2023 May Digital Releases


  • May's theme is "Seadogs!"

    WGA promises to drop loads of Seamen on us all May:



  • I had some thoughts for a Seamen theme here:

    https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/85084/monthly-themes

     


  • I'm very excited for the Sea Peoples:

    I kid.  I recently purchased quite a few of Lucid Eyes beautiful Sea Peoples miniatures.  A good Sea People STL will nicely compliment WGA's upcoming Trojan Chariot.


  • Actually for this theme, as intresting as those suggestions are I think  late 19th to early 20th century Tramp Freighter crewmen  might be the go to subject  for either Imperial Conquests, Greatwar or World ablaze (maybe even just in General Accuterments) considering all the asks for "pulp hero" that keep arguing that you can't just use Partisians for them (not going to lie I think one can do a crew out of the Partisans with the right paint job and hat headswaps, but it is an argueing point and at least we have a chance of getting a proper earringed Corto🤣).


  • @Brian Van De Walker A good idea, also if there's this figure:

    https://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=11817

    I've it and it's very lovely


  • First sneak peak for May:

     


  • @JTam Plastic Pirates at decent WGA prices would be a real winner! They could even make them a Death Fields variant too - everybody loves Space Pirates!

    The trouble with WGA is they keep putting out these great looking concepts and digital files, but the plastic versions take way too long to appear. It is like dangling a juicy steak in front of a hungry man then telling him he can have it next year (maybe!).


  • @Paul Mitting Well that’s typical of most companies,  in fact I would say WA is a lot quicker than most and maybe going a little too fast with some of their projects. Perry's had previews of both their FPW French and Prussian at the same time back in 2020 , then I think they released their Prussians in either in 2020 or 2021 they only just released their FPW French like last month (3 years from Preveiw). Warlord advertised taking over Progloria's Landsknecht KS then took years to get anything out in plastic for them, Victrix had previews of WW1 British back at the start of the WW1 anniversary that if still planned are still not released😆. War game plastic sets seem to take years to make generally, though that might be a past tense issue.



  • New update today 11 May:

     

    Not immediately useful to me... But beautifully sculpted.


  • Maybe the next time WGA does the Seamen theme they can do "Sinbad and friends" to compliment the WGA plastic skeletons.


  • @Paul Mitting I`ve not ordered any thing else digital  due to the nil result with the robots, and scale issues with other items. I know it takes a long while to sort the plastic. But just lately, whilst looking at other printed items, I have been amazed that whilst we have been repeatedly asking for civilians one manufacturerhas actually chosen to do 4 x sets of 10 giving 40 superb miniatures. Sadly they have chosen to print them 32 -35 mm tall.


  • @JTam A Sinbad-like set would be awesome, with either male and female figures (or better, two separate sets, as for frostgrave's), naturally they could be compatible with other brands.


  • @JTam Hmm, we already have those from North Star:


  • @Caratacus 

    Not an STL.  


  • The "82nd Airborne" just dropped.

    An awesome bonus set for MAY/FEB.

    Overall these look amazing.

    The belts and suspenders are corrected over the first renders which is awesome.

    There is one notable error:  This set should be called American Airborne or 101st Airborne.  The mohawks were done by the 101st.  

    Nitpicks:

    No M1 Garands.  Infantry need Garands.  Maybe there will be an expansion set.  All the weapons are M1 carbines.  Usually issued to engineers, RTOs, and the like.  Uncommon in an Infantry Platoon.  

    Full stock M1 carbines.  I need to do more research.  I'm sure there were some floating around the Airborne on D-Day but they had to be rare on the ground.  

    Helmet with no nets.  Uncommon with the Airborne.  

    Helmets with the aid dressing on the front.  I've never seen it with the M42 uniform.  The dressing on the helmet was more of a Market Garden/M43 thing.  That being said it's super iconic and rule of cool probably should win here.

