This little game delivers on its promise. It is a simple, fast dungeon crawl that can be mapped and noted on a pair of file cards. You can explore,, and hopefully survive, five or six rooms in about thirty minutes. Once you get the flow figured out, it is very fast to play. There ARE some decisions to make, and sometimes you need to know when to leave, buy better equipment, and come back later.

Additional modules by Micro-RPG can add a lot of variation, such as different schools of magic, but just playing the module, "as is' is still an enjoyable way to spend a lunch hour, or wind down at the end of the day. i have since bought a bundle with about thirty of these modules, and look forward to delving into each of them.

This is a very exciting set of figures, drawn in Batalov's usual style. Great attention to detail and shading makes them very pleasing to the eye. They are, as usual mirrored, with the same image on both sides, but reversed. there are actually TWO factions in this set: One dressed for colder weather, and one wearing less. They are well balanced, having the same organization and armament. Five Leaders or heroes, five spear warriors, five hand weapon warriors, five javelin skirmishers, and five bows. In addition, each side gets five women and children, and a dog.

I bought these to use for Vendal in a '13th Warrior' game, but on reading the author's notes, purcheased the rules "Tribal', also on Wargame Vault. This set of figures will make two well balanced forces for that game.

I hope that this series does well, and will be continued with more pre-historic figures, including primitive mammals such as mastodons, smilodons, and bison, as there are some very nice hunting scenarios in the Tribal supplement 'Primeval'.

This is an excellent 'playset' with 28mm paper figures, drawn with a front and back side. Included are Lawrence, his Arab irregulars, and their Turkish opponents. some of the Arabs are mounted on nicely drawn camels. The Arabs are drawn with a mixture of rifles and Lewis guns, while the Turks have rifles and Maxim machine guns. They can also be printed at 15mm for those with limited space.

There is also a rather rusty looking locomotive and three cars, looking the worse for Lawrence's efforts. Four 'fire' markers will complement the train nicely, and serve as a good background for you battles.

It is worth noting that Lawrence had access to a couple of Rolls Royce armored cars, which are available in another Sundered Vault collection, as are suitable Mesopotamia Campaign British and Turks, and a set of machine guns and heavy artillery.

This series, drawn is a most pleasing style, is growing rapidly, and fills a gap that has long plagued wargamers. I plan to use my figures with Bob Cordery's "Portable Wargame", also available on WGV.

This set of figures contains eight of the main Gladiator 'types', in very good action poses. The figures are drawn from one side, then 'flipped' to give a mirrored appearance. The drawing and shading are well done, the armor is especially well presented.

The Gladiator types include four 'heavies', the Murmillo, the Secutor, and the Provocateur, representing Rome, and the Samnite. There are two spear wielding figures, the Gallus and the Hoplomach. the Gallus has a large shield, the Hoplomach a small round one. The Tracian(think Spartacus) has full armor, but a smaller shield, and a curved sword. finally, the Retiarius, with trident and net being thrown.

These figures will be useful to anyone playing any of the fine gladiator games available. I am using mine with "Red Sand Blue Sky" from Two Hour Wargames. One of the nice features of the Retiarius is that the net is drawn in such a way that it can be cut off, and mounted on it's own base, after it has been thrown, in game.

These figures will also be most useful for those playing out the Servile Revolt of Spartacus.

This set, like all of Vyacheslav's figures, are drawn from one side and reversed. They are drawn with great detail, and solid research into the proper equipment and dress. With each release, his shading, and use of color palette grows more pleasing.

This set of 4th-5th century Romans will be most useful for rules such as Dux Bellorum, Broken Legions, and Lion Rampant, all from Osprey. They will also be welcomd by players of Simon McDowell's excellent "Comitatatus". Most of the figures can be utilized as Romans, or Sub-Roman British.

The set contains Heavy Cavalry, both armored and un-armored, with command; light cavalry, with either bow or javelins; a nice bolt shooter, with crew; two fully armored foot standard bearers, and a choice of three foederatti leaders, "romanized" to different degrees. There is a sheet with eight 'formed' infantry, four of them armored, and the other four with helmet and shield; another page includes eight skirmishers, four with bow, and four with javelins.

These are a very much needed set, and represent the artist at his best. With the release of the "Scourge of God" set of Huns, adventure in the Fifth Century awaits you.

A very well thought out kit for building a rather unusual WW1 plane. I built mine rescaled to 1/130. With patience it was not at all difficult. I have since bought and built several other planes in this series.

