Tag: Cadians

The Early War Germans Are Coming Along Nicely, But An Arms Race Has Begun

By

On 16th July 2026

In Blog

At the start of the year, one of my hobby goals was to develop my early war Germans for Bolt Action to a nice point where I had a nice collection that allowed me to play a variety of game play styles.

And I am getting closer and closer to that and I think I am basically at the point where the final plan is is place.

The above embedded Google Doc is what I have currently and my current development plans.

The army is supposed to cover 1939-1942, going from the Bzura, to the Meuse and then the Volga.

I think my plans work and will cover up to late 1942, very early 1943 meaning I may, may add a Tiger Ausf H to this list.

I am really enjoying working on this army but realistically with Graham and the other guys playing mostly late war stuff, I am gonna have to develop a later war army, probably sticking with Germans.

But I really want to explore more early war, so I can see myself expanding the French to 1250pts and perhaps some BEF.

I really wanted my next project to be Afrika Korps, but my most regular opponent is Graham and he has gone with a late war British list, and to be fair a lot of players, play late war.

This leaves me at a significant disadvantage with the early war army, so I am having to pivot to building a later war force to stand a chance in these games.

The difference in what you can take in the early war, and what you can take in later war is just unreal.

The above YouTube short demonstrates this issue for me, although the Centurion came into service just after the end of the war, you get my meaning, I hope!

So whilst I have Panzer Is and maybe a Panzer III Ausf H, Graham is rocking in with a Churchill, Sherman Firefly, Matilda II and a Cromwell in his arsenal, and that’s just not something I will be able to easily deal with.

So I have some Fallschirmjäger STLs from RKX and Colonel Muller, and I am gonna get some of them printed off, alongside a few vehicles.

I already have a Stug III, Luchs and Sd. Kfz 222 painted up for it, thinking of adding a Panzer IV Ausf H, Panther and Sd. Kfz 234/2.

But yeah, it is what it is, and next time I have some resin I will start printing them!

What I Am Modelling

I started out with a test model for an English themed New Antioch army

And a French WWII test model

After that I came to WWII French and finished off this Infantry Squad

I rebased some of my Orks to match the new base sizes from Armageddon

Then I painted a Command Squad for the Cadians

Alongside the Cadia Unbroken Castellan

Plus Ursula Creed

Following this I finished off a Warwolf to replace the one I broke

And a Leman Russ Battletank

And finally a Panzer III Ausf H

I also finished off some weapons for my Deff Dreads and Killa-Kanz

And fixed the Stahlhelms of the riders of this Opel Blitz, they were painted dark green when they really should be dunklegrau!

After that I painted up an Araknae Quad Accelerator Platform for the Ultramarines

And finally for this post, a pair of PAK 38s for the Germans, takes them to Operation Barbarossa

These particular models are form the Empire of Iron and Rust Kickstarter by Studio Historica

This one is a bit different, but I needed a 107mm x 105mm oval base for a Flak 36 for my Germans, but there was no STL for a plain one in the style of Warlord Games, so I kinda modelled it myself.

Its not going to be the start of a career in 3D modelling, that is not something I feel capable of, but its something, anyway you can download it yourself on Cult3D

So what’s up next?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeders
  2. Ultramarines Saturnine Terminators x 6
  3. Neophyte Hybrids x 10, Primus & Magus x 2
  4. Rat Ogres x 3
  5. Deffkoptas x 3 & Kustom Boosta-Blasta
  6. World Eaters Daemon Prince
  7. Grundstock Thunderers x 5 & Torrk Lennsen
  8. Ultramarines Saturnine Command Squad x 3
  9. Einhyr Heathguard x 5
  10. Skywardens x 3

What I Am Reading

I finally, finally finished Dropsite Massacre by John French, I dunno why the headaches keep coming back, but it is what it is, I enjoyed it, but it did feel, I dunno, not rushed, but there wasn’t a lot of the betrayal in there which was a bit disappointing, but it’s a solid addition to the series.

I listened to Armageddon: Season of Fire by Jude Reid which was very good and a very good concept, I strongly recommend people give it a read, compared to the last new edition launch novel, this was a big improvement.

