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Stalingrad Z - Conversion Help Requested

  • JTam

    So Stalingrad Z is a neat little game where the fun and festivities of the Battle of Stalingrad is interrupted by a Zombie outbreak.  Surviving Russians and Germans become strange allies against the restless dead.

    Sweet video.

    The game was discussed a bit previously on the forum here:

    https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/49886/suggestions-for-new-soviet-kits

    There's quite a few things I like about the game (in concept):

    Can be played solitaire.

    Can be played with two people in versus or in cooperation.

    You play on spiral bound book.  Sure we all want a giant 28mm Stalingrad table.... but let's be pragmatic for a little bit.  

    I went ahead and ordered this edition:

    As well as the "Survivor Journal."

    I didn't get the deluxe edition with the miniatures as they are 35mm.  I could probably hang with 32mm (half of 28mms already really are 32mm) but 35mm is a bridge to far.  

    Which leads to the point of this thread and why it's in the painting and modeling portion of forum.  

    I want to kitbash/find appropriate miniatures for the game in 28mm.  They should consequently be able to pull double duty in my WW2 gaming armies.  

    I have some ideas already, but would like to enlist the help of the forum.  Any suggestions for models to use welcome.

     

  • JTam

    These are the survivors I need to model:

    And these are the zombies:

     

     

  • JTam

    Becker:

     

    A German tanker with saucer cap, Iron Cross, pistol and MP40.  

    The perfect kit for this is WGA's Panzer Lehr kit:

     

  • JTam

    Rieser.

    A German Landser with Mauser 98K.  Got just the sprue yesterday.  WGA's German Sentries:

    https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/58250/02-hundred-hours

    Any of the helmeted heads will do.  Need a body with Jack boots.  (The bodies with low boots don't work for Stalingrad).

    Stiener:

    German Landser in overcoat with captured Russian subgun.

    The WGA German Sentry sprue again seems like a good idea:

    The Russian subgun will need to be sourced elsewhere.

    I'm thinking possibly the Wargames Factory Russian Infantry sprue.  (Out of production but I have a box.)

    I think the arms and weapon will scale well with the WGA kit.  The only draw back is that the arms are super wrinkled, which works well for thin Russian cotton tunics.... but less well for a wool German overcoats.   Some sanding/greenstuff/painting may alleviate the problem. 

    Another choice is the Warlord Games Soviet Infantry sprue.  They are chunkier than WGA kits.... but perhaps their summer weight arms will look alright as WGA overcoat arms.

     

     

  • JTam

    Til:

    OK.  Till is a Pioneer with pistol, Molotov, axe, and antitank mine.

    I may use the Warlord Games Blitzkrieg Germans sprue as the base.  The Warlord kit miniatures are a touch bulkier and this guy is clearly meant to be a scrapper.  

    (Warlord Blitzkrieg, WGA Brit, WGA German Sentry).

    I am zero concerned about rolled up sleeves.  Everyone else is in Winter or at least Fall garb.  My Till can have his sleeves down.

    The pistol holster is easy.

    There's a molotov on the Wargames Factory Russian Infantry sprue.

    The cigar head is less easy.  I might see what a bit of sprue looks like.... I have a feeling.... not good.

    There is a nice axe on the WGA Italian Infantry command sprue.  Unfortunately that sprue is sold out everywhere I look.

    Not sure where to get the antitank mine.  The Warlord Games Pioneer kit?  A Tamiya 1/48 kit?  I need to look around.  

  • JTam

    I'll tell you who I really need help with....

    Katyusha:

    Eye patched, overcoat wearing, MG34 armed, female Partizan models can be hard to source....  Anyone have ideas for a decent base to work from?

  • MD

    Very 'Fiends of the Eastern Front'.

  • Grumpy Gnome

    A relavent thematic music video based on Love, Death, Robots... The Secret War (One of my favorite LDR shorts).

    (Warning: Spoilers)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FhP_rBFqyg

    Home of the Grumpy Gnome

    https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

  • JTam

    @Mark Dewis 

    Googled that.  Very cool.

