“I read it for the articles.” That’s what I tell Mrs. RockyMountainNavy every time a new war game magazine arrives. It is what I said when Paper Wars: The Journal of Compass Games Issue #105 (2024) arrived at Casa de Rocky in late January. It just so happens that the issue game, Ebb & Flow: The 1951 Communist Offensive by Ty Bomba, is from the Korean War and as a veteran of several tours in South Korea I am very interested in Korean War games. Funny thing is, for once I actually did read the articles, in part because I don’t really know what the production schedule for Compass Games is. The Holiday Catalog is published once a year and I find it very hard to watch the Compass Games Town Hall every other week on YouTube. So I looked to the pages of Paper Wars to see what it offers.
In-house rag
When I opened Paper Wars #105 I had to first remind myself that the publication is honest when it says, “The Journal of Compass Games.” Paper Wars is an in-house rag which means it focuses on Compass Games titles and only Compass Games titles. With that understanding I started reading my way through the articles.
Reader reaction
Editorial (Ty Bomba). What struck me was the image below Ty Bomba’s editorial. The mock cover shows the game Greek House Divided: The Peloponnesian War for Issue #107 of Paper Wars: The journal of modern wargaming. Beside the change of banner (which apparently comes and goes depending on something I don’t understand) the game has moved to Issue #115 which will be, what, no earlier than 2026?
Upcoming. The game for Paper Wars #114, Putin Stumbles: Kharkiv, February-June 2022, looks interesting but will it see print before 2026?
Behind the Lines Report (Adam Starkweather). Very interested in, “a game on modern combat (Seven Seconds to Die)” since it has the same title as John Antal’s book Seven Seconds to Die: A Military Analysis of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and the Future of Warfighting (Philadelphia: Casemate Publishers, 2022). But again, that looks like the 2026 timeframe for publication.
Building Brothers at War: 1862 (Christopher Moeller). I don’t own this game but it is always interesting to read the game design notes. Pull quote of note: “All of the battles in Brothers at War are battlefields I have visited and painted…” Painted? A designer of several talents apparently.
Spring Prelude Designer Deep Dive (Greg Blanchett). “I’m sure questions came to mind upon hearing the second volume of VCS failed to make its pre-order number and was dropped by MMP.” Though I own Salerno: The 1943 Invasion of Italy (MMP, 2015)—which is apparently the most recently published game in the Variable Combat System / Victory in the West Game System—I have not played it. I need to commit to playing Salerno before considering to pre-order Spring Prelude: Second Battle of Kharkov but it looks like it is scheduled for no earlier than Late 2024 so I am not particularly rushed.
The Lamps are Going Out: Designer Deep Dive (Kirk Uhlman). Another game I don’t own but, like I said, reading design diaries can be interesting. Pull quote of note: “Much of the difficulty in developing a military-simulation boardgame is trying to accurately represent the combat forces involved and implementing a realistic combat mechanic.” Since you use the word “simulation” instead of “wargame” I guess you really are striving for “accuracy” and “realism” over design abstraction, but you do you.
Design Deep Dive: Oceans of Fire (Robert Beyma). Another game I don’t have, though with the moniker RockyMountainNavy you would think I should. Pull quote of note: “This is a game that players will need to devote a little time and effort to learning how to play.” Well, judging from the Example of an Operation and the comment, “While this is a strategic-level game, I wanted to give movement and combat, especially naval combat, and operational feel” I worry Oceans of Fire may have an identity crisis. The Special Price of $90 expires in a few days; will likely wait until next year’s sales to consider this one…or not.
Ebb & Flow: The Final Communist Offensive in Korea (Ty Bomba). The feature article to accompany the insert game. I appreciate how Bomba ties the study of this historical event to today:
Since then, China has never again made war on anything approaching that scale. During this century the Korean War in general, and the Fifth Offensive Campaign more particularly, has become one of the most studied topics in Chinese military historiography and its armed forces academies. That’s because it still provides their only meaningful reference for sustained operations beyond their country’s borders and, even more importantly, it’s the only experience they’ve had in large-scale operations against US and Western ground forces.
Ty Bomba, Paper Wars #105, 22
EBB & FLOW Army Organizational Charts. These three pages look like they should be part of the rule book for the issue game. The issue rule book is a separately numbered 12 pages but these three charts are placed immediately following the rule book but numbered pages 27-29. I guess this is what happens when you have an odd number of extra pages in your magazine game rule book.
Designer Interview: Joe Carter. While I respect any game designer who successfully gets a game published I am not a huge fan of solitaire wargames. Oh, I own a few but the one’s I find more engaging are of a less “technical” flavor than what I see Carter working on.
Preview: Brief Border Wars Volume II (Brian Train). Finally, a game I have! Well, almost. I own Brief Border Wars Volume I and even played it at the Armchair Dragoons Fall-In late last year. “Mid 2024” by the Holiday Catalog but not showing on the Production Pipeline Snapshot. That hints to me that 2024 might be a stretch.
The Battle of the Boyne, 1690: A New Scenario for Jacobite Rising (Andy Daglish). Again, a game I nearly own. My war game collection includes Commands & Colors Tricorne: The American Revolution (Compass Games, 2017) but I have not pulled the trigger on Jacobite Rebellion. Of the (few) available war games featured in this issue this just might be the one I bite on…
Project Update (Julian Thomas). “Covering the only active land front of the Pacific War, Burma by GDW simulated the conflict between the United Nations and Japan in present day Myanmar.” The “only active land front”…so what was China? Or the Soviet offensive against Japan at the end of the war? And the United Nations? Ok, you get that one on a technicality (the Declaration of the United Nations originated in 1942).
Progress Report (John Kranz). Perhaps the most disappointing of all the content in this issue of Paper Wars. The update reads like it was written at the end of 2022 and looking forward into 2023. Please tell me that the wrong file was loaded and this is not the latest “update” seen fit to print!
Game on!
Well, it’s a good thing the issue game, Ebb & Flow: The 1951 Communist Offensive by Ty Bomba, is included in Paper Wars #105. As one Japanese colleague on Twitter pointed out this game looks like Ty Bomba’s first Korean War title (though not his first game set in Korea). Interesting.
The Playboy standard
According to TV Tropes, “I read it for the articles” comes from, “a common justification for reading Playboy magazine – it quickly became a joke that a man caught reading Playboy would insist he was only reading it for the articles. The reason that particular joke became ubiquitous is that, at least in The ’60s and The ’70s, the excuse had a kernel of truth to it. Playboy paid writers nearly three times as much as other publications, meaning that it drew considerable talent.” The truth is that Playboy had more than a few great articles. It’s a standard Paper Wars can strive for…in the future.
Feature image courtesy RMN
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Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
So Brian, are you planning a “less brief” or “longer” Border Wars quad? 😉
Brief Border Wars II: Well, mid-2024 certainly should not be a stretch. All the files were completed and handed in on December 2022, and Compass’ last question to me was “When can you get us a Volume III?”
Good to hear. Will be better to see once it hits preorder
Do you suppose you could email me a scan of those pages of the magazine with my preview? I mean, I know what i wrote, but Compass doesn’t send tear sheets and I like to see how things looked in print.
Shot out…
Splash!