Hi All, Hope everyone's hobby is coming along nicely?!

I myself have been exceptionally busy with terrain preparation for the Operation Spring Awakening event in September. And so, up to my ears in concurrent hobby tasks I have been concentrating on MDF Terrain construction after work in evenings in order to have all buildings constructed and ready for some sort of batch painting next time I am home. 

Indeed, one of my main issues is that I continue to work away for work in Auckland and so the struggle for producing finished terrain in time I have whilst away that I can then transport home without it being destroyed in luggage is REAL! 

​MDF buildings have been something I have acquired quite a few of over the years, and many have been kept in their flat packed packaging waiting for their time to come...! And so it is that finally the Stalingrad terrain from the Warlord Games battle set finally got busted out. The Tractor Factory in the set is great, but after i bought it back in the day I also added the purchase of the factory entrance from Sarissa Precision to go with it as its such an iconic piece that sets the scene on a gaming table (For those who don't know, the MDF terrain in the set is made by Sarissa also. Incidentally; if you buy the collectors set it comes with the entrance). 

Dan's Top tips for young players; If you make the factory and the entrance separately, get them out prior and mark the terrain tiles with the correct side you are using so all the tiles fit together when you may want them to. I DIDNT do that initially but quickly checked while glue was drying, found my error and flipped the entrance tile over and re-glued to solve the problem...simples!

After the pieces were dry they got a black prime and then a simple layer of two greys from rattle cans as I was playing a game against Craig during the week. You can see the results of the quick fire job in the pic below. This is NOT the finished product ...just an interim painting solution to playtest the table configuration, which I was happy with/ I'll be adding rubble, detail and proper layering and finishing later. 

​Something else you can spot at the back of the table is the first of the TT Combat MDF terrain pieces; in this case the Coal elevator. This one is finished and I'm really happy with it...I'll tease you with that though! proper pics of it with other finished terrain later. ;) 

Jager clearly liked it anyway, and deemed the table 'adequate in appearance' enough to lie under for the game...!

I got a whole heap of terrain from TT Combat's WW2 Eastern front range, and I will have plenty more info on these and a review on how i found them to build and paint soon, as well as another lesser-known historical building range that I'll introduce at the end of this post below. 

But by far the best tip I can give in this post is to encourage you to take a look at Dark Castle Terrain in Australia if you are in Australasia/Asia/Pacific or even further afield. I purchased their 'Soviet Admin Building' in 28mm, and not only was the price excellent, but the postage was fantastic also to New Zealand..which is definitely not often the case- especially with something like MDF, being both bulky AND not lightweight.

I was suprised when it arrived and it was in a box that I would describe as a small pizza box. But I thought that was quite clever, and It was within a plastic courier bag so any loose parts that might have escaped ( they hadnt!) were safe and sound. 

"​Pizza Delivery, Comrade!"

I was also surprised that inside the box the pieces were not on their MDF 'Frames' but were completely cut. I guess this saved on excess weight and therefore postage cost. 

The pieces were well cut and both the tabs and slots were completely cut out cleanly, allowing great ease of assembly. I have to say when I saw the instructions i thought they were very simple....maybe a little worried they were TOO basic...but i needn't have worried as they show exactly what they need to and had good angles of photography to display the visual examples. Well done, Dark Castle. So the whole thing went together like a dream, and here is the final results;

​As you can see it is of significant size and a very original design from other 28mm MDF I have seen on the market, very clever. 

The interior is accessible due to a lift off central roof section, and the interior is playable and has interest without preventing interaction through clutter. 

I can *really* recommend checking out Dark Castle Terrain in Australia if you are looking for MDF Terrain and I hope they continue to grow their 28mm WW2 range as I will be acquiring more in the future! 

Dan 

Newsflash:

Operation Spring Awakening Bolt Action wargame event being held on Sept 27th & 28th 2025 (near Christchurch, New Zealand) is now extended to 46 players maximum due to popular demand.

Here is some internet content that I found interesting. Bo Mortensen shows us how to magnetise our Panzerfausts so after you have had your one shot you can remove them. Make your forces more WYSIWYG without having to have a confusing array of spare minis in your next event and also give yourself more options you could have the Panzerfaust on a SMG guy, or a rifle for example.

See the video at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKdlG1O6Fvo

Please find below the link to the event pack for Operation Spring Awakening 2025 (Click on the pic - its a link!).

