Big month of games incoming! I was able to easily find games to share with you and I am excited for you to get this one in your inboxes. This month, I was able to find 37 games to share (including the 3 from our sponsor PHALANX and with 1 entry including 2 games), with 20 of those being newly announced pre-orders and 14 being new releases. I was also able to find 5 games being offered on Crowdfunding platforms Gamefound and Kickstarter.
Again this month, we have a sponsor for the Wargame Watch post in PHALANX, who is the maker of fantastic wargames such as U-BOOT, Hannibal & Hamilcar, Freedom!, Purple Haze, Total Domination, Iron, Blood, Snow and Mud,A Very Civil Whist, 1944: Race to the Rhine, Fire in the Sky and more. We have really never had a bad experience with any of their games and have really loved many of them!
They have a lot of great games upcoming and in the pipeline and are always developing new titles for pre-order or funding on Gamefound.
One of their more exciting recent offerings is a group of similar subject games set in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. I personally love PTO wargames and these both look extremly interesting. These include 2 separate titles 1943: Race to Rabaul and Tora Tora Tora!. We did an interview with Volko Ruhnke who designed 1943: Race to Rabaul earlier this summer and you can check that out on the blog at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2026/06/15/interview-with-volko-ruhnke-designer-of-1943-race-to-rabaul-from-phalanx/
Both of these games are beautiful and look very good and you are in luck as both can still be pre-ordered on the Gamefound page listed in the interview or by clicking the picture to the right.
They also have Sovereign: Shōgun, which is a new game in the Sovereign Series that includes one of my favorites in Bretwalda. This game was funded on Gamefound earlier this year and is a massive undertaking with a ton of content and add-ons that can create a massive game, both in its playability and replayability as well as its options for players. You can also still pre-order on the Gamefound page by clicking the picture below.
They have several other projects in the works including Independence, Saga, Lords of the North, Dust in the Wind and Lords of Heaven all planned for near future pre-order/crowdfunding campaigns or fulfillment.
One more thing before we get to this month’s games. Bill Molyneaux does this fundraising calendar of the Battlefield museums and historical sites on the East Coast for Toys for Tots and I wanted to share that with you so you can look at buying one.
1. The Great Escape from Sound of Drums Currently on Gamefound
If you like historical themed games that focus on challenging objectives, cooperative play and teamwork then I have a great game to introduce you to this month. I have known about this game’s existence for a while now. In fact, I saw a prototype last fall while attending Spiel Essen, but recently it was officially announced on Gamefound with a campaign kickoff of October 20th. The game is called The Great Escape and is designed by Philip duBarry, the designer of one of my favorite cooperative historical games in Black Orchestra. The Great Escape is based on a true story and shares the account of the escape attempt by Allied soldiers from the infamous Stalag Luft III POW Camp during WWII. The game is a cooperative or solitaire experience for 1-5 players and is just beautifully produced.
From the game page, we read the following:
On the moonless night of March 24, 1944, Allied prisoners emerged from a tunnel ending outside the fence of Stalag Luft III. They silently crawled the remaining feet over frozen ground to the cover of the surrounding forest. The men who escaped wore carefully-tailored civilian clothes and carried suitcases, intricate identification papers, German money to purchase train tickets, and several days of food.
76 prisoners escaped before the German guards sounded the alarm. A furious effort to recapture the prisoners ensued, and all but three were found. In an unprecedented move and in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions, Hitler ordered 50 of the recaptured prisoners to be secretly executed. The escape cost the Germans hundreds of thousands of man hours and countless resources meant for the war, delivering a devastating blow to German morale.
Now the wire waits again. The ground is stark and cold, the guards are watchful, and the forest beyond the fences offers both salvation and deadly risk. Will you dig far enough, plan carefully enough, and seize the right moment before the alarm sounds?
Behind the barbed wire of Stalag Luft III, time is measured in whispered plans, and the constant threat of discovery. In The Great Escape, you and your fellow Allied air force officers must organize the camp, gather scarce materials, craft civilian clothes and forged papers, dig secret tunnels beneath the perimeter, invent ingenious devices, and carefully time your escapes—all while guards conduct ever-more-ruthless searches and the Gestapo tightens its grip. Draw on the unique skills of legendary officers, trade with compromised guards, execute daring Escape Plans, and keep the tunnels hidden. Every action risks drawing Trouble. If the Gestapo locks down the camp before twelve soldiers slip into the forest under cover of night, the attempt has failed. Outsmart the search parties. Carry on the war from behind the wire. Help twelve men escape, and you will have struck a blow that echoes far beyond the fences of Stalag Luft III.
The Great Escape is a cooperative board game for 1–5 players, designed by Philip duBarry. Play time is 60–90 minutes and is recommended for ages 12 and up.
As of November 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised €34,416 ($38,601 in US Dollars) toward its €12,500 ($13,942 in US Dollars) funding goal with 598 backers. The campaign will conclude on Monday, November 9th at 6:00pm EDT.
2. Fix Bayonets! Volume III: 1806: Auerstädt from Tactical Workshop Currently on Gamefound
Last year, I became aware of a new edition of a very interesting looking Napoleonics game series called Fix Bayonets! designed by Frederic Delstanches. That game was 1811: Albuera Second Edition from Tactical Workshop, which was originally released in 2020. Since that time, Frederic has been busy and designed the 2nd volume in that series called 1809: Talavera. Due to the success of these efforts, Tactical Workshop now is embarking on a new project in the series called 1806: Auerstädt that covers the Battle of Jena–Auerstädt fought on October 14, 1806, near Jena and Auerstädt, Germany being the decisive engagement of the War of the Fourth Coalition.
From the game page, we read the following:
1806: Auerstädt is a tabletop wargame that allows you to recreate this astounding asymmetrical battle of the War of the Fourth Coalition, face to face with another player or as a solitaire experience.
Take command of the French III Corps under Maréchal Davout, one of Napoléon’s best commanders, and attempt to reproduce his astounding victory against a vastly superior force! If you like a challenge, you can instead lead the Prussian Royal Army and rewrite history, overcoming your poor leadership and frail morale, by overwhelming an opponent half your size with your mighty manpower and cavalry superiority.
I want you know the backstory of this new boutique publisher and will share that here:
Tactical Workshop is a small, family owned and operated entity that started as non-profit and that we expanded into a small business last year with the success of 1811: Albuera. We are established as a LLC in Orlando, Florida and have an antenna in Yokohama, Japan. We started using the “print on demand” model in 2019 by publishing play aids for various other games then designing our first two boxed games: 1811: Albuera and 1810: Bussaco. Despite good reviews, the games were not selling well due to the very high prices required by the model. The only way to expand was to produce our games using a professional game printer. We successfully launched and funded 1811: Albuera Second Edition in 2025 and 1809: Talavera here on Gamefound. This is our third professionally printed game in the series.
I own the first 2 volumes in the series, and while I have yet to play them because we just received them, I can attest to the production quality and the great amount of components that come in the box.
As of November 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised $8,553 toward its $6,000 funding goal with 145 backers. The campaign will conclude on Monday, November 30th at 12:00am EDT.
3. Aces & Armor – Spitfire: Battle of Britain & North Africa from PKB Games Currently on Kickstarter
A few years back, we backed a very interesting looking miniatures based board game set in World War II called Aces & Armor from PKB Games. We played it last year and very much enjoyed the combat system as well as the way units gain experience and become more effective. That game did very well on Kickstarter and PKB Games is back with a new addition to the series called Aces & Armor – Spitfire: Battle of Britain & North Africa that is currently on Kickstarter.
From the game page, we read the following:
Aces & Armor – Spitfire: Battle of Britain & North Africa is a tactical World War II strategy game set across Britain, France, and the North African desert. Players command combined forces of aircraft, tanks, and infantry, including iconic units such as the Supermarine Spitfire, and must use the strengths of their different units and the battlefield terrain to their advantage.
During the game, players maneuver their forces, engage enemy units in combat, and develop experienced units over the course of the battle. Combat takes into account factors such as unit type, attack strength, armor, damage, experience, formation, and terrain, making the positioning and composition of an army an important part of each engagement.
I think that the most interesting part of this new entry into the Aces & Armor Series is the ability to play this entry with the original.
Spitfire can be played as a standalone game for one or two players, or combined with the original Aces & Armor to create larger battles with up to five players. Players compete or cooperate according to the chosen scenario, and win by completing its specified victory objectives before the opposing side does.
The production is also top notch and the miniatures are very well done. I will add here that there is an option to have them pre-painted so they will look that much better.
As of November 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised $184,526 toward its $11,172 funding goal with 1,035 backers. The campaign will conclude on Thursday, November 12th at 2:59am EST.
4. Dragon Ships & Iron Knights: Three Battles from the Year 1066 from Legion Wargames
I have always loved the games that come from small boutique publisher Legion Wargames. Their offerings are always on interesting and lesser gamed topics and they always seem to have great looking art as well. I also know that when I buy one of their games, I am supporting a great guy in owner Randy Lein and also the stable of great designers that they have relationships with. This month, I saw a new pre-order game offered in their Customer Pre-Order Program called Dragon Ships & Iron Knights:Three Battles from the Year 1066, which takes a look at 3 separate battles in England and Scotland that had major impacts on the course of those countries. The game is designed by Norm Smith and is a hex and counter game that appears to be more on the tactical level.
From the game page, we read the following:
Dragon Ships & Iron Knights is set of three, 2-player, tactical level wargames covering the battles that shaped the future of England for centuries to come. The game includes the following battles:
The Battle of Hastings
The Battle of Stamford Bridge
The Battle of Gate Fulford
Each battle includes its own map and rulebook and comes with 3 maps measuring 17″ x 22″, 3 sheets of unit counters/markers and 3 player aids.
If you are interested in Dragon Ships & Iron Knights: Three Battles from the Year 1066, you can pre-order a copy for $53.00 from the Legion Wargames website at the following link: https://www.legionwargames.com/legion_DGS.html
5. Traces of Tunisia from VUCA Simulations
This month we get 2 new pre-order games from VUCA Simulations. The first of these is Traces of Tunisia and I am always in the mood for a good North African Theater wargame. The games I have played on this theater are always very, very good and I love the struggle with the harsh North African terrain and the importance of supply. Traces of Tunisia is a part of the Traces of Series of operational level wargames that have included titles such as Traces of War, Traces of Hubris and Traces of Victory. This system works really well and is a chit-pull activation system that keeps you on your toes and always fretting over the order of the chits during any given round.
From the game page, we read the following:
At the conclusion of the North African campaign, German and Italian forces found themselves squeezed into the mountainous, canalized terrain of Tunisia. Facing advancing Anglo-American and Free French forces from the west and British veterans from the east, the Axis fought a desperate campaign of operational counter-strikes and delaying actions to hold the Mediterranean gateway.
Traces of Tunisia puts you in command of this critical operational struggle.
Take control of the Axis bridgehead forces or the Allied armies in a tense operational-level game of command activation, logistics tracing, and maneuvering across compartmentalized terrain.
Allied player: Coordinate multinational forces, leverage expanding air power, manage supply lines, and push rapidly toward Tunis and Bizerte before time runs out.
Axis player: Utilize inner lines, mount dangerous armored counter-offensives, destroy infrastructure, and prolong the campaign to deny the Allies an early springboard into Europe.
Every decision matters—overextend into mountain choke points without logistics, and your spearheads will be isolated; hesitate, and enemy air superiority will paralyze your operations.
The game is designed for fans of Operational level wargames, WWII North African history, chit-pull activation systems and players who value clarity of rules combined with strong thematic immersion.
6. Gateway to Falaise – Caen-Normandy 1944 from VUCA Simulations
The 2nd new pre-order game offered this month from VUCA Simulations is another dandy. The first thing that caught my eye was the beautiful yet simple cover and the way that the smoke and other elements form a camouflage pattern. Just gorgeous! The game is called Gateway to Falaise: Caen-Normandy 1944 and is a part of the Formation Series. The game is designed by Andrew Glenn.
From the game page, we read the following:
Following the D-Day landings, the Allies faced a desperate, grinding war of attrition in the bocage and open fields of Normandy. To break the deadlock and trap the German forces, the British, Canadian, and Allied forces launched a series of high-stakes operational pushes aimed at capturing the strategic hubs of Caen and Falaise.
Gateway to Falaise puts you in command of this crucial campaign—the second installment in the Formation Series.
Command the Allied forces attempting to smash through entrenched defenses, or take control of the German defenders fighting desperately to hold the line and delay the Allied advance.
Allied player: Plan concentrated armored and mechanized pushes, deploy massive artillery and air support, navigate restrictive terrain, and strain the Axis defenses to force a complete breakout.
German player: Utilize superior tactical positions, manage precious armor and elite formations, execute timed counterattacks, and inflict maximum casualties to stall the Allied momentum.
Every decision matters—overextend into prepared anti-tank zones, and your spearhead will be wiped out; hesitate, and the opportunity to trap the enemy slips away.
Built on an engaging formation-based system, the game balances strategic planning with operational friction:
Dynamic formation activation keeps both players constantly engaged and simulates the uncertainty of command.
Combined arms warfare seamlessly integrates infantry, armor, engineering assets, heavy artillery, and air/naval support.
Fast-resolving combat maintains high tension while reflecting realistic unit attrition and tactical consequences.
Streamlined operational rules allow for swift gameplay without sacrificing historical depth.
7. Eagles of 1807 – Volume I: Winter from Fellowship of Simulations
A good Napoleonic wargame is always welcome at my table. The grandiose uniforms, fantastic cavalry charges, focus on experience of soldiers and the like are what I have always thought of first when I think about the subject. Fellowship of Simulations has a new offering this month that is a part of their Eagles of France Series called Eagles of 1807 – Volume I: Winter. This game focuses on 3 major engagements during the winter of 1807 including Pultusk, Golymin and Eylau.
From the game page, we read the following:
The Eagles of France Series is back in force! This master box covers 3 battles. Pultusk and Golymin: December 26th 1806, the two armies are struggling in a sea of mud. They collided in two locations. At Pultusk, Lannes engaged a larger force. At Golymin, the Russians played a delaying action.
Then came Eylau and the bloodbath in the snow.
The game includes these 3 battles, including historical variations and what ifs.
In addition, the full order of battle of both armies for winter 1806 is available. This will allow even more flexibility to test alternative scenarios. Also, unused counters might be used for future expansions with additional battles.
If you are interested in Eagles of 1807 – Volume I: Winter, you can pre-order a copy for €99,00 ($110.29 in US Dollars) from the Fellowship of Simulations website at the following link: https://www.fsimgames.com/en/eagles-of-1807-winter-box/
8. Peace 1905: Ending the Russo-Japanese War from Fort Circle Games
In 2023, while attending SDHistCon in San Diego, we sat down with Maurice Suckling to get a look at his new game called Peace 1905: Ending the Russo-Japanese War from Fort Circle Games. We have enjoyed many of Maurice’s designs including Hidden Strike: American Revolution, Chancellorsville 1863, 1565 Siege of Malta and Crisis: 1914 and very much enjoy how his mind takes a historical event and wraps mechanics around it to create an experience that helps players in understanding the situation. Peace 1905 deals with the negotiations between the Japanese and Russians at the end of the Russo-Japanese War. The game was very good and plays in about 30-45 minutes.
From the game page, we read the following:
By August 1905 the Russo-Japanese War had been raging for 18 months, with over a million soldiers, sailors, and engineers in arms, it had cost the lives of between 100,000 to 200,000 participants and brought death and destruction to civilians. The war had seen the sinking of the Russian Pacific and Baltic fleets, and the great sieges at Port Arthur and Mukden. The world was shaken by the emphatic rise of Imperial Japan as a land and naval power. Russia had been blooded and humiliated.
But Russia was not yet done. Although both sides were financially exhausted it was Russia who continued to funnel troops into the war, while Japan’s manpower reserves were depleted. The war might yet continue, with further loss of life and property, and protracted instability in the Far East. With this would come the risk of further Russian humiliation. Both sides needed a way out. The door to that way out was opened by US President Theodore Roosevelt when he invited delegations of both sides to Portsmouth, New Hampshire – to a peace conference through August 1905. But with the sides so far apart on numerous key issues – the Russian Czar had stipulated no territorial concessions or reparation payments, and the Japanese Emperor wanted exactly those things and much more – what real hope was there that both sides could find a mutually satisfactory resolution?
In history, the answer is found in the Treaty of Portsmouth, a complex and significant diplomatic achievement, for which, for his part in facilitating and assisting, President Roosevelt was the first American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. In Peace 1905, you – the players – will have Roosevelt’s assistance, but the work of successfully negotiating is down to you. Will you end the war, and bring a peace your governments approve of, or will the conference end in failure, and the war ignite again?
Here is a link to our interview with Maurice Suckling designer of Peace 1905 from Fort Circle Games during our trip to SDHistCon in 2023:
If you are interested in Peace 1905: Ending the Russo-Japanese War, you can pre-order a copy for $60.00 from the Fort Circle Games website at the following link: https://www.fortcircle.com/peace-1905/
9. Commands & Colors: American Civil War from GMT Games
The Commands and Colors Series is a simplified and introductory wargaming system designed by Richard Borg. The system is fairly simple and uses a deck of Command Cards, which can be classified as Section cards and Tactics cards, that are used to take actions with various groups of units on a hex board that is divided into 3 sections, including the Left, Center and Right. There are also custom Battle Dice that represent hits, retreats and special actions. The units on the field of battle are made up of figures or blocks. The series have volumes representing various different historical periods, including both modern and ancient, and I have found that there is something to like in the series for anyone’s taste. We have played every volume in the series and very much had a good time with the series and its mechanics. It is just a very solid and easy to play system for new wargamers and old. Recently, GMT announced a new entry to the series focused on the American Civil War called Commands & Colors: American Civil War designed by series mastermind Richard Borg.
From the game page, we read the following:
By design, Commands & Colors: American Civil War is not overly complex. Although this version does have slightly more detail than its earlier brothers, the Classic Battle Cry board game from 1999 or Battle Cry 150th Civil War Anniversary Edition released in 2010, yet at its heart, the game is still not overly complex. If you are already familiar with the core game from one or both of these earlier editions, you will recognize most of the rules and game play. Yet, over 25 years since the original design, we have taken the opportunity to once again enhance the game’s historical feel in order to immerse players even more fully in the experience of moving and fighting troops on a stylized American Civil War battlefield.
The game is based on the highly successful Commands & Colors game system, where the Command cards drive movement while creating a “fog of war,” and the battle dice resolve combat quickly and efficiently. Commands & Colors: American Civil War, however, introduces a number of new game concepts and has slightly modified some rule sections, all of which will add additional historical depth. All these enhancements plus the new deck of Civil War Combat cards will provide even the most veteran Battle Cry player with many new play experiences and challenges.
The scale of the game fluctuates, which allows players to effectively portray some of the larger American Civil War battles, as well as smaller size skirmish actions. In some scenarios, an infantry unit may represent an entire brigade, while in others a unit may only represent a few companies of soldiers. Still the tactics of the period that you will need to execute to gain victory conform remarkably well to the advantages and limitations inherent to Civil War Armies of the day and the battlefield terrain features on which they fought.
The battles showcased in the core game scenario battle booklet feature a stylized battlefield map that emphasizes the important terrain features and highlight the historical deployment of forces in scale with the game system. There are 70 new scenarios that complement the group of updated 30 Battle Cry scenarios previous presented.
A word of advice, if I may be so bold. Even the previously-presented scenarios, now with the rule updates and a new deck of combat cards, are totally worth revisiting.
10. The Napoleonic Wars 25th Anniversary Edition from GMT Games
Over the past couple of years, GMT Games has had a focus on bringing back and upgrading several of their most classic games in either Deluxe Editions or the Anniversary Editions. These are not just straight reprints and typically involved new and upgraded components, cover art, board art and rules changes, corrections or upgrades. I own and have played several including For the People 25th Anniversary Edition, SPQR Deluxe Edition and Silver Bayonet 25th Anniversary Edition. These volumes are a great way to get older classic and out of print wargames back into the hands of players both old and new. Recently, GMT announced their newest Anniversary Edition; The Napoleonic Wars 25th Anniversary Edition designed by Mark McLaughlin.
From the game page, we read the following:
The first edition of The Napoleonic Wars was published in 2002. A second edition was published six years later and a double-sized, two-cardboard-map was made available in between. Now, thanks to the tireless work of developer Gareth Williams, who GM’ed the WBC tournament for over a decade, we are ready to bring you a 25th Anniversary Edition that will put an exclamation mark on this game’s history.
Over two hundred competitive games have been analyzed to give birth to what will be the 3rd edition of the rulebook. Likewise, about a third of the cards have been edited for clarity or balance. Six brand-new cards were also added. What hasn’t changed though is the possibility to relive the epics of Napoleon’s conquests at a strategic level with up to five players, each trying to carve up a place for their nation when 1815 comes around or when the infamous Peace Roll succeeds!
A complete graphics redesign by Wouter Schoutteten brings the game to modern standards. We are pulling out all the stops and making no compromises to production quality. The goal has always been clear: this is a deluxe edition, not an overpriced collector’s edition. We want each and every one of you to be able to enjoy this Mark McLaughlin classic at its best.
The HQ Displays now include a setup visual aid on the back. Each also features a force pool with a painting of their nation’s capital, to remind players of what they are ultimately defending!
While the black and white had its charm, cards now feature full-color artwork from the painting masterpieces of the era.
Nine major leaders such as Blücher, Davout and Bagration join Napoleon and Wellington in having a unique portrait for both their counter and standee. Oh and these leader standees will now be custom-cut!
Whether you’re a veteran of The Napoleonic Wars or you have been waiting a long time for us to reprint it, don’t miss out on your chance to get this acclaimed multiplayer game! Hours of fun await rewriting history!
I am truly impressed by this version of an Anniversary Edition and very much look forward to seeing it in real life. We have played this game once and very much enjoyed it although the balance seems a bit questionable in my mind as France, understandably, is very powerful.
11. Commands & Colors: Ancients Expansion 1: Greece & Eastern Kingdoms 4th Printing from GMT Games
This is the 2nd entry that deals with the Commands & Colors Series and is just a straight reprint, with known errata included as well. And any wargame has made it to 4th Printing should tell you something about the quality of that game. Commands & Colors: Ancients Expansion 1: Greece & Eastern Kingdoms 4th Printing is the next entry in the venerable series to get another reprint and Ancients is one of my favorite entries.
From the game page, we read the following:
Some of you have already discovered that Commands & Colors: Ancients is much more than a game. It is an expandable game system that allows players to fight a host of historical Ancient battles.
