Monthly Archives: September 2011

September 28, 2011 · 3:13 pm

WIP Goblin Chariots

It has been a bit quiet here recently but I was really busy with RealLifeTM so didn’t really have to to put any new reviews/WIPs on the website.

Now mid October me and my mate Mat are going to take part in WHB doubles tournament in Brighton. That of course means more paining and more work assembling ans converting stuff. Big part of my army (and big part of our battle plan as well!) is 5 goblin chariots grouped in two units, that so far have been doing really well in practice games.

Since GW only produces one type of CGoblin Chariot and I didn’t want them to look all the same I decided to convert a couple, change one of the goblins chariots as well by adding extra elements to it and making it bigger and also got myself a boar chariot (that in future will be part of my goblin count-as orcs force). Obviously as you can see painting is far from finished, but I am working on it. Thanks to recent purchase of small batch of old, metal gobbos I can also add enough variety to the crew. For now I just need to base them nicely and put few colours so they will be tournament-worthy, later on I will work on them more and finish them (hopefully soon!). Hope you like the result so far.

As usual opinions are welcome!

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Filed under My work in progress

September 6, 2011 · 11:15 pm

Zvezda Il-2 Sturmovik and Katiusha rocket launcher review

For a long time I needed some air support and rocket battery for my Russian sapper-engineers. Now few months ago Russian company Zvezda finally released their 15mm kits for those and I decided to buy them. It took some time for models to appear on the British market but finally the day has come 😉

You can buy those in few model shops (including couple of online ones) and also plenty of ebay sellers have them in stock. I got 8 Katiushas for 20 quid and 3 Sturmoviks for around 2.5 pounds a pop which comparing to BF prices isn a massive bargain. I was quite worried about the quality but decided to give it a go anyway, as my funds were not big enough to justify buying BF versions.

IL-2

This is an early version. Model requires no glue to assemble and includes flying stand. Initially I thought it will be a nightmare to assemble but I was quickly proven wrong, with all elements snapping into place with no problem.

Level of detail of course is bit lower than on BF but there are no serious differences. Main one is lack of rockets under the wings, something I can definitely live without. There are two ways to assembly our “flying tank”- one with wheels out and one in flying mode, with wheels in. Very nice touch!

Cockpit is bit less detailed than the Battlefront one and that is the main difference.

Plastic is very shiny and I haven’t primed it yet but i am sure it will be ok. For that price its absolutely worth it!

Katiusha

Katiusha model is also very nice. Same type of shining plastic as with Sturmoviks. size wise its alsmost exactly like the BF one, only difference is that rockets are bit shorter- again something I can live with. Very nice detail otherwise and pieces snap in place perfectly. Only minus is that Katiushas come without the crew but between some spare Russians from Plastic Soldier Factory and some other artillery crew from BF and other manufacturers that I am acquiring at the moment plus some right size FoW bases from warbases.co.uk I will have full Katiusha batttery for half of BF price. Nice!

Below comparison pictures of Zvezda and BF stuff- thanks Lee!

Very British Civil War book “The People’s Armies” review

I just got my copy today, fresh from printing (I had it on preorder) and already finished reading it. Solway Crafts and Miniatures released another great sourcebook for their more and more popular Very Britush Civil War.

Book (or rather booklet) is beautifully printed in A5 format and has 28 full colour pages. It costs 8 pounds plus postage. Perhaps not the cheapest but Solway being a small one-person wargaming venture, it is definitely worth supporting and ordering. After all its roughly price of two pints (maybe three if you include postage ;)). This one is written by Dr Paul Cunnigham and I have to say he did an amazing job! Myself being a VBCW player with my large Brighton Anarchist Militia and some Independent Labour Party contingent I was waiting eagerly for its release.

There are no rules here as in other sourcebooks, as people use variety of wargaming systems for VBCW. It is filled with stories, pictures and drawings. It describes history, organisation, uniforms and armament of Workers Defence Corps, Anarchists and Independent Labour Party Militias and then finally Communist-led People’s Assault Columns. There are 6 plates of beautiful colour drawings of different militias by talented artist Pete Barfield known from other Solway Crafts VBCW books, very much in style of Osprey books, making it look even more professional.

If you are a fan of VBCW then this booklet is definitely worth getting.

Myself after reading it I can say that I am definitely not regretting spending my money on it. I am quite tempted to buyA Guide to Tanks and Military Vehicles now 😉