Bolt Action Deutsches Afrika Korps German Grenadiers
Warlord Games released for Bolt Action the latest campaign supplement, The Western Desert, and this time the book is accompanied by not just one but two new plastic kits. We're talking about the Afrika Korps Grenadiers we're going to review today and the 8th Army Commonwealth Infantry we'll see here as well.
We were shown the 3-Ups of these kits at our visit to the Warlord Games Studio and the day after at the Salute 2018 in London back in April. The wargaming crowd is eager to get their hands on both of these boxes. But why is that so? Well, back in the day, when the now veterans of our hobby started, long before there was this broad range of miniatures made from plastic, pewter or resin, the only commonly available resource for toy soldiers were 1:72 or 1:32/1:35 plastic kits from companies like Airfix (if you're British) or Revell (if you're German). And from what I've heard, for many people the conflict in North Africa was in particular interesting from the war stories that they heard from their parents or grandparents.
Bolt Action 8,8 cm FlaK 37
Final part of this week's anti-tank gun series makes the 8.8cm FlaK 37 by Warlord Games / Italeri.
The 8,8 is one of the most famous guns of World War 2. Similar to PaK for Panzerabwehrkanone, FlaK is a contraction of Flugzeugabwehrkanone. Actually developed as an anti-air gun, but due to the ability to shoot horizontally, it was often used as an anti-tank gun. The 8,8, depending on where you are either called eight-eight or eighty-eight, was produced as prototypes early as 1928, later wide spread production started in the early 1930s and the gun was used in the Spanish Civil War and Sino-Japanese War as well. The here shown FlaK 37 is the latest of the first generation of 8,8s.
Heer46 8,8 cm Pak 43
Heer46, the German resin forge for small series, released this 8,8 cm PaK 43 late 2017 / early 2018 and it fits well, with this week's anti-tank gun theme. I have covered their Panther F-Schmalturm and Sd.Kfz. 247 Ausf. B on here as well.
Initially designed by Krupp as a competition to the 8,8cm FlaK 41 (the second generation of the 8,8 cm Flak 18/36/37), it was reworked and went into production in 1942. The first units were mounted to the Nashorn tank destroyers, later in mid 1943 available on cross outrigger or split rail carriages (as PaK 43/41).
Rubicon Models PaK 40 AT Gun with Crew
After a brief detour into the Wild West, we're back to anti-tank gun week with the PaK 40 by Rubicon Models.
The 7,5 cm Panzerabwehrkanone 40 or PaK 40 was the backbone of the late war German anti-tank guns. More than 23.000 units were produced and mostly used on carriages, but some were mounted to tank destroyers like the Marder series. Development of the PaK 40 started early, when the first Soviet tanks were brought to Berlin in 1939 and the 5 cm ammunition of the PaK 38 that was still tested at that point, proofed to be not powerful enough to deal with the newer designs of slopped and thicker armour.
Dead Man’s Hand: Outlaws – Part 3
With the growing number of gang members, the concept and backgroundstory of the gang gradually grew as well. Seamus McMiller is Eugene's younger brother and comes from another affair of old McMiller. To illustrate that they're brothers, I tried to use the same colors as on Eugene.
The only exception to this was the shirt. While I was painting, I had the idea of distinguishing the brothers primarily by the color of their shirts.
Rubicon Models PaK 38 – PaK 97/38 AT Gun with Crew
Today we're looking at the successor of the PaK 36, the PaK 38 by Rubicon Models. This kit covers the variants 38 and 97/38 of the anti-tank gun including a crew.
Rheinmetall-Borsig, who produced the earlier PaK 36 as well, were ordered to develop a new, heavier anti-tank gun after the Spanish Civil War. After an initial sketch of a new pattern named 37, which was not approved by the German authorities, they had to come up with an improved version, the PaK 38. This more powerful anti-tank gun was one of the few guns being able to penetrate the sloped armour of the T-34 in 1941.
Rubicon Models PaK 36 AT Gun with Crew
This week is all about anti-tank guns. We'll cover a couple of different sets in 28mm, beginning with this PaK 36 AT Gun incl. crew by Rubicon Models.
The PaK (Panzerabwehrkanone) 36 was a German anti-tank gun, that was issued to the German army in 1936 and used by the tank hunter units until 1942. It even saw action before World War 2 in the Spanish Civil War, and performed well against the light tanks and later against the Polish tanks in 1939. In the Battle of France it showed its weakness against French and British heavy tanks. The PaK 36 was replaced from late 1940 onward by the 5 cm PaK 38 anti-tank gun and from November 1941 by the 7.5 cm PaK 40. Until the production ceased completely, there were over 20.000 units produced, of which roughly 6.000 were built for export. Other nations like the Soviet Union and Japan copied the design in the 1930s.
Korean BBQ Style Pulled Pork
From time to time, I do a bit of cooking, as you might have seen here and as I mentioned in my article on my parental leave. I posted the result of this on my Instagram and was asked to share the recipe, and I'll do so in the following lines.
I made pulled pork in a Korean BBQ inspired way, along with a asian salad.
First of all it is important to have access to the proper meat to begin with. We have a local butcher, Westerwald Fleischerei, who locally sources his meat, butchers and distributes it himself. I got an assortment of different ribs and sausages, along with a portion of pork butt (which is not actually part of the pigs behind, but from the neck or shoulder area).
Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire – The Farstriders
The last of the warband supplements for Warhammer Underworlds Season 1 Shadespire in a review will be the Farstriders. We had Magore's Fiends early this week. Similar as the Fiends picked up the Khorne theme from the starter kit, the Farstriders pick up with the Stormcast Eternals from the same set.
The Farstriders are the first warband to actually cover shooting / ranged combat in Warhammer Underworlds. But they won't be the last to do so, for sure. Actually as the Farstriders are Vanguard-Hunters, the next Stormcasts that are part of the Season 2 starter set Nightvault will introduce Evocators as a warband and magic as a new component.
But let us take a look what the Vanguard-Hunters around Hunter-Prime Sanson Farstrider bring to the table. As a highly trained, elite group of warriors, it is no surprise that they are only three men strong. Priced at the usual 22.50 EUR for an Underworlds warband supplement or 20.00 EUR for the easy-to-build box without the cards. The Underworlds box covers two pre-coloured bright blue sprues, a deck of cards and an assembly leaflet.
Dead Man’s Hand: Outlaws – Part 2
Unlike old McMiller, I've chosen brighter colors for Eugene, inspired by the beige and pastel tones of the Briscoe County Jr. series, a Western adventure series from the 1990s.
The model is from the Foundry range and offers a wonderfully silly facial expression. That was just right for Eugene to get a matching backstory that went well with the bright colors of his appearance. The trousers were painted in Steel Legion Drab again, while the hat is a wild mish-mash of shades of gray. You do not have to be very neat with the shades because sweat stains on the hat do not leave a consistent mark and are rather random instead.
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