Cold War going Hot - Oddzial Osmy models and thoughts on a Fistful of Tows

It’s a new project!  You know me I can resist anything except temptation.  In my defence it's the war I would have had to take part in if it had happened.  I was in the TA in the early 1980s and  if the balloon had gone up the infantry battalion my unit formed part of would have been off to join NORTHAG.  Our task would have been guarding supply depots and supply lines but I always expected that we would have been in the shooting war very quickly. So I have more than a passing acquaintance with the kit and sat through hours of AFV recognition sessions (those Airfix modelling days paid dividends there).  So I thought it might be nice to get some early 80's forces together.

Of course I went small for this project.  Small and cheap, O8 1/600th via Magister Militum Miniatures.  15 Chieftain Mk5 (that's a full squadron plus one spare) for £4.00 that will do nicely thanks.  Of course to spread the postage cost I bought a few other bits so 15 FV432 Infantry Fighting vehicles, 12 BTR-70s and 15 T-64s plus a pack of Warpac infantry.  Or I will have when the T-64s arrive.  I ordered T-62s but they are out of stock so I changed the order!  To be fair the T-64 is probably the more common Soviet tank in the initial attack echelons anyway.

A troop of Chieftains

The Oddzial Osmy casts are simply stunning; no flash a tiny amount of sprue and air channel to cut off job done.  I'm thinking of a Fistful of Tows 3 for the rules but haven't settled on basing, as the I don't have the rules yet.  The rules are aimed at 6mm with one model tank being a group of 3-5 vehicles.  I wanted to save space so went 3mm but I haven't decided if I want to base in groups or as single vehicles as I intend to fight a 1:1 model to vehicle ratio.  3mm makes that affordable and I can just change inches to cm and the scale issue is pretty much dealt with, or I could stick with the original and getting bigger fields of fire.  For now I'm going to trial the rules with the free introductory set as the full rules are not cheap.  They look fairly straight forward and should play OK solo.

I had a go at painting three Chieftains (That's a Troop) and they are fairly easy to paint although I need to play with the technique a little.  Dry brushing for contrast is a must and I'm thinking a pin wash in black before the highlight might be needed.  The bases in this first batch are just horrible  That olive drab is too bright I want contrasts between vehicle and base but that's not it!  I'm still not sure about basing on coins either.

I hate the basing but the tanks came out OK.

I have the makings for a Squadron of Chieftains and a Rifle Platoon (without it's supports) for the plucky Brits and a Tank Company plus a Motorised Infantry Platoon (also without support elements) for the Ruski's all for a spit over £20.00  that's about 26p a vehicle.  A second order will be going in for re-enforcements in the not too distant future.

Edited 18/03/21 to correct errors in the title of the post and a couple of spellings