Table Of ContentPlaytesting: What is the
Issue #31
Winter 2011 Process and is it Fun?
Whether it’s is a long road will have wrong unit num-
because of the vocal ahead while if bers on them, there’s no set
nature of our group you are in- up info for various for-
members on various volved at the mations, the hex locations
Yahoo Groups, our end there may are wrong, or the map
game night updates not be much doesn’t have the terrain
on our club web that you have to type that is listed. Some-
site, or just that do other than how, you get through a
we’ve been gaming send in a few game and send in your
for 30+ years, we do comments. comments. In the old days
get asked from time this was through the mail,
If you get involved in
to time to playtest various so playtesting was either a
board game playtesting the
sets of miniatures rules and long process if the designer
first thing that you receive
board games. Playtesting cared, or a short process
is a playtest “kit”. This
is a unique and challenging where they took the first
usually includes a crude
experience, but it’s not for comments, fixed the game,
Y map, copied counters with
everyone. At times it can then published it!
T varying degrees
E be frustrating, exasperat- Email and forums
of artistic quality,
I ing, and you begin to won- have made this
some more copied
C der if the time being spent process much easi-
charts and tables,
O is worth it. Then, however, er which in my
plus the rules,
S you get your complimen- opinion has al-
which are usually
tary copy and see your lowed for much
G in the form of
r name or the names of your better playtesting
N pages upon pages
group in the credits and it in the board war-
I of text.
M e suddenly all seems worth game side of the
it! You usually hobby.
A
then set up the map, mount
G d Playtesting for board The playtesting kits can
the counters, try to make
games and miniatures rules vary in quality as well,
L are two different things heads or tails out of the with some games have
A r entirely, so I will try to go rules, then set up your first professionally done com-
C game. Now here is where
over the process for each of ponents and others that
I you need to be
O them. Also, much looked like they used cray-
R patient and
of what I’m trying ons to color the maps! You
O write down any
to describe de- will then need to do a se-
T questions or
pends if you got in cond playtest, possibly a
S problems that
at the start of the third, and depending upon
I g you find. Get-
H playtesting or later how many scenarios are in
ting things set
on after things the game, you may need to
T up can be a
n have evolved. If do up to a dozen playtest
N frustrating ex-
you get started sessions, carefully keeping
O ercise as many
from scratch there track of any problems. If
R i of the counters
F
n
H Inside this issue:
C Special points of interest:
T r Wars of Religion Battle Report 4
Several battle reports for Warmaster An-
A
WMM Crusades Battle Report 6 cients, Age of Discovery, Fire & Fury, and
S a Phantoms.
A Yalu & Infidel Game Reviews 8
W Several board game reviews including Yalu,
W 4th Annual WMA Tournament 11 Infidel, and the monster game Battle For
Normandy.
Phantoms MIGCAP Battle Report 16
Regular columns, reviews of some interest-
WMA Assyrians vs. Egyptians Battle Report 20
ing books, and the new Blue Moon ACW
Fire & Fury Battle Report 22 figure range.
Playtesting: What is the Process and is it Fun? (cont.)
you’re thorough with this part again depend upon the designer, ed in a positive manner. Saying that the
of the process chances are that where you come in during the combat system sucks doesn’t help any-
you will be called upon in the process, and how long it will take one. Explaining why the combat system
future to do it again. Design- to get the product finally pub- needs to be modified because of certain
ers and developers love to get lished. For a few other projects modifiers, historical results, etc., will be
feedback that is organized, we were asked to playtest certain readily accepted and usually the next
concise, and actually points out sections of the rules, modules, or version of the rules will reflect that.
problems in the game. scenarios. In some of these the
Playtesting is not for everyone, but
product was basically finished, but
Miniatures rules playtests gamers should try it at least once. It is a
they needed a few last minute
are a different matter as there great opportunity to be in on the ground
items checked out.
are a number of differences from board floor of a project and see how it develops.
