Skirmish In a Box by Perry Miniatures

 The Skirmish in a box is a set of 65 multi-part multi-pose plastic 28mm figures from Perry Miniatures.

The set comes in a larger than normal depth box

The box contains one French battalion frame.

One French Infantry command frame

Four French Elite frames

One SPA-70 Spanish infantry frame

There is one Spanish Infantry frame from SPA-80 which I have forgotten to photograph.

One Spanish command frame

Five Guerrilla frames

One Spanish head frame

Flat Caps and Truncheons

 Flat Caps and Truncheon is a two player starter set for The Chicago Way game from Greate Escape Games. The Chicago Way is set in Prohibition era Chicago, this set transports the action to Interwar Birmingham, inspired by the BBC series Peaky Blinders.

The game comes in a large box.

The box contains fifteen 28mm scale white metal figures and fifteen standard Renedra 25mm round bases (I used Wargames Atlantic 25mm dual use bases for the figures so I cound have a flat blend in with the puddle bases on the figures).

There are seven Peaky Blinders figures including one with a Lewis Gun and another withh a WW1 German submachine gun.

There are seven City of Birmingham police, three with rifles, two with pistols, one with a truncheon and a plain clothes one with a pistol.

There is also a Molly Suffolk character.

There are the required cards, both generic The Chicago Way and Flat Caps and Truncheon specific ones, plus a set of markers. There is also a character card for Molly Suffolk.

There is a standard The Chicago Way rule book, and a three leaf fold out sheet with three scenarios and the stats for the police and criminals.

I was rather disappointed with the latter, I had hoped for more details on the set up (I have never watched Peaky Blinders).

Crusader Ailthean light tractor

The Crusader Ailthean light tractor is the second injection moulded tractor from Wargames Atlantic.

Though the Ailthean tractor uses a more conventional caterpillar track system, unlike all of our tanks, it has its engine in the turret, in some ways resembling the arrangement of diggers. Though it has a turret (unlike the Chyweethl), to traverse the turret, the drive has to be disengaged so it cannot traverse and move.

The kit comprises one large and one small sprue.

The large sprue has the main body (basically the turret, crew, stowage and the piece that joins the tracks and the body.

The second sprue just has the two tread units.

Coftyran Chyweethl Tractor

 The Chyweethl light tractor is one of the first two injection moulded tractor kits (the other being the Crusader Ailthean light tractor).

The Chyweethl is a very old design, the first rolled out 140 years previously (though there has been a lot of internal changes over this period). It uses the Pedrail system for locomotion. Though it looks a bit like the caterpillar track used by our tanks, it is not. Each of the "feet" are mounted on a rail that runs round the vehicle. Great for cross-country movement, but not so much on paved roads.

A fixed mount gun reduces the weight and height of the vehicle, but requires coordination between the gunner and the driver. A large hatch on the roof is the main entry and exit point.

It is worth watching the video by Josh Qualteri here.

The kit comes in a standard  Wargames Atlantic box.

The instructions are printed on the rear of the box.

The kit is comprised of two sprues (one full size, one smaller one).

The first sprue contains the pedrail system and the main parts of the hull.

The second sprue has two half crew figures, stowag, the hatch, gun and drivers compartment.

Construction was simple, the only thing to bear in mind (as mentioned in the video, but I did not watch that until after I had built mine) the top hatch is intended to be left separate, so you can pop a crew figure into it. This may come back to bite me in the revised rules including tractors.

Side view with a plastic Quar from the command set.

Comparison with the Fidwog Fynrydhad Tractor.

Comparison with an Empress 1/50 scale BMD-1 AIFV

Flat Caps and Truncheons - The Police

 At Colours I bought Flat Caps and Truncheons, a Chicago Way starter set.

There are seven police officers, six in uniform and one plain clothes.

The sergeant.

Three police officers with bolt action rifles.

Two police officers with revolvers and one with a truncheon.

Group shot.

Trubia Tank - Spanish Civil War

 The Spanish developed a light tank based on the Renault FT of World War 1.  I built an Empress FT for use in Operation Sealion games. As you can see, they are of similar size (the trench crossing skid extends the length of the FT).

This is a very simple model, one piece hull, a turret and two Lewis Gins (Lewis Guns have a thermal sleeve round the barrel, which always makes them look like larger calibre weapons.