    I think I had seen the books somewhere before:

    I wasn't aware of the preceding comic books at all:

  • JTam

    @Grumpy Gnome 

    That was a really good video.

    It's an even better fit for Achtung Cthulu!

    Which leads me to the Tankista:

    Who is some kind of boss level Zombie.

    I actually possess the perfect miniature to base this off of.  A Heroine from Modiphious Entertainment's Actung Cthulu!

    The creature on her back is a seperate piece.

    Which gives me two options.

    1.  Leave the back creature off.  Possibly use the creatures face and hands to convert her into the Zombie Tankista.  (Has a nice symmetry.  Probably will use a seperate plastic zombie miniatures head and hands though.... just because plastic is so much easier to work with.)

    2.  Leave the back creature on.  Convert the female tanker to burnt zombie tanker with another burnt zombie crewman fused to her.  Horrible things happen when a tank brews up.  Pro: Easy to see this as a boss zombie when it's effectively two zombies in one.  Con:  Too horrific.

     

  • JTam

    Other Zombies:

    This:

    Plus this:

    Leads me to believe I need 10 regular zombies (my ASSumption is there is no difference between the gas mask, female, and male zombies),  3 armored zombies, 2 Kugelfisch zombies,  1 alpha zombie, and Tankista, Grinzer, and Omega.  

    The named zombies have or will get their own posts.  

    Back to the regular zombies.  Actually LOTS of choices.   These are the best options I found:

    (These look great from the smallish pic I can find. The extra zombie heads are super value added.)  

    (More zombies than you even need.  The upper right guy might work as a base for the Omega.)

    (Looks OK).

    (Studio Miniatures German Zombie sprue.  Super neat little sprue that provides a couple left over arms and a head.  I think it would be exciting if WGA made a few mini sprues like this....)

    (They look pretty good.  Some of them are wearing camouflage jackets... which is useful for the alpha and kuglefisch zombies.)

    Speaking of the alpha and kuglefish: 

    Found this picture.  The alpha just looks like a guy in a smock.  I first thought a kugelfisch zombie was just a zombie that does special exercises for its lady parts.  Turns out kuglefisch is German for puffer fish.  That plus his portly demeanor makes me think he might be one of those swell up and explode zombies.  Green stuff and try and find Nurgle minis gut/intestine bits?  I feel like there was an intestine hanging out bit or torso with guts hanging out on the old GW plastic zombie sprue.....

     

  • JTam

    I was probably thinking of this guy:

    Great blog:

    http://lefthandedpanzerfaust.blogspot.com/2018/08/games-workshop-zombies.html?m=1

  • JTam

    Got these really nice miniatures in the mail.  Sadly three are fated to become "armoured zombies."

    More pictures and vendor here:

    https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/49886/suggestions-for-new-soviet-kits?page=2

  • GM

    @JTam Looks brilliant, you`ve got most of the firms in your listings. however Black Cat Games are a metal company, who like Crooked Dice do hands (male and female) with objects and weapons. Zonbies and WW 2 figures. The CAT Lady will give you WW 2 female Russians, particulary some nice snipers. She best known as Bad Squiddo Games and her figures are amazing. Rubicon have a nice specialists range. ALL the above scale well to WGA,WGF, Perrys, and heads or arm can be swaped from metal to plastic. I`ll keep thinking for you as I love WW 2, and I`ve got so much stuff  for Wierd War  including or D20 books. 

  • JTam

    @Geoff Maybury 

    Hi Brother. 

    Thanks for the heads up on Black Cat Bases! (I believe you meant Black Cat Bases, as opposed to Black Cat Games, as opposed to Black Cat Gaming....  Evidently Black Cat is a popular name for gaming companies.)

    https://blackcatbases.com/

    They got some cool miniatures and as you said hands with implements.

    This cool mini has 6 different weapon hands to put behind her back!

    Equipment and hands:

    The only 28mm "Tactical Tuna" FS2000s I've ever seen:

    I can't find any German Zombies like you pictured though.  (They do have zombies with genitalia if that floats someones boat.)  Maybe I just suck at searching.

  • JTam

    @Geoff Maybury 

    Bad Squiddo Games does have some nice minis.

