Down Order Podcast

An overview of Operation Deadstick – the securing of two vital road bridges crossing waterways north of Caen on D-Day. The episode also includes an introduction to the British airborne forces involved in the Normandy and a breakdown of their equipment and tactics, as well as reference to the German units present. Towards the end, … Continue reading Episode 54 – Normandy: Pegasus Bridge →

Bryan Cook, friend of the podcast and author of the new BA campaign book, is the guest on this episode. After being interrogated for a bit about ANZAC history, Bryan talked through the process of putting together a book to cover the Hungarian campaign in WWII. There is discussion of new missions, selectors, units and … Continue reading Episode 53 – Fortress Budapest →

A stubborn episode that’s been trying to get out for some time! In the first half I talk through all of my games from the Bolt Action GT in Nottingham (lists, missions, slagging off opponents, etc), which took place in November, and in the second half I reflect on the best (and worst) hobby aspects … Continue reading Episode 52 – Warlord GT and 2018 in Review →

This recording covers our trip to CRISIS from the 2nd-4th of November 2018, during which we ran a large game depicting the Tavronitis Bridge battle on Crete in 1941, which some people may have seen featured in recent issues of Wargames Illustrated. I was joined by clubmates James Morris and Thomas Webster-Deakin. After the show … Continue reading Episode 51 – Road to CRISIS →

Richard Clarke is the guest on this episode and he talks in detail about the new early-war handbook for Chain of Command, Blitzkrieg 1940, which includes nearly 60 new force lists to use in the game, as well as campaign-specific special rules and a series of new national arsenals and characteristics. Richard is a very … Continue reading Episode 50 – Blitzkrieg 1940 →

Dave Hunter returns to the podcast to delicately assist with this potentially divisive show topic: BA Vs CoC. The aim though is not really to decide which is the best game, but to compare and contrast the two leading systems for 28mm WWII wargames. Each has a very distinct ‘feel’ as a rules system and … Continue reading Episode 49 – Bolt Action Vs Chain of Command →

I was joined by Christian and Jan (from Hamburg) to discuss wargaming the Germans in WWII. They gave insight into the history, organisation and characteristics of the Wehrmacht, as well as helping to pronounce some of those tricky German words… This episode also includes the £20 voucher draw for Patreon backers, courtesy of bossminis.co.uk – … Continue reading Episode 48 – Playing Germany in WWII →

Last year’s winner, Mike Wilkins, and I talk about our 1000pt lists (Free French partisans and Italian Front Germans) used at the recent 78-player event  in Cambridge – and then run through each of our games in detail. I’d like to offer a continued ‘thank you’ to BOSS Minis and to the new Patreon backers, … Continue reading Episode 47 – A ‘Cam’ Bridge Too Far 2018 →

Bruce Hamilton comes on the cast once again, this time to talk about a North African Commando raid from 1941: there is the usual mix of history and gaming chat about how you could recreate elements of Operation Flipper for Bolt Action. Towards the end, we also talked a little about the upcoming Cambridge event … Continue reading Episode 46 – Operation Flipper →

A review of the recent open event that took place at Warlord Games HQ in Nottingham, at the end of November 2018. The guest for this episode is Bruce Hamilton and we talked through our lists and described each of our games in detail before revealing the final standings… This episode also features the prize … Continue reading Episode 45 – The Warlord Games Grand Tournament →

In this episode I sat down to have a conversation with Nick Eyre of North Star (who produces the figures for Artizan Designs, Crusader Miniatures, Copplestone Castings, Frostgrave, etc). We talked about a range of things, including: the origins of the company and the history of wargaming in Nottingham; the sculpting and casting process; how … Continue reading Episode 44 – North Star Military Figures →

Sam and Barry dig deep into the story of how Anglo-Canadian forces enacted the breakout from the eastern end of the Normandy beachhead. We discuss important units involved in the conflict, such as the 7th Armoured Division, 21st Panzer and the 12th SS Hitlerjugend, as well as focusing in detail on a number of important … Continue reading Episode 43 – Normandy: The Battle for Caen →

Sam is joined by Dave Hunter, Christian Tiansen and Steve Tibbs, who all attended the latest Mediterranean themed team event at Sanctuary Gaming Centre. The first half and hour features a ‘live’ recording from the day, with players already stuck into their games in the three theatres: Crete, North Africa and Italy. The last hour … Continue reading Episode 42 – End of the Beginning III →

Barry and Sam talk about the Partizan wargames show in Newark, discussing purchases and their relevance to current hobby projects (Congo, Sharp Practice, ancients, terrain for End of the Beginning III – don’t tell our wives…). In the main segment we read out and discuss  entries for the Dream Game competition in which listeners submitted … Continue reading Episode 41 – Dream Game →

Sam, Steve and Bob recount the recent event in all its gory detail, from missions and tables to individual games and reflections on the V2 system in a large, open tournament. Expect Tiger Fear, Gurkhas, tank platoons and curiously lurid terrain placement… Stick around for the end when Steve and Bob are challenged to a … Continue reading Episode 40 – A Cambridge Too Far 2017 →

This episode features a conversation with Mad Bob Emmerson, discussing lists ahead of the big 2d6Lodge Cambridge event, with particular focus on the mighty French FT-17 tank. The main section contains recorded hightlights of a ‘live’ game between mid-war US and German forces – the latter built around a Tiger Tank. Barry and Sam get … Continue reading Episode 39 – TIGERS →

Sam talks about a new listener competition to win a copy of Armies of Germany 2nd Edition and his ‘dream game’ set during the Battle of Crete, then connects with Barry through Skype for another round of TGtBatU – with Barry picking the WWII units to fit the categories. Competition entries can be submitted to … Continue reading Episode 38 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly →

This recording features Steve Tibbs as a guest and covers The Battle of Anzio during the Italian campaign as the historical topic (with thoughts on army lists, missions and modelling);  event coverage; V2 chit-chat and some thoughts on the new AoG book. Plenty of Tiger talk when it comes to Anzio! There’s also a 5% … Continue reading Episode 37 – The Battle of Anzio →

New backers of the Patreon campaign are thanked and a prize draw is made to determine the winner of a Rubicon Opel Blitz. Sam talks through his SAS army list, giving a brief history of the SAS in the desert and a description of the new force characteristics and unit choices. Playtesting the SAS, with Dave … Continue reading Episode 36 – SAS in North Africa →

Sam and Dave are joined by Ian Hill to talk through three large open events that have taken place over the last month: two of them seeing out the first version of BA; one ushering in the new 2nd edition. We also play a game of ‘Operation’ intermittently throughout the show! Some ripe language to be … Continue reading Episode 35 – Welsh Open, MOAB, Derby Nationals →