Sunday, July 31, 2011

Pathfinder at last

Finally one year after the last GenCon (which sadly I am not attending this year) I will be stepping foot into the world of the Pathfinder RPG once more. This time I will be playing and my buddy is DM'ing along with 4 other players. We have a solid group that will be meeting weekly to hammer out some hardcore adventuring. We are all starting at level 1, no wizards or summoners. Our starting town will be Vigilance which is a small outpost on the edge of the frontier. Who knows what awaits us. I will be rolling a cleric however as that is just what I like to play.

To contribute and help our DM out (and my Advanced Squad Leader Jedi Master) I picked up the Paizo Publishing Dungeon Map Pack today at my local store. It is a nice set of laminated dry erase capable map tiles that can be arranged to simulate corridors etc etc.

I have thought about using Descent (from Fantasy Flight Games) tiles as well.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Andy Chambers and DUST Miniatures

This just in:
Fantasy Flight Games is excited to announce the upcoming release of Dust Warfare, designed by renowned miniatures guru Andy Chambers! Our intent to launch a Dust tabletop miniatures game was announced even before Dust Tactics was released. Now the success of Dust Tactics has paved the way for us to take the next step. Currently in beta, this tactical tabletop miniatures game of alternate 1940s reality World War II combat will demo throughout Gen Con Indy 2011.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

3 games of Combat Commander today

1 regular game and 2 in the Mediterranean where I played the British both times. I played the allies all day long and ended up with a 2-1 record after an all day frenzy of the game that lasted from 11 am until 6pm

Game one was the standard starter scenario Fat Lipki which I won after a disastrous melee attempt near the end of the game wiped out the Germans and my opponent conceded.

Game two was the Crete battle and the Anzacs versus the Fallschirmjagers. This game went right down to turn 7 which was one more than Sudden Death. When the game ended, thanks to a random scenario objective placed by an event, I lost 1-0 since I had captured one less objective and not exited enough men off the board to make a difference. This game was right down to the wire and I was about 7 hexes from victory. The German paratroopers were tough as nails.

Game 3 was a laugher. African desert, scenario 23 from the expansion and a wide open map British vs Italians. We started in trenches and I had artillery which didn't hit anything until the 4th turn. As we neared the end the Italians spawned a hero from an event and things looked grim. The Italian player went for it and lost  a melee which eliminated a majority of the units on his right. With all his other units broken from nasty combos and fire I played my opponent conceded and we called the game.

All in all a super fun time and I cant wait to play more this Sunday. Then it's back to Squad Leader. I learned today however that I play much better when dice are not involved. That also means there is a lot of random play in Combat Commander that can change things in an instant before you can recover. It is a catch-22 and I am not sure if I miss the dice or if I like the card play better.









Monday, July 25, 2011

Arrivals today

The last of the games are in place and now I own the complete ASL starter line. It was a long haul that is for sure. #3 was out of print and in such demand for so long I had to judge whether I would ever be able to afford it. It went from 66 dollars to 95 dollars on Ebay which is just absurd for a Starter Kit

Combat Commander Med is in also so I can play the Brits and French Wednesday (The French with their 1 discard ability lol). After I got rocked in my last two games I am ready to really try some punishment and attempt the Italians or French!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

A massive drop in the price of CIV 5 makes it a best seller again

STEAM has Civilization V down to $17.00 right now and the game quickly shot to the top of the sales charts. Here are the rest:

  • Fallout New Vegas: Old World Blues

  • Terraria

  • Dead Island

  • GRID

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops Annihilation Content Pack

  • Left 4 Dead 2

  • The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Digital Premium Edition

  • Counter-Strike: Source

  • Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition

The end of my miniature gaming era

Finally, last Friday, I sold the very last item of miniature gaming I had in my possession. It was a Sabol Army Transport bag. In less than a month I sold every miniature, paint, tool, flocking supply, glue and terrain I owned and made over $1500 dollars on EBAY.

To say I do not miss miniature gaming is an understatement. I have been away now for almost 3 months and I couldn't be happier. I never was able to find a single rules system I liked for the most part going all the way back to 1994. I abandoned board wargaming back in 1992 and that was a dumb mistake. I have already met a lot more mature, fun and for the most part non power gaming opponents in my board wargaming travels than I did in the decades I spent wasting money and time on miniature gaming.

I can count on one hand the number of true friends I met while miniature gaming to be honest and I think that has to do with the age difference and attitudes between board wargamers and miniature gamers.

