Terrain making 1945, not much different to my garage this weekend. Perhaps less pipe smoke and more polystyrene. (...also I can't convince my wife to help)

Podcast EP8: "A new hope"

It is a period of total war; Allied armies, landing in hidden locations in Normandy on D Day attempt to win their first Western European battles against the evil Nazi empire... A short time later, Soviet forces strike through Romania and into Hungary, and advance onto Fortress Budapest...

If this was scrolling up the screen and had a princess escaping stormtroopers and Vader this couldn't get any more exciting!!

Join both Dan and Rex as we look back on the D Day 75th and Fortress Budapest Events respectively. We also do a hobby round up and our usual segments.

We hope you enjoy this and remind you to check out both our blog and Youtube channel.

Thanks for listening check out the show notes here.

Subscribe by searching for valhallagames (one word) in your podcast app or click on the link below for the web player.

 Join Dan as he assembles and reviews the Med. Town Hall from Things From the Basement. available here;

https://www.thingsfromthebasement.com

This vid contains a tutorial of applying stucco texture to buildings and painting to a high standard for your tabletop- all suitable for a range of periods, scales and games.
We hope you enjoy this; if you do please "Like" , Subscribe and share this with others. Dan & Rex.

​I found these images hiding away and wanted to share them so you could compare the corgi SDKFZ 7 with the warlord games resin.

I think youll agree those look more than comfortable sitting next to each other on the table top..but how about when we add the infantry next to them? Perry? Warlord? Artizan? Offensive? Hmmmm......

So ; heres my point for us. And a challenge to Rex for the next WIP podcast;

Scale. In particular the challenges of 28mm 'scale' wargaming.  

Why cant we have nice things? why do we fight like cats in a bag over the size of models -especially vehicles and armour - to use?

I have a lot to say on the subject, and hopefully some of it might not even bore you! 

We have the next episode 'In the Can' and almost ready to go, but this ones 'stood in the door' as our topic for the following podcast. 

Have a great weekend team and get some games in!! 

Dan

Rest In Peace. 

Private "Bobby" Johns, The Parachute Regiment. Joined up to fight when aged only 14 years old. 

K.I.A in Normandy, aged 16, 75 Years ago. 

Utrinque Paratus.

I have uploaded my Soviet winter paint recipe here. I'm not the best painter in the world but if this helps someone then great.

The face of war? Or is it? This popular photo depicts a young solider overcome with fear in the trenches but is it for real or not? Its black & white so it must be real...

I understand that this is a scene from a movie called "The Bridge" (a 1959 film made in West Germany), its been used a few times to demonstrate the horror of war but only once have I seen reference to it being from a movie and not a real historical photo.

Regardless, it's chilling image.

Rex's Fortress Budapest Day photos, yes I may have overdone it a bit with the photos perhaps quantity makes up for the quality, tricky in a dark room. A couple I "borrowed" from the bolt action Aust/NZ web page also where mine weren't great quality. 

Set 1 is my game 1, set 2 is my game 2 and the final set is general terrain and other peoples games.

[Click on the thumbnail images below to display the higher resolution images in a slideshow kind of format]

Set 1:  (my game 1)

[Click on the thumbnail images below to display the higher resolution images in a slideshow kind of format] 

Set 2: (My game 2)

[Click on the thumbnail images below to display the higher resolution images in a slideshow kind of format] 

Set 3: (General photos and terrain)

[Click on the thumbnail images below to display the higher resolution images in a slideshow kind of format] 

 Rex's winter Soviets; Hobby update #3 Deep snow plus bonus indirect fire... still not there yet but close. Click on the image for the full sized version.

WWII Kreigsfischkutter 28mm/1:56 by Titan Terrain NZ (for Bolt Action?)

Join Dan as he reviews and shows off one of his current projects, and we compare it for scale vs. some Kriegsmarine minis. Find Titan Terrain NZ here; https://www.titanterrain.nz/category/... Highly Recommended product and company to deal with! If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask below.

The "next" D-Day campaign book is listed for pre-order on at least one online book store, release date 23 Jun 2020. 

Its apparently titled as "Campaign: D-Day: US Sector". With the first book already out and covering the first 24 hours only, we knew that there would be *an* additional book coming. However based on the title it looks like there will be multiple campaign books coming breaking things down it to LOT'S of detail and hopefully meaning that you wont miss out on the history of your favorite nation. That's my guess based on an early pre-release listing which can be notoriously unreliable. Adding to a huge list of supplements already available, I will have enough gaming for a lifetime of WWII and I'm loving it.
 

Fortress Budapest Campaign day, was had, still need to process the photos but here are my soviets in full flight running across the cemetery.

Full sized image click here
 

Urban test model finished, first time I have ever done a test model only 1 or 2 steps ahead of the rest of the army. OK, no time for talking I have to paint!
 

During World War II, an orphaned brown bear went from being a cuddly pet to an officially enlisted soldier in the Polish army, and reportedly saw fierce combat in Italy. Decades after the war and his death, "Wojtek" continues to be honored.

Friday photo: Red Ball Highway.

Just so you know, I often post these images without any description or with just some teaser text. The idea is if you don't know what its all about go and check it out do a web search read a book, a lot of times, fact really is stranger than fiction.
 

Are we there yet?... i'm finding this both exhausting and rewarding. This test model is my all time best miniature so far (still work in progress).

The scary thing that I realized when I recommended what paints to buy for a mate who is new to the hobby is that this it's AU$100 worth of paint for this one guy! EXCLUDING the face and base!
 

 Here is a quick video showing my current project, winter Soviets. I point out a couple of things related to how I model up my guys. 3 weeks now till I go on my Fortress Budapest campaign day. For details on that check out the podcast EP7

So Here are my British Airborne after the additional models I added as my "Reasonable Hobby Challenge" goal...and YES ! They were ready ( two days before the 6 June deadline!) and descended from the skies by parachute and glider in our D Day 75th club game 8-9 June 2019. Hope you enjoy getting a good look at them, and look forward to the video being published of the D Day anniversary weekend event. Thanks for watching!

Friday photo: D-Day 75 years ago, enough said.

 Bolt Action D Day 75th Battle Prep; Update 3- Almost there!

The latest update, including the finished work so far! Join me as i talk you through some more tips & how i finish off my British Airborne in 28mm or 1/56 scale. Thanks for watching! As usual please Like, share and subscribe and leave your feedback. Thanks! Dan