Warcradle Augusta Industrial Set review

Since i decided to reboot my Ultramoderns colection, i knew i needed some new terrain as my terrain colection consisted of few MDF Arabic mudhouses from GCLegacy files and GF9 walls. I was looking for something different and found out that Warcradle studios namely their Scenics "division" make good, cheap and prepainted terrain for their Wild West Exodus game and few others. There are few of their range that can fit into ultramoderns i give it a try. 

 

I ordered Augusta Industrial Set which is kinda Industrial you can use it for various settings i could image akin buildings in Africa, Europe, Asia and of course in America, so pretty versatile set and for the price? The set costs 110 british pounds and for that price 6 (7 if you in account train platform) buildings, lots of tracks, 4 railroad wagons, some fences and random scatter (boxes, carts, bins) so kinda big load.

So what you got in pack - big Warehouse with dimensions 17x27,5x17,5 cm big building you got some interior and you can easily fit vehicle, tank or IFV inside. You have three entry points - two big doors on ground level and one in 1st floor.You also have destructed version of same building unfortunatly i dont have that one finished.

 

Second one is Factory with dimensions 18,5x14,5x12,5 a two floor building again with stairs so you can occupy some high ground and two doors to enter the building again you have two version of building - whole and destroyed. two entry points on ground floor.

Next is so called  Abandoned Station consisting of some tracks two wagons but also one building on platform and roofed platform. some platform itself have 21x13cm and trainyard building have dimensions 17,5x7,5x8,5cm with two doors. two cabin wagon have dimensions 25x5,5x9,5 cm and cargo wagon have dimension 25x5,5x6 cm 

 

Last building is water towe r which i planning to give to my friend so it isnt assembled, so i didnt included it here either.

 

So now the kit itself is very high quality, while it contain many pieces in the end its i would say it isnt hard to assemble this stuff, few pieces are little fiddly but overall sturdy kits. What is great about the buildings are that all door can be made openable so got for breaching situations. While i use them on my 6x4 table if you are playing INX, Spectre or something that is played on smaller say 3x3 table you have full table set up in no time. If you take in a account the price this set is amazing for the price tag.

 

Also i have plans for getting other stuff - namely Normandy Farm, Buckhorn Ranch, Dunsmouth Shops, Market and scatter but also Retribution barracks. The stuff is good and fit ultramoderns very well so if you looking for cheap and good looking terrain which you complete in few hours look no futher

Terrains 4 games recenze

For almost every tabletop miniature wargame apart from miniatures and rules and thing is essential is terrain. You can build your own terrain or you can buy already completed pieces. For this article we will be looking at Poland company named Terrains 4 games. This company offers various selection of pieces or bundle sets than came already painted and ready for play.

In this review we will take look at their Medium Standart Battlefield Set. It consists of 9 pieces - 5 rocks, wooden area and two hills, with this i also received static grass box propably for repairs.

The piece were well packaged and protected by good packing foil against damage

Every piece (apart from separate trees which consists of base and wire tree) is based on propably mdf or hardboard base

So first lets look at wood/forest piece. It consists of base and 9 separate trees on bases, the trees have different sizes and its suitable for 6mm up to 28mm. So doesnt matter if you play Flames of war, Scifi skirimish game or perhaps Battletech Alpha Strike.

Next are two hills, they are pretty much standart one level hills suitable for any wargame

Next thing is this set are big rocks - one is really big while two are smaller but still big enough to block line of sight 

Last thing you will receive in this set are 3 pieces of smaller rocks. 

This set is pretty cheap - 35 dollars and you got enough pieces to cover 4x4 table or some "not so dense" 4x6. Every piece is handmade so every piece will be unique.

T4G offers many different sets - desert ones, ruined buildings, toxic wastelands and so on. the quality of this product is great especially for the price so if you dont have time, know how or just will to build your own terrain this company offeres affordable solution. Personally i will get more of their sets.

You can check their website here

https://terrains4games.com

Brother against Brother starší skrimishovka z prostředí Americké Občanské války

Brother against Brother je "skrimishová" hra z prostředí Americké občanské války. Ve hře budete velet rotě či praporu pěchoty kterou mohou být podporovany kavelrii či dělostřelectvem. Hra není určená pro větší potyčky pravděpodobně ani bitvu o Little Round Top si v rozumném čase nezahrajete ale na menší potyčky je systém to pravé. Hra používá na veškeré hody desetistěné kostky

Hra využívá karetní aktivaci, kde karta vaší barvy umožní aktivovat jednu vaší jednotku - družstvo, dělo atp. Během aktivace mužou modely v družstvu provést jednu ze 4 akcí  pohyb, střelba, nabíjení nebo charge (ten však muže rozkázat pouze dustojník nikoliv velitel družstva) modely mužou cílit více jednotek a každý voják muže provadět jinou akci musí však dodržovat koherenci 6 palcu od velitele družstva.

