AAR : LW Dreamers Vault 95pt Dec 30th Tournament

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.

Flames of War: Mid-War Dynamic Points for 2024

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.

Team Yankee Battle Report – Canadians vs Finns from Denmark

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.

Great War – Flames of War

Great War Book CoverBy 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.

Painting Soviet Union Amoeba Camouflage

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).

Retrospective of Bubsy 3D

“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.

Tourney Friday: Great Lakes Region Bolt Action

Guest post by Jackson “CrackerJax” Horigan

This is part of a new feature where NDNG features upcoming historical wargaming tournaments, gamedays, and conventions for the games we cover.

Hello Players! My name is Jackson Horigan here to bring you the Bolt Action Winter 2023-4 event lineup hitting the Great Lakes region. You may know me better by my moniker “CrackerJax” on Facebook and Discord, but names aside, I have a list of excellent events coming up this winter both as a TO and an attendee that I’d love to share with you.

As some of you may know, I tend to travel a bunch around the Midwest for work and leisure, and more often than not will drive for many hours to sniff out a great Bolt Action scene. This past weekend I had the privilege to attend Troy Hill’s “It’s A StuG Life” tournament in Fort Wayne, Indiana only to find myself in Pittsburgh, PA this weekend for Charles Sherrange’s “Tanksgiving” tournament! It’s been a wild November for Bolt Action, and I am quite excited for the coming months as we approach the holidays and the bitterly cold Great Lakes winter. Grab your mess kit and some Lucky Strikes and let’s see what’s heating up across the Midwest…

Warfare 2023, other five games to remember

By Paolo Paglianti

Imagine an airport hangar packed with tin soldiers: tin soldier shops, tin soldiers demo tables, tin soldiers tournaments. Well, that’s literally what happens at Warfare 2023, one of the biggest and most significant wargaming and modeling shows in the Old World, located south of London. Warfare is a heaven for every wargamer: there are lots of shops selling essentially anything you can imagine: books, miniatures from 6mm to 54mm, and terrain for any wargame from ancient to sci-fi.

It is organized by the Wargames Association of Reading and it’s simply excellent – I know how difficult is to organize an event so huge and complex, and David, Steve, and the Reading Team always do a fantastic job. I really recommend you pay a visit, if you’re in the UK next November.