| Date |
Title |
Article Summary |
| 4/18/2024 |
The Origins of the AVALON HILL GAME COMPANY 1952-1963
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- The Avalon Hill Game Company is 72 years old this year and time to chronicle the history of Avalon Hill. In Part 1, Origins, we will look at the story of not only the establishment of a game company, but an industry and a hobby. Thanks to Legendary Tactics YouTube Channel for this great series.
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| 4/1/2024 |
Tributes pour in after death of award-winning veteran wargame designer Dean Essig
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- Mike Didymus-True, in BoardGameWire, brings us the sad news of the passing of designer Dean Essig. |
| 3/22/2024 |
Alumwell Wargame Show 2024
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- "...I actually enjoyed this show more than any other that I have been to in the past couple of years." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, regales us with sights and surprises from this show, along with some great pictures! And check out the source of an insight that led Norm to conclude "It made me realise that considering these things went into the air in their thousands, the financial investment in longbow archers must have been huge." |
| 3/11/2024 |
Fields of Corn & Rye
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- "...I was pretty sure that I had found something that might do the job." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, discusses a way he's found to address an old itch, namely adding texture and/or crop fields to tabletop settings. Check out what he finds to be a reasonable, cost-effective approach, considering that "...sometimes I think we have made ourselves a picture perfect world and lost something along the way." |
| 2/28/2024 |
On wargames campaigns (after Polemarch)
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- "If one is to do this, it is quite useful to read Caesar to see the kinds of things he considered important when choosing if or when to give battle." Prufrock muses about the value of running campaigns for the ancients gaming he prefers. See why "It turned out I'd rather refight Zama for the tenth time than try to sustain interest in endless minor encounters between similarly equipped neighbours over local concerns." |
| 1/29/2024 |
Lord Stanley arrives at Piggy Longton 1472
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- "...Piggy Longton is under the certain threat of Yorkist attack." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, sets the stage for our next Piggy Longton encounter. Why must Lord Darcy cautiously accept help from one who is "...gaining a reputation of duplicity based upon political expedience."? |
| 1/22/2024 |
Piggy Longton - Bishop of Dungborough’s perilous journey.
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- "Nervousness flickered through the group as the cavalrymen started to move amongst them, eyeing them suspiciously." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, resumes Piggy Longton action with Stephen the Fearless and his travelling party entrusted to get a crucial warning to the King. "Suddenly there was a swirling melee with swords slashing to the right and left." |
| 1/17/2024 |
December WWII gaming
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- "Well, what do I know. It turns out it was great fun. Trust Richard Borg!" Prufrock recaps replays he enjoyed during the Christmas season with Memoir'44 and Undaunted Normandy. See which game gained the comment: "…the tweaks oozed class and induced that nodding satisfaction…"! |
| 1/10/2024 |
Piggy Longton 1472 - picking up the story.
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- "...we will be picking up on the trials and tribulations of our small hamlet..."!
Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, tips us off that more Piggy Longton is on the way, with some teasers: "Could the Bishop of Dungborough (Stephen the Fearless) get to London to warn the King that Edward was at large and had foreign mercenaries with him?" |
| 12/27/2023 |
12 Days of Christmas (a wargaming year - 2023)
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- "Armies have grown a little, the gaming table looks better, some of my bigger boardgames got played, more games in total got played...". Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, takes a look at his wargaming 2023 highlights, along with appreciation for his readers: "Your visible presence and encouragement does keep the e-ink flowing". And a hint that more Piggy Longton is coming in 2024! |
| 12/1/2023 |
First Draft of History: Designing a Military Simulation of the Russo-Ukraine War 2022-2023
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- "A book? A movie? An HBO series? How about a military simulation ('wargame') of the heroic struggle of Ukraine? ... Wiser men and women would avoid. But not us fools." Designers D. B. Dockter and Mark Herman discuss their approach to creating Ukraine 2022!, addressing an ongoing conflict! Check out the insights and quips as they forge ahead: "Ukraine 2022! should go on preorder in December 2023, and, with any luck, be published in 2024. ... Or some other event on the Richard Berg random events table could pop up." |
| 10/23/2023 |
First figures painted in five years
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- "...I'm just pleased to be back on the horse - or elephant, if you prefer." Prufrock happily relates his recent painting efforts, which means he "...will now have enough Carthaginian elephants to be able to stage Bagradas in Lost Battles...!" |
| 10/16/2023 |
Hail Caesar Ruleset Test
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- Check out why Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, says "...I think I am already preferring the Hail Caesar set." Norm sets out to see how the recent extension of the rule set does in covering a Wars of the Roses clash. He finds lots to like, to include fact that he didn't feel "...that any of the outcomes were a given. If the scenario were replayed again, a different outcome could easily be possible. |
| 10/6/2023 |
Taming the boardgame collection.