games. For starters, the playtest kit often In those cases the playtesting is pretty It can be a lot of work at times and you
just consists of text! The rules will come easy as the rules are done and even if you will spend hours interpreting rules, com-
to you in a Word or text file that you will don’t like or agree with the rules, you ing up with changes, and some of your
need to print off for your club and this is don’t have to worry about that aspect of games might suddenly end mid-game.
where the fun begins. There are usually a the playtest! You just set up the scenario Still, it is a worthwhile experience and
large number of errors, both in grammar or part of the rules that need to be tested the effort will help the hobby out as a
and explanations of the rules. Just getting and forward your results back to the de- whole, so if you see someone asking for
ready for the first game can be a time signer. help in this area next time, try it!
consuming process and then it’s doubtful
Where things can get
if everyone in your group is on the same
tricky is if the designer and
page.
the playtesters aren’t on the
When we did a series of playtests for same page. I’ve only seen
Age of Eagles our entire collections of this a few times and in one of
15mm Napoleonic armies had to be re- those cases we submitted our
based. This is not always the case in findings, never heard any-
playtesting, but we had been using Em- thing back, and the rules were
pire/From Valmy to Waterloo and there never published. For exam-
was no way to really playtest the game ple, if the designer thinks that
without rebasing. This was a huge deci- French armor operations in
sion for the group as rebasing is always 1940 was the ultimate in
approached with much trepidation and command & control, firepow-
gnashing of teeth. However, we were er, battlefield coordination,
burned out on all 1:20 and 1:50 scale etc., then you could be in for
rules, we liked some difficult playtesting
what we saw in the sessions. Even if you cite
playtest rules, and historical examples, com-
we were ready for ments from your group about
a change, so the the games are imbalanced,
project moved etc., chances are that the rules
forward. Thank- aren’t going to be changed.
fully, we really In this case you can only
liked Age of Ea- forward your suggestions and
gles and we were quietly go on about your
proven right as we business. These kinds of
still play that set rules will either never get
today after well over a decade from re- published, or they will just be
basing our figs. added to the long list of non-
descript sets of rules that are
Again, the playtesting process with
only played by the designer
miniatures rules depends upon where you
and his friends.
come in during the process. For Age of
Two images from a recent playtest of a forthcoming bri-
Eagles we came in on the ground floor Most designers, however,
gade level ACW rules set. This was from the main as-
and it took over two years for the entire are usually accepting of sug-
sault in a refight of Cedar Mountain with Jackson’s forc-
process, from the first set of rules to see- gestions, rules clarifications,
es attacking the Federal units on the ridge.
ing the published product. This will and ideas if they are present-
Page 3 WARNING ORDER
AOD: Early French Wars of Religion Battle Report
Ever since I first looked at the army battles, and did some uniform
lists in the Age of Discovery rules for the research. Unfortunately, there
early part of the French Wars of Religion, just isn’t that much out there!
I was intrigued. You had two very differ- The Perfect Captain web site did
ent armies and styles of fighting which at have some uniform info and the
the time I thought would be interesting to flag sheets that they offered for
see play out on the tabletop. However, the Hugeunots is outstanding.
that idea remained just that; an idea. I Other than that, however, it was
built up my Renaissance armies over the an exercise in frustration. Armies
years and we’ve played a large number of were transitioning to a new way
battles, many of which have been fea- of fighting, but had not quite got
tured in this magazine. there just yet and it seems as if the
relevant history of that era got
This year, however, I was determined
bypassed.
to do something about it. Late this sum-
mer I began painting up the extra arque- The two armies, Royalist or
ly armored gendarme units with pistols.
bus units I would need (about 80 figs) Catholic, and the Hugeunots, were com-
Both sides also had three sections of artil-
and the various German reiter units posed of widely varied forces. The Cath-
lery.
