28mm North Star / Artizan Italian Wars Spanish Review

 

Morning all, back to normality with a review of @NorthStarFigs #Italianwars #Spanish range, I've included size comparison and a discussion on how plan to use them. Link below

#wargaming #tabletopgames #Hobbies #tabletopgaming #miniatures #28mm #History 

And a quick update on the WW2 Project 

WW1 Indian Cavalry for Mesopotamia

 

Those in the know will be aware of my deep dive into the  world of the obscure when it comes to my search for suitable figures for Cavalry for Mesopotamia and Palestine in WW1. With Brigade Games a very expensive postage charge away in the US my search has finally hit gold.

God knows how I found these, some random tinterwebnet search during a bout of insomnia probably. So these are from a Company called Newline Designs and they are hidden away deep in the depths of their website. I struggle to find them now and I've bought some in the past !

But if you can negotiate the minefield in the drive, beat the dogs and cheat the cold electronic eyes, make it past the shotguns in the hall, dial the combination to open the priest hole, you too might find these figures to by on the Newline Website.

Newline (to me anyway) are better known for their 20mm Napoleonic range, these Cavalry sit will a couple of packs of late colonial infantry all on their own. I bought and painted 6 of them a few months ago, liked how they looked and bought another 18 to make up a unit.

So if you are new to wargames and are more used to the modern skirmish style of gaming, this is what a proper unit looks like ! 24 figures is bigger than most armies these days 🤣

The figures come with metal Lances but they looked a bit small to me, I also prefer the steel wire pikes for strength and the sharp pointed ends deter anyone from picking them up in a hurry, so I cut down some 100mm pikes I had lying around. I also used a couple of sword hands I had lying around in my Crusades spares box for the officers.

I've not been able to find any pictures of these troops with lance pennants in Mesopotamia so I have left them off the models. Likewise I have left the rifles off the side of the saddle, I found that (with no pin and guide hole) the connection was very fragile and interfered with the position of the lance on a number of poses so I left them off. If it's going to break whilst I'm building it, it's definitely going to break when being moved around in game action.

So with Covid still around and us Northerners remaining in Tier 3 despite massively reduced infection rates there will be no Xmas Game this year for these guys to make their debut in. Things will be going very ancient here very shortly but I've seen that Newline are having a 25% sale in January, which could well mean another unit !

28mm Crusader Castle - Empires at Arms - A Review

 

Featured in last month's Utubes update was the latest addition to the Crusades Project, a 28mm MDF castle from Empires at War. It's a big old thing, it covers close to a third of our 12 x 6 table, perfect for the sort of skirmish games we like 😉

I've done a video review on the Utubes, photos below if that is your preference.

The castle comes in 12 seperate sections each of which can be bought individually. At 90 pounds all in I think this is good value.

https://empiresatwar.co.uk/product/28mm-western-crusader-castle-modular-kit/

The sections come in seperate MDF kits, they are good quality and are easy to put together, me and my lad put all these together in about 3 hours.

There are 6 wall sections, 4 corner towers, a gate house, a centre tower and a staircase. The items are all really well designed and when completed they fit together perfectly. Each wall section fits one of my 24 figure units perfectly.

My plan (in the future) is to somehow paint this up in the style of a Crusader Castle along the lines of the Krak des Chevalier in Syria, I love the white stone and hints of green vegetation. Any model builders got any tips on how do get that effect ?

However it will more than likely stay as it is 😁

All in all I think the piece is good value, detail is great. It's easy to put together and is nice and strong. It's a great building to have for some proper Big Battle Crusades Gaming.

WW1 Mesopotamia Turkish Cavalry - Tiger Miniatures

 

A quick review post today of some more contenders in my search for 28mm Cavalry for Mesopotamia Palestine etc. Regular readers will have seen me try out a number of different companies figures over the last year or so in a search for more options for our WW1 games.

These cavalry come from a company called Tiger Miniatures, I found them on some random Google safari looking for new dealers for my lead habit, link below for details 

https://www.tigerminiatures.co.uk/balkan-war-turks

The figures are for the Balkan Wars which occurred between 1912 - 13 just before our WW1 games, but there is nothing on these figures my untrained eye can see that would rule them out for Mesopotamia.

The figures are reasonably priced at £5.50 for two. Detail on the figures is reasonable, however there is not a lot of detail that could be added to what essentially is a featureless uniform. I do like the faces, lots of nice character in them. Size wise they are quite large, much bigger than the Minifigs East Ablaze Turkish Cavalry I looked at earlier this year.

The horses work well with the Yarkshire Gamer oil wipe method which is a big bonus. So the big question is whether I will get any more ? 

The answer is yes, I have 6 so far so another 18 to make up a full unit of 24 is a must and the order will go out very soon. Very happy with these as another option for my Cavalry. Empress Miniatures have brought some new 28mm British Infantry suitable for the period and there is a whiff of some Cavalry too.

