Issue #12

Summer 2005
Age of Eagles
In one of our past issues Each brigade while doing
we reviewed this set of is rated for qual- almost a
rules while it was in the ity and has three dozen
playtest stage. Initially numbers, repre- turns!
offered for free on a Yahoo senting the unit’s
The rules
group, it quickly gathered a efficiency after
booklet
large following. As more being reduced by
comes with
and more people joined an a number of
three sce-
playtested the system, the stands. Again,
narios and
rules evolved into it’s cur- the system is
an exten-
rent form. simple, but very
sive listing
effective, which
The big breakthrough of unit rat-
is a theme that
occurred, however, when ings. The
runs throughout
the author of the Fire and rulebook has a number of
the rules.
Fury rules gave his permis- diagrams, is well laid out,
sion to include the basic Command and control is and should be used as a
Warning Order

rules in with Age of Ea- pretty basic, with units template for future sets of
gles. Up to that time, AOE being in either the Tactical historical rules.
was just a supplement, or or Reserve zones, depend-
The rules are well sup-
an extension of the basic ing upon their proximity to
ported by a Yahoo group
fire and Fury ACW system. the enemy. A movement
where the author answers
This led to the commercial chart, similar to the one
all questions and there is
version, which has just used in Fire and Fury is
some great discussion on
recently come out. then checked to see how far
tactics, uniforms, and
units can move or if they
AOE is a set of brigade miniatures. There are plans
rally. Again, this is simple,
level Napoleonic minia- to do a series of scenario
effective, and newcomers
tures rules with a scale of books for the entire period
can grasp the system in one
1:320 for infantry, 1:160 of the Napoleonic wars,
or two turns.
for cavalry, and with each plus this set of rules will
gun model representing a Combat is done by add- form the basis for a set of
WFHGS

battery of artillery. Units, ing up the number of “fire rules covering the Seven
which are infantry or cav- points” of infantry and Years War and another set
alry brigades, are com- artillery units, then rolling covering the Franco-
posed of a number of on a table. Melee is simi- Prussian War.
stands, usually from 6 to lar, with a few modifiers
If you’ve been stuck in
12. Although the rules are and is quickly resolved
a Napoleonic rut, with figs
designed primarily for with the roll of a single die.
sitting on shelves because
15mm, with four infantry
I cannot stress enough you can’t find a good set of
or two cavalry figures sug-
how refreshing it is to re- rules, give these a try. The
gested per base, they can
solve a multi-corps Napole- game plays fast and looks
be used with any scale.
onic battle in 3-4 hours great on the tabletop.

Inside this issue:

Special points of interest:
Fal-Con 05 Convention report 2
• Fal-Con 05 convention report.
Boardgame/Computer Game Reviews 4
• Several board game and computer game
More Game & Product Reviews 6 reviews.
Battles for Empire scenario replay 8 • Battle reports for the Sudan, FOW in North
Flames of War scenario replay 10
Africa, and an invasion of England in 1940.

And still more reviews! 12 • Several product reviews.

IABSM Operation Sea Lion scenario replay 14

Fal-Con 2005 Convention Report
Fal-Con 2005 was getting started. If On Sunday we had to drive back early
held in Colorado you were into his- as I had to be in to work at 6:30am the
Springs, Colorado on torical miniatures, next day! We saw a micro-armor game,
April 15th, 16th, and there was some- another Napoleonic game, a Seekrieg 5
17th. Apparently, this thing of interest game, and a western game set up. One
was a second try to here for you. There final stop at the dealer’s room and we
revive a convention in were games ranging headed back to SLC.
this area and with from a 1/35th WW2
The dealer’s room featured Don Perrin
Denver so close by amphibious assault,
of HMG and True North, Askari Minia-
the thinking was that to Bronze Age gang
tures, GFI/Minifigs, RLBPS, GAJO,
it would attract a lot warfare, to our own
Stonehouse Miniatures, Navigator USA,
of gamers. It’s also game of Migs and
and more. There’s nothing quite like
pretty centrally lo- Phantoms dueling it
15mm Sudan game using Battles For Em- out over Vietnam. seeing the goods in the flesh, so to speak,
cated in the West, so
pire rules.. and you definitely get the urge to part
gamers from New
There was a with your cash! Hopefully, next year
Mexico and Utah
large game of Na- these same dealers will return and bring
might be able to make it as well.
poleon’s Battles II, an Armati tourna- along some new ones. I think that the
Two of us from the WFHGS group, ment, a Flames of War tournament, a dealers need to know that the gamers
Gary Sapp and I, were able to make it. French and Indian War game, micro- really appreciate them coming in and
We made the nine hour drive to Colorado armor, and more. All in all, a good start showing us their wares.
Springs from Salt Lake City on Thursday, to the con!
Now for
the day before the con began. Since reg-
On Saturday the gaming some sug-
istration didn’t begin until 11am on Fri-
started early, with another big gestions for
day, we went out and explored the city
Napoleonic game, a Boer War next year’s
and found a good gaming store down-
game, ACW ironclads, WW2 air con. First, I
town. After lunch we came back, got our
combat, and some more lectures. think that
packets, and went into the game and
There was also sci-fi gaming up- uniform time
stairs, board games, WH40K, and blocks
more going on all over the hotel. should be
Since I was primarily in the his- adopted,
torical area, I can only relate to something
what was going on there. like 9am-
2pm, 2pm-
My own Sudan game in 15mm
25mm French & Indian War game 6pm, 6pm-
went un-played! I had promised
using Brother vs. Brother. 10pm,
1,000 figs for the game and had
etc… .
worked up until we left to finish
Also, there was a lot of confusion about
everything. I think my time slot and the
game tickets, signing attendance forms,
fact that no one knew what to expect
25mm Boer War scenario using the and what gamemasters needed to do.
were the primary causes for this, but it
Fields of Honor rules system. Fortunately, these are all small things and
was the only low point for me at the
easily fixed.
whole con.
dealer rooms. The other positive is that the hotel is
By the early afternoon there was a
in a good location, with a convenience
There was a pretty nice western front good looking age of sail game with
store within 50 feet for snacks, about 50
Battlefront game set up which was the 1/700th ships being played, a Clive in
restaurants within a mile or two, and
first game of the day, then we went to a India game, more Flames of War and
plenty of stores.
lecture on the air war in Vietnam. Defi- Armati, plus more board games in the
nitely one of the high points of the cons atrium. Overall, this was a good effort and it’s
were the series of professional lectures inspired our club’s members to do what-
given by instructors from the Air Force By Saturday evening the room was
ever it takes to make it next year. I think
Academy. Our lecturers took questions, packed with another 1/35th Bulge sce-
that there was a good mix of games, ven-
were informative, and it was well worth nario, Russian Civil War, more age of
dors, and lectures that will keep it inter-
attending. sail, a Vietnam ground game, Flames of
esting. Hopefully more vendors and
War, a Seekrieg 5 scenario, Migs vs.
gamers will come next year as this is a
By Friday evening most of the gamers Sabres in Korea, plus our own SAM hunt
good regional convention that deserves
had arrived and the evening games were in Vietnam.
support.

