Wargames
Combat Commander — Update
GMT Games has released two new expansions for Combat Coommander: Europe. First is Combat Commander: Battle Pack #1: Paratroopers. Paratroopers is a small expansion that comes in a cardstock folio with two new 17″ x 22″ maps (giving four new maps) and 12 new scenarios. The scenario mix is excellent and will be familiar to any Band of Brothers fan. Paratroopers is an expansion and requires CC:Europe to play. We hope to see more of these battle packs. Highly recommended.
The second expansion, Combat Commander: Mediterranean, ships in the same sized box as the original and contains new counters, three decks of cards, six new map sheets (giving 12 new maps), new player-aide cards, and the latest version of the rulebook (with minor errata over the original). CC:M adds Britain and the Commonwealth; France and the Allied Minors; and Italy and the Axis Minors to the CC system. Oddly, considering its size, CC:M is not a standalone game and requires CC:E to play. Many of the new maps are certainly interesting and if you like the theater and new forces this is a nice expansion.
AT-43 — The Red Blok
Originally we were not going to cover any Red Blok miniatures because we assumed it would mostly be more of the same as far as AT-43 miniatures went. Once you have seen some of the U.N.A. or Therian models you get the basic idea of the AT-43 line. But after seeing the full Red Blok line of minis for ourselves we had a change of heart.
While the Red Blok figures do not present any revolutionary or quantum shift in AT-43 quality they do present perhaps the first evolution. The Red Blok infantry are of a touch higher quality than the U.N.A or Therian figures. Perhaps it is just the color schemes but they do look better overall. Certainly the Draganov Commandos benefit from the lack of flesh, which has always been the poorest part of AT-43 figure painting. Also, while the Kolossus units are not as impressive, or futuristic, of a design as the U.N.A. TacArms they are impressively well molded models when you see them for yourself. Even the theme, whether you like it or not, is well executed and the models give the proper feel quite well. Read the rest of this entry »
Aeronautica Imperialis — Update
The new AI terrain we mentioned earlier is now available for order. The new models include the Imperial Control Tower, large landing platform, small landing platform, and Imperial airbase accessories set (includes bunker, Hydra Flak emplacement, power generator, fuel drums, ammo crates and tool locker). See the Forge World AI Ground Defenses page for details and photos.
Perhaps more exciting is the new Tactica Aeronautica. It is a 128 page hard back supplement for Aeronautica Imperialis that includes new rules, aircraft, campaigns and tactics.
Federation Commander: Battleships Attack — Review
Federation Commander: Battleships Attack is ADB’s latest expansion for Federation Commander. Similar to the previous expansions, it includes a couple of new map panels, asteroids in this case, some new ship cards and counters, and a handful of new rules and scenarios. What makes Battleships Attack unique is that ship cards are included for all of the races, including ones not seen in FC yet (such as the Lyrans and Hydrans). Moreover, the cards are also full 8 1/2″ x 11″ in size. Considering table clutter, normally bigger would not necessarily be better, but with the huge number of weapons, systems, and shields on the various battleships it is a very welcome change. Read the rest of this entry »
Federation Commander — Review
The Game
Federation Commander (FC) is a tactical space combat board and miniatures game by Amarillo Design Bureau (ADB). The game has been out a couple of years now but we have only recently played it. FC is essentially a lighter version of the venerable Star Fleet Battles (SFB) game that has been around, in various incarnations, since the late 1980s. While we played a lot of SFB in the old days it got far too complicated over time and we stopped playing. We obviously were not the only ones and thus ADB designed Federation Commander. Read the rest of this entry »
Warhammer 40K — Apocalypse Update II
With Games Workshop’s new Warhammer 40,000 supplement, Apocalypse, now arriving to gamers, GW has posted a considerable amount of supporting material on its Website. First is a number of new Datasheets for Apocalypse including one for an Assassinorum Execution Force. There is also the Apocalypse Asset Cards.
In addition to the downloads there are a number of hobby and gaming articles as well. There are conversions for the Baneblade as well as a look at allied armies and the Vindicator Assembly Guide. They have a nice article on troop deployment in Apocalypse. Phil Kelly shows off his Tyranid force. No GW game would be complete without more information on Commissar Yarrick. Chaos players get official details on the Brass Scorpion conversion. Lastly, GW has tips on turning your normal army into an Apocalypse-sized mega army.
