Warning Order - Wasatch Front Historical Gaming Society

Issue #14Spring 2006WW2 Gaming:New DirectionsWASATCH FRONT HISTORICAL GAMING SOCIETYWarning OrderWW2 wargaming sharesa common thread with Ancientsand Napoleonics.All three are probably themost popular and mostgamed periods by wargamers.They are also the mostlikely to cause violent argumentsabout rules andrealism. Although therehave been literally dozensof new rules out over thelast few years, I’m going totake a look at four of themost popular and howthey’ve changed our perceptionsand ideas aboutWW2 wargaming.With the wide range offigures being produced,from 1/285th to 25mm(andnow even 1/48th), I decidedto choose BlitzkriegCommander and Flames ofWar for the smaller scales(1/285th to 15mm) and Arcof Fire and I Ain’t BeenShot Mum! for the largerscales. But first, let’s takea look back and see howwe got to this point.Inside this issue:Interview with Sam Mustafa 2Product Reviews 4-5Battles for Empire scenario replay 6-7Memoirs of a Miniature Gamer 8Arc of Fire scenario replay 10-11Age of Eagles scenario replay 16-17Back in the 70’s therewas a surge in WW2 gaming,no doubt helped by theexcellent series of battlereports, orders of battle,and features in a magazinecalled Wargamer’s Digest.They had their own rules,plus there was Angriff andTractics. WRG also hadtwo popular sets for rules,one for micro-armor andone for small scale infantryactions. These rules werethe staple for many yearsand you could go prettymuch anywhere in the U.S.and find a group thatplayed them.The 80’s saw the rise offantasy gaming, plus newcompanies producing qualityfigures for a variety ofperiods. I believe that thishad the effect of dilutingthe WW2 gaming populationas they tried other periods.Add to it the fact thatthere were really no newrules or innovation in theearly 80’s and WW2 gamingentered a phase of stagnation.The 90’s saw a return toWW2 gaming, primarilydue to one set of rules:Command Decision. Thissystem had several newconcepts and WW2 gamers,including our group,flocked to it and played itfor years. Then, as with allwargaming rules and periods,gamers start to wander.Why this happenscould be the subject for athesis by psychology students,but suffice to say, ithappens with alarminglyregularity.By the mid-90’s therewas a move to Battalions inCrisis, until everyone realizedthat it should havebeen called Tractics Redux.WW2 gaming was about toenter another long, darkwinter. At the turn of thecentury other rules setscame along, including Battlefront,KampfgruppeCommander, (cont. on p. 12)Special points of interest:• Interview with Sam Mustafa, designer ofGrand Armee.• Several battle reports for WW2, Colonial,and Napoleonic games.• Reviews of new boardgames, miniatures,and terrain.

Interview With Sam MustafaGrand Armee is a recent set ofNapoleonic rules that has receivedrave reviews. In this interview, theauthor, Sam Mustafa, talks abouthis views on command &control, the Napoleonicperiod, and wargamingin general.1) Could you describehow you got intowargaming?I’m reaching into the mists ofTime here, but I think it was aroundthe age of ten. I actually think thatAvalon Hill’s Third Reich was myfirst wargame. (I was an ambitiouskid.) My first miniatures gameswere a couple of years later. I haddiscovered the old Tricolor rules.Neal Smith (nowadays of the TriangleSimulation Society) and I spraypaintedour plastic Airfix WW2figures: mine were all blue for theFrench. His were all red for theBritish. We played on my parents’living room floor. I think I lost!Since I’m 40 now, I suppose thatmeans I’ve been wargaming forthirty years.2) What was the desire that led towriting Grande Armee?I got out of wargaming altogetherin the mid 1990s, when Iwent back to grad school. I soldthousands of figures, includinghuge 15mm Napoleonic armies thatI had been using for Napoleon’sBattles. I remained out of the hobbyfor about 5-6 years, then married awoman who is very artistic, and itwas actually her interest that rekindledmine. (She painted a few figures,herself, and later did all theline-drawings for Grande Armée.)When I re-entered the hobby,though, I realized that very littlehad changed, in terms of game rulesand concepts. I wanted to do somethingnew and fresh. Iwanted to get away fromstrict ideas about time andscale.3) There have always beenarguments over commandand control in Napoleonicwargaming. What are yourthoughts on the subject andhow did you try to portray them inGrande Armee?Even if somebody were to do a“perfect” Kriegsspiel-like simulationof command in the horse-andmusketperiod, most gamers probablywouldn’t like it. Despite claimingthat we want more “accuracy”or “period-feel” in our games, mostof us in reality want very high levelsof control that no historical generalever had. (Consider all the angryreviews ofBob Jones’ gamePiquet, whichdoes a better jobthan most atdriving home thepoint that “Warain’t fair, and itcertainly ain’tpredictable.”)Most gamersdon’t like it,though, becausethey can’t beassured that theywill get the same fair chance astheir opponent.You have to give people somethingthat appeals to them as a funmechanic, first and foremost. Playersare willing to accept frustrationsand unpredictability if they feel thatthey are nonetheless in control ofsomething, even if imperfectly. Sothe idea of the G.A. command systemwas to give players a limitedamount of control, a sort of“amount” of control that they coulddistribute as they wished, with theknowledge that things that weren’tdirectly controlled might or mightnot go as they wished.4) It seems like after a long timewithout any new or innovativerules for the Napoleonic period, allof a sudden Grande Armee andAge of Eagles arrive on the sceneand both are doing well. Is theresomething about the period thatmakes gamers keep coming backto it?Well, to be fair, there were morethan just those two. When I knew,in 2000, that I was going to be publishingG.A., there were more thana dozen Napoleonic releases expectedimminently. There was apromised second-edition ofVolley and Bayonet thatnever materialized. Therewas Bill Keyser’s Age ofBonaparte, also stillborn.Second-edition Napoleon’sBattles, which was repeatedlydelayed, and then was adisaster. Scott Bowden’slatest Empire edition, Revolutionand Empire, came outin 2003, shortly after G.A.There was a new edition ofNapoleonic Principles ofWar, and Piquet’s Les Grognards.Phil Barker’s Horse, Foot,and Gun, came out at that time, albeitonly on the web. There wassupposed to have been a secondedition of Shako, which is stillworking its way toward publicationvery slowly. Dave Brown’s Generalde Brigade emerged in 2001, al-Page 2WARNING ORDER

