New free stuff!

 

Battle Card: This is a series of simple one page/postcard 10 minute solo games by David "Undaunted" Thompson. The series is announced on BGG and it will cover a wide range of WW2 stratgic subjects. What is neat is that there is a pnp of Market Garden (illustrated above) on BGG which is well worth a download. 

There is also a web based mini-app (whatever that may be!) to play with. 

Cry Havoc: Some of you may remember Cry Havoc from the distant past. I lost track of my original copy some years ago. However, there is a thriving community of Havoc gamers (and its many expansions) and they have many projects underway. The news is that there is a pnp introductory game covering Robin Hood and his merry men. Sherwood can be found here. Time for some nostalgic man to man combat!

Interesting stuff for Christmas!

 

Condiments of the season! Hopefully things are well with you all. 

I have been very unproductive in the last few months so, in lieu of anything new from me just at the moment, I present some interesting, and free, stuff for your entertainment. 

Les Guerres Picrocholines A small game from Nuts!, and one I have had my eye on for a long while. Based on the famous adventures of Gargantua and friends by François Rabelais (1534). Nuts! have this up as a free print and play here.

Punched magazine A new on-line wargames magazine with a game in it(!). The first edition is here. The game is Gravelotte 1870, an interesting little rock, scissors, paper game. One that looks like it could be very adaptable to other times and theatres. Invading Russia 1941 perhaps? Well worth checking out.

Able Archer I have been remiss in picking up the Rapid Fire Reloaded rules, on the list for next year. However, I have been tinkering with an interesting RF adaptation covering the cold war. You can find these rules on the Free Wargames Rules website here. Able Archer is a subject I intend to return to in the spring.

Peter's WSS rules Last but not least, Peter has published his draft WSS rules, a bit hidden away here. Brilliant!

Back in the New Year.

Even more free stuff.....

how cool is that?

I went into my local game store (Battlefield Hobbies) the other day. The mission was to find under coat (Vallejo Surface Primer), matt varnish and matt medium. Mission accomplished. However, I noticed a big stack of Team Yankee rule books, the small version that comes with some of the other products. I asked how much they were to find they were free. So, I now have the rules. Something to ponder. I don't know if this is the practice elsewhere but something to bear in mind.

I was reading Geordie's Big Battles blog yesterday and found this great description of a small Battle of Britain fighter encounter. The rules used were Blood Red Skies. I hadn't come across these before and tracked them down to Warlord Games. The rules are actually free and you can get them from their website. Warlord have some 1/200 aircraft product coming out later this year which the rules will support. A bit pricey but I reckon you can have a lot of fun with just the free rules and some nice Zvezda kits.

Now, I can either play around with the free stuff or get back to work on Ground Zero. Decisions, decisions! 

More free stuff....

well, nearly!

I'm continuing work on the Ground Zero rules and am aiming to have an initial playtest version out in the next week. This will feature infantry only combat so will be very simple. This time round I'm looking to get feedback as the rules develop.

In the meantime a few shiny new things have popped up, they are mainly free too!

Panzer Grenadier: The game system from Avalanche that has millions of scenarios. They are now advertising a free try it out module, all you need to do is pay postage for the counters and map, the rest is downloadable. You can find this package here. You can also download the latest rules and even a set of modern rules for free.

I have never looked too closely at this system, I simply don't like the maps, but it might be worth it for free. I'm still very much into Flying Pig/Tiny Battles Platoon Command system at present to want to branch out (even further some might say!).

Lee at Gettysburg: This is a Lock n Load game that is a revamp of one of their POD games. The reason for mentioning this is that is is on Wargames Vault for "pay what you want".  I leave it to you whether you can resist the temptation to pay not very much for a $14.99 game at full price. I for one really like the map. It may be a little odd for some people's taste but it suits mine fine.

Last Full Measure: Another Gettysburg game, totally free from the designer's page here. I don't like the look of this much, very late 1970's, but that doesn't mean its not a good game!

The Second Battle of Kharkov: Here's a free scholarly article, Prelude to Fall Blau: The Second Battle of Kharkov.

Thanks to Consimworld News for some of these references!

Free stuff...

it's that time of year!

I'm in that strange space between Christmas and New Year that we might have referred to in the old days as a game turn interphase administration step. Check supply, check reinforcements, advance game turn track marker to 2017. 

CTS light mortar Mosul (a UK 51mm?)