I don't see myself ever going back into that genre. The waste of time, effort and money and the arguments that ensue over the various rules systems are just not worth my time. I have always been a board wargamer at heart, and while harder to find opponents for that quest is made a lot easier thanks to VASSAL and Board Game Geek.

So here is to all the lucky soles that got my items for a real bargain bin price. I hope you meet finer people and have more enjoyment with my miniatures than I did. Best advice I can give to anyone is of course to stay clear away from Games Workshop and the environment it fosters. There are some people that are in love with the IDEA of miniature gaming and I think that was my problem. It looks great but it never plays the way it looks. Looking is enough for me. I think I know a lot of people that have that issue. Heck I know a guy that went back to GW for just 3 weeks at the start of July and is already selling everything AGAIN even his Bloodbowl team that he swore he loved so much. There comes a point when poorly written rules and a bad community just start to slap you in the face over and over and you realize that it is the way the games play that matters. I don't care if you use Legos to represent units. If the rules are bad the rules are bad. However a great rules system can make a game so much better. Power gaming lists, flavor of the month crap and all that garbage go by the wayside when you leave miniature wargaming. I for one wont be sad to never hear those words uttered in my new circles again.

If there is ever a return for me to this genre it will be in the form of very small skirmish games such as Malifaux, Dystopian Wars or something like Infinity. And it will not be whatever is popular just for the sake of having other gamers nearby.

Friday, July 22, 2011

No sound in streaming Netflix with Apple TV?

Thought I would pass this along. I had this issue with some of the newer movies like The Fighter and Skyline.
"I had this issue as well. I only had sound on some Netflix movies with my Apple TV. What I did was go into my audio and video settings on the Apple TV and turned off the dolby digital, turned on sound check. Dont know if that last part made a difference but I saw that step on a different question for sound issues. But after I did those steps it started working. Hope this helps."

Latest updates on Panzer Corps modding

Straight from the Slitherine newsletter comes a list of really cool mods for the newly released Panzer Corp:
Although only just released there is a very active community beavering away to create all sorts of mods and new scenarios. The built in scenario editor has been praised for its ease of use and this can be seen from the wealth of new content that has already been created. Here is a snap shot from the

scenario design and modders forum.

  • Hammer4000 is working on a map that covers all of Europe!

  • NickGen is working on a Cold War mod with loads of new units.

  • El Condoro has created an invasion of Australia scenario.

  • Locarnus  has modified the campaign flow to give an option that keeps it completely historical.

  • HBalck  has created new units - a motor cycle, bicycle infantry and horse drawn transports.

  • El Condoro has created a Kharkov 1943 scenario


This is just a small sample of what is going on. Check out the forums for more details. As you can imagine - if this is what has happened in one week, how much content will there be in 3 months time or a year!

Combat Mission Battle for Normandy Patch notes

Released just a day ago here are the enormous patch notes for a game which I still need to reinstall since rebuilding my machine:

Vehicles

  • Moving vehicles fire their weapons with further reduced accuracy.

  • Spotting ability of buttoned-up vehicles is further reduced.

  • Fixed a graphical bug that could cause a Puma crew to rotate outside the vehicle.

  • Vehicles that lose an unbuttoned crewman to small-arms fire are more likely to pop smoke and/or retreat like they typically do when the vehicle itself takes a hit.

  • Armor penetrations through a vehicle's main gun mantlet are not reported as hits on other locations.

  • Hit text for projectiles that enter an open vehicle hatch says "Hit: Opening" rather than turret or hull.

  • Corrected a rare problem that could cause tank drivers to remember "threat locations" for too long and rotate the vehicle inappropriately.

  • In a campaign game, if a tank is in working order but its crew is decimated, the tank will not appear in the next battle only to immediately become "knocked out" due to having a decimated crew.

  • Rhino vehicles are additionally available in August.

  • Fixed a bug that prevented ricochets off a Panther lower mantlet into the hull top (though this intentionally remains rare).

  • The glacis/hull-roof armor plate on the Tiger front is thicker.

  • SPW 250/9, SPW 251/9, and SPW 251/10 halftracks will button up under fire like most other vehicles do.

  • PSW 222 crew is now commander/loader, gunner, and driver.

  • PSW 222 and PSW 223 are capable of firing weapons after losing a crewman, and have slightly improved commander's visiblity when buttoned up.


Terrain

  • Troops hiding in trenches or foxholes get better protection from shrapnel.

  • Concealment in foxholes is increased.

