Bolt Action Campaign Italy – Soft Underbelly
The Bolt Action campaign content about Italy was spread across two campaign books, Soft Underbelly, which we will cover today and Tough Gut, which will be available in the next months.
Campaign Italy: Soft Underbelly was released in autumn 2022, accompanied with a first wave of updated miniatures (incl. plastics) for the Italian forces. The 176 pages cover the first major operation of the Western Allies, moving forward from North Africa towards South Europe / Italy, with Operation Husky via Sicily onto the Italian Peninsula towards Rome. As for the Mediterranean campaign, this is chronologically the book after The Western Desert.
February 2023 review
February was mostly about two things - the Battle for Uulda Adeptus Titanicus gaming event and visting Hamburg Tactica!
On Tactica I wrote an event report, as well covered my haul from the day.
Hamburg Tactica 2023 Loot
After the event coverage, here's my loot post from Hamburg Tactica 2023.
I got myself some reinforcements for World War 2, adding the Bofors gun by Rubicon for my 8th Army and got the new Sd.Kfz. 250 plastic kit for review purposes. The large Start Collecting! Box for Age of Sigmar covering the new mortal Chaos, was something I got from Fritz the Brushzerker, I've been tempted by that box for a long time and the updated range really speaks to me. Maybe we will see more of them as I got my hands on the army box, including the new Daemon Prince as well.
Hamburg Tactica 2023
After 4 years, we're back at TACTICA in Hamburg! Our last visit was back in 2019.
TACTICA is Germanys largest wargaming convention and usually held in february (this varied in the last years a bit) in the Wilhelmsburg Community Center. I'll talk about how to plan a trip and combine the show with other things in Hamburg in a separate post. The show is open two days, Saturday and Sundays and usually the first is the more crowded one.
TACTICA covers trade stands and participation / demo rounds of various games, in different scales and settings. You'll find historical as well as ficitional setups, with detailed tables and many wargaming clubs work all year to prepare their demos for the show.
Bolt Action Sd.Kfz. 165 Hummel
The German counter part for the Allied 105mm HMC M7 Priest SPG in my late war projects would be the Sd.Kfz. 165 Hummel SPG, which we will cover in todays review. This article was prepared a while ago and now finished from the drafts into a proper review.
Like the M7 Priest SPG, the Hummel is a made to order kit by Warlord Games. They are usually not high numbers on stock and you will probably rarely find them on shelf at your FLGS, but as they are not Mail Order exclusive, you can order them either directly or have your store add them to their next delivery. The Hummel might not be shipped in a boxed set with printed artwork, but a neutral packaging (often a green ammo box) with a sticker on it. As this kit has been in my collection for quite some time (and in draft since 2018), mine came wrapped in simple bubble wrap with a sticker on it.
January 2023 review
What was January all about? Well, getting my Legio Astraman Titans painted. I did two updates on the Ad Arma series of them, a recap of the gaming weekend as well as a show case of the Legios participating.
Bolt Action M7 Priest Self Propelled Gun
As the M7 Priest was one of the kits that didn't make the cut for the tank themed week, I thought I added it to this latest bunch of tank reviews, especially as he fits the Gentleman's War theme.
The M7 Priest SPG and the next tank we will cover (the Hummel) are both made to order kits by Warlord Games - this does not mean they are Mail Order exclusive, it is most likely something that your local gaming store has to order 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. The RRP of this resin and metal kit is 26,50 to 30 GBP, depending on the variant.
Bolt Action – Sd.Kfz. 222 / 223
Let's tackle the second new plastic kit from the A Gentleman's War box, the Sd.Kfz. 222 / 223. We've covered the Humber AC earlier this week.
There are already a couple of the Sd.Kfz. 2xx vehicles available as multipart plastic kits by Warlord Games, the latest was the Sd.Kfz. 250 Alte combi kit, and others with a base kit like the Hanomag Sd.Kfz. 251 Ausf. D and its variants like the 251/7 Pionierwagen or 251/16 Flammpanzerwagen, which we already covered on this blog.
Bolt Action – Humber Armoured Car Mk II / IV
Along with A Gentleman's War, Warlord Games relelased two new plastic vehicle kits of armoured cars for the British and the Germans, covering a Sd.Kfz. 222/223 and Humber Armoured car, the later we're going to cover today.
This is a new 28mm hard plastic kit by Warlord Games, that formerly only was offered in different variants as a resin kit. The one we're covering today was a pre-release that Warlord Games send to me prior to the official release, thus lacking the boxing, etc. and minor tweaks might be done until the actual release outside the themed starter kit for North Africa.