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greatworldwar2 · 4 years

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• Bren Light Machine Gun

The Bren gun is a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II.

At the close of the First World War in 1918, the British Army was equipped with two main automatic weapons; the Vickers medium machine gun (MMG) and the Lewis light machine gun (LMG). The Vickers was heavy and required a supply of water to keep it in operation, which tended to relegate it to static defence and indirect fire support. The Lewis, although lighter, was still heavy and was prone to frequent stoppages; its barrel could not be changed in the field, which meant that sustained firing resulted in overheating until it stopped altogether. In 1922, to find a replacement for the Lewis, the Small Arms Committee of the British Army ran competitive trials between the Madsen, the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), the Hotchkiss, the Beardmore Farquhar, and the Lewis itself. Although the BAR was recommended, the sheer number of Lewis guns available and the difficult financial conditions meant that nothing was done. Following numerous trials, the British Army adopted the Czechoslovak ZB vz.26 light machine gun manufactured in Brno in 1935, although a slightly modified model, the ZB vz. 27, rather than the ZB vz. 26 which had been submitted for the trials. The design was modified to British requirements under new designation ZGB 33, which was then licensed for British manufacture under the Bren name. The major changes were in the magazine and barrel and the lower pistol grip assembly which went from a swivelling grip frame pivoted on the front of the trigger guard to a sliding grip frame which included the forward tripod mount and sliding ejection port cover. The magazine was curved in order to feed the rimmed .303 SAA ("Small Arms Ammunition") cartridge, a change from the various rimless Mauser-design cartridges such as the 8mm Mauser round previously used by Czech designs. These modifications were categorised in various numbered designations, ZB vz. 27, ZB vz. 30, ZB vz. 32, and finally the ZGB 33, which was licensed for manufacture under the Bren name.

The Bren was a gas-operated weapon, which used the same .303 ammunition as the standard British bolt-action rifle, the Lee–Enfield, firing at a rate of between 480 and 540 rounds per minute (rpm), depending on the model. Propellant gases vented from a port towards the muzzle end of the barrel through a regulator with four quick-adjustment apertures of different sizes, intended to tailor the gas volume to different ambient temperatures. The vented gas drove a piston which in turn actuated the breech block. Each gun came with a spare barrel that could be quickly changed when the barrel became hot during sustained fire, though later guns featured a chrome-lined barrel, which reduced the need for a spare. The Bren was magazine-fed, which slowed its rate of fire and required more frequent reloading than British belt-fed machine guns such as the larger .303 Vickers machine gun. The slower rate of fire prevented more rapid overheating of the Bren's air-cooled barrel, and the Bren was much lighter than belt-fed machine guns, which typically had cooling jackets, often liquid filled. The magazines also prevented the ammunition from getting dirty, which was more of a problem with the Vickers with its 250-round canvas belts. The sights were offset to the left, to avoid the magazine on the top of the weapon. The position of the sights meant that the Bren could be fired only from the right shoulder.

In the British and Commonwealth armies, the Bren was generally issued on a scale of one per rifle section. An infantry battalion also had a "carrier" platoon, equipped with Universal Carriers, each of which carried a Bren gun. Parachute battalions from 1944 had an extra Bren in the AT platoon. The 66-man "Assault Troop" of British Commandos had a nominal establishment of four Bren guns. Realising the need for additional section-level firepower, the British Army endeavoured to issue the Bren in great numbers, with a stated goal of one Bren to every four private soldiers. The Bren was operated by a two-man crew, sometimes commanded by a Lance Corporal as an infantry section's "gun group", the remainder of the section forming the "rifle group". The gunner or "Number 1" carried and fired the Bren, and a loader or "Number 2" carried extra magazines, a spare barrel and a tool kit. Number 2 helped reload the gun and replace the barrel when it overheated, and spotted targets for Number 1. Generally, the Bren was fired from the prone position using the attached bipod. On occasion, a Bren gunner would use his weapon on the move supported by a sling, much like an automatic rifle, and from standing or kneeling positions. Using the sling, Australian soldiers regularly fired the Bren from the hip, for instance in the marching fire tactic, a form of suppressive fire moving forward in assault. Each British soldier's equipment normally included two magazines for his section's Bren gun. The large ammunition pouches on the 1937 Pattern Web Equipment were designed around the Bren magazine. Every soldier would be trained to fire the Bren in case of an emergency, though these soldiers did not receive a Bren proficiency badge.

The Bren had an effective range of around 600 yards (550 m) when fired from a prone position with a bipod. For a light machine gun of the interwar and early World War II era, the Bren was about average in weight. On long marches in non-operational areas it was often partially disassembled and its parts were carried by two soldiers. The top-mounted magazine vibrated and moved during fire, making the weapon more visible in combat, and many Bren gunners used paint or improvised canvas covers to disguise the prominent magazine. The 30-round magazine was in practice usually filled with 27 or 28 rounds to prevent jams and avoid wearing out the magazine spring. Care needed to be taken when loading the magazine to ensure that each round went ahead of the previous round, so that the .303 cartridge rims did not overlap the wrong way, which would cause a jam. The spent cartridge cases were ejected downwards, which was an improvement on the Lewis gun, which ejected sideways, since the glint of them flying through the air could compromise a concealed firing position. In general, the Bren was considered a reliable and effective light machine gun, though in North Africa it was reported to jam regularly unless kept very clean and free of sand or dirt. It was popular with British troops, who respected its reliability and combat effectiveness. The quality of the materials used would generally ensure minimal jamming. When the gun did jam through fouling caused by prolonged firing, the operator could adjust the four-position gas regulator to feed more gas to the piston increasing the power to operate the mechanism. The barrel needed to be unlocked and slid forward slightly to allow the regulator to be turned. It was even said that all problems with the Bren could simply be cleared by hitting the gun, turning the regulator or doing both.

Although they were generally well-liked, the high cost of £40 each gun was an issue for the British Army leadership. This became a greater issue when it was discovered that only 2,300 of the 30,000 Bren guns issued to the British Expeditionary Force came back to Britain after the defeat of France. As the result, cost savings and increased rate of production became two main goals for subsequent variant designs. The Bren Mk II design simplified production by replacing the drum rear sight with a ladder design, making the bipod legs non-adjustable, simplifying the gun butt, reducing the use of stainless steel, among other steps that reduced the cost by 20% to 25%; Mk II was approved in September 1940 and entered production in 1941. While the Bren Mk III design also aimed at reducing cost, it also had the concurrent goal of being lightened for jungle warfare; the final product weighed 19 pounds and 5 ounces (3 pounds lighter than the original Bren Mk I design); it was standardised in July 1944 and saw a production of 57,600. Among the variant designs were two speciality prototypes that never entered production: The belt-fed Taden gun for stationary defence use, and the ultra-simplified Besal gun to be produced in case a German invasion of Britain actually took place (which would hinder British production efforts). Later designs of production Bren guns featured chrome-lined barrels that offered less resistance, preventing overheating and reducing the need for quick changes of barrels. Bren guns were produced outside of Britain as well. In Canada, the John Inglis plant in Toronto began tooling its facilities for production in 1938; the first of 186,000 examples was completed in Mar 1940. Some of the Inglis-built Bren guns were chambered for the 7.92-millimeter Mauser ammunition; these were destined for export to Nationalist Chinese forces rather than for British and Commonwealth forces. In Australia, the Lithgow Small Arms Factory in New South Wales began building Bren guns in 1940; a total of 17,249 were built. In India, the factory at Ishapore began building Bren guns in 1942 (it had produced Vickers-Berthier machine guns prior to this time), and would continue producing them for decades long after the end of WW2.

The Bren was also employed in the anti-aircraft role. The tripod could be adjusted to allow high angle fire. There were also several designs of less-portable mountings, including the Gallows and Mottley mounts. A 100-round pan magazine was available for the Bren for use in the anti-aircraft role. The Bren's direct ancestor, the Czechoslovak ZB vz. 26, was also used in World War II by German and Romanian forces, including units of the Waffen SS. Many 7.92 mm ZB light machine guns were shipped to China, where they were employed first against the Japanese in World War II. The Bren was also delivered to the Soviet Union as part of the lend-lease program.

The British Army, and the armies of various countries of the Commonwealth, used the Bren in the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, the Mau Mau Uprising and the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, where it was preferred to its replacement, the belt-fed GPMG, on account of its lighter weight. In the conflict in Northern Ireland (1969–1998), a British Army squad typically carried the L4A4 version of the Bren as the squad automatic weapon in the 1970s. During the Falklands War in 1982, 40 Commando Royal Marines carried one LMG and one GPMG per section. Its final operational deployment with the British Army, on a limited scale, was in the First Gulf War in 1991. Bren guns were in service with the Rhodesian Security Forces during the Rhodesian Bush War, including a substantial number re-chambered for 7.62 mm cartridges similar to those examples in the British Army. The South African Defence Force deployed Bren guns during the South African Border War alongside the more contemporary FN MAG as late as 1978.

#second world war #military history #world war 2 #world war ii #wwii #british history #firearms #light machine gun #machine guns #history #british commonwealth #military equipment

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hermanwatts · 4 years

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“I Wish to the Devil the Country was Prepared”

In early January 1932, Robert E. Howard in a letter to H. P. Lovecraft had this to say:

“I love peace, yet I wouldnt [sic] mind a war right now such a hell of a lot, if the country was prepared; but it isnt [sic]. Japan knows it; that’s why she thinks she can kick the flag around, beat up American officials, and get away with it. I wish to the devil the country was prepared.”

This comment was in relation to Japan’s recent seizure of Manchuria in late 1931. Historians often view this as the first shot that would lead to World War 2.

I recently read Cry Havoc: The Arms Race and the Second World War 1931-1941 by Joe Maiolo. It fits in with After the Trenches by William O. Odom, Linn’s Guardians of Empire, and Geoffrey Perrett’s There’s a War to be Won.

Maiolo makes the case that Stalin’s First Five Year Plan set off the 1930s arms race that led to WW2. The Japanese made a gamble to grab Manchuria before the Red Army was modernized and too powerful.

