Range ID
Unboxing The British – Monty’s Desert Rats
Mar 3 2017 @ 17:12
144 Comments
Now we've unboxed the Germans we take a look at the British and Monty's Desert Rats.
Once again there is a LOT to get stuck into here and its fascinating learning about the different options open to these forces.
Would you plump for the British if you were going to be playing the game?
nice will the have the data cards for sale or download for tanks ect.
I like that you get options between guns etc. on the sprues but they also confuse me. I’m not a history buff so I wouldn’t know which option to pick.
Looking forward to this!
The bright yellow plastic gives me flashbacks to playing with toy soldiers.
Love the yellow plastic reminds me of stand soldiers I used to play with as a kid
This is shaping up to be a good fight. I think, from memory, the wheeled ammo crate is the limber.
I’m surprised how many little parts on these kits.
They look really nice kits. Really looking forward to getting my grubby little paws on them.
I think the word you’re looking for is ‘Limber’. The 17pdr was called Pheasent
Those kits look great
The small gun on the Crusader sprue is the 2 pounder.
Nice looking kits, cant wait to get hold of some.
The thingy is the commander’s and loader’s hatch for the crusader III, the one with the 6 pdr.
The other two barrels are the early and late version of the 2 pdr gun and gunmantlet. Great that they’re both in there, so you can build an early crusader I (as well as a II) with the kit, i.e. all gun versions of the crusader. Neat little kit.
Is the 17 pounder an AT gun or arty?
Anti tank gun….. a very good anti tank gun
Kits look good but I’m not good at putting things together.
I like the M3, its an ugly in a good way tank.
me too 😀
Well the cruiser tanks in plastic are looking ace.
Arrrggghhhh – the yellow….
Please tell these sprues for thr Brits are some early prototypes and the color of the production run is toned down a bit.
I’m a slow painter and this intense yellow will cause eye cancer…
Agree, but I think it’s a way to ensure that the models get base coated very quickly. I suggest wearing sun glasses whilst modeling. 🙂
The M3 has always been one of my favorites as well 🙂
Like the British force with the very different and unique tanks. The tanks are some the craziest designs , small turret any direction, large gun facing forward. In the design of the Grant, I was wondering if the top turret was mainly anti infantry while the main gun was meant to engage mainly enemy tanks from the front!
@skid us the 17pounder is an anti tank gun. The kits loops really nice
i like the quirky desert rat symbol over the german palm tree afraka corp. i still hard press to pick a side.
Can’t wait to see the battle between you 2
Hopefully we will see some cool desert rat infantry to support the armor from battlefront
I have lots of 25 lbrs but do need the 17 lbr AT guns. Glad they are interchangeable
Can’t wait to see the armies built.
These plastic kits look pretty cool.
Tanks for the Tank God!
I’d be a tough choice between the Germans and the British, but I think I’d go for the Desert Rats.
Plastic crusader, with that i finally can complete my death or glory boys force.
Nice models. Like the way they going the same way as Team Yankee.
nice miniatures
AAAHHHH now im really kicking myself i didnt book my place
What does it mean “to plump for the British”? Is this some sort of UK slang I have never heard mentioned?
The tanks look cool. Where are the Honeys?
Good luck John , looks very nice
Guys, the “box” is the turret hatches for the Mk3 crusader. Those three guns are the 2lbr for the Mk1 & Mk2, the 6lbr for the Mk3, and the 3″ Howitzer for the Mk1 & 2 CS (Close Support) versions which, according to British doctrine of the time, would fire mostly Smoke rounds, rather than laying down HE.
Also John, shame on you not remembering that the 25lbr ammo trailer is called a Limber, I don’t remember if it was used with the 17lbr (actually, in this case, 17/25lbr “pheasant” as they used the 25lbr carriage rather than the dedicated 17lbr split trail type) guns, the cartridges may have been too long to fit.
