The first image you see was where we started on Friday. I needed to paint about 30 infantry, 2 vehicles, and 5 weapons teams. I was also missing the following
1 German Medic 1 German Flamethrower Team 1 German Anti-Tank Team (skipped and replaced) 2 SDFKZ 7 Half-Tracks
1 Soveit Flag Bearer 1 Veteran Panzerfust 1 Veteran LMG 1 Soviet Standing Sniper Team 1 Dog Mines Team 5 Trucks 1 BA 20 Armoured Car
All items are on order from Warlord and it will just be a waiting game for when they come in.
The pictures below are what I got done the past couple of weekends.
Most of the Soviet Infantry fully painted, just not based.
I have seen many posts about hobbyist posting their hobby goals and thought it was high time I did my own.
Last year, I failed.
Complete Horus Heresey Word Bearers Army
Complete through scenario 15 of the Stalingrad campaign
Complete a Warhammer Fantasy Army, either high elves or Beastmen
Inventory my terrain
Spend less money and focus more on 3d printing
Paint 6 Skirmish forces, either Warcry, Necromunda, Carnivale, Malifauxe, Kill Team, etc. 6 of them.
100 Blog Posts
That should take it. Let’s take a deeper dive.
Items 1 and 2 go hand in hand. The Word Bearers are my campaign’s crossover force, and I want them to be fully painted and realized on the table. The Stalingrad Campaign will be the blog’s feature for the next year, and 15 episodes and 30 total battles are very doable. I won’t have the first encounter before the first of February because of the remodeling work in my basement.
Item 3, The Old World, excites me; my two favorite factions are High Elves and Beastmen. Other than Seraphon. The Seraphon will not be supported. Therefore, I have to make a sacrifice and paint some elves. I started the elves last year with 80 archers in identical poses and lost motivation quickly.
Item 4, there is so much terrain. I have started. I have. So much terrain, and it’s just in boxes. Many, many boxes. I want to know what I have and where. It helps make my life simple.
For item 5, I have three working 3D printers and two others I could work on. That is more than enough to print armies and terrain rather than buy. Saving money is essential for everyone. A good thing to blog about?
Item 6, I will be excited to paint some of these small skirmish forces. Necromunda and Carnivale, in particular, sing to me and what I enjoy as a gamer.
Item 7, I gave up on the blog last year. This one will be better.
Until tomorrow, I have pictures of completed Soviets and Germans; I just wanted to get this done first.
Yesterday, I received a massive haul of miniature plastic from Amazon. The Stalingrad 2-player set from Bolt Action. Wow, there is a ton of toy soldiers in this box. Here is what Warlord Games includes.
Ruined MDF factory
Barmaley Fountain
5 resin craters/shellholes
3 resin barricades/rubble
3m of barbed wire
Sd.Kfz 139 Marder III
T34/76
Soviet Sniper team
56 plastic Soviet infantry
42 plastic German Army infantry
Also included were a couple rule and scenario books, build instructions and some unit cards to ease play, some decal sheets and damaged vehicle markers.
The contents of the box were as advertised. Although the sprews were not bundled together and my German and Soviet troops were thoroughly mixed together. The resin pieces were nicely covered in bubble wrap for protection. The MDF securely covered the bottom of the box. My biggest complaint came from the items in the box not fitting tightly. Part of the mixing of factions but it also caused several torsos for the German winter troops to fall from the sprew and just be loose in the box. I was a little annoyed that there were 6 sets of winter Germans but 4 sets of Winter Soviets and 2 sets of regular.
One of my favorite parts of Warlord Games models is the clearly labeled sprew. Each section had German Infantry (winter) or Soviet Weapons clearly stamped into the sprew. Something very consistent across all Warlord Games lines. Compared to a Games Workshop or Atomic Mass Games this is really helpful when leaving a project and returning to it weeks or months later.
Best Parts of the Box
Terrain. The MDF ruined buildings are way more sturdy than you would think. The resin barricades are nice, and the fountain is cool. I wish there was a little more elevation or platforms in the buildings.
The scenario book is nice and unexpected. The scenarios are designed to be used with the box and is a nice touch.
Worst Parts of the Box
German unit variety, no HQ’s or MMGs, or Flamethrowers. A huge miss here that I think really hurts the new player. Especially the lack of a machine gun when that is a German special rule.
Soviet Winter/Summer split. I get having all German units as winter garb, but the Soviets should have followed suit instead of being split.
Building instructions. I play a ton of Games Workshop, and their instructions are typically easy to follow. These were not especially for the infantry.
