Home of Wargamers 2025 - Matrix 25th Anniversary

 This is the information about today's Matrix information filled expo.

Home of Wargamers 2025 - Matrix 25th Anniversary - Today at 18.00 CEST

A strong lineup of Matrix Games in one event!  Home of Wargamers 2025  will take place next week on Today at 6:00 PM CEST. As part of the celebrations for the 25th anniversary of Matrix Games, we will present the future of the Combat Mission franchise, exciting news about Armored Brigade II, and the new expansions for Rule the Waves 3 - Expanded Battles and Strategic Command: American Civil War - Concert of Europe.

This will be a unique opportunity to meet and hear directly from the developers of Rule the Waves 3, WEGO WWII: Overlord, Command: Modern Operations, Flashpoint Campaigns, Nuclear War Simulator. And there will be a truly special surprise for all fans of the War in the East franchise.

https://www.matrixgames.com/news/home-of-wargamers-2025-september-25th 

 Iron Squad

by

Princeps Games

On Kickstarter now

 This is straight from Princeps Games:

"Hello,

My name is Vukasin Nisavic and I am the cofounder of Princeps Games together with my brother Janko Nisavic. When we are not designing games I work as a legal adviser. My brother and I design games, playtest them and we are doing our best to deliver a fine product to the audience. Nothing new with ‘Iron Squad’ regarding this.

While playing board wargames it always bothered me how players can see the enemy’s units on the board. Even though there are some mechanisms which simulate the FOW system in computer games up to a point, all those systems were not quite there yet. There was always something missing. So, I decided to give it a try, and I designed a system that will allow the players to have the same experience while playing board games which they have while playing computer games.

 ‘Iron Squad’ was originally designed for our new ‘Fog of War’ system. We like to call it ‘revolutionary’. This system required a unique game management so we needed a simple game to start with and that’s how the ‘Iron Squad’ was born. Unfortunately, we found that mass production of this kind of FOW system was too challenging for our small company at this time, so we decided to do an overhaul of ‘Iron Squad’ and here we are. You would definitely have to check this FOW system in order to understand the scale of it. Here is the video if you’re interested

https://youtu.be/gIZgbsffANo

With ‘Iron Squad’ we wanted to offer a game with high replay ability, so this time we went for a game board design which will allow players to have a different terrain configuration in every game by using the ‘Terrain Tiles’. Also, a different setup of the game is possible thanks to the mini-map sheets which allow the players to set the starting position of their units in a different way every time they play the game. Players draw ‘Mission Cards’ and the player who completes the mission first is the winner. If this doesn’t happen until the end of round 12, the winner is the player with the most Victory Points.

There are so many factors which can lead to a different game. You have the ‘Terrain Tiles’ which bring new configuration of the game board. Then you have mini-maps which allow a different setup. Each player has 5 different Missions Cards to draw. In addition, you have a ‘Weather’ and ‘Day&Night’ modifiers. At the end, there is a very interesting combat system with a modified D20 dice which allow the players to choose the impact of luck.

‘Iron Squad’ is currently live on Kickstarter and you can check the campaign page and back the game by clicking on this link:"

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/princepsgames/iron-squad

These are two reviews I did of other Princeps Games:

The Battle of KhalKhin Gol July - August 1939 by Princeps Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

March on the Drina WWI by Princeps Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

This is a review that Polydor did:

FREEZING INFERNO - A Wargamers Needful Things

 Countdown to D-Day: the German Perspective

The German High Command in Occupied France, 1944

by

Peter Margaritis

 This book's timeline is from December 1943, with a bit of a prelude, until the actual Normandy Invasion on June 6th, 1944. This is a very large book and is just over 600 pages in length. It deals with the day to day lives of the major German officers during the above six-month period. It gives the reader incredible detail into the different views of the main characters and even their personal lives. 