Interview With Sam Mustafa (cont.)though it took a while to get popularin the USA. There was a newedition of Elan, and a couple ofnew editions of In the Name ofGlory. There are others that I’mprobably forgetting.The Grand Armee site has a number ofprofessionally done scenarios for the Napoleonicperiod.Of all of those, however, onlythree attracted large followings:Grande Armée, General de Brigade,and Age of Eagles. The firsttwo because they were new anddifferent in scale or systems, andthe latter because it was carefullynurtured for many years, and builton the fan-base of its parent game,Fire and Fury, which was alreadyvery popular.5) Right now in the hobby there isan ever-growing dispute aboutplayability, complexity, and realism.Where do you think this originatedfrom and where do you thinkthis argument is going in the future?With each passing year, I ammore firmly in the camp of the“impressionist” game designers. Bythat I mean that I want to create agaming experience that is fun andfeels right, but doesn’t require strictadherence to scale or detail.The first game that reallyshowed the potential for this wasArty Conliffe’s Tactica. Right nowthe most successful World WarTwo game, Flames of War, is a brilliantexample of what I’m talkingabout. If you took the FoW scaleliterally, then a Panzer III tank has arange of about 100 yards. That’s soout of whack that it’s hilarious. Butplay the game: it works. It worksbeautifully. It feels very “right.”They created a system where thefigure scale is totally separatedfrom the ground scale, which is entirelyinternal to the game’s ownlogic, and the time scale, which iscompletely absent. It really drivesthe Literalists nuts. They hate it.But I’ve been playing WW2 gamesfor years, and I’ve never played abetter WW2 game than FoW. Period.I think some wargamers havevery limited imaginations,which I find odd,considering that ourwhole hobby is aboutimagination. But if theydon’t see some literalrepresentation of groundscale, time scale, figurescale, etc, then for themit’s “Not Realistic.”They’re going about itexactly the wrong way.They usually start withintense calculationsabout marching distances,musket ranges,divided by certain increments oftime, and so on. From that mass ofdata, they then try to create gamemechanics that will reproduce actionson the table in some way thatis supposed to correspond withwhat they’ve read about historicalbattles.I find that it’s much better todecide first on how you want thegame to feel and play, and then decideon things like representativescales. In other words, find ways torationalize and work the historicalinformation into the game, insteadof vice-versa. Your artillery’srange, for instance, doesn’t have tobe “accurate” in terms of groundscale. It only has to be work correctlyagainst enemy units, vis-à-visthose units’ movement rates. So ifyou got the movement rates andturn-sequence right, linked with theartillery range, then who cares whatthe literal scales are? As long asartillery is doing what it is supposedto be doing, then you’ve got it right.Designing a good game shouldcome first.6) Is this the golden age of miniatureswargaming? What innovativetrendsdo you seein the future?I wouldlove to readsome soliddemographicresearch onwargamers. Iwould love toknow, forinstance, ifthere’s anage bubblemore or lessat my agegroup.Becauseit certainly feels like there is.Now that we’re fat and middle-agedand affluent, we have a lot moredisposable income, which means amuch greater variety of products.So in that sense, Yes, it certainlyfeels like a Golden Age.The Grand Armee site offers a wide varietyof support for the rules.Interview continued on page 9...ISSUE #14Page 3

Red VengeanceA few issues ago Iwas singing the praisesof a little game fromAvalanche Press calledDefiant Russia. Now,after about ten timesplaying it, the game isone of my favorites. Red Vengeance isbasically Defiant Russia in reverse, coveringthe destruction of Army GroupCenter in 1944 to the final siege of Berlin.For the same $20 price tag you get asmall map, a few pages of rules, and afew hundred counters. As with DefiantRussia, the graphics aren’t spectacular,but they’re functional and don’t adverselyaffect the game. There are a few morespecial rules than in Defiant Russia andfor the first few games it might be a goodidea to make some victory point objectivemarkers and keep the rules open for theleader effects.The game opens up with a stupendousRussian attack that shattersthe German line in the East.The German player, does however,get to place his panzers before thefirst turn after the Russian setup, sothere is some opportunity to tryvarious strategies. The second and thirdturns find the Germans just trying to formsome sort of line while getting continuouslyhammered.Turns 4-6 see a number of breakthroughswhere the Russian spearheadsbegin driving deep into German heldterritory. Again, the Germans are playingfor time,trying tocontainthe spearheadsandattackingRussianunits thatGame Reviewget too far out in front.Then the weather hits, plusby this time the Russian armorhas outrun it’s infantrysupport, so the Russians need to take afew turns to get re-organized. The Germanslaunch a few counterattacks and getready for the final assault.The last few turns sees fierce fightingin Germany as the German player tries tohang on for dear life and begins to runout of units. Usually, it goes down to thelast one or two turns, much like in DefiantRussia.Overall, another good little game thatis exciting to play. Playing the Germansis not for the meek! Watching your armylose 10-20 units a turn is pretty depressing!If you’ve played the Russians in anyother East Front wargames, then you willenjoy dishing out some payback. Highlyrecommended.The Mighty EndeavorGame ReviewD-Day and the subsequentbreakout from the Normandyregion has always fascinatedme. Unfortunately, I’ve neverrun across too many boardgames on this subject. FortressEuropa was OK, The LongestDay and Atlantic Wall were toobig, and Operation Cobra wasn’tmuch fun except if you werethe Allies!MMP, who now owns The Gamersseries, has released a game on the Normandycampaign in it’s Standard CombatSeries. The SCS series of games all sharethe same basic, six page set of rules, witha supplement for that particular gamegiving special rules, OBs, options, etc….. It’s a pretty straightforward system withlow complexity that harkens back to theclassic wargames of the 70’s and 80’s.The Mighty Endeavor comes with astandard 22” x 34” map, around 300counters(representing division sizedunits), and two rules booklets. The campaigncovers the initial landings in Juneand goes all the way to the end ofthe war, with the map covering allof France, the Low Countries, andabout a third of Germany.Set up is not too bad, but findingthe starting hexes for the Germansis a little tedious. The onething I do like about this treatmentof the subject is the widevariety of landing options that you have.Each beach is rated for the number ofunits it can support for an assault, followon landings, then the number of units thatcan arrive each turn. You also get a numberof beach markers to enable you toconduct several landings after the mainone.I also like theair system as theAllied player receivesa number ofair markers thatcan be used to“dominate” anarea or be used forcolumn shifts incombat as airstrikes. Dominating an areaincreases the power of the airstrikes, limitsstrategic movement, and cuts off theroad bonus for German units in that zone.Basically, the Allied player conducts amain landing somewhere along the coast,followed by a second or possibly a thirdlanding. The Germans rush in to containthe beachheads, then the Allies have tobreakout. The trick for the Germanplayer is knowing when to start fallingback and what units to sacrifice. Theproblem for the Allied player is whichport to seize, which units to ship over,and where to allocate supplies for an offensive.A very basic systemthat plays fast. I especiallylike the wide varietyof options that bothsides have and I reallycan’t see any blowoutshappening with this gameas both sides are prettyevenly matched. Highlyrecommended.Page 4WARNING ORDER

