Gaming

By Howard West

This is the fourth article from the NoDiceNoGlory team concerning the new WWIII Team Yankee Warsaw Pact book.

The link for the first article which was a high-level overview of the new WWIII Team Yankee Warsaw Pact book is below.

https://nodicenoglory.com/2022/03/21/preview-team-yankee-wwiii-warsaw-pact-is-back/

The link for the 2nd article which was an overview of the Polish Forces in the new WWIII Team Yankee Warsaw Pact book is below.

https://nodicenoglory.com/2022/03/25/march-team-yankee-preview-jeszcze-polska-nie-zginela-the-polish-forces/

The link for the 3rd article which was an overview of the East German Forces in the new WWIII Team Yankee Warsaw Pact book is below.

https://nodicenoglory.com/2022/04/01/big-changes-in-berlin-east-germany-in-the-warsaw-pact/

by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell

So you know what I really needed?  Another game system to get into. Because apparently Italians, Germans, and British in Flames of War, Syrians and US National Guard in Team Yankee, French in Black Powder Napoleonics in 28mm, Prussians in 18mm, Romans in 28mm for Ancients, and 18mm Persians just wasn’t enough. 

I’ve been feeling some peer pressure from the likes of Scott Roach and the gang to get into Bolt Action in 28mm, and I took the plunge recently, with Blitzkrieg Germans.   

Why Blitzkrieg germans?  Rob Kelly has purchased some bicycle troops to defend the Danish frontier for a few hours before capitulating in 1940 so I figured I’d paint something, not from North Africa. This left the grey germans. And we can recreate this scene from the movie April 9th: 

I just need some sidecars!

By David Garvin

In any board game, or so I believe, having your pieces ready to play in short order is conducive to an enjoyable time. This is especially true when breaking in a new player. It can be quite frustrating for a new player if an excessive period of time is spent just trying to find the pieces to play. “No, really, it’s a fun game! Just let me find this last piece…” sure isn’t going to get anyone interested. In fact, this is the exact opposite way to make a positive first impression. A better way, perhaps, would be to have the game set up quickly, and maybe – just maybe – impress your newfound opponent just how beautiful the game is. This, my friends, a certain way to impress the newcomer to Advanced Squad Leader (ASL).

Join Tyler, Glenn and Tom as they give some updates on their upcoming tournament in Maryland, and jump in for a deeper dive on the new addition to Blood & Plunder, “Fire on the Frontier” Lists are suggested, new units discussed, and Tom explains what not to do during a Social Studies job interview.

Editor’s note: this story was originally published September 2020, and is presented again for your enjoyment.

By Tom Gall

There are a good number of quality WWII rulesets in existence, let’s explore some of these rules, point out what their strong/weak points are and compare what might draw you to one over the other.

The rulesets considered in this article are : (FOW) by Battlefront, by Too Fat Lardies, by Warlord, by Plastic Soldier Company.

Each of these rules is generally company level actions with support, for the most part, feature individual models, and focus on the WWII era. All are D6 based. All have extra material that offer campaign experiences, lists, and flavor to feel like you’re been given command with a battle to win. All are either point costed and/or have a list building system which makes it easier to put together a game.

This week, we’ll look at two of the four: Bolt Action and Chain of Command. The other two systems will follow were published here.

By Patrick S. Baker

“Peace, impudent and shameless Warwick, peace, Proud setter up and puller down of kings!” – William Shakespeare – Henry VI, Part III, Act III, Scene 3.

Besides being a great background for some of Shakespeare’s best plays, the Wars of the Roses make a fantastic setting for a great game: Kingmaker. Developed by Andrew McNeil and released in the United Kingdom in the fall of 1974 by Ariel Productions Ltd, a division of Philmar, Ltd. The front page of the rule book read in part: “

…. The game takes as its basis the concept that the dynastic struggle between the royal houses of Lancaster and York (called the Wars of the Roses) was, in reality, a series of brutal and bloody power struggles between factions of self-interested noble families, with the Yorkist and Lancastrian princes the pawns in a greater game of gaining control of the country in the name of one or the other monarch. Players control pieces representing the noble families as they seek power by a combination of military, political and diplomatic skills.”

By Tom Gall

As someone that bought into the Cruel Seas rules and range by Warlord when it came out back in 2018, I was sad to hear that Warlord has paused the Cruel Seas system. We had been hoping for a second edition of the rules and repointed forces to help with balance. With that not happening in the near future, our local group started looking for a different ruleset to test the waters with.

Where does one with a range of 1/300 WWII MTBs look for a simple ruleset to play? Too Fat Lardies, of course. This article is about Coastal Patrol by James Schmidt. This was our local game group’s first experiment away from Cruel Seas while still using the line of boats from Warlord.

By Howard West

The next new army book for Team Yankee has made it to our bunker in West Virginia and it is called WWIII Warsaw Pact. This review is one of several that NoDiceNoGlory will be doing on this latest arrival Battlefront. This new book adds new units and upgrades to some of the existing Warsaw Pact formations. In addition, it upgrades your legacy formations to the same V2 standard we saw for the US, USSR, West Germany, and the British.

By Paolo Paglianti

The last Team Yankee tournament we had in Italy was more than two years ago, so I was super happy that Livio Tonazzo, one of the best FOW – TY players in Italy, created the event we had last weekend, March 12th. While we normally play Team Tankee at 75 or 85 points, this time we decided “to go big” and have 105 points lists, with a massive amount of tanks, vehicles, and infantry bases.

The idea was to allow the deployment of the “new” super tanks, like the Challenger or the M1A1HC Abrams: these tanks cost up to 54 points for a platoon of three, so it’s mathematically impossible to field them under 75 points. However, we knew 105 points can also mean lots of spam of light vehicles and transports, but with a missile AT 19 or 21 on top of them – an entirely new meaning for the “spam” of scouts we see in FOW, as in Team Yankee they are both numerous and lethal.

By Patrick S. Baker

Master of Orion III

Part 1 here

Part 2 here

During the six years between the release of Master of Orion II: Battle at Antares and the release of Master of Orion III, the PC gaming world proved to be something of a Hobbesian trap for game developers and publishers, that is to say: “…. poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

In 1993, MicroProse Software had merged with Spectrum HoloByte, to form MicroProse, Inc.. This merger was called “a great marriage” because “Spectrum Holobyte had a lot of cash and very few products, while Microprose had a lot of products and no cash.”