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Sneak Peek: What's Behind the Curtain?

  • Yronimos Whateley

    The "Sneak Peek" feature of the weekly newsletter is my favorite part of WA's communications, and I thought it deserved a topic of its own, if nobody already started one (and I didn't see one if they did!)

    To start with, I just wanted to say that there's always exciting and cool stuff in the "Sneak Peek", but the render in this week's feature of a cow really put a smile on my face - I'm guessing it's a scenic accessory of some sort, but it's awesome, whatever it's for (and near as i can tell, it's almost certainly one of those SECRETS!) 

    What could it be?

    Death Cows for Death Fields?

    Death Cows for Death Fields!

     

    Seriously, I always enjoy these sorts of accessories - farm animals, wild animals, familiars, grave stones, haystacks, etc. - I put them to use all the time in role-playing gaming, and they seem like they would make great objectives, obstacles, etc. for skirmish and wargaming.

     

    Have you seen any previews lately that caught your eyes?

     

     

  • Grumpy Gnome

    Mrs. GG and I like the diorama aspect of our wargaming so we love seeing animals and small terrain accessories bundled into the kits.

    As for want caught my eye... I am curious what the tracks were for!

    Home of the Grumpy Gnome

    https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

  • BVD

    @Yronimos Whateley Farm set or ox cart would be my guess with the cow.

  • Yronimos Whateley

    I hadn't thoght of an ox-cart!  I havne't seen it all, but something tells me that might be a first in this scale, as I don't remember seeing one before.  The diorama aspect of gaming either way is fun :)

    That's a good question about the tracks!  I believe a robot-themed set ranked notably high in the polls WA ran several months ago - I thought some Sneak Peek renders of mechanical arms might have been for something like that, until I saw mechanical arms in the preview renders for Cannon Fodder II and the first Death Fields Accessory sprue; I suppose tracks for some sort of drone or robot might be a thing, but from what I remember of the screenshots, I get the impression that WA might be dabbling in some vehicle models - tracked sci-fi vehicles might be a logical next step after releasing that set of Death Fields heavy weapons.  Then again, I'm not very familiar with the Iron-Core line's history:  apparently it's an older line picked up by WA, which included mecha and vehicles, and I suppose might see more under WA? 

    But then, who knows what is planned for the historical lines?  Some tracked vehicles might suit the WWII line really well, and WWI gamers would surely welcome some of those great early tanks, too.  It'll be exciting to see what those tracks are for when WA unveils more!  :) 

     

    I was rather intrigued by an arm holding a coil of rope in one of the renders a number of weeks ago, and what seemed to be a shot of part of a figure in a suit, holding a cane - cowboys and gangsters, maybe?  Both sound like fun and cool ideas to me, as a pulp gamer with weird tastes, and I'm on the edge of my seat with suspense over what these sets might be!

     

  • GM

    I wonder if the cane is a mage?

  • Yronimos Whateley

    I think the cane was being held by someone in what looked like a civilian's suit from some time in the 20th century, so if a mage, it would be a modern one - which sounds like a cool idea to me! :)  That sneakpeak suggested some sort of civilian set, but anything's possible:  this company keeps us guessing, and keeps revealing some great surprises! 

     

    And with that, it looks like the Release Schedule has revealed some SECRETS!  :)

    • IronCore Valkir infantry is in tooling, 
    • A "Secret 3-Up Napoleonic Project" is in its "initial dolly work"
      • I'm guessing this is a set that would cover three different Napoleonic armies, but only Wargames Atlantic know for sure!
    • An "Alternate Scale Test"
      • I don't know what WA is planning here, but it sounds like they're experimenting with a new scale.  I wonder what they have up their sleeves?
    • And their WA's Moderns set! 
      • I seem to recall a glimpse of what looked like a Kalashnikov style rifle in one of the peeks behind the curtain, I wonder if that is part of this same modern set?  The AK-47 and its derivatives is surely one of the most commonly-deployed weapons in the world, so a modern set featuring this weapon might be coming from anywhere - militias from around the world, armies in the Mid-East, any of the former Soviet states and Soviet satellites, armies from across Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, etc.  Any modern set would be an exciting addition to WA's catalogue of great sets!

     

     

    Can't wait to see what the next newsletter reveals!  :)

     

  • Grumpy Gnome

    Pretty exciting stuff, particularly the moderns.