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- "I am very conscious of just having far too many different rulebooks, too many different systems...". Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, striving to stay true to his "wargaming in small spaces" motto, discovers a way to maximize the value his collection brings to him. Check out the approach he develops, and the titles that contribute to it, when "...out of the blue, I was hit by one of those tidy-up and reorganise moments, the planets were aligned and I threw myself behind a proper game cull..."! |
| 9/27/2023 |
Epic Project Part II - Painting Figures
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- "The first intention was a disaster." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, continues his Napoleonic project, this time mainly focused on painting strategy. Check out what worked, and what didn't; and how, in the end, Norm has "...no doubt my newly painted Prussian 1st Battalion will perform heroic deeds!" |
| 9/20/2023 |
Creating a pair of Epic Pocket Armies - new project
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- Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, combines "...a ‘from scratch’ approach and the ‘want’ to play games along the way, rather than waiting for armies to be fully painted..." as inspiration for his new miniatures project. If you've got figures waiting on the shelf for paint, this might be your ticket, because for Norm, "...an important principle during the life of this project ... to get playing from day 1." |
| 9/11/2023 |
Best 3 Games with…Card Driven Games!
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- "...I contend that one of the origins of CDG’s was the fantastic Up Front from Avalon Hill." Grant Kleinhenz, in The Players' Aid, covers what he thinks are the best three Card Driven Games. See if you agree with his ranking, and check out which game "...makes me sweat, cringe, jump with joy and bite my fingernails." |
| 8/9/2023 |
Putting rules (napoleonic) to the test.
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- "...the old saying of ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ springs to mind." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, brings us some interesting ruminations from a Napoleonic rule set comparison. Join Norm for some insights and excellent miniatures photos, and see why he ends up wondering "...about just how necessary, bigger, deeper and more thorough rule systems are compared to a simpler fun system - if both come up with a similar result and the result / narrative feels right, then more power to the fun set." |
| 7/19/2023 |
Enter the (Keyboard) Warrior, The 21st Century Tom Sawyer – Book Review
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- Ray Garbee, in Armchair General, now has "...an even more pronounced view to ‘trust no one’ regarding anything I’ve seen on the internet, unless I know and trust the source." Ray brings us an insightful review of this book on how unscrupulous "digital influencers" operate. See why he explains that "...reading the book has prompted me to sharpen those tools of skepticism and objective rigor when facing the barrage of digital content that rains down on us every day." |
| 6/17/2023 |
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. Henry Stimson and FDR: Uniting America for Victory – Book Review
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- "Uniting America shows that this successful integration of Republicans like Stimson, Knox and Bush into a Democratic administration allowed a political partnership that furthered American strategy." Ray Garbee brings us a review of Uniting America: How FDR and Henry Stimson Brought Democrats and Republicans Together to Win World War II. |
| 5/31/2023 |
Best 3 Games with…World War I!
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- "...we ended up playing 11 different WWI games and really fell in love with the wide variety of games, scales and approaches...". Grant Kleinhenz, in The Players' Aid, covers his three favorite World War I titles. Check out which games he is referring to when he comments: "This game is an instant classic..."; "...a very strategic game that can be quite deceptive and difficult to play well."; and "...my message to everyone who plays this game is beware of supply." |
| 5/29/2023 |
Noville, Belgium 1944 - celebrating 10 years of blogging.
