The beginnings of a new early war German army for Rex, thanks Dan for the colours you know colour research isn't my favourite thing.

Still a couple of more things to do.

WWII Soviet paint recipe updated and uploaded, I'm reluctant to call it 'finished' (because its not) but if you find it useful your welcome to it. I'm moving onto early war Germans (on a time limit!) so this is 'complete' for a while.

New format, if you love it or hate it let me know here

Get it here: https://www.valhallagames.net/index.php/downloads/download/6-paint-guides/25-paint-guide-soviets-winter-quilted-and-greatcoat-types

Subscribe in your podcast app by searching for Valhalla Games or play in the web player by clicking on the image below​.

 New paint range from The Army Painter. Brave claims to be the best paint in the world! Keen to have a look at these.

 15mm armies I saw for sale at the recent MOAB wargame event. Click on the thumbnail to see the full sized image. If I had a spare $1000(!) I would have purchased them, nicest 15mm armies I have ever seen.

Mainly I'm putting this here as a permanent record of what I want my 15mm armies to look like one day... when I get them out of the shrink-wrap.

Soviet reinforcements have arrived... just in time as they need to fight at the MOAB Bolt Action event 0830 tomorrow. Although its only 7 guys its nice to have painted something from beginning to end and have them complete not just "90% done and I will sort the rest out later". My painting skill is improving again, another couple of squads and I will be back up to the standard I was at a 2 years ago. Interesting how with no painting getting done I had a noticeable drop in skill!

I have revamped my Soviet paint guide as well, more detail better layout. I will upload it to the files/download section when I have time.

Edit: there is the same thing with moving pictures... https://youtu.be/H9WDeZfXO0k?si=VoGt3usmqL1zc2u8

Join Rex and Dan as they give a summary on their hobby goals 2023 progress year-to-date at the three-quarter point. Have we completed our hobby goals? Have we purchased enough plastic and lead to keep the furnaces of hobby production stoked? Find out here along with news and lots of chat.

We hope you enjoy listening to this and hope it helps you paint a few more figures toward YOUR hobby own goals!

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 Bolt Action - Assaulting vehicles flowchart PDF version 1 is available here:

*Now including 1 of 2 rules confirmations received back from Warlord Games

>>Download<<

If you spot any issues let us know here https://valhallagames.net/contact

​Found these photos of Soviet cav... I don't think I have shown yet. Looking back i'm pretty happy with them. Pity I only purchased and painted 3(!) less than useful.

Final decision: Angkor Wat, 'mostly' grey plus lots of greenery

I have been having difficulty using my normal method of brick/wall painting for a couple of reasons. 

1. The spray on primer/paint seams to have changed recipe and 
2. the new and improved technique of using XTC 3D or resin has proven to be not such a good idea as it nets a result that wont take a wash at all and behaves like some sort of weird contrast paint. 

I had also planned on some Gondor-white buildings for something else, that DID NOT work so I abandoned it this time round. Long story short I have the technique and can now move forward.

The other thing I have been obsessing over is gaming mats. Since I stored away the realistic Primosole bridge board I have been dis-satisfied with almost all of the terrain mats I own for various reasons.
After toying with the idea of making my own terrain mat for 5 years and with my dissatisfaction for existing game mats coalescing, with having a couple of evenings free with no responsibility and I have all my ducks in a row!

• Yesterday I gathered the required materials
• Today I washed and dried my paint sheet to preshrink it and also to get rid of the heavy folds from it being packaged.
• I think I have thought of everything (famous last words), roll on tomorrow!

Hi Dan here, the first in a series of occasional articles mapping out what's in my mind. 

So. What to do with the armies I collect that are getting bigger and bigger?

Or...is that partly the answer and not the question? Should I ask myself what collections should I invest time in to make them bigger? Or should I be enjoying making smaller themed armies for different theatres, different types of basing to denote different environments? 

The reality is that I could go in either direction and have fun collecting, modelling, painting and playing with my forces. The idea about being able to invest time in a small bespoke force is a great one, and one I've seized upon a number of times such as my 'small Fallschirmjager force to represent a part of the battle for Primosole Bridge'...look how that turned out! 

But one of my wargaming dreams /goals has always been to play BIG games of fully painted armies on the battlefield in WW2 battles. Ever since our mother bought me the Orbis book of 'Model Soldiers' and I salivated over a picture showing what appeared to be a corner of a larger battle incorporating an amphibious landing. Of course, I had -as a young boy- vast armies of 1/72 green and grey plastic 'army men' and tried to emulate the picture and had many many happy hours doing so! But now I want to do so with beautifully sculpted metal and plastic figures and terrain and build it on a scale where i can provide everything, yet others can join in games in my version of 'Valhalla"!

