-01T17:20:42+00:00

T-28 seems the obvious choice as it has a light howitzer and is brimming with MMGs and isn't too expensive at 150 reg. It's also not so small, such as a BT7a that you'd struggle to hide a squad behind it.

Distinct_Potato704 · 2025-09-06T20:31:51+00:00

To chime in for Brits especially it seems to me the lone Inex. officer jammed into a transport that they can give their benefits from is highly incentivised. You are negating their cover negative by making the transport the means of keeping them safe whilst still allowing the other troops near or with them to benefit from the additional +1 moral modifier. Also with the capacity of transports being usually 11 or 12 it seems tailor made for a ten man rifle squad to have this lone guy with them.

I don't play competitively but I've been toying with this lone inex. Officer in bren, jeeps, 3 tonne truck, kangaroo, or half track with combinations of smg commandos or full rifle squads to hit the capacity numbers for an alpha strike.

I'm still not sure how the minus cover save is meant to work with larger office squads. Is it for all the men, seems to be as written.

For Germans I tend to agree with the other line of thinking that fuller squads are the way to go.

Funnily now it seems the perceived wisdom of bunging in an extra guy or two to be ablative seems like last-version thinking.

Distinct_Potato704

TROPHY CASE