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Late War Monsters

Well Late War Leviathans are going to be released by Battlefront.

When the Mid-War Monsters were released in 2011 I did get some of the TOG tanks, and also said in a blog post:

I do hope that we see future “monsters” for Flames of War, there are some nice concepts and ideas out there for both Early-War and Late-War

When the Mid-War Monsters were re-released eleven years later in 2022 I wrote something similar:

Hopefully they are popular enough, that we get to see more of them, maybe some Early-War Monsters and some Late-War Monsters as well.

Well here we are in 2024 and Battlefront have announced their Late War Leviathans.

We have seen the German Maus.

Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus was a German World War II super-heavy tank completed in late 1944. It is the heaviest fully enclosed armored fighting vehicle ever built.

The Soviets have the IS3.

The IS-3 was a Soviet heavy tank developed in late 1944. Its semi-hemispherical cast turret (resembling that of an upturned soup bowl) became the hallmark of post-war Soviet tanks.

The US have the T28 Super Heavy Tank.

The T28 Super Heavy Tank was an American super-heavy tank/assault gun designed for the United States Army during World War II. It was originally designed to break through German defenses of the Siegfried Line and was later considered as a possible participant in the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland.

The British have the Tortoise.

The Tortoise heavy assault tank was a British heavy assault gun design developed during the Second World War, but never put into mass production. It was developed for the task of clearing heavily fortified areas such as the Siegfried Line and as a result favoured armour protection over mobility.

In addition there will be range of 1945+ models that can be used for alternate history games where the Second World War went beyond 1945. In the announcement video we have seen the Centurion Mk1 and US Pershing tanks.

These models will also be useful for gaming scenarios in the world of The Hot War series by Harry Turtledove as well as the Late War Leviathans background from Battlefront.

iFelix Top Ten Blog Posts 2023

In 2023 I published 271, whilst not as many as the 319 I did in 2022, it was more than I did in 2021, when I posted 162 times. In 2020 I posted 436 blog posts, in 2019 I did 143 blog posts. Compare that to 2018 when I wrote just 21 blog posts.

Here are my top ten blog posts in reverse order.

The blog post at number ten was about the huge Tau Manta at Warhammer World.

The ninth most popular post was a discussion piece from July of this year asking It’s the end of Aeronautica Imperialis as we know it… as Xenos races were dropped from the game.

The post at eight was about how I was Landscaping the Titan bases for my Adeptus Titanicus titans.

The seventh top post was about Reflecting on the MkIIB Land Raider having had it on the workbench for a fair few years, I decided to finish it off as an Imperial Fists model..

The post at six asked the question on if we would get a Sokar pattern Stormbird for Aeronautica Imperialis.

The fifth most popular post was from 2007, and was about the upcoming Warhammer Fantasy Plastic Buildings that were going to be released for Warhammer.

I wonder if these will be re-released for Warhammer Old World, or if we will see new versions of the buildings.

Jumping one place to number four was Building and undercoating the Inquisitorial Achilles Ridgerunner.

It was ninth most popular post in 2022, this year it is number three. The post was That time when the Imperial Guard used the Rhino a reminder that when the Rhino model first came out it could also be used by the Imperial Guard as well as Space Marines.

The second popular post in 2023 on the blog was Constructing the Haemotrope Reactor a model that I got with a copy of Warhammer Imperium.. It was third most popular last year.

Staying at number one was the post of photographs of Astra Militarum Super Heavy Tanks taken on a visit to Warhammer World.

Overall I was pleased with the amount of blogging that I did in 2023 and impressed with the amount of painting I have done this year. I have done a regular top ten blog posts article every year now for a fair few years, but going through the stats this time I noticed that there were a lot of popular pages as well. The most popular page in 2023 was the workbench on my Ork Kill Bursta.

Scotch on the Rocks

The BBC News has an article on a 1970s drama series, about an armed revolt in Scotland.

It sounds like the most dramatic news story imaginable.

The battle for Scottish independence has taken a violent turn after paramilitary “soldiers” of the Scottish Liberation Army (SLA) took over the town of Fort William.

Troops from English regiments of the British army are massing north of Glasgow to turn back an expected assault on the nation’s largest city.

The prime minister is meeting his cabinet in London. And the leadership of the SNP, the party which recently narrowly missed out on winning a majority in the Westminster parliament, has yet to condemn the actions in the Highlands.

I wasn’t aware of this series, but I am intrigued by the similarity to the article I wrote thirty years ago about a possible modern era English Civil War that was published in Wargames Illustrated.

” … its six o’clock, on Tuesday the 27th October 1998. This is the Royal Somerset Broadcasting Service, and now the news from Wessex and around the world. The headlines: Scotland has seceded from the British Republic, fighting has broken out along the border. Royalist army and volunteer militia units have pushed back across the border an armed incursion by Democratic Guards into south-west Dorset last night. Bristol Docks were once again the target of bombing over the night, but damage has been minimal. The United States has once again confirmed its commitment to the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Wessex and Duchy of Cornwall.”

Sadly the Scotch on the Rocks series was never repeated, the real SNP complained about their fictional portrayal in the drama. Also not all the episodes are available. You can get the book on Amazon though.

I wonder if they would remake the series (still have it set in the 1970s) or reboot the series to a modern day setting.

There are lots of gaming ideas in this concept. Something I hope to explore in a later blog post.

Finally, it’s coming…

We finally got the announcement that Legion Imperalis is on its way.