Wargames Journal/Dadi & PiombaMagazine ReviewsThere’s been ageneral resurgence inforeign wargamingmagazines in theglossy format recently.Dadi &Piombo , which isnow up to issue #24,has emerged as one ofthe shining stars ofthis new group.Printed in Italian, but now containingEnglish sections, this is awell done hobby magazine.It combines good photos,interesting articles and features,plus it has that“common man” qualitywhere the photos don’t looklike staged events.I was also impressed bytheir web site at: http://www.dadiepiombo.com/index.html .There is a wealth of information and photosthat are a great assetto the hobby.Overall, there’s alwaysroom for good qualitymagazines and this isone of them. I don’tthink it will replaceWargames Illustrated asthe pre-eminent gamingmag, but it certainly is trying to be ofvalue to gamers.Crescent Root StudiosI first learned of Crescent Root Studiosthrough an announcement on TMPwhere they were offeringtheir new lineof 15mm colonialstructures. Intrigued,I went to their website and wow, I washooked!First, it is a welldone site and othermanufacturers should take note. Theproducts, especially the 15mm Sudanrange, are beautifully displayed and thereare several very inspiring photos of entirevillages made up of the basicsets. The shopping cart system iseasy to use and you are offeredpainted and unpainted versions ofthe same products.I ordered a few ofthe unpainted versionsand used PayPal, withthe product arriving inonly three days, so the service isoutstanding.Product ReviewThe pieces are well sculpted, light,paint up well, and fit on the base as advertised.A gamer could quickly build upa professional looking desert village forlow cost and little effort.Overall this servicereceives myhighest recommendation.Good products,good service,and a great site. Jobwell done!All Fronts Armor DepotProduct ReviewSince our group has been doing a lotof 1940/Operation Sea Lion skirmishgames recently, we’ve been looking atadding more and more 28mm vehicles.Tamiya only has the Bren Carrier, Solidohas a few items that are useful, but theVerem, Gasoline, and Quarter Kit stuff istoo pricey.So, we saw a thread, again on TMP,with listings from a company called AllFronts Armor Depot. A quick visit totheir web site showed us that they had alot of early war vehicles in 28mm, plusaround a hundred or so other selections.So far, so good. One of our guys decidedto order some German vehicles andwhen they arrived, they were given to meto paint.I had two PZ-38s, twoPZ IIs, two PZ Is, a Ketenkrad,and a truck. TheTruck and Kettenkradwere great models, butthe tanks…., that’s anotherstory.The PZ-38s took agood deal of work withthe dremel, X-actoblades, and files. There was a largeamount of resin build up under the armorfenders and on the track pieces, whichtook a long time to clean up. The PZ IIshad the barrel and mg positions reversed!After much difficultyI was able to get thetracks to fit to thetanks, which is nosmall feat. Fortunately,after painting,they look good andbeing three piecemodels, are suitablefor the rough handlingof gamers.We have a second shipment of Britishand French vehicles coming in soon, soI’m going to reserve judgment until I seethose. Until then, if you desperately need28mm early war stuff, this is your onlyoption.ISSUE #14Page 5

Battles for Empire: Gunboat Rescue!Scenario ReplayI had just finished scratch-buildingthree colonial gunboats for the Nile, so Ihad to figure out a scenario for them.Although Battles for Empire, therules which we use has gunboatrules, I was planning on adding amore detailed treatment, so the gunboatshad to just sit there as a sceniceffect.A fortified town on the Nile hasbeen under siege for a few days andyesterday the Mahdist forces createda breach in the walls. Figuring itwas now or never, the Egyptiancommander decided that they wouldsortie out against the besieging redoubtswhile the civilians and baggage made forthe Nile. A force of gunboats and Britishtroops had been in the area, so if theycould make it to the banks overlookingthe Nile, they might be rescued.Meanwhile, The British force, consistingof fourunits ofinfantryand a Gatlinggundecidedthat theywouldland andtry to linkup withthe defenders.We established a rule that anyMahdist unit that crossed the high embankmentson the river would be subjectto the firepower of the gunboats, whichalso worked well as an objective for theEgyptians to make it to, which wouldsignify safety.So the Egyptian commander broke hisforce into three parts. The first, led bythe cavalry would sortie out against theredoubts, then screen the other two. Asecond, with the civilians, would go outof the main gate. Since it was closer, itgot the worst troops as the escortingforce. Finally, a third force would go outof the side gate and link up with the firstforce and try to buy time for the civiliansand baggage to get away.The first turn begins with the firstEgyptian force having already seized theentrenchments and awaiting the expectedcounterattack by the Mahdi’s forces.The Dervish AttackA force of about 30 Dervish andFuzzy units, led by five camel and cavalryunits, came charging onto the boardand the Egyptian players had this sense ofoverwhelming doom. The Egyptian cavalrycharged into the mass, hoping to givethe 11th Sudanese time to deploy in abetter position. The cavalry gave as goodas it got, but was finally overwhelmedand forced back.The Sudanesefought well andbacked by a twosection battery ofKrupp guns, wereable to slow theMahdistattackdown. By this timethe second forcewas trying to takeup positions aswell, having just come outfrom the side gate. The Britishhad landed and weremoving up to the embankmentto see if they couldscreen the retreat. Finally,the Egyptian cavalry andSudanese were swamped andthe Dervishes rushed throughthe gaps, creating a wild meleenear the redoubts.Page 6WARNING ORDER

Gunboat Rescue (cont.)A large force of Dervish camelry andcavalry broke through and made for thebaggage train coming out of the maingate. The British had offloaded from thegunboats and got to the ridge just in thenick of time to add their fire to the baggageescorts, which consisted of units oftown militia and slavers. The combinedfire drove the attacking force back, but itwasn’t until after several volleys that theattack was finally broken.Another Dervish infantry force movedto engage the British forces on the ridge,but even after getting into melee, theywere unable to break the British line.The remainder of the Dervish army spenta few turns trying to sort itself out, wheremassive traffic jams prevented them frombringing their superior numbers to bear.The Egyptian force that came out ofthe side gate ran immediately into trouble.The large numbers of Fuzzies thatswamped the Sudanese at the redoubtswere now moving into the rear areas,creating havoc. The Egyptians delivereda few volleys, then got into multiple handto hand combats, where several of theirunits were wiped out.The stage was set for the final push toprevent the civilians and baggage fromreaching safety. After rallying severalunits, the Dervish infantry and cavalrysurged forward again, determined tobreak the Anglo-Egyptian defenses.They were met by several volleys and agatling gun, plus there were a few goodseries of die rolls that added to the carnage.The Dervishes had a few chancesto rally and make the final charge, butwere unable to coordinate their attack andwere chopped up piecemeal.The baggage and civilians reached theridge, just out of reach of the last Dervishforce for an Anglo-Egyptian victory.Summary/Final ThoughtsAs most of our Battles For Empiregames go, this one was a closely foughtcontest. Both sides played well and certainlyhad their chances to win the game.The Dervish advantage in numbers wasoffset by the creation of several trafficjams at the worst possible times. Therewere also a few tense moments whensome of the worst Egyptian troops actuallyheld the line and threw back attackafter attack.If you have not tried BFE I wouldcertainly give it a try. The combat andmovement systems are easily picked upafter the first few turns and it is certainlysuitable for large groups. We had 8 playersand well over 1,000 figures, but wereable to play about a dozen turns in underfive hours. We hope to add a few moregunboats to our collection, plus an armadaof some native dhows for futureactions along the Nile.ISSUE #14Page 7

