More Spearpoint 1943 goodies

More updates from Collns Epic Wargames - thanks guys!:

New - Spearpoint 1943 Quick Reference Cards by d bro

New in the Spearpoint 1943 Downloads Area (also available on the game's Boadgamegeek (BGG) Page under Files), Quick Reference Cards summarize key rules of Spearpoint 1943 for easy reference during games.  BGG user "d bro" created the cards and we were happy to review them and support their creation.  Special thanks to d bro for creating the Quick Reference Cards and allowing us to host the file.  Each sheet is designed to fit inside the existing game box and looks great when laminated!  Download the PDF (Direct Link).

New - Spearpoint 1943 Tuck Boxes by Dustin Boggs

Dustin Boggs recently finished designing Tuck Boxes for each card deck included with Spearpoint 1943.  You may download them, print them out, cut and fold them, and add a great and attractive tuck box for each of the card decks in Spearpoint.  Special thanks to Dustin for creating these great looking boxes.  As with the Quick Reference Cards, the tuck boxes are available in the Spearpoint downloads area or on the BGG Page under Files.  Download the PDF (Direct Link).

Update - Spearpoint 1943 "Situation I" updated to Version 1.1

 Situation I is now Version 1.1.  The updated PDF along with a Change Summary is now available in the Spearpoint downloads area.  The update clarifies the use of "two" German frontlines.  Be sure to use version 1.1 for all future plays of Situation I.  Download the PDF (Direct Link).

Playtest Invitation - New Situation "Man vs. Beast"

A new Situation for Spearpoint 1943 is now undergoing external playtesting.  Man vs. Beast pits an all-infantry (and one AT Gun) US force against a Tiger tank and supporting German Infantry as they enter a partially ruined village.  This challenging situation features intact and ruined buildings, an upcoming map accessory with large flip-tiles representing the buildings/ruins, movement, line of sight, and more.  I'm happy to be working with artist Marc von Martial (All Things Zombie, Lock N' Load, and other titles) on the artwork for the Village Map Supplement, which I'm planning to offer professionally-printed as an optional add-on for this and other Spearpoint 1943 situations.  Please let me know if this add-on sounds interesting to you!  Click here to see Marc's game art portfolio.

I invite you to follow along with the playtest process on Boardgamegeek.  There, you can read the current DRAFT situation, playtest session reports, and more.  You are also welcome to join the external teams testing it and/or comment on the draft.  Session Reports are added as test games are completed, and if necessary, the draft is updated with any changes.  I thought it would be interesting to expose the playtest process I use and to invite all players to comment on the upcoming addition to Spearpoint 1943.  Click here to see the DRAFT situation in its current form.

The beer to end all beers!

Brew Dog have done it again- 55%!!!!

And for that extra kick, its served in dead animals.

But at $855 per bottle, I think I'll keep to my own stuff!

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/7933966/worlds-strongest-beer-served-in-dead-animals

Spearpoint 43 Arrives

Yep - its here and its as lovely as the preview pics showed.
A great little card game that takes up hardly any space - the Italian campaign in your pocket!

An errata pdf is now available here:
http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=7289932&msgid=15273&act=PUDC&c=735412&destination=http%3A%2F%2Ffrontlinegeneral.com%2FErrata_Ver1-0.pdf

And some deck suggestions ae available here:
http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=7289932&msgid=15273&act=PUDC&c=735412&destination=http%3A%2F%2Ffrontlinegeneral.com%2FSuggestedDecks.pdf

and finally there is a BGG entry here;
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/56320/frontline-general-spearpoint-1943

Brewery Update

Bottled today!
Now brewing is another Pale Ale:

Basing Tutorial

Saw this interesting tutorial on how to do urban pavement style basing - well worth a look:
http://www.tengumodels.co.uk/page5.htm

Game-fest!

What do you do when SWMBO and the Lass go interstate for the weekend, leaving the boys at home? Invite all your mates over for a weekend long games-fest of course!



Day 1: Owen and Ken arrived.  Lots of stooging about, some modelling and painting, general catching up, lots of coffee. Played Zombies with much hillarity.  Typically, the big boys stabbed each other in the back so much that the Lad won, but it really was anybody's game right to the end.

After that it was time for some Memoir 44, being a demo game of the Pegasus Bridge scenario for Ken who liked the ancients version of command and colours a few weeks back at Little Wars.

 




Day 2: Peter joined us, bringing 'Conquest of the Empire', which is very much like Shogun but in an Ancient Med theatre.  I was Mesopotamia and spent most of the game locked in a WW1 like war of attrition with Owen who held the Eastern Med.

I allied with Rome who expanded Westwards to historical effect, defeating the lad in Hispania by mid-game.  Egypt then swung round to smash into me with Owen and a ball was had ball all.  Roman Pete was declared Caesar of the known world by the end of a six hour game, with the alliances, back stabbing, execution of prisoners etc being an inevitable highlight!

Lesson - don't trust Pete and his 'it will only take an hour' games,but it was a real blast!

