Anubis Gate in action

The ancient artefact known as the Anubis Gate is caught on camera bringing through a Stegosaurus from the Jurassic period, as a key scene in ‘Dino’ de Laurentis’s documentary ‘The Conquest of Time.’

Jurassic Reich – new photos unearthed

We’ve begun working on the official sourcebook for Jurassic Reich – a mammoth task of sifting through dusty government archives, declassified intelligence reports, personal memoires, and even Himmler’s underwear drawer.

This painstaking research has uncovered definite proof of the existence of the Dinotruppen – the Kriegsclaws and Pterawaffe deployed by Nazi Germany in the latter part of World War II. Take a look at these images and be shocked!

Also, regular Allied intelligence briefings gave out dinosaur recognition cards to the troops, together with camouflage patterns and markings for the Stukadactyls.

Onward and upward

We’ve set up a yahoo group to do some private playtesting of Anubis games, but in the not too distant future a genuine web site will be set up to replace this blog, complete with a public forum for discussion and feedback.

It has been a long time coming, but it looks as though the quiet unseen gardening work over the years is starting to come into fruit.

Most, if not all of the material here will be migrated on to the new site, but this is just the beginning. Anubis Studios is poised to produce a series of professional games and game supplements, harnessing the creative forces of Greg Hallam, Alan Harrison and Andrew Boswell. This will be combined with the goodwill and solid support given by Nic Robson at Eureka Miniatures.

Thanks to everyone who has visited this site over the years. I hope that you will stick around with us as we transition into the new model, and I hope that we can provide you with some innovative and fun games in return.

Andrew

The end of Star Wars Collectable Miniatures Game

It’s not new news, but it does beg the question what is to happen to this francise. The game was no great shakes, the miniatures had patchy quality. But it is a popular genre.

“Wizards of the Coast Director of Marketing Greg Yahn announced on the WotC forums that the company was not renewing its Star Wars license and that it would end this summer, attributing the decision to “the economic downturn.

 “We know this news is disappointing, we wanted to make this announcement as soon as possible and thank you for being such great fans,” Yahn said.  “It’s been a fantastic ride with the Star Wars community and working with Lucasfilm.”

The license to release new products ends in May, with WotC product available through August.

Short history of the Thirty Years War – Palatinate phase

The Palatinate phase. 1621 – 1624.

The story so far…

After the Bohemian Revolt had been crushed, attention shifted away from the (apparently) pacified Eastern states to the Palatinate in the West, a Protestant country that was also a member of the Electoral College. Furthermore it straddled the vital Val Telline. Its ruler, Frederick V, had unwisely accepted the Bohemian crown during the revolt. If the revolt had been successful he would have held two votes to the election of the Emperor, and personally have had a strangle hold on Spanish support.  He may even have been able to make a play for the Emperor’s position himself. Defeated, he was seen by the administration as a dangerous schemer. The Palatinate would need to be subdued.

1622. Spanish capture Jülich, a nation close to the French border along the vital supply line to Flanders. This country had suffered a minor war ten years earlier concerning succession. Both claimants were Protestant.

Attempting to prevent the link up of the coming Spanish Imperial army with the local Catholic League army, Mansfeld and George Friedrich of Baden-Durlach set up a block. They were attacked by Tilly’s Catholic League army in the Battle of Mingolsheim, but held firm. However Tilly then bypassed them and linked up anyway.

The combined Imperial and Catholic League army defeated the Protestant Union army at the Battle of Wimpfen, which was attempting to split the Catholic allies. Instead the Protestants were split.

At Höchst, the Catholics caught George Friedrich as he attempted to move his army over the Nidda river. The battle was a Catholic victory, but failed to prevent the Protestant allies from recombining.

Turning North, Mansfeld and Christian of Brunswick attacked Spanish general Spinola in the disputed Dutch Provinces in the battle of Fleurus, and were soundly defeated.

Tilly and Cordoba turned their attention to the now isolated English Protestant forces (allies of Frederick V – in fact James I was his cousin) strung out along the Rhine in the Palatinate, and defeated Sir Gerard Herbert in the Siege of Heidelburg.

1623.  Frankenthal, another Protestant city held by the English, surrendered after a short siege.

Using Dutch troops, Christian of Brunswick marched South, but no Protestant forces joined him. Outnumbered and isolated, he was defeated by the Catholic League army of Tilly at the battle of Stadlohn.

[Treaty of Paris signed between France, Savoy and Venice with the agreement to kick Spanish forces out of the Val Telline. 1623 Papal conlave called on the death of Pope Gregory XV. Pope Urban VIII elected.]

1624. Mansfeld disbanded what was left of his shattered army and sailed to England to ask for money to raise new troops. The English were supportive of recovering the Palatinate, but delayed payment.

And so the Palatinate Phase ended with no Protestant army left in the field. The Imperials must have felt as if they had now snuffed out the root cause of the disease, and had secured the Spanish Road along the Val Telline.

It appeared that all internal opposition within the Empire had been stamped out, and that may have been the end of the matter. All that remained, it seemed, was to crush the Dutch. However, those outside the Empire were not comfortable with the idea of Spain’s consolidation and dominance in middle Europe.

[Treaty of Compiègne signed between France and Dutch United Provinces, allowing France to fund the Dutch war of independence from Spain.]

Scoreboard: Catholics and Imperials 7, Protestants 1.

The Palatinate phase. 1621 – 1624.

