Review: Temu Trench Terrain

I recently saw an add for some terrain on Temu pop up while browsing the internet and had a lapse in judgement and impulse ordered it. The set was for a " Modular Trench Warfare Terrain Set for Tabletop Wargames – 28mm" and was being sold for ~$20 AUD ($13 USD). After a few weeks it finally arrived and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with what I got, especially considering the price.

The pieces in question

 

 The pieces are a 3D printed grey plastic and while not the greatest sculpts or quality (you can still see the print lines quite easily, they are good for what you paid. I ended up giving them a prime with some grey primer and a quick paint with dollar store acrylics + some Vallejo colours.

All painted up

 

In the end i'm really happy with how they came out. The size is slightly small and while they snuggly fit a 25mm base for bolt action they are slightly too big to fit a 32mm base for my kill team model.

The Bolt action 25mm base fits in well (left) but the T'au stealth suit is slightly too big (right).

 

 

 

 

 

 Getting the pieces out on the game mat, they look great.

Trench warfare!

In any case this has given me some confidence in the cheap Temu terrain and I very likely will be ordering some other pieces to see if they hold up or if I just got lucky with this one. Looking forward to featuring these in our next game of bolt action with a Trench Warfare scenario! 

Signing out,

Chewie

Bolt Action Third Edition

With the end of our Operation Market Garden Campaign comes the opportunity to try out the new third edition rules. We played our first Third Edition rules last night and got to pull out the hard cover rulebook that my friend bought me for Christmas.

 

Not a fan of the art on the book
(Is he waving hello at the person he is shooting at one handed with a rifle?)

We played two lists of ~650 points with 3 platoons each - US vs Germans in an engagement set somewhere in Eastern France using the lists in the back of the rule book.

US Forces

Rifle Platoon

Platoon Commander    40

Rifle Squad   7 men    70
                NCO SMG
                BAR

Rifle Squad   7 men    70
                NCO SMG
                BAR

Bazooka Anti Tank Team 60

Heavy Weapons Platoon

                Platoon Commander  40

                Mortar Team + Spotter   60

                Heavy Machine gun Team 70

Armoured Platoon

                Stuart Light Tank 145 

                M13 Halftrack 70

Total:  625 Points

 

 

German Forces

Rifle Platoon

Platoon Commander    40

Rifle Squad   6  men    79
                NCO SMG
                MG34

Grenadier Squad   6 men    76
                NCO SMG
                2 Assault Riffles

Panzer Shrek Anti Tank Team 80

Heavy Weapons Platoon

                Platoon Commander  40

                Medium Machine Gun Team 50

                Medium Machine Gun Team 50

               

Armoured Platoon

                Sdkfz 234/2 155 

                Hanomag  62

Total:  632 Points

 

We rolled up the scenario (Seek and Destroy) and got to playing! A few things I noticed from our first game:

    - It's much easier to kill small teams now that there's no -1 to hit them. Bazooka teams, officers + man etc really have to watch out as they are easily being hit on 5's with a 5+ cover save.

The bazooka team were cut down moments after this photo!

 

    - The increased amount of officers on the table (which I don't really like) at any time meant a lot of snap-to-actions which results in lot of activations and overall a faster game (which I think is a good thing!).

    - The US fire and maneuver rule (+1 shot for ever 3 guys shooting) is lame and I don't think captures the semi automatic nature of their guns or the fire-and-manouver doctrine well. I'd like to see them bring back the no penalty to shooting or perhaps something like being able to shoot and then move extra towards the unit they are shooting at on an advance.

Germans firing from their position in the farm

 

    - The point blank rule is fun and deadly and close combat just feels far too risky now to ever justify (defenders go at the same time but can still shoot as a reaction to the charge) and defenders in cover go FIRST (which I don't like thematically as surely the attackers will be throwing grenades, firing off to keep the defenders heads down no?), I think in 2nd edition combat was too much feast-or-famine situation so I'm overall happy with this.

