Live from HMGS COLD WARS 2018.

Your NDNG Crew is represented by Dennis, Glenn and Mitch. They talk about the Team Yankee event they hosted and how much fun they had at the event.

 

The Team Yankee tournament at Orccon in Los Angeles (Feb 17,18 2018) gathered 11 players (plus a ringer) for a five-round, two-day event. This event was sponsored by  who provided some awesome prize support for the winners.

Christian Sorenson took top player honors, while Igor Torgenson gathered accolades for his table design, and Alex H. wowed judges with his well-painted West German force. Below are some photos of the day, along with comments of the TO and players, as well as the top force lists.

The tourney was escalation based: Day One at 70 points. All missions were random (card draw) with all tables playing the same mission. Day Two was at 85 points. Players had to field the same type of force as Day One, but could redesign the force as they saw fit. Missions on day two were selected table by table using the More Missions Matrix.

The HMGS-PSW chapter will be hosting their MiniWars game convention Oct 13 and 14 at Cal-State Fullerton.

Unfortunately, due to the unexpected death of longtime HMGS-PSW member Tim Keenon, the chapter is currently attempting to recover their web host accounts. Therefore their webpage is not active at this time.

This page on No Dice No Glory will act as the unofficial gateway until they are able to recover their files and web accounts.

by Troy A. Hill
Photos by the Author

I’ve recently begun a series that looks at the . This piece will look at some basic rules of the game. All page references are from the Battlegroup Rule Book, hardcover revised edition.

Winning the Game: 

The first question a player asks of any game is: “how do I win” (or lose)? In Battlegroup, there are several ways: controlling all objectives at the end of your opponent’s turn, causing the opposing force to be destroyed or pinned so they cannot use any orders on their next turn, or (as

occurs most often) when your opponent’s Battle Counter Chits sum exceed their force’s Battle Rating.

Battlegroup uses a secret countdown of these Battle Counter tokens as a core mechanic. During the course of the game, players will be required to blindly draw morale “chits” from a bag or cup. These chits range up in value from one to five points each. Typically, there are more of the middle numbers (two and three) than there are ones and fives in the pool of chits. There are also special chits, with beneficial effects for the one who draws them. I will cover these more in a later piece.

By Troy A. Hill
Photos by the Author

This is the first of a series looking at the Battlegroup wargaming rules. This piece originally appeared on WWPD.net and is being reprinted here as part of an ongoing look at the Battlegroup game system.

Battlegroup is The Plastic Soldier Company’s entry into the WWII gaming system. Written by Warwick Kinrade, the rules system is a tight, fairly historical approach to gaming at a variety of force sizes, in either 15mm or 20mm scales.

They have published a core rulebook, and a variety of Theatre of Operations books, including (as of now): Kursk, Barbarosa, Blitzkrieg, Tobruk, Overlord, Bulge (Wacht Am Rhein), Market Garden, and Fall of the Reich.

I’ve had a chance to read the rules and begin some skirmish games at our local gaming club. The rules are different, much different than what I’m used to with other systems. But, they’re not complicated. The biggest challenge I’ve faced has been trying to think inside of the Battlegroup rules, and not applying rules from another game set.

This article will look at the Battlegroup main rulebook, its layout, and how it presents the core of the Battlegroup system. The rules themselves will be covered in later write-ups.

The Rule Book

Battlegroup is published by  and is distributed by Plastic Soldier Company (PSC).  The rules were written by Warwick Kinrade, with assistance from Piers Brand. The rulebook was originally published as a small paperback book distributed with the Battlegroup Kursk theatre book. It now exists as a hardcover, stand-alone product.

By Alex H.

Photos by the author

Plastic Soldier Company (PSC) recently released their much-anticipated . If you follow their , you may have been aware that the initial run of kits was missing the driver’s hatch, but PSC quickly retooled the sprue, and to my understanding has replaced any boxes that were missing this piece. I received my box from PSC over the holidays and I am very pleased with the kit.

The box includes five models, which can be built as the German A1/A3 or Canadian C1 variants. As new Team Yankee player who has picked up the West Germans, PSC’s timing is great. Battlefront has announced a plastic Leopard 1 kit to support the release of the Dutch, Canadians, and Australians later in 2018. I suspect, however, we might not see BF’s plastic Leopard 1 until much later this year. If you cannot wait, PSC’s kit is definitely worth your money.

By Troy A. Hill

Piers (left) and Warwick (right) performing historical research for a period other than WWII.

With Warwick Kinrade. All photos courtesy of Ironfist Publishing.

This piece originally appeared on WWPD.net and is being reprinted here as part of an ongoing look at the Battlegroup game system.

I recently had a chance to correspond with Warwick Kinrade, primary author of the , published by  and The .

He’s had help along the way from Piers Brand, the other half of the Ironfist Publishing force. In what I’ve learned is true “Piers Fashion” he deferred all of my questions about the game design of Battlegroup to Warwick.

The recent wildfires in California actually impacted a December Team Yankee tournament hosted by Game Empire in Pasadena, CA. Shipments of the new Stripes book, and new models for the US faction were delayed due to being re-routed around the fires. But, the in-store demo copy gave players enough of a glimpse to see what they might be able to run. A few new units, or upgraded equipment did hit the tables in this tourney.

Kevin and Christian in round 1

There were three US faction players (and a fourth player, in his first tourney with a borrowed list and models that did not use any new units or upgrades). Three Warsaw Pact players ended up in a three-way tie for first. The best showing from a US player was Kevin Morris, tied for fourth with Igor Torgeson (British). I, of course, managed to win a free set of dice to help me improve my win/loss ratio in the next tournament and climb out of last place.