By David Garvin

A few days ago, I received a game in the mail. It was a copy of , a magazine game from Strategy and Tactics magazine. This was published in 1983 and was set in the late 1980s. As I was setting the game up, I noted some obsolete terms, such as “USSR” and “Leningrad”.

I simply smiled and then out of curiosity I went to my games cupboard to have a look at my collection. The majority of my games are based on the Second World War; however, a sizable number of my games simulate combat between two factions, one of which no longer exists! Although some of my games date from the Cold War itself, such as those in the series, I have some that were made well after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989! This got me thinking: what is the appeal of simulating combat from a war that never happened? In this article, I will look at the history of these games and then wax philosophical as to why they keep such great appeal.

By Tom Gall

Looking for a 15mm-25mm ruleset for 18th Century warfare? has recently published their new rules Red Coats in the Wilderness. In this article, we’re going to have a look at the rules and what they have to offer.

If you are like me and enjoy horse and musket or have a deep curiosity about gaming out actions especially on the North American continent dating roughly between the Seven Years War to the War of 1812 this is a ruleset to look into. As written the rules cater to the French and Indian War, however as played Revolutionary War, and War of 1812 actions work very well with the system.

This time period and location demand a set of rules which models company and battalion level games which are different in scale as compared to the large-scale battles that were happening in Europe at the time.  These smaller battles are what Red Coats in the Wilderness is tuned for.

Scale

The rules include charts for both 15mm and 25/28mm, and movement in inches or centimeters. A single figure represents 10 men and an artillery casting is representing one or two guns.

Each inch on the battlefield is approximately 15 yards and each turn roughly equals 10 minutes of modeled action.

By Patrick S. Baker

Steel Panthers World War II

From the first, Steel Panthers had an active fan-base which developed new scenarios and posted them online to share with other fans.  One of these super-fans was David Heath.

After founding The Gamers Network, an online game review site, in 1998, Heath went on to play-test some games for SSI as well. He also made friends with Joel Billings, the founder of SSI, and Gary Grigsby. Wanting to do more in the gaming world and “loving Steal Panthers”. Heath had several conversations with Billings and Grigsby, finally convinced them to give him the source code for Steel Panthers to develop “a fan base edition of the Steel Panthers Series”.

By David Garvin

In 2019, released Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit #4, Pacific Theater of Operations. With it, players new to Advanced Squad Leader could learn how to play the various forces that fought in the Pacific Theater in the Second World War.  Players new to the system, or even just new to the Pacific Theater and its nuances, could learn such things as how the Japanese Squad would stripe when it failed a morale check, or how to conduct a banzai. Due to the nature of the fighting, players also learned how to use concealment, a first for the Starter Kit system. Other new concepts focused mainly on the unique terrain of the Pacific, such as jungle and kunai.

Where it begins for many in the Pacific

Huge episode! The Tailsmen have Mike from Firelock and is joined by the crew to spoil all that Firelock Games has in store in 2022!

By Mitch Reed

Tarawa 1943 from finally arrived at NDNG HQ, and I was eager to check out this solo game that features the mid-war bloody battle that lives in US Marine Corps lore. I played the game a few times right after it was delivered and I cannot stop playing it, some how the game dares you to beat it which makes it very addictive.

By Troy Hill

The long awaited chance for Warlord Games to get a decent set of army special rules for the Italian forces is finally …. not here yet.

Don’t get me wrong. The new Campaign Italy: Soft Underbelly book is great when you hold it in the context for which it is intended. That being a historical approach to gaming the invasion of Sicily during Operation Husky and beyond.

For those Bolt Action gamers hoping for a new set of Italian Army rules that brings the Italian army into the competitive zone most other armies get in the game… yeah, that didn’t happen here either. In context, a competitive Italian Army wasn’t to be had in the invasion of Sicily nor the Italian mainland.

But, if you’re into a historical approach to your gaming, instead of just pounding away with the meta and special rules to dominate in tourneys, this is an excellent book.

by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell

In Canada, it was decided (during our lockdown this summer) to not have one Canadian Nationals event in Ottawa (since we could no longer book the Marriott we usually go to), but instead have several Regional events. Overall winner would be the person with the highest total points, tie breakers going to number of wins, and then if still tied, going to the person who attended the larger event.

The National Capital Region (NCR) event was put on by Darko Prodanovic and John Edward (Jed) and hosted by a local game store across the river in Quebec called Freres de Bataille (Translation: Battle Brothers, hereafter FdB). Our event in the NCR occurred Nov 20-21 was , Late War 105 points (No Bulge US). Regionals in Winnipeg, Maritimes, and Edmonton also occurred. After compiling the results from the regionals, the winner is…

We resume our interviews with the authors from . Today we have Aden Magee, the author of The Cold War: Wilderness of Mirrors.

By Patrick S. Baker

Part Three

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified

Released on 20 August 2013, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is technically a prequel and spin-off of Enemy Unknown, not a direct sequel, as it was under development in 2006, before Enemy Unknown was, but the development was both lengthy and fraught with difficulties.

The game started as a collaboration between two of 2K Games development studios, one in Marin County, California and the other in Canberra, Australia. The game was conceived by the 2K Australia team as a combined mystery game and first-person shooter. Tn the game the player was tasked by a secret government agency with photographing mysterious aliens and then researching what they are and what they were doing. However, the Marin team wanted a third-person shooter that focused on teamwork with more tactical elements. 2K Australia was removed from the project because of the disagreements between the two studios. The Marin team renamed the game, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, and moved forward with their ideas.