The Greeks & Eastern Kingdoms is the first expansion to Commands & Colors: Ancients. The armies of Philip, Alexander and the Successors meet the hosts of Persians, Scythians and Indians to the east. In this expansion, you will find historical scenarios that focus on the hoplites of classical Greece fighting off the invading Persian army at Marathon and Plataea; epic battles from the Peloponnesian War, the rise of Macedon and Alexander’s battles of Gaugamela, Issus and Granicus against the Persians; and battles involving Alexander’s successors. With your Greeks you will be able to turn west and battle the Carthaginians in Sicily, or as King Pyrrhus at Heraclea and Ausculum, battle the Romans.
In this first expansion, we showcase over 20 scenarios (the package includes over 300 new unit blocks and stickers you need to fight out these battles). Now, that is a lot of history, but we can do this because Commands & Colors: Ancients is, by design, a unique historical game system that will allow players to effectively portray stylized Ancient battles that play to a conclusion in less than an hour.
The battle dice resolve combat quickly and the command cards provide an element of luck that creates a fog of war and presents players with both challenges and opportunities for victory. Yet the tactics you need to execute conform remarkably well to the advantages and limitations inherent to the various Ancient units, their weapons, terrain and the history.
12. Commands & Colors: Napoleonics Expansion 1: The Spanish Army 5th Printing from GMT Games
My favorite volume in the Commands & Colors Series is C&C: Napoleonics hands down. I think that the reason for this is the unit variety represented in the game as well as the various extra army expansion packs that were released after the base game came to market. The 2nd Commands & Colors Series reprint offered this month is Commands & Colors: Napoleonics Expansion 1: The Spanish Army 5th Printing
From the game page, we read the following:
The Spanish Army is the first expansion for Commands & Colors: Napoleonics.
At the time of the Napoleonic Wars, Spain was only a shadow of its former power. Spanish troops and leaders, as many Napoleonic historians point out, performed badly on a large number of occasions. Yet there are a number of battles, Bailen, Tamames, Alcaniz and San Marcial where the Spaniards fought valiantly and gained victory. Ironically, the point most historians overlook is the fact that the Spanish armies constituted a threat that the French simply could not ignore. As good as Wellington’s Anglo-Portuguese field army was, that army faced multiple French armies. They could only defeat one French army at a time. The Spanish Armies and the accompanying guerrilla warfare against French troops tied down the remainder, allowing the Anglo-Portuguese army to ultimately emerge victorious.
In this expansion you will find 18 historical scenarios that focus on Peninsular battles fought by the Spanish army from 1808 to 1813, plus all the new units you’ll need to field for these engagements.
1808
Bailén – July 19 1808 Zornoza – October 31, 1808 Gamonel – November 7, 1808 Espinosa – November 11, 1808 Somosierra – November 30, 1808
1809
Medellin – March 28, 1809 Alcaniz – May 23, 1809 Maria – June 6, 1809 Talavera (Spanish Flank) – July 28, 1809 Tamames – October 13, 1809 Ocano (Cavalry Action) – November 18, 1809 Ocano – November 19, 1809 Alba de Tormes – November 28, 1809
1811
Barrosa (French Attack) – March 5, 1811Albuera – May 16, 1811
1813
Vitoria (Hill’s Attack) – June 21, 1813 San Marcial – August 31, 1813 Ordal Cross – September 13, 1813
The quality of Spanish troops varied, from very poor to good, and the Spanish National Unit Reference Card presents a wealth of subtle unit characteristics that set the Spanish Army apart from all other Coalition armies that opposed Napoleon. Command of the Spanish Army, therefore, will truly challenge even the most experienced Commands & Colors: Napoleonics player.
13. Labyrinth 3″ Game Box 2026-27 Reprint from GMT Games
One of the problems with a successful game series is the concept of growth. As a game does well, and more and more copies are sold and the buzz continues to build and grow, the inevitable happens and expansions come out for that game. These expansions not only add new and interesting mechanics and content to an already great game but they add stuff that you must store in the game box. And this stuff can multiply and get out of hand really quickly outgrowing the box that the original game was published in. Such is the case with Labyrinth as it has now had 2 published expansions, including The Awakening and The Forever War, and about a year ago we got the 3rd expansion The Rise of Al-Qaeda announced. 3 game expansions will add up and will not fit into the 2″ original box. So, GMT has offered a reprint of their Labyrinth 3″ Game Box on P500…and the price is very, very affordable.
From the game page, we read the following:
We’ve listened to those of you who asked us to put the Labyrinth 3″ Box back up on the P500 list to help you with storage of the game’s modules. So to accomodate you, and all those players who own earlier editions of Labyrinth and would like to get a deeper box, we are now reprinting a 3″ deep box via P500.
14. SCSDrive on Kharkov: Gallop, Star and the Backhand Blow from Multi-Man Publishing
One of my favorite hex and counter wargame series is the Standard Combat Series from Multi-Man Publishing. The series is a classic with simple rules, typically 6-10 pages of exclusive rules, solid move and fight mechanics and good solid design that always creates and fun and interesting way to take a look at operational level wargames typically set in World War II. We have played about 8 of the games in the series and own many more but it is a staple on our shelves and recently MMP announced the newest volume in the series called Drive on Kharkov. Drive on Kharkov takes a look at 3 separate but related battles on the East Front including the Soviet twin offensives, Operation Gallop and Operation Star, as well as the German counter-offensive referred to as von Manstein’s “Backhand Blow”. Once announced, I couldn’t mash the pre-order button any quicker and you should do the same.
From the game page, we read the following:
Drive on Kharkov is a Standard Combat Series (SCS) game covering the Soviet twin offensives, Operation Gallop and Operation Star, as well as the German counter-offensive (von Manstein’s “Backhand Blow”) that ended the Soviet winter offensive of 1942-43. Intended to cut off retreating Axis divisions in the south and capture Kharkov and the Donbas region, Operations Gallop and Star initially met with good success. However, the hasty nature of the offensives coupled with a poor supply situation slowed progress, and the Axis forces recovered and finally unleashed a counteroffensive that retook substantial ground and set the stage for Kursk, the last Axis offensive on the Eastern Front.
The game covers this pivotal post-Stalingrad dueling offensives at the operational scale. Each turn represents 2-3 days. Each hex is 5 kilometers wide. Soviet units are generally brigades and regiments with cavalry divisions. Axis units are mostly battalions with a few Kampfgruppen (KG) and regiments.
Game specific rules include HQs at the Soviet Army and German Corps level, artillery and air strikes, divisional refits, and mud that hampered operations late in the campaign. This famous battle comes alive with SCS where you can see if you can do as well as a Field Marshal von Manstein or Colonel General Vatutin.
If you are interested in SCSDrive on Kharkov: Gallop, Star and the Backhand Blow, you can pre-order a copy for $45.00 from the Multi-Man Publishing website at the following link: https://mmpgamers.com/drive-on-kharkov-p-471
15. BCS The Breaking Point: Battle of France and Belgium, May, 1940 from Multi-Man Publishing
As affectionate as I am about the Standard Combat Series, I may have a greater love for the Battalion Combat Series as the scale of the game and the way it integrates and connects positioning and supply into the results of combat is just superb. And those dreaded SNAFU Rolls that will get you if you don’t watch out or if you push your troops too far. MMP also announced a new entry to this series called The Breaking Point: Battle of France and Belgium, May, 1940
From the game page, we read the following:
The Breaking Point is a Battalion Combat Series (BCS) game depicting the critical point in the Battle of France. The Phoney War between France and Germany ended abruptly when panzers raced through the Ardennes Forest. France replied, executing their Dyle Plan, by advancing into their neighboring neutral countries to meet the threat . Believing it would take the Germans a week to cross the wooded and rough terrain, the French advanced their reserves hoping to form a cohesive defensive line. The Germans emerged from the Ardennes in two days, setting up a race to the Meuse River. Who will get there first? Will the French arrive in force and stop the enemy from crossing? Will the Germans vault over the river into the French heartland? The decisions and actions ultimately decided the fate of France and Belgium.
The game covers this unique and often misunderstood campaign in splendid detail. Not just focusing on Sedan where Guderian crossed, the game covers the length of the main German drive. It spans from the armored feint north of the Meuse River leading to the biggest tank battle to date at Hannut; to the crossing at Dinant where Erwin Rommel’s initial exploits were demonstrated; to Monthermé where a panzer division was held up by French Colonial troops; and finally to Sedan the French finally met its breaking point leading to the struggle for Stonne, and ultimately the breakout to the English Channel. Game specific rules capture important aspects like bridge blowing, bridge construction, tank breakdowns, Dyle Defensive Plans, and French Battle Doctrine. The intent is to reflect the historic capabilities and limitations of both sides without heavy handed rules or one built on myths.
Extensive research was done, including original French and German sources, to correctly depict the forces involved as well as how each sides’ doctrines drove how they could be used effectively. The French and Belgians fought bravely and were executing a post-WWI defensive strategy. This was compared to the dynamic tactics of the Germans, where brashness and sometimes outright insubordination wasn’t necessarily the winning factor, but rather luck. This fascinating and complex campaign can be explored by players in the way that only BCS can show.
If you are interested in BCS The Breaking Point: Battle of France and Belgium, May, 1940, you can pre-order a copy for $90.00 from the Multi-Man Publishing website at the following link: https://mmpgamers.com/the-breaking-point-p-472
16. Until the Bitter End 3 Print ‘n Play Wargame from Matt White Currently on Kickstarter
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 print and play wargames, with his most recent series being a World War II tactical wargame series for 1-2 Until the Bitter End. He has had multiple entries in the series including British Airborne versus the German Wehrmacht called Until the Bitter End, Until the Bitter End – US Airborne and Until the Bitter End – Tanks. His most recent offering in the series is called Until the Bitter End 3 and is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter.
From the game page, we read the following:
Welcome to Until the Bitter End 3, a World War 2 wargame. This is the third and latest game in the series and a print and play game for solitaire and two-players. This is a standalone game in my series of WW2 print and play games. You don’t need to have played the first games – everything is included (you simply need to print it all out and need a regular six sided dice and a pencil).
The game is quick to setup and play, it takes around 30 minutes to play a game and requires very little space.
Example of the game setup ready to play – one of the smaller scenarios on just one map, with only a few counters needed.
The game sets a small squad of American Airborne against their German enemies in a series of small skirmish scenarios. The game’s counters (or chits) each represent an actual soldier with the gameplay being in the thick of man-to-man combat.
American forces preparing to assault the German defended church.
Key Features
Each counter represents an individual soldier with unique artwork.
Rules and multiple scenarios for 2 player and separate unique rules and scenarios for Solitaire play.
Geomorphic maps and scenarios so you can decide the gameplay length from 30 minutes to a couple of hours.
Third release in the series with a robust and play tested core rule set, with easy to learn mechanics that have depth of tactical play.
Easy to print out and construct with just a few sheets of paper and only a few counters needed to start.
This is a print and play game with the PDF containing all the rules, scenarios, maps, player aids and counters required to play. You’ll need to print them out, mount the maps and counters to card and provide your own pencil and a regular six sided dice. We have kept the maps and counters to a few sheets (of either Letter or A4 size) so very inexpensive and quick to print out and mount.
One of the best parts of these print ‘n play games designed by Matt is the art. He has a real skill and creates some very memorable counters, drawings and maps that create a great deal of thematic immersion into the battles and makes it very nice to simply look at. The games are also great but his art is superb!
As of November 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised $1,615 toward its $172 funding goal with 63 backers. The campaign will conclude on Tuesday, November 17th at 4:00pm EST.
17. The Struggle for Union from Compass Games
A good sweeping Grand Strategic wargame is always welcome on my table! I love the experience of managing armies and entire fronts and the decisions that come with that including supply, logistics, politics and even war production and economic issues. And when the game is set during the American Civil War, I am very interested. One of Compass Games new offerings on pre-order is The Struggle for Union designed by Mark Melenovsky.
From the game page, we read the following:
Command the armies of the Union or Confederacy in a sweeping Civil War simulation that blends grand strategy, operational maneuver, and battlefield tactics. Build armies, manage production, and pursue your own path to victory as history unfolds across an open-ended sandbox campaign. Uncertainty reigns supreme. Fog of War conceals enemy intentions, Activation Chits create the friction and delays of command, and distant armies may “March to the Sound of the Guns” to reinforce a desperate battle underway.
When armies collide, the action shifts to an immersive Battle Board where leadership, terrain, reserves, and timing determine victory or defeat. Every battle becomes a dramatic test of skill, nerve, and command. The result is a richly historical Civil War experience where no two campaigns unfold the same way.
The Struggle for Union provides players with more of a sandbox approach to a Civil War simulation. To that end, Basic Resource Points (or Production Points) allow players to build their forces as they see fit and craft their own approaches to winning the game and have fun going down different force pool paths. Another fundamental decision was to enable players to accomplish the historical progress of the war with the least amount of rule exceptions. It was an important aspect of the design to have common rules and tables that governed most game elements, so once players learn them, they can be applied to most game situations.
Best played by 2–4 players, each playing a combination of Union and Confederate Eastern and Western Theaters.
18. Ten Years of Glory: The Tide Turns Against Philip II, 1589-1598 from Compass Games
The No Peace without Spain Series is a very interesting series from Compass Games, which is a family of card-driven, strategic-level wargames designed by Don Herndon and other contributors such as Kris Van Beurden that sets out to simulate major early-modern European conflicts from the late 17th through the mid-18th centuries. There is now a new volume in the series called Ten Years of Glory: The Tide Turns Against Philip II, 1589-1598 that was just announced and it is designed by Kris Van Beurden.
From the game page, we read the following:
Ten Years of Glory is a two-player, card-driven wargame using the No Peace without Spain system, depicting the turn of the tide in the Eighty Years’ War. During ten years (from 1589 to 1598), while the Spanish Empire was distracted by events in France, the Dutch Republic conquered territories which even today are still part of the Netherlands. One player represents the Habsburg family, while the other player represents the Anti-Habsburg Alliance.
The point-to-point map covers the Netherlands and Northern France, the traditional “cockpit” of Europe. Will Henri IV defeat the Catholic League and end the French Wars of Religion once and for all? Will Maurice of Nassau reunite the Netherlands? Where will Philip II send his most trusted and capable general, the Duke of Parma? It is up to you to answer all these questions and more!
During the designer’s research for No Peace for Thirty Years and the Eighty Years’ War (a personal favorite period of history) in general, his eyes were drawn to this little-known period of time, the Ten Years. Immediately prior to this period, the Dutch Revolt had almost been eradicated, and the Dutch Republic reduced to little more than the province of Holland, while after ten Anni Mirabiles, its Stadtholder Mauritz was able to give the Netherlands (almost) its current borders with Germany and Belgium.
Meanwhile, following the assassination of the French King Henri III, his protestant heir Henri of Navarre faces opposition from the Catholic League in a land weakened by the seven previous Wars of Religion. In between these two theaters, the Duke of Parma is governor of the Spanish Netherlands and receives conflicting orders from the Spanish King Philip II, who wants him both to support the Catholic League and defeat the Dutch Revolt. Ten Years of Glory is an asymmetric game. The Alliance player begins with a small section of the map while, historically, they ended with three quarters of the map in their hands. For this reason, the Alliance player is forced to win an Automatic Victory in order to win the game in a grand manner.
19. Brotherhood & Unity: War in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1995 Reprint from Compass Games
Not many games out there that cover the Bosnian War of 1992-1995 and this one is a very good game that does just that. Brotherhood & Unity: War in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1995 Reprint is now available to pre-order a gain and this game really is worth it. To me, this is a perfect CDG that is made for 2-3 players and should be played by 3 for the best and most immersive exprience.
From the game page, we read the following:
Brotherhood & Unity is a 2-3 player card driven wargame which depicts the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992-1995 (“Bosnian War”). The game shows all of the major events: from the siege of Sarajevo (shown in separate, detailed map), to the ferocious battles for the Posavina corridore, and desperate defense of the Bosniak enclaves. Main features are: Point-To-Point movement system, play driven by Strategy Cards, quick combat resolution (no CRT), streamlined rules and fast gameplay. Interaction between warring sides (Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats) creates an intensive and exciting gameplay experience.
Player’s military strength fluctuates based on historical facts, with Serbs starting superior in all aspects, and Bosniaks struggling to organize an effective fighting formation. Military units represent Brigades – standard military formations of the time, ranging from 1500-2000 soldiers. They have different combat and movement values (based on historical data), which forces players to use different tactics for different opponents. Majority of these units are non-motorized infantry formations (moving only several spaces per round), but with the use of special offensive cards players can increase their mobility and surprise the opponents.
The game simulates three distinct sides in the war: Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats – with no clear border separating them. That provides an interesting set of choices to players: to attack or to fortify, whom to ally with, and when to change sides. That leads to many turnarounds and pragmatical alliances with former enemies – as was historically the case.
Each player gets a deck of Strategy Cards, simulating a variety of historical events. The player starts an action round by playing a Strategy Card from his hand. A card can be played as an event (Combat Card, Offensive, Interrupt, Foreign Units and Other) or as one of the game actions (Movement, Attack, Strategic Redeployment, Diplomatic Action or Reinforcement). The events and card values have been carefully created to mimic the historical events and choices. Since each game uses only a part of the available card deck, players can’t be certain which cards will be drawn during the game. That creates a “card fog-of-war” and makes the game more replayable.
Game uses Strategic Will point system to keep track of the victories and losses, and to determine the final score. It is affected by a number of things: capturing or losing regions, capturing or losing key spaces, eliminating or losing units, and as a result of events. One of the most important aspects of the game is capturing player’s own key regions – which were different for each side, and which reflects the different aims the each side had.
20. Eastern Front Operational Battles from Compass Games Currently on Kickstarter
The classic qadrigame is a solid way of getting lots of content into a box and also packaging similar battles with the same rules set in an easy and accessible method. I love these quads and am very glad to see they are still alive and kicking. This month, Compass Games launched a quad designed by John Thiessen called Eastern Front Operational Battles and it includes Pincers, Operation Fridericus, Orel Salient and Operation Rumaiantsev.
From the game page, we read the following:
In May of 1942, portions of the Red Army were to attack the German 6th Army, as mandated by Stalin. This was to be a pincers type attack, enveloping Kharkov. The Germans coincidentally were planning an assault in May against the salient which formed the southern base of the Soviet May offensive. The Red Army struck first, and five days later the German attack commenced. These double offensives are what are covered in “Pincers” and “Operation Fredericus”. As the German Zitadelle offensive of 1943 was winding down, the Soviets launched a major attack of their own on the northern part of the Kursk area. Then on August 3 the Soviets attacked the southern part of the Kursk area. “Orel Salient” and “Operation Rumiantsev” cover these actions.
Eastern Front Operational Battles use the same basic rule set in all four games as one would expect in a quad game. The rules are accessible and straight forward for playability, and at the same time, all aspects, such as movement rates, combat outcomes, and so on, are based on historical analysis. All of the games play at the operational level. Units are mostly regiments/brigades and divisions in the 1942 games, and divisions and corps in the 1943 games.
There are also a few interesting small units in the mix. In the 1943 games, the Germans have a small number of the “animal” units available: Hornisse, Tiger, Brummbar, as well as Ferdinands (later called Elefants). There are a few Hungarian, Romanian, and Italian units that take part in the action. Both sides have a number of armored, motorized, and cavalry units in their orders of battle, so that movement and breakthroughs are frequent possibilities. Headquarters allow units within range to benefit from a number of characteristics. Airpower is represented with players able to give CRT column shifts and to attack various ground targets. Some randomized special events affect play. The system isn’t complex, and there are a few optional rules that are available if players want to add some chrome.
Gamers should find that ease of play and realistic modeling coexist in this system. All four games in Eastern Front Operational Battles can be for two players, and they are also readily accessible for solitaire play.
As of November 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised $6,139 toward its $2,500 funding goal with 67 backers. The campaign will conclude on Thursday, November 10th at 8:10pm EST.
New Release
1. Fragile Crown, Hard Battle – Battle of Shrewsbury: July 21, 1403 from High Flying Dice Games
As you have heard me say before, small format wargames on lesser gamed subjects are always welcome at my table. High Flying Dice Games seems to specialize in these type of games and this month have 2 very interesting looking games on vastly different subjects.
The first is Fragile Crown, Hard Battle – Battle of Shrewsbury: July 21, 1403, which takes a look at the Battle of Shrewsbury between rebel forces of the Percy’s and Lancastrian’s.
From the game page, we read the following:
The rule of Lancastrian King Henry IV was precarious following his overthrow of his cousin, King Richard II in 1399. Richard had assumed the English crown at a young age following the sudden death of his father, the Black Prince, leading to Richard becoming the heir to the English throne following the death of his grandfather, Edward III. However, his regency fed the young king’s paranoia and narcissism, turning Richard II into a feared tyrant that bankrupted the realm and brought it to the brink of civil war. Henry’s usurpation of his cousin’s rule was seen as a liberation by many. However, the Percy family resented the Lancastrian house’s rise to power, as well as King Henry IV’s seeming reluctance to support them in the face of growing Scottish incursions and damaging raids into their estates.
Henry Percy, nicknamed “Hotspur”, at first supported Henry IV’s takeover of the English throne and was a long friend of his eldest son and now Prince of Wales, Henry V. In 1402 Hotspur won a major victory against the Scots, capturing many of their nobles and the Scottish King. King Henry IV demanded that all the Scottish nobles and King be turned over to him so he could arrange some sort of peace treaty. Hotspur, who had not been paid by either Richard II or Henry IV for his part in defending the realm (the monarchy was broke and Parliament reluctant to pay the bills), badly needed the ransoms his high-born prisoners would fetch from the Scots. By the summer of 1403, Hotspur’s patience was at an end and Hotspur and his supporters rose in revolt. The rebel forces of the Percy’s (about ten thousand) and Lancastrian’s (about fourteen thousand) met near the town of Shrewsbury and fought in one of the bloodiest battles in English history. Can you do as well or better than your historical counterpart?
If you are interested in Fragile Crown, Hard Battle – Battle of Shrewsbury: July 21, 1403, you can order a copy for $20.95 from the High Flying Dice Games website at the following link: https://www.hfdgames.com/shrew.html
2. Falling Skies – Operation Rolling Thunder March-December, 1965 from High Flying Dice Games
The 2nd game offered this month from High Flying Dice Games is a modern wargame that deals with airpower and the bombing campaign in Vietnam called Falling Skies – Operation Rolling Thunder March-December, 1965. I just love these type of airwar games that focus on routes and avoiding SAM’s and the like as they always create a very tense and interesting experience as you go about trying your best to avoid detection and attack.