Memoirs of a Historical Miniature & Board Gamer Pt. 1Back in the early days of MiniatureWargames magazine, a gamer by thename of Mel Gosling outlined his involvementin historical miniatures fromhis youth. It was a great series of articlesand I still re-read them every so often totake a trip back to the past. I thought Iwould try the same thing and hopefullyprovide a few gamers with a chance toremember the “Good Ole Days!”I can remember back in the 70’s whenthey use to show the Victory at Sea episodeson Saturday afternoons, whichcaused me to use some of my lawn cuttingmoney I had earned to order some ofthose “war” games at the back of thecomic books. They came with a gamemat, plastic ships, tanks, and planes witha set of markers. Those games weregreat, but there was always that feeling ofwanting something more.When I turned 15 my father, whoserved in the Air Force, was stationed atEdwards AFB in southern California.Just a block from our house on the basewas a series of stores, including a secondhand thrift store. I was in there one day,looking at sci-fi magazines(my other truelove-but that’s another story!) when I sawat the back of one of the issues an ad forStrategy & Tactics magazine and a gamecalled Sixth Fleet. There was a cool pictureof a ship, modern jets, and a descriptionof the game. After seeing that all Iknew is that I wanted that game!I found a hobby store in Lancaster,California that carried SPI products andconvinced my parents to take me there. Iwas overwhelmed by the number of AvalonHill and SPI games, plus miniaturesthat were in the store, but I went withSixth Fleet anyway. I plopped down my$12(which was a lotin 1977) and wenthome to unwrap myprize.Unfortunately,little did I know thatI had chosen one ofthe most complexgames that they haddesigned! I wasimpressed by themap, counters, andhere finally wererules talking about real modern combat.Obviously, this wargaming thing was alittle more complex than I had thought. Istuck with it, though, and played a fewsolo games, which were immensely satisfying.That same week there was an ad inthe base newspaper for a wargames clubthat was looking for members. The meetingswere in the NCO Club and to comeby on a Sunday afternoon to try it. I wentthere with my Sixth Fleet game, uponwhich several of the members expressedthat I should not have chosen that as myfirst game! There were about 20 guysthere and they were going to play severalgames. I played in an invasion of Polandboard game, but I had a chance to go outand look around. Three guys were playingDungeons and Dragons, four others amicro-armor game, and still more playingother board games. I went home thinkingthat this was the coolest hobby ever.As I earned more money I continuedto buy board games, from the hobbystore, members of the group, as well asfinding a few second hand in that basethrift store. By the time school started inmy sophomore year I had about a dozengames and was lucky enough to findthree guys in my class that were interestedas well.When I look back now I think thatgetting the Sixth Fleet game was an advantage.In the future, complexity for mewas never an issue, so I had no problemswith games like Air War, rules sets likeTractics, or spending days prepping for agame. It also showed me that gamingcould produce long friendships and thatgenerally your other interests like sports,sci-fi, etc…, were shared by other gamers.It seemed then, much as itdoes today, that for a few hoursevery so often you can forgetabout the real world and notonly enjoy the hobby, but somegreat friendships.I also found an ad in one ofmy sci-fi mags about a newcompany called Metagaming.They had this new series ofmicrogames for $3 each and thefirst one was called Ogre. Ibought it and to this day it andthe several add on gamesremain some of my favorites.It also became acatalyst for my occasionalforays into fantasyand sci-fi gaming.Just before my junioryear my father got transferredto the new F-16program at Hill AFB inUtah. After much searching around I didfind a hobby store in Roy, Utah that soldwargames and a local toy store chain thathad some of the Avalon Hill games. Inthose days you didn’t have the Internet,Yahoo Groups, or email to review products,so you ended up buying some stinkers.My biggest problem is that I couldnot find anyone to game with and therewas no one in my school that seemedinterested.Fortunately, a guy who had been inthe Edwards AFB club got transferred toHill and got a house three blocks frommine. Talk about luck! The big problem?He was a miniatures guy with verylittle interest in board games. He wasalso big into ancients and I wasn’t, plushe wasn’t that really interested in WW2,so I thought that this would be a shortfriendship.I’ve been extremely lucky in findinggreat gaming buddies, however, and thiswas one of those times. We went over toa place in Salt Lake City called McEwanMiniatures, creator of the Starguard lineof figures and rules. I bought some sci-fifigures, some dwarves, and then wepicked up a couple of packs at a gamestore in the mall. I was hooked.For the next two years, we playedancients, fantasy battles, some sci-firaids, ACW(with my Airfix plastic armies),and some role-playing. A localstore, Intermountain Models, also startedcarrying figs and board games, with somegames being played at the store on Saturdays.I had a great time going there everySaturday and playing Tractics, WRGAncients, and a lot of WW2 skirmishes.We also attended a one day mini-con atMcEwan Miniatures where I had achance to watch a lot of sci-fi games andWW2 air combat.Continued next issue...Page 8WARNING ORDER

Interview With Sam Mustafa (cont.)I have been surprised, though,to see that computers have not had abigger influence on miniaturesgaming. I would have thought, bynow, that we’d all be playing fromBlackberries or Palm Pilots, orsome sort of hand-held device,where we kept our data and rolledour dice, and all we needed on thetable was the figures. I had highhopes last year for Bob Jones’ newBattage concept, using Apple I-Pods, but it appears to have fizzled.7) We are seeing an increasingnumber of figure scales emergingin the hobby, with 10mm, 40mm,and even 1/48th gaming enteringthe hobby. What scale do you preferand do you think that somescales are better for certain periods?This is always personal and subjective,but for me, the large-scale28mm figures are my favorites forthose horse-and-musket and earlierperiods, when men really dressed tokill. I love to paint the colorful,elaborate uniforms, and I love tosee those drummers drumming andthose big flags flying. Glorious!For the “drab” uniforms of themodern age, I happily scale down to15mm.8) Do you miss MWAN and thediscussions you had in thosepages?I miss MWAN terribly. I knowthat many, many people do. It wasmore like a club than a magazine.Alas, I think the era of theprinted hobby magazine is over,anyway. The web is the way of thefuture. In some ways Bill Armintrout’sThe Miniatures Page hastaken over as a new sort of e-MWAN: a big gaming communityfull of noise and happy chaos.9) What do you have planned inthe future for Grande Armee?10) Are you working on or interestedin doing any other rules forother periods?The answer to both of thesequestions is the same. My projectfor 2006 is a Seven Years Wargame that began its life as a G.A.spinoff, but has really taken on acharacter of its own now. I’m veryhappy with it. It’s being playtestedthis Spring and Summer, and byAutumn I’ll decide what I want todo with it, in terms of publication.If you’re interested, visit the GAwebsite from time to time for updates.Black Hat MiniaturesFigure ReviewOne of theweird thingsabout colonialwargaming in15mm is thatcurrently there are no Bashi-Bazouks! Inmy eternal search for some I recentlycame across an Ottoman army range fromBlack Hat Miniatures.I ordered severalpacks from the Napoleonin Egypt range asfrom the web site, thefigures looked like theywould stand in well asTurks, Syrians, andother Arabs that formed therank and file of the BashiBazouk units in the Sudan. Iordered the packs from ScaleCreep Miniatures in the U.S.,who has amazing service.Within a few days I had mypacks and was ready to startpainting!Although they are a littlemore expensive than OldGlory, they do serve a niche,particularly their 15mm Martainrange, so no complaintsthere. The figures are of the17-18mm variety, so they willfit in well with OldGlory or Essex, but area little large for PeterPig in the same units.The castings areclean, little to no flash,and are somewhat similarto Minifigs in thatthey have the bareminimum for equipment. There are avariety f poses in the packs and the commandpack was well done.Overall, these figures fill gaps inmany other ranges, and although not perfect,they work well.ISSUE #14Page 9

