WWII Soviet Assault Engineers

Earlier this year Warlord Games / Bolt Action Miniatures announced that they would be releasing some WWII Assault Engineers. I felt I needed them for various reason. Most of all since I wanted some minis to represent some crack Soviet units on my tabletop. The other reason that I actually have two scenarios that I want to play in due time that call for Assault Engineers. But I have to admit, that I ordered them with an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I do not like to many of the Bolt Action minis that were released over the past two to three years (those not sculpted by Paul Hicks) since they have extremely cartoonish faces. It was a pleasant surprise when these arrived. While some of the faces were still exaggerated, other were not. And those that were, looked more Asian or Mongolian then cartoonish, which was fine by me.

Soviet Assault Engineers (Picture © Zvezda)

To be honest, just saying that I was not disappointed by the faces like I had expected would not do these minis justice. IMHO these are the best minis from the Bolt Action line around and they proved to be a joy to paint. As I have said before, Soviet WWII uniforms leave me bored, so I did not put too much effort into the rest of them by just using washing techniques. From the moment I unpacked these, I felt they really deserved better, so they were painted in a classic way.

Soviet Assault Enigineers

So let’s get started:

Soviet Assault Engineers (group shot)

Soviet Assault Engineer (NCO)

Soviet AssaultEngineer (DP LMG)

Soviet Assault Engineer (Flamethrower)

Now this mini with the flamethrower decided for me how to base the unit. I honestly would have loved to base them in an earth and grass style like I based my other Soviets, but he had some bricks and rubble between his feet. So I had to add some more to his base and all the others (which came with plain integral tabs). I usually do not like it when a company puts stuff like that on the tabs, forcing me mimic it with my basing, but in this case I think it added to the unit, so I am happy with it!

Soviet Assault Engineer (firing SMG)

Soviet Assault Engineer (advancing)

Soviet Assault Engineer (throwing grenade)

Soviet Assault Engineer (with Tellermine)

Soviet Assault Engineer (with Panzerfäuste)

Soviet Assault Engineers (SG 43 MMG team)

And to finish it all… another group shot:

Soviet Assault Engineers (group shot) 2

But these were not the only Soviets recently finished… I also did a 120mm mortar team.  They were done with a simple washing technique though (again I am bored by the standard WWII Soviet uniforms). And I have to say I was slightly disappointed by these. Bolt Action put no new minis into this set, just recycling some of the artillery crews. To add a little variety I swapped the head of one of them with one I had left over from the Engineers. While these do not fit the Engineers in either quality or looks, I did not want to open a new post for them.

Soviet 120mm Mortar