By Phil Bolger

Most folks know NDNG as a source for all things wargame– especially our coverage of miniatures wargaming like Team Yankee, Flames of War, Bolt Action, and Blood & Plunder— but today, I’m going to review something a little different. Academy: The West Point Board Game is, in no reasonable sense, a wargame– but the topic it covers, life as a cadet at the United States Military Academy, is certainly an important part of many American military leaders.

Full disclaimer: I am a USMA graduate (H-3, Ride the Storm!), so understand that my view is heavily colored by the type of esprit de corps one can only get from a lifetime of trying to justify four years of grey-colored misery, and I will not apologize for that. The other thing is that the game isn’t out yet– it’s on Kickstarter as of writing, so I’m playing the game on Tabletop Simulator (where it is available for free, minus the cost of Tabletop Simulator). As a result, I have no comments at the time of publication on component quality.

By Andy Allcock

Greetings! Let me introduce myself. I’m Andy, I’ve been wargaming since I was a young teenager. I started with Warhammer 40k (2ed) and moved shortly afterward into historical and fantasy gaming.  A buddy and I wrote our own ruleset years ago, and I’ve been known to know where and how to find rules in other games.

For 2022 I’ve decided to start yet another Bolt Action army.  I’ve already got early Germans, late war winter Germans, British Commandos, British 8^th Army, USMC (which I play as 1^st cav), Africa Italians, and regular Italians. With such a widespread of armies, I decided it was time to dive into the French.

By Mitch Reed

In our last article, we did an overview of all the games in the Commands & Colors series by Richard Borg. In this article we will compare how the core game mechanics are tweaked for two of the games that take place in the black powder era, C&C: Tricorne (CC:T) which covers the American Revolutionary War, and C&C: Napoleonics which covers the wars in Europe that started about twenty years later and shows how the subtle changes in the rules give you a unique period flavor for each game.
Each game uses the same basic mechanics that is shared throughout the entire C&C franchise, however, changes in how combat dice are calculated, the dice themselves, and some unique rules give each game a different experience and is not just a “re-skin”.

by Paolo Paglianti

Well, I’m really happy. I began to set up this tournament in early January, but the situation was not that good. In the end, despite the COVID and all limitations, we managed to gather 43 players (28 FOW, 14 Saga, and 1 reserve) under the same roof.

A full Sunday playing wargames, throwing dice, and blaming luck, and a lot of fun. This was probably the biggest FOW tournament in Italy since before the Pandemic. The Flames of War tourney was set in the Late War period, and a Saga tournament in the Age of Crusades. By the way, if you want to know how Saga works, you can check this article!

(A note: the Cornaredo Tournament was opened only to three-dose vaccinated people, and we wore masks all time. We just pulled them down for some photos).

By Mitch Reed

I am unashamedly a “triple gamer”, I enjoy miniature, board, and PC wargames. Which type I play at any given time depends on what kind of time I have on my hands. Some of the games I have been “wasting” my time with may appeal to you as well.

My BFF Jon is back and Troy and I try to get some spoilers out of him. While he did not crack (very much), I think Warlord fans know that some cool things are instore for us in 2022.

By Mark Greenwald

What’s the best thing to do in Spain? Visit Barcelona, Sagrada Familia, Madid, Prado Museum, Granada, Alhambra Palace, Segovia, Roman Aqueduct, Seville, Alcázar, Cordoba, Toledo, Valencia?

No, my friends, the best thing to do in Spain is go to a board game convention in Badajoz! For me, it’s been since 2019 for a game convention (GenCon and WisconsCon). I really enjoyed spending a long weekend making new friends in Spain while playing some historical board games.

First up…why is a convention named for an acorn?  Well, Badajoz is famous for producing Iberico Jamón (ham from pigs fed on acorns). Badajoz has been settled since Neolithic times, with several Dolmen and Roman ruins nearby (it was part of Roman Lusitania).

It was also a Muslim Taifa kingdom, so has medieval ruins to explore as well. The convention takes place in January, which is great because Badajoz can get really hot during the summer.

By Howard West

Background

My previous article Team Yankee COLD WAR Warrior Revisited the T-55 Tank focused on a Team Yankee player adding a 24-27 point 2nd or allied T-55 tank formation to an existing army list. With the “official” Team Yankee points reduced for this year’s US National events and with the changing META caused by the new NATO books as described in Tom Gall’s recent No Dice No Glory article on chasing the Team Yankee Meta. 

Also, several of our upcoming local Team Yankee tournaments that I will be playing in have the following point levels: 110, 94, and 70. I thought this provided a good basis for a series of list-building discussions for Team Yankee on No Dice No Glory.

By Richard Steer

from Warlord Games is an Age of Sail wargame set between 1770-1830. The game, reviewed here, does an excellent job of capturing the feeling of wind-powered naval combat in a fast and enjoyable format.

For many people, the attraction of the game is the thought of recreating the fleet battles of the Napoleonic wars, featuring large ships of the line. It is also very enjoyable when playing engagements with smaller ships such as schooners, cutters, and gunboats, and a great format for these smaller games are using Warlord’s free .

Ed and Tom start off their third year of Flames of War and Team Yankee podcast coverage for No Dice No Glory with Episode 24.