2nd Battle of Grozny

CriAn Eylül 03, 2022

Although the First Chechen War (and perhaps the 2nd) is mostly thought of now (in wargaming circles, anyway) as an urban war, fought in the mud and snow in camouflage coats and knit caps, etc. this isn't the case for the entire war. The first Battle of Grozny and the third during the second war were fought in winter, but the second Battle of Grozny was fought in August. It was a bit harder to track down pictures of this second fight, the battle the Chechens definitively won, but I eventually did come across plenty. Images of the battle show rebels with less gear, no knit caps, no coats and some with a fair amount of civilian clothing. I assume those with less camouflage are fighters who came out the shadows to join those who came in from the mountains, but really knows? To represent these combatants I went with RH Models STS figures. Originally they were STS, shirt-trousers-sandals, but now with some green stuff they are STS, shirt-trousers-shoes. I also sculpted a prayer cap for one guy, some shoulder straps for two guys and pant side pockets for three. I think these dudes will look great mixed with some others I have painted. Those with green headbands should work for Abkhazians and those without any "green" could be used for most other conflicts I'm interested.

Soon I'll paint/mod up a similar batch with guys using RPGs and PKMs. I also have plans to do a batch like this with various headgear, panama caps, baseball caps, forage caps, boonie hats, prayer caps, etc. It took a bit to sculpt the shoes, so I'm taking a breather for now, however. Next up is some pro-Russian fighters for the Transnistria War.

RH Models STSAK; STSRPK