Wargames
New Forge World Site
Forge World has a newly redesigned site. It looks very nice and seems a bit faster than their older site. Navigation is certainly easier and it obviously takes some design cues from the new Games Workshop site.
Also of note are some new Ork vehicles and the Imperial Guard Valkyrie Sky Talon.
Incursion – MI-13 Coming Soon
Looks like the Brits are on tap next for Incursion. At least four new figures for the MI-13 Commandos are close to being ready for production. They feature separate heads so you can swap them with others from West Wind for greater variety. Beta rules and the Paddy Mayne card are available for playtesting.
See our review.
The final rules and cards are now available. A nice surprise was the inclusion of Gracie, a new MI-13 unit. Gracie is a new ‘light mech’ unit. No art for it yet but it should be interesting when it arrives.
[Updated: 23APR10]
Space Infantry – Now On P500
Space Infantry started as a free downloadable print-and-play game by Gottardo Zancani. Space Infantry is a solitaire sci-fi board wargame. It covers squad-level combat in the far future with players commanding a unit of 4-8 troops against various alien foes across a variety of landscapes. The free version of the game was not only fun to play but also had very high graphic art standards.
Well we were not the only ones to notice how good the game was and now Lock’n Load Games has announced that they will be producing a professionally printed and boxed version of Space Infantry. If you have any interest in sci-fi games or solitaire games check this out. The game is currently on their P500 list.
Pig Iron System Trooper Special Weapon Troops
Pig Iron Productions has released a couple new figures for their System Trooper range of 28mm sci-fi figures. The new figures are equipped with special weapons and come with two different weapon options. They are all metal castings with separate heads and look as good as the initial System Troopers.
Hearts and Minds — Now Available
Worthington Games has a new game on the Vietnam War. Hearts and Minds is a card-driven area movement board wargame that covers the Vietnam War between 1965-1975. The game is playable in an hour for the scenarios or 3-6 hours for the campaign game.
If you enjoy games like Twilight Struggle or Empire of the Sun you might want to give Hearts and Minds a look.
Midway — Now Available
Naval warfare fans have an opportunity for a new look at a classic battle. HPS Simulations released its latest addition to its Naval Campaigns computer wargame series, Midway. While it is the fourth game in the series it is the first game to include air combat.
Midway features 36 scenarios ranging from small 10 minute actions covering a specific air attack to 12+ hour scenarios covering full fleet actions with dozens of ships and hundreds of aircraft. These scenarios include the entire battle of Midway as well as specific actions, such as attacks on individual carriers and recreations of each attacking wave of aircraft. There is also a “what if” scenario based on the Coral Sea action not having been fought a month earlier. But aside from Midway, the game also includes the historical carrier battles of the Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz and the Philippine Sea, as well as a hypothetical IJN-USN confrontation at Pearl Harbor.
Flames Of War — Refighting the Battle of Ia Drang
If you missed Wargames Illustrated Issue 266 you are in luck. WI has now posted all of the Vietnam material from that issue on its site. So if you can manage to get your hands on the miniatures you will have all you need to fight Vietnam battles with Flames of War.
They also posted a Vietnam Color Guide and the scenario re-creating the Battle of Ia Drang itself.
New Firestorm Armada Ships Soon
Spartan Games announced they will be releasing some new Firestorm Armada ships soon. First up are escorts for the four main fleets as well as some civilian ships.
Our first upgrade releases for Firestorm Armada will be announced shortly. The first Wave will see Escorts arrive for each of the first four races, along with three generic Civilian Vessels: Gas Mining Vessel, Cargo Freighter and Liner. The Escorts will be sold in a blister with 6 Models and 6 Flight Stands. Following these models will be Heavy Cruisers and then the Directorate will enter the war! More images and launch information to follow.
Final stats are available for all the new ships.
These ships are all now generally available. They are all metal castings and the escorts are quite small; most are only about 1.5 inches long. We were rather underwhelmed with the civilian ships.
[Updated: 29MAR10]
New 15mm European Village Set Coming Soon
As indicated a year ago, Battlefront has a new 15mm European Village set in the works for its Gale Force 9 Battlefield in a Box series. The recent issue of Wargames Illustrated (issue 268 – February 2010) gives a nice description on page 54,
These buildings come in a multitude of different styles and textures, including a corner store building…Included in these samples were various village wall sections…The buildings and walls come out of the box pre-painted and each level of the building is removable.
The article has a number of pictures of the buildings and walls and they do indeed look great. This will be an excellent set and a must get for 15mm European front gamers.
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
The View from the Turret 
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