I am doing some thinking, rather than just sitting around (even though these activities look identical!). As the above picture indicates, my Middle East theme continues but with a renewed emphasis on tactical rules (AK47 is on my mind). I hope that a cunning plan will shortly emerge for next year. In the meantime, here is some really interesting stuff (free or as good as) that I have recently come across.

1. Kursk game by Lou Coatney

Lou has designed many free games over the years, some very small scale such as his Tiger Attack! point to point game on the Ardennes and Patton's Lorraine on the 1944 Metz offensive. He has now come up with a two map game on Kursk 1943 (Juggernauts) which you can find here. Well worth pondering on and it's free as well.

2. Peter's AWI rules for OHW

One of Peter's British line infantry units (15mm Peter Laing)

I have been following, and enjoying, Peter's various campaigns over the past year. In particular, his current AWI campaign using modified OHW rules by Neil Thomas has really piqued my interest. Peter has now posted his variant rules which contain some very interesting design features. I highly recommend them.

3. Airfix Battles

Maro Arnaudo has now reviewed Airfix Battles, which you can find here. A nicely balanced review which I think gives a fair picture of the game. 

4. Little Bighorn

Pete Belli is a designer and regular contributor to BGG. One of the things he is renowned for is his series of one minute battles. Latest in the line is One-minute Little Bighorn. The map is shown above. It comes with 28 counters and can be played in 60 seconds. The full details are here. I love the turn record track!

Check out Pete's other one-minute games of Waterloo and The Bulge here.  

5. Christmas at White Mountain (1620)

Holland Spiele have come up with a free game (White Mountain) which they gave away to participants in their winter sale. The good news is that they have also put it on Wargames Vault at the excellent price of $2. The interesting thing here is that they have used similar techniques to the innovative W1815 so for two bucks it is worthwhile checking it out.

So it's an early Happy New Year from me, I hope its good for all of us!

Professional grid game...

best game ever?

Ha, that's a loaded question! However, let's start at the beginning......

RAND Baltic game, hex grid overlay

I read with great interest the recent RAND organisation report on their Baltic wargame. Using lots of military types and what, to me, looks like a fairly standard NATO/Next War type game with 10km hexes, they have concluded that the Russians can overrun the Baltic states in 60 hours. Recommendation? Put in 7 brigades of additional troops including 3 armoured brigades as a deterrent. You can find the report here.

I mention the RAND game first because they have used a mix of a standard boardgame with little cardboard units that we are all familiar with in a combination with current military experience. The report is good, the concepts are great and the recommendations are probably very sound. Also, if you are interested in current developments in the east, their report is a great basis for some Cold War Commander battles.

According to Paxsims (one of my favourite sites): 

“full documentation of the gaming platform will be forth-coming in a subsequent report.” 

That will be very cool, can't wait.

The reason for mentioning this first is that RAND have been doing military analytics for at least 50 years, if not more, and they know what they are doing. The Baltic stuff is top notch. However, I have now found something that looks and feels like a major step forward. This is C-WAM!

Turkish M60s on the Iraqi border

The US Army have developed their own wargame, it is a map based game using a grid and counters. I don't have any pictures but General Dynamics IT have used the Freedom of Information Act in the US to get a copy of the rules. I have read them and, in my opinion, they are brilliant.

"Oh, alright, I surrender then!"

You can find the whole story here but, essentially, C-WAM (Centre for Army Analytics- Wargame Analysis Model) is a paper and dice based game. While its outputs are fed into a major IT system (Joint Integrated Contingency Model - big campaign management system), it is a battle simulation system that can be used in a very simple way (although you don't seem to be allowed just to do stuff unsupervised in the US Army!).

TOW: Great BBQ starter!

You can find a link to the rules here. I highly recommend reading them, Any experienced board or figure wargamer will feel very comfortable with the concepts. Just to convey some of these:

• They use a square grid on a map;
• Squares are 1 by 1 inch;
• All units that take up space are represented on the map;
• A grid square represents the area a brigade would occupy when deployed defensively;
• Time scale is one or three day turns;
• Squares may represent different sized areas depending on predominant terrain in the combat area e.g. 5km in rolling terrain;
• Units are brigades;
• Weather effects are very important, this is the first phase in a turn;
• Cyber/Space/EW effects are included, you might be successful in dealing in a turn with information attacks and attacks on your space assets (satellites) but you may suffer degradation of in electronic warfare terms;
• Intel/Surveillance/Recce effects are merged into a targeting value, if you are moving in a J-STARs area you are detected! Otherwise you are detected it there is a targeting value success. Special forces are primarily an information gathering/targeting device!
• Deep strike bombardments (ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, air packages), atmosphere penetrators (oooer missus);
• Integrated air defense system "gates" and air to air combat;
• Forward Area Logistical Supportability: supply to you and me;
• A major naval warfare sub-system (not useful in the desert but...);
• Reception, Staging, Onward Movement and Integration (RSOI) Operations: reinforcements anyone?
• Manoeuvre and stacking (that would be "battlespace limitations"!);
• Force Multiplier Combat Values: artillery support;
• Ground force combat with tables and die rolls!

