Back in April, when we released the Demeter Attack VTOL at Salute, it should have been accompanied by a second model, a utility VTOL (think UH-1 Huey in terms of its rôle). However, we had several issues with the other prototype, it would never cast reliably enough to be able to release so we’ve ended up having to redesign and reprint parts of it. We think we’re there now, we’ve run enough test casts to be happy that all the bits now work.

The HU.1 Perseus is, as previously mentioned, a utility type that has a rear cabin for four fully equipped infantry (six over short distances as long as they don’t mind being squeezed in). It has the same chin turret as the Demeter with a 2cm tri-barrel powergun and can also carry a variety of underwing stores so can serve as a passable gunship.

The Perseus is used by three Hammer’s Slammers units as a fast APC flying nap-of-the-earth when in the combat zone, staying down among the weeds to avoid being shot out of the sky. Both the Eaglewing and the Texian 101st base their forces around VTOL transports and gunships, while Guardforce O’Higgins’ veteran Fianóglach company are equipped with a number of Perseus and act as a rapid-reaction unit. In the detachment lists for these three forces, the Perseus replaces the Black Crow VTOL.

The model is a four-part resin kit (body, tail and two wings) with five metal parts (turret, two tail fins, two cabin doors). The separate cabin doors allow for a door gunner (which we don’t yet make but will do).

HS15-2601 – Perseus Utility VTOL – £12.00

As promised, we’ve put together 6mm Hammer’s Slammers detachment packs for our brand new Flaming Sword of the Holy Brotherhood models. There are four, for each of the Recce, Strike, Heavy and Protection lists in the FSHB detachment sheet.

And I thought, why stop there ? So I didn’t, and added some more. There are now packs available for the Lightning Division (Tank and Infantry) and also three for one of my favourite units, Foster’s Mercenaries.

HSD6-1701 – Lightning Division Tank Detachment – £11.00
HSD6-1702 – Lightning Division Infantry Detachment – £6.75
HSD6-1702a – Lightning Division Infantry Detachment – £7.00

HSD6-2001 – Flaming Sword Recce -£6.00
HSD6-2002 – Flaming Sword Strike -£9.00
HSD6-2003 – Flaming Sword Heavy – £12.50
HSD6-2004 – Flaming Sword Protection – £6.50

HSD6-3101 – Fosters Calliope Detachment – £9.25
HSD6-3102 – Fosters Artillery Detachment – £10.50
HSD6-3103 – Fosters Infantry Detachment – £7.50

The latest new releases on our website today are 6mm versions of the GS series of GEVs used primarily by two mercenary units, The Flaming Sword of the Holy Brotherhood and Ben Mehdi’s Legion (formerly known as Broglie’s Legion and, before that, Baffin’s Legion). There are seven new vehicles and variants, all based on the same hex-skirted hover chassis. They join the existing M12 heavy tank destroyer.

HS6-2012 – GS-1199 Tank Destroyer – £1.25
HS6-2013 – GS-1007 APC – £1.25
HS6-2014 – GS-1141R Mortar Carrier – £1.25
HS6-2014a – GS-1026 Light Support – £1.25
HS6-2014b – GS-1186PG Heavy Support – £1.25
HS6-2014c – GS-1188RG Heavy Support – £1.25
HS6-2015 – GS-1018 Calliope – £1.25

We’re working on a number of pre-defined detachment packs for the FSHB – hopefully they’ll be on the website next week.

Ander’s Legion is a combined arms mercenary unit that makes an appearance (of sorts) in the Hammer’s Slammers story Paying the Piper. They were fighting alongside the Slammers on the planet of Plattner’s World in the pay of the United Cities, facing (amongst others) the West Riding Yeomanry and the Apex Dragoons. General Ander and his troops should have been dug-in, ready to support Lt Arne Huber’s company of combat cars, but failed to appear to spring the planned ambush, leaving F-company badly exposed. This resulted in the unfortunate General being arrested by his UC employers for failure to follow orders (who, just to be sure, sub-contracted the actual arrest to Major Joachim Steuben and his White Mice field police unit). While in custody, the General chose to take his own life rather than face the Bonding Authority tribunal – or at least, that’s what Major Steuben would have you believe…

The Legion is a mechanised unit, fielding mainly tracked or semi-tracked armoured vehicles, along with quick-reaction infantry units on one-man skimmers. Following the death of the General, the unit chose to retain its name but re-equipped with newer vehicles. The older Uralvagonzavod Cutlass tanks and Halberd tank destroyers were sold on, replaced by TF Industries’ Rapier MBT and the new Xiphos series of self-propelled guns. The infantry’s Dragoon half-tracks were traded in with Scania for the later Dragoon II model. The scout section was upgraded with Viking recce half-tracks and the brand new Kopis recce tank.

We recently released several new Ander’s Legion vehicles in 6mm, and now it’s the turn of the 15mm models. The Dragoon, Viking and infantry skimmers are already available, and today we’ve released the Rapier and two variants of the Xiphos.

