Ramshackle Games: Science Fiction Field artillery Piece!

Hi, here's another great release of Ramshackle Games, one of the greatest wargame manufacturers which solely produces resin science fiction and fantasy miniatures. This time they have released a huge and superb field artillery piece for a new military faction which will be used for the expansion of their existing ruleset called "Nuclear Renaissance". The artillery piece could be used for all sorts of science fiction wargame systems such as Warhammer 40K or even as replacement artillery for Forge Worlds Death Korps of Krieg.

The massive artillery piece can be assembled as on the move or ready to deliver an artillery barrage. As most of the Ramshackle Games vehicles, this pice also comes in seperated pieces which can be purchased as a set or seperate for conversions. I really love the possibility of buying seperate pieces so you can make your own custom build vehicles or constructions equipped with immense weapons or just unarmed vehicles.

The artillery piece comes with a small barrel and a massive one. This allows you to build a siege gun or a field artillery piece which really adds lots of possibilities when you use magnets.

The artillery piece also contains two crew members and some artillery shells. these miniatures could also be used for Victorian Science Fiction and Weird World War One or two.

Defiance Games: A review of the UAMC marines!

Hi, it's time for another review! This time I will take a look at the plastic United Americas Marine Corps made by the American manufacturer Defiance Games lead by Tony Reidy. Some may have heard that the release date of these miniatures was postphoned several times and that most of that was the result of an issue about the name use of the box which was originally United States Marine Corps. Therefor all the boxes needed to be reprinted and repacked. But after all that waiting here's a review of probably the most generic plastic modular futuristic soldiers you can currently find on the market. Let's take a look ...

The box

The box art is really stunning, when I opened the package I was sure the box art would be similar to the recent Wargames Factory artwork (if you know their box art you will know!) but it wasn't. The box was decorated with the image of a fierce marine equipped with his trusty assault rifle and dressed in a great looking body armor. I must credit the illustrator Diego Gisbert Llorens and the package designer Saffron Media for their excellent work!

The back of the box is decorated with some fluff about the United Americas Marine Corps and their campaigns. In addition to that there are also some examples of the poses you can make with the content and a list with the different parts which you can find on the sprues. I think this a great idea to list up all the different parts the box contains so any unaware wargamer can see if he can use the box for the miniatures or just for some old school kitbashing.

The sprues

The box contains sufficient parts to assemble 24 marines equipped with a variety of light weaponry and a heavy machinegun! The set also includes suffient baseswhich are almost identical to those made by Games Workshop to base the miniatures. Some of these bases come attached to the sprues while others are nicely packaged in a small plastic zip bag. Ok, up to the sprues! The box contains 12 identical sprues, each of these sprues accomodates two marines and sufficient bits for the bits box. Here you can see a picture of the sprue, each of these sprues contains three different pair of legs but only two bodies? I prefered another body but well there's always room for improvement as it's their first plastic boxed kit they have released.

As requested I also made close ups of the different parts in the box. First of all we have the bodies and a bagpack for the long and brutal campaigns in Aleutia and during the Jabaoting uprise. The bodies are dressed in body armour similar to the armor worn in the Starship Trooper films. Second of all we have the heads each of the sprues contains 6 heads of which some have helmets and goggles while other have caps or a simply bare headed. I love this amount of heads but would have prefered at least two heads with an open helmets as the one on the left so you can equip all your soldiers with this type.

Next we have an array of weaponry starting with two assault rifles which are probably the core weapon of the United Americas Marine Corps. Another weapon which is included on the sprue is a modern version of a shotgun and a massive heavy machinegun. I especially love the look of this heavy machinegun as it looks both mobile and deadly (I just see I haven't took a picture of it in close up but you can see it on the assembled models or the entire sprue picture).

There's also another assault rifle included which is probably the favorite weapon of the officers and engineers. I'm not sure if it's a machine gun and a grenade launcher or one of the two but it looks badass!

Assembled

As soon as I had the time I assembled some of these great miniatures. The hard plastic parts were easy to remove from the sprues and only needed some basic flash removal on the arms and bodies. I first started with attached the legs on the base so I had a good base to hold when assembling the rest of the miniatures. after that I fitted and attached the chosen weapons and the head. Be careful always dry fit your parts before you glue them in place. this way can save you lots of problems. Take a look, personally I think they look great and look like they have just walked of the set of Starship Troopers!

