Legacy of the Weirdboy, the first DLC for Sanctus Reach, just came out. You can expect my full review in a few days, but in the meantime here is a gameplay video to give you a taste of what you can expect. For once I make a video and actually win the scenario!

Watch it on Youtube

- Joe Beard

Don't say we never gave you anything! We have codes for a few games to giveaway, just be the first to comment below claiming one of the following games, then send an email to beardjoe33 at gmail dot com so I can get you the link. One game per person!


Kero Blaster   Blasted!
Simple Planes - Flew away!
Galactic Civilizations III - Claimed!
Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter - Gone!



- Joe Beard

WINGS OF GLORY: BATTLE OF BRITAIN

This game has a solid ancestry, first came Wings of War WWI and then WWII which morphed into Wings of Glory for both World Wars and its naval off-shoot Sails of Glory taking us back to days of wooden ships and iron men with Napoleonic encounters on the high seas [and my first review for AWNT].

Despite a significant number of additional planes for Wings of Glory WWII, its WWI focus has always seemed to draw greater interest, mainly I suspect because of the glamour of those early amazing machines with bi-planes and tri-planes and, of course, the Red Baron, Von Richtofen himself.

I certainly understand and share that pull of the beginning of aerial warfare and the birth of the Royal Flying Corps.  But being born  five years after WWII, my childhood was filled with Spitfires and Mosquitoes, Stuka dive-bombers and Messerschmitts and the Blitz and the amazing story of Douglas Bader as recounted by Paul Brickhill in his book Reach For The Sky.   Not to mention the many Biggles books [including the one linked to here Biggles Defies The Swastika] that span both WWI and WWII. 

WWII Ace Douglas Bader

So, Ares Games latest addition to their oeuvre of aerial combat has an enormous appeal.  Wings of Glory: Battle of Britain like its predecessor Wings of Glory: WWII comes as a stand-alone package which can act as a starter set or bring a further set of planes to your table if you've already embarked on the WWII series.

For those of you familiar with the mechanics of play and typical contents, you may wish to fast-forward to my comments and conclusions.  As always, the quality of the contents represents excellent value for money, starting with the four pre-painted model planes: 2 Spitfire Mk1s and 2 Messerschmitt Bf109 E-3s, each with its double-sided console marked for the Basic game on one side and Standard/Advanced game play on the other.

Four consoles [Basic side]

Inevitably, and necessarily, there are sheets and sheets of markers.  Many relate to damage and speed and, of course, each plane comes with its own deck of manoeuvre cards as well as three special ability cards.

The rulebook text is an identical replication in a compact 44 pages of the original Wings of Glory: WWII as are all the diagrams, though many of the reproductions of cards from the manoeuvre decks are different. 

Rules Booklet and Scenario Booklet

The essentially simple system, yet with a surprising scope in its rules, remains one of the major draws of this game.  The Basic Rules occupy a mere 6 pages and are ideal for providing an intro-level game to the beginner or younger player.  Personally, I'd recommend including the 3 additional pages of Standard Rules right from the start.  They add virtually nothing in terms of complexity and everything in terms of appeal.

Instead of planning and playing a single manoeuvre card at a time, you start with your first and second card planned.  From then on it's play first card, move your second card into the first slot and plan next card.  Admittedly, I miss the more prolonged choice of three cards which must all be played in sequence before planning the next set of three that is a feature of the WWI game.  But, the greater responsiveness and manoeuvrability of WWII planes are reflected by this two card sequence.

Spitfires at higher altitude prepare to intercept.

The other two additions in the Standard Rules are the classic Immelmann turn and special damage tokens.  As you can see, hardly a difficult trio of developments.  Even the Advanced Rules only goes 4 pages further and largely develops movement concepts - bringing in High/Low Speed, Altitude and the accompanying ability to Dive and Climb - slightly trickier to handle, but nothing overwhelming.

A closer view of those Spitfires

Similarly, a nearer view of their target - the Messerschmitts

The Optional Rules bring in a wide range of elements that certainly add to my enjoyment of the game.  Just some of them include: the potential for airfields and landing and taking off: fuel: cloud cover; extended crew damage and [my favourite] Ace Rules, which bring in a wide range of special abilities and Rookies too.

The next part entitled Special Airplanes is obviously preparing the way for further models, covering as it does two-seaters and multi-engine planes.  Once again, all these include excellent diagrams and illustrations.

Just one of the many excellent illustrations

Finally,  there's a small section  on Ground Units.  In part, they provide targets for bombing and the wherewithal to fire back at the planes.  The latter anti-aircraft guns have a very personal appeal as my father served in the Royal Artillery in WWII, manning A/A guns around the British Isles from as far north as the Shetlands to postings along the coast and the English Channel during the period of the feared German invasion and the Blitz.

The whole is contained in a very compact, well designed package - with just ONE problem - getting those superb models out of their recesses!!

