TO Report- Operation Autumn Mist

The first Victorian Bolt Action League event for 2019 has now come and gone.

Operation Autumn Mist was a 1000-point event hosted at Good Games Melbourne, organised by yours truly. The event was a narrative style gaming day, where the sides were split between Axis and Allies sides to fight for glory.

I honestly want to say that I am proud of the Victorian Bolt Action community at the moment, and running this event has made me keen to play more games. Everyone has been really positive and is playing in good spirits. I had no issues with any players, and all rules disputes were resolved very smoothly.

I think that players are becoming more conscious that our events are not tournaments, but instead are simply gaming days where people can roll dice and have a laugh. A lot of the people in our community don’t play regularly, and our events every 2-3 months might be the only time they get out to game, which means they don’t want to play in a super competitive environment.

Citroën Traction Avant: Rubicon Review

- By Jakob Lotz

So a little while back I got my hands on one of Rubicon's new resin vehicles - to be more specific, the Citroën Traction Avant! I'm just going to say this right out of the gate, wow, just wow. This is one high-quality kit!

The model comes in a rather unassuming box. It's nothing fancy but it sure does the job, and given that it's really the contents of the box that is important, the looks of the packaging doesn't really matter that much.

Hanoswag! Jael reviews the Rubicon Hanomag upgrade kits

The Sdkfz.250 and Sdkfz.251 halftracks, collectively known as “hanomags” after their manufacturer Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG, are an iconic element of the Wehrmacht, transporting Panzergrenadiers to the battlefield as well as serving in more specialized battlefield roles. While the troop carrying version is well known, the halftracks were modified to fill the gap in recon companies by the obsolescence of the sdkfz.222 light armored car, as anti tank and infantry support vehicles, as armoured ambulances, as bridge-laying vehicles, and a host of other applications.

I’ve never been a fan of using the standard Hanomag in its armoured transport role – I’ve always felt that the cost differential between a truck and the Honomag was not justified by the increased protection. However, I’ve often considered running some of the specialized variants in games.
Rubicon have produced a number of add-on kits for their base 250 and 251 halftracks which modify the original kit – in this case we’re looking at the Sdkfz.250/9 and the Sdkfz.251/9, which are the armoured recon and infantry support variants respectively. 

Building a DIY Board

Jael here.

For a long time I was keen to build a table I could use for casual games at home. Over the past few months I had been slowly building various pieces of terrain with view to having a modular board which would pack away into a cupboard when not in use, but still look more convincing than a green cloth over the dining room table. 

So as soon as I was able, I headed down to the local hardware shop and acquired three 2x4 foot 3mm MDF boards, some high-density extruded foam, a very large bottle of PVA glue and various other odds and ends required to complete the project.

I started out by placing some buildings and scatter terrain on the bare boards to get an idea of the scale and to begin marking out roads. As it turned out, the river sections were an almost exact fit to stretch across the board, so I decided (particularly as they were getting damaged in storage) to embed them into the board itself. I decided not to do this with the railway sections as I wanted the board to be useful for games in pre-industrial/fantasy settings as well.

Revisiting a First Love: Tristan's Airborne Journey

Get ready, stand up, hook up, equipment check, sound off for equipment check, go go go!!

Some time ago, I attempted something new, namely breathing life into an old project. My first ever army was the 101st airborne. I chose this force without knowing anything about Bolt Action.

My choice was made purely based on what interested me and what I knew I loved. It was a decision that I'd make again in a heartbeat and it's the first thing I'll tell someone new coming into the hobby when they ask me "what army should I start with?"

The Baconburgers Episode 12: The Dirty Dozen

In this episode, we are joined by friend of the cast Ruebs. There’s lots of incoherent rambling and occasional content as usual. We have a new ‘Roving Lachie’ segment featuring live interviews with community members at Operation Bear, and we have a bit of a chat about game balance. Enjoy!

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Review: Rubicon Renault R35/40

French Foreign Legion in the Levant

As my Army of the Levant force is getting under way, I've been on the look out for French vehicles that are suitable for campaigning in Syria & Lebanon in 1940-1941. I set my eyes on the Renault R35, which was a key element to the Vichy- aligned French forces administering the region.

While it was outmatched in the Battle of France against the German Panzers, the R35 was still a capable tank for colonial warfare where forces were less well equipped to deal with relatively heavy armour. This was the case in the Levant, where up to 90 R35s were delivered to Commander Henri Dentz's administration in 1940 to replace the Great War-era Renault FT17s. These tanks made up the 6th & 7th armoured regiments of the Chasseurs d'Afrique.