Tag Archives: Eckenfels
Classic Reviews – World War II: Panzer Claws
“…by the start of the day, eight Panzers thundered mightily over the dusty tracks that passed for a road, with several squads of Panzergrenadiers in attendance. By the end of that day, resistance was so fierce that merely two Panzer III’s remained, both damaged, and nary an infantryman was to be seen…”
-From the author’s own After Action report
Michael Eckenfels, 22 November 2017
Developed by Zuxxez and Published by EIDOS Interactive
Panzer 101
Using World War II as its canvas, Panzer Claws paints an RTS strategy game in vivid appearance, clustered with frantic game-play that fits perfectly in the chaotic battles it portrays. Although not realistic – Panzer Claws has a resource-gathering and unit-building system similar to other RTS’s, such as StarCraft – the game is still fun to play.
Soviet heavy armor lined up in the dirty, smoky snow, awaiting orders.
A Wing and a Prayer – First Look!
Coming in for landing on a table near you ~
Michael Eckenfels, 1 November 2017
I’m going to try something different. Well…kind of different. Here, I’d thought that unboxing videos were the way to go, but perhaps the written medium is the best way to go. I think finding the happy medium between the two is going to mean a bit of back and forth, not just in our forums, but also in discussions of these articles. Hopefully, you will spend a moment or two to let us know what you think.
That said, it seems that there’s several companies vying for the solo bomber-missions-in-Europe mantle. DVG has B-17 Leader, Legion Wargames has Target For Today (not to mention B-29 Superfortress and Hell Over Korea), and here, Lock ‘n Load Publishing has A Wing and a Prayer.
The box cover’s design is eye-catching, I think.
Designed by Erik von Rossing, whom has quite a few solitaire game titles to his name, this one has been received by the wargaming community with positive vibes, as far as I’ve been able to tell. I’ve checked out multiple first impression pieces and articles on this game as they’ve trickled in over the last few months as I’ve waited to receive this copy, and there’s nothing really that I’m thinking is going to surprise me in a bad way. We shall see once I get it to the table, though.
GrogHeads Reviews War in the Wind: The Battle for Attu Island, May 1943
The obscure WWII PTO shootout gets the GrogHeads once-over ~
Michael Eckenfels, 14 October 2017
In June of 1942, as part of the Midway attack plan, Japanese troops landed on the Alaskan islands of Attu and Kiska. These two inhospitable, mountainous islands were home to little but cold weather and leg-breaking slopes. The Japanese thought it prudent to occupy for…well, the reasons depend on what source you read. Some think they thought occupying part of a U.S. State would cause a tremendous morale drop among Americans; others thought it was meant to help ‘shield’ their northern flank, because both islands were closer to Japan than Alaska. Regardless of the reasons, the Japanese arrived, found little resistance, and after bombing Dutch Harbor to the east a few times, settled in for a long occupation.
American troops didn’t arrive until May 11, 1943, and were woefully unprepared for it.
That occupation lasted nearly a year. American troops didn’t arrive until May 11, 1943, and were woefully unprepared for it. The troops earmarked for the invasion were training in southern California for operations in the south Pacific – not for operations in near-Arctic mountainous conditions. The powers-that-be thought the attack would be brief, only lasting a few days, whereas when all was said and done, it took nearly three weeks. It might have taken longer had the Japanese not executed one of the biggest banzai charges of the war, costing them half their casualties. The number of troops they lost came close to 2400, with only 28 prisoners taken. The Americans suffered about 550 killed, 1200 wounded, and another 1800 or so wounded due to exposure, frostbite, trenchfoot, gangrene, and a number of other nasty, debilitating conditions. It was by no means a cake walk, though the result was inevitable.
Alien vs Predator – First Look!
Michael digs into the sci-fi shootout game ~
Michael Eckenfels, 2 October 2017
Digging into a battle game with a pair of iconic sci-fi franchises facing off… again.
More coming on this one in the future…
Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>
Video: Conflict of Heroes Guadalcanal – First Look!
Cracking the shrink on Academy’s PTO wargame ~
Michael Eckenfels, 21 September 2017
Michael takes a look inside the COH box from the gang over at Academy Games.
More coming on this one in the future…
Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>