  • Corrected a problem that protected soldiers when a wall was behind them, but not enough when a wall was in front of them.

  • The distance between a soldier and bocage where the soldier may see through the bocage is slightly shortened.

  • Direct hits do more damage to trees.

  • Trees are less likely to block large projectiles consistently.

  • Tree placement remains precisely consistent each time you load/play a particular scenario.


Quick Battles

  • Corrected a problem that sometimes switched attacking and defending sides.

  • The unit auto-purchaser is improved.

  • Air support may only be purchased during daytime with clear or hazy weather.

  • The "Random Service" option works properly.


Artillery

  • Artillery is a little less precise.

  • When a forward observer cannot see where spotting rounds impact, he will usually require another round to be fired rather than skip ahead to fire-for-effect with poor accuracy.

  • Corrected a problem that sometimes caused artillery missions targeted near a TRP to "prepare" indefinitely.

  • Pre-planned missions for on-map artillery won't ever use spotting rounds.

  • Corrected an accuracy problem that could affect the first rounds of pre-planned artillery strikes using the Line pattern.

  • White phosphorous (smoke) does not cause unrealistically high casualties.


Soldier Behavior

  • Soldiers are less likely to use SMGs at longer ranges.

  • Soldiers are less likely to fire on exposed tank crew.

  • Soldiers can spot anti-tank mines (in addition to anti-personnel mines).

  • Corrected some problems with mortars in direct-fire mode.

  • Soldiers are less likely to use explosive weapons for area-fire at very short range.

  • Soldiers won't set up heavy weapons on the precise edge of the map.

  • The TacAI pays a bit less attention to unarmed vehicle targets.

  • Soldiers aim better when area-firing into an immediately adjacent building.

  • Corrected some problems with soldier placement around heavy weapons in foxholes.

  • Soldiers are quicker to stop attempting to surrender if friendly soldiers are nearby and enemies are not.

  • HMG assistants can cower under fire like the rest of their team.


Grenades

  • Troops may throw grenades from buildings at open-topped vehicles.

  • Grenade throwing obeys covered arc orders.

  • Grenades won't roll through building walls.


Bridge Pathfinding

  • Corrected some minor pathing problems across bridges.

  • Troops are more willing to move across nearby fords rather than use distant bridges.


Anti-tank Guns

  • Antitank guns won't attach to vehicles that are too small to tow them.

  • Corrected a problem that potentially allowed an antitank gun team to move the gun into a building.


User Interface

  • Keyboard camera controls are smoother (Windows version).

  • When placing troops in a building during setup, if you click on a soldier or its icon (instead of the building) to set the destination, it won't cause the moving troops to float in midair.

  • Trenches and barbed-wires "remember" their rotations if moved to a location that is not adjacent to other trenches or barbed-wire.

  • When attaching targeting orders to a waypoint, the range display is calculated from the waypoint, not the unit's current location.

  • Corrected a problem with area-targeting a non-occupiable roof of a building.

  • Clicking Exit or New in the Editor brings up a confirmation dialog.


Miscellaneous

  • Less framerate is devoted to showing wind blowing through trees.

  • MP40 ammo pouches display correctly on German soldiers.

  • Fixed a disappearing "gable" on a couple of barns.

  • Updated US rank icons.

  • Fixed some out-of-memory problems.

  • Adjusted the point values for bunkers.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Squad Battles Optional Rules descriptions

If you are like me and play Squad Battles a lot sometimes you forget what the optional rules do. These can be picked at the start of a game and have certain effects upon the realism of the game. Trying to find those in the actual gameplay manual can be annoying and they are actually found in the help files for the game.

I have decided to cut and paste them here as a reference for myself and others should they be unable to remember what they do. It is also quicker than using the help files in game especially if you are on a newer PC that may not have the updated Windows 7 Help File fix

Optional Rules Dialog


The Optional Rules Dialog is used to view and select the Optional Rules for a new battle.  Optional Rules can be set at the beginning of a battle, but not changed once the battle has started.  The Optional Rules selected in the Optional Rules Dialog are saved and become the subsequent default for new battles.

Optional Fire Results – when this rule is selected, each fire result is calculated as the average of two normal fire results.  This has the effect of reducing the variation in results.

Optional Assault Results – when this rule is selected, each assault result is calculated as the average of two normal assault results.  This has the effect of reducing the variation in results.

