Category: News / Resources / Reviews

The Impact of Terrain in North Africa 1940-43

From Tobruk to Tunis: The Impact of Terrain on British operations and Doctrine in North Africa, 1940-43 is a new book by Neal Dando, published just recently by Helion & Co. The author/publisher states “This book focuses on the extent to which the physical terrain features across Egypt, Libya and Tunisia affected British operations throughout the campaign in North Africa during the Second World War. One main theme of the work analyses the terrain from the operational and tactical perspective and argues that the landscape features heavily influenced British operations and should now be considered alongside other standard military factors.“

Continue reading “The Impact of Terrain in North Africa 1940-43”

Interesting Look Behind World Of Tanks

For those interested there is an interesting little peak behind Wargaming.net who are the hosts of World of Tanks and other on-line games (World of Warplanes/World of Warships), talking about how they manage their massive game & player databases using Oracle and providing an insight into just how many people play these types of games…. Continue reading “Interesting Look Behind World Of Tanks”

Valdemar Miniatures

I was recently contacted by Valdemar Miniatures – and looking at their website they look to have a pretty stunning series of products. Including 3D Printed ships suitable for Viking Longships and small Medieval Cogs. They describe their figures as 25mm (1/72nd) so they may or may not be a tad smaller than other 28mm manufacturers like the Perrys, Foundry, Artizan, etc. However they produce two ranges of medieval figures, one which is their premium range, what they call “Museum Quality”. Continue reading “Valdemar Miniatures”

Waterloo 200th Anniversary (3)

Following on from our previous Wellington & Auckland refight posts, on Saturday 21 June a third Waterloo Re-fight happened in New Zealand – at the Christchurch Wargaming Club, in 28mm using General de Brigade rules rather than Blackpowder that had been used in the previous 28mm scale Waterloo refight in Wellington. Continue reading “Waterloo 200th Anniversary (3)”

Waterloo 200th Anniversary (2)

Continuing on from Waterloo 200th Anniversary (1) the second re-fight was staged by our own Auckland Wargaming Club, here in Auckland on the 21 June 2015. The game was played in 6mm scale using Sam Mustafa’s ‘Grand Armee’ rules to facilitate the more sweeping view of the battle and assist in reducing the workload of producing the troops for the battle (there were still over 5,000 figures, in 1/300th scale, painted especially for this refight by several of the club’s members). Continue reading “Waterloo 200th Anniversary (2)”

Waterloo 200th Anniversary (1)

The 18 June 2015 is the 200th Anniversary of Waterloo, the battle – that along with Wavre on the same day – saw the final defeat of Napoleon and ushered in the ’50 years of peace’. Here in New Zealand there’s a couple of historical refights taking place to commemorate the battle. First up in Wellington on Saturday & Sunday 13-14 June there was a large 28mm scale re-fight at the Wellesley Club, then following on from that there was another 28mm refight at the Christchurch Wargaming Club on Saturday & Sunday 20-21 June, and our own re-fight here in Auckland, at the Auckland Wargaming Club, in 6mm scale on Sunday 21 June. Continue reading “Waterloo 200th Anniversary (1)”

Peter Jackson’s Gallipoli 1915 Exhibit

Over the past months over 100 New Zealand wargamers have been painting 5,000 miniature soldiers for a huge diorama of the Battle of Chunuk Bair for the forthcoming The Great War Exhibition in Wellington. This is part of an ANZAC commemorative project put together by Sir Peter Jackson who has over the past years commissioned the Perry Brothers to sculpt and cast the 54mm scale figures for this. In 2015 a large posse of New Zealand Wargamers were then recruited to paint this huge mountain of lead in time for the ANZAC Day 2015 (25 April) commemorations. Continue reading “Peter Jackson’s Gallipoli 1915 Exhibit”

‘Lest We Forget’ Exhibit Papatoetoe

I previously posted about Nick Papadopoulos quest for 1/72 scale figures & human volunteers to help complete ANZAC Day 2015 exhibits he was working on – Nick managed to get the figures he needed and with some hard work complete his dioramas. Continue reading “‘Lest We Forget’ Exhibit Papatoetoe”

WW1 Vehicle Parade

In Wellington today they held a WW1 commemorative parade in recognition of ANZAC Day (25 April). Present were 13 authentic vintage WW1 vehicles from the private collection of Sir Peter Jackson, as well as horse drawn artillery & ordnance, actors and re-enactors in period uniform, and more… Continue reading “WW1 Vehicle Parade”

Duty And Daring

It was a devastating battle, leaving several French and Spanish ships struggling to remain afloat. Proserpine (a 36-gun Frigate) was not involved in the battle, having been on picket duty nearby. Now having arrived at the scene of the battle to deal with it’s aftermath, Capitaine de corvette Cyrille Léopold Villeneuve (Proserpine’s commander) has been ordered by the fleet commander to assist the 3rd Rate, Commerce de Bordeaux, that has been damaged in the fight. The ship has suffered severe damage to masts, rigging, hull and rudder, and has no surviving ship’s boats. It’s officers and men have taken heavy casualties, have lost their captain, and jury rigged sails and rudder have proved inadequate for her to navigate on her own. The wind and tides are are driving the ship perilously close to reefs and shoals off the enemy coast. Proserpine must get to the Commerce de Bordeaux, take it in tow, and make her way to safer waters before the stricken 3rd Rate falls victim to the rocks or enemy vessels! Continue reading “Duty And Daring”

Urgently Wanted: 1/72 HäT WW1 Figures

Nick Papadopoulos of Papatoetoe in Auckland is currently in the process of mustering 1/72nd scale figures to produce two dioramas to display on behalf of the Papatoetoe Historical Society for the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landings. The dioramas will be a ‘Gallipoli Battle Scene‘ and ‘A Generic Western Front Trench Scene‘. To make these dioramas Nick is utilising HäT WW1 Figures – HOWEVER HäT are out of stock of some key packs so Nick needs help! He’s also looking for people to help him get the project completed as soon as possible (I presume by 25 April 2015)! Continue reading “Urgently Wanted: 1/72 HäT WW1 Figures”

Our Ships Were French Oak And Hearts of Oak Our Men

Contre-amiral Thierry Victore’s ad-hoc squadron has been in pursuit of an enemy Royal Navy ship heading towards the safety of its waters. Aboard the ship was a passenger carrying vital intelligence of great importance to The Directoire. Capitaine Géroux’s mission was to prevent that passenger from reaching the enemy shore, and if possible, to capture him. However during the night fog enveloped both ships, potentially allowing the prey to escape, but as night gave way to day the fog started to lift… When all became clear, Géroux found himself within firing range of the enemy. Dryade was in a position to wreak havoc upon the enemy ship but failed. In the process Capitaine Géroux was unable to sink or capture the english ship nor capture the passenger and gain the critical intelligence. Unable to make clear plans following the disaster poster le brouillard Amiral Victore has dispatched a ship to observe each of the likely ports the enemy vessel has temporarily taken shelter in. Continue reading “Our Ships Were French Oak And Hearts of Oak Our Men”