STALINGRAD Bolt Action Mega Battle!

I have been aware that the Wehrmacht recruited and used foreign “volunteers” under various methods of recruitment (more of that in a later article), as auxiliaries and combat troops. I had read about the use of Hilfswillige (Hiwis) in many of the books that I have read on the subject. I thus  in felt that they were a missing part of my Stalingrad Mega Project. I wished to get some on the table top but, was unsure to how they were equipped, what uniform, Civi clothes, or random mixture of both they would have worn.

I rely heavily on Osprey books for my go to reference material for uniform and equipment colours to inform my miniature painting. I also enjoy the back ground information to add to my knowledge, so that I can add period details and flavour to my games of Bolt Action. I found by accident an image of an armed Hiwi in Ospreys’ The German Army 1939-45 (3), Eastern Front‘ from their Men at Arms Series  (Image by Stephen Andrew from The German Army 1939 –45 (3): The Eastern Front 1941-43 by Nigel Thomas © 1999 Osprey Publishing). This provided the answer to my question and the inspiration to start kit bashing a few units of Hiwis for my games of Bolt Action.

I have used the Osttruppen rules (Armies of Germany, page 29) which are suitable for untrained and seriously undermotivated troops, like Hiwis.

I decided to try assembling a single miniature as a test piece for a detachment of Hiwis for Bolt Action. I used a plastic Winter Soviet body, with plastic German rifle arms and webbing form Warlord’s Plastic Blitzkrieg infantry set. I then sculpted an arm band and patch for the Hiwis ushanka. I like the heavily mixed and improvised look that this creates, and can’t wait to get more assemled, painted and on the gaming table!

I watched an episode of TIK History some time ago (I will post a link when I can find it!), where he discussed documents showing how Hiwis were armed, and it mentioned troops with rifles supported by MMG and Mortar Teams. This has given me serious food for though and I will not feel that my Stalingrad Axis forces will be complete without them.

God willing, this single miniature will be the first of many, which I intend to add to bulk out my somewhat under strength and under powered platoon built around 2 Feldgendarmerei squads. This would make sense that the Foreign “Volunteers” were paired with the Military Field Police to keep an eye on them. Usefully there are rules for Military Police in the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ campaign book (page 43), which I will be using for the German Feldgendarmerei, which will allow Hiwi units to re-roll rally tests, and keep them in the fight.

Watch this space for further developments.

Miniatures by Warlord Games:

https://store.warlordgames.com/products/armies-of-germany-2nd-edition?aff=42

Soviet Winter Infantry plastic box set

Blitzkrieg German Infantry plastic boxed set

Bolt Action Campaign: Battle of the Bulge

Research Material Osprey Books:

https://ospreypublishing.com/uk/german-army-193945-3-9781782002192/

Scenery by Tymeagain:

https://www.tymeagain.co.uk/store/index.php?route=product/search&search=urban%20ruins

Some times you have glaring gaps in your order of battle/display cabinet, and one of mine has been my Guard division troops. I started of strong and put together 2 under strength squads, then got distracted by more distinctive looking, or unusual units such as Straffbat troops.

These guys are going to be a solid backbone for my Soviet Army in my ‘Stalingrad Mega Battle’. I have 2 squads so far, and intend to build another, and run them all at full strength and Regular rating.

I am using the “No land beyond the Volga” Reinforced platoon as the basis for this platoon, which will allow them to take an MMG, HMG and up to six Anti Tank Teams.

Miniatures by Warlord Games:

Soviet Infantry plastic box set

I plan to anchor them in  the Pavolv’s House building at the centre of the battle, kit them out with as much fire power as possible, and a have the as the central lynchpin holding the Soviet centre ground. Having hard cover, with high elevations in the multi storey Pavlov’s House, They should be incredibly difficult to dislodge, and will have birds eye views to shoot at the enemy from. As a result I will be giving them an Heavy Mortar, an FAO and a multi purpose ZIS 3 Anti Tank Gun, which can also fire as a Light Howitser.