This bundle is a great value: 177 individual images, making up just about any army you could want for playing the Conquest of Mexico , Peru, or an 'imagi-nation' of you choice. For the Spanish, there are cavalry, muskets, crossbows, sword and buckler men, polearms, cannons, cavalry, and war dogs. The sets of Aztek, Mayan, and Inca warriors contain special warrior societies, common warriors, skirmishers, and, for the Toltecs, my favorite: lads throwing gourds filled with live bees.

The artwork is stunnily beautiful, with mirror images for both sides of the figures. All are in profile. I printed mine two images to a page, on 28lb paper. I assemble mine with Scotch Wrinkle-free gluesticks, and get great results. After basing them, I apply a coat of matte Mod Podge.

These figures will be perfect for skirmish games, such as Osprey's "The Men Who Would Be Kings", or possibly "Rebels and Patriots". A little tweaking of the lists should be all it takes.

This set is a ready to go army for games such as Sword and the Flame. 52 characters, making up Command, Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery in the style of late 19th century Siberian troops. I printed mine at two pages per sheet of 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper, and the infantry is 25mm, from feet to eyes. I used 28 pound paper, and glue with Scotch winkle Free glue sticks. I find it easier to cut out both halves of the figures, THEN gk\lue them together to get the best allignment,

The artwork is very pleasing, with a great variety of faces, some bearded, some clean shaven, with different hair colors. Horses are if several poses, none 'static' except the ones being used to steady the fire of the dismounted cossacks. some os the cossacks have fur caps, some have the peaked cap. some have lances, some swords, some carbines.

The artillery includes a light field gun, a gatling machine gun, and a lin\mber with horse team. There is a good mix of crew members, including ammo carriers and seargents. There is also a pack donkey.

The infantry is in a good asoortment of poses, firing, defending and charging. These will be exceelent for skirmish games.

The figures are printed with the same art on both sides, simply 'mirrorred'. I have no problem with this, as it makes identifying figures easy from any side of the game table. Bases are NOT provided, but slotted bases are reccomended. I used some folding bases from One Monk miniatures, with good results.

I tuly hope that Vyacheslav Batalov will continue to grow this series, with the forces of Queen Victoria, and the soldiers of the 19th century Indian Army.

On first looking at the detailed instructions, and number of pages, i was almost intimidated...no need, though, as this is a very 'builder friendly' model, if you just take your time and let sub-assemblies dry. I have now built all of thegates, and many other Tudor models in 20mm scale for a wargaming campaign using Peter Dennis' "Paperboys" paper soldiers. The models provide an amzing backdrop to the action. The Southgate is one of the best paper buildings I have ever seen.

This is a gem of a game. A wide variety of early war planes, matched one-on-one in air combat. The game system is based on a system of ratings for speed, agility, performance and damage limits. The action is determined by the draw of varying number of regular playing cards. Fast planes get more cards, hence, more choices each turn. Playing a card determines your altitude, and range from your opponent. a plane with a higher altitude, and a positive range number can fire at the other plane. The game works well with two players, or solo.

While the basic mechanics seem simple and abstract, the game play can be very subtle, and good planning is vital. There are ways to 'stay out of range', and ways to 'break a tailing attempt' and ways to 'disengage'. Some times they don't work, though, and you are in deep trouble. Learning to use your planes inate abilities takes about a half dozen games. consider them 'ground school and basic'. After that, a campaign using different planes can be very rewarding. Sometimes you have the top fighter, sometimes a second line machine, and sometimes a bomber. At the end of thirteen games you judge your success.

I now have all of the games in this series, and know i will have many hours of enjoyment playing solo campaigns. I only hope that Minden will produce more games in the series, taking the war into 1943-45.

I played three days of action last night, and love this game. So much subtle stuff is in the random event charts...fly low, more chance of flak damage, for example. Repairs matter....a lot! Guns always jam at the worst time.....like when you are firing!....After three days, I have shot down two bombers and a fighter, while using Immelmann as my pilot. My plane has no damage, the guns are clean, and it is time to try to finish the week with a string of successes.

Any WW1 air enthusiast needs this game. There is a lot of the feel of Von Richtoffen's War or Hostile Aircraft, with athe benefit of solo play, which is so difficult with those games. This game looks to have a load of replay value. I do not believe it would be difficult to rate a few later planes to use in the same system.

