Iron Maiden: The Unboxing and Playing

As I was writing all those articles on the “Iron Maiden” release, I also volunteered to do the “unboxing”; not just because I wanted to write more about the subject, but to feed my desire to play with this new and interesting faction for Team Yankee. As some of you know from reading the past articles I penned on the Brits; I have always felt that this new force will change how the game is played. The forces in IM gives the player some really good infantry and a cheap but deadly main battle tank that can hold its own on the game table.

The Chief
I was able to get a hold of this box set that has 5 Chieftain Tanks and 2 Lynx helicopters. The box also comes with the new mini rule book witch is better made than the V3 FoW mini-rulebook, it will not snap its spine when you open it. 

Having made a Chieftain during the roll out event without instructions I found making them with the guide was a snap. Even the baskets on the sides of the turret fit right into a groove and you do not have to worry about misplacing them. One decision you will have to make is to use the regular or Stillbrew turret. While I love using magnets to swap things like this out, this kit does not give you the parts to do that; with only one cannon and one set of baskets available. I decided to use the Stillbrew turret for uniformity and for the fact that it not only looks a bit better, but it is also not that noticeable to the untrained.

Two things that will slow down your speed building of this model; the first is the cupola machine gun, which is just ripe to get ripped off the tank unless you are careful. The other is the side skirts, they seemed to go on at a slight angle and this is something you will have to play with to get it just right. Based on the pictures I checked out on the Chief, the actual side skirts so somewhat taper in the rear. The only real “complaint” I could think of is the commander who sits in the open cupola.  They seem to be at a larger scale and some of the included commanders will only fit in the turret at an angle. They also leave little logical room for the HMG, unless you want your crewman hugging the gun awkwardly.

Read More

Review: Battlefront Paints

By Dirty Jon Baber

Battlefront recently sent us some of their new paints for review. With all of the convention activity going on, I am just now getting around to taking a look at them. I had a chance to use the German spray paint and the German armor paint set. The spray can retails for $12 USD.

In looking at the text on the can, it is referred to as 'primer', so I just sprayed it on the models with no undercoat. I was quite happy with the paint, as it went on smooth and only needed two coats to get a nice, deep color. When shaking the can, I was thinking that the paint seemed 'thin', but the coverage was just fine.

The five paint pots are $15 USD. In the paint set, you get four pots with 12ml each, and one of Panther Yellow with 20ml. For a comparison, the old Vallejo pots are 17ml each. This new system assumes that everyone will purchase the Quartermasters Paint Set, which goes for $30 USD for ten different paints - purchasing just the German Armour Paint Set will NOT get you enough paints to fully paint your tanks.

I found the paint to be a little weird from a consistency standpoint. The only word I can use to describe it is 'gel'. The paint has a very different texture from the Vallejo that I am accustomed to. The coverage was thin, and I did not find it as good as the old stuff - it worked with two coats, but I was not super-excited about it.

Read More

Jagdtiger Build & Paint

By Sean "Throckmorton" Sarah

With the arrival of the new Remagen book (see our review here!) for Late War Flames of War play, I decided it was high time to pick up a few of the monstrous Jagdtigers and get some paint on them. 

There are two big reasons I love German armor. First, I'm a hobbyist at heart, and the many and varied German camo schemes mean I get the opportunity to paint historically accurate looking tanks that aren't just green with a side order of green. And secondly, to my eye, German tanks look significantly cooler than any allied tank, especially in Late War, except maybe the Cromwell and the Chaffee. 

In the game, the Jagdtiger is a meaty beast. Before Remagen it only showed up for 345 points in NUTS! But as we all know that's changed. 

From the mighty EasyArmy.com

Sure it's unreliable, sure it's overloaded, but on the other hand front armor 16 and an AT 17 gun. I'll happily take the good with the bad here. Especially with that breakthrough gun, which I totally forgot about before doing my research for this article. 

During the war, only around 88 Jagdtigers were built, but with Tiger Aces like Otto Carius at the head of a formation they certainly made their presence felt on the battlefield. 

Read More

Mid War Panzer IVs

I had a couple of these models I picked up from.....somewhere. I may have stolen these from Luke. Anyway, I decided to paint these up Mid War and take them to Historicon and sell'm. I believe that these are Battlefront Panzer IV F2 and Panzer IV G models.
The decals are a mix of Battlefront and i94 Enterprises.

Read More