Welcome to 2016!

Whats on the wishlist for this year? Updated...

Apart from love and a peaceful world that is! Well Christmas and New Year came and went in a flash. The weather has been awful and work continues to require a massive amount of energy. Nevertheless, I hope for an opportunity to chill out this year and get some proper hobby time in. 

My first post of the new year (Happy New Year by the way) has been delayed a little. I had a brilliant idea over the holiday period and decided to get cracking on it. This secret project will see the light of day very soon I hope. It is a bit different from most of what I do and a little on the serious side. Some concentrated effort over the next couple of weekends should see it come to fruition with a little luck. Here's a clue.....

Lets see whats occurring on the wider front.....

Rules

Well, last year I invested in the Polemos ECW rules. I like them a lot but really don't think they will suit my style of play. On this basis, I probably will not go in for the re-released GNW rules, although I find the period extremely interesting. I also failed to pursue my interest in Crossfire, Bloody Big Battles and PBI III. The list for this year is....

• Chain of Command: This is still on my list mainly because of the pint-sized campaign books that are now appearing, Operation Martlet and Scottish Corridor being of particular interest. I have failed to get to grips with Bolt Action so I'm perhaps a little wary of CoC and the investment it requires.
• Hordes of the Future (HOF): Still on my list. A tactical sci fi game played on a hex grid. Check it out here. 
• Blucher: Another still on my list. Great rules and now a Peninsular War deck of cards, War to the Death! They also have cards for the Austrians. It just gets better, although the price is a bit steep for me.
• Osprey wargames:  I got Lion Rampant (LR) at Christmas and they are simply brilliant. I am still weighing them up but I think that for me these are the new DBA, albeit far better written and much more fun. I eagerly await the Pikeman's Lament, LR in the 17th century. Probably not due out till 2017 but a must given how good LR seems. See some preview stuff here. I'll also try Black Ops and Honours of War which I got at Christmas but I'm not as excited about them as I am LR. I will be trying to use hexes with these rules especially as someone has already had a go at it.
• Nordic Weasel: Another exciting system. My Somewhere in Africa project will use FiveCore Company Command. New up this year is 5 Men at Kursk, basically an upgraded 5 Men in Normandy skirmish rule set. This uses a tweaked game engine which is usable with all FiveCore rules. A preview of the new system was published last December in the FiveCore Field Guide. I'm also tempted by Laserstorm and No End in Sight, both of which look really good.
• Galleys and Galleons: A rules set slightly below most people's horizon. It comes from Ganesha and features a novel use of the Songs of.... game engine. For $8 it can't be bad.

Games

One of the Airfix Battle maps, nice!

I didn't buy many games at all last year, just Tannenberg 1914 by Decision Games and The Great War. So this year I'm really waiting for the same cool stuff that was on my list last year....   

• Holdfast: I'm not sure when Worthington's Holdfast Bulge game will appear but it looks as though the next one out is North Africa in 2016 (see update below) and I am certainly up for that.
• Fields of Battle: Eight battles of the Great Northern War by Steve Kling from the Historical Game Co. Latest news is that it is in pre-order at $50. Lets see what happens.
• Stalingrad solitaire: Another one by Steve Kling, hopefully still in the pipeline.
• The Great War: News to me but it looks like a digital release early this year! I may have to go for the PC option.
• Airfix Battles: We know this one is well on the way and that it will be out in April. The latest news is here. I can't tell you how excited I am about this one!
• Hold the Line: I have mentioned Sean Chick's HTL look-a-like game before, it is called Horse and Musket and is, of course, all about Horses and Muskets. Worthington may also be refreshing HTL itself which would be good news (see update below). There is extra good news of a Richard Borg AWI game, Tricorn, which will be all about hats! Due out in May from Compass Games. It will include plastic miniatures and is therefore going to be brilliant! 
• Storm over Normandy: The long awaited Storm series game covering the battle for Normandy. It eventually appeared in Special Operations 6, MMP's house magazine. The other Storm news is that, at long last, a second edition of Monty's Gamble: Market Garden is in pre-order. Both of these are on the list. 
• W1815: Well, I missed the 200 year anniversary but still want to catch-up with this unusual little game.
• UPDATE 10/1/16: Shortly after writing this post I received an update from Worthington Games and this is an especially exciting update. It confirms that North Africa will be out this year (hurrah). It also confirms that HTL will be updated with additional scenarios and figures from PSC. Some competition here I think with the new Borg AWI game! It also announces that Hexwar will be producing a digital version of all of the current HTL games. Can you have too much of a good thing? Usually the answer is no!!! Also, at long last, Worthington have come through with maps, rules and counters for the Falkirk and Stirling Bridge scenarios for the Scotland Rising game, well done guys, much appreciated.     

PSC AWI for HTL

Even with this reasonably short list I know that funds will not stretch to everything so I'll have to be very selective. 

Last year I set out a list of things that I wanted to play. All I can say is that there is no change there! I really must get some playing in. I now have to add The Great War and Holdfast Russia. Fingers crossed for a bit of spare time.

All the best for the new year and I hope this one is good to you!