Reviews

by Grant Hill

At the end of May Corvus Belli released four new miniatures for their anime inspired Sci-Fi game Infinity:
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by Ken Whitehurst

The Battletech universe is one of the greatest and most venerable science fiction settings in all of gaming. Since 1984, Battletech has spawned a role-playing game, several miniatures games, a collectible card game, an animated television series, over 100 novels, a collectible miniatures game, a series of video games, including both first-person and third-person real-time war games, and has been seriously discussed as the setting for a major motion picture.

The Classic Battletech (CBT) game is the most recent incarnation of the original tabletop miniatures game by FASA. In the hands of its current publisher, Catalyst Game Labs, Classic Battletech is a streamlined, but otherwise faithful, reproduction of the FASA classic.

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by Grant Hill

At the end of April Corvus Belli had three new releases for their anime inspired Sci-Fi game Infinity:
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by Bob Barnetson

Pithead Miniatures is UK-based manufacturer of 10mm WW2 infantry and vehicles as well as American Civil War infantry. Pithead was established in 2004 to produce models missing from the ranges of other 10mm WW2 manufacturers. Pithead has recently released 38 new WW2 codes, mostly comprising vehicles. Read the rest of this entry »

by Bob Barnetson

In September, Cavalier Games began selling Lexan terrain mats via its eBay store. Lexan is a polymer used in bulletproof glass and aircraft canopies. These 20 by 24” mats are 0.5 mm thick and feature water and grass themes as well as a hex grid. Each mat sells for $15.00 US.

The mats were originally designed for use with HeroScape to create larger bodies of water than could be created with the base game. The designs are screen-printed on the underside of the mat to eliminate wear caused by moving units across the mat.

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by Bob Barnetson

In July 2008, UK-based Artizan Designs released the first three 28 mm figures in its Ancient World range. Artizan also released 10 new figures in its 28 mm Thrilling Tales range.

First Impressions
The figures arrived bagged and in a flat cardboard box with bubble padding. They suffered no damage during shipping. As always, Artizan’s figures look very good right of the bag.

There are no visible mould lines and only a tiny bit of vent-hole flash to nip off. All of the small integral bases were intact and all of the figures stood on their own right out of the bag.
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by Bob Barnetson

In August 2008, Casemate Publishing released Gareth Sampson’s The Defeat of Rome in the East: Crassus, the Parthians, and the Disastrous Battle of Carrhae, 53BC. This 224-page book provides a penetrating new interpretation of this important battle and its internal and external political ramifications for the Republic. The book also provides insight into the otherwise mysterious Parthian empire and retails for $32.95 USD.

First Impression
The battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE saw Parthian mounted troops inflict over 20,000 Roman casualties. The battle, which took place in the eastern part of modern-day Turkey, was a significant check to Roman expansion. The death of Marcus Crassus (a member of the triumvirate, along with Julius Caesar and Pompey) also pushed the Republic further towards an eventual civil war. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Ken Whitehurst

“Greetings Starfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada.”
Starfighter, The Last Starfighter

Once in a while, a game comes around that truly takes the hobby in a new and exciting direction, or reveal a truly unique genre in their own right. The most famous examples include: Little Wars (Miniatures Wargames), Dungeons & Dragons (Role-Playing Games), Magic: The Gathering (Collectible Card Games), We The People (Card-Driven Wargames), Mage Knight (Collectible Pre-Painted Miniatures Games), and Pirates of the Spanish Main (Constructible Strategy Game). With Wormhole, the undeniably talented team of Denny Unger, Bob Cooper, and their crew at WorldWorks Games may have created such a game.

Like many great ideas, the concept behind Wormhole is simple. Wormhole is a miniatures wargame, played with miniatures you print onto cardstock and assemble yourself. The game is sold directly as a digital product from WorldWorks Games’ website. However, this is not your everyday print ‘n’ play black and white boardgame. Unlike other game downloads, Wormhole comes with an evocative graphical user interface (complete with ambient music on the PC only) that resembles an in-universe ship-board computer screen. From this interface, you can easily select which components you wish to view and/or print. The components come in PDF format, and can be printed as many times as you have cardstock and ink to support.
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by Bob Barnetson

JR Miniatures is an American-based terrain company, in operation since 1989. It produces terrain and buildings for 6mm to 28mm wargaming. Since 2000, JR has significant improved the quality of its offerings and the breadth of its range.

JR Miniatures has released several new 15mm American Civil War (ACW) buildings. Those sent for review include a church and southern mansion (retailing for $17.00 USD) and a Victorian house and frontier cabin (retailing for $5.25 USD).
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by Bob Barnetson

Privateer Press will soon be releasing Monsterpocalypse, a collectable miniature game (CMG) based upon kaiju: giant monsters fighting it out for supremacy… oh, and stomping some buildings flat in the process. The game is designed for two players, age 10 and up and comprises starter packs, random boosters and figures available through special offers.

