flames of war Archives - Page 3 of 36

Finished the 4Ground 15mm Corner Bakery

4Ground 15mm Corner Bakery

Finally finished one of my Christmas presents (from some time ago) was the 4Ground 15mm Shop 4: Corner Bakery. I already have a couple of the 4Ground 15mm buildings, a pair of semi-detached houses and one of the hotels.

The Corner Bakery is a great piece of terrain to enhance your battle board. It comes pre-painted with 4Ground Base paints with high levels of internal detail as well as shop specific signage and acetate shop windows.

Each floor is removable allowing access to each one and the different rooms usable doors. To keep the floors in place there are little locking lugs in each corner. The external walls are rendered with cracked detailing and acetate window.

The model comes as flat pieces of coloured MDF which has been laser cut. Having put most of it together, I went ahead and finished it.

There are lots of details and depth to the models. The instructions are clear and the model is easy to assemble.

The model has separate floors allowing models to be placed inside the building.

As you can see the model’s pre-coloured MDF does make these stand out and quick to put onto the table.

4Ground 15mm Corner Bakery

In the end I found the model challenging to keep together as separate floors so I removed the lugs and stuck the whole building together.

I have added glazing to the windows and used the included posters on the wall.

4Ground 15mm Corner Bakery

I quite liked how the signage which comes with the model includes English signs, Operational Sealion anyone? Or what about a 1930s VBCW scenario? Though of course the building is quite continental in appearance.

SDD Daimler Dingo

The Daimler Scout Car, known in service as the “Dingo” (after the Australian wild dog), was a British light fast 4WD reconnaissance vehicle also used in the liaison role during the Second World War. In 1938 the British War Office issued a specification for a scouting vehicle. Out of three designs submitted by Alvis, BSA and Morris, the one by BSA was selected. The actual production was passed to Daimler, which was a vehicle manufacturer in the BSA group of companies. The vehicle was officially designated Daimler Scout Car, but became widely known as Dingo, which was the name of the competing Alvis prototype.

I bought some SDD models in the 1990s.

SDD British Daimler Dingo

Not sure how I will use these, potentially desert models or as wrecks.

Another option would be to use them as part of my modern English Civil War background.

New Buildings for Flames of War

I see from the latest update to the Battlefront website, there is another subscription set of “premium” buildings released for Flames of War (but would probably also be fine for Team Yankee).

This year we are launching another limited range of Premium Buildings to add some unique centrepieces to your battlefield. Each building is designed to be characterful, yet fit in with the existing Battlefield in a Box range of buildings and houses.

There are six models, a steelworks factory, a set of ruined buildings, a clock tower, a café, an estate house and a damaged eastern church. Out of the six available, my two personal favourites are the manor house and the ruins.

The Ruined Building includes a large two-storey house and two smaller houses, with extensive shelling or bombing damage, perfect for a war torn 15mm urban battle zone.

The Ruined Building includes a large two-storey house and two smaller houses, with extensive shelling or bombing damage, perfect for a wartorn 15mm urban battle zone.

As for the Estate House, this stately home will work equally well as the centrepiece of country battlefield or as a grand home or municipal building in a town street.

This stately home will work equally well as the centrepiece of country battlefield or as a grand home or municipal building in a town street.

They are also going to re-release the manor house and the farm house and barn from the previous premium subscription deal they had. I always liked the manor house, so if I can get one (from retail).

Manor House

I also quite like the farmhouse and barn which I had not seen before.

Farm House & Barn

At £35 each they are not that cheap (well not compared to the houses deal I did subscribe to), if you order them all in advance at £175 then you get the damaged eastern church for free.

So are you going to subscribe to the deal?

4Ground 15mm Corner Bakery

One of my Christmas presents was the 4Ground 15mm Shop 4: Corner Bakery. I already have a couple of the 4Ground 15mm buildings, a pair of semi-detached houses and one of the hotels.

I mentioned in a previous post on my Sarissa Precision Old West Buildings about how much I liked the concept of laser-etched mdf buildings.

The 4Ground models are pre-painted and come with a bundle of components. The corner bakery is much more complex than either the semi-deteached houses or the hotel I had made before.

There are lots of details and depth to the models.

I quite liked how the signage which comes with the model includes English signs, Operational Sealion anyone? Or what about a 1930s VBCW scenario

Got stalled slightly in construction, but hope to finish the model soon.

Cold Flames of War

As well as the Brown Water Navy announcement in Battlefront’s Flames of War State of the Union, they announced a new period based on the Cold War.

