Critical Mass Games Praesentia

Just picked up this nicely painted Critical Mass Games Praesentia force!

GZG ADDITIONAL UPDATE - TUESDAY 28th NOVEMBER 2017

All the new WARFARE releases are NOW ON THE STORE! 
All the figure packs listed in the WARFARE news update on the front page are now listed and available for mail order, PLUS the three all-new small jeeps that were a last-minute release at the show:
THREE new light vehicles - a basic 4-wheel jeep, an extended-body jeep and a weapons carrier jeep/light truck with gun mount - excellent as some light support and transport for Mercenary or Colonial Defence forces!
Vehicles are 3D designs from MMG, drivers and gunners are traditional sculpts.
V15-120G        Light airportable jeep with Generic crew (multipart metal kit, includes 2 optional drivers, one in cap and one in generic crew helmet)        £3.60 inc VAT (£3.00 ex VAT)
V15-121G        Extended airportable jeep with Generic crew (multipart metal kit, includes 2 optional drivers, one in cap and one in generic crew helmet)        £4.50 inc VAT (£3.75 ex VAT)
V15-122G        Airportable weapons carrier jeep with twin autocannon mount, with Generic drivers and gunners (multipart metal kit, includes 2 optional drivers and 2 optional gunner figures)            £6.00 inc VAT (£5.00 ex VAT)

www.gzg.com

GZG CHRISTMAS SPECIALS

UPDATE - TUESDAY 28th NOVEMBER 2017:
2017 CHRISTMAS SPECIALS ARE NOW ON!
Please pop over to the webstore (www.gzg.com) and read the full details of the Christmas Offers for this year, which are NOW RUNNING as of Noon today.

Sorry the offer details are up a day later than promised, I hadn't reckoned on how long it would take me to finish this quarter's VAT accounts!

As soon as I've done today's mailings I will get on to putting the recent WARFARE new releases up on the store, so please check back for these later today or tomorrow morning.

...............

 

Christmas dispatch times and ordering dates, and Christmas/New Year break:
Throughout the pre- and post-Christmas period, I will be trying to keep as much up to date with order dispatches as possible - but please understand that things can get VERY busy and some orders may well take a few days longer than normal to be shipped out. If there are any serious delays then I will try to let you know where possible.
Obviously we are all at the mercy of the postal services as to delivery times - but we would strongly recommend that international orders (especially for Australia, NZ etc) are placed no later than the first week of December if you want any real hope of them arriving before Christmas. With some larger orders it is possible to ship them via parcel courier (UPS etc) rather than by airmail, the couriers are faster and with much better online tracking - if you want me to do this, or just want more details on this shipping option, please ask when you place the order.
I will continue to dispatch orders up to Friday 22nd of December - after that date we will be CLOSED for the Christmas/New Year break, re-opening on Tuesday 2nd January 2018. The online webstore will remain "open" throughout the Christmas period so you can still place orders, but no orders will be processed and dispatched until after the 2nd of January.
Thanks to you all for your support and valued custom through 2017 - it's been a much better year all round than 2016 was, and I hope we can tempt you with even more new and exciting things in 2018!
Wishing you all a great Christmas (or whatever other seasonal festival you choose to celebrate around this time of year) and a safe, happy and gaming-filled New Year!
All the best,
Jon (GZG),  28th Nov 2017.

 

www.gzg.com

Tanker's Tuesday : Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer

By 1943 it was obvious to the Germans that their tank production could not keep pace with battlefield losses. One of their efforts to expedite weapons production was the conversion of old, outdated tank chassis into tank destroyers, or Jagdpanzers. Early efforts demonstrated the rushed and sometimes rough mating of a small, old tank with a large, powerful gun. The Marder series especially appeared cumbersome and top heavy. The most successful conversion was the Jagdpanzer 38(t), commonly referred to as the Hetzer

Hetzer 

THE HETZER: THE KILLER TINY NAZI TANK YOU NEVER HEARD OF || WARTHOG 2017

Inside the Tanks: The Hetzer - World of Tanks

Lockheed P-38 Lightning "fork-tailed devil"

15mm Wargaming for Fun and Sanity: OAAH Beta On Mars - going Large

15mm Wargaming for Fun and Sanity: OAAH Beta On Mars - going Large: Mars has to be done. As you've seen I've already played with this, so it's a lazy follow-on game making sure I use everything,...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING From GZG

HAPPY THANKSGIVING and a heads-up on our CHRISTMAS OFFERS!
A (slightly late) HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all our many customers in the US - hope you are all having a great day with family and friends!

