With this My Favorite Wargame Cards Series, I hope to take a look at a specific card from the various wargames that I have played and share how it is used in the game. I am not a strategist and frankly I am not that good at games but I do understand how things should work and be used in games. With that being said, here is the next entry in this series.
Card #66: Harwood’s Intuition from The Hunt from Salt & Pepper Games
I have played several hidden movement games over the years and enjoyed them all. Some of these titles have included wargames such as They Come Unseen from Osprey Games, Sniper Elite: The Board Game from Rebellion Unplugged and Bomber Command from GMT Games as well as a few board games including Hunt for the Ring from Ares Games. The concept of moving cautiously, attempting to evade pursuers, all while trying to locate and acquire or destroy objectives makes for a very interesting gaming experience. These situations can make for some really tense games that cause your head to ache and your wits to be tested. But they rely on some bluffing as well. Trying to force your opponent to anticipate where they think you should be and then trying not to be there. A really great mechanic in board games but not always easy to pull off and make for a very playable and interesting game. In 2022, we played a new design from Matthias Cramer and Engin Kunter that took this hidden movement concept and put it into a historically based game about the struggle over control of the South Atlantic between the British Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine during the early years of World War II called The Hunt from Salt & Pepper Games.
The Hunt is a Card Driven Game where the German player has to attempt to stay hidden while trying to sink merchant shipping as the Royal Navy hunts for them throughout the South Atlantic. The players each have asymmetric actions to use to accomplish their missions and each has a tough time doing what they have to do. But, if they manage their cards wisely, using them as effectively as possible, they can successfully either evade their pursuer or catch their prey.
In today’s post, we will take a look at the very useful British card Harwood’s Intuition. Harwood’s Intuition is a 5 Ops card, which makes it a very important card in the British deck as it allows for the taking of 2-3 actions in a single turn, but for which there is an even more important use as an ambush by playing it as a Reaction to a German action. If the German player ever searches for a Freight Ship in a space where there is a British Task Force, and Harwood’s Intuition is played as a reaction, the British will get a free Search action with a +1 DRM to the roll. Normally, a Search requires a 5+ on a d6 to be successful, but with this bonus +1 that will mean success on a 4+ which is a 50/50 proposition. And remember, the point of the game for the British is to find and sink the Graf Spee at the Battle of the River Plate. Such as tasty surprise card for the British! I know that when I play as the Germans, I have to always keep in the back of my mind that this card exists and that if there is a Force present, I have a risk of being ambushed. This is one of the elements that makes this game so good.
The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on December 13, 1939 and was officially the first British naval battle of World War II. In the months leading up to this infamous date, due to several successful sinkings of merchant shipping by the Graf Spee, the Royal Navy was ordered by Admiral Sir Henry Harwood Harwood to keep observation between Medanos and Cape San Antonio located off the coast of Argentina south of the River Plate estuary. In the lead up to the climactic final battle, following various raider-warning radio messages from the merchantman Doric Star, which was sunk by Admiral Graf Spee off South Africa, Harwood suspected that the raider would try to strike next at the merchant shipping off the River Plate estuary between Uruguay and Argentina. He ordered his squadron to steam toward the position 32° south, 47° west. Harwood chose that position, according to his dispatch, because it was the most congested part of the shipping routes in the South Atlantic and therefore the point at which a raider could do the most damage to enemy shipping. A Norwegian freighter saw Admiral Graf Spee practicing the use of her searchlights and radioed that her course was toward South America; the three available cruisers of Force G rendezvoused off the estuary on December 12th and conducted maneuvers.
Though generally considered a river, the River Plate has been considered by some geographers as a large bay or a marginal sea of the South Atlantic. Principally this is due to the River Plates enormous width, if we are considering it a river the widest in the world, with a maximum width of about 140 miles. Acting as the marine border between Argentina and Uruguay, the River Plate was a main artery of maritime trade and a gateway into the interior of the South American continent.
It was here that Harwood predicted the German raider would strike and his assumption made sense. The River Plate’s Estuary acted as a natural bottleneck for ships with perilous tides and sandbanks additionally hampering any ability for a British Merchant vessel to escape the guns of a German raider. So it was near the Estuary of the River Plate that Harwood’s H.M.S Exeter, Ajax and Achilles would make their stand. With their force concentrated here, on December 12th preparations were made and tactics drawn up in anticipation for an arriving adversary and to spring the trap and catch the elusive Admiral Graf Spee off-guard and send her to the bottom.
Here also is a link to our full video review of the game:
Martin Melbardis began his design career with Campaign: Fall Blau from Catastrophe Games. This was a very interesting little dice chucking solitaire game on Operation Barbarossa during WWII. Since that time, he has started his own independent wargame company called Solo Wargame and has designed 13 different and very interesting roll and write wargames on a plethora of subjects including World War I (Trench Tactics), World War II (Operation Barbarossa, Lone Wolf: U-Boat Command and War in the Pacific), Napoleonic Wars (Siege Works), the Crusades (Crusade: Road to Jerusalem) and Ancient Rome (Rome Must Fall). His newest game called Fliegerkorps is focused on the airwar during WWII and looks really interesting and I reached out to Martin to get a bit more information about the game.
Grant: Welcome back to the blog. What is your new game Fliegerkorps about?
Martin: Hello everyone, great to be back! Fliegerkorps, my newest game, is a solo operational air war game where you command a German Fliegerkorps (air corps) across one of three historical campaigns, The Battle of Britain, Barbarossa, or the Mediterranean. At the very beginning of the game you build your Fliegerkorps by choosing a commander to lead them and choose four aircraft cards to make up your air corps. During each of the fixed 12-turn campaigns, you manage your aircraft, fuel, and squadrons under mounting enemy pressure from air, land, and sea. You must complete enough missions to rack up Victory Points (VP) to influence the campaign before attrition grinds you down.
Grant: Why was this a subject that drew your interest?
Martin: I’ve always been in love with military aircraft for as long as I can remember, but honestly, it started with late-night YouTube rabbit holes on the Battle of Britain with those grainy clips of Spitfires vs. 109’s which got me hooked on the subject recently. After a few days, I came to the realization that I’ve never seen a wargame about managing an entire air corps. I’ve seen plenty of games about dogfighting or perhaps controlling a squadron of aircraft…but never at the corps level where you must deal with logistics, maintenance and planning sorties. I soon came to the realization that I wanted to design something that felt like you were commanding from a smoky ops room in 1940, watching your force slowly bleed out through attrition and sorties while high command demands more. One night I sketched a rough game design document on the idea and couldn’t sleep until I had the basics down.
Grant: What is your design goal with the game?
Martin: My goal was to create a light-to-medium operational solitaire air game that feels tense but stays streamlined and abstracted. I wanted players rolling dice, making meaningful decisions, and constantly weighing risk versus sustainability. Most importantly, I wanted to capture that operational rhythm of launching, suffering losses, refitting, and launching again.
Grant: What sources did you consult to get the historical details correct?
Martin: Core was the Rand McNally encyclopedia of World War II for consulting on general WWII aircraft histories, campaign overviews of the Battle of Britain, Barbarossa, and the Mediterranean Theater, as well as aircraft production and deployment timelines.
I’ll admit that I’m a total visual guy, and that shapes everything I design. YouTube documentary dives into Battle of Britain dogfights, early air war chaos, and Luftwaffe ops kept me fired up, motivated and increasingly informed on the subject throughout the entire Fliegerkorps development.
Grant: What battles are included in the game?
Martin: Battles in Fliegerkorps are more or less abstracted into missions rather than recreated tactically. For example, something like the potential invasion of Malta is represented through a Campaign Mission rather than a detailed operational scenario.
The game includes three campaigns: the Battle of Britain (1940), which focuses on an air supremacy grind, Barbarossa (1941), which blends air and land operations on the Eastern Front and the Mediterranean (1942), centered around convoy strikes, the siege of Malta and desert support. Each campaign has its own mission structure and pressure profile, so while the core system remains the same, the overall challenges change depending on the theater.
Grant: What elements from the early air battles of WWII did you need to model in the design?
Martin; I wanted this game to lean heavily into the simulation aspects of controlling an air corps in WWII and leave out much of the unit tactics involved in battles. Several key elements needed to be represented in the design were aircraft rotation between the Operational and Refit rows, logistical limitations, and escalating enemy pressure tracked through the Air, Land, and Sea Campaign Dice. I also wanted the game to reflect the reality that these campaigns were multi-domain efforts. Air operations rarely existed in isolation, they influenced and were influenced by events on land and at sea. It was important for me that the player could meaningfully affect the larger campaign across all three theaters: Air, Land, and Sea.
Grant: How does the player have to balance their missions, fuel, aircraft losses and worsening strategic conditions?
Martin: In the Mission Phase, all existing mission timers are reduced by one (if they reach zero, you fail the mission) and so missions can’t be ignored for long. If you allow timers to expire, penalties escalate with VP losses, Campaign Dice increases, or additional enemy cubes entering play. If you choose to engage those missions, it will cost fuel and you risk aircraft losses. Launching aircraft costs fuel and after attacking, you move the squadrons to the Refit Row on the aircraft card for maintenance. Larger aircraft like bombers take longer to recover than lighter fighters. So every turn becomes a balancing act. The tension builds steadily over the 12 turns, and that operational pressure is really what the game is about.
Meanwhile, Campaign Dice track strategic pressure in the Air, Land, and Sea sections. As missions and events accumulate, those values can possibly creep up. If a Campaign Die ever reaches 5+, Saturation penalties will apply and certain section-specific restrictions will come into play. This will reduce your options and make future attacks on that section even tougher.
Grant: How does campaign pressure from air, land and sea campaigns affect the player?
Martin: All Campaigns have on their gamesheet containing three Campaign Sections…Air (red for enemy fighters), Land (green for ground forces, AA, and infrastructure), and Sea (blue for convoys, naval logistics, and supply lines). Each one has its own Campaign Die that tracks how bad things are getting in that section. The higher the number, the worse conditions are getting for the Germans. Things such as more enemy pressure, tougher challenges, and nastier effects kick in. If a section becomes Saturated, it seriously lowers your effectiveness when dealing with that Campaign section. In addition, that sections’ specific penalty applies (like in the Battle of Britain, where the Land die at 5+ blocks any chance of rerolls.) Ignore any section too long, and the pressure snowballs across turns.
There is also the chance of a Campaign Collapse which happens if any two of those dice ever hit 6 at the same time (Air + Land, Sea + Air, whatever), the whole campaign falls apart and you lose immediately. No VP tally…it’s game over. It’s a tipping point where one front collapses and drags everything down with it.
Grant: What is the dynamic mission system? How does it work?
Martin: Missions are the central heartbeat of Fliegerkorps, popping up fresh each turn right in the Mission Phase. Each Mission has a die as a timer that you tick down by -1 each turn and meaning no mission lasts forever, and can expire if not completed in time. This does really well to reflect history by adding a sense of urgency to each mission.
Usually Missions are generated by rolling a 1D6 on the Standard Mission table for routine ops like fighter sweeps or convoy strikes and deploy enemy cubes in the section. However, if you land on a green spot on the Timeline? You Skip the roll and generate a Campaign Mission with bigger risks, but juicier rewards. Campaign Missions are unique, historical operations like the London Blitz or the Encirclement of Kiev.
Grant: What choices does the player have for building their Fliegerkorps?
Martin: I absolutaly wanted to include some sort of customization or army building mechanic in the game to allow players to build their own Fliegerkorps using a tight 25 Victory Point (VP) budget.
Before each game you start by choosing a Commander card and pay its VP cost. Commanders simply provide a single, but powerful, special ability. An aggressive option like Richthofen boosts offensive output, while others may reward efficiency or control. Always choose one that matches your style.