Syrian forces exposing themselves to ISR detection

It says in the rules that they are not to be used without appropriate support. I agree. They are not a complete set on their own but, rather, a tool kit that needs to be carefully managed.

Are they the best game ever? No, but they are such a major insight into real-world wargaming and current US doctrine that they are extremely important. if you don't wear green pyjamas, reading these rules is the closest you will get to the smell of gunpowder. Oh, by the way, they use a square grid, how interesting is that! 

Free game and ....

New Weasel stuff 

I keep wanting to do the old joke about the difference between weasels and stoats, luckily for everyone I just can't bring myself to write it down! Hobby time very strictly limited at present but I am keeping myself up to date on a few things which are worthwhile sharing more widely.

Waterloo Squares

A neat little print and play game on a 10 by 10 square grid by Eddy Sterckx covering the whole of the battle of Waterloo. Uses a card system for command and combat. Very nice. Its free and available from BGG here. This was designed for the 2015-16 BGG wargame PnP competition. More information about this year's competition and the games is here.

The Weasel stuff

First up up is a beta set of 19th century rules covering Waterloo to Mons (that sounds like a book I've got). They are described as:

From Shako to Coal-scuttle is aimed at a game with 8-12 units of infantry or cavalry, each 4 stands strong, supported by a few artillery batteries. It should be playable with any figures you already own, whether you are gaming 1815 or 1915.

Its a beta version so unfinished and, as a result, you can get them on a pay what you want basis from here. 

Second up is a really very cool tool for the new Five Men at Kursk rules. It randomly generates missions, forces and even the map. All you need to do is enter some details about the year and combatants etc and there you go. By the way, when I say really very cool I mean absolutely brilliant in case you thought I was being halfhearted about it. Check it out here.

More free stuff....

Not only free but really good!

Another wet day, I've had my usual weekend morning stroll and have had to dry off and warm up!

Having a day in doors is not a bad thing when you have some new stuff to play with. Here are a couple of free games to interest you.

Tigers at Minsk: A game by Norm Smith. This is a kit that allows you to play a scenario (KG Sivers) from his hex based miniatures game using a map and counters. This originated as a square based map game called Into Battle (2013). Here is a picture of me playing the original KG Sivers scenario following quite a severe injury to the thumb during the preparation of the counters. 

The new map is hex based...

You can find the rules, map, counters and an AAR at Norm's blog. It is well worthwhile exploring this little game.

Phalanx: Phil Sabin has recently used a simplified version of his hex based game Phalanx at this years International Ancient Warfare Conference in Wales. Here is a review of the event from the editor of Ancient Warfare Magazine.

The original game was published by the SoA but a version was also published in Wargames Illustrated. I love this game as it allows you to play 36 ancient battles with some very small generic armies. In this version there are two hoplite armies which use very simple rules to allow you to fight some basic battles. Once you have mastered this you can move on to the full version of Phalanx (then Legion, then Strategos II and then Lost Battles!). You can pick up the kit from the Lost Battles Yahoo Group.

Rembarre!

Some thoughts on where to next...

A combination of health and work issues are keeping me very quiet on the hobby front at the moment. Nothing to worry about but but I'm feeling a bit semi-detached at present.

Henri de La Rochejacquelein at the Battle of Cholet

However, yesterday I picked up the latest WSS. It fell a bit flat with me, other may disagree of course, but I didn't get excited until I came across Rob Harper's article on the Battle of Cholet 1793, as illustrated above. For those of you not in the know, this was one of the key battles of the war in the Vendee. This is an extremely interesting war which still causes quite a bit of historiographical discussion in France. It has got rebels, ex-Royalist regular troops, the potential for emigres and British support, foreign fighters (I've heard that one before) and competing and incompetent republican generals. Simply brilliant.

The best bit is that WSS did not include two other articles by Rob including a general introduction and an item on the battle of Thouars. You can get these on the WSS site for knowt. There is also a surprisingly good article on Wikipedia which is well worth a read.