Page 2 WARNING ORDER

Fal-Con 2005 Convention Report

ISSUE #12 Page 3

Rise of Nations Computer Game Review
While I’ve been a From the towns to the cities and and looks great.
big fan of games like factories, the detail is sharp and
Finally, you
Starcraft and Strong- crisp. Even when you start get-
reach the Indus-
hold, where you have ting aircraft, tanks, and hundreds
trial, Modern,
to build cities, keep of units running around the board,
and Information
track of food or crys- there is virtually no slow down
Ages, where you
tal, create armies, and it looks good.
get tanks, oil,
etc…, I was never
So, how does it play? In most factories, subma-
really excited about
games you start out in the ancient rines, and yes,
the Age of Empires
era with one village, a lumber even nukes!
system. True, it looks good, plays fast,
camp, and a farm. You need to quickly
and is good for online play. But, there Everything sounds good so far and it’s
create villagers, start more farms, more
was something about it that didn’t make fun to build, explore, then go out and
lumber camps, then research technolo-
it a favorite of mine. conquer. But, here’s where the game
gies. This is the key to the game as the
fails in my opinion. Resources never run
Now comes long Rise of Nations, or new technologies allow you to build lum-
out, so when you have ten cities, 50
what could be called Age of Empires III. ber mills, smelters, improve food proc-
farms, several oil refineries, etc.., you’re
The first thing that you notice is that you essing, weapons, and so on.
able to crank out infantry, aircraft, tanks,
can play a variety of solo, multi-
By the time artillery, and ships like there’s no tomor-
player, or campaign games.
you’ve advanced to row. The problem? So does your oppo-
Then, if you look at the mods on
the Enlightenment nent. This results in a stalemate or long
the side, you can set the maps for
Age, you will have grinding campaigns where you build and
random, vary the number of lay-
several cities, mills, send stuff to the front as fast as possible
ers, limit technology, etc… .
government build- in unrelenting attacks. It gets old fast.
Essentially, you could play it a
ings, and a large After about six or seven solo games I was
thousand times with different
army. This is ready to move on to another game.
settings each time. This is very
where most of the
good. Overall, a good game with nice graph-
combat begins. The
ics and systems, but the result in the end
Visually, the graphics are outstanding. combat interaction is pretty impressive
leaves little satisfaction.

Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit Game Review

Avalon Hill’s Squad Leader and it’s Germans. The counters, boards, and sce- present to interpret them for you.
three supplements nario cards were just like the old game
So, how does it play? Actually, not
were some of my fa- and I started to get excited all over again!
too bad and it does produce realistic re-
vorite games. You
But then I noticed some new informa- sults. Keeping track of the defensive fire,
could virtually game
tional counters and started checking subsequent defensive fire, and final fire
out any kind of com-
through the rules. Here’s where the prob- can get confusing at times, plus it needs a
pany level battle from
lems begin. First off, these rules are not multi-page reference sheet rather than the
WW2 and have fun
for beginning gamers. It looks like they card that you get. Trying to find specific
doing it. Along came
have done a cut and paste job from the rules is difficult. I’ve played a few
ASL and it’s several
ASL rulebook, giving you just enough games solo and they were more work
hundred pages of
information to play the first six scenarios than fun. True, I learned a lot about
rules and many gam-
with the minimum of special weapons. WW2 fire and movement small unit tac-
ers dropped it.
No vehicles, mortars, artillery, snipers, tics, but it can get tedious at times.
Multi-Man Publishing, holder of the etc… .
The game is well supported, with
rights to the ASL franchise, has now
It’s when you start reading the rules magazines, egroups, forums, and a bunch
come out with an ASL starter kit. For
that you begin to notice problems. You of boxed supplements. The problem is
$25 you get two thick map boards that are
have to keep referring back to sections to that you need to devote your gaming life
about 8” wide by 17” long, a counter
figure out what all of the abbreviations to this game. By that, I mean that you
sheet, rules, and three scenario cards with
are, you can’t find relevant information have to sell off every gaming item that
six scenarios depicting historical actions
easily, and some paragraphs are so long you own and play this exclusively, that’s
between the Russians, Americans, and
or confusing that you need your attorney how involved it can get!