(another 48 mounted figs), plus a few olic army had several units of pike that
consisted of various units of Swiss, The Hugeunots deployed with the
Spanish, German, and French pike w/ plan of holding on the left, moving up
shot. The Swiss were still high quali- and defending in the center, and then
ty troops, but not as good as the early overwhelming the right flank with the
days of the Renaissance era, while the masses of reiters. The Catholics were
Spanish and German were average. going to hold on their left, advance in the
The French pike were very low grade center and use the Swiss to launch a deci-
and there was apprehension about sive blow on the Catholic right. The fully
using them for anything other than armored gendarmes would advance in the
cannon fodder. The cavalry arm con- center and then deploy to whichever area
sisted of fully armored gendarmes seemed to pose the gravest threat.
with lances and one light cavalry unit.
The reiters moved out on the first
This was the Catholics main striking
turn, moving around the right flank to
force and if they could get into close
threaten the Catholics on that side of the
gendarmes with pistols. I would also combat there was not much on the board
field. This move forced the Catholics to
need some French pike infantry as well, that would stop them.
send the gendarmes to that flank as they
so while it wasn’t a daunting task (around
The Hugeunots had a force that was had been hoping to hold those for the
200 total figs for the project) it would
almost the exact opposite of the Catholic decisive blow elsewhere. All other units
take a while to purchase the figs and paint
army. Ten units of arquebus backed by moved forward to get into contact.
them up.
some German pike were the main infan-
The first action occurred when the
Meanwhile, I tried to learn more try force. The cavalry consisted of six
pistol armed Hugeunot gendarmes
about the period, looked into some of the German reiter units backed by two heavi-
Page 4 NEWSLETTER TITLE
AOD: Early French Wars of Religion (cont.) Battle Report
charged and chased off a Catholic mount- several reiter units and sent them stream- up with the right combination of units to
ed arquebus unit. Unfortunately, the ing back to their lines. use in the battle. There was such a wide
pursuit led them right into a unit of Swiss variety of infantry, cavalry, and artillery
In the center the Spanish and French
pike, which forced them back. The Swiss that it was a real “rock, paper, scissors”
pike tried to advance against the Hugeu-
and Germans advanced to turn the type of battle. The pike units that we’ve
not arquebus units. After several ex-
Hugeunot left, but were eventually re- been used to over the last several years of
changes of fire the Catholic pike units fell
pulsed by a combination of artillery and games where the Swiss and Germans ran
back with the arquebus units in hot pur-
arquebus fire. The Swiss and German over everything were gone. These pike
suit. The Spanish and French pike units
pike came dangerously close to turning units were more fragile and needed a lot
had limited staying power and it began to
the tide of the battle, but these were not of support.
show as several units took off in rout.
the units of 25-30 years ago and they ran
When the game was called, the Hugeu- One thing that needed to be addressed
out of gas at the wrong time.
nots held the left flank, were in full re- is that the pistol armed cavalry didn’t
On the Hugeunot right the reiters treat on the right, and had decisively won really pack a punch, but yet this is what
tried to go head to head with the fully in the center. Although we didn’t play led to the demise of the pike style of war-
armored Catholic gendarmes, which did the game until one side or the other with- fare and the heavily armored units of
not turn out well. While the reiters drew, it was clear at this point that the cavalry, so the rules for that need to be
caused some casualties, the counterattack Hugeunots had the edge. changed. Overall, however, it was a very
by the gendarmes decisively defeated interesting and unique battle.
Both sides had a difficult time coming
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 Page 5
Warmaster Medieval: Crusades Battle Battle Report
We’ve been working on improving the smaller army than the Saracens, but one cavalry units from both sides later in the
size and scope of our Warmaster Medie- that had a lot of striking power. battle.
