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27Sep/180

Gangs of Rome Blood on the Aventine Boxed Set

Earlier this year, Warbanner released a boxed starter set for their ancient skirmish game Gangs of Rome called Blood on the Aventine.

Gangs of Rome - Blood on the Aventine Gangs of Rome - Blood on the Aventine

24Sep/180

Warhammer 40.000 Kill Team – Rogue Trader Expansion

Similar to the Nurgle Rotters, this box was "revealed" at Warhammer Fest Europe as well, the Rogue Trader Expansion for Warhammer 40.000 Kill Team.

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team Rogue Trader Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team Rogue Trader

Earlier this year, there was a teaser about Rogue Trader coming back. This was before Kill Team was officially announced, therefore it is important to clarify the expectations on this boxed set and what it contains.

Rogue Trader is an expansion for Kill Team, you will need either the Kill Team rulebook or the Kill Team boxed set, so fully use the content of this box. It is not a stand-alone. The price of this boxed set is 105 EUR and it is basically two Kill Team forces and a new Kill Zone with its own rules.

21Sep/180

Blood Bowl Team Nurgle Rotters

The latest team kit for Blood Bowl, the Nurgle Rotters, was introduced at Warhammer Fest Europe and up for pre-order shortly after. Today I want to cover this Nurgle devoted team in this review.

Blood Bowl - Nurgle Rotters Blood Bowl - Nurgle Rotters

The boxed set is 25 EUR and covers two identical plastic sprues, 12 round bases (with a diameter of 32mm, slot and hole), an assembly instruction and large decal sheet with numbers, Nurgle iconography and positions in black and white. The instructions cover a pre-assorted roster for a 1.000.000 coins Blood Bowl team in English, French and German.

20Sep/180

Bolt Action Campaign The Western Desert

I have already covered the plastic kits of the Afrika Korps and 8th Army Infantry that came along with this campaign supplement for Bolt Action - Campaign the Western Desert. Now it is time for the book itself.

Bolt Action - Campaign The Western Desert Bolt Action - Campaign The Western Desert

The name already gives it away, this book covers the first chapter between 1940 and 1942 of the Afrikafeldzug or North African Campaign. With 168 pages a rather big book, actually currently the one with the highest page count, pushing The Road to Berlin from his former throne at 148 pages. Warlord Games keeps the price at 19,99 GBP or 30 USD and offers as usual a direct exclusive miniature, in this case the very fitting Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Next to the final cover, with Rommel himself, is the early cover with a British soldier carrying a Bren LMG. Nothing unusual, we already had different covers early among others for Duel in the Sun as well.

18Sep/180

Bolt Action British 8th Army Commonwealth Infantry

As already mentioned with the review of the Afrika Korps box, the Western Desert supplement is supported by two new infantry kits, and here is the second one, the British 8th Army Commonwealth infantry kit.

Bolt Action - British 8th Army Commonwealth Infantry

As these were prepared at the same time, we had the chance to see the 3-Ups at this year's Salute in April 2018. The Africa campaign is something special to many wargamers, especially those with relatives, who fought in that battle. The duel between Montgomery and Rommel is often connected with some kind of chivalry, a mutual respect between both opponents. Surely glorified to some degree, as war is war, but still a somewhat special part of World War 2 and therefore of special interest for many people.

Similar to the Afrika Korps box, who was released 1973 (!) by Airfix, the 8th army plastic kit was even around earlier than this, in the 1960s, so for some of the veterans in our rows, these were among the first toy soldiers they to play battles on the living room floors or kitchen tables. Thus reminding many wargamers to their first memories of this hobby.

17Sep/180

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.

Bolt Action - Deutsches Afrika Korps German Grenadiers

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.

15Sep/180

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.

Bolt Action - 8,8cm FLAK 37 Bolt Action - 8,8cm FLAK 37

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.

14Sep/180

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.

Heer46 - 8,8-cm-PaK 43 Heer46 - 8,8-cm-PaK 43

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).

13Sep/180

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.

Rubicon Models - PaK 40 AT Gun with Crew Rubicon Models - PaK 40 AT Gun with Crew

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.

11Sep/180

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.

Rubicon Models PaK 38 - PaK 97/38 AT Gun with Crew Rubicon Models PaK 38 - PaK 97/38 AT Gun with 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.