Page 4 WARNING ORDER

Naval Battles Game Review
After purchasing ian, U.S., British, bols are on the cards, but then it gets easy
Phalanx Games’ Napo- German, and Japanese to play. You can finish a game in 20-30
leon game and having fleets. minutes and if you want to play Germans
been impressed by the vs. Japanese or a 4 player game with eve-
Basically, each side
quality of it, I was look- ryone against everyone, the rules allow
starts out with so
ing forward to the Naval for it.
many points to spend
Battles game release.
on ships. You then As a card driven family game I think
As soon as it came in to
arrange your fleet into it’s alright. As a serious simulation of
my local game store I
a series of lines and naval combat, this isn’t it. Frankly, I
bought one, took it
play begins. Each expected a lot more than a Pokemon with
home, and immediately
card played lets you make an attack, im- ships type game. I think that more com-
opened it up.
proves your defense, or launches a land plexity, scenarios, campaigns, etc…,
So, for about $25 what do you get? based air attack. After the first few hands could have been added. So, unless you
The answer? Not much. There are two you catch on, so it’s pretty easy to learn. have an extra $25 to blow for a game that
decks of cards, several D6s, and an in- My son, who’s 9, caught on in a few min- you and your kids can play, don’t get it.
struction booklet. The cards are nicely utes. You will need to
done, laminated, and have all the infor- refer to the rules for the
mation needed to play the game without first game to find out
the rules. The basic set has French, Ital- what the various sym-

Eastern Fleet Game Review

Eastern Fleet is Surface actions and air at-
part of the Second tacks are handled simply as well.
World War at Sea Each ship has so many primary,
series from Avalanche secondary, and tertiary weapons.
Press. Although I had You roll a number of D6s and on
wanted to try this a 6 you score a hit, then damage
series for a long time, tables are consulted. While this is mended. Too bad I had to use the scenar-
the price of the series not as detailed as some games, it ios for this volume to try the system out.
made me put this on does resolve large naval actions in a
the back burner. I timely manner, plus it’s fun. The scenarios provided, while histori-
finally saw a good cal, show just how bad the situation was
Air attacks by dive bombers, for the British and Allied fleets in the
offer on this volume
torpedo planes, and CAP are also Indian Ocean in 1942. You’re usually
and decided to try it.
resolved with a few die rolls. No one in heavily outnumbered in carrier aircraft,
The physical components are up to our game thought they were shortchanged plus the Japanese ships are better. Not
Avlanche’s usual high standards. There or clamored for more detail. You were only that, in most of the scenarios the
is a map of the Indian Ocean area, a tacti- able to launch an airstrike from several Japanese have better starting positions. If
cal map, about 250 nicely done counters, carriers and resolve it in five minutes you love a challenge, then playing the
and the rules, which are broken up into with pretty historical results. British here is for you! There’s also two
series rules and specific rules plus scenar- gigantic scenarios that in-
Likewise,
ios for this module. volve U.S. forces, but you
search aircraft,
need the SOPAC volume to
The system uses an interesting non- submarines, and
play them.
hidden movement system on the strategic transports are all
map. Task force counters are placed, but handled in a sim- A great system, great
you must search for opposing forces, ple, but effective components, great rules, but
even if you end up in the same map manner. Overall, I’ll have to try Midway or
square. You also must plot 1-2 turns this is a great one of the other games
ahead, so this makes the operational sec- system and is when they’re re-released
tion of the game pretty challenging. highly recom- again.

ISSUE #12 Page 5

Leyte Gulf by Thomas Cutler Book Review
To most people, the Battle longed the war by at least a battle where the U.S. capital ships
of Leyte Gulf is one of those year, if not caused some serious crossed the Japanese ‘T’ in a night sur-
end of the war battles where an re-thinking of Allied strategy. face action.
overwhelming amount of U.S.
The book goes over all the Then, you see how one of the main
force crushed the remaining
options faced by each side and Japanese forces snuck into the gulf and
Japanese fleet. It is largely
gives precise details of the almost knocked out an entire carrier
ignored in comparison to
movements leading up to the group, which damaged reputations and
Guadacanal, Coral Sea, or Mid-
battle. In particular, you learn led to acrimony between friends after the
way.
just how successful the Japa- war.
Thomas Cutler, with the nese northern decoy force was
Overall, I thought the book was well
Bluejacket reprint of his book, in luring away Halsey’s Third
done and I learned more about this battle
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, at- Fleet.
than I had previously thought. The hero-
tempts to bring to light just how close
Of course, the main action begins with ism on both sides, the desperate gun bat-
this battle came to turning the war
MacArthur’s landing in Leyte Gulf and tles, and the carrier airstrikes are all viv-
around. Cutler details in his book the
then the Japanese response. The separate idly portrayed. If I had one problem with
background of the battle and the plans
Japanese thrusts were hammered by U.S. the book, it is that the author, with hind-
made by each side. As was their want,
naval aircraft as they attempted to come sight, spends too much time criticizing
the Japanese had an incredibly complex
to blows with their enemy. The book the commanders at the battle. Other than
plan, that had it worked, may have pro-
also gives a good account of the famous that, it is highly recommended.