I have kept a series of articles from the old Miniature Wargames covering some of the key battles of the war in the Vendee with a period specific set of rules. Lovely and something to have a go at over the summer, while watching some rugby I hope!

The other interesting thing that I came across this weekend is the first edition of a new periodical called Panzerfauste Quarterly. Panzergrenadier Dwarves anybody? Get it for nothing from Wargames Vault, it is by Hysterical Games. Well worth a look.

Volley Fire

Nice rules....

Following a comment on my last post I thought it would be nice to provide a bit more information about these rules by Nick Bouette.

I got these a very long time ago from Irregular Miniatures. A quick check on their website indicates they are no longer available, at least from them.

These rules use a six by six square grid, any size really depending on the scale of the troops used. Bob Cordery has provided a good description of the mechanics in an earlier post on his blog so no need to go into detail here.

When I got these rules I was very interested in using them to game the 1918 German offensive against the British. I felt these rules would be very effective at showing the use of barbed wire, trenches and redoubts and also that they would easily cope with tanks as well as stormtroops (diagonal moves for these guys). Happily I have boxes (and boxes) of Hat and Revell troops for the period and a load of tanks, all in 1/72. I like to think that this project is not delayed, it is maturing!

There is a very interesting sidebar to these rules. The use of a lead unit in each square to act as attacker and defender and the use of terms such as "spent" for units taking damage, indicate a lineage going back to Avalon Hill's Turning Point: Stalingrad. 

Any excuse to use a picture of a great map like this!

Free stuff

I have mentioned Clayton J Callahan before on this blog. This guy is a character: soldier, Federal Agent and science fiction writer as well as wargamer. I admire his enthusiasm and highly recommend you get a copy of his Battlefields: From Broadswords to Bullets. A unique and simple introductory set of figure rules for plastic men from ancient times to the far future. Get them here for free (for the rest of this month) and share the simple joy of playing toy soldiers as God and nature intended!

One Hour Wargames again!

A break from the never ending year end!

I have never known a year end like this before. I'm sure it will come to an end shortly and I can get back to normal but I think my immediate priority will be getting some sleep and cutting the grass!

In preparation for my return to normality I have spent some time aimlessly surfing and I have found some new reviews of One Hour Wargames from a couple of big hitters (that's a compliment of course!).

Battlefields and Warriors Blog: Norm Smith has done a very detailed review of the rules with couple of AARs. A very fair and thorough review with some nice graphics.

Marco Arnaudo: I regularly watch Marco's reviews which are largely of boardgames. He is an insightful and entertaining reviewer and I have a lot of time for him. This week he has posted a review of One Hour Wargames. It would be nice to see him putting it through its paces but his review is entertaining enough as it is.

On a slightly different subject, I was very taken by Marco's review of Unconditional Surrender, a full scale WW2 strategy game (play the full war or individual campaigns). It has a great and very simple combat model which I am thinking about for use elsewhere.

What is really interesting is that there is a print and play campaign for Unconditional Surrender featuring Case Blue. You can get this for free from BGG, nice!

Well that was very therapeutic and hopefully I can get back into regular designing and blogging mode shortly.

Talking of Kickstarter......

and other developments!

Well, things seem pretty brisk in the world of wargaming at the moment and it looks like being a bumper year. Starting with:

Kickstarter news

The Kickstarter for Holdfast Korea is going well. Although sorely tempted I will attempt to hold on to my pennies because Grant Wylie says in his latest newsletter:

"Prior to designing Holdfast Korea, I was working on the design for Holdfast Bulge 1944.  Some of the other titles that have been floated are Vietnam, various Pacific battles, Market Garden, and of course we couldn’t leave Rommel out with North Africa."

I'm not sure about using Kickstarter as a pre-order device but if it gets more games like this to market then I'm a fan.

The other big news this week is The Great War, a Command and Colours WW1 game by Richard Borg and The Plastic Soldier Co. Fantastic. I have signed up for this. It is a traditional CnC game from all accounts and will have a double sided map board (grass/mud) slightly larger than the usual (12 across by 11 deep). I like the scope of the proposed expansions:

"In this core game, the main focus is on a number of WWI trench warfare battles. However, a series of expansions, which will feature early war, Eastern Front scenarios, tanks, airplanes, other national armies, plus more special personnel figures, are already in the planning stage to enhance your WWI gaming experience."

Sounds good, if not quite expensive in the long run. Having said that, one Battlefront army (faction I suppose) for their WW1 game is £65 alone so really this game will be a bargain (I tell myself).