Helicopter Hovering – when this rule is selected, helicopters can enter the state of Hovering by performing certain actions.  In this state, they are more vulnerable to enemy fire.  More information on this rule can be found in the Users Manual under Hovering in the section on Movement.

Vehicle Fire Over – when this rule is selected, it is possible for Vehicles to fire over On Ground units of the same side.  For more information, see the section on Firing in the Users Manual.

Variable Ending – when this rule is selected, it is possible for a scenario to continue past the specified last turn.  For each 10 turns, or fraction of 10 turns, of the original scenario, the duration can be extended up to one additional turn.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

We are on Google +

I sent myself an invite from my other Google+ account so now Blunt Force Gaming is live in the new "it" thing in social media. I never really used Buzz and I doubt I will use Google+ too much but you never know. Anyway we are on there and I have added the logo to the FOLLOW US block on the right hand side of the blog.

Alternatively you can click below (I think) and follow us. It is basically a reposting of our Facebook Page articles

https://plus.google.com/105707270252256336865

I am pretty sure you will need to be in the beta to see the page

Proud Monster Deluxe at local store

I walked in today and my usual gaming buddies had Proud Monster Deluxe in hand and we decided to lay out the map.

It is indeed a Proud MONSTER. This game is epic and huge. The components are nice as are the maps and reference cards.

Not sure when I person would ever find time to finish this without leaving it setup somewhere on a ping pong table but it is indeed awesome. This is a title by Compass Games.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Advance of the Reich: A narrow win

The scenario? Heavy Tanks at Rossienie. A 9 turn battle
24 Jun 41.  The appearance of heavy Russian tanks during the initial invasion of Russia caused some panic when they were first encountered by the advancing German forces.  The German Panzer divisions, which had previously been unstoppable across Europe, found that none of their available guns, short of the rare 88mm, was capable of penetrating these monsters.  Only with great courage and tenacity where they able to halt the advancing Russian tank forces and resume their advance.

This scenario came down to turn 8. I was desperate. The Russian KV-1 had blown up all my weaker early war tanks in succession and he sat right next to the 30 point objective that I needed to retake. In turn 1 the Russians had stormed down and taken the objective and I had worked all game at getting around in cover and trying to take that spot back.

All my AT guns, all my Mortars, all my tanks could not crack that KV-1. It was time for a desperate move. I moved Lt. Thiel into position and on turn 8, armed with a satchel charge, I pushed him and his men into the road into near coverless ground to make a last ditch assault on that tank with the satchel charge.

One charge blew....still the tank was there.

Second charge blows...TANK DESTROYED.

And on top of that Lt. Thiel had taken back the objective. He came under merciless fire. Meanwhile my AT guns could now focus on the exposed Russian infantry as they were pinned down. Out of the woods on Theil's right another squad of Germans erupted, assaulting pinned Soviet troops there and forcing them back. Nebelwerfers supported me as I pounded the wheatfields with fire.

In then end Thiel's squad lost 4 men and were badly shaken but as turn 9 rolled around and ended I had scored a major Russian defeat. Added to the minor win I had gained in my Red Victory Squad Battles title and I was on a roll in my return to the series.



Oberst Klink's Operational Art of War Tutorials

Oberst Klink over at the Gefechtsstand Blog has released his tutorial for The Operational Art of War. The Norm Koger classic gets the treatment with a series of pictorial scenes that the Oberst himself put together to help new players get familiar with the interface.

You can read all about them here

http://gefechtsstand.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/toaw-tutorial-2/

 

 

 

Monday, July 18, 2011

Squad Battles: Red Victory

Finally got around to reinstalling and playing Squad Battles again. I usually avoid the more modern titles since I just dont like the way they play but of course I do have the WW2 titles.

Red Victory is one that I did not dive too much into and instead opted to spend more time in Eagles Strike or Advance of the Reich. I decided to crank up Red Victory and play the getting started scenario today and the Germans do not have a fun go of it at all in that scenario.
28 JUNE 1944, NEAR SLUTSK, BOBRUISK - BARANOVICHI ROAD:

After shattering 9th Army's lines near Bobruisk, Konstantin Rokossovsky, commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, committed his exploitation force, the powerful Pliyev Cavalry Group, into action. Pliyev's tanks and cavalry stormed the German defenses behind Berezina River and kept the momentum in the marshlands of Pripyat.

