Battlefield Accessories, All At Sea (and up the river)

Hi Team

Battlefield Accessories (BA) has been a favourite producer of Wargames terrain and models of mine for some time.

The team there have produced some outstanding models in the past and recently have been going from strength to strength.

No so long ago I approached Michael at BA to produce a ACW ironclad of the CSS Virginia type to use in some ACW scenarios I've been planning.

After all the River Fleets played a big part in that conflict.

BA has produced not 1 but 2 models for that conflict, namely an Ironclad, (City Class) and a steamer.

Now they have produced a ship for the Ancient period,...

I recently obtained a fantastic new kit from Battlefield Accessories!

Their very swish Roman Quiqureme galley!

The model can be purchased as a small or large kit.

The smaller model consists of a fore and aft section and hull section. 

The larger kit has two hull sections and a corvus (a device used by the Romans to grapple and board enemy ships).

Both models have removable banks of oars.

This is significant as it was a major tactic of the day to shear off your enemies oars to disable them.

The kits are all made from quality materials (3mm MDF), and the parts fit together very snugly and securely.

As with all BA kits, construction is intuitive however there are videos that are available for download via YouTube. I've included the link that will lead you step by step through construction of the kit.

This is a very superior option to written or printed instructions unless you live in a cave without access to the Internet. The fact the kits are only available via the Internet seems to negate that possibility,...

I've not included any photos here of the kit I've constructed as I'm in the process of 'pimping' my model, (painting and 'adding' some extra bits like ropes and shields).

However the video bellow shows you what a magnificent kit this really is:

https://youtu.be/mPS0XkuvbWs

Whilst there I'd recommend you look at the other kits that BA have, in particular the fantastic ACW vessels!

https://youtu.be/QFXNr5J_LS0

And

https://youtu.be/rIdPqLjvFJI

You can always subscribe to the BA YouTube channel and get the oil on all their fantastic kits.

Here's the link to the Battlefields Accessories online Shop:

https://battlefield-accessories.myshopify.com

Whilst there check out this beauty,....

Reasonably Priced Realestate

Hi Guys
Well let's face it, we all want great terrain, but none of us want to spend too much because, well;
we all want great miniatures!
Terrain however really can make the difference between a game that looks good or looks FANTASTIC.
Part of the appeal of Miniature games is the eye candy, otherwise we'd simply play boardgames, right?

As some might be aware I did a comparison of two 'La Haye Sainte' models recently and BATTLEFIELD ACCESSORIES' offering was one of the farm sets I looked at.

Well the good news is Mike Parker has gone into a partnership with another chap and they have finally got around to creating a true ONLINE presence.

BELOW: The BA Church and below that the 'Destroyed' version


You can now purchase BATTLEFIELD ACCESSORIES (BA) terrain ONLINE!

  http://battlefield-accessories.myshopify.com/

The terrain is of excellent quality and very competitively priced .
I refer you back to my LA HAYE SAINTE review to get an impression of what I'm talking about.

The range is extensive:
Bridges
Factories
Workshops
Futuristic Buildings, Bunkers and Fortifications
Houses (both intact and destroyed)
Churches
MASSIVE 17th Century Star Forts
Inca / Aztec Temples
Japanese Castles
Crates
and on and on we go,...
with more to come I'm sure.


Nothing flimsy, and easy to construct BA Terrain is both easy on the eye AND affordable.
I highly recommend BATTLEFIELD ACCESSORIES.
For me, they are my ONE STOP TERRAIN SHOP!

 

BELOW: What can be done,.. just some of the 'Pimping' I'm doing at the moment to my BA Factory. Painting still to be done.

A Tale of Two Farms. Part Three

ABOVE: The Duke inspects the BA farm house (left) and the WLG farm house on the right

Hi Guys

Well we're finally here. Part 3 of my review of the WARLORD GAMES (WLG) and BATTLEFIELD ACCESSORIES (BA) La Haye Sainte Waterloo (LHS) farm set.

A reminder I'm just reviewing the actual MODEL that comes in the Box Set, which also includes plastic and metal miniatures (see PART ONE).

The first thing I noticed when I commenced construction of the WLG kit was the poorer quality of the material compared to (BA) kit (see PART TWO).

This kit from WLG is made from a much thinner and flimsier material. It's more like really thick cardboard rather than the thicker MDF(?) type material in the BA kit.  

BELOW: Compare the pair. BA material on the left and the thinner WLG material on the right

The instructions however are a different story. They are very professionally produced and assembly is simply as long as you follow the instructions. You could probably get the job done without the instructions but hey, they are provided, they are clear and easy to follow. 

BELOW: BA farm house on the left and WLG on the right. 

The level of interior details on the WLG version is very light on in comparison to the BA version.

Actually, apart from some interior walls within the Stable there is no interior details at all.

No second floor in the Farm House. No loft in the barn.

All of the various buildings are set upon 'bases' that interlock with the other bases upon which the other buildings are built.

This makes for a sturdy base however it does limit the versatility of the set. I want to be able to use the various buildings as stand alone buildings for other games like CHAIN OF COMMAND, FORCE ON FORCE or BOLT ACTION for example.