    Home of the Grumpy Gnome

    https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

  • GM

    I  would like the robots, drones, and the Alien style troopers shown, to be set in 156th, as with the modern set, game play would be off the scale,one of the guns viewed was like the Austrailians used in nam. Buy guys, our "Cat Dinky  needs is dad". 

  • BVD

    @Yronimos Whateley

    Sci-fi would be a logical first for vehicles yes, but I am pretty sure the tracks belong to an Italian L3/35 tankette from WW2 (the smaller of the two tanks here in the photo, the bigger already has 2 1/56 scale model kits in plastic on the market).

    .

  • Grumpy Gnome

    It is hard for me to get my head around such small tanks. Too much time with Bradleys and Abrams. 

    Home of the Grumpy Gnome

    https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/

  • Yronimos Whateley

    I'm a civilian and several inches over 6' tall, but in my limited experience, even larger tanks seem outlandishly crowded and cramped to me.  Those tiny tanks would make me look like the cartoon monster from one of those crazy old '70s Ed Roth drag-racer models :D

    The enemy:  "Quick, everyone - shoot at that big, goofy-looking doof with the head, shoulders, and knees poking out of that toy tank!"

    The military must surely be one of those situations, kind of like shopping for groceries or clothes, where it's much better to be a smaller, shorter guy:  much easier to hide in a foxhole, trench, tank, or pretty much anywhere, while the big idiots like me stand out like sore thumbs!  :D

    I think Brian's on the right track:  from what I remember of that preview image, it did look like a small vehicle, and seemed to me to probably be early 20th century technology; this sort of WWI/WWII era tiny tank looks like it would absolutely fit that description.

    My memory is really shaky on what the preview looked like now, but it might have been a match for the SD.KFZ-2, another one of those great old "everyone laugh at and shoot the tall guy inside" mobiles:

    It's difficult to imagine what role those little tracked vehicles could have filled, before the Germans started making bigger, meaner tanks.  They couldn't have provided much armor or cover, they couldn't have had a very good range with such a small engine and limited fuel efficiency and capacity, they could carry a small load only more slowly than a proper jeep or something....  I don't know for sure, but something tells me that the end of trench warfare, and the dawn of big tank guns, anti-tank mines and other anti-tank technology pretty much sounded the death-knell for that sort of little tank, dooming it to be replaced instead with either heavier, better-armored tanks and IFVs, or lighter, nimbler vehicles like Jeeps, Humvees and the like.

    Whatever the reason for the apparent obsolescence of this sort of thing, though, one thing is for sure:  they make some really cool miniature vehicles!

  • JTam

    The Kettenkrad was for logistics and could fufill just about every role that a jeep did (light tow, transport, casevac) but with far better off road mobility.

  • Yronimos Whateley

    It does look like it would have been fun for post-war off-roading, too - I imagine the people who got hold of surplus examples after the war must have really enjoyed it, or at least put them to hard work on European farms doing the sort of work that tractors, pickup trucks, and ATVs are used for in rural USA today.

  • BVD

    @Yronimos Whateley @JTam For bit I thought it might be a Kettenkrad too except for SciFi gaming (Raumjager stuff), but some helpful person on FB showed me some L3/35 pic with the treads more in focus like this:

     

    Here was what was tread preveiwed:

    To my knowledge it’s the only tank/tankette/treaded thing series with treads like that and the big wheel is the same.   It was used a lot during WW2 and the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. They are very light weight and seem to fill the same role for the Italians as the universal carrier did for the WW2 British and their allies. The so called  "cavalry torso" pretty much confirms it since it looks more like a crewmen torso collar wise, the only way I would be more certain besides WA revealing the whole thing out right,  is if they put up some Anzio Academy’s tankry club girls renders (and they probably never will do that thanks to IP laws😆).

  • JTam

    LOL.  Awesome:

  • JTam

    I know this will get some worked up, but I hope WGA produces their vehicles in 1/48 or 1/50th.

    1.  1/48 or 1/50 is a much better match for today's "28mm" plastics.  Have you noticed the little tank commander that comes with your 1/56th kit is a midget compared to your dismounts?  That's because he needs to be to fit in your too small 1/56th tank.

    (1/48 is a popular armor and of course aircraft scale. 1/50 is a popular diecast tank scale.  In practice you really can't tell them apart.)

    2. Everybody and their brother make plastic and/or resin 1/56th kits.  The market is flooded. There's only one or two guys making resin gaming models in God's scale (1/48). 