On 27 June, the 1st Mechanized Corps move into Glusk, sweeping aside the remnants of the German 35. Infantry Division. By 1700 Soviet armor were pouring through a gap at Glusk in the direction of Slutsk. A very important railway junction, Slutsk was vital for the Soviets for keeping the momentum onwards Baranovichi and later, Minsk. Frantically gathering reserves from other sectors, German command committed a newly arrived paratrooper unit, Kampfgruppe Schirmer to block the seemingly unstoppable Russian spearhead before Slutsk.

Right off the bat the one thing you do not want to see in turn 1 is a stream of T-34's advancing down the road toward your dug in infantry. Luckily I do have at least one PAK40 gun and in turn 4 it made quick work of two T-34's advancing down the road. I will play this battle out and see how it goes. For now below is a screenshot of that PAK40 and the T-34 it immobilized:

Friday, July 15, 2011

GMT to give free demo of Andean Abyss

I love these things. GMT is once again giving a free demo of a game that is upcoming and it is Andean Abyss.

This game focuses around controlling Columbia in the 1990's. This game is by the same designer who did Wilderness War.

You can find out more here

http://www.gmtgames.com/p-337-andean-abyss.aspx

And information on the free demo (get your Ventrilo account and headphones ready) is here:
Following up on a series of demonstration videos, on Sunday, July 17 at 8:30pm Eastern Time we will be hosting a live demonstration of Volko Ruhnke's new game  design, ANDEAN ABYSS! Please visit our Ventrilo  Voice Server page for details on how to tune in.

 

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Great Pacific War/Third Reich VASSAL module on Avalanche Press site

Slowly but surely some VASSAL modules are being released by Avalanche Press

The first that I see are Great Pacific War and Third Reich.

You can add them to an online check out cart here:

http://www.mcssl.com/store/4e466d3b9268494c82869d4417a53b/online-play-modules/great-pacificthird-reich-vassal-module

That's a start!


 

Monday, July 11, 2011

New downloadable titles from HPS Simulations


 

  • Now available via direct download in addition to CD: 


Civil War Battles: Campaign Chancellorsville
Naval Campaigns: Guadalcanal
Musket and Pike: The Renaissance
Squad Battles: Vietnam
Future Force was designed for The Army Command and General Staff College to help train military leaders in force management and resource allocation. It is not a traditional type of wargame - players do not move counters on a map and engage in specific combats.

Instead, it portrays the short term and long term effects of decisions the players make in deciding what force structure to create and maintain, where to allocate resources, and how to effectively manage the Army’s budget during a simulated twenty-year period against current and emerging threats.

During the game, the player seeks to find balance between the following tasks:

  • Conduct intelligence & counterintelligence

  • Prioritize theaters of operations

  • Manage strategic lift capability

  • Create new units

  • Update existing unit capability

  • Conduct Research & Development


Monday, July 4, 2011

Learning ASL one stupid mistake at a time

This scenario is taking place in September of 1942 in Stalingrad. The first scenario I played I was the Americans and in this one I wanted to learn more rules so I took the Germans. Mainly for the smoke usage but also I wanted to try demolition charges and flamethrowers.

This game was on VASSAL with a friend of mine in Belgium that I had met through playing Fighting Formations. So this was a morning session for me, evening session for him and we only had time to get through the first German half of Turn 1. I wanted to discuss some things I learned.

First off Assault Movement is a nice thing. Previously I had not used it in my first game because...well...I accidentally skipped over it in the rule book. This time around, after a liberal assault on my rulebook via a pink highlighter (yeah...pink) I was ready and knew the options I had before me. The thing about Squad Leader is that it is a lot like John Tillers Squad Battles put on a board with chits and made more complex. If you have played John Tiller's Squad Battles on the PC then you can get the idea of Squad Leader. I know what I WANT to do in ASL, I just need to know the rules to do it.

When I go to do something, I bust out the big ASL Binder Rulebook I have and look it up in the index. For example even though Smoke is in the Starer Kit Rulebook it is buried deep in a wall of text. I want to know more. I thirst for knowledge! So I turn to the ASL Binder and look up smoke. Now in the binder there are more in depth rules such as wind and dispersal etc etc.

Now I have my knowledge. It is putting that knowledge to use that makes ASL hard because you do not want to mess up the rules.

Above was my setup. I am the Germans (light blue-grey). Terrible. Now looking back at it and realizing I have the first move I should have put my men IN the buildings and here is why: It takes a lot to move and get through the buildings and around them. In the Starter Kit there is no bypass movement. So I have to go in or move around buildings. Right off the bat my setup was poor.

My plan was to drive across the gap and assault the building in hex E8.

