We are waiting approval of our 1939-41 Soviets Kickstarter.
We anticipate starting this week and have lots of miniatures for this KS. The campaign will run about 3 weeks.
Full Soviet and Mongol Infantry Platoons, Support and Artillery. Plus, Mongol Cavalry and Allied Japanese Cavalry.
I will add the link once approved and some pictures of some of the minis this week.
Here is a brief historical primer -
From July 1938 through the late summer of 1941 the forces of the USSR and Imperial Japan fought a series of battles from small skirmishes to large scale pitched battles over disputed territorial borders in the Far East. This was an undeclared war, one that has been overlooked for many years but which would have far-reaching consequences. The largest of these battles was called Khalkin Gol by the Soviets and Nomonhan by the Japanese and raged from May – August 1939. It is often overlooked that the primary enemy of Imperial Japan and the focus of their war plans at this time was not the USA and UK but the USSR! Skirmishes of small forces escalated as more infantry were fed into the battle that eventually saw armored battles by both sides and bitter fighting. This battle was the debut of Gregory Zhukov who used combined skills of planning, deception and material to overwhelm and defeat the Japanese; this leadership would be repeated against the Germans in the Great Patriotic War. The stunning defeat by their primary enemy prompted a revision in Japanese strategy which now looked south for their expansionist goals – North Wind Cloudy became East Wind Rain. The Soviets were also free to concentrate their efforts in Europe and Poland in September 1939.
These figures area designed to demonstrate the unique Soviet uniforms from 1938 through the initial onslaught of Barbarossa. These figures show the forces of the USSR and their allies as they would have fought the Japanese prior to the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. The summer weather in the Far East could be quite warm and the armies tended to “travel light”. Uniforms of the USSR during this period did not have shoulder boards, a throwback to the 1917 revolution and, most uniquely, wore the Model 1936 helmet with broad brim, flared sides and comb on top.
Some of the great advantages of these figures are their versatility and their unique uses – they are appropriate for the 1938/39 fighting against the Japanese, offering VERY interesting wargaming scenarios, may be used in the 1939 invasion of Poland and against the Germans and their allies in the 1941 Barbarossa campaign.
04 November 2014, 05:34:40 PM