From the game page, we read the following:
After the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed on August 10, 1964, full American intervention in the Vietnam Conflict was inevitable. The Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, believed they had a war winning strategy with massive air strikes against targets in North Vietnam and the “Ho Chi Minh Trail”, the route through Laos and Cambodia that funneled men and material to Communist forces in South Vietnam. Dubbed Operation Rolling Thunder, phased airstrikes against targets that progressively worked their way closer to Hanoi and Haiphong, would convince the North Vietnamese government of the futility of waging war against South Vietnam and encourage them to seek a negotiated peace settlement.
Trusting that the policy of regulated and judicious use of force that was used successfully in the Cuban Missile Crisis would also lead to victory here in Vietnam, Operation Rolling Thunder was launched weeks before the first US ground troops were to land at Danang. However, the historical result was far from what was anticipated in Washington, DC, and presaged the frustration and tragedy of a war that would last another ten years, America’s defeat and humiliation, and the fall of South Vietnam.
If you are interested in Falling Skies – Operation Rolling Thunder March-December, 1965, you can order a copy for $20.95 from the High Flying Dice Games website at the following link: https://www.hfdgames.com/skies.html
3. 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 recently published.
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 can order a copy for €150.00 ($167.19 in US Dollars) from the Thin Red Line Games website at the following link: https://trlgames.com/prodotto/first-man-in-rome/
4. 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, we were unable to sit down and play the game but got a crash course into the design as well as a good look at the awesome components.
The game had an initial Kikcstarter that they pulled and made some changes to with a 2nd Kickstarter in April 2025. The campaign funded and it is now available for purchase. I got my copy last week and it looks really great.
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 learn more about the project on the game page at the Invicta Rex Games website at the following link: https://www.invictarex.com/songforwar
Be aware that the link wasn’t working as of yet but should be functional shortly.
5. 1066: Year of Destiny from Legion Wargames
As mentioned above, I love Legion Wargames and their games as they are just good! The 2nd game they had this month was called 1066: Year of Destiny and covers the chaotic wars around successors to King Edward in January 1066.
From the game page, we read the following:
1066: Year of Destiny is a three player game covering the various claimants to the crown of England following the death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066.
The players fulfill the roles of Harald Hardrada, Harold Godwinson and William of Normandy. The game is split into 4 phases each of which is designed to illustrate a key component in determining who takes the crown.
Firstly there is a Pre-Invasion Political Event phase (PIPE) which is designed to showcase the political intrigue that took place prior to the death of Edward. During this phase the players can gain additional support from other leaders and regions and, crucially, they can gain additionally legitimacy from various monarchs, religious bodies and events. Many events are outside their control; death of the Aethling, Scandinavian Wars and the activities of Tostig but they will also be crucial. This simple game preamble will provide an infinite variety of starting points to be played out on the map itself. In addition this phase can be a time of acquiring operational and tactical chits to use advantageously later.
Legitimacy is central to the game. Unless a player gains an automatic victory then a players legitimacy level will be key in determining who has won the war. As well as during the PIPE phase it can also be changed by winning and losing battles and by taking controlling of areas on the map.
However before the Operational phase there are the perils of the sea crossings. When to sail is a crucial decision by both William and Hardrada. Go early and the weather should be kinder, go later and you can recruit more troops. Lady luck, in the form of stormy seas can destroy the best laid plans, in addition the prevailing winds can prevent you invading, even when you are ready to go (as occurred to William). If a crossing goes badly wrong, or you lose an early decisive battle your claim lies in shreds. Don’t despair – ‘Become a Dane’. A player can abandon their attempt, as William or Hardrada, and instead take up the cause of Sweyn of Denmark and try and gain the throne for the Danes (they historically invaded in 1069). It won’t be easy winning as the Danes but it means you are still in the game.
The first week in September is a dangerous time for Harold as the Fyrd stand down to collect the harvest, is this the time to strike? , will the weather conditions be in your favour. In the operational players move around the map of England to gain control of areas and improve their legitimacy as well as deciding when to strike to win a decisive battle against one of the two opponents. The operational phase is a real ‘rock, paper, scissors’ problem. How to square the problems of keeping your forces concentrated to win battles, spreading them out to take control of areas whilst keeping them feed without turning areas into wastelands.When battle is joined them the action is transferred to a battle board where the individual characteristics of the differing armies is highlighted. The longer you stay on the battlefield the bigger the loss if you are defeated; often the losses from pursuit are greater than the losses from the battle itself. Winning and losing battles result in big legitimacy swings which can decide the game.
Never before has this iconic campaign been gamed with all four key facets illustrated (politics, invasion, operational campaign and battles). There are a number of very good battle games but not much for the operational phase and nothing showing the political interplay or the perils of the sea crossings themselves. The victory conditions for each player differ slightly, requiring differing strategies for each side. Sweyn of Denmark is waiting in the wings. The game system will determine if he arrives or not. Leave London inadequately protected and he will take it and without it neither William or Harold can win a decisive victory.
6. Bear Trap: The Soviet-Afghan War, 1979-1989 from GMT Games
A few years ago, GMT announced a very cool looking game designed by Paul Daniels covering the Soviet-Afghan War from 1979-1989 called Bear Trap. The game was described as a block wargame that used a similar system to what was used in the design for Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan.
From the game page, we read the following:
Bear Trap is a quick-playing, low-complexity 2-player block wargame covering the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989).
In the Soviet–Afghan war, Insurgent groups—including the mujahideen—fought a guerrilla war against the Soviet 40th Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) government. The game begins shortly after “Operation Storm-333” was executed at the end of 1979—in this coup, Hafizullah Amin (General Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan) was killed, and Babrak Karmal, a Soviet loyalist, replaced him. By putting the Brezhnev Doctrine into practice, the Soviets sought to prop up the sympathetic local government and “solve the Russian Ice-lock Problem” while the Insurgents sought to expel the secularist government and foreign invaders.
Although the two sides in this conflict were fundamentally different in a variety of ways, they also faced some parallel challenges. For instance, they struggled to maintain loyalty. For the Soviets and the DRA, the DRA armed forces merely offered an opportunity for a paycheck, and there were cases where conscripts in the Soviet Army defected to the Mujahideen (e.g. Kazbek Hudalov). For the Insurgents, propaganda, threats, and promises to family drew would-be combatants away, as did injuries suffered from landmines and attacks on villages. Both sides also struggled to puncture the fog of war, not being able to secure reliable intel about force deployment and strength. And both faced various challenges around supply, communication, and coordination. Both sides needed to react to shifting strategies and developments over this decade long Cold War proxy war, where the landscape upon which it was fought presented many unique challenges.
Bear Trap is a spiritual successor to Sekigahara—building on the same core system. In both games, each player has their own deck of cards; players spend cards from their hand to activate areas or in combat to commit units to battle. This means fans of Sekigahara will find learning Bear Trap easy, but the feel and experience of the games are highly divergent. In addition to the difference in topics covered, other differences include:
In Bear Trap, forces are represented by blocks, stickered side hidden from the opponent, and the orientation of a block determines its disposition (i.e. the orientation of a block dictates whether it’s mobilized, fortified, disordered, poised to offer fire support to a battle initiated by friendly units, or ready to ambush enemy units). The orientation of a block also determines which battles it can join, whether card play is required to commit it to battle, and whether it can be moved or activated.
Bear Trap features an area-based map, rather than the point-to-point style found in Sekigahara.
The sequential combat system popularized in Sekigahara is utilized in Bear Trap, adapted to suit the setting. This includes the use of ‘loyalty challenges,’ making Bear Trap simulate the proneness of (for instance) Afghan forces to defect.
Bear Trap is, like Sekigahara, first and foremost a 2-player game—but Bear Trap includes a unique solo mode, built around a card assisted flowchart bot.
Bear Trap has fewer blocks than Sekigahara, and each player has fewer card types (‘suits’) in their decks.
Bear Trap introduces ‘strategy’ cards—powerful event cards. Although it would be misleading to label Bear Trap a deck-building game, players will add 2 cards from a pool specific to their side each time they reshuffle their deck.
Bear Trap is not a “clone” of Sekigahara—they are very different games with differences in topic, feel, and mechanism, despite having an underlying shared game system. Bear Trap is also a more asymmetric game than Sekigahara. Although Bear Trap is a slight step up in complexity (relative to Sekigahara), the mechanics remain simple, and Bear Trap can be completed in 2-3 hours.
7. Battle Line: Medieval 2nd Printing from GMT Games
Following on in this reprint trend this month, Battle Line: Medieval2nd Printing is now shipping. This is one of those famous classic wargames designed by Reiner Knizia that is very well thought of but that is a smaller, card based game that is portable and very approachable.
From the game page, we read the following:
Now in its 12th GMT printing, designer Reiner Knizia’s Battle Line is our #2 all-time best-selling game! This new re-themed version of Battle Line is a two-player strategy card game built around the theme of Medieval warfare. This Medieval-themed version of Battle Line features 60 beautiful new cards by illustrator Roland MacDonald, as well as 10 full-color tactics “wildcards” that give players extra flexibility and choices and help make each new battle wildly different from the last.
Battle Line: Medieval takes about 30 minutes to play. To win, you must create powerful formations along your side of the line of battle that are superior to those of your enemy. Victory goes to the player who wins 5 of the 9 battle flags (an envelopment) or three adjacent flags (a breakthrough). Based on Reiner Knizia’s original design published in Germany as Shotten-Totten,Battle Line: Medieval enhances and expands that game system to give players even more tactical options and gut-wrenching decisions.
Battle Line: Medieval is a beautiful game that will delight competitive strategy game players and also serve as an great introductory game for new or young gamers.
I own the Deluxe Edition of this one, which was released in 2018 and it is a beautiful monster with around 6 full counter sheets and 6 double sided maps with 19 scenarios. There is a lot of game here! I have only played the game on Vassal though with a few of the scenarios and have really enjoyed it. I must admit that this one is very deep and there are a lots of rules and exceptions based on the different units that are included in each scenario. I do feel that the rules could use some work but that concern does not sway me away from saying this system and the game itself are fantastic!
The game system really emphasizes the important role of command on the ancients battlefield. Leaders are the most important counters in the game and consequently without leader’s order, the player will find that their very powerful and important phalanx and legions will not be able to take any actions, even moving closer to the enemy.
One of my favorite rules from the game is the all important initiative. When in battle, the player will hold the initiative if you force your opponent to act first and can react on every move. Also, leaders are activated in their initiative rating order from lowest to highest. Leaders can issue individual orders up to their initiative rating to the units in command radius, or if specifically called for in the scenario, activate a whole line of units. Leader may also gain momentum, trying to take turn after the turn if passing their initiative checks. The game is really very playable, with some exceptions for rules that just are not as clear as they need to be, but this system takes into account what was most important on the battlefields of the ancient world.
From the game page, we read the following:
We are proud to bring SPQR back in print in a new and expanded 5th Edition. This edition will not only include the scenarios from the Barbarian module but also the six scenarios of The Hammer of God module published in C3i magazine and an updated version of the Battle of Pydna originally published in the SPQR Player’s Guide. Perhaps the most significant change to the original SPQR and Scenario Pack scenarios is the inclusion of the setups to play with the Simple GBoH 2nd Edition rules!
The game will feature a new edition of the rulebook incorporating all known errata and numerous clarifications based on player feedback. Known errata on the Player Aid cards have been addressed. The Game Turn Track Display will be replaced by a Rout Point Tracking card (which includes a Game Turn Track) in the same style as that in Great Battles of Julius Caesar. There are no changes to the maps. Minor errata on a few of the counters will be addressed and the counters associated with the early C3i Marathon scenario will be replaced with counters for the Pydna scenario along with additional counters to eliminate several counter substitutions.
Due to the increased content, the most significant change to the components is a restructuring of the previous edition’s three scenario/module books into three scenario books arranged chronologically.
I will play SPQR at anytime and I know that there are other games out there that have a better following but for me Herman and Berg were a magnificent team to create these very interesting and unique scenarios.
9. SPQR Deluxe 5th Edition Update Kit from GMT Games
If you already own SPQR (and let me tell you that you should and we will need to talk later), and feel that you are going to miss out with these improvements, then never fear! GMT Games has you covered with their SPQR Deluxe 5th Edition Update Kit.
From the game page, we read the following:
The SPQR Deluxe 5th Edition Update Kit allows owners of the 2008 and 2018 printings of SPQR Deluxe Edition to use the maps and counters from those games with the new content (see the SPQR Deluxe 5th Edition listing for details).
Components:
One Rulebook
Three Chronological Scenario Books (The Rise of Rome, The 2nd Punic War, and Rome and the Successors)
10. Small Battles of the American Revolution Volume I: The Battle of Cowpens from GMT Games
While attending the World Boardgaming Championships 2 years ago, 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.
But then recently I got a chance to play the game in its final form while attending the Gaming the American Revolution 250 Camden Event put on by GMT Games and it was absolutely golrious.
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
We recently did a video interview with designer Bruno Sinigaglio and here is a link to that video:
If you are interested in Small Battles of the American Revolution Volume I: The Battle of Cowpens, you can order a copy for $75.00 from the GMT Games website at the following link: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-1140-the-battle-of-cowpens.aspx
11. Cards & Command: The Western Front – United Kingdom vs. Germany and Cards & Command: The European Theater – United States vs. Germany from Jason Smith (Self-Published)
As I was finishing up this post, and still looking through the internet for anything I could find, I came upon a really interesting looking little WWII card based wargame called Cards & Command. I love a good card based game and started to check out their shop and it looked to be really pretty good and I very much loved the art style and graphic design. The game is designed by Jason Smith and self published so you won’t find any big website with glitz and glamor. But, the game does look really pretty interesting and there are 2 separate games including Cards & Command: The Western Front – United Kingdom vs. Germany and Cards & Command: The European Theater – United States vs. Germany. I bought copies of both of the games and they should arrive here in about 10 days.
From the game page, we read the following:
A World War II strategy card game designed for ages 14+. Take command of a World War II battlefield as you lead either the German or British forces in an intense battle of strategy, tactics, and firepower. Deploy infantry, tanks, artillery, and air support, outthink your opponent with clever manoeuvres, and make every dice roll count as you fight to eliminate the enemy commander.
With quick setup, fast-paced turns, and endless strategic possibilities, Cards & Command delivers the thrill of commanding a WWII army without the complexity of a lengthy war game.
Cards & Command is the ultimate WWII strategy card game — and the perfect gift for any history buff or board game lover.
Game Features
– Fast-paced gameplay — sessions typically last 15 minutes to 1 hour
– 2–4 players — battle head-to-head in Germany vs. the United Kingdom, or team up for 2v2 warfare
– Compact box — easy to take anywhere and play on the move
– Authentic WWII-inspired units — command iconic tanks, aircraft, infantry, and specialist troops
– Tactical depth — combine unit abilities, positioning, reinforcements, and dice-based combat to outmanoeuvre your opponent
Choose Your Army
United Kingdom
Command British forces and deploy iconic WWII units, including the legendary Spitfire, the formidable Churchill tank, and elite Special Air Service troops.
Germany
Lead German forces into battle with powerful units such as the fearsome Tiger tank, the Bf 109 fighter aircraft, and Fallschirmjäger paratroopers.
United States
Lead American forces into battle with iconic WWII units, including the versatile Sherman tank, the powerful P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft, and elite US Army Rangers. Use American firepower, tactical coordination, and combined-arms warfare to take control of the battlefield.
Germany
Command German forces and deploy formidable WWII units, including the fearsome Tiger tank, the Bf 109 fighter aircraft, and Fallschirmjäger paratroopers. Use powerful units and calculated tactics to break through enemy defences and eliminate the opposing commander.
Choose your side, build your army, and prepare for battle. Every unit has a role to play, and every decision could turn the tide of war.
If you are interested in Cards & Command: The Western Front – United Kingdom vs. Germany and Cards & Command: The European Theater – United States vs. Germany, you can order copies for $39.00 each from the Cards & Command Etsy Shop at the following link: Cards and Command
12. Firepower Strike Volume 1: The Siege of Midpoint Station Hammer Bastion from Blue Panther
In July 2019, in the “Before the Plague Times” when life was simpler, I had the pleasure of meeting designer Keith Tracton at the World Boardgaming Championships in Pennsylvania. He was showing off his new game at the time World At War 85: Storming the Gap and it was a thing of beauty! Since that time, we have seen Keith design a follow up effort to World at War 85 in the Blood and FuryExpansion and he has a Sci-Fi wargame called Raider Drop Zone. Recently I caught wind that he was working on another Sci-Fi wargame with Blue Panther called Firepower Strike Volume 1: The Siege of Midpoint Station Hammer Bastion, which is set in the same universe as his Raider Drop Zone.
From the game page, we read the following:
The Firepower Strike Series offers epic-scale two-player stand alone science fiction ground combat games. The series, set in the Firepower Pass universe, pits ground forces of the Terran Corporate Consolidation against the aggressive Procyonese Concordat and their alien allies, the Kraken.
Hammer Bastion shows one quadrant of the assault on the crucial walled-and-shielded starport of Midpoint Station, currently enduring its third siege–this time by the Procyonese Concordat First Line Army forces aided by curtain-wall-climbing, Kraken “Dragoon” warriors.
As the Terran command your mission is to simply defend the northwestern walls of Midpoint Station, centered on the Hammer Bastion.
As the Procyonese commander, you must coordinate a massive ground force to assault and overcome the Hammer Bastion’s formidable defenses, with the ultimate objective of destroying the station’s central spire containing the station’s critical shield-projecting tower.
If you are interested in Firepower Strike Volume 1: The Siege of Midpoint Station Hammer Bastion, you can order a copy for $85.00 from the Blue Panther website at the following link: https://www.bluepantherllc.com/products/hammer-bastion
13. Flames Across the Valley 2nd Edition from Bill Molyneaux Games
There is a need for introductory wargames in our hobby that can be used to teach the concepts of wargames to new players. Very few designers focus on this area but Bill Molyneaux is one of those as he has designed several very good introductory wargames over the years including Bloody Mohawk from Lock ‘n Load Publishing, Savage Wilderness from Lock ‘n Load Publishing, Battle of Brandywine from Fast Play Wargames, Horns of the Buffalo from Fast Play Wargames and most recently The Battle of Wyse Fork from Bill Molyneaux Games (with codesigner Kim Meints). Recently, he has worked on a 2nd Edition of one of his early games from 1993 with a new designer named Ron Toelke called Flames Across the Valley 2nd Edition.
From the game page, we read the following:
October 1780. The American rebels and the British army battle for control of Scholarie, New York. Whoever captures this settlement can turn the tide of the war. The fate of New York is in your hands.
The New York frontier, a place of peaceful valleys and rich farms, has been the scene of savage warfare since the beginning of the American Revolution. British soldiers, dispossessed Loyalists, and their Indian Allies seek to bring fear and ruin to the “breadbasket” of the rebellious American colonies. The settlers and their families, with the aid of some Continental soldiers, struggle to preserve their homes from the invaders.
Flames Along the Valley recreates the raid on the Schoharie Valley in October, 1780, by British forces under Sir John Johnson. Three forts guard the valley, places of refuge and defense. Can the forts be taken and destroyed, the defenders scattered? Will the militia and Continental troops stand fast against the enemies of liberty? Can the invaders be prevented from burning every barn and house in sight? Return to the cold and snowy day of October 17,1780 to once more do battle.
Flames Across the Valley: Second Edition is a reworking of the game that was first released in 1993 by Chatham Hill games and Ron Toelk. This “second edition” was started by Bill Molyneaux and the late historian Paul A. Supley, whom this game is dedicated to. Mr. Molyneaux would like to thank Mr. Ron Toelk for the right to use his work for this updated version.
As usual, thanks so much for reading along and sticking with me this month as I navigated through the many websites and game pages looking for new and interesting games to share.
Finally, thanks once again to this month’s sponsor PHALANX!
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In 1539, a small Spanish garrison of troops numbering 3,500 men held the Albanian village of Castelnuovo for 22 days against the massive Ottoman army consisting of over 54,000 Turk soldiers. This siege took place as a part of the Ottoman-Habsburg struggle for control of the Mediterranean Sea in July 1539 at the walled town of Castelnuovo, which is the location of present-day Herceg Novi, Montenegro. After days of open trench warfare and more than a month of smaller combats, skirmishes, assaults and bombardments from the Turkish navy, the last Spanish defenders fell ending the siege. Castelnuovo 1539 is a wargame that focuses on this siege designed by Francisco Ronco. The defenders are safe behind sturdy walls and battlements but time and continual shelling from the Ottomans will lead to assaults over the walls. The battle is hopeless for the defenders but they can win the game by doing enough damage to the Ottomans to end their campaign and stop them from invading further into the Albania and then onto Spain and the rest of Europe. The game is very well produced using wooden blocks for soldiers, stylized walls, siege trenches and cannon along with ships and the board is also beautifully illustrated. The game is a block wargame where the strength of units are hidden from the opponent and plays pretty quickly in less than 90 minutes and really is a great representation of the battle and its history.
In Action Point 1, we took a look at the beautiful Game Board and its area movement scheme. In Action Point 2, we examined the units available to both sides and compared their relative strengths and weaknesses. In Action Point 3, we took a look at the different types of Command Cards and discussed how they are used. In this Action Point, we will take a look at the 2 different types of rounds including a Siege Round and an Assault Round and how they differ.
In Castelnuovo 1539 there are 2 different types of rounds within the structure of the game including Siege Rounds and Assault Rounds. This 2 type approach is designed to reflect the different preparations and phases of a sustained siege on a fortified location. The Ottoman player is allowed to choose the type of round for the upcoming turn during the Reinforcement Phase, which is the last phase in any round. In this structure, the Ottoman player has the chance to review the previous round, consider their losses and gains on the battlefield, identify their goals and set themselves up for success in the coming round.
Siege Rounds reflect the necessary preparations, concentration of resources of both men and materiel, the progress of mine works and siege trenches and represent 3 or 4 days of the siege. During this time there are small combats and skirmishes, probing of the enemy lines and reconnoitering but no major frontal assaults. In this type of round, each player draws only 4 cards reflecting the slower and more deliberate planning phases of a siege. The first round of the game is always a Siege Round in the main scenario. There also is another mechanic that is added to the Siege Rounds as the Ottoman player can choose to rest during only a Siege Round and no cards are played and the player also places all of their Azab and Sipahi Blocks on the board at full Strength. This reflects the buildup and preparation for the upcoming assault and is a key decision for the Ottoman player who is pushing against time and must complete the siege in their favor before time expires.
