I just can't do it. No, wait it turns out I can!

I'm an admitted wargameaholic, it's not uncommon for me to look at three new systems or armies in a week and want to buy them all. This week while looking to buy some paints online I saw a retailer selling Dropzone Commander.

Like most people I was impressed with the models and like most people I was stunned when I saw the prices. I decided to give them a miss. However seeing them on the retailer's site peaked my interest again.

I had a look at reviews and some batreps and watched a long interview with the guy behind Hawk (seems like a nice guy). It looked like the rules had been well received and the armies and their abilities were well thought out. I was tempted. The rules seem to be good value at £12 and the 6'x4' Cityscape card terrain is great value at £24. (Prices from Total Wargamer)

I had a look on eBay and saw a starter set for £50, not bad. The starter sets, although playable, are only about 540pts and the recommended size of game is 1500-2000pts. So further outlay is required. I reckon about £150 will get you 1500pts or so. I watched some more videos to convince my self but it was then that I realized just how small the models were.

Photo by Nick Ellingworth from DakkaDakka

In the photo above the one on the right is a Bear £11 for a pack of two, the other is a Sabre £11 for a pack of three. A pack of four 15mm half tracks from Forged in Battle costs £13. Compare that to the two much smaller Bear APC's for £11. I don't want to get into an argument about quality or price as everyone has their own opinion. But seeing what you get for your money I just couldn't do it, I just couldn't justify buying a set. It's all about perceived value for money. I don't think the models are worth it whereas the rules and card terrain I think are value for money.

Update:
Bloody typical I do this post and then the same day Hawk announce that they are doing a two-player starter set for £60 which is great value. The bastards! Now I have no excuse not to buy one!

It looks like you get 2 starter armies (previously £68 each) plus all this for £60:

Starter Urban Battlefield:
- 2x Urban Streets Posters, will join together in 4 different ways to create a 48”x33” road layout
- Both posters feature stunning artwork on the reverse face!
- 10 x Pre-cut, pre-folded card buildings in 10 different designs

Rules and Accessories:
- Full sized Dropzone Commander 1.1 Core Rulebook (Usually £15)
- UCM and Scourge reference sheets with stats, army composition and quick reference tables
- Starter scenario and turn sequence prompt sheet
- 10x 14mm D6 black dice
- 1m/38” Hawk Wargames tape measure keyring
- Full set of card templates and Scenario Object tokens

My 28mm ruined buildings assembled

As I mentioned in an earlier post I won an auction for some painted MDF ruins. As they're painted all I had to do was glue them together. This was a two stage process. The outer and inner walls were PVA'd together first and then the separate pieces were assembled into the corner sections. This was all straightforward, the only fiddly bit was fixing the triangular piece used to strengthen the corner.

Anyway here's a couple of photos of the finished article, not bad for a fiver.

The assembled corner sections

A close up with figures to give a sense of scale.

Support units for my 1/72 Germans

I've moved on to painting up the support units for my Valiant 1/72 Germans. They comprise an MG42 on a tripod and an 80mm mortar.  For those of you who are interested, the painting details can be found in my post on the infantry squad I painted up earlier.

80mm mortar & crew

Tripod mounted MG42 & crew behind log emplacement

Group shot

And from the rear

Next up will be my squad armed with MP44 assault rifles. That just leaves the officer and his escort and a 2-man sniper team. After they're done I can move on to my Brits.

My Latest eBay Bargain.

I was browsing eBay when I came across a retailer selling lots of MDF terrain pieces. I saw this one auction for 12 painted 28mm ruined building corner sections which I could use for Bolt Action and Chain of Command, so I thought it was worth a punt. I expected it to be expensive but he had a ton of auctions running and this must have got missed as I won it for my initial bid of £4.99 inc p&p!

The eBay photo.

The package arrived today and the contents are shown below. The walls are similar to 4Ground buildings in that they have an inner and outer wall you glue together. So, in total, you get 60 MDF sections to glue together to make the 12 corners. The quality of the laser etching isn't great but for a fiver I can't complain. I'll glue them together and maybe stick some clump foliage on them to simulate Ivy to jazz them up a bit. Now all I need is somewhere to store the assembled models, maybe it's time to move to a bigger house!



The 60 painted MDF wall pieces

 

In case you're interested the retailer was 'wargamestournaments' on eBay.co.uk.