The story so far…

After the Bohemian Revolt had been crushed, attention shifted away from the (apparently) pacified Eastern states to the Palatinate in the West, a Protestant country that was also a member of the Electoral College. Furthermore it straddled the vital Val Telline. Its ruler, Frederick V, had unwisely accepted the Bohemian crown during the revolt. If the revolt had been successful he would have held two votes to the election of the Emperor, and personally have had a strangle hold on Spanish support.  He may even have been able to make a play for the Emperor’s position himself. Defeated, he was seen by the administration as a dangerous schemer. The Palatinate would need to be subdued.

1622. Spanish capture Jülich, a nation close to the French border along the vital supply line to Flanders. This country had suffered a minor war ten years earlier concerning succession. Both claimants were Protestant.

Attempting to prevent the link up of the coming Spanish Imperial army with the local Catholic League army, Mansfeld and George Friedrich of Baden-Durlach set up a block. They were attacked by Tilly’s Catholic League army in the Battle of Mingolsheim, but held firm. However Tilly then bypassed them and linked up anyway.

The combined Imperial and Catholic League army defeated the Protestant Union army at the Battle of Wimpfen, which was attempting to split the Catholic allies. Instead the Protestants were split.

At Höchst, the Catholics caught George Friedrich as he attempted to move his army over the Nidda river. The battle was a Catholic victory, but failed to prevent the Protestant allies from recombining.

Turning North, Mansfeld and Christian of Brunswick attacked Spanish general Spinola in the disputed Dutch Provinces in the battle of Fleurus, and were soundly defeated.

Tilly and Cordoba turned their attention to the now isolated English Protestant forces (allies of Frederick V – in fact James I was his cousin) strung out along the Rhine in the Palatinate, and defeated Sir Gerard Herbert in the Siege of Heidelburg.

1623.  Frankenthal, another Protestant city held by the English, surrendered after a short siege.

Using Dutch troops, Christian of Brunswick marched South, but no Protestant forces joined him. Outnumbered and isolated, he was defeated by the Catholic League army of Tilly at the battle of Stadlohn.

[Treaty of Paris signed between France, Savoy and Venice with the agreement to kick Spanish forces out of the Val Telline. 1623 Papal conlave called on the death of Pope Gregory XV. Pope Urban VIII elected.]

1624. Mansfeld disbanded what was left of his shattered army and sailed to England to ask for money to raise new troops. The English were supportive of recovering the Palatinate, but delayed payment.

And so the Palatinate Phase ended with no Protestant army left in the field. The Imperials must have felt as if they had now snuffed out the root cause of the disease, and had secured the Spanish Road along the Val Telline.

It appeared that all internal opposition within the Empire had been stamped out, and that may have been the end of the matter. All that remained, it seemed, was to crush the Dutch. However, those outside the Empire were not comfortable with the idea of Spain’s consolidation and dominance in middle Europe.

[Treaty of Compiègne signed between France and Dutch United Provinces, allowing France to fund the Dutch war of independence from Spain.]

Scoreboard: Catholics and Imperials 7, Protestants 1.

Short military history of the Thirty Years War – the Bohemian Phase

The Bohemian Revolt: 1618 – 1620.
The Palatinate phase. 1621 – 1624.
The Danish intervention. 1625 – 1629.
The Swedish intervention. 1630 – 1635.
The French intervention. 1636 – 1648.

Background. The Roman Catholic Habsburg family had a dual holding: the Spanish and Austrian crowns. The Austrian holding had control of the non-hereditary office of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the confederation of hundreds of German states. The rise of the Lutheran heresy, called Protestantism because of the protest against the authority of the Pope, had flared into war all over Europe. The rich, trading, Dutch (in a land previously called Flanders) had gone over to the heretics and are in revolt against Spain.

The straight roads between the two halves of the Habsburg holdings were blocked by France. The seas were controlled by England, and Spain signally failed to subdue that Protestant nation in the abortive Armada. Only one road between Spain and Empire remained, and this was under France and Switzerland, up the Val Telline valley. Should this road fall to the Protestants, the Habsburgs would be crippled, bankrupted, and the isolated holdings destroyed piecemeal.

Successive Emperors had tried to maintain a settled peace with the countries under their charge that had gone Protestant, but the radicals just increased their demands, and the Emperor lacked the force to simply crush them – the rot had spread too far.

1555. Following a long period of religious and political unrest in the Holy Roman Empire, the Peace of Augsburg signed by Emperor Charles V and the Schmalkaldic League granted the ruler of each country the right to decide what faith the country follows (Cuius regio, eius religio). However, only Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism were recognised as valid choices. This left out the growing radical protestant faiths.

During the years up to 1618 there were numerous mass expulsions of populations from their countries following conversations one way or the other. Protestants pushed to extend their political influence. Calvinists agitated because they had been excluded from the treaty.

The radicals formed the (Calvinist dominated) Protestant Union in 1608 as a mutual support organisation, willing to raise an army if any member was attacked. In response, the loyal Roman Catholic German states founded the German Catholic League in 1609 in order to support the Imperial, Spanish backed army if needed.

1618. Defenestration of Prague. When the Bohemian crown became available (it was an elective post, not hereditary), Protestant agitators saw it as an ideal opportunity to extend their power. A Protestant on the throne of Bohemia would alter the power balance in the Empire as Bohemia was one of the Electoral powers, significant in choosing the Future Emperor (itself an elective rather than hereditary role). In an action designed to inflame passions, the Roman Catholic government representatives were hurled out of the government house windows. They miraculously survived, but this almost farcical event was the trigger for the Thirty Years War.

