I recently purchaed Qty 4 of these Dashboard and Dice Set from Sabotage 3D for 'What A Tanker!'. These are really excellent and especially useful if you want to rotate through diffent tanks in short order. Highly recommended.
Vulture's Wargaming Blog
A blog about my interest in all things military, wargaming and last but not least my military vehicle adventures.
Monday, 18 November 2024
Battlegroup NORTHAG - INDEX + ERRATA FAQ & HOUSE RULES + Other Files & Interesting Links
For its Cold War period gaming, my gaming group has shifted from using the Battlefront 'Team Yankee' rules to using the 'Battlegroup NORTHAG' rules published by the Plastic Soldier Company (PSC). On balance we prefer them to Team Yankee as they are more armour focused.
Below is a listing of files, some of which I have created, and some of which I have downloaded off the Battlegroup NorthAG Facebook group. I hope you find them useful/interesting :)
(The relevant authors permission has been obtained).
There are five sections:
- Rules Related (files and links to videos)
- Scenario and Campaigns (files)
- Terrain Generator (file)
- Army Lists & Unit Cards (files)
- After Action Reports (files and links to videos)
I have created a Dropbox Folder (Link) from where the files can be downloaded.
Latest files added are:
No-08 an Unofficial Artillery Deviation Template (currently at v2) by John Elwen.
No-40 an Unofficial Terrain Generator (currently at v2) kindly supplied by by Simon Tyler.
Updated
Latest files updated have been the Unofficial - Northag Index and Unofficial - FAQ & House Rules. with the most recent versions uploaded on 25 Oct 2024. In addition the Supplemental QR Sheet has had another order added.
New To Northag or Returning To Northag After A Break ?
If you haven't played your first game yet or are struggling to get your head round the rules I highly recommend starting out with the Introductory Scenarios that Tom Egan an Infantry Officer with the Irish Army has written. This is file No 30.
The first scenario (platoon size) introduces the basic core mechanics and just involves vehicles.
The second (platoon size) brings in Infantry and Artillery.
The third (company size) increases the size of the forces involved and brings in the possibility of Gunship support.
Tom, an active wargamer across multiple periods and scales can be followed on X at https://x.com/tomjmegan
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RULES RELATED
01) Official - Quick Reference Sheet.
01a) Unofficial - Quick Reference Sheet - Printer Friendly (Daniel William Lee)
02) Official - NorthAG Errata - (currently at v8) (by Ian Garbutt)
03) Official - CentAG Errata - (currently at v1) (by Ian Garbutt)
04) Unofficial - Northag Index - (currently at v21) (by Ian Garbutt)
05) Unofficial - Supplemental QR Sheet - (currently at v1-4) (by Ian Garbutt & Ewan Clerk)
06) Unofficial - Battle Quick Starter Sheet (by Ewan Clerk)
07) Unofficial - FAQ & House Rules - (currently at v3-5) (by Ian Garbutt)
08) Unofficial - Artillery Deviation Template - (currently at v2) (by John Elwen)
09) Official - BR Counters.
10) Unofficial - BR Counters made out of wood that I use - E-Bay. Link
Reaction Tokens made out of wood that I use - E-Bay Link
11) YouTube - Overview of the rules by 'Cold War Warrior' - Link
12) YouTube - The Future of Battlegroup NorthAG - Link
13) YouTube - Wargames Illustrated interview with Warwick Kinrade the NorthAG author - Link
14) YouTube - OnTableTop interview with Warwick Kinrade the NorthAG author - Link
15) Text Dump - Rules Review - Link
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SCENARIOS AND CAMPAIGNS
30) Unofficial - Introductory Scenarios (three of them) - (currently at v2-0) (by Tom Egan).
31) Unofficial - Mini-Campaign - 'Across The Elbe' (currently at v1) (by Chris Hersey).
