Cheeky Cromwell

 

A quick and fun build of a Cromwell from my Christmas stash (Airfix 1/76). Very pleased with it. A bit big for my 80mm hexes but still usable.

Reading around the subject of Cromwells while I was modelling I was interested to learn that the very large 17pdr Challenger variant was actually lower in height than a Sherman (2.77m to, say, 3m). I always imagined it as the same size as barn, so I am quite interested in seeing if there is a 1/76 Challenger available.

BTW many projects are in various stages so I'm planning to post a few updates this month.

More Airfix Battles stuff.........

Cool or what?

A flyer has gone out to retailers:

And a PDF of the rules can be picked up from here.

The rules will demo at Salute and orders will ship first week in June. Top, I'll get mine for Fathers' Day!

By the way, I'm really pleased with all of the helpful comments on the FiveCore hex grid conversion. Lots of good ideas which I will ponder today. Thanks everyone!

Airfix Battles: Unboxing the Introductory Wargame

Well, I wasn't going to resist blogging this one, was I?

Airfix Battles..............

Time to pre-order!

Oh yes, more exciting news. Airfix Battles is now available for pre-order with a very nice bonus set of stuff. 

Here is the full skinny......

"We're delighted to announce the opening of the pre-order campaign for one of our most eagerly awaited titles the Airfix Battles Introductory Set, allowing you to get first in line and secure your order for the game, including a pre-order bonus worth £10 for orders placed before May 1st! Sign up now to receive your pre-order bonus, exclusively on Modiphius.net.

Shipping in May this is a fast and fun introductory wargame playable with all your existing AIRFIX figures and vehicles. AIRFIX Battles comes with everything you need to play exciting World War Two battles straight out of the box including die cut cardboard counters for tanks, infantry and guns in case you don't have any figures to hand.

AIRFIX Battles lets you plan your army using the Force Deck. Draw the cards or select the ones you need to build an exciting army to challenge your friends. Set up the battle using step by step instructions in the Mission book and you're ready to play. Each player has a hand of Command Cards to move and fight their forces or bring in artillery support. You'll never know what your opponent is going to do next!

SPECIAL OFFER: A pre-order now gets budding commanders a bonus campaign in PDF: Airfix Battles: Operation Cobra, plus the 24 card Reinforcement Pack 1 consisting extra British units and tanks like the German King Tiger and Sherman Calliope rocket launcher tank! Pre-Order Airfix Battles for delivery in May here.

Game Design by Nick Fallon, Alan Paull & Chris Birch
Players: 1-4
Ages: 10+
Playing Time: 30-60mins

Contents:
2 x Double-sided A2(420mm x 594mm) Maps
Over 100 cardboard counters of tanks, infantry, objectives and terrain!
1 x 16 page Mission Book
1 x 32 page Rule Book including rules for solo play up to 4 players
1 x 54 Card Force Deck
1 x 54 Card Command Deck
10 x Six-Sided Dice"

And the price is a mere £24.99. Woot!

Midwinter update....

Weather hot but the news is cool!

I haven't posted for a while due to pressures of the day job. However, I have not stopped thinking about stuff which will now have to go on the list for next year. So, a nice opportunity before Christmas to get my thoughts in order. 

1. Battlefield Hobbies: This is a new wargames store and gaming facility(?). I came across their Facebook page by accident via PBIcandy. A new wargames store is always pretty rare. What's even more rare is that this one is situated only a short walk from my house in Daventry. Simply unbelievable. Judging by the clientele in the photo I'll fit right in. I'll check it out tomorrow and will do a short write up. I'll even take some photos.

2. Airfix Battles: This project is continuing to surprise me. I see that Benthamfish is now engaged in the game design process. You can check his blog here! This looks like it might be very good indeed. 

3. Aurelian: A new game from Sam Mustafa. This looks like Blucher with ancients. The BGG entry reads like this:

Aurelian is a tabletop game about the Crisis of the Third Century, the period during which the Roman empire nearly disintegrated in constant civil war and foreign invasions.Players take one of four roles: a Roman, Germanic, Sarmatian, or Persian commander. Any number of players can conduct a campaign, in which each type of army has a different set of victory conditions. While holding off Rome's many enemies, the Roman players are also trying to defeat each other and ultimately become (and remain!) emperor.Aurelian can be played with miniatures, or with "unit tiles" on any flat surface, much in the same manner as Blücher's unit cards. The centerpiece of the game is the campaign, in which each player manages the fortunes of his character and faction, much in the manner of the campaigns in Maurice and Longstreet. 

Sounds good. I have this vague idea that PSC have been mentioned in connection with this project but can't seem to find the reference.

4. Neil Thomas' Modern Rules: Well, not quite. Brian Cowan has just published his interpretation of Neil Thomas' second world war rules on the AMW Yahoo Group. Brian has done a great job. The rules include army lists for Vietnam, Yom Kippur, Falklands, Cold War Europe, Modern wars in Afghanistan etc. Well worth a look.

5. Nordic Weasel: Well I'm a dedicated Weasel fan. I'm not sure that sounds good, but it is. The Fivecore series rolls on with this really tempting collection of additional and optional rules. Available for very little ($3.99) from the Wargames Vault. Also on my Weasel list are Laserstorm (sci-fi) and War Story (a narrative based game). This is great stuff, mainly because it is very simple (just like me) and completely interchangeable. My Somewhere in Africa game will use all three levels of Fivecore (skirmish, company and brigade). Looking forward to it next year.

Also, the Polemos GNW rules are now re-released by Baccus and also on the Vault for not much. Something else for Santa to sort out (actually that means I have to pay for it and my wife says, "Happy Christmas").

6. Horse and Musket: This is the Hold the Line adaptation in development by Sean Chick. The rules are now available on BGG as well as a Vassal module so you can get to it now. No news about a publisher yet but its definitely on my list when it comes out.

7. Ideas: Yep, still having some. Thankfully, other people come up with them and I play with them. Two important things so far this month:

• Kaptain Kobold has done some more work on his OHW ECW rules. These are very interesting and I may re-visit my ECW hex based interpretation as a result. Dashing cavalry anyone?
• Combat model for Tannenberg: I have really been struggling with this. I've got a map and OBs and a good idea about time and space. However, the combat model is just missing and I have not been able to get excited about it. Never fear, someone else has had a good idea and I'll just nick it. This idea comes from my chum Norm and his published game Anzio. More on this next year but its a real relief that I have finally got to grips with it.

Unfortunately, its back to work now with a lot to do before Christmas. Hopefully I'll post again before the big day. Cheers.

More cool than something really cool....

Airfix battles!

I came across this by accident. 

Due out next year, this is a card focused game of tactical combat using counters on a square board. Alternatively use your Airfix soldiers and tanks. A "Collectors rule book" converts the rules to a full able top wargame. Check it out here. 

The publisher, Modiphius, looks like a serious player. As this game set covers US paras and Germans in Normandy, this almost looks like a combination of M44, Operation Squad and Heroes of Normandie. I don't know the price point but it looks very tempting.