Pokud se rozhodnete pohnout jednotkou a tato hra vyžaduje dávku manévrovaní k tomu aby jste přemohli protivníka, hodíte dvě 10-stěnné kostky a o tolik se muže dane družstvo pohnout (to je modifkovano připadným obtížným terénem). Další akcí je střelba není uplně lehké trefit ale jakýkoliv zásah (tj. padlí) vyvolá test morálky.
Test morálky zde funguje tak že si hráč lízne morale card - každá karta má ruzný efekt, zatímco jedna vám umožní okamžitě chargovat, při jiné zase byl váš velitel zabit nebo třeba muže vaše jednotka uprchnout z boje. Morale card si musíte vzít i v připadě že chargujete nebo jste nachargovani.

Samotné herní mechaniky jsou velmi jednoduché a snadné k vysvětlení, ale zaroveň skvěle odražejí období které má představovat. hra obsahuje i rozšířená pravidla pro formace, ruzné typy jednotek, reakční střelbu, atributy pro dustojníky, jiné možnosti aktivace a některá další volitelná pravidla.

Co trochu zamrzí ale je to pochopitelné vzhledem k tomu že hra je více jak 20 let stará hra neobsahuje bodové hodnoty, ale ani standartizované scénaře. což muže někoho odradit ale i tak mužu BaB jen doporučit

Product review: Scenario generator for Scifi Scenarios

Since we play lot of 15mm scifi platoon based actions in last weeks i decided to search for scenarios for our group and found out this product of Wargamevault from Nordic Weasel.
I own many of NW products including Company Commander, Laserstorm, FAD , both In sight books and many others. So I knew what to expect and was curios about this product.
For price of approx. 2 dollars you got 15 page publication full of  various generators including:

• Reasons of Conflict (Why your forces are fighting in first place)
• Size of force (here is choice from three columns one for platoon up to battalion second one  is for big scale games up to Reinforced Regiment and third is for skrimish scale (few figures up to platoon)
• Relative size of  force ( various margin modiferers)
• Army composition and support elements (whatever your force are scouting force or armoured platoon
• Troop quality (How good and motivated your troops are)
•  mission objectives - recon extraction and various other things for typical skrimish/platoon based actions
•  Another objective generator is battle generator which is meant for larger actions but i can see it possible for reinforced platoon/company actions as well as name suggest it is least specific - holding line, Capturing sector etc
• Terrain generator (Overall table layout, and specific sector terrain)
• Side mission (various specific objectives for particular units to give some spice to your games)
• Unexpected curcimstances ( another story-based generator to spice games like tunels, minefields and other things 

The generators can give you plenty of various different scenarios for your game and can keep you intersted for time being. While yes you can do similiar generator at home this product is well produced for the price.
You will propably didnt use all them but if you dont have time to devise scenario and still want to play game of SGII or Tomorrows War you can use of these and have nice and funny game

If you ask me i would recommend this book to every platoon action scifi player

  

Strike Legion: Platoon Leader Strange New Worlds

Four years ago i written nice review of Strike Legion Platoon eader, in that time Scifi 15mm has at it peek, and Platoon Leader has been left in shadow of game that everybody talked back then and today is the same - Ambush Alley Tomorrows War.

Strike Legion is nice solid system but original was more or less only sandbox where you have to do almost everything including scenarios you had to do by yourself. The release of expasion for SL:PL called Strange New worlds went relativly unknown to all because not many cared about this i would call "Indie" game which is shame because it is solid and well thought and detailed system.

So what new in Strange New Worlds? Tons of content which transforms Platoon Leader into whole new game. The game introduce off-board artillery support, variants for drops (capsules, teleporting...) but for fans of old pc game Battlefield 2142 even dropcapsule system which enables launching dropcapsules from vehicles. Among other things it SNW allows vehicle commanders so you can play armoured battles with this gaming system along with new vehicle damage system which speeds up the game and ofcourse rules for gigantic monsters and vehicles . Hordes (enemies that didnt use standart fireteam structure), Civilians and partisans (insurgents and untrained militias) are now also in ruleset.  SNW also bring us robust system to design Aliens and organic units.

 But most importantly it fixes lack of scenarios. 7 new generic scenarios which can be played with
any force in your collection. This includes classics like Hasty Assault, Ambush, Meeting engagement or more exotic like orbital insertion.






Another new thing is Black Ops rules which allows you to play skrimish special operations with
handful figures which is neat. It contains only 3 generic scenarios -  Assasinate, Sabotage and Rescue but definatly you can find it worthwhile.

Last section of book is reserved for stat cards and example force organisations so you will get little know how to assemble your forces on battlefield.

