The British Main Battle Tank Challenger II entered service in 1994 as a significantly upgraded version of the successful Challenger. The tank saw extensive service in the 2nd Iraq War from 2003 and is still in service with the British Army – a new upgrade programme should see them in service until the mid-2030s.

This all-new kit from Tamiya features a desertised version of the Challenger II, depicting vehicles as they appeared in the Iraq War. As such, it features the blocky side skirts with canvas drapery that cut down on airborne sand, enhancing non-visibility, as well as the improved turret and combat identification panels to help prevent blue-on-blue errors.

Casemate publishing, a prolific publisher of military history titles, has begun releasing a line of books that focus on huge array of subjects from a single battle, campaigns, hardware, and military units. They are paperback and richly illustrated with contemporary photographs, color profiles, and maps. For many of you, this format may be familiar to other publications that dissect a well-known battle, examining the opponents, armies, weapons, plans, etc. For this series, the publisher has chosen to organize the material as follows:

From Wikipedia: The A7V was a heavy tank introduced by Germany in 1918 during World War I. One hundred chassis were ordered in early 1917, ten to be finished as fighting vehicles with armored bodies, and the remainder as Überlandwagen cargo carriers. The number to be armored was later increased to 20. They were used in action from March to October 1918, and were the only tanks produced by Germany in World War I to be used in combat.

Following the appearance of the first British tanks on the Western Front, in September 1916, the German War Ministry formed a committee, under the auspices of its Allgemeines Kriegsdepartement, Abteilung 7 Verkehrswesen ("General War Department, Section 7, Transportation"), to investigate tank development.