Robert E. Howard was correct. The U.S was not in a good condition to fight a war. But then again, that is the condition it generally goes into war. In 1932, the U.S. Army had 133, 200 men. The National Defense Act of 1920 called for 17,000 officers and 280,000 enlisted men. The National Guard was to be at 435,000 men.

The U.S Army had received no new equipment after WW1. In the 1930s, it was still using the British Mark VIII “Liberty” tank and had 950 French Renault FT-17 made under license. The Renault FT-17 was used up through the 1930s so in terms of quality, not at a disadvantage.

Renault FT-17 Tank

There were designs on the books for new artillery such as the 105 mm howitzer but in 1932, the Army was still using 75 mm and 155 mm cannons of WW1 vintage. Mortars were 3 inch trench mortars with often faulty ammunition due improper storage.

What the U.S. Army had plenty of were around 2 million M1917 Enfield rifles in Cosmoline. During WW1, Winchester, Remington, and Eddystone could produce Enfields in far greater numbers than Springfield Armory with the Springfield ’03 rifle. Corporal (later Sergeant) Alvin York used the M1917 Enfield on that October day in 1918 where he picked off one German after another. Most U.S. Army units in WW1 carried Enfields.

The Enfield was accurate but long (46.25 inches). It does have that short and smooth action the Enfield series of rifles is known for. Some had been sold to the civilian market, but the supply seemed inexhaustible. They were used in basic training during WW2. In the late 1930s, the Army sold around 40,000 a year to the Philippine Commonwealth for the army that Gen. Douglas MacArthur was supposed to create. Enfields were also sold to the Free French, Nationalist Chinese, Irish Free State, and the Royal Netherlands Indies Army. I have seen pictures of stacks of Enfields handed out to Philippine guerrillas in WW2. Some were sent to Britain after Dunkirk. Rear echelon troops such as Signal Corps in the Pacific had Enfields late in WW2. All the M-1 carbines were being sent to Europe. The M1917 is still in use by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol in Greenland. The Patrol is an elite unit of the Danish Navy. The M1917 works in extreme cold conditions.

M1917 Enfield

The official rifle of the U.S. Army in 1932 was the Springfield ’03. The Army had somewhere around 800,000 of those left over from WW1. It is an accurate rifle owing its action to the Mauser.

The U.S. Army had 102,174 Browning Automatic Rifles from WW1. Ever talk to WW2 vets, they liked the BAR. It was heavy, weighing around 19 lbs. It was originally designed for suppressing fire crossing no-man’s land. Bonnie and Clyde used BARs and did Frank Hamer who took out Bonnie and Clyde. Foreign especially British writers hate the BAR calling it a poor light machine gun. It was used sort of as an LMG but gave a rifle squad a little more fire power. The Marines had two BARS per rifles squad in WW2.

Browning Automatic Rifle

The M1919 Browning machine gun began service right after WW1 and used up through Vietnam. John Moses Browning was a firearms genius.

Browning M1919 Machine Gun

The Thompson submachine gun was not adopted until 1938 by the U.S. Army but in use by the Navy and Marines. So, overall, the U.S. was in similar condition to all other great powers following WW1 with small arms.

The biggest problem is the U.S. Army had no large-scale training exercises during most of the 1930s due to lack of funding. Gen. Douglas MacArthur fought tooth and nail to keep the Army from being further by Roosevelt but money was not present for training.

A bright spot is the Army Air Corps. The Air Corps took 20% of expenditures in 1933. The U.S. at least kept up with new designs of aircraft and some purchases. The Curtis P6-E Hawk would have been the standard “pursuit” plane in those last years of bi-wing airplanes.

Out of 133,200 men, 25% of the U.S. Army was overseas. The old thinking of garrisons strewn across colonial empires ready to deal with any local emergencies. U. S. Army strength overseas:

Philippines: 11,744 (5207 Army, 6537 Philippine Scouts). Three infantry regiments, four coast artillery, one cavalry regiments, two field artillery regiments.

Hawaii: 14,223. The Hawaiian Division (“The Pineapple Army”) and coast artillery.

Alaska: two understrength companies at Juneau.

Panama: 2 infantry regiments, 2 coast artillery regiments, 1 battalion field artillery

Tientsin, China: 15th Infantry Regiment at 2 battalions

Puerto Rico: 65th Infantry Regiment.

Another 20% of the U.S. Army was on the Mexican border. The 2nd Infantry Division was kept at full strength at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. The 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Bliss, Texas at 9,595 men; the 24th Infantry Regiment, one of the Army’s two black infantry regiments was at Ft. Huachuca in Arizona on the border.

The Washington Treaty of 1922 restricted the U.S. Navy. The Navy had 11 battleships, 3 fleet carriers, 19 cruisers, 102 destroyers, 55 submarines for two oceans. The Navy had 93,384 personnel.

The U.S. Marines stood at 16,561. The Marines were scattered from Shanghai in China to Cuba in small detachments. The 4th Marine Regiment had been in Shanghai with two battalions. The North China Marines fluctuated between 200-300 men at this time.

North China Marines

REH to HPL, 1932: “Along the Border there is a definite undercurrent of expectation, or at least apprehension, of Mexican invasion in case of war. There has been a persistent rumor, every [sic] since the last war, of the mysterious presence and vaguely sinister activities of a hundred thousand Japanese in the interior of Mexico.”

The Mexican Revolution from 1910-1920 gets most historical press. Mexico continued to have turmoil through the 1920s and 30s. Some were regional military commander led revolts against downsizing. The Yaqui Indians in northern Mexico fought the Mexican government 1926-27. There was the Cristero Rebellion 1927-29 and Cedillo Rebellion 1938-39.

Closer to home for Robert E. Howard was the San Diego Plan of 1915. Named after the small town of San Diego in southern Texas, the manifesto stated:

“On the 20th day of February, 1915, at two o’clock in the morning, we will arise in arms against the Government and Country of the United States of North America, ONE AS ALL AND AS ONE, proclaiming the liberty of individuals of the black race and its independence of Yankee tyranny which has held us in iniquitous slavery since remote times.”

In the summer of 1915, Mexican rebels and bandits (Sedicionistas) launched 30 raids against targets carried from across the Rio Grande River. The Seditionistas killed almost two-dozen U.S. citizens including kidnapping, torturing, and decapitating a U.S. soldier displaying his head on a pole in the border. The Anglo-Texan response was with extreme prejudice including extra-judicial executions in retaliation. Robert E. Howard would have been nine years old during these events.

The 2nd Infantry Division and 1st Cavalry were kept at full strength through the 1920s and 30s ready to deal with Mexico.

Could war have happened in 1932? The U.S. was so weak militarily that Japan contemptuously went about its aggression with little fear. The U.S. simply could not intimidate Japan. There was a chance of a clash with the North China Marines at Peking and the 15th Infantry Regiment at Tientsin sparking a wider war. The Japanese could have taken out scattered, isolated U.S. detachments in China, Philippines, and even Hawaii.

The plan was for the U.S. Navy to rush to relieve the Philippines in War Plan Orange while the Philippine garrison retreated to the Bataan peninsula and Corregidor island. It was thought it would take the Japanese six months just to cut through the jungle to get to American lines.

A daring attack by the Japanese on Panama could have put the canal out of use. Opportunistic politicians or generals in Mexico under Japanese encouragement could have attacked along the U.S.–Mexico border in the hope of regaining the South West. The Japanese could have trainers and advisors with the Mexican Army. They even could have a regiment of infantry to stiffen up their allies.

The U.S. could find itself with almost 25% of its army gone and another 20% desperately holding the border with no new tanks, no new artillery. It would take around eight months before you get the skeletal army and National Guard divisions filled out and trained. The Army at least had lots of rifles in storage. There were over 2 million WW1 veterans. A fair number would have been still young enough and in acceptable physical shape to provide a trained reserve to draw upon.

American industry would be able to supply plenty of trucks and other vehicles but things like tanks and cannons would take time.

Curtis P-6 Hawk

The Army Air Corps first monoplane P-26 fighter was a year away from first deliveries and the B-10 bomber two years. The Curtis P-6 Hawk, the last biplane used by the Army Air Corp would have been the plane used along the Mexican border and patrolling the West Coast.

Perhaps some sort of new tank would have been produced. An imaginary tank linking the WW1 leftovers and the M-2 tank of the late 1930s could have been produced.

The Japanese Navy could sail at will along the California coast shelling Los Angeles and San Francisco. There would not be much the U.S. could do about it for a while. In the long run, the U.S. would pummel Mexico into submission. A young Robert E. Howard joins up in the Texas National Guard (36th Infantry Division) or the Army to give the Mexicans and Japanese hell.

If there were an opportune time for the Japanese to attack, it would have been around 1936-1937. The U.S. Army would have another four years of deteriorating equipment and financial starvation. Franklin Roosevelt had taken officers out of active duty for one of his New Deal programs. They ran Civilian Conservation Corps camps. The U.S. was lucky in that a generation of young men were in a quasi-military environment providing pre-basic training. Roosevelt admired Mussolini and Stalin’s central controlled economies and emulated them. Hitler had very similar camps for German youth at the same time.

The U.S. was lucky in that when war came, a new generation of planes, tanks, rifles, vehicles were coming off the assembly lines. The Japanese and Italians were off by 10 years. Both had up modern armies for the early 1930s. Involvement in wars during the 30s delayed modernization giving the Allies the upper hand.

A war in 1932 would have looked a lot like something at the end of WW1 with bolt action rifles, bi-planes, primitive tanks. The 1st Cavalry Division would have been on horseback on the border with some old armored cars confined to the probably few functioning roads in northern Mexico. The Marines might have made a landing at Veracruz with a thrust to Mexico City to put an end of that part of the war. The expanding army would have made its mistakes and growing pains in Mexico. The .30-06 cartridge used in the ’03 Springfield, M1917 Enfield, and Browning Automatic Rifle was perfect for fighting in the open territory of the border. If Mexico did not join with Japan, there would have been a period of just some naval clashes for up to two years. The Japanese might have invaded Alaska making for a scenario of warfare in polar conditions.