I totally ignored the Soviet Heads sporting a Ushanka. The siberian box set forced me to have a go and now I love the miniatures with them, and the look they bring to the table top!

I like the idea (which is also my justification for using this tank in Stalingrad) that this is a lone survivor of the vast tank armies that pretty much got destroyed earlier in the War.

It has bags of character, but ‘light tank’ armour and a ‘light Anti-Tank Gun’, which means it will struggle against Panzer III and IV’s, but is a real threat to infantry (it has a Co-Axial MMG. so it can fire the main gun or the MMG) and artillery, even if in cover. It will also be great for chasing down Hanomags, Trucks and Armoured cars.

The paint scheme is simple, and I applied an heavy level of weathering and scratches to the paint work, to give the impression of heavy use and ware.

The red star was achieved by use of an airbrush and a Star  Stencil from Anarchy models.

Anarchy Models Stars:

https://www.anarchymodels.co.uk/hs02—allied-stars-39-p.asp

Soviet BT-7 fast tank

The ‘Siberian Veterans’ plastic box is the ‘Soviet plastic infantry’ box set, with the addition of 2 metal bodies, a selection of metal arms and weapons/equipment, and a range of metal heads with Central Asian features.

I love the variation that this brings to the tabletop, and they are seriously dangerous on the battlefield. And as such, I decided that I would like an whole platoon of them, and to use spare heads from the two box sets that I ordered to kit-bash my regular Soviet Weapons teams into Siberians. This will give a great visual overall look to the platoon and tie it all together when I use it in my Stalingrad Mega Battle.

Scenery by 4Ground, Miniatures by Warlord Games:

Soviet Infantry plastic box set

https://store.warlordgames.com/products/soviet-50mm-light-mortar-and-flamethrower-teams?_pos=3&_sid=8fbd15231&_ss=r&aff=42

Flame Throwers have the great advantage that they ignore cover when shooting. In a city fight, this is particularly useful, especially when they also ignore enemy units minuses to hit for being down as well.

They also lay at least 2 pins on each enemy unit each time they have successfully hit, and then must take a morale check. This must still happen even in the unlikely event that no casualties have been inflicted.  This means that putting between 2-4 pin markers an hit, is going to cause many units to flee regardless of casualties. The odd pin from an infantry unit or a sniper first will mean that even Veteran units will turn tail and run from an hit from these guys, IF I can get them close enough?

To quote Wayne England from the first Wargaming magazine that I ever bought, White Dwarf 135, ‘An occasional wounded model in a unit is very effective’. H e also described how to add a drop of blood red paint to a wet surface, which I tried soon after and was impressed by the effectiveness of the trick. His last gem on the subject was ‘It’s best to underplay these effects- a whole unit drowned in gore looks terrible’.

I added a touch of brown to the red, so to look like partly dry blood on the bandages.

Siberian Veterans boxed set

Scenery by 4Ground with a degree of decoration from myself.

Miniatures by Warlord Games:

Blitzkrieg German Infantry plastic boxed set

By the time of the Battle of Stalingrad, the PAK (PanzerAbwehrkanone) 36 anti-tank gun was seriously underpowered. The stop gap measure of developing a hollow shaped charge (with very limited range) was taken to prevent the 15,000 or so of them being totally useless in the face of superior Soviet tanks such as the T34 and KV series.

In game terms, I love the model and the in game challenge that this model presents. It has +4 pen that makes taking on a T34 a serious challenge at short range, and nigh on impossible at long range and against the dreaded KV series heavy tanks. However, if either of these beasts are foolish to enter half range (24 inches and under) it can fire a stielgrenate and gain a +6 pen, which can deal a killing blow.

Realistically I intend to use it to take on enemy infantry in cover, and get the odd shot (even if it’s just to put pins on) opposing vehicles and armour.

The crew have been fitted with heads from Warlord’s Plastic Blitz Opal passenger sprue, so that the whole Platoon have the same look.

Scenery by FactoruM/4Ground.

Miniatures by Warlord Games:

Blitzkrieg German Pak 36 anti-tank gun with stielgranate