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14Oct11

WWPD Compilation — Now Available

Posted by tanker under 15mm, Flames of War, News and Updates, Podcasts, WW2
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The gents over at the WWPD Podcast now have an excellent compilation of their n00b zone segments. They compiled over an hour of segments from seven shows and Steve adds in some nice new additional commentary and clarifications between segments. The noob zone covers tricky rules issues and basic tactics that newcomers and even veterans to FoW often get wrong. Name aside, this compilation is valuable to the new Flames of War player and veteran alike. The issues covered come directly from the experience of the WWPD crew playing lots of other FoW gamers in competitive games. For only $2.50 this is the best FoW value you can get. Recommended.

And now you can have twice the fun with the new n00b zone compilation 2.

[Updated: 8DEC11]

09Sep11

6mm Sci-Fi Vehicles — Review

Posted by tanker under Miniature Wargames, Reviews, Sci-Fi
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We recently picked up some Old Crow 6mm Hammer’s Slammers vehicles and Plasmablast 6mm vehicles. Both lines are very nice and a great addition to any 6mm sci-fi force.

6mm Slammers - Packaged

The Old Crow Slammers’ models are cast resin bodies with metal turrets and bits. The resin casting quality is simply the best we have ever seen. The casting is even better than Spartan Games’ models but the vehicles do not have nearly the level of detail of Spartan or ForgeWorld miniatures. But there is almost zero clean up needed for the resin and only a tiny bit needed on the metal bits.

Top Comparison

As you can see from the photos the models scale well with other 6mm vehicles. The design of the hover models does make them appear a bit large because the hover skirt (plenum chamber) sticks out all around the vehicle but if you look at just the actual body of the vehicle you will see it fits right in with the others. In general a lot of the GZG stuff is a tad small and the GW Epic stuff is a tad large.

6mm Strike Hovercraft and Landing Craft Hover

We also couldn’t help ourselves from grabbing a few of the Old Crow naval minis. These are also extremely well done resin casts and are quite large. As you can see the Hover Landing Craft can easily carry one or more 6mm vehicles. Now we just need to think up a good scenario for them.

The Plasmablast models are all metal castings and are also extremely well cast. Only the smallest amount of cleanup is needed. Plasmablast has the Progenitor tracked line and the Orbital Combine grav line of models. Both are nice looking, unique, and quite complete lines of units.

As you can see in the photos the Orbital Combine medium grav tank fits in well with the other figures and the heavy grav tank fits even better.

6mm Landing Craft Hover with Hammer's Slammers Blower Tank and Strike Hovercraft

Both companies responded quickly to our order and everything was well packed. Note, Old Crow is very busy and a bit behind on orders but they keep you well informed of progress.

If you are looking for some good rules for 6mm sci-fi look no further than Strike Legion and Gruntz. Both are outstanding sets of rules.

26Aug11

Luke’s Bocage — Review

Posted by tanker under 15mm, Buildings+Terrain, Flames of War, Reviews, WW2
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If you are a WW2 miniatures gamer who has ever tried to battle across the fields of Normandy you know you can never have enough bocage. A while back we looked at the Miniature Building Authority Bocage terrain pieces but we needed more. We are huge fans of the WWPD podcast and heard them talk about Luke’s bocage on one of the shows. After hearing about him selling some at a convention we contacted him about getting some for ourselves.

Please be aware that Luke makes his bocage on the side for some extra fun and profit not as a fulltime business. Thus we will leave the details of particular pricing/ordering/composition to him as he may need to adjust them based on circumstances. But basically you simply ask Luke for as many feet of bocage as you wish. The more you buy the more corner pieces, paths, and trees he will throw in. The basic straight sections come in 6″ and 12″ lengths. The stuff is very impressive and well made. Its base is of solid backer board and the stones are a very hard material. On top of that he adds nice flock and foliage (what looks very much like Woodland Scenics Bushes material). Luke’s bocage will easily stand up to repeated play and transport and looks great on the table.

The only possible small negative to Luke’s bocage is that it can perhaps be considered a bit short. If you desire the stereotypical tall bocage of around 10-15 feet in height then please be aware Luke’s is closer to 5-8 feet in scale height. Luke likes the look of the rock and prefers his bocage to represent the average thick barriers found across Normandy rather than specifically the tall bocage. As a result, his bocage will not hide a 15mm tank but will put it hull down. This of course has advantages and disadvantages in actual play. Those who want truly high bocage will be disappointed but the lower height does make tight corridors easy to get at and it is a simple matter to just play the terrain as if it was full height. Additionally, it is easy for one to add more foliage and/or trees to make it higher. Luke may even make it higher for you if you ask him.

All in all Luke’s bocage is great stuff and a great value. If you would like to get some for yourself just contact Luke Melia at Luke [at] whatwouldpattondo [dot] net.

[Updated: 9SEP11]

10Aug11

GenCon 2011 Punch List

Posted by tanker under Board Wargames, Miniature Wargames, News and Updates, Publications, Sci-Fi
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Well GenCon 2011 is over. We were not there but from all of the various coverage it looked like a good show and had record attendance. Below is a list of all the new goodies we are looking forward to based on the show announcements. Thanks to Russ at the D6 Generation podcast and the Beasts of War for their excellent show coverage.

Gears of War: The Board Game — We have always been huge Space Hulk fans and the new GoW game looks similar. Initial demo game reports are good and the components are certainly top notch. The D6 Generation have a full review of the game in Episode 86.
Dust Warfare — After watching AT-43 die we passed on Dust Tactics. But the game has been generally well received and the minis are well done. Dust Warfare is a full blown mini ruleset written by Andy Chambers. If nothing else it will be worth a look.
Android books — We did not care for FFG’s Android board game but did like the universe it was set in. Now FFG is bringing out two novels, Free Fall and Golem, set in the world of Android.
Star Trek: Fleet Captains — We almost forgot about this one. WizKids debuted a new board game of exploration and starship combat using unpainted plastic miniatures. We saw some shots of it at the show but never heard any reports on play. It looks interesting. Again, Russ from the D6G snagged a copy — And even painted some ships — and Episode 88 has a nice review of the game (forward to 2hr29min). The rules are available for download.
Star Wars X-Wing — FFG got a Star Wars license and will be doing a bunch of products with it. One of the first is X-Wing a tactical space combat game. Many are calling it Wings of War in space but it is really no more similar to it than any other air-to-air combat game. It comes with pre-painted plastic minis (surely with tons of expansions due along soon thereafter) and focuses on fighter-to-fighter combat in the Star Wars universe. Demo game reports were favorable overall and there is certainly more depth to the game not really explored yet by quick demos. But it is meant to be a simple, fast game not any sort of ‘simulation.’ It should be good for some quick fun. We just hope they produce the B-Wing fighter!
Star Wars: The Card Game — Well the world probably needs another Star Wars card game as much as a Wookie needs a razor but we’ll give it a spin.
15mm Terrain — Gale Force Nine announced a bunch of new 15mm terrain for Flames of War and the like. The new Desert Oasis is our favorite.

Oddly, even though Steve Jackson Games was at the show, we didn’t hear a peep about the new Ogre 6th edition. We hope this is not a bad sign. [Update: Steve posted an update on the Ogre site, "The status is: Still planned, still the super-fancy as per the prototypes you can see on that page. . . And definitely still not on track for 2011. I warned everyone in May that it might not happen in 2011, and now I can say it definitely won't. I knew that at the end of June, before I took July off, and I should have shared."]

[Updated: 10OCT11]

27Jul11

Blue Moon Manufacturing 15mm Sci-Fi — Review

Posted by tanker under 15mm, Miniature Wargames, News and Updates, Reviews, Sci-Fi
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As we have noted in our annual Best Games Not Yet Published, Critical Mass Games, Ground Zero Games, Rebel Minis and Khurasan Miniatures have all been producing some outstanding 15mm sci-fi miniatures over the past few years. With the new release of the Galactic War 1 15mm sci-fi miniature rules by Blue Moon Manufacturing we became aware of yet another 15mm manufacturer. We decided to take a look at the new rules as well as some of the miniatures.

Galactic War 1 Rules

We have only given the Galactic War 1 rules an initial read through. The rules are not bad by any means but if you are looking for innovation or comprehensive options you will need to go elsewhere. On the positive side what you get is a solid set of company level rules with some background fluff on the seven races of the game’s universe. The game scale is 100 yards per inch and each infantry stand is a fireteam and vehicles are based individually. The rules offer plenty of basics such as initiative based movement as well as spotting and command. Galactic War 1 covers infantry and vehicle combat and even handles things such as psychic combat, jump troops and more. (more…)

22Jul11

Spartan Games News — July 2011

Posted by tanker under Dystopian Wars, Firestorm Armada, Naval Warfare, News and Updates
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Spartan Games is on a real tear this month with new releases and a ton of announcements. To launch it all they completely redesigned their website with a very attractive design that showcases their products well.

Dystopian Wars

First off are the release of the first Dystopian Wars ground forces. Each of the major factions get an Armoured Battle Group plus each unit type is available as separate platoon packs as well. On the naval side new support ships released for each faction such as the Prussian Stolz Class Destroyer. We even got our hands on the big boys with each faction receiving a new Dreadnought class ship. The DNs are truly huge and are about 50% larger than even the impressive battleships. Our favorite of course is the Prussian Blucher class DN. If all of that was not enough Spartan announced the imminent release of the ‘specials’ for each faction including the Prussian Metzger Robot (including both submerged and walking versions), Britannia Vanguard submarine (including both submerged and surface versions), Blazing Sun Ika Class Mechanical Squid (including both submerged and surface versions), and FSA John Henry Class Robot.

But by far the biggest announcement that sent every Dystopian Wars fan into a frenzy was that of the forthcoming Covenant of Antarctica forces. Spartan pulled out all the stops and is releasing a full Naval Battle Group, Drone Fleet Carrier and the Armoured Battle Group all at once. The Antartican design is very sci-fi and fits well with their fluff as the most technologically advanced of all the factions in the game. To top it all off the Naval Battle Group box also ships with a 40-page army guide that includes all of the background, rules and stats for the Covenant of Antarctica forces (also available for separate purchase). And there is even more Antarctican goodness to follow!

Even the boys from the D6 Generation get in on the act and interview Neil Fawcett about Spartan activities and also give a look at how the Dystopian Wars ground forces play goes. Neil makes a surprise announcement that the long awaited Republique of France (RoF) Magenta Class Battleship will be available (in both waterline and flying versions) in limited quantities at Gen Con 2011 and available for all later this year. Craig surprises everyone by revealing that he is now working for Spartan Games as a freelance writer and that he was responsible for all of the great Firestorm Armada fluff on the Spartan site and is now working on more goodies. See Episode 83 and fast forward to 3hr 3min to get right to it.

Firestorm Armada

Spartan has not forgotten Firestorm Armada either. First off we got the new Xelocian ships. The Hantari Cruiser does not have colored ‘power rods’. They are the same clear plastic rods used for the flying stands. The advantage of course is now you can ink them your preferred color.

Then Spartan stopped playing around and decided to simply dump all available resin into one model and previewed the upcoming 9″ Perditor Leviathan model. But I guess the mold overflowed a bit so they decided to release Dreadnoughts for all six fleets as well! They also previewed the Directorate Persecution Class DN.

As mentioned, Craig worked on some FA fluff so we would guess we could expect some more of the same and possibly even a new FA book of some kind — Perhaps the previously hinted at Alliance army book? Maybe Russ and Raef can get some info out of him with Neil safely overseas ensconced in his island fortress!

Invasion

If all of that was not enough to deplete your wallet then Neil gave some hints that the new FA-era ground combat game, Invasion, may be released in late 2011 or early 2012.

[Updated: 1UAG11]

29May11

Incursion SNAFU — Review

Posted by tanker under Board Wargames, Incursion, News and Updates, Reviews, Sci-Fi, WW2
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Grindhouse Games’ first expansion for its weird-war WW2 board/miniatures game is now available. SNAFU is a 64-page softcover book that includes new units, new missions, painting guides and an official FAQ. The book follows the Incursion rulebook style and continues the high design and pulp feel of the original game.

Released separately are a host of new miniatures that cover the new units in the book. But as always if you do not want to play the game with miniatures standups are also included (this time as a download only). The Allies get the official release of the MI-13 rules along with new rules and miniatures for Bazooka APE, Zip Kelly and Gracie. The Germans get some new Sturmzombies, the evil Drohne, and the massive Panzeraffe. Rules are provided for all of the new units and their weapons. The stat cards are a separate download and are not included with the book.

The Panzeraffe is a huge model and even makes the Gracie walker look a tad small. The Panzeraffe can be kitted out for shooting or close combat and Gracie can stomp over units as easily as it can gun them down. Both Zip Kelly and the Drohne represent the lighter but more nimble choices. Overall the new units are a welcome addition to the game and will add to a player’s tactical choices.

The meat of the expansion is certainly the new missions. SNAFU includes nineteen new missions in all including six solitaire missions as well as three two map missions. You will need the map expansion or an extra copy of the game to play the larger missions. The Cinematic missions include a couple pages of the needed rules for solitaire play. This is a nice addition to the game and allows for some unique forces. The mission selection overall is a nice mix and, especially when combined with the new forces, increases re-playability considerably.

Rounding it all off are a few pages of painting guides including color recommendations and also a complete FAQ for the rules to date. All-in-all if you have any interest in Incursion this is a must get expansion. If you thought the re-playability of the original was a bit limited this also solves that problem. New meat for the Grinder!

20Apr11

Flames of War Vietnam — M113 Series

Posted by tanker under Flames of War, Reviews, Vietnam
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Battlefront has thrown us a few nice surprises with their new Flames of War Vietnam series. First was bringing the line back at all and then there was the addition of plastic rotors for the helicopters.