The fleet would begin the hard fight across the Pacific as laid out in various versions of War Plan Orange would get underway ending with a blockade of Japan. By the 1930s, Navy admirals had a realistic view of a Pacific War with an island-hopping campaign through the Japanese Mandate islands including the Marshall and Caroline Islands. The Army said it could hold out in the Philippines for 6 months, the Navy estimated a two-year campaign across the Pacific to get the Philippines. So, the Army commander of the Philippine Department would be surrendering before help arrived. It was a command that few relished.

The U.S. could have trained Chinese troops to tie down the Japanese Army. Who knows, the Soviets might have joined in taking Manchuria from Japan once the war turned.

A war in 1932 with Japan and Mexico is an interesting topic. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was Chief of Staff of the U.S Army so there would be drama to the conflict. Who knows, maybe Grandpa Theobald would have volunteered as an ambulance driver like he tried to do in WW1.

“I Wish to the Devil the Country was Prepared” published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

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goliathbetagamer-blog · 4 years

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Star Wars Battlefront II Review

Almost since the beginning, Star Wars has been a story of redemption from darkness. So, in an ironic sort of way, Battlefront 2 is a better Star Wars game because of its initial fall to the dark side and subsequent journey back to the light. After over two years of updates and changes, EA and DICE have redeemed this gorgeous shooter and turned it into one of the best multiplayer adaptations of the Star Wars universe to date.

Taking in all Battlefront 2 now has to offer at once is honestly a bit overwhelming. Setting aside the overly safe, short, and disappointing single-player story, there’s a wealth of wave-based co-operative maps and a litany of online competitive multiplayer modes. Most of them play wonderfully and they all ooze that classic Star Wars look and feel on an unrivaled scale. Whether you’re fighting on the ground with a blaster in your hands, cutting down troops with a lightsaber, or dogfighting in space, Battlefront 2 is an immensely entertaining ride through a galaxy far, far away.

Crucially, DICE absolutely nailed the basics. Take the mechanics of firing a blaster: It feels just a bit chunky, as it should, with that signature sound bursting with each shot. And even though every weapon shoots similar-looking bolts, they all feel extremely distinct out of the box and can be customized further.

Crucially, DICE absolutely nailed the basics

For ground troops, the four main classes are Assault, Heavy, Officer, and Specialist. They feel about as distinct as any other classes in a multiplayer shooter, although none of them have a dedicated secondary gun to swap too. Since there are no ammo counts, just cool downs, it changes the dynamic a bit and definitely feels unique.

I gravitated towards the Heavy troopers because of their powerful LMG-style weapon, mobile shield, grenade, and a special that let me shoot continuously like a minigun without overheating. It’s excellent for suppressing fire, especially if you’re on the defending end of the final phase in Capital Supremacy and need to keep the enemy back at all costs. In between the main classes and the big hero units are specialty units like Arc Troopers that get electric mines and dual pistols, or rolling Droidekas with heavy armor and deployable shield domes. Coordinating attacks between the practicality of the standard troops and flashiness of heroes is a lot fun and makes Battlefront 2 feel special.

Microtransaction Reaction

Shortly before Battlefront 2 officially launched in 2017 it was filled with egregious microtransactions that were not only greedy, but disruptive to the game as a whole. If you didn’t want to grind for hours to unlock playable heroes then you had to pay actual money. Star Card upgrades were locked behind similar time-sinks and pay walls that made multiplayer feel like more of a chore than a game. Thankfully, EA listened to feedback and removed those just ahead of launch, but the grindy progression remained. Fast forward a couple of years, though, and, all of that’s now been removed as well.

Today, the only things you can buy are cosmetics like new outfits and emotes, so there’s no hint of pay-to-win in play. Star Cards are completely gone, leveling is now based on linear XP gains, and all heroes are open from the beginning.

Alternatively, you can earn these cosmetics through loot boxes you can’t pay for. It’s a good, fair system, and thankfully entirely separate from progression – that makes these boxes exciting to open because the cosmetics don’t come at the cost of character upgrades and unlocks. Or, if you buy or upgrade to the Celebration Edition of Battlefront 2, every paid cosmetic, emote, and victory pose is unlocked from the very beginning.

What’s great about Battlefront 2 is that it lets you play with all of its toys, no questions asked. Every character class and playable hero is available from the start, and the tedious unlocking grind from launch has been completely removed. Luke, Vader, Boba Fett, Rey – you name them, they’re all here.

As you level up you unlock new ability cards with passive upgrades such as increased health regeneration speed or a bigger grenade blast radius. They’re designed as ways to refine your playstyle, rather than make you dramatically stronger, and it’s a fulfilling system that rewards sticking with a class without forcing you to.

You’ll spend most of your time as Battlefront’s basic soldier classes, but as you play you earn in-match points that you can eventually spend to spawn as a hero. That can seriously turn the tide. These iconic characters are absolute killing machines, and when you clash with another hero it’s extremely memorable. The list has been growing since launch and now includes everybody from Obi-Wan and his Force push to lesser favorites like General Grievous, including his ridiculous saber windmill attack. Pitting original trilogy Darth Vader against the prequel trilogy Anakin Skywalker hero is far more entertaining than it should be.

These fights can be truly the stuff of Star Wars “What If?” fan-fiction, brought to life on screen

These fights can be truly the stuff of Star Wars “What If?” fan-fiction, brought to life on screen. During a Heroes v Villains match – a team deathmatch mode where everybody plays as a hero the entire time – I was playing as Boba Fett on the rainy planet Kamino and ran into an enemy player controlling Obi-Wan. It quickly felt like a reenactment of the Jedi Knight’s fight against Jango Fett in Episode II.

In this version, Obi-Wan leapt through the air while I shot at him with my blasters, then he Force-pushed me and knocked me down before charging in for the kill with his lightsaber. Then, in a dramatic twist, none other than Darth Vader himself jumped in at the last second and Force-choked him before he could strike. My teammate then lifted Obi-Wan into the air for me to finish him off. It was a fantastic and memorable moment.

It doesn’t feel like an exaggeration to say that, in terms of scope and breadth, EA and DICE have released just as much new, free content for the multiplayer side of Battlefront 2 as it already had at launch. They’ve dished out new maps like Felucia and Geonosis, exciting new game modes, a litany of heroes and villains, new ships for aerial combat, and dozens of cosmetic skins.

Battlefront 2’s maps now feel like a Greatest Hits selection of the entire Star Wars galaxy, pulling from all three movie trilogies plus one-offs and the cartoons. The dense greenery of Felucia is a great contrast to the brown wastelands of Geonosis, and fighting across the Cloud City in Bespin is a blast.

Naboo’s capital city, Theed, is one of my favorites, since it’s an outdoor urban setting, unlike most of the other battles, and is full of buildings that make it a great stage in the larger 40-player game modes. Every mode has an extreme level of map variety, and that makes it easy to fall into that “just one more game” mentality because you’ll see something new every time for a long while.

Every Planet and Location in Star Wars Battlefront 2's Multiplayer

The catch is that finding a match is hit or miss depending on the game mode and time of day. It’s not very difficult to queue up for the main modes like Capital Supremacy and Galactic Assault, especially on PS4. But smaller modes, like Hero Showdown and Hero Starfighters, can take a few minutes of waiting before you can enjoy them, which is a shame. They’re not the main attraction by any means but I’ve had some good fun with them.

In Hero Showdown, two teams of two heroes each face off without respawns for multiple rounds. It’s a bit like Gun Fight in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, but instead of guns and knives it’s blasters and lightsabers.

Similarly, Hero Starfighters pits two teams of four hero ships against each other, but this time dying brings you back as a standard starfighter until one team has lost all their hero ships.

Letting you immediately take control of these recognizable characters is awesome, putting a fun spin on the standard modes, but they don’t seem to command the same amount of popularity. Having so many different modes to choose from seems to have split the player base thinly across the best ones.

Developer: DICE (Digital Illusions CE)

Publisher: lectronic Arts

Release Date: November 17, 2017

Platforms: Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 4

- Joystick Buff 🕹️🧡

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asenatheoperator · 5 years

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Snowy Night On the Mountain Part: 1

Operation Snow Angel Afghanistan 2019 03:32 am Another cold night in Afghanistan, engine sound of a dark colored CH-47 modified for spec op missions heard in the darkness, slowly making its way to the LZ located on top of the mountain in front of it. Shining lights of a village on the horizon can barely seen as the snowfall continues. Blackbeard sitting together with Sledge front of their third partner Asena close to the half lowered ramp. Sledge and Blackbeard were veterans of the Afghanistan but Asena only participated in one mission in this country but she was used to fighting on the mountains, country was new to her but environment wasn’t. A week ago important intel came to Hereford base about a local White Mask and Taliban leaders gonna have a meeting on the mountains of Shah-i-Kot Valley, Taliban usually don’t like to work with other seperate groups in their turf so this intel kinda made Six worried about a new White Mask network in Asia so she send two fire teams to ‘Join’ this meeting with support of NATO forces.

