As most of you are now painfully aware, the Campaign Book Volume 1 and the Air Pack are getting difficult to find and apparently Days of Wonder has no plans to re-print them.  For the fans out there, I have one copy of the Campaign Book Volume 1 still in shrink that I have now put up for eBay auction.  I also have a spare copy of the out of print Air Pack expansion that is new (though shrink removed) also up for eBay auction.  You can also find a copy of the Campaign Book Volume 2 there as well.

If you are the lucky bidder and happen to grab more than one item, let me know for a combined shipping price.

Good luck!

Just a quick note to those who subscribe to the site, you’ll be getting (or have already received) an email about subscribing. This allows me to do two things, shake off the spammy subscribers (a lot of .ru’s out there!) and send out some exclusive content to those who are truly interested (M’44 Breakthrough scenario coming soon). Thanks.

It took longer in the making than I thought and required some help but in the end, I think it was worth the effort.

I am happy to announce the Dire Heroes – Gas Attack at Ypres Vassal module is now available.

This module has the basic game set up as well as an advanced set up that is used in conjunction with the Dire Heroes bonus content. I hope to expand it soon with the help of my good friend, Bayernkini.  We are working towards new scenarios and a Design Kit module that will allow players to use new units, terrain and rules.

The Dire Heroes ruleset is required to play.  Fortunately MagCloud now offers PDF’s so you can get it for $5 from my page there – Dire Heroes.  Now, if you order the print copy, MagCloud includes the PDF for free!

You can find out more about the module by clicking on the help menu while the game is loaded and choosing the –Dire Heroes Info — item which will take you to this page – Dire Heroes Info.

Oh, and it’s a Play by Email specific module so if you would like to battle, drop me a line!

(Memoir ‘44 fans, you can play this game using a base set of Memoir ‘44…and don’t worry, I have some M’44 stuff coming your way…oh, and Tide of Iron too!)

Update – Apr. 2011 : StuG III card now available.
While I’ve been busy on a number of projects lately (Dire Heroes for Vassal, a Dire Heroes battles book, some scenarios for..well, you get the idea) I thought I would post an idea I had about the various vehicles that are available in Tide of Iron.  I always felt that the manner in which they are presented on the player aid that comes with the game could stand out better.  Here I show a wheel/gear for movement (first number) a shield to show armour, range and damage vs. infantry and range and damage vs. armour.  This way, players can easily see the stat they are looking for at a glance.

The cards are double sided with a bit of historical information on the back along with an optional rule that players can decide to play with or without (if both agree…all optional rules are in effect).

Get the sample cards here – Commonwealth Units - Tide of Iron - Commonwealth unit stats cards.

While these example cards are for units already in existence, the idea here is to add cards that don’t currently have official rules. I’ve kept these cards printer ink friendly.

First things first, check out the miniatures above!  Bayernkini has done an amazing job on these.  Throw him a thumb on BGG if you like them.

I also have to thank Bayernkini for getting me back on track with the Dire Heroes Vassal module.  He has laid a good foundation and I’ve picked up the torch again to get back on it.  I’m hoping to offer that up soon so if you own a copy, you’ll be sure to get this as well.

For those who don’t yet own a copy, I’ll be offering a demo on how to play Dire Heroes via Vassal.

PBEM (play by email) and Live modules should be available soon!

If you are a M’44 fan, you’ll know by now that DoW has opened up it’s beta of M’44 online to practically everyone. As a result, I can now talk more openly about costs and the experience I’ve had so far.

Most folks are concerned about the cost of the pay per play model that DoW has in place currently. I don’t have much of a problem with the system in general. I bought (that’s right, with my own hard earned money!) 1000 GI’s in the beta and after 165 pvp games (not sure how many against Cadet Johnny but quite a few!) am down to just over 600 GI’s. To be honest, I’ve been frugal. I’ve never liked the pay for elites part of the system so I take my chances without them. Of course the GI’s last longer but I am always hesitant to play the scenarios that have elites (or French resistance etc..).

While I am a fan of flat costs, one thing I’ve discovered is that will really be the least of my worries. The main factor I’ve discovered is how quickly you become bored of the same basic scenarios. Again, I’m not half way through my GI’s and I feel like I’ve played them all to death (some more than others…there simply is no incentive to play the Axis in Arnhem Bridge for example…it’s very costly and I’m quite likely to lose…why even waste GI’s and playtime on it?!).

Expert mode on the other hand is what holds any appeal for me now. There will be a bigger catalogue of scenarios (not all of them mind you…at least when last I saw it). Unfortunately, it might be a way off yet. But it is certainly on the right track.

I have enjoyed the beta play to this stage and I do really think that the folks at DoW have done a great job of it. I just hope they find a system that people will be happy with and that makes it rewarding enough for them to continue to develop it.

Hope to catch you online!