The miniatures arrived from Odin Art & Collectables.

Considering we paid for these a week and a half ago and they were coming from the U.S to lil ole New Zealand that was dam fast. Really happy with the service we received from Brad at Odin and would recommend him to any one.

Soviets

The minis were secure in their plastic cases with foam insert. Only thing with the CnC range is to be careful with the tank barrels as they can bend and break. I can see now how some gamers are terrified of painting 6mm minis they are so tiny.

Each container was labeled clearly with the item code and name. And were also color coded to each nation. [Soviets-red, U.S-green, Germans-white etc]

I love the T-34 and was really happy to see that there is a big difference in the T-34/76 and the T-34/85 enough for me to notice on the battle field. The IL2's look great just need to sort out their bases. Still have to get infantry figs for my Tank rider platoon and armoured infantry platoon which will be using captured German half tracks.

Germans

As for the quality I was pretty happy over all the minis were easily identifiable and had decent detail. I have a lot of metal to paint now and base. Still waiting on the templates from Litko which should be here next week. Getting the FoW Rule book from MarkOne Games and Comics.

One of our local gaming shops [well for me its a 45minute drive to go there so as local as it can get.]

I didn't get any planes from Odin for the Germans as I had already gotten 3x Stukas and 3x HS129B's from Raiden Miniatures. So my Germans have a decent Bomber and Anti-tank airforce. I am still contemplating that my list is missing Recon and I should have gotten some just not sure what. This army is going to be out numbered by 2:1 odds when facing off against the Soviets just hope the Tigers can do well. Will post pics and blog regarding our games once we get them painted up.

Welcome to my Blog. I've set this up to discuss mainly War gaming or Table top war games. Will also add in different topics or ideas as the blog evolves. Glad you found my Blog and hope you enjoy your stay.

Many years ago I played 15mm Flames of war and had a decent German force. I loved the range of minis they had and the detail. But one thing my wife did not like was the cost. So after many years away from FoW, I decided it was time to find a cheap alternative so I wouldn't need to mortgage the house, or sell my organs so I could fund one FoW army.

And I did!!

Micro-FoW yup you got it. 6mm [1/285] scale minis using the flames of war rules and army lists. What you cry how can you? what about the templates? range and measurements?

Well thanks to GHQ [http://www.ghqmodels.com] and Litko [http://www.litkoaero.com/] who have designed 1/2 and 2/3 scale templates that can be used with GHQ's range of 1/285 WWII miniatures.

I am going to be using the 1/2 scale templates and to make FoW fit into this scale all I do is half the range and movement. Only other thing to consider is reducing the base sizes by 50% and basing all of the miniatures, tanks, artillery, infantry and Spg's.

What are the benefits of playing Micro-FoW. well here are a few:

• The amount of room the miniatures take up is reduced considerably.
• The standard 6'x4' tables we all game on becomes this huge playing area when using 1/285. Out flanking becomes a tactic, Artillery can not hit you 1st turn, Tank parking no longer happens.
• The cost of the miniatures [eg best bang for your buck] is heavily reduced. I spent $6.30NZD on a pack of 3 Tiger I E which is $2.10NZD each. To get one offical Tiger I E it is $19NZD.

What about 1/285 that isn't good:

• Well the scale for one thing. Some players find it hard enough to paint 15mm scale then even attempt to paint 6mm.
• Range of stock varies from Company. GHQ has the biggest range, whilst CnC has better price. For example My brother-inlaw wants to have Sexton's for his Brit army but CnC does not have this in their range whilst GHQ does. [Same with my Wespes i'll need to go through GHQ to get them.]
• The Detail on the minis. Yes having to much or to intricate detailing can put players off the product. CnC lack the detail that GHQ offers. [stowage, crates etc] This can be an issue with beginner level painters/gamers.

I'll post more about this project and also show you step by step as we order our armies, and then how journey through painting, basing and then actually playing with them.

Here is a list of what I have ordered for the Soviets and Germans

Germans:

12x StuG III G

6x Sdkfz 251/1D

3x Opel Blitz Truck

4x RSO-3 tractor

3x Tiger I E

6x 2cm Flakvierling Sdkfz 7/1

6x LFH 18/105mm Artillery

Soviets:

10x M4A2 Shermans

6x T-34/76E

6x T-34/85

9x Katyusha rocket trucks

3x KV85

3x SU122

3x M16 AA guns [U.S]

3x IL2 Sturmovik

Also getting a pack of .50 cal MG's for the U.S lend lease tanks the Soviets are using.

Both these armies will eventually be around the 2,500pts still need to add infantry to the order.

Once the miniatures arrive i'll post picks of them.