Futuristic Russians

[petedavies]

Hi All,

My first post on the forum (hello!) is a request to any ultra-modern Russia-watchers for advice on a CWC battlegroup I'm planning, inspired by some of the latest GHQ releases like T-14 & T-15 Armata, BTR-T and BMP-T, etc

As well as these super-tech manoeuvre units I will also need recce & command elements, FAC's/FAO's etc so my questions are basically:

1) For a notional mid- to late 2020's timeframe what older equipment might be found alongside the hyper-heavies to reasonably model CWC-style recce & command elements? One example is a Tigr with infantry deploying laser rangefinder/ground radar etc to model Spetsnaz reconnaissance units. I know Russians never seem to throw anything away but I am looking for a hypothetical, hyper-modern "character" to differentiate from my existing 80's hordes so preferably no GAZ-66's, ACRV's, etc

2) Any suggestions for reasonable proxies for other pending/prototype Russian kit that could be in service then? I am thinking:

BTR-80A as a stand-in for BTR-82, BRDM-3 or (at a stretch?) MARS-2000
BMP-3 as stand-in for BRM-3K (perhaps with a bit of turret-hacking, nothing too fancy I am not an artist  )

Hopefully you get the idea...I'd really appreciate advice, either direct recommendations for miniatures or ideas for further research sources to help make my mind up.

Thanks!

Pete

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Velcomen

[Techno]

Welcome, Pete ! 

Cheers - Phil

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Hello and welcome

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

You missed the "good evening" Will.

[paulr]

Welcome Pete

A bit too modern for me I'm afraid, I run  out of steam in the mid-80s

[FierceKitty]

1680s? They were still fun in the SYW, surely?

[sultanbev]

Russian TOE even in 2020 still uses a lot of old kit, and stuff that was new in 1989.
2S-19
BMP-3
BMP-3+ AT-15 with unspellable name
ZSU-23-4
2S-6 Tunguska
AT-14
BM-21-40, BMD-2, BMP-2, 2S-1, 2S-3, BTR-80, BRDM-2 were all still in use in 2014 at least.
and especially the 100mm T12 anti-tank gun, each brigade still has one or two batteries of them. Still.

Note the BTR-T heavy APC on T-55 chassis never entered service with the Russian armed forces. It's the BMO-T variant on the T-72 chassis you'd want, and only then for the 2-3 army level flamethrower battalions.

There is an SP mortar version of the 2S-1, called the 2S-34 I think, so you're old 2S-1s can be used for them.
Check out Butler 3D printed vehicles for items you can't get in metal, they'll print in any scale you want.

[petedavies]

Cheers to all, thanks very much for the kind words of welcome!

And thanks to sultanbev for the feedback - didn't know about the BTR-T (should have done a bit more research...) but they do look quite cool so I might keep them anyway. Can always fluff it with a story about renewed interest as oil revenues returned etc etc :-) Given the future timescale I did ask Leon if I should post this in "Fantasy & Sci Fi"!

Particular thanks for the heads-up about Butler 3D, not seen them before. A quick look didn't seem to show anything super-modern in 6mm not available in metal but will keep a careful eye on them.

Pete

[Steve J]

Welcome on board Pete .

[Scorpio_Rocks]

Welcome aboard!

AFAIK:

Forward Observation Vehicle = PRP-4MU (gunless BMP)
Recon APC = GAZ-2330 Tigr and BRM-3K Rys

Perhaps in a "Fantasy Future" where they can afford to use T-15 Armata there would be a "K" variety for command and Recon? and a gun-less FOO / FAC version?

[sean66]

Welcome
the GHQ stuff is not compatible with most other 6mm Manufacturer (they are 1/285th) I think CinC were compatible but the last
I heard they'd ceased trading.
the Russians would only use the newer equipment in the Class 'A' Units so plenty of scope to use the older equipment's.
regards
Sean

[petedavies]

Hi Scorpio_Rocks:

I like the look of the PRP-4MU, thanks for the suggestion!

Hi sean66:

Thanks for the reply! I agree the GHQ won't fit too well with all my Heroics/Scotia, my idea is to really treat this as a separate project. The other issue with 1:285 is the eye-watering cost  My initial constraint is to stick to no more than 1 pack of each type - this should give a different, more polyglot look on the table to contrast with the "serried hordes" of '80's Soviets.

I think CinC are still around - their website is active although with a link to a distributor which may have taken over some ranges. I note they do a BMP-R which might be an easier conversion to PRP-4MU than the BMP-1 from GHQ, so something to think about...

Cheers!

Pete

[pierre the shy]

Good Morning

CinC sold all their 1/285 range stuff to Legions 4 Hire (based in Canada) in 2019. They can now be found here: https://www.legionsivhire.ca/index.php?id_category=23&controller=category

CinC is still around but I think you will find that they only do a few ranges nowadays.

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your Russian project Pete.......I would be surprised to see a vast array of T-14 Armata's on the table as there are I believe not that many around? I tend to stick to 1989 as my upper limit time wise for moderns so not that familiar with the current kit that is around.

GHQ stuff is lovely but definitely NOT cheap!

Cheers
Peter

[petedavies]

Hi Peter, thanks for the kind wishes and also for confirming that the CinC 1/285 minis are still available.

Agreed on the scarcity of the T-14/T15's, but as you say the relatively high cost of the GHQ line (lovely as they are) will limit my acquisition - much as it will the real-life operator 

Cheers!

Pete