After that I listened to Memory Lane by Eddie Robson, which was a good concept, but it didn’t quite hit the landing, but a good listen.

Then I hit Butchers Nails by Aaron Denali-Bowden, an audio drama I have listened to before, but a long time ago when it first came out, and it was still really good. I miss Black Library audio dramas 🙁

I am now listening to Genefather by Guy Haley, and am about to start on Traitor General by Dan Abnett

I also got Kavita working when it comes to sending book via email to my Kindle, which is handy as hell, no more having to go upstairs, and as long as I am sensible and make sure to keep Kavita up to date with my books, it will work

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

I played Brian in my first game of 11th Edition and it was a massacre!

And I had a game of Bolt Action with Graham, where his 5 man SAS squad massacred a fair few units of mine and almost destroyed a StuG III!!!

This was the list I took

Order Dice: 11

Platoon #1 - Rifle Platoon (489pts)
  Platoon Commander (Leutnant, Oberleutnant) (Regular) (50pts)
    Composition: 1 Officer + 2 Soldiers
    - Additional men x 2 (20pts)
  Heer Infantry Squad (Regular) (119pts)
    Composition: 1 NCO + 9 Soldiers
    - Additional men x 5 (50pts)
    - NCO: Submachine gun (SMG) (4pts)
    - Squad: German light machine gun (LMG) (15pts)
  Heer Infantry Squad (Regular) (119pts)
    Composition: 1 NCO + 9 Soldiers
    - Additional men x 5 (50pts)
    - NCO: Submachine gun (SMG) (4pts)
    - Squad: German light machine gun (LMG) (15pts)
  Heer Infantry Squad (Regular) (119pts)
    Composition: 1 NCO + 9 Soldiers
    - Additional men x 5 (50pts)
    - NCO: Submachine gun (SMG) (4pts)
    - Squad: German light machine gun (LMG) (15pts)
  Sniper Team (Regular) (52pts)
    Composition: 2 Soldiers
  Light Mortar Team (Regular) (30pts)
    Composition: 2 Soldiers

Platoon #2 - Armoured Platoon (360pts)
  Panzer 38(t) and 35(t) (Regular) (145pts)
    - Command Vehicle (10pts)
  StuG III Ausf F, G, H, and StuG IV (Regular) (215pts)

Platoon #3 - Artillery Platoon (150pts)
  Platoon Commander (Leutnant, Oberleutnant) (Regular) (30pts)
    Composition: 1 Officer
  50MM Pak 38 (Regular) (70pts)
    Composition: 3 Soldiers
  Light Artillery (Regular) (50pts)
    Composition: 3 Soldiers

Total: 999pts

We also ran a demo day at Gamers-At-Hart and I was demonstrating Bolt Action with some early war French and Germans, whilst others demoed Blood Red Skies, Warhammer 40k, Blood Bowl, Barons War and Trench Crusade

What Video Games I Am Playing

I finished Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster and have now started out on Easy Red 2

What Achievements I Have Unlocked

Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster

To the Moon

Obtained the Lunar Whale and landed on the moon		23/06/2026
Rematch

Defeated the four elemental lords again		26/06/2026
Summon Master

Learned all non-secret summon magic		26/06/2026
Item Detector

Obtained all hidden items		26/06/2026
Adventurous Wayfarer

Traveled to all the map locations		26/06/2026
Legendary Treasure Hunter

Collected treasure from 100% of the chests		27/06/2026
Power Unleashed

Obtained all sealed equipment.		27/06/2026
Field Research- Professional

Completed 100% of the Bestiary entries		27/06/2026
To the Blue Planet

Defeated Zeromus and restored peace to the world		27/06/2026

Easy Red 2

Wasteful Gunner

Empty all your magazines		11/07/2026
Radio Boy

Use radio HQ to request support		11/07/2026
A Clear Path

Destroy a tank using an AT gun		11/07/2026

What I Am Creating

A new episode of Edge of Empire is in editing, and in the meantime here is a video about my Bolt Action Escalation League 750pts List

What I Am Backing

The Heavy Transporters of WW2 (Volume 2) delivered, and I have already printed out a Hippo for Graham, cause trucks in Bolt Action are cool

Prelude to fear: Early WW2 armed civilians, has delivered a few bits

The Blessed Militia of the Martyred Saints has successfully funded and I have paid for that, looks like a really interesting set of minis for either Trench Pilgrims or New Antioch

Paintpal Studio XP successfully funded, I have the other STLs, and this made sense, one day I will actually get round to printing some of it to better store my paints

The Epic Sector – Frontline Project funded, I really want to play some Legions Imperialis, but it needs terrain, I already have the other two Epic Sector projects, so again it’s a one day I will get round to it!

