OK, I just got back from playing my first Flames of War WWII table-top wargame tournament and all I can say is that I much prefer the Axis & Allies Miniatures gaming system.

The conversion project is complete. See each stage in detail at: www.battlevault.com

I look forward to trying out this AAM conversion force in my first Flames of War tournament on October 4th.

After much persuading by my brother, I am starting to make the switch to the Flames of War community. At least we are able to make good use of our many Axis & Allies Minis. Check out my brother’s conversion process:

http://www.battlevault.com/Gallery/gallery13.htm

I really wish Axis & Allies Miniatures had caught on and built a gaming community like Flames of War.  :-(

I like the AAM rules alot … just can’t find any local players. As for local Flames of War players, ther are at least 10 of them. BattleFront miniatures must be doing something right with their WWII minis game.

@Cobalt:

You can participate in this campaign on three different levels: strategic board game, War at Sea Miniatures (for the naval engagements) and Axis & Allies Miniatures (for the ground battles).

Just saw the Turn- 2 Results and options for Turn-3 posted for the current Avalon Hill Guadalcanal online campaign and was disappointed that none of my AAR’s or narratives were posted. I have no idea if my efforts of playing all these games solo are making any difference in the campaign or if “High Command” is even reading them. Some sort of weekly results tabel or chart would have gone far to alleviate that.

Maybe I do need to switch to Flames of War like my brother has been bugging me to do for over a year now. At least they have a published ranking system and you know where you stand in their gaming community.

@Motdc:

At least the game isnt about killer units.  Pretty much everyone can hurt everyone.  No Tigers running around

Yes, you made a good list of unit options. Were Stuka’s on the list, and if not, should they be?

The only other way this might be an interesting scenario is if the Poles had small pockets of resistance at pre-defined sectors of the map. The Germans have the big objective of Luksusowa in the SouthEast corner of the map within a certain time limit. Do they rush for the finish or do they secrure their flanks as they proceed?

Yeah, I found the great articles on the Guadalcanal game at the Wizards website and we did play with the 10 reinforcement errata.

I haven’t noticed any problems with my crusiers. I’m not a historical miniatures purist so as long as they are the right color, a little bit bigger than a destroyer, but smaller than a battleship … I’m good to go.

This has been a hard scenario to get interested in, particualry when you know nothing operational or strategic was held in the balance by the the tactical actions of a few brave Poles. I guess that’s why I lean towards historical scenarios based on campigns where either the stakes were high like Stalingrad or Normandy, or where neither side has land, air or sea superiority like North Africa or Guadalcanal.

Thanks for writing it though Motdc, it has been good to learn about the early war units and now I can say I have finally played with a cavalry unit in a game!

Well, I’ve checked out all three options recommeded by Motdc and it looks like the Vassal game engine has the most potential for my particular interest. There seems to be a large game community already built around this engine. They do have some Axis & Allies Miniature and War at Sea mods, but I have only experiemented with the BattleLore board game so far. (It’s done very well!)

Thanks for all the feedback from the Axis & Allies Guadalcanal veterans out there! I look forward to trying game #5 soon.

Having looked over the two options previously listed my Motdc, that I am surpised to see Battlegrounds was made with Macromedia (now Adobe)Director. I thought that developing tool was going the way of the dinosaur and being replaced by Flash.

I was hoping the future digital gaming table would from an open source like Java so those of us inclined can tinker with it to make the specific games we want to play.

More to follow …