By Troy A. Hill

Images from Warlord Games, or by the author

Well, I took the plunge recently into a new game system. Gamer-Crack got hold of me again.

I’ve been looking for a new WWII system for a while, and I was hesitant to go back to a 28mm system after abandoning Warhammer Fantasy (WHFB) during its dark-era.

But, I wanted to find a system that would come equipped with a fairly stable player base in my part of the world (Southern California). Outside of Flames of War (FOW), is the next most popular WWII miniatures game. And it has a tournament scene. Double Win for that.

The first game I played, hosted by a few of our HMGS-PSW gents,  included a “objective” of Col. Klink and Sgt. Schultz. Seems those two had gotten lost near the Eastern Front. The Soviets were tasked with capturing or killing them. The German players had to recover them. That led to many poor attempts at German accents for quotable Hogan’s Heroes lines – I know NOTHink! – being tossed about like a live hand-grenade.

I always wanted to get a game table to play Flames of War or the countless board games I have but they were so darn expensive. Along came a man named Berky with his . The idea behind the Game Toppers, that you can take something that looks like a game table but without the actual legs part. Something that is portable, and easy to store away in between game sessions.

For me, the draw of the Game Topper was that you can have a table where the dice don’t fall off the table because the table is actually inside the sides a set of rails. Also, I wanted to have a cup holder right at the table.

By NDNG_Dane

Lieutenant Dan here,

This past weekend, I was able to get in my second ‘Nam game.  This game had a completely different feel than our first game.  Again I faced off against Comrade Paul, Fearless leader of the Local Force Battalion.  We played the Up River mission at 65 points each.

Syria has been in the news quite a bit in the last few years, an area known for conflict and unrest continues to cover the front pages of newspapers. This isn’t about all the modern issues plaguing that area, today we look at Syrian forces from almost 50 years ago. In 1967, three Syrian divisions moved into an area known as the Purple Line. This line on a map served as the ceasefire line after the nations of Syria, Egypt and Jordan were defeated in 1967. Israel captured the entire region of the Golan Heights, a place where my dad actually deployed to on two separate occasions in the 1990’s. This ‘border’ is the official divisional line between Syria and Israel and is still monitored by the UN to ensure stability in the region.

You would have seen many wrecks like this one after this coordinated attack in 1973

by Tom Burgess

Usually, when I sign up to write a force review article I write about a force that I am playing. For Fate of a Nation, however, I’ve only played Israelis.

I usually am “that guy” who will build and play the “bad guys” when nobody else will.

When it came to building a force for Fate of a Nation I had to draw the line as I had no time to build and paint another horde army. I was also not very interested in the Arab armies because of how they played in the original (V3) release. But the in new Version 4-style (V4) Fate of a Nation, the Arab forces are much more interesting and I’m now excited to build an Egyptian force to oppose my current Israeli collection. Here’s why.

By NDNG_Dane

Lieutenant Dan here,
This past weekend, I was able to get in my first ‘ game against one of the Local Force Leaders – Comrade Paul. We played the “HOT LZ” mission at 45 points each.

Fielding the 173rd Airborne in Viet Nam

Airmobile Rifle Company HQ
Airmobile Rifle Platoon (x2)(short)
UH-1 Huey Aviation Platoon
Airmobile MG Platoon
Airmobile 81mm Mortar Platoon
Support:
Gunship Aeroweapons Platoon
OH-6 Aeroscout Platoon (2)
A4 Skyhawk Flight (2)

Plastic Soldier’s Company’s timing was great. I recently had the opportunity to host an intro-101 style training session at Gamex, a gaming convention in Los Angeles, California. What should show up in my mailbox a week before I had to submit event details to the convention? Battlegroup: Torch, their latest theatre book.

What follows in this piece is a combination of a look at the book itself, as well as lessons learned from applying it in a training session with players I didn’t know.

The Jordanians possessed one of the most professional Arab armies in the post-WW II period.  With a long British tradition and friendly relations with the Americans, they had plenty of British and American second-hand equipment for their small army.  However, the Jordanians were not eager for this fight.  King Hussein tried to act as the honest-broker to prevent the war, but when that failed, felt compelled to join the Arab side.  This is reflected in a better than average Remount/ Rally/ Counterattack score, but a morale of 5+ across the board.

A big podcast since we have been so busy gaming!

Your NDNG crew today is Meta Mitch, Chairborne Tom, Glenn G and from humid Canada Matt Varnish.

Act 1 We talk about what we have been doing since we last recorded

Act 2 We go over the new book for Team Yankee; Free Nations

Act 3: It is all Fate of a Nation

Sorry for the Glenn’s static and that Matt is a low talker.

We have regular visits from Israeli students at the high school where I teach.  It started as part of a peace corps style program to allow America students to interact with their counterparts overseas.

As part of their enlistment, these 18-year-old volunteers act as ambassadors for Israel and answer questions about life there. For them, it serves as a gap year and after it is done, they complete their enlistment.

The school where I teach tends to graduate a mix of those interested in military careers as well as college or trades, and the question inevitably comes up regarding Israel’s mandatory enlistment requirements.

“Why do you require everyone to enlist in the military?”

And the best answer I heard one of the Israeli students give was this,

“The first war we lose is the last war we’ll ever fight.”