When PC gaming first became available, I like many of you, played the many games of the Close Combat series. is now releasing the seventeenth title in the series, Close Combat: The Bloody First which takes the classic series to a new level and uses a completely new game engine to make this new edition an instant classic.
By Robert Kelly
My first article talked about the correct way. Well, the M113 was just the platform for a whole family of vehicles, some of which can be found in Team Yankee, ‘Nam and Fate of a Nation.
In Bosnia, we mounted American style ACAV (Armoured Cavalry Assault Vehicle) shields on our M113s. The shields originally came in green and most were eventually painted white. We were always a bit of a ragtag army, so you can paint them either way or even mix them up within formations. The vehicle is then painted all white and I added the letters “U” and “N” that were leftover from my TL Modellbau decal sets mentioned in the previous M113 article.
By Ian Birdwell
In the last article in this series, we reviewed what force would best represent Austrian forces, what the army list for that force would look like, and injecting a little bit of fantasy into the Bundesheer to get it to work with the Israeli list. In part two of this series, we’ll focus more on the converting and building of the elements of the Austrian army which needed to be 3D printed rather than bought off the shelf.
By Mitch Reed
Now that our own has filled you in on the final rules for Oak and Iron, this article will talk about the how important the factions are to the game. Much like Blood and Plunder, the folks from have given us a lot of flavor from the period and once again they have given their players some great options when creating their force. Oak and Iron has five major factions to choose from, France, England, Spain, and Holland and of course the Pirates. Each of these factions has their own strengths and weaknesses and a lot to consider when you build your squadrons.
It has been one of the hottest summers ever for WW2 gamers. Battlefront deployed a full array of Late War books: the “transitional” Fortress Europe with all four armies on the Western/Russian front, the US D-Day and the incoming German Normandy focused one. At our club in Milan, we decided to play the D-Day scenarios in US D-Day book to “celebrate” both the 75th anniversary of that fateful day and the starting of the Late War FOW season.
by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell
Wait what? Ancients? Medievals?
I’ll be honest I had ZERO interest in wargaming this period until I started attending HMGS events a few years ago. Every single Cold Wars, Fall-In or Historicon had a lot of tables with ancients being played, and tournaments as well in scales such as 15mm, 25/28mm.
While my only games at the time were Flames of War and then later Team Yankee, I would still walk over and take a tonne of pictures and gawp at the nicely painted armies. What seemed crazy to me was that you could play just about anything and the rules covered it, for example you could have Egyptians vs the Ming Dynasty, Persians vs Aztecs.
As it turns out, my good friend Scott Roach (NDNG author Obsidian23) had boxes and boxes of ancients in his gaming basement, and a deal was struck. I would grab his 28mm Romans, and we could play Hail Caesar as we were already getting into Black Powder (both rulesets from Warlord Games). Then, however, he started talking about DBA, Impetus, To the Strongest, and at the HMGS events they were playing L’Art de La Guerre… Ugh.. what to pick?
By Tyler Stone
Images via Firelock Games
Stop me if this sounds familiar: reports state that an enemy fleet is forming for an impending attack. The reports are waved off; who would be audacious enough to attack a fleet in a sheltered harbor, especially when ambassadors are in peace negotiations? Even so, the attack materializes on the 7th day of the month, and confusion reigns. In the midst of the chaos, a heroic sailor mans a gun alone, while the ship burns around him. In the end, sixteen warships are left burning, capsized, or at the bottom of the harbor. Sunk along with them, is the pride of a nation.
“This war is not limited to the unfortunate territory of our country. This war is not over as a result of the Battle of France. This war is a world war. All the mistakes, all the delays, all the suffering, do not alter the fact that there are, in the world, all the means necessary to crush our enemies one day. Vanquished today by mechanical force, in the future we will be able to overcome by a superior mechanical force. The fate of the world depends on it. I, General de Gaulle, currently in London, invite the officers and the French soldiers who are located in British territory or who might end up here, with their weapons or without their weapons, I invite the engineers and the specialised workers of the armament industries who are located in British territory or who might end up here, to put themselves in contact with me.”
Charles de Gaulles
Extract from BBC broadcast, 18th June 1940
NOTE the history is first, Formations, Units and Cards at the bottom
Reporting and photography by Troy A. Hill
We are live with Troy at Southern California’s Strategicon/Gateway Convention.
Troy talks with the crazy people running and playing in The Longest Day, a 24-hour-long Flames of War tournament. He also talks with Strategicon Events Chairman, the HMGS-PSW Convention chair about an upcoming convention, and with several independent game designers from the Pacific Southwest. Click the MORE tab to see links and photos for each.
Photos below:
Et Sans Résultat or better known as ESR is a Napoleonic ruleset that we’re devoting several stories to over the next few weeks. In this edition, we’ll be looking at one of the essential elements of the game. Minis!
Miniatures, of course, represent your army on the tabletop. In ESR a single stand represents an infantry battalion, a cavalry squadron, a formation commander, an artillery battery or a reformation area. The size and shape of the base and the miniatures mounted on the base specifically identify what the unit is.
As with all miniature war games, one of the early choices you must make is what scale will you play it in. Many games select the scale for you and don’t let you choose anything else. ESR offers the rules such that if you want to play with 6mm, 10mm, 15mm, 25-28mm or other scales it’s a snap. The quick reference sheets .
