Recently I have been getting more interested in historical
games. After playing a hell of a lot of WHFB I have just been feeling the urge
to start painting different types of models. To scratch these itches I've have
been playing a bit of FOW, until about two weeks ago when I discovered bolt
action. Bolt actions a 28mm WW2 game written by Alessio Calvatorie with the
assistance of Rick Priestly made by Warlord games and Osprey Publishing set to
come out in a few short weeks’ time. As someone who has always loved this
history of ww2 and used to paint a lot of 1/35 models this was an opportune too
good to miss. After reading up all I could find on the rules I decided to
purchase British Commandos as my main force. 48 hours after ordering about
1000pts worth from War and Peace Games they were in my mail box (a free plug
for a really amazing customer experience).
The first thing
I got is a section of commando characters including Lord Lovat, his piper and
The Brig. I really love these figures as they encapsulate what I think of when
I imagine British ww2 forces, the sense of gentlemanly style and the
impractical use of a per in battle really tops it off. The detail on these is
quite good compared to some of the other metals although the faces could be a
bit sharper.
I also got a
machine gun and mortar as support options. While I do quite like some of these
models i felt the overall detail could be improved and did not look as good as
other models in the range. The poses that they have chosen for the models are
particularly good and I really enjoy the guy blocking his ears. I ended up
replacing one of the mortar crew with a plastic model and using here crew as a
forward artillery observer.
The bulk of my
force is a box of 25 commandos and 25 British infantry with scots heads. I am
really impressed with these models. The detail is great, the poses are
energetic and well designed and the kit comes with huge amounts of extras for
you to use. I have only started to play around with the kit and see what can be
done but so far I think they compare well to most current GW kits. (I haven't
assembled any of the normal British infantry but the kit is quite similar)
This is a model
I assembled as the section snipper, hopefully he will be useful.
Finally a small
number of commandos
Finally to
support it all I got a Cromwell cruiser tank. This beast is a solid chunk of
resin and British stiff upper lipishness, the detail is very crisp and the
model goes together very quickly. Assembling a tank like this is a very
different experience to GW kits of historical model companies like Tamaya where
there a huge numbers of parts. There were only 4 large resin parts and a
handful if resin accessories. All up the assembly took about 15 mins. The tank
looks a tad small for the figures but it may just be that I misunderstood the
size of Cromwells.
Overall I am
very happy with the models and am really looking forward to getting stuck into
them and getting painting. I think for people looking get into historical games
but have been put off by the rules systems or small scale should keep an eye
out for Bolt Action. The previews of the rules seem to be easily understood by
those who have played GW and 28mm scale is a comfortable place for many
players.
Ratings out of
10
Value: 9 (the
plastics are amazing while the resin and metal are still good value)
Quality: 8 (the
plastics and resin are an easy 10 but the metals still do have room for
improvement)
Style: 10
(though these models don't look as anatomically accurate as other companies
outings, such as wargames factory, they have great style and really remind me
of the 60s war movie heroes that I grew up on)
Ease of
assembly: 7 (against the plastics and tank are great. But assembling small
weapons out of complex metal parts is always a pain. This isn't really the
fault of warlord it is just a result of the weapons size and type)
Overall: 9 (I
have really enjoyed assembling these models so far and am pretty darn excited
about the game)
DaveOwaR out!