In all official documents the limber is called an ammunition trailer, but everybody just called a limber 😉
Desert rats all the way!!!
love the tokans
Always loved the desert rats. Great force and looks like great force
Cancel the boot camp! John is clearly very ill. There were things about tanks he didn’t know.
with so many options magnetising all this will we my best friend
Crusaders <3
Always love the tokens in started sets, I am a simple man.
nice kit, still gonna play Germans though
Isn’t the “thingy” an insert for one of the turrets to allow you to model the tank commander?
I have this box on preorder and really can’t wait to pick it up. Not that I need more things to build up but I am excited about what v4 will be like.
a great looking box guys.
Tons of plastic around.
Really excited for the 17 pounders and the 25’s in plastic. Crew looks awesome as well.
The Crusaders look gorgeous. Such a shame that they’re not actually that good.
My WW2 gaming has always focussed on late war. These sets are making mid-war seem a nice option. I now feel that John is less god-like. There is actually part of a tank he does not know!
I love the way that all these new kits come with all their alternate versions so they have more scope to be used in later periods too.
Great to see all the possible variants you can build from each of the sprews
After seeing both unboxings I’m edging towards the Desert Rats as my first midway army. Like the look of crusaders and grants.
Nice kits
Good to know the Grant kit can be built as the M3 Lee version also.
I’ve always liked the crusader tanks.
Looks like a unique force to build and play with.
Tanks and artillery, how could you go wrong
Those Grants are so Uglexy!!!
Great list. Lots of tanks. Love the cruisers.
Like the interchangeability of the kits. Can the crusader make the AA version?
Nice kits, can’t wait to see the build
Multiple barrels, I always screw that up!
Great looking Kits great job guys
I know their outclassed by most opponents but I’d love to see some tiny Stuart Honey light tanks for the British. Lovely box set. Looking forward to the rules being explained.
Wow the details on the artillery is just great!
Love the idea of putting multiple guns on a tank … just to make sure it is a nice big target
Now deeply torn between the British and German…but I think I’m leaning toward the Desert Rats
I’d like to have one tenth of John’s tank knowledge.
You haven’t shown the data cards yet!
Interchangeable gun idea is a good one.
Great looking kits!
Nice kits, but is prefer the german ones!
I’ve always been partial to the German design esthetic but these kits look so good I may have to reconsider.
The 25 pdrs are definitely something i want 😀
Nice looking anti tank postion
The Grants are awesome. I have always liked the look of 25 pdr. guns.
Well done gentlemen
So many things on those sprues!
Love the contrast in enthusiasm between John and Justin over the transverse wheel.
Germans are nice looking, but Desert Rats all the way for me.
These allied tanks and guns are just as temping as the Germans gear, thanks for confusing me. Again love the options to build earlier and later versions. The yellow plastic is a bonus as it cuts down on the number of coats of primer needed for painting up desert paint schemes as opposed to when the plastic is in a dark green. So I hope they keep th is up.
Crusaders are lovely designs
would love to get both afrika korps and the desert rats to get me and a friend into 4th edition flames of war
That 25pdr kit looks awesomely versatile! I’ll need to get me a box of those!
the last “thingy” looks to me to be the open hatch for the commander.
Again these are great looking plastic kits.
Cool looking spues…not as slick as the german tank design!
Looking forward to see you two Man-Beasts going at eachothers throats!!…
Good to see that you have different options on one sprue.
Although I’ve previously focussed on LW Germans, this is what I’ve been waiting for to start a British force… N. Africa especially for personal family reasons.
WWII isn’t necessarily my preferred historical setting, but I’ve always liked the idea of Crusaders powering through the desert- if I did get into FOW,it would have to be Desert Rats!
25 ponder cannon firing open site = dead panzers up to 3’s or 4’s
TAAAAAANNNNNKSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!
Lee is a cool looking Tank.
Nice crisp plastics.
Objective markers look to be in plastic, yeah, better than the cartoon one from v3.
