Definition of Insanity?

Reflections on Change and Hobby Progress

The Importance of Change and Adaptability

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result" (Rita Mae Brown, 1983 book Sudden Death). This famous quote is often cited to highlight the significance of embracing change and adaptability when striving for success. It serves as a reminder that progress is only possible when we are willing to try new approaches and break away from unproductive habits.

Renewed Focus on Hobby Projects

Recently, with a bit more time available, I managed to clean up my hobby desk and set out my Bolt Action Fallschirmjager troops, which I have been eager to complete. While my actions may not be entirely insane, there is a certain wistfulness in returning to these unfinished projects. The hope is that with consistent diligence, I can maintain regular updates and make tangible progress on my hobby work.

Documenting the Painting Process

One specific goal is to carefully document the steps I use to paint these figures. Having lost track of the color paints used for my previous batch of German Grenadiers, I recognize the value in recording each stage of the process. This will not only help maintain consistency but also serve as a useful reference for future painting sessions. Wish me luck as I embark on this renewed effort!

Company B: US-AFV M4A3 Sgt Oddball's Sherman

Came across this new release from Company B. Going to have to pick this up when I finally get back to working on my US forces.

US-AFV M4A3 Sgt Oddball's Sherman

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• DESCRIPTION

1:56 model of the Sherman Commanded by Sgt Oddball from the film Kelly's Hero's. 

Set Includes:

• Full M4A3 model kit
• Unique Stowage
• Turret MG's .30al and .50cal
• Sgt. Oddball
• Custom Decal Set

Warlord Games: Bolt Action: New Katyusha Rocket Launcher

Just in time for my Soviet army build Warlord released the new model below.

New: Katyusha Rocket Launcher

New this week – we have some supporting fire rolling up for the Soviets in the form of the long-awaited Katyusha!


Our particular model is the Katyusha Zis-6 BM-13 Urss – based upon the rugged and widely used  Soviet Zis-6 truck chassis

First seeing action in 1939, the Katyusha Rocket Launcher (know as ‘Little Katie’ to the Russians) was a system for mounting platforms onto trucks, tanks, artillery tractors, armoured trains and even some boats in order to provide fire support for the advancing Soviet forces on the Eastern Front.

The BM-13 system (as featured on our model) featured rockets that were 80cm long by 13.2cm in diameter. Each one weighed 43kg – and were loaded in batches of 14-to-18 rockets per salvo. The rockets were mounted upon large steel racks of launch rails – and this entire assembly was (in the case of our model) bolted onto the back of the ubiquitous Zis-6 utility truck which was used elsewhere on the Eastern Front to shuttle troops to-and-from the frontline as well as equipment, and for many other purposes.
Though it was initially conceived simply as a cheap, improvised method alternative to traditional artillery, early tests showed that just four of these trucks could launch as many as 48 rockets more than 9km in a single ten-second salvo.

In practise, the Katyusha was woefully inaccurate when compared to traditional forms of artillery – however the Soviets soon learned that the combined firepower of several trucks could be used to saturate a single area, to devastating effect. When combined with ‘Shoot and Scoot’ tactics of launching a quick salvo and quickly repositioning, before the enemy had chance to retaliate – German troops came to fear the distinct Howling sound of these iconic weapons of the Soviet army.
The inaccuracy of this weapon often didn’t matter – the morale-sapping experience of having your position bombarded by wave-after-wave of high explosive rockets would often be enough to send soldiers running and earned it the name ‘Stalin’s Organ’ by the Germans.

The Katyusha first rolled onto the battlefield during the early days of the German invasion of Russia in 1939, and it remained in use right up until the final days of the war during the assault on Berlin. It is estimated that 10,000 of these Rocket Launchers were produced.

In Bolt Action

Cost:	64pts (inexperienced), 80pts (Regular), 96pts (Veteran)
Weapons:	1 forward-facing Katyusha multiple rocket launcher (heavy mortar)
Damage value:	6+ (soft-skin)
Special Rules:	Multiple launcher

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Bolt Action: Panzergreadier join the fight

Well finally got 12 more Panzer grenadier's add to my Bolt action Army. These are the new Warlord Plastic Panzer grenadiers.I have to say I like them clean sharp some minor mold lines but all and all love them more to built trying to get my own playable army together for the Summer Campaign.

