News and Updates
Sabol Designs Combat Mat
Sabol Designs has produced an interesting product. The Combat Mat is a game mat for use with miniature games. What is different about it is that instead of being made of cloth or even a texturized rubber as other game mats are it is essentially a huge photograph. They currently have two versions including ‘plains’ and ‘sand’. The mat is 6’x4′ in size and rolls up for storage/transport. It has a rubberized back to keep it from moving around but the top is smooth. At less than $60 it is certainly a unique alternative to Games Workshop’s new Realm of Battle Gameboard.
The Miniature Mayhem blog has more photos of the mat along with a video.
Firestorm-Bagration Delayed
Battlefront’s new campaign game for Flames of War is going to be delayed until late February 2009. Firestorm is an interesting idea. It is sort of an Axis and Allies-looking game set on the Eastern front in WW2 during Operation Bagration (the 1944 Soviet offensive in Byelorussia). Its main purpose is to be a campaign game for FoW that will generate individual games of FoW. What is not clear is whether or not the game can be played stand-alone or not. Either way it is good news for German and Russian FoW players.
[Updated: 11JAN09]
Federation Commander Draft Rules — Now Available
Amarillo Design Bureau now has the Federation Commander Reference Rulebook Draft 3 available in its online store. It is a new Federation Commander rulebook that incorporates all of the errata. The Draft 3 version,
contains all of the rules from all of the products, laid out end to end in rule number order. It does not contain ship descriptions or scenarios. All published rules updates/changes (errata, addenda, whatever) are included, but these items (marked with a star) are the end of the sub-rule they apply to. The original rules text remains as it was, with the rules update added to the end rather than being “written through” the text.
A proper new, integrated, version will be available in stores in March 2009. It will be titled, Federation Commander Reference Rulebook (5th Edition).
Jutland — Released
Storm Eagle Studios released its long awaited computer naval wargame Jutland. Jutland is based on their Distant Guns engine. The game comes in two versions: standard and pro. Pro provides a scenario editor. There is a demo available for download and there is also an online tutorial.
Storm Eagle Studios is proud to present the sequel to it’s 2006 Wargame of The Year Distant Guns!
JUTLAND covers the 1916 Noth Sea Naval actions between Germany, England, and France.
Featuring an astounding 900+ historically accurate, highly detailed 3D ship models, Jutland delivers the most realistic, True Physics Ballistics ever released in a commercial wargame.
JUTLAND features as easily accessable user interface that allows the novice game to quickly dive into the game. For the seasoned vertern, it also provides access to advanced features and detail that will satisfy the most demanding Admiral of the Fleet!
Mongoose News
Mongoose Publishing posted its annual State of the Mongoose. Of most interest to us,
Miniatures Games
We have spent a lot of time in 2008 re-examining the way we approach miniatures, in terms of quality of casting, sculpting and presentation. New quality control procedures are in place at our casting facility, and we will be utilising new talent to manage sculpts and pre-production – these areas were always the ones that caused us the most problem in the past. We will also be starting ‘smaller’, with no ‘grand’ battle game planned until at least 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
Tabletop Gaming News Is Back
Tabletop Gaming News is back on the air. All, or certainly most, of the old content seems to be there and new stuff as well.
Combat Mission: Shock Force – Britsh Forces Announced
Battlefront announced a new upcoming expansion for Combat Mission: Shock Force.
Battlefront.com is thrilled to announce Combat Mission Shock Force – BRITISH FORCES. British Forces is the next Module in Battlefront.com’s Combat Mission Shock Force series of modern warfare tactical simulations.
Britain fields one of the most powerful armed forces in the world today, which Combat Mission fans will soon experience for themselves. The full range of British weaponry is brought to life with the same amazing level of detail found in the previous Combat Mission titles.
Everything from the new version of the L85A2 rifle to the Challenger 2 with all the latest upgrades is included in order to give a full accounting of the capabilities of the modern British Army. Play with them on their own or as part of multi-national joint task forces using any of Shock Forces’ other units. As with the MARINES Module, all new scenarios and a campaign are included for exciting play right out of the box, before digging in and using the powerful editor or sharing scenarios with other Shock Force gamers. New voices (multiple accents), sound effects, and game features round out the game experience. Oh, and of course some great surprises which will be revealed as the release date nears!
Tabletop Gaming News Site Down
The Tabletop Gaming News (www.tabletopgamingnews.com) site is off the air. The ISP basically shut the site down for using too many server resources. There is a notice page posted. Zac, the owner, hopes to have the site back up soon.
WeeToySoldiers Closing
I was very disppointed to hear that WeeToySoldiers.com was closing down. The site will remain up for awhile but the owner is moving on to deal with real life. It was a great site and will be missed. The owner has graciously given permission for anyone to use the contents of the site. We will try and grab some of our favorites over time so that they are still available here once the site goes dark.
Babylon 5 Miniatures Available Again
IronWind Metals now has the old Mongoose Babylon 5: A Call to Arms miniatures available. They are remastering many of them so only the core units are currently available but they say they will have the entire range available again over time. We have not seen any of them yet so we cannot say how well they look.
See the announcement and the current selection in the IronWind store.
See the original Mongoose Publishing announcement about dropping the line.
Update: Well now it looks like they are going away again as Mongoose is not renewing the license for Babylon 5. Production will cease at the end of June 2009. See the announcement.
Updated: 8DEC08
The View from the Turret 
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