My lofty goals for the event are; Bring together all the many groups of Bolt Action players we have down south as well as all over the country, hold NZs largest known BA event to date and making this an annual event that is a feature of the Australian/ New Zealand Bolt Action calendar. 

In so doing, I hope to grow our community, bring it closer together and showcase the talented players we have.

Operation Spring Awakening 2025
Bolt Action wargame event
Sept 27th & 28th 2025
Burnham Community Centre, Burnham.
(Christchurch, NZ)

Here is the latest batch of Waffen SS, I have pushed myself to do as good as I can do*. Its taken forever but I'm happy with the results. 2 batches down, only about 6 more to go!

Click on the preview below to see the full size image.

I sent this to Warlord games and got an official response, its a shame that they dint add it to the FAQ but I will bug them to do that. Didn't want to offend anyone so I have redacted certain bits below. Warlord ticket ID #208427

I'm not trying to start a war, its just a game after all. Just wanting to get to the bottom of how the rule is meant to work.

Hi Warlord, something came up in a game last night re, cavalry:

Rules say:
"A cavalry unit can dismount as part of any Advance move. Once dismounted, riders move and fight as infantry. Troops cannot remount once dismounted."

But it doesn't define what the dismounted is i.e. how far can they move as part of that dismount.

I assumed it was (could be) 6" from the horses that the infantry can move and then shoot because I got my butt kicked by cav multiple times in tournaments by multiple people moving the horse 9" then dismounting 6" and then shooting. [Redacted]. However when I tried to use last night the guys objected arguing that it doesn't specify in the rules and also its not like a vehicle/transport because there aren't two order dice one for the horses and one for men.

I looked for Cav stuff in the FAQ
Compared the wording to version 2 which I think is identical
looked at the V2 FAQ
searched every instance of the words cavalry and dismount in both PDF rulebooks

…and couldn't really find it defined specifically. It just says dismount.

The only other place it uses dismount (apart from bikes, motorbikes and cav which I assume are all the same) is vehicles so I assumed dismount means the same as its talked about and defined in detail in vehicles (which allows either a run or advance by the way). But again, my opponent proposes that its different because its not 2 order dice just one.

Can you give me a ruling please I'm stuck on this army building wise [Redacted]

[Redacted banter about wargaming in general]

To which warlord responded as below:

I went back for another go (perhaps because i am an IT guy and wee need ALL our ducks in a row) see below:

 No problem, REALLY appreciate the help.

OK good to know.

One clarification, might as well get to the final exact ruling, we know that they can't dismount as part of a run (18" for a horse) it can only be an advance.

I did assume that by saying "… as part of any advance move" the rules meant to allow either (at the players discretion):

1. the horse to advances 9" (perhaps including firing because it's an advance move?) then the guys to "get off" where they are (they just get off and replace the horses in the exact same position)

or

2. the guys to "get off" where they start the turn (…they just get off and replace the horses in the exact same position) the guys can then do their advance 6" and then fire

However you have indicated below that to do a dismount, the horse is unable to move (just the man) so just option 2 above and the word 'any' is a bit of a red hearing? I'm I understanding that correctly?

...Warlords final response:

EDIT: Click here for the podcast

Last Weekend, Saturday 8th March 2025, Nathan- one of the local Bolt Action TOs- held an event at Ironhorse Hobbies, a fantastic hobby store here in Christchurch, NZ. I was lucky enough to actually be at home on this weekend and so was quick to sign up when Nathan put the word out. In addition, some of the players in our gaming 'silo' were also available to play and so It was that Craig, Simon and I turned up early morning on the Saturday ready for a days gaming and meet the other players for the event.

Nathan had set the points limit at 1250 Pts for this one day, three-game event. And apart from this the only restriction was that all armies were to be selected from the V3 Rulebook selectors and minor nations PDFs, and so as Germany was the only nation at the time with their own armies of book published this was a levelling exercise between nations.

Another admin point was that Nathan had asked if players could provide some tables and terrain where possible, and as an incentive one of the prizes offered on the day was for 'Best Table', and so we had a cracking variety of tables for the event:

This Table ( above )was provided by Sam, a player that hadn't played BA since the start of 2nd Ed. Not only was this a cracking table but he also had a nicely painted IJA army he was playing on the day. I liked the colours running through the terrain and mat- especially the fact the cobblestone roads weren't just a plain grey.

