there was a tactical shooter I liked a lot as a kid, this really unforgiving ww2 fps called…deadly dozen
kuma used their engine for the first 75 episodes or whatever which explains a lot about your experience of it being a memorization challenge
i went back to deadly dozen and it’s exactly as i remember it which is to say it’s an entire game of getting sniped by hitscan enemies through the fog
honestly if you didn’t have hidden & dangerous 2 this was a pretty good discount substitute though. it’s what @herknewz would call a certified wally world classic
LOL
I would have a more serious opinion if I played more physical wargames but these guys seem like they’re getting all worked up over nothing lol
taking a shot before switching sides to emulate fog of war in a solo game got a good laugh out of me
According the new interview from Tomohiro Nishikado, the Balloon Bomber inspired by the war balloon. It sounds documentary crap like car game inspired by car, but the actual story is quite bizarre.
Joke aside, the most American wargamers are just like the Royal Navy: they drink all kinds of alcohol or beer while gaming, podcast or interview more than any rappers which is a strange point no one ever calls out.
the best part about bargain-bin wally mart games is that you had no idea if what you were gonna get was going to be good, bad, or something you’ll remember for a long time. a lot of them very likely didn’t have any reviews - so you had no way to know if you got burned or not. what appeals to me about stuff like VIETNAM SPEC OPS 1969 or whatever is that the devs at least tried really hard to make something that doesn’t have the normal constraints most big budget games have, so you see the end results of the devs trying to make their vision materialize into a game
A solitaire ASL SK player.
https://armchairdragoons.com/battleplan-1st/
First Impressions of Battleplan from Matrix Games
When you try to discover how many set-up plans for 4 Russian counters in The Tide at Sunrise: The Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905.
After the WWII ended, Japanese war economy had been destroyed and replaced by a GHQ colonial economy. A simple book titled Japanese-American Conversation Manual intended as a guide of how to business with the US military. It quickly became a bestseller. Many black markets sold pirated copies and here’s the one of it. (via @Truppenamt)
The notorious pasta rule in The Campaign for North Africa
The most strangest fun in wargaming is that you can uncover jaw-dropping truths from other player’s most intense prejudices and ignorance.
If Italian didn’t required extra water for preparing pasta and they had cans (not mentioned the Italian even started a war against Pasta even before the the WWII), how about their rivals? Yes, in fact the British was the one who needed more water and would frustrated if they can’t drunk tea. They developed all kinds of stuff for supporting the hot tea during the war.
How much water I spent? A lot.
The Italians undoubtedly attacked tank units that were having afternoon tea, but the most famous incident happened in Europe: so much so that their American friend spent the next 50 years blaming the slow pace of the Normandy landings on them and mocking that they should have drunk less tea.
On the morning of June 13, 1944, the vanguard of the British 22nd Armoured Brigade stopped near the crossroads town of Villers-Bocage in Normandy. The officers held a short meeting in a nearby house, while the crewmen dismounted for a bit of maintenance – and, naturally, for a morning cup of tea. It was during this break that German tank commander Michael Wittman attacked the tea party with his armored unit led by Wittman’s Tiger tank. The British lost 14 tanks, 9 half-tracks, four gun carriers and two anti-tank guns in just 15 minutes of frenzied fighting. During the battle, one Sherman Firefly, equipped with a 17-pounder gun capable of knocking out the Tiger, drew a bead on the German tank… only to realize that the gunner was not present, having been left outside and forgotten in the scramble.
The ambush, as well as other similar experiences in North Africa and Europe, prompted the British to seek a solution, and they found one. Later, most British armored vehicles and every main battle tank have been equipped with a hot plate in the crew compartment. This is to allow the crews to brew tea without leaving the vehicle and being exposed to enemy fire.
Watch and learn how to use it you bloody peasant.
You can spend £5.99 to buy a Boiling Vessel for your British Tanks crew.
