Reinforcements for Mantovia

Tanks of the Queen's Leibgard near the frontier

ISABELSTADT, MANTOVIA (Reuters)- Tensions continue to be high in this small, central European country best known for it's cheese, after recent border skirmishes with the neighboring People's Democratic Republic of Tartaria. 

It seems that this forgotten corner of Europe may become the latest flashpoint in the stand against Communist aggression.

Trains loaded with tarpaulin covered flatbed cars gave been reported rumbling west from the Soviet Union towards Tartaria. Meanwhile ships unload the latest western weaponry in Mantovian ports as America and Britain send advisors to bolster the new ally.

Mantovian troops in action along the border

Having got all my Quar done, for now, I thought I'd work on my early 50s Imagine-Nation, Mantovia. I have decided to retcon their main rival and rename them The People's Democratic Republic of Tartaria. "Borduria" was imaginatively lazy and already taken by Carole Flint, and, well Tin-tin. "Tartaria" sounds much more sinister and is the subject of an incredibly bizarre conspiracy theory. Plus the initials PDRT makes a nice acronym "paydirt".

First things first. Getting the turrets to fit. The plugs and sockets were the same diameter. An unfortunate design error. 
 

Well they were free .stls

But that's why I've got a Dremel tool. 

30 dusty minutes with the Dremel tool later and...

The stowage bins on 2 Centurions are misprinted.  I'm hoping that I can fix them with green stuff, or conceal with camo netting.

Gave everyone a bath

Centurion of the 2nd Dragoons sporting the approved three colour camouflage

Stand to on a foggy morning along the border. Thank God for the built in kettle!

Gratuitous photos of Centurions 

At a reduced figure scale for O Group I've got a 10x model battalion of T54s for the PDRT, and a 7x model squadron of Centurions for Mantovia. 

A friend on Social Media has shared T34/85, T54, and Centurion stats from Fate of a Nation. By comparing with the stats for T34/85s in I Ain't Been Shot Mum and O Group, I should be able to arrive at stats for the T54s and Centurions. 

Don is printing infantry as well.  Although if there's too much breakage I'll order infantry from QRF.  I only need 10 or 11 packs for a battalion in O Group.