Some unusual 1/350 scale tanks made by OKB Grigorov, a European company specializing in 1/72 armor and 1/350 submarines. They also produced a range of 1/350 armor, mostly eastern front WWII vehicles. The items are still listed on their website though they do not appear to be for sale at the moment. The packages include PE detail pieces so expect to do a little work to make these pieces look good.
https://www.spigames.net/PDFv3/T34-20mm.pdf
During the early 70s, the lines between different forms of simulation gaming remained blurred. Here, one of the leading manufacturers of simulation board games, Simulations Publications, Inc. tosses out a miniatures version of their ground breaking Tactical Game 3. Tac 3 was later redone and repackaged by Avalon Hill as Panzerblitz triggering a new and innovative era of game design.
Redoing the game apparently satisfied neither miniatures gamers who sought more complexity or board gamers who looked for a more inclusive range of materials. In retrospect, it seems like counters would have worked more effectively than the paper figures included with the game.
The rules present a brief adaptation with little extra. There are no scenarios included and the unit list seems too limited. However, the rules note that there are mission cards for both sides listing forces and goals though they do not seem to be included. The design was written by Arnold Hendricks who has crafted both miniature rules (1944) and board games (Star Viking). Scale is 1 turn = 6 minutes, 1” = 85 yards. Of course, the problem at this scale is that tanks traveling on a road can move almost 4 ft along the game surface. Additionally, many weapons including static anti-tank guns have a range less than the distance traveled by a tank in that 6 minute time frame so are likely to fall easy prey to tanks swooping down on them since attacker fires first.
T-34 used to show up near the bottom of SPI reader polls. It was never a hugely popular game. Still, it seemed natural for SPI to try out miniatures and this would be neither the first or last time. I have looked without success for a review based on a play-through.
Following the success of Panzerblitz, Avalon Hill produced Panzer Leader, a similar design for tactical combat in Western Europe. The game included 4 modular boards, one showing a beach, and counters showing tanks, infantry, artillery, and aircraft counters for British, American, and German forces.
Scenarios start with a paratroopers holding a vital intersection on D-day and follows with beach landings, attempted breakouts, etc. in chronological progression. The game seemed a bit smoother in design than Panzerblitz but Panzerblitz had the benefit of being there first.
SPI in the meantime was taking the design in a different direction and introduced a similar magazine game, Combat Command with significant changes in scale and a promise of a continually evolving system.
Heroics and Ros seems about as old and venerable as 6mm gets. They offered reasonable and varied figures for WWII at a time when even GHQ offerings of infantry were weak. They also provided vehicles, artillery, and aircraft in a rich variety so that one could purchase a range of reasonably interesting figures to go with whatever vehicles one had.
The metal tray used above was from an AOL and shows just how many figures can be crammed into a small space, a boon for people who do not want miniatures taking up every bit of storage available. The figures lack detail but are nevertheless distinguishable both for nationality and weaponry. My painting on these was crude and quick. I wanted to get a batch on the table at the time.
These serve well with Deluxe Squad Leader boards since these are standard quarter inch counters. The addition of actual figures does lend something to any game. The figures on top all show a (riderless) supply wagon, one of those details that always improves a game’s appearance.
Currently, these are available through The Last Square though like everything else, they also turn up on E-bay. Infantry often comes in multiple types including regular infantry, heavy weapons infantry, and paratroopers. Not to be overlooked are the very useful artillery crews.
GDW created its be all-end all set of rules loosely patterned after a series of articles in Wargamer’s Digest. Each army’s organization is carefully worked out on a reduced scale even down to the musical bands. Scale seems intended for 1/72 figures but would work with 1/300th.
The emphasis on organization. The first edition could atomize the organizational structure of a division-sized unit in meticulous detail but later editions dialed this back a bit. Military bands are great but there are really no rules to accommodate them.
The rules are written for 20mm/15mm though can be adapted to smaller scales. Ground scale is 1” = 50 yards. Turns represent 15 minutes. Vehicles and towed weapons represent 4 – 6 of the same. Standard stands 3/4” x 3/4” represent 40 – 60 men represented by 2 figures while half stands represent 10 – 30 men represented by a single figure.
The rules offer a rich variety of terrain, command and control rules requiring order writing, command and staff stands, phases are, in order, command, movement, fire, close fire, morale, and close assault. Fire is simultaneous as is movement. Movement can be interrupted by opportunity fire. There are also advanced rules containing such minutia as engineers, weather, and airborne assault.
Appendix I covers painting (like we need more on the subject) while Appendix II covers campaigns including an example complete with a hex map and 6 individual scenarios for those wishing to leap right in. The action covers American and German forces in the area around Aachen. There are also ever helpful and interesting designer notes and an equally helpful index.
Two scenario books have also been published, Bastogne for western front enthusiasts and Barbarossa for the eastern front. The game is still played with current editions my own first and second GDW editions. http://testofbattle.com/drupal-4.7.4/
A selection of GHQ armor in the odd 1/285 scale. One artillery piece and all of the figures are by Heroics & Ros. The attention to detail on the vehicle castings is apparent. There is a precision in modeling that works well when modeling machines. Earlier castings including those from GHQ showed a free form sculpting which was not as effective.
German armor in western Europe in the later years of WWII used a 3-color camouflage paint scheme that can be a little tricky to make look good. Still, at such a small scale and with appropriate wet and dry brushing, some lapses can be readily forgiven especially since the original vehicles were often painted under some bad conditions. Most of these models were spray painted, masked and sprayed again, finally getting a wash of black and some drybrushed highlights. Details such as wheels, tires, tracks and cables were picked out with a brush.
Some of the vehicles shown here include the dreaded Tiger tank, the King Tiger, Panzer V and IV, and the Jagdpanzer IV. GHQ has a commitment to improving and expanding its range. This can be seen if one looks closely at the Opel Blitz trucks. An earlier multi-part casting is in the back. Newer Blitz show off the fine detail that GHQ excels at.
A board game Battlewagon is suitable for miniatures as I suspect most naval games are. This covers WWI and WWII though detail for early Japanese ships seems weak. Another Task Force Games product now produced by Amarillo Designs Bureau. I have read that the rules were originally an adaptation of the Star Trek battles rules which in turn were created from the rules for the Avalon Hill game Jutland.
Rules provide involved multi-phase movement. Ship scale is 1 to 1 with each ship provided a chart showing weapons, armor, speed, etc. which is also used to record damage received from hits. Air power is an element noticeably absent from the game though supposedly this was added in an article in Nexus magazine, a publication put out by Task Force Games to promote their products. The games provides an interesting simulation with less involved rules than some but the need for an individual rather complicated chart for each ship suggests that the number of ships involved will never be very large.
At one time, Wargames Research Group provided all rules for all wars. This particular rule book shows the upgrade to graphics on the cover perhaps as a result of a new printing by Heritage. The rules are fun and that is really what they should be. It is likely best for small unit actions with 1/72 figures and vehicles.
Advanced Squad Leader was certainly one of those games that came close to a miniatures game. As the rules blossomed into multiple volumes and were finally consolidated into a huge 3-ring binder, Avalon Hill developed a series of larger game boards for use with miniatures. Below is one of the boards from Hedgerow Hell, one of the two deluxe modules.