Assault Rounds represent moments of decisive assault, with a great amount of movement and activity on both sides. The action is fast and furious and each turn represents only 1 days worth of combat. In this type of round, the hand of both players increases to 7 cards in order to provide the fuel needed to sustain a planned attack. There is a price to pay for the prosecution of an Assault Round though as each time the Ottoman player declares their intention to assault, the Ottoman Casualty Track will be advanced 1 space.
The decision opportunity for an Assault Round versus a Siege Round comes at the end of the Spanish Action Phase. Before drawing any cards, the Ottoman player chooses which type of round to play next. If an Assault Round is chosen and the player has more than 4 cards in their hand, no new cards will be drawn and the player will discard down to 4 cards. One of the key decision points at this time is the makeup of the Ottoman player’s hand. If they have good cards, such as the necessary Order Cards to initiate attacks as well as a Combat Card or 2 to supplement those attacks and make them more effective, the choice is pretty simple. If their hand of cards is not necessarily setup and beneficial for a siege, they may want to move to an Assault Round where they will draw the maximum 7 cards and can continue their preparations for the next round while still engaging in smaller attacks and bombardments to weaken the defenses and demoralize and reduce the defending Spanish Tercios.
I was very impressed by this distinction in the 2 types of rounds in the design but at first had difficulty making the connection to the history and the design choice. But a siege is a very different and particular case in warfare and has some very interesting nuances that must be taken into consideration. As the game is basically decided by the mounting casualties of both sides, the presence of artillery batteries, the obsolete medieval fortifications of the city and the modern earthen fortifications built by the Spanish to reinforce them, casualties are a reality and the Ottoman player needs to be cognizant of this and take it seriously. There has to be a deliberate and planned attack on the city with the proper and measured construction of siege trenches by the Ottomans to realize the benefit of their usefulness in reducing the casualties of the besiegers.
A good Ottoman commander will play a well balanced game with a consistent pattern of incremental movement upon the city, all the while building their siege lines to form a tightening encirclement of the walls like the coils of an anaconda, inching closer and closer to the walls, using their artillery to weaken and break the defenses and create breaches where close-range assaults can be launched that will ultimately decide the outcome. Digging trenches should be one of the Ottomans first tasks, as they must protect their blocks as they are in the open field, an easy target for attack. Once the blocks are protected with trenches, there is a need to plan the advance and bring these trenches and batteries closer to the Spanish fortifications so that they can breached. Once there are open breaches, it is necessary to throw caution to the wind and take the city by assault as the Spanish attempts to repair the walls and build internal fortifications will continue to hinder the Ottoman’s progress. But, the Spanish player must keep in mind their advantages, including the well known Spanish ‘camisado’ attacks (encamisadas in Spanish) to sally forth and inflict damage upon the besieging forces to weaken their strength. The Spanish leaders are better and will provide great benefits to these attacks that should inflict maximum damage and break the will of the Ottoman as they continue the slow and arduous advance on the city. But the understanding of how to use this Siege/Assault process will take a few plays to understand but once you master the rules, you will see that these fortresses were not defended passively, but rather are in the pattern of an active defense that makes calculated sorties to hinder the work of the attackers by destroying artillery batteries and not giving the Ottomans any rest or respite from the action a vital part of the process.
In Action Point 5, we will delve into an example of combat and bombardment.
If you are interested, I was able to shoot the following review/overview/summary video with the designer Francisco Ronco after playing the game earlier this year:
Angekündigt: Neu: Updates: ANGEKÜNDIGT In der kommenden Woche ist einiges mehr los auf den Crowdfunding-Plattformen. Es sind verschiedene Projekte angekündigt. Hier der Überblick über die kommende Woche und den verschiedenen Plattformen und die „wichtigsten“ Projekte: Arkham Horror Remastered – Vault Series Mit Arkham Horror Remastered startet Fantasy Flight Games seine neue Vault Series, in der ältere Titel wieder […]
During the summer of 2019, we were introduced to Maurice Suckling and his very interesting design Freeman’s Farm 1777 from Worthington Publishing and really enjoyed the mechanics and how they all came together to create an interactive and interesting look at the Battle of Saratoga during the American Revolution. I was very impressed with Maurice and his appraoch to design and we have followed him every since and played many of his great designs. including Hidden Strike: American Revolution, Chancellorsville 1863 and 1565 Siege of Malta and Crisis: 1914. In this entry in the Best 3 Games with…Series I wanted to highlight the games of Maurice Suckling and share those that I have had the best experience with.
3. Freeman’s Farm 1777 from Worthington Publishing
Freeman’s Farm 1777 is the first in the Battle Formations Series from Worthington Publishing that are designed for both solitaire and two players. The focus of the system is on the individual formations that appeared on the battlefield and places the players in the role of overall commander to make decisions about which formations to activate and how to use those formations to position themselves to attack the enemy. The key to these decisions is the morale of those formations as each command utilizes one of their levels of morale and if pushed too far, through attacking or being attacked, the formation will be forced to take a morale test to see if it will break.
There are a couple of things that I really liked about this one as I felt it told the story of the style of fighting of the time and incorporated some elements that were very important. This series has centered the focus on formations and how they can interact with each other on the battlefield. It simply looks at how the relative positioning of the formations opens up opportunities for attack or provides advantages or disadvantages to one side or the other. If you are above an enemy formation on high ground or have a superior firing angle on a formation in battle, shouldn’t you gain an advantage? And furthermore, if you are relatively inexperienced green forces and are facing the smoking gun barrels of your enemy’s cannons, don’t you think that your attempts to return fire will be less effective than if firing with hardened troops from cover? This spatial element is a major inclusion in the design and really feels right and makes your choices as commander that much more difficult as you decide how to activate your troops to take advantage of the situation. I really have enjoyed this spatial relationship during my plays of the game and think that the approach is very novel.
The other element that I really enjoyed was the concept of morale. The design has the player controlling several different Formation Cards that represent their troops on the battlefield and each has their own set of actions they are able to take. The key for these Formation Cards is that each time they are activated through the play of the corresponding Activation Card they have to pay for this activation. The payment comes in the form of paying 1 point of Morale from the Morale Track by moving the cube marker down one space. The formation may also lose Morale as they attack and are attacked throughout the game. The moment that a formation’s morale reaches 5 on the Morale Track they have to conduct a Morale Test to see if they will break and leave the field. This Morale Test is conducted by rolling a single d6 with any modifiers from Tactics Cards that the player controls and then comparing that result to the current Morale of the formation (i.e. where the Morale marker is currently on the Morale Track). If the die roll is higher than the marker location, the formation has failed the test and becomes broken. If the roll is equal to or less than the marker location, the formation passes the test and remains on the battlefield. Each successive reduction in the Morale of that formation will trigger another test which will be harder and harder to pass as the number decreases. Soldiers spend their strength and will to fight in each skirmish and as they are pushed more and more, and in the face of losses and exhaustion, reach a point where their will to fight is gone and they break. I like how the design dealt with this issue and it feels right.
The game uses wooden cubes, disks and sticks to mark formations on the board and it looks like those pictures in text books showing the location of troops during these historical battles. This was a nice thematic touch for me and helped me to get into the mind set of a Revolutionary War battle.
I wrote a series of Action Point posts covering the various aspects of the game. You can read those at the following links:
Action Point 1 – Game board that represents the locations and roles of both sides’ formations as well as their relative positions on the battlefield.
Action Point 2 – Formation Cards and how the Activation Cards are used to command and how Morale Tests work.
Action Point 3 – Momentum Cubes and how they are used to purchase the all important Tactics Cards.
Action Point 4 – Examples of combat and discuss the way the dice are used.
Here is a look at our video review of the game:
2. Chancellorsville 1863 from Worthington Publishing
While the next game on this list uses the same system, this entry in the series is definitely improved and matured and I very much liked the blind movement aspect which was added. Chancellorsville 1863 covers the Battle of Chancellorsville during the American Civil War using a similar system to Freeman’s Farm1777.
At the start of the game some units on each side are visible, which is mostly because they are adjacent (units adjacent to enemy units are always visible on the main map.) Other units are hidden, placed on spaces on their respective mini map hidden behind a screen, in one of a variety of spaces. The mini map is a smaller representation of the main map, with the same movement arrows and nexus points but with the same scale for ‘spaces’ so the same blocks fit on both maps. Each side has their own mini map. If units move into a space on the mini map that is adjacent to a space occupied by a unit on the main map, that unit becomes visible and is transferred to the main map.
There are also some spaces found deep inside the enemy’s lines of communication and moving onto those spaces on the mini map compels an immediate transfer to the main map. In addition, there are some spaces where the lead Union units are visible. This represents Jeb Stuart’s cavalry tracking the Union advance on the Confederate left. This added aspect really makes the game and creates a sense of tension for the players as they simply don’t know where all of the enemy units are located and have to play for those units coming up on their rear even as they are engaged in major battles along the front lines.
Activations are also slightly different from the Freeman’s Farm game as each side only has 15 activations per game but each activation card identifies at least 2 commanders to activate and move. This is very necessary because the Union side has more units to move, and farther to move them to put pressure on objective locations. This has been balanced with the addition of fortifications that allow the defender to set one die per combat at the number desired. This makes for some very interesting decisions about whether to attack or not and how. I have really enjoyed this one as the system is obviously evolving and introducing new elements. I am glad that the designer has decided to take the system to the next level as there are lots of opportunities and applications to various battles for the system.
Crisis: 1914 is a game of international brinkmanship meaning if you back down too soon, you lose. If you back down too late you lose. But you have hawks and doves in your cabinet and in your government, and out of these conflicting views you must somehow formulate a coherent response to the crisis to win the day and prevent war. The game is played with players building a tableau of event cards that will score them a certain number of points, some building off of each of the type of cards played, with some of the cards increasing the Tension level of Europe at the time. If the Tension gets too high The Great War will break out and the player causing it by the play of a card will lose with the others winning based on their total Prestige Points. It sounds really simple, and the game is not overly complex, but there is a lot of strategy to how you play your cards, when you play them and how are you are willing to push your luck each round.
There are 3 concepts at the heart of Crisis: 1914 including Prestige, Tension and Diplomatic Pressure. Diplomatic Pressure is how you score Prestige and reflects the skill at which you play your cards to keep your faction moving ahead of the others while simultaneously balancing the level of Tension. Tension is how you lose. Every card has a DP value and you apply DP by playing cards. The player with the most Diplomatic Pressure at the end of a turn earns Prestige points. There are other ways of scoring Prestige points too, but this is the most important one. Prestige is how you win. The player with the most Prestige at the end of the game is the winner.
I have played this one 3 times now and and I cannot wait for the next opportunity to play. It is best with 5-players so make sure you get the right group and give yourselves a chance to really learn the game as each faction’s deck is completely asymmetrical and repeated plays will help you understand each faction’s strengths and strategies. While this game is not necessarily a wargame, but more of a war themed Euro game with a bit of negotiation and tension as you build your tableau of cards, we had a great time with it and really feel that the game is a bit under the radar of folks and should be one of those games that is played at conventions as it seats up to 5 players and is really quite good.
Here is a link to a RAW video we did after our 2nd play while attending Buckeye Game Fest in 2024:
There you have it. My Best 3 Games with…Designer Maurice Suckling! He has done so many good games and the narrative and historical immersion of all of them are top notch. He is definitely a designer to keep an eye on and I know that he has multiple games currently in design including Rebellion: Britannia from GMT Games, Peace 1905 from Fort Circle Games (we played a prototype of this one at SDHistCon a few years ago and it is top notch) and The Emperor’s Choice from Worthington Publishing (I played a short game of this at WBC and it is very good).
What are your favorite games from Maurice Suckling?
Angekündigt: Neu: Updates: ANGEKÜNDIGT In der kommenden Woche ist einiges mehr los auf den Crowdfunding-Plattformen. Es sind verschiedene Projekte angekündigt. Hier der Überblick über die kommende Woche und den verschiedenen Plattformen und die „wichtigsten“ Projekte: Die Dänen Die Dänen – A Feast for Odin Game begann ursprünglich als Erweiterung zu Ein Fest für Odin, ist während der […]
Angekündigt: Neu: Updates: ANGEKÜNDIGT In der kommenden Woche ist einiges mehr los auf den Crowdfunding-Plattformen. Es sind verschiedene Projekte angekündigt. Hier der Überblick über die kommende Woche und den verschiedenen Plattformen und die „wichtigsten“ Projekte: Arctica Mit Arctica veröffentlichen This Way! und die Autoren Rémi Mathieu und Sams ein Strategiespiel rund um die Tierwelt der Arktis. Ein […]
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Alexandra (Brettspielhamster & Spielkulturerbe) setzt sich mit Bente Weber von Ravensburger ins digitale Auto nach Essen und bespricht Carcassonne Labyrinth, Last Lemming und Tap 4.
Datum der Aufnahme: 23.09.2026
Online seit: 02.10.2026
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September has been really, really busy for me. We attended the Gaming the American Revolution Camden 250 Event in Camden, South Carolina and work was pretty busy as well. As such, I just feel like I have been unable to really give this post the time needed to make it as good as it can be. Don’t get me wrong…I am still writing it but I am not spending as much time searching this month. I also was unable to find a sponsor for the post so we are foregoing that this month as well.
This month, I was able to find 15 games to share. I was also able to find 5 games being offered on Crowdfunding through Kickstarter.
1. Battlegroup Clash: Baltics 2nd Printing from Sapper Studio
James Buckley is a name we all know in the wargaming space. He has worked with publishers like PHALANX and Nuts! Publishing and also is now a burgeoning designer as he published his first game in 2025 called Battlegroup Clash: Baltics from his new publishing company called Sapper Studio. The game has already sold out and they are currently offering up a 2nd Printing on pre-order
From the game page, we read the following:
Battlegroup Clash: Baltics is a two-to six-player tactical land warfare game that plays in two to three hours. It is a commercially-adapted version of a game recently developed for the British Army to help train its junior officers.
The game is set in Estonia and covers a hypothetical near-future Russian invasion of the country, and attempts by NATO land forces to repulse it. Each side has a maximum force size equivalent to a reinforced battalion, with individual unit sizes being platoons or sections.
It comes with six scenarios and has three play modes and optional rules, allowing for players to vary the level of realism and complexity of play. The Basic mode of play is equivalent to a light complexity commercial wargame. The Standard and Advanced modes are equivalent to a medium-light complexity game.
While the game mechanics and components will be familiar to anyone that has played a hex and counter wargame, there are several unique features about Battlegroup Clash: Baltics:
Preparation & Planning – In the Standard and Advanced modes of the game players will need to draft Orders for their forces. This happens at the start of the game. These Orders drive the actions individual units take in the game. This is a simplified version of the type of planning that would occur in real life. It presents both a challenge and opportunity to players, and greatly enhances the immersion of the game.
Drones and Electronic Warfare – Events in Ukraine have shown how much the use of drones has changed the modern battlefield. Reflecting this, in the game players use UAS drones for reconnaissance and FPV (‘kamikazi’) drones to attack enemy units. Each side can intercept their opponent’s electronic transmissions to improve targeting, and apply tactical Electronic Warfare effects such as jamming the enemy’s drone assets or crippling their GPS navigation.
Real World Mapping – The four maps in the game are based on satellite imagery from key locations in Estonia. Using computer aided design, that imagery has been turned into a highly realistic map. There are no hexes, just grid lines, the same as a real world map. Players must read the map terrain to determine key locations and terrain features, and assess how they fit into their battleplan and objectives.
If you are interested in Battlegroup Clash: Baltics2nd Printing, you can pre-order a copy for £69.00 ($92.38 in US Dollars) from the Sapper Studio website at the following link: Battlegroup Clash: Baltics (2nd printing) | Sapper Studio
2. VEKTYR: The Geopolitical Struggle for Central Asia, 1991-2020 from GMT Games
I love a good geopolitical wargame as well as a good multi-player wargame. And when these 2 are mixed, it can really make for a very interesting gaming experience with diplomacy, alliances, asymmetry and the like. This past month, GMT offered a game that have both in VEKTYR: The Geopolitical Struggle for Central Asia, 1991-2020 that takes a look at the ongoing struggle between the United States, Russia, and China. for influence and control in Central Asia. The game is designed by a new designer named Kyle Farrell so I am very interested in connecting with him to discuss the design and get more information about how it plays and what his vision and basis are for the game.
From the game page, we read the following:
VEKTYR is a 2-3 player geopolitical wargame that simulates the ongoing struggle for influence in Central Asia between the United States, Russia and China.
The game takes players from 1991 after the newly independent Central Asian nations – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union through 2020 when multiple international crises accelerated the global shift towards a multipolar world.
The extensive action deck covers over 120 distinct historical occurrences that have shaped Central Asia’s relationship with three global powers – the United States, Russia and China – as well as the rest of the world.
Over the five turns of the game, each player will have to bend history to their will in order to establish influence throughout Central Asia as well as periphery territories in the Caucasus, Türkiye, and Afghanistan. Your mission is to win hearts and minds, catch the ears of the region’s presidents, invest in critical industries and showcase your power’s prowess through military assistance.
In VEKTYR, players will accrue victory points by playing “Scoring” cards, playing event cards that award VP’s, or building pipelines for VP payouts. The game consists of 5 turns: 3 turns within the Post Independence epoch from 1991-2016 and 2 turns within the Central Asian “Renaissance” epoch from 2016-2020. Each turn consists of 6 rounds.
At the start of each turn, each player draws up to a hand size of 7 cards and plays one round in succession until every player has played 6 rounds. All of VEKTYR‘s cards have a dial in their upper left corner noting which global power the card’s event pertains to. Some cards are fully-neutral cards meaning any power can play them, others can be played by 2 of the 3 powers, and others still can only be played by a single power. Whenever a rival plays a card with an event pertaining to you, you’ll have the opportunity to resolve the event during your rival’s round. A delightful mechanic that keeps the game dynamic even when it’s not your go!
Every round, players either use their card’s event or action points to lay influence on the board, seize the ear of the region’s presidents, invest in industries, provide military assistance or build pipeline infrastructure. Much of the game centers around your ability to build influence in the Central Asian provinces as well as periphery countries. Players will use events and action points to gain a strategic foothold in these wide stretches of Eurasia. But how effective will your soft power be in fending off your rivals’ similarly enticing offers?
Also, what have you done for me lately? One of the mechanics that keeps the board fresh in VEKTYR is called “atrophy” and mimics the ephemerality of political popularity. Under this mechanic, at the end of every Turn, each player removes some of their influence from the board, opening up new possibilities for their opponents as they are forced to abandon specific countries or provinces.
I am very much interested in this title and would like to learn more about how it works and how it tries to simulate the complex situation and politics involved.
3. Empire of the Sun: China Expansion from GMT Games
Empire of the Sun is Mark Herman’s card driven design that takes a strategic level look at the entirety of World War II in the Pacific from the attack on Pearl Harbor until the surrender of Japan and is the first card driven game (CDG) to move the system closer to a classic hex and counter wargame, while retaining all of the tension and uncertainty people have come to expect from a CDG. Recently, GMT announced an expansion to the game that deals with the China Theater and the action that took place there between the combatants. The game comes with a new replacement map that will replace the China Front Track as well as some new cards. The game was dreamed up by a few Chinese designers, and fans of Empire of the Sun, named Ji So and Liu Zhijun.
From the game page, we read the following:
Empire of the Sun examines the China theater as a frontline ‘piston’ model that reprises its historical role as an Allied resource need based on the level of Japanese offensive efforts to force its surrender. We are now releasing a new expansion for the core game, which you will need to play this expansion that adds all of the ground and air forces to open up a path not really taken to include the eventual Soviet invasion of Manchuria.
About two years ago, two Chinese gamers contacted me that they had developed a China expansion for Empire of the Sun. I was certainly interested and what you hold in your hands is the product of my collaboration with Ji So, Liu Zhijun, and my developer Francisco Colmenares. What has changed is my original piston model China Front track has been replaced with a map and counters. There are a host of rules to handle this unique theater of operations, but what I have found at their core is how well we have gotten the new module to perform to history and the original track.
What you will find is if the Japanese play cards into China offensives, they will likely capture and control the rail lines plus the coastal ports. Achieving more is possible, and everyone is likely to try, but it is hard to get forward momentum as long as the Allies put some equivalent effort into defending Chungking. This is exactly how the original track worked, but what is very interesting is you more clearly see the connection between the China-Burma-India (hereafter CBI) theater and mainland China. In my various opposed playtests, I have found that in half the games there is some action in China and in others not much happens. I have also found that if the Japanese army strategy is followed, the US makes quicker progress across the Pacific. What this will give you is more control over how you decide to prosecute the war from the Japanese perspective. That said, every so often I have had spectacular success with a surprise Chinese offensive. More options, more strategy, and for me, more interesting game play.
Empire of the Sun: China Expansion comes with 33 new cards (18 Allied and 15 Japanese), a 22”x34” paper map (original map art with the China theater shown in detail), one counter sheet featuring new US, Nationalist Chinese, Communist Chinese, Japanese, and Soviet air, ground, and naval units, replacement player aids with the new rules added for China, PLUS an integrated rulebook with all rules integrated into the original core system. Empire of the Sun: China Expansion is now available for the low, low, low, low price of $35.
4. Pax Romana & Genesis Dual Pack Reprint Edition from GMT Games
I very much love these Deluxe Edition Multi-Packs from GMT Games. They are an insane value with multiple games included in the same box, typically with new components, updated rules and sometimes additional scenarios. A newly announced pack is the Pax Romana & Genesis Dual Pack, which contains 2 classic Ancients games in Pax Romana and Genesis designed by Richard Berg.
From the game page, we read the following:
GMT is proud to bring back into print Richard Berg’s Pax system games, Pax Romana and Genesis in a dual pack format. This printing of Pax Romana will be identical to the 2nd edition published in 2015 with all known errata incorporated along with additional editing where necessary to improve clarity. Similarly, this printing of Genesis will be identical to the 1st edition with the exception that Kingdom Displays will be enlarged to 8 ½ “ x 11”. All known errata will be addressed with additional editing where necessary to improve clarity. The games will share a back-printed mounted map and come in a 3” box.
Components
Pax Romana
One 22″ x 34″ back printed full-color mounted map board shared with Genesis
Three full-color die-cut counter sheets (1/2” counters, 280 counters per sheet)
One smaller full-color die-cut counter sheet (5/8” counters)
One smaller full-color die-cut counter sheet (round counters)
55 Event Cards
Four 8 ½ ” x11″ Player Mats
Two 11” x 17” Player Aid Cards (four sets of the two PACs)
Rule Book
Play Book
Two six-sided dice
Genesis
One 22″ x 34″ back printed full-color mounted map board shared with Pax Romana
Three full-color die-cut counter sheets (840 1/2” counters)
55 Event Cards
Two 11” x 17” Player Aid Cards (five sets of the two PACs)
Five 8 ½” x 11” Kingdom Display Cards
Rule Book
Play Book
Two six-sided dice
Pax Romana
How did Rome get to be Rome? Why did the Glory That Was Greece fade? What stopped Carthage from making an empire of the Mediterranean? Could the Seleucids really have conquered the western world?
