Across the Bug River
Volodymyr - Volynskyi 1941
by
Vuca Simulations
Air power is abstracted by interdiction points that are decided by a rolled die by the German player. These can be either a 0,1, or 2. This is an important rule of the game:
Across the Bug River Volodymyr - Volynskyi 1941 by Vuca Simulations The Germans launched Operation Barbarossa on July 22nd, 1941. They ha...
For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!
Across the Bug River
Volodymyr - Volynskyi 1941
by
Vuca Simulations
March on the Drina WWI by Princeps Games Just as envisioned by Bismarck, a great Europeans war did occur because of "some damned fool...
For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!
March on the Drina WWI
by
Princeps Games
Just as envisioned by Bismarck, a great Europeans war did occur because of "some damned foolish thing in the Balkans". The Austria-Hungary grab of Bosnia Herzegovina is where it really started. By foolishly adding more Slavic people to its domains, Austria-Hungary had started the clock on a time bomb. There were two wars in 1912 and 1913 in the Balkans. First between the different Balkan kingdoms and Ottoman Turkey, and then between the Balkan countries over the spoils of the first war. Serbia had close ties to the Russian Empire and had always been at loggerheads with Austria-Hungary, especially after their grab of Bosnia Herzegovina. The bullet from Garolav Princep set in motion a slow starting and moving avalanche that soon crushed all before it. Three empires and their rulers would be swept away by the tide of World War I. Only after the greatest conflict up to that time had taken place did the dust somewhat settle. Many historians now classify the Second World War as just a continuation of the first. Did the freedom fighter/assassin (depending on your view) have any inkling what he had started in motion after he shot?
The Drina River is 215 miles long and was the western border of the Serbian Kingdom and the Austria-Hungary states of Bosnia Herzegovina. The Austro-Hungarian General in Chief Conrad von Hetzendorf believed that a part of his army could conquer Serbia very easily and then get on trains to fight Russia. This was actually in his timetable structure of the war. The Austro-Hungarian Army and Conrad were in for a very rude awakening. The Serbians fought like lions and not only defeated the Austro-Hungarian attacks, but also pushed some of their forces behind their starting lines. Serbia would not be conquered until Germany, and Bulgaria decided to help the Austro-Hungarians. Even then, the Serbian Army stayed together and helped defend Salonika (in Greece) after they were pushed out of Serbia proper.
The Sequence of Play is:
It is played in rounds, with each country's turn as follows:
Austro-Hungary
Germany
Serbia
Bulgaria
This is from the Rulebook:
"Each round is played as follows:
• The Calendar is adjusted to the next period.
• Players apply the effects which that period brings.
• Players play their turns at the order listed above. At the end of his turn, a player collects MCU (Military Capacity Units). When his turn comes, a player decides whether he will move all units, some units or no units. A player decides whether he will engage in combat or not. After that phase is finished, a player collects as much MCU as it is shown on NMCC (National Military Capacity Chart) and in that way he finishes his turn. When all players finish their turn, a round is over, The Calendar is adjusted to the next period and a new round begins."
The rules for the game are simple. Each unit can only have three strength points assigned to it. Only one unit at a time may attack. So, you cannot try for a two or three hex attack on one hex of the enemy. The Luck Cards mean that you can only guess at your actual attacking and defending strength. A Luck card is drawn by both the defender and attacker. Their value goes from zero to plus three. With its simplicity and the fact that there is no terrain benefit or hindrance the game may put off the real grognard players. This is a shame, because this is a great game to have around to play with newbies to the fold. The game mechanics of building up your forces or rebuilding them is deceptively deep. So, there is some meat there for grognards to chew on. I think the game is a nice change of pace from playing a really in-depth game with hundreds of counters etc. I believe Princeps Games have done a wonderful job on their first game. It introduces players to a very overlooked part of World War I and does it in a simple and easy way. The components are really well done and definitely catch the eye when you open this large box for the first time.
Princeps Games second game has been released. It is called 'Downtown Chase'. It is not a wargame, but from what I read it is a good game night Euro game. Links will be below.
Robert
March on the Drina:
March on the Drina - Princeps Games
Princeps Games:
Downtown Chase:
Downtown chase - Princeps Games
STARGRAVE: THE LAST PROSPECTOR from OSPREY GAMES Stargrave transports the fantasy RPG Frostgrave lock stock and barrel to a science fict...