Next, choose exactly four Aircraft cards, keeping in mind theater and year restrictions. A mix of fighters, bombers and some Recon aircraft is usually best.
If you have unspent VP, you can always buy extra black Fuel cubes or white Iron Cross cubes (for clutch rerolls.) In Campaign-mode, after each Campaign, you get a chance to further upgrade your Fliegerkorps by buying upgrade cards, or exchanging aircraft cards as new aircraft become available in later campaigns.
Grant: What does an aircraft card look like?
Martin: Aircraft cards are the real stars of Fliegerkorps, they include fighter, dive-bomber, recon, bomber, or even heavy fighter wings, with 2-4 grey cubes each to track the strength of the squadrons that make them up. I honestly think one of my best design decisions for the game was to have an airfield diaroma on the top half of each of the aircraft cards which is further divided into the Operational Row for launch-ready aircraft cubes and the Refit Row, just below, for beat-up aircraft nursing wounds, maintenance and parts.
Each card also has attack ratings vs. Air, Land, or Sea, plus a special ability that will help you during the Campaign. In addition, each card also lists if it’s a Large or Small aircraft type (which affects some actions, the reasoning behind this is that bombers are much more “hangar queens” than small fighters.) Finally, all cards have a VP cost to buy them in your 25 VP build, a year availability and sometimes icons for Recon.
Grant: What is the ultimate player goal for the game?
Martin: The goal is all about how well you balanced your aircraft sorties to complete as many important missions as possible before time runs out. At the end of an intense 12-turn campaign it really boils down to pushing aggressive launches and attack tempo, against refit, recovery and the logistical limitations of WWII Germany. At the end of the game, you tally up those hard-earned VP’s from mission completions and lowering Campaign dice enough and check them against the Victory threshold table on your game sheet.
Grant: What is the layout of the Game Sheet?
Martin: The Game Sheet in Fliegerkorps is laid out so everything’s visible at a glance. I always try to make it as easy as possible for solo play without over-complicated charts or even flipping pages. The top left has the Timeline with 12 slots or turns. Green spots on the Timeline for triggering those rare high-stakes Campaign Missions and with the VP thresholds just above the Timeline.
The center is dominated by the three Campaign Sections (Air: red fighters, Land: green AA/ground, Sea: blue convoys and naval forces) while the top right lays out the Standard Mission and the Campaign mission tables. Finally, the Bottom right has the all-important Action Boxes.
Grant: How are Action Cubes used by the player?
Martin: In the Luftwaffe Phase each turn, you grab four Action Cubes (think of them as your command orders), and allocate them one by one into any empty slot inside any of the Action Boxes at the bottom-right of the game sheet. Slots are limited on certain actions and some slots cost more Fuel or gives less options than others. For example, the Logistic action allows you to pick three options such as recover a loss aircraft or gain fuel. However, using the same action a second time limits you to picking only two options. I felt that adding diminishing returns for repeated use of the same action would help prevent players from spamming certain actions.
Grant: How is the number of Action Cubes available determined each round?
Martin: Action Cubes are fixed at four Action Cubes every Luftwaffe Phase. Campaign effects, Commander abilities or upgrade cards can sometimes alter the available actions in a turn, but for the most part you will always be given four Action Cubes per turn.
Grant: What different orders does the player have access to? How do they affect the game?
Martin: Orders, or Actions, are where the player get’s a chance to react to the evolving Campaign. Some actions require Fuel and each action resolves immediately once placed. The available actions are:
Launch/Attack: Launch aircraft from the Operational Row of one Aircraft card to target a Campaign Section. Successful rolls remove enemy cubes, which may be placed on Mission objectives if possible. After resolving the attack, those squadrons move to the Refit Row.
Recon: Use Recon-capable aircraft to gain Recon points, which can be spent to re-roll dice, ignore Saturation, gain an extra action, or adjust missions and events.
Refit: Moves squadrons from the Refit Row back to Operational status. Larger aircraft recover more slowly than smaller fighters.
Martin: At the end of the 12-turn campaign in Fliegerkorps, you simply total your VPs from completed Missions and any Campaign Die bonuses earned for keeping pressure under control. You then compare that total to the Victory threshold. Each campaign has its own required totals. The difference between Victory and Brilliant Victory is simply a matter of having a few extra VP’s to upgrade your Fliegerkorps at the end of the campaign (not to mention bragging rights)
In Campaign Mode (or Linked-Campaigns), any VP earned carries forward and can be spent on upgrades for your Fliegerkorps, such as additional Fuel or Iron crosses as starting resources, upgrade cards or exchanging aircraft cards .
Grant: What are the loss conditions?
Martin: You lose in one of two ways…First, if at the end of the 12-turn campaign your total VPs fall below the required threshold of Victory listed on the Game Sheet. For example, in the Battle of Britain you need at least 11 VP to achieve Victory. Anything below that is a loss.
Second, you lose immediately if a Campaign Collapse occurs. This happens if any two Campaign Dice reach 6 at the same time. For example, the Air and Land Campaign sections both maxing out. When that tipping point is reached, the campaign ends instantly. This reflects the idea that sustained pressure across multiple fronts can overwhelm theoverall campaign of yourFliegerkorps. Ignore one theater too long, and the consequences will cascade quickly.
Grant: What type of experience does the game create for the player?
Martin: I’ve always enjoyed fast-playing management-style games where you’re juggling resources and trying to prevent systems from spiraling out of control. That feeling was something I really wanted to reflect with Fliegerkorps. At its core, the game is a compact operational simulation themed around running a WWII Luftwaffe air corps. Each playthrough runs about 30 to 40 minutes. I also added options for different force builds and campaign theaters to try and create strong replay value.
Grant: What other topics are you planning to create games for in the future?
Martin: Firstly, some big news… Catastrophe Games will soon be launching a boxed edition of my game, Campaign: Bagration on Kickstarter. It’s the direct sequel to Campaign: Fall Blau, but this time you’re on the Soviet side in 1944.
I’ve also begun designing a new game called Shock & Awe, centered on the 1991 Coalition air campaign against Iraq’s integrated air defense network. I’ve also been exploring something completely different, a fast, arcade-style air combat experience centered on piloting a single Cold War-era fighter such as an F-15, MiG-29, or F-16. It’s still in the conceptual stage but the idea will evolve.
Beyond that…my solo print-and-play pipeline always remains active where I’m planning to continue my epic WWII Roll & Write series, focusing next on a North African campaign or possibly D-Day. Smaller games like this allow me to finish them relatively quickly while keeping the designs accessible and portable. I may also put out a voting poll to backers soon to help shape ideas for a future project. There are simply so many wars and time periods still worth exploring, and to me, community input is always valuable. As you can probably tell, I have far more game ideas than time to fully develop them all!
Anticipation! Something that we feel for things that we are interested in, whether it be family trips, sporting events, time off, holidays or hobbies. Anticipation keeps our minds focused on something that we feel and hope will be a good thing that brings us great joy. I feel anticipation each year for the new wargames that we are going to get to play many of which we will have been waiting upon….sometimes for years. Each year since year 3 of the blog (having been started in 2016), I have posted this list highlighting my most anticipated wargames for the upcoming year. The list has grown each year with the first entry consisting of 11 games in 2018, then growing to 12 games in 2019 and 2020, ballooning to 18 games in 2021 and then settling on just 10 games in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and then 11 games in 2025. This year, I will focus on 15 games because I cannot help myself! In case you missed my post from last year, you can read that here: Most Anticipated Wargames of 2025!
Once again the same as I did last year, I wanted to put this caveat out there. The games chosen for this list might not fit your definition of a wargame. I feel that historical and wargames are somewhat interchangeable terms because of the quote from Clausewitz “war is a mere continuation of politics by other means”. Wargames to me are a broad category not simply relegated to hexes, counters and a CRT. Don’t get me wrong. I really like hexes, counters and a CRT. But wargames can include none of these three things and be considered wargames to me. But that is probably a debate for another time. Once this post is shared, I expect many comments and questioning statements from you our audience and I have come to actually “anticipate” reading these. So sit back, relax and get ready to have your paradigm about what a wargame is shifted!
Battle Commander: Volume I – Napoleon’s Italian Campaigns from Sound of Drums
I have been following this project for the past couple of years after it had a very successful Gamefound campaign in November 2024. I just really like the way the game looks to be laid out and executed and frankly anything designed by Carl Paradis has been good such as the No Retreat Series. Another tactical Napoleonics game sounds like something that I am very much in need of and am hotly anticipating this title. Battle Commander: Napoleon’s Italian Campaigns is at the Brigade/Division scale, is supposedly very playable, with no downtime or complex computations or mechanics. Because it is being published by Sound of Drums, the package will be super-deluxe, using a very large box, allowing the 2-sided mounted maps to be folded only once, game pieces will be painted-on wood blocks of different shapes, so no annoying stickers to apply, you’ll have a couple dozen blocks per side in a game, often less. Also, no dice, almost no markers, and the emphasis is on the gameplay!
The crux of the game engine will be the deck of event cards, that will also take care of all the combat results and other dice functions and the cube-pull mechanism, that will manage player unit activations, but also turn end, when combat and rally happens, and other similar game happenstances. It’s all a very granular affair. The whole package has a definite “Kriegspiel” look, with all the graphics done in a contemporary Napoleonic style, with a very different way of maneuvering units on the field of battle compared to other Napoleonic games.
From the game page, we read the following:
Battle Commander intends to recreate historical 18th-19th century battles. It features a fresh framework focused on providing two key aspects: command decision and maximum playability.
In Volume I, you act as Army Commander in a series of six dramatic Battles fought during Napoleon’s two Italian campaigns. Volume II will cover engagements of the Second and Third Coalitions, including Austerlitz and the Battle of the Pyramids.
In Battle Commander, you struggle against the chaos of battle, making meaningful high-level decisions, not micro-managing your troops: that’s your colonels’ job! Good card play is paramount for Battle success, but make no mistake: this is not a card-driven, but a card enhanced game.
Cube-pull activation is used to manage game phases (movement, combat, rally, card draws etc.), and cards for the interactive combat system and events, allowing for a myriad of possibilities and solitaire-friendly gaming. No dice, no complex odds counting, no markers, no play downtimes, no sure thing!
A persona card represents each Commander, his specific abilities and your Army’s resources; the all-important Subordinate Leaders are integrated in an innovative multi-role card system.
Morale and troop skill are a core mechanic: demoralizing the enemy goes a long way towards winning the fight, with Armies slowly degrading in performance, until the breaking point! Casualties are managed effortlessly, and a correct “Battlefield Look” maintained at all times. With a game piece count similar to Chess, you’ll be able to assess your going in one quick “coup d’oeuil”.
This one looks to be interesting! And Carl Paradis is a very good designer as we have played lots of his No Retreat! Series games and enjoyed them.
I am 100% confident that Battle Commander Volume I: Napoleon’s Italian Campaigns will be out this year and I am very much looking forward to playing it.
Valiant Defense Series Volume V: Guadalcanal: The Battle for Henderson Field, Oct 23-26, 1942 from Dan Verssen Games
The Valiant Defense Series originally designed by David Thompson has been one of my favorite solitaire wargame series of the past 8 years. Each of the volumes in the game addresses very specific situations and always have a very interesting take with fun mechanics, great art and fantastic production. The torch for the series though appears to be passing to a new designer in Vincent Cooper. He has been working on Guadalcanal: The Battle for Henderson Field, Oct 23-26 1942 for the past few years and it had a successful Kickstarter campaign in July 2024.
From the game page, we read the following:
Valiant Defense Series Volume V: Guadalcanal: The Battle for Henderson Field (Oct 23-26, 1942) from Dan Verssen Games is a solitaire wargame where players command US forces defending a fixed perimeter against waves of Imperial Japanese Army troops. It focuses on the pivotal four-day battle, utilizing card-driven AI to simulate intense, often nocturnal, combat, similar to Pavlov’s House.