     

     

  • MH

    @JTam  

    JTam,

    There are quite a few makers of 1/48th scale armored vehicles out there.Tamiya makes an entire line of plastic 1/48th scale WW2 armored vehicles,along with a few more modern vehicles. Suyata make a few 1/48th scale vehicles also, as do Mir models, and UM models. 

    You could even look on E-Bay, and find vintage kits such as those that were made by Bandai, Frog, Arii, Zhengdefu, Kitech, Aoshima, Fujimi, AFV Club and Monogram. There are even a few more manufactures that I can't remember off the top of my head.Even older Aurora kits are being re-issued by Atlantis.

     There are only three companies that make 1/56th scale plastic kits, Italeri, Warlord and Rubicon.

  • BVD

    @JTam @Mark Hoffman 

    1/50 is probably what Historical 28mm scale should be label as and have vehicles made in given that is what one the online 3D print shops I came across started doing after a while (and I do not just mean for stuff "nowadays"), but I am good with 1/56 scale and I have meet plenty of folks that swear by it for wargaming.  I actually have a growing motor pool of 1/56-1/48 scale vehicles I am planning on using for diesel fantasy gaming at the same time and would love to add this in.

     What I am really hoping for (which is likely in vain) is that they do them as a one sprue vehicles so there is more than one per box.

  • Yronimos Whateley

    AHA - that L3/35 does look like a pretty good match for what's in those preview shots - what a cool little vehicle, I've never seen one before!

    And those preview shots reveal why I was thinking of robots when I saw the tracks:  I forgot there's what looks like a robot foot in the same preview shot.

    I'm not sure what else i'm seeing in those previews - is that a samurai's foot?  One of the torsoes looks like it's probably Napoleonic, and I suppose the other is a driver for the vehicle, as Brian suggests - or maybe I've got that backwards; the chest with the heavy harnesses might otherwise look kind of sci-fi or something???

     

    For the model scales, I think I agree with @JTam on 1/48 scale:  I've had a couple folks say 1/48 looks too big to them, but from what I've seen in side-by-side shots with 28mm infantry on bases, 1/48 looks about right to me.

    I take it 1/56 is the same height as 28mm on paper, but in practice, scale creep* and sculpting proportions tend to make the characters as wide as 1/48 figures, while the bases add a little extra height to figures, compared to unbased vehicles.  1/50 is probably even more accurate, but from what I've seen of the side-by-sides, the different between 1/48 and 1/50 isn't very big.

    * Regarding scale creep, a modern "28mm" is often closer to 30mm or more - up to 35mm for many "28mm" RPG minis!  Some 28mm wargaming figures - especially older ones - might be closer to an "actual 28mm" (whatever that means), but it varies by manufacturer.

    Tamiya and other plastic model manufacturers do make some great 1/48 scale armor, but not a lot, and I think WWII gamers are in better luck at that scale than those of us gaming in, say, WWI, Cold War, modern, or near-future settings! 

    I wonder if some wargames mini manufacturers might be able to kick some of the traditional scale model manufacturers in the pants, and partner up to produce some quick-and-easy armor model kits for other eras in any of these scales?  (1/48 certainly seems like an industry standard for scale model kit manufacturers, and the path of least resistance for such a partnership, but I'd be happy to "settle" for 1/56, 1/50, or anything else close to 28mm scale, if that's what it takes to get the ball rolling....)

    For my part, I've seen pictures of 1/48 and 1/56 Shermans next to each other, and the difference is noticeable, but more than close enough that I'd be fine with either, or a a mix of both at the same time, or (more likely) whichever is most affordable to me or at least most available/practical :D

    A diesel fantasy game sounds like a blast!

  • SS

    Could be a mixed Kit with every Variant of the L3/33 / L3/35 Takette.

  • JTam

    @Mark Hoffman 

    Good point about all the armor models in 1/48.  That being said they are model kits, not miniatures kits if that makes sense.  The pleasure is supposed to be in the building and there are 100s of pieces to clean and assemble as opposed to dozens.  The final product is usually too frail for the gaming table as well.  Your mileage may vary.  The older kits you mentioned tend to be simpler and stronger. I just picked up an Aurora 1/48 M46 the other day at Hobby Lobby (40% off) and it's pretty simple and robust.  On the other end of the spectrum I picked up a Russian or Ukrainian (can't remember off hand) made 1/48 GAZ truck kit that had dozens of pieces for just the front suspension.  Would have been too fragile for the gaming table and I gave up in it.