Fire Team Wolf is the recon team right now making its way to the mountains. The team consists Sledge,Blackbeard and Asena. Their mission is to go first at night and locate Landing Zones for the main force also watch the meeting point, make sure everything is okay until the reinforcements arrive to the operation area. And Fire Team Tiger is the team who go in to the hot zone Valkyrie, Maverick, Thatcher, Smoke and Glaz led by Thatcher gonna attack the main compound with the support force made from British Paratroopers and 75th Rangers. Shah-i-Kot means "Place of the King" and it has historically been a redoubt for Afghan guerrillas hiding from foreign invaders. The area was the scene of fierce fighting between the Afghan mujahideen rebels and Soviet forces during the Afghan-Soviet War, as the battle for Hill 3234 It was also the scene of what was then the largest battle of the War in Afghanistan to date: The Battle of Shah-i-Kot took place during Operation Anaconda, which began on 2 March 2002. So everyone knew this wasn’t going to be easy. As the lights of the village dissapear in the darkness Pilot’s three minute warning heard inside the helicopter. Blackbeard get up from his seat with Sledge and give a hand to Asena ‘’Time to go’’ She grabbed his hand and get on her feet, put on her helmet checking her gear one last time. ‘‘If we do this without any problems i’ll buy the beers in pub when we return Hereford’‘ Sledge said with his Scottish accent, putting on his helmet and adjusting the NVGs. Asena checking her SVD’s chamber ‘’You know my memory is pretty good, if things go well i’ll make sure you not forget that’’ she said with a grin on her face standing beside the ramp, back gunner sitting on the floor holding to his M240 LMG. Blackbeard standing in middle of them he look down and say ‘’Just lets focus on getting back to base first.. Alright guys?’’ ‘‘What happened to your optimism Craig?’‘ She asked He pointed the Valley ‘’Well if you knew the stories of this place you wouldn’t be very optimist too. So lets just keep our heads on the mission’’ As the ground covered with snow appeared under the helicopter Asena walk to the edge of the ramp to get down first. CH-47 hovering just few feet above the rocky edge but soon as it stand still a spark from the shadows seen ‘’RPG!’’ Door gunner yelled as he start firing at the direction of where the rocket came, when pilot did a manuever to dodge the rocket Asena lost her balance and fell off from the helicopter, Blackbeard tried to grab her hand but it was too late also the rocket hit one of the rotor made him and Sledge fell backwards inside the Chinook. Asena fall hard on her shoulder and hit her head, stunned. She saw the flames in helicopter’s engine and the tracers of the machine gun firing at the Taliban militants before she pass out. Later on she start hearing Craig’s voice in her radio, she suddenly opened her eyes, gasped. She was laying on her left shoulder, left side of her body and head was under the snow. She slowly get up and hold her head, she had a headache because of the hit and huge pain on her left shoulder ‘’Aggh..’’ She grabbed a morphine from her kevlar, bite the head off and spit it off the mountain, injecting it to herself to ease the pain a bit.. Craig was still asking for report from her. She moaned a bit ‘’Asena here..’’ She replied to his calls. She get up back on her feet, see her rifle was gone. Sighed deep while looking around, trying to find a way also make sure she’s alone and also talking with Craig. Craig said he and Seamus managed to jumped out little further down from the LZ, she reliefed when she heard their voice or she reliefed because of the feeling of Morphine. Both thing was good for her. Anyways Craig gave her a cordinate to meet, told her to be careful warned her about the heavy Militant presence. When they cut the coms she looked her injured shoulder she couldn’t moved it so she had only her right arm, her NVGs and GPS was damaged barely working sometimes cutting off. She already knew this one goning to be a fun trip and Sledge’s promise was out of the window..

#rainbow six siege #ocpostng #ocstories #asena #r6 #r6s #blackbeard #sledge #trouble #part1 #openfornewocsinstory

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fapangel · 7 years

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So, it would appear that the Chechens have set up a concentration camp for Gays. As a thought exercise, how and with what forces would you go full /k/ and remov Chechen, to free our delicious traps from the Chechentration Camps?

Well ain’t this an interesting thought experiment. Well, lemme define some parameters here to make it more interesting.

Pretend that George Soros has a nemesis, a good multibillionare who spends his money on mercenaries to go kill evil fuckers across the world where the UN refuses to do fuck-all. He descends upon me and gives me a few hojillion to throw around to equip a new PMC pulled together out of former OPERATORZ, /k/ommando fucks with delusions of graundeur and whatever else I can scrape together. We’ve got enough shooters and hired support personnel to assemble an augmented company - two platoons are /k/ommando tier tards with military experience and/or demonstrable nerves/skill, a third platoon of highspeedlowdragOPERAHTUZ who will undertake the actual assault, and a weapons platoon. The other two platoons only job is to make flanking attempts an unhealthy endeavor for the Chechen scum. Equipment selections will be made with an eye towards what works good, and also what a bunch of filthy mercenary scum could actually buy (which is a lot more than you might think.)

The standard squad of nine men will consist of a combat medic (carrying a rifle), a grenadier armed with a Milkor MGL and a variety of grenades (mostly HEDP with a few HEAT, smoke and flares), two autoriflemen armed with the modern incarnation of the Browning Automatic Rifle, one Designated Marksman (rifle, just a nicer scope and maybe some binocs/range card,) and four rifleman, one of which will be the squad leader, and the other, his second (second fireteam leader.) The rifle will be whatever’s available in select-fire 5.56mm, either a SIG-550, or a decent 16-inch barrel AR-15 clone from stateside, modified in a fashion most illegal by someone who knows what they’re freaking doing. Each rifleman (which includes the medic insofar as the weight of his medical supplies allows) will carry four frags, two smokers, and as many magazines as practicable. Body armor will be on the light side, somewhat similar to a SPCS vest - a plate carrier vest that trades kevlar (i.e. frag) protection on the limbs for mobility. A light kevlar helmet and a groin protector to round it out without adding too much weight. Optics are simple 2x red dot/circle reticules with backup flip-up irons. Lastly, each rifleman will carry an HEDP LAW tube, of whatever local knockoff variety is available at the time (there’s like a hundred of ‘em.)

The basic rationale is to be as mobile as possible while retaining the ability to bring massed firepower to bear on any potential target - i.e. infantry, infantry in structures, and light armored vehicles. Spreading the heavy firepower out across a rotary grenade launcher and the BARs (which will be chambered in .308 if we can get a custom order or something) with armor-piercing ammo allow for more volume of fire and greater redundancy if someone gets hit and much better mobility. The BARs are a deliberate use of the autorifleman concept over the LMG concept; they offer a mobility - and an ability to exploit cover - that LMGs simply cannot. Equip them with some Beta-C mags and they should be ready to rock. Using BARs specifically is for a reason - they work. They are also insanely accurate (testimony of a triple distinguished shooter I know) which, combined with the heavy round, stretches the squad’s long-range firepower out further than the ROF and beaten zone of an autorifle usually would manage. Two of them offer the effective volume of fire of a single LMG while being more mobile, as well as being much more intuitive to operate than a belt-fed weapon in case a rifleman has to take over the weapon from a casualty (remember, they’re /k/razies.) It’s hard to beat the rotary grenade launcher for flexibility and it can pump out six rounds fast to put a lot of fire on target, either suppressing infantry or putting multiple HEDP rounds in the air in a hurry if a light IFV shows its face. And the LAW-style weapon is hard to beat for flexible anti-personnel, anti-fortification, anti-armor firepower in a very light package.

These choices are somewhat interchangeable, for instance the BAR can be swapped for an M77 Zastava or something.

The heavy weapons squad may well make or break the op. This is a tough choice and I’m not sure what’d best serve my small, mobile, outnumbered force made up of retards.

The first option is a 12.7mm heavy machine gun team of nine men, (four for the weapon, five to help manhandle it around faster, carry more ammo, and provide flank security/ a mobile reserve fireteam.) This has the advantage of being fucking effective; even /k/tards can point a Dushka in the right direction and blast away. It can strike from a good distance, (but there’s no guarantee the sight lines will be available,) and it will absolutely, positively provide a fantastic base of fire against fortified enemies in structure. The second option is three two-man 51/60mm mortar teams; which can be combined into a mini “firebase” or (more likely) attached one per squad to engage targets as needed. The third option is two 81mm mortars (or one 120mm mortar and a light vehicle to move the damn thing) set up a “safe distance” away. The last option is likely the most effective - even light structures take notice when a 120mm starts knocking, mortars are hideously effective at putting dicks in the dirt, and they can hit anything regardless of LOS, allowing for things like preplanned fire against a nearby road junction when/if reinforcements sortie, suppressing enemies trying to shift flank from one side of the compound to the other, etc. Unfortunately this is also extremely dependent on people who know what the fuck they’re doing, which includes the /k/tards who’d be the primary spotters calling for fire. On the other hand, a cheap hobbyist quadcopter drone with a decent night vision camera could go a LONG way here.

Effectively the choice here would depend on the expected conditions at the actual target. The choice would have to wait for after the map recon.

Now you take all of the above, add up the cost, then multiply that by five, maybe seven, and you’re in the ballpark of the actual cost after you spend the dosh to train this grab-bag of fuckheads into something vaguely resembling a competent and mutually-supporting team. You’ll also have ten thousand incidental costs, such as camo, clothes, boots, sunglasses, bug spray, field rations, packs, maps, secure radios, NVGs worth a fuck (probably only for the squad lead,) etc.

Or you could hire actual mercenaries to do this, but they would never fuck about in Russia’s backyard, so, yeah.

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stilinski-jpeg · 7 years

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Assassin: Chapter 5

A/N: Yeah for Assassin FINALLY being up. I think this is my most request fic to put like ever. Hopefully I didn’t disappoint. There’s not smut in this, but this chapter is the smut kind of chapter. I would like to thank @writing-obrien for helping me in my writers block and just being a great friend. Also, this gif is a little more dramatic then what actually happens.

Warning: Torture ( Mental and Physical), Mentions of Rape

Word Count: 2504

[1] [2] [3] [4]

It wasn’t the sudden fiery, burning pain that woke me. Or the sounds of bullets flying through the air. Not even the men that dragged me out of bed yelling and speaking in a language I didn’t understand, that really woke me. It’s still all a groggy memory up until the moment I was actually ripped from my,not so sound, slumber. The last thing I remember before I was dragged out of the fancy hotel room, was the gut wrenching sound of Mitch yelling out my name.

Now, I sit here on this dirty stone floor. In this dark, dank, windowless concrete room. The only thing that keeps me company is the urine soaked mattress behind me and the mice that find their way in. It’s quiet, so quiet that I think I can hear people screaming somewhere in another side of the door. They’re begging for their lives, to be let go. But it’s hard for me to know if thats even real. My father prepared me long ago for something like this.

‘To be taken by the enemy would be the most difficult to escape.’ He told me as we sat at family dinner.

‘Frank! Don’t scare the poor girl.’ My mother warned as she scooped a pile of peas on his plate.

‘Scare her, Brenda? I’m keeping our only child safe.’ He argued as he gave a sour face to the peas.

‘You’ll scare her to death, Frank.’ She used her “I’m serious” voice.

My dad did this often, constantly warning me of the dangers the world had to offer. Although I appreciated it, it did make me overly cautious in all situations. My mother never approved and probably still doesn’t.