val armies, namely the Crusaders and the
The Saracens went with a sort of Both sides did not have the best of
Saracens. For this battle I had recently
“Let’s swamp them in numbers” type of starts as a series of commanders failed
finished (actually the night before!) two
force. There were a large number of in- their command rolls. By the second turn
new units of Saracen cavalry, so I was
fantry units, several fanatic units, a few things had improved somewhat, with the
anxious to see them in action. We were
units of archers, and some light cavalry. Saracens moving their center up and the
able to set up and play at GAJO, which is
The backbone of the army, however, light cavalry on the right, but the left was
an outstanding historical gaming store in
would be the three units of Saracen heavy still at a standstill. The Crusaders moved
Sandy, Utah. You won’t see too many
cavalry. The Saracens had a break point up all of their cavalry, but their center,
pictures of the Crusaders in this battle
of 11 and the Crusaders 9, so the Sara- with most of the infantry and crossbows,
report as Gary, who has that army, only
cens definitely outnumbered the Crusad- was barely moving. By the third turn it
brought part of it by accident and instead
ers. was time for the first cavalry clash, which
brought along a lot of his Romans!
went to the Saracens as they drove off the
The basic plan for the Saracens was
Both sides had a little over 1600 first attempt by the Crusaders to seize a
to hold on the left, achieve at least parity
points, so there would be a wide variety flank.
in the center, and then use the heavy cav-
of choices available to each army. The
alry to demolish anything on the Saracen By turn four both sides had cavalry
Crusaders went with the standard fare,
right, then turn the flank of the Crusaders. units which were ready for a series of
namely several units of knights, which
The Crusaders had almost the same thing charges across the battlefield. Unfortu-
can be devastating on the first turn of a
planned, just on opposite sides! This nately for the Saracens, this resulted in
charge. They also had a few units of
would result in a series of fierce melees several lost combats, particularly on the
pilgrims, infantry, and crossbows. A
with several heavily armed and armored Saracen right. The victorious Crusader
Page 6 NEWSLETTER TITLE
Warmaster Medieval: Crusades Battle (cont.) Battle Report
knights now wheeled and slammed into with everything they had, which crippled going even for a few turns was a huge
the Saracen infantry which was moving a brigade of Saracen infantry. Saracen factor in the loss. The Saracens had a
up to engage the Crusaders center. The light cavalry raced in and threw them- numbers advantage and while they were
Saracens gave as good as they got, but in selves at the depleted Crusader units, taking a beating, due to the Crusader
the end several units were overrun. killing off several of them. By this time knights charge bonus, they were causing
both sides were nearing the break point sufficient casualties to win if they could
The Saracens, however, counterat-
and the next turn or two would be deci- just launch a few counterattacks. Still, a
tacked and finished off a few units of
sive. very close run game ( I think we’ve only
knights. The Saracen archers moved up
had one or two blowouts in about 40
and began to cause casualties on the This is where the command rolls really
games!).
crossbow units and infantry in the center. went the Crusaders way, allowing them
The Saracen left, however, was still try- to attack up and down the line, while the One final note is that we’re still trying
ing to move up and having extreme diffi- Saracen response was extremely limited to find the right mix of troop types with
culty. If the Saracens could just get eve- as commanders failed roll after roll. By the “huge mass” type armies such as the
rything to move forward for just one turn turn 7 the Saracens reached their break Indians, Egyptians, and Saracens. There
they could overwhelm the Crusaders who point and were forced to withdraw. is something to be said about numbers,
were at that point dangerously spread out but there is usually a trade off in quality,
As usual in WMA and WMM games
across the battlefield. plus you don’t seem to have enough com-
it comes down to the final turn and this
manders for all of the units. It’s been
The Crusaders regrouped and battle was no different. The Saracens
tough coming up with a solution, but
launched a series of attacks in the center inability to get all of their commanders
we’ll keep trying.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 Page 7
Yalu 2nd Edition by Compass Games Game Review
On the list of classic the Sequence of Play section! for a world of hurt. Sure enough, Chi-
wargames that have stood Fortunately, the game is pretty nese divisions quickly surround and cut
the test of time there straightforward and with only off many UN units and things look bleak.
should definitely be a eight pages to sift through you Two of the more interesting rules are
place for Yalu. Originally can find things pretty quickly. Infiltration where Chinese and NK units
published by Conflict The Deluxe version adds some can slip through UN zones of control and
Games, then GDW, it was extra chrome, with rules for Com- Bug Out, where UN units can withdraw
designed by John Hill munist artillery barrages, Ridge- from combat and run away to fight anoth-
who gave us the immortal way, supply, and more. It’s kind er day. Both rules do a great job of simu-
Squad Leader. Yalu gen- of a 50/50 on whether this lating this cam-
erated quite a lot of press really adds to an already paign in the early
back in the day, most of it great game, but that’s for stages.
centered around the the gamer to decide.
