Bolt Action Skirmish in the Dark

By Troy A. Hill

“Suddenly a low flying aircraft buzzes them and a flare is fired beyond the trees. As they walk the men look up, first at the plane and then at the flare as it hung in the air slowly moving toward the ground. As their eyes lower to the horizon, they widen. Across the road behind another stone wall are figures with the distinctive silhouette of German soldiers. Alarmed the five American stragglers realise they are facing the enemy, feeling a rush of adrenaline they raise their weapons.” – excerpt from Campaign D-Day: Overlord by Warlord Games and Osprey Publishing

That snippet is from the opening text for mission #5 in the new D-Day: Overlord book for Bolt Action. Our gaming group at Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove California is gaming in the Normandy theatre, and we decided to give this scenario a try this past weekend.

Bolt Action: D-Day Overlord Book Review

By Troy A. Hill

Images from the book and/or the

The latest addition to Warlord Games series of campaign books for Bolt Action, Campaign D-Day: Overlord (D-Day), lives up to my expectations.

Almost every WWII game with an ongoing campaign or theatre of operations book is releasing something this year. The year of 2019 marks the 75th anniversary of the breaching of Hitler’s Fortress Europe. Warlord has a fitting combination of games for their soon to launch

That campaign is to combine results of their three flagship WWII games: Bolt Action, Cruel Seas, and Blood Red Skies.

While Warlord has not released details of that campaign yet, the book for D-Day is sure to figure into their plans for the campaign.

CAMPAIGN: Creating Firestorm Sicily

By Scott Grasse

I am very excited to be talking about Firestorm Sicily which launches this weekend on May 25th. The notion of creating a Firestorm Italy campaign has always been a burning desire but when Tom Richards approached me with his vision of a Mega Firestorm Italy Campaign – one that would cover three phases of operations in Italy and spanning from mid-war into late war – I immediately became energized to join the team and get to the fun.

Themed campaigns are a great way to delve deeper into the historical elements of WWII battles and tactics. The Battle for Sicily represents an interesting, dynamic and unique time period in the war that makes for a particularly great campaign. Many things were changing at the time. Everything from – the terrain the battles would be fought on to troops and equipment that would participate. Political and military leadership strife was occurring on both sides. The fight for Italy would be a very different experience than the battles fought in the open deserts and rugged terrain of North Africa just months before. Sicily was to be the flashpoint for a new phase of the war.

Firestorm Sicily Campaign (by Pasadena California gamers)

By Tom Richards, Scott Grasse and Christian Sorenson

Firestorm – Sicily is a new mid-war Firestorm campaign that allows gamers to recreate Operation Husky as either Axis (Italian or German) or Allied (British or American) forces.

In the traditional format, Firestorm – Sicily is played as a series of linked battles that are resolved by playing Flames of War games.  The outcomes of the battles affect the larger campaign map and allow players to re-determine the outcome of one of the most critically important operations of WWII.  With the material posted here on NDNG Firestorm – Sicily can be run with your local group or can be played as an online campaign.

Basing with Baking Soda and CA Glue

by Troy A. Hill

Wait? CA glue?

That stuff we curse at every time we instantly bond our fingers to the model we’re holding? And what’s this about baking our bases?

No worries, mate! Just a lesson I learned from “Uncle Atom” over at the Table Top Minis YouTube channel. You can catch

Duel in the Desert: A Funzie Event Recap

, in sunny (and smoggy) Los Angeles California was recently home to a 28mm scale face-off between Rommel’s DAK and a mixed band of allies. The event was hosted by NoDiceNoGlory.com, with prize support from , and , and the chapter. This event was played with the Bolt Action rules set and featured armies primarily from the Western Desert book released last year by Warlord Games.

The event was inspired by Brad at the and based loosely on his event, Suns Out, Guns Out down in Australia, as well as inspiration from the gents at the . Even though we ran the event with tournament style, one-on-one games on 4×6-foot tables, the goal of this was for to compete for the overall victory of one’s side, and not try to dominate each game to be the top player.

BA: Fortress Budapest Reviewed and Spoiled

By Troy A. Hill

Images courtesy of and ©Osprey Publishing Ltd, Warlord Games 2019

I have to admit that I had only a casual sideline historical interest in Europe’s eastern front in WWII. To me, Hungarians and Romanians were always the armies of minor nations that gave the Germans some “cheaper” allies to play in campaigns or tournaments depending on which game system I was playing. How wrong I was.

Thanks to taking the challenge of reading and reviewing new Fortress Budapest Campaign book for Bolt Action, I have a new appreciation of just how important this section of the late war period was to Hitler’s war machine, and why he and Stalin invested so much time, blood and resources into battles that lead the Red Army to conquer Hungary.

Cruel Seas: A Naval Noob’s Experience

By Troy A. Hill

I confess. I’ve wanted to play a naval wargame for the past 30+ odd years and never have.

Back in the halcyone days of university, I remember the HMGS chapter renting out the “old” gymnasium on campus once a year and playing with their 1:350 (or was it 1:700?) waterline models. That event took all weekend, and they had binders full of charts and ship information. It was glorious to watch, but seemed an impractical way to game with your mates. Not everyone has access to a gymnasium floor, nor room to store all of those models.

Since that time, I’ve had my eye out for a tabletop naval game that had a player base of regulars that met in a game store. A game that I would not mind investing my gaming dollars in, nor storing the minis in the limited space available to me in my tiny Los Angeles apartment. Negotiating berthing rights with my spouse in such cramped quarters for large ships, even in 1:700 scale would be daunting.

Fortunately John Stallard at Warlord Games decided to build and release .

Review of Valentine Plastic Soldier Company 20mm (1/72)

By Wargamerabbit

Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) released their plastic Valentine Infantry Tank in 20mm and 15mm scales. Back on April 18, 2018, the PSC 15mm kit was reviewed by Troy Hill (NDNG Editor) and this review follows in similar fashion for the 20mm or 1/72 scale model. These model tanks are a welcome addition for any gaming rules using 20mm models, with an eye toward North Africa, the Italian campaign up the long boot of Italy, or even the Eastern Front with Valentines as Lend-Lease.

First Annual Pea Bowl Recap

Story and photos By Justin Rodriguez

The first Annual Pea Bowl was held at Pea Soup Anderson’s Restaurant in the heart of Santa Barbara Wine Country; the restaurant is located in the city of Buellton, California just a short drive north of the city of Santa Barbara. The event was originally imagined as a Team Yankee tournament and evolved into a general games day. Games of DBA, Flames of War and HG Wells’ Little Wars were hosted in addition to the Team Yankee tournament. The event was a success and I am glad to have accomplished hosting an event in my local area as I normally have to travel substantial distances to attend any gaming events.