I bought this issue with very deliberate intent. "Der Tag-1916" is a game that I HAD to have. As a solo gamer, one of the hardest things to play is the ability for fleets to hunt and surprise each other. This game held the promise of making that possible. quickly printed, assembled, read and set up, I played a full four turn game last night, and was happily rewarded by the ebb and flow of the action. Weather is a major variable, and hampered the British greatly on most turns. The distannces from Scapa Flow and Dover will keep those forces out of many actions, leaving the German fleet with far better chances of hitting and getting away. Ship design is nicely factored into the gunnery and damage charts, making the British shipd better gun platforms, but far less able to take damage. On the last turn, the action cards sent out the German fleet, which met a small portion of the Royal Navy, did some serious damage, and left before the main fleet could arrive. The Germans won the first game. The next round will be anyone's guess. This game was worth the total cost of the issue.

"Battle over Dunkirk" caught my attention, as I have been wanting to try the "Battle over Britain" game system. I love air games. I play Table Air Combat, several of the fine games by A&A, and others. Most ar somewhat complicated, and time consuming. Minden's system sounded far more accessable. Sometimes that is just what is needed in a game. Printing and reading "BoD", I found the concepts clear, and the mechanics to be easy to follow. I have not yet played a game, but I am confident that my wife and I will enjoy this one, and other games in the series. She, by the way, is a veteran player of Hostile Aircraft and Biplane Barmy.

"Napoleon in Italy" reads as a very 'uncoventional' wargame, with players bidding to play the Austrians, then needing to acquire at least as many VP as the bid, for the Ausrians to win. The French get to 'play the spoiler'. The game looks 'easy to play, but tough to master', and should provide good replay value.

There are also a handful of reviews on games from other companies, and some nice ads for Minden's products. All in all a nice read, to go along with three most atractive games.

I read throught he entire book last night. This game is intended for small unit actions...up to a few squads, witht he chance for some supporting fire or vehicles. The suggested starting force has six figures per side, on a small table. I used a 2x3 foot board, witha small village in the center. The first try saw the Germans and americans approch from opposite directions. dice are rolled by each side to determine the number of actions, and which actions, the soldiers are allowed. Not everyonne will be able to act(but just might get to react). As the americans moved into cover on their side of town, one German fired his rifle, missing, but disrupting his target. One the German turn they too tried to get cover from the buildings. Two americans were hit and went down, while one German did so. On the rally phase, one of the Americans was found to be alright, while the other was dead. As the firefight continued, the US sergeant had a chance to spray down the street, and put another german 'out of action'. Right right flank rifleman took out another German, and the remaining Germans picked up their wounded and left. (The practice scenario goes to the first side to inflict three 'out of actions'.

I bought the entire "Scum of the Earth" series, including the Demo. I wanted the Demo for my friend who will NEVER read a longer rule book. I decided to see what kind of game could be played right out of the Demo booklet.

After a quick and smooth read-through, I gathered a 2x2 foot scenery board, four small forest groupings, sme d6 and averaging dice and dusted off forty-two stands of 15mm American Civil War figures that had not seen daylight in ten years.

With the book close at hand, I diced for initiative, then started rolling for the variable moves of my three units of infantry, and one unit of light cavalry. (For the Demo, there is NO artillery. Nothing being in range, I started the same process for the other side.

Soon both forces were in range, and fire began. I used the Average Dice, having bought two pair half a century ago... Soon units were shaken, then breaking. This game will definately reward the commander who keeps a unit or two in reserve. In twenty minutes, six turns were complete, and a winner was decided based on casualties.

The game was fast, fun, and not determined by the strenght of a 'points list'. It had very much the feel of games I enjoyed when I was getting started long ago. This was a bare-bones game, and there are a lot of options available in the full set for when you are ready to deal with them.

I can think of no better way to introduce a newcomer to historical black powder gaming than this simple Demo set. You may gain an opponent for life.

This is another fine 2.5D model of an Italian WW2 aircraft. It has three Italian sets of markings and one for use by the Germans. It can be built in 15mm or 28mm. I have printed one in 1/200 scale, and see no reason that it can not be built successfully.

This model, like all biplanes can be a little tricky. The photo, in the'blurb' actually gives some good hints for the lower wing placement. Once that has dried, the interplane struts can be glued. The struts, from the front, look like a capital "W". Next line up the top wing and glue the top wing in place. A few pennies can help weight the wing until it dries. Happily, there IS a tiny pilot for the open cockpit plane. For use as a fighter-bomber, you can add two 50pd bombs, or four 25pd bombs, under the wings. Total build time, for an experienced paper model maker, is about thirty minutes. I strongly advise the use of Scotch Tacky Glue, and Scotch Wrinkle free Glue Stick. I printed on 67 pound paper.

One can only hope that this series will continue, and be a success, as there is no way of putting planes on a game board that can approach the affordability of the first two models. And they look good as well.