Wargames
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.
AT-43 — Baal Golgoth Preview
Rackham released an image of the upcoming Baal Golgoth, a size five Therian strider for AT-43. It is going to be a big miniature roughly 30% larger than the Wraith Golgoth. The Baal is the first size five strider we have seen for AT-43. The Baal is scheduled for an August 2008 release.
Update: Rackham released a photo of a fully painted Baal Golgoth.
[Updated: 11APR08]
AT-43 — Rackham across the web
From Rackham’s Cry Havoc Online #78:
This week´s blog is called View from the Turret. It presents a rather complete overview of everything new in miniatures games but also shows interest for boardgames and PC video games based on military universes.
View from the Turret is a streamlined aesthetical blog and an enjoyable read!
Hey wait, that’s us!
AT–43: Operation Frostbite — Nina Zero, Therian hero
Rackham released more details from their upcoming Operation: Frostbite campaign. The below is from Cry Havoc Online #78:
The game designers at studio Rackham are offering you to test the profile and the rules of Nina Zero, a Therian hero for Operation: Frostbite. Nina Zero is played with the miniature of a Bane Goliath. Babylon Zero, Nina Zero´s armored fighting vehicle, is an Incubus Golgoth.
Read the rest of this entry »
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]
Victory at Sea — Bandits at Six O’Clock
The latest edition of Mongoose Publishing’s Signs & Portents pdf magazine, issue 54 (now in a new combined format), has additional aircraft stats for their WW2 naval miniatures game Victory at Sea.
Nine pages of material add almost 300 aircraft to VaS. Much of this material consists of the ‘missing’ stats from the original work done for the Order of Battle expansion. Why it was not simply provided there is anyone’s guess but it is great to have it now. New rules are provided for level bombing and, finally, skip bombing! Oddly, rules for guided missiles, such as the German Hs293, are also included. Another mystery is the inclusion of the early jets, such as the P-80, F-86, and Mig-15. Perhaps this is a peek at what will be available in the modern version of the VaS rules? It does allow players to make-up some interesting Korean War scenarios.
Overall this is a very welcome addition to the VaS system and we finally get our B-25s!
The View from the Turret 
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