The Protestant nobles raised an army and put Count Ernst von Mansfeld, a mercenary (and, oddly enough, a Roman Catholic who supported the Protestant cause, though probably because of personal vendetta) in charge. Mansfeld successfully besieged the city of Pilsen, where many Catholics had taken refuge.

An Imperial army under Bucquoy approached Prague but was held up, and then pursued and destroyed by a Protestant force under Heinrich Matthias at Lomnice.

[In other news, a Spanish fleet defeated a Dutch fleet flying Venetian colours trying to run the Gibralter blockade.  The Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth signed a truce with the Tsardom of Russia.]

1619. Bucquoy intercepted and defeated Mansfeld on the way to assist Hohenloe who was besieging Budějovice, at Sablat.

Frederick V (Calvinist ruler of the Palatinate and leader of the radical Protestant Union) was invited to be king of Bohemia by the extremist Protestant rebels now controlling government.

Ferdinand II was elected Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the still majority Roman Catholic Electoral College. It was traditional that the Emperor also be crowned king of Bohemia, so Frederick’s installation made him in direct violation of the Imperial prerogatives. Protestant moderates were dismayed, but it was too late to stop the coming catastrophe.

Imperial army under Dampierre was sent to neighbouring Moravia which was supporting the rebels. It was defeated by a Moravian army under von Tiefenbach and ze Zerotina at Wisternitz. It was here that an officer of the Imperial army called Wallenstein with active service experience against the Turks came to the attention of history. He seized the Moravian treasury, carried it to Vienna and presented it to the Emperor. Later he raised a regiment using his own money to serve with the Imperial forces.

Meanwhile, Hungary (and specifically Transylvania) under Bethlen Gabor decided that this was a good time to try a breakaway from Habsburg control, and allied itself with the Protestant rebels in Bohemia. Bratislava fell to the Transylvanians and a siege of Vienna was attempted. Though nominally neutral, the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth was supportive of the Roman Catholic Austrians and sent a force which defeated the Transylvanians at Humenné.

[At the Treaty of Munich, Maximillian of Bavaria (leader of the Catholic League) agreed to supply the Emperor with an army in exchange for ‘any part of the Palatinate he could occupy’, together with  Frederick’s title as Elector. This made available the forces to crush the rebellion, but the change in the electoral balance to stack it in Ferdinand’s favour was illegal.]

1620. Bohemia was invaded under combined Imperial army under Bucquoy and Catholic League army under Tilly.

At the battle of White Mountain, Christian of Anhalt (Protestant) was comprehensively defeated by the allied Imperial and Catholic League army. Lower Palatinate (Protestant) invaded by Spanish forces. Upper Austria (Protestant) invaded by Bavaria (Catholic).

[The Treaty of Ulm was signed between the Catholic League and the Protestant Union with the latter agreeing to quit their support for Frederick V as king of Bohemia. They also agreed to disband, which they did the following year.]

1621. Johann Georg Jägerndorf from nearby Silesia decided to have a go at restoring Protestant power in Bohemia. His first stop was mutually neighbouring Moravia, where he was met by what sounds like a scratch Catholic force under Jean de Gauchier at the town of Neutitschein. Despite getting the best of the Catholics, Jägerndorf made no further progress in Moravia and instead turned east to join the Transylvanians.

End of the Twelve Year’s Truce between Spain and the United Dutch Provinces/Dutch Republic. In the north, The United Dutch Provinces (Flanders) were in rebellion against their Spanish masters. The south (modern Belgium) remained Roman Catholic and loyal. This conflict, known as the Eighty Years War, was an enormous drain on Spanish resources, and was characterised by what would now be labelled war crimes. The Alatriste series of books is set against this backdrop. Spanish forces now converged to renew the conflict.

And with the crushing of the rebellion at its source, it was thought that the matter was finished. However, this was just the end of the Bohemian Phase, as the Protestants renewed the conflict elsewhere, inflamed by the Spanish Catholic forces increasing pressure on the Dutch and the Imperial forces stepwise reduction of now isolated Protestant holdings.

[In other news, the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth defeated the Ottoman Empire at the battle of Khotyn. A Dutch East India Company naval convoy was attacked and defeated by Spain while crossing the Strait of Gibralter. Pope Gregory XV elected at the 1621 Papal conclave. In France, Louis XIII failed to capture the Huguenot (Calvinist inspired French Protestants) after a two month siege.]

 Scoreboard: Catholics and Imperials 4, Protestants 2.

28mm Modern French Foreign Legion from Eureka

I love the FFL. Use them for any current conflict, or put them to work in a StarGate campaign.

From the Eureka site:

This comprehensive range of figures depicts the Modern French Foreign Legion in both beret and Kevlar helmet, and carrying the full array of current infantry platoon kit and weapons.

The beret wearing figures are closely based on a series of photographs of lightly equipped Legionnaires from 2eme REI (Régiment Etranger d’Infantrie) on operations in Afghanistan in 2007, while the helmeted Legionnaires are fully kitted out in the very latest protective vest and load bearing gear combinations (Eagle CIRAS) now being used in Afghanistan. For those who want their beret wearing miniatures carrying a heavier load-out, we have extra personal equipment sets in the form of ammo pouches, water bottles and spare rifle grenades which customers can attach to the figures. (Although it should be noted that the lightly equipped, beret wearing figures, are perfectly accurate without this extra equipment. They are typical of the less aggressive appearance adopted by Legionnaires when patrolling ‘low threat’ zones).

