Gaming

By David Garvin

Games that create memories are what we as wargamers strive for. Such games capture the imagination and immerse the player in the game. No longer is are the players sitting by a table at home, but rather their imaginations have taken them to some far away battle! For my money, no other game captures the imagination like . This game, first released in 1985 by the now-defunct Avalon Hill (but perpetuated by ), is a tactical wargame of the hex-and-counter variety.

The battles are primarily from the Second World War; however, it has since expanded to include the Korean War. Each player maneuvers his squads, crews and AFVs and guns across generic and historical battlefields in games that can last anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours or even days. Practically every game will end up with a narrative that will leave an indelible mark in the players involved.  Allow me to illustrate.

The date was 14 September, 1942, and as the German battalion commander, , I was leading an initial attack in Stalingrad in the historical scenario “In Sight of the Volga”. The simulated battle was noteworthy for several reasons. My opponent, Will, ended up being reluctant to try for his Molotov Cocktails (A 22.6).

By Mitch Reed

As gamers we often know the basic requirements for the games we play; models, terrain and a rulebook. However, many games also require game aids that not only help you play, but they also add to the aesthetic experience of the game. Gamers often pride themselves on items like tokens, dice and decks, and with all of games’ in catalog, you have some excellent accessories to choose from.

By Troy Hill

Many years ago, when I was a wee university gamer lad, I witnessed a spectacle I’d never seen before. The student union’s grand ballroom taken over by fleets of model ships, model planes on stands, torpedos, and gents with reams and notebooks full of charts and graphs, and even several pocket protectors full of colored pencils.

They were playing Fletcher Pratt’s Naval Wargame in large scale in a game that took almost two and a half days. It was a daunting first exposure to naval wargaming. One that kept me out of that genre of the hobby until John Stallard and his crew at released .

Warlord’s newest addition to their WWII line up premiered in the midst of the world’s lock-down during the pandemic. Our own local gaming scene was mostly socially distanced games in people’s garages or basements, so I didn’t worry about investing the time nor fund in the game. Until now.

Now I’m interested in , and just received my hardcover rulebook.

Before I decided whether to invest in yet another game (Warlord keeps putting out good ones, and my mountain of minis keeps growing) I wanted to read the rules, see the various fleets.

by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish” Campbell

Editor’s note: Dennis and Jon played this game over two months ago. But we’ve had enough FOW and TY news (books, tourneys, etc) happen that we left this report in the stack for a while. Or, we’ll blame the courier pigeons that took the lazy route from the front, and stopped off for a nosh, then a holiday enroute to NDNG HQ

By Patrick S. Baker

The first phase of the Close Combat game franchise came to an end in 2000 with the fifth game in the series, Close Combat V: Invasion: Normandy. Business and management issues left the franchise’s future in doubt, with only three developers still at Atomic still working on it.

Then came the United States Marine Corps (USMC) to the rescue. Militaries worldwide have used “serious games” as training tools ever since the early 19^th Century when Kriegsspiel (wargame in German) was created for the Prussian Army. The American Military was impressed by the Close Combat games, especially the realistic physiological modeling. So, in 2003 the USMC reached out to Atomic to see about building a Close Combat game as a training aid.

In 2004 the USMC and Atomic partnership produced Close Combat: Marines: “A tactical decision-making simulation of modern warfare”, the game was released in the September 2004 issue of the Marine Corps Gazette. It was used as a tactical instructional tool for junior leaders. A civilian version of the game was released in 2004 as Road to Baghdad. This was the first post-World War Two entry in the franchise and the only one without Close Combat in the title.

By David Garvin

There is a perception among gamers that (ASL) is for old people. There is some truth to that, given that the game has been around since 1985. Almost 36 years since it was released, a young adult who played it since the beginning would be in their mid to late 50s. And if they started with when it came out in 1977, then they would be in their 60s!

The surprising thing is that there is a significant population of ASL players who are younger than the game itself. I am talking Millennials and Zoomers, or those born after 1981, who are avid ASL players. These generations, Generation Y and Z, were the first to grow up in an information age. These generations have always lived in the age of the home computer. Their members were also the first to experience the internet at a young age. Gen Xers like myself learned to adapt to the internet, but for Gens Y and Z, it’s always been there.