Packing quality. The items need to be secure in the box. They just do.
Who is This Box For
While typing this review, I have to say this is my biggest question mark. It is not good for the New Hobbyist; the instructions are far from clear and instead of saying piece one glues to piece two etc it gives you a sprew with torsos legs, arms and weapons and says glue together. I think someone brand new to the hobby would really struggle with this product. It kinda seems designed that way as well because it is a battlefield in a box and the included scenarios are very simple.
The Stalingrad box set is also not good for new players. On the Bolt Action website, you are encouraged to build a platoon with MMGs, Snipers, Anti Tank teams, mortars etc. This box doesn’t include any of those. No artillery, no HQs it is just infantry. I think this is a real miss for Warlord because it seems like this is a box that is designed to be open and play for two players.
Stalingrad is also not a great box for returning veterans of Bolt Action. Generally you buy two boxes of 30 troops each, a tank and the weapons teams when you are starting out. I have I think only needed more than 60 infantry twice playing Bolt Action. One was a simulation of D-Day on a 20ft long table with 10 players and 3,000+ models. The other time a friend wanted to do a Thin Red Line style game where half the Soviets didn’t have guns and they simply rushed the German entrenched lines. Long story short, most seasoned players don’t need gobs of riflemen.
Verdict
I have a tough time recommending this box to anyone. If you want the MDF buildings and could use the troops or have someone split them, go for it. If you are really into Stalingrad, by all means. Otherwise, I would have to suggest a pass. There are better options for your money. Even the terrain, you can just go on Etsy and buy what you need fully painted for less.
The opening battle in the Stalingrad Campaign is the Last Bridge Over the River Don. The main objective is for the Soviets to hold the bridge while their force retreats and then blow the bridge. Game is on a 6×4 table with a river running north to south. In the middle of the river is a small bridge. Eastern side of the bridge has a small village. Western side has a few hills and balkas.
Soviets can attempt to blow the bridge. The objectives give 2 pts for each soviet unit to cross the bridge, and the Germans get 1 pt for each destroyed unit and 5 if the bridge is intact.
For terrain, I intend to use my Kallistra grass hexes as a base with assorted hills. I have a river from Tabletop World. It should sit nicely down between hexes. The river is 6″ wide, however, and if that doesn’t work, I have a neoprene river set and a few bridges that should work nicely. I need about 10 small buildings for the town where Dwarven Forge City Builder should also fit in nicely. I have 3 or 4 buildings for variety that are a high quality cardboard including a church that will make good variety.
Here is the Soviet T34 on the bridge. This will work well.
The army lists are below. Both lists are 1167. I don’t have a good reason for picking this number.
Germans
1167
Gates of Stalingrad
Leutnant
50
Regular
Here infantry
90
5 Rifles 1 LMG 1 Loader
Regular
Panzgrenadier
97
5 Rifles 1 LMG 1 Loader
Regular
medic
30
Veteran
artillery forward observer
100
1 AR
Regular
Heer infantry
110
7 Rifles 1 LMG 1 Loader
Regular
heer pioneer
77
1 Rifle 4 SMGS
Veteran
mmg
50
Regular
medium mortar
60
add spotter
Regular
flammenwerfer
50
Regular
sniper team
50
Regular
Anti-tank rifle team (removed)
Regular
50mm pak 38
75
Regular
Sdkfz231
100
Regular
Panzer iii Ausf E,F
140
2nd MMG
Regular
Sdkfz 7 halftrack
44
Regular
Sdkfz 7 halftrack
44
Regular
I based the German list on what an advancing army might look like. Mechanized infantry with early war armor support. Decent equipment. I could have made the squad sizes a little larger which would have brought me up to 1500 pts, as well as a few trucks, but this should make for a decent fight. I think the game plays well at 1250 to 1500.
Soviets Don Volga
Rifle Squad
0
12 Rifles
Inexpierenced
2nd Lieutenant
50
SMG
Regular
Veteran squad
85
3 Rifle 1 LMG 1 Loader
Veteran
Rifle squad
56
8 Rifles
Inexpierenced
commissar
15
SMG
Inexpierenced
assault engineer squad
80
5 SMGs
Veteran
rifle squad
81
7 Rifles 1 Flag
Inexpierenced
rifle squad
49
7 Rifles
Inexpierenced
veteran squad
103
4 Rifles 1 LMG 1 Panzerfust
Veteran
Mmg
35
Inexpierenced
Dshk heavy machine gun team
49
Inexpierenced
Sniper team
50
Regular
Dog mines
26
Inexpierenced
Tank hunters
20
Inexpierenced
Medium mortar
35
Inexpierenced
Light mortar
24
Inexpierenced
45mm antitank
46
Inexpierenced
Ba20 Armoured Car
52
Inexpierenced
T-34
156
Inexpierenced
Truck
31
Inexpierenced
Truck
31
Inexpierenced
Truck
31
Inexpierenced
Truck
31
Inexpierenced
Truck
31
Inexpierenced
The soviet list is based on an army in full retreat. Supplies and such were not a huge issue at this point of the war. I was happy to give them full equipment. The soviet army was very experienced at this point as well which I reflected in the list.