The weather
“design for effect” argument. There were
Where the versions really differ in this game plays
a few historical problems with the map,
is in the counter mix. The Deluxe a HUGE role,
units, questionable strengths, etc., but you
counters have different factors on with floods mak-
couldn’t argue that it wasn’t a good
them for many of the North Korean ing movement
game!
units and the support units have and combat near-
After having been around for over silhouettes along with their factors. ly impossible,
three decades, Compass Games has reis- It looks as if there were some blizzards, etc.,
sued this classic and given it a much changes in unit ratings due to new that all influence
needed facelift. Having read about Yalu research and play balance. What movement and
since I got into gaming in the mid-70’s creates the problem here is that more importantly
and having always wanted a copy, I saw when you’re setting up the game for the UN play-
this a perfect chance to get the latest ver- some counters aren’t used by both er, air support. A
sion of the game. games. This means that you have to look few bad weather rolls by either side can
and sort through things carefully lest the be catastrophic.
If your familiar with Compass Games
wrong counter ends up on the set up card.
there is one thing that you can’t complain Combat is done with units on defense
It’s not a serious problem, but it can be
about, and that’s the quality of the com- “firing” first, which consists of rolling on
annoying at times.
ponents. With Yalu you get a sturdy box, the combat results table against either a
two 22 x 34 maps (more on this later), I think the best way to learn the game stack of attackers or one unit. This is a
two counter sheets with the larger style is to play the Classic version first and just big change from most games and takes a
counters, set up cards, combat/terrain go through the turn sequence in the rule few turns to get the hang of it. Likewise
tables, and a well done rulebook. The book. The turn sequence on the player’s the attackers can attack the entire stack or
bonus is that Compass has given you both aid cards tells you very little and is only the units separately, which opens up
the Classic and Deluxe versions of the good if you’ve played the game a number some new thinking in how to use your
game! of times. The turn procedure in the rules forces. Communist forces also receive a
is very detailed and this will get you limited amount of attack supply so that
Yes, there are two maps in the box
quickly through the first few turns. by the end of the game they need to save
and it’s difficult to really tell the changes
their supply for important attacks to win
between them, but they’re giving you the Yalu covers the Chinese offensive at
the game.
extra map, so there’s not much to com- the end of 1950 and into the spring of
plain about. The counters are double- 1951 with weekly turns. Just from the set I found the first half of the game tense
sided, with the Classic counters on one up you can see that the UN forces are in and exciting as the Communist avalanche
and the Deluxe on the other. The set up cuts through the UN defenses and the UN
cards are done the same way and the rule- side desperately tries to form a line.
book can be flipped around as the Classic Once you reach the halfway point in the
and Deluxe rules are treated separately in game the front stabilizes and Chinese
the book. Some of this is good and some attacks began to dwindle and the UN
not so good, so let’s get into details. gets its units in better defensive positions.
It usually comes down to the last few
First, the Classic rules are pretty short
turns for the Chinese to seize Seoul and
(about 8 pages), but most of the rules are
Inchon to win the game. Overall, a very
contained in the detailed sequence of
good re-release by Compass Games.
play, which is weird and you will find
There’s a lot of good game play here with
yourself looking for things in the Supply
a very high replay value.
section, only to find out more about it in
Page 8 WARNING ORDER
Infidel by GMT Game Review
GMT’s Men of Iron activations where one player place limitations on the Arab forces as
proved to be a surprisingly picks a commander and tries to they usually have quite a few light caval-
popular game, so naturally it activate their command by roll- ry units.
