British QF 2-pdr Anti-Tank Gun

This is one of Zvesda's Art of Tactic kits. I can't remember exactly when or why exactly I picked it up, but it was certainly only around €3 or €4. This is the 2lb (that's 40mm in new money) anti-tank gun that the British Expeditionary Force took to France at the outbreak of the war.

Regular readers will not doubt be bored stiff with this, but Zvesda have yet again produced an excellent, cleanly cast kit in glueable hard plastic.  The detail is fine, the construction relatively rugged considering the slender nature of the model and the price is right - there is a lot to like here.

Just about the only bad thing I can say about this kit is that it is snap together.  All the parts just click into place without any need for glue.  This does mean that if you try and put the kit together dry, just to test things out in the hope of taking it apart and gluing it for safety, you won't be able to. The fit is just that good. This created some problems for me as the gun carriage is quite slim and delicate and I wasn't able to get the good fit I was hoping for.  The trunnions and tube sit atop a turntable arrangement, which then sits on top of the carriage. I unfortunately had already pushed the carriage down into the base. I managed to get the turntable on top to fit in - sort of - but wasn't able to give it the kind of pressure that was needed for a really snug fit. I ended up lashing some liquid poly in there just to be sure. 

Forward thinking types could avoid this particular difficulty, but fixing the carriage to the plate last, which would leave you plenty of space to make a proper job of squishing the parts together.

So there you have it, a slim, beautiful little piece of work for pocket money prices.  Well done Zvesda I say. I will be painting mine up in Early War livery and I suspect it will be doing duty both in the Low Countries and during the VBCW. 

Art of Tactic Napoleonic

The only image I can find relating to Art of Tactic Napoleonic

I've been regarding Zvesda's recent output with a great deal of interest. They are the Rolls Royce of 1/72 plastics in my opinion and they have never failed to produce good stuff. I've been disappointed by their decision in recent years to shift away from big boxs of toy soldiers to smaller boxes aimed at the board game market, but you can't blame a fellow for making a living. 

Their Art of Tactic stable of games covers Samurai Warfare, the Second World War and a hypothetical World War Three. But what has really sparked my interest is the news that they will be releasing a Napoleonic version. I don't think I'll be changing games anytime soon, but Zvesda will be releasing figures for this game in their Art of Tactic boxes. These are small, containing at most half a dozen figures and cost about 2.95, but they are lovely. 

I imagine they will be working on the 1812 campaign with a view to the domestic Russian market, but I wouldn't mind paying over the odds for a few specialist figures particularly if they were of the gem like beauty that characterises most Zvesda releases. 

I'd certainly be interested in some Zvesda produced Russian horse artillery, but at present (stolen from plastic soldier review.com), the releases will be as follows. 

Art of Tactic Napoleonic 

• 6808 - Russian Line Infantry
• 6809 - French Foot Artillery
• 6810 - Russian Foot Artillery
• 6811 - Russian Dragoons
• 6812 - French Dragoons
• 6815 - Russian Infantry Command
• 6816 - French Infantry Command
• 6817 - Russian Dragoons Command
• 6818 - French Dragoons Command

Ultima Ratio Regna

As I said previously, there's been precious little wargaming going on in the Kinch household of late. I'm still emptying the war room, though the wood is now ordered and will be delivered next week.

However, the Russians are coming and I've been doing my best to be prepared. I've been reading Digby Smiths' book on Borodino, which while well written makes for awful reading.  Perhaps I've been reading too much about the Duke and he was not without his faults, but he was commendably abstemious with life when he could manage it.  Borodino reminds one of a small boy crashing toy cars together for the fun of it.

With that in mind, allow me to present some gentlemen of the Russian foot artillery. These are Zvesda figures, painted by Krisztian Takacs of Budapest, and very beautiful they are too.

The Russian artillery was in poor shape at the beginning of the Napoleonic wars - but was reformed under the ultra-conservative General Arakeev. Arakeev was a martinet who frequently used his professional position to pursue personal vendettas, but he introduced standardised calibres and other reforms into the Russian artillery which made it very formidable indeed.

Once my MDF bases from Products for Wargamers arrive I'll get these chaps based up, but until then they'll have to carry on living in a box. These pictures were actually taken by Krisztian, who sent them on to me a few weeks ago. Stealing other men's glory, what!

The last thing many Frenchmen ever see.

I am blown away by how fine the detail on the Zvesda figures is and the fine job K did bringing it out. I think it's also rather fine how well the crew fit together, there is a definite sense of what is occurring here, rather than the old ESCI standing around with a bucket looking decorative situation.

In the Russian service, guns were served by a team of gunners split into two parts, the cannoneers (or gunners proper) and the "long arms", chaps who brought a strong back, but little else to the job.

Of the cannoneers, there were four.

No. 1 carried the swab.
No. 2 carried the charge.
No. 3 carried the slow match.
No. 4 carried the tube pouch and prickers.

I'll leave you with some up close pictures of the gun crew.

Zvezda European Thatched Country House 1/72

A view of the house, please forgive the rather poor light.

It's been pouring down here of late, much more of this and

it'll be collect two of every animal and build a big boat time.

(as always click to embiggen)

Another sample of Boomers good work. This is the Zvesda 1/72 scale cottage or as they call it European Thatched Country house. This seems fair as I can't imagine this particular structure in the British isles or even France, there's definitely something of Mitteleurope about it.

A side view, I think Boomer did a rather good job on the paintwork

(as always click to embiggen)

I picked the kit up from a local model shop. I think I paid somewhere in the region of €12 for it, but it retrospect it was a poor choice. That's quite a bit for a plastic kit and while it is nice, I know Boomer almost had a nervous breakdown putting it together. Each wall is made up of smaller sections which need to be glued together and then assembled. I can see no sensible reason this should be so, particularly when Italeri and Pegasus have produced such excellent plastic buildings without this particular feature. While the model maker does not actually have to build the place brick by brick, it's not far off it.

A view of the interior. Not the subsections.

(as always click to embiggen)

Unfortunately the building is just a little bit too small to fit an infantry unit inside, but it does fit in a hex relatively well. I've used it in Spain, mainly because I'm a hack who has little regard for verisimilitude - but I shall attempt to rectify this grievous error and use the more Iberian looking Italeri buildings in future.

Appealing to the floor - where do you expect to find this building?

In short, a nice building and Boomer did a very good job on it, but not to be recommended.