I’m missing troops, it’s nice to get a lot of tanks, but troops are nice too. Also there should be an accessory sprue to convert and give the ability to make all the tanks different. Also I don’t see decals.
Buddy of mine just bought the metal 25pounders a few months ago and he was very mad to see it come in plastic but atleast i know what to get him for his birthday.
Have yet to build any British forces in Flames. That looks to change in V4
rule book as an Italian sports car lol.
So much lovely Allied Might.
More plastic crack!
Great kit! This will add nicely to my British force in the desert theme.
I’m curious. Are they going to sell the stat cards as a faction deck per say? Can you guys ask about that? Thanks.
These plastic kits really do look awesome and should assemble quite easy.
Yes, count me in as a Brit!
The tanks guns would be 2 Pounders, 6 Pounders and the 3″ (?) close support gun.
Can the Crusaders be built as earlier marks? Like a Crusader I for say Operation Battleaxe or Operation Crusader?
Can’t wait for the USA midwar stuff to be out.
I love those artillery pieces
I am undecided on which force I like best as both are good
Love how you can build a few different variants on each sprue, thing I might pick up the Dessert Rats starter at some point, those sprues look amazing
Fantastic Kit
Color coded plastic for those who lack the paint skills or drive!
My Grandad was a tanker and he had the desert rat badge but was never in the desert! Guess he must have joined a regiment that was in the desert and then they were redeployed to Europe!
Those tokens look very cool.
Once again very nice looking kits. The quality of 15mm kits now is amazing so much better than it was even just a few years back
great choice of turrets
nice looking kit
For tanks, I generally prefer the German, but outside of this kit and campaing, I wouldn’t mind trying to put a Canadian corp together.
Ok I really like the British set.Still not sure if I want to get into FOW, but I really like the British starter. I could see these with my converted Eureka 15mm Sentinel tanks as a “what if” Australian force……… Damn you BOW, damn you for getting me interested in another game system…….
Really like the desert rats though would be nice to see some infrantry
Can’t beat a battery of artillery or two…..love using artillery guns in a list…
Aaaah the Desert Rats. That’ll be my jam!
I really like the kits.
The Crusader kit allows you to build the early version with a 2 pdr A.T. gun and a Besa MG turret on the front hull.Also the 3″ howitzer to replace the 2 pdr A.T gun to allow you to build the C.S version.(3″ HE and smoke shells are useful.)
It looks like the late war 6 pdr turret is complete and separate, so you can use the same tanks for early and late versions of the Crusader.(Can some one confirm this?)
Also the ability to build the Lee and Grant tanks from the same kit is very good.
Excellent looking kits and a few extra useful bits for my bits box.
The figures i love the most is the 25 pound gun. There is just something about the way those cannon looks.
I can’t have been the only one watching the 25 pdr overview and shouting “limber” at the screen right? These all look really nice, I’m glad you can make Lees from the Grant sprue.
@john it is a 3inch cannon for firing HE and more commonly smoke
I am curiouso how long it took to put all of the pieces together?
I’ve been playing Germans, so these would be an interesting change.
This might be enough to get me to go with the British Desert Rats as my starter.
Hi guys,
I’m not a historical gamer at all with only a passing interest but I’m really intrigued by those books.
What sort of content do they have because I feel like I would want to read all of the core rule book and desert rats before I did a thing with those tanks?
Look fun.. but that’s a lot of parts for a tank!! lol… definitely not a ‘throw ’em together and play’ set up… but love the details and options! Just going to have to slow my roll and take ’em one at a time…
I really can’t start another game system. The pile of unfinished projects are taking over the ‘not’ painting area
Gotta say the Grants are growing on me the more I see them.
How many Shermans in thise boxes
Looks good guys.
Anyone else find the yellow plastic odd?
glad to see battlefront giving us both options on one kit.
Come on Monty’s Desert rats!
Another great unboxing!