32) Unofficial - Mini-Campaign - 'The Guttenburg Crack' (currently work in progress, yet to be uploaded) (by Ian Garbutt)
33) Unofficial - Scenario - 'Exploitation' - (currently at v1-7 and still being refined) (by Ian Garbutt)
34) Unofficial - Scenario - 'Bridgehead Breakout' (currently at v1-1) (by Terry Ollila)
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TERRAIN GENERATOR
40) Unofficial - Terrain Generator - (currently at v2) (by Simon Tyler)
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ARMY LISTS & UNIT CARDS
50) Unofficial - WARPAC Unit Cards - (currently at v6) (by Ian Garbutt)
51) Unofficial - USA Unit Cards - (currently at v12) (by Ian Garbutt)
52) Unofficial - Canadian Unit Cards - (currently at v2-1) (by Ian Garbutt)
53) Unofficial - Swedish Army List - (currently at v2-8) (by Ian Garbutt)
54) Unofficial - Swedish Unit Cards - (currently at v1-7) (by Ian Garbutt)
55) Unofficial - British Unit Cards - (currently at v1-1) (by Ian Garbutt)
56) Unofficial - Arab-Israeli 1967 Supplement by Gord Dyck.
(Waiting on the authors' permission to upload)
57) Unofficial - 1967 Arab Unit Cards by Gord Dyck.
(Waiting on the authors' permission to upload)
58) Unofficial - 1967 Israeli Unit Cards by Gord Dyck.
(Waiting on the authors' permission to upload)
59) Unofficial - NVA (East German) Unit Cards - (currently at v4-1) (by Ian Garbutt)
60) Unofficial - French Army List - (currently at v1-7) (by Ian Garbutt and Mark Pullan)
61) Unofficial - French Unit Cards - (currently at v1-7) (by Ian Garbutt)
62) Unofficial - Listing of WARPAC Armour - (currently at v9-2) (by Ian Garbutt)
63) Unofficial - Dutch Unit Cards - (currently at v1-1) (by Ian Garbutt)
64) Unofficial - Bundeswehr Unit Cards - (currently as v1-1) (by Ian Garbutt)
65) Unofficial - Danish Unit Cards - (currently as v1-1) (by Ian Garbutt) (Note: These match with the CentAG army list)
66) Unofficial - Danish Force List - (Currently work-in-progress at v0.8 although available to download) (by Poul Christian Secherv)
67) Unofficial - VDV Soviet Airborne Unit Cards - (Currently work-in-progress) (by Ian Garbutt).
68) Unofficial - Polish Unit Cards - (next on my 'to-do' list).
69) Unofficial - Hungarian Army List - (on my 'to-do' list).
70) Unofficial - Hungarian Unit Cards - (on my 'to-do' list).
71) Unofficial - Finish Army List - (on my 'to-do' list).
72) Unofficial - Finish Unit Cards - (on my 'to-do' list).
73) Unofficial - Italian Army List - (on my 'to-do' list).
74) Unofficial - Italian Unit Cards - (on my 'to-do' list).
Please note due to copyright issues I have been asked to password protect the Army Listing and Unit Cards I have done. Look on Page 1 of the NorthAG book, the first word in the body of the txt, copy it exactly.
80) Unofficial - Army Builder - (currently at v2-3) by Chriss Pagan
Notes by the author:
The password is the first word from page 2 Northag + first word from the second page CentAG.
So the password is h.......+t......
The makro is to be able to expand the groups.
If you don't want to allow it you can remove the protection from the work sheet.
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AFTER ACTION REPORTS
90) AAR - 'The Crossing' by Roger Kidd.
91) AAR - BadLucken, West Germany, 1983. (YouTube - Video - Link)
92) AAR - 'Counter-Penetration' by Roger Kidd.
93) AAR - A couple of excellent reports are on the 'Sound Officers Call' blog. Link
94) AAR - 'NorthAG, DorfstraBe...' by the author himself, Warwick Kinrade.
