Assembling Battlefront’s 10.5cm Railway AA Gun

By Richard Steer

Trains are great. I’ve loved trains for as long as I can remember, and therefore it’s no surprise that when Flames of War allows you to stick a giant anti-aircraft gun onto the back of a railway wagon, I’m going to jump at the opportunity.

To this end, I recently purchased four 10.5cm FlaK39 Railway Cars to add to my Late-War German collection. Unfortunately, there are no assembly instructions either included with the kit or on the web, so I’ve written up the assembly process I used in the hope that it will help others.

Attero Dominatus: The German Army in Berlin

By Michael Rafferty

“Enjoy the war, for the peace will be savage,” was a dark joke in the German Army during the last days of World War II. Now the walls are closing in and the Soviets are nearing Berlin. Germany is throwing every last man, woman, and child at them in a vain effort to stem the tide. With the Berlin German book, Battlefront has given us the last remnants of the German war machine that once held dominion over Europe.

Flames of War Sexton/Ram Kit Review

By Richard Steer

One of the most enjoyable parts of the current Flames of War release cycle has been the new plastic kits that Battlefront has developed. A number of new kits have been released for Bulge: British, including a box that covers the Sexton self-propelled gun, the Ram tank, and the Ram Kangaroo armored personnel carrier. I have a bit of a soft spot for the Kangaroo, so I recently picked up the box in order to add some to my Late-War British.

The box can build four vehicles, and contains two sprues per vehicle. The first sprue has all of the components needed to build a Sexton, specifically the Sexton Mk II.

New NATO Cold War stls by Henry Turner

By Tom Gall

If you have a resin 3D printer and have been watching the variety of Kickstarters going by with STLs to choose from there seems to be an explosion of offerings for tabletop wargamers.

I’ve been very skeptical of printing my own 10mm/15mm infantry figures. Sculpts and print quality are my primary concern, as things get smaller, would the results be reasonable? What happens when small resin figures are on the tabletop, with dice, dropping, etc, will there be shattered sadness?

Before we get to my own experiences, I want to highlight the work of Henry Turner who has a Kickstarter up for NATO troops set in 1983. Within the Kickstarter, he has both US and British infantry in a variety of poses that are meant for a variety of scales. At £30 or $50US for both sets it’s a good deal and you’ll see why in a moment.

If It Flies It Dies – WARSAW PACT AIR DEFENSE OPTIONS IN TEAM YANKEE

By Jim Naughton

Introduction

A frequently asked question on Team Yankee (TY) forums is what ADA systems are best.  This article tries to answer that question for the Warsaw Pact.

The release of World War III: Warsaw PACT https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=7455 added the M53/59 Praga anti-aircraft vehicle to the Czech army and corrected the omission of SA-8 Gecko from Volksarmee.

Viva Cuba!

By Jim Naughton

The newest Soviet Ally to join the Team Yankee tabletop is the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FAR); or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba.

The troops represented in Red Dawn belong solely to the Tropas Terrestes with the exception of the MI-24 Hind, the other services are not represented. Which is a shame because the Cubans had their own parachute battalions, marines, and special operations forces, as well as a variety of aircraft.  Cuba didn’t use SU-17/22/25 so in the game, they must rely on Soviet aircraft.

The British are Coming! British Armoured Lists from the Bulge

The Nijmegan Push
XXX Corps at Nijmegan during Adepticon 2020

By Mike Rafferty

The British Bulge book is finally out, which covers the British from post-Normandy Market Garden up to the end of the war. The book adds a lot of new features and army lists for the British and has a special significance for me. Welsh Guards Cromwells were the first army I actually built and painted fully. I still have this force and the Cromwell is my favourite-looking tank of the war, despite the obvious superiority of the Sherman. The new book adds Challengers, so I can finally play my Welsh Guards as intended with Cromwells and Challengers.

Valour and Fortitude : a new set Napoleonic rules

By Tom Gall

Contained within the new September 2022 issues of Wargames Illustrated is a set of Napoleonic Rules call Valour and Fortitude. Jervis Johnson, Allen Perry and Michael Perry are the authors. The Perrys of course are from Perry Miniatures fame and Jervis Johnson a long-time and recently retired distinguished veteran from Games Workshop.

The rules started out as a 4-page system that expanded a bit after play testing over time. The rules are available online at Perry Miniatures as well as army lists and scenarios. The rules appear to be a living document and have already been updated to version 1.2 since their initial posting a couple of months back. (Edit – And now version 3 has been posted!)

I’m a long-time gamer of the Napoleonic era as well as a re-enactor. (French Fifer) It’s great to see activity for this time period of miniatures gaming. Locally our game group has primarily used Empire for large battles and either home brew for skirmish or Sharp Practice. ESR also deserves mention as it has recently attracted attention with its version 3 release and great campaign books.

Napoleon’s Battles Part II – The Marechal Edition

By Jim Naughton

Part one of this story here

Introduction

The 4th Edition was published seven years ago.  You may ask why I’m reviewing it now.  There are a couple of reasons.  First, there are new offerings in the figures market in 12mm/15mm scale. Although theoretically aimed at other rulesets, they can be easily applied to Napoleon’s Battles.

And because Napoleon’s Battles (hereafter NB) uses small bases, a ‘sabot base’ or piece of plastic card, a movement tray or similar device can take figures based for NB and apply them to other systems.

In effect, figures are a fungible asset and can be used for multiple rules.  So I recommend those entering Napoleonics for the first time, to have a look at various systems, and base your figures in a way they can be multifunctional.