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- "...411 posts written, 8265 comments made..."! Norm Smith, in Battlefields and Warriors, muses on the fact that he's reached 10 years of blogging. Looking over his posts, he finds he is "...doing much the same thing and still being enthused." And, from Grognard.com's perspective, still writing one of the highest quality wargame blogs out there! And then, insights: "Blogging does bring some mysteries of the universe..." |
| 4/19/2023 |
When is a rout a real rout?
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- "Is the designer really advocating rout in the true and maximum sense of the word or something less than that..."? Norm Smith, in his Battlefields and Warriors blog, takes a thoughtful look at the idea of a "rout", and how it is interpreted and used. Norm asks some good questions, like "...what is or should be the ‘deliberate’ direction of rout.", and will troops "…always, above all else, increase the distance between themselves and the enemy .. even to the detriment of their own forces?". And he would like your comments: "...enquiring minds would like to know." |
| 4/4/2023 |
History of Wargaming
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- One of our Grognard members kindly submitted a scan of a fascinating early article about wargaming. The article is The History of Wargaming, by Martin Campion and Steven Patrick, and was in Strategy & Tactics, 1972, issue 33 used with permission from Decision Games. |
| 3/10/2023 |
Napoleonics - scales and rules - update
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- Norm Smith, in his Battlefields and Warriors blog, continues on his project of choosing one scale and a 'go to' set of rules for Napoleonics. In this post, he's comparing Valour & Fortitude (…feels like a slicker application of [Black Powder], which I like.), versus Shadow of the Eagles (…has a whiff of old school charm about it, which I also like.). And as to scale: "…I do wonder whether deciding on a scale will finally simply come down to a case of mind over heart or heart over mind!" |
| 3/3/2023 |
Edward visits Piggy Longton 1472
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- "... Edward (Yorkist rival for the throne) is on his way to Piggy Longton for ‘discussions’ with Lord Darcy." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, has the pot stirring for more Piggy Longton action. How does Darcy's meeting with "the other side" go: "If that was intended to pacify Edward, it spectacularly failed..."! |
| 2/22/2023 |
Attack on West Rottington 1472
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- "The devils shall payeth a price f'r their deeds...". Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, brings us an action packed report on Lord Darcy's response to the raid on Beacan Farm! Join Norm for the tale and pictures of his excellent miniatures as the clash unfolds: "It wasn’t long before Yorkist contingents were pouring onto the battlefield, but they were met by deadly volleys from the Lancastrian archers." |
| 2/20/2023 |
Making a List and Checking It Thrice
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- "Having just reported on the completion of my Joust for the Fun of It rules, ... came up with the bright idea that I could also play it using the 1:20 scale Schleich toy knights." Ed, in his Ed M's Wargames Meanderings blog, is pursuing fun with his home brew jousting rules. Check out what he's up to: "Towards these ends, I have been hitting ebay hard...". |
| 2/17/2023 |
Grant's Most Anticipated Games for 2023
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Check out this recent article in Player’s Aid that talks about some of the most anticipated games in 2023. The author does an excellent job of taking quotes from the games, as well as the historical context of these events.
Ancient offerings include the Roman leveling of Jerusalem, a city that had been conquered more than thirty times. WWII themes include a Battle of Britain scenario, another adventure with the African Korps, the invasion of Sicily, and an insurgency effort in post-war Germany. More modern situations include the British effort to de-colonize after WWII, the Philippine Resistance movement in the 1981, and the 1985 war in Afghanistan. There’s even a Sci-Fi dystopian vision of Mars that leads to civil war.
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| 2/1/2023 |
Choosing Napoleonic pocket armies and scales.
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- "...I find myself, when looking at Napoleonics, of being in the odd situation of having accumulated three different scales in the unpainted stash to choose from." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, begins his logic in choosing scale and ruleset to focus on. He has a method to his madness: "The process of elimination will simply be to set up a generic scenario and play the various scales through with the various rule sets and just see which gives me the right feel and look that best suits what I am after." But also not ignoring "…what brings the most joy!" |
| 1/30/2023 |
Another Option for Online Tabletop Gaming with Rally The Troops!
