Battleground 2020: Syria, Post 2: schedule & more gear

"If you look on the dry erase board, you can see that they get +2 Dice...1 for being Dug-in, and 1 for Hard cover. We need more than an AAMG for this target!"

http://www.novinite.com/articles/102832/Russia+Ends+Decade+Long+Chechnya+Operation

Sometimes as work progresses with a project, I realize that some more items are needed to finish the phase of work I'm in. This can be frustrating due to both budgeting constraints and available time, so I always like to work on a couple of items simultaneously - if one experiences a slow-down, then I switch to the other while acquiring the needed items.

Present phases of work:

1. prepping and priming OPFOR micro armor and infantry.
2. creating mixed terrain on bases, printing paper terrain, making the buildings.

This happened with the work on the micro armor. The jeweler's saw makes a little bit of additions to the vehicles pretty easy, and commanders, guns, gunners, crew and boxes / bundles on vehicles always makes them a lot more realistic. It also adds depth to the model, making it "pop" to the eye. As I experimented in this post [click] I realized I didn't want to waste a lot of really nice infantry figs as crew - chopping up a few for a trial is fine, but the GHQ figs are too nice to waste. Also, their dynamic poses are harder to work with than more static ones, anyway.

So, I checked GHQ and CinC and found that the latter had some static poses perfect for vehicles - dirt cheap, too [$7 / 36]. Also, shipping is free for orders in the $20-50 range, so it was time to fill in a few other deficiencies as well. In the end, this was the order placed:

OPFOR
* BRDM Spandrel [TOW] [x5] - had no TOW capability, and they're scout cars, too.
* GAZ 66 trucks [x5] - transport for Syrian motor infantry.
* 40 Russian AAMG for Armor - useful for a number of vics, a common upgrade.

USA
* Guided bomb set - for future airplanes, and immediately as markers for IF attacks.
* 50 .50 cal AAMG - both an upgrade and spares for broken barrels, etc.
* US Lt. AA, AT and TOW figs - poses suitable for many crew uses.

TERRAIN
* Wooden span bridge - 2" span, 6" long, seems to have metal rails. Seems like a common 3rd-world or secondary road bridge. Got an extra span to make it cross 4" of water.

I found CinC easy to work with thru their site, and plan to use them in the future, after I see how this order goes. The items look good, altho not all have pics or adequate pics.

For the 2nd bullet, I realized that to create terrain bits that will last, I need to mount them on something sturdy, easy to handle and water-proof [spilled beverages...] so the time and effort spent on terrain isn't wasted when it falls apart with use. Also, painting terrain can make it curve as the paint dries. I therefore ordered .02 / .04 styrene sheets from Hobbylinc, which are on the way.

Also, I want to have groves of trees, whether cultivated or wild. So I ordered trees from China. More will be posted on these when they arrive.