    This shooter:

    Or this: 

    Might be used for Dasha:

    This standard bearer:

    Might become Lydia:

    Adding a boar spear will be easy.  But I will have to remove the subgun and strap as well as add an aid bag.  Not super easy on a metal figure.  

    Other possible choices:

    The left most miniature wears a bekesha like Lydia.

    Right figure has a bekesha.  But the arm and head chopping would be ugly.

    Right figure could be converted to hold a spear and an aid bag added.

     

     

  • GM

    @JTam The German Zonbie is Studios plastic.  converted with WGF original zombie box, and WGF german parts, the old WGF geman set, mixed with Studio games plastic, and their metal german heads, will give you a tremendous variation in zombies. Sorry about games/ baces,  this old farts getting his firms mixed up. Gosh, Stalingrad, what a modelling oppertunity the "Ruins, Statues, Snow and Ice, Rats, Russians, Food Kitchens, Gemans, and both nations Tanks and vehicles. 

    Please check out Rubicons Russian camp fire set, and there Rusian assesory set with a sledge. They are both brilliant. Looking forward to how this works out for you,  Geoff "Well picked Bro, well picked".  

  • GM

    @JTam Check these out from Rubicon, sorry JTam, for some reason we are unable to show you the Rubicon German and Russian accessory sets and figures. Will try later but, if not, you will have to look on their site. Sorry, Geoff

     

  • JTam

    @Geoff Maybury 

    Wow!  That's a grisly conversion!  Really nice.  The entrails popping out is exactly what I will try and go for with the Kugelfisch.

    I will pop over to Rubicon to check out the accesory sets you described.  Thank You, I would never have thought of checking out Rubicon.

  • GM

  • GM

  • GM

    Don`t know what Iv`e done wrong, not computer savey enough, but all the darn Rubicon photos I dowm loaded to show you went fine into my file but won`t transfer out to here. No trouble with Bad Squido etc, just the Rubicon and they have some nice mini diarama sets. Sorry "Bro", I don`t get it quite annoying. Cheers Geoff.

  • GM

    Now this is just plain stupid Rubicon photos come through, (as above) only catal;ouge items will not!!!!!

  • GM

  • GM

  • GM

    Model by Corey Haling well as jeep below.

  • JTam

    @Geoff Maybury 

    No worries.  I found the Rubicon accessories sets.  I like the German one with the Panzerschrecks!  Those are hard to come by in 28mm.  

    Thanks Brother.

  • JTam

    We got Zombies!

    Studio Miniatures plastic zombie Germans left and Warlord Games "Totenkorps" zombie Germans right:

    Detail of the Studio Miniatures plastics:

    Thoughts: 

    1.  It's pretty remarkable what you can do with one little sprue.  It would be super interesting if WGA did similar.

    2.  The sprue would be greatly improved if the heads were seperate.  Having to hack off the heads to use the alternate head is not super hard, but kind of annoying. 

    Detail of the Warlord Games Totenkorps:

    Thanks Cherrie!

    Six seperate poses for 12 zombies.

    What the f*ck is this assault on the English language? Bro.  What.  Bro.

    This is certainly more Zombies than I actually need for Stalingrad Z.... but can you ever have too many WW2 Zombies?  I think not.  Certainly a fun thing to add into a game of Bolt Action or similar.  

    Sidenote:  I like Konflict '47 in theory.  But it should be a fat campaign book like Korea that still uses the basic Bolt Action rules.  Currently Konflict '47 uses rules similar to but still different from Bolt Action.  Sorry, there's only space for 2-3 rules systems in this head at a time.  Not learning another similar, but different system.  

     

     

  • GM

    @JTam Good morning Brother , nice to see the units comming together,  got you another company, Secrets of the Third Riech, Weird WW2, by West Wind Games Russian and Geman Zonbies plus some exotics, very usable indeed. scale well with what you`ve got as well.

  • JTam

    @Geoff Maybury 

    Good Afternoon (?)  :)

    Their stuff does look good. 

    I think I have some West Wind "beret heads wearing gasmasks" lying around somewhere from an old project.  Quality stuff.

    I really like their Soviet Zombies.  

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