Players will command the 1st Marine Division and the 164th Infantry Regiment, defending the Lunga perimeter against the Japanese 17th Army’s major October offensive. Similar to Pavlov’s House, you manage multiple layers of defense, including the Cactus Air Force (Wildcats and SBD’s), supply lines from Task Force 62, and the 11th Marine Artillery Regiment. The game emphasizes the “Night” setting of Guadalcanal’s jungle warfare, utilizing unique card illustrations to show Japanese columns advancing through the dense foliage toward your perimeter.
This all started about 3 1/2 years ago when I first played Pavlov’s House. I say played. I ‘played’ the game for about 10 minutes…and then I sat there in stunned disbelief at how a game could be sooooo good!!!! By the time I finished there were two very clear ideas for games fully formed. I contacted DVG to see if there was any interest and they put me in touch with David Thompson. I didn’t hold much hope. There was no reason for him to trust his IP to me, a person he didn’t know.
But I gave it a try and David, it turns out, is one of the nicest people you can ever come into contact with. After some back and forth, the idea for Guadalcanal – The Battle for Henderson Field was born (not, in fact, one of the original ideas, but we’ll see what the future holds for them…).
Art by the supremely talented Nils Johansson
Thank you to all the play testers, and in particular Glenn Saunders, Shane Freshwater and Martin Fenwick Charlesworth Much more to come from out design team in the near future!!!
The most recent update on this one’s progress says that the game was sent to the printer in December 2025 and that this process could take “months”. With that being said, my guess is that this will shipping in the spring, probably around April.
Volume II Civil War Heritage Series – Army of the Potomac: Campaigns of 1862 & 1864 from GMT Games
Several years ago, Mark Herman designed a very unique and simple American Civil War game called Gettysburg that appeared in C3i Magazine #32. That game became the basis for his new Civil War Heritage Series with the first volume being Rebel Fury that focused on five battles from the Chancellorsville and Chickamauga Campaigns. He has been working on the follow-up to that game and we finally will get it with Army of the Potomac.
From the game page, we read the following:
Army of the Potomac: Campaigns of 1862 & 1864 is the second volume in the Civil War HeritageSeries and the follow-up game to the innovative and acclaimed Rebel Fury. Army of the Potomac uses the same core rules as Rebel Fury, so players familiar with Rebel Fury will be able to jump right into the action. Each battle in Army of the Potomac is quick-set-up, quick-playing, and deeply interactive. The density of counters in each scenario is low, allowing you to see and experience the big picture of the battle.
Army of the Potomac covers the battles of Spotsylvania II, North Anna River, Cold Harbor, and the entire Seven Days battle (McClellan vs. Lee), including the prelude Seven Pines (McClellan vs. Johnson) when Johnson’s wounding brought Lee into the command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Each battle places you, the player, in the role of the Army Commander (Grant, McClellan, Lee, Johnson). You maneuver your army to find the enemy’s flanks, concentrate your forces for an attack, and determine where to commit your artillery assets.
I think that one of the most interesting parts is that this new game can be played with Rebel Fury as also included are two bonus scenarios to allow owners of Rebel Fury to fight Spotsylvania II and begin the Campaign scenario from Wilderness to Cold Harbor using their original Rebel Fury map.
While attending the WBC last summer, me sat down with Mark Herman and he gave us an overview and insight into the game and its focus. You can watch that interview at the following link:
If you are interested in Volume II Civil War Heritage Series Army of the Potomac: Campaigns of 1862 & 1864, you can pre-order a copy for $49.00 from the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-1108-army-of-the-potomac.aspx
The most recent update from GMT Games from late January was that Army of the Potomac is currently at the printer but doesn’t have an expected shipping date as of yet. My guess is this one will be on our tables sometime in early summer.
First Man in Rome – Strategikon Book II: The Civil War and the Fall of the Republic from Thin Red Line Games
If you are a monster wargame fan then you are probably familiar with Thin Red Line Games and the genius behind the madness Fabrizio Vianello. They are a small but passionate publisher and my favorite thing about them is that Fabrizio speaks in his military jargon so fluently that it is such a thematic boost to the games they produce. Over the past couple of years, we have posted interviews with Fabrizio covering their Cold War Gone Hot games called Die Festung Hamburg and In a Dark Wood as well as the first game in a new Ancients series called The Fate of All: Alexander’s Campaign Against the Persian Empire. Following along in that Strategikon Series is the new volume called First Man in Rome that was announced during the fall of last year.
From the game page, we read the following:
Citizens, the creation of the great mosaic depicting the beleagured civil war between Caius Iulius Caesar and Cneo Pompeius Magnus continues!
As already discussed in the Senate, we intend to represent the entire civil war, from the crossing of the Rubicon in 49BC to the defeat of the last Pompeian forces in Spain in 45BC. So it’s not just a glimpse of this epic confrontation, but the whole struggle for the greater good of the Res Publica.
I can now share some details on the map, almost at its conclusion. The map will be probably divided in six parts, each one with the size of a “standard” map. Due to the enormous extension of the conflict, the scale has been increased from 30km to 60km per hex, and the rules will be adjusted accordingly.
If you are interested in First Man in Rome– Strategikon Book II: The Civil War and the Fall of the Republic, you are encouraged by the designer to reserve a copy immediately by writing a votive tablet (email) to info@TRLGames.com! Don’t miss your chance to join the Legions and defend the Res Publica!
Rising Dragon: Platoon Level Combat in 2034 from Flying Pig Games
Several years ago, we played a very fresh and innovative wargame called Armageddon War, which is a platoon level scenario based game set in the near future. The game focuses on the Mid-East, pitting Israelis, Russians, and Americans against age-old adversaries. The game felt very fresh and new as it adds a few new tricks to a tried and true hex and counter tactical wargame system. And Flying Pig Games pulled out all of the stops on production with huge hexes, beautifully large counters and custom dice. Now, finally, Flying Pig Games and Greg Porter are unveiling the next volume in this series called Rising Dragon: Platoon Level Combat in 2034 and it looks awesome!
From the game page, we read the following:
October 1, 2034 marks the beginning of the conflict that unfolds in Rising Dragon, a standalone game and campaign setting for the Armageddon WarSystem. With the United States turning inward in the wake of the catastrophic ‘Armageddon War’, China seizes the moment to assert its territorial claims, letting the world know that it is now the unchallenged power in the region. This sets the stage for a military showdown that spans East Asia, with Taiwan at the epicenter.
Platoon Level
Scale of 150 meters per hex
15 minutes per turn
Continuous Chit-pull Activation
18 stamped dice for combat resolution
Naval, amphibious, and urban conflicts
Age: 14+
Players: 2
Playing Time: 1-3 Hours
Scenario based
The game introduces cutting-edge technologies, including hypersonic missiles, advanced amphibious operations, and features detailed maps that bring the battlegrounds of Taiwan and the wider region to life. Scenarios include the Chinese invasion of Taiwan, where hypersonic missile systems like the PRC Heaven Sword devastate Taiwanese defenses.
OPLAN 5027 Supplement
OPLAN 5027 expands the conflict further, introducing North and South Korean hostilities, where players can engage in both the defense and offense of Korea’s border zones. With Rising Dragon, players can immerse themselves in a fast-paced, near-future conflict, where technological advancements and strategic decision-making determine the fate of East Asia.
Gameplay is continuous and fluid. There are no turns, just continuous activations. The intensity of a unit’s close combat modifier is determined not only by its weapons but also by the tactics you choose to use for the assault or defense, and when you fire on a unit, it has the option of taking cover or returning fire. The number of dice and the color of dice rolled, determine the number of hits.
Formations are activated by chit draw (nothing new there), but returned to the draw cup not at the end of a turn, but rather in a continuous manner. When chosen, a formation marker is placed on the activation track, to the right of the last-drawn formation. When only one chit remains in the cup, the two leftmost chits are returned to the draw cup. Simple, continuous.
I am unsure if this title will be ready this year but am hoping that it it. The Kickstarter campaign was funded in November and I see no reason why this cannot be fulfilled by the end of the year.
Rebel Tide: The American Civil War, 1861-1865 from Compass Games
There is no secrete that we really enjoy Gregory M. Smith designs and we also count him as a close friend so take that for what it is worth. He is a great designer and has put together some of our favorite narrative-driven solitaire wargames, such as Silent Victory, The Hunters and The Hunted, but also has done some great 2-player strategic level games on various historical periods including Imperial Tide, covering WWI, and Pacific Tide, taking on the Pacific Theater of WWII. His new game in the system deals with the American Civil War and is called Rebel Tide.
From the game page, we read the following:
Rebel Tide: The U.S. Civil War, 1861-1865 is a two-player strategic level game that places you in command of either the USA (Union) or CSA (Confederacy) during the Civil War. Each turn consists of a year, during which multiple card plays occur. These give the players movement, combats, entrenchments, and other actions. At the end of each year, players must make critical decisions on which cards to re-buy in an attempt to win the war outright or to win by placing the other side in a disadvantageous position by 1865. Rebel Tide is based on the popular, action-packed Imperial Tide/Pacific Tidegame system by Gregory M. Smith, with many combat and strategic decisions to challenge players in just a single evening’s game.
The core of the game is the unique card re-buy system, in which players take their annual production (adjusted for blockades and blockade runners) and decide which cards they need for the upcoming year. Cards not only provide for reinforcements, but allow for movement, combat, and entrenchment. Which cards to rebuy is without question one of the key decisions the player must make to prepare for next year’s operations.
The game has infantry units for all of the major participants, cavalry, and artillery units. Naval operations are mainly abstracted, although the Confederate player must worry about Farragut invading a port from the sea. Besides the focus on card play, the game features a small footprint (one standard map) and also is designed to be played in just a single evening – estimated at 3 hours for experienced players to fight the entire war.
But don’t worry because the game is not just a reskin of the same system used in those other two games, although the system is really interesting, but instead attempts to create new mechanics and elements to tell the proper story of the struggle for the soul of the country in the 1860’s.
One new mechanic in Rebel Tide is the Political Track, which is an abstract measure of the support of England and/or France to the Confederacy. If this track reaches the maximum early in the war, it can trigger an early CSA victory.
Another new key mechanic in the game system is the addition of historical Leaders, who range in ability from excellent (5) to poor (2). Bad leaders may be “sacked” and removed from the game and randomly replaced by the expenditure of a movement action. Leaders are vital in advancing after combat and also can add strength to an attack’s total combat power.
While attending WBC a few summers ago, we had a chance to sit down with Gregory M. Smith to cover a few of his upcoming designs and Rebel Tide was included in that discussion. Here is a look at our video interview with Greg:
As of February, Rebel Tide was the 4th next game to be published according to Compass Games website so I would think that this will be in our hands early summer.
Brandywine 1777 – A Time for Heroes from Les 3 Zouaves
As you know, I love a good game about the American Revolution and last fall (September) month I noticed a new game going to Gamefound on the Battle of Brandywine Creek on September 11, 1777. The game is from a new company that I don’t know much about called Les 3 Zouaves but looks really great.
From the game page, we read the following:
The smoke of musket fire hangs in the air. The Brandywine River glistens behind your lines. Across the field, redcoats are on the move — and one bold decision could tip the balance of the entire Revolution.
You hold command.
Will you outwit your enemy? Will you strike with daring precision, or hold the line against impossible odds?
Play as General Howe or General Washington in a tense, card-driven clash of minds.
Every decision matters. Every move could rewrite history.
And only one can emerge victorious.
Brandywine 1777 is more than a battle: It’s your chance to prove you are a true tactician… a hero of the Revolutionary Wars.
