Cold War Commander Battle Report 3 - 6 x 6 Game Challenge

I finally got around to playing another game of Cold War Commander for my 6 x 6 Game Challenge.

It has been a little while since my last game, so I probably got some rules wrong.  I added in some artillery for this game so had a few new things to learn as well.

I played the Counter Attack Scenario from the book.  The Soviet Union was defending with 1,335 points available and the US was the attacker with 2,000 points available.

Both sides would achieve a minor objective if they caused 25% casualties to the enemy and a major objective if they broke the enemy formation.

It was a fun game and came right down to the wire with the end result being very, very close.

I think I will try to use an forward artillery observer in the next game to make better use of the artillery.

Cold War Era in 6mm - Painting Russian Infantry

Now that I have a few tanks painted for my Cold War era games, I need to add some infantry to my forces.  I'm starting with the Russians as those are the first models that I've come across.  I got a batch of Heroics and Ros Russian infantry models second hand.  The models look pretty good and will look even better once I've got some paint on them.

In this scale, I'm not planning to do a whole lot of detail, but I also don't want to paint them a single color and call them done.  I'm shooting for a decent table-top standard and hope these turn out well.

First up, I trimmed flash off the models as needed and then primed them white.  I used my usual automotive primer.  It covers well without leaving a thick coat.  With 6mm you need to be sure you don't put on too thick of a coat, because you will lose all the detail of the model.

Once the primer was dry, I put on base coat of Vallejo Model Air: Middlestone.  Next up, I washed the models with GW's Agrax Earthshade and then did a light dry brush with the Middlestone.

I painted the guns and boots with Army Painter Black.

Next up, I applied Vallejo Game Color Elf Skintone on the exposed flesh.

I put a small dab of Vallejo Model Color Flat Red on the shoulders for the shoulder patches.

Finally, I painted the helmets with Vallejo Model Air Russian Green.

With the models painted, I based the infantry teams on 40mm x 30mm bases and the anti-tank and LMG teams on 30mm x 30 mm bases.

I textured the bases with a mix of drywall putty, wood glue, dish soap, and burnt umber acrylic paint.  Once that was dry, I put a coat of burnt umber on the bases and applied labels printed on labels.  Finally, I flocked the bases with a mix of Gale Force 9 Dirt flock, Woodland Scenics Earth Blend flock, and Woodland Scenics Green Grass.

I am very happy with the results and look forward to playing some games with these.

I've now got 21 infantry teams, 12 anti-tank teams and 2 LMG teams.  I will need to add a few more anti-tank and LMG teams as well as some mortar teams and maybe a few HMG teams.

Cold War Commander Battle Report 2 - 6 x 6 Challenge

I played my second game of Cold War Commander.  I got several rules wrong in my first game.  I decided to replay the same scenario with the same forces.

1985.  The cold war has gone hot and I have a small unit of US forces facing off against a Russian force using the encounter scenario.

I recorded a play through of the battle and you can watch it here.

I enjoyed the game and I really do like the mechanics presented in the rulebook.  I feel like the small points I played limits the US forces (based on me only having M1 Abrams tanks) and puts them at a disadvantage.  I'm going to play a larger point game next time and might try to get some different units painted up.

PFC CinC Unboxing Cold War Era 6mm US and Russian Models

I placed an order with PFC CinC to expand my collection of US and Russian models for Cold War Era gaming.  These are 6mm models to be used with games like Team Yankee, Cold War Commander, and Fistful of TOWs 3.

I ordered several different packs and thought I would share the details with you.

Below are some photos of the models.

M113

M901

M163

M1

BMP-2

T-72

Overall I'm happy with the quality of the models.  My only complaint is that some of the weapon barrels are very thin.  I'm guessing that they are to scale, but they may be damaged through normal play.  I will just have to be careful with handling the models during my games.

If you are looking for some models for your 6mm gaming, I'd suggest you check out some of what this company has to offer.

Cold War Commander Battle Report 1 - 6 x 6 Challenge

I played my first game of Cold War Commander.

In this game, it is 1985 and I have a small force of US tanks facing off against a small force of Russian tanks.  I played the encounter scenario from the book.

I recorded the battle and you can watch it here.

I missed a few rules; suppression and opportunity fire for sure, and maybe a few more.  It was a learning game, so it is okay to miss a few rules.  I'll try to do better in future games.

I enjoyed the game and look forward to future games.  I like how the activation mechanic works in this game.  It fives a good "Fog of War" because you don't know if you will be able to activate or not.

I have pretty limited forces for the moment, but I'm working on painting more models for the Cold War era and will be playing larger games as I get more models painted.

Have you played this game?  What do you think of it?

Cold War Era in 6mm - Painting Russian T-55 tanks

The release of Team Yankee has piqued my interest in Cold War Gone Hot conflicts.  Team Yankee is written with 15mm models, but the games I have seen just don't look right.  The models they have put out are beautiful, but the ranges for the vehicles in 15mm on a 6' x 4' table are very short.  So I've decided to play these games with 6mm models instead.

Clearly I'm not the only one doing this as I've joined 2 Facebook groups that are focused on 6mm Team Yankee and another that is focused on 6mm gaming from all eras.

While Team Yankee is to blame for my interest in the subject, I have found a couple other rule sets that interest me as well; Cold War Commander and A Fist Full of TOWs 3.

I picked up a couple of packs of  Russian T-55 tanks made by GHQ second hand for a very reasonable price and decided they would work great for testing out some of these rule sets.  I will be using these tanks as proxies for T-70 tanks for Team Yankee, but they will work as is for the other rule sets.

My plan is to try out all three games (and maybe some others if I find more rules) and see which I like best before I settle in on any on in particular.  I have committed to playing 6 games of Cold War Commander in the next year as part of my 6 x 6 challenge, so I hope I like it.

I was surprised by the detail offered in these models.  They look great and paint up very quickly.

I've put a basic paint job together for these models, but I think a simple paint job can still look nice.

I primed the models white, and applied a base coat of Russian Green.  It took 2 layers of the green to get a solid coat.

Next, I washed the whole model with Nuln Oil.  I watered this down quite a bit as I applied it.

Model with the wash on the top, Dry brush applied to the bottom.

Finally, I mixed some white in with the Russian Green and dry brushed the models.  I tried to stay away from the tracks with the dry brush so they stayed pretty dark.

After that I glued the models to some bases and they are now ready for action.  I left off the machine guns as I'm pretty sure they would just get broken off anyway.

What do you think?  Should I do unit markings on these or leave them as is?  I'm not sure it is worth it?

Next up, will be some US tanks so these guys have someone to fight.