These are a few of the questions you can explore in Pax Romana, designed for play by all levels of gamers, from the competition-oriented, one sitting players to the Let’s Recreate History on a grand scale afficionados.
Pax Romana covers the Europe from 300 BC through the end of the 1st century BC, when control of the Mediterranean was in a state of flux with four possible empires. And it does so with a scale and system that is filled with decision-making tension but also highly accessible and easy to play. The emphasis is on strategic operations, from raising armies to colonizing outlying areas, to fighting barbarian incursions, to maintaining political stability at home.
Pax uses a unique marker-oriented play sequence that provides surprise and opportunity, plus a deck of unusual cards that provide the historical background of events and calamities within which the players must operate. Each turn represents 25 years, with the movement of forces and the shifting of power occurring at a proportionately very large scale. Combat takes place throughout the game, but they, too, represent ongoing conflict as much as individual battles. But even here, subtleties are built-in: force composition matters – armies overbalanced by cheap light infantry suffer penalties, while cavalry can single-handedly make the difference between winning and losing – and knowing when and where to make a stand and when to withdraw to safer places can literally decide the fate of a power for an entire generation. And at this scale, of course, the best-laid plans frequently go awry.
Most important for gamers, though, is the wide variety of scenarios Pax provides, from fast-playing, one-sitting two-player games to vivid recreations of the entire era with four players. The game works well with 2, 3 or 4 players, and is designed to be playable solitaire for those interested in the historical view it provides. Scenarios range from The Punic Wars, through the Eastern Med conflicts between the Greeks and the Seleucids, all the way up to the entire 10 turn game, covering 300 years of history. In addition, there are two versions of Pax: the Standard Game, designed for fast play, and the Advanced version, which adds in much tangential history and allows for a more introspective examination of the era.
Genesis
Genesis is a campaign-level game covering the turbulent Late Bronze Age in the Middle East, where kingdoms rose and fell while establishing many of the systems and ways of life that underwrite Western Civilization. Much like its ancestor game, Pax Romana, Genesis is a game that provides the players with the historical dramatis personae and allows them to forge their own empires. It also has a great emphasis on the control of the important trade routes and commercial centers and the building of the spectacular monuments these civilizations left for posterity and wonder.
All the “high”-points of this era are included: lots of gods that have major effect on play (Astarte, Baal, Dagon, Marduk, et al), the rise of chariot warfare … peasants, slaves, and a host of historical kings: Thutmose, Akhenaten, Suppiluliuma, Mullatawi, Tushratta, Hammurabi, Agum III, Shalmaneser, Shamsi-Adad , and many more. . . even Sargon the Great (the world’s first great conqueror (2270-2215 BCE) … along with Sea Peoples, independent kingdoms (Canaanites, Arzawans) and pirates, and guys with great beards (see below):
There are several two-player scenarios for short-time play, an introductory scenario to get you into the system (featuring Sargon), and the big, 5-player multi, included all the major players – Egypt, The Hittites, the Mitanni, Assyria and Babylon – more color than a Crayola Factory and more fun chrome than a ‘57 Chevy. The main scenario can also be played with 3 or 4 players.
Of course, there are the cards (the game is not card-driven but card-augmented), such as:
The Begat Effect: Independent Expansion (2): The card player may move a Peasant unit from a friendly City space to any unoccupied independent City space within 4 spaces of where that Peasant starts. This card may be held in Hand until played.
Baal (2): It’s Time to Pay Baal … and all those priests running those temples. For every Monument he has in a Home Kingdom City, the card player must pay 2$. If he cannot pay, the player must remove the Monuments that he cannot pay for.
The Akhenaten Effect: If you are Egypt and your Pharaoh/King is Akhenaten, you do not pay anything; you simply remove all Monuments in your Home Kingdom cities. This card must be played when drawn.
5. Enemy Coast Ahead: The Dambuster Raid Mounted Map from GMT Games
One of my complaints about wargames is that that boards that you play the games on are paper. These are generally flimsy, have severe folds on them that disfigure the beauty of the boards and also are a bitch to get to lay flat without having humps in them that act as steep terrain and make it hard for me to line up my units. Now, once again, I want to say that I generally am ok with paper maps for multi-map hex and counter wargames where having a nice thick mounted map, or in the case of many maps, is infeasible for storage purposes. But, when the game is a different kind of game, such as Waro (Euro focused wargame), I very much like having a solid mounted mapboard. One of the offerings this month is a step in the right direction to fix a great game with a new Mounted Map for Enemy Coast Ahead.
From the game page, we read the following:
Based on positive feedback to our mounted mapboard releases, we are continuing to offer mounted maps for several of our most popular games as P500 items.
We are now offering a 22 x 34″ mounted map for Jerry White’s Enemy Coast Ahead: The Dambusters Raid. This is intended to ship separately along with the game’s 2nd printing. But note that it will work with either 1st or 2nd printing, so this will work just fine for those of you who want to get a mounted map for your original game. Enjoy!
6. In the Desert 1940–1943: WW2 in North Africa from Dissimula Edizioni Currently on Kickstarter
Several 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 their third game called Give Us Victories: The Chancellorsville Campaign. They also have a line of smaller, simpler games that started with 1943-1945 from a few years ago that dealt with the war for Italy during WWII. That game was fantastic and they have now worked on the 2nd entry in that series called In the Desert 1940–1943: WW2 in North Africa that is currently on Kickstarter.
From the game page, we read the following:
Between 1940 and 1943, North Africa was the theater of a war fought between the Axis forces and the British Commonwealth; numerically limited armies faced each other in a long sequence of offensives, retreats, and counterattacks. The clashes often took place in the desert, where mobility and the ability to maintain supply lines were as decisive as the strength of the weapons.
Behind the front loomed Malta, a strategic British base and a constant threat to the vital supplies heading toward Tripoli…
The game system used in In the Desert 1940–1943: WW2 in North Africa is derived from 1943–1945, but features significant differences. The game lasts eight turns, during which players alternate their operations by spending Supply Points (SP). Each activation requires careful decisions: commit your forces immediately or preserve them for later operations? Supply is essential: without a clear line to their own bases, units risk remaining engaged and vulnerable. Meanwhile, control of Malta constantly threatens Axis supplies. Special events allow players to alter the situation on the battlefield, recover forces, strengthen attacks, or create new strategic opportunities.
As of October 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised $5,461 toward its $3,643 funding goal with 156 backers. The campaign will conclude on Wednesday, October 7th at 4:25am EDT.
7. Napoléon 1870: The Collapse of the Second French Empire from Shakos Currently on Kickstarter
I do love a good Napoleonics wargame and The Conquerors Series from Shakos is really very good as we have played a few games over the years. They have a new volume in that series on Kickstarter that is designed by a tandem of great designers in Brian Asklev (Baltic Empires from GMT Games and 1812: Napoleon’s Fateful March from VUCA Simulations) and Fred Serval (A Gest of Robin Hood and Red Flag Over Paris from GMT Games as well as A Very Civil Whist from PHALANX) called Napoléon 1870: The Collapse of the Second French Empire from Shakos. This game is set in a different period but uses the same system to tell the story of the collapse of the Second French Empire during the Franco-Prussian War of the 1870’s.
From the game page, we read the following:
In 1870, Napoleon III’s Second Empire was on the brink of collapse. After hastily declaring war on Bismarck’s Prussia, the French armies were overwhelmed and surrounded at Metz.
This is your opportunity to write something different.
Napoléon 1870 is the fourth instalment in the Napoleon Series, a series devoted to the great strategists of history. Following on from Napoléon 1806, Napoléon 1807 and Napoléon 1815, Napoléon 1870 brings its own unique challenges to this well-tried and highly acclaimed campaign system.
In Napoléon 1870, two players, assume the role of Napoleon III or Bismarck, making the key decisions that will shape the fate of Europe. In the role of Napoleon, will you manage to escape the trap set by your opponent and avoid being trapped in Metz, or, like Bismarck, will you succeed in taking the French armies by surprise and outflanking them? A variety of scenarios, lasting from 40 minutes to 2 hours and a half, will allow you to rewrite the battles along the borders right up to the final assault on Metz.
Napoléon 1870 is aimed at both seasoned grognards as well as enthusiastic young conscripts keen to understand how history is made. Thanks to a set of simple rules that remain faithful to historical reality, all the key aspects of the campaigns of the Napoleonic era are recreated so that players can engage with them. As events unfold, there will be scope for both subtle bluffing and the brutal use of overwhelming force.
Napoléon 1870 follows the rules of the Napoleon Series (also referred to as the Conquest Series) created by Denis Sauvage, but two designers wellknown to the general public have teamed up to produce this new installment:
• Fred Serval, a specialist in the Second Empire and author of Red Flag over Paris and A Gest of Robin Hood from GMT Games.
• Brian Asklev, an expert in Napoleonic strategy and operations, author of 1812: Napoleon’s Fateful March from VUCA Simulations.
As of October 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised $32,894 toward its $17,079 funding goal with 294 backers. The campaign will conclude on Tuesday, October 13th at 2:00pm EDT.
8. Band of Brothers BLACK BULL: British 11th Armoured Division Bull from Worthington Publishing Currently on Kickstarter
There are some series out there that people really love and enjoy playing. This love leads to the series selling well and then expanding as the market is able to continue supporting the games. Band of Brothers from Worthington Publishing is such a series. A tactical level squad based game set in World War II, the series has expanded into several different theaters and has multiple stand-alone expansions. Recently, I saw news that there would be a new volume coming to Kickstarter called Black Bull, which focuses on the exploits of the British 11th Armoured Division during World War II.
From the game page, we read the following:
The Band of Brothers Series returns to Europe with BLACK BULL: British 11th Armoured Division, a new standalone game focusing on one of the British Army’s best-known armoured formations of World War II.
The British 11th Armoured Division was formed in 1941 and adopted the distinctive Charging Bull as its divisional emblem.
The game includes 14 scenarios following the 11th Armoured Division through its campaign in Northwest Europe.
The scenarios put the British player in command of the infantry, tanks and supporting weapons of the Black Bull against German forces in a variety of tactical situations.
As of October 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised $19,020 toward its $500 funding goal with 267 backers. The campaign will conclude on Saturday, October 10th at 4:00pm EDT.
9. Aces of Aces: Handy Rotary & Flying Machines Deluxe Editions from Mr. B Games Currently on Kickstarter
A classic reborn is how I would classify the newest edition of Ace of Aces. With very unique mechanics trying to provide the experience of dueling it out with an enemy biplane over the fields of World War I, Ace of Aces is now making a comeback with the Powerhouse Series rebirth all the way from 1981. The newest edition include a look at 2 games in Aces of Aces: Handy Rotary & Flying Machines Deluxe Editions.
From the game page, we read the following:
We’re back with two more Ace of Aces books! We are giving our deluxe treatment to two more books, Ace of Aces: Flying Machines and Ace of Aces: Handy Rotary. We promised these during our Powerhouse Series Kickstarter campaign, and we’re excited to bring them to you now. Just as with our Ace of Aces: Powerhouse Deluxe Edition, these will both be redone in full color with the same slipcase design as the Powerhouse edition.
The Ace of Aces family of games uses two books to simulate a duel in the skies between two fighters in World War I. Using Alfred Leonardi’s innovative matrix system, players choose maneuvers in their book. Each maneuver leads to a page in the book that matches the first-person perspective of the pilot. Players maneuver to line up their planes so they can unload their guns on their opponent. Take too many shots, and you go down in flames!
Each of the Ace of Aces sets includes two books; these are the dogfighting books, as well as a rulebook and chart book, all in a beautiful slipcase! The slipcase also has an extra drawer to store dice and chips.
We’ve updated all the interior graphics with all new artwork. All in full color! These aren’t the final pages, but they are pretty close
As of October 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised $162,075 toward its $50,000 funding goal with 1,335 backers. The campaign will conclude on Thursday, October 8th at 6:00pm EDT.
10. Afrika Korps 41 from Trafalgar Editions Currently on Kickstarter
Who doesn’t love a good North Africa wargame? No one says me and I am excited to share with you this new upcoming game called Afrika Korps 41 from Trafalgar Editions. The game is currently on Kickstarter and really looks to be pretty good.
From the game page, we read the following:
The North African desert, 1941. The armored columns of Rommel’s Afrika Korps and the British 8th Army clash in a brutal war of movement for strategic control of the Mediterranean theater.
Afrika Korps 41 puts you in supreme command of this legendary campaign. Featuring an intuitive, deeply challenging, and highly immersive gameplay system, it delivers the true grit and tactical depth of historical conflict—without the dense complexity of traditional wargames.
There are several games that recreate the North Africa campaign in World War II, but Afrika Korps 41 offers a unique experience thanks to its balance between accessibility and strategic depth.
Simple Rules, complex decisions – Unlike other denser wargames, here the rules are easy to learn, but mastering the game requires planing and efficient resource management
Area-based system – Forget about hexes. Movement and territorial control are resolved intuitively with clearly defined strategic areas.
Innovative combat chart – We’ve designed a combat resolution system that moves away from the traditional, offering dynamic and realistic results without relying on complex tables.
Clean map with integrated aids – Key information is incorporated directly onto the game board, facilitating quick reference and speeding up gameplay.
Three difficulty levels – From an introductory mode ideal for new players to advanced levels that will challenge even the most experienced.
Flexible experience – You can play the full campaign or choose between three historical scenarios of 30-40 minutes, in addition to the option of starting the campaign from different key moments of the conflict.
Solo mode – Perfect for those who want to enjoy the game without needing an opponent.
Larger counters (17 mm) – Greater comfort and visibility on the battlefield.
Afrika Korps 41 is designed to offer an immersive, strategic, and dynamic experience, with innovative mechanics that differentiate it from other games about the same campaign.
And the game comes designed with a fully functioning solitaire game mode for those that either prefer to play solitaire or have difficulty finding opponents.
Afrika Korps 41 features an advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) system designed to deliver the full gameplay experience in solo play, allowing you to command either side (the Axis or the Allies). Both the full campaign and individual scenarios are completely playable without a human opponent, ensuring a tactical challenge that is as tense as it is dynamic.
Forget predictable automation. Our AI makes strategic decisions based on the actual, real-time context of the board. By evaluating the map situation and vital objectives, the system dynamically shifts between two core mentalities:
Offensive Posture (Attacker Mode): The AI aggressively seeks to breach your lines, pushes relentlessly toward strategic objectives, and exploits every single tactical blunder you make.
Defensive Posture (Defender Mode): The enemy digs in smartly, focusing on consolidating key positions, containing your advances, and efficiently deploying their reinforcements.
Infinite Replayability: Thanks to this adaptive behavior, no two solo games will ever play the same. The system immerses you in a war of attrition where your ability to counter the AI’s unpredictable maneuvers is your only path to victory.
As of October 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised $12,704 toward its $7,932 funding goal with 151 backers. The campaign will conclude on Friday, October 16th at 6:00am EDT.
New Release
1. Colossus Stumbled: The Second Battle at Kharkov, May 12-23rd, 1942 from Three Crown Games
Three Crown Games is a great little company and their games really cover some great historical topics and also look the part as they are well produced, even though they are poly bag and not boxed games and are just plain desirable. This month, I noticed that they were shipping one of their new games called Colossus Stumbled: The Second Battle at Kharkov, May 12-23rd, 1942 and I very much wanted to share it with you.
From the game page, we read the following:
Colossus Stumbled is the title of the game that handles the first 12 intensive days of the second Battle of Kharkov (nowadays Kharkiv), 12 to 23, May 1942. On 12 May 1942, Soviet forces launched an offensive against the German 6th Army from a salient established during the winter counter-offensive. After a promising start, the offensive was stopped on 15 May by massive airstrikes and the Axis started their counter-offensive ‘Operation Fredericus’, in the region around Kharkov. Its objective was to eliminate the Izium bridgehead over Seversky Donets or the “Barvenkovo bulge” which was one of the Soviet offensive’s staging areas.
If you are interested in Colossus Stumbled: The Second Battle at Kharkov, May 12-23rd, 1942, you can order a copy for 49,50 € ($57.30 in US Dollars) from the Three Crown Games website at the following link: https://www.threecrownsgames.com/product-page/colossus-sumbled
2. Medieval Command: Battle of Varna, 1444 Print & Play from Solo Wargame
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 10 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) and Ancient Rome (Rome Must Fall). His newest game called Medieval Command: Battle of Varna, 1444 starts a new series and is focused on the Crusade Battle of Varna and looks really interesting.
From the game page, we read the following:
On the fog-shrouded morning of 10 November 1444, the fate of southeastern Christendom hangs by a fraying thread as your heavily outnumbered Crusader army stands before the terrifying mass of Sultan Murad II’s Ottoman host near the Black Sea port of Varna. You are outnumbered nearly two to one; however, your heavy cavalry advantage can make the difference. Medieval Command: Battle of Varna 1444 is a solo Print & Play wargame that simulates the epic last ditch crusade attempt to free the Balkans from Ottoman rule. As the solo player, you play the role of Crusader, while the BOT handles your opponent, the Ottomans. You must master a tight dice-drafting system where GREEN dice power Ottoman attacks and Crusader defenses, while WHITE dice fuel your own offensives. Because you cannot win a war of attrition against these odds, your only hope is to tactically bank your dice to unleash devastating Boosted Actions like a thunderous, multi-die cavalry charge to smash the elite Janissary Wall before your lines crumble and the young King Władysław III is slain in the mud.
Here is a link to a playthrough video from the designer:
3. Thirty Years of Misery: The Thirty Years War 1618-1648 from VUCA Simulations
A couple of years ago, I came across a new designer named Brian Asklev and have done interviews with him covering Baltic Empires from GMT Games and 1812 – Napoleon’s Fateful March from VUCA Simulations. Brian is a pretty sharp designer and I very much like his approach to design as well as the choices in designs that he is doing. His new game is called Thirty Years of Misery: The Thirty Years War 1618-1648. The cover art is amazing, the topic looks great and the approach that he is taking seems to be very novel.
From the game page, we read the following:
Between 1618 and 1648, Europe was consumed by one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in its history. What began as a rebellion in Bohemia soon engulfed the Holy Roman Empire and drew nearly every major European power into a struggle over religion, dynastic ambition, and political supremacy. Millions perished as armies marched across Central Europe, cities were besieged, alliances shifted, and entire regions were devastated.
Thirty Years of Misery places you in command of the major powers that shaped this conflict. Lead the Imperial Habsburgs, the Catholic League, Sweden, or France as you fight to reshape Germany through military campaigns, religious influence, political maneuvering, and strategic diplomacy.
Victory requires more than battlefield success. You must secure electorates, protect your heartlands, influence the religious landscape of the Empire, and achieve your faction’s unique historical ambitions before peace is finally negotiated at Westphalia. Rather than recreating individual battles, Thirty Years of Misery captures the entire strategic conflict across three decades of war.
Every campaign combines:
Military operations
Religious conflict
Political objectives
Coalition warfare
Historical events
Dynamic diplomacy
Each round features a randomized turn order, ensuring that no two campaigns unfold the same way. Players must continually adapt to changing circumstances, unexpected interventions, and opportunities created by both allies and enemies.
4. The Far Seas: German Cruiser Operations at the Onset of WWI from VUCA Simulations
Another new order game from VUCA Simulations this month is The Far Seas: German Cruiser Operations at the Onset of WWI and I am always in for a naval focused wargame. I have not played that many and frankly not that many of the ones that I have played are that good but this one does look intriguing. I have also always been interested in the German efforts to solidify their place around the globe navally and with the founding of colonies in Africa and the South Pacific. So this one looks to fill that niche and looks to be really very interesting.
From the game page, we read the following:
At the outbreak of World War I, eight German cruisers were scattered across the globe—isolated, outnumbered, and cut off from home. What followed was a daring campaign of commerce raiding, evasion, and naval warfare that forced the British Empire to divert vast resources in pursuit.
The Far Seas puts you in command of this asymmetric naval struggle.
Take control of the German raiders or the Allied fleets in a tense operational-level game of hidden movement, search, and decisive engagements.
German player: Plan secretly, strike where the enemy is weak, raid merchant shipping, disrupt supply lines, and attempt the long journey home.
Allied player: Coordinate a superior fleet, protect trade routes, and hunt down elusive cruisers across the world’s oceans.
Every decision matters—overextend, and you risk destruction; hesitate, and the enemy slips away.
The system is built for fast turns, high tension, and meaningful choices:
Hidden movement and intelligence gaps create constant uncertainty
Elegant search and encounter mechanics lead to dynamic engagements
Combat resolves quickly but carries lasting consequences
Modular rules allow you to scale complexity to your preference
The core experience is accessible, yet layered with strategic depth for experienced players.
Beyond the core system, the game integrates historical realities that shaped naval warfare in 1914:
Coaling constraints force long-term planning
Convoy systems create high-risk, high-reward targets
Colonial operations add strategic pressure points
Special events introduce uncertainty and narrative moments
These elements enhance realism while preserving smooth gameplay.
If you are interested in The Far Seas: German Cruiser Operations at the Onset of WWI, you can order a copy for $99.99 from the VUCA Simulations website at the following link: https://vucasimulations.com/products/the-far-seas
5. In Fours to Heaven: The Invasion of Poland 1939 from VUCA Simulations
Last year, while trolling the interwebs, I came upon the In Development section of the VUCA Simulations website and saw a very interesting looking operational level wargame on the German invasion of Poland in 1939 to kickoff World War II called In Fours to Heaven. The subject caught my eye, the title caught my eye and the cover caught my eye and I am very much interested in this one. I know that this campaign is seen as very one sided and that the outcome was predetermined as there was really no way for the Polish army to stand against the might of the German war machine but this one takes a look at the situation and makes it a gameable effort.
From the game page, we read the following:
In Fours to Heaven places you at the operational command level of the German invasion of Poland in 1939—a campaign often considered decided, yet far more complex, chaotic, and uncertain than history suggests.
Will you execute a lightning campaign—or struggle against friction, supply, and coordination breakdowns? Will you delay the inevitable—or collapse under pressure?
This is not a scripted retelling. It is a dynamic operational simulation of the Polish Campaign—driven by uncertainty, command limitations, and morale.
The German player must achieve rapid operational success before time, logistics, and resistance slow the advance.
The Polish player fights a desperate but intelligent campaign of delay, coordination, and survival—where morale becomes a decisive factor.
