Post-war Shermans Released! by Pendraken Miniatures

We've been working on revamping all of our Shermans recently, so in advance of the WWII ones being replaced, we've got these handy post-war variants all ready for purchase.

The M50 Shermans were developed in the early 1950's, after the Israeli army had bought a load of French AMX-13 tanks, but decided to mount it's 75mm gun onto Sherman hulls/turrets instead.  The first 50 of these were mounted on the M4A4 hull, before mobility and mechanical issues resulted in them switching over to the M4A3 hulls for the rest.  Then in the 1960's, they decided to mount a 105mm gun onto 180 M4A1 hulls, creating the 'Super' Sherman M51 (also known as Isherman).

And finally in this release, we've got the Egyptian Sherman as well, which was bought and similarly upgraded using the French AMX-13 turret.

Modern Vehicles

MDV26   M50 Sherman 'Continental', M4A4 hull, French 75mm   £3.00

MDV27   M50 Sherman 'Cummins', M4A3 hull, French 75mm   £3.00

MDV28   M51 'Super' Sherman, M4A1 hull, with 105mm gun   £3.00

MDV29   Egyptian Sherman, with AMX turret   £3.00

We'll have these with us at Salute as well, so pop by and grab some before they sell out!

 Pendraken Miniatures

Wargames Illustrated 342, April 2016

THEME: GREAT REPUTATIONS
Neil Smith discusses the nature of reputation and how it is to be gained and lost upon the field of battle and tabletop.

HAMELIN 1985
The Flames Of War: Team Yankee crew present details on how to integrate the Afgansty veterans of the VDV into your battles for dominance in Western Europe.

THEME: SETTING THE STANDARD
We take a look at the first ever battle of the early incarnation of the Scots Greys and their reputation making efforts at Blenheim.

EAGLE RAMPANT
Another variant of the Lion Rampant rules, this time replacing armour and swords with shakos and muskets

THEME: THE THIN RED LINE
Jim Graham takes a close look at the original ‘Thin Red Streak (Line)’ and presents some thoughts on gaming their famous action at Balaklava.

FORCE MAJEURE: OPERATION THURSDAY, BURMA 1944
The second part of Neil Smith’s look at the work of the Chindits during the Second World War.

THEME: A DARK SULLEN MYSTERY
From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli… and an unremarkable wood in France seals the early 20th Century reputation of the US Marine Corps.

RULES SHOWCASE: CONGO
The latest offering from Studio Tomahawk allows gamers to venture into the Heart of Africa at the head of a band of plucky adventures, or as native warriors defending their homeland.

THEME: THE DEVIL’S BIRTHDAY PARTY
Some battles are the stuff of legend, even when the side that loses become heroes amidst the nightmare. Arnhem is one of those battles…

BAD COP, GOOD COPS
In the second in this series of articles, we present another official scenario for Terminator Genysis: The Miniatures Game based on events from the movie. Kyle Reese is on the run in downtown LA in 1984, with a T-1000 in pursuit.

PROJECT SHOWCASE: OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM
Jay White takes us through his quest to re-create recent history on the tabletop, by providing a guideline for others to follow.

RECYCLING LITTLE ROUND TOP
Our Salute 2016 showcase game and how it transitioned across time and space to move from 1860’s America to the North West Frontier in the late 1870’s.

ON THE ROAD
Having introduced us to the genre (WI341), Dave Taylor looks at the methods he uses to convert diecast cars for use on the Post Apocalyptic highways of the near future.

FIGURE SPOTLIGHT: SPECIAL OPERATIONS TEAM
We take a look at some of the options for those who are looking to represent modern military miniatures in plastic or just want PA survivors who pack a punch!

CLUB FOCUS: NOTTINGHAM WARGAMES CLUB
A local trip out for Sub-Editor Wayne to visit a club that has been around for a long time and is still going strong.

MODELLING TRICKS AND TIPS: MOUNT-UP!
Nick Buxey provides some thoughts on how to base your mounted figures during painting.

Wargames Illustrated

Slingshot 305

Slingshot 305 is currently with the printers and should appear by the end of April. Table of Contents below.

Holes in the Checkerboard, by Justin Swanton
It's a Long Way to Tibareni (2), by Alastair McBeath
A Note on Herod the Great's Army, by Dave Beatty
Saga for Dummies, by Gordon Lawrence
Late Roman Army & the Notitia Dignitatum (2), by Luke Ueda-Sarson
A Violent Day on the Via Egnatia, by Chris Hahn
Slingshot Reviews, by Alastair McBeath, Duncan Head, Claudio Berni, Anthony Clipsom and Jim Webster

The editor is always looking for more articles, photographs and art, so feel free to contact him if you have an idea you would like to pursue.

Slingshot

New 16th C. Polish Flags! By Pendraken Miniatures

More releases for the vexillophiles this week, with some excellent Polish banners/pennants now available to add some colour to your Hussar units.

We've got 3 different sheets, each containing 4 of the larger Royal regimental banners, then 30 mixed pennons (3 different designs, 10 of each).  

As with our other recent flag releases, all of these were researched and designed by Forum member Mig, so thanks again to him!

