Wargames and associated misc

I have been a fan of Flames of War since it's 1st edition way back in 2005 (I remember because I still have the autumn/winter catalogue from that year). It was my introduction to historical wargaming that didn't have spears in it and honestly had some really great mechanical ideas. However as the years have gone by some of it's core parts have become a little clunky to my mind and it's been surpassed by many other contemporaries but... I still really like it.  After a little thought I've narrowed down my issues to a handful of things. Having artillery units on the table is an oddity of the game's "zooming in and out" design in order to put all our toys on the table which I've decided to just leave alone although I'd prefer to have it off table really. As for the things I do think can be changed for the better; the IGOUGO system, lack of an overwatch mechanic and that weird looking "car park" effect you get from platoons of vehicles. N...

  The arrival of the guns The van turned into the side road alongside the shops and was waved into the high walled yard behind them by a man in shirt, trousers, waistcoat and flat cap who held the gate. As the old vehicle ticked, crunched and squeaked to a stop the gate was closed and bolted. There was decorative barring at around head height but for the most part they were now not visible to the world at large. “Here y'go then Bri, your van back safe and sound and with your delivery included”. “Ah cheers Joe. Good trip?” Brian asked as he went over and opened the back door. “Oh you know how it goes…” “How it goes, yes. How you go though I don't think anyone ever fully… underst… Joe?” he said opening his van and looking into the interior. “Yes mate?” “Now, I don't want to seem like I'm ungrateful to you for going all the way to wherever it was and still getting back before opening time today but where's the kit?” Joe was straightening his hat and reestablishing his ...

With circumstances being as they are I've found myself being keen to play games but short one opponent. With the development of many solo games and modules for existing games during and post-lockdown you may think that wouldn't be so much of a problem and that has some truth to it. However try playing tennis without an opponent and you'll better understand my position on the matter. That wall always beats me. I've played solo games as a co-op experience and possibly had a better time with that than in a proper versus game so it's not an issue with mechanics, definitely just with me. Having realised I essentially don't like my own company I've been trying to work out what is it that is so different about a living opponent to playing against what is often a series of logic gates and I think I've got it. Rather obviously it's that people are unpredictable. I can sit my cannons in an unassailable position and know they're safe only for a mad opponent...

This time I'm going to bang on about my least favourite favourite game, Force on force. Presentation  9 It's one of the fanciest books I think I own. Generally well laid out, a lot of content, good original Osprey artworks, colourful maps and nice pictures of inspirational models to get you going AND it has an index! Even the individual pages have a camo pattern unobtrusively over every page. It must be a right killer on the ink if you bought a PDF copy and want to print it out! All that said though there can be some rules issues with having relevant pieces of information in two separate places so you do need to double check multiple sections sometimes. Playability  1/9 We're hitting the hurdle early, kids! Now, by necessity I'm jumping ahead a bit to chat mechanics (which I'll only cover briefly as there's a lot to it). The reaction chain is largely fantastic and coupled with the "nearly universal mechanic" we're potentially talking about the best...

I recently said I'd recommend the "commander" series of games so it seems like as good a time as any to explain why. To do so I'll have a natter about the one I know the best and have played the most - Blitzkrieg commander! Presentation  7 Ok, honestly, bit ugly. The cover is quite bland despite having lots of Shermans, a Tiger and a Hurricane on it as the whole thing is overall a blue/green (or possibly a green/blue) and so everything slightly blends together. But as we all know - "never judge a book by it's cover" (otherwise a lot of 40k would be highly rated). Inside has a lot of text which makes it look a little imposing compared to some games but I have to say the "a lot of text" is due to the "a lot of content". Even though half the book (approximately) is tables that's because it covers every nation on every front for the entirety of WW2 with them so really it's an acceptable trade off. Playability  9 For all that the g...

I'm within 12 inches of the game and armed with a virtual keyboard so I can rapid fire this review. It is going to be written  entirely from memory but I played a lot with many factions against many players over a few years thanks to GW fostering a great community by way of veteran's evenings (every Tuesday and Thursday for the over 16s if memory serves).  Perhaps one day I'll get my copy out and reconsider what I'm about to write. Or not. I'm easy either way and just writing to amuse myself. Presentation  7 I'll go with a 7. It's got some good to great art in there and the layout doesn't make the rules hard to learn. Playability  5 It's... fine. It has a few clunky parts but it works. Mechanics  4 The core rules are fine, that's why playability scores a 5. It's possibly the game to popularise standards like 6 inch moves, the "roll to hit, roll to wound, roll saves" sequence (I really like the AP mechanic too, it'd be nice to se...