By Glenn Van Meter

Photo above: French forces are ambushed by North American Braves. Photo courtesy of Adam Johnston.

Thursday September 10th marked the final day of the campaigning season for the 2021 Summer of Plunder Worldwide Campaign. Blood & Plunder and Oak & Iron players submitted reports of games they had fought during the campaign. 

Each report included their name, photographs and the faction they played. The reports were then compiled by faction. The faction with the highest number of reports established dominance of the high seas and won the campaign. After tallying the results from over 250 entries submitted by players all over the world, the winning faction is…

By Tom Gall

is a  point to point mini-campaign that can be downloaded  from the PSC website for 5.00 British Pounds or ~$7 USD.  What you get is  a 20 page PDF document that guides you through running the campaign for your players. It includes a 2 page theatre map. a very well written history of the situation as well as all the needed administrative items such as how to handle movement, setup battles and otherwise be an effective and fun referee. The campaign is geared for the Battlegroup [1] set of WWII rules.

Kasserine as you might remember took place in Feb of 1943 as the Germans were under increasing pressure from the East and West after the Torch landings. The Axis under Rommel had decided to direct an offensive at the largely untested Americans through the Kasserine Pass. Defending the area of the allies was the US II Corps, British 6th Armored Division as well as elements of free French.

For those looking to stitch together a series of games where the outcomes matter, a campaign such as this is a great choice. It presents your players with a series of actions based on their moves on the larger theatre map. Not all games will be equally balanced and this can test the will of a gamer having to play a tough defensive action where the odds are long. On the other hand, a campaign setting gives your players a focused setting where the fruits of their painting labor can see plenty of action on the table top.

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.

By Howard West

The premise behind is a miniatures wargame from Battlefront Miniatures is to be able to re-fight the battles of the Cold War that did not really happen. If you define the Cold War that did not happen as armed conflict between the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact Allies versus the NATO countries of Western Europe and the United States and Canada. Then the Cold War did not happen. The 1980s and into the early 1990s it was not a peaceful time, as various armed conflicts existed thru out the time frame of the Team Yankee Rule set. With Version 2 of Team Yankee 15 countries armed forces are represented covering some of the major countries of the Middle East, Soviet Union and the three largest Warsaw Pact Allies, and the six larger countries NATO.

Many of the 15 countries covered under Team Yankee V2 participated in the following wars or armed conflicts: The 1982 War in Lebanon, The Iran and Iraq War, The Soviet Afghan War, The Falklands War, The First Persian Gulf War. Some of the wars that occurred before the 1980s are also covered by Battle Front Miniatures in their and rules sets. So at the minimum the time frame covered by Team Yankee was at least pretty warm if not hot.

By Kreighton Long

Humans are squishy, fragile creatures who leak profusely when punctured. Knowing this, combatants typically are inclined to hid their more vulnerable bits away from the sharp pieces of metal flying through the air. While the First Industrial Revolution featured columns of well dressed fellas marching towards the sounds of guns and exchanging volleys with equally brave soldiers opposite them, there are instances of trenches and emplacements being used in sieges or to protect less maneuverable artillery pieces on the battlefield.

Moving into the Second Industrial Revolution, the descendants of survivors from the aforementioned battles fully embraced the value of fighting from holes in the ground during World War One. The topic of “digging in” continues to the modern era as any contemporary Soldier or Marine can attest to. On a typical wargaming table, dug in fortifications or emplacements are more of an exception than a rule. Players tend to prefer skirmishes and battles of maneuver rather than a bloody, typically one-sided siege or assault.

The Tails-men are back and are joined by Guy Rhueark and they go over all things Blood & Plunder and Oak & Iron. They also talk about the global campaign which ends soon. Come join us on our all things podcast. 

By Tom “Cap’n Chairborne” Mullane

Several months ago, I was able to bring people into my dining room to run a game of Blood and Plunder. It was a great present to get this experience on my birthday, and I’m grateful for the warmer weather, some willing friends, and a waning pandemic (pre-Delta variant – ed.) for allowing it to happen. Three brave souls made the long journey from their separate bunkers with the minis in two, but only one could reign supreme. I threw together a scenario on the fly that would allow all four of us to play a big free for all game, and was happy with the results.

Since all of them are still in the process of getting their armies bulked up and painted, I lent out a ton of minis (A fully painted Dutch Army to my friend Rod, and few odds and ends to Shane to flesh out his list of pirates and brigands.) Tucker was ready to fight with the French I’d gotten him for his birthday a few months before. I would be charging in late in the scenario with my primed (but unpainted) Spanish forces. My mission was to muck things up for all of them as much as possible. Robbing this plush Market place was a risk, but with a prize this plump, what seaborne scoundrel could resist it?

X-COM Franchise Retrospective (Part Four)

By Patrick S. Baker

Intellectual property (IP), licensing and copyright laws are complex and confusing, especially when it comes to properties that were created under contract, or created by one party for a second party, or developed by multiple entities. Further, the video game industry was like the Wild West in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with companies starting up, closing, buying and selling other companies, and also trading, assigning and purchasing IPs at a furious rate. All of which begs the question of how did the IP that was X-COM get from MicroProse in 2001 to Firaxis Games?

By Kreighton Long

It’s not too hard to find decals to add rank patches to your GIs. The Warlord Games set of US Infantry even comes with decals in the box. For those of you who are gluttons for punishment or want the bragging rights of painting tiny lines on your already tiny toy soldiers here are the steps for how I add rank patches to my 29th Infantry Division army.

By Mitch Reed

One of most interesting box sets for Oak & Iron is the Blackbeard’s Revenge pack which features some unique historical ships for your collection. The box comes with two ships, the frigate Queen Anne’s Revenge and the sloop Revenge which were the ships of Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet respectively. Both of these ships are a must for a player who wants to play the pirate faction in the game since they are only available for that faction.