As usual, thanks so much for reading along and sticking with me this month as I navigated through the many websites and game pages looking for new and interesting games to share.
Day 4 was our site visiting day and we planned out an all day trip that would take us to 4 different American Revolution battlefield sites including Waxhaws (Buford’s Massacre), King’s Mountain, Cowpens and Musgrove Mill.
But first we visited the Battle of Waxhaws also known as Buford’s Massacre in Lancaster, South Carolina. The Battle of Waxhaws took place on May 29, 1780. British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton overtook Colonel Abraham Buford’s regiment of 350 Virginian Continental troopsas they were attempting to relieve Charleston. The battle was short lived and saw over 113 Patriot soldiers killed in a brief but brutal engagement after a breakdown in surrender communications as the Patriot soldiers were attempting to give up under a white flag and the British bayoneted and sabred many of them earning Tarleton the infamous nickname “Bloody Ban”.
The site was very clean and well done with lots of landscaping and hardscape features and they had a sign board showing the timeline of improvements over time. The central ficus is the mass grave of the men who were killed there.
I very much enjoyed the various interpretive signage and especially those showing the battle lines and disposition of troops as it helps me to place the event on the site and better understand how it unfolded.
The mass grave memorial was very well done and has been improved over the years to its present day condition. The mass grave is marked by a large 10-foot tall white marble obelisk marker originally erected in 1860 and later replaced in 1955.
We then made our way to King’s Mountain and very much enjoyed this site which commemorates a Patriot victory over the British on October 7, 1780. The battle was fought on a very rocky ridge in western South Carolina, near the North Carolina border.Around 900 Patriot frontier militiamen known as the “Overmountain Men” were against an equivalent force of Loyalist militia led by British Major Patrick Ferguson.The battle lasted only65 minutes.
The Patriot forces consisted of frontier militia from the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia who had tracked Ferguson’s Loyalist force to their camp on the protected high ground. The Patriots used their hunting skills and knowledge of the terrain to surround the hill and while moving up the rocky slope, Patriot riflemen picked off the exposed Loyalists.
A painting hanging in the visitor center of the battle.
The Patriots had fewer than 100 casualties (around 28 milled and 90 wounded)while the Loyalists incurred over 1,000 total casualties, including roughly 240 killed or wounded and more than 600 captured.
The Loyalist leader Major Ferguson was shot and killed after trying to lead a desperate charge and the remaining Loyalist forces quickly surrendered.
A monument to Major Ferguson.
This one took me by surprise as the Loyalists had the high ground and superior positioning but were unable to overcome the Patriots. Just very interesting! The defeat halted the British invasion of North Carolina and forced General Charles Cornwallis to retreat from his forward positions.
Looking down from the ridge you can see the brutally steep and difficult terrain the Patriots maneuvered across.
We then made it over to Cowpens which was the battlefield that I was most interested in seeing especially since we just had played the game and were somewhat familiar with the situation.
The Battle of Cowpens occurred on January 17, 1781 near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina. A Patriot army of nearly 2,000 regulars and militia under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeated a force of about 1,000 British and Loyalist troops commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton and was the worst defeat suffered by the British in North America during the conflict following the 1777 Saratoga campaign.
After playing Small BoAR Cowpens, I was anxious to see the battlefield and the terrain to see how it compared. The setup of the units was spot on to what was shown at the site and I was guard to see that.
There were 3 lines of Patriot forces including skirmishes at the front, maim Continentals in the center and reserve cavalry in the back.
Then there was the actual terrain with the barren pines being somewhat present but most importantly the elevation change that would have obscured the Patriot trap.
There also was the cane break terrain that was found at the edges of the battlefield and that was pretty cool to see as it is very thick and darned near impassable.
Cane break at the edges of the battlefield.
A very enjoyable experience and we were able to walk the entire site in about an hour.
The final site we visited was the small battle at Musgrove Mill. Here Patriot forces outmaneuvered a larger Loyalist force and setup an ambush to even the odds. On the morning of August 19, 1780 mounted Patriots arrived near Musgrove Mill, the key to the local grain supply and the site of a Tory outpost. The Patriot force consisted of Georgians under Colonel Elijah Clarke, South Carolinians under Colonel James Williams and a group of “Over Mountain Men” from present-day Tennessee commanded by Colonel Isaac Shelby.
The Patriots revealed their presence when several of their scouts clashed with a Loyalist patrol. Two Rebels were wounded in the brief clash. Falling back, the Patriots encountered a friendly farmer who informed them that, contrary to their initial intelligence, the Tory garrison had been reinforced and now consisted of 500 men.
Outnumbered, and having lost the element of surprise, the Patriots formed up on a ridge top overlooking the road to Musgrove Mill and threw up a make-shift breastwork. A small detachment under the command of Captain Shadrach Inman was dispatched to lure the enemy into an ambush.
We walked the trail that followed the action ending in what was called an Indian hill where the Patriots drew in the Loyalists and waited to fire until they were within 30 yards to devastating effect. They could wait because of the elevation of the hill and the thick trees they were hiding behind.
Although the battle only lasted for an hour, the Loyalists suffered heavy casualties while the Patriots’ losses were fairly light. Before they could follow up on their success, however, the Patriot commanders learned of Horatio Gates’s defeat at Camdenand decided to disperse their forces. The Battle of Musgrove Mill signaled that resistance to British rule had not been snuffed out.
That was it. We did a ton of stuff in just 4 days including playing 4 games, visiting a total of 6 battlefields, shooting 4 videos and enjoying our time with other wargamers. It was a great convention and my thanks go out to all those that made this possible including Mark Miklos, Gene Billingsley and GMT Games as well as the good folks of the Camden Visitor Center and the South Carolina Battlefield Preservation Trust.
Angekündigt: Neu: Updates: ANGEKÜNDIGT In der kommenden Woche ist einiges mehr los auf den Crowdfunding-Plattformen. Es sind verschiedene Projekte angekündigt. Hier der Überblick über die kommende Woche und den verschiedenen Plattformen und die „wichtigsten“ Projekte: Conan by Monolith Tales of Tortage and Zamora Mit Tales of Tortage and Zamora baut Monolith sein bereits seit mehr als zehn […]
Angekündigt: Neu: Updates: ANGEKÜNDIGT In der kommenden Woche ist einiges mehr los auf den Crowdfunding-Plattformen. Es sind verschiedene Projekte angekündigt. Hier der Überblick über die kommende Woche und den verschiedenen Plattformen und die „wichtigsten“ Projekte: Arctica Mit Arctica veröffentlichen This Way! und die Autoren Rémi Mathieu und Sams ein Strategiespiel rund um die Tierwelt der Arktis. Ein […]
One of the more interesting topics to play a wargame on is that of a sustained siege. I am not talking about a game that has a siege mechanic that is used over the course of the game but a game that is based wholly around a specific historical siege. A siege requires a lot of different takes to be included in a wargame to make it work including things such as supplies, manpower, defenses such as walls, trenches and other fortifications, siege engines, morale and the ability and will to continue the fight. I really have very much enjoyed the siege based wargames that I have played over the years and I wanted to share 3 of my favorites in this post. So, without further adieu, here are my Best 3 Games with…Sieges!
I want to make one thing clear. I love the States of Siege Series of games and have played dozens of them. But I don’t consider those games in the same vein as these siege focused games that I am sharing.
*The image used as the featured image for this post is called Lifting of the Siege of Malta painted by Charles-Philippe Lariviere.
3. Freedom! from PHALANX
Freedom! is a card driven siege game that pits the Greek freedom fighters and the besieging imperial forces of the Ottomans against each other. The siege is of the Greek Holy City of Messolonghi during the Greek War of Independence in 1825-1826. Freedom! features asymmetrical play with the goal of the invading forces being to manage to get inside the city before the end of the game or to force the citizens to abandon the cause by dropping their morale to zero while the defenders, on the other hand, try to withstand the siege and protect the city long enough for the invaders to abandon their attempt either by deciding to leave on their own or by having their morale dropped to zero. The actions of the players are driven by the cards in their hands, which highlight actual events and personalities of that time, while the combat is dice-driven to allow for quick and exciting game-play.
The rebel player is largely focused on grinding out a victory by surviving over the course of 6 rounds and are simply trying to hang on, unless of course they can somehow reduce the morale of the besieging units enough to where they give up and go home. However, nothing about this is a grind for the defending player and that is a problem that can be endemic with siege games. You as the defender, are as much a part of the action and must try to follow your own plan whenever possible to get a win. In other asymmetric siege games, the defender is often just reacting to the aggressor’s moves. As the insurgents, it never feels like you are simply reactionary and just along for the ride.
The really interesting thing about this one is that that there are actually two maps that are used to play the game. One of the maps shows the actual city and the forces involved in the siege while the other shows the surrounding areas, highlighting the support that each of them provides to both players. The art is gorgeous and this one is a game that we had a really good experience with. There also is a solitaire module that you have to buy separately but it works very well and provides an opportunity to play this game when you can’t find an opponent.
Players will find that they are competing for a number of nearby Greek regions on the board and there will be a tug-of-war played out by using various support actions that are focused on cutting off your opponent’s supplies. This is what I liked most about Freedom! It’s not just a continual back and forth trying to knock out your enemy’s units but there are multiple paths to victory, and all of them seem to be viable. By lowering your opponent’s morale and cutting them off from the supplies they need, you completely change their plans. Of course, there is nothing to stop you from pushing aggressively against the enemy’s walls.
Each side of the conflict really gives a different feel to the game and creates a new experience once you switch sides. As the Ottomans, you are generally going to undertake aggressive maneuver and attacks in an attempt to push forward and put pressure on the defenders and their walls of security. But when you play the Greeks there is a real feeling unpleasant feeling of desperation, which only gets worse with the arrival of Turkish reinforcements.
Here is a look at our unboxing video so you can get a good look at the components:
Here is our video review used for the Kickstarter campaign so you can understand our thoughts on the game:
If you are interested in Freedom!, you can purchase a copy for €69,00 ($80.00 in US Dollars) from the PHALANX website at the following link: https://phalanx.co.uk/games/freedom-board-game/
2. Storm Over Jerusalem: The Roman Siege from Multi-Man Publishing
The Storm Over Area Impulse Series has been around for a while and includes games such as Storm Over Arnhem (1981) from The Avalon Hill Game Company, Storm Over Stalingrad (2006) from Multi-Man Publishing and Storm Over Dien Bien Phu (2014) from Multi-Man Publishing amongst several others. The hallmark of the series is relatively low complexity for a wargame and a very simple combat system that calculates total attack versus total defense and adds a roll of 2d6. The losses from combat can be absorbed by either retreating from the attacked areas or destroying units. The game system has mostly been used to model more modern wars including the Franco-Prussian War, World War II and the French conflict at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam.
Storm Over Jerusalem: The Roman Siege is a 2-player wargame that simulates the Roman siege of Jerusalem during 70 AD. One player controls the mighty Roman forces, who are truly master of siege warfare with their siege towers, ballista, battering rams and onagers, and the other player controls the Judean forces, which are divided into 2 separate factions with different leaders. The game is 8 turns long, but can be shortened by the play of a few event cards, at the end of which time the winner is determined by calculating victory points that come from overall losses, holding of certain VP areas and keeping the Romans out of the city.
We were very impressed by the game and its overall clarity of rules, quality components and interesting tactical choices and really had a good time learning and playing it. The Judeans are obviously outclassed by the powerful and skilled Roman Legions but they have several of their own tricks to use to hold out long enough to win the day. There is a lot to like here and I am really glad that we decided to give the system a try. There were some changes specially made to introduce the style of Ancient sieges to the Storm Over Series and this is where the game really shines. The Siege Towers were an evolution of the trenches found in Storm Over Dien Bien Phu game and are very important to the Roman efforts. The walls historically were such a physical presence in the city, and were a major impediment to the Roman efforts, that they had to come up with rules to cover them. The walls provide a defensive modifier against Roman Attacks and Assaults. This Defense Value starts at +4 and can be reduced over time by successful Roman Assaults. Since Judean units have a defense of 7 or 8 the bonus provided by the walls of +4 really helps hold onto areas. Once a wall is damaged from a successful attack though, the defensive modifier can be rebuilt by the Judean player but can never be increased to its full value of +4.
The Roman player also has specific cards (Catapult, Onager, and Battering Rams) that can be used to damage or breach the walls. Once breached, the walls don’t provide any defensive bonus and allow Roman troops to flood into the city. We found that the Romans tried to focus on a specific area of the walls and made their attacks there first in order to bring the maximum attacks possible each round to force the Judean player to have to spend their time and actions on fixing the walls and bringing up reinforcement to replace those lost in retreats. To repair a wall section, the Judean player can discard a card and use the Repair Value of that card to repair walls in an area. This action though requires a fresh unit in that area to be flipped to spent to complete the repair. Walls can only be repaired back up to +3, not the original +4. You can’t rebuild them completely.
I really enjoyed our play of Storm Over Jerusalem. The game was beautifully put together, with fantastic components, but also had some really amazing details and depth to the gameplay. This one is a winner and really has me interested in the other games in the series. I know that this game had a siege focus, which is not necessarily in each of the other games, but I really liked the simple combat system, great card play and very interesting tactical choices that were there for players to have to make.
Here is a link to our full unboxing showing off the beautiful components:
1. Dien Bien Phu: The Final Gamble from Legion Wargames
Dien Bien Phu: The Final Gamble from Legion Wargames is a 2-player wargame about the decisive battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 that not only ended the French Indochina War but also had political repercussions far outside the region itself. One player represents France and her colonial troops. The other player represents the armed force of Viet Minh, the communist/nationalist independence movement of Vietnam. This game is not a traditional wargame and has different victory conditions than normal and also some unique and interesting supply rules. The Viet Minh win by forcing the French troops to surrender and France wins by not surrendering.
The board covers the former village of Dien Bien Phu and surrounding areas. There is a small submap of the French strongpoint Isabelle further south in the valley. There are several groups of French strongpoints scattered around the map, each one with a female name, which are all named after the commander de Castries’ mistresses, according to lore. The map is divided into three divisional sectors. Each sector has several zones that represent Viet Minh trenches winding from the map edge towards the center of the map. Each hex represents 150 meters and each game turn covers three days. There are 21 turns in the game, but historically, it ended after 19 game turns with a Viet Minh victory. The scale allows stacking of three French units in a hex, but there are no stacking limits for Viet Minh battalions, which creates a chess like feel.
French supply is a bit of a mini-game within the game. As this battle took place far out in the wilderness of Vietnam and both sides had to adjust to the limited flow of supplies that could be brought forward, through the air to the French, and through vast forests to the Viet Minh. Supplies tend to be a lot less than wished for. There are several supply tracks on the map showing how much ammo, food & bullets, fuel & spares, medicine as well as the amount of truck transport available for the French. The process for doing this supply phase is really pretty interesting and fun. Each game turn air transports will bring in a mix of supplies together with replacements and reinforcements. This is done on a chart with a grid where a mix of supply markers are placed together with eventual reinforcements and replacements. Weather will then decide what will arrive and what will abort back to Hanoi. The French player will never know for sure what type of supplies and how much will arrive and has to take that into account as they plan out their turns. And this is one of the best parts of the game and kept me thinking about the struggle with keeping my efforts going with the French. This one is not an easy game for either side and I think that it keeps the game very balanced and interesting to play.
Here is a link to our full video review:
If you are interested in Dien Bien Phu: The Final Gamble, you can order a copy for $54.00 from the Legion Wargames website at the following link: https://www.legionwargames.com/legion_DBP.html
A few other games that I have played on the subject of sieges, and that I very much liked, were games such as Halls of Hegra from Tompet Games, 1565 Siege of Malta from Worthington Publishing, 414 BC Siege of Syracuse from Worthington Publishing, Keep Up the Fire! Deluxe Edition from Worthington Publishing, Castle Itter: The Strangest Battle of WWII from Dan Verssen Games, Siege Works: A Napoleonic Siege Roll & Write from Solo Wargame, Crusaders: The Siege of Acre 1291 from Blue Panther/Art of Wargames, Castelnuovo 1539 from Draco Ideas and The Alamo Remembered from Victory Point Games.
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.
#94: Hamet’s Army Created from The Shores of Tripoli from Fort Circle Games
I have never played a historical wargame on the First Barbary War, which if you didn’t know was one of the first major wars the young United States of America participated in that was situated far outside their sphere of influence in North and South America. Shortly after the end of the American Revolutionary War, commercial vessels of the United States were being attacked and raided by the pirates of the Barbary coast in the Mediterranean Sea. In 1801, newly inaugurated President Thomas Jefferson was eager to put an end to this threat and sent a “squadron of observation” to the Mediterranean to deal with the threat. The Shores of Tripoli covers this conflict and does so using a card driven game mechanic that works really well in this instance. The game is a little deceiving, as at first it appears to be pretty introductory with simple rules and mechanics, but the depth for the game lies in the strategy for each side and the fact that their victory conditions are asymmetric.
While the main combatants in the game are naval units, there are ground units as well that must be used to try and take Tripoli to win the game. The American ground units consist of Hamet’s Army, which is a combined force of Arab and American infantry units that are dedicated to the mission of installing the pro-American Hamet Qaramanli on the Tripolitan throne. These ground units consist of white cubes that represent the Arab Infantry and blue cubes that represent American Marines. In Ground Combat, each Infantry unit rolls one die and it takes one hit for them to be eliminated.
Hamet’s Army will be created if the United States player plays the card Hamet’s Army Created for the Event. There are several conditions to the card being played though as it must be the Spring of 1804 or later and there has to be at least one American Frigate located in the Alexandria harbor. Once played to bring on Hamet’s Army the card is removed from the game and placed in the box. The newly created army will have to fight their way through 2 locations, Derna and Benghazi, for a final confrontation at Tripoli. I think that I very much enjoy this card because it is a necessary step in the game that the player has to plan for and be prepared to play when it does reveal itself. The player must be ready by using a portion of their limited actions to move at least 1 American Frigate to the harbor of Alexandria and then play this card for the printed event. Keep in mind that this is just the start though as there is a long way to go from here and many more things that must be completed to setup the final showdown.
Hamet Qaramanli’s army was a mixed mercenary force of several hundred Arab and Berber fighters, European cannoneers, and Greek infantry led by U.S. Army Captain William Eaton and U.S. Marine Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon during the First Barbary War. The goal of the expedition was to successfully march across the North African desert, capture the city of Derna, and depose the ruling Pasha of Tripoli, Yusuf Qaramanli in favor of his exiled older brother Hamet Qaramanli. In early 1805, the force marched roughly 500 to 600 miles across the Libyan Desert from Egypt to the Tripolitan border. The force consisted of 8 U.S. Marines, a small group of U.S. sailors, 26 Greek volunteers, a company of cannoneers and roughly 1,000 Arab and Berber mercenaries loyal or allied to Hamet. On April 27, 1805, aided by U.S. Navy warship bombardments, the force successfully stormed and captured the strategic port city of Derna in the Battle of Derna. But before Hamet’s army could advance further toward Tripoli, the United States signed a peace treaty with Yusuf Qaramanli, abandoning Hamet’s claim to the throne in exchange for freed American prisoners and an end to tributes.
Lieutenant O’Bannon and Marines advancing toward Tripoli. (Image from Merrill L. Bartlett and Jack Sweetman, The U.S. Marine Corps: An Illustrated History, (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD: 2001), 30–31.)
We have played several games designed by Adam Starkweather in his Company Scale System (CSS). These games are really good solid chit draw systems that really puts some unknown in what groups of units can activate and even when they will activate. There are also events and if the chit cup runs dry before all of the units can activate due to the end round chit then you are just sore out of luck. You have to prepare for this inevitability and I love the concept of prioritizing your activations and making sure you activate what you absolutely have to before doing those units that would be beneficial to activate. Now Adam has created his own publishing company called Bring it on Games and they have announced their first pre-order game in a new system called Advanced Company Scale System Game One:Anzio: A Lost Opportunity. This is a huge wargame and includes 10 large maps, 20 counter sheets and tons and tons of charts, tables and player aids. This is a MONSTER wargame…no doubt about it but it looks really good. I reached out to Adam to see if he could provide us some additional insight into the game and he was more than willing to discuss with us.
If you are interested in Advanced Company Scale System Game One:Anzio: A Lost Opportunity, you can pre-order a copy for $350.00 from the Bring it on Games website at the following link: Shop — Bring it on Games
Grant: Adam welcome to our blog. First off please tell us a little about yourself. What are your hobbies? What’s your day job?
Adam: First off, my hearty thanks to The Players’ Aid crew for giving me the opportunity to introduce myself and tell you about my new adventure.
As my waistline will attest, my hobbies and interests are decidedly sedentary. I love watching basketball and baseball (go Knicks – had a great year). And several years ago, I decided to rekindle – ha! – my love of reading. For many years, for work, I read non-fiction. But now, every night before I crash, I read for fun for a half hour. Currently, I’m reading both for work and for fun as I am journeying through Stephen King’s multiverse with a goal of making a game on it. I have an inside to get to King, and I’m hoping I can get him to glance at it and spark some interest. It will be decidedly war gamey in its presentation.
Believe it or not, for over 20 years, I have been blessed that wargame design has been my main gig and what I do for work. With over 50 titles that I’ve designed, developed, or project managed, it has been a productive period for me in the hobby.
Grant:What motivated you to break into game design? What have you enjoyed most about the experience thus far?What have you learned about design over the years?
Adam: A day I remember well. 3 friends and I were playing SPI’s Highway to the Reich, and it just fell apart while we were playing it. Things were happening that just didn’t make sense, and it wasn’t balanced. Once that suspension of disbelief is done, we wargamers just bail on a game. We thought we could do better. All four of us started making a Market-Garden game, but only I kept with it, and my first design The Devil’s Cauldron, was the result 7 years later. As for enjoying what I do, there are occasional hiccups, of course, but I have a dream job. I’m like a professional NBA player – doing something that is tons of fun, and I get paid to do it. I’m the luckiest man in the world.
As for what I’ve learned, of course, I’ve learned how to design – often under tremendous time pressure, but if I had to name one thing, it is knowing what I’m good at and when I need help. I’m great at coming up with new concepts and innovative mechanics, but I can’t research worth a damn nor do I have the patience to rewrite rules again and again. With my new company Bring it on Games, I have both the time and assets to attack my weaknesses and focus on what I do well – and love doing. I have dedicated researchers, dedicated rules editors, and dedicated playtesters. I finally have the time to do a game the right way.
Grant: What is your upcoming game ACSS Anzio about?