Initial Impressions
Reading over the rules, it seems like the Soviets have a real challenge. You have to get as many units over the bridge as possible and still blow the bridge. The initial turn the fuse is lit you have a 1/3 chance of blowing the bridge. The next turn its 50/50 and 2/3 the following turn. You don’t want to blow it early because it costs you points, but you can’t wait till the last turn either. Although the game does continue until the bridge blows or the charges are defused. The way the reinforcements work for the Germans I want the bridge blowing turn 6.
Also I wouldn’t consider this a good introductory scenario for those new to Bolt Action. It is a pretty complicated fight with many rules and deployments.
Hobby Items
First and foremost getting the two forces fully painted. I have about 3 weeks from now util the floors are completed and I have a game room back. That easily should be enough time for 50 odd infantry and a couple vehicles. Right……. right. My Germans are largely complete already. Maybe 10 models. The Soviets need around 40.
I need to paint the river. It shouldn’t take too long. It is nicely textured. I have 10 pieces that are 9″ long and 5″ wide, 8 curves, a large stone bridge that is just wide enough for a t-34. There is also a mill somewhere which would be cool to do eventually. I think there are 4 river battles and it is a terrain feature in 3 more. I may also try the resin thing where I fill the river with resin to create a water effect.
Other hobby items. I will most likely 3d print a building or two. They will need painted. I also need to paint a few hedges that I have 3d printed.
Next time should be some painted models progress, after the weekend.
During my one-week vacation, to watch my beloved Wyoming Cowboys take on the Toledo Rockets in the Arizona Bowl. I was able to accomplish quite a bit and I am excited to introduce the next campaign I will be running.
Now this campaign is going to take a ton of work to accomplish. Hopefully, there will be 44 or 45 battles over the next two years, with 6 different armies and tables upon tables of terrain and 3d prints.
I am going to fight the Bolt Action Stalingrad Scenarios. All 22 using the RAW. By the same token. I will run a campaign using Horus Heresy, the same 22 scenarios following Horus Heresey Rules. With two new painted armies I will get to show off in addition to painting needed units.
The first scenario should be fought the first of February. We are going to have our basement floors redone, meaning my gaming room will be out of commission until then. That gives me one month to prepare about 40 Soveit and 60 German Models. As well as paint a Horus Heresey Word Bearers Army.
Expect to see many pictures as well as pictures of the terrain and the tables.
I am very interested in running the same scenarios with two different game systems, and I am curious how a historical scenario will play with a rules-heavy Horus Heresy. This is my first time playing Horus Heresy, and I know there will be some bumps on the road. It will also be interesting to see how different systems fit on the table together.
One really interesting component will be the same scenario on the exact same table. I am going to alternate playing Bolt Action first and Horus Heresy first so one system doesn’t get the advantage of seeing the table 2nd every time.
For factions, the Soviets and the RavenGuard will be the same, while the Germans and the Word Bearers will be the same. I absolutely detest the army-building system for Horus Heresy that are available. So I am going to create my own on excel using drop down lists. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it will be superior to what is on the internet today. I will build the bolt action lists using the warlord’s system.
Hopefully, I can do a few model reviews, some painting tutorials, and some scenery building. But for now, you all know what is coming over the next year.
Wow, every time I considered posting, I just, for whatever reason, found something better to do. I have no excuse other than my own fear and laziness.
So, 10 months. I painted full Star Wars legion forces for CIS and GAR 1200 pts each. 3d printed a ton of geonosian terrain. Painted 30 or so Marvel crisis protocol models. Painted 50 odd figures for DND including terrain. Purchased a couple new airbrushes. Played in multiple leagues once as Genestealers and once as Ad Mech. Fully painting both those armies.