Next up in the Cavalry search will be some Newline Designs Indian Lancers due sometime before Xmas. 

Victrix 28mm Rome's Italian Legions Project Start

I always like to document the start of a new project, mostly because the embarrassment of not completing it once its public spurs me on 😂 Having nearly reached the end of my Kingdom of Jerusalem mini Project, I cast my eyes round the warehouse for some new project inspiration.

The above box stood out a mile. Regulars will have seen my recent posts regarding Mortem et Gloriam, the new set of Ancient Rules for da house and that has enthused me to get my Rome / Carthage project of the sidings and onto the main line again.

I bought a box of these, many years ago from Wonderland Models in Edinburgh (my favourite shop in the whole world) and they have been sat in the to do box for a long time. Below is a quick video regarding the contents.

I already have a Roman Legion of the time with 32 Velites, 64 Hastati, 64 Principles, 32 Triari, 15 cavalry and a couple of officers (about 20:1) so my plan for this mini Project is to produce an Allied Italian Legion to the same strength (plus an extra Cavalry Unit as per the orbats).

As a sidebar whilst slogging through the Kingdom of Jerusalem Knights I painted one of each of the main types as a tester, pretty pleased with the results. These are the first Victrix figures I've ever had so I am quite impressed with the quality. 

I have a lot of Cavalry for various projects prepped so most likely I will build and prep all the figures and use it as my project for the Analogue Hobbies Winter Paint Challenge.

See you all soon with some Kingdom of Jerusalem Knights.

28mm Dog Tag Miniatures Italian WW2 Motorcycle Review

Sometimes it's worth waiting for a miniature to come along and anyone with a 28mm Italian WW2 Desert Force will have been waiting for some motorcycle borne troops to come along, we can thank Dog Tag Miniatures for answering our prayers.

A new company these were initially avaliable on Kickstarter but are now on general release, I ordered some before Xmas and thought it would be a good idea to put a review out there, having first built and painted one of the models. Link to their website below,

https://www.dogtagminiatures.co.uk/shop/italians/

Above is a short video, looking at the content of one of the packs of models, whilst below is a discussion and still photos of the same topic.

Contents of the 5 man squad code.

Above is a photo of the 5 man squad which includes, 1 Moto Guzzi Motorcycle and 1 Sidecar Combo and 5 figures (both bikes two up and 1 in the sidecar).

The models are resin cast with very good detail, the figures come with a selection of seperate heads, some of the other packs have excess heads and there seems to be plenty of variation in the ones I recieved.

Detail on the models is excellent and they are well proportioned, they do however contain quite a bit of flash (as you can see from the photo), they are easy to clean up but I advise taking great care as the resin is quite soft and I can see it would be easy to accidentally chop off the wrong bit if you got a bit excited with the craft knife.

Contents of a Despatch Rider Code showing spare head

I have made up a couple and had no major problems other than the clean up, the handlebars are cast in metal and I recall reading somewhere that the part was too difficult to cast in resin so they went for a metal option.

Trike model, built awaiting paint

Above is an example of a complete model from the range. I wanted a 10 man squad so I bought, the 5 man unit and the Trike along with an additional Sidecar Combo and 2 Despatch Riders for just short of 60 pounds, there is a 10 man unit for £35 (10 men on 5 bikes all two up) but I wanted the different models even though they were more expensive.

Above is a short video of a completed model, I did one of the Sidecar Combos as an example, I will do a full post when the unit is complete however I have to say they painted up great. The faces are particularly nice and really suit my style of painting. There is a bit of a flash mark on the front of the Sidecar which I missed on my initial clean up but otherwise I am very happy with the result.

Above are some stills of the finished model to look at. All in all a great addition to any Italian Army of the period, just be careful when you clean the casts up. Recommended 👍

Anyscale Models WW2 Trucks (A Review)

Being a bit tight with tha brass (don't like spending money (translation)) I am always on the look out for a bit of added value and with these models I think I might have found some.

Now personally, in my head, I always equate usefulness on the tabletop with cost, I don't mind 20 to 25 pounds on a good old armoured tank bristling with guns and such but why do I need to pay the same for a dirty old workhorse truck ?

CMP Truck

So when I saw these on eBay for 11 pounds each my eyes lit up, got to grab me a couple of those bad boys and see what the craic is. So I bought a CMP and an Austin K 5 just to see what they were like and very impressed I was too.

The photos above show how the kits arrive, 4 bits, that's my kind of model ! The pieces are resin with a pre fitted wire guard on the front, they fit together well with minimal fuss. I did find a few bubble holes in the resin, mostly on the wheels but at 11 quid a pop I was expecting much worse.

The detail, again considering the price, is pretty damn good and a spot of dry brushing and some washes have really brought out the panel lines. The canvas covers are removable and come in a slightly different resin to better simulate cloth.