Warlord Games: BOLT ACTION New Blitzkrieg Panzergreadier Box

A little something to drool over :P

New: Blitzkrieg Panzergrenadiers

June 12, 2015 -  

 

Providing a solid and mobile core to any Bolt Action early war German army our new Blitzkrieg Panzergrenadiers matches our plastic Sd.Kfz 251/1 half tracks with our excellent plastic Blitzkrieg Germans – perfect for invading Poland, rampaging across Europe or waging total war on the Bolsheviks on the eastern front! Even better it’s a great value boxed set saving you your hard-earned cash!

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Whilst the glory often went to the armoured knights of the panzer divisions, the infantry were the spine of the Wehrmacht. Germany’s cunning use of Blitzkrieg tactics conquered Poland, swept through the Low Countries and defeated France, before turning their attention to the Soviet Union. Soviet forces were pushed all the way to Moscow as the relentless march of Hitler’s landsers swept all before them.
Well-led, superbly trained and equipped with the finest infantry weapons in the world, the German infantryman was a skilled and dangerous foe capable of thinking for themselves if needed, giving them a significant advantage over their foes. Vorwärts!

This boxed set contains:

• 30 plastic Blitzkrieg German infantry with bases
• 3 plastic Sd.Kfz 251/1 Ausf C half-tracks
• Background and construction sheets
• Waterslide decals

Armies of Germany

buy now in store

If you are new to the Germans then can we also recommend you help yourself to Armies of Germany as it provides Bolt Action players with all of the information you need to field the military forces of Germany. Detailed army lists allow players to construct German armies for any theatre and any year of the war, including the early campaigns in Poland and France, the dusty tank war in the North African desert, the bloody battles on the Eastern Front, and the final defence of Normandy, occupied France and Germany itself. With dozens of different unit types including Fallschirmjager, Waffen-SS, and the dreaded Tiger tank, players can assemble a huge variety of troops with which to battle their opponents.
Contents

• Introduction
• Army Lists
• Theatres

Anyone purchasing Armies of Germany directly from us here at Warlord (via Phone, Webstore, at shows, in by popping into Warlord HQ) will receive this beautifully sculpted Otto Skorzeny figure for FREE. Sculpted by Paul Hicks, this great special edition miniature perfectly captures the giant, scarred Skorzeny in attire worn during the Gran Sasso raid to liberate Mussolini from his mountaintop imprisonment.

buy now in store

Warlord Games: BOLT ACTION Online Summer Campaign

Announcement: Bolt Action Online Campaign

 my fellow gamers from Dulles Area Historical Wargamers and I are really looking forward to this Campaign. Now I just have to complete my own Armies and stop borrowing from my buddies :P

 

June 10, 2015 -

 

Dust off your orders dice because this summer we are running a massive Bolt Action event – an online campaign where you can post the results of your tabletop battles and try to affect the overall course of the war.
Every Bolt Action player can join in – when the campaign starts you’ll sign up by registering your country of allegiance and coming up with a name for your force. After that you’ll just need to play loads of battles and report back!
To whet your appetite, here’s some of our design work for the campaign website:

We’ll bring you more details of exactly how it will work nearer the time – for the moment we wanted to let you know that the Summer Offensive is on its way, so you can recruit your armies and prepare for battle.
Remember we have a huge array of starter armies and deals to help you assemble a force, including the updated German D-Day Defenders deal and the Getting Started Bundle, which now includes the German Grenadiers.

Black Tree Design: HALLOWEEN SALE 50% OFF!!!

Black Tree Design

HALLOWEEN AND AUTUMN BONANZA
UP TO 50% OFF

Double your pleasure and Double your fun. Our Halloween and Autumn Bonanza includes not just 1, but 2 Phenomenal Specials. Massive Discounts and Free Shipping!!!!

Up to 50% Off all our Miniatures. Masses of Infantry at 50%, Cavalry up to 25% and Vehicles at 15%.

FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OVER 75.00

We have lowered the threshold for Free Shipping this week. Kiss the Shipping and Handling charges goodbye on orders over 75 Greenbacks (insert your currency here, be it US Dollars, Pounds or Euros). Only 75 Notes! That is a massive savings, particularly when combined with the stonking discounts on offer this week

Warlord Games New: Dry Stone Walls and Scatter Terrain

Add more authentic detail to your battlefields with further additions to our range of resin and metal scatter terrain. Designed primarily for World War II era battles, many of the pieces look just as at home in a Black Powder battle, Judge Dredd and Gates of Antares games, or even the Wild West.
The first new addition is dry stone walls which come in undamaged straight sections, damaged straight sections and end sections. Perfect for most historical periods!



We are also releasing an engineering set which fits in nicely with the warehouse and factory sets that have already been released. Containing cable reels, hoops of wire and railway sleepers it’s ideal for adding to any urban or factory setting or even popping in your transport vehicles…


Also don’t forget the existing range which consists of firstly a large collection of crates, barrels, sacks and boxes, stacked in piles. They look great to depict a warehouse or supply post, and provide useful cover for your infantry!

A s et 2 provides individual crates and boxes, including some larger ones. These could also be put to good use as cargo in your trucks and halftracks:

The Factory set contains some big industrial supplies – wire coils, pipes and stacks of timber:

Finally we have a selection of food crates and baskets containing fruit, vegetables and fish!

Northstar Miniatures: Plastic 28mm Rubicon Model Tanks Promotion

Northstar Miniatures: 

 

Special three tank 'troop deals', available for pre-orders only. Offers end once the tanks are with us. Check the bargains here.

About Rubicon Models: Rubicon Models manufactured hard plastic kits for the Tabletop Miniature Games and Military Modeling market. For many years we have been a design studio, working on numerous projects for many Tabletop Miniature Game manufacturers and Computer Games publishers. When not designing miniatures for other people, we play and paint miniatures for fun ourselves. Our dream has always been to create miniatures under a brand name of our own.

The time has come to realize that dream with the launch of Rubicon Models. Our vision is to create the best hard plastic model kits for the Tabletop Miniature Game and Military Modelling market. Each kit will be easy to assemble, highly detailed and accurate.

Our first project is to launch a series of hard plastic World War II vehicles and tanks in 1/56 (28mm) scale. What distinguishes us from other companies in this field is not only fine detail and accuracy but also all of our kits will be multi-variant. Each kit you buy might have several choices of main gun, two choices of road wheels, three choices of gun turret, detachable protective armour or even two choices of hull. We are working hard to release new kits on a regular basis. Our plan is to grow the range by adding one kit per month to help you build up your arsenal of weaponry, and to aid you to become the best-equipped general in your gaming community!

Warlord Games: Preview: Plastic Puma armoured car and Tiger I tank

Once again drooling a little over these.

Warlord Games

Two exciting previews for AFV lovers – a first look at our new plastic Sd.kfz 234/2 Puma armoured car by renowned scale model manufacturer Italeri as well as another project coming through fast…

The Puma is the next plastic kit to be released after the Panzer IV. You’ll be blown away by the detailing on this vehicle!
As if that wasn’t enough, we also have a early digital render of our forthcoming plastic Tiger I tank. As you can see we’ve spared no expense in adding zimmerit anti-magnetic paste to the Tiger – quite right too!

Our T-34/76 plastic kit is well underway…
And with our new Panzer IV plastic boxed set just round the corner, what better time to showcase all our fantastic Bolt Action plastic kits:

Warlord Games: New Photos: Plastic Panzer IV Ausf.F1/G/H

I personally can't wait to get my hands on one of theses.

Warlord Games

The latest addition to our fast-growing range of plastic 1:56 scale Bolt Action vehicles is this eagerly awaited Panzer IV medium tank!
You can choose to build your Panzer IV as one of three different variants:

• The short-barrelled Ausf. F1.

• The long-barrelled Ausf. G with its distinctive ball muzzle brake. Respectfully known by British forces in the desert campaign as the ‘Mark 4 Special’ it saw action in the Western Desert and the Russian Front primarily.

• The Ausf H with its new muzzle brake and protective schürzen side skirts. A regular sight on late war battlefields, the Ausf H is one of the iconic Panzers of the war.