I-94 Enterprises Product Review

http://i-94enterprises.com/ 1/300th scale decals. They that you get two sheets in the
have every type of WW2 and package for $3. They accept
As our group does a lot of air wargam-
modern USAF or USN insig- Paypal and the average shipping
ing, you need to paint up and detail
nia, plus insignia from Nor- time is 3-4 days.
1/300th scale aircraft. Now, just painting
way, Sweden, North Viet-
them correctly in that scale is challenging The only problem that I’ve
nam, and pretty much any
enough, but trying to add insignia, letter- had is that the lettering on some
country that flies military
ing, numbers, etc…, is asking a lot. of the decals, not the insignia,
aircraft! They also have
breaks apart too easily. If they
Stepping up to fill this void is I-94 decals for the Marines, tanks,
can solve this problem, it would
Enterprises, who makes a wide range of etc…, and the best part is
help things greatly.

Flames of War: Desert Fox Rules Review

Finally, after Desert Rats there’s the color pictures which what they do!), you can use Rommel on
has been out for awhile, you are meant to sell figs, much like the front lines!
get the briefing book for the White Dwarf. They are done
Germans in Africa. As with well and can provide inspiration For historical purists (there’s also the
all FOW products, the rules for anyone wanting to get into self propelled guns that were hardly used
are professionally done, with this period. as well) this may be too much. For peo-
extensive army lists and lots ple just getting into WW2 from WH40K,
Unlike Desert Rats, which had then this is a good thing. Of course this
of color pictures.
a ton of problems in my mind, brings up a whole other debate about
Basically, you get lists to Desert Fox has only a few. FOW and reality. Suffice to say, the
do almost any unit in the Af- Besides the obligatory special supplement is well done and does pre-
rika Korps and it’s presented rules (they’re going to need a cisely what it supposed to do, namely get
in an easy to understand format. Then special book soon to list all of them and people to buy Afrika Korps stuff!

Page 6 WARNING ORDER

Defiant Russia Game Review
If you remember the map is well done and sian reinforcements arrive and the Ger-
the old “120” series of most importantly, it is func- mans can’t kill them fast enough. Fi-
games from GDW, tional. The counters are 1/2” nally, the Russian Shock Armies arrive
then Defiant Russia and are easily distinguished on the final turn and launch a fierce coun-
will bring back some into Romanians, Germans, terattack in the snow while the Gemrans
memories. In fact, armor, Finns, etc… . The try to hold onto their victory points.
when I opened the rules are not bad, but you
This is a great little game! It’s very
rulebook I thought I need to carefully read the
unpredictable, fun to play, and both sides
was looking at the old stacking and ZOC sections a
have an excellent chance at victory.
1941 game from that few times.
Every time that a new Eastern Front
series.
The unique part of the game comes out, there are the same cries
Defiant Russia is Avalanche Press’ game is the combat system, where you about it doesn’t realistically simulate the
first game in a new series of small, quick roll 1D6 for each combat factor, either opening German drives in the summer.
playing wargames. The game is only attacking or defending. So yes, While this is true, there’s no
$20, but I got mine from Bunker Hill get out the buckets of dice! Actu- way to add rules to make
games for only $16. You get a 17”x22” ally, this was pretty fun and the Russian player as idiotic
map, 140 counters, and a short rulebook. makes for a pretty unpredictable or surprised as the actual
The game covers the 1941 German inva- game. Russians were. Any kind of
sion of Russia, up to the first snows in game that does that would-
Naturally, the German player
December. Although only seven turns n’t be fun to play and then,
has the burden of attack, while the
long and the box says it plays in 90 min- how do you stop all the
Russian player needs to plug
utes to two hours, that is not always the German advantages after
holes, launch counterattacks, and
case. the first few months?
basically just hang on for dear
First, the map. The first thing you life. On the first turn the Ger- Overall, Defiant Russia
notice is the oversized train tracks that mans punch holes across the accomplishes what it sets
snake across the board. The reason is front, then in following turns need out to do. I am looking
that the rail lines are essential for figuring to exploit them and seize as many cities forward to the next two games in this
out the simple supply system. The rest of as possible. Then, more and more Rus- series.

Homeworld 2 Computer Game Review

Homeworld and From the first mission you fleet with fighters, bombers, and cor-
Homeworld: Cataclysm can see that they are trying to vettes. By the final battle I had about 30
have been two of my all make this as difficult as possi- ships and around 100 smaller craft, which
time favorite computer ble. The graphics are better, became almost too much to control. To
games. Ship to ship there’s more options, and they say that some of the missions are tough
combat in the far future got rid of the annoying having would be an understatement. I had to
in a three dimensional to wait around for several continuously get online and find some
environment, with re- hours while resources were hints as I had tried several missions a few
source management, processed. times each and had failed.
technology research,
However, they have simplified the 3D Overall, this game is good, but not as
tactics, and a great storyline. The games
movement and limited your range of for- good as the first two. I think that they
were tough and thinking in three dimen-
mations and tactics, something that I sometimes sub-
sions was even tougher.
didn’t like. Also, there are times stitute difficulty
So, finally after several years the se- when you could seriously use a staff for ideas and I
quel is finally out. The opening storyline to direct operations, building, mis- would like to see
sums it all up. Your new homworld is sions, etc…, as it can become over- alternate story
under attack by vastly superior forces and whelming at times. lines with some
the only way to save it is to go out, create options. Graphi-
The story is well done, with
a new fleet, find the three sacred cores, cally, though, the
your mothership progressing
and unite them. Sounds easy, but it’s not! game is tough to
through the levels, building a large
beat.

