By Patrick S. Baker

The designation “4X” (standing for “eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate”) originated in the Computer Gaming World 1993 preview of Master of Orion by Alan Emrich. In a play-on-words, Emrich rated the game as “XXXX”, referencing the “XXX” rating for pornography. Over time the phrase mutated into “4X” and has been adopted and adapted into a game genre description.

A strategy game must have the following gameplay tenets to be a 4X game.

Explore: the player dispatches reconnaissance units to discover surrounding areas.

Expand: the player lays claim to newly reconnoitered areas by colonizing them, or by otherwise extending their influence into the newly discovered territory.

Exploit: the player collects and utilizes various resources in areas they control, and also upgrades the usage and collection methods of those resources.

Exterminate: the player attacks and conquers, or eliminates, their opponents.

NDNG BattleVault Episode 23 – 2021 Wrap Up and 2022 Look Ahead

By Mitch Reed

Recently I accepted an invite from Professor Sebastian Bae to attend the “finals” for his wargaming class at Georgetown University. This marks my second time helping him out, last spring I headed up to the US Naval Academy to do the same thing with his Midshipmen. What better way to have a final exam than to play some of the games his students worked on this semester.

By Richard Steer

Every year, our wargaming club in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, runs a one-day tournament for club members at the final meeting of the year. Named Remember December, this event was first run in memory of Nick Garden, a valued member of the club and the wider New Zealand wargaming community, who passed away in 2015. The 2021 edition of Remember December was held on 11 December, playing  in a 1100pt Early-War format.

The Early-War era of Flames of War has always been my favorite. The oddball vehicles, the wide range of nations represented, and the generally weaker stat lines, all combine to create a game of huge variety that feels very different from the way that the Mid-War and Late-War eras play, despite using identical rules. While there has been no recent indication of the timeframe for Early-War being re-released for V4, for now, it is still able to be played using a conversion of the V2/V3 lists.

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.