The thing about this game is there are so many options and ways to do things it did not occurr to me to just race across the road and assault the building. I would take a lot of fire but I could have fired and tried to take out that Russian machine gun. Instead I chose to get fancy and here is how:

I wanted to pop smoke, move across the lane, and occupy the building.

I guess that is the beauty of Squad Leader in that it lets you PICK how you want to do something. Ultra Realistic yes, but to me no different than playing John Tillers Squad Battles like I mentioned.

So off I went.

I decided to use movement to move up into the buildings across from the Russians. I took some sporadic fire. Now I threw smoke and failed on one placement (even though in this scenario some German units needed a 4 to place I rolled terrible)

I managed to get some smoke out and now I went to execute my plan. My opponent was silent on my Skyped in headset. He was letting me learn as I babbled to myself.

Ok, time to cross that gap. I will Assault movement and go into the building in front of the smoke, then get across the road! What a brilliant plan right? Not really.

Before that you will notice I put one German squad up north and to the right. His main job was to suppress and hold that Russian MG in place and keep it pinned or routed. In my Prep Fire Phase this worked to perfection. It was about the only thing that did go right for me. I put a NEG 1 leader with him in case he got hit and broke or something. Since I am new to this game I am not sure what the best deployment is for certain things but I have years to learn and have to catch up. Most Vets have been playing for 20 years.

Anyway back to the smoke crossing. I laid out everything and prepared to move.

My opponent likes to let me go until I do something wrong, then he mentions it.

I laid out the smoke and went to move. Unfortunately for me I forgot that Assault movement was one hex of movement and then done. I started too far back by not being IN the buildings and had to use Assault movement to get into a building (I used that to avoid the FFNAM bonus a player gets shot at with for moving and not being cautious)

Problem is all my movements were a hex off because I deployed so badly. So I ended up one hex short on everyone because I didnt plan ahead and thus could not even get INTO the smoke hexes I had created.

Well the best laid plans I guess. I watched in dismay as my movement phase ended and my opponent mentions that he was going to tell me to take my deployment back but he wanted me to learn the hard way.

So as the minutes in the battle went by there lay my pretty smoke clouds...in the middle of the gap just sitting there as I failed to move forward and use them

All this happened and it was only my part of the FIRST turn. Now I also could have DOUBLE TIMED it, I could have opened fire more and not moved, I could have seperated my stacks and all sorts of combos.

Thats the thing about this game. You need to really plan out how you want to do something ahead of time and just go for it and stick to the plan. There are however many many ways to accomplish a goal. I think that is what keeps me addicted to learning this game.

I also had trouble in VASSAL remembering how to mark that a squad was CARRYING a support weapon and had to go back and redo a lot of my stacks. It is the little things you need to go over again and again before moving over to the other Starter Kits. One hand it is a learning curve, on another you get hours of playtime out of one Starter Kit.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

SPQR Great Battles of History: Ambush on the Romans complete

Another day and another learning step in figuring out this great battle system. Today over at my friends we finished up the SPQR turn we started the other day. Since this is a teaching game it moves slowly yet still has plenty of excitement.

At the start of Turn 2 the Carthiginians under Hannibal sprang an ambush on the Roman left from the woods.

Today we finished that ambush and the 2nd turn. While initially my ambush was a rousing success and I broke the Roman left, the Romans rallied routed units quickly and shifted their lines over to meet the threat. Next week we continue the game and see if my ambushers can hold off the fast approaching Roman response and see if I can keep the momentum. I routed a lot of him and put some hits on his once strong units but now I must finish them off before he brings too much force down on my right flank.



At the start of the ambush I came out of the woods strong and broke a good deal of Roman units getting a lot of flank attacks.



Javelin throwers and slingers run out of ammunition quickly in this game and are marked as such.



When all was said and done I had burst out of the woods and gained some ground. However the Romans rallied quickly and threaten the northern side of the ambush.

Civil War Banshee Team works on Panzer Campaigns France '40

Read all about it here:

http://forums.gamesquad.com/showthread.php?101177-France-40-New-quot-Talon-quot-3D-Graphics-Mod-available-from-Old-Banshee-Team.

This is a pretty cool mod done by a team that really changed the way HPS Sims Civil War Campaign series looked when you played it. Check it out for sure if you own France '40 Panzer Campaigns. If you do not, what are you waiting for!

http://www.hpssims.com/Pages/Products/PZC/PZC_france40/france40.html



Rommel about to catch some Tank-fright of his own: