The View from the Turret

The Best Games Not Yet Published, 2008

Posted on 04Jan08 Updated on 14Jan09

With the New Year upon us we thought it might be interesting to present the games we are most anxiously awaiting in 2008. Our 2007 prognostications did pretty well so we thought we would try it again for 2008. There is no guarantee any of these will be published in 2008, nor that they will be any good if they are, but we are always hopeful.

Miniature Games

• AT-43 [Rackham] – 2007 saw some supply problems but overall the quality of the rules was excellent and minis good to very good. We do not have much interest in the Karmans but we are hopeful we will see at least one more faction in 2008 (most likely the Cogs).
• Flames of War [Battlefront] – 2007 saw BF release a lot of Normandy material as well as a nicely done painting guide. 2008 should bring more and we hope we might even see some Bulge material. The biggest surprise was perhaps the new plastic tracks and misc parts for the Sherman, MKIV, and SdKfz 251. Hopefully we will see more plastic in 2008. And of course we always hope to finally see a remastered M4A3E8!
• WH40K [Games Workshop] – Well Apocalypse surprised us at the very end of 2007 but otherwise 2007 was about as dull a year as we thought it would be for GW. 2008 promises to make up for lost time. Rumors are already flying about a new 5th edition of the main 40K rules. We will probably see these either mid year or at the end of 2008. In addition, there are also strong rumors about a Planetstrike product similar to Apocalypse. Planetstrike will probably arrive opposite of the main rules so, again, mid or late year and will also see the release of the long awaited plastic Space Marine Drop Pod. Lastly we should see more of the new Ork releases.
• WH40K Forge World – FW released lots of great stuff in 2007. 2008 will certainly see more including Imperial Armor Vol 6 (Chaos) and more Aeronautica Imperialis goodies.
• Mongoose Publishing – They released Victory at Sea and Babylon 5: A Call to Arms 2nd Edition in 2007, but large distribution and quality issues marred what would have otherwise been a good year. 2008 should hopefully bring higher quality minis including newly remastered Hyperions. They have also announced a new 28mm WW2 skirmish ruleset, World at War, scheduled for release in May. We hope to see a WW1 version of VaS but we are worried Mongoose will choose to release the Civil War era rules first.

Board Games

• Tide of Iron [Fantasy Flight Games] – ToI, an easy tactical WW2 game, turned out to be a nice game although we were disappointed in the miniatures. 2008 will see the release of the Days of the Fox expansion.
• Devil’s Cauldron [Multiman Publishing] – The Devil’s Cauldron is the first in a new series of games that will recapture the great battles of World War Two on a grand scale. DC did not make it out in 2007 but we hope to finally see it in 2008. Point 2 Point Episode 28 has some good DC and MMP info.
• Panzerblitz: Hill of Death [Multiman Publishing] – Panzer Leader, the immediate successor to PB, was the second wargame we ever played. We are excited to see this veteran remade. “The return of the tactical game which started it all, Panzerblitz: Hill of Death is a historical module simulating the fight in Normandy for Hill 112. This is not the Panzerblitz of the 70’s, but rather a modernized system which uses many of the core concepts of Panzerblitz while removing some of the gameyness of the original system.” PB never made it out in 2007 but we hope it will in 2008. In general MMP has been incredibly slow in getting titles out.
• FAB Bulge [GMT Games] – The Fast Action Battle Series – Volume 1: The Bulge game uses the block format to bring you the Battle of the Bulge from December 16th through December 27th. The final rules are posted so hopefully we will see this title soon.
• Combat Commander [GMT Games] – Not only did we get CC:M in 2007 but we got Paratroopers as well. Hopefully we will see some more battlepacks in 2008. Lastly, CC: Pacific will almost certainly release in 2008.
• Panzer Grenadier [Avalanche Press] – Two new interesting Panzer Grenadier titles should be out in 2008. First out should be Panzer Grenadier Cassino ’44: Gateway to Rome and then a bit later we should see Battle of the Bulge II: Elsenborn Ridge.
• Lock ‘n Load Games – LnL is perhaps the biggest surprise in board wargaming for 2008. They just launched a new pdf magazine and have a number of good looking titles scheduled for 2008. The new World at War modern platoon-level series looks good as does A Day of Heroes.

Computer Games

• Combat Mission [Battlefront.com] – BF released the modern successor to the classic Combat Mission series, Combat Mission: Shock Force, in 2007. Hopefully we will see either a WW2 title or at least an expansion in 2008.
• Lock ‘n Load Games – LnL has another surprise with the announcement of a computer game, Heroes of Stalingrad. HoS looks to be similar to some of the classic computer wargames of old in that it is more of a computerized version of a traditional board wargame.
• Jutland [Storm Eagle Studios] – We should see the new Distant Guns game, Jutland, soon. This should be a great naval game.
• War in the Pacific: Admiral’s Edition [Matrix Games] – Matrix has announced an update for the classic War in the Pacific game.

Also see, The Best Games Not Yet Published, 2009.