27Jan12
Matrix Games recently released Command Ops: Highway to the Reich. CO:HttR is an expansion for their excellent Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge computer wargame. CO:HttR is also the spiritual successor to Airborne Assault: Highway to the Reich one of our favorite computer wargames. The new expansion includes 13 scenarios.
CO:HttR - Eindhoven Shot
If you like solid operational wargames or just can’t resist Market-Garden check it out.
06Jan12
The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast, also known as Napoleon 101, is a great audio series on Napoleon and the Napoleonic era. The show is now basically complete, having started in 2006, but the content is essentially timeless. The series consists of about 58 episodes that average 60-90 minutes apiece. So altogether there is well over 80 hours of material. The show features historian and educator J. David Markham, President of the International Napoleonic Society and Cameron Reilly, CEO of The Podcast Network. Mr Markham has written a number of books on Napoleon, including Napoleon for Dummies, and does a great job delivering the life and times of Napoleon.
You can certainly jump into any particular episode that interests you but we very much enjoyed starting from episode #1 and going straight through. If you do not start with the early episodes be aware that the show is obviously pro-Napoleon but the hosts will generally admit when they are being biased and also indicate topics that are often in dispute. In later shows they even have a number of guests that disagree with some of their own interpretations. The goal of the show is to spark your own interest in Napoleon and the period to lead you to further study of your own.
Overall the podcast is extremely well done. Audio quality is generally very good although some shows have some minor issues. Also there is often a sound level difference between the two hosts that can be a minor annoyance.
As with any show there are various complaints found throughout the show comments. One common complaint is about the off topic chit chat. This does appear in most episodes, especially later ones, but is mostly kept to a minimum and usually just in the beginning of each episode. After all, the podcast is not an academic lecture but simply a show — Some banter among the hosts should be expected. Another frequent complaint is over the occasional political shots at the Bush administration (the show was mostly recorded from 2006-2009). Again, these are very infrequent and minor. You will need to be extremely thin skinned for these to detract from your enjoyment of the show. We found the occasional comparisons of Napoleonic events with the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars interesting.
Overall, as newcomers to the Napoleonic era, we found the series incredibly valuable and entertaining. Combined with the recent bounty of Napoleonic games and miniature rules it has spurred us on to further reading and research into the period. Frankly we are shocked at ourselves for having ignored such a fascinating period of history all these years. If you think you have any interest in Napoleon or military history you should give at least the first few episodes of this show a listen.
27Dec11
Matrix Games recently released a new operational-level computer wargame by 2×2 Games. Unity of Command covers the battle for Stalingrad during World War Two. Each hex in the game is 20km and each turn is four days.
The interface uses a very simple and clean click methodology that highlights available actions. Visually the game looks great but can turn off some folks at first blush. The map and interface are very clean and stark but then the units themselves are 3D vehicles and, uniquely, figure busts for infantry. This of course immediately raises concerns by veteran wargamers that this is not a serious game. But you quickly get used to the unit designs and they do aid in information delivery with different unit types represented by different 3D models. But for those still not happy, supposedly an alternate unit set is in the works as a mod.
The game manages to stride that tough line of being a simple game to learn but still provides enough depth and challenge to engage veteran players. The center piece of the game design is certainly the supply system. Unlike almost all other wargames Unity of Command uses proportional supply where you actually see your supply wither the further it gets from supply points. Again the interface makes this very clear. It is a key point in the game and managing your supply properly is crucial to victory.
The AI is challenging and over 17 scenarios are included so replay value is very high. You can also play in hot-seat mode and over the Internet.
Unity of Command comes with a very well done manual. It is a 40-page full color PDF with plenty of illustrations. It explains the game mechanics quite well except, oddly, it doesn’t provide as much information on the supply mechanic as we would have liked. A few examples of how one gets out of supply and perhaps how one could alleviate certain conditions would have been nice. But overall you have more than enough to get you going and make you feel you understand what is going on underneath with the game.
The Three Moves Ahead podcast Episode 148 has a great 48 minute discussion/review of all facets of Unity of Command. If you have any interest in the game this is a must listen. The Wargamer also has a short but useful review.
[Updated: 28DEC11]
22Dec11
Man at War games announced its first expansion for its Napoleonic miniatures game, Napoleon at War. The Hundred Days: from exile to Waterloo will allow players to recreate the “Waterloo campaigns, with new settings, uniforms, army lists and a lot more.”
Napoleon at War has quickly become our preferred Napoleonic miniature ruleset and the minis themselves are well done. We hope to have more information posted soon.
22Dec11
Spartan Games announced a number of significant updates to their steam punk miniature rules Dystopian Wars. They are changing the model assigned rules (MAR) and stats for a number of models. You can get all the details from their State of Nations post. They also announced some rules changes and released updated pdfs of the new Stat Cards in their Fate of Nations post.
Spartan also released related updates to the master rulebook.
[Updated: 28DEC11]
22Dec11
New Flames of War Version 3 announced. Happy Holidays!
Battlefront released some huge news today. An all new version 3 of the Flames of War rules will be available in 2012. In typical Battlefront fashion they are repeating the policy of the version 2 upgrade — in February anyone with an existing version 2 hardback rulebook will be able to go their local hobby store, or direct from BF, and get a copy of the new version 3 mini rulebook for free! The new hardback version 3 book will be available in March 2012. Battlefront also announced that the new rules are primarily a tightening of the rules and not a drastic rewrite and no army lists or models will be made obsolete by the new edition.
Out with the old...
Battlefront also gave a peek at some of the new Battlefield in a Box terrain they will be releasing in 2012. They showed new fields, Russian buildings, walls and North Africa buildings. Conspicuously absent though was any mention of what happened to the European buildings that were announced over a year ago. Also shown were a number of new miniatures including some Soviet big guns and the new German armored train.