ISSUE #12 Page 7

Expedition in the Sudan Scenario Replay
This was the first time that we were Anglo-Egyptian forces ling gun.
able to use British troops under the Bat-
(3) units of Sudanese-Class 2 The Mahdist forces consisted of:
tles For Empire system, so we were inter-
ested to see how they would do. It would (3) units of gendarmes & slavers-Class 3 (20) foot units
also be a big scenario, featuring around
1,000 15mm figures. (2) units of (4) rifle armed units
cavalry-
The scenario involved a (5) Units of cavalry/camelry
Class 2
joint Anglo-Egyptian force The Mahdists set up first, then the
trying to retake a village (2) units of
Anglo-Egyptian forces were allowed to
deep in the Sudan. The An- Egyptian
set up in a designated area. Surprisingly,
glo-Egyptian force was al- regulars-
the Anglo-Egyptian players decided to
ready deployed on the board, Class 2
fight in line, ala the Italians at Agordat.
with the Fuzzy Wuzzies oc- (2) sections The thinking was that their firepower
cupying the hills in front of of Krupp would offset the disadvantage of being
them and the rest of the Der- guns out of square. This theory would be se-
vishes deployed as reserves verely te3sted over the course of the
to meet the axis of advance. The British
game.
had one unit
The forces were as follows: each of Royal Marines, Naval Brigade,
and two units of Highlanders, plus a gat-

The Anglo-Egyptian force advances

The Anglo-Egyptian force immedi- at the extreme end of the line. A gatling to reform.
ately began advancing across a gun had ad-
Two turns of fierce, hand to hand fight-
broad front while the Mahdists vanced too far
ing followed, with a unit of Highlanders
forces adjusted to meet the attack. and was quickly
forced to give ground. The Naval Bri-
The Fuzzy Wuzzies began shooting overrun. How-
gade, however, held its ground and with
at the Egyptian brigade, but did not ever, close
the support of fresh units, the first Der-
do any serious damage. range volleys
vish attack was defeated. The British
destroyed two
The first real combat occurred forces quickly redeployed to meet new
Dervish units
when a dervish infantry force tried threats on their left flank and for the
and gave the
to break through the British force growing force in front of them.
British a chance

Page 8 WARNING ORDER

Expedition in the Sudan (cont.)
The main attack now pulsed by rifle some pretty heavy and accurate rifle fire,
developed on the large hill. fire, but two some of the Dervish units were able to
The Fuzzies rose up and more attacks close into hand to hand. This time, how-
began to move towards the pushed the ever, the British forces easily dispatched
main Egyptian battle line. Egyptian de- their enemies.
The Dervish cavalry and fenders back.
Back on the hill, things were looking
camelry, having rode all
Meanwhile, desperate for the Egyptians. A unit of
the way around the battle-
the Egyptian Dervish cavalry was running around in
field, launched a series of
artillery contin- the rear and there was heavy pressure
charges that defeated the
ued to slam along the entire line. The Fuzzies, how-
Egyptian cavalry, but los-
shell after shell ever, worn down by the rifle and artillery
ing three units in the proc-
into the mass of fire, plus the casualties from melee, were
ess.
shaken troops on top of the hill, prevent- not in great shape either.
The Egyptian focus on the Dervish ing them from being rallied and rejoining
Several attempts to rally failed and on
cavalry let the Fuzzies gain ground the fight just when their numbers could
at least two occasions, Fuzzy units could
quickly without being shelled by the have proved decisive.
not roll enough movement to enter melee,
Egyptian Krupp guns. They were finally
On the other flank the fourth Dervish just when it could have proved decisive.
able to launch several attacks on the
force moved up in preparation for an They still had a chance, however.
Egyptian line. The first two were re-
attack on the British brigade. Despite

Conclusion
The Fuzzy Wuzzies had about two side of the line or the An- options opened up to
more chances to break through and en- glo-Egyptian force a them. There were
velop the Egyptian brigade. The first fell chance to fire close range several desperate mo-
through when the advancing units had volleys into the last attack- ments for the British
bad rolls on the movement chart, leaving ing force. The British won and Egyptian players
them just a few inches short of entering the roll and that was the where the game could
hand to hand combat. end of the game. have gone either way,
which is the mark of a
The second occurred on the final turn, A close run and well
well balanced game.
where the initiative would either give the fought contest. Both sides
Dervish force a chance to overwhelm a played well and took what

ISSUE #12 Page 9

FOW: German Counterattack Scenario Replay
As our collections of dier platoon in across a corner of the board.
Flames of War North Africa halftracks, two
Each turn the Germans rolled a D6 for
forces continue to grow, so para platoons, a
the remainder of their platoons, needing a
does our desire to get as Marder platoon,
5 or 6 to arrive on turn 1, a 3,4,5, or 6 on
much on the tabletop as pos- and one Tiger
turn 2, and the rest would automatically
sible! Several guys had just arrive randomly
enter on Turn 3. This almost assured the
completed fresh panzer units, as reinforce-
British of at least making it halfway
so we needed a scenario to ments.
across the board before they would en-
use them!
The British counter serious opposition. The Germans
The premise is that a force consisted of would have to fight a delaying action
small German force is hold- one Sherman until more troops could appear for a
ing an important ridgeline and they find company with 16 tanks, three infantry counterattack.
out that they will be attacked. Reinforce- platoons, two Matilda companies, one
The British needed to seize two of
ments have been asked for and are on the MG platoon, one mortar platoon, one 6lb.
three objectives. The first was the ridge-
way, arriving randomly to reinforce the AT platoon, and one section of 25lb. Ar-
line itself, the second was the pass, and
position. tillery.
the third was the exit off the German end
One German armor platoon and one para The British force was allowed to set of the board. Both sides deployed their
platoon are already on board, plus some up one foot from the edge of the board forces and we were ready for action.
mortars. Two PZ III platoons, a grena- and could have units in the wadi that ran