Clink on the link below to continue reading... lots of photos as well

Join Dan as he tells the story of the 'Watch on the Waimak' Bolt Action third edition event held in Christchurch New Zealand in March 2025 ( 'he' also says 'Doh!' as I realise I stated the panzerbuchse rule incorrectly- although I played it properly in the games- apologies! -Dan)

Sounds like it was a fun event full of of interesting Bolt Action twists and turns, great tables and many, many half-tracks, ...and yes Rex is jealous that he didn’t get to go.

Don't miss the, discussion about cavalry rules, will the real cavalry rules please step forward!

View the accompanying images here:
https://www.valhallagames.net/index.php/watch-on-the-waimak-event

See the detail about cavalry rules here:
https://www.valhallagames.net/index.php/bolt-action-cavalry-rules

Episode 32 wont be far behind. 

Listen in this episode in your podcast app or click here or on the image below to listen in the web player.

Home made hot wire foam cutter 1.35m wide powered by 2 cordless drill batteries. Made by my brother in law, very inspiring makes me want to start making terrain tiles immediately! Hopefully he will lend it to me.

YouTube Video recap of Dan's Blood Upon the Risers event held in Christchurch December 2024, enjoy.

I painted something (yes amazing but true), challenging and still refining the process but happy with the result so far. 

Hard to know how far to go, but once you start paining the black rotting spots on your hand painted fallen autumn leaves (in 2 colours) I feel like its time to move on... ????. Need to start batch painting now the test models are done.

 Hi All, I have organised "Blood Upon the Risers", a free, one-day introductory BA Event for new or returning ( learning again!) players. 

The event is at Burnham, Christchurch, New Zealand on December 23rd. We have a capacity for the venue and have TWO player spots left! Details can be found in the event pack below, as can my contact details. 

Pre-registration before 9 Dec is required, and details can be found in the document below.

Regards, Dan.

Hi all, so I have been very busy painting and doing work to recover from my total knee replacement for my left knee...hence the additional time for hobby!! 

While doom- scrolling in hospital and throughout my recovery this far it has become apparent there are many more budget 1/56- 1/50 ish vehicle options becoming highlighted on cheap trading sites such as Ali express. 

One of the areas in which I need a lot of models and are definitely worth a punt are bulk transport vehicles such as trucks. Seeing someone post a link to some absolute bargain models that looked great, i followed the link and for the first time braved my laptops health and sanity by going on the site. As I'd never ordered before not only was it crazy cheap but they offered me free postage also! so...for $2.17 NZD, i ordered a pack of TEN (!!) trucks.

I have to say not only was the communication professional, accurate and timely but the postage ( from god knows where...Palau Islands?!? lol) was prompt despite being free, and they arrived 10 days later despite having given an online ETA of 23 December! 

So...I opened them and here they are in their glory!

​Here is one out of the bag (centre), which is perfectly sized next to the 1/56 rubicon Studebaker ( Left- excusing the dust from sitting on my shelves, lol!) and the Warlord Opel Blitz (Right).

You can see from the below the detail on the outside is very good...a blurry-line-straddling stand-in for studebaker/opel/citroen -ish vehicles! 

​As you can see, the 'weakest' point of the moulding is the negative-image-type tyres, where the 'low' points of the tread have become the high points...snow chains anyone?! lol. But seriously- i dont care...i think its really really good...and for 21 cents NZ each- bloody hell thats a steal! Ill be ordering another bag of them! 

Interestingly, even from a low point of view the detail looks good, but underneath heres what there is; 

​...its hollow! Talk about saving weight in your army carry case! :) Again- I'm happy with the product- extremely happy and will be ordering more. I had sat there and trembled at the thought of another 20 Opel/Citroen and other mixed brand trucks for my Germans at Arnhem alone, yet alone other big games and other armies! 

21 Cents!....TWENTY ONE CENTS!!!! Take my money! Im off to combine another order with some other items listed as 1/72 to give them a try...i might be able to buy more Pumas than were made haha.

Heres a size comparison from above;

​and one last shot of my bag of joy:

 Running repairs, all 8 wheels broke off my Jeeps at the last event ????. That's the disadvantage of having perfection in scaling. Those little parts don't work when wargamers go brumm brumm 

 Bolt Action third edition eBook and PDF now available.