    The Corgi diecast tanks in 1/50th are really nice and feature paint jobs at least as good as I can do.  The Solido 1/50 diecast tanks are OK if you can live with the tracks (I just add lots of mud).  The New Millennium 1/50 diecast tanks are actually mostly plastic but they are OK.  

  • BVD

    @Yronimos Whateley No, the torso I was refering to as a tank crewman was not in any of the pics, its in this one to the far right:

     As to the rapped foot in the other photo I am fairly sure it is not Samurai or anything Japanese. In fact for a long while I thought it wasn't even Asian but Dark Age Europeans, though honestly it could WW2/interwar Chinese troops which might be the closest it is to anything given the shoe laces/straps.

  • JTam

    This morning 14 JAN 22:

    What!!!!!  Could it be:

     

  • Yronimos Whateley

    My eyes deceive me quite frequently, but da!  I do think it could be, comrade!

    And, are those Mongol recurve bows?

  • JTam

    Was looking through my WW1 Russian reference last night.....  

    And my conclusion is that the most important thing is for the Officer heads to have super dapper mustaches.

  • Yronimos Whateley

    I get the impression that dapper musaches were the key to success in aristrocratic military careers around the world at roughly the same time - one can't help suspecting that the rank-and-file Russians in WWI could have quite appreciated many Monty Ptyhon military sketches....

  • Steven StGeorges

    @Yronimos Whateley 

    ... are you trying to summon the Spanish Inquisition over here? 😄

  • JTam

    The sneak peak from 21 JAN 22.

    Could be Japanese Infantry from the Boxer Rebellion/Russo-Japanese War era.

    I remember many months back there was a sneak peak with what looked like a Japanese model 98 canteen.

     

     

  • Berggeit

    Early 20th Century Japanese are being sculpted according to the release schedule

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninetynineprojects1/
    Blog: https://ninety-nine-projects.blogspot.com/

  • JTam

    @Berggeit  

    Boom!

  • SS

    Those uniforms were used from 1886 to 1908/1911, from 1905 they used Khaki instead of dark blue. 1908 there were new Uniforms introduced which looks mostly identical only to get replaced in 1911 again.

  • GM

    If they are thinking about "Nam" could the Tank be an Ontos?

  • JTam

    @Geoff Maybury 

    The sneak peak "tank"?

    Probably not.  That's a solid roadwheel/idler versus the spoked ones on the Ontos:

    Sidenote:  I can't think of worse vehicle to deploy to Vietnam.  Poor armor (while being used in constricted, close terrain), extreme vulnerability to land mines, inability to reload under armor.  Brave men crewed that thing.

     

     

  • JTam

    Sneak Peak 28 JAN 22.

    The wolf (werewolf?) is pretty exciting.

    The ammo pouches on the running figure look vaguely Japanese.  But I can't place the double "bed roll."  Anyone more knowledgeable?

     

  • Christopher Tyrer

    @JTam  WW1 Serbs..? I do hope so!

  • JTam

    @Christopher Tyrer 

    Hmmmh. It's possible.

    Key identifying features on the running figure.  

    1. Putees.  (Although that's 90% the personnel in WW1.)

    2. Double rifle pouches worn in front.  (More widespread in WW1 than I thought.  WW2 is more my area and in WW2 it was a pretty rare set up.)

    3. Open buckle on webbing belt.  (This actually narrows it down a lot.  Generally eliminates the Germans and Russians for example.)

    4.  Standing collar on single breasted coat.  (Generally eliminates the French as they loved that great coat.)  

    5.  The twin "bed rolls" or similar crisscrossing the body.

    Serb Soldiers:

    Putees - check.  Double rifle pouches at front on open buckle belt - check.  (Although the pouches look a bit different).  Single breasted tunic with standing collar - check.  Double "bed rolls" - half a check.

    This is of course assuming the figure is from WW1.  If he's from the 1800's all bets are off.  

    Might be the Russo-Japanese War/Boxer Rebellion Japanese WGA is working on. Did the Japanese do double bedrolls at that time?  I only see one in photos.  Also they seemed to be on team gaiters at the time.   (How you go from gaiters (1800s) to putees (WW1) is a little strange to me.)