spawned a sequel. Infidel is ing a D10 and the number need-
The game comes with six scenarios;
based on the same game en- ing to be lower than the com-
Dorylaeum (1097), Antioch (1098),
gine as in MOI, except that mander’s rating (usually a 3 or
Ascalon (1099), Harran (1104), Mont-
instead of European battles the 4). Once a command has been
gisard (1177), and Arsuf (1191). Each
focus this time in on the Cru- activated, all units under that
battle comes with deployment maps,
sades. commander can move, fire, or
shock (think melee) in any order listings of units, special rules, and a
The game comes in the desired. Once a command is few have variations that can be added.
standard size GMT box with
finished, the player can attempt It’s a good mix of scenarios that feature
two 24 x 32 maps that are backprinted,
to activate a second command and the several different Arab forces. I’ve
two countersheets, charts, rules, and a
other player can attempt to steal that acti- played two of the battles so far and
scenario book. The maps are well done,
vation. If the player fails to activate a they were pretty well balanced. Most
but there simply isn’t that much terrain
command, then the opposing player can of the games feature a small, high qual-
on them as many of the battles portrayed
activate any of their commands without ity Crusader force against an avalanche
here were in fairly open ground. The
rolling. If a player tries to steal an activa- of Arab units. In most of the games the
counters are functional, showing the unit
tion and fails, the player who was going Crusader knights are usually the differ-
stats and being color coded for each com-
to attempt a further activation can then
mand. The rules have cleaned up some ence and as they go, so does the for-
activate any command for free.
of the more questionable points in MOI tunes of the Crusader player.
and this presentation was much better. Naturally, this keeps the
Now this is not
There are a few examples in the rules game flowing along pretty
to say that the game
which help greatly and the scenario book quickly, and certainly luck
is not without prob-
is well done. All in all, plays an element in
lems. As with MOI
there’s not much to com- the game. If one play-
set up can be a frus-
plain about in terms of er gets several activa-
trating experience
components. They aren’t tions in a row they can
trying to determine
the best that you’ll ever do some serious dam-
see, but they’re functional age to another player’s which units are be-
and work well. line of battle. ing used. The color
coding helps to an
In Men of Iron and Combat is done by compar-
extent, but you usually have to search
Infidel, units are rated by ing a matrix, adding in the target
through the units to find out which col-
type (knights, pike, arch- unit’s shock factor, then check-
ors are being used! Also, the command
ers, etc.) with their melee (called shock in ing down a list of modifiers. A D10 is
activation system can really imbalance
the rules) bonus printed in the upper right rolled and a chart is checked for the re-
the game if one player is rolling some
hand corner and movement. Leaders are sult. There can be no effect, attacker
hot dice. You can literally sit there for
rated for their command ability, com- disordered, defender disordered, defender
awhile while your opponent’s forces
mand range, and movement. There’s retreat, defender retired, defender elimi-
nothing here that is too complex to grasp nated, and a combination result of any of surround and run over you, without
and while some of the systems may seem the above with a continued attack where your forces being able to do anything in
a bit strange at first, once you start play- the attacker moves up and fights again. response. Also, the ability of units to
ing it becomes almost second nature. Disordered units are flipped and have run all over the place regardless of fac-
worse stats until they are rallied. Retired ing, some confusion over which units
There really are no “turns” in the MOI
units are moved back to the army’s stand- are matched up against who in the case
system. Instead, there are a series of
ard (usually centrally located behind the of multiple attackers/defenders, and the
main line of battle) until they can be ral- freewheeling command system makes
lied. for a chaotic game at times.
Infidel introduces several rules for Overall, this is a game where for 2-
knights which makes them particularly 3 hours you get two medieval era ar-
nasty. Also, some of the rules force them
mies bashing each other. It may not be
to charge after units shooting at them, so
to everyone’s tastes, but it is fast, furi-
keeping your forces under control can be
ous, and fun to play. I’m already look-
tricky at times. Also, only knights and
ing forward to the third game in the
heavy cavalry can charge, which does
series when and if it ever comes out.