     


  • Polish Uhlans dropped as well:

    Another great set.  Really nice subject matter and sculpting.

    It would be great to see this translated into plastic at some point.  WGA seems to be leading the way in "Blitzkrieg Era" plastic kits right now.  This would be a valuable add to that.  

    It's worth noting there are zero WW1 or WW2 plastic cavalry kits.  Any "modern" plastic cavalry kit would be welcome for WW1, WW2, modern, and sci-fi converting.

    Nitpick:

    The helmets appear to have the wrong shape.  

    Note the upward V shape on the side of the helmet here:

    Here's an actual Adrian:

    The bottom rim of the side is flat to just slightly upward curved at the front and back.  Making if anything a downward pointing V on the side.

    EDIT:  This belongs in APR but I'm currently to lazy to move it.


  • There was a sneak peak today (15 MAY 23) today as well.  

    There was renders of some nice looking generic pirates:

    Urge to drink rum intensifies.

    An armored Turkish admiral:

    Looks boss.

    And a Slann, I mean Space Frog:


  • @JTam In the case of the Sinbad crew, we don't need an STL when there is already a good plastic kit for the subject in question.


  • @Caratacus 

    This is the same as saying we don't need a plastic kit, there's already nice metals.


  • Has anyone noticed that the buckles of the belts and baldrics are mounted the wrong way, upside-down ? Strange effect.


  • @JTam Not really, given that plastic is superior to both metals and 3D-prints in terms of kit-bashability, customisation, ease of assembly, quality of sculpting... need I go on?


  • @Caratacus 

    Metals are usually superior to plastics in poses, flow, and certainly durability.   

    STLs and printing are at least equal to plastics in "kit bashability, (and) customization."  And superior to plastics in cost by an exponential factor.  

    Any reasonable person would admit all the materials have their pros and cons.  

    After that you're just trolling.

     


  • More sneak peak of the Death Fields aquatic aliens (17 MAY 13):

    Fun.


  • We have Mr Toad, all we need is the rest of the cast from Wind in the Willows!


  • @JTam interesting minis, all we need now it's a "bubble" helmet, as seen on Bombshell's sci-fi figures.


  • TOADS IN BATTLE ARMOR! I adore these guys! I'm going to have to kit bash some shoulder missles for the battletech reference.

    I primarily like Death Fields for the sci-fi meets history,  but WGA aliens have been really great so far.


  • @Red Bee 

    There are toads in Battletech?

    (My knowledge of Battletech is fairly superficial).


  • @JTam Your remarkablly wrong on  "durability"  when it comes to metals (own a ton of diffrent metals breakage is still a worry and unlike plastic not as easy to fix). Also the FB group are calling them Battletoads because of them looking a little like updated character designs of certian a  Video game franchise.


  • @Brian Van De Walker 

    LOL.  Have no idea what you're doing to your minis.  Giant post-apocalyptic radioactive cockroaches will be able to play with my none the worse for wear metal minis.

    Spearmen exempted.  But spearmen are vulnerable in all mediums:

    https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/84783/metalwire-weapons

     


  • Hello,

    this is my first post in this forum :)

    I'm a participant of the Tribe over at mmf and I have to say that I'm totally excited! 
    My question: Is it possible to add some more heads with helmets with nets to the 82nd US Airborn set? They can have the same faces that are already there for all I care, just that there are a few more helmets with nets without that pack on the front. That would be really cool! :)
    I wish you continued success with your cool designs!


  • @Chris R 

    Yes, the drawback to the set is that if you're being historically accurate there is ONE usable head.  


  • @JTam Elemental Battle armor is nicknamed  Toads since when the Clans first invaded the sphereoids had never seen Battle armor, or self healing armor that hopped around,so they spread rumors that the mysterious invaders were toad aliens.


