In this bumper episode, we are joined by Jon Russell of Warlord Games fame. In addition to his dedicated work for Warlord, Jon is a multifaceted wargamer and also veteran of many years service.

In this episode we spend time learning about Jon's wargaming pedigree, before learning more about his role at Warlord, the writing of 'Bolt Action: Korea', and Jon shares with us what he can about what Bolt Action V3 might look like, and the 'Raiders Attack!' Supplement that still has much life left in it.

All this plus Warlord event support, balance in tournaments and other definitely non-controversial(!), highly entertaining and informative topics. Sit back and enjoy a chat with Jon, and us, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Subscribe to Valhalla games in your favourite podcast app or listen in the web player here [link].

Thanks again to Jon for giving us his time and thoroughly entertaining us!

This afternoon I stuck my nose into 'War in the North', a Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game (Lord Of The Rings) tournament put on by Andrew Medbury of Medbury miniatures (https://www.medburyminiatures.com/).

Looked like a great day everyone looked the be having fun and there were some fantastic painted armies there and great terrain. Good to see a wargaming event run on the New South Wales Central coast, well done Andrew and Whitney I bet you will sleep well tonight.

(always hard getting good photos in a hall with very basic lighting)

Dan & Rex go to the MOAB 2022 gaming event (short for Mother Of All Battles) in Sydney, Australia and fight it out in 5 games of Bolt Action. A great opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones post COVID-19 restrictions in Australia and New Zealand over the past 2 years.

Yes we are back, its been a while since you last heard from us due to the launching of our campaign book. We have lots of plans for the future both podcast and YouTube, you can see all our content here:

• https://www.valhallagames.net/
• https://www.valhallagames.net/youtube
• https://www.valhallagames.net/patreon
• https://www.valhallagames.net/store

Wargames illustrated reviewed our book on YouTube. (spoiler alert they liked it).

We are particularly happy with this as WI aren't shy to say what they think, as it should be who wants glowing reviews on everything never pointing out the issues! 

We want the truth and we can handle it.

Both Dan and I subscribe to WI prime and get their magazine in 'e' format and to be honest I often by the paper copy as well. Its a great read, a great wargaming YouTube channel and this video is a well made and very detailed look at The Primosole Bridge campaign book, check it out.

I have been accused before of other thinking and over planning things and yes that is often true. But sometimes I even surprise myself! Someone asked for plans for the Italian foam building I made for Dan and put up on YouTube back in 2020 (here), you know, the good old days before pandemics etc.

I was half way though typing out a reply to say don't be silly no one would be that... [insert your preferred word here] :-) but then I went for a look and found this... (image bellow). To be fair I did "wing it" first then measure and document afterwards so in this instance I didn't over plan, perhaps that why it got finished.

The Valhalla Games web store is now live at this location:

https://www.valhallagames.net/store/

The web site is just out of the shrink wrap so ANY issues at all let us know. Adding freight zones is proving to be troublesome, if your freight zone/country is not listed let us know or if you have any other issues please contact us here.

If your visiting Historicon in Lancaster, PA (United States) this year an want to pickup our book The Battle for Primosole Bridge (without paying freight!). Its available in limited quantities from Sheildwall gaming check them out and have a first-hand look at the book yourself. Check out their other items while you are there.

Thanks Jeff!

 Hi All! Its been so great to get your messages about receiving your books and your initial thoughts. We are very proud and pleased to say they have been overwhelmingly positive!!!

Thanks for your patience with the uploading of the Tropical Fallschirmjäger painting guide, its now uploaded and ready to help you get those FJ ready to fight for Primosole Bridge! Just scan the QR code in the hobby section of your book to take you directly to the video on YouTube, or for those of you still awaiting the mailman, follow the link below to get a headstart on getting your FJ ready;

[Click the image below to view the video]

Speaking of Youtube and other social media- we need your help! We need you to share your thoughts and reviews on 'The Battle for Primosole Bridge' far and wide. Those of you who do YouTube especially - please upload a video and share with us and the wargames community your reviews!!

We Have a limited number of books left, but gauging further demand will allow us to not only assess our next steps with the CURRENT book, but will also help build brand recognition and allow us to bring you future products too!!!

Lets see those reviews everyone! Thanks in advance for all your help.

Kind Regards, Dan and Rex

The last QR code video for 'The Battle for Primosole Bridge' campaign book is nearly complete, just a final image and then editing. Won't be long now, get you paint brushes ready for Dan's tropical Fallschirmjäger paint guide including; general workflow, paint colours and tips.

Speaking of exciting new books, I received my copy of Wargaming Campaigns by wargame royalty Henry Hyde today what a massive amount of content and I'm massively excited about as I have plans to run a huge campaign some time in my life. 