There was a loud noise on my door, and a second later a slot open near the bottom of the door. Then a yellow plastic tray, like the ones you’d use in school, was pushed into the room. The slot was shut immediately after and I was left with the tray. It displayed a glass of water and two pieces of bread, the usual. I wanted to run over to it and devour it contents, but I had to wait for one of the mice to come along so I could test that it wasn’t poisoned. I doubted they wanted to kill me in such a merciful way, but you could never be sure.

I’ve been here for eleven days so far, I think. Even though I had no real way of knowing, the meals came three times a day, every day. But there’s always a chance that they were altering my meals to throw me off. I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands, irritated how my dad’s teachings were only making me more apprehensive and paranoid. When it came down to it, there was no real way for me to tell what they had in store for me. All I could do is wait, and wait I did. Three more days later the door finally opened.

A large beefy man with a scar over his right eye walked into the room. He was accompanied by two man with LMG’s. They stood on either side of the door while the first man walked over to me, stopping a few feet away.

“Hello flower.” He said with a thick accent and a husky voice.

I lifted my head slowly to look up at him. I didn’t know this man, but he seemed to be familiar with me. I could see recognition in his eyes as he walked deeper in the room towards me. He wore a fake smile, but it was with an unmistakable fierceness that he approached me. He knelt down slowly, extending a hand to help me up. I looked from it to him and tried to decide my next actions quickly. I didn’t have the advantage in the situation and this senecio could go two ways. I could go along and act like the little naive girl that would blindly trust any nice stranger that came along or I could fight. Fighting would cost me more, but it would ensure one thing though; that they’d either kill me quickly or keep me alive if only to torture me. Being alive left more time for Mitch to find me, because I knew he would. He would find me. I had to do something, I couldn’t stand to be raped and abused for the amusement of old creepy men which is no doubt what would happen to me.

I placed my hand tentatively in his, really selling the false trust I was placing in him. The second his fingers wrapped around mine, I pulled on him with all my might causing him to fall forward. In one swift movement I moved out of the way and he landed face first into the concrete floor with a loud smack. Without thinking, I pulled the gun out of the holster on his hip and pointed it at the two men holding the large machine guns. Their delayed reactions gave me all the time I need to shoot them. One in the arm and the other in the knee. They both fell to the floor, guns clambering to the ground.

I didn’t waste another second in that room. The gun and I, hightailed it out of my prison. The door led out into a hallway with many other doors. The whole building seemed to be made only out of concrete and my feet slapped against the hard floor as I ran. I didn’t know where I was going, I just knew I needed to find a way out. There were elevator doors just up ahead. My heart did a small flutter of joy. The elevators would undoubtedly lead to a ground floor not far from where an exit would be. Just before I reached the doors, they opened to reveal a tall lean man with dark hair, tan skin, and a very displeased look on his face. I slid to a stop at the sight of him, skidding slightly on the smooth floor. I stood frozen in my spot, racking my brain on how to proceed. I felt the gun heavy in my hand, weighing heavily on my bad arm. I lifted it quickly pointing at the man who merely chuckled at me. I furrowed my brow assessing him. I had the upper hand here, I could kill him with a pull of my finger and he was laughing at me? He stepped out of the elevators, a smug smile plaguing his face.

I’d had enough. I was feet away from tasting freedom with only this idiot stopping me. Just as he was within arms length, I pulled the trigger in a split second reaction. The gun made a clicking noise and nothing happened. I frowned looking quickly from the man to the gun, trying the trigger again. The man pulled out a small black object out from behind his back, the same smile on his face, raising it so I could see it. It took me a beat, but I recognized it almost immediately. It was called a demobilized. It’s was designed to create an electromagnetic field around a designated area that neutralized any and all weaponry used. It was used primarily by military personnel during “peace meetings” between feuding countries.

I dropped the gun immediately, turning quickly to make a break in the opposite direction. I was halted, however, by a strong hand on my hurt shoulder. It squeezed tightly and I cried out in pain, clawing at the hand to let up. He forced me down on my knees by my shoulder only, forcing another wave a pain to rock through me. I felt tears welling up in my eyes and I tried my hardest to stop them from passing through.

“Looks like someone been a naughty girl.” The man breathed in my ear.

I was escorted by the man into a room different from the one had come to know. The man that I’d injured before, whose name I came to know as Bates, was already there standing behind a silver chair in the middle of the room with a light bulb that hung directly above it from the ceiling. I swallowed thickly when I saw him, white bandages covered his nose where he must of fallen. He looked angry which meant I was in for some serious trouble. The other man ushered me into the room and shoved me down into the chair. Then Bates twisted my arms awkwardly so they were wrapped around the back of the chair. Cold thin wire was wound around my torso, holding my body to that position. I winced as he pulled tightly makes sure it was secure.

“What do we have here, Victor?” Bates asked as he finished the job and join, the man known as Victor, in front of me.

“I think we got ourselves an escapee.” Victor mulled, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

“We have a strict policy about escapee though.” Bates added, stepping closer to me.

He leaned forward, letting his hand rest on his thighs. He was eye level to me, a smile devious and crooked scorning his face. As they silently watched me, I mustered all the spit in my mouth that I could form. Bates, looked over his shoulder at his partner.

“Guess we’ll have to inflict punishment on the accused, ey buddy?” He guffawed, turning back to look at me.

Before he’d even circled his head back toward me, I leaned my head then pushed it forward letting the spit I’d been saving up fly out onto his face. I’d surprised him, his eyes closed instantly as the spit touched him.

“Mitch will find me.” I growled as I leaned forward as much as I could to him.

He smacked me on the cheek so hard my head flew to the side. Tears sprang from my eyes, unwarrantedly. The wire wrapped around me, cut into my skin when I moved and my shoulder throbbed.

“He’ll only find you after you’re dead.” He bellowed, before pulling back and delivering another blow to my face.

The only difference about the room I was in now and my previous one is this one had a clock. It was right above the door, white with black hands. That clock was the only way I knew 23 more days had passed. 23 days of relentless beatings. 23 days of scarce food or water. 23 days of no Mitch.

On day 4, I screamed his name over and over as cut after cut was carved into my skin. On day 10, I was set up to a electroshock machine that they would hit me with anytime I was asked a question and didn’t answer it in the way they liked. I’d receive two shocks anytime I brought up his name. Day 15, they tied a rope around my head that knotted at my mouth then hung it from the ceiling. I was forced to stand on my toes with my hands behind my back as they struck me with different objects. The whole time telling me I would never be saved, that no one was coming for me. They told me that they killed him after they kidnapped me. Day 19, I started to believe it.

Day 23, I sat barely conscious in the silver chair. Bates and Victor had just gotten finished taking turns choking me until I almost passed out. As they usually do, they got bored and decide to take a break. The lack of oxygen to my brain left me dizzy and incoherent. I couldn’t make out where the hands on the clock lay. The room went in and out of focus as I tried to pull myself up. They didn’t tie me up, they stopped doing that around day 9 when they starved me for five and a half days. At this point, I barely had the energy to breath let alone fight back. I’d since forgotten how I got here or why I had the burning need to break free. But I held on to that need, it’s all I had. Victor said that I was no one. He said no one was looking for me or even knew I was gone. That if I ever tried to escape again I’d have no one to go back to anyway. I was far past the point of trying to believe that wasn’t true, but even still I dreamt of the day I’d leave.

I wasn’t sure how much time had past when I heard the squeaking of the metal door opening. A fear washed over my body as I willed my body to get up, to run. But I was so fatigued that just the thought wore me out. Things were still a little blurry for me so I could barely make out the figure that walked into the room.

“Oh my god.”

I felt the warmth of two hands cupping my face, lifting it up. My name weakly fell from a familiar voice. I squinted my eyes to make out the face directly in front of me.

“Mitch?” My voice was rough and sparse from disuse.

“What did they do?” He gaped, running his hands fiercely over my face and hair.

“Can’t be Mitch.” I muttered. “Mitch is dead.”

“No. Fuck, I’m here.” He pulled our heads together so our foreheads touched. “I’m right here.”

“Right here.” I repeated feebly

“Rapp,” I gruffly voice bellowed from behind him. “We gotta go, now!”

I heard Mitch suck in a sharp breath before kissing my forehead then scooping me up into his arms.

“Sir, should I sound the alarm.” Jackson asked his hand hovering over the large red button.

Captain Mark Haveratti hadn’t planned on this to happen. He knew that they would show up to save her, but he expected a much different outcome. They had gunned down fifteen of his lackey guards, just the two of them. He didn’t want to loose anymore more, not tonight. So he opted out of calling for reinforcements. He was confident that his men could kill Rapp and Stan Hurley, but was equally as sure the girl wouldn’t live too. Her, he needed.

He only called the order to kidnap her; so that in efforts to try to save her, Mitch Rapp would also die. Mitch had been a sharp annoying thorn in Haveratti’s side for far too long. It was fate that they’d found each other, the girl that was the key to everything. He thought his plan would go off without a hitch, but of course his two idiot right hand men slacked as usual leaving the girl unattended and prime for rescuing. He promised himself to deal with them later. Right now, he had to get his collateral back. How else could he force the US government to meet his demands. He needed her. She was the key to unlocking all his plans. To being the most powerful man in the Western Hemisphere.

Mark Haveratti needed the the Dame De Mort.

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thomasroach · 5 years

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Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 Review – The Complete Package

Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment’s looter shooter returns with the release of Tom Clancy’s The Division 2. Hoping to build on a legacy of rewarding combat, immersive environments and varied end-game, The Division 2 launches in a more hostile environment for the genre, but does it have the pedigree to pull it off anyway?

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 Review

The Division 2’s story follows the events from the original game as Agents, members of a special elite task force, head to Washington D.C to restore power to the SHD Network – a global network acting as the central source of intelligence and assignments for Agents of The Division. What follows is the discovery of a cure for the Green Poison, and subsequently all viral infections, which acts as the primary driving force behind the games challenging story campaign. The Division 2’s story is easy to follow, and while it maintains a level of quality throughout, it lacks any memorable punch and feels more a prelude to the games end-game content than a stellar standalone story. While somewhat disappointing initially, the “play it safe” story quickly fades to black as the games true intentions become clear.

