Tag Archives: WWI

Huzzah! – Photos from the Convention

Portland, Maine has a game convention?! ~

Chris Paquette, 6 June 2018

Every May, the good folks at the MHWA set up their long weekend of HUZZAH! It started as a minis-heavy gaming convention and has expanded to other tabletop games, as well.  But lets face it, it’s the minis that look the best on the table.

click images to enlarge

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

And stay tuned for more convention coverage all summer long!


Chat about it below, or in our forums, or hit our FaceBook page >>

GrogHeads Reviews In The Trenches: Base Set II Doughboys

TBP promises to pack big fun into small packages.  How does their WWI series measure up? ~

Designed by John Gorkowski and published by Tiny Battles Publishing ~

Robert Ellis, 7 February 2018

In The Trenches is a series of games that depict platoon level tactical combat during WW1, and offers a good selection of scenarios and forces from many of the involved protagonists.

Each hex represents 100 yards and each turn 5 minutes.

The series so far consists of two base games (this being one of them) and four expansions, all of which require one of the base games to play.

‘Doughboys’, as you might expect from the title, is about US Army actions set in 1918, and has three scenarios that feature a mixture of US infantry and light tanks in both defensive and offensive battles.

What’s Gus Playing? Battlefield 1 – Italian Front

The diminutive duke of disaster dishes on danger in the Dolomites ~

Lloyd Sabin, 5 February 2018

And it does so in an exciting, all-too-short War Story mini-campaign that I really enjoyed.

Never, not once, have I seen the Italian front (Isonzo, Caporetto, etc.) of the First World War portrayed in a PC game – whether it be in a tactical, strategic or first person shooter. Battlefield 1 may be ridiculous (and fun) in many ways, but it does portray the war between Italy and Austria-Hungary, from the Italian side.

And it does so in an exciting, all-too-short War Story mini-campaign that I really enjoyed. The back story is simple – two Italian brothers are deployed to the mountainous front: one is captured by the Austrians, and one is an Arditi commando. You don’t need me to spell out the rest.

And ‘the rest’ is done with solid attention to detail with loads of Italian weapons available. There is even a dramatic appearance of Italian Caproni heavy bombers! Clearly I loved this Battlefield 1 War Story, except for the fact that is was only about an hour or so long. If only more of these mini-campaigns would be made for single player fans. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to happen. So in lieu of that, enjoy the below screen shots of what may be my favorite bout of recent World War I gaming.

What’s Gus Playing? Episode 16

Our flyweight flyboy flings feelings of flights of fancy ~

Lloyd Sabin, 29 January 2018

Wings! was a favorite game of mine when I was a teenager on the Amiga, around 1990. I played it to completion more than once, using my Epyx joystick, and thanked the gaming gods that Cinemaware existed to create a game that really scratched my First World War itch. Even then I was fascinated by that war and it’s aviation.

it was more of a fun beer and pretzels game about World War I flyers

Wings! is quite simplistic compared to Wings Over Flanders Fields or Rise of Flight. But it was never meant to compete with sims…it was more of a fun beer and pretzels game about World War I flyers, with three different kinds of missions: patrol/air combat, ground attack/strafing runs, and bombing. I enjoy all three types, and still get a kick out of Wings!

The Kickstarter campaign for this game turned out to be troubled in the end, with many bonus items still not delivered and the usual internet rage spewing forth from angry gamers. I even had to buy my copy twice because I was never given info on how to transfer my copy from one rig to another after contacting the developer.

These things aside, the modern version of Wings! captures the magic and good storytelling of the original and still sets my imagination in motion. The storytelling is very good as is the updated music and the graphics are serviceable if not eyeball shattering. Plus the game can be had for just a few dollars on Steam.

What’s Gus Playing? Episode 15

The toddler of tanks talks tellingly about trench tactics ~

Lloyd Sabin, 22 January 2018

It took me a ridiculous amount of time to finally fire it up, but this past week I got in some time with Battlefield 1’s single player component, called War Stories. Each story is set at a different front of the First World War. There is a tutorial in which the player takes the role of a black soldier of the 369th Harlem Hellfighters, attempting to hold off a brutal German onslaught. It throws the player directly in to the storm and forces learning by doing. It can be chaotic and insane, but that’s the point. This tutorial is hardcore but effective.

It can be chaotic and insane, but that’s the point.

Out of the six different War Stories (including the tutorial), the player can choose any of the next five in any order he chooses. The next one I chose was set during the Battle of Cambrai in 1917, and as you can probably guess, it puts the player in the boots of a British tanker, assigned to the Black Bess, a kitted-out Mark V tank.

This particular War Story, entitled “Through Mud & Blood,” is broken in to four different chapters which see the player engaged in tank on tank combat against German armored cars, captured French tanks, anti-tank troops, and also engaging in dismounted, commando-style combat against a variety of German troop types. There are literally dozens of weapons to choose from when not piloting Black Bess, the environments are totally destructible, and the combat can be frenetic. Static trench warfare, this is not.

That said, at times it felt like the game was a re-skinned version of other Battlefield games. The First World War vibe is definitely there, but the high-paced combat sometimes felt a little too modern. I still enjoyed it very much…so much so that I’m even dabbling with the idea of playing MP. But so far my hate for people in general has kept me from diving in to an MP game with other players who I don’t know. Months ago, someone in the forums claimed that Battlefield 1 felt like a steampunk Battlefield game, and to a certain extent I found that to be true.