Today I'm taking a look at one of my favourite subjects, the Afrika Korp. Having picked up the new PSC platoon set at Salute, I've been eagerly working on Afrika Korp ever since.
6 machine gun teams. Each team consists of the men, and wear a mix of helmets and tropical caps. These figures can also be freely intermingled to create some variety, and are posed either standing and advancing or prone firing.
It took me a little while to notice, however several of the figures wearing helmets have their field caps tucked into their belts, which I thought was a great little touch. Unforms are all the standard tropical issue stuff, with everyone wearing long trousers and tunics.
Battlegroup: Tobruk, covers the period 1940-41, from the Italian campaigns in East Africa up to the Operation Crusader and the Gazala line, as well as Operation Mercury and the German invasion of Crete. 
Not massively important from a purely gaming perspective perhaps, but certainly adds massively to the feel of a high quality book. Bindings feel sturdy too, and the book should stand up well to the rigours of handling and transporting to games. 
No index is included, however the contents page is very thorough, and the end of the book contains a quick reference sheet, pull out sheets of vehicle cards, and then appendices of references for vehicles and weapon stats making finding the information you need a simple process.
Army lists come next, with lists for British Infantry and Armoured division battle groups, these are similar to those in Blitzkrieg, however come with updates and extra units suitable for the desert war. Particularly exciting (To me) are the addition of LRDG patrols to the reconnaissance section. Amendments are also included for playing the East African campain. 
In addition to the previously mentioned British and Italian platoons, LRDG and Auto Saharana patrols also get army lists for light, raiding formations, these are designed to be used in games of 350 points or less. These offer some very interesting and exciting gaming options for light vehicle fun, as well as a scenario for a meeting engagement between a patrol of each. 
Overall, this is a magnificent book, and a fantastic tool for desert gaming in the early part of WW2. I'm looking forwards to getting some games in, and am currently assembling some 20mm Afrika Korp at the moment... 
Todays review is Warlord Games new M3 Stuart, kindly supplied by them for me to take a look at. 
There are some smaller and fairly fiddly parts, so this may not be to everyone's taste. Personally I like it and prefer the fidelity this approach offers, however if you're looking for a quick bash together model for the tabletop there could be some frustration. 
The set is rounded out with a nice little decal sheet and quick reference cards for Bolt Action, as well as a set of smoke markers. No stowage is included, and I found quality of moulding to be excellent, with a nice slide moulded main gain.
Assembly was simple, and took me around 45 minutes to put together. It pays to go through and highlight the stages relevant to you before starting building. 
Also, use a good plastic glue or solvent, such as Plastic Weld or Tamiya liquid thin, as super-glue will be an exercise in frustration. The new instructions served to make assembly relatively easy though, and fit was good.
I've prepared a painting guide for the model which should appear on Warlords website in the not too distant future. Overall I found the kit to be very well designed and an enjoyable project, and at £18 is pretty good value.
Earlier this year Perry Miniatures released their 'Battlefield in a box American Civil War' set. This is the Perry's first attempt at a starter type set, and it's certainly impressive. 
These figures are split across 13 sprues of 5 figures who can be assembled as line infantry, at either the charge or right shoulder shift position, again with a mix of either caps or hats, with enough to equip all the models with one type or the other.
There are also 4 command sprue, and these allow you to build standard bearers, officers and drummers, again with a choice of head gear. at a pinch these could be used as Federals, although the jackets are the wrong shape and are inaccurate for this purpose. In their intended role the figures work very well though, and are especially representative of Confederates from the mid to later part of the Civil War. 
These sets contain 12 figures per sprue, which can be assembled in a variety of poses, though a few are single piece. These can be built as either Confederate or Federals, and each sprue also contains command models.
These figures break down as 6 models per frame, with a choice or Turbans or Fez for head gear. Each model may be armed posed at right shoulder shift or the charge. 
These two are unique to this set, and feature one figure with a choice of heads, one bearded and one moustachioed. Pose allows for a few options, including with binoculars, pistols and swords.
These are from one of the most recent Civil War sets from the Perry's, unfortunately unlike the boxed set these do not contain the limbers that the full set does, however apart from that the rest of the set is great. the 18 gun crew can be assembled with a mix of Kepi's, Caps, and hats, and the figures are dressed in shell jackets with a range of poses on offer, with separate arms for each crew man. 
The set includes a pile of bases for everything too, with multibases provided for the bulk of the models.
This booklet is a small A5 soft back document with 12 pages, half of which contains the rules, whilst the other half contains scenarios. No army lists are provided. 
These rules won't impress the purist, but could be a great in to the period for someone just starting out in the black powder era who wants to use massed formations rather than skirmish level games, before moving on to something like Longstreet or Black Powder.
