02/21/14

Celtic War Chariots – A Primer

Lloyd Sabin, 14 February 2014

Click images to enlarge

Celt1 — Celtic chariot pulled by a team of two

Beginnings and Basics
I wish I could have met the guy who invented the spoked wheel. It’s one of the most vital inventions in the history of mankind. Invented about 4000 years ago, it immediately made all human pursuits easier, from travel to commerce to war. And once the spoked wheel took off, it led directly to the development of the war chariot.

The earliest vehicles built for war and considered chariots were built by the Sumerians, Hittites, and Persians, around 2500 BC. Looking back, we today would probably just call them ‘wagons carrying a spearman’…because that’s exactly what they were. Heavy and cumbersome, with solid wheels, they were not very fast and made for easy targets until the Sumerians developed a more modern two-wheeled version, with the brand new spoked wheels. Speed gave the Sumerians battlefield dominance, and the modern technology of the spoked wheel began to spread.

Simultaneously, wheeled, chariot-like vehicles were being developed all over the world at the time. In the 2000 years before 1AD, examples of chariots appeared, often in a military role, in Chinese, Indian, northern and central European civilizations. The domestication of the horse helped with the advance of chariot technology, especially in European warfare.

Celt3 — A spearman mounted on a chariot, doing what he does best.

Perfecting the War Chariot, Inspiring Fear
Of all European cultures of the ancient world, the Celts are probably the best known charioteers, with some of the most feared wheeled vehicles of the ancient era. Not content just scaring the crap out of their opponents with tattoos, woad and war cries, the Celts also tricked out their combat rides with a host of nasty countermeasures that left their opponents reeling. This included scythed wheels, extra noise to spook opposing horses, and skill to jump from the chariot, fight on foot, and jump back on the chariot again to move along without their opponent able to catch up to engage…hit and run tactics at their best. Continue reading →

02/19/14

Companion Reading for Rome 2 – Total War

Looking for some more history in your gaming? Want to get the backstory on all those pixels you’re pushing around?

Lloyd Sabin – February 10, 2014

Since I was a kid, I have always coupled my gaming with my reading. I think a lot of people do this, but as I have gotten older, it is rare that I read anything that isn’t directly or indirectly tied to what I am currently playing on the PC. Finally, after years of trying to combat this clear OCD-like behavior, I have given up and am going to attempt to do something productive with this quirk.

This first installment is focused on Rome 2: Total War and what I have read, and will be reading, while playing through my Iceni campaign. The Iceni are one of the stronger tribes located in Britannia and the British Isles. In my current campaign I currently hold all of Great Britain, including Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and have made significant progress in northwest Europe, particularly in Gaul. When not attempting to advance on the front and boost Iceni technological and military prowess, I have read the following title, with a few more on deck.

Imperial Governor – The Great Novel of Boudicca’s Revolt by George Shipway

Imperial Governor is the first title I cracked open for companion reading during my Iceni campaign. The title character, Paulinus, is instantly believable as he describes in detail his work in building up Britannia from a backward, swampy outpost to an integral part of the growing Roman Empire. He is a military man through and through, with little patience for insubordination and even less patience for treachery.

Imperial Governor has some great descriptive writing and paints mental imagery of a dark, foreboding, dangerous Britannia, crawling with hostile tribes. Boudicca herself does make a memorable entrance, but because Paulinus does not view her as anything more than scum most details are left out. This book is focused mainly on the Roman response and does it well, guiding the reader through a dense series of battles as well as providing a good order of battle on both sides, including the Celtic tribes aligned with the Iceni and the Roman legions and auxiliaries involved. There are also vivid descriptions of Roman military equipment, architecture and even food, producing a rich historical backdrop for the conflict.

A good part of Imperial Governor also covers Paulinus’ responsibility to both Rome and Britannia once he has put the revolt down, with little mercy. With almost all of Britannia destroyed, it is up to Paulinus to repair the damage, eliminate any remaining threat to Roman power in Britain, and also protect himself and his career from the subsequent fallout. Also keep an eye out for several historical characters with whom you may be familiar, especially if you enjoy Roman history.