Adam: My first game for my new company is on the Battle of Anzio. It is at company level and at 500 meters a hex. It has two campaign games in the box – one for Operation Shingle (the landing and advance inward to the furious German counterattack) and Operation Buffalo – the final breakout and advance to Rome. The middle months in which a World War One type situation happened is not in the game. Two massive campaign games and some 20 smaller scenarios are included.
Grant: What does the subtitle “A Lost Opportunity” represent from the history?
Adam: It is likely for such a famous operation that most people reading this know that Anzio presented an opportunity to end the Italian Front with an aggressive approach to the battle. Instead, the General in charge (Lucas) was tentative and did not advance with the aggression needed. In all my research, I have found that it wasn’t entirely his fault, but it wasn’t a time to be tentative. In the Campaign game, you can try and defeat the Germans with the hand you were historically dealt, or there is an alternative scenario (aptly called “Killer Whale”) where the restrictions on your aggressiveness are removed, and perhaps you can end the Italian battle in two weeks.
There were also missed opportunities in the second campaign in the box. The Allies went for the glory to capture Rome but allowed the Germans to retreat from the Gothic Line mostly intact. The war in Italy was allowed to continue, but again, it didn’t have to be that way. As with Operation Shingle, there is an alternative campaign game in which glory is set aside for a few weeks, and you as the Allies attempt to cut off the German forces and end the war in Italy.
“We were hurling a wild cat on the shore, but all we got was a beached whale.” -Winston Churchill
Grant: Why was this a subject that drew your interest?
Adam: Why Anzio? As is often the case, the subject matter of a game is about work that has already been done. Why start from scratch if months of work have already been done? My historian worked on a game for another designer several years ago and had a great Order of Battle for the game. There was plenty of game in the battle, so Anzio it became. Utah Beach is likely next up for my company as I’ve already made the Grand Tactical Series game on the battle. So I have a complete order of battle and map already made. After that, or before that, might be Salerno. A gamer has already made the game using another system, but the conversion would be easy enough. And of course, a game for ACSS will be on Market-Garden. I have already made a game at this scale. Years of work have already been done. This also gives me time to start fresh on new topics like Omaha Beach or Gela – they become the game with work already done and join the conga line.
Grant: What is your design goal with the game?
Adam: Oh that’s easy. I want to finally be able to make the best company level game I can make. GTS was made when I was a novice and CSS was made when I was under tremendous time pressure. I have both the expertise and the time to do it right this time.
Grant: How have you modified the Company Scale System to become “Advanced”?
Adam: I started work on this a few years back and called it ACSS. The name stuck with me, and I kept it. It keeps Eric Smith’s brilliant combat system and is a chit pull, but much has also been improved and changed. I think I answer much of the realism issues of both systems with ACSS.
I have the rules available online for anyone to read – simply go to rules and you can read it and see where we are at. 3-4 more edits still to go, but it is more complete than anything I’ve made before, even as it sits now.
As for new stuff and mechanics that my playtesters have said they’ve never seen in a game before – I have two standouts. Situational Awareness matters in this game as does an orders system that influences what and how you do things. They are in the above rules so I won’t go deeply into it – but it has a novel way of presenting Fog of War but still allows for solitaire play. There is much, much more that is new – but those two are mentioned by my playtesters the most.
Grant: What elements do you feel are most important to model from World War II and the Allied invasion of Italy?
Adam: I make wargames, so to me, the most important aspect is to get the history correct and honor those that fought and risked their lives to make a better world for me and my children to live. So the history has to be right and fully immersive. In addition, playing a game on a battle is a different, albeit as involved as reading a book on the battle – but it is also a game. It should have decisions and fun aspects in it to make it fun to play.
Grant: What sources did you consult for the historical details?
Adam: If you go to my website at https://bringitongames.com/, you’ll find everything you need to play an introductory scenario using my system – but if you have a look at the end of the scenario book you can download, you’ll see the extensive bibliography for the game. As an aside, over the last 25 or so years of game design, it is really interesting to see how the web has become indispensable in researching military topics.
Grant: What one must-read source would you recommend?
Adam: I asked this very question of my historian a few months ago. He suggested:
Anzio 1944, The beleaguered beachhead, Osprey Publishing Campaign #155, Steven J. Zaloga, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84176-913-4
Although I’m partial to:
Fatal Decision, Anzio and the Battle for Rome, Carlo D’Este, 2008, ISBN 978-0-06-057649-3
A more involved read and perhaps not as great for wargamers as the Osprey volume, but I think the added effort is worth the trouble.
Grant: What is the scale of the game? Force structure of units?
Adam: As with my other company level systems, ACSS is 500 meters a hex, mostly company level units, and each turn is 2 hours. It is a scale I’ve used for two decades and I’m comfortable at this level. In addition, I fell in love with this scale because it offers both tactical mechanics but you can play an entire battle (although you’ll need space and time of course).
The system uses a chit-draw method to activate units and this is at division level. You draw a chit and do things with an entire division and then move to the next chit.
Grant: What are the differences between the playable factions of the Allies and Axis powers?
Adam: At this level of company actions, the difference between the two armies is quite evident. The Germans have fantastic equipment but are brittle, while the Allies have so much firepower at their disposal. To show one example of what you can show at this scale: the Germans based their tactical dogma on their excellent MG 42 machine gun, while the Americans based their tactics on the excellent Garand rifle. They each operated differently – and I can show this at this scale. Many other aspects from more effective counter-battery fire to specialized tactics are also there. Check out the rulebook above and you’ll see.
Grant: What is the layout of the board?
Adam: Almost all monster games focus on the campaign game, and the scenarios are snippets of the larger campaign game. That is certainly true of my large games. For me at least, it was always a matter of speed. I could test scenarios while I tested the campaign game. My scenarios often started when the campaign game started. There are a few exceptions to this where the scenarios are the primary game, and the campaign game is the added bonus. Games like Pacific War by Victory Games are like this.
I, however, want to have both scenarios and the campaign games have equal importance. Each scenario has its own counter set and its own map. The map size goes from 8 1/2 inches for the introductory scenarios, to one map for the majority of intermediate and advanced scenarios, to two maps for a larger game experience. Finally, there are the two full campaign games, which each have 4 full-sized maps and two half maps – a total of 5 maps. But there are some ten double-sided maps in the game (a total of 20 maps) – this is a map for each scenario and a campaign game map.
“The Rock” Scenario map.
Grant: How are units activated? Why do you feel chit-pull is such an effective method?
Adam: I love chit-pull as a mechanic and have used it for decades. It has the advantage of being great for solo play. There is the drawback that if you have a lot of players, you might have to wait for your turn to come up – although there are ways around this that I talk about in the rulebook, I find the great advantage of board games over computer games is the social aspect of playing them.
Grant: What is the general Sequence of Play?
Adam: A great question. When I first open a game, there are two things I look at first. The Sequence of Play and the victory conditions. They tell me more about the general concepts behind the game than anything else. Of course, a far more complete Sequence of Play is in the rulebook that you can download, but the basic SoP that is used in the VASSAL module is:
But check out the rules for a much more exhaustive Sequence of Play.
As for victory conditions, I blatantly steal from great designers that have great victory conditions – in concept. Some designers just know how to make victory conditions that drive a game and allow for incredible excitement in play. There are some 21 scenarios in the game, and I use different types of victory conditions in each and every one. I did the same thing to a lesser degree in my Greatest Day game. But whatever type of game you like, I’ll have you covered in one or more of the scenarios and the campaign game.
As for how the basic mechanics work, I have a ton of examples in the game for you to have a read and see how things work. Check them out.
Grant: Tell me about Bring it on Games. How are you different from other game companies?
Adam: I changed The Players’ Aid’s last question to talk about this a bit. I take the slogan “A Game Company run by Gamers” seriously. As we have aged, what we expect from games has changed. The games are expensive, but while we all, hopefully, have more money now, we have less time and less patience. I used to love reading rules, but now it is like pulling teeth – it is painful to get into a game. This game and all that follow are about making the games convenient and easy to approach. It is expensive for sure for all of this added stuff that you haven’t seen before – but again, we have more money but less time. You’ll see things here that will make you wonder why all the companies don’t do this.
Also, I don’t want to be GMT or MMP. I want to make games. I won’t have a warehouse, so only orders will be printed. Once I go to press, the game will be out of print. I’ll also limit the total number of orders I will accept. I like making the games. I don’t want to spend my time with all the company stuff. Trust me when I tell you that the owners of all the game companies aren’t having as much fun in the hobby as you are – they are busy running a company, tracking inventory, and all that stuff. I don’t enjoy that very much. So I’ll give up selling games after they print and keep having fun.
I hope you’ll go to my website at www.bringitongames.com and download the sample rules and Vassal set – and see if it’s your thing. I’d love your support. You can also subscribe to my newsletter. And I apologize in advance if you, as more than a few gamers have said to me, “you’ve ruined GTS and CSS for me”.
If you have any questions or comments, you can reach me at:
Thanks so much for your time in answering our questions Adam. I am very much looking forward to this system and wish you the best of luck in bringing it across the finish line. I have very much enjoyed my experience with the Company Scale System (Saipan: The Bloody Rock and The Enemy is at the Gates: Battle for Berlin, 1985 both from Compass Games) as well as the Grand Tactical Series (Devil’s Cauldron and Where Eagle’s Dare both from Multi-Man Publishing) and very much enjoy the feel of the game and the combat system.
If you are interested in Advanced Company Scale System Game One:Anzio: A Lost Opportunity, you can pre-order a copy for $350.00 from the Bring it on Games website at the following link: Shop — Bring it on Games
Angekündigt: Neu: Updates: ANGEKÜNDIGT In der kommenden Woche ist einiges mehr los auf den Crowdfunding-Plattformen. Es sind verschiedene Projekte angekündigt. Hier der Überblick über die kommende Woche und den verschiedenen Plattformen und die „wichtigsten“ Projekte: Arcologies Arcologies ist ein Städtebauspiel mit ein bis vier Personen über eine Spielzeit von 60 bis 150 Minuten. Mit Arcologies veröffentlicht AVStudioGames ein […]
Angekündigt: Neu: Updates: ANGEKÜNDIGT In der kommenden Woche im Crowdfunding: Sommerpause. Es sind einige wenige Projekte angekündigt. Hier der Überblick über die kommende Woche und den verschiedenen Plattformen und die „wichtigsten“ Projekte: Barbaric: Crown of the Frost Mit Barbaric: Crown of the Frost erhält das postapokalyptische Brettspiel Barbaric: After the Apocalypse neue Inhalte. Im Grundspiel kombinieren die Spielenden unterschiedliche […]
The year is quickly fading as we are nearing the start of the 4th quarter of 2026. Man the year has just gone by so quickly and I still have so many great games awaiting us to give them the attention they deserve. But there are always new games and they are also equally deserving. This month, I was able to find 19 games to share (including 6 games from our sponsor). I was also able to find 3 games being offered on Crowdfunding through Kickstarter and Gamefound.
Again this month, we have a sponsor for the Wargame Watch post in Neva Game Press. This is Neva’s 3rd time sponsoring this post and they are very busy as they have a ton of new games upcoming. Neva Game Press is a new publisher who appeared on the scene 2 years ago. When I started seeing their posts on Twitter and Facebook, I was immediately impressed with their interesting topic choices for their upcoming games as well as the fact that they are trying to make small footprint wargames that pack a punch. And the art is also very appealing and brings an aesthetically pleasing and attractive look to their games!
Big Experiences, Small Footprint: New from Neva Game Press
At Neva Game Press, we believe great games don’t require massive boxes. Our ‘Hardcover Book’ box policy delivers premium components and deep, innovative mechanics in a shelf-friendly format—without compromising playability. We recently rebranded from Neva Wargames to Neva Game Press to reflect our expansion into thematic titles, though our commitment to wargaming remains stronger than ever.
End-of-Year Releases
We are closing 2026 on a high note with two major releases. After the rapid sell-out of Iwo Jima: Hell on Earth—the first volume of our Blind Valor Series—we are thrilled to bring it back as a Revised Edition, and we are grateful for the community’s support. We are also releasing an Iwo Jima: Hell on Earth Update Kit for owners of the original 1st Edition. Finally, we are launching our new tactical wargame, Peking: 55 Days of Fury—the first volume in our Breach Point Series.
Peking immerses 1–2 players in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion for a tense, 90-minute experience. Whether defending the International Legations or leading the attack, you’ll need to master our unique fog-of-war mechanic and hybrid system (featuring event cards and operation points split into two phases) to secure victory.
Our commitment to the community continues with an ambitious slate for 2027, featuring: Valls: Battle of the Goi Bridge, Spartacus: Rome under Threat, 1806: The Elbe Campaign and Reformation: Fire and Faith.
They recently announced their next Kickstarter project that would take their system to the Anglo-Boer War called The Great Anglo-Boer War: The Battle for South Africa 1899-1902. The game is currently on Kickstarter and appears to be a very important addition to the many games on the period.
From the game page, we read the following:
The Great Anglo-Boer War is a grand-strategic level game of the war between the British Empire and the Boer Republics in South Africa from 1899 to 1902. The Boers were armed like no other adversary the Empire had ever faced. By October 1899, war had become inevitable—and both sides were equipped for the first ‘modern’ conflict. Both sides had rifled breech-loading artillery, machine guns, bolt-action magazine rifles, trenches, barbed wire, and more.
The war started as a conventional contest but morphed into the first modern guerrilla war of the 20th century. In the end, the Empire overwhelmed the Boers, but by 1910 all of South Africa (including the contested republics of 1899) was granted self-government as a Crown Dominion, with Louis Botha as the Prime Minister. The Boers can be said to have lost the war but won the peace. A fascinating bit of history but an even more interesting study in military history.
The game places you in the position of the military commanders of both armies. Political events are largely beyond your control, but may influence what you are allowed to do. There are three scenarios – the Conventional War, the Guerrilla War, and the Grand Campaign Game. The full campaign is THE ULTIMATE BOER WAR EXPERIENCE – from the first desperate siege defenses of 1899 to the treaty of Vereeniging (or maybe not?) – and everything tactical and otherwise in between. Battles, blockhouses, farm-burnings, evasions, escapes, raids, concentration camps, sieges, drives, armoured trains, 1-pdr automatic “pom-poms”, surrenders, entrenchments, typhoid, barbed-wire, native spies, night marches, supply wagons and more. If it was part of the real Boer war – it is in the game. If you know about the war – this is the one you’ve been hoping someone would make, and if you are learning about it – this IS THE GAME for that. With a 44×34 map at 9 miles/hex scale, monthly game turns and an accurate order of battle, this is a game that truly does justice to the topic.
As of September 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has raised $7,389 toward its $12,900 funding goal with 86 backers. The campaign will conclude on Tuesday, October 20th at 1:38pm EDT.
2. Combat! Vietnam from Compass Games
This month we had another pretty big downloading of new pre-order games from Compass Games that I have affectionately referred to in the past as “Pre-Order Palooza”. This one was not their normal 6-10 new titles but there were 4 new games offered and they all looked very good. The first game that I am highlighting here is the next volume in the highly thought of Combat! Series of solitaire wargames. These games represent man to man combat where typically each of the counters on the board represent a single soldier. They have focused exclusively on World War II previously but now they have announced this new game set during the Vietnam War called Combat! Vietnam. I have yet to play any of the previous volumes in the series, even though I own 4 of them, but they are high on my want to play list and I am very much interested in this system because I love Tactical level games, very much enjoy man to man combat in games and also enjoy games that are set in during the Vietnam War.
From the game page, we read the following:
Combat! Vietnam is a stand-alone solitaire game of man-to-man combat in the Vietnam War, covering the years from 1965 to 1972. This game depicts the countless small actions that were fought during those years, with the player commanding a squad of American, Communist, or South Vietnamese soldiers. In the 11 scenarios, the fighting rages across the widely varied terrain of Vietnam, from dense jungles to city streets.
The comprehensive Random Scenario Generator (and Campaign Game) further expands your gaming possibilities. With this tool, players can generate a limitless supply of unique scenarios for Combat! Vietnam.
Combat! Vietnam also includes Armor rules, allowing the player to relive iconic scenes such as T-54 tanks charging south during the Easter Offensive or Marine Patton tanks battling through Hué.
3. Viking Dawn: A Game of Viking Exploration & Expansion 800-1040 A.D. from Compass Games
The 2nd game from Compass Games today is a good one. And I know that because I have played it. But, our friend Gregory M. Smith is a solitaire game designing genius and has done many of these solo, narrative driven style wargames that we have all enjoyed for hours on end while we have been unable to find an opponent or just because we want to play a game on our timeline. We have interviewed him many times for his games such as Zeppelin Raider, Interceptor Ace, The Hunted, Western Front Ace, Amerika Bomber, Defending America, American Tank Ace, British Tank Ace, Rebel Tide, Sinking Yamato and most recently for a magazine wargame called B-52D Linebacker II. But Greg is a versatile designer and also has done many great 2-player games as well. He always has something cooking in his game design kitchen and recently we spoke with him about his new design with Kevin McPartland called Viking Dawn: A Game of Viking Exploration & Expansion 800-1040 A.D. from Compass Games. I was able to play this 1-4 player game while at the World Boardgaming Championships last month and you can read about my experience at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2026/07/27/world-boardgaming-championships-2026-daily-debrief-series-day-3/
From the game page, we read the following:
Viking Dawn is a low-complexity strategic game, with rules for two, three, or four players, each controlling a faction of Vikings (Norse, Swede, Dane, and optionally Geat). Inspired by SPI’s game Conquistador! from the 1970’s, Viking Dawn has exploration, trade (both internal and external), and minor leaders. The game also contains rules for solitaire play with the Danes or Norse.
Faction descriptions:
Norse – closest to the New World, they have the additional advantage of two Explorers, Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson.
Danes – closest to the lucrative raiding and settlement targets of England, they also have the advantage of having several early leaders.
Swedes – although further from England, they are closest to several Russian settlement areas, and river portage routes to the east and Constantinople.
Geats – ostensibly the weakest faction, as they must pay tribute to the Swedes for protection, they have the best trading advantage in the game.
Players compete to raid lucrative settlements and explore the world with longships and warbands. Each faction has named historical leaders, who have an impact on combat and exploration. Players may trade with each other or nonplayer-controlled areas and establish settlements. Includes rules for settlements gaining independence, leader burials, and establishment of the Varangian Guard.
If you are interested in Viking Dawn: A Game of Viking Exploration & Expansion 800-1040 A.D., you can pre-order a copy for $54.00 from the Compass Games website at the following link: https://www.compassgames.com/product/viking-dawn-pay-later/
4. Tunnel Rats: The Vietnam War Underground from Compass Games
Game 3 in this month’s mini-Pre-Order Palooza from Compass Games is another very interesting looking game set during the Vietnam War called Tunnel Rats: The Vietnam War Underground. This game is a solitaire game, which I think makes a lot of sense historically and thematically and actually gets me very excited for the possibilities, and I very much look forward to seeing how this one works. I have great hope for this one. The designer is Lisa Smedman who has done several recent popular solo games including Trench Raid.
From the game page, we read the following:
Tunnel Rats is a single-player game set during the Vietnam War. You will control two American “tunnel rats” who have been tasked with exploring an underground tunnel complex created by the Viet Cong. This complex is made up of tiles representing tunnels and underground rooms in which the enemy may be lurking. In this claustrophobic environment, the tunnel rats need to be as quiet as possible to avoid alerting the enemy. Tense firefights and hand-to-hand combat feature a unique initiative system, and encounters are fast and furious.
With a procedurally generated map, nine tunnel rat characters to choose from, and a variety of weapon and equipment load-outs, each “run” will provide a new and dynamic challenge. Your team’s objective will vary, shifting the focus of play depending upon which lieutenant is in command of the team. Tunnel Rats also includes rules for campaign play, allowing surviving tunnel rats to gradually hone their skills over time – if they survive.
Be on your guard, as the tunnel rats never know what they will encounter down in “the black”. It might be a hidden punji stake pit, a Viet Cong command center filled with valuable documents, a venomous snake slithering along a tunnel, or a water trap they must swim through without drowning!
5. Against the Reich Deluxe Edition from Compass Games
Game 4 from the Compass Games mini Pre-Order Palooza is a classic hex and counter operational level wargame set in World War II called Against the Reich Deluxe Edition designed originally by Joseph Balkoski.
From the game page, we read the following:
In June of 1944, the world held its breath as land and naval forces of six Allied nations launched the largest amphibious assault ever attempted. The long-awaited second front, the Western Front, was finally open. The Allies had to force the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany by crossing the great Rhine River into the Reich itself. Adolf Hitler was confident that the battered but undefeated Wehrmacht could hold two enormous fortified zones (the Atlantic and Westwalls) and repulse any attempt to cross into the German homeland. Against the Reich is the first game in years to cover the entire Western Front campaign. The players are in the positions of Eisenhower and Hitler, making the grand decisions that control the course of the campaign.
A Quick-Playing Simulation: Designer Joseph M. Balkoski, whose specialty is the Western Front, has provided an accurate, realistic simulation that plays like a game. With short and long campaign games, you can choose the length of the simulation.
Headquarters and Supplies are Realistically Linked: Players must decide where to concentrate their resources. Limited supplies make the placement of headquarters and depots a critical factor in the campaign.
Choice of Invasion Sites: The Allied player must decide where to invade – do you strike a lightly defended area and accept a long, grinding ground campaign, or strike close to the Rhine and risk quick destruction?
Historical Overview: Russel F. Weigley, author of Eisenhower’s Lieutenants, the definitive history of the Western Front, has analyzed the strategic options facing Eisenhower and Hitler – and the players.
Loaded with other Features: A short “Battle of the Bulge” scenario, Second Invasion, Flooding Holland, Port Repair, The Roer Dams, Rail Movement, Mediterranean Front Reinforcements, Amphibious and Airborne Assaults, and much more.
6. Enlightenment Empires: Power and Politics in Eastern Europe, 1725-1795 from GMT Games
One of my favorite parts about historical wargaming is that I get exposed to and am able to learn about some of the more obscure parts of our world’s history. Now you might be saying to me that the subject of power politics in Eastern Europe form 1725-1795 is not obscure and I think that you would be correct if I was from Eastern Europe. But as I am from the United States, this is not a period or locale that we learned much about in grade school. That being said, I am very much interested in this concept and history and am glad to see Brian Asklev taking another crack at a topic that focuses on some of the history from his neck of the woods. When Enlightenment Empires: Power and Politics in Eastern Europe, 1725-1795 was first announced a few weeks ago, I was immediately interested because I do love games where several nations have to compete economically, politically, diplomatically and through force of arms. I also recently played Brian’s Baltic Empires at WBC and very much enjoyed that game and this one appears to be in a similar style and uses the very interesting Dramatis Personae cards to inject historical characters with their abilities into the game play.
