It's a Tank!

 Or self-propelled gun anyway... I finished up the Semovente 75/18 that game with the Bolt Action Italians box set this week. It's was a frustrating build and enjoyable paint. I don't understand why a tabletop gaming company bothers with multi-part model kits these days. Resin chunks and 3D printed models are so much easier to deal with and does anyone really care about engine and transmission components on a game table? Good grief.... nice try Warlord. 

I like how she turned out!

I really must get her on the table with the rest of the BA minis. Be well y'all!

That's Italian!

 Hello hello, I hope everyone's had a good start to 2025. Mine's been fine so far, with just a major work go-live looming ahead on January 21st. I must have faith in the talent of the team.... I must have faith in the talent of the team.

Enough of that, on with the hobby stuff! So, those Bolt Action Italians that I got at the end of 2024 are table-ready! Two weeks, 40 infantry, 3 support weapons and one armored car. Not bad, especially for me. I still have to put the Semovente 75 together and paint it, but I'll get there. It would have been a distraction from painting infantry. To recap, this is two squads of 10 regular army infantry and two squads of 8 Blackshirts, along with HQ-types, platoon commander, medic, medic and assistant. I've also got an 81mm mortar, an HMG and a 47mm ATG. The AB41 armored car is a resin 3d print picked up for $20 on Etsy.

I mounted the HMG on the tripod backwards and because of the fragile nature of the model, there was no reasonable way to fix it. Oh well. Overall I'm happy with the look of the group and look forward to putting them on a tabletop to duke it out with my Canadian force. 

Travels and New Armies

Happy New Year all and I hope you had a fine Christmas.

 The wife and I had a terrific time up in Washington and Oregon. We needed a get-away after a 2024 filled with headaches and drama.

THE Coast of Washington. Windy, rainy and  just gorgeous.

A fine house porter at the Astoria Brewing Company.

We parked here to tour the Flavel House Museum. I immediately recognized the black Jeep from Goonies. Moments later I realized that the building is the jail that Jake Fratelli breaks out of at the beginning of the movie. 

BULLET HOLES!

I love the colored glass on this fixture.

And the detail on the central element.

Certainly looks haunted, right?

We of course visited the Goonies house the following morning. You cannot go in, but it's fun to visit such an iconic location from my childhood memories.

A 3-hour drive to Seattle for some more touristing. The Space Needle of Course!

While waiting to go up, there are a couple of scale models showing stages of construction. Appears to be about 1/100 scale judging by the people. Need to get this model into a game somehow. 

The views from up top are impressive. The weather was even starting to clear!

The trip was fantastic and aside from wrecking my right knee walking back to the parking garage on Sunday after the Space Needle visit, everything was easy and pleasant. There's a lot to be said for travelling without an agenda.

And awesomely, I had a new pile of minis waiting for me when I got back home. They were ordered just before we left on our trip.

Bolt Action Italians. Huzzah! An opfor for the Canadians for sure. I just couldn't do another German army. I painted a bunch for FOW, pre-blog days, painted plenty of 1/72s and just wanted something different. Canadians and Italians fought plenty in Sicily. The AB41 armored car is a 3d print ordered from XPForge via Etsy. Very nice model. 

The infantry are being organized as two 10-man squads of regular infantry and two 8-man squads of Blackshirts along with regular army support elements (mortar, MMG and ATG).