For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!
Stargrave transports the fantasy RPG Frostgrave lock stock and barrel to a science fiction setting. Behind it all are Joseph McCullough, the prolific writer and creator of these two worlds and many other novels too and the publisher's Osprey Games.
Though RPGs are very much the outer rim of my gaming world, how could I resist the kind opportunity given to me by Osprey Games to preview this latest expansion to the Stargrave canon, especially when I discovered that it's due to be released on 28th April - my birthday!
In case any of you are totally unfamiliar with its origins, I'm going to start with the briefest of outlines . This core was presented in a substantial hardback book that gives you all the background, rules, stats and scenarios etc. Thematic art work and photos of diaramas taken from games adorn and enliven the text. We're dealing with a small unit, miniatures skirmish game set in a typical devastated and blighted galaxy. The rather long subtitle to the core game says it all- Science Fiction Wargames in The Blasted Galaxy.
There is a substantial gallery of miniatures that have been sculpted purely for this game, but it really is one game where you can bring virtually any existing figures, terrain and buildings you possess to your gaming table.
Your first task is to create a team made up of a captain, first mate and assorted crew then follow through the scenarios. Like most RPGs, the wealth of written material provides an excellent resource to create your own scenarios.
A free supplement introduced solo play, while the first published expansion, Stargrave: Quarantine 37 , landed your crew slap bang into a deserted research station where you can compete through the scenarios against other crews in two mini-campaigns or take on a solo mini-campaign.
The Last Prospector, the second supplement similarly presents a range of new elements and a new region of the galaxy to explore. The presentation is a glossy softback book of 86 pages. The introduction had me hooked at once. Though only two pages long, in it Joseph McCullough gives us a clear, succinct explanation of his intentions and inspirations. Three things leapt out at me.
Foremost was his desire to explore the connection between the genres of science-fiction and the western. This is a pairing very familiar to me as were his seminal references to Star Wars and especially Firefly, the sadly curtailed Josh Wheedon series and the film Outland which, as he notes, has often been compared to High Noon. Firefly in particular struck me as a particularly important influence on the geography and geopolitics of The Last Prospector.
The region in question, the Honoreb System, has become a backwater of the galaxy, though still a mineral-rich asteroid belt. Among its locations that will feature in the scenarios are Penthalia Station, a once vibrant and important hub, now largely decaying and derelict; Honera, a steamy jungle planet with originally three enclosed bases and Saint Mollia [or "Molly" for short] a vast titanic though abandoned ore carrier.
Next to seize my attention was his desire to depart from the linear progression of so many, many RPGs. Instead the Campaign provides a ten scenario arc of which only the opening and final episodes are fixed. The other eight can be played in any order. The suggestion is that the game players take turns choosing a scenario usually based on what each thinks will be most immediately advantageous and suited to the qualities, powers and abilities of their crew. My own instant reaction was, at some future date, to offer up this order to the random gods of the dice world!
The third detail that I was highly enthusiastic about is summed up in the following extract"...instead of a focused narrative , this campaign is based around a mystery and a location ... to solve the mystery, the crews must travel all over the system , searching for clues." Great idea was my immediate reaction - a game with not just sci-fi, not just westerns, but a whole touch of Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective too. Sadly this was my one disappointment. The disappearance of the old friend, the eponymous Last Prospector and his rumoured "big score" are simply what Alfred Hitchcock would have called the McGuffin. In other words they are the motivating trigger for the game's plot that sends your crews hither and thither across the Honereb System.
At this point, I think one other sentence from the introduction is important to quote: "I leave it up to the players to fit my work into their own imaginative framework." As Joseph McCullough stresses in his introduction, it's entirely up to the gamer whether you stick closely to his detailed descriptive script or not. This is very important comment for the whole creation of your table-top, as you'll see in the next section where I explore some of the scenarios. The fact that all bar the grand finale of the game is designed to be played on a 3'x3' table is a big plus for the gamer with limited space. However, the setup for many of the scenarios could task the physical terrain resources of the average gamer.