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Sunday, 25 August 2024
Tuesday, 9 April 2024
Sarah C. M. Paine - WW2, Taiwan, Ukraine, & Maritime vs Continental Powers
Monday, 8 April 2024
York, England - A Tour Through The Most Medieval City on Earth
Saturday, 6 April 2024
The last British VSTOL aircraft | Harrier Jump Jet GR9
Sunday, 31 March 2024
Filmdeg Miniatures Channel
Quite by accident I came across this U-Tube channel called the Filmdeg Miniatures channel.
The channel is run by Tom Evans who is a tabletop wargaming fan in Nottingham. He goes by the I go by the internet handle of "Filmdegminiatures" and plays Warhammer Fantasy 6th edition and Mordheim, among others.
On his channel you will find interviews with John Blanche and Tuomas Pirinen and Rick Priestly. Well worth a look.
Thursday, 14 March 2024
Tales From The Periphery - BattleTech Podcast
If you're interested in BattleTech I recommend you check out 'Tales From The Periphery'. Link
It describes itself as, 'An audio podcast, news blog, events diary and resource covering the UK BattleTech scene'.
In Episode 1 Mike Whitaker is interviewing a friend of mine Andrew Dickinson who I play Alpha Strike with at the Leeds Wargames Club once a month.
Monday, 11 March 2024
BattleTech Alpha Strike - Hicks Hall Leeds
On Saturday joined with my regular BattleTech group at the Leeds Wargames Club in Hicks Hall in Leeds for a fun Alpha Strike game.
Click on the following Link to see a short video of it: Link
Thursday, 1 February 2024
The Keys Of Medokh - Play-By-Mail Game
Back in the early 1990s I used to play in the Play-By-Mail (PBM) game 'The Keys Of Medokh' (TKoM) whilst it was run by Rampage Games. I was in a total of five games, numbers: 127, 144, 160, 166 and 169.
In its day TKoM was quite something !
Did you play in the game ? If so please leave a comment :)
Here's one of the original adverts :)
Friday, 19 January 2024
Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Classic Battletech - The Battle Of Butternab Ridge - After Action Report
Side A: House Liao
Side B: House Steiner
Game Duration: Eight turns
Map Hex Size: 34 x 22
Side A Forces:
Rifleman RFL-3N
Jenner JR7-F
Hunchback HBK-4J
Side B Forces:
Thunderbolt TDR-5SE
Javelin JVN-10F
Blackjack BJ-1
For each turn a player had an active Mech (not shut-down or dead) within three hexes of the tank, they received one point. Player with the most points at the game is the winner.
Successful suppression of Liao planetary defences saw an unopposed Lyran Dropship landing. Steiner forces entered the battlefield from the south at the same time as a hastily assembled scratch force of Liao mechs entered from the north to intercept them.
Steiner win the initiative. The Steiner Blackjack secures a good vantage point on top of a building and commences firing with its twin ACss. An aggressive run forward by the Steiner Javelin towards the Manticore ended in disaster when the Pilot failed his Piloting Skill Roll (PSR) when he tried to make a turn. Skidding forward he damaged his head armour in the fall and knocked himself unconscious ! WTF ! The Capellan's making the most of this disaster rush their Jenna forward to close the range and pound the rear of the immobile prone mech. In all the excitement their Rifleman unloaded with both AC5s and both Heavy Lasers (which with only 10 Heat Sinks gave him a Heat problem). The screaming over the radio from the rest of his team fortunately brought the Javelin pilot out of his slumber at the end of the round !
Sunday, 24 December 2023
BattleTech Mercenaries
Check out this interesting page on BattleTech Mercenaries. This format is for both quick casual games and for multi-round events. It's a scenario based format where each player controls 4x Mercenary BattleMechs. Link
I haven't tried it myself, but intend to do so.
Classic Battletech - Battle Of Duncansviller Power Station
Details
Gaming Mat: by Catalyst Games - Battletech Battlemat - Desert.