Imperial Governor is a blunt and realistic title that doesn’t mince words, just like Paulinus himself. With a cunning, highly intelligent protagonist, some great descriptive writing and excellent battle scenes, George Shipway’s classic proved to be a great companion piece to my Rome 2 Iceni campaign. If interested, the author’s own life makes for some pretty good reading as well. Imperial Governor was his first novel.

Some other titles that I have on the night stand ready to go for more local color include: Continue reading →

11/29/13

TANKSgiving 2013 – Early Tanks

GrogHeads TANKSgiving

Author: Lloyd Sabin, November 26, 2013

Very Early Armored Vehicles

It’s the most wonderful time of year! When else do we get to discuss the benefits of century old armored oddities? Probably all the time if you’re a grog, but this is more special because we say it is.

Early motorized vehicles are fascinating enough…apply an inch of armor plate and a gun turret and it’s a real party. The below vehicles are some of my new found favorites…each has that certain something and they all look to have stormed straight out of a steampunk imagination. So put on your goggles, put a rag over your face and let’s see what all the kids are screaming about when they discuss very early armored vehicles. At least my kids, anyway.

Romfell Armored Car

The Romfell was built in Austria-Hungary around 1915. That gives it a slightly exotic air. In 1915 and 1916, only two existed, but they both survived the harsh conditions and combat in the Balkans against the Serbian Army, and went on to engage the Italians and Russians. That gives it a tough reputation. In 1917 dozens more were built and deployed, its successful combat record making it somewhat of a legend.

Each Romfell armored car had a crew of four, was powered by a Mercedes transmission and was armed with a Schwarloze machine gun that could be used against both air and ground targets. Reliable and fast for the era with a 26mph top speed, the Romfell is a popular vehicle for modelers.

It’s hard not to be intrigued by the Romfell. It’s very modern look, pedigree and durability guarantee that historians or car aficionados will quickly fall in love.

Fowler B5 Armored Locomotive

Armored cars are one thing…armored trains are another.

Now don’t get the wrong idea, the Fowler B5 armored locomotive did not go into combat during the Boer War at high speed with guns blazing. It did, however, deliver heavy guns and supplies for the British Army against the Boers starting roughly towards the end of 1899.

To tow these guns, the Fowler factory in Leeds, UK, produced a handful of B5s with close to 125 horsepower! With that much strength, heavy slab armor was applied to the engines to protect them and their drivers from attacks by Boer raiders. Three or four of these heavy armored locomotives were used by the British during the Boer War, some with armored railroad cars as well.

Prototypes of gun carrying armored Fowler B5s were developed but as far as I could research, none were ever deployed in a combat role. It would have been quite the scene if they had been – there’s no telling how effective they would have been at fighting. For protecting and delivering heavy equipment and guns, though, they were very successful. Continue reading →

11/22/13

GARPA 32 – GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory

Lloyd Sabin, Brant Guillory, and Jim Zabek, 22 November 2013

Winter is coming. As a blast of cold, icy air descends from the Arctic we here at Grogheads are doing our best to keep your blood hot for some new games and we’re leading off with GMT’s Fields of Fire, which sounds hot even when you read it through the cool glow of your monitor. Don’t miss some other great gaming goodness beyond the Read More link which includes some awesome terrain for sci-fi minis and some remakes of a couple of classic electronic games.

Tabletop Games

Fields of Fire II from GMT Games
Cleared p500 and in final development

Still available at the p500 price of $55, this sequel from GMT Games takes the highly-regarded Fields of Fire series into action with the USMC. You’ll lead a rifle company through a variety of solitaire scenarios ranging from the WWII PTO through the present day. A card-driven game with a terrain deck and action deck, Fields of Fire has been described by combat veterans as a pretty damned good representation of the kinds of decisions you need to make in combat. Check it out here and go place your order with GMT.

