Tank Wars

       Today was Tank Wars at Wayland games, a sort of promo tournament / intro gaming day for Bolt Action and their new supplement Tank Wars. The ticket price included a blind choice of tank kit, from the list of; Panther, T-34 and Sherman, a morning of building the kit then being taught how to paint them, including washes and weathering powders, and then lastly having a big game overseen by Alessio Cavatore, currently one of Warlord games' rules writers but formerly of GW fame.

       I picked the German Panther, which fits perfectly into my fledgling German bolt action army that I started a good year or so ago. Much as building a kit with no instructions and only a vague idea of how the model is supposed to look is really frustrating, it was still a laugh having 20 odd of you all in the same boat and copying each other. The painting stage was where the day really started to come alive, being shown painting techniques by Brian from templarcrusade01, who was both a great guy and an amazing teacher. Being shown different ways of using the humble wash and chipping techniques was a really inspiring, but it was the weathering powders that really opened my eyes to the new possibilities. 

     The next picture shows my tank finished other than a last minute German cross I added to each side of the turret. I really do think this could be the best painted model I have ever done, and to have taken it from bare plastic to finished and gaming in the space of 2 hours is just stunning. It's just a pity that the photography doesn't do it quite the justice it deserves.

The variations in effects on the same tank. The middle one is my one.

      The first game was a mixed sides fight, where the organisers tried to split each of the 3 tanks evenly between the two sides. They picked a Panther commander from each side to be the force captains, and Ross was picked for his side, while I got the other, although I very quickly gave Alessio second in command.

Cover and an objective, easy.

My only kill of the day, the Sherman on the hill. My tank is the Panther on the right.

Where it all went wrong

    The games themselves were probably two of the best games I have ever played. The atmosphere was amazing, the games just flowed and it worked without any of the normal nit-picking war games can devolve into.  Even though my side lost in the first game, it was still a seriously good game, while the second one was possibly even more fun.

     The just to top off a great day, I won the award for 'most objectives captured', which will go up on the wall of my man-cave, somewhere near my new tank I think. Oh, and I got my copy of the Bolt Action rulebook signed by Alessio . . .

       Templarcrusade01 was making another video blog while he was at the event and did a few interviews and during game reviews. Here is the Tank Wars video for you to watch. I have to say, seeing myself on camera is a weird experience. (Look for the guy with blonde hair and a grey t-shirt).

Until next time, thanks for reading.