Kosta has carefully represented all the small arms and infantry support weaponry carried by the modern French Foreign Legion, including both the familiar and the more unusual. Amongst the most distinctive is the 51mm Lance Grenade Individual (LGI), being operated by one member of the helmeted section. This lightweight indirect fire weapon is unique to the French military. Also, we have added a two man LRAC 89mm anti-tank team to the range, a weapon which although superseded now, effectively allows gamers to use these figures for earlier deployments back in the 1990’s. Those wanting to keep things ultra modern will however still find the AT-4 here (the replacement for the LRAC and now the French Army’s standard anti-tank weapon), as well as all the infantry section mainstays – including the shortened, or ‘para’ Minimi machinegun, the venerable FRF2 sniper rifle, and the famous FAMAS assault rifle.

Customers can equip their FAMAS carrying figures with rifle grenades if they wish, by way of a small conversion using the spare rifle grenades included in the Extra Personal Gear set. The base of the rifle grenade fits over the barrel of the FAMAS, so simply snip off the FAMAS’s barrel and drill a small hole to accept the rifle grenade. The completed conversion is shown below.

As well as the Foreign Legion in their green berets, it is of course possible to use these figures to represent many other French army units simply by picking out their berets in the appropriate colour. Kosta has painted some figures in this release as French paratroopers in their red berets for example.

These new miniatures therefore allow the wargamer to field a variety of Foreign Legion and other French army units with a range of visual styles, for deployments around Africa and the Middle East, all the way to current operations in Afghanistan.

Here are the codes and details for the new figures.

28mm Modern French Foreign Legion
Sculpted by Kosta Heristanidis
100MOD100 French Foreign Legionnaire, in beret, with Para Minimi (3)
100MOD101 French Foreign Legionnaire, in beret, with FR-F2 sniper rifle (1)
100MOD102 French Foreign Legionnaire, in beret, with AT-4 rocket launcher (1)
100MOD103 French Foreign Legionnaire, in beret, with FAMAS assault rifle (7)
100MOD104 French Foreign Legionnaire, in helmet, with Para Minimi (2)
100MOD105 French Foreign Legionnaire, in helmet, with FR-F2 sniper rifle (1)
100MOD106 French Foreign Legionnaire, in helmet, with AT-4 rocket launcher (1)
100MOD107 French Foreign Legionnaire, in helmet, with LGI 51mm grenade launcher (1)
100MOD108 French Foreign Legionnaire, in helmet, with radio (1)
100MOD109 French Foreign Legionnaire, in helmet, with FAMAS / M203 (1)
100MOD110 French Foreign Legionnaire, in helmet, with FAMAS assault rifle (5)
100MOD111 French Foreign Legion LRAC 89mm AntiTank rocket launcher, with crew in beret – 2 figure set (1)
100MOD112 Extra French Foreign Legion personal gear set: ammo/grenade pouches, water bottles, and rifle grenades

Tor Gaming to develop wargame rules by consensus

It is an interesting experiment, and one that could work. It really could. From personal experience, both at work and at play, I have found that you can create something that is greater than the sum of its parts when you have intelligent, like-minded people working together. But there is the trick, isn’t it? Because it always comes down to ego. When you have ill-informed clowns who feel the need to be heard you can just end up with a camel – a horse designed by a committee.

So this is a great experiment in collaborative authoring, because it will tell us whether the internet community is mature and informed enough to play along and get things done. I wish them the very best of luck and look forward to seeing the result.

http://www.torgaming.co.uk/rd/ 

As a side note: how creepy are these Britanans, based on (I suspect) the disturbing movie, 9?

Little Wars 2010 – Early photos

The Scarlet Pimpernel – a perfect subject for Eureka’s Revolutionary era figures and Ganesha’s Song of Drums and Shakos

“They seek him here,
they seek him there,
those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
That damned elusive Pimpernel.”

The above passage contains some of the most famous lines of verse in English literature and is found in the classic novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Emma Orczy.

Who was this lterary character who has captured the imagination of generations of readers, has spawned movies and popular TV series, and even provided the inspiration for a hit Broadway musical?

The Pimpernel’s character has his setting in the the streets of Paris, which are awash in blood as Robespierre and his henchmen send hundreds of French aristocrats to the guillotine. Against this backdrop one unknown Englishman and his brave band of followers leave their genteel lives behind to spirit the French royals to safety in England.

The question that France’s new leaders demand to know is: who is the Scarlet Pimpernel? The question the reader asks is: why does Sir Percy risk life and honor for a land not his own?

Whatever the motivation, the story of the Pimpernel and his gallant crew as they outwit the Committee of Public Safety and its agent Chauvelin again and again, is absorbing reading.

Aristocrats, clergy, shopgirls, even the Dauphin himself – no one is beyond the Pimpernel’s aid.

So who was he, this dashing character?

The Scarlet Pimpernel is one of the most famous heroic characters in popular fiction of the past century. Because the adventures of the Pimpernel were set in immediate post-revolutionary France, people these days tend to think the story has been around since the end of the 1700s, but the novel was first published in London in 1905. It’s all very French and very genteel English, but it was actually written by a Hungarian woman who was an aristocrat by birth, and actually became the template for a succession of Hollywood and comic-book heroes.

Baroness Emma Orczy (1865-1947), a “transplanted” Hungarian, wrote dozens of books but it is The Scarlet Pimpernel for which she is remembered.