In Brandywine 1777, you assume the role of George Washington, facing a bold and elusive enemy. Activation Cards are your principal tool —used to commit your forces at just the right moment… if you can anticipate the British plan.
But it’s never that simple. Each card lists several potential formations—some real, some misleading—and you’ll never have enough activations to do everything you need to do. Choose wisely, bluff cleverly, and stay one step ahead.
You’ll be balancing:
Major activations – few in number, but vital,
Minor activations – flexible but limited,
And Bonus activations, which cost precious cohesion but can turn the tide when used effectively.
This one is a stretch to add to this post but once again I am being optimistic.
Limits of Glory Campaign V: Donning the Sacred Heart from Form Square Games
A few years ago, we became acquainted with Andrew Rourke through his Coalitions design from PHALANX that went on to a successful crowdfunding campaign and is a game that I am very much looking forward to and have been since that time. He has since been a busy guy with starting his own publishing company called Form Square Games and also publishing the first 3 designs in a new series called Limits of Glory that will take a look at the campaigns of Napoleon and other contemporary conflicts. In Campaign I, which is called Bonaparte’s Eastern Empire, the game is focused on the campaign of the French in Egypt between 1798 and 1801. Campaigns II, III and IV are Maida 1806 and Santa Maura & Capri. Last year, they ran a successful crowdfunding campaign for the fifth campaign and volume in the Limits of Glory Series and it is set during the French Revolution and the Civil War in the Vendée in 1793 and is called Donning the Sacred Heart. I very much have enjoyed our plays of this series with its use of Glory and chance in managing your leaders and their inherent elan and leadership.
From the game page, we read the following:
The French Revolution was not welcomed by all in France. The staunchly Catholic and Royalist leaning Vendée Militaire was a region unwilling to sacrifice its youth to the voracious appetite of the Republic’s military conscription machine, and the people of the Vendée were prepared to fight to defend their beliefs. Donning the Sacred Heart covers the vicious Civil War in the Vendée from March until December, 1793. All combatants and significant commanders are included and the game causes Multiple strategic decisions every turn. Your decisions will decide victory or defeat, the easy to play mechanics produce a subtle game with full player agency. Complete player engagement throughout.
Tension builds as the Event Clock drives the game, neither player being able to depend on events going their way, or knowing when the game will end.
I would expect this one to be fulfilled in late summer as the most recent update in late January was that the games would be shipping soon.
An Impossible War: The First Carlist War in the North, 1834-1838 from Bellica 3rd Generation
A few years ago, we did an interview with David Gómez Relloso covering his well thought of Crusade and Revolution: The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 from Compass Games that was getting a deluxe edition and on Kickstarter at the time. Since that time, we have played the game and really enjoyed it. Recently, I spoke with Francisco Ronco and he informed me that his company Bellica 3rd Generation was doing a new game by David called An Impossible War. That game covers The First Carlist War in the North of Spain and is currently in the process of being fulfilled so it won’t be long now.
From the game page, we read the following:
An Impossible War is a game about the decisive years of the First Carlist War in the North. Infantry and cavalry are represented by blocks, which introduce fog of war into operations. There are also artillery counters (field and mountain artillery) and logistics units (supply trains and backpacks).
The main map is a point-to-point board covering the northern theater of operations: Navarre, the Basque Country, and surrounding areas of La Rioja, Burgos, and Cantabria. In addition to provincial capitals, major towns and other localities are shown, along with primary and secondary routes of communication. There is also a smaller map of the rest of peninsular Spain, showing the regions affected by the Carlist uprising and allowing expeditions being launched from the North.
Each turn, players compete for initiative and carry out a variable number of actions. There is also a card deck for each side, including historical, operational, and tactical events. The cards add background and unpredictability to the game, helping make each session different. This is NOT a card-driven game, but one assisted by cards.
An Impossible War simulates the historical conflict, which featured numerous skirmishes, few major battles, and significant siege warfare. It is an asymmetric game in which each side has strengths and weaknesses. Players must exploit their advantages and mitigate their disadvantages to achieve victory.
The Carlist player must make use of superior mobility and unit quality to consolidate territory, wear down the enemy, and threaten cities. The Liberal player must contain and suppress the insurrection; they have more troops, but of lower quality and plagued by logistical nightmares. Additionally, they must quell uprisings and chase down Carlist expeditions across the rest of Spain.
If you are interested in An Impossible War: The First Carlist War in the North, 1834-1838, you can order a copy for 120,00 € from the Bellica 3rd Generation website at the following link: https://bellica3g.com/en/product/una-guerra-imposible/
This game just recently became available and I actually own a copy and am in the process of doing an unboxing video0 and learning the rules to play it with Francisco Ronco (owner of Bellica 3 G) at the end of the month.
Song for War: Mediterranean Theater from Invicta Rex Games
While attending Buckeye Game Fest in the spring of 2022, we met two new designers who had a very cool looking prototype copy of their new game setup in the War Room called Song for War: Mediterranean Theater. Chris Helm and Seth Stigliano were really nice guys who obviously had put a ton of time into their game and it was immediately evident that this was going to be a different experience. Unfortunately, because of our crazy schedule of events and already committed to games at the convention, we were unable to sit down and play the game but did get a quick overview and crash course into the design as well as a good look at the awesome components.
The game was funded on Kickstarter in 2025 and we have been told that the game will be available by the end of 2026.
From the game page, we read the following:
Song for War is a tabletop strategy game based in the contested regions of southern Europe, north Africa, and the Mediterranean Sea during World War II. Representing one of four nations, players must work together as the Allies (US or Great Britain) or Axis (Germany or Italy). Players have the option to set strategy, move units, attack and defend as individual nations or simultaneously as the Allied or Axis team. Innovative mechanics allow players to deploy their land, sea, and air units strategically as combined forces, with faster units moving first and more often, followed by heavy units with stronger firepower. Take strategic objectives, control shipping lanes and resupply, deploy new technologies and units, and recreate historical events to defeat the enemy and win the day.
One of the best parts is the asymmetry built into the design for each of the nations. This gives the game some feeling of reality versus everyone just having the exact same units with the exact same abilities. I also am really interested in each nations’ special units and want to see how these things work and feel as the game is played.
Fellow content creator Zilla Blitz did a preview for the game in 2023 and you can check that out at the following link:
If you are interested in Song for War: Mediterranean Theater, you can pre-order the game at the Invicta Rex Games website at the following link: https://www.invictarex.com/songforwar
The Lions of El Alamein from VentoNuovo Games
Last year, while perusing the internet, I found mention of an upcoming block wargame on the battles in and around El Alamein in World War II from VentoNuovo Games. The game covers the Axis and Commonwealth Forces clash in the North African Theater in Egypt during 1942 and really looks to be pretty interesting. The game is called The Lions of El Alamein and was successfully funded on Kickstarter.
From the game page, we read the following:
What is The Lions of El Alamein? North Africa, 1942.The Battles of El Alamein were a series of battles fought in Egypt between Axis and Commonwealth forces between July and November 1942.
The terrain of El Alamein, close to the Qattara Depression, was chosen by the British after the Tobruk rout because it was the only geographical segment that could offer a defense in depth capable of protecting the Nile Delta and the Suez Canal. The game offers five scenarios to play all the battles fought at El Alamein from July to November 1942.
A turn is made of Impulses and each turn represents a month of real time. Each hex represents a distance of about six kilometers from side to side. Units vary from brigades to battalions, most of them HQ’s, armored, artillery, motorized, or infantry. The game employs the newly developed SLIT engine.
Complexity depends on the scenario played and the optional modules applied, thus varying from 2 to 4 out out of 5. Average game duration is less than a hour for the short battles, and about 1-4 hours for the three major battles.
There was supposed to be a series of these small interviews in a run up to the Kickstarter but there was a language misunderstanding (that I still cannot figure out) and I believe that I offended the parties involved and the series was cut short after just one entry. Shame really as I was liking what I was seeing and hoping to bring more of it to you!
I recently received a shipping notice on that one and would expect it to arrive by the end of February.
Model’s Counterattack: The Battle of Radzymin and Bagration’s End from Dissimula Edizioni
A few years ago, Sergio Schiavi broke onto the scene with his new company called Dissimula Edizioni with their first Kickstarter called Radetsky’s March: The Hundred Hours Campaign and that game was then followed a few years later by From Salerno to Rome: World War II – The Italian Campaign, 1943-1944 and then their third game called Give Us Victories: The Chancellorsville Campaign. Now, they have launched a very interesting looking East Front wargame during the summer of 1944, after Soviet forces launched a series of offensives that annihilated much of the German army but Field Marshal Model rallied some intact forces and counterattacked managing to halt temporarily the Soviet forces. This game is called Model’s Counterattack: The Battle of Radzymin and Bagration’s End and is currently available.
From the game page, we read the following:
In the summer of 1944, Soviet forces launched a series of offensives that annihilated much of the German army. During their advance they went as far as the Vistula, arriving near Warsaw. Field Marshal Model, by rallying some relatively intact forces and counterattacking, managed to halt, at least temporarily, the Soviet forces. While all this was happening east of the Vistula, the city of Warsaw rose up behind it…
The game lasts a total of ten turns; during each turn both players, altering each other, move and fight with their forces on the map, trying to conquer or defend key positions. During the course of the game some particular historical events may occur such as the arrival of reinforcements or the Warsaw uprising. At the end of the game, the victory conditions are checked and victory is awarded to the player who scores the most points.
Each hex on the map represents a distance of approximately two kilometers, side to side. Each turn represents one day of real time; units vary from brigades to battalions. The map represents the area where the main bales took place, east of Warsaw. Above it is printed a hexagonal grid which serves to regulate some aspects of the game. Warsaw is considered as a single area, an area where only German forces can transit or mass. Tables and tracks are printed on the map and are used to record and regulate some game functions:
Game Turn Track
Track for the Warsaw Uprising
Track for the allocation of German forces in Magnuszew
If you are interested in Model’s Counterattack: The Battle of Radzymin and Bagration’s End, you can purchase a copy for 59 € on the Dissimula Edizioni website at the following link: https://www.dsimula.com/model
COIN Series Multi-Pack IIThe Guerrilla Generation: Cold War Insurgencies in Latin America from GMT Games
Stephen Rangazas has been active behind the scenes over the past few years with his development work on Fall of Saigon: A Fire in the Lake Expansion. He used his background and research capabilities to great effect as he did the background work on the Event cards for that game. From that experience, he has now come forward with a few of his own designs in The British Way: Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire, which was announced in 2021 as well as Sovereign of Discord announced in 2022. Now, he is working on a new COIN Series Multi-Pack that deals with insurgencies in Latin America during the height of the Cold War called The Guerrilla Generation.
From the game page, we read the following:
The Guerrilla Generation: Cold War Insurgencies in Latin America is the second COINMulti-Pack, containing four separate games exploring a series of thematically related insurgencies. Building on the The British Way, this new multipack allows players to explore variations in insurgent groups’ organizational structures, strategies, and relationship with civilians, across four insurgencies in Central and South America between 1968 and 1992. During this part of the Cold War era, Latin America experienced an incredible number of different insurgent groups, many inspired by the Cuban Revolution featured in Cuba Libre, ranging from popular backed rural insurgencies, flexible urban guerrillas, externally sponsored raiders, and brutal ideologically rigid groups. This multipack features a game exemplifying each of these types of insurgencies, to offer players the chance to compare different approaches to rebellion highlighted in the quote by scholar Jeremy Weinstein above. The Guerrilla Generation also offers four longer and more complex individual games than those found in The British Way, as well as an entirely different approach to the linked campaign scenario, which combines two games into a simultaneous side-by-side experience.
This Multi-Pack includes four full games in one box, which is a fantastic value that will allow players to explore four different conflicts set during the height of Cold War Latin America between 1968 and 1992. Each game uses a unique ruleset building on the same general mechanical structure, ensuring that they are easy to pick up while still offering a distinctive experience.
