Microsoft Office is expensive, and as a result, there are a lot of people trying to get by on half-baked applications like WordPad and Microsoft Works. Neither of these are good choices, especially if you need documents that play nicely and share with others.
One alternative is the online word processor / spreadsheet / presentation manager called Google Docs.
The editing tools in all of the applications are very basic, but where the program shines is in its sharing tools. The files are stored online at Google, so you can access them anywhere you have internet access. You can export your documents as Word files, RTF, OpenOffice and even pdf files (very useful if you don’t have a full version of Adobe Acrobat). You also can publish the document to the internet—Google will give you a unique url with which to find it—to your blog, or to another web page. Finally, Google Docs allows you to designate other people as collaborators, and they can work on editing and changing the document as well. Google Docs also keeps tracks of versions so you can go back to a previous version.
In all, I think that Google Docs has a great deal of potential use, both for business and hobbies. For wargamers in particular, it coudl make the creation of “group” rules sets more feasible.
This past weekend, I played my first game of Disposable Heroes, Iron Ivan Games’ rules for World War II skirmish. You can see some photos here.
I’ve been looking for some years for a rules set that strikes the right balance between “realism” and playability; in Disposable Heroes, I think I’ve found it.
Disposable Heroes’ rules are simple and a great deal is abstracted, but actual play is quite complex. Each turn involves involved a great deal of thinking about the proper order in which to activate squads, and how best to use them.
The game is played by alternating the activation of squads. As each squad is activated, the player may move, fire and conduct Close Combat.
Movement is conducted by moving a single figure to a new location and then arranging the others in the unit within command range. There are no terrain modifiers for movement of foot troops. In keeping with the streamlined nature of the rules, if one figure in a unit can make it into a terrain feature, they all can.
Firing is conducted on a unit to unit basis and is resolved with two die rolls: one for accuracy and one to kill. A weapon’s rate of fire determines how many dice are rolled.
Snap fire can be conducted if an enemy unit maneuvers within 12 inches. Modifiers to the rate of fire and accuracy roll reflect the
Units that receive fire must make a Morale Check. A first failure results in a pin; a second requires the unit to fall back; a third forces a rout. Pinned units cannot fire or maneuver until they rally.
The ”Soviet Poster A Day” blog offers images—and analysis—of classic Soviet posters. It’s interesting to see read the history behind the events portrayed.
Miniature Wargaming is part of the "adventure games" hobby, which includes r ole p laying and board games. Wargamers recreate battles on the tabletop with toy soldiers, like a more complicated game of chess. Models range in height from 6mm to 28mm tall, with 15mm and 25mm being the most popular. There also is a growing interest in toy soldiers and military models, such as the 1/32 and 1/35 scale plastic soldiers from Conte, and Marx.
The most popular miniature wargames are fantasy and science fiction based, such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Warmachine and The Lord of the Rings. World War II games such as Flames of War and Axis and Allies are new favorites. Other favorite historical periods include Napoleonics, the American Civil War, and ancients, such as Romans or Greeks. Other gamers enjoy miniature naval wargames, recreating battles like Trafalgar, Jutland and the Coral Sea.
Hobbyists research historical periods and paint their tiny soldiers in accurate uniforms. Others develop "historically realistic" rules sets or build scale battlefield terrain using model railroad techniques.
For pictures, visit the gallery.
Some of the bigger hobby companies are Games Workshop, which produces Warhammer, Wargames Foundry and Old Glory Miniatures. Wizards of the Coast produces several lines of pre-painted miniatures games, such as the Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons miniatures games, and a historical game with pre-painted miniatures: The new Axis and Allies game. Wizkids produces a fantasy collectable miniatures game, such as the Mage Knight and Heroclick fantasy games, the science fiction games MechWarrior and Rocketmen, as well as the quasi-historical Pirates of the Spanish Main.
This past weekend, I played my first game of Disposable Heroes, Iron Ivan Games’ rules for World War II skirmish. 