Size comparison

As every wargamer want to know are they compatible with my existing army or prefered miniature manufacturer? Well for that reason I have included a scle comparison with some other science fiction manufacturers such as Games Workshop, Kallistra and Grenadier miniatures. all the miniatures seem to fit and none of them looks odd in the selection. There's only one difference and that's the chunkiness of the other models probably because most of the others are metal except for the Space Marine but those are always chunky. From the left to the right you have: A Games Workshop Catachan, a Games Workshop Space Marine, A Kallistra ganger, the Defiance Games marine and a Grenadier models agent.

Profile card

The boxed set also includes a profile card for the United Americas Marine Corps which you can use with the upcoming Alien War ruleset. However most of these miniatures will be used probably with another ruleset, I think the profile card really adds more interesting content to the already full box!

Conclusion

I really love this set as it's one of the most generic plastic multipart futuristic trooper kits I have seen on the market. The box retails for $30 and contains enough parts to make 24 marines ready to do a tour of duty across the galaxy and beyond! The only minor issue I have besides the lack of another body is that some of the detail is not so clearly defined. But that's a minor issue as you have a bunch of tough guys willing to kill some nasty bugs on a desolate planet. Next plastic releases are bugs scheduled on June 18th and the Germans scheduled around the end of June! Semper Fi!

Dozens of other reviews can be easily found here and make sure to follow this blog as more reviews, tutorials and wargame news appears every day!

Mantic Games: Plastic Undead Werewolves!

Hi, Mantic Games has just launched a kickstarter project to celebrate the upcoming release of their "Kings of War" ruleset. For those who don't know Mantic Games I will first start to introduce the company.

Mantic Games who are they?

Mantic Games is one of the leading fantasy and science fiction plastic wargame manufacturers around. their ranges include almost every basic faction of a fantasy setting ranging from stout dwarves to elegant elves. The bad guys are represented by dark elves, undead, goblins and orcs. When the kickstarter project has finished you will also be able to add werewolves to that list! The company is founded by a crew of Games Workshop expats and their single goal is to provide a cheap and great wargame experience to both new or veteran players.

Kings of War

Kings of war or simply called KoW is the fantasy ruleset developped by Mantic Games and the leading ruleset writer Alessio Cavatore. The game is designed to be simple, innovative and especially for the veterans it's also tactical. These rules were released three years ago (I'm getting old I guess) and are now finetuned by three years of gameplay and hundreds of fanatic wargamers. I have played one game of kings of war several months ago and I really enjoyed it. The rules were very clear and easy to understand, the rules were also supplimented by ready made army lists so you can immediatly start the mayhem! I haven't posted this battlereport as all the miniatures were unpainted and the terrain was awful. Now after all these years of finetuning, the lads at Mantic Games are finally ready to release a 144 page hard cover rulebook! One to rule them all!

You mentionned kickstarter, say what?

Kickstarter is one of the largest platforms where you can support new creative initiatives! To support a project you simpy need to pledge several $ in a certain level. In this way you support the poject and you get the goodies mentionned in the chosen level. When a project reaches their total of needed funds within a certain timespan, the money is transfered to the creators so they can start the production or creation. After a while you receive the goodies delivered at your doorstep. When the fund level isn't reached, Kickstarter simply refunds your pledged money!

The lads of Mantic Games have now used this tool, to fund new miniatures such as the great plastic Undead Werewolves! These miniatures will be produced when they reach the level of 10.000$, yep the bright ones among you will notice that level is already reached! There will be three plastic Werewolves available everybody who makes a pledges and adds an additional $25. For that price they will probably be both big and badass!

So were are you waiting for, kickstart the werewolves, ready yourself for an epic battle!

Broadside Wargame Show

Hi, Some of you may know that the Broadside Wargame Show has had some problems with their advertising in several wargame dedicated magazines. Therefor they have not managed to attract the attention of a lot of wargamers and had to cancel their DBA tournament. In an attempt to help and support this show, I added a brochure with all the needed information. I'm also eager to know if online advertising really works for local wargame shows and other events. I hope this attempt will help a bit.

