Old West – Converting the General Purpose Wagon
You might have read the article on the General Purpose Wagon by Great Escape Games last week, and as I mentioned among the last few sentences, I got a few more of the sprues for further kitbashing and conversions.
Being highly motivated to produce progress on this setting by Red Dead Redemption 2, as mentioned in an earlier post, I started the last save game and took a few pictures of the wagons in the game. Some were broken down, others filled with goods and personal objects, and all of them provided inspiration for some modification based upon the plastic kit.
9th Rhein Main Multiversum 2023
Hessen is calling! The 9th Rhein Main Multiversum was hosted by the Tabletop Club Rhein-Main in Nidderau.
The Multiversum is back, with traders and at a new location. The venue was moved from the Willi-Salzmann Halle to the Kultur- und Sporthalle Heldenbergen within the same city, but different districts. This venue is part of a small shopping park, which meant that not only parking was available abundant, but discounters and drink cash & carry were nearby as well.
Great Escape Games – General Purpose Wagon
One of the items that I brought with me from our 2023 Nottingham tour as the new General Purpose Wagon by Great Escape Games. I picked it up at Northstar, as the complete set and another one with just the plain carriage, as an unhitched wagon.
This is a new hard plastic kit for the Dead Man's Hand range, they introduced a few weeks ago on their social media and as we had a stop planned at Northstar, I just the chance to get my hands on the two.
Warlord Games – HQ Store & Studio 2023
While were in Nottingham for Bring Out Your Lead, we used the time on our hands to visit the new Warlord Games Headquarter and Store. The moved within Nottingham from the Business Centre (where Northstar and a few other miniature companies have their offices as well) to Lenton, not far from the Warhammer World. And once again, it is impressive to see how much the company has grown and I want to share my impression with you.
You can sign up for a guided studio tour, which is held Fridays at 13:00. You'll need to book the day before by 12:00. Tickets are 15 GBP per person (free entry for children under 15) and you get a goody bag of sample figures. Conor, who runs the Warlord HQ store, is the tour guide and brings you from station to station, to learn more about how the miniatures are crafted and how a miniature company this size operates.
August 2023 review
Half of the things that I promised in the preview on August actually happened - and we were in Nottingham for a prolonged weekend, including all the things we had planned beforehand and a few things more.
Our main reason for being there was BOYL / Bring out your Lead. I wrote a sum-up on it here - Bring out your Lead 2023, and it was a lovely day. And as we didn't have a tight schedule, as we had in our Salute trip in 2018 (Operation Sealion) or the prolonged detour in 2020, we had more time for other activies.
These included a bit more being at the pubs and restaurants, and some leisure time, that we used among other things to go Nottingham Castle and had a great time at the Lost City Adventure Golf. Very well maintained indoor golf facility, where you could not only have a beer while you play, you can order more on the course.
Throwback – RPC 2010 Cologne Tabletop Demo Area
I somehow missed the proper opportunity for this throwback in 2020, as it would have fit the 10-year anniversary.
During my studies, while I was editor-in-chief for a German wargaming portal, I was approached by Michael Kränzle, back then with Leuchtameisen and owner / editor-in-chief at GamesOrbit, before being head of marketing at Pegasus Spiele and now fulfilling this role at Heidelbär. GamesOrbit was one of the media partners of the RolePlayConvention that moved from Münster to Cologne in 2009, and the show had its troubles to integrate tabletop wargaming into its portfolio.
Michael has a soft spot for miniature wargaming and wanted to push that hobby within the spectrum of tabletop games and was looking for somebody who could support that vision. And for that reason, he got in touch with me. He thought of some kind of christmas market, with small booths and lots of space for participation area. And that was kind of a problem, because usually you book a booth at a fair and depending on the pricing or the size of your booth, the venue may give you some space for that kind of activity. But it's usually pricy.
Cruel Seas – Royal Navy Flotilla
To counter the Kriegsmarine in Cruel Seas, we have a flotilla of the Royal Navy. This would be themed around the English Channel and North Sea, to cover the battles between the German and British vessels in those areas. Again, this is meant to be used as a stand-alone as well as combined with Blood Red Skies and Bolt Action, or other world war 2 systems for campaign games.
I am not even fixed on Cruel Seas for this one, I played Action Stations at CONflict and would be fine, using that as well.
For the names of the vessels, it is a bit different as it depends on the size or class of the ship, if it has just a number or a name. Wikipedia is quite helpful here, as they provide a proper overview.
Bolt Action A34 Comet Cruiser Tank
We've covered the lighter Cromwell tank before (the resin kit in 2013 and the plastic kit in 2014 - only in German), and we're following up on this class of British tanks, with another draft from 2018's backlog we're completing today - the A34 Comet Cruiser Tank.
My attention to the Comet Cruiser tank came from World of Tanks, as I really enjoyed playing the Tier VII medium tank back then. So, when Warlord Games added the kit to their range, I just had to have and now want to share the build report / review with a bit of delay with you.
Cruel Seas – Kriegsmarine Flotilla
So, here I am with my Kriegsmarine Flotilla for Cruel Seas. Next step would be painting the ships. Therefore I researched camouflage and denominations for those models.
With the German Navy it was not custom to give boats names. Some crews gave their ships inofficial names, but those were never documented in the navy records. The policy to name ship classes after the first boat of that class, was first used after the war and introduced by the Bundesmarine (the navy of the Federal German Republic). Sweeping boats didn't originally carry the class names listed on pages like wikipedia and such. A bit like with Hetzer for the Jagdpz. 38t.
Bolt Action Bishop Self Propelled Gun
We covered a few self-propelled guns in the past, and some that didn't make it to tank week, just like this Bishop QF 25 pdr SPG. But today is his day and we cover him in a review.
This is a 28mm resin kit by Warlord Games with a RRP of 31,50 GBP / 38 EUR. It is listed as a made to order kit, which does not mean he is mail order exclusive, but just something that is less likely to be on stock and is casted once ordered. Your local gaming store can order them in and it might not come in a boxed set with printed artwork, but a neutral packaging. As I had this kit for a long time (and this review is in draft since 2018), mine came wrapped in bubble wrap with a sticker on it.