Most recently we discovered that the M113 line of vehicles are not just solid blocks of resin. The cargo space of the M113 is actually open and detailed appropriately. The top deck and back ramp are metal castings. Of course there are pluses and minuses to this approach. The downsides are that any set of Battlefront’s metal castings often have some minor defects. The parts we have seen are very nice but there were a few minor issues. Another issue of course is this design creates more assembly work and can be a bit fiddly. On the positive side though you get more modeling options and those who like to do detail can really go crazy. Being able to have the rear ramp open should look especially nice on the mortar tracks.

We have included a few photos of the new M113 ACAV and M125/M106 so you can get an idea of what to expect if you pick some up for yourself. Overall the Vietnam range continues to impress us.

: M125/M106 Hull and Top Deck

: M125/106 Interior

: M113 ACAV Basic Parts

: M113 ACAV Interior

25Mar11

Flames of War — Tropic Lightning

Posted by tanker under 15mm, Flames of War, News and Updates, Reviews, Vietnam
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Battlefront’s full entry into Vietnam has officially begun with their release of Wargames Illustrated Issue 282 and the included 40-page Tropic Lightning: Armoured and Airborne Combat in Vietnam 1965-1971 army book.

WI Issue 282 itself includes some nice material including a quick history of the Vietnam War with a look at the forces covered by the game, a battle report, a look at U.S. tracks and helicopters, and lastly a painting and markings guide.

But the main attraction of course is Tropic Lightning. TL includes the army lists for U.S. and PAVN forces as well as the rules changes/additions from WW2 FoW and four missions. The U.S. forces of course have all the really fun toys including M-48 tanks, UH-1 Cobra gunships and a whole lot more. The only glaring omission is the OH-6 Loach helicopter. Both armored and airmobile forces are covered for the U.S.. The included U.S. lists are,

Tank Company -M-48 heavy
Armoured Cavalry Troop -ACAV heavy
Rifle Company (Mech) -Troop heavy in M-113s
Blackhourse Cavalry Troop -M-113s and M-48s with M-109 support artillery
Rifle Company (Airmobile) -Troops in helicopters

PAVN forces cover the Tiêu Doàn Bô Binh infantry battalion. This is the only force list on the PAVN side and variety comes from simply choosing among the various supporting forces. These include recoilless guns, mortars, anti-aircraft MGs, and sappers. Booby traps, bunkers and minefields also play a big role on the PAVN side.

The army specific rules for each side only take up a couple of pages each as well as a couple of pages for helicopter rules and booby traps. The only thing that seems to be missing is fast mover strikes (fixed-wing CAS) but one could argue those are out of scale for the game. Thus seasoned Flames of War players will be able to get going with a minimum of work.

There are only four missions included,

Hot LZ -An assault landing into a contested landing zone
Indian Country -Where cavalry units are ambushed en route to a pick-up
Contact! Contact! -Where a U.S. patrol stumbles upon a PAVN force prepared to stand and fight
Big Bang -A Vietnamese attack on a temporary U.S. Fire Support Base

Battlefront included the wave one model release schedule in WI282 (and they are now on the BF website). Basically the month of April 2011 will see all of the initial models released. It will be interesting to see if anything new gets produced later this year although, besides the OH-6, we are not sure what they might release besides the M-109 and the M114A1, which are the only units in the book not listed for release, and perhaps U.S. supply trucks. Historically, the U.S. did have an odd selection of vehicles supporting supply convoys.

The Radio Free Battlefront Episode 9 podcast has a great overview of Tropic Lightning by Evan, the game’s designer.

Also see Flames of War — M113 Series.

If you are interested in reading more on armor/cav and airmobile operations in Vietnam check out,

Also see Flames of War Vietnam — Is Back?!

[Updated: 1APR11]

21Mar11

Crisis in the Ardennes — Now Available

Posted by tanker under 15mm, Miniature Wargames, News and Updates, WW2
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Crisis in the Ardennes

Test of Battle Games just released Crisis in the Ardennes: The Battle of the Bulge 1944. It is a campaign book for their WW2 battalion-level miniatures rules Test of Battle. ToB has been one of our Top Picks from the beginning. We haven’t seen the new book yet but the others have all been excellent and should be of interest to anyone who games in WW2 even if not using ToB.

On December 16th, 1944 the German Army launched Operation Wacht am Rhein (Operation Watch on the Rhine). This operation, whose goal was to split the Allied armies and capture Antwerp, was the last major offensive launched by Germany in the West. Known as the “Battle of the Bulge” due to the shape of the German advance into Allied lines, it has secured its place in history as the largest battle fought by America in the war, and the nail in the coffin of the Wehrmacht.

If you would like to read more on the Battle of the Bulge check out the following titles,

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