What is Weird War? And Why is it Cool?

Weird war might not be what you think.
Shattered Crown - alternate history WWI from Gaddis Gaming:
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[@snackelwolf4462]

Love Konflikt '47 for the very reasons stated. Coming up with a unique color scheme for my fourth coming Japanese army and it will be a blast to paint. Thanks for the video.

[@andrewelk23]

All Quiet on the Martian Front has a lot of weird war type elements, Tesla tanks and whatnot.

[@lochmoigh1]

Great game, not super complicated rule wise (which is good), so much fun.

[@davedogge2280]

That moment that you scoff at Dust 1947 but then realize that you have over four thousand Warhammer 40K miniatures with Orks with laser guns...

[@Link2edition]

That's actually why I didn't get into weird war stuff. I already play 40k. I don't need 1940k.

[@HeadHunterSix]

"1940K" is the best new term I've heard for this style of game!

[@FoxFamilyGaming]

Well I think the difference there is 40k is just pure fantasy. Weird war is too close to reality yaknow?

[@petman515]

Link2edition joan will cleanse you sinner

[@nomanchaudhry8727]

@@Link2edition "1940k" did you mean "Steel Legion?"

[@rokarege]

Wierd War is one of my favourite wargame setting, Dust Tactics was love at first sight a few years back. About civil war, there was a game on Kickstarter called Alternate Civil War: 1861, and although it was funded, the creator couldn't fulfill the orders, so it was never released.

[@jimgibson6142]

For weird Napoleonic check out Silver Bayonet by Osprey. There is a figures line for it and you can just use any Napoleonic figures and fantasy monster figures you might have laying around. I like the rules and it can be done solo or co-op as well.

[@neilhammond4374]

Wild West Exodus from Warcradle covers the ACW, and includes Lincoln, Grant, Sherman as well as Jesse James and Billy the Kid. Tesla appears in the background as the Union "brain box" producing the various high energy weapons etc. It's meant to be a skirmish game but I'm sure you could up-scale it to a proper tabletop wargame.

[@AlanHaskayne]

They are merging with Dystopian Wars, to made the larger wargame.

[@darthjawa1369]

I can think of a few Roleplaying systems that could easily be used for the premise of a war-game. Dead-lands (Alternate Civil War), Weird War II (Savage Worlds). They also have just Weird war Vietnam and Rome as well

[@iantitler2279]

I started wargaming with what became 40K Astra Militarum, then got fed up moving an entire army around on my turn, and my club was getting into Dust so I went into that as an Allied player. Dust is noe dead as a doornail in my area, afaik also most of the UK, so I changed to Bolt Action, then when the club started on K47 got a few units to make my stuff comeptitive against the weird stuff. I do like the interchangeable tank turrets for K47 or BA. Waiting for European SAS rules I like the idea of a convoy of heavily armed, armoured jeeps flying around.

[@Hunt5964]

Check out a game called Slaughterloo/Flintloque by Alternative Armies, a weird war game for the Napoleonic, essentially the different races represent the different countries at the time, like the Elves are French and the Orcs are British (Scottish are represented by Rats lol). I believe the starter set is based off the Sharpe series also. It plays very similar to WHFB if i recall and the mechanics were very simple, but you could buff units with certain leaders depending on what personality trait they had!

[@williamglass2223]

Not a tabletop game, but very weird war, is the pen and paper Weird War games. I’ve never played it but always wanted to. I remember buying a book, Weird War 2: Blood on the Rhine, with the SS werewolf on the cover at a used game store and just wish I could find people to try it.

[@bartoszbrzeczek7902]

Have you ever heard of Scythe, it's a board game but has paintable miniatures and similar concept, 1920's Europe with Mechs.

[@deviantpersona]

To add variety for your walking tanks or vehicles in particular, you could look into Maschinen Krieger models... they're based off the idea of an alternate history of world war 2 and the early cold war dealing with space, but many are themed for ground pounders. There is a hover tank that would be pretty close in scale and looks really cool (I had the kit at one time before war gaming)

[@theDMLair]

Never played any wargames, but wierd wars sounds really cool! (I'm mostly into D&D but this channel has great info, especially for mini painting, which I do do. 😁)

[@TheSteamBigot]

Cool mini Atom! As a modeller and not so much a gamer I really like unusual models. My ADD kicks in and I have a need to build/paint many different types of models even though my main focus is model railroads. Another great video. Thanks for sharing 👍

[@kwalkrkcco4397]

Ares games is also coming out with a weird war 1 concept that introduces Martian war machines into Wings of Glory

[@singaporeopengaming7152]

Great vid! Just to highlight at 4:26 when talking abt K47 the example walker shown is actually from DUST. 😊

[@georgepitre9680]

The Other Side by Wyrd is going to be one when it finally releases. Also there was the Great Rail Wars from Pinnacle (both have the added benefit of not being WWII)

[@ryanbright7496]

I love historicals a lot, my only thing against them is like what you said, we know what happened. Weird war changes that. I'm glad I'm not alone.

[@BillHaworth]

I saw someone 3d printing their own GI Joe and Cobra stuff in the 10-12mm range. They were doing the prints and painting them for dioramas, I guess, but that would be a fantastic edge case "weird war" wargame.