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- "Beyond the Vassal’s and the Tabletop Simulator type engine, there’s another option out there...". Ray Garbee checks out Rally the Troops!, a fairly recent option for tabletop style gaming, online. See why Ray concludes “All told, Rally the Troops is a great addition to the tabletop gaming landscape.” |
| 1/23/2023 |
Examining the Critical Role of WW II Logistics in “War of Supply” – Book Review
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- "A reason that the battle of Kasserine Pass came to be in the first place was due to the failure of the logisticians and planners to accurately provide a logistical ‘tail’...". Ray Garbee reviews War of Supply: World War II Allied Logistics in the Mediterranean, by David D. Dworak. Ray finds "...insights into how the logistics services stumbled in North Africa, but picked themselves up and learned from their mistakes." |
| 1/16/2023 |
Operation Barbarossa 1941, games and some reading.
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- "...reading the book, hand-in-hand with playing some Barbarossa boardgames would give an experience that would enhance both book and game." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, launches into one of his fascinating projects. This time, while reading Barbarossa - How Hitler Lost the War, he'll be playing games on his shelf related to the campaign. Spoiler alert! Norm points out how, with one title, he's "…never had such an extreme opening." |
| 1/2/2023 |
Attack at Beacan Farm - Piggy Longton 1472
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- "...discover what New Year surprises crafty old Trebian has in store for Piggy Longton." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, brings us more Piggy Longton action, with a great tale and pictures of his spectacular miniatures. So how does Trebian's plan unfold when "…a guard on outpost duty saw the enemy host and ran back to the church to raise the alarm..."? |
| 12/26/2022 |
Simulation and gaming miscellany, holiday edition
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- "PAXsims is pleased to present some recent items on conflict simulation and serious (and not-so-serious) games that may be of interest...". Rex Brynen, in PAXsims offers some intriguing selections from around the world of professional wargaming, to include one about "…a strange phenomenon: clusters of school kids debating, in surprising detail, the merits of individual weapons." |
| 11/21/2022 |
Generic multi-period scenario creation
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- "The whole point of doing this is that I get something of a fast play ‘throw down’ game...". Norm Smith, in Battlefields and Warriors is creating the first of an intended four scenario setups usable over differing eras. Check out how Norm crafts his set up (with pictures) for a meeting engagement where "...victory will be based upon the capture of the bridge." |
| 11/16/2022 |
Havel: Wargaming the information environment
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- "...how do you know your roleplay citizens will act like the real thing?" Rex Brynen, in PaxSims, discusses a series of "information and influence wargames" run by NATO last year. Check out Rex's thoughts on the results, and why "…much of it would have been recognizable to the propagandists of WW2—or diplomats, advertising executives, and political party strategists today." |
| 11/11/2022 |
1944 - Henri’s Farm
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- "…3 Panthers have just entered the scene, intending to move to the ploughed fields to dominate the open views to their front!" Norm Smith, in his Battlefields and Warriors blog, brings us a "quick throw down scenario" to test some of his own rules. Check out the pictures and the action after "The Panthers probe forwards threatening the British infantry..." |
| 11/7/2022 |
War and Peace – the Digital Version
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- "Digital version with fog of war and cross-platform multi-player under development." Avalon Digital has an ongoing Kickstarter campaign for a computer version of Mark McLaughlin's classic War & Peace. The campaign could also involve a seventh edition reprint of the game. |
| 10/5/2022 |
The changing face of wargaming
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- "What a great time to be a wargamer!" Prufrock reflects on how the offerings available for our hobby have changed during the years he's been involved. "We are seeing an explosion of impressive fast-playing, decision-centric, bot-soloable, war-themed crossover games that bring in ideas put together in fresh ways…"! |
| 9/5/2022 |
Reviving the Eagles at Quatre Bras rules
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- "...the only way to create a meaningful merging of the two was to break one of them." Norm Smith, in his Battlefields & Warriors blog, gives us a window into his effort to align two of his historical period rule sets, "…striving to get a single Horse and Musket set…". Being Norm, he always has a sharp eye on playability, and is thinking about ways to "…make it easier to get either period to the table without needing full re-reads!" |
| 8/31/2022 |
Grant’s Top 10 Solitaire Wargames – 2022 Edition
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- "...I only included games on this list that were designed as solitaire only wargames with an AI or some type of Bot." Grant Kleinhenz, in The Players' Aid, brings us his revised top 10 list of solitaire only wargames, after playing an additional 25 or so games. Check out his new list of titles that he's "…found to be fun and engaging to play, challenging and that also wove an interesting narrative as a part of the process." |
| 8/26/2022 |
Making “Next War” More Multi-Domain: Some Alternative Rules for the “Next War” Series
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- "...as I played through them all, I started adding elements—what I termed 'House Rules'...". Ian Sullivan offers rules extensions for GMT's Next War series of games to make them more "multi-domain" oriented: that is, requiring players to "…converge capabilities across all domains—air, land, sea, cyber, and space…" in even a broader manner than the existing rules address. Check out his extensions for: Will to Fight; Delaying Reinforcements; Hypersonic Missiles; Advanced Chinese Ballistic missiles; Alternative AEGIS Ashore Rules; Non-Kinetic, Reversible Counterspace Attacks; Kinetic, Non-Reversible Counterspace Attacks |
| 8/15/2022 |
Maneuver Warfare Who what huh what game is this again??