Next week there will be a two week pre-order window for Legion Imperalis.

It also looks like there will be a wealth of releases. As well as the boxed set there appears there will be a range of models, accessories, scenery and other stuff all released at the same time.

A quick Google search shows that the boxed set will have a RRP of £120. The pack of ten Rhino APCs will be £30.

Don’t quite know what I will pre-order at this point.

Dead Man’s Hand Redux

I’ve like the rules for Dead Man’s Hand from Great Escape Games even though I certainly have not played it enough.

We will be getting a new edition in 2024.

Dead Man’s Hand was released in 2013 and has seen eight print-runs, a hearty miniature range and our first few plastic kits. And we have a lot more planned for the game, the building range and Dead Man’s Hand miniatures.

The big news is that Dead Man’s Hand will see a new edition released in 2024. Dead Man’s Hand Redux will be released as a new starter set complete with plastic miniatures and plastic terrain. Over the following few weeks we will talk more about the details, but the biggest bit is that the starter set will come with full size plastic buildings, detailed inside and out and with removable roofs for full access gameplay.

Dead Man’s Hand Redux is the same game, but with an updated deck, new faction builds, new scenes, expanded rules and an easy pick-up campaign system. We will also have new factions, such as Texas Rangers, The Family, Pioneers and several more.

And more plastic sets planned. A lot more.

So, what happens next? At the end of October, we will launch a Kickstarter project for Dead Man’s Hand Redux and invite you all to come and join the campaign; we have a lot of great stretch goals planned. For those of you who already play Dead Man’s Hand, old and new, please continue to play and enjoy the first edition.

After successfully participating in the Car Wars Kickstarter I am tempted to participate in this one.

Legion Imperialis Batte Report

In the next issue of White Dwarf there will be an early battle report for Legions Imperialis.

From the cover:

Blood Angels take on the Death Guard in our first Legions Imperialis battle report.

The Warhammer Community website says

…and you can whet your appetite for the upcoming Legions Imperialis in an early battle report.

This will be an issue of White Dwarf I will get when it comes out.

Now what does this tell us about the release date for Legions Imperialis? Well, not anything concrete, but I wonder if this means we might see Legions Imperialis before November? If not then in November?

An alternate SR-N1 Hovercraft

Back in January I wrote a piece about an idea I had for an alternate Desert Storm set in 1959.

The re-release of the Fairey Rotodyne reminded me of an idea I had for an alternative history background for gaming. The basic premise was a Desert Storm background but with 1950s tanks, aircraft, helicopters and VTOL craft like the Fairey Rotodyne.

My premise was that the British armed forced faced with a new threat would make use of aircraft such as the Fairey Rotodyne.

I was reminded of this article following the announcement from Airfix that they are going to re-release their 1/72nd scale model of the SR-N1 Hovercraft.

Debuted in 1960, it hasn’t been seen in the range since the 1980s.

The SR-N1 was the first practical hovercraft and demonstrated the potential of air-cushioned transport.

On 11 June 1959, the SR.N1 performed its first flight in front of the public. The SR.N1 participated in the test programme for four years prior to its retirement, by which point it had served its purpose in successfully validating the concept and further hovercraft had been developed.

Now I actually remember building the Airfix kit, but I painted it up as a military version. I think it was all over black to be used by special forces.

Airfix on their site talk about the military application of the SR-N1.

The SR-N1 Hovercraft is an experimental machine with space for the pilot and his observer, although on demonstration it has carried 20 fully equipped soldiers.

If I was to go down the Desert Storm 1959 idea, then I think I would get some SR-N1 hovercraft (well at least one) and build it as a troop carrier, or an armed version.

Legions Imperialis Rumours

The initial plan was that Legions Imperialis would be released in August. However the most recent post on the Warhammer Community site, as mentioned on this blog, was that the release will be delayed until later in the year.

Why was there a delay? Well as you might have guessed the internet is rife with rumours.

One of the strongest of the Internet rumours is that the rulebook needed to be reprinted due to an inappropriate quote. Though we don’t really know the details it probably was a paraphrased quote from World War Two.

Other rumours talk about warehouse and computing problems. There is also speculation that there are shipping delays.

Of course we will probably never know the truth.

Still looking forward to getting my copy of Legions Imperialis.

Legions Imperialis Delayed

The initial plan was that Legions Imperialis would be released in August. However the most recent post on the Warhammer Community site on the new Solar Auxilia Support models there is (hidden away at the bottom) a statement on the release date.

While we had initially hoped to release Legions Imperialis in August, the release date will now be a little later in the year. Don’t worry – you’ll be commanding a tiny legion of troops to victory very soon.

Well that is disappointing, after all the exciting previews we’ve seen over the last few weeks.

The phrase later in the year means that we may not even see this release until December, though I suspect it might be November.

Epic Size Comparisons

Over on the Warhammer Community site is an interesting article comparing the new Legions Imperialis miniatures with Epic miniatures of old.

The new Legions Imperialis models are much bigger than the Epic versions. This probably means that it will be challenging to use any Epic models alongside the new ones. Many of the models were pretty much underscale anyway.

One mistake in the article is that they mention plastic Leman Russ tanks

On the left is an adorable family photo, depicting three generations of the Leman Russ. At the front in green is an old metal version from the Space Marine-era in the mid 90s, joined by a plastic model (we think) from Epic Armageddon. The new Legions Imperialis Leman Russ kit also builds Leman Russ Vanquishers, pictured on the right with a smaller plastic version below it.