Review of Warlord's Atlantik Wall Terrain Set

I LOVE a good looking table.  There is nothing better in my mind than playing a good game on a great table with fully painted models.  It is the perfect combination.  Apparently I am not alone as up at MOAB passerby after passerby would stop to get a closer look at the great tables and armies.  Now, I am time poor and a slow painter.  This means that I am constantly battling my age old nemesis… time… to get armies to the point that I feel comfortable putting them on the table.  This leaves little time to build and paint terrain…  This is why I am such a big fan of Gale Force Nine’s battlefield in a box range.  Pre-painted, good looking durable terrain? Yes please!  Now I will get back to GF9’s products soon as I am a big fan BUT today it is time to talk competition!  Warlord Games has stepped into the pre-painted terrain business in a big way with the release of their Atlantic Wall set.

Clocking at roughly $100 Aussie dollars I was initially sceptical of this project.  That said, Tobu has been working on a beautiful D-Day beach table on and off for a while now.  He has water and beach but not much in the way of fortifications.  I thought I might contribute something to this project and pre-ordered the AW kit from my friendly Warlord distributor, War and Peace Games.  A quick aside, Ian at War and Peace games got my order out in the same quick and friendly manner that I have come to expect from these guys.  Two days later I was opening this beautiful box. 

The Atlantik Wall set comes with a series of three bunkers.  All I have to say is “WOW!” The quality of these models is awesome!  The resin casting is crisp and the painting is even and not heavy handed. 

There are three bunkers.  Two large bunkers and a smaller pill box.  The roof sections/lids are removable from all three bunkers and they come with two additional wall sections that can attach to the sides or rear of the two big bunkers.  The bunkers are the right height so that models can see out of firing slits is they are kneeling and it they are standing up.  Thankfully the ceilings are high enough that even if models are on resin cast bases (that are fairly thick) the ceiling/ lids do not rub hats or rifles.

I really like that one of the bunkers (the largest one) has a reversible roof.  You can set it up in the standard configuration OR with a support weapon nest on the roof.  It also comes with an optional rear piece that supplies stairs if you go for the gun nest roof option.

 

 Now Bolt Action does not have bunker rules per se but as The Mouth of Madness says… “The building rules are forgiving.”  I think he has a point.  In my opinion by slightly tweaking the HE hit results you could easily run the building rules and your little dudes would get proper protection on the battlefield.  Regardless I imagine that Warlord will be publishing rules for these great models in their upcoming D-Day sourcebook.  I am excited to get these babies in the meantime though. 

I am a massive fan of this kit gang.  Check out the pictures yourself and be sure to chat with Ian at War and Peace Games if you fancy a set yourself.