I first noted the younger generation playing ASL when I was at in 2018. Two friends, both named Will, were playing. Both are Gen Y Millennials and both are avid ASL players. I decided to find out what motivated them to play ASL. I know for people like me, board games were all we had growing up and as such we were easily exposed to war games, such as , and of course Squad Leader.

But I did not know what would motivate a child of the Internet to play a board-based game. I reached out to the greater ASL community, seeking people who were born after the release of ASL. I was surprised by the results and found a few commonalities among almost every respondent.

By Howard West

Creative Pursuit Games (CPG) located in Leesburg; VA hosted the PGH vs VA Team Yankee Team Challenge. The Team Challenge event was held on April 17th and 18th, 2021. CPG has been hosting small gaming tournaments during COVID based on the state of Virginia’s COVID-19 guidelines that are in place at the time of the event. Dane and his wife Kaitlin are great hosts and have a very nice and welcoming store.

The concept of the PGH vs VA challenge was developed shortly after the Team Yankee RED BLIZZARD tournament  that was held in January 2021.

The question that Dane had after RED BLIZZARD, was what can we do to have a different kind of tournament? We kicked around the idea of a RED vs BLUE tournament but realized you might end up limiting the number of players due to the Armies or Army that they own locally. Besides RED BLIZZARD was a RED vs BLUE tournament. We came up with the idea of having a team from Pittsburgh, PA, travel to CPG and take on a team from Virginia.

By Kreighton Long

Survivors from the mornings spoiling attack march back into town under the watchful eyes of their fellow defenders. The spoiling attack succeeded in delaying the advance of the British paratroopers and more importantly, their vehicle support.

The German soldiers have a short time to rest and refit for they know the British are close behind them. Ammo pouches are restocked and a few bites of food are swallowed just in time for the officers and NCOs to rouse their men to their battle position.

The church, which is located in the center of town just as God and religion was the center of life when the town of Colline de L’église was built so many centuries ago, must be held. A German sniper in the church’s bell tower reports sighting British infantry nearing the town and the engine of a nearby assault gun roars to life.

By Patrick S. Baker

1996’s Close Combat was a roaring commercial and critical success. Based on that accomplishment, in 1997, Atomic and Microsoft released a direct sequel: Close Combat II: A Bridge Too Far. This follow-on game was set during 1944’s Operation: Market Garden. Close Combat II (CC II) featured not just American and German army units, but also British, Polish and Waffen-SS units.

The game had the same mechanics and modeling as the first Close Combat game, but with better graphics. CC II was as well received as the original game. The two Close Combat titles outsold Atomic Games previous releases by a factor of ten and CC II was Atomic’s most successful game by far, to date.

The game was also favorably reviewed with one reviewer saying that A Bridge Too Far was “improved in every way over Atomic’s original Close Combat.” The game was voted seventh in GameSpy’s “Top Ten Real-Time Strategy Games of All Time”. It was an Editor’s Choice and runner-up as the Best Wargame of the Year from PC Gamer Magazine. It was also a runner-up for Computer Gaming World’s 1997 “Wargame Game of the Year” award. The Computer Game Developers Conference nominated CC II for its “Best Strategy/Wargame Spotlight Award.”

By Howard West

Hard Knox Games located in Elizabethtown, KY hosted a Flames of War Tournament on March 13th, 2021 as part of WOLFKRIEG 2021. This year due to the state of Kentucky’s COVID-19 event size restrictions WOLFKRIEG 2021 was been broken into two consecutive weekends. Weekend #1 for Wolfkrieg 2021 took place, March 13th, 2021 was Flames of War and March 14th was Team Yankee. This report covers the Flames of War for weekend #1.

Hard Knox Games has been hosting small gaming tournaments during COVID based on the state of Kentucky’s COVID-19 guidelines that are in place at the time of the event. Chad and the team at Hard Knox have a great store and is like walking into the vendor area at a gaming convention. This is the 12th year that WOLFKRIEG has taken place.