How to: Constructing a Maori Pa

Today we will tackle the construction of a Maori Pa. I was inspired to build one of these Maori fortifications when I saw the movie called "River Queen" and after that I visited the Empress Miniatures website and saw their excellent New Zealand Wars range. I managed to prevent myself of buying miniatures but wasn't able to prevent myself of starting to build a massive Maori Pa. The Pa I actually constructed was not based upon a historical example but was build according to the easiest methods of construction. 

First of all I started to saw the circular wooden base which has a diameter of approximately 45 cm. After that I sanded the edges to create a smooth surface which would flow better into the playing table. As the base was done, I started to glue large polystrene chunks onto the base where most of the earthwork would be. These chunks were roughly cut with a cheap stanley knife and further adjusted with my hands to create rough surface for the later filling fase. 

For the actual core of the fortification I chose for a octigonal shape as it was the easiest and most efficient way to fill the restricted space. I started to make 6 poles on which the defensive frame would be attached. These poles were made out of twigs I gathered during the last trimming of the garden. To create some decoration I decided to carve some basic shapes upon the pole's head. I think this really added some great detail to the otherwise rather basic fortification.

When these poles were done I drilled holes in the poles to attach some bamboo skewers which would carry the seperate palissade poles. To add further detail to the palissade I treated them with my stanley knife to create a rough surface. After that I hot glued the poles and attached the bamboo skewers in place with some cheap woodglue. After the basic core I added some pieces of bark to the sides of the trenches so they would not collapse under the weight of the earth. This also made it easier to hide the rough surface of the polystrene chunks. Then I started to glue smaller palissade poles around the core to represent the first obstacle attackers would need to cross under immense fire from the trench and surrounding bushes.

Some people may also have seen that I also added two tunnels which lead from the inner core to the outer perimeter. This way warriors can swiftly move in and out of the fort to either attack or flee. After all these steps were done I started to mix huge amounts of tissue paper with a mixture of woodglue and water. I think roughly a mix of 1/3 of woodglue and 2/3 of water but if it is to liquid do add some more woodglue as it adds thickness and makes the mixture harder when dry. After I made the mixture I added it to the fortification to fill all gaps or to secure some poles into the ground

When the mixture was dry (this took a while and please make sure it's dry before you continue!) I mixed some cheap plaster to add further height to the piece, this stuff is easy to obtain but is quite brittle and heavy but when applied correctly it's a good way to fill large gaps and add cheap earthwork. After I added all the plaster I smoothen it with my fingers to create nice eartwork banks for the fort so the defender had some clear sight to shoot at the attackers. Well, this is the end of this first part, it may take a while to finish the second part.

Victrix: Pictures of the plastic Greeks!

Hi, I've just seen that Victrix has shown some pictures of their upcoming plastic Greek range! The miniatures just look stunning so go and take a look at their website for more pictures of plastic madness!

Renedra: New plastic terrain features!

Hi, Renedra the company which allows many wargame manufacturers to produce their own plastic miniatures has now also released more items for their own terrain line. This time they have released some cool Saxon tents, wattle & daub fencing and palisade fences. I especially love the wattle and daub fence as it can be really hard to build from scratch. For more information please visit their webpage.

Galloping Major Wargames: A couple more Provincials!

Hi, I've just seen that Galloping Major Wargames has shown some of their new greens for their excellent French & Indian Wars range! This time time they provided us with some pictures of their new provincial command you can also find some more sculpts of these on their webpage!

Empress Miniatures: New miniatures for the New Zealand Wars!

Hi, Here are some pictures of the not so new releases of Empress Miniatures. For some unknown reason these marvellous new miniatures have not been detected on my endless wargame search fests on the internet. The New Zealand Wars range is the largest and most beautiful sculpted ranges which depicts this dramatic period in the history of both New Zealand and the British Empire. This time there were four new packs released! Each of these packs contains four miniatures and retails for £7.

The newly released packs included colonial militia sappeurs and skirmishers but also the fierce Maori received some reinforcement in the form of armed Maori women and some brave Maori warriors equipped with deadly shotguns! Colonials, be cautious!

Relic miniatures: Roman General Scipio Africanus

Hi, here's a work in progress of the amazing Scipio Africanus made by Relic Miniatures!

Four A Miniature: New exciting releases!