The Battle Begins

The Shermans moved out in front out two of the PZ IVs on the ridge. The The German reinforcements rushed to
immediately, heading for a direct con- German return fire was ineffective and the center to take up blocking positions.
frontation with the German armor de- the Shermans continued The speed of the British ad-
ployed on the ridge. The British infantry to advance. The follow- vance, however, created prob-
then moved out with two platoons leading ing turn saw the remain- lems for the British side. All of
and one in reserve, while the support ing PZ IVs get over- the support units were now in
units prepared to take up positions to whelmed by 75mm anti- position for what they thought
bring the ridge under fire. tank fire while the rest would be a long and blood fight
of the British force con- for the ridge. Now they had to
The battle began with the Shermans
tinued to advance at redeploy and the center became
opening up at long range and knocking
will. a mass of vehicles and infantry

Page 10 WARNING ORDER

FOW: German Counterattack (cont.) Scenario Replay
swirling around and creating huge traffic advance had caused problems and it took Then the British Matildas got into
jams. time to sort things out. action and with a timely airstirke, got the
offensive rolling again. The British sup-
By now the German Marders and the Meanwhile, the Tiger had been hold-
port units were now in position and the
lone Tiger had reached the base of the ing off the Shermans on the ridge by it-
mortars plus the artillery battery were
ridge, temporarily plugging the hole. The self, seemingly impervious to fire and
bringing in heavy and accurate fire on the
German para mortars rained death and knocking out two more Shermans. Al-
German positions.
destruction down on the advancing Brit- though the Marders had been knocked
ish infantry, but were si- out, the Germans The German PZ IIIs continued to slug
lenced by fire from the Brit- were holding the it out with the Shermans, with neither
ish artillery. In the center the ridge and the exit side gaining an advantage. The entire
two German PZ III platoons from the pass. It British infantry company was now up
went into counterattack mode looked like the front and the Germans were in danger of
and knocked out two Sher- situation had being swamped by numbers.
mans. stabilized and the
The range was rapidly closing now
Germans might
For the next two turns the and the volume of British fire was grow-
be able to go onto
British tried to get them- ing rapidly. The German para positions
the counterattack
selves organized and to reori- on the second hill and the grenadiers
and retake the
ent themselves towards the came under heavy fire as we approached
ridge.
objectives. The speed of the the deciding moments.

Endgame and Conclusions

The Matildas added their weight to the mans, pl us support weapons. The looked like the
attack, knocking out a PZ III, while the Germans figured that they couldn’t game was over at
Shermans knocked out two more. This hold and decided to withdraw, leav- that point, the
was the signal for a general advance and ing the objectives to the victorious German players
the British numbers began to tell. More British. responded well
PZ IIIs fell and a number of platoons by launching
Both sides played well and
broke and fled. some vicious
fought hard. The German PZ IVs
counterattacks
This left the Tiger and two para pla- had some horrible luck, not scoring
that almost
toons to fight off a fresh infantry com- a single hit out of 15 shots and only
turned the game
pany, two Matilda platoons, nine Sher- saving their armor roll once! Although it
completely around.

ISSUE #12 Page 11

U.S.S. Midway CV-41 Tour/San Diego Harbor
The aircraft car- sailors and officers that almost vertical!), it is definitely worth it.
rier U.S.S. Midway served on the Midway Finally, there is a great gift shop and café
was towed to North throughout her illustrious on the fantail.
Harbor Drive and career.
All in all, it is money well spent. It
set up as a floating
Probably the most incredi- cost my family $60 for the six of us,
museum in the
ble section of the tour is the which is pretty good. The entire tour
summer of 2004.
walk on the flight deck. Al- takes about an hour and a half, but if you
CV-41 has under-
though the Midway is are a naval enthusiast it is worth the time
gone many transfor-
smaller than today’s new spent. There are also flight simulators
mations while on
carriers, the flight deck is and training for an additional cost. If
active duty and the
huge. There are at least a dozen aircraft you’re in San Diego anytime, try to make
ship now lies in her final configuration.
on deck, including an A-6, S-3, numerous this a stop.
There is a great self choppers, F-4s, F-
guided audio tour which 14, and more.
wraps from the hangar to There are also plans
engineering, the sick bay, to bring in more
machine shops, and up to Korean War aircraft
the flight deck. If you are in the near future.
claustrophobic, then this
You can also go
tour is not for you! Naval
to the bridge and
vessels clearly aren’t de-
navigation area in
signed for anyone over 6’
the ship’s island.
tall and you will see this
Although crowded
as soon as the tour starts.
F-4 Phantom from one of the Midway’s and hard to get to
The audio tour also in-
many Vietnam deployments. (the ladders are View from the bridge looking out over
cludes comments from
the flight deck.

Warmaster Ancients Rules Review

Warmaster was a very turn, only two rounds of combat al- able for group play. There are 25 army
well received set of fantasy lowed per unit per turn, and cavalry lists included in this book, ranging from
rules from Games Workshop. ( with some exceptions) is based on Egyptians, Assyrians, and Hittites, to
It has a devoted following the long edge. Romans and Anglo-Saxons. There is talk
and there was a regular of additional army lists coming out as
For anyone who has not tried
magazine, annuals, and addi- well as a possible medieval supplement.
Warmaster, I strongly suggest that you
tional armies, up until this Already, Blitzkrieg Commander has suc-
do. Each unit is three stands and every
year when all support for it cessfully used this system for WW2, so it
turn is given orders from commanders.
seems to have stopped. should work for most eras.
This is just a 2D6 die roll to see if the
Now, the same idea is being applied to unit accepts the order. You can then give Although designed for 10mm figures,
the historical arena with the introduction the same unit a second or third order, but the rules do give basing guidelines for
of Warmaster Ancients. This rule book is with decreasing modifiers as they get other scales. With the explosion of
well done. Filled with color photos, farther away from your commander. If 10mm on the gaming scene, I believe that
black and white artwork, and army lists, you don’t make a die roll, then that com- this is the best scale for the game. It
it is certainly value for the $35-40 cost. mander is done for the turn. Simple, easy gives that mass look that you need for
There is also great support on the Yahoo to grasp, and very effective. ancient battles and the cost can’t be beat.
egroup. Currently, there are Old Glory, Pendra-
Each unit is rated for attack, number
ken, Irregular, Chariot, and Kallistra who
Basically, if you are familiar with of hits, armor save, and special functions,
are producing figs in this scale and I ex-
Warmaster, you can jump right in and such as shock cavalry, skirmishers, pha-
pect the lines to grow quickly.
just worry about the rules changes. The lanx, etc… .
major changes are that a unit can only be Overall, a well done set of rules which
The game plays very fast and is suit-
issued a maximum of three orders per should help out the ancient period.

