Wargames
White Star Rising — Now Available
Lock’n Load Games released the first game in their new Nations at War Series: White Star Rising. NaW is basically the WW2 version of the their excellent World at War series. White Star Rising covers tactical battles in the European theater through 16 scenarios and features a nice mix of U.S., German, and British forces. The components are top notch although the mounted 11″x17″ map boards seem to be prone to warping. The rulebook and charts are in full color.
The 20-page rulebook covers all of the major aspects of WW2 tactical combat including off-board artillery, smoke, air support, mines, and more. WSR includes a Battlefield Chaos and Fate Point system that adds some random elements to the game.
White Star Rising retains the smooth tactical play of its predecessor yet has just enough subtle modifications to give it a nice WW2 feel. Ranges are reduced, movement is a bit slower and weapons somewhat less deadly. One major criticism made by some was that 60mm+ mortars were far too powerful at killing tanks compared to actual AT guns. When playing a ‘normal’ game we did not find this to be the case but if someone wanted to exploit the full potential of the rules this was probably an accurate critique. LnL responded with an official rule change that says mortars can only disrupt, not reduce, non-open topped armor units. This change will be reflected in an updated PDF version of the rules.
WSR is a great WW2 tactical game and if you liked the World at War series you will certainly like WSR as well. If you enjoy platoon-level tactical WW2 combat games you should check out White Star Rising. The next title in the series, Desert Heat, covers combat in North Africa from 1941-43.
New Firestorm Armada Ships Available
Spartan Games has released a number of new ships for Firestorm Armada. Each race gets a new specialty ship and a new faction, the Marauder Fleet, is available now (but no rules/stats yet). There are 
stats for the other new ships.
The new ships are the first to come from Spartan’s new tooling where they have reduced the parts count for each ship. Most are now single piece castings or only two or three pieces at most. The large Marauder ship, the Buccaneer, is resin with a metal ring and the small Corvettes are all metal. The other ships are all single piece resin. They are all extremely well cast, very detailed and are basically the best sci-fi ship miniatures currently available.
Also see Firestorm Armada Kurak Alliance.
[Updated: 8NOV10]
IJN — Available Soon
Compass Games has a new expansion for their great solitaire WW2 naval wargame, Silent War. IJN adds a ton of Imperial Japanese Navy ships to the game. IJN is in pre-order now but should ship before the end of the year.
Bring added realism to your submarine campaign with IJN, Imperial Japanese Navy, the first expansion pack for Compass Games’ award winning SILENT WAR. Every Japanese warship down through the large destroyer escorts and the major auxiliary cargo ships and tankers are provided in two full countersheets with 336 new playing pieces for the game and rules to integrate them seamlessly into the game. IJN, Imperial Japanese Navy also brings new rules to SILENT WAR such as loners, crash dive, and targeting escorts, rules introduced in the follow on game, STEEL WOLVES. A must have expansion pack for any dedicated SILENT WAR player. Requires SILENT WAR to play.
Combat Mission Afghanistan — Now Available
Battlefront released the latest title in its excellent Combat Mission series, Combat Mission Afghanistan. CM:A covers the original Soviet invasion of Afghanistan at a squad level. There is a demo available (353MB). The Armchair General has an interview with the designer.
Combat Mission Afghanistan covers two periods of the Russian-Afghan wars – the initial phase 1980-1982, and the later years of highest activity 1985-1987 – in two campaigns and additionally ten standalone missions. The fully featured editor will of course allow players to create all new custom maps and missions.
Players are able to take command of Soviet or DRA (Democratic Republic of Afghanistan) Army units as well as mujahedeen guerrilla forces.
But it doesn’t end there. CM Afghanistan introduces completely new features to the series, such as:
- Drozd Active Defense system (on T-55AD and T-62D; shoots down incoming RPGs)
- Multi-barreled rapid-fire cannon (e.g. ZSU-23 Shilka, Kamaz ZU-23)
- New terrain such as Snow (on the ground) and Water
- Exit Zones (a new type of objective)
Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg — Now Available
Matrix Games has released a new WW2 operational-level computer wargame, Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris. Decisive Campaigns simulates Germany’s invasion of Poland and France in 1939 and 1940 (and also includes a hypothetical “Sea Lion” invasion of Great Britain). The game looks very good and covers battles that are not often seen in wargames. If you like operational level games give it a look.
The Wargamer has an after action review of Decisive Campaigns: The Blitzkrieg from Warsaw to Paris and also some designer’s notes.