Millennium Wars Advanced: States of Conflict from MCS Group
Still on preorder, no timetable

The Millennium Wars games are an odd fish. Clearly a map-and-counters wargame that any grog should grok at first glance, but quite complex in the interplay of assets, missions, capabilities, and environmental constraints. A heavy focus on C4I puts the Millennium Wars series in the forefront of modern conflict simulation, and allows solid modeling of organizational cohesion as well as varied non-combat effects like cyberwarfare and political fallout. Still on preorder at $49.95, MWA is a package stuffed with a variety of conflicts to make you squirm your way through the difficult decisions faced on today’s battlefields.

Zeppeldrome
$4600 of $35000, project closes 15 December 2013

Steampunks! Yeah, you! Wanna race? Wanna race an airship? Wanna race and airship and fight dirty? C’mon, you know you do. Interchangeable boards, wacky characters, dirty tricks, and lemmings – it’s all here. Players have modular airships that allow you to mix and match capabilities. Racecourses change each game, and the deck of dirty tricks looks like a Mario race in the sky. Put on your brass goggles and silk scarf, float over to Kickstarter to check out a video of gameplay, and plunk down a couple of bucks for a rollicking ride through the sky.

Continue reading →

11/8/13

GARPA 31 – GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory

Authors: Lloyd Sabin and Jim Zabek

Next Monday, November 10^th, will mark the 38^th anniversary of the date the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank. What does that have to do with this latest installment of GARPA? Not much, as best I can figure, other than that the gales of November seem to have come early again this year. At least around these parts, it’s colder, windier, and wetter than usual and Gordon Lightfoot’s lyrics were ringing in my ears as I sat down to start to pen this edition of GARPA on a Tuesday night. Rest assured we’ll be checking the various crowd-funded sites up until the last hours that we publish – but on a cold fall day it seemed like a good time to start my search for the next column.

Boardgames

Tide of Iron core set & Stalingrad expansion by 1A Games LLC

$9,088 pledged of $22,000 ending November 26^th

Back in 2006 Fantasy Flight Games launched Tide of Iron. Set during the Second World War, it was a wargamer’s dream: big maps, lots of minis, and a fun rule system. Now out of print, 1A Games is attempting to bottle some of the magic, but in a smaller box.

Their relaunch of Tide of Iron doesn’t attempt to change the game, but rather enhance it. They are offering tutorial scenarios in a smaller size to help ease players into the game in a more streamlined fashion.

In addition, 1A already has an expansion to Tide of Iron on the way in the form of a Stalingrad game. However, to generate some extra excitement 1A is offering some Kickstarter-exclusive items for the Stalingrad expansion. These include Special Operations cards, Initiative cards, and even exclusive minis such as the sIG 33B. Stretch goals have already been established in case they get overfunded.

With the original Tide of Iron out of print 1A is hoping to sell copies of its game to folks who missed getting in on the action of the original. And players who own the original will have the ability to buy some of the cool new items on an a la cart basis for a modest pledge level. If any of this sounds tempting head over to 1A’s Kickstarter page and check it out.

WARFIGHTER – The Tactical Special Forces Card Game by Dan Verssen Games

$12,841 of $7,000 ending November 27^th

Dan Vessen has found a sweetspot on Kickstarter. His Cards of Cthulhu was well overfunded, and that wasn’t his first success. Warfighter launched this week and within three days it was already fully-funded and kicking in the doors of a number of stretch goals with nothing but good stuff to come.

A card-driven game of modern warfare it can be played either solo or with up to six players. It is a cooperative game where players work together to attempt to accomplish missions. Players equip each soldier with a variety of loadouts. Players select a mission randomly which assigns the number of resource points the squad can use. If this sounds familiar to Dan Verssen Games it’s because it is. The technique has been used in other games including Thunderbolt Apache Leader. In Warfighter the player(s) select soldiers and the soldier skills, weapons, and equipment they’ll take with them. Each selection costs a number of resource points to keep the game challenging – you can take everything you want so you have to choose wisely to bring what you need.

The stretch goals have already unlocked campaign rules and bullet-shaped dice. Further goals are hoped to include miniature figures, so players should keep an eye on Warfighter to see what other goodies may be on offer.