After Dinner, Space hulk, MissionV: Decoy.  I hadn't played this one before and Ken and I played Marines vs the Lad and Owen as the 'Stealers. Tightly fought game all the way and the Marines took 50% casualties to rackup 50 kills and get 5 marines off the board.  Stealers needed to roll a 6 to win, which the Lad promptly did!



After supper, Owen hosted an Infinity demo game for Ken and I which I really enjoyed but still haven't quite got my head around some of the mechanics yet.  Some beautiful figs and I'm very, very tempted to do a small high-tech unit with a small number of figures.



Day 3.  After watching the Lad play an early game of footy, we headed back for Incursion.  Played the intro scenario with Owen and I driving the APEs vs Reilly and Ken being the Zombie masters.  We won (barely) as the second one scampered off the board leaving one dead buddy behind and pursued by a horde of screaming Germanic undead (PS the only game I won all weekend!) Then it was time to packup and clean up before the girls got home.



As always, great times, great company and it was over far too quickly - too quickly to get any pics in fact!  Didnt watch any war movies (very unlike us), my background themed music for each games had really good effect, and Man Cave Brewery products flowed!  Owen calculated it as around 18hrs of tabletop time, not counting other time spent discussing gaming or modelling - Sweet!

Strange (but true) German vehicles

Multi-turreted tanks? Black Wolf experimental SS tank? Submarine/Torpdo hybrids?

Rail-zeppelin bullet train? 2-man mini tanks!

If you like the sound of these, then this site is for you!

http://strangevehicles.greyfalcon.us/

Brutal Reviewed

The Brutal figs have been reviewed in the lastest issue of the online gaming mag Irregular.
Read more about it here:
http://irregularmagazine.com/latest-issue/


Direct link to pdf magazine (14.4 mb)
http://irregularmagazine.com/sum10

Panzerknacker!

Havent had an entry in this category for some time, and then I heard about this guy...

Günther Viezenz (born 1 February 1921 in Silesia) was a highly decorated German Hauptmann (Captain) in the Wehrmacht during WW2.

Viezenz is the record-holder of the Tank Destruction Badge. He single handedly destroyed 21 enemy tanks with hand held explosives such as a panzerfaust, satchel charge, teller mines or hand grenades. He was awarded four Tank Destruction Badges in Gold and one in Silver (obviously the photo was before he got all of those).  He received Ritterkreuz (Knight's cross) on 7 January 1944.

After World War II Viezenz joined the Bundeswehr on April 1, 1956 and retired as Oberst (Colonel) on March 30, 1980. He died in Cologne in 1999.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnther_Viezenz
http://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/war_badges/heer/single_tank.htm

Submissions and suggestions for the 'Gentlemen of Renown and Infamy' category are always welcomed!

Now Brewing: Evolution Pale Ale

Some inspiring Terrain

None of which is mine I hasten to add!

First up some very nice 28mm scale urban terrain by 'midismirnoff' of the Jar Wars blog (link below), including some great roads made from cork tiles, which has been broken and reglued slightly offset to create the fanastic cracked appearance
http://midismirnoff.blogspot.com/2010/07/comrade-fails-to-break-kampfgruppe_03.html

And next, the Loughton Strike Force demo game from Salute '09; ‘Berlin 1945 – Assault on the Reichstag’.  WoW! Fantastic modelling and a great compromise between playability and scenic detail. Have a look at the gallery for more pics.
http://www.loughtonstrikeforce.co.uk/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=108

More Brewery Upgrades

Thanks to some generous relatives buying me birthday goodies, I have an additional 120 PET style homebrew bottles!  Not only that,  I now have this excellent home-made incubating cabinet for an all weather brewing capability. A small 25 watt globe keeps the inside at 20-22deg C: optimal for most yeasts!

Now to fill up those new bottles!

Now Brewing

As you can see I've acquired an additional fermenting vat, so I now have the ablity to generate 46 litres of beer simultaneously- Bwahahahahaha!

So with the additional  brewing capacity I'm trying something a bit different this time - cold weather fermentation.  Common in Europe, not so much here in Oz.  Worth a shot during a chilly Melbourne winter hough  I reckon!

So in addition to a malt draught, now brewing is a German style hopped Pilsener, with a special yeast to allow fermentation in the cold, which will tke 3-4 weeks. Add a fewmonth to mature and it should be perfect for late Spring/Summer!

Another Year Older!

Yes, it was my birthday yesterday.

I spent the day being spoiled by the kids (SWMBO is overseas with work) and lazing around.
I made some beer, played Ivanhoe and Incursion with the Lad, then watched some episodes of Enterprise and Godzilla vs MechGodzilla (my favorite kaiju movie- who couldn't love an 'absolute zero gun'?).

Got a few people coming over for brewery samplings this weekend, and then next week some lads coming for a gaming weekend (are you all packed yet Owen?) so the celeberations will continue!

Sadly, Spearpoint 43 hasnt arrived yet.  Guess that will be a ray of sunshine for another day!