Warhammer+ – Hammer & Bolter & Angels of Death
A week ago on thursday, I received an invitation for a pre-release screening on the first Hammer & Bolter episode "Old Bale eye", which will be part of the Warhammer+ content.
Games Workshop ordered multiple Warhammer animations, among them the previewed Hammer & Bolter series. In the first episode we meet two Orks, who try to eat a Grot and are interrupted by a Runtherd. The runtherd takes the chances to bring the two ork boys back in line, by telling them the tale of Old Bale Eye, the ultimate enemy for any greenskin - Yarrick himself, and how Yarrick became the nemesis the orks got to know, fear and respect (a proper enemy is hard to find).
Bolt Action – Jagdtiger
After covering multiple King Tigers on here, in resin and plastic, it is time to go for the heaviest beasts of the Tiger-Class tanks, the German tank destroyer Sd.Kfz. 186 Jagdpanzer VI - also known as Jagdtiger.
This beast is available in 28mm by multiple companies as a resin kit, but now comes for the first time in plastic, by the joint production of Warlord Games and Italeri. The kit I got, was a pre-release provided by the Dutch wargaming shop Tabletopper.nl. As such it didn't come in a cardboard box, it was simply the sprues in a plastic bag. The final product of course comes with instructions, decals and so on.
The Jagdpanzer VI was another tank destroyer, based upon the chassis of a regular tank. The Germans did this multiple times, as we've seen with the Jagdpanther, the Sturmgeschütz III, Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer or Marder III (both based upon the Panzer 38(t)). But in this case, building upon the already pretty heavy Tiger II tank, the Jagdtiger became with around 70t the heaviest tank produced in series in history.
Reinforcement straight from the foundry
I usually pick up Wargames Foundry at shows likes Crisis or Salute, but with the lack of shows "lately" I went for some direct ordering. As I have friends in the UK, I'm able to order without the hassle of customs and fees. These were ordered in April, Foundry did a great job having them delivered only a few days later within the UK, and I only recently came around to arrange the hand over. So that's only a solution for some non-time critical items, never the less - let's take a look at what I got myself.
July 2021 review
The move is over, the old apartment is empty and we can complete concentrate on our new home.
Update on the move to the new studio
Last weekend was the major part of our move, bringing over the furniture and most of the boxes. It is weird to see your studio go more and more empty, but it certainly gives you feedback on the progress. Along with my wargaming stock my lego collection went with us. And I have to say, not only am I incredibly thankful for the very practical estate car, but the carport as well, as it made us far less prone to the weather.
June review
Managed to get some things going in June. Some new and final arrivals to my collection.
I am a huge fan of the work of Paul Hicks, and one of rarer miniatures (besides the event miniatures he sculpted) is this set of British Napoleonic soldiers, strongly influenced by Sean Bean in Sharpe. After looking for a trader in Europe and trying to get these second hand - but with no results for over almost a year, I decided to order directly with Brigade Games. Shipping wasn't cheap at 28 USD (for a total of ~50 USD worth of miniatures), but went incredibly fast, as these arrived within 10 days - incl. going through customs.
This isn't going to be some mass combat, but really a small skirmish setup around Sharpe's Rifles. So after looking at Osprey Games' Chosen Men, but putting that aside for it being far too large, as it is more like Saga at 40+ miniatures and not what I had in mind for the small battles, I went with Song of Drums & Shakos by Ganesha Games. Tabletop Stories has a review on the rule set. And if you're already there, give their Mecha-Spin off of What a tanker a go.
Adeptus Titanicus – Mechanicum Cerastus Knight Atrapos
A second type of Mechanicum Knights can be found among the Cerastus Class, the Cerastus Knight Atrapos. Adding not only a new option for the Mechanicum in Adeptus Titanicus next to the Questoris Styrix and Magaera, but adding a fourth class of Cerastus after the Lancer, Acheron and Castigator.
As you can see from the box, this is a Forge World release and this comes with a few differences compared the "regular" Adeptus Titanicus range. Major point is, that these are only available directly through Forge World, so you have to order them either at Forge World directly or at a Games Workshop events (and at Warhammer World). With Games Workshop and Forge World still adapting to the current situation, it may take a while for these kits to be delivered and they may be out of stock from time to time. But Forge World is customer orientated, so shipping towards Europe is 12 EUR flat and free if you order for more than 90 EUR, and a really convenient service is that their orders are shipped DDP (delivery duty paid, so you don't have to pay customs or service charges). At a price of 50 EUR for the pair of Cerastus Knight Atrapos you're already half way there for free shipping. Another difference with these compared to other kits from the Adeptus Titanicus range, the Atrapos are cast from resin and not injection mould plastic or finecast. But more on that further below.