Sea Lion: German Armored AssaultArc of Fire ReplayIt is September of 1940 and OperationSea Lion, the German invasion of Englandis well under way. The Germanmech forces from the beaches havepushed inland and linked up with theairborne forces near a critical junction.The Germans have been reorganizing in avillage, but have been receiving heavyfire from a farmhouse nearby. The Germanshastily assemble a kampfgruppeand move out from the village to destroyany local resistance.German Forces(1) Mech Infantry Platoon with (3) infantrysquads, (1) platoon commandsection, and (4) SDKFZ 251 halftracks.(1) Armored platoon consisting of (2) PZIIs and (2) PZ-38s.(1) Para platoon with (3) para squadsplus (1) heavy weapons sectionconsisting of (2) flamethrowers, (2)ATRs, and (2) 50mm mortars and(1) platoon command section.British Forces(1) Home Guard platoon with (3) squadsand (1) platoon command team(1) RAF ground platoon with (3) squadsand (1) platoon command team(1) 2pdr AT gun/crew with (1) BrenCarrier.(1) British Regular infantry heavy weaponsplatoon with (2) MMGs, (1) 81mmmortar, and (2) Boys ATRs with a commandteam.The British were allowed to deploy anywherewithin 24 inches of the village,while the Germans had to deploy fromthe two village road exits. The Germanobjective was to clear the board of anyBritish units.Inside Story HeadlineThe battle opened up with the Germansdeciding on assaulting upthe left flank, led by the armor,then the halftracks. The Germanparas moved up to the first hedgerowsin an effort to clear thefields and provide flank securityfor the armor.The British opened up withsome Boys ATRs, which missedbadly the first few shots. The Germansorientated themselvestowardsthe direction ofthe fire and letloose a devastatingbarrage. TheBritish troops inthat area thenbegan to fall backto their seconddefensive positions.The paras moved through the hedgesas the British re-positioned themselves tomeet the new axis of advance. Smallarms fire broke out between the Germanparas and the British defenders in thefields. The German armor continued tomove around the left flank, searching fortargets and forcing the British to shifttheir defenses.Page 10WARNING ORDER

Arc of Fire Replay (cont.)The main phase ofthe battle now got underway.Huge firefightserupted along the hedgesas the German parastried to push through. Acounterattack by anRAF squad was repulsedwith dreadful losses,although the Germanparas were beginning totake casualties as well.The 2 pounder AT gun finally openedup, but missed it’s first several shots!The German halftracks moved up to bringfire down on the position of the AT gun.The British defenders around the fieldsand hedges were slowly being forcedback to the main line of defense as theirpositions were indanger of beingoutflanked.Finally, the ATgun scored a directhit on a halftrack.This seemed to bethe signal for theGermans that theyhad enough of thisand brought everythingto bear on theAT gun. The At gun fired one more shotthen the crew were wiped out to the man.The British MGs now came into play, butthe German paras were by this timefirmly established in the hedges and werein range of the farmhouse.The final British counterattack wentin, but the Boys ATRs just could notscore any hits. The Panzers kept rollingalong, adding their fire to that f the Germaninfantry to overwhelm any defensivepositions that were encountered.The British were down to their maindefense line with little to no AT weaponsleft. The Germans were pressing on tothe farmhouse and there seemed to belittle in the way of stopping them. Themechanized attack had come in a directionthat the British players weren’t expecting,so redeploying the infantry reserveswas taking too much time.Finally, after the last ATR team wastaken out, it was apparent that the Britishhad no way to stop the German mechforces and the game was called as a Germanvictory.SummaryAlthough it was a German decisivevictory, it wasn’t for lack of effort on theBritish part! The British had a good defensiveplan and had their units in goodpositions. Although outclassed and withfew AT weapons, it would have beenfairly representative of the situation afterthe retreat from Dunkirk. After all, mostreal life battles weren’t fair or balanced!The biggest problem with the Britishwere the horrible die rolls for their ATweapons. The Boys ATRs were fired tentimes with no hits and it took the 2 lbr.Seven shots to destroy the first Germanvehicle! When the German return firecam it was devastating and the Germanplayers did a good job of advancingthrough the hedge areas and putting pressureon the British infantry. Next timethere will be more armor and more ATweapons for the British!ISSUE #14Page 11

WW2 Gaming: New Directions (cont.)(cont. from page 1) Rapid Fire, and manyothers. While some of these have devotedfollowers, none really caught theattention of the gaming masses.So, with the advent of a huge varietyof WW2 figures in 28mm, several companiesdoing large selections of 15mm,and GHQ well established in the microscalearea, WW2 gaming was ripe foranother series of rules.The call has been answered by abouttwo dozen new rules sets in the last fewyears. Of these, judging by the amount ofthreads on TMP, games at conventions,email discussions, activity on YahooGroups, etc…, I’ve boiled it down towhat appears to be the two most popularsets of rules for 15mm/micro-armor andthe two most popular sets of rules for20/28mm skirmish gaming in the UnitedStates. We’ll start with the operationallevel rules first and analyze theirstrengths and weaknesses.Blitzkrieg CommanderTaking the popular Warmaster systemas it’s basis, Pete Jones refined it into aset of WW2 rules. If you’ve neverplayed Warmaster, either the fantasy orthe ancients versions, the game revolvesaround the command and control system.Basically, each commander has a ratingand you need to roll 2D6 and end up witha result under that rating to succeed. Youcan keep sending orders until you fail acommand roll. Simple, but very, veryeffective. The combat system involvesrolling large numbers of dice, but itworks and the gamers seem to have a lotof fun with it.Format: Large size, bound rulebookwith many excellent color photographs.The rules are clearly laid out with manyexamples and optional rules. A greatfeature is a set of armies lists for nearlyevery front during WW2.Cost: $25Scale: Can be played either at 1:1 orwhere one stand equals a platoon.Figures: 1/285th or 10mm(1/200th)work best, but 15mm could be used aswell.Web Support: There’s an active Yahoogroup, plus a dedicated site with battlereports, a gallery, and an army builderprogram.Additional Materials: There’s a modernversion in the works, but so far no additionalWW2 supplements.Command & Control: As describedabove, it is simple and very effective,creating unique situations and requiressome planning for when things go wrong,and they will.Game Systems: Movement is tied to thecommand system and is fairly straightforward.Combat involves a lot of die rollingand luck, but it works and can be fun.Artillery and air support can be devastating.Best Rule: The optional rule for recon isoutstanding, making recon a vital elementin WW2 combat, which it should be.Complexity: On a scale of 1 to 5, probablya 3. Once you get the hang of it theturns move quickly.Group Play: BKC is an excellent set ofrules for group play.Realism: Although the game stats arepretty abstracted, the army lists do limitplayers from creating “super armies” ofjust King Tiger tanks. Artillery and airstrikes are very nasty, which is as itshould be. The game feels right for thelevel of play, plus the command systemgives a good idea of tempo in operationallevel armored combat.Pros: A very fluid game with a novelcommand system. The game does givethe feel of operational level WW2 combatand even though our group has had a fewgames turn out to be one sided contests,both sides always have fun. The rules areclearly laid out with examples and onceyou get the hang of it, turns can really flyby.Cons: For those who like a lot of controlover your forces, then this game is not foryou. We’ve had games where extremelybad die rolls have limited one side’smovement and combat options. Havingsaid that, though, most of our games havebeen pretty enjoyable and there is a growing, dedicated part of our group for theserules.Flames of WarIt would be really hard to think ofanother rules set that has been this influentialin historical gaming for a longtime. Flames of War has proven to be agateway into WW2 gaming for a greatdeal of new gamers and those that haveprimarily been in sci-fi or fantasy gaming.It has all the hallmarks of a professionallypackaged program, namely rules,figures, web site, etc…. . The comparisonsto Games Workshop are frequentand there is some element of truth inthem. The biggest debate over the rulesare the realism factor and whether or notthat this is just WH40K in disguise.Format: Large size, bound rulebookwith many color photos. In fact, the colorphotos in many of the rule books andsupplements help drive the sales. Therules reference sheet is pretty much allyou need to play the game. Hard to arguewith the quality of the books.Cost: $35-40Scale: Pretty much 1:1 scale, with eachinfantry or gun crew stand representing ahalf squad or crew, so a platoon of 40men will have 40 figures on 6-10 standsof varying size.Figures: Specifically designed for15mm, but many gamers use 10mm andup to 20mm.Web Support: In one word, outstanding.The site has continual new content,plenty of photographs, a forum, plusrules, battle reports, painting guides,etc… .Additional Materials: Supported by alarge and ever growing number of booksdesigned for a specific army for a set timeframe. Same layout and quality as theoriginal rulebook. What really helps toPage 12WARNING ORDER