Much like the original game, The Division 2 is, at its heart, a cover-based looter shooter that relies nearly entirely on its combat mechanics and grind loops to entertain and enthrall. Thankfully, it nails both. It nails them in such a way that The Division 2 is arguably one of the best cover shooters available, and one of Ubisoft’s greatest works ever.

The over-the-shoulder combat relies heavily on two major factors. Ducking, diving, sliding and jumping between different forms of cover as a huge variety of enemies ambush and approach your location from multiple sides, and combining a massively impressive arsenal of weapons with an equally impressive array of skills and abilities. While the bullet-sponge issues that often plague the genre are still very much present in The Division 2, the combat is satisfying, rewarding, and immersive from start to finish. And, it’s brutal. During my many runs as a solo Agent, I found myself outgunned, outmanned, and outplayed, feelings that heavily push the player towards grouping with other Agents. While enjoying many of the games activities solo is a definite possibility for the hardcore among us, it’s ill-advised in many situations.

Accompanying the impactful cover and shoot combat is a diverse list of skills and abilities that can be customized, enhanced and improved throughout the game. Agents unlock skill point as they progress through the main campaign, accessing advanced technological assistance for future battles. One group could be heavily focusing around their squad leader leading the charge behind a huge shield, while another sits at a distance and coordinates drone strikes and seeker mine attacks. While some of the skills and abilities would greatly benefit from a bit of balancing, there’s already plenty of opportunity to experiment and explore a robust skill and progression system.

One of the biggest problems facing Agents looking to restore order to the nations capitol is the frustratingly “intelligent” AI. Instead of facing enemies that adapt and react to the threats they face in a realistic and believable way, I too often found myself battling seemingly psychic soldiers that could read my every move from behind a container 50 meters away.

Approaching an enemy checkpoint, I hear calls for help from my nearby allies. Pinned down by heavy enemy sniper fire and a hulking mess of armor and firepower, my allies were unable to advance onto the machine gun nest that had been the primary cause for our failure to capture the checkpoint earlier in the day. I grip my controller tightly, I begin to hum the Mission Impossible theme tune, I take several side alleys and a small underground passage to approach our enemies from the opposite angle. I was straight up ready to Tom Clancy those fools.

I draw my heavily customized and camouflaged sniper rifle, line up the perfect shot on the enemy sniper then, just like that, he’s gone. This expertly trained and highly attuned sniper, that had been providing covering fire for nearly two minutes straight, randomly had the immediate instinct to duck behind cover as soon as a gun is aimed at his location – despite being out of his line of sight. I wait, and wait, and wait. There’s no sign of movement from his location. I decide to switch my attention to the heavily armored enemy rocking the minigun, but no sooner do I change weapon does that sniper rear its ugly head once more. A quick switch of my weapon back to my trusted sniper and, what? Once again, as if from divine intervention, the enemy sniper instantly returns to cover.

These types of events are not random, it’s not the result of some cascading AI scripts resulting in random psychic reactions from enemies, it happens in nearly every fight. I press the button to activate one of my abilities, the enemies react and move before humanly possible. Enemies will rush and advance on your position with absolutely zero care for their own survival. This makes sense for some of the units designed to rush, such as the lunatic that straps explosives to his chest and charges your location, but for other enemy types it becomes frustrating, predictable, and boring. A situation made worse when you face squads of enemies that take 200 bullets from an LMG to fell one soldier. On the surface The Division 2’s AI seems intelligent, responsive, and varied, but dig a little and you’ll find very limited AI behavior that is easily its biggest shortcoming.

The Division 2 truly stands head and shoulders above the competition with its myriad of activities and flurry of end-game content. It still bears the mark of Ubisoft as Agents head to new areas, repeating activities to free yet more civilians from tyranny – a formula used in practically every Ubisoft game of this generation – but it’s fine tuned to perfection. In previous Ubisoft games, I often found myself pushing to complete that first region 100%. Hunting down that last side quest, defeating that last high value target, only to feel exhausted to repeat the process a second, third, fourth and fifth time. In The Division 2, the team put just the right amount of content in each area to keep things fresh and engaging throughout the experience.

A single phrase often thrown around the industry today best describes The Division 2. Content is king, and The Division 2 is the king of content. From launch, there’s a massive variety of objectives and activities as you progress, objectives and activities that expand, evolve and improve continuously throughout the campaign and even moreso when you reach end-game. Never before have I been so excited to complete a games main campaign. As soon as you hit level 30 and complete the main story you are bombarded with prompts and unlocks, each exposing something more interesting and exciting than the last.

Real-time conflicts and territory changes between the games multiple factions, hidden boss enemies that hold special cosmetic loot drops, evolving checkpoints that increase in power the more your presence is known in the area, strongholds that act as challenging dungeons with multiple boss battles and fantastic rewards, bounty targets that require the gathering of intel to locate, collectibles, the content just keeps going, and going, and going. And that’s just from the perspective of the PvE fan, there are entire areas dedicated to PvP. The content itself is only trumped by a single other aspect, the loot.

The Division 2 boasts incredibly interesting loot and advancement systems that allows players to truly specialize, customize, and improve their characters in a variety of ways. Tons of weapon customization options, the ability to switch talents and perks from one weapon to another, random chances of hitting the “critical” success when crafting, there’s no end to the ways you can improve your character in the game.

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 raises the bar for the looter shooter genre. Put simply, it is the complete package.

This The Division 2 Review was done on the PlayStation 4. A digital version was purchased from the PlayStation Store, though a code was provided by the publisher (and returned) after purchase.

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Posted March 14, 2019 by Casey Scheld in Casey Scheld Reviews, Game Reviews, PC Reviews

Unsung Warriors – Prologue Review

Treasure awaits all those who seek to enter a crypt in the prologue of Osarion and Mountaineer’s Unsung Warriors. Should players step into the shoes of this Iron Age-inspired warrior, or should this

Posted March 11, 2019 by Casey Scheld in Casey Scheld Reviews, Game Reviews, PC Reviews

The Crown of Leaves Review

Thebrokenhorn puts players into a strange predicament in their new point-and-click visual novel The Crown of Leaves. Anthropomorphic animals meet supernatural stylings, but does it prove to be more

The post Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 Review – The Complete Package appeared first on GamersHeroes.

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 Review – The Complete Package published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

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minhthangcoi9993-blog · 6 years

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Review Game Battlefield 5

Battlefield 5 was official revealed to the world, and while little more than the trailer was shown in terms of the gameplay, longtime series developer DICE went into detail on what to expect when the game launches in October.

War Stories

War Stories return and the mantra is to focus on the “unseen, untold, unplayed” aspects of World War II. They play out as small self-contained narratives inspired by real events.

But DICE wanted to stay away from the settings you’d typically expect from a game set in WW2. Don’t expect to be storming a beach yet again. Instead we saw concept art of a totally devastated Rotterdam, the rugged terrain of North Africa, and a French countryside torn apart by the new machines of war. There’s a lot of variety, but the most intriguing was a piece of art of a German trooper crossing a mountain range, knee-deep in snow.

This is presumably taken from the one story DICE chose to tease in greater depth. Set in Norway in 1942, it focuses on a young female resistance fighter trying to save her family. Set North of the Arctic circle, it looks unlike anything you’d expect from a WW2-era shooter.

Combined Arms

Combined Ops is the name given to Battlefield V’s co-op game, in which up to four people play together in what DICE describes as an intimate yet social mode that sits somewhere between single- and multiplayer. It’s also a good place to learn the ropes of Battlefield, especially for those who’ve been previously overwhelmed by the size of the series’ signature large-scale multiplayer.

As a group of paratroopers you’re dropped behind enemy lines and the goal is to stay undetected while making your way to the objective. As you’re working as a small unit ammo and supplies are limited, and gathering the right equipment to complete the objective and working as a team to make the most of the resources available is key to success. DICE said a mission generator will create dynamic objectives but didn’t go into details as to how it’s going to work.

The Weight of War

Battlefield V promises a sense of physicality not seen in previous games in the series. This was demonstrated in a number of ways, firstly by a soldier running through waist-high water. He lifts his knees high in an attempt to move as quickly as possible, but the drag of the water slows him down. As the water shallows, the way he moves changes.

It’s hardly revolutionary but small details like this are designed create immersion. They also provide the player with a choice: wading through water might be the most direct route to the objective but it leaves you open to attack. Similarly, running on loose rocks and mud increases the chances of slipping or falling over. It’s not apparent how this will impact the game - whether it feels natural or gets in the way - but it’s indicative of the level of detail DICE is striving for.

Another nice touch is how bushes and long grass now visibly move when you crawl through them, potentially giving away your position; an enemy sniper might not be able to see you, but a twitching bush or swaying grass is a dead giveaway.

Thankfully the spotting system has been modified so it’s less of a crutch. You can no longer scan an entire field from afar and pick out half a dozen enemies and highlight their positions. If you want to shoot someone you have to see them, rather than tracking their movement by following an icon over their head.

A lot of work has gone into making combat flow more fluidly too. When prone you can now look in any direction, seamlessly switching from lying on your back to rolling on your front, and even shuffle backwards while lying down and firing.

Elsewhere, smashing open doors and jumping through windows is seamless, with no pause or opening animation to get in the way of the action. The revive animation has been improved too: when you move in to help a bloodied teammate you’ll stab the syringe into their chest before dragging them to their feet and ushering them on their way. If they’re incapacitated in the middle of a crossfire, you can run in, drag them to safety and provide medical care once in cover.

On that note, anyone in a squad can revive each other, not just the medic, but it takes longer and the won’t fully restore all their health.

Build it Up, Blow it Apart

In Battlefield 1 everyone had a gas mask; in Battlefield V, everyone is equipped with a tool which enables them to build. Fortifications promise to change how Battlefield plays, because you’ll be able to build defenses as well as knock buildings down.

A handful of fortifications available were announced, from fox holes to trenches, sandbags, barbed wire and tanks traps. It’s also possible to rebuild destroyed buildings to a certain extent, to create makeshift strongholds at midway points on the map.

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Importantly, it’s possible to tow field artillery and AA guns behind tanks and half-tracks rather than them being locked in position, so there’s a huge amount of scope to experiment by setting up defences around heavy artillery in fortified positions chosen by the player, rather than fixed by the design of the map. By extension, this also makes it tougher on pilots, who can no longer rely on map knowledge to learn the locations of ground threats.