If you liked Strike Legion Platoon Leader or want fast but tacticaly challenging game where you can lead your forces from smallest raid to company scale actions this expansion is for you.
Only thing that game now lacks are campaing rules but to be honest you can adapt any campaing system you want.

Anvil Industries Suppresion team review

For my 30k Iron Warriors force i needed Iron Havocs squad, since they dont have official models and i wantem to be different i looked into other manufacturers ( and i long needed excuse to buy some of the Anvil exolords) and chosed suppresion team. So what you will find in this nice little kit?

First thing first - you will find five standing bodies,  5 backpacks, one with some sort of relay, one hand with rifle, one holding binoculars, never missing pointing hand, knife, some pouches. 7 heads (one without helmet), some scopes,10 shoulderpads and hand holding somehing that could be laser designator or scifi equivalent. then you will find 4 autocannons. I also ordered separate autocannon sprue  so i can equip my sergeant with autocannon too. the kit is nicely goes together and paints well

As for quality speaking - they are superb one of the best i seen so far almost no cleaning required.
If you ask me if i would recommend Anvil i would say yes without hesitation - for obvious reasons i will order some more of anvil products especially when they annouced they will be make renegade style infantry models.
Anvil Industries webpage

And here is whole squad put together and painted

Sabre Squadron RD 1.1 review

Soviet T64BV column advance through streets of German city

Yesterday we played testing game of Sabre Squadron to see if we would like it currently we have three players, while few other consider it. So we were looking into ruleset that we would like most.
1st alternative was Able Archer which we played two weeks ago but now we tried Sabre Squadron rapid deployment rules.

I had Soviet T64BV tank company supported by BTR70 mounted infantry platoon, BRDM2 section and PT76b recce platoon. my Company engaged British reinforced tank company in streets of unknown city  4 platoons worth of Cheftians supported by swingfire detachment and two infantry platoons mounted in FV432.

There were some mistakes i made and in middle of game i realised this game plays different than most systems that i played but while i took some loses in mid-game i created some heavy headache to british knocking down 2 tank platoons,destroying swingfire and knocking out FV432s mainly because well laid ambush. We played pitched battle with no real objectives but that would we change since i will order full rules very soon because me, British player and US player (which was only observing)  
like them.

So now lets run to basics the system is IGOYGO system and each player turn is divided into for phases. In first phase active player activate his units giving certain orders:
Units can either Fire then move. Move fast (but then their can be more easily hit). Move and fire (here matters if you have stabilised or unstabilised gun how far you can move). Normal move without fire. or remain stationary and fire (you have bonus for fire since you, but so does have your enemy shooting back at you) 

Of course combat is about skill and morale and that really matters in Sabre Squadron, it matters if you shoot or shoot upon.  morale grade also how your units will keep their heads cool if you start taking losses.

Movement is pretty straightforward and IMHO its very good each vehicle have number of bounds depending on terrain in which it moves if you move through different types of terrain you use the worst number of bounds. each type have also lenght of its bound for example fast tracked tank moves 2 and half inch in one bound. In cross country it can move 4 bounds (meaning it can move 10"  while if it will be traveling through some difficult terrain it can move only two bounds (5") crossing minor obstacles cost also bounds depending on obstacle and type of your mobility type.

Shooting is very nice with rolling 1D10 where you had to score 5 adding modiferes, there are quiet a few modiferers but i think they are easy to remember- for example there is modifirer for shoting at target which was not in LOS at the start of unit activation, for long range (most of heavy weapons dont have maximum range), if you dodge ATGM missle and so on. ATGM have of course maximum and optimal range firing they can relativly easily hit but enemy can dodge them (and if the missle is comming from front their chances to dodge are much better) when enemy is hit he D10 and depending on roll his basic defense is lowered or raised by one or two or in case 5-6 it remains same. Most of vehicles have two defense ratings, Kinetic and Chemical Energy, as well as weapons can have different values of K and CE attacks. When enemy is struck you compare  modified armor againts firepower of shooter the outcomes are easy FP same as armour vehicle is supressed and cannot use its weapons than exposes the crew. Firepower is better than armour by one the vehicle is neutralised. the vehicle can be knocked out, or crew is stunned by shot at end of the turn you test this neutralised vehicles they got save roll and are either destroyed or supressed. if the the firepower is better by two or more points target is destroyed. Hiting infantry is little different but disloging infantry from cover especialy if is in mason buildings or dig in is very hard. While pinned vehicles arent much problem, if your infantry is pinned they move slower and their accuracy is low.

There are rules from close combat which is very deadly and quick. also Artillery have interesting rules, hitting very large area but you need really big guns to be sure about deadly effect.