Initial Impressions
Monsterpocalpyse is been the subject of much pre-release publicity, including a very slick website. The components (figures, dice, rules, playing maps) are very nice looking. The prepainted figures are well painted, although the array of different factions and units was hard to make sense of at first.
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by Bob Barnetson

In June 2008, Thomarillion released a 28 mm boat and dock set as part of its Dungeons and Accessories line. The set comes in three pieces (boat and two dock sections) and the set retails for €12.95. It is possible to buy the dock elements individually for €3.95 each.
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by Bob Barnetson

Zuzzy Miniatures manufactures terrain, focusing on 25-32mm wargaming. Based in New York state, Zuzzy supplies all its products directly through a webstore. Among its products are Terra-flex gaming mats. These textured latex rubber mats are available in a variety of sizes and themes and come unpainted.

Initial Impressions
For this review, I received a six-by-four foot Moorlands gaming mat, which retails for $52.61 US plus shipping. The dark green mat arrived rolled up in a cardboard box. Inside, the mat was encased in a plastic sleeve. The mat had a strong latex smell when it came out of the box, but this quickly dissipated.
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by Bob Barnetson

In May 2008, Osprey Publishing released Alexander the Great at War. Written by Ruth Sheppard, this 256-page, hard-backed book is an edited collection, drawing material from 19 earlier Osprey titles to present a full picture of Alexander, his origins, campaigns and death.

Initial Impressions
This is a weighty and rather pretty book, deviating from the starker approach Osprey has taken to hardback compilations of previously released material on WW2. The book is full colour throughout, with many pictures, maps, and illustrations drawn from earlier Ospreys. In comparison to the rather Spartan-looking extant sources (e.g., Loeb library) and the academic books I’ve read on Alexander in the past, this is a marked improvement.
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by Brian Rempel

Hydra Miniatures was kind enough to send along some of the figures from its Prehistoric-themed miniature series of 30mm Primal Dawn miniatures for review, one Ugg (Saurian) spearman, and two Vardu (Plantmen) sprouts. Both sets of miniatures came in individually packed and clearly labeled plastic baggies.
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by Grant Hill

At the end of March Corvus Belli released four new miniatures for their anime inspired Sci-Fi game Infinity:
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By Bob Barnetson

Empress Miniatures recently released the first 16 sculpts in a new line of 28mm metal figures for the 1879 Zulu Wars. Four packages of four figures are available, with each package priced at £5.00. These packages are all of British red coats, including figures marching, standing to, firing and a command group.
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by Bob Barnetson

In March 2008, Casemate Publishing began distributing Gunboat Command: The Biography of Lieutenant Commander Robert Hitchens. Written by Hitchens’ son, Antony Hitchens, Gunboat Command provides a thorough account of the development of motor gunboat (MGB) combat in the English Channel from 1939 to Hitchens’ death in 1943. Gunboat Command retails for $50 US.
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by Brian Rempel

Hydra Miniatures were kind enough to send the first two Galacteers miniatures from their Retro-Raygun series of 30 mm Pulp Sci-Fi miniatures, Rocky Rizzo and Ace McGuire, for review. Both miniatures came in individually packed and clearly labeled plastic baggies.
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by Ken Whitehurst

In addition to their stunning Huntsman Spider Tank kit, previously reviewed here, Ramshackle Games produce a line of 28mm-30mm metal figures for their post-apocalyptic skirmish game, Nuclear Renaissance. Ramshackle Games’ website includes the following in its introduction to the Nuclear Renaissance universe:

In the not too distant future, the once sprawling metropolises of man are now nothing but dust. Wars, over-consumption and the wanton destruction of his own environment has left the earth as a barren rock. Across these trackless wastes, gang fights gang for the possession of scant resources, food and bitter glory. Move fast, stay in cover and watch your back. Outside of your gang is a short life of hardship and starvation followed by a quick, pitiful death.

For this review, Ramshackle sent along three figures from this bleak world: Larken, Hareward, and Isembard Kickass Brunel. Each is available from Ramshackle Games’ online store for £2.50.
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In June 2008, Osprey Publishing released US Cruisers, 1883-1904: The Birth of the Steel Navy. Written by Lawrence Burr and illustrated by Ian Palmer and John White, this addition to Osprey’s New Vanguard series examines the shift from wooden to iron ships. This book is priced at $17.95 USD or $21.00 CDN.

Burr previously wrote Osprey’s 2006 title British Battlecruisers 1914-1918. That book successfully challenged the notion that battlecruisers were a flawed idea. Having hypothesis and structuring the book so as to defend it is a very different approach for a writer to take to Osprey. The approach evident in US Cruisers, but not quite so strikingly executed as Burr’s thesis, (i.e., steel hulled ships represented a change in naval strategy and the beginning of an expansionist foreign policy) is less contrarian.
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by Bob Barnetson

Zuzzy Miniatures manufactures terrain, focusing on 25-32 mm wargaming. Based in New York state, Zuzzy supplies all its products directly through a webstore. Among its products are Terra-flex gaming mats. These textured latex rubber mats are available in a variety of sizes and themes and are provided unpainted.
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by Grant Hill

Alkemy is a medieval fantasy game published by Kraken Editions. Alkemy is set in a world known as Mornea, which has an important natural resource in the form of Alchemical stones. These stones can be used to cast spells (termed Alchemical formulas) and are the main cause of the friction between the four current factions:

The Kingdom of Avalon – A feudal society ruled over by the Queen, Lady Elanor. The faction is also strongly influenced by the Avalonian church, which guards the secret of the links between the kingdom and a mystical tree.