WW2 Gaming: New Directions (cont.)sell the product are the large numbers ofcolor pictures throughout the books.Command & Control: Yes, it’s there,but it is very simplistic and there’s reallyno ill effects if you’re not in commandrange.Game Systems: Movement is very simpleand combat relies on a number of D6sdepending upon whether a unit moved ornot. Artillery and aircraft are simple touse and are treated almost like events.Units get saving throws if infantry or adefense roll if armor, followed by a firepowerroll from the attacker to causecasualties.Best Rule: The bulletproof cover rule forinfantry in towns makes them tough toforce out of a town or village, as it shouldbe.Complexity: I would rate it a 2 out of 5.After the first few turns you can run thegame from the reference card, whichmakes the game ideal for beginners.Group Play: In my opinion, while FOWdoes work for group play, it was primarilydesigned as a one on one game fortournament type play. Groups will haveto adjust the morale break points, but itcan be played with groups.Realism: If you want to receive deaththreats, try starting a topic on TMP aboutFOW and realism! If I had to rate it on ascale of 1 to 10, I would choose a 2. Noopportunity fire rules lead to some bizarresituations on the tabletop, plus there’senough gimmicks to keep most WH40Kplayers happy for a long time. ManyFOW gamers spend more time trying tofigure out how to use their armies’ tricksthan using actual tactics.Pros: A lot. Well designed rule book,supplements, miniatures, and incredibleweb support. For gamers just getting intothe WW2 era, there is a lot here to bepositive about. These guys have learnedwell from Games Workshop about marketingand should be congratulated.Units sold in sets, books designed to encouragegamers to buy more miniatures,easily adaptable to tournaments, etc…. .Battlefront has set a standard that fewcompanies can match.Cons: The large amount of special rules,limited direct fire range for artillery, andno opportunity fire can create some reallystrange situations on the tabletop. I’veplayed in battles where each side circledthe other, trying to get a shot at the reararmor. I’ve seen PZIVs with the short75mm bombard an artillery battery thatwas out of range to fire back. Also, Ididn’t know that it was preferable inWW2 to have British Shermans sit atlong range and engage the enemy insteadof closing with them! Some people canlive with these as the price to be paid fora simple, fast game, but many WW2gamers won’t like it.Arc of FireIf you’re ever looking for a WW2version of The Sword and the Flame, Arcof Fire is probably the closest thing thatyou will find. It is a true 1:1 skirmishgame, with each player able to commanda platoon or more. AOF uses a card activationsystem and has many optionalrules such as random events and hit locationsfor targets. Onegreat facet of the rules isthat it can be used from theBoxer Rebellion to presentday, plus it includes scenariosfrom the VictorianColonial , WW2, and late20th century. You canplay small scale, where arifle can shoot out toaround 40 inches and largescale, where that same riflecan reach out to around 80inches.Format: Large size rulebook with sixscenarios and two reference cards forboth scales. The rules are well laid outwith many examples and optional rules toincrease the complexity/realism.Cost: $20Scale: 1:1,with each turn representingaround one minute.Figures: Designed for 15, 20, and 25mm.Web Support: There is a Arc of Firepage on the TACC publications site witha few additional rules, plus a YahooGroup. Not as much support as BKC orFOW, however.Additional Material: There are the SkirmishCampaigns scenario books from thesame company which are ideal for this setof rules.Command & Control: Basically, eachfigure must stay within a few inches ofsomeone else in the squad or platoon ifusing vehicles. Each unit can be either inDefense, Advanced, or Confused modewhich gives you a range of options eachturn.Systems: Movement is very easy and thefiring system is quick and painless.There are optional rules for critical hitsand severity of wounds, which is recommendedfor smaller games. The Moralesystem takes some getting used to, but itworks.Best Rule: The Optional Events sectionis highly recommended and adds somerealistic situations for skirmish games.Complexity: I would rate it a 2 out of 5,but bordering on a 3 if use the many optionalrules thatare included.Group Play:With each playercommanding aplatoon, brokendown into movementand firingby squads, youstart getting alittle sluggishwith more thansix players.Also, as is commonwith many rules for this level ofplay, there’s really no higher level commandstructure.Realism: AOF does a good job of portrayingWW2 combat at this level withouta lot of complexity. The firing system,while simple, works and produces goodresults.Pros: Like FOW, there is a lot to bepositive about here. You can grasp thesystems fairly easily and the rules arewell written. By the second game youpretty much can go through the turnsquickly and play with several platoons.While not as professionally produced as(cont. on p. 14)ISSUE #14Page 13

WW Gaming: New Directions (cont.)the other rules in this feature, for $20 it’smore than worth it.Cons: The large scale game, whereshooting can go out to a couple of hundredinches ended up as a game in whichthe armor sat on the edge of the boardand killed anything that tried to move!Using the alternate scale solved this problem,however. Also, the text needs to bebroken up into columns to read the rules abit more easier.I Ain’t Been Shot Mum!IABSM, as it called by it’s supporters,is a new outlook on WW2 skirmish gaming.Using a card activation system, eachsquad gets a variable number of dice,usually 4D6 that can be used for movementand shooting, which gives the playersa wide variety of options. Key to thesystem, however, is the use of “BigMen”, or heroes, who add extra dice,rally troops, and provide the inspirationseen in hundreds of WW2 films. IABSMis backed up by numerous supplementsand a very active Yahoo group.Format: I ordered the PDF version andbound it myself, but you can order abound version. The layout is pretty simpleand constantly changes from professionallooking to amateurish.Cost: $25 or about $10 for PDFScale: 1:1 scale, although it is recommendedthat you base several figures on astand to ease the movement for largegames.Figures: 20 or 25mm probably workbest, but a growing number of gamers areusing their FOW stands and vehicles forIABSM games.Web Support: The Yahoo group hasrules updates, extra cards, scenarios, andmore.Additional Materials: There are a lot ofsupplements and annual issues that havecome out. I bought the Sea Lion supplementand it had about 20 well thought outscenarios in it.Command & Control: C&C is prettybasic, usually with the “Big Men” beingthe focus. Placement of these figures canbe critical to success as they add extradice, can rally troops, and removewounds.Game Systems: The card deck driveswho gets to move, along with specialevents like air support, blitzkrieg moves,events, etc… .Combat is the result of howmany dice each squad or vehicle usesbesides movement. Results are usuallyin terms of wounds, which decrease asquad’s effectiveness by limiting howmany dice they get. The vehicle combatsystem is pretty fun to use and gives optionsfor using dice to aim, move turrets,etc… .Best Rule: using “Blinds” or large markersthat may or may not contain units, isthe best way I’ve seen to handle hiddenmovement in skirmish games.Complexity: On a scale of 1 to 5, probablya 2. Once you’ve gotten the hang ofthe shooting and movement, everythingelse is just adding options into the game.Group Play: Our first game had threeplayers and went extremelywell. Thesecond had seven andit bogged down attimes. I think thegame system is idealfor 4-6 players.Realism: At times itseems like real WW2combat, then it canrevert to a Hollywoodaction film with a Bigman leading a squadthrough a building, clearing out everythingin sight! The card system drives thegame and depending upon the draw theaction can ebb and flow.Pros: I think the most important facet ofIABSM is that gamers seem to enjoyplaying the game and it can be fun. Thedice concept for movement and combatgives you a lot of choices, plus the use ofBig Men adds flavor to the game. Thesystem is easily expandable with extracards, scenario books, additional rules,etc…, which enables the game designerto create virtually any type of WW2 combataction.Cons: The rules are similar to TSATF inthat there are a lot of gaps in the rules thatcan be subject to interpretation. If youplay with a lot of rules lawyers, thenIABSM is a bad idea. The cards that canbe inserted into the deck can have a profoundinfluence and could quickly imbalancethe game, so the scenario designerneeds to carefully plan out the deck.Since the turn can end anytime, in largegames you can have the situation where aplayer’s units may not move for severalturns, which in real time could be an houror more of just sitting around. In oursecond game one player did not have hisplatoon card pulled for three turns, ofwhich two were quite long, so for aboutan hour he just sat there and wasn’t toohappy about it.Final ThoughtsCompared to the 70s and 80s, wherepretty much all the WW2 rules werevariations of the same theme, we have amultitude of innovative systems tochoose from today. The search for realismin WW2 rules hasgiven way to playability,which is both ablessing and a curse.Gamers can now playa variety of WW2miniatures games andachieve a result in afew hours withoutneeding a physicsdegree to decipherballistics charts. Onthe other hand, someof the recent games I’ve seen and been apart of seem more like Hollywood thanWW2 combat.So, what about the future of WW2gaming? No doubt there will be moresets of rules, each trying to define whatthe author thinks how WW2 armoredcombat should be. There will be newsupplements, figures, terrain, etc…, butit’s my belief that we’ve come close toreaching the ceiling for WW2 gamingwith these four sets of rules. They havepresented a whole new series of innovationsthat have pretty much exhausted thelimits of what can be done in WW2 gaming.Page 14WARNING ORDER

