SOTR1949 - Secrets of the Third Reich

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Why SOTR1949?

Written by Michael Cannon

Thursday, 19 August 2004

I have been gaming for a long time. I met my wife when I was fourteen and and I was involved in playing with Toy Soldiers before her, so that's a substantial part of my life dedicated to this hobby. If you remember Airfix boxes at $0.50 and Roco Tanks as the state of the art, then you are from my generation!

I initially started gaming because it was fun and an activity I could afford. I wasn't into sports (my Mother kept all of my sports genes - she can watch GOLF on TV for hours) but I did play Baseball and Tennis. As I grew older, I found very few people that played wargames but when I got out of college I begna to run into more and more of them. Since then, I have been exposed to many categories of gaming and have, myself, played Napoleonics (Empire, Valmy to Waterloo and others), Ancients (WRG, Warhammer Ancients, and others), ACW, ECW, SF, Fantasy, and GW in all of its flavors (yes, I *like* the Specialist Games). My philosophy on gaming has been two-fold - play games that other folks in your area are playing (20+ years in the Army meant lots of moves) and play games that give you enjoyment whether they are simple or simulations.

Wargaming has both social and hobby aspects. Gaming is often an excuse to get together with friends with common interests to tell war stories, play with toys, and kibbitz about rules and history. What I enjoy about the hobby is the ability to identify with tiny pewter men and tanks and feeling that you are a part of their history and vice-versa. Naming generals, creating unit histories, picking color schemes are all a creative part of the hobby that I find appealing.

That's part of the reason I find SOTR so appealing.

SOTR1949 falls into the fun category.

SOTR1949 falls into the fun and creative category of gaming. Although the mechanics are readily adaptable to historical World War 2 gaming, these rules give you the chance to play what-if battles. Want to be Patton and take on the Russkies? Well, you can't because these rules are best played at platoon level — but you could be Patton's son taking on the Russkies as a lieutenant! Roll your own units, invent wierd weapons and opponents, and have at it!

The game plays fast and can be deadly if you make mistakes. There's lots of room for innovation with house rules and with new mecha or troop types. This online magazine is designed to help you make the most of your gaming experience in this genre. I'd love to hear from folks about their house rules and see the fiction you might conjure up. I'll be happy to take submissions and give you the satisfaction of seeing your name in electrons! Let me know what you think of what you see here and what you'd like to see. You can do that by contacting me directly using the contact link above or filling out the Survey on this issue located to the left of this page and about halfway down. Why not do both??

Mike Cannon

Comments

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Jim Bailey

| Registered | 2008-03-13 20:32:11

Mike, I'd just like to say thank you for taking such an interest in the genre and our work. I know you've been doing this alot longer than we have. Mike Cannon, In addition to doing a bunch of the photography for the SoTR book and writing some of the core fluff, has joined Grindhouse Games for the production of Berlin or Bust and the 1944 Orders of Battle that will be 100% compatible with SoTR. We are honored brother. Great looking issue #1! May we have many more...

Jim

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Last Updated ( Friday, 28 March 2008 )