 WARFARE went off very well last weekend, an excellent show as always, smooth and well organised - we sold a LOT of figures and starships, talked to loads of customers old and new, and generally had a very good time. Since getting back I've been working solidly on clearing the mailorders that didn't go before the show, they are all pretty much up to date now with just a last couple of them to go out tomorrow. Over the next few days I hope to get all the NEW RELEASES from the show up on to the store so they can be ordered, and on MONDAY (27th) I will be starting our usual CHRISTMAS SPECIALS, which will then run until we close up for the Christmas/New Year break. Full details of the offers will be posted over this weekend, so please check back here soon.......

 

Thanks for reading,

Jon (GZG), Thursday 23rd Nov 2017
www.gzg.com

Happy Tanksgiving!

Brought to you by the makers of fine Turkey Puree since 1991 　

2 Hour Blog: 5150 Bug Wars

2 Hour Blog: 5150 Bug Wars: Coming to Kickstarter in January, 5150 Bug Wars is the first of a number of joint projects from THW and  Acheson Creations . Acheson Creat...

Brigade Models Xmas Sale

Welcome once more to our Xmas sale. It's the same format as in previous years again. Basically, that's 15% off all of our models. Although there are a few exceptions^*, this isn't a '15% off selected items' or 'Up to 15% off' sale, it's a real '15% off everything' sale. The sale will run for a month from today, ending on Sunday December 17th.

So once again that's 15% off all of our models^* - Aeronef, starships, Celtos, Small Scale Scenery, Land Ironclads, 15mm and 6mm tanks and figures, 10mm buildings, Squadron Commander, WWI Belgians, Magpies ... and the newly added Hammer's Slammers 15mm models are in there too.

And that's it - no minimum or maximum orders, just a blanket discount which runs until Midnight GMT on December 17th (remember the time difference if you're overseas). And we'll give you plenty of warning before it ends. So what are you waiting for ? Go out there and shop !

PLEASE READ THIS BIT

The website will still show the full price of each item, but the price that goes into the PayPal shopping cart will be the discounted one.
In addition, because of the way that browsers keep hold of old versions of websites if you've previously visited them, you might want to refresh your browser (usually F5 or shift-F5 on Windows machines) to ensure that the new version of the shopping code is loaded with the discount in. If we get an order from which the discount has not been deducted then we will make a manual PayPal refund for the equivalent amount.
^* - There are a few exceptions and conditions, as you might expect ... shipping will still be charged at the full rate, since we were unable to persuade the post office to match our offers. The discount covers our metal and resin models - it doesn't apply to rulebooks, dice, bases, Shapeways or anything else that we don't manufacture ourselves, simply because the margins on those items are much tighter. However, starter packs with rules, dice or bases in are covered. Even with these limitations, we're sure you'll agree it's a mighty fine offer !

Brigade Models 

Making Starguard Amerons In 15mm

Many years ago I started out with a set of rules that still exists (WOW) called : Starguard! This is
the granddaddy of all science fiction miniatures games. It was first published in 1974, before the roleplaying game explosion and at a time when SF and fantasy games were incredibly rare. The publisher, McEwan Miniatures, also produced a series of 25mm lead figures based on the various human and alien forces described in the game.

The Starguard! rules and the accompanying miniatures line are not only still in production, but are continuously upgraded and expanded.

My favorite faction were the : Amerons are humans, most of which came originally from South Africa on old Earth, who settled the planet of New Hope. They are not part of the Federation -- having pulled off a quiet but highly successful rebellion -- but have close economic ties to the Rep-Com.Ameron Regulars are "cheap troops' having only cone rifles, cloth uniforms and are not jump trained. Ameron military units often hire out as mercenaries and guards. Their grim fundamentalist faith has sustained the troopers through many a harsh duty.

As I have switched over to 15mm and STARGRUNT I was happy to see Jon's new Brethren of The New Light, which fit the bill perfectly!
STARGUARD
GZG 15mm 

 My take on their elite guard unit named for their late patriarch and one of the few motorized units in the Ameron army :

15mm Wargaming for Fun and Sanity: OAAH Beta Mars, borrowed plot!

15mm Wargaming for Fun and Sanity: OAAH Beta Mars, borrowed plot!: I'm not too bad at coming up with games, but I didn't get to where I am today without nicking someone else's idea.  So I spot a...