There is a small (15.8MB) version 1.04d patch available. The designer, Victor Reijkersz, has made high resolution versions of the maps available for use in planning, etc.
[Updated: 18JAN11]
Normandy ’44 — Now Available
GMT Games’ new regimental level boardgame of the combat in Normandy in 1944 is now available. Normandy ’44 covers the D-Day invasion itself and the following three weeks of combat. It makes a great alternative to the five-map monster game The Battle for Normandy, but it does not cover the southern battles and Operation Cobra like that game either. Normandy ’44 has GMT’s typically great components with an attractive map and nice looking counters. You can get the rules in PDF. There is now a VASSAL module and Cyberboard module available.
Each turn represents 1 day. Each hex represents 3.8 kilometers (or 2.3 miles). Most units are regiments or brigades though most of the armor units are represented as battalions.The game uses a simplified Ardennes ’44 system: Move, Fight and Reserve Movement. All non-tank battalion units are rated for Troop Quality, while all armor units have a Tank Rating. In each battle these ratings are used to provide shifts for either the attacker or defender. Other important shifts are provided by air power, naval support, artillery and/or Tiger tanks.The game includes a 22 turn Campaign game, a 7-turn Tournament Scenario that focuses on the Allies linking up the beaches, and a scenario covering the battle in the peninsula and the capture of Cherbourg. In addition, there are rules for allowing 3 or even 4 players to play the game.
[Updated: 15OCT10]
Forged in Battle Miniatures — Review
Forged in Battle is a new historical miniatures company. They produce 15mm resin and metal WW2 miniatures. The line includes both infantry and vehicles. The FiB infantry are traditional metal figures and are packaged in sets usable for Flames of War or other WW2 fireteam based games. We did not compare them directly but looking at them in the store they appear to maybe be a just a bit smaller (slighter) than the FoW infantry minis but we are not sure. Comparing the infantry figures that came with the 88mm guns they are less chunky than FoW figs. The quality seems just fine. The line is expanding but they currently have infantry for American, British, German, and Russian forces. Read the rest of this entry »
40K Radio is Back!
Following the sudden demise of the 40K Radio podcast all of the rights were purchased by Romeo Filip, owner of Battlefoam. They did an intro show #1 a few weeks ago but we were less than impressed. But they have now done shows #2 and #3 and both have been very good. Without Spencer the show lacks a bit of energy but is, so far at least, more on topic. The hosts and Romeo are doing a good job covering the various aspects of Warhammer 40K. There is no more drinking on the show now and it is more family friendly in general. Some may call this a negative but it allows younger listeners to enjoy the show as well as us old timers.
Update: We still like the show but it made a substantial turn to the non-younger audience friendly side. The guys will often slip into less than child sensitive language as well as sophomoric rants in general. Sometimes humorous but certainly not for younger audiences.
[Updated: 12DEC10]
15mm Buildings and Terrain — News
Battlefront announced it is delaying the release of its new Italian terrain pieces. The Ruined Monastery, Vineyards, and Rural Roads will not be released for 6-12 months due to “overseas issues.”
More curious is the lack of mention of the European buildings announced last year and shown in Wargames Illustrated issue #268 in February of 2010. We hope these will still be released.
The Miniature Building Authority released a new addition to its Townhouse line. Townhouse Row E is now available and includes a corner building. All of the Townhouse buildings are fully painted and well done overall.
Also see, 15mm Pre-Painted Buildings — A Few Choices.
Battles of Westeros — Review
The D6 Generation does it again! They have an excellent review of Fantasy Flight Games’ new Battles of Westeros board game. If you are not familiar with the title, it is a medieval fantasy, tactical wargame using a modification of the BattleLore system. It takes place in the world of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire). Forward to 2hr 32mins into the podcast to get right to the review.
It is a testament to the strength of this game that it is literally the first fantasy game we have ever purchased. Of course Game of Thrones is much more medieval fiction than it is fantasy and this emphasis comes across very well in the game. The D6G gang do a great job covering the game in their review.
FFG have the Battles of Westeros rulebook available for download as a PDF. They also have a FAQ and a scenario.
But a great review was not enough for the D6G. No, they also interviewed the game’s designer, Robert Kouba. It is an interesting and informative interview overall and if you like, you know, designer input, you’ll really, like, you know, enjoy it (listen and you’ll see what we mean!). Forward to 58min into the show to get to the interview with Rob.
[Updated: 25JAN11]
The View from the Turret 
You must be logged in to post a comment.