Miniature Games

By Richard Steer

Every year, our wargaming club in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, runs a one-day tournament for club members at the final meeting of the year. Named Remember December, this event commemorates club member Nick Garden, who passed away in 2015. The 2025 edition of the event was held on 13 December, playing Flames of War.

Remember December often has a themed format or unusual list restrictions, and this year was no exception, The format used was 55-points Late War, with infantry formations only. In addition, your force could not include more than one tank unit, a maximum of four vehicles, and a maximum Front Armor of 7. Three 1.5-hour rounds were to be played using the Extended Battle Plans mission selector, and each player had to use each stance once during the event.

By Tom Gall

We’ve all been patiently waiting for early war to make the return to Flames of War, time to feast your eyes on the French part of release for version 4.  Unfortunately when Germany turned their focus west in May of 1940, a brief few weeks and the French would be knocked out of the war, which as a result means this is a faction for early war only.

Why Play French?

I first started playing French during the earlier release of Blitzkrieg for Flames of War version 2 back in late 2010. What drew me was the desperate struggle of one of the largest militaries at the start of WWII, on the defensive against the German onslaught, putting up the good fight that would ultimately not go their way due to a whole host of tactical reasons. The French are plucky, unique and offer up unit selections that can work for offensive and defensive stances.

No matter if you’re an old hand or a new to Flames of War, the French as a faction in Early War brings good tanks, reasonable infantry, and good artillery that can win you games.  In this article we will crawl through just the French part of the release, note their strengths and point out their weaknesses too. They might be just the force for you.

By Paolo Paglianti

It’s time to invade France – or defend it! For those who are not Flames of War fans, this may sound strange, but when publisher Battlefront launched version 4 of the game around 2017, it started with Mid War, namely the North African campaign and the invasion of the Eastern Front. A few years later came the Late War, from D-Day to Berlin, but until now nothing had been released about the Early period of the war.

By Aaron Kamakawiwoole

Hey Reader!

I had a chance to sit down with Jesse Marcelo (the 2025 Bolt Action Maryland State Runner-Up) to discuss the unique army he took to the event.

Sporting a Polish Partisans list (with Partisans being one of the armies in the new edition that people seem to be most displeased with since they lost so many of the tricks and unique elements that made them interesting), Jesse finished the day 3-0, with his final win being against me (the previous Maryland State Champion from last year).

The list performed really well, even though it defined conventions, so I sat down with Jesse to chat about what went into his choice of army. Take it away, Jesse!

By Aaron Kamakawiwoole

Hey Reader!

I had a chance to sit down with Joe Lint (the 2025 Bolt Action Maryland State Champion) to discuss the unique army he took. Having chatted with Joe in advance of the tournament on lists, Joe mentioned that he wanted to challenge himself and run with no tanks, which is a big loss for the US since they have a really good suite of tanks and tank destroyers.

So he went full swing into the 2nd Ranger Battalion for D-Day, complete with a display board with grappling hooks for ascending the cliffs, landing craft to showcase the men (they were not part of the army), and a painted fighter for his Air Observer to call in:

Seeing this army in-person was a real treat: it looks even better in-person, as the battle patches on their arms pop more, and the highlighting job in particular was very, very good.

But the list also performed well, so to guide that discussion, I had a few questions for him. Take it away, Joe!

By Kreighton Long

Two weekends ago I had the opportunity to compete in a Bolt Action tournament organized by Jesse Marcelo at Your Hobby Place in Alexandria, VA.  This was Jesse’s third time as Tournament Organizer since hosting his first tournament last year in an effort to help grow the community.  Each player was permitted a 1100 point list not to exceed 20 order die.

The mood of the event was friendly and light-hearted.  All three of my opponents were a pleasure to play against with no absence of good humor and laughter while we worked through the three, two hour rounds.  What I overheard throughout the day was that most of the players were congenial and friendly — minus one exception that the TO dealt with quickly and quietly. Overall, it was an excellent atmosphere for both green and veteran players alike.

By Paolo Paglianti

Even though I’ve been playing wargames since way back in 1992 and have travelled across half of Europe, I had never had the chance to visit Romania. When my friend Quentin Taylor — a Canadian but Romanian by adoption — told us he would be organizing the Nationals near Sibiu, we booked our flights almost immediately!

Moreover, the Romanian Nationals are part of the European Series, a circuit of National tournaments which this year — in its second edition — includes Belgium, Germany, the UK, Poland, and also Italy, where I will be organizing the event on March 14–15, 2025. Together with Rob and the others, we wanted to create a network that would encourage players to take part in tournaments across the Old Continent.

Today we have friend of the show Jon Chang (Black Powder Red Earth) and he is joined by Mike Durao  and they talk about their new game Near Present which is a modern skirmish game set in the near future.

By Kreighton Long

With my North African Italians finished it’s time to look forward to a new project.  After attempting desert bases with my Italians, I had the idea to challenge myself with new-to-me basing themes for my next few projects.

The next project will take me from the sands of North Africa to the ruined cityscape of Stalingrad.  If I said the German Veterans release from Warlord Games had nothing to do with this choice I would be lying.  Having never attempted urban bases before, I spent some of my prep time looking for different ways of creating urban bases and came up with three options to experiment with: Green Stuff, plastic mats, and sand.

By Kreighton Long

While day dreaming about my desert terrain I had a vision, or perhaps a mirage, of an oasis on my future table.  As my palm groves came together I strategically left the largest of my bases in reserve for such a project.  With the first batch of my palm groves completed I felt confident in trying to put together a desert oasis.  This oasis will add a splash of color to a dreary desert table as well as could double as a fun objective for the two sides to fight over.

Like my desert palm groves, the palm trees with this oasis can be removed to facilitate models moving through the terrain and to store and transport easier.

Happy painting!