  • Friday's Sneak Peak Email seems to show an underslung grenade launcher for the battletoads:


  • @JTam LOL I buy off ebay alot and sometimes damage to metal minis happens just from its time in shipping. Not every metal model is Taget Games sturdy like your minis (even among Target Games models). Metal can warp, a lot of metals have bendy weapons that can break from metal fatgue (I have had bows, swords, and axes that get bendy which means they can break if they fall of the tabel the wrong way or re adjusted too much, so its not just a spearmen issue).  Notice the the thin weapon parts, those can break from falling off a tabel and hitting the right spot, and the one in the center already had the broken staff when I got it and whats more seemed to have been a chronic issue:

     

    Oh and then there is glue togethers metal models.

     

     


  • Battle Toads dropped:

    They look really good for what they are.

    I really like the weapons:

    Does anyone else find frogs with teeth disconcerting?

     

    Where we are at 23 MAY 23:


  • @Chris R 

    Possibly one could add scrim to the bare helmets?

    https://youtu.be/vdj1a8Irgu4

    http://peterw3169.blogspot.com/2013/11/ww2-in-28mm-156th-scale-british_7.html?m=1

    Many of the Airborne guys had well scrimmed helmets on D-Day.

    I did find ONE picture of a 101st Soldier in Normandy with a bare helmet:

    But again this was rare.  It's also distinctly possible he had a helmet net on D-Day but lost it in the days following.  The GI net just kind of gets wedged in-between the helmet and the liner.....  If you're using the steel pot for washing or crapping in than the net is a pain to put back on each time.  

    EDIT:  I think he's just wearing the helmet liner in the picture.  So he probably had a net on his helmet.


  • I agree with you, my Friend : the 2nd man is just wearing the liner.

    If we look at the front, we see two "holes" (a perforation and a fastener), which are characteristic of the liner. The steel pot had none.

     


  • @JTam The Battle Toads look amazing! They will be a brilliant new DF team but I can see them being great for all the other Sci-Fi themed skirmish games too. Another kit that needs to get into plastic ASAP!


  • @JTam By all means! But at the moment it would be enough for me if next to the head with the helmet with net there was just another head with helmet with net without a screaming face. What I particularly like about the set is that you could also use it to represent other troops / conflicts. For example, with the uniform, the helmet with net and the carbines, you could also depict French troops in the Indochina war. The M1 helmet has simply been used a lot. Wargames Atlantic could really do the hobby a lot of good (similar to their plastic sets) with a generous number and variation of M1 heads / helmets! 


  • @Chris R Effectively the M1 was. 'til the '80s, one of the most widespread military item in the world, not only in its metal. original form, I saw iraquis soldiers with ballistic plastic hemets from S. Korea's makers (Iran-Iraqui war), and pratically every S.America's army had it.


  • The Turkish Admiral, Pirates, and Saxon conversion parts have hit.  

    Cool previews of the Sea People, WW2 US Navy, and Masters and Commanders posted as well.  

    All great looking sets.

    There's a hint on the WW1 set as well:

    Very cool.

     

    Reference the WW2 set.  

    1.  Hopefully they are saving Soviet Naval Infantry for later.

    2.  If they chucked a few 1903 Springfields in the set you could use these minis for several decades pre-WW2 as well. 

    Maybe the arms from the WW1 German Seamen will work on the WW2 US Navy and that will get you there if you squint your eyes. They are both "Mauser" rifles in the end.

    EDIT: 

    Evidently for this project you need an axe, BAR, and Lewis Gun LOL:

     


  • I wonder when the Navy got Garands in WW2?  They had to be low on priority of fill.  

    Conversely the Navy used them for quite a while post war.

    Interesting read:

    https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/7-62-nato-u-s-navy-garand-rifles/


  • Sea Peoples and Master and Commander dropped today 1 JUN 23:


  • @JTam 

    Think I'm a troll, do you? I have just as much right to an opinion as you do. Just because I don't always agree with you on things and I'm not always happy at things WA release, it doesn't mean you have a right to brand me as such. 