Mechs and Condor Hover Tanks: by Iron Wind Metals.
Friday, 22 December 2023
Tuesday, 19 December 2023
GET FV4005 RUNNING
The tank museum are planning on getting the FV4005 running again. Check out their web site for more details of this interesting project. Link
Monday, 5 June 2023
BADGER 3D Creations - Web Site: https://badger3d.co.uk/
I've slightly unretired myself, I'm now helping out at Badger 3D Creations one day a week. 3D printing, it's the future guys ! 🙂
Check out Badger's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Badger3DCreations and their excellent Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Badger3DPrints.
In addition they have their own website: https://badger3d.co.uk/ suggest check there first for the latest releases.
Saturday, 27 May 2023
DRAGON RAMPANT - 3 ROUND MINI CAMPAIGN - ESCAPE TO THE SOUTH
At my local club I've been running a 3 round min-campaign using the Dragon Rampant rules called, 'Escape To The South'. If idea interest you download the blank campaign document here.
There is also an accompanying Extra Magic Items document as well, which come into play in Round 3.
The HWC House rule document referenced in the campaign doc is available from a link in this posting. Link
In our campaign which has 14 players in it, we are coming to the end of round 2. The forces of 'The Black Horde' have had some success and currently leading the forces of The Greater Empire Coalition' 111 glory points to 66.
If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them.
Saturday, 20 May 2023
Battletech - Modified Layout Mech Record Sheets
If you are a classic Battletech gamer I would encourage you to have a look at the custom Mech Record Sheets made by Kieran Vincent Rowley.
This is the posting he put on the relevant Facebook page which I am repeating here in full:
"So for whatever reason, I post these almost entirely on Reddit, but since I'm almost done with all 3025 variants of all currently-released CGL Box Sets and ForcePacks, I feel like I should really try to get the word out in other places!
I make these! (If you've seen em on Reddit, that's me! I'm the guy) I use them, I love them, and yes I do take requests. I've done over 200 that are all available at this link!
Quick edit: As with any tabletop-game element, conjecture isn't useful feedback. If you've used it at the table and had a negative experience, let me know what went wrong! But so far absolutely no-one who has actually used these has had any complaints, and indeed, most (like myself) find them to be much EASIER and faster to use than the official sheets, as well as making the game *feel* less like filling out paperwork. I made them to be functional and intuitive in ways that I found the official sheets were lacking. As I said, conjecture is not feedback - playtesting is what matters.
Some variants (especially Royal SLDF versions, but sometimes others) have an additional retro art version, with either the original (sadly uncredited) Macross art or early TRO art from Duane Loose or Dana Knutson. All known artists have been credited, although some remain unknown (Harri Kallio SIGN YER STUFF man! I think half my missing artists are you!), and I own NONE of this, all credit to Catalyst Game Labs and the respective artists and designers. About the only thing I created here besides the format is the Clanbusters logo, which anyone may use at their own discretion."
Wednesday, 22 March 2023
The Avid Wargamer
Stumbled by chance across this interesting site called 'The Avid Wargamer - Computer Wargaming & Military History'. I highly recommend a visit, there is some really interesting stuff on it. Link
Thursday, 16 March 2023
Battletech - Alphas Strike - Jeff's Battletech Tools
If you are into playing Batteltech Alpha Strike, suggest check out Jeff's Battletech Tools which allows you to configure his improved version (in my opinion) of the AS Cards and also switch between whether the ranges are in inches or hexes. Link
Monday, 6 June 2022
Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Russia, Ukraine, and the West | Frederick Kagan - Podcast
I like many of you have been following the Ukraine crisis. For those interested in understanding the background I highly recommend this JBP Podcast on the topic.
Monday, 1 November 2021
Sunday, 3 October 2021
Tuesday, 14 September 2021
How to Pick Your First Battletech Faction: The Inner Sphere ca. 3025
Found this quite good as a refresher.
