Troops of Special Designation

OK I appreciate I was supposed to be painting Perry Afrika Korps but on a trip through to Asgard Games  I got talking to some of the regulars who happened to mention Osprey's "Black Ops" rules, which they are intending to give a go in the near future.

I've been a bit wary about the series of rules being published by Osprey - they seem to churn them out with some regularity and all I have seen so far are skirmish \ fantasy \ sci fi type settings. My initial reaction was they were all a bit ephemeral. Anyway I took the plunge and bought a set of rules, and having had a look at the rules for Black Ops I may have to make a reassessment as they seem rather good (caveat - will know better after actually playing!)

Anyway they seem to fill an interesting gap in the rules front at the moment, and also push a couple of good buttons as far as I am concerned, low figure count (a cell of four Special Forces is about right for the starting games, although the defender will need more but less well trained), and happy coincidence that I already have some suitable lead. They are subtitles "Tactical Espionage Wargaming" and it is clear their inspiration is the many computer games and films set around elite troops creeping into or storming buildings, hideouts and the like. This was a bonus as I already had some 28mm Russian Spetznaz from The Assault Group lying around unfinished. So the DAK went on hold and after a couple of sessions of brushwork - the first "proper" painting of 2016 has produced enough serious Russians to play Black Ops but also to act as sinister guys in 7TV or any Zombie hunting game that happens along.

I'm really pleased with them, although the "urban" cammo is a bit of a pain to paint I think they look good. I have a couple more to finish to allow me to expand into two full cells plus command \ support, but with a bit of luck they should be done soon.

Then I can get back to DAK......