So...time for a Q&A for myself;

What Scale would I choose for these big collections and big games?

Bigger games in my definition are lots of figures, possibly (probably) multiple players per side, large playing areas. My vision is 28mm miniatures so they can be seen by players flanking each other while playing on a ( or multiple) long/deep playing surface. However...I already have 28mm in Historical WW2- armies that continue to get larger- so that's a no brainer for me. in Fantasy and 40k i have nice armies, but not huge armies so if i wanted to choose a different scale I could. And the same goes for other historical periods. For instance; I have a desire to do American Civil War ( ACW). I have a great start waiting for me in the Perry Miniatures Battle in a box set...but I have been thinking is that the right size for ACW battles? should I be into 15mm/12mm/10mm for it? The Warlord Games Epic Black Powder ACW starter sets in plastic are great value ( although the individual sets start getting more expensive than metal manufacturers for some reason...) and inspiring to perhaps be worth a look. Watch this space for decisions, lol. 

What periods would I collect figures & terrain for to play in Big, Big games?

The reality is that I would need BIG forces, that would be capable of splitting into decent commands for a number of generals to control in the games. its one thing to look at a 'big' force on your shelves at home, but when it hits a table the size of those in my vision it will be eaten alive by the table that wont even notice the tiny morsel! "Figures...Fahsounds of them, Sah!" are what is required.  But what periods? 

WW2..has to be. The original, and once again, love...of course! But what else?

ACW has interested me as above. Total painted ACW miniatures at the time of writing; Zero. But i DO have that big box of figures in the pile of shame, so...that counts, right?!

 Napoleonics. Yep...I have about 22 cavalry figures 'finished' for the napoleonic period ( a box of Hinchcliffe French Empress Dragoons that I bought second hand painted in a style 'of the time' (early-mid eighties i guess, judging from the Humbrol enamel finish)  because I had the opportunity and I wanted to own a Hinchcliffe unit because the brand is hand-in-hand with classic big wargaming at places like Peter Gilder's ( and those that have followed) Wargames Holiday Centre in the UK. 

 But I ALSO have a few boxes of Perry and victrix British in the that pile...and a desire to acquire Victrix French Guard Lancers, which are some of the most beautiful miniatures I've ever seen, so- that again, is an exceptional start, right?! 

On Balance I'd say I'm well ahead of the game then... I've just turned 49, and deciding to take on three periods that normally take collectors a lifetime to do one alone ( plus I have an unnatural desire to play the Sudan, but that can wait until I've knocked off these simple, short goals!!). And I've just been prescribed glasses in order to be able to hobby at point blank range in anything smaller than 1:1 scale. Simples! ;)

  But here's the thing; I'm inspired. And motivated. And this is making me make some SANE decisions along with the insane decisions we've talked about above; 

•  Work on these goals for long term gratification and triumphant conclusion, and not to chase the next new game system on the block. LESS BREADTH, MORE DEPTH in what I do.
• The fact that I do this may occasionally be less sexy and appealing as I grind out the next batch of 35 figures in the same uniform, but EMBRACE THE SUCK as I see those goals get closer with every unit I finish.
• ENJOY THE PRICE, not PAY THE PRICE of the journey to completion. I enjoy the full spectrum of the hobby; Historical research, collecting, modelling, painting, and the wargaming. I also enjoy the spectacle- just enjoying the display or photos of a beautiful game, the figures and the terrain ( or truly scenery) on the table. The journey is as important to me as the destination, as the hobby as a whole continues to entertain, inspire and allows me to decompress from stresses in life, particularly work. Even the small things such as assembling and kit bashing/converting plastics are immensely satisfying to me. So while others might avoid the time it takes and prefer to get into painting metals quicker, I enjoy including both.
• DIRECTION OF COLLECTION...i can look at things like what types of terrain, playing surface, buildings, even the ground cover based on theatres of battles/campaigns. I can narrow down and plan effectively, It  allows me to cascade these decisions down into workflow decisions and aesthetics such as coherent but versatile basing decisions for my troops bases.
• TIMING IS EVERYTHING...Understanding and planning short/medium term goals such as games we want to play and record for our Channel, and working them into this greater long term, over-arching goal. For instance; I can base models for a summer historical engagement that we want to film as long as Im clever with the materials used I can then overpaint, apply snow, etc. But the reverse is more difficult and is likely to involved completely new physical bases. Doing urban bases on models can in the same way be changed to rural bases, if the 'rubble' doesnt contain walls etc, and the rubble is more gritty, with small pebbles instead of square edged bricks and the effect is gained somewhat from paint to get the effect. 