 ABOVE and BELOW: The WLG Farm House. No steps leading into the house, no interior details / walls and no second story. Just a big empty shell.

 ABOVE and BELOW: The Main Gate / Gate house. 
Best bit? The gates are hinged and freely swing open and shut. Cool!
Worst bit? Its affixed to this big arse base!

Construction was knocked over pretty quickly and took about two thirds of the time it took to assemble the BA version.

The roof construction was particularly easy.

If I could have the same system of roofing for the BA model I'd be beside myself. WLG version is much simpler and more robust I think.

BELOW: The WLG Barn and the BA Barn. Notice the loft in the BA version on the right.

 All in all however the BA Model is much more impressive and more robust due to the higher quality of the materials used in construction. Only the roofing is superior in the WLG version.
Furthermore the level of detail is superior in the BA kit.
Also the 'Online' support from Mike Parker is great, what with the Video Tutorials on YouTube and his own Facebook Page (search 'Battlefield Accessories').
You do however get an additional wall and small building (cook house maybe?) with the WLG version.
I'd be very keen to see which is the more historically correct kit.
The WLG LHS does come with a few extra pieces worth mentioning.
Two wagons, a small plough, three tables and six chairs, (for barricades or dinner), and some branches for barricades.
Also, you get some cardboard 'detailing' items for creating open shutters near windows and framing for windows and gates etc. (See Below)

 ABOVE and BELOW: Details of the WLG LHS farm yard and 'extra' bits.

 IN CONCLUSION

I think that the BA set is of better quality, more versatile, more detailed and excellent value for money.
The WLG offering is slightly easier to assemble (particularly the roofs) but isn't as flexible due to the individual buildings being affixed to some rather large bases.
Furthermore the BA set is the Farm Set and the Farm Set alone.
The WLG set comes with a swag of miniatures that you may not need or like.
The wagons and furniture are nice, but I can always purchase those things if I want them.
For me it's the QUALITY of the buildings / models that clinches the deal and why I give a nod in the direction of the BA version.
If however you do like the Warlord Games Miniatures and you're not too fussed on the detail of the actual farm itself the the WLG set is certainly worth considering.
As they say,...
"Ya pays ya money and ya makes ya choice".

 ABOVE and BELOW: The complete WLG LHS Farm set with roofs ON (above) and OFF (below). Notice the extra length of wall and small building in the bottom right corner

BELOW: The complete BA LHS set. Roofing removed. Noticed the second story in the farm house, and loft in the barn and small room in the stables.

 BELOW: Both the WLG (left) and BA (right) complete LHS Farm sets

I hope you find this review useful.

If so feel free to make comment.

UBIQUE!

A Tale of Two Farms. PART 2

ABOVE: Two Perry Miniature 28mm French Infantry scope out the barn. How much blood will be spilt capturing the place?

Hi Team
Well, its been some time coming but finally I've arrived at PART TWO of my review of both BATTLEFIELD ACCESSORIES (BA) and WARLORD GAMES models of La Haye Sainte farm sets.
After comparing contents of the two sets in PART 1 in this and following posts we'll look at construction and the level of detail in the respective models.
Let's start with the Aussie offering from BA.

One of the things I really like with BA's models is the VIDEO tutorials on construction you can access via YouTube.
These are a real God send!
As you can see I watched the videos on my IPad as I constructed the kit and the little tips on construction are simply excellent.
Construction proved to be pretty simple. Honestly there wasn't anything tricky here. Anyone with even the slightest experience in model construction would find assembly pretty straight forward.
Assembly was rather intuitive for the most part.
I was impressed with the details included in the models including interior walls and staircases and lofts in barns.

Ensure you have a good PVA / White Glue, (I like Selleys), an old paint brush for cleaning up any access glue, and PEGS,... lots of pegs!!!
I also found rubber bands to be useful tools as you can see.

I found the model to be simple to construct (did I mention that).
I assembled the ENTIRE farm set including sheds, walls, main gate house, farm house, Coach house, barns etc in a single day. I started at 9 am and was finished by 5pm including a hour long lunch and a couple of brews.

It's fortunate that assembly is so simple and that the videos on YouTube are available because there are no written assembly instructions to speak of, just photocopy images.
The detail available in the photocopies is rather poor but ultimately it wasn't an issue so "Meh".

ABOVE and BELOW: Probably the trickiest part of the assembly, the roof and second story windows.

BELOW: I did say LOTS of pegs.

BELOW: The second story of the Main farm House.

TIP: For ensuring you get walls squared to the floor I use a laser cut 60mm square base and use it as seen below. By butting it up agains the wall as it sets you get a perfect Right Angle / 90 degrees.

TIP: Use some of the 'Punched Out' off cuts as braces for internal walls. Not really required but it cant hurt IMHO. 

BELOW: A nice view of the interior of one of the barns

BELOW: Two of the nifty little shed that but up against the farms walls.
I believe these might eventually be available as separate items to add to 'other' BA models.

The overall quality of the entire set is EXCELLENT and is well worth the asking price.

ABOVE: The COMPLETE FARM SET

Part Three will cover the WARLORD GAMES La Haye Sainte model and a direct comparison of the two farms side by side