16th C. Polish Flags 

PNFL201 - 16th C. Polish banners/pennons, type 1      £2.50

PNFL202 - 16th C. Polish banners/pennons, type 2      £2.50

PNFL203 - 16th C. Polish banners/pennons, type 3      £2.50

Pendraken Miniatures

Statistics Achieve Planetfall

With the release of Firestorm: Planetfall around 18 months ago, the game has grown steadily to become a massive and engrossing strategic battle game. From the humble beginnings of a single Core Helix and an Allied Helix for each Faction at time of release, the game has now added Heavy Armour Helixes, Recon Helixes, 2 different types of Aerial Helix, Leviathan Helixes, Field Command Helixes and of course our latest exciting release – the Assault Helix (which is packed with loads of devastating robot goodness!).

The Order of Battles (ORBATS) for every model in the game are currently in the Downloads Section, with everything consolidated into a single document. These documents mark many months of testing, and we are looking forward to players around the world using them.

You can find the PDFs on the Spartan Games Downloads Page

In the coming weeks we will be releasing a new Background Document for each Race that highlights each model/element within the Planetfall game, along with operational and strategic background on the formation and battle tactics of each within the game. In addition, each of these Background Documents will have a narrative scenario that is bespoke to their Faction to give players a launch point for thematic games.

And as if that were not enough, we are just about to release a Tournament Pack for Planetfall to open up the game to the competitive gaming sphere, with the scenarios having been tested by the Planetfall Beta Team. If any of you have seen the Halo: Fleet Battles Tournament Pack, expect much the same… yes… it will be awesome!

Of course, this rapacious release schedule has only been possible with the intensive testing and feedback of our Beta Team, who have given of their time and expertise to help develop and build the game into the unqualified success it is today. So to our Beta Crew we say a hearty THANK YOU!

To be a Beta Tester, you gotta be a Fan!… and be willing to play loads of games!… write down feedback… take pictures… report back to the rest of the team… then start the process all over again when the model stats change. It’s not as glamorous as it sounds: it’s actually a lot of hard work, and those folks who are part of the Beta Test deserve great credit for their diligence (and fanaticism!).

If you think you have what it takes to join their ranks, come find me on the Spartan Games Forum and you never know… you may just be crazy enough to join the ranks!

THE FUTURE
With all 6 surrounding Helixes now in-play for the game, what next for the game of Planetfall?

Firstly, the Alliance Factions will be getting their own Core Helixes, which is a most exciting step forward. We will roll these out in pairs, one from each Alliance, and we’ll be showing you some new Alliance models not long after the Salute 2016 wargames show. We have created a linked campaign in the works that will bring all aspects of the Firestorm Galaxy together for narrative games, leading to a climax that will actually have an impact on the background of the entire Firestorm Galaxy.

There are two new Factions for the game incoming to the Galaxy (we’ll be lifting the lid on these for Firestorm Armada, Taskforce and Planetfall players shortly) and the Beta Team and I are pulling together the updated version of the rules – Planetfall 2.0. We’re hugely excited by Version 2.0, and we look forward to talking to you more about the book as it develops.

The future is looking very rosy indeed for Planetfall, with loads of exciting releases, fantastic background, engrossing scenarios and…. did I mention the 2.0 rules?…. yes… I thought I did!

Looking forward to you all joining us as we rage ground war across the Firestorm Galaxy!

Cheers for now,

Spartan Derek

Spartan Games

Preview, Glory Hallelujah

“UP MEN! UP AND TO YOUR POSTS! LET NO MAN FORGET TODAY THAT YOU ARE FROM OLD VIRGINIA!”

There’s not long to wait now, and those immortal words from Pickett ring around the Warlord offices as the staff are divided in their allegiances, and we prepare to wage war – with the much-anticipating coming of ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ – the American Civil War 1861 – 1865  supplement for Black Powder

In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the fledgling United States of America. Years of seething hostility between the North and South boiled over as the Southern States saw Lincoln’s election as a direct threat to their rights, and the nation fell apart as a new Confederacy was formed in the South. The Confederacy, striving to assert its independence, opened fire on the Northern troops occupying Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbour on April 12th 1861. Determined to preserve the Union, Northern troops headed south and on to Richmond! Over the next four terrible long years American armies tramped across American fields and burnt American farms as Americans killed Americans in a war the likes of which the nation had never seen before. The epic battles fought during the American Civil War proved beyond all doubt that war can be ‘all hell’.

This supplement for Black Powder describes the history, armies, key leaders, doctrine and tactics of the American Civil War, and includes a comprehensive set of army lists and optional rules for recreating the battles of that war in miniature.

Warlord Games

Copplestone Castings Join North Star Military Figures

I'm very pleased to announce a new partnership between North Star Military Figures and Copplestone Castings.

I've been friends both personally and professionally with Mark Copplestone for the past decade, and so I'm delighted that we're working closer with this new arrangement.

From now, all production, sales and orders will be handled by North Star in Nottingham. This'll free Mark to concentrate on new packs for Copplestone Castings, and start work on some new projects he's been wanting to do.

This is the new website: copplestonecastings.co.uk.

To celebrate this new deal, I've discounted all the Copplestone Castings packs for the next week.

Mark has contributed to this launch with a new special-edition figure, available free to customers who spend over £25 GBP on Copplestone Castings. The figure is of a Post-Apocalypse Road Warrior (28mm-sized metal figure). The Road Warrior will be available through March and April. Limited to one per customer.

The next releases from Copplestone Castings will be additions to the 15mm Barbarica fantasy range.

To keep up-to-date with Copplestone Castings new releases, sign up to our joint newsletter. Mark himself will be contributing to the newsletters, so if you're a fan of his, he'll still be in touch.

You can read our last newsletter here.

If you use social media, we keep our Facebook sites up-to-date with news as it happens.