I also love these Multi-Packs because they have a small board footprint with each of the 4 games playing in under 2 hours and taking place on a single 17” x 22” board. But, the game doesn’t just treat these games as individual as they are designed to experience at least a portion of the full span of the period and be used to learn more about these insurgencies.
There is also a “Resisting Reagan” Campaign designed into the game. A linked campaign scenario allowing up to 4 players to play El Salvador and Nicaragua side-by-side, with new mechanisms to represent the Central American peace and solidarity movement’s efforts to resist the Reagan Administration’s aid to both the Salvadoran government and the Contra insurgency, by influencing Congress and American public opinion.
In the most recent GMT Games update from January, the game was listed as being at sea, meaning that it has been printed and is in transit to the warehouse. Hoping that this one sees our table in April/May.
Small Battles of the American Revolution, Volume I: The Battle of Cowpens
While attending the World Boardgaming Championships in July 2024, I was able to meet up with Dave Stiffler (acting as Developer on the project) and Bruno Sinigaglio who is the designer to get an early look at the upcoming debut release in the Small BoAR Series called The Battle of Cowpens.
I didn’t get any pictures because they didn’t have the components along to show but learned a lot about the design and how it changes the Battles of the American Revolution Series from GMT Games. First off, the scale is the major difference as it is 1/8th of the scale used in the normal series. This means 25 yard hexes and 2-3 men per counter. They also have included both rifle fire and musket fire which is a change as musket fire is simply an abstracted part of the close combat mechanic in BoAR. They also have added some new mechanics to account better for things like morale and being shaken or even shattered.
I have known about this game for a while now, actually nearly a few years or so, but am very excited to see this one see the light of day and hope that the reception is great and that the game does well because I would like to see more small battles covered in future volumes.
From the game page, we read the following:
Two critical battles were considered turning points in the American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Saratoga in New York and the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina. The Battle of Cowpens was a catalyst to a series of events that led eventually to the surrender of the British at Yorktown. Small BoAR Volume I, The Battle of Cowpens, puts players directly into the milieu of this decisive contest.
The goal of the Small BoAR design concept is to include small yet critical battles that otherwise do not fit the scale of the historically simulating and highly successful Battles of the American Revolution (BoAR) system designed by Mark Miklos. This new system, aptly termed Small Battles of the American Revolution (Small BoAR), was designed by Bruno Sinigaglio working closely with Mark Miklos to preserve the continuity and popularity of the original Battles of the American Revolution game system.
Although extremely important to the history of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Cowpens involved slightly over 1000 participants per side. In the Battles of the American Revolution system, which represents 100 men per strength point, this would equate to only ten or so combat factors per side. The scale for the battle of Cowpens, on the other hand, is 12 men per strength point, or one-eighth that of the BoAR system. The map scale is also correspondingly reduced to 25 yards per hex from the BoAR scale of 200 yards per hex. The time scale is approximately four minutes per turn as compared with one hour per turn in BoAR.
I think that one of the best parts of this new series, aside from the size and scope of the battles covered being smaller, is that they have not just rested on their laurels and reproduced the BoAR System but have added new mechanics and elements to better deal with these battles and to model the smaller scale battles.
Although Army Morale, the game-within-the-game in BoAR, is faithfully preserved in Small BoAR, and the Small BoAR sequence of play resembles that of BoAR and will look familiar to anyone who has played games in the original series, certain novel elements appropriate to the new scaling have been added. These include:
The ability to designate cavalry units in reserve
Artillery Fire conducted both offensively and defensively
Simultaneous ranged musket Fire as a complement to ranged rifle fire
A Cavalry Reserve Phase where units designated in Reserve may charge after the normal Close Combat Phase
And Opportunity Card Management
As mentioned earlier, I had the honor of sitting down with Bruno Sinigaglio and Dave Stiffler to discuss this new series and The Battle of Cowpens. Here is a link to that video interview:
If you are interested in Small Battles of the American Revolution, Volume I: The Battle of Cowpens, you can pre-order a copy for $48.00 from the P500 game page at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-1140-the-battle-of-cowpens.aspx
In the most recent GMT Games update from January, the game was listed as going through final art and proofreading so production should be in the next few months and possibly this one will be ready in the fall.
Imperial Borders – The Congress of Vienna from Nightingale Games
Put this game in the expensive, overproduced, huge, Ameritrashy wargame section if you are looking for a categorization of what it is but Imperials Borders: The Congress of Vienna from Nightingale Games is designed by Larry Harris (he of Axis & Allies fame) and is somewhat of an alternative history game that includes a system of written orders that is really very cool as we played this system with War Room a few years ago. The game is nearing finalization and shipping after successful Kickstarter campaign last year.
From the game page, we read the following:
Imperial Borders – The Congress of Vienna is an alternative historical board game designed by Larry Harris (designer of Axis & Allies) that lasts about 4 to 6 hours.
PREMISE – What if the Congress of Vienna failed to establish peace? 2 to 6 players control the major nations of Europe during the aftermath of war with Napoleon. Establish a dominating presence of power and wealth through clever diplomacy and strategic warfare…
THE HEART OF THE GAME – Establish a dominating presence of power and wealth through clever diplomacy and strategic warfare…Plotting, scheming, deal-making, and backstabbing are fundamental to winning the game. The timing of exactly when to make your play for domination of Europe is a most challenging dilemma.
HOW TO WIN – Each Nation’s final score is their sum of Prestige points gained gradually over the entire game and the value of all their controlled Territories and Elite Forces in the last Game Round. The highest total score wins the game.
END GAME – Starting in the 5th Game Round, the Congress of Vienna convenes. A blind vote is held as to whether to settle for peace or to continue the conflict. Each subsequent Game Round the results are weighted more heavily towards peace.
This game is very highly produced, with hundreds of plastic miniature units (including infantry, cavalry, artillery and ships of the line) and an absolutely huge and stunning looking board. This one is for sure going to become a game we play at conventions and with large groups of friends. We backed the game and are very much looking forward to playing it!
If you are interested in Imperial Borders: The Congress of Vienna, you can pre-order the game from the Nightingale Games website at the following link: https://www.nightingale-games.com/imperial-borders
With a quick look at their website, it appears that they are readying the game for delivery and then retail sale this summer. You will want to keep your eye out on that page to get information and learn more about the game.
Whew! I am wiped out now. I hope that you have enjoyed reading this list (I know I had a good time writing it!) and I hope that you have a good financing plan to purchase all the gaming goodness coming soon. Let me know what games you are looking forward to in 2026 as I always like to hear your thoughts. With so many good games upcoming it is really hard to cover them all!
With this My Favorite Wargame Cards Series, I hope to take a look at a specific card from the various wargames that I have played and share how it is used in the game. I am not a strategist and frankly I am not that good at games but I do understand how things should work and be used in games. With that being said, here is the next entry in this series.
#65: Georgi Zhukov from Churchill: Big 3 Struggle for Peace from GMT Games
The players in Churchill: Big Three Struggle for Peace take on the roles of Churchill, Roosevelt, or Stalin during World War II as they maneuver against each other over the course of 10 Conferences that determine who will lead the Allied forces, where those military forces will be deployed, and how the Axis will be defeated. The player whose forces collectively have greater control over the surrendered Axis powers will win the peace and the game.
Churchill is not necessarily a wargame, but more of a political conflict of cooperation and competition. Over the course of the 10 historical conferences from 1943 till the end of the war this mechanic and much of the design should not be taken literally. Before and after each conference small groups of advisors and senior officials moved between the Allied capitals making the deals that drove the post war peace. These advisors and senior officials are represented by cards with an assigned numeric value that represents an amount of influence. Each conference sees one of a group of issues nominated for inclusion in the conference for debating and discussion. The issues categories include: Theater leadership changes, directed offensives, production priorities, clandestine operations, political activity, and strategic warfare (A-bomb). Each of the historical conference cards independently puts some number of issues, such as directed offensives or production priorities, metaphorically on the table, while the players nominate an additional 7 issues. The best part of the design is the conference table and stress and tension that comes from fighting over each and every issue. No one issue is a game breaker and no one issue will outright win the peace for you. But, each issue is key to the game as they unfold and change the landscape across which you are battling. Not landscape of terrain and defenses, but pit falls, traps and dead ends.
As I have mentioned, the Staff Cards are the engine for the game and the players must utilize their asymmetric abilities to the best of their ability in order to come out on top of the heap at the end of the game. These Staff Cards represent real period personalities of advisors, political officers and generals, who had the ear of the leaders and could go about working behind the scenes to move an issue into the limelight. Each player will utilize these cards to win those issues and each card provides either a bonus for a specific attribute or, in rare occasions, a negative modifier.
Today, we will take a look at one of my favorite type of cards from the game in the Chief of Staff Cards and specifically look at the Soviet Chief of Staff Georgi Zhukov who was the Deputy Supreme Commander in Chief of the Red Army. Each of the Chief of Staff Cards have a random numeric value in addition to a bonus for a certain attribute. The random numeric value is determined from rolling a 6 sided die and then using that number as the card’s base value. In Zhukov’s case, he is good with Production Issues and will grant a +1 strength toward moving these issues on the conference table. I like to think that this random determination of the Chief of Staff Card’s strength represents the internal power struggle with each of the nations leaders and those closest to them. In the case of Soviet Premier Stalin and his relationship with Zhukov they maintained a tense, professional, and ultimately strained relationship defined by mutual need during World War II, followed by postwar jealousy and suspicion. While Stalin relied on Zhukov as his top military commander to secure victory on the battlefield, he grew paranoid of the Marshal’s immense popularity and influence, leading to his ultimate demotion. And this random nature of the card’s strength reflects this well as sometimes they would agree and they could make great progress while other times they did not and there was tension and difficulty in their cooperation.
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was born on December 1, 1896 and was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces under leader Joseph Stalin, and oversaw some of the Red Army’s most decisive victories. He also served at various points as Chief of the General Staff, Minister of Defence and a member of the Presidium of the Communist Party (Politburo).
Born to a poor peasant family near Moscow, Zhukov was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army and fought in World War I. He served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, after which he quickly rose through the ranks. In summer 1939, Zhukov commanded a Soviet army group to a decisive victory over Japanese forces at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, for which he won the first of his four Hero of the Soviet Union awards, and in 1940 he commanded the Soviet invasion of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in Romania. In February 1941, Stalin appointed Zhukov as chief of the General Staff of the Red Army.
Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Zhukov lost his post as chief of staff after disagreeing with Stalin over the defense of Kiev. Zhukov, often in collaboration with Aleksandr Vasilevsky, was subsequently involved in the Soviet actions at Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk. He held the title of deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces from August 1942, and was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in January 1943. He participated in the planning of Operation Bagration in 1944, and in 1945 commanded the 1st Belorussian Front as it led the Vistula–Oder Offensive into Germany, where he oversaw the Soviet victory at the Battle of Berlin. In recognition of Zhukov’s key role in the war, he was chosen to accept the German Instrument of Surrender and to inspect the 1945 Moscow Victory Parade. He also served as the first military governor of the Soviet occupation zone in Germany from 1945 to 1946.
After the war, Zhukov’s popularity caused Stalin to see him as a potential threat. Stalin stripped him of his positions and relegated him to military commands of little strategic significance. After Stalin’s death in 1953, Zhukov supported Nikita Khrushchev’s bid for leadership, and in 1955, he was appointed Defense Minister and made a member of the Presidium. In 1957, Zhukov lost favor again and was forced to retire. He never returned to a top post, and died in 1974. Zhukov is remembered as one of the greatest Russian and Soviet military leaders of all time.
