Werwolf: Insurgency in Occupied Germany, 1945-1948 from Legion Wargames is a COIN Series inspired, alternate history wargame with 4 totally different factions. Werwolf was a real underground guerrilla group, comprised of SS and Hitler Youth members. It was intended to lead an insurgency against the invading Allies and Soviets when it became clear that Germany was losing the war in a conventional sense in the mid-1940’s. They did in fact have a few successes and American intelligence officer Frank Manuel said that the Werwolves were prepared “to strike down the isolated soldier in his jeep, the MP on patrol, the fool who goes a-courting after dark, the Yankee braggart who takes a back road.”

-Grant

Following the successful deployment of missiles on Cuba in 1962, the Communists gained much ground in Latin America. Western Europe became less convinced of American commitment to defend the continent. This led to the NATO alliance being dissolved and replaced by a neutral bloc.

America was now alone!

Live Free or Die is an alternate history simulation of battles associated with a Communist invasion of continental USA. Live Free or Die is a game set consisting of three independent games:

• Asian Invasion captures the Peoples’ Asian Alliance landings in California;
• Remember the Alamo covers the Organization of Central American States drive into Texas; and
• Southern Discomfort focuses on a Warsaw Pact invasion of Florida, Georgia.

The Basic Game focuses on ground combat, providing a quick, entertaining game. The Advanced Game introduces air and naval units as well as additional specialized units like cruise missiles, laser defenses and political troops. And beware, there are rules for nuclear, biological and chemical warfare!

-Grant

Small Wars: Mohicans is the first game of the Small Wars Series and covers the French & Indian War of the mid-18th century, and is based on a popular 1983 Canadian boardgame called Mohawk. Mohicans starts in 1754 and continues to 1760, which historically was the year after the conquest of Quebec by British forces (a founding event in the creation of modern Canada).

In Mohicans, the powerful regular forces of Britain fight for control of north-eastern North America against the mixed regular and irregular forces of the French and their local allies. The forces of both sides are bolstered by local militia units and other irregular forces, such as the famous French Couriers des Bois or British Rangers, and the arrival each year of more regular reinforcements from Europe.

While the British have the edge in firepower and numbers, the French have better mobility and their Indigenous allies can make effective use of terrain, particularly the massive forests that covered eastern North America at the time. The British are also more vulnerable to having their supply lines cut off.

Both sides seek to curry favour with the powerful but neutral Iroquois Confederacy, as an alliance with them is an enormous strategic advantage. With each major victory on the battlefield, one of the six tribes of the Iroquois will offer its support to the winning side. Get the support of all six tribes, and the Iroquois will join the fight.

To win the game, the British must hold three of the French cities and towns of Louisbourg, Frontenac, Duquesne, Montreal and Quebec (and at least one must be Montreal or Quebec). If they don’t do this by 1760, the French win by default.

The French can also win by holding the British cities of Albany and either New York, Boston or Philadelphia. This will be a tall order for the French but they can take comfort in the fact that the British, like NATO 250 years later have the watches, but the French have the time…

Combat occurs at the different locations, after the seasonal movement has been processed. It covers different battles, such as ambushes in woods, landings, raids on enemy villages and towns, field battles or forts assaults.

During the Winter between each of the 7 years of the war, reinforcements are received, militias and Indians are mustered and forts can be built.

-Grant

Roma Victrix is a grand strategic, moderate complexity wargame covering a time period ranging from 218 BC to 533 AD in twenty separate historical and hypothetical scenarios.

Roma Victrix is a game which endeavors to re-create the conflicts between Rome and her neighbors to achieve and maintain that dominance. A simple interactive sequence of play guides each player through the process of revenue collection, recruiting and maintaining military forces, conducting land and naval operations, diplomacy, field battles and sieges. Special rules are included to emphasize the importance and effects of leadership, cavalry superiority, mobility and attrition. Random events are also represented, adding an element of unpredictability to even the best laid plans and the likelihood that no scenario will ever play the same.

We posted an interview on the blog with the designer Paul Kallio and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2022/05/23/interview-with-paul-kallio-designer-of-roma-victrix-campaigns-of-the-roman-world-from-compass-games/

-Grant

A few years ago, while attending the WBC, I had the chance to meet Wes Crawford who was demoing his upcoming game Engine Thieves. He was a very nice guy and his game was pretty interesting as well. Since that time, he has another game that has been released designed in partnership with Ryan Heilman in The Pursuit of John Wilkes Booth published by Blue Panther. I had a chance to play the game solitaire (with Wes overseeing the game and giving me guidance and pointers) at WBC in 2024 and have since played the game on my own several times and had a really great time with it. Great little solo game with several other modes where the player uses resources like police and detectives to search for clues in the hunt for Lincoln’s assassin after the events at Ford’s Theater on the evening of April 14, 1865. Definitely not a subject that has been gamed before and it is really refreshing to be able to experience this history in an interesting and engaging game. There really is a lot to like with the way that clues are found and chits are blindly drawn to verify clues from a bag. There is also a great little movement mechanic with police and detectives to try to acquire more clues.