From The Ravenstar Sale

I picked up the following from the :
Ravenstar Studios Early Year End Sale!  
Great savings and free stuff to boot!

 Three of these :

 Four of these:

One of these:

 Two of these:

Three of these:

I'll be using these with my with my Space Elves

GZG UPDATE - WEDNESDAY 15th NOVEMBER 2017:

More News for WARFARE.....
Just a couple of days to go now before we load up the van and head off down to READING for WARFARE at the Rivermead Leisure Centre this coming weekend (18th/19th).... stocks are coming along nicely, we should have all the usual things there PLUS of course some NEW RELEASES for the show: the following codes are all done and ready to go.... there MIGHT also be a couple of other surprise new items IF I get the time to complete them before leaving, so if you're coming along then please look out for all the new stuff on the displays!
COMMAND PACKS for the ISLAMIC FED in SHEMAGH, and ESU in CAMO CAPES:
SG15-IF24        Islamic Federation Command and Comms pack - in Shemagh (8 figures)                    £3.00 per pack inc VAT (£2.50 ex-VAT)
SG15-E22        ESU Naval Infantry Command and Comms pack in CAMO CAPES (8 figures)                £3.00 per pack inc VAT (£2.50 ex-VAT)

The long-awaited COMMAND PACK for the OUTRIM COALITION, PLUS some all-new POWER ARMOUR for them too:
SG15-RC08        OutRim Coalition Command and Comms pack - in hardsuits (8 figures)                        £3.00 per pack inc VAT (£2.50 ex-VAT)
SG15-RC21        OutRim Coalition Power Armour troops - 6 figures with separate backpacks and arms/weapons; pack contains sufficient parts to make all six figures with standard backpacks and antipersonnel hand weapons, plus extra backpacks (2) with over-shoulder missile racks and extra arms with Plasma SAW (2) and HIMP Railgun (2)                       £4.50 per pack inc VAT (£3.75 ex-VAT)

Two new variant packs for the KRA'VAK:
SG15-K25        Kra'Vak GRAV BIKES - two bikes with riders (in HELMETS) and "flight" bases                £6.00 per pack inc VAT (£5.00 ex-VAT)
SG15-K20        Kra'Vak Command and Comms pack - 8 figures (in HELMETS), 2 each of 4 poses                £3.00 per pack inc VAT (£2.50 ex-VAT)

PLUS the first sample pack of ESU Regular Army - 8 with rifles plus 2 SAW gunners FREE (10 fig pack as an intro offer) - same weapons and uniforms as the Marines of the Naval Infantry, but with a different helmet (which gives them a completely different look) and loaded down with big rucksacks and loads of carried equipment:
SG15-E41        ESU Regular Army Rifles pack A - intro offer with TWO FREE SAW GUNNERS (8 figures + 2 FREE)                £3.00 per pack inc VAT (£2.50 ex-VAT)

And finally for this batch, the first new addition for some while to our ever-popular NAC range:
SG15-A24    NAC "Cataphract" Heavy Power Armour:  6 figures with separate backpacks and arms/weapons; pack contains sufficient parts to make all six figures with standard backpacks and antipersonnel hand weapons, plus extra backpacks (2) with over-shoulder salvo missile racks and extra arms with Rotary Autocannon (2).
Designed to be a much heavier alternative to the A21-A23 packs of "standard" NAC Power Armour, the Cataphract heavy suits have inbuilt forearm-mount weapons on both arms in addition to their hand-carried weapons, and two extra right arms are included which do not have a hand-carried gun so that it is possible to assemble up to two suits in the pack with only their integral forearm weapons.
£4.50 per pack inc VAT (£3.75 ex-VAT)
Once I'm back from the show I will catch up as quickly as possible on the mailorders, then it will be almost time for Christmas.... so watch for more news in a week or so!
Hope to see lots of familiar faces at the show, and maybe some new ones too.....
Thanks for reading,
Jon (GZG), Wednesday 15th Nov 2017.
www.gzg.com

Tanker's Tuesday: 628th Tank Destroyer Battalion

In September 1942, the entire Battalion was moved by rail to the newly formed Tank Destroyer Center at Camp Hood, Texas, to undergo advanced unit training in Tank Destroyer tactics. After progressing through the infiltration course, street and village fighting to platoon and company tactics, a Battalion field problem was finally held and successfully passed. It was here in November 1942, after fifteen months of diligent training with dummy guns, that the Battalion gun crews had their first opportunity to fire live ammunition, using borrowed 75-MM guns on half tracks, the original TD Vehicle and weapon. It was here also that the Battalion received its last large group of inductees, over 300 in all, for basic training and assignment in the Battalion. Early in December 1942, the Battalion moved to Camp Bowie, Texas, for additional tactical training and for completion of the First Army Ground Force test. It was successfully passed after the most complicated dead reckoning motor march through Texas sage brush ever experienced by the Battalion. On January 3 1943, the Battalion furnished a complete officer and enlisted cadre of about 85 men who later formed the 648th Tank Destroyer Battalion.

