Ironclad Miniatures - a review

I know I have been doing a lot of reviews lately, but hey, it's what I have time for what with 20mm WWII dominating my time lately. I am not a prolific painter by any stretch, in fact, the prep for this game was something of me on a mission, so I will be slowing down to something of a more sedate level in the future.

Now that said, I did paint up something of interest to Twilight: 2000 miniatures gamers, and that is some items from Ironclad Miniatures. Specifically, I painted up FP-1a, Hasty Trench Position, and FP - 5, their Prepared Trench. Both come in a hard resin, grey in color, and are lightweight and durable from first blush.

I was really happy with the ease of painting them, after an undercoat of black gesso which held really well, I painted them a shade of BF Woodland Brown overall, and then scattered some Citadel Scorched Grass flock. I then added random tufts from the Army Painter line, as well as some school project rocks that I then painted grey, and drybrushed a lighter grey. the branches were painted a VMC Flat Earth, and the sandbags VMC Middlestone. The wood slats in the trench I hit with a bit of VMC Flat Earth as well, and drybrushed AK New Wood over it. I then hit the item with pin washes of Magik Mudd Wash (sadly no longer available).

All in all, I was pleased with the product, and highly encourage it. They make an entire Vietnam Firebase line of products that would do very well for cantonments, and I am going to say this much, if they paint up as well as these small pieces did, then I am encouraged. They also have some ruins that I got as well (all of the Ironclad Miniatures products were purchased by my wife as a nice Xmas surprise last Christmas!) and some Hedgerows for Normandy. I am especially looking forward to those, as they look to be as easy as chips to assemble and paint up.

Anyhow, here's some pics of the painted products...ready to play:

In short, I give them 5 out of 5 mushroom clouds and will tell you that they are an excellent product, and one you should give a try for any 20th century gaming! 

Hell By Daylight is Back, and tons of movement on the "Cold War Battlegroup" front.

  Remember when I mentioned a little rules set called Hell By Daylight? I also mentioned that a copy of them was extremely difficult to get one's hands on. Well, god bless Jim Webster. He's reprinting it in a 4 part series in Miniature Wargames Magazine.  Part 1 has come out in the current issue, 418.

Picture taken from Miniature Wargames Magazine website

Now, I will caveat the rules with this. For a small set of figures on either side (like an encounter in Twilight: 2000?), these rules are perfect. They aren't really for larger platoon sized games, like Force on Force, or No End in Sight. (To confess, the mechanics are a bit dated, by modern standards, but I think they hold up well, personally). They have good solid rules for reaction under fire, and they make such reactions unpredictable, to say the least. These were my go-to rules in my high school years, and they were great for those small encounters one finds in every war.

I am very excited about this, and am looking forward to my next three issues to arrive in my email inbox.

In other news, I know I have been going on about Battlegroup NORTHAG, and it's being worked on, I can assure you of this. But in the meanwhile, the Cold War: Hot, Hot, Hot blog has released their own unofficial Battlegroup Cold War rules. Now, that said, we're hoping we can convince Leigh to work on a Twilight: 2000 variant for the rules. Another Battlegroup variant for Cold War era stuff is Battlegroup Fulda. I have yet to try either rules set, but I am eager to do so. I will let you know how it goes, and if I can get any breaks from my busy writing schedule, perhaps I will gin up something for Twilight: 2000 myself.

As for other news, rumor is a Korean Sourcebook for Twilight: 2000 might be coming out on Drivethru RPG soon as well. At least, that's what my own RUMINT tells me. I don't know the veracity of such rumors, but they are coming from reliable sources, so I will keep you posted.

Work on my own Charters of Freedom continues apace, and I am also looking at some other projects that will hopefully, be mostly off of my desk in the new year, but as someone who knows the industry can tell you, deadlines can be a bit flexible.

On the modelling front, I found this small company, called Boundless Brooklyn, that does of all things, NYC watertowers that to me, would look good on a wargaming table with a bit of paint and weathering. It comes with everything you need to put it together for $10. It looks great for a potential Armies of the Night - themed game.

Image taken of completed model. Looks pretty good, huh?

My wife also got me some terrain stuff from Ironclad Miniatures for Christmas, and it arrived a bit late. She got me some hedgerow kits for WW-II France, which look great, and a couple of field defenses and a ruins pack. Now the latter items are great, they are well sculpted, the items arrived without cracks or bubbles visible in the surfaces that are to be painted. In short, I am very pleased with the products I got here.

Here are all the products laid out in their glory. Everything looks awesome.

So, lots to report, and more is to come, but I wanted to post all this so you didn't think I was just neglecting this blog. Nope, no chance of that! You keep reading, and I will keep writing.