When a building is hit it will break apart in different ways. An LMG will slowly shred it to pieces, while a tank round blows away entire walls. If the shells hits inside the house, walls and debris explode outwards; a direct hit from the outside will cause the walls to crumble inwards, potentially crushing anyone inside.

Squad Play

Perhaps the biggest point DICE stressed is how playing as a squad unpins everything in Battlefield V. You can play as a lone wolf but it’s not the default option and you won’t be able to access some of the perks and rewards on offer.

As in Battlefield 1, there are specific character classes to choose from - assault, medic, support and so on - as well as specialties within each field, so an attack-minded assault troop can have a very different loadout - and indeed appearance - from an assault player who favours defence. But while there promises to be a lot of flexibility within classes, having a spread abilities is still key to the foundation of any squad. Since ammo is scarce - DICE said there will be situations where players will run out of ammo - having a support player is crucial as they carry additional magazines they can share with the group. Similarly, you can only fully regen health to maximum if you have a medic.

Tides of War

Battlefield 5 is ditching its Premium Pass, which asked players to purchase new maps and modes. Instead, new major of content will be rolled out across the year via something being referred to as The Tides of War. Essentially, it’s Battlefield 5’s live service and has a host of different elements to incentivise daily play.

Players will be given Daily Orders – three small objectives to complete during normal games in return for in-game currency. But there are also Special Assignments – longer-lasting challenges that take more than a single day to complete. Completing these will earn you iconic loot, and there’s the option to take on four of these assignments at once. Familiar assignments will be periodically revamped, offering new gear as a reward. The aim is to always have a new challenge that results in a meaningful reward.

These potentially disparate challenges are being given a loose narrative. There will be four chapters across the first year, each focussing on a different aspect of the conflict and the game. The first will concentrate on the Fall of Europe, and perhaps most alluring to some, these chapter will come with time-restrictive rewards.

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linuxgamenews · 2 years

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Fire On Fight a new FPS releases on Linux

Fire On Fight: Online Multiplayer FPS shooter game hits Early Access on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. All due to the efforts and creative of Amonga99. Available now via Steam Early Access and a discount. Fire On Fight: Online Multiplayer is a competitive online multiplayer first person shooter game. Due to stay in Early Access for 12 to 16 months. Doing so with stunning 3D graphics and solid gameplay. Where you can select your unique soldier and weapons. Doing so from tons of different soldiers and weapons of different classes. Such as the usual Assault, SMG, Sniper, Shotgun, Pistol, Grenades, LMG, Heavy Machine Guns, Grenade Launcher, Knife, etc. You get the idea. Try it for yourself in the Free Demo for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Fire On Fight: Online Multiplayer is decent for a Unity 3D game. But the ADS is slow. The water effects need some work. But it's similar to that of a classic Call of Duty.

Fire On Fight: Online Multiplayer Shooter | Demo

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The full version will differ from Early Access, offering up the following:

9 playable maps

40 weapons selectable in total including grenades, flash grenades and grenades launchers in addition to existing one

7 accessoires & Pearks

more characters

more skins

even more sights in Fire On Fight: Online Multiplayer

plus more sight colors

adding Input options

Full Controller Support

adding Sound Options

more game Fx sounds, effects and musics

Customize your own and unique class parks and weapon in the game. While adding accessories (Laser, Sight Scope, Silencer ,Recoil Reducer) then jump into the action. Enter the battle and engage in intense team online PvP combat against other players. Doing so in a variety of great maps. Play with or against your friends in both online, local or private team death match mode. You can also play the Fire On Fight: Online Multiplayer free for all match mode. The controls are intuitive and super easy to master with the user interface. The shooter is an actively developed shooter game. Adding in new maps, weapons, equipment, perks, characters, and skins. All due to appear regularly in game updates. As well as more game modes under development. The developers are improving the game optimization and matchmaking system. With each new update, providing the best possible gaming experience for FPS shooter fans. Fire On Fight: Online Multiplayer FPS shooter releases via Steam Early Access. Along with support for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Priced at $13.99 USD / £10.84 / 11,75€ with the 30% discount.

#fire on fight #online multiplayer #fps #linux #gaming news #amonga99 #ubuntu #mac #windows #pc #unity

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gaming-at-its-best-blog · 6 years

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Fortnite Battle Royale: Many Updates

Since I last did an update blog on Fortnite Battle Royale a lot of changes and updates have been made. First off the developers at Epic Games have been working on some changes to some game mechanics. One issue when building before was when obstacles like trees or rocks would block players from being able to build. Now they have changes it so players are now able to build through large objects without frustration. They have also added in a system to auto stitch materials making building fast and simple. The weapons in the game have also gotten some changes. Weapons drop rates have been tinkered with and the rarities of weapons have been changed like the tactical shotgun. Many weapons now have “First Shot Accuracy” so as long as the player is standing still and their weapon has not been fired yet, the first shot will always hit. To even this out they have added in a damage-fall off to all weapons with “First Shot Accuracy”. Many items and weapons have been added into the game as well. First they have added in a new sniper called the Hunting Rifle which is a bolt-action sniper that does not have a scope unlike the other snipers in the game. Second there is new gun called the Heavy Shotgun which is a ranged shotgun and one of the more rarer weapons The last weapon that they have added in is the Light Machine Gun (LMG) which is a rapid firing fully automatic rifle dealing heavy amounts of damage. One recently added weapon the “Guided Missile” which is a remote controlled rocket, has been vaulted due to some complaints for being unfair.

There are more throwables that have been added into the game as well. First they have added in “Remote Explosives” (C4) which is a remote controlled explosive that a player can trigger at any time. Second they added in the Port-A-Fort which is a throwable that builds an instant fort when is comes in contact with the ground. Lastly they added in the Clinger grenade which basically a sticky grenade that players can throw at long distances. With more weapons being added into the game there is a new way for players to get weapons through vending machines. Players can use materials to buy weapons from vending machines and there are different rarities of machines that can be found. Another new thing that that has been added into the game is the Supply Llama. These Supply Llamas are extremely rare to find giving players 500 of each material, 10 stacks of every ammo, and 3 traps and consumables. With these new changes the game is just getting better and better especially with the upcoming season Fortnite Battle Royale will be buzzing with updates.

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boggsimusgames-blog · 6 years

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Bolt Action (BA) is a 28mm 1:56 scale tabletop wargame that allows you to recreate battles from World War 2 from the start of the war in 1939 Poland to the final battles in the Pacific, and everything in between. The rules allow you to take a variety of troops, weapons, and vehicles from the many allied and axis powers from every theater of the war to recreate any scenario you can imagine. BA is a tabletop miniature game by Warlord Games and Osprey Publishing, who also produce several military history guides. Bolt Action is played on a 6 foot by 4 foot table (though larger or smaller sizes are fine) using plastic and metal models to represent the soldiers, equipment, and vehicles of each army from World War 2, using tape measures to measure distances to move troops and determine weapon ranges, and rolling dice (6 sided dice or D6’s) to resolve combat and morale. Recently the 2nd edition of BA has been produced, giving players an opportunity time to get into the hobby with a revised, more streamlined ruleset. Note that this review does not cover every rule or situation in the game but rather is to give a review of the game mechanics, how to build up a force to play BA, and why this is a fun and tactically challenging game to play.

Order Dice- BA is unique as a tabletop wargame in several reasons. The first is the use of the order dice mechanic. Unlike many RPGS’s where players will roll off for initiative or have an initiative track, or in some tabletop wargames where one player will move and fight with all of his models or each player alternates activating one model/unit at a time BA relies on a random dice pull from a bag. As an example say I’m playing my American army against my friend’s German army. I have a lieutenant, three squads of infantry (soldiers), mortar, and a tank. This would give me six order dice, which are green to represent my army. My friend’s army has a lieutenant, two squads of infantry, a machine gun, and an artillery piece. This would give him five order dice, which are gray to represent his. We would put all 11 dice (6 green and five grays) in a bag or cup and then will take turns pulling them out (without looking of course). Whichever color is pulled that player will get to activate a unit or model. After the player has resolved an action with a unit another dice is pulled, this is continued until all the dice have been pulled from the bag and a new turn will begin (will all the dice pulled out being put back into the bag or cup). If a unit is destroyed a dice is removed from the bag, so destroying your opponents units can limit their chances of pulling their dice to activate their units. Due to this mechanic, you don’t know who is going to activate next. In some cases, you could pull evenly, which each player pulling their dice, or one player may get several or their (or their opponents) dice in a row. So while it’s always good to bring a plan to your battle, you’re battle plan needs to be flexible as you can’t rely on always being able to get the right activation at the right time.

Orders, Pinning, and Morale – Once an order dice has been pulled any unit in the player’s army can be assigned it and can be given an order. There are six orders in BA that units/models can perform: Fire, where they are stationary and shoot, advance where they can move and fire, run where they move twice their advance distance but cannot shoot, this order is also used to get a unit into close combat (covered below). Other orders include: ambush, where a unit holds its fire until an enemy unit moves into range, rally where they can remove additional pin markers (I will talk about pinning in a bit), and down, which the unit cannot move or shoot but makes the unit harder to hit from enemy shooting, this is also the default order in case a unit fails its order test. This leads into the next unique mechanic in BA which is order tests and pinning. When an order dice is pulled a unit can normally perform an order. However, if the unit receiving the order has any pins on it must first pass an order test, which reflects the unit’s nerves under pressure from enemy fire. Order tests are done by rolling two d6’s. A test is passed if the combined dice rolls are equal or less than the unit’s morale, subtracting any pins the unit currently has. A unit that passes the test will then lose one of the pins on it and can perform the order, though it keeps additional pins that it may have. The test is failed if the roll is above the unit’s morale minus the pin markers. In this can, the unit will normally go down. However, if 1 6’s are ever rolled the unit will roll on the FUBAR table and either shoot at a friendly unit (mistaking them for the enemy) or running the maximum distance from any visible enemy models. For example, a regular infantry squad (which as a morale value of 9) has two pin markers on it. It is given an order to fire, but first it the player would need to roll pass the order test with a roll of 7 or less (9-2 for the 2 pin markers), the player rolls a 4 and a 2 from the dice equally a 6, the 6 means that the order test is passed, so the unit will remove 1 pin and will be allowed to fire, although in the case they will be affected by the pin they didn’t remove. Pins are caused when a unit takes fire from an enemy unit which manages to land at least one hit (hits don’t need to destroy models to cause pins, only the hit does). Small arms, such as rifles, only inflict one pin per unit firing, so a squad of 10 riflemen will only cause a single pin on an enemy unit, even if they all hit. Some weapons, such as mortars, flamethrowers, and artillery strikes can cause more than one pin. Pins are usually marked on a unit by tokens with a way to indicate the total number of pins the unit has. Limiting the number of pins and reducing their negative effects is one of the key factors in winning a game of BA, the more pins you can inflict on your opponent, the more likely their units will fail their order tests and will be less effective in the game. If a unit takes too many pins (equal to its starting morale value), it will be routed and leaves the battlefield. Morale is based on the quality of troops; veteran troops have a morale of 10, regular 9, inexperienced 8. However, while veteran troops are more, likely to pass their order test, they cost more to bring to the battle so that you would have fewer models and/or units in your army and likely fewer dice in the dice bag.

