Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => The Conflicts that came in from the Cold => Topic started by: ErikB on 23 July 2020, 04:55:24 PM
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Can someone explain the different uniforms I see in all the Chechen war photos?
Who wears the foggy blue camouflage? And the yellow-green jackets with brown and green thin camo slashes?
I am trying to start my Red Star (Empress) Chechen War minis and I am totally confused trying to figure out which units wore what uniforms.
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I have an interest in that theatre as well and painted up a pack of GHQ soviets up with what I thought were suitable multi-cam I saw somewhere on line. Once done I looked again so I could determine what unit(s) would use that scheme only to not be able to find it again.
Seems like as many different uniforms on the Soviet, oops Russian, side as squads! Then every Chechen is an individual.
As an aside my guys are based in a grey khaki with grass green, medium dark brown and black small "spots" on the uniforms. Anyone out there want to guess/elaborate on which units used that camo? I know it was a period (late '90s to '2010s) uniform scheme and it had a name but damned if I can find it again.
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I think the Multicam is pretty new, after the Chechen wars.
Heck if I can tell, though.
I wish I could know who wears that gray/blue camo and who wears the yellow-green with brown and green slashes.
This is a nice source for photos but no explanation.
https://get.google.com/albumarchive/108860538429450958271/album/AF1QipMVVvPIfRBdQ8EDxpzw0nQr92HiQDaOusGN4809
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XMk4ml2VgYyo5nByCmy2nvFYze0ezuvhN0WzlGNMLTQGS2pb-nhvdlqftZwjbVpNN5rOdl6PW6ZFeBR8cU0=w400-h275-rw
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/WVKVEbsJAbTvY6D03cC9-qF5ORsEQz3euOPus-FUayjJWnm79qj6nkhjauK33wLVlj8QmFjvqNlHrsnBcQ=w414-h275-rw
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_pOhjGYu31m9n65128j1AVp-UTGZES010qUa_Z62zgS-_PR8pj-FdVD691fcEV-RfL3e45JvkRJNLQtoZw=w423-h275-rw
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You could try here: https://www.camopedia.org/index.php?title=Russia (https://www.camopedia.org/index.php?title=Russia)
It's a very comprehensive resource that differentiates between regular army and other arms (e.g.: MVD or FSB), and also includes commercial patterns which have been adopted by some special forces units.
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That's a fantastic site, thanks for posting it!
Which blue-wearing groups would be present in Chechnya?
MDV troops?
Are they like Gendarmes?
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I think the Multicam is pretty new, after the Chechen wars.
I am pretty sure the one I modeled was period. Russia/CCCP had multi coloured camouflage of one sort or another since around the time of the breakup, not counting items like the Soviet Afghan War period "sunspot" camo.
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The MVD are the sucessor to the NKVD. Serving as a sort of cross between the police and national guard. With its own special forces too. Nowadays its been split up however (not something which has universally been done by other Post-Soviet states). This military / police crossover role may explain their potential presence in war zones - especially those which fall within Russian territory, which would constitute police actions. ...It just happens that these police have autocannons.
The MVD used standard Russian military patterns and their own ones. I'd associate blue camouflage more often with them - in part possibly due to them serving in a police role, or urban environments. This is purely from observation however, and may not be accurate. As does it seem that special forces don't follow this stucture in every instance (along with commercial patterns, and copies of foreign styles being worn on occasion throughout the Russian military).
Camopedia's a good source. I'd use that and reference it against period pictures to get an idea of what the common patterns would be. It aught to tell you which styles were worn by multiple organisations if you're looking for a generic force. If you're intending a put together some regular units - rather than special forces - you'd see the same sort of equipment being used by these organisations, along with more specific bits of gear (i.e. helmet styles).
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Here is a short review article in Russian about the uniforms of the Russian army in Chechnya.
In short, the army basically had either khaki uniforms or "Flora" camouflage.
Police units (OMON, special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), as well as units of the FSB - camouflage uniforms such as "Orekh" (Nut) and "Kamysh" (reed). "Nut" and "Reed" had two main versions - urban and forest (blue and green).
http://siberia-miniatures.ru/forum/showthread.php?tid=435&fid=14&block=0
Foreign versions of uniforms were widely used, as well as commercial samples (hunting, etc.) from those who could purchase equipment at their own expense (mainly officers, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, special forces). The trophy uniform of the Chechen army was also used.
