Some Soviet armor, for a change

In my 1981 LANDJUT scenario, most of the WarPac forces I'll be fielding will be East German, but there will be smaller numbers of supporting Polish and Soviet forces. As far as the Soviets go, the majority of the troops committed in reality would most likely have been VDV (airborne and air assault), but it's quite probable that Soviet motor rifle and possibly armored forces would also have participated in the thrust northward toward the Danish border, at least as far as the Kiel Canal. 

That being the case, at some point in the far-flung and misty future, I'll need some Soviet ground troops, in addition to VDV. So, as a change of pace from my usual endless painting of East Germans, I've done some Soviet armor: T-62s!

By the early 1980s, the Group of Soviet Forces Germany (GSFG) had almost totally replaced its T-62s with T-64s in all armored divisions that were part of the 2nd Guards Tank Army and the 3rd Combined Arms Army (it stopped being the "3rd Shock Army" after the late 1950s) and they were well on the way to total replacement in the armored divisions of the 1st Guards Tank Army and the 8th and 20th Guards Armies. However, in all the motor rifle divisions of the GSFG, the replacement rate lagged well behind that found in the armored divisions and about half of their attached tanks were still T-62s. 

Here's the first company of a planned T-62 battalion for a Soviet motor rifle regiment:

Now just two more companies to go. I think I have too many irons in the fire for any of them to get really hot! I suppose most wargamers are the same. 

More from me next weekend.