The ASL players aka famous the most detailed player aka stereotype mania, wouldn’t pass up the opportunity for this fun.
3.311 Coffee Creation:
At the beginning of its MPh, a Good Order MMC may attempt to make coffee (EXC: tea for British MMC’s) instead of expending any MF. For Defensive Fire purposes this action counts as an expenditure of 1 MF using Non-Assault Movement. A DR equal to or less than the Coffee Creation Difficulty (CCD) noted on the Coffee Counter results in success. Apply a +1 DRM if the unit is inexperienced and any applicable leadership modifiers. If the attempt is successful, the unit gets refreshed and its thirst is quenched - increase that unit’s IPC by one for the remainder of the scenario and mark it with a Caffeine counter. If the DR exceeds the modified CCD the CCA was unsuccessful or the quality of the coffee didn’t have any impact on the unit. If the DR exceeds the CCD of the squad making the CCA by its ELR or more, a Sugar Depletion Check (SDC) is made. The difficulty of the SDC dr is depicted by the Sugar Depletion Number (SDN) on the front of the Coffee Counter. If the dr doesn’t exceed the SDN there is still sugar available, if not the squad’s sugar reserves are depleted and the Coffee Counter is flipped to its backside to note that the quality of any coffee made by this unit in further attempts is of marginally decreased quality. Lack of sugar results in a +1 DRM to any future CCD rolls by that unit (EXC: British squads Recall in the same manner as an AFV with a disabled MA). If the CCA DR results in an original 12, the unit also suffers a case of tremendous diarrhea in addition to a SDC and therefore becomes Pinned.
And finally, don’t forget that behind all the hypocritical tea-drinking are the hard-working slavery plantations, it ain’t joke. The Ceylon colonizers left their mark in the WWI in Gallipoli and also WWII, they have a monument now. The pro-British article to introduced this history in whitewashing way would be:
On the home front, the tea industry itself was a battleground of production and unrest. Tea was essential for Allied morale—British troops consumed vast quantities, and exports funded the war effort. Despite global disruptions, Ceylon’s tea production persisted as “business as usual,” with estates ramping up output to meet demands. Planters oversaw this, implementing rationing and mechanisation where possible. However, labour challenges mounted. From November 1939 to mid-1940, a wave of strikes swept the plantations, driven by unions like the Ceylon Indian Congress and the All-Ceylon Estate Workers Union. Influenced by the leftist Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), workers demanded better wages, rights, and union recognition amid wartime inflation.
The strikes began at Mooloya Estate in April 1939 and spread to Uva, with militants disarming police and forming worker councils at Wewessa Estate. British planters, often CPRC members, faced dilemmas: maintaining production while suppressing dissent. Police interventions, floods, and arrests quelled the unrest, but it highlighted colonial tensions. Some planters sympathised with workers, but most prioritised the war economy. Post-strikes, production stabilised, contributing to Ceylon’s role as a supply hub.
The war’s end in 1945 brought changes. Ceylon’s independence in 1948 led to the CPRC’s disbandment in 1949, replaced by the Ceylon Army. Many British planters retired or returned home, ushering in the nationalisation of estates.
And another side of the history will be:
And today:
lol at the reveal that stephen ambrose’s irrational ww2 british army hatred is perpetuating michael wittman tiger ace mythology
though nobody will try it but if anyone wanna play this giant for wasting time at 2026, here’s a modern guide site. I believe there’s at least one online game ongoing.
About 2026 until now: it has The Breaking Point under the BCS system almost done, a new game about The Battle of Perryville had submitted for pricing. J. D. Webster will first time to focus on the WWII Asia, and a brand new title of Fighting Wings system. Combat series will extend their product line to Eastern Front. Decision Games have many good magazine game titles in their pipeline about late-19th and early 20th century. Two ASL stuffs on the pre-order line in 2026 (Marco Polo Bridge and Kharkov in Flames). And Red Sun Black Cross will reprint on Game Journal in 2026.