We were able to post an interview with Wes Crawford on the blog and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2024/12/03/interview-with-wes-crawford-designer-of-the-pursuit-of-john-wilkes-booth-from-blue-panther/

Here also is a link to our video interview after playing the game with Wes at WBC:

-Grant

“In Signo Hoc Vinces”. Dive into history and heroism with Crusaders: The Siege of Acre 1291, a Tactical level Solitaire-Only board-wargame that immerses you and lets you experience the last stand of the Knights Templar and the Crusaders in the Holy Land. Relive the courageous stand of some 15,000 Crusader soldiers, Knights Templars, Teutonic Knights, and Hospitallers as they defend Acre, the critical port city in the Holy Land, against a massive Mamluk army of some 80,000 soldiers armed with siege engines and catapults during the Ninth Crusade.

Crusaders is a dice rolling, tower defense, solitaire game. Players take the role of Crusaders and try to defend Acre from the Mamluk attackers. Players win or lose depending on if the walls are breached and enough defenders survive.

-Grant

Amateurs to Arms! is a historical simulation game of the War of 1812. One player assumes the role of the British (including Canadian) forces, and the other plays the Americans. This often-overlooked conflict ended in a draw historically, but this was not the only possible outcome. The Americans clearly wished to annex Canada to their young nation, while the British wanted to teach their former colonies a lesson. The game includes all of the theaters of battle from the war: the US/ Canadian border and the Great Lakes (of course) but also the wilderness of the old Northwest, the Atlantic coast of the US, the Civilized Indians of the south, and the site of the final conflict at New Orleans.

Each turn represents a few months of time (depending on the season). A typical turn consists of dealing out to each player the number of cards indicated on the turn track. The winter and spring turns require a few special tasks. The Americans will have more resources to commit to the war- until Napoleon is defeated in Europe, and the English player can focus more resources on their efforts in North America. Each card can be played for the event described on the card, or for the card’s Operations Points, to move Expeditions, build ships and fortifications, or raise troops.

Events on the cards and on the map will cause the markers on the Peace Track to move forward. This represents the war weariness of each side’s people: bad events will cause your people to demand peace. Most events push inexorably towards peace; only a few rally your people for a longer war. When the two markers meet on the Peace Track, the game proceeds to the negotiations at Ghent, and the winner is determined. Oh yes, and then each player plays one more card, while news of the peace travels across the Atlantic!

-Grant

It has been about twelve years since The Battle for Normandy was originally released. Since that time, new research has been made available, and the game has been played countless times by many players around the world who have provided a wealth of feedback. The game system remains basically the same, allowing players to focus on planning and strategy and not an overbearing rules system. Based on that new research and feedback, many units have been adjusted, all of the maps have minor changes, and some whole rules sections have been revamped to better represent the historical reality, while minimizing further complexity. The original expansion is included in this Deluxe Edition (while remaining optional), and there are also new scenarios.

The Battle for Normandy Deluxe Edition Components
(basically the original game and expansion combined with a few new components):

• 11 Countersheets (9 original, 2 from expansion; some of those dropped; the 70 errata counters are now incorporated into originals, plus some breakdowns dropped making room for the new counters) Many updates but the same graphics.
• 7 Mapsheets  22 x 34” (5 orig, 2 expansion) Many updates but same basic maps.
• Rulebook 44 Pages
• Scenario Book 68 pages
• 1 non-perm marker
• 3 D6 and 1 D10
• 2 Beach Landing aid cards 8-1/2 x 11
• 2 Terrain Effects Cards 8-1/2 x 11
• 2 CRT/Replacement tables  8-1/2 x 11
• 1 Allied Air Allocation log (laminated) 8-1/2 x 11
• 1 German Air Allocation log (laminated) 8-1/2 x 11
• 1 Turn Record Track 8-1/2 x 11
• 1 Utah Beach area map, cardstock (from original expansion) 8-1/2 x 11

New Components:

• 1 Random Events Table (8-1/2 x 11”) card stock
• 12 Interdiction level cards (2×3”, or regular card size)

The Battle for Normandy is a game that represents the climactic campaign in Normandy from D-Day, 6 June 1944 to the first week of August 1944 at primarily battalion level. Numerous scenarios are included to play out various smaller battles in Normandy. It is intended for 2 players or player teams.

-Grant

Close Quarter Battles: Waterloo is a game of tactical combat set in the Napoleonic era. With this game, players will be able to recreate the famous assaults on the farms of La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont during the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815. It hopes to demonstrate how ferocious the fighting was around these iconic locations that even today bear the scars of that famous day.

Indeed, the capture of these two farms became an obsession for the French, and thousands of Napoleon’s men would become casualties trying to wrest control of them from the smaller Anglo-Allied garrisons. The fighting was intense, often involving hand-to-hand combat, and raged for hours through woods, orchards, and finally into the farms. Both the attackers and defenders demonstrated incredible bravery and their efforts helped in no small way to determine the outcome of the battle.

