Coming soon will be a simple conversion of a Battlefront BMP to make a model I never knew existed before some research today. I will also include stats for 7DTTRR, Team Yankee and Twilight 2000 versions 2 and 4 (none of which have ever had the statistics). No model of it exists by any manufacturer but every part is available in platic from Battlefront. No prize but kudos for anyone who can identify it from this (your names will feature in the video I'm making on it). Closing date - when I actually get the video completed probably around a week or so.
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Jason Weiser runs a great blog that deals with gaming Twilight 2000 in miniature. It's well worth a look (and he's mentioned me in the current post! LOL).
Twilight 2000 cries out for large scale battles. I know some people like Team Yankee for this but I find it a bit vehicle centric and the artillery parks on table don't appeal to me. i have been using Seven Days to the River Rhine which I heartedly recommend. What I needed though was a smaller scale battle that would let me fight primarily infantry actions with maybe a few vehicles in support (similar to the old Last Battles board game). As a result I've decided to develop my own. Design principles: * Quick to play - these rules should be capable of being used within a session to fight out a battle to completion. * Familiar mechanisms - they need to be at least similar to the v4 rules. * Unit flexibility - many rules have very generic infantry units (often with massive variety with vehicles). The rules need to be able to represent a wide range of units from a well equipped American Green Beret ODA team through to a rag tag bunch of militia with only a few rounds for their hunting rifles and shotguns. This needs to be achieved without a separate card for each unit. * Minimal record keeping - ideally none but probably compromising by using markers for factors such as low ammunition and pinned down. * Playable on a small surface - as this is designed to be used as a supplement to an RPG it needs to be capable of being played on a smaller surface than the usual wargames table without compromising the ability to play it on a larger table. * A role for PCs - If the PCs are involved then they need to be represented on the table (probably with a slightly bigger role than a normal soldier). * Adaptability - all gamers tinker with rules and we all have our own interpretations based on reading and experiences. As a result the rules should be transparent and capable of modification. * Simple - the best rules I have played have tended to the simple. Complex rules tend to be slow to play leading to games not being completed. They also don't usually add much to the simulation that a more abstract and broad brush approach wouldn't. So far I have written the first draft of the infantry rules and tried a quick game with them. They aren't perfect but I managed to run an encounter between six stands of Soviet infantry with a DShK in support against three American stands with a sniper and a stand of Polish militia in support. The game lasted about 30 minutes to play to completion.
I will be sharing the rules shortly and would be grateful for any feedback. I've just had Jacob from World in Plastic (https://www.facebook.com/WorldInPlastic/) get in touch offering me some review models. The pics look good and he covers World War Two, Cold War and Modern so I'm looking forward to seeing them. If there is anyone out there with anything they think I might want to review please feel free to get in touch.
My wonderful other half has got me a number of helicopters by Revell for Christmas (although it did take a few hints!). I looked around and found a simple way (and cheap components) to make this test version. Full details will follow shortly.
Coming soon - converting a HMMWV to the HMMWV FSV. The FSV mounted a 25mm Bushmaster cannon directed using a TV camera with the crew in the hull. Unfortunately the recoil was too much for the chassis and the project was cancelled. It featured in the first two editions of Twilight 2000 but nobody makes it in 15mm, hence the conversion.
As part of my work looking at reviewing Twilight 2000 (Alpha edition) I'm now looking at equipment. While I was looking at the weapons I had a thought regarding ATGMs. Currently they hit instantly which is a little unrealistic. My proposed rule is: ATGMs are fired as normal but no roll to hit is made. Until the same count on the next round the missile is in flight. If the missile is not fire and forget it will automatically miss if the firer becomes suppressed. If this does not happen the roll to hit is made as a slow action for the firer (borrowing from their next action if initiative has changed and they have not acted). If the firer acts before the impact they must save their full turn to use when the correct count is reached). The modifiers are based on the state of the target at the point of impact not when firing. Simple and reflects ATGMs better. Design notes: * I considered using different flight times but this felt over complicated. * Using the same count not the firer's next action stops the issue of swapping initiative to game the flight time. Feedback welcome. I recently bought the Bravo 20 pack produced by CP Models. A pack of 8 equipped very much as per the real life patrol accounts. A full review will follow shortly. The surprise for the gallant Soviet aviators gets a step closer after a lucky find in the pound shop.When I was building the S&S LAV-C2 it got me thinking about subordinate commanders in the game. Normally there is the option to have a single command unit on the table which gives a bonus of two activation tokens (with a penalty if it is destroyed). I started thinking how best to simulate extra command units (which might also help simulate NATO's ability to react faster than the Soviets). Here are my first thoughts, please feel free to comment.
* Subordinate command units cost 50% more than the base vehicle. * Each subordinate command vehicle adds one activation token at the start of the turn. Options I am considering: * The token is only added if the unit has no morale tokens on it at the start of the turn. * If the command unit is destroyed, immediately remove either one or two tokens from those not yet used. It just struck me looking at the S&S Models LAV-C2 conversion kit to Battlefront's LAV-25 that with VERY little work it could be turned into a nice sci-fi APC (a larger version of the APC in Aliens). As it isn't the most well known of vehicles it might work well. (A link to my review of the kit - S&S Models.)
I'm sure there are other vehicles out there, anyone else tried anything? I've been thinking a bit about this. The rules under linguist give the character the ability to speak as a native. Under generation it notes that some characters may speak other languages to a limited degree.
A thought for character creation might be to allow characters to learn a language during generation. My suggested mechanism is to roll against INT at age 18. This may not be pushed. If it succeeds then the character speaks an extra language for each success. Also I plan to allow characters to have a partial language ability (clearly foreign and might stumble over words giving a -2 penalty to skills involving communication) in two languages by sacrificing the ability to speak a language fluently (and no you can't sacrifice your primary language). Thoughts? There are more and more ranges now that include journalists (I have some by Irregular and Peter Pig) and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. If you consider the effect that journalism can have on warfare (most obviously the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War), maybe we should simulate this on the tabletop. One option I'm toying with is doubling victory points gained and lost if they occur within 6" of a journalist stand and in line of sight. Another in multiplayer games is to have competing journalists with their own victory conditions. I would welcome any thoughts. Journalist figures are 15mm by Peter Pig.
We are very quick to shout out about bad service so let's do the opposite, let's praise good service. This is a thank you to Steve at the Sprue Shop for fast service and throwing in free of charge some bases as he didn't have all I initially asked for. He's not a big business but he's growing. He's also extended the free postage offer he had for November. I know there isn't a lot that he stocks that fits the Cold War theme but I know lots of you game other periods too. Now all I need to do is persuade my other half to let me have them early instead of waiting for Christmas...
I have finally got there - 100 followers on YouTube !!!!
If you are one of them thank you, you are giving me the motivation to carry on producing videos. If you aren't why not have a look using the link below. Why not let me know what you want me to look at next (if you are a manufacturer then feel free to send me a sample product to review, anything modern, any scale). Watching Combat Dealers and I found an interesting bit of trivia. A British Sherman crewman stated that they placed telephone directories on the floor to help absorb mine blasts. Never come across this before. Wondering what might be used in more modern battles.
Shaun from S&S models has been in touch offering models for review. Looking on his website https://sandsmodels.com I can't wait to see them in the flesh :-)
A big thank you to the "Like A Stone Wall" wargames group for the invite to join them after lockdown. I look forward to meeting you.
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