There is also more unofficial information out. Warseer has pictures of the Baneblade sprues as well as the new Space Marine Vindicator sprues. Once available, it looks like the Vindicator sprues will offer reasonably priced upgrade armor for Space Marine Rhinos.
Apocalypse looks to be a big WH40K release in more ways then one. Check often for new updates.
[Updated: 8JAN08]
AT-43 Red Blok Army Book — Review
Rackham’s new AT-43 Red Blok Army Book is now available. The quality and layout is the same as the U.N.A. and Therian Army Books. The book is 64 pages long and printed on high gloss paper in full color.
The book includes 14 pages of information on history of Collectivism and actions against the U.N.A. preceding the Trauma, but, like the other books, the majority of the book is dedicated to the Red Blok armies and begins with information on a number of Red Blok factions; The Arc, Frontline, and Supra. Like the other races, each faction has their own benefits and disadvantages. For example, The Arc are infantry heavy and can have large units but can only issue one combat drill at a time. The Frontline is the now familiar vehicle heavy unit. A few pages detail the heroes including Sergeant A. Tymofiyeva, Captain Pavel Vrachov, and Cols Odin O-1 and Manon O-2. Details on the various Red Blok weapons are also included. Read the rest of this entry »
Babylon 5: ACTA 2nd Edition — First Look
Mongoose Publishing has released the second edition of its space combat miniatures game Babylon 5: A Call to Arms. Unlike the previous edition there is no boxed set. The game comes as two separate hardcover books, the main rulebook and the Fleet Lists book. My copy of the main rulebook had an odd binding problem and the pages are somewhat wrinkled when opened. The main rulebook is 123 pages and includes a couple pages of ship counters in the back. The book is 100% black and white and of poor quality; the pages are laid out with the intention of some sort of color background but in the actual grayscale printing the result is a very dark page that thus makes the black text hard to read. Worse are the graphics that are almost all too dark. Read the rest of this entry »
AT-43 — The Big Guns
Rackham has released some new units for AT-43. This round includes a number of heavy units. The Therians get the hero (special character) Tiamet. She is an impressive model and ships singly along with one resource generator and a single unit card. Tiamet is on a 65mm base and is very well sculpted and painted. Unlike Atis-Astarte, Tiamet is a very durable miniature and should hold up to regular play just fine. The size of the figure befits her armament of four Light Grim Scythe’s with 13 strength attacks each.
The U.N.A receive a couple new units. First is another batch of TacArms. This time it is the dual Volcano MG-equipped Death Dealer TacArms. The Death Dealers ship three to a box but unlike the other TacArms there are no option bodies; you get one leader per pack. You also get five cards, two unit cards (leader and troop) and three ‘Ace’ cards. I have no idea of what use are the Ace cards. The Death Dealers are perhaps the best U.N.A. figures yet. They come in a very well done urban camo of light and dark gray with various insignia. Unfortunately the official rules for them are very limiting but they look so good I suspect a lot of players will ignore the official rules and use them as they would other TacArms. Read the rest of this entry »
Combat Mission: Shock Force — First Look
Battlefront released its new modern-era, tactical combat game Combat Mission: Shock Force. The game is the successor to the excellent Combat Mission World War Two titles. It improves upon those games in almost every way and if you have played any of the earlier titles you will feel right at home with CM:Shock Force. You will need to spend some time with the manual even if you are a veteran of the earlier titles because there are a number of new elements to the game that are not readily apparent.
The game includes a new real-time option as well as the traditional turn-based system. I still do not like the real-time option because no matter how good the AI is it still does dumb things. In addition, even with pause, you cannot be everywhere at once. This is not just an issue with command but simply in seeing the action unfold. With the turn-based system you can always see what happens. In real-time mode you often miss things while you are occupied elsewhere. Moreover, the highest realism setting, annoyingly, removes your ability to issue orders while the game is paused. Real-time does not equal more realistic for a tactical wargame.
Minor issues aside, if you like the subject matter you will enjoy the game and CM:SF does introduce some seldom seen concepts in wargaming such as unit specific spotting. Hopefully they will redo the WW2 titles with the new engine soon.
The Wargamer has a nice After Action Report and review of the game.
The v1.03 update is available.
The View from the Turret 
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