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.”

Battlefront and NoDiceNoGlory will host the 2018 Team Yankee Nationals at Historicon, Lancaster PA
July 13 2018; 10am – 8pm

Arrive at 9:30 am to register. Four 2-hour rounds.

64 Points.

All official lists from Team Yankee (incl Afghansty), Leopard (incl Panzertruppen), Iron Maiden, Volks-Armee, Red Thunder, Stripes and Free Nations will be allowed.

All forces will be fully painted. No proxies allowed.

We have spots for 48 players and we will make a stand-by list if the tournament sills up. Each participant will get the EM-50 objective for free for playing in the tournament.

Players will register by sending their force lists to ndngtournaments@gmail.com by 30 June. Information and questions should be posted on a on NoDiceNoGlory.com or at NDNG_Mitch_R@nodicenoglory.com.

Prizes will also be handed out for the best-painted army and each faction will get “Best Player” Award.

The folks from have yet another new release that many of us have been waiting for. A few years ago, we saw the first venture into the Arab-Israeli conflict with the original Fate of a Nation book which focused on the 1967 war, now in 2018 we revisit the strife-torn region and expand the conflict beyond the Six-Day War.

While I know many folks who loved the models with the original release, I knew few gamers who seriously played it. A lot of people wanted to see the 1973 conflict, or felt the game was limited to great Israeli tanks against hordes of Arab tanks.

No matter what the rationale for avoiding the game before, the second iteration of Fate of a Nation has a lot of things that you will enjoy and it may be worth a second look. This article will not delve into each list and nation in the book. My more talented compatriots will do that over the next week or two. So, consider this a quick look at this book.

By NDNG_Dane

The 1973 Arab-Israeli War, also known as the Yom Kippur War in Israel, and the Ramadan War in Arab countries, is the fourth war between the Arabs and the Israelis. The first being the 1948–49 Arab-Israeli War, second being the 1956 Suez War, and third being the 1967 six-day war. On October 6, 1973, Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a coordinated attack against Israel on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.