Saturday, 4 September 2021
Battletech: 40K Refugees, is the Grass Really Greener?
Sunday, 22 August 2021
Tabletop gaming: The Therapy Of Fighting With Miniature Dragons
Here's an interesting article on the BBC web site that I was made aware of today. I very much agree with many of the contributors to it that wargaming as a hobby is good for your mental health. Link
Saturday, 27 March 2021
Reference infos – WW2 German Armour paints and camouflage colours
Today I stumbled across a very useful site called 'Resources For Scale Modelers'. In particular this page on the site is is very useful if like me you are painting up some WW2 German Armour Link. The fact that he is quoting RAL numbers is useful as well. I notice that Vallejo put the RAL number on some of their paints which is a good cross-check match wise. What I would say is that, notwithstanding that Vallejo are doing that, doesn't always means they are a good match ! LOL
Sunday, 21 February 2021
Company of Heroes Review | Should You Play it in 2021 ?
Although this is titled 2019, I think it equally applies to 2021 :)
Quite simply my all time favorite RTS game.
Friday, 15 January 2021
Stranger Shapes - Alien(s) Film Blog
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If you are a fan of the Alien series of films then this is a fascinating site to visit with all sports of info and interviews logged that people involved in the film have given - highly recommended ! Link
HQ Tiger II with Cutaway Hull and Turret Walkaround
Miniature Wargaming On-line. A Beginner's Guide
Saturday, 9 January 2021
Saturday, 31 October 2020
Saturday, 6 June 2020
11 Best Dungeons & Dragons Board Games
Find new ways to explore the fantasy world with your party of adventurers in these D&D board games. Link
Command & Conquer Remastered
Command & Conquer has been remastered for the PC. Link
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Comment: I must have played hundreds of hours of C&C and Red Alert back in the 90s, so I might just have to get this for old times sake... :)
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Sunday, 31 May 2020
13 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Board Games That Are as Gorgeous to Behold as They Are Fun to Play
Here's a link to an interesting article by James Whitbrook about 13 great looking games that are also fun to play. Link
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Sunday, 24 May 2020
Soldier’s bedroom has not been touched since he died… in WORLD WAR I
A First World War soldier's bedroom has lain completely untouched in his former home since he died from injuries 102 years ago.
Dragoons' Second Lieutenant Hubert Rochereau died aged 21 in an English field ambulance after fighting in the village of Loker, Flanders, on 26 April 1918.
His heartbroken parents, initially unable to locate their son's body, said they would turn his bedroom into a permanent shrine to his memory.
Read more on the Daily Mail site: Link
Wednesday, 13 May 2020
How To... Drink Tea in a Tank | The Tank Museum
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Comment: An entertaining video, worth a watch :)
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Thursday, 7 May 2020
Wednesday, 29 April 2020
10 best train board games to play after Ticket to Ride
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Tuesday, 21 April 2020
The bitter taste of victory: why May 1945 was not a time of celebration for everyone
For those interested in WW2 history this article on the BBC History Extra site makes for interesting reading: Link
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Friday, 3 April 2020
Thursday, 2 April 2020
Sunday, 29 March 2020
Exploring Alpha Strike: Commander’s Edition
I've played several games using this mass combat system and quite enjoyed them, The biggest advantage being that you just field so many more mechs on the table at the same time. A 12 mech aside game using the Classic Battletech rules is a really significant game. With AS, the game would be finished in a couple of hours max. I'm not saying that AS is better, it's just different. If you haven't tried it, I would encourage you to do so.
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Thursday, 26 March 2020
Lock Down In The UK
Wednesday, 18 March 2020
Sunday, 15 March 2020
We Are Not An Effective Team...
Comment: A clip from one of my favorite sci-fi films, Oblivion. Lots to enjoy in this film :)
5 Boardgames You Can Make At Home
Comment: Stumbled across this good article called 5 Boardgames You Can Make At Home: Link
Written by Sem Categoria it's worth a read :)
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