Page 12 WARNING ORDER

Historical Miniature Gamer #1 & #2 Magazine Review
When news came out that MWAN and HMG magazine, which replaced both tion and the “home-grown” type feel of
the Courier were going to be replaced by of them, is now out with it’s first two both magazines, but I think that HMG is
HMG magazine, it sent a shockwave issues. It is in a larger format, looking off to a good start, certainly worth trying
through the historical gaming com- more like Wargames Illus- a subscription for a few years.
munity. MWAN was beloved by all, trated and it does have
I do like the fact that the magazine
especially for the “down to earth” color pictures.
does not feel like White Dwarf, with tons
mentality of the magazine. It was
The first issue was not of ads and catalogs, and that the photo-
gamers talking to gamers, not trying
bad, but the pictures graphs are necessarily staged for every
to sell them something on every page.
needed a little work. The shot.
The Courier, even though it was al-
second issue was much
ways late, is still used as a reference Overall, give this magazine a try and
better and you could defi-
for scenarios, reviews, and little send your comments in to help them bet-
nitely see improvements.
known periods. ter address the needs of gamers.
I do miss the letters sec-

Litko 28mm City Garage Product Review

Litko Aerosystems has a series of and I had no problems with fit-
28mm buildings that are designed for ting the pieces together. Add a
wargaming. For our Operation Sea Lion few odds and ends and the kit
project I ordered in the City Garage to turned out pretty well.
see how well they would fit in with our
Overall, our group was im-
28mm WW2 collections.
pressed with the results on the
Although not cheap at around $25-30, tabletop and so now I will have to
the kit looked pretty good when I opened try some more of their kits. They
it. All of the pieces are laser cut wood also are making bases and a vari-
and there was a good set of instructions ety of hex templates in several
included. sizes.
Assembly was pretty straightforward Highly recommended.

IMAX Fighter Pilot Movie Review

If you’ve been a fan goes into this huge exercise as they try to get to see
of air wargames, air- make it as realistic as possible. some of the
shows, or the movie battles un-
Of course, we’re here for the flying
Top Gun, you’re going fold from
scenes and in this you won’t be disap-
to love this film! Pre- the AWACs
pointed. Incredible foot-
sented in the IMAX aircraft that
age of F-15s, F-16s, F-
format, this 50 minute monitor the
18’s, A-10s, German
film takes you on a tour exercise.
Tornados, and more, all
of Red Flag, the largest
in IMAX format. The There is
and most realistic air
air to air combat scenes also some
exercise in the world.
give you a taste of mod- spectacular scenes involving an A-10
You follow a F-15 ern dogfighting that’s airstirke that makes you appreciate the
pilot, who’s father flew better than Top Gun. combat power of modern aircraft.
Corsairs in WW2, through his first trip to
You fly along for Even though it’s only fifty minutes
Red Flag. The film shows the briefings,
multiple missions and long, this is a tremendous experience.
support crews, and mission planning that

ISSUE #12 Page 13

Operation Sea Lion: Royalty Rescue IABSM Battle Report
The planned, but never carried out inva- southeast coast of England while the Home Guard platoon in the village,
sion of England has fascinated gamers main invasion forces hit the beaches. guarding the two high profile personali-
and historians for decades. Our group is British reserves and Home Guard units ties, a Home Guard platoon in army vehi-
no exception and we decided to embark are moving to their positions. cles with regular army support weapons,
on a project to simulate this as a and a RAF ground mechanics platoon in
The Ger-
subject for a demo game for next civilian vehicles. All British forces came
man paras,
year’s Fal-Con. in as reinforcements, except for the one
consisting of
platoon of Home Guard, which was de-
This scenario was to be pretty two platoons,
ployed in the village.
simple, as we had only played a company
IABSM a few times and this HQ, recon While the Germans needed to assem-
would be primarily an infantry elements, and ble quickly, get their weapons canisters,
contest. We had several pla- a small engi- then seize the town, the British were con-
toons of British Home Guard, neer section, cerned about evacuating the important
civilian vehicles, German paras, must drop, personalities and holding on to the center
etc…, so we designed a quick assemble, of the village. Points would be awarded
and easy scenario for everyone then move to for objectives taken, number of enemy
to try. seize a vital crossroads at an English vil- killed, etc….
lage.
It’s the first day of the invasion and So, after setting up and a quick rules
German paras are dropping all over the The British forces consisted of one review, the JU-52s approached….

