Thank you Marco. You hit the nail on the head with this great review. I have found it a "gateway game" for friends who don't wargame and many have gone on to explore more advanced games as a result. I am fortunate that I have a lot of airfix and airfix style miniatures and adding those to the game make it come to life even more for new players. It's a shame the tank units are hard to get to scale for a good price. Airfix themselves only really do the 1/72nd/20mm tanks as model kits. I used to have the old polyurethane tanks from the 70's as a kid and these required no construction. It would be nice if these were made again, though in truth I wouldn't over invest in this game as I personally found friends and family wanting to try other wargames. The price of 2 boxes of miniatures or a quick trip to ebay to pick up loose miniatures which regularly turn up at low prices is worth the effort.
I bought this and thought it was pretty scrappy. It felt like an underdeveloped jumble. The maps were nice I admit, but the lack of regular scale, the finicky cards and most of all, the lack of troops led me to dump it - very rare for a wargame.
That board/map looks about the right size to place 1/72nd scale Airfix models on. My guess is it wont be too long before the box containing a Panzer III ( or something) will come with the unit card for the game and an invitation to by the game. Quite a good idea. Hornby is actually in financial difficulty, maybe this new venture could up their sales of WW2 plastic models as this game would look a whole lot better with plastic men and tanks on the board?
I have the game and I intend to use 15mm figures and vehicles for it. My only complaint about the maps and counters is that the green background color is too dark for my taste. I'd prefer more contrast between the icons and the background. Other than that, everything's functional and I think the game is a good value with a lot of replay ability. There are supposed to be expansions for the game that turns it into a more traditional miniatures game with measured moves instead of using a grid. Perhaps they will release more in the coming year?
Nice, I will get this for my brothers kids. Probably it will be my brother and me fixing most off the models, for sure to be used with models if any good, but still. We played with the cards on the map. Works fine. Off course it will be models later but still... The cardplay is good, I just wish it was not all good/elite troops Normandy 1944.
Is this a recent venture that Airfix have done into the wargaming scene ? or have they attempted this before ? Airfix have been around since World War II !!
This game is actually produced by Modiphius Entertainment and isn't an "official" Airfix product as such. As I recall, Airfix did produce a miniatures wargame about the battle of Waterloo sometime back in the 70s (I think), but I've never seen a copy in person and I believe it's fairly rare. (I've wanted to get my hands on a copy ever since I saw it advertised in the British magazine called Military Modelling.)
Airfix is a company / a brand. You're right though, the UK often makes the word synonymous with any model vehicle assembly kit. I've walked into UK modelling hobby shops and seen space rocket Airfix and civilian car Airfix, so it's not just limited to military vehicles and sometimes infantry.
Thank you Marco. You hit the nail on the head with this great review. I have found it a "gateway game" for friends who don't wargame and many have gone on to explore more advanced games as a result. I am fortunate that I have a lot of airfix and airfix style miniatures and adding those to the game make it come to life even more for new players.
It's a shame the tank units are hard to get to scale for a good price. Airfix themselves only really do the 1/72nd/20mm tanks as model kits. I used to have the old polyurethane tanks from the 70's as a kid and these required no construction. It would be nice if these were made again, though in truth I wouldn't over invest in this game as I personally found friends and family wanting to try other wargames. The price of 2 boxes of miniatures or a quick trip to ebay to pick up loose miniatures which regularly turn up at low prices is worth the effort.
I bought this and thought it was pretty scrappy. It felt like an underdeveloped jumble. The maps were nice I admit, but the lack of regular scale, the finicky cards and most of all, the lack of troops led me to dump it - very rare for a wargame.
I believe I've seen this box in my local board game store. I thought it was a box for miniature wargame figures.
That board/map looks about the right size to place 1/72nd scale Airfix models on. My guess is it wont be too long before the box containing a Panzer III ( or something) will come with the unit card for the game and an invitation to by the game. Quite a good idea.
Hornby is actually in financial difficulty, maybe this new venture could up their sales of WW2 plastic models as this game would look a whole lot better with plastic men and tanks on the board?
the mechanics look really good! the anti armor roll in particular is ingenious.
I have the game and I intend to use 15mm figures and vehicles for it. My only complaint about the maps and counters is that the green background color is too dark for my taste. I'd prefer more contrast between the icons and the background. Other than that, everything's functional and I think the game is a good value with a lot of replay ability. There are supposed to be expansions for the game that turns it into a more traditional miniatures game with measured moves instead of using a grid. Perhaps they will release more in the coming year?
Nice, I will get this for my brothers kids.
Probably it will be my brother and me fixing most off the models, for sure to be used with models if any good, but still.
We played with the cards on the map. Works fine. Off course it will be models later but still... The cardplay is good, I just wish it was not all good/elite troops Normandy 1944.
right on time
Take the miniature soldiers from Memoir 44 and play that game. It will look better.
LOL...Someone took advantage of the Queen Games' Fire Sale on Amazon! Great review.
oh yeah, big box games for like $27, can't pass those up!
marcowargamer Lancaster! I'm jealous
Is this a recent venture that Airfix have done into the wargaming scene ? or have they attempted this before ? Airfix have been around since World War II !!
This game is actually produced by Modiphius Entertainment and isn't an "official" Airfix product as such. As I recall, Airfix did produce a miniatures wargame about the battle of Waterloo sometime back in the 70s (I think), but I've never seen a copy in person and I believe it's fairly rare. (I've wanted to get my hands on a copy ever since I saw it advertised in the British magazine called Military Modelling.)
Airfix is a company / a brand. You're right though, the UK often makes the word synonymous with any model vehicle assembly kit. I've walked into UK modelling hobby shops and seen space rocket Airfix and civilian car Airfix, so it's not just limited to military vehicles and sometimes infantry.