K5 Kit

So if you are looking for some for some low cost solutions to your WW2 Transport issues don't look any further than Anyscale. They have a good selection of trucks as well as the odd tank and a good range of scenics.

https://www.anyscalemodels.com

Total Battle Miniatures 15mm Black Powder Terrain Review

Over the past few years I have been building up both my 15mm SYW Armies and adding to what was a mostly a Pennisular based Napoleonic force with more Central European troops. With this change of theatre came the requirement for suitable terrain for the tabletop.

I have been searching for quite some time now for something suitable, whilst being tempted by some of the MDF options available and having gone down that road for 28mm SCW, I still prefer a good resin cast if I can find one.

I came across http://www.totalbattleminiatures.com/ from a generic Internet search and was sufficiently impressed to fire off a test order to see what they were all about. So for 26 of your English Pounds I purchased this, the 15mm Black Powder "Hamlet" set.

What I really liked about the set was the above base which comes with the Hamlet, made of a flexible latex type material. I was weary of it at first and kept waking up in the middle of the night in cold sweats about flaking paint however the owners of the company were great and sent me an explanatory email which was a great help.

It has slots for each of the three buildings which looks great but also gives an option to exchange building models as they become damaged (hint hint !), there is a small stone wall at one end of the Hamlet and marker stones at the entry / exit points.

The secret is in using flexible acrylic paints so rather than my standard Halfords Matt black spray I went with a Vallejo Burnt Umber base coat on the cream colour latex, I used a watery wash of the paint to make sure it filled the indentations. Letting it dry thoroughly I used a heavy dry brush of Flat Earth and then a highlight dry brush of Tan Yellow.

In my standard old school basing method I add patches of dry brushed basetex to the groundwork however with the flexible nature of the manufacturing substance that would definitely not work here. At this stage I have gone for a simple painted option for the greenery, I may look at some form of flocking in the future. To finish the base off I have used some brown ink to make the suggestion of cart tracks through the model.

The main meat of the pack are these three buildings, from top to bottom, a single house, a terrace of 3 properties and a barn. I found the models, which are resin, well cast with only very minimal miscasting on the brick work. I used my standard painting method on these with my usual black undercoat.

So in summary an excellent purchase, I think I may well have solved my supplier problem for 15mm buildings and I will be definitely adding to my collection of these over the months to come, highly recommended.

The Walking Dead - Days Gone Bye - Expansion Review

Following on from my recent review of the core box set for Mantics Walking Dead, All Out War game I have, through enjoyment of the game decided to expand my collection.

My first choice for my next addition was this expansion "Days Gone Bye" which focuses on the early part of the story when the group of Survivors are camped outside Atlanta, this is a true expansion and you need the starter set to use its contents.

Of all the current expansions available this one provides the most extra kit for the player who is looking to game in a group (there is a similar sized Solo expansion available).

You get another gaming mat, which is quality gloss paper and very cleverly it has a small section of road which fits with the game mat from the initial game to give a double sized playing area.

Added to that is a booklet explaining the Days Gone Bye set, it has some new rules and explanations along with a narrative Campaign of 6 linked scenarios. Here is my one quibble with this set, the scenarios in the booklet use figures outside the basic set and this edition meaning you need to buy more booster packs to get the figures. Agreed it's a good marketing tool but we were looking forward to having a go at the Campaign when this box arrived and both my and YG Jnr were disappointed.

You get 6 more character cards covering the 4 miniatures in the box plus upgrade "Veteran" cards for Patrick and Sandra from the starter set.

Then you have more Event, Supply and Equipment cards. Fire is a new addition to the game with this set and the event cards cover that and the addition of woodland to the gaming area.

The equipment includes a lovely Gory clothing card for those of you who wish to add Stale Zombie to your Cologne collection. There is however a nice Rain Storm event card to wash away the smell.

Most useful game wise (I think, haven't tried it yet) is the Remington Rifle which gives you a decent ranged weapon, my set is one of the early misprints where the Rifle range is 10", it should be 30" (or 36" can't remember).

Apart from the miniatures the last items in the box are these two thick card game and terrain counter sets. They include trees, tents, fire and woodland themed supply tokens. The art work is great and quality superb.

On to the minis next, they come in the dark grey hard plastic that the starter set comes in, however I forgot to photograph mine before I put primer on them. Here we have Dale on the left in his lookout pose, you can just imagine him like some Chief Meerkat stood atop the RV looking for danger. Next to him is Allen.

Then we have Jim and Donna.

Before we have the two exclusive Walker Miniatures for this game, a guy with a fetching Mohawk hair style and an undead female Police Officer, nice character on these Figs and something that stands out from your general Walker horde.

Hope that's been helpful to some, this really is a great game, the quality of the kit is lovely and I would recommend it it to anyone with a passing interest in the comics or TV show and that's from a dyed in the wool historical Gamer.