The book tells the story of Sir Percy Blakeney, a late-Georgian British society fop who is known more for being a dandy than having an semblance to a swordsman and hero.

All is not as it seems, however, and Sir Percy leads a double life as “the Scarlet Pimpernel” -the rescuer of aristocrats and innocents during the Reign of Terror that followed the French Revolution. Sir Percy, feeling betrayed by his bride, French actress Marguerite St. Just, is pursued by his nemesis, the French Republican agent Citizen Chauvelin.

The central thrust of the Pimpernel – that of an unlikely everyman being capable of living a twin life, one of which is unbelievably heroic – has been copied time and time again since Baroness Orczy put pen to paper. How? Think about Zorro, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Clark Kent/Superman. The list goes on.

The story has been dramatised on television and on the big screen several times (most notably in 1935 with Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon and Raymond Massey). In the ’50s Marius Goring portayed what was arguably the best TV Pimpernel, after starring in a Scarlet Pimpernel radio series broadcast across the US. The 1982 TV series starring Anthony Andrews, Jane Seymour and Ian McKellen was hugely popular. The BBC made a six-part film in 1998 and 2000 starring Richard E. Grant, Elizabeth McGovern and Martin Shaw. The Scarlet Pimpernel’s more recent popularity and notoriety is a result of the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical by Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton, which made its debut at New York’s Minskoff Theatre in 1997.

The Scarlet Pimpernel is forever being reinvented and will live on for new generations.

Warheads – I no longer know where the hobby is going. But I like it

From the site: Warheads: Medieval Tales is a fast and fun two player tabletop game for players of all ages and abilities. Every two months we’ll release a full-colour, lavishly illustrated magazine in which you get to tell the story of Hugo of Deangard and his bitter rival Gui le Batard, as they gather followers to fight each other and go on amazing quests.Over the course of six issues the story unfolds with you in charge of the characters’ destinies and development.

Each magazine contains all the rules you need to play the battles and characters contained in it and is accompanied by two boxed sets of uniquely-styled Warheads gaming miniatures.

The rules are fast and easy to learn, and they build over the lifetime of the game, so you don’t have to learn everything before you start. Warheads: Medieval Tales blends the best of story driven role-playing and tabletop wargaming.

Some background: Medieval Tales is set in late 11^th century Britain, where men were bold and sheep were nervous. The first generation of British Normans grew up in this land to inherit the manors and castles of their fathers, the original conquering knights of William’s army. We’ve set our tales around the area known as the Welsh Marches, far from the centre of power in London, and with a reputation for lawlessness and strife. This a land to which robber barons and mercenaries from the continent flocked in the wake of the conquest, seeking to grab what land and plunder they could. It’s a land of hunts and wars. populated with rival knights, Saxon and Welsh rebels and bandits, dangerous beasts, magic and miracles. Oh, and let’s not forget the dragons, witches, unicorns, trolls and numerous other beings of fable and folklore that stalk the dark woods and bowers.

It’s here: Warheads – the game

Radioactive Press presents: The Swarm

The Swarm is a turn based combat game for two or more players set in a world where hordes of animals, troops, and even sinister toys lay siege to cities around the world.The game allows players to create and control one of several different types of swarms, from beasts to vehicles and everything in between. The Swarm gives players complete control over the creation of their swarm. Players can create an existing swarm from popular media or one from their own imagination. The possibilities are endless. The object of the game is to destroy the opposing swarm and lay claim to the city. The Swarm is a standalone game that can also be used as an expansion for any other Toy Battle System game. Other Toy Battle System releases include Giant Monster Rampage 3rd edition, Mega Bots, and Power Warriors.

You can purchase the PDF version from our PDF store, RPGNow, or Wargame Vault.

Rattrap Productions and Granton City Press team Up

The heroes and villains who populate the world of Granton City Press will soon be population a new table top miniatures game.

An agreement has been reached with Rattrap Productions LLC to bring the Granton City world to the games table with the fall release of ‘While the City Sleeps: A Game of Heroic Action in Granton City’.

The cover art seen here is by Sean Kasper, colored by Gil Murillo.

“When approached about incorporating the diverse characters from Granton City Press into a table top miniatures game, I thought it was a great idea,” said Richard A. Johnson the man behind Rattrap Productions LLC. “Initially we tossed around the idea of incorporating the characters into one of our existing games but came to realize there was enough unique and interesting new character in Granton City to support a new game themselves.”

Johnson said he had been working on a new game, and it turned out to be a perfect vehicle for characters such as The Black Wolf, The Starling, Ghost Wind and Churchill: Alien Bounty Hunter.

Calvin Daniels, creator of Granton City Press said having a miniature game coming out to support the books of Granton City Press is amazing.

“I’ve played a lot of miniature games myself, so it will be a major thrill to sit down and play a game based on a world I and a number of dedicated co-writers have created over the past several months in our novels,” he said. Daniels said he had interest from other parties to work on a game, but was excited to work with Rattrap based on their half decade of experience in the miniature games sector, their dedication to pulp-era gaming, and the willingness of Richard Johnson to allow lots of input into While the City Sleeps.

The new game will be an ideal place for the soon to be released Black Wolf miniature from Zombiesmith Miniatures. Watch for more news on the miniature front in the weeks ahead. Granton City Press expects to have The Black Wolf #1: Metal Monsters of Doom out in April. Black Wolf #2, and spin-off titles Unit 13, Ghost Win and Churchill: Alien Bounty Hunter follow in the fall, with a release expected to coincide closely with Rattrap’s release of While the City Sleeps.

