ZSU-23-4 Shilka (FOW Cold War)

Today is my first update for my Soviet forces for Battlefront's Team Yankee game. It is a Cold War gone hot scenario and I have excitedly pre-ordered lots of Soviet T-72 tanks from BF. However with the delay in the game and my overall excitement, I went with some other manufacturers for some of the support weapons. I have finished the Shilka's below, a battery of Gvozdika Artillery and some BMP-1 scouts.

For this update I will look at the Soviet ZSU-23-4, the Shilka anti aircraft vehicle. My favorite thing about historical wargaming, or in this case hypothetical wargaming, is learning things I didn't know. So for Team Yankee I chose the Soviets because I knew little about the Russian military in the 70's and 80's. Now half a dozen Osprey books down, I feel much more informed about the time period.

The Shilka has four 23mm cannons and a radar for targeting aircraft, the vehicle could also be used against ground targets as well. The miniatures are 1/100th scale Zvezda plastic kits. These kits are great, even if the guns are a little fiddly to assemble. I picked them up on the Warstore for $7.99 each.

The color is a little darker than I wanted it to be so I will likely lighten it for the later vehicles. I hope to get another camera for Christmas so I can get some better pictures in the future. Stay tuned for more 15mm Soviets for Team Yankee!