    I certainly wouldn't agree that metals have superior sculpting capability to plastic. Find me your best example of a metal sculpt, and I wouldn't be surprised if I would be able to raise you with a plastic sculpt.

    I would also say you're wrong in terms of STLs being cost-effective, certainly for the customer - STL files are generally costed per model, so they're fine for individual character figures, but the cost increases rapidly for units of 5 or even 10 from many sellers, because each extra model takes further time to design. Not to mention the initial start-up cost of a 3D-Printer, plus refill costs, the time taken to print something, and the frequency of botched jobs. Why bother with all of that when you can have a nice, affordable hard plastic set that gives you lots of figures and options for the price? Plus it's imperative that we as wargamers support our brick-and-mortar stores, which buying plastics certainly helps to do but 3D-printing rarely does.

    Of course, 3D-Printers will no doubt improve in quality and become more affordable over time, so the age of the STL could well and truly dawn in the next 5 years or so, but right now hard plastic rules. You can see it with more companies gravitating to it - Warlord (particularly with their Epic Battles lines being so popular and intruding on the 15mm market that was previously dominated by metals), Gripping Beast, WA, North Star, Great Escape, plus all the companies coming to WA to design their stuff in plastic for them. Not to mention that the time of the metal figure is coming to an end - hard plastic, STLs and resin are seeing to that.

    @Brian Van De Walker Metal parts can certainly snap off, you're correct, though I more have issues with stuck-together parts breaking apart than moulded-on parts breaking, particularly as metals are heavy and can fall off the table more easily, and hit the floor harder. Metal parts, because of their weight, are more difficult to pose as you're sticking them together, and of course it's been a known meme for a long time among the wargaming community as to how heavy loads of metal figures are to transport and store.

    Another defect of metals, resin and perhaps 3D-prints as well is that for adhesives you're stuck between superglue, which is strong but sticks your fingers together and takes your skin off, and generic 'stick-anything' glues which are safer but variable in their effectiveness and quality. None of these sculpting media have anything as effective a combination as plastic models and poly cement.


  • @Caratacus 


  • Agur, adiskideak (Salute you, my friends)...

    May be there are no Gods under the Sky (no absolute truth) for me, son of Voltaire ? Let's stay friends, with all our differences, our strenghts and our faults. Disagreeing is healthy, and expressing it is healthy too... but at the end, Messieurs, seeking a good compromise, TOGETHER, is the best path, not ?

    I also don't like or find the digital figurine route interesting. A lot of commercial "bla-bla" for, in the end, products that often break the desire and the imagination (for me, at least). When I look at the wrong and ugly ears of the horses, the lack of research for the gladiators shields (gripping systems) and weapons (axes) or the stupid buckles of the pirates (self-opening buckles : weird concept), I do not regret not beeing "a backer", but I remember that I am a "reenactor" and a "horseman".

    Comments are not always taken into account... well. Or little real teamwork ? Each creator seems to work in his corner, without interactions, 'cause such mistakes are easy to avoid.

    On the other hand, the Sea Peoples are very, very bright and interesting (and other lines, like these US fighting sailors, ditto).There, I regret not being "a backer".

    As you can see, my feeling is very mixed. I don't lose hope, waiting to see what will follow.


  • The US WW2 Seamen dropped:

    Very cool.  Greatly increases the uses/flexibility of the US Airborne set.


  • So anyone else who likes the looks of the German marines?

    Hope they get plastic they look great.


  • In my opinion, this set is the coolest one you have made so far. Thank you! With the heads from the trench raiders, you can also represent acceptable proxis of the Naval Brigade in Flanders 1917. Very cool! You are now officially the best digital designers for historical miniatures for me! 🙂 May I make one more request at this point? Would it be possible to release an expansion with heads for the German Empire (1871-1918)? Pickelhaube, Stahlhelm and cap, if possible also without beard? Either way, thanks for these cool minis!!! 🙂👍


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