German Airdrop
The first German para platoon up the road in army vehicles, and made for the
dropped in a good place and was able to who then quickly dismounted village. This was
make good time down the road towards and started shooting at them, quickly turning into
the village. The company HQ also and a squad of Home Guard in a race for the vil-
dropped unopposed and was able to get the town who had an attached lage center as the
into position on the outskirts of the vil- MG. Needless to day, the sec- German paras tried
lage. The second para platoon, however, ond German para platoon was to sort themselves
dropped into a hornet’s nest! in serious trouble. out. Firefights
broke out across the
They unfortunately landed right be- The RAF platoon entered in
board as the game
tween the Home Guard platoon coming it’s convoy of civilian vehicles
moved on.

Page 14 WARNING ORDER

IABSM Battle Report (cont.)
While the second German para platoon the company HQ and before being beaten ian vehicle and went up the road to
fought for it’s life, the company HQ and back with the aid of flamethrowers, the safety, launching counterattacks in sev-
the RAF platoon got into some sharp company HQ as out of the game as a eral places to pin the Germans down.
firefights. The RAF reached the village viable force. The second German para
Finally, the first German para platoon
center, then quickly platoon was also
made itself felt with several attacks that
deployed to protect in great diffi-
cleared the village center, but they were
the village center. culty, having
still meeting fierce resistance as the sec-
The second German been repulsed in
ond Home Guard platoon began entering
para platoon tried to two separate
the village outskirts after having defeated
close assault the close combat
the second German para platoon.
house, but were actions on differ-
pushed back by the ent sides of the It was now approaching desperation
Home Guard squad on village. time for the Germans. One para platoon
the second floor! was knocked out, the company HQ didn’t
The Home
have the strength to go on, and the first
The company HQ, Guard platoon in
platoon was heavily outnumbered. Still,
despite losses, was the village, de-
the first para platoon battled it’s way
now getting the upper spite being al-
towards the village center, trying to reach
hand against the one RAF squad it was most at the breaking point, quickly bun-
the objectives before time ran out.
fighting. However, a second one flanked dled up their honored guests into a civil-

Final Turns & Summary

In the end, the Germans didn’t during the this was a fun and unusual game. We
have the strength to seize their two close certainly missed a few things in the rules
objectives and lost on points. assaults. In and will need a few house rules to clear
This was our first fight using one of the up things. We were able to do a large
IABSM where there weren’t any assaults they game with these rules and finish in under
fighting vehicles, and just using rolled some- four hours.
infantry was quite unusual. thing like 20
For the future we will add Bren Carri-
D6’s and got
Both sides played well, but the ers, Stukas, more regulars, and hopefully
one hit!
German second para platoon had have some armor battles as Tamiya’s
horrendous luck in their drop and Overall, 1/48th scale range continues to grow.

ISSUE #12 Page 15

 WFHGS Again, I am continually amazed by how many gamers are turning towards sim-
plistic rules. While I agree that they do have their merits, namely speed of play, fun,
not taking things seriously, etc…, are you really learning anything about the period?
If not, why not just play chess or use tanks to represent figures for the Crusades?

WFHGS
When I first got into gaming and I chose to do the Sudan, you had to do some
serious research about uniforms, convert figs to make units that there weren’t figures
We game every other Friday night in SLC, Utah.
Periods played include WW2(in three scales!), Age of Reason, for, and then find rules that simulated the conditions of the period. Along the way,
Age of Eagles, Renaissance, Ancients, Samurai, Colonial(two
different scales), boardgames, and more...
you learned quite a bit about the armies, uniforms, weapons, tactics, and battles of
Comments, questions, or suggestions? the period.
Contact [email protected]

Today, gamers want to be spoon fed. They want a Flames of War style system for
every period, such as the Seven Years War. They want WH40K style codexes that
Back issues of Warning Order can
be found on the web site. have all the uniforms, stats, and hopefully the figures will come pre-painted. All the
faster to get figs on the tabletop and play, even though most of them know nothing
about the period, nor do they care to learn anything. Frederick is just a cool guy on
a white horse that gets you a +2 on die rolls and comes on the army list for free.

www.wfhgs.com All of us as historical gamers need to do a better job of instructing the new gam-
ers about how important research can be to their hobby.

Borodino 1812 by GMT Games Game Review

Borodino was one First, the map is well done. It is sort Russian) gets a
of the climactic bat- of in the old SPI style, but with better number of activa-
tles during the Napo- colors and graphics. My only problem is tion chits. When
leonic Wars and in the layout of the player’s boxes, since these are pulled the
history. Napoleon, you actually play the game faced in the units in those
seeking to bring the opposite direction(east to west). The groups can attempt
Russian army to counters are also well done and the rules to move and fight.
grips, finally got his are laid out in an easy to understand for- Each commander
wish when the Rus- mat. can also put so
sians decided to make a stand outside the many groups
So, how does it play? After the set up
village of Borodino. What followed was “Under Orders”, so they don’t have to
you can see that this is going to be a slug-
a bloody slugging match, as the French make command rolls. Combat is pretty
fest with little room to maneuver. Each
decided to forego maneuver and rushed basic, with artillery fire and then shock
command(corps for French, army for
headlong into the Russian defenses. Af- combat, which represents close range
ter over twelve hours of fighting and tens firefights and melees. After a few turns
of thousands dead, the Russians withdrew you get the hang of it and play proceeds
with a lackluster French army in pursuit. rapidly.
Borodino has also been popular with Overall, this game was fun to play and
gamers , with several games done on the because of the activation system it has
subject, the most recent by US Games some replay value. True, it’s a straight-
(now owned by Avalanche Press). Rich- forward slugging match, but is pretty
ard Berg, one of the industry’s leading historical. It’s a good, solid game, but I
designers, has now put forth his interpre- wonder how much interest there is in
tation of the battle for GMT Games. another Borodino game?