We are live at Historicon 2021 for the first half of the show, joined by the guys from . Then we wrap up the show after we made our escape.

By Patrick S. Baker

Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles

Steel Panthers II: Modern Battles (SPII:MB) was released in November 1996, just one year and two months after the release of the original Steel Panthers (now referred to as Steel Panthers I or SPI).  Grigsby had two main goals while developing the new game; one was to improve the animation and the other was to let the players simulate most of the armed conflicts, both major and minor, historical or hypothetical, throughout the world, from 1950 to 1999.

SPII:MB was more than just a reskin of the first game. Grigsby retained the game engine of the original, but the database was completely overhauled with a thousand modern units from 40 different countries, and non-state actors, all modeled in great detail and having characteristics unique to each time period and nationality. For example, helicopters, both scout and attack were added to the weapons inventory and were placed under the players’ direct control.

Airplanes were still in a support mode, but were now equipped with ordinance like precision-guided weapons, napalm, and/or cluster-bombs. Ground forces were kitted out with an assortment of heat-seeking and radar-guided Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs) to counter the air threat, and so on.

By Tom Gall

The new Bulge American book by Battlefront offers new exciting armors lists to play. How do they fair on the tabletop against other lists?

In this batrep we’ll look at an amped up Sherman list with Jumbos, Easy 8s, 76s along with a Super Pershing against a German Panzer IV/70 list from the recently released Bagration German List. 100 points, lots of armor, a great match up and tabletop test.

By David Garvin

I have been playing Advanced Squad Leader for about eight years now.  In that time, I have recorded five hundred and thirty one matches and played against over one hundred and eighty opponents. As an aside, to say that I keep a detailed record of my matches would be an understatement.  That said, the point is that I’ve played quite a few different opponents over the years. And it is through playing all these fine ladies and gentlemen that I have seen my play improve. Such is the basis of this article: my own experience in how I went from a terrible ASL player to an average one.

Conventions are back and the NDNG crew attended Historicon 2021 to take it all in. I quickly realized how much I miss the cons, the gamers and members of the NDNG crew. We had a full house of our staff at the event, with Tyler Stone, Thomas Mullane and Glenn Van Meter hosting the Firelock Ironman with appearances from Ben Hudler, Glenn Goddard, Steve Murga-Jones, Dr. Chris Woltz and Howard West playing in many of the games at the event which we will briefly talk about here.

By Tom Burgess,

If you know me…you know I have been very excited about what 3D printing and how it is revolutionizing the wargaming hobby.  If not,  you can check out an article I wrote about it .  One of the things I said in that article that would revolutionize the miniature wargaming hobby would be independent miniature designers being able to offer products through venues like  Patreon and Kickstarter. One such independent designer who has been at it for quite a while with a good bit of success is Henry Turner. Henry, based in the UK, has done very will with is 1:600 sailing ship range, his 6/15mm American Civil War and 6/15mm Napoleonic Wars, and now a 10mm/15mm/28mm Modern “1983” Warsaw Pact line.

By Richard Steer

 is the newest Late-War supplement for , covering the US forces in Europe from September 1944 through to the end of the war. While are the main feature, the book also contains three new missions, a linked campaign themed on the Battle of the Bulge, and a set of optional rules for winter weather that, while not recommended for competitive play, are a welcome addition to the game for use in scenarios.

By Patrick S. Baker

Wars and soldiers are similar across time and space.  So, it is also that war games are similar across time and space. Often the best war games are not the most innovative, but rather present the familiar elements of simulated war in a way which is compelling and engaging. The ones that are both familiar and gripping give us, the players, those rare war games which are both easy to play and understand, but hard to master. The Steel Panthers games fit right in that hard-to-find sweet spot.

Steel Panthers started development in May 1994 and was released in September 1995. The game was designed and programmed by Gray Grigsby and Keith Brors and were produced and marketed by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI).

This is a special episode where I talk with my BFF Jon Russell from Warlord Games. Jon is on the road heading to the Twin Cities for yet another convention and took time out to tell us what is new and exciting coming out from Warlord. We talk about Epic Napoleonic, Blood Red Skies-Midway, and all the new Italy books coming out for Bolt Action. A lot of spoilers and let’s hope he does not hit another deer.

By Mitch Reed

Now that conventions are making an appearance again it is time for those who were interested in to start collecting their ships and getting them to a nearby table. Over the last few months gaming admirals have been playing either online or when they get a chance versus a live opponent and many fans of the game have been tinkering with their lists and adjusting how they plan to play the game in the future. Since so few of us have had very much experience in live play, now is a perfect time for those who have yet played the game to get into it.