by Troy Hill
I’ve been looking for a great game outside of the historical tabletop genre. One that will take me back to my fantasy gaming roots. And I might have found THE ONE.
No, not the one from the behemoth company out of Nottingham. The one from that other, upstart company out of Nottingham.
By Tom Gall
Terrain in the form of buildings for the tabletop has evolved over the years. The technology for what makes for a great building continues to evolve. Scratch builds, plastic model kits, cast resin, pre-painted resin, MDF, 3D print just to name a few. Depending on how long you’ve been around you might have a variety of samples from from technology stage.
I was especially happy many years back when Miniature Building Authority and Battlefront/Gale Force 9 offered pre-painted terrain called “Battlefield in a box” that once the packaging was open you had something to use on the tabletop. It was nice to not be adding to my paint queue for a change.
Old favorites like Novus Design while great kit still had a “you must paint it” step. They just recently retired from the business and will be missed.
Micro Art Studios recently released a line of Normandy-themed buildings with “pre-painted” MDF in 28mm. This article takes a look at the line.
by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell
Fresh off our earlier review of the updated Hail Caesar book, Scott Roach and I have played our first game of the new rules.
We decided to run three Divisions for around 500pts each side, and are opting for the classic orders procedure and not the simplified procedures.
Scott had this lovely table set up (above) with a sweet Roman Fort that I would be defending in front of the main gate, whilst his Pyrrhic Greeks would be marching from the Sicilian beaches after debarking from their galleys.
The fort and occupants are just for show.
By Tom Gall
If you have a resin 3D printer and have been watching the variety of Kickstarters going by with STLs to choose from there seems to be an explosion of offerings for tabletop wargamers.
I’ve been very skeptical of printing my own 10mm/15mm infantry figures. Sculpts and print quality are my primary concern, as things get smaller, would the results be reasonable? What happens when small resin figures are on the tabletop, with dice, dropping, etc, will there be shattered sadness?
Before we get to my own experiences, I want to highlight the work of Henry Turner who has a Kickstarter up for NATO troops set in 1983. Within the Kickstarter, he has both US and British infantry in a variety of poses that are meant for a variety of scales. At £30 or $50US for both sets it’s a good deal and you’ll see why in a moment.
by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell
Here we are, at last, with a new version of ‘Hail Caesar‘ by Warlord Games. I hesitate to say ‘Hail Caesar 2‘ or call this book a sequel since even though this is an update to the original book, the main rules remain pretty much the same.
The original Hail Caesar book came out in 2014, and while it’s certainly time for a refresh, you can easily still play Hail Caesar with either book, though the newer one opens up Sieges and Late Medieval, clarifies diagrams, and includes generic scenarios. Let’s dive right in.
By Richard Steer
I’ve recently been thinking a lot about the impact of 3D printing on the historical wargaming hobby. My primary concern has been the threat that printing poses to the local shops and manufacturers who rely on selling products for their livelihoods, and what this means for the future of the hobby as we know it.
Into the middle of one of these periods of reflection, a new kickstarter landed that has reminded me of the huge potential that 3D printing has for growing the hobby: Potbelly Miniatures’ campaign launching a range of 28mm Hellenistic Judeans.
By Kreighton Long
When it came time to purchase my Italians I decided to go with Warlord Games. Their plastics have been excellent over the last several years and I figured why not give these a go. I can honestly say I wasn’t disappointed. The kits are easy to assemble with enough variety to have minimal duplications in your platoon. The sculpts are clean with good lines and deep contours that make highlighting that much easier when painting. I picked up one box of plastic infantry and the support teams box to get the meatball rolling. When I get to it I’ll add some vehicles and heavier support to really flush out my Italians into a force ready to take to the table. But first, we need to put paint to plastic.
By Tom Gall
Contained within the new September 2022 issues of Wargames Illustrated is a set of Napoleonic Rules call Valour and Fortitude. Jervis Johnson, Allen Perry and Michael Perry are the authors. The Perrys of course are from Perry Miniatures fame and Jervis Johnson a long-time and recently retired distinguished veteran from Games Workshop.
The rules started out as a 4-page system that expanded a bit after play testing over time. The rules are available online at Perry Miniatures as well as army lists and scenarios. The rules appear to be a living document and have already been updated to version 1.2 since their initial posting a couple of months back. (Edit – And now version 3 has been posted!)
I’m a long-time gamer of the Napoleonic era as well as a re-enactor. (French Fifer) It’s great to see activity for this time period of miniatures gaming. Locally our game group has primarily used Empire for large battles and either home brew for skirmish or Sharp Practice. ESR also deserves mention as it has recently attracted attention with its version 3 release and great campaign books.
Editor’s note: this story was originally published September 2020, and is presented again for your enjoyment.
By Tom Gall
There are a good number of quality WWII rulesets in existence, let’s explore some of these rules, point out what their strong/weak points are and compare what might draw you to one over the other.
The rulesets considered in this article are : (FOW) by Battlefront, by Too Fat Lardies, by Warlord, by Plastic Soldier Company.
Each of these rules is generally company level actions with support, for the most part, feature individual models, and focus on the WWII era. All are D6 based. All have extra material that offer campaign experiences, lists, and flavor to feel like you’re been given command with a battle to win. All are either point costed and/or have a list building system which makes it easier to put together a game.
This week, we’ll look at two of the four: Bolt Action and Chain of Command. The other two systems will follow were published here.