October sees us diving into a brand new period as we release Fulda Gap. The period of the modern war when tensions between NATO and the Warsaw Pact were running high is a wonderful theatre to develop as the forces arrayed on both sides boast some of the coolest-looking equipment in history. And with the advances in technology, we are looking forward to seeing forces of M1-Abrams covered by A10-Thunderbolts pitting their might against the swathes of T-72s and BMP-mounted infantry. We plan for this to be a complete period with books covering nations and plastic sets for all the main vehicles of every nation. October is just the start and 2016 will have more books and additional miniatures.

Though there is very little information in the announcement, there is a mention of T72s and BMP-1s for the Warsaw Pact forces. So what of the NATO side? It appears that the US Army will be done first, with M1-Abrams and A-10 Thunderbolts, but I am looking forward to seeing the models for the BAOR.

It would make for a good game to have Chieftains, FV432s and Harriers in action against T80s and the odd Hind D Attack Helicopter.

As the announcement mentions the M1-Abrams, which entered service in 1980, we can assume that the period for the games will be the 1980s, the height of the Cold War. If Battlefront do decide to go with some BAOR British forces, we may also see the Challenger I which entered service in 1983.

As well as fighting across Europe, another possibility will be to recreate the original Red Dawn film and have Soviet forces fighting on US soil.

I might also look at doing some alternative history British Civil War games set in the same time period, this setting was described in an article I had published in Wargames Illustrated in the 1990s.

I also wonder what other nations we will see in 2016, the French possibly?

Brown Water Navy – Flames of War

Battlefront have published a state of the nation article about their forthcoming releases for 2015. One that piked my interest was Brown Water Navy.

Brown Water Navy

April sees us return to the jungle as we visit the Mekong Delta with the new Brown Water Navy book. This book cover the river fighting in the delta’s and allows you to fight a completely new style of Vietnam game. With a complete range of riverine boats to choose, from the little PBR’s to the big CCB Monitors these boats give your US forces the ability to assault the river banks and carve their way into the jungle. Never one to make it easy for the US the VC have a few tricks up their sleeves making this environment a truly unique gaming theatre.

Many years ago I bought some Skytrex 1/200th Vietnam Brown Water Navy models, which never got used for that era, but ended up as Epic 40K models.

The preview models look really nice.

Brown Water Navy - Flames of War

Of course the reality of the conflict, was that it was a little one-sided, the US had armed and armoured monitors, whilst the VC didn’t.

Brown Water Navy - Flames of War

I still have a wealth of Flames of War miniatures to paint, so I don’t think I will be getting some, but you never know.

15mm German Light Mechpanzer Spinne Platoon

At Reveille, the Bristol show last year I spent a little time looking at the models and talking to the guys at Clockwork Goblin Miniatures about their great 15mm (and 28mm) alternative World War Two infantry, walkers and tanks, called War Without End.

In the end I bought a single blister, a 15mm US Kodiak Assault Walker.

I was lucky enough to get some more blisters as a present, including the 15mm German Light Mechpanzer Spinne Platoon.

This is what the finished model looks like.

I will probably paint my models in a similar late-war style. This is quite a different model and approach to the two US War Without End that I have.

15mm US Grizzly Medium Walker

In the end I bought a single blister, a 15mm US Kodiak Assault Walker.

I was lucky enough to get some more blisters as a present, including the 15mm US Grizzly Medium Walker.

It looks like a lovely clean casting and by using 3D computer design, you have a really good sculpt with the sort of lines and shapes you would expect from a full scale factory manufactured vehicle. This is a really nice alternative model for World War Two games and at 15mm perfect for Flames of War.

This is how the model looks when finished (from the Clockwork Goblin website).

Looking forward to putting this one together and getting it on the table.

Flames of War Open Fire Teaser

Mike and Sean give you a brief look at the new Open Fire starter set. Packed with new plastic models and a streamlined set of rules, it’s the perfect entry point into World War II wargaming.

The Comet is on its way…

Battlefront have shown a preview of the new plastic Comet boxed set.

One of my most popular blog posts is from 2011 when I discussed the then forthcoming Battle of Bulge supplement.

I made the request

I would like to see two tanks in particular, the M24 Chaffee and the British Comet. These tanks are currently not in the FoW range.

The Chaffee arrived in 2012, but it has taken a little longer for the Comet to arrive. As with many of the new models from Battlefront it is a plastic kit. It looks great and the instructions simple, resulting in an effective looking model.

The Tank, Cruiser, Comet I (A34) was a British cruiser tank that first saw use near the end of World War II. It was designed to provide greater anti-tank capability to Cromwell tank squadrons. It was armed with a 77mm HV, a derivative of the 17 pounder, with the result it was one of the few British tanks with the firepower to challenge late war German designs.