-Grant

Taking its roots from SPI’s Central Front and NATO: Division Commander, In a Dark Wood is the fourth module of the C3 series, focused on Command, Control and Communication and pioneered by Less Than 60 Miles – one of the five nominees for the 2019 Charles Roberts Awards as Best Post-WW2, Cold War, & Hypothetical Era Board Wargame.

Several typical wargame mechanics have been reinterpreted, and both sides must fight three equally dangerous foes: the enemy, their own plan and time. Even a simple action can quickly turn into a disaster when facing an opponent using more efficiently the real key to victory: the OODA Loop theorized by John Boyd in the early ‘80s and used today as the basis for several military doctrines.

We published an interview on the blog with the designer Fabrizio Vianello and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2024/12/30/interview-with-fabrizio-vianello-designer-of-in-a-dark-wood-c3-module-4-the-hof-gap-from-thin-red-line-games/

-Grant

Operation Dragoon: The 2nd D-Day Solitaire Travel Game is a fast-playing corps and division-level operational solitaire game of the Operation Dragoon campaign from the initial invasion that hit the beaches on August 15th to the conclusion of the decisive Battle of Montelimar on August 29th.

As the Allies of the US VI Corps, French II Corps, and US/British/Canadian 1st Airborne Task Force advance, a column of German units of the Nineteenth Army, led by the powerful 11th Panzer Division, is marching up the Rhone River valley to escape envelopment and destruction at Montelimar.

The Allied player, aided by air support and bands of French Forces of the Interior (FFI), must eliminate as many German divisions as possible while ensuring the critical ports of Marseilles and Toulon are quickly seized.

We published an interview on the blog with the designer Dan Fournie and you can read that at the following link: https://theplayersaid.com/2024/08/21/interview-with-dan-fournie-designer-of-operation-dragoon-1944-from-worthington-publishing-currently-on-kickstarter/

-Grant

The American Civil War was the bloodiest conflict and a defining event in the history of the United States. The tragedy of the conflict was amplified by the fact the battles were brutally fought with Napoleonic tactics while using new and more lethal weaponry. As a result, over the course of nearly four full years of war, roughly 700,000 Americans were wounded or killed in battle along with another 400,000 soldiers dying from disease.

Blue & Gray Deluxe Edition consists of the original eight games from the SPI Blue & Gray I & II Quadrigames. The battles depicted are among the most important of the American Civil War: Shiloh, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville (Hooker & Lee), Gettysburg (Cemetery Hill), Chickamauga, Chattanooga, and The Battle of the Wilderness.

The game mechanics used in this series are based on the well-received Borodino/Napoleon at Waterloo system. Terrain is a significant factor, with everything from rolling farmland to untracked wilderness represented. Battles will often see a back-and-forth struggle for control of critical terrain. Rules for night turns are also provided. A standard set of rules are used, common to all eight games, while each game also has its own set of exclusive rules, historical set-ups, and player and design notes—all from the original SPI games.

Blue & Gray Deluxe Edition features new artwork, double-sided mounted game boards, enlarged counters, player aid cards, numerous optional rules gleaned from other game editions, and new variant counters and markers for use with several variants from Moves and Strategy & Tactics magazines. Reintroduce yourself to these classic games from SPI’s golden era and refight some of the best-known battles of the American Civil War which decided the fate of a nation at war with itself.

-Grant

On August 7, 1539 the last resistance of the Spanish garrison of the Albanian village of Castelnuovo (Novi for the Turks) ceased. After 22 days of open trench and more than a month of combats, skirmishes, assaults and bombardments, the last Spanish defenders fulfilled the destiny they promised themselves when they rejected the offers of surrender that, according to the rules of war, Jareidin Barbarossa, admiral of the Ottoman fleet and general in chief of the operation, had made to them. The city and its fortifications, rather meager and outdated, had been taken by the forces of the Holy League in October 1538, so as not to close the campaign with the bad taste of the naval defeat at Preveza. Fourteen companies of Spanish infantry under the command of D. Francisco Sarmiento de Mendoza y Manuel, some 3,500 soldiers, were garrisoned there for the winter. The following summer brought a tide of 54,000 Turks and a fleet of 200 sails before its walls. After Venice’s defection from the League, there was no possibility of naval relief and the Spanish command authorized capitulation, however Sarmiento and his men decided to respond to Barbarossa’s offer with the phrase “Come whenever you want”, which sealed their fate.

In Castelnuovo 1539, two sides face each other in a desperate battle: the town and its fortifications will eventually yield to Turkish power, but the question is, at what cost? In Castelnuovo we will manage our army with wooden pieces in vertical with sticker, where we will not be able to see the type of unit of the opponent. The board is divided into areas and we will have other types of units such as cannon batteries, walls, bastions, trenches, etc. The confrontations will be made by rolling 6-sided dice and a deck of cards for each side, allowing us to play them to give orders, improve the fighting, dig trenches and special events.

-Grant