In the Shadows: Resistance in France, 1943-1944 from GMT Games is a 2-player card-driven game about the desperate struggle of the French Resistance against the occupying Nazi and collaborating French forces between January 1943 and June 1944. In the game you will play as either the Resistance or the Occupation in a fight over the hearts and minds of the French People. The game strives to have players better understand the nuances of the resistance and the clandestine nature of the fight that led to the founding of the fourth French Republic.
The gameplay of In the Shadows is driven by Event cards and Actions based on suits. The game relies on three different suits (the Resistance Cross, the Victory Cross, and the Iron Cross) to determine the cost and effectiveness of your Actions. Narratively, this is meant to represent the vital importance of local networks and resources. You may be working with resources in Paris but need to perform Sabotage Actions in Vichy. In this way, the game can better replicate the choices that the leaders of the Occupation and Resistance needed to make.
Take the role of a general (United States, Russia or Germany) in Aces & Armor, which is a complex (but easy to learn) strategy game. In addition to attack strength and armor of your troops, their tactical setup, combat experience, damage and terrain have a decisive influence on the outcome of the battle. Since each unit brings its own strengths, you must cleverly assemble your army to win the victory over your opponents.
Cooperative or competitive
Solo mode
Detailed miniatures with many different unit types
High re-playability due to the variable start setup
Complex combat system that depends on type of unit, combat damage, experience, strategic formation, terrain and armor (known from highly rated game Trench Club)
Invasion Normandy by Historical Board Gaming, designed by Kirt Purdy, is a historically accurate D-Day board game developed over three years of design and playtesting. This WWII strategy game immerses players in the Allied invasion of Normandy, featuring a detailed map in three sizes, battleboards for combat resolution, wire-bound rulebooks, reference sheets, and cardstock roundels and markers for strategic gameplay. Plastic pieces are not included, allowing players to use their own game components.
Experience the challenge of commanding forces during one of the most pivotal battles of World War II!
In an effort to keep our content varied and most importantly interesting, we have in the past reached out to Graphic Design Artists to provide them an opportunity to talk about their craft and their works. I for one love a good looking game as much as a well designed game and feel that the visual element to wargames can make them successful or hold them back. Prior interviews with Graphic Design Artists that have appeared on our blog have included Antonio Pinar Peña, Nicolás Eskubi, Ilya Kudriashov, Ania Ziolkowska, Matt White and Iván Cáceres. In this interview, we talk to an up and coming artist who has actually done a lot of really great looking graphics for several wargames over the recent years in Wouter Schoutteten.
Grant: First off Wouter, please tell us a little about yourself. Where do you live? What are your hobbies and interests? What types of games do you enjoy playing?
Wouter: I’m Wouter Schoutteten, I live in Belgium, I’m married with 2 kids. I have many interests and hobbies! Gardening, reading, grilling, walking, baking sourdough bread, drawing and being creative all around, collecting music… But my main interest is playing board games. I play all kinds: I play a lot of wargames obviously, but I also play Euro games and last year I really got into TTRPG’s as well. I play a lot solo too – almost every evening, something I enjoy a lot.
I really appreciate games that are very tight, that have limited mechanics. Games where every decision just is really important. The White Castle is one I like a lot.
As for wargames, ironically I have more affinity with history before WWII. Though I play WWII games too, and mostly on a tactical scale.
I’m now diving a bit into the ACW and one game that really stood out for me is Mark Herman’s Rebel Fury. What a clever game, one that I’m blessed to play with my 8-year old.
Grant: What is your full time profession? How did you get into wargame graphic design?
Wouter: I work as a graphic designer and illustrator. I do a lot of illustration in the field of branding and marketing. I’ve been working independent close to 10 years now.
One day during holiday, I was reflecting on my career as an artist and about the kind of jobs I did so far.
I always feel like an artist should set his own goals and should create something he wants to create. You know, something you as an artist would like to put into the world. And it dawned on me I could probably involve my hobby in my profession. I mean, I loved spending time tinkering with boardgames, making my own stuff, laying out little playaids I shared on BGG… But is there such a thing as an artist working in the wargame niche? I felt it would enable me to create something myself and at the same time give something back to the hobby.
So I first created the art for Corvette Command, got in touch with Allen Eagle (the designer) next and presented the art to a couple of publishers and that got the ball rolling!
Grant:What is your favorite part about the graphic design/art process? Conversely, what do you struggle with or find to be the greatest challenge?
Wouter: My favorite part about it is really pretty early on in the process. Reading up, doing the research and spending a couple of days diving into the topic, looking for documentaries, listening to podcasts and get some understanding of what the topic is about. Something I did with Volko Ruhnke when we were starting on Coast Watchers – We sat together and played a single turn of the game, just so I got an understanding of the basic ideas and hearing from the designer what he is trying to convey, what he thinks the ideal experience for the player should be like.
So what is my greatest challenge? In 2025 I started taking on more and more commissions, which was very exciting. I did a lot more work in the war game space than I ever did before. Then I learned that mapping the workload and working out my schedule really is a nightmare! These games can take a long time to develop. There’s a lot of going back and forth and to get everybody on the same line, that could mean a lot of iterations. So working on my planning skills this year!
Grant: If you are given strict design parameters for a specific game, does this stifle your creativity?
Wouter: Not really! As long as the parameters aren’t really about the look and feel of the game, I’m okay with that. Usually being creative is easier within constraints. Starting from a blank canvas, that’s often a bit paralyzing. It’s nice to have some parameters like “we are looking to bring this kind of a feeling” or “this one should really feel like 1600”. These kinds of parameters work really well to spark creativity.
Grant: How long does it usually take to fully design the graphics for a wargame? What is the starting point for the whole process?
Wouter: The starting point really is doing research, reading up on the topic, talking with the designer about his vision, what he’s trying to convey, what the players should experience while playing the game. Once I have that, I start with mood boarding, looking for inspirational or similar graphics that I like. Also digging into the whole BGG catalog, looking for other games on the same topic, taking inspiration out of that. Then usually I design a couple of components to get a general look and feel. Then I hope to get the green light from both publisher and designer. Once we have that, I work out everything and usually there’s a couple of iterations that are going back and forth between me, the publisher and the designer.
Grant: Where do you obtain information from to ensure the accuracy of your subjects, whether it be uniforms, insignia, equipment, maps, terrain, etc.?
Wouter: So when I say mood boarding it’s more than just finding an esthetic. It’s also about collecting reference images from the appropriate period, so that I will be working on the right uniform, the right insignia and things like that. I like to have at least a couple of different sources. Online groups with miniature painters for exemple are excellent for this, these guys are experts. Also museums, books, documentaries,…
Wargamers can be really picky about details. And rightly so. I remember a talk from Adrian Goldsworthy, the historian, on historical accuracy in movies. But the same applies to games as well: We create these visuals as a representation of history and they are passed from generation to generation and we expect them to be accurate. Now there’s a big risk in that if we make something inaccurate, not many people will be able to tell. So it’s important for us to try and tell the history as accurately as possible. I like to think of wargames as another form of education, a way of studying history. But also as a way of preserving stories and keeping them alive.
1920: Nest of Eagles from PHALANX.
Grant: What role does a good map play in a proper wargame? How does it help tell the narrative of the battle depicted?
Wouter: One of the things a map does is conveying the feeling of the era. It can also tell a part of the story in itself. Like the board I did for 1812: Napoleon’s Fateful March from VUCA Simulations, if you look to the right top corner, where Moscow is, you will see the colors there are paler and they’re almost white, as opposed to the lower left, where the colors are more green-ish. This is because the French invasion started from these countries with a more mild climate. And as the French marched on toward Moscow, winter was setting in. Once they retreated from Moscow, they had to do so in terrible conditions, freezing severely. For this game, we couldn’t create two maps just for the sake of the narrative. So I worked with this color gradient so the French player would feel, the more he’s moving towards Moscow, the harsher the terrain is, the harsher the conditions are becoming.
Another one is the map for the upcoming Merville Battery from Dan Verssen Games that I am working on. For the raid on that French coast battery during D-Day, British paratroopers were dropped very early in the morning. By the time they attacked the battery, the sun was almost coming up, so the sun would have created these very long shadows. I visited the site of the battery in person to see how the site looked, but also what kind of colors we have there. I also checked with photo’s from tourists there that were taken early dawn, to really simulate those colors. In my first designs I tried dark blue tones to give it that night ambiance, but we settled for a version with a lot of dark greens with some pastel-like hues, some pink and soft purple. A peculiar color scheme, but one that gives that sense of early dawn on the map.
Grant: How does the design process for counters compare to the process for maps? What is your goal with the look of counters?
Wouter: Oh I enjoy drawing counters! I make illustrations based on reference images like photos from miniatures. Counters are drawn by hand. Usually I do a couple of tests to see if they work well when printed small. They have to be clear when used so very tiny. One thing I like about counters when placed on the map is when they really pop out. That’s something I keep in mind, to keep the colors of the map rather subdued and work with brighter colors for the counters.
Personally, I like if the counters are a bit of a narrative as well. I’m not a fan of NATO symbols because I feel they are too abstract and I lose that emotional connection with the people that were involved in the action.
Nightfighter Command from War Diary Publications.
Grant: What wargame companies have you worked with in the past? What games have you been involved with?
Wouter: I’ve been blessed to work with a very wide roster of publishers in such a short time. Lately I’ve been working with GMT, with VUCA Simulations and with Sound of Drums. But I also work with DVG, Nuts! Publishing and have worked for PHALANX, Fort Circle and War Diary Publications.
Grant: What games have you been involved with?
Wouter: 1812: Napoleon’s Fateful March, 1920: Nest of Eagles, Assault Red Horizon 41: Revised Edition and Primosole Bridge Expansion, Corvette Command, Nightfighter Command, Merville Battery, Coast Watchers: Allied Field Intelligence in the South Pacific, 1942-1943 (to be released), The Far Seas (to be released), 1813: Napoleon’s Struggle for Germany (to be released), A House Divided: Designer Edition (to be released) and my own Dreaded Flags: Naval Conflict in the Age of Piracy 1568-1720.
Grant: How would you classify or describe your distinct graphics style?
Wouter: I try to inject little bits of innovation in my art, something a bit different at least for the wargame scene. I like clear iconography, clear typography. I’m not a big fan of a lot of drop shadows and special effects. So I think you would classify it more as a bold, flat, very graphic style with some elements of the Franco-Belge comic, DIY and print techniques such as screenprinting, copier effects and lithography. I think these are some common elements you’ll find with other European artists as well. Is there something as a European wargame look?
Grant: What game’s graphics are you most proud of? Is there one game that you would like another crack at to improve or simply do differently?
Wouter: I really like the whole package of 1812 and how everything in that box works together. I’m also pretty proud at the humble Corvette Command. It’s published by War Diary Publications and it’s a game by Alan Eagle and more of a narrative-style game in the line of B-17: Queen of the Skies. Usually in these games, you haven’t many visual components in front of you. So for this type of game, I really wanted to create something different, something new, a strong visual game. I like the box art of Corvette Command. I tried a couple of new techniques in there.
Grant: What graphic designers/artists out there have influenced your style? Do you spend a lot of time studying other’s work?
Wouter: No, I try not to look too much to other artists. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, prone to tinkering with my own art. And, like many artists, I struggle with the infamous ‘imposter syndrome’. Nothing is ever good enough, especially if you compare it to work made by people who are way more experienced than me. “Comparison is the thief of joy” is a mantra I need daily. Of course, there are artists I admire a lot and if I buy a game, usually it’s because I like the look of it! Work by Nils Johansson, Marc Von Martial, Iván Cáceres, Roland MacDonald, Donal Hegarty, Rick Barber, Albert Monteys, Javi de Castro… Sure, I’m now forgetting many… So many talented artists.
Grant: What games are you currently working on?