BattlegroundGame Review by Jeff GeislerBattleground is non-collectible (howrefreshing) card game that amounts to aset of simple but subtleminiature rules you can playwith cards.There are currently three factions(men, orcs, and undead) with two decksfor each, a basic and advanced set. Thefactions are fantasy, but historical diehardscould play with just the Men ofHawkshold deck. The rules come in thebox but are also available online(www.yourmovegames.com) – unfortunately,no bigger than the printed set. Allyou need to play is in the basic set. Infact, you can try the combat mechanicsout with the starter rules of about 650words.The deck consists of unit cards, commandcards, and the player chart cards,such as special rules for the army and thesample army lists. The unitcards are overhead depictionsof groups of figures thatlooks like a base of, say, 15mm fantasy figures fromabove. The back has a drawingof an individual from theunit, and any special rules.These have the unnaturalsheen of computer-generatedart for a video game, and notvery appealing art at that. While functional,they will not quicken the heartbeatof any dyed-in-the-wool miniature paintersI know.The back edge of the card has a unitroster. This has the stats for the unit, suchas attack and defense. There is no particulardistinction in weapons or armor - betterarmor would just have a higher defensenumber, for example. There arecolored boxes to represent the stayingpower of the unit, both in number of hitsand in morale. Units with more membersmight have more boxes (more hits). Unitstake morale checks when they have usedup their good morale boxes. So elite unitshave fewer total boxes, but more are goodmorale. This is a nifty method to representthe brittleness of such units.Command cards are special abilities,customized for each army. They mostlyaffect combat, making your hits moretelling or adding to a unit’s defense.Aside from the fact that armies are madeup of standard fantasy types, this is theclosest thing to magic that the gamehas to offer. You want to preservethem for critical combats or particularlytough opposing units. At thestart of the turn, you have the option tospend command points to buy more. Iwill have more to say about this in a moment.There is a nicely selected, minimal setof situational modifiers summarized onthe player-aid card. Starter armies areabout 1500 points and have differentthemes, emphasizing cavalry or shooting,for instance. Units are in the 200-400point range, so these armies have about10 maneuver elements in them. Unit costsare calculated to single digits; if the gameproves to be balanced, someone did a lotof play testing to refine point values soexactly.Set up and scenarios, at least in thebasic game, are very simple. (Terraineffects are in the advanced game rules.)At start, you give your units one of threeorders: Hold, Range, or Close. Hold isobvious. Range, which can only be givento missile armed troops, means move intorange and start firing. Close is the mostinteresting order. It means “Move at fastestspeed to close with the nearest enemy.”You must take a bit of care in issuingthis order and its relationship to deployment.Not all units move at the samespeed. If you order Close all along theline, some units may get ahead of others.Once within charge range of the enemy,they must engage. This may open flankingopportunities for your opponent. Onthe other hand, you can use maneuver toforce charges and dislocate the enemy inturn.The move to Close rules hinge on whois the “nearest enemy.” The rules describingthis are not the best – usually, it is“nearest enemy to the front.” My opponentand I interpreted the language about“farthest corner away from the enemy” tobe a way to express how far the unitwould have to move to engage, that is,the wheeling distance if attacking on aflank or the move ahead distance to attackto the front. This part of the rules isboth important and subtle; more exampleswould have been helpful.You have an opportunity to change theorders of a unit at the start of each turn.This costs a command point. You get onecommand point for every 500 points oftroops, so they are scarce. You also wantto use them to draw command cards. Youcan also take command of any individualunit for one turn per command point.They are also used for rallies. This suggestthat the object of the game is to dislocatethe enemy and cost him commandpoints, while your better planning letsthem accrue in your favor, giving youmore command cards helpful for swayingcombat to your advantage.The game is IGO-UGO, starting withthe command phase, then movement.Combat is simultaneous, so you have tokeep track of the turn in which casualtieswere inflicted. This is messy, but superiorto games (unmentioned, or is it unmentionable?)in which the charging troopsalways get first blow, and obliterate thefront rank of someone’s poor little goblins,so they don’t even get a chance tofight back – not that I mind really, (sniff,sniff).The basic combat system dices offagainst the difference between comparablestats. (Cont. on p18)ISSUE #14Page 15

Age of Eagles: Fighting WithdrawalBattle ReportWith some newly painted units for theperiod completed, we decided to do afictional encounter set in the Spring of1813. A Prussian and Russian force ismoving to join the main armyin the Dresden area. Overnight,a sizeable gap has opened upbetween the Russian and Prussiangroups. The Emperor,seeing a chance to divide anddefeat at least one of the forces,grabs the closest units availableand sends them in to block theRussians from joining the Prussians.The rest of the army willbe then be brought up to finishthe trapped Russians.The order of battle is simplifiedhere, but the French had the VII corpsunder Reynier, the II Corps under Victor,and a cavalry corps, all led by Victor.The Prussians, realizing their error, aredoubling back with a corps of infantry tohelp the Russianshold thevital bridgealong the road.The Russianadvancedguard, consistingof a cavalrydivisionand an infantrydivision, arealready astridethe main road. The remaining two corpsof Russian infantry and a cavalry corpsare entering in two places.The French and Saxons were allowedto set up anywhere along the length of theboard edge and up to a foot on the board,except no units could start on the Prussianside of the river. The Russians arestrung out in columns and those that can’tfit will enter as soon as possible.The victory objectives were quite simplein that the French needed to spilt theRussians and Prussians, preventing theRussians escaping over the bridge.This was a big game with nine players,including five who had never playedbefore. Fortunately, AOE can be explainedquickly and with everyone havingtheir own charts, it would prove to be afast moving game. After a few planningsessions and positioning of troops, thebattle began.Opening MovesThe French and Saxons got off to abad start, failing several movement rollsand creating a traffic jam around the village.The Saxons and part of the cavalrydid move out and began advancing towardsthe Prussians.The Russians piled onto the road fastand furious, trying to position themselvesagainst the inevitable French assault. ThePrussians moved over the bridge andbegan to stretch themselvesout into a defensivecrescent to protectthe crossing.The battle beganwith a French cavalrycharge that was bloodilyrepulsed, then a Russiancavalry counterattackdrove back the Frenchcavalry to the outskirtsof the village. Here theFrench infantry andartillery fired again andagain, finally forcing theRussian cavalry to retreatwith serious losses.However, the charge hadheld up the advance inthat sector for threevaluable turns.Page 16WARNING ORDER

