Today we catch up the Glenn, Tyler, and Guest podcaster Joe Forster of Blood and Pigment to get the lowdown on the summer of plunder, as well as the September Tournament at the Calvert Marine Museum. Join us for this supersized recap of all that went down over the past few months as The Talesmen discuss Firelock Games and their premiere pirate game.
By David Garvin
From 14 to 16 October, I was the Tournament Director for an Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) Tournament in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. I hosted one there last year and had about a dozen gamers show up, from as far away as Hamilton, Ontario and even from Massachusetts. This year, in spite of some buzz generated online, a number of unfortunate situations such as illness, moving, work and more caused many to cancel. In the end, a mere 4 gamers showed up to play. But in the end, that didn’t matter. We had our games, we had our opponents and we all soldiered on. This is a story of gaming in the face of adversity!
By Jim Naughton
Introduction
The 4th Edition was published seven years ago. You may ask why I’m reviewing it now. There are a couple of reasons. First, there are new offerings in the figures market in 12mm/15mm scale. Although theoretically aimed at other rulesets, they can be easily applied to Napoleon’s Battles.
And because Napoleon’s Battles (hereafter NB) uses small bases, a ‘sabot base’ or piece of plastic card, a movement tray or similar device can take figures based for NB and apply them to other systems.
In effect, figures are a fungible asset and can be used for multiple rules. So I recommend those entering Napoleonics for the first time, to have a look at various systems, and base your figures in a way they can be multifunctional.
By Philip S. Bolger-Cortez
Last year, I talked with Kevin Verssen at Dan Verssen Games about making a game about the late Cold War, and when he accepted, the foundations were laid for Eagle Leader.
From the beginning, it was designed as a NATO companion to Fulcrum Leader, a game already under design by Benjamin Chee and Doug Glover. Benjamin Chee likes to start every game with the same question: “What is the story you are trying to tell?” For Eagle Leader, it’s simple enough: the struggle of USAF and allied NATO Air Forces fighting the Warsaw Pact in the skies and ground of Europe, the aerial companion to the many “What if” campaigns about the Fulda Gap. Initial plans were ambitious– a core game featuring USAF, and a series of expansions to allow players who wanted to play NATO aircraft to allow for a wide variety. I knew I had to recruit a reliable team of developers, so I gathered Mitch Reed, Chris DiNote, and Phil “Doc” Wohlrab to help me, along with James L Young as a team historian.
By Kreighton Long
Last Saturday, 8 October, I had the opportunity to attend the Call to Arms convention in Williamsburg, VA and compete in the Bolt Action tournament. The tournament was organized by seven-year TO veteran Kalissa Skibicki. Twenty competitors checked in Saturday morning for a day of competitive gaming. The tournament progressed smoothly and after three different scenarios with three different opponents, the tournament came to a successful conclusion.
By Jim Naughton
Introduction
The Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars are sometimes regarded as the ‘Second’ World War, with the Seven Years War regarded as the ‘First.’ Battles raged on all continents save Antarctica and Australia as small forces of the primary contestants sought to seize colonies or disrupt colonial empires.
America’s War of 1812 was triggered by Britain’s high-handed naval policies – in turn a response to Napoleon’s Continental System. A Corsican general brought the war to Egypt, handily defeating the Sultan’s armies, but failing in face of unavailing British seapower. A little-known British General’s career took off in the Indian Subcontinent fight
ing native armies with some connection to French mercantile influence. That career reached its zenith when the Corsican adventurer and the British General clashed at Waterloo, bringing Europe six years of fragile peace. Clausewitz’s On War and B.H. Liddel Hart’s Strategy have their roots in the Napoleonic Wars.
By Richard Steer
Bulge: British is the latest release for the Late-War era of Flames of War. This book covers the British, Canadian, and Polish forces in Western Europe from August 1944 through to the end of the war in Europe.
It’s a book that many of us have been looking forward to for a long time. The arrival of the Comet is a large part of that anticipation, but there are several infantry formations in the book that also deserve a close look.
Kangaroo Rifle Company
Bulge: British takes the standard Rifle Company from the previous books and upgrades it. The overall structure of the formation is identical to those earlier iterations, but the Company HQ and Rifle Platoons now have the option of including Ram Kangaroo transports.
By David Garvin
In a previous post, I interviewed Dr. Andrew Hershey, designer of many Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) scenarios and Historical ASL campaign games, colloquially known as HASLs. It was quite evident after reading that interview, that there is quite a bit of research behind many ASL Scenarios and especially HASLs.
As such, by playing any well-designed HASL, one can gain a better understanding of the nature of the conflict at large and the feel of certain battles. For me, one of the best examples is found in the HASL Kampfgruppe Scherer: The Shield of Cholm (KGS). It was produced by le franc tireur in 2011 and designed by the aforementioned Dr. Andrew Hershey.
By David Garvin
Order of Battle: World War II is a computer game that harkens back to the old Panzer General series of games. The similarities are superficial but close enough that any seasoned grognard who played the old game will feel at home.
At least I know I did.
This is available now via Steam from Slitherine and if someone is looking for a quick and fun game to play this is it.
By Mitch Reed
My first Flames of War army, which I swore would only be the only one I would ever use, was my late war British (painted as Canadians). While I did collect other nations, I always built and created British or Commonwealth lists as my collection grew. As the game went into V4, I had a lot of later war kit that did not have a new list, now with the British Bulge book, I can now get my Challengers and Comets back on the table.