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- "As an avid board gamer and computer wargamer, I have always wanted to see game play with out tips, tricks, or cheats." Rob, in his newly launched YouTube channel 89volvowithlazers, offers a first round of the approach he plans on taking with his videos. Using a flavor of Command Ops 2, his idea is to let you "…actually see how the game plays before downloading the demo or making a purchase." |
| 8/7/2022 |
Campaigning and fast play WWII tactical rules.
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- "The rules provided by Matt are designed to allow the fast play needed to cover so much potential action, so that friends can complete their campaign in a day." Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, checks out a fast play campaign system offered by Matt Irsik in Warning Order, which is a free, online wargames journal. Check out the action in Norm's test run through, and why he concludes that "…Matt has provided us with an engine that gets things moving and helps ensure that a campaign can be fought through relatively quickly to a conclusion." |
| 8/1/2022 |
Secrets to Teaching the COIN Series from GMT Games – A Guide to Making the Process Seamless and Getting Your Players to Enjoy the System
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- "I always start the game out by reviewing those Victory Conditions and helping new players to understand what they mean. This can be the most in-depth part of the teach but is very important." Grant Kleinhenz, in The Players' Aid, shares tips he's developed from teaching the COIN system (COunterINsurgencies) to new players. Grant focuses on the fun, game flow and general strategy, for example a practice of which he says: "In my experience, new players don’t necessarily make that jump in their first few games." |
| 7/29/2022 |
Epic - Building an army in a day!
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- "I plead this post title has at least a part truth - sort of!" Check out why Norm Smith, in Battlefields & Warriors, has "…been re-energised to start jacking up my Epic Waterloo project..."! |
| 7/9/2022 |
Gaming the American Revolution – Ranking the Games We Have Played – 2022 Edition
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- The Players Aid gives their opinion of some of the American Revolutionary wargames they have played in 2022. "n this post, I wanted to share with you some of our gaming experience with these wargames focused on the American Revolutionary War. We haven’t played all of the games on the subject, not even close, but we have played enough that we have a good cross section of the different takes on the situation and types of games to give you some insight into what we liked." |
| 6/22/2022 |
Saturday Night Fights! ~ The 1815 Campaign (Yes, All of it) for “Snappy Nappy”
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- "If you’re going to play out a grand campaign, play it on a grand scale. We’ve got a crowd tonight, in 6 different chats on all different “tables” as the campaign plays out on the 207th anniversary of the battles." states the gentleman from Armchair Dragons as they use the Snappy Napoleon wargame miniatures rule set on Tabletop Simulator in their Saturday Night Fights Event. |
| 5/27/2022 |
Partizan Wargame Show 2022
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- "...a bridge filled with troops is just visually tops." Norm Smith, in his Battlefields & Warriors blog, brings us pictures and observations from the Partizan Wargame Show 2022. Check out why Norm can conclude "…that every game table was inspiring in one way or another and there was plenty of scale and subject diversity here, which is nice to see." |