Flames of War — Sold Out!!
Well it looks like we are not the only ones excited about the new Version 3 of Flames of War and all of the new goodies. Battlefront just announced:
Breaking News
As of twenty minutes ago the first printing of third edition rulebooks is completely sold out. Although we thought we would be okay for the first three months we have eaten through our stock much faster than anticipated in the last four weeks. This means our second printing, which we ordered ten days ago, is already being worked on but will not get out to the world until May.
While you 
are waiting you can check out the excellent video series Battlefront is putting together on how to play Flames of War third edition. There is also the new FoW introductory set, Achtung!, due out soon that features Battlefront’s first all-plastic tanks. It also includes the full mini rulebook.
[Note: As of 26APR12 the rules are back in stock.]
[Updated: 27APR12]
The Apple iPad3 and Gaming
Well we looked at the gaming significance of the original iPad and the iPad2 so we suppose we should look at the iPad3 as well. The new Apple iPad3, also known as the New iPad or officially as simply the iPad, is perhaps the first complete iPad Apple has released so far. Its improvements over the iPad2 are not huge but are nonetheless significant. A 2048×1536 screen is twice the resolution of previous models. Driving all those pixels is a quad-core graphics chip along with a 4G LTE connection for fast mobile connection speeds. Also new is a a much better outward facing camera (although the facing camera is the same). But ultimately it retains many of the traits of the iPad2.
But what does the iPad3 mean for gamers? Well probably quite a bit actually. The increased resolution increases the capabilities of the iPad significantly. For example, on my home 24″ LCD display I am running 1920×1080 resolution. That means the new iPad actually has more screen real estate. Now of course everything will be smaller but you start to get the significance of the new display. This fact got brought home just recently when Matrix Games and Slitherine released Battle Academy for the iPad. Not only is this perhaps the first real historical wargame for the iPad it is identical to the Windows version and even compatible for online PBEM gaming. In fact there are now a huge number of euro game titles in the pipeline for iOS including Le Havre, Eclipse and a number of titles from GMT Games including Nightfighter, Manoeuvre, and Space Empires. The new screen resolution and horsepower may very well bring a whole lot more gaming goodness to the iPad soon.
- Games: With the new iPad out it is probably time to update our previous list of iOS games.
- Apache Sim HD is a nice AH-64 Apache simulator for the iPad.
- Aliens versus Humans. We have not tried this one yet but it looks like the old XCom game on iOS.
- Alien Menace is a card game adaptation that works well.
- Bang! is an excellent port of the classic card game. The app is now updated and supports full play.
- Battle Academy is the first historical wargame for the iPad. All the capabilities of the desktop version.
- Caylus is a faithful reproduction of the board game.
- Crimson Steam Pirates is a fun steampunk naval game with a mild Dystopian Wars feel.
- Great Little Wargame HD is perhaps the first wargame before Battle Academy but is much lighter and without the history. The AI is ok but has trouble with naval and air use.
- Hunters: Episode One and Hunters 2 are Space Hulk-esque top down, turn-based tactical combat games.
- iBomber Defense Pacfic is a nice tower defense game with a WW2 theme that adds a few twists on the original.
- Legion of the Damned was the first wargame we found in a sci-fi setting. The AI is quite good as well.
- Operation: Eradicate is essentially Pandemic with a Zombie theme.
Starbase Orion is almost a direct port of the classic Masters of Orion 4x game.- Ticket to Ride is a perfect port of the boardgame and expansions. You can play against the AI, pass and play or play online.
- Zombie Gunship is a nice simple shooter where you take the role of a gunship gunner to take out zombies. Brrraaaaiiinnnsss!
- Game Reference: Not a lot new here unfortunately.
- GoodReader continues to be the best overall file manager and reader. PDF support has only gotten better.
- Notability We dumped Simplenote for Notability. It syncs with DropBox and supports a lot of basic formatting that is much more useful than the plain text of Simplenote.
- I Ain’t Been Shot Mum TooFatLardies released the new version 3 rules as a PDF/tablet version that was available before the print. If only more publishers would do this.
[Updated: 30MAR12]
Flames of War Update — March 2012
Battlefront continues to release goodies after goodies. The biggest news of course is the new FoW Third Edition rules. Battlefront released a small free paperback copy of the rules for veteran players and the new large Third Edition hardback is also now available. Physically the rules look amazing and are well organized. We managed to get in a game with the new rules and we like them a lot. Just enough changes and streamlining to improve play but not enough changes to make the change a big deal for veteran players. Tip: Keep the new Quick Reference sheet handy it really helps. For newcomers to FoW this is a great time to enter the hobby.