This book makes a great bookend to Henry's other book The Wargaming Compendium which is one of the first books I read when getting into wargaming.
Dan and I will be reading though and reviewing this. So look forward to that (but at 526 pages it may take a while!).
Available now at Pen & Sword

https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Wargaming-Campaigns-Hardback/p/14601

We are pleased to report that The Battle for Primosole Bridge campaign book has been shipped to all backers and pre-order customers (excluding 5 people who haven't got their address to me yet).

Thanks to our logistics partners War and Peace Games Australia the process was smooth and quick. A HUGE thanks to Ian and Sean for their help with that. 

If your buying wargames products, in Australasia please check them out at https://www.warandpeacegames.com.au/.

You should receive your shipping email with tracking information direct from Australia Post in the next couple of days.

Dan and I are extremely happy with the final result, and we think you will be too. We have shot a video of a flick through of the book but what would be the fun in that, we are going to keep you in suspense a few days longer. Once we see reports of sightings of the book 'in the wild' we will release some video to whet your appetite for those shipping to destinations further afield.

Dan literally gets out of his foxhole and in less than 24 hours back in the real world he is bulking up on steak, and well... good to see you have your priorities right...

As you should be aware The Battle for Primosole Bridge book is in print production right now. 'Shipping day' (to you) is planned for 29 June and the printers have confirmed that they are on target to have the bulk delivery to us in time for that.

Its time to collect addresses for all backers and pre-orders. We have deliberately not collected addresses before now so that we didn't have to deal with address changes but now is the time when we need to collect your information and collate everything for an efficient shipping process.

To enable this, we would appreciate it if you could reply to this survey ASAP with your details. Remember if you have ordered two books they will be sent to the same address. 

Thanks again and we are excited to nearly have to book on its way to you.

Rex and Dan

Kickstarter surveys have been sent, pre-order emails requesting the same should be sent tonight.

 Something to play after the book goes to print tomorrow

Hi Everyone!

Rex and I hope this update finds you well. Just a quick update for now; we have entered what we hope will be the final week of the books preparation for sending to the printers! That's right – at the end of this week 'The Battle for Primosole Bridge' will be sent to the printers for review by them, the production of the proof copy, then then print run itself!!! Based on current estimates we are perfectly on [revised] target for 'shipping by the end of June'.

We will provide another update after the proof is approved by us and the printing has started. Shortly after that we will ask for delivery address details. We have left collecting delivery address details until now so that there would not be any address changes, ensuring that we post your book to the correct location.

For now, here is a photo of the last photo ever to be taken for 'The Battle for Primosole Bridge'...

Talk soon with another update, we are excited and we hope that you are too.

Dan and Rex

Hi everyone, what a busy period it's been since the last update!

Rex has moved heaven and earth to get the remaining photography pretty close to being done for the book. A few 'whites' (the popular type of shot you see in publications that have just the figure, vehicle etc on a white/transparent background) remain for a couple of places in the book, then photography is all done!

For many of the photos of a full or 'deeper' table set up we needed to capture (there's a LOT of these!), Rex used a process where he 'stacked' differently - focussed shots on top of each other... a hugely time-consuming process that entailed the taking of over 1600 photographs! But the results are worth it we believe, and we feel confident, after looking at the end result, that you will think so too when you hold the book in your hand and see how good they are!

Secretly up to now, we have engaged the services of a professional artist to assist with the creation of the scenario maps for the book. We have now received the final artwork and WOW! what a result! This is another part of the book we can't wait for you to see!

To whet your appetite, Rex has done a video of the new fully sculpted Primosole Bridge table and will be releasing it in the near future which will get you excited for the book and give you some ideas for your table at home. It's fantastic- when I saw it first and it allowed me to take in the board for the first time I was astonished at just how great it was.

We received the massive shipment of your free sprues from Wargames Atlantic, and they are sitting patiently for when it comes time to send out your books to you.

We just wanted to say we have really appreciated your patience and kind words of reassurance after our delay in fulfilment until end of June primarily due to freight issues. It has been really heart-warming, thank you.

We have made every attempt to reward you for your patience and wanted to share with you that the book has now grown in size to over 100 pages!

Thanks everyone, talk again soon.

Regards,

Dan & Rex

[Newsflash, we are giving away these STLs for free. Get them here:

https://www.valhallagames.net/index.php/downloads/download/6-paint-guides/31-bunkers-and-barricades-v1-stl-files]

I needed some barricades and blockhouses for my Primosole Bridge board and I couldn't really find what I wanted so I created my own from scratch in Tinkercad and printed them out. I'm happy with the result, I printed one of each then printed the barricades as a mirror image so I could have plenty but if I need more... just press print. Concrete blockhouses and barricades printed on a FDM complete with 'Mold lines & striations as part of the manufacturing process" without any extra effort! (Well that what I'm telling myself.)