If anyone's considering the Bolt Action third edition eBook version here is a screenshot of what it looks like on the PC. It's fully searchable nicely laid out and generally just a fantastic presentation of what will hopefully be a great rule set. If you have ever experienced a GW fixed layout eBook this is NOT that!!

It's also available as PDF 'eBook' version so make sure you get the one you want.

Ebook (Mobi and Epub)
https://www.ospreypublishing.com/us/bolt-action-third-edition-9781472863805/

PDF (sort-of-an-ebook, but fixed pages. Does not re-flow on a smaller device but looks exactly like the printed rules… I assume)
https://www.ospreypublishing.com/us/bolt-action-third-edition-9781472863829/

If you're like me and you don't enjoy reading books with small text or if you just like to read on the run or have your eBook reader speak the text aloud while you're driving or mowing the lawn then this is a great choice. I got mine direct from the osprey web store for US$35, and after a couple of hour delay of error messages (something about watermarking) I have now successfully downloaded and transferred to my phone.

Finished my last V2 game 48 hours ago and now tooled up for Version 3 with 2 hard cover rulebooks, one softcover and an eBook (yeah don't ask…!), bring it Bolt action V3!

Its hyperlinked as well...

Soviet Gaz jeeps, 3d Printed and painted by me (work in process) love the appropriate passengers, also being able to print them out at the exact 1/56 size is soothes me as well.

Just purchased a restock of various Vallejo paints, imagine how cranky I was when 70.922 is now 'a completely different colour'...

However the difference is the new actual bottle by the looks of things. See below the 2 colours (sorry one not mixed fully). They look pretty similar to me. Thanks the paint gods. Go back to your seats nothing to see. :-) 

First successful attempt at contrast paint. In fantasy for Warhammer: the old world Thanks Ian for the modified slapchop method

...

​Well it seems like ages since the lost time I updated my goals, and yet time has flown by! That is the side effect of my profession I guess- blocks of time go by where I am totally immersed in the job. so much so that everything is put to one side throughout each course....I really do apologise to my friends and family as I know I don't really speak to them for up to six weeks at a time!! I hope you all feel a like you are communicated to a bit better than that.....?!

  So heres the progress for the last months spare time around courses; Soviet Naval Infantry. You can see above 29 Painted, and ive just tonight based two more - the twin officers you can see just to the rear right of the painted squads! They received basing and a final layer and varnish in order to get over 30 and make up for the missing 3rd man from the MMG crew that Rex is printing up for me in the near future.

  Once again I have enjoyed painting these units in their distinctive uniforms, and it was a timely change of colour palette from German Field Grey 'A change is as good as a break' they say, and so it was with these. only five of these figures were 3D printed, the rest were Warlord Games' metal figures. I really like most of the poses, but they are probably due for a re-vamp, such as a re-sculpt or something. Quite ragged castings in some parts, some short-shots in the casting, and a few faces that look like Voldemort....but with some love and some ears painted in that didnt have sculpted detail (and half a nose on one!) the majority of the detail is pronounced and lovely to paint, especially in the shirts...

​...However, it also reminded me of how great the definition is on the Flank March Miniatures 3D figures! I'm happy to have the mix and I'm looking forward to getting some more Flank March figures in my hot little hands in the near future.

So; where does that put me vs. my hobby goals? Well speaking of the Naval Infantry I have a heap on this list that I dont even have yet so we shall see if they stay on the list or not...remembering why I was doing this in the first place ( to get the stuff on my shelves in the wargames room painted!) id predicted I would get those onto the shelves, but maybe not and I will certainly have plenty of other stuff to concentrate on! I wont post the progress report on here as Ive only ticked a few things off recently...I shall wait until I have more stuff in Green as "DONE" before I post it up next! 

One thing I have noticed- such as moving the 29 to 31 finished in this Batch of painting- I now feel like if ive not painted a batch of at least 30 at a time I feel a bit like id wasted an opportunity....weird but that seems to be my mental default for batches now. 

Hope everyone elses hobby is going well. Let us know what you are up to in the comments.

Regards,

Dan 

We just had a long weekend and I wanted to do something completely frivolous. Here it is, my forest base version 2. Just needs some anti shine clear coat and its done.

Video to follow (...eventually)