ISSUE #31 Page 9
Product Reviews
First up is a beautiful ment. Besides selling thousands currently
hardbound book entitled of models in every scale imagi- available in
Military Uniforms of the nable, they also sell accessories, many of the
19th Century. This is not paints, tools, and yes, books. I sale sections of
one of those hastily thrown always look at their sale page in bookstores or
together uniform books the back of the book and from at Amazon. I
where there are literally their online ads as well, search- was able to get
hundreds of the same ing for books. They not only a copy for
drawn figure with different produce the wonderful In Action around $17,
colored uniforms pasted series, but have a number of oth- which is a
on, but rather it is a high er books as well. In the past few pretty good
quality book that far sur- months I’ve picked up about deal for this
passes even the Osprey color plates. As twenty titles for around $70, which is size book.
the title suggests, the 19th century wars hard to beat! These books usually go for
Besides a history of the Nile region
take precedence here, so expect a good around $12-20 each and they were on
along with artwork of the villages, peo-
dose of American Civil War, Franco- sale for $2-4 each!
ple, ruins, etc., there is an extensive sec-
Prussian War, etc. I was a little surprised
The first set I got tion on the Mahdist rebellion. This sec-
that the various colonial wars weren’t
was a series called tion at the end of the book includes many
represented better, but there are several
Aces and there are color images, including several of gun-
very well done uniform plates from those
three books in the boats that I had not seen before, making it
wars. The figures are almost life like and
series. Each book has worth the price for that alone!
are about as close to a photographic like-
black and white illus-
ness as you can get, so this definitely For my French
trations of the ace and
takes the standard uniform book that Wars of Religion
a short history/
many of us are used to and takes it up a project (see the battle
biography. There are
notch or two. report in this issue) I
also a large number of color plates repre-
needed some Millers,
Next up is an- senting the aircraft, tank, or even subma-
or French gendarmes
other in the folio rine that the ace used. The color plates
armed with pistols in
games series by are well done and usually include FS
15mm. Luckily,
Decision Games, color information, which is especially
Essex has a few
which are re- useful for gamers or modelers who wish
packs that fit the bill,
releases of the old to paint their miniatures and/or models as
so I ordered in sever-
SPI quad games they are shown in the book. I found the
al packs to create a few units. In this era
with a few new titles series fascinating as there were many
of the hobby, with all of the new figures
thrown in. A few aces that I had never
coming out you sometimes forget just
issues ago I panned heard of and the series
how good the Essex 15mm stuff is! The
the Aachen game covers everything from
figures take very little clean up, paint up
and sadly, this is no better. While the WW1 to the Vietnam
easily, and look great on the tabletop.
maps have undergone a much needed War.
facelift from the 70’s era graphics, the Finally, 2012 is my designated
Another three part
game systems have been tinkered with “Colonial” year where I will be expand-
series that was on sale is
too much. Instead of just issuing the tried ing my collections in 15 and 25mm. To
called Planes, Names,
and true rules from the previous editions, start off with I needed more Mahdist
and Dames. As the ti-
we have an entirely new set of rules for camel units in 15mm and decided to turn
tles suggest, these books
the ancients, horse & musket, and mecha- to Peter Pig this time. The figures are
detail the nose art that has appeared on
nized eras. Unfortunately, the new sys- slightly larger than 15mm, but will fit in
thousands of aircraft over the last several
tems add a lot of rules that add absolutely great with Old Glory figures. Good,
decades and is great for modelers and/or
nothing to the game system. My advice clean castings that are sold four to a pack
gamers looking to detail their aircraft.
is to stay away from the various folios with great service from Brookhurst.
The series is broken up into various eras
and invest your money elsewhere.
and includes hundreds of interesting air-
Many gamers are modelers at well, or craft photographs.
at least stay in touch with the plastic
If you’re into the colonial period, then
modeling hobby. If so, ,then you proba-
there is a must have book entitled, The
bly already know about a wonderful
Nile: History, Adventure, & Discovery.
online store called Squadron.com and it’s
This is a large, coffee table book that is
colorful once a month catalog supple-
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