Of equal significance for us is the announcement of Blood, Guts & Glory the latest American forces book. After years of waiting we finally get our Easy Eights! The book focuses on the tank battles in the Lorraine Valley, September 1944 to January 1945. We finally get Patton as a warrior option as well as all of the Sherman variants. With the Bulge book coming soon it is a great time to be a late war U.S. player.
The Germans get some new lists as well representing the more ragged troops of the withdrawal phase of the war. Also see the nice Beasts of War look at FoW:BG&G.
If all of that wasn’t enough Battlefront is releasing some great new terrain as well — although the long mentioned European buildings are still MIA with not a peep about their fate. There are new obstacles, wire, trenches, fields and Russian front buildings and a whole lot more. With luck we may see new European buildings with the release of the Bulge book.
All in all it is a great time to be a Flames of War fan. It should be an interesting year.
Wargame: European Escalation — Review
The Gents over at the Three Moves Ahead podcast deliver an excellent review of Wargame: European Escalation in their latest Episode 160. We haven’t played the game yet ourselves but they give it overall high marks and make a great case for giving the game a try. The trailer video for the game certainly looks nice as do the screen shots. The game is certainly not lacking in eye candy.
A horrible name perhaps but Wargame: European Escalation provides a unique take on the RTS genre by mixing in Cold War-era history with a solid RTS game. Not a simulation by any means, the game still manages to provide that wargame feel in an RTS package. A combat-based point scoring system combined with territory capturing and supply gives the game a unique enough mix to warrant a look.
The game is available on Steam. Also see the developer’s game site.
Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy – Commonwealth Forces — Now Available
Battlefront.com released the newest expansion for their WW2 tactical computer wargame Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy. Commonwealth Forces brings…err…well…Commonwealth forces to the game.
Commonwealth Forces”, the first module to the Wargame of the Year 2011 (Wargamer.com Community Award) “Combat Mission> Battle for Normandy” tactical WW2 ground warfare simulation, and includes all new, meticulously researched and historically accurate UK, Canadian and Polish Free Forces units and formations, dozens of new scenarios and QuickBattle maps and two in-depth campaigns. The full range of Commonwealth weaponry is brought to life with the same amazing level of detail and simulation fidelity found in the previous Combat Mission titles.
This module also brings you new German formations, such as the “Waffen SS” and the Luftwaffe Field Divisions. Several variants of the iconic Churchill tank, the Cromwell, Stuart and Firefly are included along with many other new units. The Germans see the mighty King Tiger and the Jagdpanther in their arsenal among several other additions.
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear — Computer Game!
We were very surprised, and very happy, to learn Matrix Games and Academy Games teamed up to produce a computer version of Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear. Even better it should be available soon.
COH has long been our favorite WW2 tactical wargame. The computer version looks great and if it faithfully mimics the boardgame should be a must get.
Designed and developed in cooperation with Uwe Eickert, the original designer of Conflict of Heroes, and Western Civlization Software, the award-winning computer wargame studio, no effort has been spared to bring the outstanding Conflict of Heroes gameplay to the computer. Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! includes an AI opponent as well as full multiplayer support with an integrated forum and game lobby. To remain true to the core gameplay of the board game, the PC version is designed to be fun, fast and easy to play, though hard to master. The game design is also historically accurate and teaches and rewards platoon and company-level combined arms tactics without overwhelming the player with rules.
The year is 1941. Germany has defeated Poland, Denmark, Norway, and France with ease. In the morning hours of June 22 over 3 million German soldiers attacked Soviet forces along a 1600 kilometer front heralding the beginning of Operation Barbarossa. Complete surprise was achieved and the Germans struck deep into Soviet territory. The Germans thought that the Soviets would fold like a house of cards. Their officer cadre had been massacred by Stalin, training was poor, and morale low. The Blitzkrieg catches the Soviets by surprise and they lose over 1.75 million men in the first two months alone.
The Germans are unstoppable, their Panzers pushing to the very gates of Moscow. But then winter hit and the cold drained the German’s resources, strength, and morale. The Soviets began striking back in the dead of winter and the momentum began to shift in their favor through the following spring. The bear had awoken!
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! takes you to the Eastern Front of World War II during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. This release includes a historical roster of infantry, artillery, mechanized and support units for the Axis and Soviet forces for the time frame of Operation Barbarossa.
Command Ops: Highway to the Reich
Matrix Games recently released Command Ops: Highway to the Reich. CO:HttR is an expansion for their excellent Command Ops: Battles from the Bulge computer wargame. CO:HttR is also the spiritual successor to Airborne Assault: Highway to the Reich one of our favorite computer wargames. The new expansion includes 13 scenarios.