The Stuart enjoyed some point blank shooting

    - Pinning out a unit seems less important/probable given that they get a flat -1 to hit for any number of pins and the +2 morale to all officers gives a good chance to pass orders. Not sure if this is good or not we'll have to play more games.

 

Overall I thinkV3 is a good game with simple rules and still very true to the 'beer and pretzels' game play of Bolt Action. After playing a fair bit of kill team recently it was very refreshing to have some simple rules to get around! The game was full of awesome moments and the dice were not in my favour giving my opponent a convincing win of 9 points to 4! Looking forward to our next game as we get into it more and trying out some of the new rules on other units (snipers, flamethrowers, fanatics etc). As we are casual players we will ultimately house rule what we like and don't like to ensure that we are having the most FUN which is what bolt action is all about.

Signing off,

Chewie

 

 

Review: RKX Miniatures 3D printed by OzWargaming

I wanted to share my thoughts on something new I recently tried for my Bolt Action armies: 3D printed models. I’ve been hearing a lot about how 3D printing is taking the wargaming community by storm, so I decided to dive in and see what all the fuss was about. For this experiment, I purchased a mix of British and German models from OzWargaming, featuring sculpts from RKX Miniatures’ 28mm WWII range. Here’s my review and honest thoughts on this experiences 

This was my first time working with 3D printed miniatures. As someone who’s used to the crisp sculpts of Warlord Games and Rubicon’s plastic kits, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. The models I received were nicely detailed and mostly to scale with Bolt Action miniatures, which was a pleasant surprise. For example, I tried mixing a 3D printed gunner and machine gun with loaders from Warlord Games’ British/Canadian Infantry Plastics, and the result was surprisingly seamless—the figures blended together nicely.

However, the 3D prints weren’t without issues, so let’s break things down.

• Scale Compatibility: For the most part, the scale of the 3D printed figures works well alongside Bolt Action minis. This was particularly noticeable with infantry pieces, where I could mix and match components with no glaring size discrepancies.

 

The middle model is a 3D print from RKX minis and the other 2 are Warlord plastics

 

• Detail: The sculpts themselves are decent, with a good level of detail on weapons, uniforms, and equipment. The models capture the essentials of WWII-era soldiers nicely.

Unfortunately, the 3D printed models fell a little short when compared to traditional plastic kits. Here are the main issues I ran into:

1. Textured Finish: One drawback for me was the slightly textured surface of the models. While this texture largely disappears after priming and painting, it’s not as smooth as Warlord or Rubicon plastics, and that initial difference was noticeable.

2. Brittle Material: The resin/plastic material used in the 3D prints felt brittle compared to traditional plastic kits. This is a major concern for wargaming miniatures, as they’re handled frequently during games. I worry about long-term durability, especially when it comes to thinner parts like gun barrels. E.g. the Bren Carrier was shipped to me with damaged tracks and it's not easy to fix.
   

3. Print Quality Issues: While the detail on most models was solid, there were a few noticeable flaws. For instance, the Flak 30 model I received had a wonky wheel that I couldn’t ignore. These imperfections can be frustrating, especially for those of us who love precision in our armies.

    

   

   Left: Wonky wheel, Right: Good wheel.
   

    

4. Scaling Problems: One particular issue I noticed was with the crew for the Universal Carrier. The crew models were noticeably smaller in scale compared to the infantry figures. While this isn’t unique to 3D prints (Rubicon and Warlord tank crews also suffer from this problem), it’s still worth mentioning.

   

   Notice how much bigger the warlord model is compared to the crew
   

   
   

    

Overall, my first experience with 3D printed miniatures has been... fine. They’re OK, but they didn’t blow me away. For someone with their own 3D printer setup, this would be a fantastic and affordable way to bulk out armies or create rare units that aren’t readily available from traditional manufacturers. However, as a one-off purchase, I personally prefer the quality and reliability of Warlord Games, Rubicon, or Tamiya models over 3D printed minis.

That being said, if you’re on a budget or looking for something specific that isn’t sold elsewhere, 3D printing could be a great option. For me, though, I’ll be sticking to the tried-and-true plastic kits for now.

Signing off,

Chewie