The Aurlok Nation – Unlike the human Avalonians, the Aurloks are a more bestial race that employees little in the way of armour, but produce savage warriors. Their lands are rich in natural resources including Alchemical stones.
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by Ken Whitehurst

It has been the setting for a roleplaying game, a miniatures wargame (Warzone), at least three board games (Blood Berets, Fury of the Clansmen, Siege of the Citadel), a collectible card game (Doom Trooper), and, yes, even a movie. Now, the richly-detailed Mutant Chronicles universe gets its own collectible miniatures game. For those of you unfamiliar with either the Art or the Dark Symmetry, Mutant Chronicles is set in the future of our own solar system. The main human forces are the megacorporations, which resemble the old nations from which they evolved: Imperial (UK), Capitol (USA), Mishima (Japan), and Bauhaus (Europe). In addition, there is the fanatical religious organization known as the Brotherhood (think halfway between the Warhammer 40K Imperium and the Catholic church). Humanity is beset on all sides by the Dark Legion, whose demons hail from the planet Nero, and serve five different Dark Apostles: Algeroth, Ilian, Semai, Demnogonis, and Muawijhe.
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By Bob Barnetson

In 2006, Histoire & Collections published an English translation of Jean-Philippe Dallies-Labourdette’s German-language book S-Boote: German E-boats in action, 1939-1945. This book is being distributed through Casemate Publishing in North America. It retails for $37.95 USD.

This 176-page hard-back book provides a comprehensive illustrated history of German schnellboote (“fast boats”), called E-boats (“enemy boats”) by the British. The book includes combat in the Atlantic, Baltic and Mediterranean during WW2. Accessing a history of torpedo boats based on German sources is a nice addition to the literature, which has typically been based on British and American memoirs and documents.
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By Bob Barnetson

In March 2008, Artizan Designs released 11 new 28mm figures in their Thrilling Tales line. Several of these releases comprise The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, while others supplement existing pulp figure ranges. Each miniature costs £2.00 or you can buy all 11 for £20.00.
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By Bob Barnetson

In May 2008, Warlord Games will release its new line of hard-plastic 28 mm Roman Imperial Legionnaires. Following shortly will be some 28 mm Celts to pit against them. Each boxed set of Legionnaires contains 30 multi-part figures and costs £17. Warlord Games expects the figures to be released during the week of May 12.
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By Bob Barnetson

In February 2008, Artizan Designs released two new three-figure packages of 28mm wild-west figures. Both packs feature the Pinkerton Detectives (codes AWW025 and AWW026). These figures add to Artizan’s extensive Wild West range, which includes various gunslingers, desperadoes, buffalo soldiers, and Indians. Each package costs £4.50.
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by Bob Barnetson

In March 2006, Casemate Publishing released Roma Victrix: The Roman Army in Miniature. This 72-page book contains detailed painting instructions for 10 large-scale vignettes and dioramas centering on the Roman armies (both Republican and Imperial). It also contains a very useful six-page spread addressing Republican and Imperial tactics, equipment and organization.
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by Bob Barnetson

In April 2008, Osprey Publishing released World War II Desert Tactics. Written by Paddy Griffith and illustrated by Adam Hook, this addition to Osprey’s Elite series outlines the tactical doctrine of British, German and Italian forces fighting in North Africa. This book is priced at $18.95 USD or $22.00 CDN.
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by Mathieu Thérézien

Otherworld Miniatures describe themselves as a “small, independent miniatures company dedicated to producing fine quality 28mm fantasy gaming miniatures for ‘old school’ roleplayers, wargamers and collectors”. They carry a relatively small range of miniatures that are not designed with any particular game in mind, but rather to appeal to gamers or enthusiasts who have fond memories of the early artwork from roleplaying and miniature games. The miniatures in the range are made of lead-free pewter and/or resin depending on the size and complexity of the models.

The miniatures reviewed here are Pig-faced Orcs, Pig-faced Orc command pack, and Pig-faced Orc archers from the Pig-faced Orcs series (blisters of 3 sculpted by Kev Adams, released in July 2007, September 2007, and January 2008, and retailing for £9, £12.50 and £9, respectively), the troll from the ‘Dungeon Monsters’ series (sculpted by Paul Muller, released in February 2008, and retailing for £7.50), and the Fire Giant from the ‘Giants’ series (sculpted by Paul Muller, released in June 2007, and retailing for £16).
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