Tuesday 22 May 2018

News and...

news!



Not war in the Grey Zone (well not yet!) but the latest civil defence advice by the Swedish Government entitled "If Crisis or War Comes". A fascinating document, it reflects the increasing unease in Scandanavia and the Baltics about Russian posturing. Among the interesting things it says is that everyone from 16-70 is required to contribute to Sweden's Total Defence, in the army or civil organisations. It also makes the very striking statement that:
If Sweden is attacked by another country, we will never give up. All information to the effect that resistance is to cease is false.
As a child of the Cold War, under the very realistic threat of nuclear weapons, I recall being rather concerned about the public information films on TV. Not the namby pamby Protect and Survive but the "you have got four minutes from when you hear this siren!". Makes you think!

On the happier and safer wargame front, first up is some interesting news from Worthington. Not only are they prepping a Hold The Line ACW game but now they are working on:
HOLD THE LINE: SQUAD COMMANDER EUROPE
Squad level combat in Europe during WWII using the Hold the Line system.  American, British, Russian, Italian, and German forces fighting in a streamlined tactical system based on the Hold the Line system.
Not sure if this won't look a bit like Columbia's Combat Infantry but nevertheless right up my street!

The other new thing is Tiny Battle's Dark War


It is an RPG and has vampires and stuff in it, so not my normal sort of game. However, it is set in 1985 in a small German town in the aftermath of a Hot War and is a small scale skirmish game with AK47s and RPGs so has a very Twilight 2000 feel. It also has stands so you can make your counters stand up (standees!). I like that idea very much.

4 comments:

  1. Ohh I like that RPG - I love Mark Walker's stuff.

    Also a child of the Cold War myself I particularly remember being terrified by 'Threads' when I watched it on my colour portable...and I was a teenager then.

    I spent some time in Sweden in the 90s. Having lived with some Swedes, I'm pretty sure they would never stop resisting too. Though, I think said stubbornness comes mainly from deeply held frustration at the price of alcohol in Sweden.

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  2. Hi Duc,

    Yes, Threads was very scary. Worth putting on TV again. I'm not sure if it ever got shown more than once.

    Ha ha, Swedes are a strange lot. My experience from working with them are that they are like English people but very polite and organised. That means they are very efficiently stroppy.

    Nice to hear from you!

    Cheers

    Jay

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  3. That is an interesting choice from Worthington considering they already have a tactical series out.

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  4. Hi Norm,

    Yes, it took me by surprise. If it uses the Hold the Line model it will be very simple. One for me I think!

    Cheers

    Jay

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