Today we have Michael Riddick, a good friend of NDNG, who talks about his game Magnum Opus which users in a new way to play ancients miniatures. Even if you do not play this period, you will love Mike’s approach to gaming and writing rules. Find out more in Instagram by looking up magnum_opus_wargaming

By David Garvin

“Summer’s here and the time is right For fighting in the street, boy” – The Rolling Stones, Street Fighting Man. 1968.

I was reading up on some challenges of gaming recently, and the challenge the author was pondering was how to game fighting in built-up areas (FIBUA), or Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT). Whichever you prefer. I cannot for the life of me find that article now but suffice it to say that the author couldn’t find a suitable game.

By Tom Gall

If you like to play Flames of War you’re probably aware of what are the two modes of play, casual and competitive play. There is a fairly healthy tournament scene for Flames in the US, it’s been coming back since COVID.

Competitive play isn’t for everyone but it does make for a fun day of getting in a few games,  pitting your skills against other players, and as a result learning how to play better. Often people at tournaments talk about how to play better, make better lists, unit recommendations, painting suggestions, and so on.

Royal Canadian Dragoons photos

In my previous article WWIII Team Yankee – NATO Forces Book – The Canadians – No Dice No Glory  I discussed the new lists for Canadians in Team Yankee. The possibilities for Canadians in Team Yankee are now so exciting that many people are considering doing up a Canadian army. Battlefront has done a good job of showing Canadian camouflage patterns, but not such a good job of getting the colours right and some different ways of painting vehicles.

I realize that Battlefront wanted to come up with a common camouflage pattern for Canadian vehicles, but it’s not that easy. During the Cold War and beyond, Canadian vehicles had different paint schemes depending on the vehicle and when it was in service. The options were German Gelboliv, Canadian three-colour, NATO three-colour, or plain NATO green.  I will discuss my recipes and recommendations for the different colours from the late 1970s onwards. Then I will discuss which colours and patterns to use on each individual vehicle.

By Troy Hill (Photos by the author and Jeff Wiertalla except where noted)

Sixteen players gathered at the Rumble on the Rivers game convention in Fort Wayne IN this past weekend (November 11, 2023) for a three-round, beginner-friendly, Bolt Action tournament.

Many dice were rolled. Many FUBARS did occur (four at one table!), and much fun was had.

So, what happened?

By Troy Hill

Photos by Troy Hill and Michael Carter

As you might remember from my last piece on Kings of War, I’m at best, a middle-of-the-pack player in any game. I’m not a competitive player, at all. I don’t “Meta” nor “Net list” well.  And I rival Mitch Reed for the bottom of the barrel when it comes to painting talent here on the NDNG staff.

My goal is to field an army that doesn’t look bad on the table, and spend the event time pushing models, joking with my opponents, and rolling a lot of dice. Perhaps even emulating a late Ambassador of the game, Jesse Cornwell, and calling upon “Pizza Jesus” to bless the rolls when I really need that 11 or 12. (OK, I didn’t do that at this tournament, since I was usually pretty far in the hole in each game. One extra set of boxcars wouldn’t have done much good.)

But, somehow, I managed to bring home one of the trophies from the event. It now sits on my fireplace mantle, surrounded by a bunch of “Benchies” I’ve 3d printed over the past few years. Getting a solid Benchie from a 3D filament printer was about the best award I expected in gaming.

So, what’s my secret to winning while losing? Even more important, what did I do to get a trophy?

We too at NDNG are also fans of some of the games we cover and today was a treat for me. I speak with David Freer from Wargame Design Studios, which now hold the John Tiller Games catalog and so much more. We talk about the whole series which spans multiple decades and conflicts.

If you want to know more about these great games you do not want to miss this one.

By Mitch Reed

I have been hiding a secret from many of you, over the last three years I have not been painting. I have mentioned this on podcasts numerous times and if you ran into me at an LGS or a convention, I probably told you bluntly, “I have not painted in years.” I have no idea what caused this, perhaps from playing too many board games? Could it be that I have all the painted models I need to play the games I love?

No matter the cause, the passion was gone, however recently my passion returned, and the flame was relit.

By Robert Kelly

Visit Churchill War Rooms – Plan Your Visit | Imperial War Museums (iwm.org.uk)

No matter which travel guide you read, the Churchill War Rooms are always highly recommended. Armed with that knowledge I decided that I had to see it too. I didn’t book in advance online and hoped I had made the right decision. When I got there, there was a small lineup. Turned out that I didn’t really need to buy in advance. Those who bought in advance lined up to the right and those who bought onsite lined up to the left. They then alternated letting people in from the two lines. It cost me 27.25 pounds.  Children aged 5 to 15 pay 13.60 pounds. It seemed that in London, the more expensive the museum, the more people wanted to see it.

“In May of 1941 the war had just begun, The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns

The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the sea, On her decks were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees”

Sink the Bismarck by Johnny Horton and Tillman Franks

By Patrick S. Baker

Computer Bismarck was developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) and is considered the first serious war game published for what was then called micro-computers and are now called personal computers, or PCs. Prior to Bismarck’s release computer video games had largely been arcade-style games; in home versions of Space Invaders or Pac-man, etc.

Released in February 1980 for the TRS-80 and the Apple II. The game was developed by Joel Billings and John Lyons and written in BASIC computer language.  Rather than come up with a design from scratch, the two developers liberally “borrowed” (some would say lifted directly) from Avalon Hill’s (AH) board game, Bismarck.  Noting the similarities of SSI’s Computer Bismarck, as well as other SSI titles, to their various board games, Avalon Hill took SSI to court in 1983. In 1984 the companies settled out of court, with SSI reportedly paying AH $30,000 dollars.