The fixed opening Scenario of the Campaign screams its influence from the classic western mythos in its title: The Barfight! The setup specifies the classic bar down one edge of the gaming table and various other familiar accoutrements such as tables and chairs. However, later scenarios grow more taxing in their requirements, such as a cavern floor with an upper level shelf running all around the edge of the scene. This is where the comment about using your own "imaginative framework" applies - in other words "do the best with what you've got". I've got to say that the suggestion of using 3" strips of paper didn't appeal. So, substantial quantities of packaging from a recent home purchase, plus extensive Stanley knife work, are going to be pressed into service.
Similarly, broken bits of polystyrene are in the process of being transformed into rocky outcrops that may serve both in some of the underground locations and on the planet's surface.
However, the thick jungle of a scenario like The Devil's Punchbowl will stretch my current resources considerably, though it will be one of the cheaper to beef up. Though behind my nascent rocks lurks one of the rare items that I possess which I need to greatly expand and spend on to furnish my jungle settings.
On the other hand, left-over creations made for my son's long past days of Warhammer 40K and Necromunda, plus my own Deadzone 2 building collection will certainly feature prominently in other scenes, as will many of the figures pressed into service from those games.
Trench War by Wisdom Owl/Fellowship Of Simulations Le Grande Guerre, or The Great War, was a cataclysmic event that completely changed th...
For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!
Trench War
by
Wisdom Owl/Fellowship Of Simulations
Medieval Military Combat Battle Tactics and Fighting Techniques of the Wars of the Roses by Dr. Tom Lewis The War of The Roses, between th...
For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!
Medieval Military Combat
Battle Tactics and Fighting Techniques of the Wars of the Roses
by
Dr. Tom Lewis
The War of The Roses, between the Lancaster and York factions, is a seminal point in English history. The Hundred Years War, fought between England and France, had given the various magnates and Lords of England an outlet for their rivalries and quest for more lands etc. The War of The Roses meant that England could no longer think of overseas expansion and had to deal with a war on their own island. This war saw the change from arrows to artillery and even handguns. Plate armor and the non-novelty of the longbowmen meant that these battle winners, according to most histories, in the Hundred Years War were just another force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. A longbowman was trained from childhood, through his whole life, to be effective on the field. The book informs us that that the archers' effectiveness in battle relied on many different things.
The author comes to a few conclusions in this work that will likely surprise people. His first one is, how long were the actual battles. Towton was supposed to have been a daylong affair. The book shows us that two lines of medieval soldiers hacking away at each other could only have gone on for a limited time. Soldiers on both sides had to break away from each other at least a few times. The weapons of the infantry, mostly poleaxes, and their armor would have made fighting for more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time the most one could expect from a human. Dr. Lewis also makes an interesting point about the actual reported losses in these same battles. Using Towton again, 28,000 men were supposed to have been lost. The figures for other battles are not as large but do represent a great number of bodies. The problem is that there are very few, to no mass graves, that would accommodate such a slaughter. Certainly, the lords would have been normally found and brought back to the family for burial, but not the average soldiers. He also suggests that even during a rout an armed soldier was not the 'easy pickings' that are usually portrayed. The routing soldiers were not throwing away their costly arms and stripping their armor off to run away as fast as possible. Plus, how fast could infantry actually chase the routing soldiers. Certainly, cavalry would be able to run down some, but how much physical endurance could one expect from a normal horse with an armored knight on its back?
This is an excellent book for the reader to learn about the actual fighting of a medieval battle compared to the Hollywood version we have stuck in our minds. It made me question my long-held beliefs that were instilled into me by earlier forays into books about the subject.
Thank you, Casemate Publishers, for letting me review this book. This is another fine addition to their large library.
Robert
Book: Medieval Military Combat
Author: Dr. Tom Lewis
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
FROM SALERNO TO ROME FROM DISSIMULA EDIZIONI This is only the second game to be published by Dissimula Edizioni and I would like to than...
For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!
A Wargamers Needful Things is a one stop blog for Wargamers, Military Minifig collectors, Toy Soldier collectors and military history obsessives. We will do our upmost to cover in depth as much as possible. We shall be reviewing books, miniatures\toy soldiers, MiniFigs and of course games, plus interviews, model making and AARs! Quote from a reader.. "Your site is a much needed breath of fresh air, I absolutely love the spectrum of things you cover/review. Keep up the great work. "
Follow Us