Excellent packaging, with one drawback!

If you haven't bought into this system yet, then Wings of Glory: Battle of Britain is the perfect starting point and I'd strongly recommend buying a copy immediately.  If you have the previous starter set Wings of Glory: WWII, but haven't extended the range of plane types, then this package still offers great value for money  just by giving you 4 more planes.  These alone bought separately would cost you at least as much as this whole  product and would give you only the planes and their manoeuvre cards.  Buying the new starter package adds four more plane consoles, shed loads more markers, obviously another rule book and a separate booklet with Battle of Britain scenarios.

If you want to develop your squadrons, then there's plenty to attract you and Ares Games were very generous in sending the four additional planes displayed above which include the Hawker Hurricane Mk1 and the Junkers JU87 B-2, better known as the Stuka Dive-Bomber.  All these come with their own sheet of decals to customise each plane if you wish.

A final item worth mentioning is the series of  battle mats that can be bought to enhance any of the Wings of Glory games.  I hope even my photos do them enough justice to encourage your adding them to your must buy wish list.

So, dare I say, " Chocks away and tally ho, old boy!"

The Mongol Conquests

The Military Operations of Genghis Khan and Sube'etei 

by

 Carl Fredrik Sverdrup

 Genghis Khan, (I will use the spelling the author uses on both his and Sube'etei's names. I have seen them spelled three or four different ways) not the greatest conqueror in my eyes. That should be reserved for Timur, but Genghis Khan's descendants ruled the greatest land empire the world has ever seen, thanks in a large part to the actions of Sube'etei The Valiant. 

 Within the first pages of the book we learn that the Mongol war machine was based on the Khitan one. The Khitan or Liao empire ruled half of what was to become Genghis's empire in the year 1000 A.D. The Khitans were a nomadic people who invaded northern China, and then were assimilated as the later Mongols and Manchus.

 Many times I have read that the Mongol way of war and their empire blossomed in a sea of nomadic tribes that only Genghis Khan was able to conquer, and then let loose on the world. So this part of the book is a revelation to me about another nomadic empire only a hundred years before the Mongols swept forth.

 The book itself is separated into two parts. The first part is on Genghis Khans military operations, and the second part is on Sube'etei's. This is a book we have been waiting for for a long time. It is a no-nonsense strictly military history of the early Mongol conquests.  Before this we have had to sift through either hero worship or damnation of the Mongol warriors. Did I forget that the book has maps? Twenty four of them to be exact. They go from the earliest campaigns of conquering other nomad tribes to Sube'etei's later campaigns in Europe.

 The book goes into all of the great Mongol victories, but also presents their defeats. Again, contrary to many earlier books the Mongols did not just spread like the plague across Asia. The were unstoppable under good generals and beatable under others.

 Here is an excerpt from the book to show the author's conclusion about the Khwarezm campaign:

 " The march on Bokhara has capture the imagination of Western historians and commentators like no other Mongol military manoeuvre. Liddell Hart held:'Rarely if ever, in the history of war has the principle of surprise been so dramatically or completely fufilled.' The manuever quite likely surprised and unbalanced Muhammad as well as other military leaders, but it was hardly critical for victory: the Mongols were too strong. Had they marched directly on Samarkand they would surely also have prevailed easily. Temujin (Genghis Khan's given name) gained a quick victory because his army was very large and because the the enemy fortresses failed to hold out for very long. Muhammad was not a popular ruler: by 1210 he had only recently gained control over Transoxiana, and could not count on the cities to really support him. Transoxiana itself was economically weakened after the recent wars. The political and economic weakness of Muhammad probably explains better than the Mongol siege capabilities why the cities fell as quickly as they did." 

 The author also shows the reality of the Mongol invasions and shows that cities that surrendered were not wiped from the map. The death toll has always been shown that the Mongols left a veritable wasteland behind their armies. This was most certainly not the case.

 At the end of the book the author has a chapter called 'Conclusions'. He compares the distance between campaigns for Alexander, Timur, Napoleon, Genghis Khan, and Sube'etei. They are:

Alexander-  6000 kilometers

Timur - 6000 kilometers

Napoleon- 4000 kilometers

Genghis Khan- 5000 kilometers

Sube'etei- 8000 kilometers

 He continues discussing the Mongol battles, doctrine of war, and siege capabilities, and their terror strategy.

 Appendix 1: Is a breakdown of the Mongol armies' units

 Appendix 2: Is a listing of all of the battles of the Mongols and their Allies from 1191 to 1242 A.D.

 This book is a treasure. The closest book I can compare it to would be Chandler's 'The Campaigns of Napoleon', and should be on every history lover's bookshelf.


Robert


Book: The Mongol Conquests: The military Operations Of Genghis Khan And Sube'etei
Author: Carl Fredrik Sverdrup 
Publisher: Helion & Company
Distributor: Casemate Publishers