All these things can be well executed with effort and practice...as well as restraint and long term goals in mind! I'm learning how to do them better and better all the time. 

With all this in mind, I am quite enjoying setting out on my journey. I hope to achieve such armies as befits a warrior king to accompany him into the afterlife, as seen when I visited Xian a few years ago. I hope you enjoyed this brief outline of my intended trip into meglomania, and join me sometime soon for another installment of my 'Master plan' !. 

I'd be interested in your thoughts and feedback below as to whether you've tread this path, why or why not and any advice you may have- or disagree with. 

Dan 

​Wednesday night gaming for the past few weeks has been SAGA, a great game I'm really enjoying it. Its new to me so thanks to Ian and Ian for the tutorials and Ian B for supplying all the lovely minis.

In this episode Dan and Rex are joined by Darren Merritt, the TO of "Operation Shrike", a Bolt Action event with an exciting format which will be held in Adelaide, Australia, in November 2023. 

Join us as Darren- who describes himself as a 'newbie' to Bolt Action- talks about what has encouraged him to make the jump from new player to new event organiser, and what it is about the 'Combat Patrol' game format that has him and other players excited to play Bolt Action with smaller forces in dynamic games! 

We really loved Darren's enthusiasm and passion to help build his local WW2 wargaming community, and we are sure you will too, so join us and hear the full details and contact information for the event. 

Enjoy! Dan & Rex.

Subscribe by searching for Valhalla Games in your favourite podcast app or by clicking the link below.... Stay classy Adelaide

https://podcastaddict.com/valhallagames/episode/161377196

 We so love it when we see people having fun playing games from our book!!

Well done Dennis and son, stay low and keep moving!

Follow this link to view photos from a local Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game event I went and had a look at yesterday. This event was (I believe) organised by Andrew Medbury of Medbury miniatures https://www.medburyminiatures.com/. Some great armies and everyone looked like they were having fun. Fantastic to see some events on the NSW Central Coast (of Australia) and only being 5 minutes away from my home, VHG_Rex

Soviet Naval Infantry aren't normally on top of everyone's list when thinking about a new WWII wargame army, but we found the whole topic hugely interesting, and this podcast has trigged us to order several Osprey books and a whole lot of web research to go along with our little men.

We hope you enjoy our journey into Soviet Naval Infantry, check out the Kickstarter here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flankmarch/black-death

As we progress with painting our sample STL's Images will show here and will be updated as we continue with our projects:
https://www.valhallagames.net/ep27

(..and sorry about Rex's audio!, should be fixed next time) 

Search for Valhalla Games in your favourite podcast and subscribe to us so you don't miss an episode, or clink on the image below to listen in the web player.

Progress photos - WW2 Soviet Naval Infantry... to follow check back on this page

'Finished' Soviet Naval Infantry…

I promised myself I would have these samples finished painting before the Kickstarter ended, well I'm finished… apart from: Faces/skin, eyes, hair, hats, any highlighting whatsoever, bases and detailing. (sad face)

Proof that time, tide, and Kickstarter wait for no man, hopefully they still show off the minis themselves and inspire just a little.
Get it while you can, only a few hours left.

Flank March Miniatures
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flankmarch/black-death

PS not a paid promotion I just love this guys stuff and was inspired when Dan and I interviewed him on Valhalla Games podcast. Ill put the paint recipe up here when I'm done.

Finished photos and Dan's efforts to follow...

Dan and I just finished recording a podcast with Steffan of Flank March Miniatures about his currently running 3D printable 28mm WW2 Soviet Naval Infantry Kickstarter.

We had a great time and learned a lot of interesting things about the Soviet Naval Brigade, also known as the Black Death, plus an interesting (unique?) extra at higher pledge levels.

Not only great looking printable miniatures but a huge quantity all sorts of different options.

Podcast to follow ASAP but in the meantime have a look at this Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flankmarch/black-death

Also, (rather cool) share this post:
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid05jbJnUvgB8GmcDG8YAG3x1npcyr6k678iTSPK1EDoftZZZ8nyXqY7RavS2hhA9fAl&id=100089882083627
… on Facebook, and if it gets enough shares some extra stretch goals get added.

If you have an interest in historical/actual 20th and 21st century Army organization; Squad, platoon, Company etc. This is an outstanding video explaining how it all works including using Easy Company from Band of Brothers as an example.

Thanks DigitalBattlefieldTours on YouTube for putting together such a fantastic resource.

I'm in [small scale] production, just what I need, unlimited near free minis to add to my pile of shame :-/. What do you mean 8 British airborne jeeps is too many?? :-)