Age of Eagles: Fighting Withdrawal (cont.)Battle ReportThe Saxons and French of VII Corpsnow began to exchange musket and artilleryfire with the Prussians on the extremeflank. The rest of the French infantryand cavalry were still trying to sortthemselves out when the Russians decidedto build a grand battery in the middleof the table! The first salvo severelydamaged a French infantry brigade andsent the others into a mass of confusiontrying to avoid it’s area of fire.In the middle there were several cavalrycharges as both sides threw brigadeafter brigade into the swirling melee. TheFrench finally got sorted out and began toadvance on the Russian main line of defense.Meanwhile, at least one Russiancorps was making it’s way to the bridgewith little to no resistance, ensuring atleast a draw forthe Russians.VII Corpsfinally made it’sattack, leadingwith the Saxonsand they soughtto punch throughthe Prussiancorps. After aheavy exchangeof artillery and musketry fire, the Saxonscharged in with the bayonet. Despitesome successes, the Prussian line washolding. The French division of the VIICorps attacked the leading elements ofanother Russian force, but could notmake any headway.The Prussians maneuvered a cavalrybrigade onto the flank of theSaxons, who now had to dealwith threats from two directions.The Saxon line held,then crumbled as the Prussianspressed their advantage.Elsewhere, the French cavalryhad been chased off thefield, the infantry wasbogged down across theboard, and casualties werequickly mounting.Despite some last minute desperateattacks, the French attack fizzled out aslong lines of Russians began preparationsto cross the bridge in relative safety.With all the players seeing that theFrench were spent, the game was calledas a decisive Russian victory.Final ThoughtsThe French had some horrendous dierolls to start the game and with a +4modifier for the first turn you wouldthink that the odds of this happening werepretty remote. The Russians took advantageof every opportunity and the severalcavalry charges in the center made theFrench pause for a few turns.The French just could not get theirforces to strike at the same time all nightlong. Bad movement die rolls continuedto happen at the worst possible times,then to add insult to injury atleast three times the Frenchrolled 1s and the Russiansrolled 10s in melee!Both sides fought well,despite the French die rollingproblems. The Frenchclearly had a plan, but gettingit to work was another thing entirely!The AOE system performedwell again, withnine players and theequivalent of 7-8 corps onthe table. We played 11turns in just over fourhours with several newplayers and had no rulesproblems.ISSUE #14Page 17

WFHGSWASATCH FRONT HISTORICALGAMING SOCIETYMeets every other Friday night in Salt Lake City, Utah.Rules and periods played include: Age of Reason, Age ofDiscovery, Sword and the Flame, Age of Eagles, Fire and Fury,Battles For Empire, WAB, Warmaster, IABSM, Arc of Fire, FOW,and more….Email comments and suggestions to :mirsik1@juno.comThe best in historical miniaturesgaming.Visit our site at:www.wfhgs.comFor this issue’s rant, you need to look no further than many of the recent topics about figurecost and quality on some of the recent TMP threads. Any time there’s a new announcementabout some of the Perry’s new figs, Copplestone, etc…, someone will comment on the highprice. This is invariably followed by a host of responses about how “Old Glory figures suck”,“I’ll paint nothing but Perry’s”, “My army can only have the finest figs”, etc… . Now, take atest. When is the last time in a gaming magazine or at your local club/store that you saw anentire army made of Perry’s , Gripping Beast, or Copplestone figs? Correct! The answer isprobably never. This is because the people who spout this crap are the ones who usually neverpaint an army or only paint 2-3 figs a year. Now, don’t get me wrong, all of the above companiesproduce beautiful figures and I would love to have entire armies of them. But if you’re agamer that paints and you’re involved in a club project and say that you need to do a force forthe Sudan in 25mm composed of 60 infantry, 20 cavalry, and a couple of guns, what can youafford? You could get that force from Old Glory for about $150. If you choose the Perry’s itcould run you around $250 and up, depending upon the cost of the shipping and the currencyrate. When painted by gamers who actually paint and finish things, will the extra $100 + benoticeable on the tabletop? Probably not. When you’re playing a club game and there’s severalhundred figs on the table, do you ever see anyone reach over, grab a unit and say, “Wow,those Gripping Beast figs sure are nice”? No, usually, it’s, “Hey, move the blue guys on theleft!”. So, let’s keep things in perspective here. If I need to do 300 25mm Crusaders, and actuallypaint them, not just talk about them, I’ll stick with Old Glory. At least until I start makingthat six figure salary!Battleground (cont.)So, Attack 5 against defense 2 wouldneed a 3 or less on a d6 to hit. There is asimilar roll for a kill. The number of dicethrown is an attribute of the unit. Commandcards and situations, such as beingflanked, modify the number of dice rolledor the basic stat. If a unit breaks in combat,the enemy gets a free hack againsttheir rear. In our limited play, this proveddevastating. Aside from that, the moralerules appear conventional.Yes, cards, but what about miniatures?This game would adapt readily tominiatures that uses bases, rather thanindividual figures, as the elements. Individualfigures are nice for bookkeeping –games like this use a roster instead. Personally,I don’t much like fiddling withthe figures – pulling them off for casualties,knocking them from the dead pileonto the floor, trying to adjust the marchattack snowboard sized swords so theyrank up again…. Instead, each base getsa number of combat dice not related tothe number of figures on the base. Norare the number of hits a one-to-one relationshipto the figures. This gives you thefreedom to put any number of figures atwhatever scale you would like on thebase. As long as the base size is consistent,the game will work. As the authorpointed out to me, you do not even haveto use the same base size as the game,since movement rates are given in termsof the length of the base sides. (Difficultto resolve maneuver results – bases collidingwith each other on the way intocombat – would be diminished if thebases were square or a multiple of eachother, as in Vis Magica, however.) Onceyou are using bases, the cards becomeyour army roster, nicely made and quickto hand.The card idea is a great way to prototypearmies. It is easier to set up than aminiatures game, and immensely moreportable. The cards have trouble stayingin place when playing on a green blanket,and I have to admit that it is hard for meto maintain my interest without models.While the command cards are a substitutefor magic, I miss the presence of wizardsand clerics and the flavor of leader figuresI can identify with as a player. Perhapsin a supplement?The command and movement ruleswork nicely together to create linear battles.Whenever I read after action reportsfor Warhammer, I never get the sense thatlinear combat lasts past the first turn.Units and characters just seem to chaseeach other over the playing field. Thatwill not be the case in this gameI have been waiting a long time for aset of streamlined mass fantasy combatrules, with command control and somesense of linear medieval combat. Whilethe cards can only take me so far, once Ibreak out my figs, I think I may havefound what I was looking for.