My blog about my wargaming activities. I collect a lot of 15mm miniatures for the American War of Independence and so collect a lot of rules for this period. I started miniatures with Napoleonics, so I have a number of armies in 6mm and 15mm figures for skirmishing. I have15mm WW II figures that I use for Flames of War, Memoir '44, and someday, Poor Bloody Infantry. Finally there is my on-again, off-again relationship with paper soldiers that I sometimes write about.

Friday, February 22, 2019

R3 Podcast Episode 02 Segment 05 Assaults and Artillery in Hail of Fire

This segment covers the Assault and Artillery combat mechanics in my on-going review of the company-level WW II miniature gaming rules Hail of Fire by Brandon Fraley of Retroboom Games.

Too Long Didn't Listen version: Assault is decisive in that everyone in contact either retreats or dies before the action moves on to the next unit.

Artillery barrages take up an entire turn for the unit. Standard deviation rules apply. 6:18



Next Segment: Morale and Special Rules

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

R3 Podcast Episode 02 Segment 04 Movement in Hail of Fire

This segment covers the Movement mechanics in my on-going review of the company-level WW II miniature gaming rules Hail of Fire by Brandon Fraley of Retroboom Games.

Too Long Didn't Listen version: Move distances are randomized. Terrain features are not standardized, but terrain effects are, so you need to define each terrain piece before every game. Just like with firing, movement with vehicles is crunchier than with infantry. 4:48



Next Segment: Assaults

Friday, February 08, 2019

R3 Podcast Episode 02 Segment 03 Firing in Hail of Fire

This segment covers the Firing mechanics in my on-going review of the company-level WW II miniature gaming rules Hail of Fire by Brandon Fraley of Retroboom Games.

Too Long Didn't Listen version: Firing is using buckets of dice, looking for a 4+ using only two simple modifiers. Hits gets saves, but there are some interesting mechanics surrounding those saves. Armor combat is almost as simple, but there are some fiddly bits. 4:58



Next Segment: Movement




Wednesday, February 06, 2019

R3 Podcast Episode 02 Segment 02 Command and Control in Hail of Fire

This segment covers the Command and Control mechanics in my on-going review of the company-level WW II miniature gaming rules Hail of Fire by Brandon Fraley of Retroboom Games.

Too Long Didn't Listen version: Not your traditional IGO-UGO as each turn is broken down into multiple player phases after determining initiative. If you want to be able to move and fire with every unit every turn, you probably will not like Hail of Fire.



Next Segment: Combat mechanics in Hail of Fire

Monday, February 04, 2019

R3 Podcast Episode 02 Segment 01 Review of Hail of Fire


Let me tell you a little about podcasting, should you decide to take it on. If you are the kind of person that can't stand painting outside the lines with a color and have to immediately correct your mistake with another color, podcasting may not be for you! 😃

Imagine such a personality trying to explain game mechanics, without resorting to a script, trying to sound "perfect", all while trying to suppress their Southern drawl (the result of my entire schooling being in rural Florida and rural Virginia). It is hard to do that (attempting, not succeeding) for more than 5-10 minutes at a time.

I decided – after going through two long takes and hours of editing – to chuck it all and deliver the report in shorter segments. My thought was that for those not really feeling this medium, it might be short enough that you will suffer through it. Those that want the podcasting experience might download the segments after they all come out and then batch-listen to them.

My first topic is a review of the company-level WW II miniature game rules Hail of Fire by Brandon Fraley of Retroboom Games. I reviewed these on November 2016. Part One

Too Long Didn't Listen version: What is Hail of Fire and why I am reviewing them. Really short at 2:35


Next Segment: Command and Control in Hail of Fire

Future Segments: Firing, Movement, Morale, Miscellaneous, and Ratings

Oh, by the way, I am going to start working on a separate page that lists all of the rules I have reviewed, what rating I gave them, and links to the posts. So be on the lookout for that. After I get a few more podcasts under the belt, I will probably create another page that links all of the episodes and segments so you don't have to dig around at old posts.

As always, let me know what you think.

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Huachuca City, Arizona, United States
I am 58 yrs old now. I bought a house in Huachuca City, AZ working for a software company for the last three years. To while away the hours I like to wargame -- with wooden, lead, and sometimes paper miniatures -- usually solo. Although I am a 'rules junkie', I almost always use rules of my own (I like to build upon others' ideas, but it seems like there is always something "missing" or "wrong").