You can follow the game’s progress at http://www.rattrapproductions.com as well as at http://www.facebook.com/l/4d4f6;www.zombiesmith.com or
http://www.facebook.com/l/4d4f6;www.wix.com/grantoncitydesk/togc

WARMACHINE: Prime Mk II’ Wins Top Honors at RPC Bellevue, WA , April 30, 2010

Privateer Press’ WARMACHINE: Prime Mk II was voted best Table Top and Miniatures game product at RPC 2010 in Cologne, Germany April 18.

With tens of thousands of fans in attendance over two days, the RPC is Germany’s pre-eminent fantasy gaming event. WARMACHINE: Prime Mk II was chosen in an open vote by attendees out of five finalists in the tabletop category.

The RPC Fantasy Awards, which were open to all German translated products published in 2009 or in January or February 2010, was a first for RPC and spanned nearly every game genre, from miniatures games to RPGs to video games. The German translation of Prime Mk II was done by Privateer Press’ distribution partners Ulisses Spiel.

For more information on the award-winning WARMACHINE: Prime Mk II visit www.privateerpress.com.

Helldorado

Hell Dorado skirmish war-game acquired by Cipher Studios, LLC Longview, WA USA September 1st, 2009

– Cipher Studios, LLC., a miniature manufacturing company and producer of the highly successful Anima Tactics skirmish game, announced today that it has licensed the right to develop and produce the Hell Dorado miniature war-game from Asmodée Editions in France.

“We are very excited to license this amazing property from Asmodée Editions,” said Kai Nesbit, Owner and President of Cipher Studios. “We have followed this property since the launch and have been discussing the possibility with Asmodée of bringing the game to the English market well before the full license was available. The opportunity to develop and produce this game in French, English, and possibly other language markets opens the doors to continue the growth and expansion of this exciting universe. ”

“Cipher Studios will continue to collaborate with the original development team, including the writers, sculptors, and other creative talent. Consistency of the universe is very important to the growth of the game. We will take all other aspects of the development, such as game mechanics and manufacture of the figures in house,” says Kai Nesbit. “Hell Dorado is a perfect sister product to Anima Tactics as they are both small scale skirmish games and have similar product development and release styles while catering to different players. Our goal is to release the first wave of non-French product, including the rulebook, as quickly as possible while continuing to release new figures and content, on a limited basis, until the English release schedule is caught up with the French products.”

Cipher Studios has not announced a release schedule but expects to release the English rulebook and first wave of products by early next year.

About Hell Dorado

Hell Dorado is a skirmish war-game in which small war bands of around ten members clash in epic and bloody battle to conquer the most hostile territory imaginable, Hell itself.

About Cipher Studios, LLC.

Cipher Studios was formed in 2006 and launched their first product line, Anima Tactics, around Christmas of 2006. The highly anticipated 200-page full color rulebook for Anima Tactics will be available before Christmas this year. Cipher Studios also offers development and manufacturing solutions for several other miniature game companies including Hazgáard Editions metal miniatures, Darkson Designs miniatures, and the Fantasy Flight Games Descent metal figures.

To check out the French Hell Dorado web site go to www.helldorado.fr

Combined arms in White Mountain

The last few play tests seem to have confirmed that the basic direction for White Mountain hex and block 30YW wargame are sound. The general behviour of the units in movement and combat broadly confrom to our expectations (let’s be honest: our far-removed from experience fantasy of what the results may have been).

Now it is time to think about how to represent the combined arms formations that were far more common than one might think.  These formations had one or more companies of infantry interspersed between one or more squadrons of cavalry. The intention was to produce a system which could inflict disruption on an enemy force, and then have sufficient speed and weight on hand to exploit immediately. Caracoling cavalry did not have the firepower of infantry, and infantry alone were not fast and heavy enough – did not have the shock effect – of cavalry.

At its simplest we want to see mixed blocks within the one hex – say two cavalry blocks and one infantry. But what does this mean for the stats? There has to be benefits and there have to be risks. Infantry mixed with cavalry will not have the firepower of solid infantry, nor will they have the protective strength of the pike. Cavalry in mixed units will not have the cohesion of very large formations.

These are questions to be answered, and playtests to be conducted.

Teddies of the Caribbean: Hunt for the Golden Honeypot

Teddies of the Caribbean: Hunt for the Golden Honeypot was the game I ran at Little Wars Melbourne 2009 for Eureka Miniatures.  It was more of a small scale game compared to  games in past year, but I was kinda pleased with it.  It was originally going to be proper pirate ships, but during playtesting it ended up as teddies playing toy pirates on rafts made of paddle-pop sticks.  This was largely a time/cost saving thing!  but it fitted nicely into the toy theme of the game. It attracted lots of kids, not surprising, but ended up a nice alternative for families with kids who were visiting. The games day version was simplified down from earlier playtest versions – but I’ve included the more tactical and interesting version in the download . You can find the rules to download  in the Miniatures Rules page.  You can also see some photos of the game taken on the day here.   Enjoy!  -   Greg

Banzai!

OK, that’s a loyalist cry, but what the heck!

I’ve jumped back into That Samurai Game development. I’ve got too many changes to report on all, but here’s a list:

Gambits now have their own cards. I’ve included one for your viewing pleasure. It’s actually a photo taken during a recent solo playtest. You’ll notice the three little mon at the bottom of the card. They link to time shifts in the game. Get 3 Oda timeshifts (in this case) and you are eligible to conduct this Gambit. You can also see a hint of an Action card next to it. These are much simpler now, with only an Order and a Strategem on them.

