New Arrivals
Desert Victory: North Africa, 1940-42 by Trevor Bender and published in C3i Magazine Nr 36 from RBM Studio is Volume II in the C3i Combined Arms Series. This game uses the same core game mechanisms (the Posture mechanic) found in Bender’s C3i Combined Arms Series, Vol. I, Kursk: The Tigers are Burning, 1943 published in 2021 in C3i Magazine Nr.34.
It is also important to note that Desert Victory is only one part of C3i Magazine. Did you know there are also articles to read in the magazine? Nr. 36 has some interesting ones:
- “Clio’s Corner #13: Wargame CRTs or How to Resolve Chaos” by Mark Herman
- “Snakes & Ladders #3: Rules as Written” by the anti-‘that ain’t a wargame’
war gamerhistorical conflict simulations board game player Harold Buchanan with lots of wargamer Jim ‘The Gascon’ Owczarski thrown in - “Wargames: simulation or stimulation?” by James Buckley.
There are actually many more articles and material for other wargames too. I mention the three above because they are the ones most likely to compel me to write some observations. Amongst all the other wargaming I am doing…
On the Horizon
Archie’s War: The Battle of Guadalcanal from Worthington Publishing via Kickstarter. According to an update posted 16 Jan, “The games are here, along with Band of Brothers series, Seven Days, Antietam, Shiloh, and D-Day 1944, and ARCHIES WAR. Please give us a week to sort through this massive shipment (a years worth of Kickstarters–) But good news—-your games will be shipping by the end of January so we are 3 months early!!!!!!”
Imperial Campaigns Series 1: The Boer War from Canvas Temple Publishing via Kickstarter. According to an update posted 23 Jan, “Got word today that the games are at port in New York and awaiting transit to Baltimore. Not really sure what that means for timeline or whether they’ve been through customs yet, but there it is. Progress!”
Carrier Battle: Philippine Sea from Compass Games via Kickstarter and pre-order. I was charged 23 Jan so I hope this means it is shipping soon.
Littoral Commander: Indo-Pacific from The Dietz Foundation. Jim passed in an email update on 27 Jan that the game is delayed at the factory (Happy Lunar New Year!) and won’t ship until late February with an earliest arrival at the Foundation of late March.
Campaign: Fall Blau from Catastrophe Games via Kickstarter. In a 28 Jan newsletter Hellcat 6 stated proofing was coming along nicely. “No reason to think we won’t be able to make the April plan. Hopefully sooner.”
Production Pipeline
“History to Wargame” with Congo Mercenary (Mike Hoare, Greenhill Books, 2022) and Commando: The Combat Adventure Game (Eric Goldberg, SPI, 1979). How do you say ‘mercenary’ in a wargame?
“History to Wargame” with Stalingrad: New Perspectives on an Epic Battle – Volume 1: The Doomed City by Christer Bergstrom (Vaktel Books, 2022) paired with Stalingrad ’42: Southern Russia, June – December 1942 by Mark Simonitch from GMT Games (2019). Can ZoC-Bond capture these perspectives?
Wargame SITREP N3 Ops: Task Force: Carrier Battles in the Pacific from VUCA Simulations (2023). Working up with the first three solitaire scenarios to learn the game system.
Feature image courtesy RMN
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I look forward to your observations on my article 🙂