To give me some more options for British Airborne, I backed both Join or Die Airborne Volume 2 and Merville Battery, with the first one also giving me some Folgore

For some reason, I really fancy the idea of painting some Joseon Koreans, so I have backed the Imjin War Koreans: Part 1 project

I have backed STL Printable Terrain WW2 Desert Collection Vol 2 to go with the stuff for the first one, so eventually I can create a North Africa terrain box

Cause I need more scenery still, I am backing WoWBuildings Does Bastogne

I am backing the Pirate Borg minis project because they look cool and it might be the RPG I run for the group!

The MakerPlot 2.0 looks like it might be an interesting project, so I have backed that

Motorcycle troops in Bolt Actions seem interesting, so I have backed WW2 Motorcycles & Riders: Volume 1

How could I not be backing Victoria Miniatures Grimdark Empire project???

And finally I am backing No Man’s Land: War Train, cause who does’t love an Armoured Train for Trench Crusade

What I Am Spending

I bought a Chaos Lord in Terminator Armour!

I bought myself Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 and United Penguin Kingdom

I Like Weird War… Until It Feels Too Real

By

On 28th May 2026

In Blog

I’ve come to the conclusion that I really dislike the very idea of Konflikt ’47, not just mildly, but viscerally.

That probably needs an immediate caveat: I’m not here to judge anyone who enjoys it. Plenty of people do, and that’s completely fine. We can like different things for different reasons without it needing to become a moral argument.

But for me, Konflikt ’47 just feels… wrong.

I love playing Bolt Action. It’s one of my favourite wargames. However, World War II gaming is already a serious subject. It isn’t just a neutral backdrop for cool tanks and infantry, it represents real human suffering on an unimaginable scale. It carries historical weight, and that weight never really disappears, even in a game.

That’s where my discomfort starts.

Konflikt ’47 takes that same historical foundation and adds zombie soldiers, mechs, occult experiments, and super-science. On paper, it’s alternate history pulp. But in practice, it turns something already rooted in real tragedy into something closer to spectacle.

Enhanced SS units, dieselpunk weapons, and “Nazis with lasers” sit uneasily with me. Not because I think people who enjoy it are endorsing anything, but because the aesthetic draws directly from regimes responsible for very real atrocities. It feels, to me, like it risks turning that history into something stylised, almost consumable, and that’s where it becomes uncomfortable. At times it even feels commercially exploitative, like the imagery is being used because it’s provocative rather than because it’s being meaningfully reframed.

I don’t think anyone who enjoys the game is a bad person, or thinking about it in the wrong way. I just find I can’t reconcile the mix of pulp spectacle with real-world tragedy. Or maybe it’s the idea of extending such a regime into “what if” scenarios that linger too long over history’s worst parts. Either way, it doesn’t sit right with me.

But then there’s the contrast: I really like Trench Crusade.

I’ve thought quite a bit about why that is.

The key difference, for me, is that Trench Crusade isn’t trying to be WWI with a technological twist. It isn’t asking “what if Verdun had mechs?” Instead, it’s a mythic, theological alternate universe where history has already diverged into something fundamentally different.

Yes, there are trenches. Yes, there is war. But it’s not anchored to specific real-world battles or regimes. It’s a gothic horror setting, a fantasy abstraction rather than a reimagining of identifiable history.

In that space, humanity is fighting literal demons of Hell alongside crusader-inspired factions drawn from Abrahamic religious imagery. It’s not alternate history in the traditional sense; it’s religious and mythic horror. That abstraction creates distance, and that distance changes how it feels.