628TH Tank Destroyer Battalion

Ravenstar Studios Early Year End Sale!

The new year comes early!

11/8/2017

 

Its our END OF THE YEAR SALE!
Get up to 40% off plus free models. We are starting our end of the year sale
​a little early to make sure we get all our Christmas orders out in time for the Holidays.
The sale will be as follows:

   Starting 11/8/2017 until  11/18/2017 all orders get 40% off
   Starting 11/19/2017 until 11/25/2017 all orders get 30% off
   And Starting 11/26/2017 until 12/3/2017 all orders get 25% off
​

  PLUS with each order you place you will receive free minis.
The amount of free minis will depend on how much you purchase.
So order 1 mini,  you get another one, order a bunch , you get a bunch!
The free minis will compliment the type of order you place.
If you order spaceships , you get ships or stations, Landcore and Horrids, so vehicles or monsters, ect.
We have a great range of ships, stations, tanks, Horrids, also 1/60th
scale mechs in the T.A.M section.
Just remember to use Promo Code: EOY2017 to get your discount! Act fast and save big.

Please post every where you can, tell your friends, spread the word. We need the sale, we are looking at doubling  our catalog next year.... Thanks everyone!

Ravenstar Studios

​

Veterans/Remembrance Day

The Eleventh Hour,The  Eleventh Day, The Eleventh Month,
known here in the States as Veterans, Day and as Remembrance
Day to the rest of the English speaking world. Most young
Americans have no idea that this day was ment to comemorate
the end of the Great War, or as it's commonly known The First
World War. To all those who served in the past and to those
who serve today, we extend or heart felt gratitude.

************************************************
 Tribute To My Grandfather (Written Several Years Ago)

Heinz Muller

My grandfather was my maternal grandmother's second husband, and therefore

of no blood relation to me however, I knew no other grandfather growing up. Both

my biological grandfathers lived until I reached adulthood but, I saw them not often

because of the distance of where they lived.

********************************
Papa Henni, as I knew him had one of the most interesting of lives, born in Germany

and growing up there after WWI in a small farm village in East Prussia, it was easier
to get to his uncle's fields by cutting through Poland! it even resulted in him getting
shot at by Polish boarder guards a few times. Because of where and when he grew
up he developed a great facility for language, he grew up speaking German, Polish,
Russian, Slovak, and later learned English and Japanese.He in early teens was an
ardent anti-nazi, he told me of putting sand down the gas tanks of army trucks! He
then would put it like this; "I was asked to politely leave at the business end of a

Kar98!" Not surprising given another of his stories where he tells of his village where
half the houses are flying the flag of the Weimar Republic the other half the nazi flag,
his house had the old Imperial battle flag because his uncle Willy was convinced that
the Kaiser would return! So perhaps it was no shock that My grandfather would go
against the authorities...

********************************
In 1936 he came to the states with his father and later followed by his uncle Willy,
He became an American citizen in 1940 and after Pearl Harbor joined the US Army
and went to Training in Mississippi, where he also taught German to Officers
heading to Europe. He as A German was sent to the Pacific theater. His first stop
was for several months in Schofield BKS Hi, where he stayed in the same building
that I was assigned to many years later, I Quad. His tails of training there came
home to me many times as I marched over the same ground that he did many
years before me .

