Thinking Outside the Box

Finally had a chance to try out the rules for Operation Squad WW2 . It's, as you might expect by the name, a squad-level skirmish game set in World War 2. Shocking right? Anyway, we set up a basic table and just tried a straight-up fight, rather than using any of the six scenarios from the core rule book. We played using my Tamiya 1:48 scale Panzer Grenadiers and Russian Infantry sets. Rick chose the Germans, won the initiative and started setting up first. The deployment of your figures is done in alternative order. Once we were all set up we rolled for first round initiative and started declaring our actions and reactions. Without duplicating the entire rules here's an example of how it works. The player with initiative can decide to go first or second, and then we make declarations. Say my opponent decides to go first; he picks a figure on the table who hasn't acted and says what he'll do. Maybe he's going to run into the trees over to his left. The mini...

During the summer I went on a trip to PM Hobby, hoping to pick up some Gesso and ended up grabbing these Tamiya 1:48 scale  Panzer Grenadiers on a whim (impulse buying at its finest). There are nine soliders plus three tank crew models in the box, as well as a vehicle driver and a seated officer. I haven't got any vehicles to put them in, but I'm thinking that maybe now I need one! I'll have to take a look at what kind of vehicles are available in the "Vehicles!" expansion for Operation Squad WW2 . One thing that I liked about this box was the instruction sheet. Being a war gamer, most of us get so accustomed to receiving a box or blister container filled with a bunch of random parts and simply being expected to 'figure it out'. I suppose part of that is the manufacturer giving you the freedom to construct the model(s) as you like but for beginners, or lazy people (that'd be me) detailed instructions are great. The casting quality is ok, b...

Several months ago I mentioned having bought a set of rules for World War II era skirmish gaming called Operation Squad WW2 . Shortly after I picked up a set of 1:48 scale German Panzer Grenadier figures by Tamiya . Happy with the scale once I'd put a few together I headed off to pick up some more sets so that I could field squads from several different nations for the game. The second batch that I decided to put together was their Russian Infantry box. HMG and assistants The Tamiya figure sets are very price effective, costing anywhere between $12 and $16 Canadian. I put together 12 figures from the Russian set, and I believe there are still three figures left that can be constructed if I buy vehicles or want to add variety. sergeant and lieutenant Something to keep in mind is that these are not necessarily great gaming figures because they're a little fragile. They're models intended for display, not play. The construction time can be a little high due to th...

After playing in two tournaments for the Star Trek: Attack Wing OP3 last week, this week feels like a bit of a letdown. All the wave 2 previews have been released. The OP4 prizes have been spoiled. Now most of the players are simply awaiting the arrival of wave 2 in their local stores or in their mailboxes if they ordered online. And the next tournament seems far, far away. Wizkids Dominion War  tournaments have been a lot of fun through the first three months. With the various winter holidays and new year coming up OP4 is slated to run through Dec/Jan, which means fewer events. I know of one shop that is running theirs in December but it's on a day I can't attend. Another has scheduled theirs for mid-January. The shop I'll be running at hasn't gotten back to be to confirm if my suggested date is acceptable. December is a busy time for most folks, so I can understand. I'm quite looking forward to wave 2, which is sort of ironic actually because I've not use...

I don't need more rule sets, and yet, I seem to continue purchasing them. Truthfully, the same could be said about board games and miniatures as well. Perhaps is a curse of my personality that drives me to continue acquiring these items. As I mentioned yesterday my board game collection grew in number recently. All of those games are fun and I'm glad I picked them up; it's far easier to get a board game (although if you want to be specific most of those are card games) on the table than it is for a miniature game. Most miniature games require fairly specific figures to be used. This can be determined by the time period and/or genre the game is set in, as well as the specificity of the model requirements. Games like Mutants and Death Ray Guns  don't ask that your model's weaponry match the weapons it possesses on its profile. Others recommend, and some require, that their equipment be easily visible and a direct representation of their profile in game. Lastly are t...