The result is that it doesn’t trigger the same sense of proximity to real-world events. It feels like symbolism rather than substitution.

They just land differently emotionally.

That said, I do have some reservations about Trench Crusade as well. It’s intensely grimdark, almost relentlessly so. Compared to something like Warhammer, it lacks much of the satire or levity that helps break up the tone. I once summed it up in a Bluesky conversation as: “there are no Orks.”

But even with that, it doesn’t produce the same discomfort. It feels like a fully fictional mythos built to explore horror, rather than a stylised extension of real-world catastrophe.

And that, I think, is the distinction that matters most to me.

In the end, this is just my personal reaction to tone, framing, and proximity to history. I don’t think it’s something universal, and I don’t think it should be. People are going to respond differently to the same ideas, and that’s fine.

If anything, it’s a reminder that in games like this, tone matters just as much as theme. What a setting is doing emotionally is often more important than what it is doing structurally.

And for me, that’s where the difference lies.

What I Am Modelling

I started out with a squad of Pioneers for my Early War Germans

Plus an officer to lead them

Also a Stug III Ausf F, which represents the far end of the army I am building right now, more crossing the Volga than the Meuse

I also painted this Panzer III, but it’s a pretty crap model, the details are bad and the print isn’t great, I ended up scrapping the idea of it being for my early war Germans and painted it in dunkelgelb with the idea of giving it to a couple of my nephews as a toy

This was fllowed by a Praetor in Saturnine Terminator Armour for the Word Bearers

I also painted up a trio of Panzer IIs as well

I finally got the Loght Mortar unit finished, so no longer need to proxy my Medium Mortar as one!

And a Stug III Ausf B, cause most of my army is themed around crossing the Meuse and the Ausf B fits that whereas the Ausf F does not

I also painted some test models for a French army, I am kinda fancying doing to face off against my Germans, and I am quite happy with how it turned out

Then two squads of Cadian Shock Troops to finish this off

So what’s up next?

  1. Blood Angels Landspeeder
  2. Heretic Legion Warband
  3. True Sons Legionaries x 10
  4. True Soms Daemon Prince
  5. Cadian Command Squad x 5 & Ursula Creed
  6. Ultramarines Saturnine Terminators x 6 & Centurion in Saturnine Terminator Armour
  7. Neophyte Hybrids x 10, Primus & Magos x 2
  8. Vanquishers x 10
  9. SD. kfz 222
  10. Deffkoptas x 3

What I Am Reading

Alas somehow, I have no idea how, the screen on my Kindle broke 😢

So I had to get a new one, it’s a bit smaller than my old one, but it’s got twice the storage

In terms of reading I have ‘t read much, but I did listen to Zardu Layak: The Crimson Apostle by Rich McCormick

What Tabletop Games I Am Playing

Not much but I did get a game of 40K in against Brian

His detachment negated most of my tough weapons, so stuff that should have been wounding him on 2 was now doing so on a 3 and that made a huge world of difference

Plus the oath of moment rerolls are so very powerful, but it was an excellent list and his played it very well

What I Am Creating

We published the latest epsiode of Edge of Empire

What I am Backing

I have backed the Worlds Beyond Brawl campaign by One Page Rules with a friend, it’s an interesting concept and we fancy a few of the models so why not!

And I am still a backer of Desert Theatre: WWII North African Campaign Stl System

And I have now backed Foldable Terrain for 11th Edition

The Cranes and Fire Engine Vehicle’s of WW2 Volume 1 has now been delivered

What I Am Buying

I got two copies of issue 89 of Combat Patrol

And this Wednesday I managed to make sure to grab two issues of 90 to allow me to make myself a Forgefiend and Maulerfiend for the True Sons Warband of Chaos Space Marines.

And for the regular delivery, my last delivery came, which completes the collection

I also bought a few video games, some from the past month that I forgot to put in the last post

  • Over the Top
  • Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior
  • Anno 1701
  • Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000
  • Warhammer 40,000: Gladius: Onslaught Pack
  • PowerWash Simulator
  • Skull & Bone
  • Heroes of Hammerwatch

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