The blockhouses will fit a 60mm base.

P.S. Dan, great idea I will also print some 'risers'; so that the MMG and antitank gun teams mounted on a 60mm base will be able to be see (and be seen) through the firing slit, has to look good for those photos!

Images below:

_{If this is all new to you and you would like to learn more about our WW2 campaign book 'The Battle for Primosole Bridge' you can find a video on our YouTube page explaining exactly what is in the book here: https://youtu.be/7sKSxdmukWk
The kick-starter has been funded and finished however, if you want to order a copy, at the time of writing this we are still taking pre-orders for the printed A4 softcover 80+ page campaign book, find the info about ordering here: https://www.valhallagames.net/index.php/the-battle-for-primosole-bridge-pre-order or simply contact us here https://www.valhallagames.net/index.php/contact for a price including shipping to your destination.}

 Happy New Year to you all. We hope you've had a happy and safe holiday period. The question arises though; What exactly have WE been up to early in the New Year?

Firstly (for those of you that didn't know!) the 'Assault on Johnny I ' scenario that will appear in our book was reverse engineered and re-edited for publishing in Wargames Soldiers and Strategy (WSS) magazine, issue 118.

This version of the scenario varies from that found in the campaign book in order to make it a stand-alone scenario for Bolt Action, but if you'd like a taster of what is to come, go purchase the issue and enjoy it - tell them we sent you ;) https://www.karwansaraypublishers.com/wss-issue-118.html

What else have we been up to?; check out the Wargames Atlantic WW2 Italian plastic figures that Dan has painted for the book here: [continued below]

Dan has continued British vehicles and infantry for 151 Bde. In the Primosole Bridge engagement, and has finally just finished them… this means another bunch of minis to be sent over to Rex for photography for the book!

Rex continues to put a phenomenal amount of detail into the 'secret' table's construction, I can tell you it looks amazing and it isn't even finished yet!! He is detailing it as he goes so we can bring you all the tips for you to be able to build it yourselves when we reveal it to you.

As well as that, as lockdowns due to COVID come and go, we are continuing play testing on various scenarios, making sure that they are well tested and as user-friendly as possible.

We hope your holiday period has been hobby-friendly and you've got some work progressing yourselves… maybe some Sicilian campaign armies?!!

For anyone that's been following along you will know that the Valhalla Games Kickstarter for "The Battle for Primosole Bridge" campaign book was a success. This campaign book is based on the WWII historical actions around the strategically important Primosole bridge during the Sicily invasion in 1943.

The book has been successfully crowdfunded and Dan I are working our way through the rest of the tasks that need to be completed before printing. I will be requesting the final number of free sprues from Wargames Atlantic on the 7 January 2022 and I just wanted to let you know that if anyone still wants to pre order the book and get the free Italians sprue you can do so up until 7 January.If we get your order before then we will include the sprue for you just the same as the Kickstarter orders

We will be doing the additional books pre-order via PayPal so that we don't have to go through the complicated and confusing Kickstarter system for adding any more books to the Kickstarter at this late stage.

If you're interested and would like the price of the book including postage to help you to make a final decision, please contact us here and I will email you a quote for the book (including free sprue) delivered to your location. The cost of the book is $55 Australian plus postage (remember to check your conversion rate - in your currency it may be half this cost!). The prices for pre-order will be an Australian dollars as that is where the book is being printed and shipped from.

The $55 AUD price, once converted, is the same as the Kickstarter price of $60 NZD (give or take a little for currency fluctuations between then and now), so both those ordering through the Kickstarter and now via the pre-order are paying the same amount.

The books are planned to be shipped out to all Kickstarter backers and for all pre-orders in April 2022, we are not planning to hold a warehouse full of printed stock so if you want it and haven't backed the Kickstarter doing a pre-order is your chance to secure the book, we think you're going to love it.

Contact us here https://valhallagames.net/contact and include your shipping country and I will get back to you will an obligation free price. Again just the reminder that the free Wargames Atlantic sprue offer with the book will end on 7 January 2022.

If you're at a loss as to what this is all about you can view all the detail here:

Great friends of Valhalla games, WoW Buildings, has just released their latest kick starter 'WoW Buildings The War in the East' if you are a 3D printer and WW2 player... actually these building could cover a number of different wargaming genres (Tatooine anyone? Yes get your bonus desert buildings here too), then check this out.

This one is only 20 days so get in quick if your interested.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wowbuildings/wowbuildings-the-war-in-the-east

More images 'after the break'