By Tom Gall

The folks at Hard Knox Games in Elizabethtown Ky are on to something for Flames of War and you probably want to know about it. With Flames of War (FOW) (and TY) I’m sure you’re more than familiar with the current matrix of missions that dot the competitive and casual landscape.

Part of the fun of FOW is showing up with a list, and not knowing what mission you’re going to play. You and your opponent each pick a stance (Attack, Maneuver, or Defend), reveal which gets you to a table to roll a D6, and decide the mission to play. The mission of course determines where you place objectives, where you deploy your forces, if you have reinforcements and other situational rules that’ll give your game extra flavor.

It’s a great system and thankfully Battlefront has been refreshing it approximately yearly. Sometimes tho, you want a little more variety. This is where the Move to Contact format you’ll find is interesting!

The folks at Hard Knox have run this format of missions 5 times now. Locally we’ve been using the missions for casual play, we’re fans.

By Mitch Reed

I wish that my love of history was more well-rounded.

Blood & Crowns is a new skirmish game that covered the Hundred Years War. The kickstarter campaign is still waiting on production of the initial project, and should ship this spring (northern hemisphere).

My journey from never having an interest in this period to becoming excited about it is a wild story.

When it comes to certain periods of history I have little more than a rudimentary knowledge of what occurred and may be able to recognize a few battles, dates, and historical figures. When it comes to the history of the Hundred Years War, I know it lasted more than a century, and other than reading Shakespeare’s Henry V and John Keegan’s Illustrated Face of Battle, both of which I read back in High School, I know little about the conflict.

When I heard that Firelock Games was working on a new game called Blood & Crowns that covered this period, I did not list it as a “must buy”, however after seeing a draft of the rules and especially after my NoDiceNoGlory.com interview with Eric Hansen, the designer, I was hooked and now I have painted over 100 models to play this great game.

Today we have Ian Brown, the designer of the game Maneuver Warfare that will be released in 2024 from the Dietz Foundation. Ian is a talented game designer and if I say myself an interesting guy. If you want to play a game about modern warfare by an “insider” then you will want to check out this podcast.

By Tom Gall

This past Saturday December 30th the usual suspects in Minnesota gathered to play a 3-round tournament at DreamersVault in Minneapolis Minnesota. This time was a 95pt LW contest with 15 players gathered. A number of the crew are bound for LVO at the end of January so they were eager to try some lists out.

Were I in the same state of mind my list would have been trying to balance between something competitive with what can I fit on the airline. It’s extra hard especially if you’re playing both Team Yankee and Flames of War that week!

I ended up taking my Brigade Armoured Assault Company. It’s one of those lists where almost all the units are hit on 3s, most everything is reluctant 5 motivation and skill tends to be a 4 for most units. Those basics are not a solid set of fundamentals to build around, the list is trash and has all sorts of issues so …. hold my beer.

By Richard Steer

The latest round of “Dynamic Points” for Flames of War has been finalized. If you are not familiar with the term, a Dynamic Points document is an update that Battlefront publishes that adjusts the cost of units in the game without needing to re-release the books. If you are playing a game using Dynamic Points, treat any units in the document as costing what they are listed there, while any units not in the update continue to use the points given in the books.

So far this concept has only been applied to the Mid-War era, with the 2024 version being the second round of adjustments for the era. The update can be downloaded for free from the FOW website, and have also been applied to the Forces of War list builder.

A gift from Morten of Kolding

I’m back in Denmark for the holidays this year and of course, I brought my Team Yankee Canadians in the hope of getting some games in. One of the Mortens (from Kolding) and his friend Denni were in Aarhus to play Star Wars Legion for a couple of days and dropped by the games room in my hotel for some action. I had played against Morten this summer, so this time it was up to Denni and his pesky Finns to take on my Canadians.

I say “pesky” because there was this sportscaster back in the day who used to call them the “Pesky Finns” because of the style of play adopted by their hockey teams.  They always seemed to be difficult for Canada to play against.  I did not doubt that their Team Yankee armies would be any different.

Join Regulars Garrett Swader, Glenn Van Meter and Tom Mullane for an Interview and overview of upcoming plans for Firelock and the folks at Blood and Pigment. New plastics are discussed as well as what we’ve been up to since the last record. Listen in and get some minis painted!

By Tom Gall

Flames of War Great War has recently been re-released by Battlefront. Let’s take a 2023 look at the product line, what it offers, and what it takes to get started.

Great War takes Flames into the WWI period. Tanks are in their early infancy. Due to trench warfare, the mortar was refined and saw a great amount of use. The machine gun and light machine gun as infantry support weapons came into their own.

You might be thinking WWI was all trenches and mud, and certainly there was a whole bunch of that, but in 1918 especially as the front became more fluid, fighting both in and out of the trenches occurred and this game reflects that  Battlefront in my opinion really nailed the feeling of WWI in this variant of Flames of War, but only for 1918.

Nam, Fate of a Nation, and Great War are in many ways close cousins in that they’ve taken the core Flames of War rules and adapted them to each period to give you more fun gaming options.

By Kreighton Long

During the 1930s, the Soviet Union began developing a camouflage pattern for use by scouts, engineers, and snipers.  The amoeba camouflage pattern, officially known as makirovochnyi kamuflirovannyi kostium or MKK, was produced and utilized throughout World War Two.  The amoeba pattern was produced in summer/spring green and autumn/winter brown versions.  I decided to paint my Soviet Scouts in the green version to better match my current terrain collection.  The paints I used are Vallejo’s Russian Uniform (924), Black (950), Chocolate Brown (872), and Buff (976).

“Playing Bubsy 3D feels like watching Forrest Gump, except every time Forrest Gump says ‘momma,’ Stone Cold Steve Austin punches you in the stomach.” –  Noah’s Game Reviews

By Patrick S. Baker

Bubsy 3D also known as Bubsy 3D: Furbitten Planet, or Bubsy is 3D in Furbitten Planet was released in 1996 and enjoys a singular place in video game history. The game was one of the earliest attempts to bring a favorite 2D platforming character into the world of 3D gaming. As such, Bubsy 3D sought to push boundaries and capture the imagination of players.

The first three Busby games were innovative and successful. Busby: The Adventure Begins introduced players to the charismatic hero, Busby the Bobcat, and offered challenging platforming gameplay in vibrant worlds. The second installment, Busby’s Quest: The Enchanted Kingdom, took players on a mystical journey filled with puzzles, mazes, and magical encounters.

Finally, there was Busby’s Galactic Adventure which expanded the series into space, providing players with thrilling spaceship piloting, cosmic exploration, and encounters with extraterrestrial beings. These games combined engaging game play mechanics, visually appealing environments, and a sense of adventure. Each installment brought new challenges and expanded the Busby universe.