Q’s tail is a trip hazard. V and J often fall over in high winds. B lacks dignity*. Rain tends to collect in M and U… Many letters of the alphabet have inherent flaws but here at The Flare Path we treat all 26 with equal respect when we’re compiling one of our breathtakingly superficial alphabetical sim and wargaming news round-ups.

* It’s easily transformed into a cartoon bum.

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Hefty, persuasive, and reeking of spruce-scented Eau de Ardennes, the new Bulge-themed Combat Mission unquestionably deserves a Flare Path After Action Report. The trouble is, after seven days of snowy slaughter, fraught forest probes and costly cottage clearing, I’m now in no fit state to shepherd Shermans or put plucky pixeltruppen in harm’s way. Worn to a frazzle by delicate tactical decision-making and teeth-rattling mortar stonks, I’ve totally exhausted my capacity for command. There is a battle yarn waiting below the break, but to unspool it I’m going to need your help. Read the rest of this entry »

Last year’s most thought-provoking and conscience-chafing wargaming decision involved Nazi party membership. This year’s involves opening fire on a Native American village presumably full of women and children as well as warriors. Desperate Glory: Last Stand at the Little Bighorn is the latest piece of historical hexiana from Jeff Lapkoff aka Digital Gameworks. Fond of modelling asymmetrical aggro and seldom-gamed scraps, Jeff’s new design encourages wargamers to examine the electrifying events of June 25-26, 1876 through various interpretative lenses and – happily for anyone unwilling to role-play the flaxen-haired architect of the Battle of Washita River – from both Seventh Cavalry and Sioux/Cheyenne perspectives.

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The amateurs over at Wings, Wheels and Weaponry dot com arrange their sim and wargame news snippets chronologically. The weirdos at Khaki Gaming order theirs according to size. Here at Rock and Paper and Shotgun we do things as God and Samuel Johnson intended. Below the break (spoiler warning!) A reconnoitres for B, C is relieved by D, and F arrives to find all the best billets bagsied by E, D, C, B, A and J*

*J got lost in the fog, took the wrong road, and arrived three hours ahead of schedule. Read the rest of this entry »

A is for annus mirabilis

2016, you’ve an awful lot to live up to. I’ve been computer wargaming for over three decades now, and I can’t recall a better year than the one just gone. Vietnam ’65, Rule the Waves, Pike & Shot: Campaigns, Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa… for any grognard partial to bold designs, unusual settings, and absorbing, plausible action, the temptations were many. Read the rest of this entry »

I hope memories of last year’s Flare Path Christmas Fair won’t put you off attending this year’s (December 19, 1200-1700hrs, Upper Bumhope recreation ground). Roman has promised to go easy on the mulled wine tomorrow so the aerosani rides should be significantly safer. Uncle George will be roasting chestnuts as usual, but as his Flammenwerfer 35 was confiscated after the 2014 event, a repeat of the brandy bowser explosion and reindeer stampede is highly unlikely. Kisses under the mistletoe return by popular demand, Mr. Thornton of the Health & Safety Executive having accepted that no-one could have foreseen last year’s tragic undercarriage collapse. Just about the only regular attraction that won’t be present tomorrow is Santa’s Garotte-o. Unfortunately, Shropshire Steve, our long-serving Saint Nicholas impersonator/CQB specialist, left us in October for a new home in Princetown, Devon. Barring miracles, he won’t be dispensing gifts or weaponry advice to ruddy-cheeked infants until 2020 at the earliest. Read the rest of this entry »