In Shops 28 January 2012
BB133 Desert Buildings
BB134 Large Desert Building
[Updated: 23JAN12]
18Nov11
The folks over at Beasts of War have been going crazy over Spartan Games’ Dystopian Wars this week. They have put together an excellent collection of posts and videos about all things Dystopian Wars. Of particular note are the videos that cover the world of DW as well as how to play DW (part 1 and part 2). They do make a few minor errors with some of the rules but nothing of real significance or that you wouuldn’t catch after your own reading of the rules. But if you have any interest in Dystopian Wars this is a must see collection.
15Nov11
ADB and Mongoose Publishing have partnered on a new sci-fi spaceship combat game, A Call to Arms: Star Fleet. The new game is based on the A Call to Arms rule system, of ACTA: Babylon 5 fame, and set in the Star Trek universe of the ADB license (essentially the original series). In addition to the new rule set, ADB’s Starline 2400 minis have all been redone in a new 2500 line and are now resin instead of pewter and are slightly larger.
We are still annoyed over the death of ACTA: Babylon 5 but ACTA: Star Fleet is probably worth a look at least. ADB has a good track record with partnerships and owns its Star Trek license. The miniatures are certainly a big question. Neither ADB nor Mongoose have been known for high quality minis but Mongoose has certainly gotten better recently. The initial previews have looked good and the one picture of the unfinished resin looks pretty good as well (but not as good as Spartan). But how this translates to production pieces remains to be seen. It appears that perhaps they have beefed up and slightly shortened the Federation nacelle towers and they are going to be in resin not metal.
This month is the release of Call to Arms: Star Fleet and the first of the 2500-series miniatures near the end of this month.
Starline 2500 and A Call to Arms: Star Fleet are approaching!
The joint venture between Mongoose Publishing and ADB, Inc. is moving along quite well. ACTASF should be available in stores before Christmas. This will be a beautiful hardbound rulebook with spectacular color photos of many ships.The Starline 2500 ships are designed for use with SFB, FC, Starmada, and ACTASF, so the ship types that appear in the Squadron boxes won’t change from the 2400 line (and the price for 2500s will actually go down to $29.95). What will change is that the 2500-series ships will be cast in hard resin, not pewter, and they will be about 20% larger so that all the details that you asked us to add will be there!
Our European customers will have the option of ordering from Mongoose-UK so their shipping will be perhaps more “local.” Both ADB, Inc. and Mongoose-US will stock the minis as will many game stores, so you should have easy access to these new, highly detailed ships.
New 2500-series Border Boxes priced at $124.95 will contain 24 ships.
New 2500-Series Fleet Boxes will be priced at $99.95 and will contain 16 ships and a quick start rulebook.The 2400-series border boxes will also be available (at least by mail order) in 2500-series for a somewhat higher price. The 2400s are pewter; the new 2500s will be resin.
Remember that all of the current Starline 2400 blister packs, squadron boxes, fleet boxes, and border boxes will remain on sale at their current prices indefinitely.
[Updated: 15NOV11]
11Nov11
Battlefront.com announced the newest expansion for their WW2 tactical computer wargame Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy. Commonwealth Forces brings…err…well…Commonwealth forces to the game.
The Commonwealth Forces module includes all new, meticulously researched and historically accurate UK, Canadian and Polish units and formations. The full range of Commonwealth weaponry is brought to life with the same amazing level of detail and simulation fidelity found in the previous Combat Mission titles.
This module will also bring you new German formations, such as the “Waffen SS” and the Luftwaffe.
ImageSeveral variants of the iconic Churchill tank, the Cromwell, Stuart and Firefly will be included along with many other new units. The Germans will see the mighty King Tiger and the Jagdpanzer in their arsenal among several other additions (see bellow for a complete list of new units).
All formations can of course be mixed as part of a multi-national joint task force, using any of CM: Battle for Normandy’s available units. Included in the package are all new scenarios, quick battle maps, and a campaign for exciting play right out of the box – before digging in and using the powerful editor or sharing scenarios with other CM: Battle for Normandy gamers.
07Nov11
After looking at the Plastic Soldier Company 15mm M4A2 Sherman we were curious about the brand new SdKfz 251 halftracks. We grabbed a box of the SdKfz 251D (they also make the C model).
Like the Sherman, the casting quality is outstanding with almost no flash and only minor seam lines. The halftrack has about as many parts as the Sherman but seems less fiddly to assemble. There is a bit of room in the nose (engine area) for some lead weight although we simply squished a couple sinkers and glued them to the bottom of the hull between the tracks. This worked well and you can’t see them. If you want to use the crew figures you will need to put them in before you glue the hull together. There are five troop figures included with a mix of mid and late war uniforms plus some nice stowage. Also included are the various machine guns. These are very nice as well but are of scale size. The rear mounted MG would not last more than a minute in actual play before getting snapped off. Of course the metal equivalents are not much better but we do wish PSC would beef these up just a tad.
PSC SdKfz 251D compared to Battlefront front view
Best of all the Plastic Soldier Company SdKfz 251D scales almost perfectly with the Battlefront 15mm model. It is even a better match than the Sherman. In fact, for all practical purposes, they are identical in size. As you can see from the accompanying photos they would mix just fine in a unit. Also note that the details on the PSC model are extremely crisp and clean.
PSC SdKfz 251D in front and Battlefront in behind
PSC has another winner. If you need some 15mm halftracks look no further.
Also see the WWPD review of the halftracks.
PSC SdKfz 251D and Battlefront top
