20mm Moderns

 I was on the Modern Miniature Warfare FB the other day and got chatting about 20mm moderns. The OP was asking about how it looked versus 28mm, so I offered to take some pics of a few of my models. Taking advantage of today's sunshine (a bit too bright but given the pretty grim 'summer' weather thus far, I'm not complaining!), I had a quick photoshoot and here they are. Backdrops are from John Hodgson's Sci-Fi backdrops book.

First up I set up a Chechnya scene, with Russian troops advancing through the ruins of Grozny. All figures are from Liberation Miniatures, which sadly seems to have ceased trading. This is a real shame. Not only was Rolf's modern range enormous and very competitively priced, he was a really nice guy to do business with. The figures are meant to represent an MVD (Interior Ministry) unit - pictures from the time show soldiers in a real mish-mash of uniforms, so the figures are painted up in various different approximations of the camo suits worn at the time. The BTR80s are also Liberation Miniatures, cast in resin with metal turrets. Two are armed with the standard 14.5mm MG turret and one is a BTR80A with a 30mm cannon.

Street-level view of the head of the column

Overhead view of the Command element

Lead APC and section with Command element to the left

Rear section and APC coming up behind the Command element

The whole unit - probably wondering where the Chechen 'wolf-packs' are!

Drone feed of the advancing column!

Next up is a die-cast T80 with ERA. Can't remember who made this - I know I got it online and that it only cost about £5! Not as detailed as a plastic kit, but at that price and from a couple of feet on the table, it more than does the job. The infantry are again Liberation Miniatures, this time two Motor Rifle infantry. The tank commander is also from Liberation Miniatures.

As it was a sunny day I also thought I should take a couple of snaps of my Afghan British. The vehicle in the rear is a Mastiff MRAP - a real beast of a machine! It is a resin model originally produced by Britannia and now available from Grubby Tanks. The Warrior MICV is a plastic Revell kit with a Liberation Miniatures commander. Whilst a lovely kit the barrel of the Rarden cannon is very thin and broke off some time ago. It has been replaced by a metal cannon that comes with Grubby Tanks' Warrior kit - Andy very kindly sold me just a the barrel to replace the broken one. It is noticeably thicker, but significantly more robust.

The figures 2nd and 4th from left in the first picture are both Britannia Miniatures British infantry, again now sold by Grubby Tanks. They are most suitable for the early years of Operation Enduring Freedom and they work very well with Liberation Miniatures in terms of size and style. In this picture they are next to two SOF figures from Elheim Miniatures. They work well enough together; I would say the Elheim figures are a bit slimmer and more detailed, crisper casts, but the Britannia Miniatures do have a certain old-school charm!

You can really see the size of the Mastiff in this picture

Finally, I set up a VIP security detail - figures are all Elheim once again and the cars are re-painted toy cars from Poundland - one of the joys of gaming in 20mm!