Prelude to Rhein-Main-Multiversum 2019
This weekend, on saturday and sunday, April 27th and 28th 2019, the Rhein-Main-Multiversum will be held at Nidderau.
Bolt Action A12 Matilda II Tank Troop
The latest plastic vehicle kit for Bolt Action is the Matilda II, shown here as the tank troop with 3 tanks. The Matilda II kit available either as a single vehicle boxed as A12 Matilda or as a three tank troop.
Of the Matilda Mk I only 140 units were build and the successor Mark II saw action in early in the war in France, but became more famous in the Desert Campaign against Italian tanks. The A12 / Mark II was produced between 1939 and August 1943, with a production run of around 3,000 units. Roughly a third of these were delivered to the Soviet Union under the Lend & Lease agreement. Captured Matilda II were used by the Germans under the nomination Infanterie Panzerkampfwagen Mk II 748 (e) or Pz.Kpfw. Mk II 748 (e). While the British replaced the "Queen of the Desert" beginning 1941 with Valentine tanks, the Australian army used their Matildas until the end of the war.
Salute-Weekend, Matildas and Knights
This weekend is Salute in London. I would have loved to be there, last year (Salute 2018 and the Operation Sealion!) was incredible fun and it would be great to see the folks again, but with all that Brexit stuff going on, I wasn't keen on booking a flight and then having a uncertain situation (or fresh new one) at the airport. Besides that, being a dad, just staying away for the weekend for leisure is something that you want to plan and use wisely (there are a couple of weddings this year, along with stag nights and such, so I might need one or two rain checks). Oh and then there is of course Crisis this year, that I wouldn't want to miss.
Well, but what's going on in the 'bunker? You've probably seen the reviews on the 2019 model of Abaddon the Despoiler and the Chaos Gate that isn't called a Chaos Gate. Browsing through the old Chaos Codex is very dangerous. Alluring project ideas, especially for my oldhammer faible, but I'm currently involved enough with my Imperial Guard (and Eldar, wait, did I just spill the beans? Forget what you read...) and a new / additional Chaos project would just make it hard(er) to focus.
Never the less, I saw an old Abaddon in proper condition for 5 EUR and had to have it...
Some Perry Sprues and Bits
On the Sweetwater board (a German speaking online community with focus on historical wargaming), on irregular intervals a centralized order at the Perrys is organized.
Usually I'd suggest supporting your local dealer, but as the Perry blisters and individual sprues are more or less direct only (you can buy them at events like Crisis or Salute via Dave Thomas) this is a good way to save on shipping and even get a bit of a discount. Thanks to emigholz/Thorsten for organizing the whole bit. The last one was held before christmas, but as the Brexit (maybe) is right in front of us, we did a quick "last" one.
Konflikt 47 Locust Medium Panzermech
Picking up the theme of Konflikt 47 once again. We cover today an interesting counter-part to the jump walkers of the Allied Forces, like the M2 Mudskipper, the Locust Panzermech by the Axis.
Konflikt '47 is a joint project by Warlord Games and Clockwork Goblin and is set upon an updated Bolt Action's First Edition ruleset. Some of the kits make use of the existing range of Bolt Action, add additional parts to them (like the tanks) or are complete newly designed kits, like these walkers.
Of Blood Red Skies and Cruel Seas
Warlord Games is expanding and expanding their range over the last decade. Some into fiction settings, like Gates of Antares, Dr. Who or with the latest Warlords of Erehwon into fantasy. But the main strength of Warlord is with historical games and they stepped out of their vast 28mm range with two new rule sets in 2017 and 2018. We're talking the aerial fights of Blood Red Skies and covering World War 2 with a naval game in Cruel Seas.
As for Blood Red Skies, dogfight games have been around for quite some time. One of the most popular was Wings of War (2004), which paved the way for many other games to follow. Originally introduced by the Italian game studio Nexus and picked up by Fantasy Flight Games for translation and distribution. We even took an attempt on the record of most players playing simultaneously back in 2010 at the Tabletop Test Area of the RolePlayCon in Cologne.
Black Scorpion – Last Patrol Kickstarter
I've been looking for some proper modern combat miniatures in 28mm for ages. Where as other theatres of war like World War 2 have dozends of companies supporting the players with miniatures, even for the smallest factions, Modern Combat in 28mm is rather scarce.
Yes, there are Empress Miniatures, but I prefer the Hicks sculpts they carry, or The Assault Group, but those didn't age that well to be honest. And Black Scorpion used to offer some very appealing modern US Marines, but didn't move them over to the new range they offer in resin. Until late autumn last year.
Black Scorpion did run a brief Last Patrol Kickstarter, and offered the whole range of 3 full squads of 10 including some stretch goals. I was one of only 52 people to participate. The initial delivery time was June 2019, so I expected to wait for quite some time and what shall I say, in early february a small package arrived.
More vehicles for the Chindits and DAK
Added a few new vehicles to the motor pool of the world war 2 projects. The LVT is somewhat of an odd kit, that I really didn't know what to do with it at first, but when I read the Wikipedia article I got an idea. The British used the Landing Vehicle Tracked as well, but if you think about the Buffalo, most think about the use of it during the late war in the Netherlands or in the Pacific, but they were used quite broadly even in North Africa by the US Americans.
So, with this vehicle being used by the British, and being used in the South East Pacific, I thought that could be something for my Chindits. The LVT-1 were used by the British 14th Army in Burma, but the original to use them in an operation against the Japanese on the Burmese coast at the end of 1943 was cancelled and the LVT-1s weren't used in combat.
The derivative of the LVT-4 and LVT(A)-4 were used by the Royal Marines Amphibious in landings in Burma and Malaya. Therefore I went with the LVT-4 Water Buffalo kit.
Tactica 2019 – Part 1
As teasered last week, I went to Tactica in Hamburg! As this was a prolonged weekend in the pearl of the north, my - better said our - trip started on friday late noon.
Tactica 2019 – Part 2
The coverage of Part 1 continues with the prominent guests of Tactica.
The twin brothers Michael and Alan Perry were at the show, sculpting, having a chat with the guests and even added one of the show miniatures. But they weren't alone, they had Aly Morrison (who sculpted the Great War Miniatures range) and Peter Dennis (artists of multiple box artworks, Osprey and Warlord Games published works, and of Peters Paperboys).
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