Moving and Combat (ranged and melee)- Moving is done using a tape measure in inches. The player will give a unit an advance or run order and pass any needed order tests. They would then move the models in the unit up to their maximum move distance. For infantry, this is 6inches (a run is twice that or 12 inches). Vehicles, such as tanks can move faster (9-inch advance) but are less maneuverable, only being allowed to make 1-2 90 degree turns depending on if they are tracked (tanks) or wheeled (armored cars and trucks). Terrain also limits movement as models cannot run through rough ground (such as woods or rubble), or across linear obstacles (such as fences or walls). Combat is resolved using d6’s.For shooting a player would give an advance or fire order (or change an ambush order currently on a unit to fire) and then resolve it (moving first). This is done by rolling a number of dice equivalent to the number of shots from a single weapon which each of the models in the unit is carrying. For instance, a squad of 10 men with rifles would roll 10 dice as the number of shots that a rifle has is 1. If a unit has multiple weapons (for instance if the squad has 8 men with rifles and a light machine gun (LMG) with a loader) the player would need to either use different colored dice to represent the different weapons firing, or roll each weapon separately. The to hit score for all models is a 3+ (so any dice that come up as 3,4,5, or 6 would count as hits). However, there are several modifiers that can change the roll needed. These include advancing, shooting at a target in soft or hard cover, shooting at long range, and the firer having pin markers. For instance a unit of 10 rifles that advanced (-1), and shot at an enemy unit 18 inches away (long range is beyond half the weapons maximum range, a rifle has a maximum range of 24 inches, so any shots beyond 12 inches count as long range, so that is another -1), and that is in a woods (soft cover -1). So rather than needing a 3+ to hit the squad would need to roll 6s. If the to hit number is ever higher than a 6, than the firer needs 6’s followed by 6’s, so they could still hit a target, though likely with far fewer successes.

Once a unit has been hit it will take a pin and any dice that did hit will be rolled again to see it the hit(s) actually caused damage and destroy models. For infantry and artillery, this is based on their morale rating. Veterans are destroyed in a 5+, regular a 4+, and inexperienced a 3+. If the dice roll matches or exceed this number then casualties are caused and a model is removed by the owing player from the unit for every successful die roll. If a 6 is rolled roll the dice again, if the dice comes up as a 6 it counts as a precision shot in which the shooting player removes the casualties. This can remove unit leaders, which can affect morale, as well as support weapons, such as Panzerfausts or LMG’s. Heavy weapons, such as mortars and anti-tank guns have a penetration rating, which reduces the die roll number. For instance, a unit rated as regular being successfully hit by a heavy machine gun (HMG), which has a penetration value of +1 would destroy a model it hit not on a 4+ but rather a 3+. Vehicles have damage values of 6+ or greater making it difficult or impossible for small arms to knock them out, which don’t have penetration values to damage them, thus heavy weapons with penetration values would be required to destroy them (for example a heavy anti-tank gun as a penetration values of 6+ so to damage a heavy tank, which has a damage value of 10+, the model with the heavy anti-tank gun would need to roll at least a 4 on a d6 and add 6 to the roll).

For close combat, a unit must be given a run order and pass a successful order test. The unit then makes a full run towards the enemy unit it wants to charge. Depending on the distance and if they have not activated yet can fire at the attackers, reducing the number of attackers coming in. If the assaulting unit is able to make contact as many units as possible need to be placed base to base with each other (the bases holding the models up off the ground need to touch). In assaults, the attacker (the unit who initiated the assault) goes first unless the squad that is being assaulted (the defenders) are behind a liner obstacle, such as a wall, in which attacks are simultaneous. The attacker will automatically hit the models in contact and so will go straight to rolling for damage. Any defending models destroyed are removed; the remaining defenders then roll to damage on the attackers. Once both sides have fought, each side tallies the number of casualties (destroyed models). The side who caused the most casualties (or the side which is still alive) won and the other side is destroyed. If there was a draw, then another round of combat is fought. Thus assaults can be very brutal and are a very high risk/high reward event. Once combat is over the winner can move d6 inches in any direction.

Building a force- The force you bring onto the tabletop in BA represents a reinforced platoon. A platoon in World War 2 was made up of 20-50 soldiers, led by a lieutenant, with a few support weapons, such as machine guns or mortars (roughly one per 3 squads). A reinforced platoon allows for a few more support weapons, as well as artillery and vehicles in your force. To build a force in BA, or any wargame you use a system of points, which is a measure of how effective a model is in the game. For instance, a regular rated rifleman is 6 points each a veteran rifleman 9 points, while a lieutenant is 100 points, a medium machine gun 40 points, and a medium tank is 200 points. Players build their armies up to a point limit, usually 1000 points, though games with fewer or greater points can be played. There is a restriction in how you build your army. Each army, no matter the size must contain at least one lieutenant and two infantry squads. Once you have assigned points to them you can add additional units (as well as add more models to squads), such as machine guns, snipers, medic, tanks, but only one of each. This limits min-maxing (taking the small minimal units and then spending the rest of their points on powerful units such as tanks and heavy artillery). However one can take multiple reinforced platoons, as long as they buy the minimum units. Of course friendly games can deviate from this but it’s a good format to follow in pickup games and in tournaments.

Benefits of game compared to others and challenges- BA has several advantages which make it a very good historical wargame as well as a good starter wargame. Because of the focus on mostly generic infantry squads, you don’t need a large number of model soldiers to get started or need highly specific models. In fact between a starter army and an additional infantry boxes, you would have enough regular soldiers for most games. Most infantry boxes run around $30-$50 with additional heavy weapons between $10 and $30, and additional vehicles cost around $25-$45. For $200 dollars or less, you can have a full 1000 point army and more. Some challenges to the game include, which is common in other wargames, is that models need to be assembled, clipped off of their sprue, glued together, and then primed and painted. Thus besides the books, miniatures, and associated game accessories (tape measures, dice, tokens), you would also need to buy glue, Sprue cutters (similar to wire cutters), a hobby knife, and paints and brushes, as well as other items. However, the low cost of BA models and the fewer models that are needed to play means that BA is cheaper to start than other miniatures games, partly due that there are not copyrights on military models, unlike many science fictions and fantasy games.

History of Bolt Action and changes in 2nd edition Bolt Action was written by Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley, veteran wargame writers who have developed other games, most notably Warhammer 40,000 (another fantastic wargame in the writer’s opinion, though a little more difficult to get into). The first edition of BA came out in early 2013 and has been a major success for both warlord games and historical wargamers. Currently, it’s the most widely played (and accessible) historical wargame on the market. In addition to the rules, Warlord Games produce expansions to the core rules, and plastic and metal figures to play the game. This year warlord produced the 2nd edition of the game, which added rules which had accumulated over the years since the first edition, and streamlined some of the mechanics to make them work better (such as using circular templates to work out hits from high explosive weapons, and allowing lieutenants and other command models to pull multiple order dice to pull at the same time)

What to purchase and what to add. So now that I have introduced the game, where does the reader go from here? For novices to tabletop wargaming, I recommend warlord’s “Band of Brothers” 2 player starter set. Besides containing 2 small American and German forces it also has a soft back rulebook, dice, tokens, templates, and order dice, all for $112, which is a low initial investment to see if you would like the hobby. For tabletop gamers who have played wargames before and know what faction they want to play, I recommend picking up a 1000 point starter army, which retails around $135. These are nice because they are a complete force, with a lieutenant, several infantry squads, support weapons such as machine guns and mortars, and a medium tank. Besides the models, gaming accessories, and paints, you will need the rulebook which retails at $40. The rulebook contains all the rules to play the game, give you 12 missions to play, and has limited army lists for the Germans, Americans, British, Soviet Union, and Japanese for their forces during 1944-1945, which will cover what is in most of the starter army boxes. The full army lists for each force can be found in the armies of books, which are specific to each nation (as well as compilations for minor allied and Axis powers, such as France and Italy) which gives the troops, weapons, and vehicles for that nation for the entirety of World War 2. There are also campaign books which give scenarios which are unique to the different theaters (such a city battle mission in Stalingrad, or beach landing missions in the Pacific). There is also a book called Tank War which shows players how to build and field armored platoons, made up of tanks and mechanized infantry and support. I hope you the reader found this guide helpful. For additional information contact your local hobby store to see if they carry and support BA. There are also several social media sites you can join on Facebook where you can meet players and ask about both hobby and gaming advice. Of course one of the best resources in warlord games’ website, which not only shows all the products for the game but also provides hobby and gaming guides and have free downloadable material, such as reference sheets, which cover most of the rules. Good Luck and I hope you see you on the tabletop soon.

Bolt Action: A WWII Wargame Bolt Action (BA) is a 28mm 1:56 scale tabletop wargame that allows you to recreate battles from World War 2 from the start of the war in 1939 Poland to the final battles in the Pacific, and everything in between.

#Bolt Action #Dice #miniatures #wargame

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