NORTHAG Spetsnaz, Sheep and Cows!
So one of the freebies with the pre order was a small team of Spetsnaz with a jeep. When I got it I chucked it in the to do box and cracked on with the tanks. Also in the box were some 10mm sheep and cows from Minibits, I wanted to add some fluff to the table and whilst buying bases from them I came across their range of animals. A pack of each found its way into the basket.
Having painted the bulk of the Russians I'd forgotten about the Spetsnaz. Sorting out the Command team for the Brits I found them and the animals, and with a game on the horizon, they were all added to the paint schedule. Unfortunately the animals never made the game, however an idea had formed for their use.
Brainwave!
The Spetsnaz are suppose to be sneaky and create panic, and their rules reflect that. They get two turns of immunity unless they fire first, but in the game once deployed they can be quickly surrounded and neutralised, but what if for those turns the enemy didn't know where they were, see where I'm going with this! Bases containing sheep and cows roaming the countryside and after two turns one is replaced with the Spetsnaz team. Some playtesting will be required but it might become a staple of our games, especially with SAS and other possible NATO stay behind teams causing havoc behind the Russian advance.
Painting the Spetsnaz
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| Quick blast with Black primer |
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| Sneaky Spetsnaz have managed to mix with British infantry in the background! |
So the paint scheme was slightly different to that of my Russian Armour for the jeep.
- Flames of war Russian Uniform 924, for the all over bascoat
- Vallejo German Grey 70.995, for the wheels and canvas cover, khaki would also be a good colour for the canvas
- Vallejo Luftwaffe Uniform 70.816, for the windows and again in the middle after the wash with a thin coat as a highlight
- Citadel Nuln Oil wash all over the vehicle including the windows
- Vallejo Stone Grey 70.884, a light Drybrush after the luftwaffe uniform as a highlight for the windows to represent light reflecting
- Flames of war Light Brown 929, a heavy to light drybrush to simulate mud and dust starting at the bottom working your way up.
- Vallejo Matt Varnish 70.520 for the finish
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| Honestly I'm a British Landrover |
So the Spetsnaz themselves were painted with two major differences, their berets and uniform. They needed to stand out and lots of pictures show them with a camouflaged uniform and blue berets. I decided I would follow my russian recipe substituting the basecoat with the British uniform colour and wash.
- Flames of war Russian Uniform 924, for the all over basecoat
- Vallejo German Grey 70.995 for the boots and weapons
- Flames of war Flat Earth 983 for the stocks and magazines
- Vallejo Sunny Skin Tone 70.845 for the flesh
- Vallejo Khaki 70.988 for the webbing
- Vallejo Luftwaffe Uniform 70.816, for the berets
- Citadel Nuln Oil for the wash
- Vallejo Matt Varnish 70.520, for the finish
- Generic Burnt Umber acrylic for the bases.
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| Jarvis flock mix added |
Decoy Sheep and Cows
- Generic Black Primer
- Vallejo Stone Grey 70.844, basecoat on sheep
- Flames of war Ivory 918 drybrush on the sheep only, basecoat on the cows
- Vallejo German Grey 70.995, random black spots on cows
- Vallejo Matt Varnish 70.520 for the finish
- Generic Burnt Umber acrylic for the bases.
So the sheep were very easy, a quick coat of the grey over the primer and then a drybrush of Ivory. I did consider a wash, but at that size I thought it might make them too dark on the table
For the cows I did try using Stone Grey as a basecoat but it wasn't a good enough contrast to the black at this scale. Again with the wash, I actually tried to use it for the black patches, but this was painfully slow, so I switched to the German Grey.
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| Sheep |
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| Cows |
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| Sneaky Spetsnaz hiding in the cattle |
Final thoughts
The cattle won't win any prizes at the local agricultural show, they are a bit scruffy, but at the normal three feet on the table you cant tell. I'm pretty sure they'll add some fluff to the table just like having telegraph poles, which i need to source. As for using them to hide the special forces, we will just have to wait and see if it makes any difference.
Really happy with the Spetsnaz and their little jeep, however I think ill be finding them a landrover or maybe even a civilian car or van, help them hide a little better.
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