Warlord Games

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 Troy A Hill

One of the joys and pitfalls of moving into a new area, and joining a new gaming group is that many of the local players in the new area already have their army builds done. When I lived in Southern California, there were a mix of players and armies. In my regular gaming group, no one was playing British, so I picked it up to compliment my US and my German Armies.

But, when I returned to North East Indiana in the States, and looked up the local crew, the most popular nation to play in the new local gaming group is… yep, British of one flavour or another.

What was I to do? Americans are the vanilla “easy mode” according to the Juggernauts. In my 15mm WWII wargaming days, I began with Americans and soon tired of them. Germans are definitely challenging. And with my grandmothers coming from lineages of Kaiser and Sigsbee surnames on one side, and Bechtel on the other side of the family, the German army seems like a good fit for me. So far, though, my interest in all things German seems limited to the DAK.

Well, when I played Warhammer Fantasy, I loved the horde armies of the goblins. Guess I should look at… The Soviets?

By Kreighton Long

The backbone of the World War Two Romanian army was the humble riflemen. Romania lacked the quality and quantity in armor of their German or Soviet peers and the heavy artillery that rained destruction on their victims on the Eastern Front was sorely lacking in Romanian arsenals. Without powerful armor formations or heavy guns the Romanian military was forced to rely on manpower rather than firepower.

The average Romanian rifleman was equipped in fairly simple, but functional, gear. Color photographs of Romanians from the war are hard to come by but illustrations from Osprey Publishing and photographs of contemporary reenactors helped to guide my color choices. The Romanian soldier wore a cotton tunic during the summer which bleached in the sun. During the winter the Romanian soldier wore woolen tunics which retained their darker khaki color. Woolen trousers were worn year round and maintained their color like the woolen tunic.

By Kreighton Long

As one project ends, or ends as much as any army building project for our hobby can, another begins to take shape. After building Bolt Action armies for Germans (Heer, Waffen SS, Fallschirmjager, Grossdeutschland Panzergrenadiers), Soviets (hordes of khaki), and the United States (29th Infantry Division and 101st Airborne Infantry) I started looking at a fresh new army.

I decided to take a look at the minor Axis powers. Building a minor Axis power would add some interesting flavor in my local meta which heavily emphasizes the major powers and would provide myself with a new challenge.

The first step was to pick up the book and look through the minor Axis powers with available lists.

The factions covered in the Armies of Italy and the Axis book include Italy, Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. Each faction has it’s own appeal and I dream of one day building an army for all factions but I needed to narrow down my choices for my first minor power. I mentally developed a three part criteria to help me pick: local meta, history, and aesthetic.

By Kreighton Long

I don’t remember where my interest in playing Germans in World War Two games came from but I do know that the first miniatures I painted after joining this hobby were Germans from Bolt Action Miniatures, before Warlord Games bought them. That five-man infantry squad still sits in my display case to this day. After painting and gaming Germans for over a decade it’s safe to say that the German army is my first-round-draft-pick when throwing dice with friends.

The German Wehrmacht, rebuilt after being disemboweled by The Treaty of Versailles following World War One, reentered the world stage in dramatic fashion with it’s blitzkrieg against Poland in 1939. What followed were six years of brutal campaigns across Europe, Africa, and Russia ending with the final defeat of the Third Reich in the streets of Berlin itself.

By Steve Murga

I am fascinated by 17th Century European History. I grew up in Spain reading the Alatriste Novels by Spanish novelist Arturo Perez-Reverte, the adventures of a Spanish sword for hire in the backdrop of a decadent and crumbling Spanish Empire. Is the fast-evolving nature of the 17th Century that captivates me the most, a period between the medieval world and the modern era, a time where the last vestiges of feudalism gave away to the modern state.

By Mitch Reed

Porting tabletop games to digital is a hit or miss endeavor. Sometimes the developers get it right and sometimes we end up getting a game that just fails. Recently acquired the rights from Warlord Games to bring the aerial combat game Blood Red Skies to the small screen. How well this will turn out remains to be seen, but my talks with some insiders make me feel confident that this port will not crash and burn.

Blood Red Skies Digital is about to launch their Kickstarter. Mitch and Doug from the amazing Lead Pursuit Podcast go 1v1 and talk about the development of the digital version of BRS. As old gamers they also talk about the industry, you do not want to miss this one.

By Kreighton Long

No World War Two military incorporated camouflage as extensively as Germany. Most rivet-counters/armchair historians can eyeball camouflaged German infantry and reliably tell you what branch of the German armed forces the camo-clad trooper served.

This is especially true for the Waffen SS. From their first actions in Poland in 1939 through the fall of Berlin in 1945, the SS was equipped with camouflage uniforms that visually set them apart from the Heer and Luftwaffe ground troops.

Unfortunately for tabletop wargamers, painting the different camouflage patterns of the Waffen SS can be an intimidating challenge. Personally, I held off painting my first SS infantry for years after entering the hobby due to a lack of self-confidence.

Since working up the courage to attempt painting SS camouflage, I completed numerous iterations, each time learning how to suck less next time.

By Kreighton Long

No World War Two military incorporated camouflage as extensively as Germany. Most rivet-counters/armchair historians can eyeball camouflaged German infantry and reliably tell you what branch of the German armed forces the camo-clad trooper served.

This is especially true for the Waffen SS. From their first actions in Poland in 1939 through the fall of Berlin in 1945, the SS was equipped with camouflage uniforms that visually set them apart from the Heer and Luftwaffe ground troops.

Unfortunately for tabletop wargamers, painting the different camouflage patterns of the Waffen SS can be an intimidating challenge. Personally, I held off painting my first SS infantry for years after entering the hobby due to a lack of self-confidence.