Hi, Four A Miniatures has released a new wave of exciting miniatures. This time they have released a very cool barbarian which can be easily used as the famous Conan! This particular miniature is already available in the webshop for £3.50. Another cool release is the Nezumi, an oriental style ratman in samurai armor. There's also a woman sculpted by Andrew Rae which could easily be used as a bad villain for any superheroes game.

Other cool releases are the two new piranha boy sculpts, I especially love the one with the little piglet! Most of these new releases will probably find their way on the webshop when he's redone and the postage prices are recalculated.

Where to recruit porters for your Darkest Africa Expedition?

Hi, In the everlasting attempt to supply my 28mm British colonials with sufficient supplies and my obsession for logistical units for my wargame armies. I have decided to create an entire post dedicated to the humble but necessary native porters which enabled for most of the western nations to colonize large parts of Africa during the scramble for Africa. These men were often forced to carry loads through dense jungles and filthy swamps or simply volunteered for a meager reward at the end of the trip for those who survived the horrors of the Central African jungle such as savage pygmees, poisonious snakes, mosquitoes, diseases and other not so nice ways to die. In an attempt to honor the thousands if not more dead porters I've made this post so you can put them on your tabletop!

First of all we have two packs of Reviresco porter packs which can be found in their colonial range. The first pack is called "safari bearers" and contains five miniatures who carry all sorts of supplies like vases and crates. The second pack is called "bearer set 2" and contains four miniatures and a killed deer. All of these packs retail for $10 so around £1.24 a miniature.

Secondly we have the excellent Reaper "porters & bearers" which contains three different sculpts and retails for €9.74. These are probably in the top three of favorite porters but they are a bit expensive and you only have three variants.

Then we have the Askari "safari servants". This pack contains five miniatures: one caravan master and two porter variants (two of these variants a pack). This particular pack retails for $15 or $3 a miniature.

I've also forgot to mention some of Eurekas miniatures which can easily be used as porters unable to add a picture of these. Here's a direct link towards them. Each of these variants cost $2.95 AUS

After that we have the Brigade Games "Pacific bearers" pack which contains 6 porters and retails for $14. As the name says these miniatures are meant to be used in the Pacific during World War Two but also can be used in your Darkest Africa setting if you're not to picky. Roughly estimated around £1.50 a miniature. They also have some porters carrying a wounded soldiers but with some converting you can make them carry some loads.

Then we have the Dixon Miniatures porters from their Dahomey range which are packed in groups of 4 different porters unlike in the shown picture. This pack retails at only £4.40 making these miniatures probaly the cheapest way to add some porters to your colonial forces. I have these particular miniatures in my possesion and can only say that they are more 25mm scaled but still mix in well with the Foundry porters when painted in the same style. Also the lads at Dixon miniatures are always ready to answer questions or solve problems.

Still more porters? Yes, we have the excellent but extremely expensive Foundry porter packs which are packed with excellent sculpts and 12 variants even including some porters carrying tusks! As previously said these miniatures are quite expensive as they retail for a pack of six for €19,20! Or £2.5 a miniature not including the expensive postage from Foundry which you can partially reduce by ordering from Caliver Books.

After that we have the newest porters available on the market, the excellent North Star Miniatures one which you can find in their own africa range. These miniatures retail at £5.40 which is excellent value for your hard earned cash.

Next we have the Old Glory "Porters and Load" packs which contains twenty miniatures and two lion loads for $36 or roughly £22.50. That's around £1.10 a miniature which equals the price of the Dixon Miniatures porters. But price isn't everything as you always need to buy them in huge bags of 22 and I have heard some tales about bad sculpting and casting but cannot verify these issues.

Gothic Line releases 28mm Panzer Grenadiers

Hi, Here are some pictures of the awesome Gothic Line German Panzer Grenadiers! As mentionned in previous posts, Gothic Line is a small one man entreprise located in Portugal. The company has already covered some aspects of World War Two such as Americans and Japanese soldiers but has now alsoe released some fierce Panzer Grenadiers.

The release contains two packs of six different soldiers. One of the packs are soldiers equipped with special weapons such as panzerfausts and machineguns while the other covers riflemen. Each of these packs retails for £9 so about £1.50 a miniatures which seems an excellent value for a small entreprise which delivers quality and quite unusual poses.