So if this wasn't enough, here is some more good news:

White Dog Games

White Dog have a couple of new small games coming up, Lodz 1914............

and Mollwitz.

The good news is that they do print and play versions of their games for $18, saving on postage and import taxes. With Hold the Line: Frederick's War looking very much unobtainable at the moment (oh dear!), Mollwitz might fill a little of the gap.

Consim World freebies

I have joined in this latest support drive as usual. Consim World is one of my constant companions (yes, very sad). This year's goodies are:

• Head Honcho (air war Korea) and Death Before Dishonour (Spanish-American naval) from High Flying Dice Games. Both nice little games.
• Tigers at Minsk, Norm Smith's wargames rules partially adapted as a board game (well done Norm). More to come on this I think.
• Indian Unity, 1947 scenarios for Panzergrenadier.
• Paper Wars, a sampler issue.

A job well done by everybody. Thinking of HFDG, they have an interesting but very small game out for less than $6 on the German drive to Astrakhan in 1942 (Greyhound vs Bear). This will be worth a spin.

Wargames rules

Blucher is now out and happily costs less than £30 from North Star for the rule book. PBI III is also out. While Blucher is very very tempting, I just can't afford to get into PBI which seems to be different in many respects from its predecessors (both of which I own). Maybe I'll just wait for the reviews before making a decision.

I have paid a visit to Wargames Vault recently. There are two things on the list for consideration:

• WSS Polemos. Having played around again with my Cocked Hex game, it might be useful to see how its done properly! Can I decide what size to order though, tactical or operational?
• No End in Sight: "The M113 is burning behind you, the Reds are coming on strong. the platoon is in bad shape and mortar support is nowhere to be seen." A platoon level set of rules for modern battles from Nordic Weasel the FiveCore people. And its on sale!

Last but not least....

Here is a very neat little free game called Panjiway by John Weingardt. He was a serving Canadian soldier and designed this game about counter-insurgency warfare in Afghanistan while actually on counter-insurgency duties in Afghanistan. Three pages of rules and a very neat little system. Get it from BGG.

And one very last thing, a little One-Hour Wargames rules set for WW2 called Hot Chow. Having just finished E B Sledge's "With the Old Breed", I can verify that "hot chow" features regularly through a US soldiers service.

New stuff

Just in time for Xmas

As all gentlemen know, Xmas is a time of socks, ties and other unnecessary presents (monogrammed golf tees for example). A wise chap usually stocks up with a couple of essential presents for himself to enjoy in the odd quiet moment over the holidays. They don't have to be expensive.......

Ground Pounders

Some time ago Quick and Easy Games produced a free rules booklet for use with Dark Dream Studios Space Battles plastic figures. This was conveniently called Space Battles. They have now come up with a new version of the rules, Ground Pounders, which is based on their almost as cheap generic toy soldier rules called Battlefields.

I think this kind of stuff is great. I'm not a fan of £30 rule books. What I do need is good ideas that look like fun and you can't say fairer than this......

Two Buck Games

Two Buck have released a couple of new games Wake Island and AWI Battles 4. Wake Island looks interesting (1941 in the Pacific). 

The AWI game contains 9 mini scenarios, each with its own map:

• Monmouth (initial)
• Monmouth (final)
• Harlem Heights
• Fort Washington
• Ticonderoga Defiant
• Paulus Hook
• Red Bank
• Bound Brook
• Fort Clinton

This follows on from three other collections which cover a total of 28 AWI mini battles plus a larger game on Brandywine.

I can't find a picture of this latest AWI pack but here is one of the earlier ones.....

Both of these are great value at $5 each (inflation strikes even at Two Buck Games) and they can be downloaded from Wargames Downloads. Possibly one, or even two, for Boxing Day!

Combat Leader

Minden Games have a great reputation for tactical games. They are the people that brought us Retro, Squad Leader made simple (for thickies like me). Their latest game is Combat Leader (Eastern Front 1941) which looks like a nice infantry only tactical (man to man) game. This picture gives a flavour of the components.

This might be Retro the "game", as opposed to just the rules, as it has a real Squad Leader feel. I'll keep this on the radar. It is hard copy only and comes in at US $32.90 for the basic game and first expansion (urban warfare). Not very cheap but not perhaps the sort of investment required by Combat Commander or similar. See update below!

Holdfast

This is my real Xmas present this year. I collected it from the Post Office this morning. A simple block game of Barbarossa and 1942. It has great reviews and, although a bit on the pricey side, seems to have enormous replay value. 

