Board Wargames
Line of Fire #2 — Review
Lock ‘N Load Games just released the latest edition of their house PDF-magazine, Line of Fire #2. They did not quite make the quarterly deadline but close enough. LNL is selling Line of Fire #2 for a couple dollars cheaper ($14.99) than Line of Fire #1 but the issue is a bit shorter than the first. Read the rest of this entry »
Federation Commander: Briefing #1 — Review
Federation Commander: Briefing #1 is Amarillo Design Bureau’s latest expansion to their Federation Commander starship combat games. Briefing #1 is basically a scenario set with some miscellaneous material thrown in. It is a 64-page black and white book with color card stock cover. The layout is typical FedCom. Read the rest of this entry »
Dark July: The Battles for Prokhorovka Announced
Lock ‘n Load Publishing announced a new title for their Lock ‘n Load: Band of Heroes game system, Dark July: The Battles for Prokhorovka.
The game depicts the battles fought west of the Russian city of Prokhorovka on July 10-12, 1943.
Designed by Juan Carlos Cebrian (A las Barricadas!), the game features 85 new counters; a 22” x 34” historically accurate map complete with the famed Hill 252.2, the Soviet trenches to the east, and the Oktiabrskii State Farm to the north; and six historical scenarios. Here’s every gamer’s chance to be a part of one of the Second World War’s climactic battles on the Eastern Front; and the squad-level nuances of the Lock ‘n Load gaming system will put you in the middle of it. Be the Germans, be the Soviets. Be there!
World at War: Blood and Bridges Announced
Lock ‘n Load Publishing announced another new title. This one is not just an expansion but a complete game in its new Cold War-era World at War board wargame series.
World at War: Blood and Bridges on P500.
The war is raging on and now it is up to the British and their formidable array of weapons systems to blunt the Soviet spearhead. Chieftain and Challenger tanks, Striker ATGM vehicles, FV-432 APCs, Lynx attack helicopters, Tornado fighter-bombers and others clash headlong into first rate Soviet Guards units outfitted with T-80 and T-64 tanks, BMP-2 APCs, MTU-55 Bridgelayers, SA-13s, Hind E attack helicopters, Su-25 ground attack aircraft and many more. There is only one mission here. Hold the bridges or see Soviet armour on Channel coast. Are you up to the task?
Ogre Miniatures Lite — Beta
Steve Jackson Games posted a beta test version of its upcoming free Ogre Miniatures Lite rules download. It is very light. The pdf is only two pages with one page of rules and one page of unit stats.
New Combat Commander Titles
GMT Games announced two new Combat Commander titles for release in September. First is an expansion, Combat Commander Battle Pack #2: Stalingrad, and the second is a full game taking the system into a new theater, Combat Commander: Pacific.
Noville – Bastogne’s Outpost Announced
Lock ‘n Load Publishing announced another new title. This one is an expansion for Band of Heroes.
Designed by Lock ‘n Load guru, Robert Herzner, Lock ‘n Load:
Noville – Bastogne’s Outpost is an expansion to Band Of Heroes that depicts the intense fighting for the small town of Noville. Located northeast of Bastogne, Noville was defended by Team Desobry, straggers from a handful of shattered American formations, elements of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, and a handful of M-18 Hellcats from the 609th Tank Destroyer Battalion. This patchwork quilt of men and machines held Noville for two days against the onslaught of the German’s 2nd Panzer Division and 26th Volkgrenediers.Noville – Bastogne’s Outpost depicts this fierce struggle on a verdant 22″ x 34″ map created from actual maps of the period. There are six scenarios (listed below) featuring tense battles between American tank-infantry teams against Panzer Grenadiers, Volksgrenadiers, and Panzers of the Wehrmacht. New counters include American M4A3E8 East Eight Shermans, M-18 Wildcats, M8 Armored cars, German Jagpanthers, Volsgrenadiers, and more.
Ogre — News
From the Ogre Website:
March 19, 2008: Return From The Darkness!
It’s been more than two years since any new Ogre support. We are happy to announce that that is changing.
A new edition of Ogre, with high-quality components, will ship later in the year.
A PDF edition of Ogre Miniatures will be available soon from e23. This will not be a brand-new edition; it will be a scan of the first edition, with the addition of many pages of new rules, record sheets, other play aids, and complete errata.
And a new version of Ogre Miniatures Lite will be available very soon as a free e23 download. Ogre Miniatures Lite is not intended as a stand-alone rules set (though it really does get most of the rules, and a lot of tactical advice, onto the two sides of a letter-sized sheet). It’s intended as a quick reference for the experienced player and a quick-start handout to help new players, whether at a convention or in the living room.
For frequent updates on the new projects, visit the Ogre forums.
— Steve Jackson
August 2011 update from Steve Jackson: “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.”
See previous Ogre news.
[Updated: 14SEP11]
White Star Rising Announced
Lock ‘n Load Publishing announced a new title:
Nations at War: White Star Rising is on P500! White Star Rising is the first game in Lock ‘n Load Publishing’s Nations at War (NAW) game system.
Based on the popular World at War, NAW depicts platoon level combat in World War II. Here you’ll find everything your looking for in a platoon-level game, armor, artillery, infantry that serves as more than cannon fodder, command and control, air support, amphibious landings, desperate close assaults that leave the victor in possession of the ground and the defeated in headlong retreat, all in eight pages of rules.
White Star Rising includes two counter sheets replete with the vehicles, men, and weapons of both the American and German armies that fought in France, Belgium, and Germany in 1944-45. You’ll fight battles at Omaha Beach, in the Lorraine, on the outskirts of Belgium, and in Germany itself. There are 16 scenarios (18 for those who preorder), played out on four 11” x 17” geomorphic maps with ¾” (.75”) counters. That’s right, no more squinting to make out that tank platoon’s range. It’s all included in an attractive, bookcase-sized box.
Ogre 6th Edition
Well here is some great news. Steve Jackson Games has announced it will be re-releasing its tactical sci-fi, board wargame, Ogre (including G.E.V.) in a new large boxed format! Ogre and G.E.V., in the old Pocket Box, were some of the first wargames we ever played. Both games were simple, challenging, and a lot of fun. But they always suffered from inferior components. The counters were just black and white cardstock that you had to cutout yourself and the maps, while very attractive, were small and on thin glossy paper. Finally having a ‘real’ version of the game is very exciting. If you have never played either game you will want to be sure the check it out when it is finally released.
Now the good news, news that personally delights me. We now have to fill a hole in our schedule. When we looked at everything that might fit into that hole, a spiffy big-box version of Ogre – big board, heavy counters, and so on – had the best combination of “needs no further rules development” and “is in demand.” So we get to have Ogre back. I have been really unhappy that it was out of print, but other things had to come first. Now that the other priorities have temporarily fallen down . . . Ogre gets its chance!
What will the new 6th Edition include? Basically, the same game that we have been selling as Ogre/G.E.V., but with massively upgraded components. Further details will have to wait a few days, and when we unveil them, you’ll also get to see the redesigned Ogre webpage.
Considering this open letter to distributors it looks like we might really see Ogre 6th Edition in 2011. It will be a large boxed game with cardboard board/counters. Looks like there are ‘pop out‘ Ogres, towers and perhaps some other units. Counter designs are a bit odd especially considering there is no facing in the game.
[Updated: 14MAR11]
The View from the Turret 
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