In the last Barbarossa game, my good friend Walt LeBegue commanded the Soviet Central Front (them swamps and marshes), and for a brief moment commanded the 4th Cavalry Regiment, before Marshall Wally stripped it away. Deputy Marshall Walt went on to fame as the "Swamp Fox" of the CCCT, but always regretted that he never had a chance to use his cavalry regiment in action. As a present for the rematch, I sat down last summer and built Walt his own Soviet Cavalry Regiment. As readers are always writing in and asking where do you get what you need, I thought that I would list my sources of supply from start to finish. The basis for the regiment was the order of battle listed in the Barbarossa 25 Booklet. Working from that listing, I found that I would need the following items: (Note that all cavalry stands need two sets of figures, one mounted, and one on foot.) 1 Single-Figure Command Stand 2 Single-Figure Patrol Stands 2 Double-Figure Command/Cavalry Stands 7 Double-Figure Cavalry Stands (1 recon, 6 regular) 2 MMG Stands 1 82mm Mortar Stand (DS) 1 Gun Crew (DS) 1 Gun Crew 1 451A6 AT Gun 1 76L16 Infantry Gun 3 Wagons 2 Limbers The total came to 21 mounted figures, as well as 31 foot figures. Most of the mounted figures came from Ahketon. They have six different packs of Russian Cavalry, each of five figures, at a cost of $5.50 apack. I purchased three packs of# 10 12 Russian Cavalry with sabres (Any Russian Cavalryforce should go into battle mounted with sabre bare!), and two packs of I ORX The last are a mixed pack of five figures, with each having an officer, cossack, and one figure each with SMG, rifle, and sabre. (All of the companies mentioned have their address listed above.) I used one of the officer figures for the mounted command stand, the rifle/SMG figures for the recon and patrol stands, and put a cossack figure on each cavalry command stand as well as a regular cavalry figure. I mounted the cavalry figures on 11/4" fender washers for the two figure stands, and 1 " fender washers for the patrol and command stands. A quick word about fender washers. They are flat washers with a small hole, and can be purchased by the pound, or by each at any good hardware store. I use white glue to mount the figure, by placing the washer on plastic wrap, puddling the white glue on the washer, and pressing the figures into the glue. I then let the stands dry for a day or two, and then remove the stand from the plastic wrap. If the glue has run off the washer, it can be cut away with a hobby knife. I find that as the glue dries, it helps landscape the base. For dismounts, I used a number of figures. MLR makes a line of Soviet dismounted cavalry, equipped with SMG but still wearing their sabres. They are not yet listed among the Combat Miniatures line, but can be gotten from the Emperor's Headquarters. They came in bags of three for $2. 10, and one bag included a horseholder and two horse. I picked up two bags of the horseholders, and made one special horseholder stand for each of the two squadrons that the cavalry regiment can operate in. (This dismount stand can be used to mark the point where the squadron dismounted, and to where it must return to remount.) For weapons and gun crews, I used Platoon 20 figures from Ulster Imports. Ipicked up six gunners and two sets ofmachineguns and crews, as well as an 82mm mortar. Ulster, which has its WWII figures now made in Canada by RAFM, sells them for about $.50 a figure. The foot stands were mounted for the most part on 1/8" fender washers, with the 82mm stand and 76.2 infantry gun stand being mounted on normal-sized stands, though with two 1/4" fender washers glued to the bottom of the stand. Figures were painted as per the usual Soviet drab brown, but for a touch of color I put all of the figures, both foot and horse, into the early-war dark blue breeches worn by the Soviet cavalry. Soviet helmets should be painted steel instead of brown, as it helps set off the figure better. For guns and wagons, I purchased the following from Richard Houston of Lyzards Grin: 1 SM-29 Soviet 45mm AT Gun 1 SM-46 Soviet 76.2m Infantry Gun 2 SM-55 Japanese Limbers 3 SM-70 Soviet Wagons 2 SM-70 Soviet Wagons I talked to Richard and made two special requests that he did for me. For each limber, he gave me two riderless horses in place of the usual set of one riderless and one with a rider. On two of the wagons, he gave me an additional horse, in place of the wagon sides and back. Items were assembled, and again mounted on fender washers. The wagon for the mortar crew was topped with a scr-ap piece of magnetic strip, so that the mortar could be placed on top of it. The two machinegun carts were made by taking the Soviet wagon and putting the front bench on. Then with some scrap wood, I built up the back half of the wagon bed so it is just above the back wheels. By topping this with another piece of magnetic stripping, I can place my MMG stands on the carts. and be assured they will remain there while they are being moved. Limbers, wagons, and guns were painted a Soviet dark green. To move the command about, and to allow it to arrive intact, I used a Rubbermaid plastic container. These can be picked up at Sam's, Wal-Mart, or Phar-mor quite cheaply, and have the advantage that they will not shatter if dropped. I floor the container with a piece of self-adhesive magnetic stripping. This is often sold in hardware stores for $10.00 for 10 feet by 1", but I have found that one can purchase it far cheaper at local sign shops. (It's used for those self-adhesive car signs.) It sells there for $7.00 a square foot, but I usually can get two or more square feet of scrap material for $10.00. By lining the bottom of the case with it, and using the fender washers, one's figures will travel in relative safety. If you drop the box, they will move, but on a normal journey, they won't all migrate to one comer of the box and rub the paint off against one another. All in all, the project took about one month from start to finish, including ordering and painting the figures. The only bad part of the project has been, that now that Walt has them, I have to send some troops into the swamps to drive them out! Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Quarterly #3 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com