“This tedious, boring, bland game is joyless and barren of any entertainment value.” ― Unknown

By Patrick S. Baker

No one starts out to fail.  Everyone that has ever begun a project, be it to fix a squeaky door, build a building, or develop a world-class video game, has done so with the expectation that they will succeed.

They expect that the door won’t make noise, the building will not collapse, and the video game will not be Superman: The New Superman Adventures better known as Superman 64.

In 1996, Warner Brothers Animation Studio was developing Superman: The Animated Series for the WB TV network. Eric Caen, co-founder of French game development company, Titus Interactive, heard about the forth coming TV series while visiting Titus’s Los Angeles office and went hard for the game development license.

By Richard Steer

Bulge: British is the final book covering Late-War British forces for Flames of War 4th Edition. Combined with D-Day: British, these books are Flames of War’s representation of the British, Canadian, and Polish forces in Northwest Europe from D-Day through until VE Day.

Supporting each book is a deck of Command Cards. These cards add additional formations, units, and upgraded weapons, that are not included in the core books. Amongst the cards for the British books there are a number of options for different reconnaissance units. This article looks at the historical units, and how they have been represented in the lists.

By Jim Naughton

The newest Soviet Ally to join the Team Yankee tabletop is the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (FAR); or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba.

The troops represented in Red Dawn belong solely to the Tropas Terrestes with the exception of the MI-24 Hind, the other services are not represented. Which is a shame because the Cubans had their own parachute battalions, marines, and special operations forces, as well as a variety of aircraft.  Cuba didn’t use SU-17/22/25 so in the game, they must rely on Soviet aircraft.

By Troy A. Hill

An author friend of mine, M. L. “Matt” Buchman, connected with me over a year ago at a writer’s convention in Florida. Matt was excited to show off a beta model of his new card game. One that plays like a board game, and is tied into his best-selling Miranda Chase series of political thrillers.

Well, in the midst of the pandemic, supply chain issues, and other issues kept the game from hitting our shores until earlier this year.

Fortunately, I was able to catch up with Matt a year after our first meeting and get a rundown of the game. It’s quick, plays easily, and is a cooperative game, or one fit for solo play. I caught up with him a few weeks later, when he sent a promo copy of the game my way. Read our conversation below.

A series of short video tutorials are available here from Librarium Games and Alexander Massar, the designer of the game.

“How do you make a sequel to a game that covered all of human history?” ~ Brian Reynolds

By Patrick S. Baker

The thunderous success of the original Sid Meier’s Civilization (Civ I) in 1991, today would demand a sequel, and quickly, but back in the dark days of the early 1990s that just wasn’t so. In fact, the game that would become Sid Meier’s Civilization II (Civ II) was the first direct sequel that MicroProse would develop and market.

MicroProse management assigned the sequel development task to Brian Reynolds. Reynolds was no newbie to the game design and development business. He went to work for MicroProse in 1991, developing adventure games like Return of the Phantom. He had also previously collaborated with Sid Meier on Sid Meier’s Colonization. But none of his experience answered the basic question to which he needed a good response: “How do you make a sequel to a game that covered all of human history?”

Reynolds went to the source first, Meier himself. Reynolds later said: “We (he and Meier) sat down and brainstormed about it and hashed out ideas…” but Meier had little else to do with the game which would still bear his name.

By Mike Rafferty

An 80s classic, Red Dawn provides a crazy scenario where the US is invaded by Soviet forces along with their Latin American allies. The same situation doesn’t work in the Team Yankee universe, but Battlefront created a vaguely plausible scenario so I can live out my resistance fighter fantasies.

If you’ve been following the background material in the Team Yankee books, NATO has started a counterattack in Germany that is pushing the Soviets back. NATO and Iraq have stabilized the Iranian front while the Israelis push the Syrians back.

Overall, things are not looking optimistic for the Soviets. What do the Soviets do? Sue for peace? Nuke everyone? Tease us about opening a front in Asia and bringing in Chinese and Japanese forces (I wish)? Nope, the Cubans arrive with a plan to invade the US.

By Mike Rafferty

I really like gaming. I mean I write for a gaming blog and I run historicals at AdeptiCon, which probably means I’m at least fond of gaming. As I walk around my house, I have gaming stuff just about everywhere. Some would say I have a problem and should cut down. I say that I should find an excuse to build a new army. Enter Andrew Verticchio.

For those who don’t know him, Andrew runs the Bolt Action events at Adepticon. 2022 was my first year working with him and he’s an all-around great guy. When I found out he was running a tournament near me, I knew I had to go. The only problem was that it was a Bolt Action Tank War tournament, and I didn’t really have a force. Sure, I had some random German tanks that I bought because they were fun to paint, but nothing cohesive. It’s important for me to support the people I work with in their tournaments, and it should be a lot of fun. Plus, it gives me an excuse to scratch that new army itch. There was only one answer, buy a new force based around one of my favorite tanks the Cromwell and paint it all by November.

By Richard Steer

I’ve recently been thinking a lot about the impact of 3D printing on the historical wargaming hobby. My primary concern has been the threat that printing poses to the local shops and manufacturers who rely on selling products for their livelihoods, and what this means for the future of the hobby as we know it.

Into the middle of one of these periods of reflection, a new kickstarter landed that has reminded me of the huge potential that 3D printing has for growing the hobby: Potbelly Miniatures’ campaign launching a range of 28mm Hellenistic Judeans.

By Mike Rafferty

The British Bulge book is finally out, which covers the British from post-Normandy Market Garden up to the end of the war. The book adds a lot of new features and army lists for the British and has a special significance for me. Welsh Guards Cromwells were the first army I actually built and painted fully. I still have this force and the Cromwell is my favourite-looking tank of the war, despite the obvious superiority of the Sherman. The new book adds Challengers, so I can finally play my Welsh Guards as intended with Cromwells and Challengers.

By Kreighton Long

When it came time to purchase my Italians I decided to go with Warlord Games. Their plastics have been excellent over the last several years and I figured why not give these a go. I can honestly say I wasn’t disappointed. The kits are easy to assemble with enough variety to have minimal duplications in your platoon. The sculpts are clean with good lines and deep contours that make highlighting that much easier when painting. I picked up one box of plastic infantry and the support teams box to get the meatball rolling. When I get to it I’ll add some vehicles and heavier support to really flush out my Italians into a force ready to take to the table. But first, we need to put paint to plastic.