History Dad World War 2 is now live. You can grab it at https://www.wargamevault.com/product/473159/History-Dad-The-Second-World-War if you just want to get straight into the business. Otherwise read on:

Welcome to the front!

History Dad: The Second World War is a set of miniatures wargame rules for you: 

Whether you are an old hand or brand new to historical wargaming we have you covered with everything you could need to play out exciting battles in the greatest conflict of human history:

*A straight forward game system with minimal use of dice modifiers. You can focus on outflanking the enemy tanks and suppressing their troops, instead of trying to memorise a lot of numbers.

*A game that is friendly to being played whatever way you want to. Whether you want to create historical scenarios, play pick up games with army lists, play campaign games, play with friends or solo, it is all provided for. 

*Easy to adapt both historical encounters as well as scenarios from other skirmish games.

The rules are aimed at the platoon level with a typical force having 20-40 infantry and whatever supporting units you like such as a tank or two. You could potentially play quite large games but we suggest starting out smaller. 

All figures are based individually with each figure representing exactly one soldier. 

You may have questions at this point:

Who are the creators?

This is a straight up Nordic Weasel Games production so the writing and design is all Ivan Sørensen, with editing and proof reading assistance by Traci Morrissette (making this the first family project for NWG).

What are the basic mechanics?

Alternating activations with officers being able to activate multiple units, straight forward combat with delayed resolution, a bit more detail for vehicles (where lucky shots and hit locations make an appearance), suppression, concealed units and so forth. As a bonus both close assault and indirect fire rules do not require a correspondence course to understand.

What are some clever bits from the rules?

Casualty resolution is delayed so you don’t know how effective your fire was until the unit goes next. This applies to tanks as well which will often go “silent” when hit and you will have to decide if you give them another round or pick another target.

What all is included?

The “scenario rules” include mechanics for things like engineering and stealth missions, there are 7 scenarios to play, platoon information for the four “big” late-war powers (US, UK, German, Soviet), stats for 25 mid and late war vehicles, tables for rolling random forces, campaign rules, a points system (with the formula documented so you can set up your own vehicles quite easily) and solo play guidelines. 

What scale I can play in? 

Any you like! As long as the figures are based individually you are good to go.

Practically speaking you will probably be using figures from 15mm and upwards. 

Can I use an army built for another skirmish game?

Absolutely. Again, as long as they are individually based you are fine.

What if I don’t know anything about World War 2?

Do not fear! The rule book contains a host of explanations of various concepts of war and every chapter features War Explainers to help you understand what is going on and how the rules relate (or differ) from real, historical combat.

Will there be updates?

Yes. As is always the case when a game is released it turns out that there’s a typo that escaped detection, a rule that could be explained better or a scenario that needs tweaking. There will be updates forthcoming on a regular schedule.

For this reason we do suggest that you wait a few days to print out your copy. 

Will there be more scenarios or expansions?

We are already discussing scenario books covering Poland 39 and Norway 40 in greater detail.

Will there be other conflicts covered?

Great War (1914-1918) will almost certainly be covered though possibly as a stand alone book. If there is interest and sales are sufficient, I would like to cover Korea later as well. 

What exactly is a History Dad?

A History Dad lives within many of us. They find tanks and artillery guns cool, they think a lot about the Ardennes and they probably have “Never was so much owed by so many to so few” as their email signature message. In short, it is a short hand for someone who always had a fascination with and interest in the war but who perhaps never quite took the step into painting model soldiers and playing battles. Perhaps it all looked a bit intimidating. Perhaps they wanted to be able to finish the game in time to get the grill going.

Well, this is their time. Whether they are a mom, dad, sibling or just an interested party, the spirit of the History Dad is alive and well.