********************************
He went on to the Pacific theater where in one story he was watching a PBY being
worked on and a naval officer asked him "Sergeant do you like what you see, my
Grandfather replied as he said (like an idiot) Yes Sir" He was then asked could he
fire a 50 cal Machine -gun he replied "Yes sir , on the ground" the officer said it
shouldn't mater...The next thing he knew he was in the right bubble manning the
50 cal flying out over the islands in a PBY. He didn't go too much into detail about
that other than saying he gunned allot of tomato gardens, later learned that was
slang for any Japanese installation.The next stories he told me involved running into
various islanders that were fluent in German! In the first story he is walking along
this recently occupied island and hears someone singing "Watch On The Rhine"
a very patriotic German song being done in flawless German, he walks up and
finds this little old man cutting vegetables who as it turned out used to work in the
German governors mansion. In the next story he and another German American
GI are at this elaborate ceremony where the chief is in the full black top hat and
tails but spats and no shoes. My grandfather speaking in German to his friend
said you think they could have got him some shoes...Then thinking nothing about
it is approached by the same Chief who proceeds in perfect German to apologias
for his lack of proper attire etc...My grandfather said he felt about 2 inches tall at
that point, lol.

********************************
The next things he really went into were how he learned Japanese from a Buddhist
monk while on occupation duty in Japan. I guess the reason I thought of all these
things was I turn 53 tomorrow 11 Jan, and was going back over the many things I
learned from this very interesting man, and how it was really him that caused me
to make a career in the army.Sadly Papa Henni passed away just before Germany
was reunified and didn't live to see that, I'm sure he would had allot of interesting
things to say. The other reason that brought all this to mind was my friend Tim was
showing some of his Japanese aircraft models and my mind sort of went back to
these thoughts. There are so many other stories that I half remember now and so
many other life lessons he taught me, that of all the people I've met in my life he I
miss the most.....

15mm Sci fi Rebel Minis army

Painted by Shawn Reis:
6 x Merka 5 Medium Tank painted
8 x Earth Force APC Painted
4 x Earth Force APC Primed
Infantry 27 bases all Painted

Spaced Invaders (1990)

Halo: Ground Command

I picked one up at a good price:The Battle for Reach 2-player set is an easy way for gamers to start playing large scale ground warfare, and includes the full color Halo: Ground Command Rulebook, Statistic Sheets, 20 Custom Dice and 6 Halo Command Dice, Game Tokens, Halo Scenery, UNSC 1,000 Point Battle Force, and Covenant 1,000 Point Battle Force. Halo: Ground Command is designed as a highly modular game, allowing players to easily customize their forces. The contents of this 2-player box can quickly and intuitively be added to, allowing additional units of Infantry (such as Spartans, ODST, Elites and Jackals), Armour (such as Warthogs, Scorpions, Ghosts and Wraiths) and Aerial (such as Pelican Dropships, Banshees and Phantom Troop Carriers) to be bought.

GZG UPDATE - TUESDAY 7th OCTOBER 2017:

News for WARFARE.....
Hope you all had a good (and safe) Halloween and Bonfire Night! I can't believe it's really November already, and WARFARE (Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading) is less than two weeks away....
The show is a two-day event, the 18th and 19th November, and those who have been before will know that it is a really good show to come to - lots of traders and very well attended, but as it's an all-weekend one there is still usually a bit of time for me to actually chat to customers, which is always nice.
It is also our LAST show of the year, so your last chance to see and buy items from us in person until SALUTE next year!

 

As usual, please remember that due to tradestand space and payload capacity in the van, we ONLY bring the 15mm ranges and the most popular fleets of FT Starships to the show - we simply don't have room for anything else - so if you want any items from our other ranges (25mm, 6mm, 2mm and the other FT Fleets), then you need to PRE-ORDER them so that I can have them cast and ready for you; PLEASE get any pre-order lists to me by this coming Sunday (12th) at the latest, anything arriving after that date cannot be guaranteed to be ready for the show.

 

Please check back to the store front page again over the next few days, as I will be posting more info on the show and (hopefully) details of the NEW RELEASES that will be launched there.

 

Thanks for reading,
Jon (GZG), Tuesday 7th Oct 2017.
www.gzg.com

Tanker's Tuesday: Yeah That Could Happen!

15mm GZG NAC Marines, UNSC Light Infantry, Grav Sleds and APCS

I just picked up this lot:

Estimated RRP £50+ worth of infantry, £66+ of armor, based on the
GZG website. he  threw in a few extra bits and bobs as I found them,
like the field gun was a freebie.

Ravenstar Studios 15mm Land Core Horrids !

I needed some armor to support my 

GZG Phalon Infantry, these Horrids 

by Ravenstar Studios were just the

thing!

I

Horrid Mass Tank A .......3 Each

Horrid Mass Tank B.......3 Each

Horrid Mother APC........3 Each

Horrid Grandmother  (used as Command) 

1 Each

Ravenstar Studios