First Post!

Hello!

While I do not expect this page to get much traffic because I know nothing about blogging or maintaining a virtual space (let alone a physical one), I decided to make a blog mostly dedicated to the Soviet Flames of War army I have started collecting.

First, a bit about me. I am a 29 year old dick that sort of never grew up. I like toys and video games and I like shooting stuff and blowing stuff up. I grew tired of jobs involving manual labor last year and am now a freshman in college. I am going for a bachelors of science with a major in geography and a minor in natural science. So far the plan is to go for a masters in geology once this degree is done with. Also, I like cats and I hate ponies.

Now on to the hobby stuff. I played games like Battletech and just about anything Games Workshop had to offer from the mid 90s to the mid 2000s. I just got sick of GW and quit messing around with any hobby stuff, opting instead for partying and smoking a lot of weed. I've missed the scene and have chosen Flames of War this time around for my latest addiction. It all began in early March with a box of Mid War Monsters IS-85s I picked up on Ebay for $45. Once I opened them I instantly fell in love and promptly started dumping all the money I could find into the hobby.

I have chosen a Soviet late war force to collect. I pirated a copy of Red Bear to see what I would need and decided that the Udarny list would be the best choice for me. I wanted something that relied heavily on infantry but had enough support options and big toys to keep it exciting for me. Now I couldn't narrow down a typical 1750ish point list so instead my collecting went the expensive route. I am buying every single unit I can buy that the Udarny list can possibly take. With 6,500-7,000 points available at my disposal, I figured I'd have enough options to make sure my opponents didn't know exactly what I had every time I played. Well that and the fact that I have never actually played FoW and simply don't know what sucks and what doesn't.

So a couple of months and around $1,000 later I have the following to get painted
HQ + 2iC + Kom + 4 Team ATRs + ATR HQ + 2 Team ATGs + 5 Team Sappers + 3 Team Snipers
Udarny Strelkovy 12 Team + HQ + Kom + 2 Team MGs
Udarny Strelkovy 12 Team + HQ + Kom + 2 Team MGs
SMG 12 Team + HQ + Kom
Scout 4 Team + HQ
Flamethrower 8 Team
Sapper 15 Team + HQ + Kom
HMG 8 Team + HQ
Mortars 6 Team + HQ + Observer
45mm ATG 6 Team + HQ + Observer
100mm ATG 4 Team + HQ + Observer
76mm ATG/Arty 4 Team + HQ + Observer
122mm Arty 4 Team + HQ + Observer
122mm/152mm Reserve Arty 4 Team + HQ + Observer (barrels magnetized)
IS-2 6 Tanks
IS-1 5 Tanks
T-34/76 obr 1942 10 Tanks
ISU-122/152 5 Tanks (barrels magnetized)
KV-5 6 Tanks
Il-2 Sturmovik 1 Aircraft

And then I recently bought a box of German Panzergrenadiers because they look cool with their half tracks. Anyway I've bought the 3rd edition rule bundle and Red Bear so I am excited to learn the rules and hopefully get a game in soon although I refuse to play with naked minis. I have never painted at such a tiny scale so I am looking forward to the challenge and learning some new techniques. I am also going to step outside of my comfort zone and I am thinking about giving my guys a 3 tone Caucasus camo scheme in light tan, dark green, and dark red.

Will have pictures and updates once I figure this blogger shit out!

Thanks for having a look.