Internal CONflict Rheinland 2022
Finally - an update in the event category! Conflict Rheinland returns after a 3 years break with a private event, and 2019 was our last visit to the event in Langenfeld. Yet, the return is a bit special, as this is not a public event, as they had to cancel that format about a month ago and went for an invite only meet up of some of the hosts and clubs, that would just do a private get-together.
Torsten kindly invited me to join that round of wargamers and I happily accepted the invitation as it would be my first wargaming event in over a two years (my last wargaming road trip was January 2020 to Nottingham, visiting Warhammer World).
Bolt Action – SdKfz 250/11 Ausf. A
We've covered multiple variants of the Sd.Kfz 251 on here already, with the regular 251/1 Ausf. D, 251/16 Flammpanzerwagen and 251/7 Pionierwagen. And thanks to Jürgen from Warlord Games, he sent me a pre-production copy of some of the new Sd.Kfz. 250 Ausf. A (Alte) kit, from their trade meetup in Nottingham.
So far, the Sd.Kfz. 250 was available as a resin kit and now got an update and turned into a multi-variant plastic kit that is now available from Warlord Games directly and their trade network. The final kit obviously comes with a proper packaging, decals and all the additional content you're used to. In my case, I got the base sprue and the one to build the /11 variant leichter Schützenpanzerwagen mit einer 2,8-cm-schweren Panzerbüchse 41.
May 2022 review
Where April was a themed month of Stargrave (and we're not finished there, as I still have some posts in preparation), the month of may was focused on Bolt Action.
I covered three reviews, two of them D-Day campaign supplements British & Canadian Sectors and US American Sectors, as well as another plastic kit with the long awaited Inter-Allied Commandos review and some support my 8th Army and Afrikakorps.
Dino’s May 2022
Last month I asked you how the ease of the Covid measures had affected your hobby life and I received some interesting feedback. Overall, I could see from your feedback that the different views on the measures have partly led to a small split in the hobby community, between the more cautious and the less cautious hobbyists. In general, however, the changes have led to more contacts among those who already checked their health status before each visit anyway, and the number of tabletop games in private has increased again.
In my opinion, it is encouraging that we as hobbyists still show enough common sense, where we also pay attention to our fellow man and not only to ourselves. It shows that integrity and consideration are still present and lived in our hobby. Altogether the contacts have strengthened again somewhat - above all however online. During the period of increased precautions, the online community in particular proved to be a strong anchor for us hobbyists, so that most social contacts could be maintained.
In this regard, I also have to say a few words of thanks to the people who are always encouraging me to push my projects further in the Tabletopwelt forum in my thread and my known group of Tabletop Daddies. So I managed to paint the last hoplite for the Corinthians group that was left for Mortal Gods.
Heavy Field Car – Steyr 1500A for the DAK
With the first supply drop this year back in february of the Rubicon novelties, I did not only get my hands on some reinforcement for the British with the Morris C8 and a QF-25, but a nice heavy field car (at least that's the matching entry on EasyArmy) for my Afrikakorps as well with a Steyr 1500A/01.
Morris towing a field gun for the 8th Army
Covering the motor pool for my 8th army last november, and for certain guns you need a proper tow in Bolt Action. For that reason I got myself a Morris and the fitting QF gun by Rubicon Models via Tabletopper from the netherlands.
The Morris C8 "Quad" can be build as either the MK II or Mk III field artillery tractor. It's a compact kit, two sprues, two hulls and a few options for the different marks.
Bolt Action – British & Inter-Allied Commandos
With the two D-Day sector books that cover a lot of special operations, the need for British and Inter-Allied Commandos is certainly there. And Warlord Games delivered for this demand.
The first Commandos kit that was released around 2011, was based on the regular British infantry, with a recut of a part of the sprue. We did a review back then and you can not only see how far Warlord Games has progressed over the last decade, but our reviews as well (that was pre-bilingual coverage, so you'll only find the German one online).
Bolt Action Campaign D-Day US Sectors
In early 2021 Warlord Games picked up D-Day again and supplementing D-Day British and Canadian sectors campaign book with the US Sectors.
With 160 pages and a RRP of 20 GBP (roughly 25 EUR) Campaign D-Day: US Sectors marks the third and final instalment of Warlord Games D-Day trilogy. While the British and Commonwealth forces landed in Gold, Sword and Juno pushed towards Caen, the US Americans did so on the beaches Omaha and Utah and moved towards west and south from there, beginning with Carentan and further liberating the coast line and attacking armed forces along the Atlantikwall. The US-Sector book covers the actions of the US forces in the summer after D-Day, until August / September 1944.
Bolt Action Campaign D-Day British & Canadian Sectors
Warlord started the deep dive on D-Day with the campaign supplement of the same name - D-Day Overlord. But that is not all, the sectors receive more love, starting with the British & Canadian Sectors in this supplement and the US sectors in the next one, already released by the time this review went online.
Both, the British & Canadian and US D-Day sector books close the gap between the landing and the further actions around the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Market Garden. Because even after the successful landing in Normandy, the further operations were intense tasks, to bring in more troops, defeat counter attacks and fortify the bridgehead in Northern France.
Dino’s April 2022
There is always something refreshing about this month, as it is a common tradition in western regions to pull a prank at the beginning of the month. Accordingly, I also tempted Bunker Boss Dennis to post an April Fool's joke on the Chaosbunker.
In our persiflage, we've taken the mickey out of a few topics that have recently found their way into the hobby in a lesser good way, but that's a topic for a whole series of articles. For now, let's just say that sometimes it helps to laugh a little!