The biggest item is reorganizing my models. I have literally an army for every faction in 40k, Age of Sigmar, The Old World/9th Age, Star Wars Legion, 10,000 15mm napoleonics, 40 odd DBMM Armies, 4 Pike and Shotte Armies, Germans, Brits, Italians, Soviets, USA, Japan in Bolt Action, Germans, Brits, Italians, Soviets, USA in Flames of War, 50+ ships in French, British, Spain and 30+ ships for USA and Russia in Black Seas, and 20 odd pirate galley and such. 6 or 7 lord of the rings armies. All Harry Potter Miniature Adventure Game Models, all Marvel Crisis Protocol Models, 1000’s of DND figures, 3 -4 units of every army in A Song of Ice and Fire Miniatures Game, ummm, most Necromunda factions, most blood bowl teams, most kill teams, most warcry bands. Every Star Wars X-Wing Ship and Armada ship (multiple copies). A couple victory at sea fleets. A Large collection of American Civil War Models, several battlefleet gothic fleets. Some Blood Red Skies, and Aeronautics Imperalis. Recently bought all Star Wars Shatterpoint Models. Also bought all Battletech models. I also have limited numbers of Malifauxe, Carnivale, Conquest, Oathmark, Dead Mans Hand. Whew. Also horus heresey forces. And billion suns 4 fleets.
So that has been happening for two months. We switch from large plastic under the bed style storage bins. To several (10) sheet pan racks 20 sheets high. It has been a chore.
Aiden has been building models after his 2 month break. He has maybe 3 months left of models to catch up on. White Metal Games has finished Orruks, 5 blood bowl teams, Iron Hands, Gargants, and is beginning work on Death Korps. Eric has started on my forge world collection of resin models. The lumineth realm lords are currently 40% complete. Kevin is painting my black seas collection. I have declared war on my mountains of shame and the progress is showing.
I officiated the High School 4A Boys Championship for Wyoming as the Center Referee as well as numerous regional finals. I also centered the Region IX Womens championship match in the college season and did a handful of D1 and D2 playoff matches. Businesses are going well. Upcoming plan on seeing a ton more posts. I have a really interesting idea involving the battle of stalingrad, bolt action and horus heresey.
3 Corps. 14000 pts. 5 days of battle. Field 6’x12′ using Kallistra Hex items as a base plus their hills and roads and other terrain. I also used Fog of War rules.
This was by far the largest battle I have ever fought solo. I used 6mm figures that I purchased pre-painted. The scenario was simple. The French wanted to cut off the British reserves and seize the nearby road. The French had two minor objectives, securing their own supply chain through the mountain pass and securing a key hill that overlooked two towns.
The British main objective was to keep their reserve lines open. Secondarily, they wanted to halt the advance near the towns. The hill was irrelevant to them as were the towns, they just did not want any further advances. They also wanted to hold a strong line near the supply lines to weaken future French movements.
Below are the French Army Lists. I had to go with screenshots as I did not want to retype everything.
And the British Lists
The initial deployment is below. I wanted the French to really push towards the flanks in a pincer style movement knowing the reserve Corps could begin to arrive turn 10. Below is the initial setup. I like using the hexes as it keeps me from having to measure every freaking attack and can just use the hexes instead.
Turn 3 the action got heavy quickly. Fierce fighting on the flank near the mountains with skirmishers and artillery hammering away. While the far-flank British Cavalry ran into a large unit of French conscripts.
Turn 5 the game turned. British scouts revealed a huge weakness in the french formation, there was essentially no infantry in the center. They moved their largest units to divide the forces and try and break the flank near the mountain pass as this was the weakest and farthest from potential French reinforcements.
By turn 6 it was nerve-wracking as the French elite units were under heavy pressure and began an orderly withdrawal. It didn’t help that turn 3 the British seized the initiative and continued to hold it. The French on the bottom of the picture had eliminated most of the British Cavalry and were pushing hard to seize the entire flank and sector.
Turn 9 the Brits were pushing as many troops to the center as possible. Near the mountains to the top of the picture they were barely holding on and accepting those losses as this could be the end of the invasion. (I switched to a tripod here for more consistent images)
Turn 11. British troops fly up the center road preparing to cut off the French reserves. They are barely holding on to the flanks while their center continues to divide. the French diverted 5 battalions on the top flank towards the center at risk of losing the Mountain pass. The commanders to the bottom continue to fail in their rolls to advance giving the British some respite there.
Here is a close up of some fighting near the mountains. The British have heavy casualties and are on the brink.
Turn 13 the reserves have flown up the middle of the table and engaged in the center.
Turn 15, shit hit the fan. The British rolled 15, 11’s and 12’s to literally shatter the French’s bottom flank and center. I chose to call the game as this point. 12 French battalions left the field to only 1 British. An entire Corps was broken. I saw no way for the French to recover.