The Rapier is a heavy tracked tank with a long-barrelled 22cm DS railgun, light Manta missile pod and bow gatling. The model features a resin hull and tracks, with a (huge!) metal turret and weapons. There are also two air-defence variants, known by troops as the Machete – one with four 2cm tri-barrels, and another with a mixed laser-missile system.

The Xiphos comes in two flavours – a tank destroyer with a 20cm HI powergun that will give any opposing tank a headache, and an infantry support variant called the Palintone with twin breech-loading mortars. Each vehicle also has three tri-barrel 2cm powerguns, giving it additional firepower equivalent to a combat car! The open superstructure is protected from shell fragments by a beryllium mesh screen that runs on roof rails and can be retracted into the back of the engine compartment, much like a giant roller-blind. The Xiphos model has a resin hull and tracks, a 3-piece metal superstructure plus roof rails and weapons also in metal. The splinter screen is provided in the form of an etched brass piece. This will cover the whole of the open rear deck, it can be omitted to represent a retracted screen, or, if cut somewhere along the length, can represent a partially deployed screen.

As a final note, we have resupplies of our very handy etched brass turret baskets – you can find those under 15mm Accessories.

HS15-3611 – Rapier Tank – £8.50
HS15-3611a – Machete P/4 with tri-barrels – £8.50
HS15-3611b – Machete LM/2 with laser/missile system – £8.50
HS15-3612 – Xiphos Tank Destroyer – £8.00
HS15-3612a – Palintone Mortar Support Vehicle – £8.00

HSD15-3601 – Ander’s Legion Infantry Detachment – £36.00
HSD15-3602 – Ander’s Legion Recce Detachment – £41.00
HSD15-3603 – Ander’s Legion Mechanised Detachment – £63.00

Keen readers will have noticed the absence of the previously-mentioned Kopis from the release; don’t worry, it’s coming. But it arose at the last minute from a brief discussion on Facebook, and there wasn’t time to get a model designed and into production to join the other models. But rest assured, we already have both 6mm and 15mm masters in hand – the resin parts for the 15mm version have already been moulded.

Off the production line this week are these two 6mm Eaglewing VTOLs, the Demeter and the Perseus.

The Demeter is a two-seater attack craft while the Perseus is a utility VTOL with room to transport an infantry squad in the cabin.

The Eaglewing is a Hammer’s Slammers mercenary unit equipped primarily with VTOLs that operate almost as ground vehicles, flying nap-of-the-earth in combat zones to keep out of sight of enemy anti-aircraft weapons. Away from the front line they can fly higher and use their high speed to redeploy quickly as required. They also have a small number of conventional ground vehicles for mortar and artillery support.

Other users of the Demeter and Perseus include the 101st Texian Light Airborne, a fully airmobile infantry unit, and the Fianóglach veterans of Guardforce O’Higgins.

HS6-2601 – Perseus HU.1 Utility VTOL – £2.00
HS6-2602 – Demeter Attack VTOL – £2.00

Finally, just a quick notice that I’m away for a couple of days. We’re up to date with orders to the end of Sunday (15th) and I’ll be back on Friday to deal with any that arrive this week so there shouldn’t be much delay – I just may not be able to answer any emails as quickly as usual.

We previewed a bunch of new 6mm models for the Joy of Six show – and I managed to get the cooling tower painted and photographed! The first of these have gone onto the website today, along with (thanks to a well timed delivery of etched brass bits) a new vehicle that hasn’t previously been seen.

The Rapier MBT is being phased in by Anders Legion to replace their inventory of obsolescent Cutlass tanks. It’s a tracked vehicle with a large, sloped turret equipped with a heavy railgun and light ATGW launcher.

The Xiphos is a rather unusual hybrid tank destroyer/combat car. It’s an open backed vehicle, with the rear of the crew compartment protected by a mesh splinter screen, similar to those deployed on Slammers Combat Cars. Primary armament is either a railgun (the same calibre as that on the Rapier but with a shorter barrel) or a pair of breech-loading gun-mortars. It also has three tri-barrel powergun mounts – one on the roof operated by the commander standing in the rear, and another pair mounted over the rear wings. Anders Legion are re-equipping with these in place of their current fleet of Uralvagonzavod Halberds. The 6mm model comes with separate tri-barrels and an etched brass piece for the screen – you’ll need tweezers to assemble this one!

Although we don’t yet have the rest of the Flaming Sword of the Holy Brotherhood ready (a bit of a FUBAR with one of the moulds…), we wanted to get the M12 out as it’s a great little model. The M12L14 tank destroyer is a fusion-powered blower, mounting a 20cm powergun and remote-control tri-barrel. It’s used by the Flaming Sword in their heavy detachments and as the primary armoured vehicle of Broglie’s Legion

Finally for this week, a handy little Radome building which makes an ideal game objective. The dome is the same as our larger radar bunker, so you can create a radar array similar to the Fylingdales Moor installation.

HS6-2011 – M12L14 Tank Destroyer – £1.50
HS6-3611 – Rapier Tank – £1.25
HS6-3612 – Xiphos Tank Destroyer – £1.25
HS6-3612a – Palintone Mortar Support Vehicle – £1.25

B300-144 – Radome – £2.00

That’s all for now – see you Sunday!