While I am still developing my complete army list - based loosely on the Rapid Fire! rule-set - it is becoming apparent that I will have to buy a plethora of new items to populate the ranks of my Finnish formations. I will be posting up my draft army list in the next post in this series, but in the meantime this post is a little 'note to myself' about some of the models I need to add to the next shopping list.
So, starting from the top...
1. Regimental HQ
- ACE GAZ-M1 'Emka' Soviet Staff Car
- PST PARM-1 (GAZ AA) field repair truck (for modification to radio truck)
2. HQ Support Company
- PST 1/72 D-1 152mm Howitzer with ZIS-42 Half-track
- Military Wheels GAZ-AA light truck (to tow 76mm gun)
3. Divisional Artillery
- PST PARM-1 (GAZ AA) field repair truck (for modification to radio truck)
- Pegasus Hobbies German Army Trucks set (to tow 105mm howitzers)*
4. Anti-Tank Company
- Pegasus Hobbies German Army Trucks set (to tow Pak40 AT guns)*
* I will be modifying these trucks to represent more common makes used by Finnish Army, such as Volvo, Ford and Citroen.
5. Armoured Division
Division HQ:
- PST 1/72 KV-1E Heavy Tank
- Pegasus Hobbies BA-6 Armored Car set
1st Coy. Light Tank Company:
- 2 x Mirage Hobby T-26 Finland-45 Light Tank
- 2 x Mirage Hobby T-26C Model 1939 Light Tank
4th Coy. 'Panssariautojoukkue' Armoured Car Company
- Pegasus Hobbies BA-6 Armored Car set
6. Anti-Aircraft Batteries
- Military Wheels GAZ AA and Flak 38 Finnish
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Aside from the above I realize I will probably need a second set of the PSC Russian Infantry (Summer Uniform) and the PSC Russian Heavy Weapons set. But even at this stage that's quite a big list, luckily I have already the majority of my artillery and my medium tanks and tank destroyers.
However, one thing that does worry me is that I cannot find a 1/72 Landsverk Anti II AA-tank anywhere, not even in resin! I am having to consider whether this might end up being my first major scratch-build project. (So if you know of one, please leave a message and a link in the comments.)
i think the Finns are a fine choice for an army,We need more representation of the smaller nations in this hobby.keep it going though i like the more eclectic stuff anyways.nice ideas.
ReplyDeleteJust finishing off my final army list - the armour division is proving a little difficult as it bears no resemblance to the other examples that are included in the Rapid Fire! quick rules book. I'm having to be a bit imaginative! :)
ReplyDeleteearly finns used captured russian equipment right? then in the continuation war used what the germans gave them. i believe.bt5/7s from pegasus would do well early war. hope it helps.. sorry not familiar with rapid fire.
ReplyDeleteHi! Yes, the Finns captured a vast amount of Soviet equipment during the early part of the war (the Winter War). However, they never had enough modern equipment and the Soviets began to use more modern weapons - so in the 'Continuation War' they purchased as much equipment from the Germans as they could. Most useful were German Pak40 AT guns and StuG III tank destroyers. I've been looking at the Pegasus BT-7 and there are some very good reviews of it. :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the project!
ReplyDeleteFor Landsverk Anti I recommed Hungarian "Nimrod" from Shellhole Scenics.
http://www.shellholescenics.co.uk
We Finns did have Opel Blitzes in use (790 of them) so no need to convert them all. Plenty of lorries used in war were requisitioned and weren't actually painted in military colors -I recall seeing a pic where the lorry's bed's side still had the text "Lahden virvoitusjuomatehdas" ("Lahti Soda Pop Factory") or something similar.
Also note that the Military Wheels kit is not that useful.
While Finns did have the one barrel version of flak 38 in use the 4 barrel Flakvierling wasn't.
http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_cm_Flak_30
In the summer of 1944 Germans loaned Finns 4 MAL-artillery rafts in Lake Ladoga and three of those had Flakvierlings as AAA. I don't think these were disassembled. And even if they were there was around 200-250 of the one barrel versions and just three of Flakvierlings, so calculate the odds of actually encountering one :)
You ca find a pic of such raft at this Polish forum:
http://fow.az.pl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2892
I did find a picture of an armored GAZ-AA in Puolustusvoimien Moottoriajoneuvot 1919-1959 by Apali (out of print), but don't recall ever running across another. I kinda assume that we didn't have many aroured ones.
http://www.adlibris.com/fi/product.aspx?isbn=952502654X
On closing note, I've converted plenty of 1/72 figures for Finns and these will every now and then be featured at our clubs Daily Model feature. Here is a squad (for Murtokohta -game where 1 figure = 2 men):
http://www.the-ancients.com/gemigabok/model-of-the-day/