I’ve also simplified the resolution mechanics for orders. Now, for all orders bar those in combat, cards are played to beat a target number that is generally a fixed value with some modifiers for circumstances. Because this is all deterministic, you know when you play a move order how far your unit will move (unless someone disrupts you with a strategem they hold) or when you play a recover order how much cohesion you’ll regain. Combat is a little different. Fire combat (shooting things with arrows, guns or cannon) and melee use the opposed roll system I’ve spoken about before, with one significant change: players draw their combat ‘roll’ from the draw deck (a bit like in Combat Commander). This randomness flies in the face of what I was trying to achieve, but at this stage it seems the only way to manage combat without having fists full of cards. Still, it isn’t quite pure randomness, but you’ll have to see the next iteration of the rules to understand what I mean. I’m very happy with it.

The unit blocks themselves have also been simplified and the mechanisms for managing units in the game made more coherent. Each block has the unit type, unit quality and, in some instances, an indication of whether the unit is Aggressive or Timid. Leaders are separate blocks (small ones that sit nicely on the unit blocks) with their own quality value. You can use the leader’s quality rating as a substitute for the unit with which he’s stacked. The values are mostly hidden in the pictures here, but they were taken from a playtest where counters were recording outcomes. A stack represents the complete unit. A stack of two blocks has the quality of the block on top and a momentum of 2 (for the two blocks in the stack). Think of momentum as roughly the number of men times the velocity they can muster; momentum times quality is then the basic combat value of the unit.

Other elements that have been added or modified include:

1. Units must now be motivated to act. This reflects the degree of autonomy prevalent in the period. Clans acted semi-independently of one another, making coordinaion and command and control a challenge. The need to motivate units mimicks all those messengers flitting around the battlefield.

2. Units always have one of two dispositions: omote (open) or kage (shadow). Omote units are more willing to move and attack; Kage units are more patient, ready to defend and to recover. The disposition doesn’t prevent a unit from performing any order, but it leans the outcomes in a certain direction (and without lots of fiddly work being done by the players). Think of Takeda Katsuyori at Nagashino. He was aggressive, determined to take the initiative, to fight. Nobunaga waited patiently, relying on clever defence. This disposition rule allows the player to reflect the emphasis for his forces without hamstringing himself.

3. The game phases (opening, middle, end) are now linked into the amount of combat that has occurred. Every time an opposed roll is called for, a time shift may occur. Each action card has a little symbol on the bottom of it. If they match in the opposed roll, a timeshift occurs. The symbols are the mon for the Tokugawa, Hideyoshi, the Oda, the Takeda and the Imperial family. And they match the mon on the bottom of the Gambit cards. If, for example, three timeshifts occur because the Oda mon was paired three times in opposed rolls, any Gambit with 3 Oda symbols is eligible to use. The number of time shifts determines what phase the game is in, and each phase changes the nature of the Gambits that are available to play. So, towards the end of the game, you strategic manoeuvring to envelope the enemy comes into effect (think of Kawanakajima).

4. I’ve introduced the concept of Shock Melee. Actually, I have to thank Richard Berg for the idea. When two moving units come into contact, the first thing they do is undergo Shock Melee. No one takes hits, but the result of the impact can cause a loss of cohesion. If it’s big enough, the smaller unit can stumble and break.

5. Finally, and perhaps most obviously, I’ve gone back to a hex system. This means it’s a board game, but there is no reason why it can’t be played with miniatures. Personally, the blocks and the cards–wait till you see the cards–provide a beautiful aesthetic that more than makes up for a lack of miniatures. And, to be frank, I like the clarity of a board. No measuring, no arguing.

So, I hope that is enough to pique your interest. The new draft of the rules are being worked as I type, but they aren’t available yet. And my ambitions: a VASSAL module that you can play on. Now, to find someone who knows something about VASSAL. I’m trying to convince my partners (Andrew and Greg) to play test soon–I have the 4th battle of Kawanakajima ready to go, and my plan is for Uesugi Kenshin to scrub the floor with the Takeda. I’ll put a report up on that when it happens. Otherwise, Kampai!

Simon

Kurassiers, Arkebusiers, Trotters, and Gallopers

Line cavalry at the start of the Thirty Years War could be divided simply into the kurassiers – clothed in three quarter armour and armed with long wheel lock pistols, and arkebusiers – clothed in lighter armour and armed with a shortened matchlock, effectively a carbine. Both of these types used the caracole as their main tactical doctrine. The kurassiers were the heavies, and the arkebusiers were medium cavalry.

Depending on the views of the organising commander, kurassiers and arkebusiers  could be mixed together in the same regiment, or could be separated into distinct regiments. In mixed regiments the arkebusiers would have been brought to the fore because of their longer range, but would have migrated to the back of the formation when it came to contact, leaving this role to the heavy kurassiers.

In White Mountain, a mixed kurassier and arkebusier regiment uses stats as if it were a pure kurassier regiment. Pure arkebusier regiments have slightly different stats.

Mixed cavalry regiment 4 /1

Kurassier 4 /1

Arkebusier 3 /2

By the middle of the war, Gustavus Adolphus and others were experimenting with the direct cavalry charge, discarding the caracole. Gradually the caracole was phased out in favour of the shock tactics. Opinions differed as to whether the trot (either slow or fast) up to the target and then discharging pistols before contact, or a charge at the gallop and neglecting the pistol until contact was made was better.