Overall Impressions
This was my 10thish time using the General D Armee system. Having a battle of this size the rules were semi cumbersome and I wouldn’t advise trying it yourself. I had a great time though and could feel the full actions. In the future, I will work on creating a ruleset for the use of dragons on the field. Based on the books His Magesties Dragon. Love the books, love Napoleonic wars, I think Dragons could be used in this system. Thanks for reading talk soon.
As many of you know, I have been teaching myself how to play flames of war. I did the basic annihilation battle a week ago and wasn’t impressed with the ruleset. I felt that the game played simple and there was little room for tactics beyond flanking. I wished you could do things like pin tanks with mortar fire etc. However, I started the 2nd game and probably a 3rd to get a better feel for the system. I have to say the Encounter battle we faced seemed much better. The forced reinforcements add a ton to the game. I also learned how important terrain would be. I felt like the more open game was just a waste of time. Adding woods, houses walls ruins added a significant amount as well. Below is the updated setup.
Below are the army lists I used for this battle.
Soviet Union
##
Pts
Germans
##
Pts
Churchill Guards Tank Regiment
28
Panzer III/ IV Tank Company
51
Churchill
1
3
Panzer IV
2
11
Churchill Heavy Tank Company
4
13
Panzer IV
3
16
KV-1s Guards Heavy Tank
3
12
Tiger
2
24
Hero Rifle Battalion
32
Grenadier Company
36
Hero Rifle HQ PPSH SMG Team
2
2
MP40 SMG Team
2
2
Hero Rifle Company, 1 Kommisar, 2 Anti Tank Rifles, 2 HMG, 1 Mortar
7
11
Grenadier Platoon, 2 HMG, 2 Panzershrek
7
15
Hero Rifle Company, 1 Kommisar, 2 HMG, 1 Mortar
7
8
Grenadier Platoon
5
5
120mm Mortar Company
3
3
8cm Mortar Platoon
4
6
76 MM Gun
4
5
3.7 cm Tank Hunter
4
8
122 MM Howitzer
4
8
Ferdinand Tank Hunter
1
13
T-34 Tank Batallaion
32
T-34 HQ
1
3
T-34 Tank Company
8
24
T-70 Tank Company
5
5
The roll off featured the Germans as the defenders. The germans could either put all infantry and their tank hunter in reserve or all the tanks. I chose to put in all the tanks. I think the mobility of the tanks allows them to enter the fight quicker.
The Soviets put the T-34 tank Battallion and the 122mm Howitzer in reserve. The number of russians far exceeded the Germans which was a surprise. To see it on the table really hit home. My strategy for the Russians was pick a spot and overwhelm. While the Germans just needed to hang on for their reserves before offering a counterattack.
The 2nd picture shows how quickly the germans were eradicated. The tiger tanks did their best to hold the upper area of the board, but it wasn’t mean to be. By turn 5 the Soviets had tabled the Germans. Their timely reinforcements vs no German reserves was a brutal blow.
The hobby streak crashed and burned around Christmas. Coupled with trying to get to level 250 in Call of Duty. I haven’t hobbied much until the last week.
A few things that didn’t get pictures. I finalized a massive structure for the DND Campaign. It was 3d printed, no color has been added yet. I also primed the player models and had our session 0. Crafted most of the story, our first game is set for this upcoming Sunday. I think this is where we will chronicle the party’s efforts. Expect a new page and weekly DND posts.
For the streak, I did hobby on Saturday the 14th and have maintained it since then. My elves are producing models at an alarming rate. I hate building models and have 3 hired hands that assist in their spare time. One is working on my Horus Heresy Collection, one on Star Wars Legion, and one on Flames of War. I will officially own a unit of most Flames of War models across the 5 main European players soon.
I produced a couple random DND monsters. I had an hour or so and sat down with my airbrush, and went to work. I prepared some trees for the terrain. I glued a crap ton of scenery for Marvel Crisis Protocol. I am 100% complete with all MCP except the December and January releases, which felt huge. I can’t wait to begin painting those.
In the next week, you can expect a fully finished dwarven army. I have 45 models left to paint. 25 pikemen, and 20 warriors. The warriors are all primed and will begin being painted this very afternoon. I just printed the pikemen; they need to wash and cure and will be back to work. I also have 10 dnd minis that need to be done. Our 7 PC’s, 2 Velociraptors, and an NPC.
I would upload pictures, but……. fail. Until next week.
stonewalljackman 