World at War
White Star Rising — Beta Rules
Lock’n Load Publishing posted a PDF of the beta rules for their upcoming WW2 tactical board wargame, White Star Rising. The game is the long awaited World War 2 version of the World at War system. The rules are basically complete but do not include any scenarios and will receive some final polish before publication. Overall nothing surprising in them as they are basically the WaW rules with some minor tweaks. It does look like WSR will ship with a nice selection of formations for the Americans, British and Germans.
The Best Games Not Yet Published, 2010
Another new year, another new set of games and miniatures to lust after! It is time for our annual look at the games and miniatures we are most anxiously awaiting in 2010. Our 2009 prognostications did pretty well so here we go again. As always, there is no guarantee any of these titles will be published in 2010, nor that they will be any good if they are, but we are optimistic.
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World at War Compendium
We are huge fans of the World at War system by Lock ‘n Load Publishing. Well WaW fans better start warming up their wallets because LnL just announced that the World at War Compendium is now on pre-order. According to LnL, the Compendium will include, “over 100 pages jam-packed with World at War scenarios, analysis and articles…. Not to mention new maps and 88 new, die-cut counters. Better yet, there won’t be much of a wait. Almost all the material is ready; the World at War Compendium will ship before Christmas.”
Fans of LnL’s Line of Fire PDF magazine may be somewhat disappointed to learn that the 100 pages includes almost all of the WaW articles from LoF but there are still 30 pages of new material plus scenarios, card stock maps and die-cut counters. The Compendium will be available in a print version as well as a PDF download.
Note: The PDF version is now available for purchase.
[Updated: 5DEC09]
World at War: Blood and Bridges — Review
World at War: Blood and Bridges is Lock ‘N Load Publishing’s latest edition to its World at War platoon-level, Cold War era board wargame. It is very similar to the original release, Eisenbach Gap, in that it is a complete standalone game not an expansion. In fact the easiest way to describe Blood and Bridges is as a bigger, better Eisenbach Gap. Read the rest of this entry »
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?
World at War: Gamer’s Guide — Review
Lock ‘n Load Publishing released a Gamer’s Guide for its World at War Cold War-era tactical combat board wargame. It is a 37 page 8 1/2″ x 11″ softbound, black and white magazine. The cover is of heavy glossy stock. The Guide is attractively laid out with plenty of shots of the game in play and a few stock photos sprinkled in. The layout template takes up a lot of space and the guide could probably have been published in only 18 pages but would have seemed a bit more crowded. The lack of color is disappointing especially for the shots of the game in action but everything is clear and readable. Read the rest of this entry »
World at War: Death of the 1st Panzer — Review
World at War: Death of the 1st Panzer is the first expansion to Lock ‘n Load’s Cold War era World at War: Eisenbach Gap wargame. The expansion ships in a ziplock and introduces new forces, scenarios, and a map to the game.
Death of the 1st Panzer is a straightforward expansion and provides the units for West German panzer units. In this case the 1st Panzer is essentially two mechanized infantry companies and two panzer companies with some attachments. Other new units included are the Soviet T-12 ATG and the ASU-85. The counters are of the same design as WaW:EG but are printed on thicker stock. They are still on the thin side but not unusually so. Read the rest of this entry »
World at War: Eisenbach Gap — Review
World at War: Eisenbach Gap is Lock ‘n Load Publishing’s latest game. It is a Cold War era platoon-level board wargame. The unit scale is platoon and each hex represents 150m. While the game depicts fictional scenarios, Eisenbach Germany was a real point of possible contention during the Cold War. In addition, Eisenbach Gap is the first game in the World at War series so we will see additional titles using the same system in the future. The game ships in a full-size game box with 128 die-cut 5/8″ counters, mounted 17″ x 22″ map, two players’ aid cards, 4 dice, and a 16-page rulebook. Probably the first thing you will notice is the counters. They are very attractive and have an almost bewildering array of numbers on them. Unfortunately they are also some of the thinest cardboard counters you will find in any wargame. They are essentially the thickness of two pieces of card stock. The biggest issue with the thinness is that it makes the counters rather difficult to pick up even with tweezers. Hopefully Lock ‘n Load will produce thicker counters for future WaW titles. [Note: Oddly, an extra set of counters I ordered direct from LnL were on thicker stock.] The map is nice and similar in thickness to the ASL Starter Kit maps or roughly the thickness of your average wargame counter. The map is very attractive in an antiseptic sort of way — Like the time period being portrayed, it has a sort of retro feel to it. The rulebook is well laid out and a fairly useful reference during play. The player aid cards are handy but leave a lot of information out. You will need to make your own notes to ease play. Read the rest of this entry »
The View from the Turret 
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