The rules look really straightforward and the big plus is that they plan to do more WW2 campaigns. The next one is the Bulge. Top!

This is getting a bit scarce, I could find only one shop with it in stock (Leisure Games, London), so if you are after this, get in quick.

I haven't posted much recently because, having reached an interim stage with Plan B, I've found yet another really interesting project. This one is KISS My Arras! Not an original title (someone else thought of it before me) but this is my effort at using KISS Rommel to play the battle of Arras 1940. Essentially, a tactical version of KISS at roughly company/platoon level. More on this in due course.

Update: I see that Norm Smith has just reviewed the Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit 10th anniversary edition. This looks good and is only US$25 so it might be a good alternative to Combat Leader, if not precisely the same scale.

Try this........

Nice new solitaire game about the Reconquista

I've mentioned Dave Kershaw's work before. He has now produced a really neat, but quite fulfilling, little solitaire game for the BGG 2014 solitaire pnp competition. Well worth a try!

Hard times....

so lets get stuff for free!

I must point out that this does not involve criminal activity and I don't recommend holding up your local garage or Spa. On the other hand, I'm  facing an hour of root canal treatment tomorrow followed by the payment of a very large sum of money to the dentist. Its a fair price and I'm not complaining but if I spent this amount on books and wargames stuff I'd be shot by my wife. In order to cheer myself up and avoid spending money I have revisited two dear friends.

Quick and Easy Games

This outfit is run by Clayton J Callahan, former soldier, former sheriff and now SF RPG designer and author. The main line is Star Run an SF adventure system. Supporting products include hats and badges for the various protagonists.

.
What caught my eye was this:

Its great, get two boxes of toy soldiers and have a go. Although the Dark Dream stuff is not easy to get hold of, I have a big set of Robogear stuff which would work just as well. It looks good as well.

Clayton has something about him and I just enjoy his stuff. Also look out for Battlefields, a generic skirmish rule set for less than $6.

Panzer 8

Mr Pz8 is, I believe, Italian. This is not relevant in any respect except that his works have an elegance and simplicity which is reminiscent of fresh seafood eaten on a beach in Sicily. On his website you will find a collection of two page rules covering land, air, sea and space. Plus a selection of skirmish, fantasy and ancients rule sets.

Mr Pz8 has a Yahoo group which contains many contributions from others very much in the style of the master. What I want to mention today is a magazine by a contributor known as Sam_ACW. This is called "Roll Sixes 2" and is the summer edition. 

A very nice little free magazine with articles covering the design of naval games, ancient naval rules and an ACW scenario. Sixteen pages of enthusiasm and inspiration. If you had to put a price on this stuff you simply couldn't! 

Keeping it up...

Morale that is!

Over the past few weeks I have seen my team Saracens lose in two finals, the England rugby team lose three on the trot to New Zealand and, to top it off, the England football team having an early bath. This requires urgent morale boosting activities....and that does not include watching tennis!

Fluff.....

Activity number one involves Saalfeld by Decision Games. I got this out the other day and started taking the counters off the sprue with a craft knife as I know these things can be tricky. The Decision Games counters are quite nice but their separation in the die cutting is not very good.

Given that these counters are in the tufty club I resorted to counter clipping. Not something that I ever imagined I would spend time doing. However the results are good.

The rules for this series are not the same as the old SPI Napoleon at War/Last Battles folios. They are more complex and, as yet, I haven't decided if I like them. I'll have a couple of goes during the coming week and get a flavour for them.

Cardboard mountain

Activity two is admiring the contents of Heroes of Normandie which I got on Father's Day. No fluff or tufty bits here. In fact it is difficult keeping the counters in the frames while I figure out how to store them. Admire these pictures or else...

The game itself is like a euro miniatures game, if that is possible. Lots of fun to be had here. 

Buying more stuff....

Yes, stuff that is not shopping, shoes or gardening equipment. However, times being what they are, merely stuffing things on to a card is not an option. One regular purchase of mine is Wargames Illustrated and the August issue (so available end July) is looking very interesting.

Flames of War are releasing "The Great War", a new set of rules and army lists for the last year of WW1. These are free with WI 222 and so are not to be sneezed at. They are an adaptation of FoW so will probably not be my cup of tea but I'm certainly looking forward to having a look. See the details here. I will not be needing to spend lots on the official figures. My extensive Revell, Airfix, Emhar and HaT toys should see me through.