Stamford Bridge

"What a fun year this must have been! Comet included!" Jeff Berry, in his Obscure Battles blog, offers another one of his exquisite looks at a not so well known battle. Including some perspective as to "…why it was strategically important to events that ultimately shaped English history, and even the evolution of the English language itself, i.e. why it's mostly French."

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 8/5/2020

Simple Battles No.1 - Fight for the Bridge.

"So, in the spirit of pursuing the simple game, I have put a game on using just 6 units per side...". Norm Smith, in his Battlefields & Warriors blog, chips in to help evaluate the concept of a "…‘simple game’ and what that actually means." Norm creates a fast-moving ACW meeting engagement, and the fun starts: "The Union are the first to get all of their brigade onto the table (they are the fastest with the mostest!)." Do they retain their advantage?

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 8/3/2020

DOWNSIZING: A WARGAMER'S GUIDE TO CONVERTING 15/18MM MINIATURES TO 10MM

"Well color me tartan, because I just took the plunge and my sage ruminations follow." Bill Gray explains the why and the how of his miniatures "downsizing" effort, along with some nice pictures of the results! And a bit of the sagacity he mentioned: "…remember, if you have but one pack of unpainted lead in your closet, you can’t die…"

Poster: Doug Holt
Post Date: 7/31/2020

509th (H) B-17 Virtual Bomber Group

If you are interested in playing a Play By Forum that is playable with either "B-17 Queen of the Skies" or with "Target for Today", we would love to have you join us. We are an open ended campaign, so people can come and go as they need to. We fly one mission every 2 weeks. Crews will carry over from one campaign to the next so lost crew can be replaced, and so that people can join as we go. The crews that are currently in our campaign (which is flying with the 9th USAAF) will simply transfer over to the 12th. Any thing not in the base games that is needed we can help you with, so that you are able to play along. The 509th has been functioning as a play by forum game since 2012, and has had 10 wonderful campaigns. The way that the 509th works, is when you register for a crew (B-17 or B-24) you will be placed into a squadron. Please see the site for more information...

Poster: Mark D.
Post Date: 7/13/2020

Falling Sky - Perfect Opening Moves - Roman

Is there such a thing as a "Perfect Opening Move" in any of GMT's COIN Series games? Mark D. shares his idea of a "perfect" opening turn for the Romans in Falling Sky. Enjoy.

Battle for Russia - Game Turn Restrictions Summary

I'm finally getting to play this game, and am looking forward to it. There are a decent amount of "special rules" and restrictions that apply to either the Axis or Soviet player, depending on which turn it is. Rather than flipping back and forth in the rule book, I made a quick & dirty cheat sheet for myself which I have been using, and thought I'd share it. If anyone sees anything that's incorrect, please let me know via email at mark at grognard dot com. (updated 4/11/2020 to include rules for ignoring Rivers - Axis only on Turn 1; both sides on Turn 2)

French "Low Density" Blues in Ici c'est la France!

Brief strategy article written by Mark D. that explains the concept of "Troop Density" and examines how that level can have a big impact on French and FLN play in the early stages of the game. Ici c'est la France! was designed by Kim Kanger and published by Legion Wargames in 2009. Outstanding game!

Alone Against the Soviets

Brief review of VentoNuovo's title "Stalingrad: Inferno on the Volga" shared by Mark D. for Grognard.com. Discusses the game mechanics that provide the game with the Stalingrad "feel"...