 Field Marshal Rommel is clearly the main German officer of the book. Some of the book deals with the difference of opinion between Rommel and Field Marshal von Rundstedt as to where the German panzer divisions were to be placed. Rommel, well aware of the Allied air superiority, wanted the panzers very close to the beaches of Normandy. On the other hand, von Rundstedt wanted the panzers held farther back to hit the Allies with a large, armored fist when the exact area of the landings was known. Hitler, in his usual way, made a mish mash of both plans. So, we are left to conjecture and wargaming to try and find the answer to the question - was either Field Marshal, correct?

 The book follows Rommel around as he desperately tries to make Hitler's vaunted 'Fortress Europe' a reality instead of a pipe dream. Anyone interested in the infighting and actual thoughts of the German High Command before and about D-Day should read this book. The author's painstaking diary-like approach to every day during that time period is to be marveled at. 

 There is one caveat, at least for someone whose tastes mirror my own. That is, the book goes into too much personal detail about the characters' lives during those six months. I am not really interested in where Rommel ate lunch and dinner on March 15th, 1944. That being said, all of the juicy bits of history that I love are in this book. I just had to dig a little deeper to find them. I am also not a Rommel fan boy by any way shape or means. Had it delved more into von Rundstedt's life it is possible that I wouldn't have these thoughts about the book. On the other hand, Rommel was by far the busiest of the two commanders at the time and through his travels takes you to all of the different places on the Normandy coast. So, you may want to take my caveat with a grain of salt.

 Thank you, Casemate Publishers, for allowing me to review this large, interesting book. I read for the first time some interesting things about the time and the personal tastes of the characters. I knew that von Rundstedt liked detective novels, but I did not know that he was also an avid gardener. 

Robert

Book: Countdown to D-Day the German Perspective

Author: Peter Margaritis

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

 The Battle of Thapsus

Caesar, Metellus Scipio, & the Renewal of the Third Roman Civil War

by

Gareth C Sampson

 I do not believe that Gareth C, Sampson has ever written an ancient history book that I did not love. That he can make me feel this way with books about Caesar is even more amazing. This is the third book in a series of books about the main battles of the Third Roman Civil War. The author started with 'The Battle of Dyrrhachium' and then followed with 'The Battle of Pharsalus'. This book now takes you to North Africa, after Caesar's tryst and long stopover in Alexandria Egypt. The author shows that the Pompeians, or more correctly the Republicans, have taken the respite that Caesar gave them to build a large force to once again take the field against him.

 Mr. Sampson does not just take Caesar's word for what happened during this time period. This is contrary to many centuries of authors taking Caesar's books about the Civil War and before as Gospel. There are more ancient sources than just his writings to be studied and sifted through to find the real truth of the matter. The two earlier books in the series have shown that Caesar was close to being defeated several times. He also shows us that Pharsalus was not a crushing defeat of the Republicans as we have been taught before. In fact, a large number of the defeated army made its way to North Africa to try once again to defeat him.

 This third battle book is inappropriately named, as they all are. It is not just about the Battle of Thapsus. The book goes into everything that happened to get Caesar in North Africa both politically and militarily. It also goes through the whole campaign and not just the battle. It does not just gloss over the other factors and information but gives the reader a full picture of the contest of arms.

 Once again, the author shows us that this was not some slam dunk for Caesar. He did not land in North Africa and growl and the forces against him faded away like wraiths. The campaign and battle were just as much a seesaw as the other campaigns the author has brought to light. Caesar's recklessness and his wont to throw the iron dice of war are shown in their fullness.

 Thank you, Casemate Publishers and Pen & Sword for allowing me to review this excellent book. I am sorry to say that it does not change history and that Caesar still ends up as the winner. What it does do is take the reader 2000 years in the past to show them everything that matters to a lover of ancient military history. Of course, many of the maxims brought forth in the book are just as important now as they were then.

Robert Peterson

Book: The Battle of Thapsus: Caesar, Metellus Scipio, & the Renewal of the Third Roman Civil War

Author: Gareth C Sampson

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Distributor: Casemate Publishers