This is where I keep all my fully painted minis... :-)

Seriously though this is my new [used] display cabinet. 

Apart from the false start with another one that didn't fit and the glass door breakage carnage, and the removal of noticeboards from the wall carnage which required a fill and full wall repaint and apart from all the masking and respraying of the slightly chipped black bits, it was an easy job. Only lights and top and bottom boards to be replaced, and new doors.

All that aside I'm looking forward to getting some minis out of boxes and putting them on display after 5 plus years of... 'negotiation' for the space. Its also bigger than it looks 600mm wide and 2100 high, industrial strength for lots of lead.

I have found an interesting bit of software for modifying 3D files. Its both powerful and intuitive for your average wargamer who really just wants to get the job done so he/she can get back to rolling dice.

SelfCAD (https://www.selfcad.com/) is a Freemium product that you can use to edit your 3D print files make changes, damage things, erase parts, join things together, split things, add pins etc. There is one caveat however, and that that is the Freemium product doesn't do all of the things mentioned above, you have to get the paid version, either on a monthly subscription or a one time purchase.

In the past I have used tinker-cad (https://www.tinkercad.com/) which is great especially for creating things from scratch but as soon as there is texture in the STL files they are too big to be edited in tinker-cad.

Consider the following 3D building, it looks good and prints 'ok' (not well but OK). Once its printed removing from the print bed becomes a major problem. Because the portico has no floor the leverage when removing each of the print bed contact points the leverage on the areas marked with arrows means that its going to snap 95 times out of 100.

​The following modified model has had a section of floor duplicated from the centrer of the building, trimmed, and added to the portico joining the columns etc to the main floor therefore removing most of the leverage on the breakable parts and reinforcing the whole section. It prints better as well.

Final note, this is a wargaming blog not a 3D printing blog, if you would rather see less of this content (or more?) let us know in the comments below.

A couple of images from a game of Bolt Action last night with Wargaming buddy Ian, thanks for a great game, a draw. I tried some brand new tactics which worked well, just need to rework the tactics that didn't work.

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