Army of the Republic of Ichkeria (Chechen Republic):
http://siberia-miniatures.ru/forum/showthread.php?fid=14&tid=47
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My test figured, block coated and freshly washed, hence the gloss.
They look horrible at this stage but I wanted to ask y'all if the camouflage was working or not. Still have 12 more to paint so I want to see if these guys are going in the right direction.
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A good start.
Getting the "scale" of camouflage right is very difficult.
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Washes dried, added a little highlighting, starting to come along. I regret I didn't do eyes.
In person, the faces have more contrast and the brown on the pants shows up more.
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They look great, the OMON were used in Chechnya, a sort of national guard within the police
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Thanks, folks.
The rest of the squad mostly wear some kind of hooded anorak or smock. I hope the blue and yellow-green camouflages are appropriate for that.
I mostly see big, warm, fluffy jackets with these two patterns.
Somehow, I really like painting Russian/Soviet minis and models. They have an aesthetic that is very appealing.
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This is an army pea jacket, the usual winter clothing of a Russian serviceman at that time. The hood can be stowed away in a special pocket on the back.
https://baraholka.com.ru/bulls/kamuflyazh-zimnij-bushlat-v-moskve-2029380.htm
(http://i.baraholka.com.ru/files/2/0/2029380_4.jpg)
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They look great, the OMON were used in Chechnya, a sort of national guard within the police
RIOT-police squad
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This is great info! Thanks, folks. Please keep it coming.
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This is great info! Thanks, folks. Please keep it coming.
Yes please. I find things from these actions very confusing. Mind you I haven't gotten very deep into it yet, so many other areas to research. It makes perfect sense, being an "internal" issue many forces other than the standard front line military were involved. I think it is very cool that each brought their own equipment, such as uniforms, with them giving quite a variety of options for us gamers. I also believe, perhaps wrongly, that one of the results of these actions was the creation or build up of ISIS caused by the exodus, forced or "voluntary" of Muslim insurgents from Chechnya and other areas in that region.
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Feel free to ask if you need any clarification.
Another important point - in terms of combat qualities, the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were significantly higher than the linear army units (except for special forces), since army units were mainly staffed with conscripts (18-20 years old), who had a rather weak level of training at that time.
The units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (OMON) were staffed with well-trained fighters who had already served in the army, who often served in Afghanistan and other "hot spots" with considerable combat experience.
Among the Chechen rebels there were also many former officers and soldiers of the Soviet army who had combat experience in Afghanistan, as well as experience of participating in hostilities in other "hot spots". For example, the battalion Shamil Basayev was trained at the KGB bases as a special forces unit and took part in the war between the Georgians and the Abkhaz on the side of the Abkhaz rebels (against the Georgian troops).
In addition, large detachments of the Afghan Taliban and Arab Wahhabis fought on the side of the Chechens, who also had extensive combat experience.
Well, in general, almost every adult man in the USSR, fit for military service, completed military service in the Soviet Army and had a military specialty, so the rebels had a sufficient number of military specialists with the basic skills of a professional regular army soldier.
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Well, in general, almost every adult man in the USSR, fit for military service, completed military service in the Soviet Army and had a military specialty, so the rebels had a sufficient number of military specialists with the basic skills of a professional regular army soldier.
So the Soviet Union, and Russia, are approaching 100% (say 80% plus realistically) universal basic military service? I did not know that. That is similar to Israel as another example. I assumed they were voluntary, say after the break up and well below 80% in the past due to many excuses. Thank you for that tidbit!
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Every Soviet male citizen fit for military service for health reasons was obliged to serve in the army by conscription for two years (in the navy - three years). Only those who entered a higher educational institution of a civilian profile were exempted from such a service. But in this case, they were trained at the military department, passed several months of military field studies and, together with a diploma of graduation, received the rank of reserve officer. These were usually army technical specialists (tankers, supply, logistics, artillery, etc.). Once every five to seven years, soldiers and reserve officers were called up for military training (2-3 months), where they underwent retraining for new military equipment and "refreshed" their skills.
So yes, military training covered a large percentage of the population, like Israel. In addition, in ordinary educational schools, the subject "Initial military training" was necessarily taught, where all children were trained in Initial military formation, the use of a Kalashnikov assault rifle, the basics of field medicine, the ability to survive in war with the use of weapons of mass destruction.
Only men who had served in the army were recruited to serve in the police (and other security services).