The scenarios cover every major engagement along Hell’s Highway, from the surprise capture of Joe’s Bridge by the Irish Guards a week before the offensive to the final battles on “The Island” south of Arnhem. The dramatic parachute and glider landings of the US 82nd and 101st Airborne, The British 1st Airborne and the Polish Brigade are all represented on some of the largest maps ever created for the series and the largest “campaign” scenario in this system to date. More than just a conversion of the old scenarios to play on the new system, the Expansion Pack represents a major update of Panther Games ground breaking classic game Highway to the Reich, incorporating numerous corrections to Maps, Orders of Battle, Unit Compositions, Reinforcement Schedules, and overall game play.
If you like solid operational wargames or just can’t resist Market-Garden check it out.
Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast
The Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast, also known as Napoleon 101, is a great audio series on Napoleon and the Napoleonic era. The show is now basically complete, having started in 2006, but the content is essentially timeless. The series consists of about 58 episodes that average 60-90 minutes apiece. So altogether there is well over 80 hours of material. The show features historian and educator J. David Markham, President of the International Napoleonic Society and Cameron Reilly, CEO of The Podcast Network. Mr Markham has written a number of books on Napoleon, including Napoleon for Dummies, and does a great job delivering the life and times of Napoleon.
You can certainly jump into any particular episode that interests you but we very much enjoyed starting from episode #1 and going straight through. If you do not start with the early episodes be aware that the show is obviously pro-Napoleon but the hosts will generally admit when they are being biased and also indicate topics that are often in dispute. In later shows they even have a number of guests that disagree with some of their own interpretations. The goal of the show is to spark your own interest in Napoleon and the period to lead you to further study of your own.
Overall the podcast is extremely well done. Audio quality is generally very good although some shows have some minor issues. Also there is often a sound level difference between the two hosts that can be a minor annoyance.
As with any show there are various complaints found throughout the show comments. One common complaint is about the off topic chit chat. This does appear in most episodes, especially later ones, but is mostly kept to a minimum and usually just in the beginning of each episode. After all, the podcast is not an academic lecture but simply a show — Some banter among the hosts should be expected. Another frequent complaint is over the occasional political shots at the Bush administration (the show was mostly recorded from 2006-2009). Again, these are very infrequent and minor. You will need to be extremely thin skinned for these to detract from your enjoyment of the show. We found the occasional comparisons of Napoleonic events with the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars interesting.
Overall, as newcomers to the Napoleonic era, we found the series incredibly valuable and entertaining. Combined with the recent bounty of Napoleonic games and miniature rules it has spurred us on to further reading and research into the period. Frankly we are shocked at ourselves for having ignored such a fascinating period of history all these years. If you think you have any interest in Napoleon or military history you should give at least the first few episodes of this show a listen.
Unity of Command — Review
Matrix Games recently released a new operational-level computer wargame by 2×2 Games. Unity of Command covers the battle for Stalingrad during World War Two. Each hex in the game is 20km and each turn is four days.
The interface uses a very simple and clean click methodology that highlights available actions. Visually the game looks great but can turn off some folks at first blush. The map and interface are very clean and stark but then the units themselves are 3D vehicles and, uniquely, figure busts for infantry. This of course immediately raises concerns by veteran wargamers that this is not a serious game. But you quickly get used to the unit designs and they do aid in information delivery with different unit types represented by different 3D models. But for those still not happy, supposedly an alternate unit set is in the works as a mod.
The game manages to stride that tough line of being a simple game to learn but still provides enough depth and challenge to engage veteran players. The center piece of the game design is certainly the supply system. Unlike almost all other wargames Unity of Command uses proportional supply where you actually see your supply wither the further it gets from supply points. Again the interface makes this very clear. It is a key point in the game and managing your supply properly is crucial to victory.
The AI is challenging and over 17 scenarios are included so replay value is very high. You can also play in hot-seat mode and over the Internet.
Unity of Command comes with a very well done manual. It is a 40-page full color PDF with plenty of illustrations. It explains the game mechanics quite well except, oddly, it doesn’t provide as much information on the supply mechanic as we would have liked. A few examples of how one gets out of supply and perhaps how one could alleviate certain conditions would have been nice. But overall you have more than enough to get you going and make you feel you understand what is going on underneath with the game.
The Three Moves Ahead podcast Episode 148 has a great 48 minute discussion/review of all facets of Unity of Command. If you have any interest in the game this is a must listen. The Wargamer also has a short but useful review.
[Updated: 28DEC11]
Napoleon at War – The Hundred Days
Man at War games announced its first expansion for its Napoleonic miniatures game, Napoleon at War. The Hundred Days: from exile to Waterloo will allow players to recreate the “Waterloo campaigns, with new settings, uniforms, army lists and a lot more.”
Napoleon at War has quickly become our preferred Napoleonic miniature ruleset and the minis themselves are well done. We hope to have more information posted soon.
Man at War now has a preview posted.
[Updated: 15JUN12]
The View from the Turret 
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