Wouter: We have the Kickstarter running for Merville Battery by Vince Cooper for DVG. I’m also finishing up Coast Watchers with GMT Games before I start working on A House Divided. I’m also working on 1813 which is the follow-up on 1812, and the next volume in that series. There is this big rework of The Far Seas I’m finishing for Vuca. With Sound of Drums I’m working on their ‘Assault’ line and with Nuts! on a game on the Battle of Borodino. And some other as well, but that’s too early to say anything about!
Grant: Where do you see your wargaming graphic design career in 5 years?
Wouter: Difficult question because honestly I didn’t think there was such a thing as an artist career in wargames, because it’s so niche. Something I started to realize is that working in a niche industry is incredibly valuable. It’s very powerful for an artist to find a niche, one where you feel welcome and validated. It gives you focus in your artistic choices and it gives your work longevity. But that being said, I’m incredibly grateful for being able to work in this space and I didn’t expect it to go that fast. Something I really like to do in the future is to be able to work on a medieval or ancients game, because it would be so different to work on. And perhaps break in the TTRPG scene because there are a lot of illustrations used there.
Grant: What type of software and hardware do you use for design?
Wouter: Part of my work is deliberately done analog, pen and paper style. Most of the work however is done on computer in Photoshop, Illustrator and some InDesign. Drawings I do analog and a lot on iPad as well. At the moment I’m trying a couple of new things. I’m trying to introduce my scanner and my analog work back into the digital space, combining it with photobashing, which is a very exciting technique to create fast but unique visuals that sit somewhere between photograhpy and illustration.
Thank you Grant, for taking the time to listen to me. And thanks a lot to you and Alexander for doing The Players’ Aid these past 10 years or so. I think it’s one of the pillars of the hobby and of this wonderful community. I’ve been following the blog for as long as I can remember. It’s how I have been staying in touch with new games, how I discovered a lot of games and the joy of solo gaming too. The blog and YouTube channel has given me so much joy in this hobby. Thank you!
Thanks for your time Wouter. I know that you are busy working on several new projects but appreciate that you were willing to share your story and give us a little bit of insight into the life of a graphic designer. You have a very impressive list of games that you have done graphics for and I look forward to enjoying your work for years to come.
Manila: The Savage Streets, 1945 puts the player in charge of the attacking and far more mobile American side while the game system handles the defending and largely static Japanese side. No two games will ever be the same. Each turn presents new and unique challenges for the player in the form of random events, uncertain supply deliveries, and unknown Japanese area strengths and defensive strategies.
The primary game is a nine-turn campaign covering the American assault on the city during February and March 1945. The deeper American forces advance, from the city’s less developed periphery to its urban business district and fortress-like government buildings, the greater Japanese resistance becomes. The number of American units fought to exhaustion, effectively out of action, mounts. American determination to secure a rapid victory for Supreme Allied Commander General Douglas MacArthur, represented as “morale” in the game, gradually decreases. The player wins by equaling or exceeding historical American gains and loses if they fail to do so, or if morale falls too low.
Corvette Command is a dedicated solitaire wargame that places the player in command of a Flower class corvette, guarding desperately needed supplies being transported across the North Atlantic during the early years of the Second World War. Fighting both the harsh weather and the continual threat of German U-boat attack, mission success – and perhaps even the eventual outcome of the war – hinges on the successful passage of the transports.
This one surprised me a bit! Initially, I really had just a tad bit of interest and when I got a copy and started to play, it felt a lot like a chart flipper that can be repetitive. But, as I kept at it the game opened up and I really started to love the mechanics, the dice and how they are used, the crew development over time and then I just fell in love playing it.
Several years ago, we posted an interview with Matt White, who is a very talented graphic artist and budding game designer, that focused on his artistic talents and love of tanks. He has since designed several very interesting small scale wargames, with his most recent series being a World War II tactical wargame series for 1-2 players pitting the British Airborne versus the German Wehrmacht called Until the Bitter End. He then designed the next entry in that series called Until the Bitter End – US Airborne followed by Until the Bitter End – Tanks. He has also done a few others including Would Be Aces,Operation Biting and Today Another Battle that have done very well. Recently, a new game appeared on Kickstarter from Matt called Saving Angels WWII Solitaire Wargame Print and Play, which is a wargame based on the American and guerrilla raid of the Japanese held Los Baños prison camp in World War II. We reached out to Matt and he was more than willing to share on the project.
Matt: My new Solitaire game is called Saving Angels and it covers the bold US Airborne and allies, raid of the Japanese held Los Baños prison camp during WWII.
Grant: What was your inspiration for the name? What do you want it to convey about the design?
Matt: I came across the history of this subject, whilst researching the Operation Biting game (which is also an Airborne raid, only British) and the name refers to the US 11th Airborne Division, as they were described by the prisoners, who they rescued.
The main element of the design is that you command the paratroopers and guerrillas on this daring rescue mission. With most wargames, the mission is often defeat the enemy or hold a point, etc., but with this design the rescuing of the prisoners is your objective.
Grant: What about this historical event made you want to create this game?
Matt: The main inspiration really was the story, but from the prisoners point of view. They had been treated terribly, for the most part, from their captors. The prisoners were from all walks of life, civilians rather than soldiers who had been captured. I felt it was important to cover this story from WWII, which has not really been covered before.
Grant: What research did you do on the subject?
Matt: I read a lot of history subject books so naturally I read as much as I could on the subject. There are also a few really good videos on YouTube that are also well worth watching.
Grant: Is this the start of a new series of games?
Matt: This is my third game in my Raid Series – the other games covering the British paratroopers, with this one being the first game in that series featuring US forces and where the main objective is the rescue.
Grant: What games have inspired your design?
Matt: To be honest, the biggest inspiration really is the history side rather than other wargames. I think also the first two games in the series was a natural source.
Grant: I know the design is a Print and Play offering. Why do you feel this model is best suited for your designs?
Matt: I like making print and play games as it forces you, as the designer, to make every component count and making the most of the physical space on a sheet of paper. I find that challenge one of the most interesting parts of the creative process.
Grant: I know you are not only the designer but you do the art as well. Please show us a few examples of your great art.
Matt: Here are several different pieces from the game.
Grant: How do you create your art? What is the process and what graphics tools do you use?
Matt: I use a variety of tools such as Sketchbook and Photoshop. I pretty much draw in a traditional method, just using a Wacom pen and laptop.
Grant: What difficult decisions do players have to make in the game?
Matt: The player must try and maximize their units to the best of the counter’s abilities. Each unit will have strengths and weaknesses so coordinating your units is crucial for success.
Grant: What dangers and threats meet the players with their airborne and amphibious landings?
Matt: As the player pushes towards the prison they may encounter Japanese enemy threat but also the risks associated with such landings.
Grant: What objectives does the player have to accomplish?
Matt: The player’s goal is to get to the camp, free the prisoners and then escort them back to the pick-up zone to make good their escape. This was a daring mission as the Japanese defended the area and the player will have to fend off Japanese reinforcements as the player makes good on their escape.
Grant: What is the purpose of the 2 different maps?
Matt: The game comes complete with 2 maps. The first map is for the approach to the Prison Camp and features both Airborne and amphibious landings. The second map is the Prison Camp itself where the player must locate and rescue the prisoners before escaping back across the first map.
Approach map.
Prison camp map.
Grant: How do players control these units and give commands?
Matt: During the game’s turn the player controls movement of their Units whilst the game’s AI will control the enemy Japanese.
Grant: What is the goal of the game? How is victory obtained?
Matt: Get to the camp, rescue the prisoners and escape, whilst fending off the Japanese enemy. It will take co-ordination of the player’s units, using them to the best of their abilities and a bit of luck!
Grant: What are you most pleased about with the design?
Matt: I really wanted to create the strong narrative experience, that’s quite tense, of having multiple objectives (with rescuing all the prisoners) whilst dealing with an unrelenting enemy.
Grant: What kind of an experience does the game create?
Matt: For me, the game creates the idea that sometimes you have to be bold, push your luck and try and achieve success by utilizing the resources you have to the best of their abilities.
Grant: What other designs are you currently working on?
Matt: I have a plate of other games I am working on, mostly WWII! I’d like to cover more of these historical daring raids whether they are land, sea or air.
Thanks to Matt for his time in answering our questions and for his great little print and play games. I love it when one of these new games is brought to light as I get to oodle over the art and see what new things he has created!
I love air war games! They are always supremely interesting and I really like the tactical nature of maneuvers and positioning. A few years ago, we covered the Buffalo Wings Reprint in our Wargame Watch feature and recently saw an announcement about a new volume in the Fighting Wings Series called Tiger Wings designed by J.D. Webster. We reached out to J.D. to get some inside information about the design and he gave us plenty.
Grant: J.D. welcome to our blog. First off please tell us a little about yourself. What are your hobbies? What’s your day job?
J.D.: Thank you to the gentlemen at The Players’ Aid blog for this opportunity to share a little bit about myself and my time in our wonderful history hobby. I’m 69 years old, and a retired Military and Commercial aviation pilot and my number one love in life has been flying. Like many of us, I started young in traditional board wargaming, starting with Avalon Hill’s Afrika Korps as a kid in high school. At the time I was already a history buff, and my father, a civilian pilot had imbued a love for airplanes in myself at an early age. Growing up, my hobbies were building model airplanes, plastic, balsa, foam, etc., and I read everything I could get my hands on regarding WW-I and WW-II air combat. Naturally, that morphed into a desire to be a military aviator myself. In college, I joined Navy ROTC, got commissioned and went on to become a Naval Aviator, flying A-7 Corsair attack jets with VA-195 off the USS Ranger in the mid-1980s. My second tour was as a Navy jet flight instructor in the late late 1980s. In 1990, my life shifted, and I left the Navy to become a commercial airline pilot, but, at the same time, I did an inter-service transfer into the Air National Guard, flying Air Force A-7D Corsair jets with the 124th TFS and then, F-16C Fighting Falcons for a brief stint (Wonderful plane, BTW).Along the way, I built up a personal library of over 600 aviation books, becoming, as I would call it, an “amateur subject matter” expert. I apologize but this long-winded information is going to be relevant to your following questions. Of course, throughout this entire time I stayed an avid wargamer, picking up on all aspects of the hobby and, naturally, I was most excited when someone put out a game on aerial combat. I also, was most interested in “tactical” level games, squad vs. squad, tank vs. tank, ship vs. ship and airplane vs. airplane. Which brings us to your second question.
Grant: What motivated you to break into game design? What have you enjoyed most about the experience thus far?
J.D.: Although, I was active in other parts of the gaming hobby in my youth and early college days, aviation games excited me the most. I loved Richthofen’s War, Luftwaffe and the Air Force / Dauntless Series games, all of which I played until they fell apart. By the time, I was actually learning to fly in the Navy, I got hold of David Isby’s Air War, and struggled to learn it. By then, I knew enough about flying to realize, IMO, that these other game designers, talented as they were, were not themselves flyers, and the game models they were producing did not have the correct approach. Some designs were simpler than others, most were fun, but they did not model three dimensional air combat in the right ways, or worse, in an engaging way that would bring the gamers back around for multiple playings. I felt I could do better on my own – so in 1986, I designed Air Superiority, which was published by GDW. This was followed by Air Strike two years later, also published by GDW. Mark Miller and Frank Chadwick were wonderful mentors to a budding rules writer and those two games went on to very successful sales. To be honest, Air Superiority was really, me doing a game about my day job at the time, flying jets in the Navy.
