I’ve finally received my GHQ order for Cold War Commander : the better part of a circa 1985 French combined arms brigade. Meanwhile, I’ve just finished painting and basing a few leftover Heroics & Ross minis, that had been sitting in my pile of lead for ages in teh vain hope of taking part in a Spearhead game. I’m not really happy with them as I’ve painted them, but let’s be honest, it’s hard to make details pop out on this brand’s minis. They are good value for money, but well, a far cry from IWM’s standards. They will however add a few options to coming BKC games, and I think Russians will find their new AA units somewhat useful.

Loads of German recon (as if they really needed them given the quality of their command *chuckles*). Say, some SdKfz 222, 232 and a command vehicle whose name I forgot which will come in handy :

Some Russian light tanks (2 BT5, 1 T26A and a brand new T60… though the stats are decent for the BTs in BKC, the quality of their command will elave them somewhat underpowered whan facing the Panzers )

facing the

Some Russian artillery and GAZ trucks (I think they must be a 45 mm AT and a 122 mm howitzer ) under the protection of a couple of quad MGed GAZ AAA.

I’ve had huge armies of early WW2 Russians and Germans sitting in my drawers for years… well, 15 years, that is. And as I’d lost the rule I’d been using (Spearhead), or more likely, had forgotten it somewhere after a game, they have been in retirement ever since. Not more so, apparently.

Someone in our club has directed me to a “modern rule”, Cold War Commander, of Specialist Military Publishing :

http://www.blitzkrieg-commander.com/default.aspx

At first, it seemed weird, and unappealing as it’s the adaptation of a Games Workshop rule, Warmaster. But I must say, after careful reading, I was conquered as, in my opinion, it is both simple and focused on where all systems should be : command and manoeuver, even though how it’s achieved radically departs from the way other systems generally handle it. So, as I”m still waiting for my GHQ order to reach me, and as I’ll have to paint loads of stuff after that, I was feeling quite frustrated. Which prompted me to order the WW2 rule, Blitzkrieg Commander, for which I was hoping I’d be able to use the 1/300th WW2 armies I’d painted : German and Russian 1941, French 1940 (for which the 1941 Germans make a suitable opponent, as I dare every single one of you to tell, at 1/300th scale, a Pzkw III D from a PzKw III E… and believe me, you’ll need to be careful not to mistake a Pz IV for a Pz III, or even a T34 for a BT 7!).

I’ve even, as I was waiting, taken the time to retrieve some unpâinted minis out of my stockpile of lead, and give them a paintjob. So, 2 BT 5 from Heroics and Ross, in a 1941 livery :