The Imperials preferred the trot, the Swedes the gallop.

Both had advantages and disadvantages. The trot arguably compressed the caracole and the exploitation charge into one continuous committed movement. But the shock effect was lessened because of the controlled pace. The gallop had great morale shock effect and over time became the default tactic for cavalry in Europe for a good 200 years. However it also tended to shatter the attacking unit. Considerable time and effort was required to pull them back into any order for them to take any further part in the battle. But the aim was for the charge to be decisive.

Ironically this was rediscovering old tactics, not inventing new ones. The mounted charge was the main tactic of the medieval knights. The pike armed infantryman evolved to keep the long lance armed horsemen away. As firepower improved, increased emphasis was put into this arm and the number of pikemen in a regiment gradually decreased. The average length of the pike itself reduced as well. In this climate the cavalry began to reclaim the opportunity to charge home.

To represent trotters and gallopers in White Mountain use the following rules:

Trotters 5/0 (the 5 melee dice are for the first round of melee only. This represents the discharge of pistols at point blank range before contact).

Gallopers 4/0 (gallopers automatically inflict 1 disruption token on their target when they make contact, in addition to anything they inflict through roll for attack. However, gallopers automatically receive an additional disruption token when they attack due to the disorganising effects of their charge. Therefore gallopers receive 2 disruptions whenever they are the attacker).

White Mountain – Battle report – Beernsdorft 1622

This is a record of the play test of the current version of the White Mountain rules for block, hex and card games modeling the Thirty Years War. Simon played the Catholics and Imperials, and I played the Protestants.

This was scenario set in the Palatinate or German war phase. The Imperials and Catholics are still using the traditional Spanish tercio, and the German Protestants are using shallow battalions based on the Dutch model. Historically the Protestants got the worst of it in these encounters. This has raised questions in my mind as to why alternatives were sought to the tercio, but this is a digression.

We used the Bohemian Revolt army generator to get the starting forces and terrain layout (battle-of-beerndorft) to get the forces. Simon was superior in cavalry, but I had a distinct advantage in artillery – much good as it did me in the end. This gave the following terrain layout on a standard 13×10 hex board (this one from the Epic set of BattleLore).And here is a representation of the forces overlaid.

We tried to use all the rules available to us so far, and I think we only missed one late in the game when a regiment failed to retreat after losing combat. But I believe this is all that was missed. Virtually all of the tactics that were available to the unit types were used, including caracole, and so I think this was a fair test of the system.

The battle opened with Simon pushing his right wing straight up the Beernsdorft stream. Despite harassment from my artillery both the Martinez and Salazar kurassiers closed on the hill held by a detached shot regiment and ejected them. A strong counter attack regained the hill, supported by the Schmid kurassiers, but it was not enough. The arrival of the Imperial Schmitt tercio and the Hahn regiment of kurassiers sealed the fate of the protestant left. Battered and forced back the shot regiment collapsed and fled the field, closely followed by the Weber infantry regiment. Schmid’s kurassiers put up a stout defense, but even with the exhaustion and collapse of the imperial Salazar kurassiers Simon’s troops looked ready to roll up the protestant flank.

This action was a brutal seesaw affair with commanders lost on both sides and the gradual build up of disruption on the participating regiments. At times Simon was weighing the risks of continuing the assault and continuing to build up disruption or retreat to reform and lose this initiative. This was exactly the decision we were trying to model. In the end several (protestant – grinding teeth) regiments collapsed because they had too many disruption tokens (that is: they routed).

After realigning what was left on my protestant left flank I decided to shift the focus to the centre where I had artillery superiority. This caused some discomfort to the Imperial Soto and Mendez tercios, but only seemed to spur Simon into action. The Imperial army launched a general advance in the centre and covered the 700 metres in an alarmingly short period of time. My 24 great guns belched at the advancing papists but did little to deter them.

Conceiving a master stroke, I swept my Protestant right wing forward to envelop the exposed advancing tercios. Kaiser, Hoffman and Schwarz kurassiers caracoled against Mendez tercio, achieved the hoped for disruption and closed for the slaughter – only to be bounced at great cost. The tercios continued their inexorable march while the badly cut up Protestant horse retired.

Guns face up have been abandoned by their crews and are now silent and ready for capture.

And at that moment as I saw that virtually all my horse had gone and almost every cannon had been silenced. I conceded victory even though I still had several fresh infantry regiments. In real life I would be detailing a couple of regiments to stall the advancing Imperials and Catholics while I tried to save the rest of the Protestant army for another day.

Key test findings:

Accumulating Disruption modeling morale and cohesion. The goal was to simulate that armies of this time disintegrated from the back – that is: a regiment was more likely to be destroyed through the men fleeing rather than being slaughtered. A further goal was to simulate this without complex ‘morale’ rules requiring extra calculations and dice rolls. Finally, this mechanism was designed to allow you to manage the problem, effectively giving you choices. This seems to have been fulfilled. In attack, Simon had a choice whether to risk continuing in the push and possibly fall apart, or halt and reform and lose initiative.

Total game time was somewhere around an hour and a half. Simulated time was in the vicinity of 3 hours, allowing for a move representing roughly 20 minutes.

Overall, the basic rules capture the appropriate flavour. Another test with this base set of rules is needed, then I want to add in the extra unique flavour events such as exploding powder, misunderstood retreats, secret movement and so on.