Command and Control rules are written strangely in Rapid Deployment but i think i get them right - coherency is measured by type of unit platoons uses 2 A4 papers while indepenedent section and low trained platoons only 1, that is their coherency. 

As forces start taking loses they morale will be affected to represent this game simulate this is relativly simple but effective manner. If scenario dont dictate otherwise the units begin their game as Good but when morale test is called unit must pass morale test (depending on how much loses units get modiferer to roll) if they pass good nothing happens. but if they fail they morale level drops and they roll again until they rout or pass test. if level is good units act as normal, 
the level lower is uncertain unit which wants to move toward enemy baseline or forces must pass morale test.
next is halt which means the units wont advance until their morale is raised up. then is withdraw toward their own baseline and takeup cover if possible. last is rout - the unit has been demoralised and for game purposes is destroyed.
The morale can be raised by one level at the end of the turn - if unit hasn´t been target by enemy actions (direct fire, assault, arty fire) by passing morale test. 

Each force has breaking point - number of losses before it render itself combat ineffective - if it exceed 2/3 of its number Morale points  the forces withdraw and losses.

The Rapid Deployment rules was big suprise for me , and we enjoy the game. Stay tunned i will review full version soon

5Core Company Commander - scifi expansion

Pico armor and Plasmablast tanks painted by  ANA PAULA DA SILVA, 

THADDEUS GREGORY BLANCHETTE

Without doubt 5Core Company Commander is really gem, for modern warfare it doesnt matter if you
play in 6mm or 15mm the CC offers unique gaming experience. I reviewed CC long time ago but for solo gaming it is excelent now lets take a look onto Scifi expansion set.

You can find original review of Company Commander here 

The expansion have 23 pages and includes various rules for sci-fi including diference of tech levels, Walkers, bugs, various tech gadgets like Drop pods, Power armours, Grav tanks and many many more. We will take a look on these in details.

There are new armour and gun system which is optional but very working. Gun are trated in category 1-5 and armour have rating 1-6. and if you compare them while shooting you will knew if shot was threating, kill or overkill.

Copyright  ANA PAULA DA SILVA, 

THADDEUS GREGORY BLANCHETTE

Then its described how you can design Alien race or another non-human company. Then there 4 tech levels for your force - more higher the more effective your force will be durning shooting and assault. Also two tech are introduced AI Assisted Network and Data/Comm links. Assisted network while it is active grants +1 activation however if your enemy have also network it can bring your net down. Comm links grants you ability to change once per game scurry or firefight into normal turn sequence.

In next chapter of PDF new scifi units are introduced. Here you will find rules for following:

• AI units
• Assault suits (Think of Heavy Gear or suits from Frontline mission)
•  Berserkers (Units which when facing heavy fire instead of pulling out they close on your forces ideal for GZG Kra´vak if you ask me)
• Bugs (Bugs are different beasts than berserkers they have their own turn sequence and can quickly raise their numbers, it include rules for big and shooty bugs ideal for Starship troopers scenarios
• Buildings destruction rules
• Drop Troops (units capable jumping right into battle using droppods, teleports and other means)
• Grav Tanks
• Jump troops (units equipped with jump packs, various leaping creatures and so on.) 
• Powered armour troops
• Stealth Units (Units equipped with cloaking fields or similiar masking abilities
• Super Soldiers
• Walkers 

Pendraken and GZG bugs painted by Wayne Olivant

Next chapter is meant for supersized units - big mechs, superheavy tanks and alien monsters, they are more difficult to bring down and are great for some specific scenarios. They are followed by new weapons to add flavor to your force. 

• Active Defense systems which allows negate enemy shots
• Devastator Weapons capable of hitting area instead of one unit
• Drone Weapons which affects vehicle morale that came into proximity
• Energy Weapons which are highly effective againts enemy armor but no harm to infantry
• Firestorm Weapons which allows reroll
• Hightech targeting systems they allow shoot and fire
• Incidental Anti tank fire portable AT weapons for infantry units
• Orbital fire Every one loves them!
• Superpenetrators  Heavy railguns capable of destroying infantry and vehicles in straight line.

Game includes also number of new specialists

• Hackers capable of disable enemy vehicles for a turn or even until end of the game
• Psionics allows player to activate more units, and are fearsome enemies in assault
• Sentry Guns
• Support Walker Close combat walker think of dreadnoughts from GW universe
• War Champion - Close Combat heroes known from space operas and scifi fantasy genre

Last chapter are Weasels favorite generators every his game must contain random generators in here you can roll to see who fighting who, why, when and where

Miniatures are DRM Infantry and vehicles painted by Piers from Guild 

The bright side of this expansion is price while it not bring us nothing we havent seen before it cost three dollars which is price you almost cant beat. If you have 5core Company Commander and you like scifi then Scifi expansion is must.

All pics in this article are used without permission of their authors.