WI298 - EW Russians (Invasion of Poland)

In what is becoming a tradition with this blog, today I present pictures of the EW Soviet army list from Wargames Illustrated #298.  I'm presenting the entire list since most if not all the point values have already been dissected and discussed on the FOW boards.

Click below to view.

The CV Panther in Version 3

Update 7/26: Ack - I fixed the formatting and converted the monstrous blob of a paragraph into its intended component parts.  Sorry about the huge wall of unformatted text.

It's been a busy month. Unfortunately, none of the recent busy schedule translated to doing anything hobby wise other than picking up Devil's Charge and thinking about lists. What follows is a rather long post containing my rambling musings.

WI297 - Devil's Charge Pics

Hey, look, FOW-content on the blog! I've been waiting for this issue of Wargames Illustrated to arrive and it finally did. Naturally I snapped a few pics. I listened to a recent WWPD episode and Steve mentioned the Normandy building photos being posted paparazzi-style. I'm not sure if he was referencing this blog, but hey, I like paparazzi-style and I don't have a photo studio so here's more pics! Click to View

Diablo 3: Entitlement

I've been thoroughly enjoying myself re-acquainting myself with the world of Diablo this past week. My friend's DH and my Barbarian completed Act I Normal last night. It was an enjoyable Boss Fight versus the Butcher (have nice screenshots) and a good conclusion to Act I. The cut-screen is one of the best done by Blizzard and I'll definitely watch it again before I play next. But that's not what this post is about. I've been lurking on the Diablo 3 forums for awhile, more out of amusement than trying to glean any useful information about Barbarian tactics. The amount of pettiness and vitriol is shocking. I realize I don't fit the typical age / maturity demographic of the typical poster on these forums. I realize that 90% of lurkers don't post on any forums. I realize this little sermon I'm posting won't do anything to reduce the amount of trolls on that forum, the FOW forum, or any forum. Still, I want to get my two cents in on this little slice of the Internets.

Gone Fishin'....

It's been 12+ years. The wait was long. It was worth it...and I've been playing Diablo 2.5 for a couple of weeks now. More tank posts in the future...

ROEN911 Art

ROEN911 has done it again with a very nice rendition of an SU-100. This time he has previewed the box art for Iron Front Liberation 1944. Direct link to the full sized picture here.

WI296 - New Buildings

WI 296 fell on the doorstep today. I think it was actually on time this month. Usually, there's a one to two week lag. Anyway, the FOW content in this issue deals with creating a Tank Destroyer company and painting up the M18 Hellcat and M36 Jackson. Not my cup of tea. If you recall a few months back during the release of Version 3, John-Paul gave a video presentation and hinted that a new building would be released every month. Well, I think we'll be seeing this promise come to fruition in the summer. I'm hoping they'll add to the Russian houses in the coming months. The back page of this issue will focus on The Devil's Charge. It's the July issue and I'll assume that DC will be released in August - the month when EW Barbarossa was supposed to happen until it was bumped back to 2013. Here's what I think, we're going to get all 3 Battle of the Bulge books this year. BGG was released in April. DC is going to happen in August. If we follow the natural progression of a 4-month gap, then the 3rd and final Bulge book will be in December to time it with Bastogne? Just a guess. I hope EW Russia was pulled so BF could take more time to playtest the rules (hahahahaha) or to allow production of the new models. Hopefully some of the new models will be plastic (BT-7, cough, cough). Anyway, enjoy the sneak peak. BTW, the re-up subscription ad in the magazine brought back the boxes (Panzer Kanone, Wittman, Churchill Squadron, etc).

Terrainguy Mat

Many of you may have noticed a lack of AAR's and modeling. Let's just say that my wargaming time has been drastically reduced with family commitments. I haven't heard from my regular opponent in over 3 months, so I'm not sure if he's become very busy or he's just tired of beating me over the head and wants a different opponent. Right now it's difficult for me to venture out to the LGS or the monthly gaming day at the Knights of Columbus Hall. I do, however, have a very nice garage where two tables can be set up easily to run games. If I can't go to the players, I'll invite them over for a game, or bribe them with BBQ and drinks. If I was going to have people over, I needed more than food and drink. I needed terrain. Enter, the Postman delivering this today in a tube box. After a recommendation from the WWPD forum, I purchased a green-brown mat from the terrainguy. The mat is canvas based and rubber coated. As you can see in the next picture... ...it unrolls with very little creases even after being rolled around a PCP pipe and shipped in a long box. The flocking is embedded in the rubber and for the most part I didn't feel any of the flocking coming off. There were a few small particles, but that's to be expected. A close up of the mat. I have another order coming soon. I'm excited to see how everything will look when it all comes together!

Panzer Brigade - East

Wargames Illustrated #295 arrived at the door step today. Participants returning from the LW Nationals at Adepticon posted about Org Charts for the Panzer Brigades that went East. I snapped a few pics of the two Panzer Brigade Org Charts in the magazine.

WiP - Emchas

This week I received an e-mail from my buddy Carlos of Sentinel Miniature Painting. As you can see, he's swamped in Sherman tanks. Now, if I was completely twisted, I'd threaten Carlos with a new BG&G army and have him do more Shermans! Actually, these vehicles are from the Death on the Plains deal Battlefront put out when Stalin's Europe was released. Anyway, here's a sneak preview of what will be hitting the table soon. Carlos needs to replicate the aerial markings on the rest of the vehicles, decals and drybrush. Here's part of the M5's for the Rota Platoon. They are looking great, Carlos!

BG&G - The Panzer Brigades

I picked up my copy of BG&G at the LGS on Saturday and promptly devoured it from end to end. The purpose of this post isn't to do a blow by blow review of the new source book. Stevie Mac and the boys at WWPD have already done a great review of it.

Normally I'd steer clear of a book focusing on the Western Front. However, there are a couple of things in the book that compelled me to make the purchase...




As Sinsynn would say..."Yeah, him.". Behold the beautiful, stylish and chin mantlet-liscious Panther Ausf G (late). It's one of the first tank models I ever made and it's held a special place in my heart ever since. When it was clear that this tank was going to be in BG&G, I knew I had to get my greedy paws on it.

PSC - M4A3 (late)

I wandered around the PSC site, but they didn't have any previews of the sprue, nor this picture apparently.

TMP states: "15mm Sherman M4A3 (Late): Five tanks in a box for £17.50 GBP; each sprue gives options to build either 75mm, 76mm or 105mm versions, and comes with a commander figure"

BG&G was released at the LGS today. I wasn't able to make it out there, but my copy is reserved along with the 10% discount. Thanks, John!

PSC - Ups Release of Yanks

PSC's latest update for 4/10/12.

Four x tripod MG42s, four x 82mm mortar teams, four x 120mm mortar teams, eight x panzerschrecks, eight x panzerfausts; 60 figures and twelve models for £16.50.

What's more interesting is this blurb from the PSC website.

May/June/July will also see a change in the release schedule. Due to popular demand the Stars and Stripes will be fluttering above PSC HQ - the Yanks have been bumped up the list! 15mm Sherman M4A3 (late), 15mm US Infantry, 15mm Sherman M4A3E8 Easy Eight and 15mm US heavy weapons will all be appearing. 15mm M3 halftracks, tank destroyers and Priests will not be far behind.

Odd timing. BG&G hits the stores this Friday (according to two LGS I called today). BF's new Shermans come out in May. Look, PSC is coming out with the same American tanks at the same time! Interesting....

All I can say it's a great time to be a 15mm wargammer. There are multiple rulesets to try, several miniature manufacturers, paint suppliers, books, Google, etc, etc.

WI294 - Pics of BG&G Lists from Battlefront Team

The Mailman dropped WI294 on the doorstep today. Huzzah!

I knew from reading the WWPD forums there were going to be sample lists created by the Blood, Guts & Glory design team (aka Phil, Wayne, Mike, etc) along with Stevie Mac of the WWPD.

I snapped photos of the lists as well as the new Triple AA vehicle the Germans get.

I would have liked to see pictures of the non-zimmerit Panthers and also word if they were Panther G (late's) with the chin mantlet. Alas, they might make an appearance in the 2nd Bulge book.

Click below.

ROEN911 - Composite Art

Waiting for Orders...

Over at SimHq, ROEN911 has been posting his composite artwork for quite awhile. He takes screenshots from various flight simulators and it looks like he's branched into armored warfare. The picture above is his first.

You can find the original version here. You'll also be able to access his other artwork and see the wonderful work he has done.

I first became familiar with ROEN911 when I was playing IL-2 Sturmovik:Forgotten Battles. He did many aircraft 'skins' that I promptly downloaded and added to the game to enhance the immersion of the game.

Enjoy.

Leninade - A Taste to Stand in Line for

Today I needed caffeine and went to buy a diet soda. I made my purchase and then saw the bottle above.

How cool is this! Next time my Emchas hit the table, I'll be drinking it.

The Internets says Leninade is a pink lemonade. I wouldn't know because I haven't opened the bottle and it's still sitting on my desk at work.






Whomever came up with this idea better have received a huge bonus. I love the Hammer and Sickle tagline. I was laughing all afternoon, which earned me several curious looks from co-workers.

Sorry for the tilted photos. I'm not sure why photobucket is being weird.

Cover art of Wargames Illustrated 294

Inside the back cover of Wargames Illustrated #293, is the preview for issue 294. The issue is scheduled for release in late March and will have the April release schedule for Battlefront.

Judging by the cover art and the teaser text next to it...



It would seem the first book for the Battle of the Bulge series will focus on the Lorraine campaign.

The long wait (4+ years) is over. The Battle of the Bulge is here.

V3 Mini-Book Spiralbound

I took the V3 small rulebook to FedEx/Kinkos this weekend. This was after listening to the WWPD podcast and Luke's V3 mini-book falling apart on the air and the thread on the FOW board about pages falling out on the first day.

I had the front and back covers laminated. The lamination is 5mm. Ask the Tech to see if you prefer 5mm or 10mm (thicker). I wanted 10mm, but they were out. I liked the way the 5mm worked out.

The spiral binding is plastic; apparently metal spiral binding wasn't an option at this FedEx/Kinkos.

Finally, I had the V3 Quick Ref printed front/back to cardstock and laminated.

Total cost was $14, with the bulk of the cost coming from the color copy of the Quick Reference Sheet and laminating the front and back covers and the Quick Ref sheet.

Well worth it. Even though your V3 book isn't showing signs of pages falling out, don't take the chance.

A fellow on the boards suggested pulling the mission section out and laminating and binding them separately. A good suggestion. I'm not sure I would do it, but since the missions are going to be looked at for every game, it might reduce the wear and tear on the entire book.

Anywho...I wanted to share the pics and encourage people to spiral bind the V3 mini-book before the pages fall out.

Easy Army - Grey Wolf

Gregg and Neal and the rest of the Easy Army team just announced they are starting lists from Grey Wolf.

I implore anybody who plays this great game called FOW to visit the Easyarmy.com website and take advantage of this great utility. Many of the lists are free and to gain access to lists in several of the big books, it only costs $1 to $2. This value is immense.

Thanks Easy Army!

Comrade Emcha

While doing research for my Emchas, I stumbled across the above image. Whoa! A book about Russian Shermans? The book contains color plates? Sign me up! I first noticed the image in October and it's release date was supposed to be December, so I thought I had one item for a X-mas list.