British North African Motorpool – Part II
I got my kits via a dutch onlinestore, Tabletopper.nl, and shipping was quick and easy. Shipping rates are reasonable, and I got some other items along with the bedford trucks as well, an Austin Tilly and some stowage.
The British had a variety of trucks and tows in service during the war and especially in North Africa. With the Bedford QLT and QLD kits available as plastic kits, I could take care of that addition to my forces, as most of the vehicles are regular combat vehicles, as you can see from the first article, with the exception of some lighter vehicles / armoured cars.
In Bolt Action these are 3 ton trucks with the capacity of 12 men, and you can go for a QLT upgrade to boost that up to 29. To be honest a bit of overkill, but I went with the kit more for the aspect of variety as for the actual opportunity to carry all of my men in a single vehicle.
British North African Motorpool – Part I
Following on the late war Allied motorpool for the US Americans for the late autumn / winter of '44, are the British in North Africa, mid-war around 1942-43. With this set of miniatures, I want to be able to play the theatre selectors of the Desert Rats / 8th Army in 1942-43 and the Long Range Desert Group from 1940 to 1943.
The infantry is build upon the magnificient range by the Perrys, mostly plastic.
October 2021 review
Halloween is over and we've reached November. In this month, we've covered the Nexus Syphon and plastic Gunfighters as reviews.
Beyond that, I've been taking further care of my stock and preparing articles. A few things that I scanned, along with getting rid of boxes and packaging. On top of that, I am working on a motorpool article - similar to the US American post - covering the British in North Africa. I have prepared some Rubicon kits, on which I will go in detail this month (they're already built, the pictures are taken, just missing the text). I picked up the Sd.Kfz. 7/1 build again, as well as another captured vehicle for either the British or Germans in North Africa.
Twelve months, 20,- Euro Part 10
Didn't I say I'd be painting more in October? Well, it worked out well this time, as I unexpectedly had a bit more time than I originally thought. So I finally managed to finish painting the regiment of mercenaries that I had started so long ago.
Diamachos' mercenary squad is thus complete and brings a coherent picture to the table. From left to right: Glaukos, Patrobos and Sfairon, the experienced peltasts in the posse. Then Diamachos, the fearless leader, and Dromeas, the young and yet inexperienced newcomer among them.
Great Escape Games – Dead Man’s Hand Plastic Gunfighters
Great Escape Games, the company behind Dead Man's Hand, released a plastic set of Gunfighters earlier this year. They sent over a sprue of these and we're going to cover it today.
Dead Man's Hand is not the only game they carry, beyond the Western skirmish, Great Escape Games has a broad variety of rulesets, like the world war 2 platoon sized Rules of Engagement, 1920's gang fights in The Chicago Way or Clash of Empires, a mass-combat rule sets that covers the Ancient to Medieval era. Most of these games are not only supported with rules and supplements, but miniatures as well and in the case of Dead Man's Hand they released this new set of plastic gunfighters. Two sprues per box at 15 GBP.
Twelve months, 20,- Euro Part 9
Slowly the warm time of the year, and with it the hobby summer hole, is coming to an end. In fact, with falling temperatures, I have begun to pick up speed again. The children sleep much better when it's not that hot, and occasionally I get an evening out of it too. So I have, despite a long dragged along flu, finally painted something up again:
September 2021 review
Sum up comes a bit early, but as I'm on vacation from today on, that's how it is going to be.
I am heading back to Northern Spain, for some family time. Last trip to Cantabria was 2016, and I covered Covadonga, MUPAC - Museum of Prehistory and Archaeology of Cantabria among others while I was there. This time will be more R&R, but I still hope to cover things like Castillo de Argueso, Corrales de Buelna and Comillas.
US Motorpool – Part II
I got around to build the transporters for my late war US Americans. The latest addition were these kits, build around the half tracks and a "heavier Jeep" if you want.
As Tabletopper.nl carries Empress Miniatures as well, I got myself some matching crew for the kits. I'm not a huge fan of the infantry by Rubicon, they are to slender for my taste and with the option to get some Paul Hicks sculpted minis, the choice for me was easy. Going with the Empress codes. As you can see, they fit very well with the plastic kits and are not just generic drivers, but wearing the matching winter gear.
US Motorpool – Part I
As mentioned in my reducing the stock and moving posts, I cut down on open projects. This affected among other projects Bolt Action. I merged some off the themed armies and sold the surplus, especially the vehicles.
I made a mindmap for the projects that will stay. And the Bolt Action armies, which will be set up in a way to be able to put to use in other systems as well, for example like Battlegroup, are:
Late War - Winter of 1944/45
- Germans (Ardennenoffensive / Wacht am Rhein, Unternehmen Greif)
- Combined Allied battle group of Americans (Battle of the Bulge, later Operation Lumberjack) and British (rougly Operation Queen, but British troops fighting their way from Belgium/Netherlands towards middle rhine)
Mid War - Desert and Jungle
- Deutsches Afrikakorps
- 8th Army
- Chindits
Twelve months, 20,- Euro – Part 8
It's happened to me again, it's September and I'm writing my recap for August - yes, the summer void has continued and aside from a few more rocks for my terrain collection, I haven't gotten far.
But I am all the more satisfied with the result. I had already finished the lower three rocks and expanded them with the four rock formations above. I never thought I'd ever have to write so many words about rocks in the tabletop field, but they are amazingly versatile as game terrain.





























