Warlord Games

by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell

Here we go, another game of Pike & Shotte by Warlord Games. This time we ‘run what we brung’. In other words, everything we have painted hit the table in a pitched battle. Scott has even managed to base all his units (since we saw in the first game). He is just awaiting flags to finish the units.

Scott is freshly back from the UK, where he was deployed for about a year. He was a member of the Abingdon Wargaming Club while posted to the UK and brought us back some shirts!

By Mike Rafferty

I really like gaming. I mean I write for a gaming blog and I run historicals at AdeptiCon, which probably means I’m at least fond of gaming. As I walk around my house, I have gaming stuff just about everywhere. Some would say I have a problem and should cut down. I say that I should find an excuse to build a new army. Enter Andrew Verticchio.

For those who don’t know him, Andrew runs the Bolt Action events at Adepticon. 2022 was my first year working with him and he’s an all-around great guy. When I found out he was running a tournament near me, I knew I had to go. The only problem was that it was a Bolt Action Tank War tournament, and I didn’t really have a force. Sure, I had some random German tanks that I bought because they were fun to paint, but nothing cohesive. It’s important for me to support the people I work with in their tournaments, and it should be a lot of fun. Plus, it gives me an excuse to scratch that new army itch. There was only one answer, buy a new force based around one of my favorite tanks the Cromwell and paint it all by November.

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 Troy Hill

Well, Warlord did it again.

They released a new game. That uses rules from their other games. For an entirely new game. Or something like that.

Combined Arms is both a stand-alone board game, and a campaign set for Warlord’s suite of World War II games, Bolt Action, Blood Red Skies, Cruel Seas, and Victory at Sea.

And my gaming group in Indiana has been salivating for a campaign system we can use. Warlord timed the release of the game well, right as gaming is ramping up across the globe after two years mostly in pandemic lockdowns.

By Mike Rafferty

This past March, Adepticon returned after a two-year hiatus (caused by “nothing in particular).

The convention once again returned to Schaumburg, IL. This was a different convention from years past, and not just because of the wait between conventions.

While Keyforge was held offsite in 2019, this year historical games were at the Hyatt giving Adepticon its first true offsite venue.

I volunteered to run this offsite venue and historicals to ensure that historical players, of which I am one, received a great convention experience. My long-term goal is that we can use this space to grow historicals at Adepticon and establish our own identity to stand along with the Games Workshop and Star Wars players at Adepticon.

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.

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 .

by Troy A. Hill

“For the love of God! Troy! Here we are painting up stuff in 28mm and you go batshit crazy in 12mm…” was what one of my local gaming friends posted under the photo of my newly arrived Epic Battles French and British Waterloo sets on Facebook.

He might be correct.

Warlord Games took a gamble on their Epic Battles Scale, and its first incarnation with the American Civil War (ACW). And that gamble paid off big. The napoleonic era seemed to be the next logical entry into the Epic Battles line. So I wasn’t surprised when I learned that Waterloo was the next focus for Warlord.

But why such tiny figures? Warlord is known as the go-to company for 28mm historical (along with their friends the Perry Brothers, who fill the gaps around Warlord’s ranges.) Why produce such a small figure size that doesn’t line up with the other majorly produced conventional scale?

By Troy Hill

After two years of miss or hit, mostly miss gaming, we’ve finally had our first Bolt Action tourney in North-East Indiana. Power Nine Gaming in Fort Wayne Indiana hosted our Rumble in the Fort, Bolt Action tourney. I was the humble Tourney Organizer (TO), and we hoped to have five tables. Going into the week, it looked like we might make that.

But, cold-like symptoms, such as sore throats, kept two players home. We ended up with seven players, and I jumped into the roster as the “ringer.”

By Troy Hill

The long awaited chance for Warlord Games to get a decent set of army special rules for the Italian forces is finally …. not here yet.

Don’t get me wrong. The new Campaign Italy: Soft Underbelly book is great when you hold it in the context for which it is intended. That being a historical approach to gaming the invasion of Sicily during Operation Husky and beyond.

For those Bolt Action gamers hoping for a new set of Italian Army rules that brings the Italian army into the competitive zone most other armies get in the game… yeah, that didn’t happen here either. In context, a competitive Italian Army wasn’t to be had in the invasion of Sicily nor the Italian mainland.

But, if you’re into a historical approach to your gaming, instead of just pounding away with the meta and special rules to dominate in tourneys, this is an excellent book.