From the game page, we read the following:
Enlightenment Empires is an approachable 2-5 player strategy game about conflicts between the states of Central and Eastern Europe region during the Enlightenment era, a transformative period of political upheaval, large-scale warfare, and constant struggles for power. Players will have to develop their economy, decide their internal policies on the ideas of individual liberty and effective governance, secure trade deals and financial assistance within the context of the global rivalry between Britain and France, and finally build armies to become the dominant power of Central and Eastern Europe. Russia, Poland-Lithuania, Prussia, Austria, and the Ottoman Empire will fight for hegemony, using variable victory conditions that reflect their respective historical objectives.
Building on the solid foundation provided by Baltic Empires, highlights of Enlightenment Empires include:
Five new asymmetric factions with unique abilities and objectives, including a new “Constitution” objective reflecting the pinnacle of Enlightenment political ideals.
Another highly thematic deck of historical Dramatis Personae to constitute your royal court, now also including random events that can disrupt players’ plans…or present them with new opportunities.
A simplified, yet still deep and political, economic system that forces players to make tough decisions regarding their state’s internal policies (serfdom, noble privileges, and military spending) and its diplomatic relations to the superpowers of the period, England and France.
The same streamlined battle system based on custom dice per unit type, now modified by military reforms.
More detailed minor powers that players may form alliances with.
Variable player counts (from 2 to 5 players), with scenarios ranging from a tight duel to a tense multiplayer conflict replete with alliances and betrayals.
If there is a word that could define the whole of 18th century, it would be the Enlightenment. The philosophical thought that applied reason to all spheres of life guided the social and political developments of the 1700s, and intellectuals, scientists, politicians, and rulers alike acted either in support of it or against it. And while in Western Europe the republican ideals of enlightenment brought about the French Revolution, in Central and Eastern Europe enlightenment became a tool for state-building for the absolutist monarchs, including the Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria Joseph II, King Frederick II of Prussia, or Empress Catherine the Great of Russia. The mid-18th century period was formative for these powers, with Prussia and Russia continuing to struggle to establish their dominance in the region, while Austria and the Ottoman Empire fought to preserve their status, and the weakened state of Poland-Lithuania struggled to reform its constitution before meeting an unlucky demise. Three of the traditional “pentarchy“ of Great European Powers (namely, Russia, Prussia, and Austria) were Eastern powers that achieved this status during the 18th century. Their dominance in the region was forged by the work of bureaucrats and reformers, as much as by the soldiers and generals on the fields of the Seven Years‘ War.
Keep in mind that these type of games can sometimes be very complex and have lots of moving parts. And I am not saying that this doesn’t have them but Brian has said that the game is very approachable.
Enlightenment Empires presents these political and military conflicts in a fun and accessible format, while also doing justice to the fascinating history of the region during this period. The game features five asymmetric factions with different strengths, internal political conditions, military forces, and historical objectives, along with the capacity to develop their states by conducting reforms along (or against) Enlightenment ideals, investing in economic infrastructure, and recruiting key historical characters that offer unique game effects. The game also includes several scenarios for variable player counts and durations, offering additional flexibility and replayability.
7. The Last Hundred Yards Volume 6: The Forgotten Hell from GMT Games
If you didn’t know we really enjoyed The Last Hundred Yards as well as Volume 2: Airborne Over Europe. The system is extremely interesting for a tactical game and uses some novel elements in regards to how victory points are scored including a focus on time to complete missions as well as the casualties incurred. Really an excellent system with lots of crunch and potential! Now, even though there are a total of 5 other volumes that have been released, Mike Denson has forged ahead with the next entry in the series which gives us a look at the operations in New Guinea and the Northern Solomon Islands during WWII with The Last Hundred Yards Volume 6: The Forgotten Hell.
From the game page, we read the following:
The Last Hundred Yards: The Forgotten Hell is Volume 6 in The Last Hundred Yards Series. This game examines the Allied campaigns against Japan in 1942, focusing on U.S. operations on Guadalcanal and Australian fighting in Papua New Guinea.
In New Guinea, Australian militia and the Australian Imperial Force troops fought a brutal and desperate delaying campaign along the Kokoda Track from Port Moresby to Buna, Battling through jungle, mountains, rain, mud, hunger, disease, and exhaustion, they resisted repeated Japanese advances and flanking attacks. Their stubborn defense slowed the enemy, shielded Port Moresby, and eventually helped reverse the campaign. At Milne Bay, Australian forces pushed the Japanese back and shattered the belief that the Imperial Japanese Army was invincible.
On Guadalcanal, U.S. Marines and Army troops fought equally savage battles, destroying Ichiki’s force at Alligator Creek and later assaulting entrenched Japanese positions around Mount Austen. There, the enemy used caves, rocky ridges, and concealed strongpoints to prolong the struggle.
Together, these engagements reveal the intensity of jungle warfare in the Southwest Pacific, where endurance, small-unit leadership, and relentless attacks under terrible conditions shaped the early Allied offensive against Japan. These actions also showed how terrain, logistics, and morale could decide campaigns as surely as firepower across the battlefields of the Solomons and New Guinea alike.
8. Shenandoah: Jackson and Sheridan in the Valley, 1862 – 1864 (Stonewall in the Valley and Sheridan in the Shenandoah) from Multi-Man Publishing
A BIG and well respected American Civil War operational system is what Great Campaigns of the American Civil War (GCACW) is and the newest volume in the series is called Shenandoah: Jackson and Sheridan in the Valley, 1862 – 1864. One of the things that I very much appreciate about this system is the fact that they use some of the best art out there for their covers.
From the game page, we read the following:
Shenandoah: Jackson and Sheridan in the Valley, 1862 – 1864 is the latest design in the award-winning Great Campaigns of the American Civil War(GCACW) Series. It contains both a complete redesign of the Stonewall in the Valley (SIV) game covering Stonewall Jackson’s 1862 valley campaign and a completely new game module Sheridan in the Shenandoah that depicts Sheridan’s 1864 valley campaign. The game is designed by Joe Balkoski (the original GCACW Series creator) and Chris Withers. The original SIV game maps have been upgraded to contain the latest GCACW map features, with map design executed by artist Charlie Kibler—whose work on the series dates to its creation in 1992.
Shenandoah: Jackson and Sheridan in the Valley, 1862 – 1864 uses the latest version of the GCACW Standard Basic Game Rules, which also apply to all other games in the series, and these rules are now printed at an increased 11-point font size instead of 9-point. After more than a quarter-century of refinement, these rules are extremely well organized and relatively easy to learn, even for series newcomers. The Advanced Game rules cover situations specifically applicable to these unique campaigns such as “The Burning” that depicts the desolation of the valley by Union cavalry in 1864.
Stonewall in the Valley includes one new Basic Game scenario, the four original Basic Scenarios rebalanced, and the original Advanced Game campaign scenario extensively revised:
The Battle of Kernstown (March 23, 1862; 1 turn): Introductory scenario on the battle of Kernstown – ideal for beginners.
My Last Council of War (March 10 to March 23, 1862; 14 turns): Heavily outnumbered, Jackson moves south from Winchester thru Strasburg to Mt. Jackson. A Union force of three divisions follows to Strasburg while sending two divisions out of the Valley to reinforce McClellan. Jackson races back north and attacks the remaining Union division at Kernstown but loses the battle.
God Blessed Our Arms at McDowell (April 30 to May 11, 1862; 12 turns): Historically, Jackson moves west from Staunton and causes the Union force at McDowell to retreat north to Franklin. He briefly pursues them but then returns to the Valley. This scenario postulates what might have happened had Ewell’s division and Banks’ two divisions become involved in the McDowell campaign instead of holding fast in their camps in the south of the Valley.
Rebel Blitzkrieg (May 21 to June 2, 1862; 13 turns): Jackson and Ewell advance north on the Luray Pike and surprise the small Union force at Front Royal. A Union division entrenched at Strasburg to the west belatedly discovers it is in danger of being cut off and just beats Jackson north to Winchester. Jackson defeats the Union at the first battle of Winchester and pursues to Harpers Ferry. Meanwhile strong Union forces are moving in behind Jackson from both the east and the west. Jackson turns south, marching to Strasburg and then Mt. Jackson and barely avoids the trap.
Our Beautiful Valley Will be Cleansed (June 6 to June 11, 1862; 6 turns); Two Union columns, separated by the Shenandoah River, pursue Jackson south from Strasburg. Fremont’s force engages the Confederates at Harrisonburg and then two days later battles them at Cross Keys. Meanwhile Shields’ division advances into Jackson’s rear and almost captures his wagon train. Jackson turns his army from Fremont to Shields and defeats Shields in the battle of Port Republic causing both Union forces to pull back north.
Jackson’s Shenandoah Valley Campaign (March 7 to June 19, 1862; 105 turns): The entire Valley campaign is covered in this scenario. Both sides typically have forces moving all over all three maps in exciting maneuvers and with forces coming and going due to external events. The scenario plays quite fast due to lulls where sets of 5 turns are skipped. The original advanced rules have been simplified, and the scenario has been extensively playtested and re-balanced.
Sheridan in the Shenandoah includes twelve Basic Game scenarios and two Advanced Game campaign scenarios, all extensively playtested:
Second Winchester (June 13 to June 15, 1863; 3 turns): Ewell’s corps leads the Confederate army thru the Valley to invade Pennsylvania and routed the Union division at Winchester. The Rebels cut off the Union retreat and captured most of the Union division. The route was now clear for Lee’s invasion of the north.
The Battle of New Market (May 15, 1864; 1 turn): Introductory scenario on the battle of New Market – ideal for beginners.
Piedmont (June 4 to June 6, 1864; 3 turns): Picking up the after Sigel’s debacle at New Market, Union General David Hunter marches south from Winchester. With Breckinridge, Confederate hero of New Market, aiding Lee at Cold Harbor, defense of the Valley falls to a ragtag collection of troops that are rushed to the area under General W. E. “Grumble” Jones. The forces battle at Piedmont, Jones is killed, the Rebels are routed, and the Union captures Staunton.
In the Valley Again (July 23 to August 5, 1864; 14 turns): Early’s army moved back into the Valley in mid-July after retreating from the outskirts of Washington, D.C. On July 23, Confederate scouting revealed that Early was only opposed by Crook’s forces and not the VI and XIX corps, which had returned to D.C. Early attacked Crook at Kernstown and routed the Union forces which retreated across the Potomac. Confederate infantry destroyed the B&O RR at Martinsburg and threatened to invade north. Two Confederate cavalry brigades advanced north towards Chambersburg, burned it, and were chased by 2 Union cavalry divisions. Meanwhile, the VI and XIX corps had been recalled to the Valley, but then along with Crook’s force, moved east to protect against an assumed invasion again by the Confederates. The Union force soon countermarched back to Harpers Ferry and the Confederates retreated south.
Second Kernstown (July 24, 1864; 1 turn): A simple scenario covering the second battle of Kernstown – ideal for beginners.
Sheridan Takes Command (August 10 to August 14, 1864; 5 turns): Sheridan took command of all forces in the region on August 7th. His orders were “wherever the enemy goes let our troops go also”. The plan was to trap the Confederate infantry in the northern valley, but Early knew the danger and moved south just ahead of the Union. Both sides marched rapidly south until the Confederates setup a strong line at the Fisher’s Hill. Sheridan prepared to attack but halted his plans when a strong force under Anderson entered the Valley at Front Royal.
You Must Be Cautious (August 17 to August 21, 1864; 5 turns): With the Union infantry camped along Cedar Creek and the Confederates entrenched in a strong line at Fisher’s Hill just to the south, Sheridan learned of the approach of Kershaw’s division. This elicited a new directive from Grant warning Sheridan he “must be cautious and act on the defensive until movements … force them to detach” troops. Therefore, Sheridan conducted a night march to Winchester. From there the Union briefly defended at Berryville and then at Charlestown. The Confederates pursued and eventually tried to bring on a battle at Charlestown. However, Sheridan was cautious and followed the new defensive strategy and disengaged to retreat into a strong, compact line at Halltown, just in front of Harpers Ferry.
Third Winchester (September 19, 1864; 1 turn): This scenario depicting the third battle of Winchester is only one turn but still features lots of maneuver and combat.
From Winchester to Fisher’s Hill (September 19 to September 22, 1864; 4 turns): This scenario encompasses two significant battles in the valley campaign. The Union army attacked the Confederate defensive line just east of Winchester and eventually drove the Rebels back to Winchester. This final Confederate line collapsed, and they retreated south all the way to a formidable defensive position at Fisher’s Hill, just south of Strasburg. The Union pursued and then rolled the west flank of this line and routed the Confederates.
Early’s About Played Out (September 23 to September 26, 1864; 4 turns): After the battle of Fisher’s Hill the Confederates retreated south. The Union pursued with their entire army, but the action for the next few days was limited to cavalry and rear-guard skirmishes. The Confederates safely made it to Brown’s Gap, while the Union infantry stopped at Harrisonburg and Union cavalry started burning the countryside.
Tom’s Brook (October 9, 1864; 1 turn): This solitaire scenario is filled with cavalry action and is an excellent learning scenario for beginners.
The Battle of Cedar Creek (October 19, 1864; 1 turn): While this is only a 1-turn scenario it is filled with the action that took place in the battle of Cedar Creek. The Confederate player starts with a Night March and a Surprise Attack. The Union responds with a special “Sheridan’s Ride” action to enable counterattacks.
Sheridan Moves South (September 19 to October 20, 1864; 32 turns): This scenario spans the battles in the campaign from when Sheridan attacked the Confederates at Winchester, to when the Confederates were defeated at the battle of Cedar Creek. This campaign can be easily played in a weekend.
The Last Valley Campaign (July 21 to October 20, 1864; 92 turns): This scenario encompasses the entire campaign from when Early’s army returned to the Valley after his raid on Washington, to when he was defeated at the battle of Cedar Creek. There is maneuver and combat all over all three maps in this scenario. The action often starts with a Confederate offensive and advance to the Potomac. The Union then gets significant reinforcements to launch counteroffensives.
9. Okinawa: The Last Battle of WWII Reprint from Best with 1
I love a new and interesting way to tell the story of a key battle and I found a very interesting one called Okinawa: The Last Battle of WWII from Best with 1 earlier this year. This is a solitaire only game and for each game the player will draw four objectives from a possible 12 that you must survive and capture before time runs out. On your turn, the player will roll special dice and then spend those to take actions such as movement, attack and take special actions from different unit action cards that will be set up in a square from from 1 to 10. The numbers coincide with the dice of the attacking Japanese and as the player moves through the rondel they will be able to activate and use their different soldiers to attack the Japanese defenders or use their special abilities to gain tokens that can be used for rerolls or healing of wounds
I think that the best part of the game is the concept of resource management as you have to use the dice appropriately to move and fight and also to manage your troops as you can upgrade certain cards as you pass the midway point of the round as well as when special actions are granted via the special resource chits. Upgrading units is very important as this will unlock things like heavy weapons in the form of bazookas, a Sherman tank and planes to be able to take out the Japanese armor units defending the island. The game is about efficiency of movement and doing the most with what you have. The dice determine what you can and can’t do and movement is optional as you don’t have to move unless you feel it is advantageous. But remember, that you have to defeat the defenders and the various objectives to be able to advance to your final objective and sitting in one space too long is not advisable.
The different units have various functions including attack, such as the Rifleman, Machine Gun Team and Sniper but also have secondary functions to remove the fog of war, heal your damaged units or gain additional resources. The Japanese defenders are well hidden and also have various defenses such as pill boxes and caves that will require the player to defeat these before moving to attack the units located inside.
In the end the game is about defeating the Japanese defenders while doing so in a set amount of revolutions around the rondel setup. This can be as few as 2 times around or as many as 4 and knowing when to use your resources to reroll your dice, as you either didn’t get the run of consecutive numbers you were looking for or just need a specific number, you will run out of resources quickly and you must plan them out as best you can to win the game. This one is really fun and I have played it about a dozen times winning about 70% of the time. The game plays in about an hour and the action is fast and furious and you are immediately beset by the staunch Japanese defenders and must act quickly.
You do not have to buy the Hero Bound game but can order the game as an Add On.
10. Tank Clash: Eastern Front from Ameba Games
I love to highlight these little campaigns that I find on Kickstarter and this month there is a new company, or at least that I am not familiar with, called Ameba Games that is offering a small game called Tank Clash: Eastern Front. This games appears to be the 2nd game in the series with the 1st being called Tank Clash: Western Front.
From the game page, we read the following:
Tank Clash is back with new iconic World War 2 tanks!
The Red Army is spearheaded by the powerful Soviet armoured units like the T34, SU100 and IS2. Germany pins its hopes on the last of the panzer divisions to halt the Soviet advance. The Wehrmacht fields its fearsome tanks like the Stug III, Nashorn and Tiger II for the coming battle.
The stage is set for the largest clash of late-war heavy armour.
Tank Clash: Eastern Front is a standalone tactical tank warfare game for 2 players, designed for both newcomers and seasoned strategists. Easy to learn yet rich in tactical choices, it combines its signature checkers-style armour tracking system with dice rolling and hand management for intense skirmish battles.
Already own Tank Clash: Western Front?
Built with modularity in mind, Eastern Front is fully compatible with its predecessor. Combine both games to command 12 unique tank types across expansive battlefields with up to 4 players. Eastern Front’s new features – including new missions, battlefield tokens, event cards and enhanced gameplay elements can also be incorporated into Western Front for an even richer combat experience.
I know what you might be thinking, as the art is a bit cartoony, but I am going to give this one a chance. I think that any wargamer likes to use tanks and this one appears to be focused on these metal monsters and I am going to give it a go. Plus the components are really nice, including some very well made poker chips that are used on the board, and frankly the price of $40 is probably worth what you re getting.
As of September 1st, the Kickstarter campaign has funded and raised $9,054 toward its $3,928 funding goal with 108 backers. The campaign will conclude on Wednesday, September 16th at 9:00pm EDT.
New Release
1. A Hellish Fight: The Battle of Fort Sumter – 1863 from High Flying Dice Games
I love lesser gamed subjects. Or even sometimes games that have never seen the light of day and never touched certain subjects. It is always nice to play something unique and interesting while learning new parts of history. High Flying Dice Games does this exceptionally well as they have made their living on doing lesser (or even totally) unknow battles in their small format games. This month they have released a game that focuses on the 2nd siege of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina in 1863 called A Hellish Fight: The Battle of Fort Sumter – 1863. This one looks pretty interesting and appears to focus on the iron clad battles and bombardment of the ruins of the fort that were still held by the Confederates.
From the game page, we read the following:
Following the capture of Fort Wagner on September 7th, and the protracted bombardment of Fort Sumter by the Union navy’s ironclads as well as army land batteries, an assault to take the fort’s ruins was planned. Admiral Dahlgren and General Gilmore both felt that securing Fort Sumter’s capture would not only lead to Charleston’s surrender, but send a clear signal that the Confederacy’s days were numbered.
If you are interested in A Hellish Fight: The Battle of Fort Sumter – 1863, you can order a copy for $18.95 from the High Flying Dice Games website at the following link: https://www.hfdgames.com/sumter.html
2. Guadalcanal: The Battle for Henderson Field, Oct 23-26, 1942 from Dan Verssen Games
The Valiant Defense Series designed by David Thompson has been one of my favorite solitaire wargame series of the past nearly 10 years. Each of the volumes in the game address very specific situations and always have a very interesting take with fun mechanics, great art and fantastic production. The torch for the series though has been passed to a new designer in Vincent Cooper. He has designed Volume 5 Guadalcanal: The Battle for Henderson Field, Oct 23-26, 1942 and it has finally fulfilled off of Kickstarter.
From the game page, we read the following:
Take command of the valiant Marines of the 1st Marine Division, supported by Soldiers of the 164th Infantry Regiment, desperately defending Henderson Field against waves of Japanese troops. Guadalcanal: The Battle for Henderson Field is a solitaire and cooperative tactical wargame published by Dan Verssen Games (DVG) as Volume V in the Valiant Defense Series.
Here is a bit of a designer diary/commentary from the designer Vincent Cooper:
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…).
The game has been through various stages of development and now stands ready to KS!! I will be giving more details in the future about the various variant play options, but have no fear: This will keep you scratching your head looking for the right decision for MONTHS!!
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!!!
A few years ago, Road to the Rhine designed by Frank Chadwick was announced and it is now ready to ship.
From the game page, we read the following:
In the cataclysmic battle of the Falaise Pocket, the Allied forces defeated the German army and drove them back across France in disorder. In the south of France, American and French troops of the 6th Army Group have stormed ashore and driven the remnants of the German 19th Army north toward the border.
Road to the Rhine covers the Allied pursuit of the German Army following the Normandy breakout through fierce fighting at the West Wall and bridging the Rhine River. The campaign game covers the period from September 1944 through April 1945, while separate shorter scenarios include Operation Market-Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. The game includes two battle games (one-turn scenarios), two longer scenarios, and one full campaign game. The game also includes extensive designer notes from original game designer Frank Chadwick and a historical play-through of the Bulge battle game.
Road to the Rhine is another classic by Game Designers’ Workshop, re-mastered by Compass Games. Originally designed by Frank Chadwick, this edition pays tribute to the classic by honoring the original game system while introducing many enhancements for gameplay purposes. In terms of presentation, we upgraded all components, including completely new full-color maps, new reinforcement and new unit displays, expanded turn and supply tracks, enhanced charts, a rulebook with incorporated errata, and larger counters.
This one does have two 22″x34″ maps but with only 2 countershafts so it is large in scope but not necessarily in scale as it appears to be fairly low counter density. One to keep an eye on though as it is designed by Frank Chadwick and is a remastering of the classis GDW release in 1979.
As usual, thanks so much for reading along and sticking with me this month as I navigated through the many websites and game pages looking for new and interesting games to share.
Finally, thanks once again to this month’s sponsor Neva Game Press!
Angekündigt: Neu: Updates: Zur Zeit ist eher „Saure Gurkenzeit“ im Crowdfundingbereich. Rund um die Gen Con sind kaum neue Projekte gestartet worden. Daher auch nur kleinere Updates und ein paar neue Live-Projekte. ANGEKÜNDIGT In der kommenden Woche im Crowdfunding: Sommerpause. Es sind einige wenige Projekte angekündigt. Hier der Überblick über die kommende Woche und den […]
Rajas of the Ganges ist, wie ich finde, ein tolles Dice-Placement-Spiel. Eines mit besonders vielen Würfeln. Und auch bei der Roll & Write-Version Dice Charmers gab es – logischerweise –…
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