As a young hobbyist in his early twenties, it was pretty cool to become a published “game designer” and naturally, I got interested in doing more. I moved over to Clash of Arms in the 1990’s, and they published The Speed of Heat, my first tome, on the history of jet air combat, using an upgraded version of the Air Superiority rules. As an active duty military person, however, I couldn’t go forward much without touching upon classified topics, so I decided to go backwards and build a game to model WW-II air combat instead. This led me to create the Fighting Wings Series of games, all of which share the same family of rules, and, of which, there have been four boxed volumes, and multiple magazine supplements made. Briefly, they are:
Over the Reich, published 1991 by COA. / FW volume 1 boxed
Achtung Spitfire, published 1993 by COA. / FW volume 2 boxed
Whistling Death, published 2003 by COA. / FW volume 3 boxed
Buffalo Wings, published 2010 by ATO Magazine. / supplement
Top Cover #1, Darwin’s Spitfires, published 2013 by COA. / supplement
Wings of the Motherland, published 2019 by COA. / FW volume 4 boxed.
My mission, and what gives me the most satisfaction in this effort, is knowing that my game rules, though sometimes considered complex, actually do an accurate job of modeling what the real important factors of air combat are, and that the airplanes perform correctly, in terms of their historical abilities relative to each other. Of course, one quick thing to mention, of importance is that Buffalo Wings, featured a simplified set of game rules, more of an introductory version of the general Fighting Wings rules set. Buffalo Wings, was reprinted just a few years ago.
Grant: What is your upcoming game Tiger Wings about?
J.D.: Every Boxed game and supplement I’ve done for the Fighting Wings, Buffalo Wings family of WW-2 air combat games has filled in some significant portion of the history the air war in WW-2 and Tiger Wings is yet another area of historical significance, seldom touched upon or previously explored in wargaming, which is that of the successful air campaigns waged by the Japanese Army and Naval air arms in the first six months of the war, when they swept across the Far East conquering Malaya, the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies and Burma in just six months. What is unique about these campaign are the various myths involved with them. There is this idea that Japanese air power was overwhelming and that their airplanes were far superior to those of the Allies, but the truth is different. Qualitatively, Allied aircraft were better, and they were not heavily outnumbered, the problem was Allied air power was ineptly used and frittered away in a most incompetent way as will be covered and explained by the historical articles included with the Tiger Wings campaign study magazine game. For example, the famous AVG Flying Tigers, as heroic as they fought, and despite being effective defenders, were ground out of existence and disbanded within six months of entering battle. They were defeated in Burma and pushed back to China, where, they disbanded to be replaced by the newly formed 14th Air Force. This isn’t the way history normally portrays them, but it is realistic, and one of my goals with every Fighting Wings related product is including the real history behind the situations.
Grant: What is being updated with the system or improved with this entry in the series?
J.D.: Tiger Wings is targeted both at my existing fan base, in terms of adding new planes to the game system and dozens of new scenarios to explore, but also to entry level players, who want to try the system for the first time, but without the extra details and complexity of the “full” level Fighting Wings rules. As such, the Tiger Wings rules are the Buffalo Wings beginner’s rules, cleaned up, and revised slightly, with all the second printing BW expansion rules for air-to-ground combat added in. We also plan to include a “quick start” player’s guide to facilitate understanding how to play the game. So Tiger Wings is a passport into the Fighting Wings game system. Players who like TW may want to delve further, trying the full rules products for even greater realism, but if not, I’m pretty sure they will be fascinated with Tiger Wings as a stand alone item, just as it is.
Grant: Why was this a subject you wanted to create a game on?
J.D.: Back in 1966, Martin Caidin, a famous pulp aviation author of the day wrote a book called the The Ragged Rugged Warriors, which is largely about air combat from the Spanish Civil War era through the end of the Flying Tigers era in mid-1942, which talks a lot about the Far East campaign and the fall of Malaya, etc. I was twelve years old when I first read the book in 1968 and my fascination with American pilots fighting against the odds at great sacrifice, to hold the line against the merciless Japanese, until the tide of the Pacific War changed in favor of the Allies never left me. It has always been on my to-do list since first designing the Fighting Wings Series and now, 34 years into my quest, I’m finally getting it done.
Grant: What are the unique features with the Fighting Wings System used for the game?
J.D.: This is a broad question. But for the unfamiliar, the key is to understand with my designs are that the FW, BW, and TW game scale is specifically designed to model not aircraft flight, per se, but what a fighter pilot can reasonably accomplish in what is known as a standard “OODA” loop cycle. Whether you were a fighter pilot flying Sopwiths in WW-1, or jet aircraft in the Korean War, forty years later, the one thing that hasn’t changed, is the “OODA” cycle. “OODA” stands for “Observe-Orient-Decide-Act”. It’s an actual mental process, first recognized and codified by Eric Hartmann, the most famous and successful German fighter pilot on the Russian front in WW-2. It has been taught at Top Gun and the USAF Fighter Weapons School, but under different names. You will often hear or read about the term “Situational Awareness” or SA. Guess what, SA is derived by OODA looping. In short, the OODA loop works this way – it’s a four second cycle, on average – and it is a continuous never ending loop, constantly changing, evolving, and getting modified as the fighter pilot maneuvers his way through a life and death air battle. It takes about one second of visual inputs, for a pilot to OBSERVE as much as he can. It then takes another second of time for the pilot to interpret and sort all the visual, aural and physical forces information assaulting his eyes brain and body to ORIENT himself to his situation. Based on that orientation, the pilot must then DECIDE what to do to attack or defend himself (about a one second process) and then the fourth second is taken up with the ACT of placing the aircraft controls in a position to start moving the airplane where he needs it to go. As his fighter’s flight path starts to change, he will be observing the changes, and reorienting to the changes etc. It should be understood that the OODA cycle in not sequential in nature. You don’t Observe-Orient-Decide-Act and then start over. It’s layered, each piece responsible for starting another cycle. Kind of like how a staggered “Row-row-row the boat song is sung.” As the OODA cycle progresses each piece is being observed by the pilot for its effects and that requires Orienting anew, deciding anew, Acting…etc.
Observe Orient Decide Act <<< OODA cycle 1
Observe Orient Decide Act <<< OODA cycle 2
Observe Orient Decide ACT <<< etc.
Grant: What is your design goal with the game?
J.D.: Quite simply, to immerse the gamer into the accurate historical context of the Far East Air Campaign as fought in 1941 and 1942 and let him have some fun, while flailing about the map board solving the situations he himself creates while moving his aircraft in plane-on-plane tactical air combat.
Grant: Who is your developer Terry Simo? What does he bring to the design?
J.D.: I’m proud to say that Terry is one of my great life-long friends, a fellow Military Aviator, and he brings to the design his own instincts as a successful air game designer himself, having developed and even published his own air combat designs with GMT Games. With regards to rules balance, scenario play balance and a critical eye for ensuring that a “non-pilot” gamer that has never had any flight instruction will be able to understand the rules concepts put forth by myself to fly in the game – Terry has been invaluable. I can’t thank him enough for his efforts. BTW Terry and I met back in the late 1980’s during my jet combat game design era and he’s also been a life long Fighting Wings System player since that series was first published.
Grant: What was unique about aerial combat in the CBI Theater of WWII? How did you model this?
J.D.: Technically, Tiger Wings covers more than the CBI (China-Burma-India) theater. It covers the air fighting over Malaya, Sumatra, Java, the Philippines etc., with Burma, being just one portion. My approach to the game scenarios that is unique is to try to explore both the reasons for the many Allied failures and their few successes in these campaigns, in terms of highlighting what the tactical errors were and how the successful flyers, such as the Flying Tiger pilots were different in their approach to fighting the Japanese.
Grant: What various planes are included in the game? What is unique about their statistics?
J.D.: Tiger Wings has an eclectic and fun group of early warplanes to push around. On the Allied side for fighters, there is the Hawk 75, Brewster Buffalo, Curtiss Wright Demon, Hawker Hurricane, the Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk and the P-40E Warhawk. The Japanese Army Air Force pretty much only has Ki.27 obsolete fixed gear Nates and the newer Ki.43 Oscar fighter to work with, while the Imperial Japanese Navy shows up with the outstanding A6M2 Zero fighter. For the most part, all of the Japanese fighters are agile, but fragile, and woefully under-armed, except for the Zero. Almost all of the Allied fighters are much more robust, armored and well armed, and even faster than the Japanese planes, yet they were still defeated in detail by the Japanese flyers, and the reason goes to the use of good tactics by the Japanese and bad tactics by the Allies, exacerbated by the very poor experience and training levels of the Allied pilots facing the Japanese veterans of the air war in China.
Grant: What is the anatomy of the counters? What information is included?
J.D.: Each aircraft counter in the game represents a single aircraft. It will have a top view, a type name and an ID number and nothing else. Everything else about the fighter’s performance is kept noted on an aircraft log sheet, since the aircraft’s pitch angle, bank angle, speed and height can constantly change during play. All of the aircraft’s performance capabilities at different altitudes is summarized on each aircraft’s data card, known as an ADC. Here is a sneak preview of the Dutch CW-21 Demon fighter.
Grant: What information is included on the Aircraft Data Cards?
J.D.: As you can see from the Demon Aircraft Data Card example, everything you need to fly the plane on the game map is summarized on the Aircraft Data Card. For different altitude bands, each about 6,000 feet thick, there is a listed minimum level speed, maximum level speed and maximum safe diving speed and the numbers are in terms of “Hexes of movement”. So if an aircraft has a current speed of 6.0, it can move six hexes in a game turn. Each point of speed equals 50mph of scale speed, so Speed 6.0 equals 300 mph of speed, and so on.
Grant: How does combat work in the design?
J.D.: In the FW, BW and TW game system, standard war game odds tables are used along with a percentile die roll to resolve combat. Aircraft firepower diminishes with range, reflecting a loss of accuracy as range increases, and aircraft have a defense factor, which is increased by the angle of deflection of the attacker, to reflect the increased difficulty of a hitting a target from the side as opposed to from the rear. Ideally, the best shots occur if the attacker is directly behind the target with no deflection shooting required and at a close range. Damage is inflicted in terms of “hits” with multiple hits sometimes resulting in special “critical damage” events such as causing an aircraft to lose its wings or explode from a fuel tank hit. The combat system is one of the most popular parts of the entire series often creating entertaining story telling as you play. “There I was, wing on fire, engine sputtering, pilot wounded…. And so on”.
Grant: What do you feel the game models well?
J.D.: Obviously I’m biased. It models how three-dimensional maneuvering impacts a dogfight’s overall geometry very well. There is a good reason to attack from above in a dive, because of the extra energy you’ll get from diving, and thus the extra speed, that may well then let you zoom out of a bad situation. Speed is life. Get slow…not good, you can stall and spin out if that happens in the game.
Grant: What has been the experience of your playtesters?
J.D.: Terry and I ran two different groups of playtesters through the rules and through multiple varieties of scenarios. In Terry’s group there were two players who had never played a FW or BW game before. They did fine. We also had experienced Fighting Wings players who – obviously had no issues with the beginner version rules. As far as I can tell, the playtesters, themselves, were entertained by the process. A good sign.
Grant: What are you most pleased about with the design?
J.D.: The beauty of the game counters, and the game map, thanks to the fantastic talent of our counter Artist, Ian Wedge from England and our map artist, David Friedrichs from the USA.
Grant: What other designs are you contemplating or already working on?
J.D.: None at the moment, my plate is full, but on my to-do list…I’m contemplating how to best do a WW-I air combat game design.
Well, gentlemen, thank you so much for letting me blab a bit about this new product. I hope this will provide some interesting insights for your readers.
Thank you J.D.! It was a pleasure getting to know you a bit and we appreciate you doing this little interview on such short notice. Good luck with the Kickstarter!
If you are interested in Tiger Wings: WWII Tactical Air Combat Over East Asia in Against the Odds Magazine Campaign Study No. 2, you can back the project at the Kickstarter page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/atomagazine/tiger-wings?ref
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