  • JTam

    The best match for the rifle pouches I can find is the Japanese:

  • JTam

    Wild card:

    Russian troops equipped by the French in the Balkans and France.  (This seems a little esoteric even for WGA).   

     

    Or maybe the double "bed roll" is in fact a hood:

    Nothing else matches though....

     

    I take it back, these ammo pouches are an even better match:

    Greek Soldier.  Wrong collar and no putees though.  

     

     

  • SS

    @JTam  

    The feet at the left side seems to be from Warrning States Period chinese.

  • JTam

    @Steffen Seitter 

    Ah.  Nice!

    I should have recognized that.  Need to brush up on my Chinese history.  Off to watch the documentary Jet Li's Hero for the fourth time.

  • JTam

    Friday's Sneak Peak from 4 FEB 22.

     

  • JTam

  • JTam

    Thay settles that:

    https://wargamesatlantic.com/blogs/news/new-set-announcement-early-20th-century-japanese

  • AM

    The latest teaser looks like a clear match with some Russo-Japanese War or WW1 Russians. The head that was teased earlier has the visor and cockade placed on the brim rather than the crown, but the set may very well have both visored and visorless heads. Either style works for both conflicts, though the visor was more common in WW1 and the visorless in the RJW.

  • JTam

    @Aureus Mandate 

    Nice work.

  • SS

    Those bodies are surely "20th Century" russians.

    The "gymnastyorka" was the common smock of the imperial russian Army and uniforms and equipment of the common soldier didn't change much between 1878 and 1917.

    Timeline of the use of the gymnastyorka uniform  in russian/soviet armies:

    1870 - Introduction of the "proto-gymnastyorka" for soldiers in "Turkestan"

    1878 - Indroduction of the gymnastyorka as "summer tunic" in white (M1877)

    1904 - Change to Khaki (M1904)

    1907 - Change to "light Khaki" (greenish Kahki) (M1907)

    1917 - New gymnastyorka by the bolsheviki (taller collar) (M17)

    1924 - Shoulder straps were abolished (M17/24)

    1935 - Reintroduction of personal ranks (M35)

    1941 - Abolish of colorful rank collar tabs (M35/41)

    1943 - Reintroduction of "Tsarist" stand collar and shoulder-boards (M43)

    1969 - Abolish of the gymnastyorka

  • JW

    Russian or not, the torsos seem perfect for Jedi or similar sci-fi characters.

  • AM

    @Steffen Seitter 20th century would be pushing it, but I think a set like this could comfortably cover the time line from 1891-1922. 

    Any earlier than that, and the Mosin rifle they're definitely equipped with is anachronistic. Any later, and the White Russians the kit could be used for don't exist any longer, and the Red Army uniform of the late RCW and 1920s is MUCH different than what's portrayed here.

    I'm sure this kit will likely be very useful to represent Reds for most of the Russian Civil War, as it would just require you to shave off the shoulderboards and cockade, but it wouldn't work for the late uniform that included items like the "pixie hat" Budyennovka or the tunics that introduced a fold-down collar and wide, coloured bands in the chest area. 

    The kit could maybe have some use for the Red Army after 1943, in a similar way that the WW1 French kit can be used for WW2, as all it would require is a separate sprue with some PPSh submachine guns, maybe a DP machine gun or anti-tank rifle, and Soviet style pilotka garrison gaps and SSh-40 steel helmets. I don't think it's likely however, as it is a big jump in period and the body that they would include for a pre-Soviet officer (which has been teased) wouldn't work at all for 1943. 

  • JTam

    @Aureus Mandate 

    As you said it COULD cover 1943 on up Soviet Infantry.  The result would be suboptimal though.  It wouldn't look terrible, but the devil is in the details.  The WW1 boots are too high, too tight, and too soft/supple. The WW1 belt is a closed buckle, WW2 should be open.  The magazine pouches aren't really right either.  The WW1 what is that, a bread bag? isn't a terrible match for a WW2 gas mask bag (largely used like a bread bag) but it's not great.

  • Yronimos Whateley

    Jan 28

    Feb 4

    Feb 11

     

    I'm mostly sure we've got a sneak-peak of a warg in the Jan 8 picture, and I THINK that's a Vietnam-era US A.L.I.C.E. pack in the Feb 11 picture. 

    I think the case looks pretty solid for the one guy with the dashing mustache being a Russian officer and the guys in the smocks being Russian soldiers, but I couldn't guess at any of the soldiers this time!  :)

     

     

     

     

     

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