[@ivangroznyuk]

Osprey published "In Her Majesty's Name" for a Victorian steampunk skirmish game.

[@kwalkrkcco4397]

I was playing Dust Tactics for a while and built a pretty good collection. Had lots of fun playing it.

[@IainNorman]

Got talking to the guy who designed konflikt 47 at salute this year... Really like the concept of this, just wish they did a 2 faction starter for it (and I knew anyone up for playing it instead of 40k - which we're all kinda invested in)

[@Link2edition]

I really like how you describe historicals, its true that the rules are only supposed to be "close enough" because real life battles are not balanced, nor are they intended to be!

[@korkad_]

Weird war for ww2 is most often a dieselpunk setting which I love a lot

[@Xenomrph]

This video is cool and good. I’m a die hard Weird War II aficionado and I’ve got arguably the largest collection of Weird War II books/comics/videogames/tabletop games/movies on the planet

[@mydearalice-bp1jz]

This sounds really interesting... keep up the amazing work

[@VikingFyre]

It’s one of the reasons I love Malifaux is seeing the history changes and how the existence of magic and Soul Stone energy diverted human history towards a quasi-steampunk aristocracy and global dependence on an alien power source. More fantastical than a historical Weird Wargame like having a longship of Vikings discover a band of ronin samurai in Iceland, but still one of those concepts that gets the mind spinning with ideas for roleplay scenarios and the like.

[@cliffetters]

Same here. The steampunk/mystical aesthetic of Malifaux is what interested me and the rule set is what sold me. Well, all that and the fact that even if you cheat fate, bad things happen...

[@VikingFyre]

Yep! Just wish the setting would get more attention

[@rmcgavock1]

Hey Atom, interesting video. Have you considered a history/primer of sport-related "wargames" - Bloodbowl, Gaslands, Guild Ball, etc...? Like alternative history games they scratch an itch for many tabletop gamers. Also, they seen to work as a gateway into our hobby for a lot of people. Thanks and keep up the good work!

[@TheRunesmythe]

Laser Werewolves is a genuinely terrifying concept...

[@morteforte7033]

I've seen a number of alternate history games...alot of which seemed fun. One I can clearly remember, but suffered a sad death was crimson skies (the original tabletop mini game, not the later wizkids clicky one..though it was oky too)..the designs and backstory was rather nice. And I can think of a few good books that could be games, easy...like Harry turtledoves world war series.

[@ulf793]

Lol I painted a Space Marine chapter for 40k as the 5th SS Panzer Division including a squad in SS black ceremonial dress. They looked great. Didn't go down well at all lol.

[@petman515]

Ulf John sad to hear sounds cool tbh

[@ulf793]

Yeah they were pretty cool lol.

[@azdimy]

Loved AT-43, not based on historical but would still consider weird war. Dipped my toe in k47 but no player base in my area 😐 The local bolt action players prefer bolt action and the scifi play 40k almost exclusively around here

[@KenOfthewest]

I realise this is an older video. However, as an update, in addition to 'Silver Bayonet' by Osprey Publishing covering the Napoleonic. 'Xenos Rampant', also by Osprey has sample forces and rules covering WW1 and WW2.

[@Ogrekin]

DUST 1947 is a great game. I was a playtester on DUST Warfare and also love that game very much.

[@connors7078]

Working on a Weird War II game right now, using Bashed & Borrowed - a system I have developed based of the Savage Worlds framework.

[@ralphhathaway-coley5460]

There are also the Wolfenstein based miniature wargame systems, and a load of steampunk ones as well starting from the Victorian period through to the Edwardian, including the War of the Worlds games and some Martian colonial games, and also including wild wild west style games.

[@WitcherWizard]

Thanks for the video! Great topic gonna go look them up.

[@josh1674]

Witchfinder General by Dashing Dice Games (sold by Warlord Games and uses their figs) pits Pike and Shotte minis against werewolves, witches and other supernaturals against the backdrop of the English Civil War. Fave rule - your guys might fail to reload their muskets because they're panicking because the werewolf is bearing down on them!

[@dentegra9132]

A few others I can think of right now would be Secrets of the Third Reich and Incursion (WW2) by West Wind Productions and Osprey's A very British Civil War. For the American Civil War Wild West Exodus might be okay, but It's a bit more out there in weirdness department, more of a steampunk setting than anything else. Then there woud be Crimson Skies for the more aviation-inclined. There also some fanmade ACW/AWI rules for In her Majesty's Name. And on sidenote a game that enters the weird war territory from the other side: Panzerfäuste and its aeronautical adaption Spitfyre (WW1 with german dwarfes, french goblins, british orcs and undead russian dark elves)

[@ZombieApocalypse09]

Iron Harvest is a videogame that just got kickstarted that looks a lot like Dust. Set in WW2 in alternate world with walkers.

[@Stefogre]

We are starting a Bolt Action / Konflikt'47 campaign here in Montreal. One turn per week, each week is a year in WW2 starting from 1939. You get extra campaign points for fielding historically correct armies. I just love a dash of sci-fi in my historical...

[@mikaelfalk6086]

Secrets of the third Reich was also an early WeirdWW2 game. I think there exist a lot of Zombie settings existing for early history in pdf from WargameVault.

[@bassistcz]

Dystopian Wars is a cool little alternate history game with some nice models and cool exploding mechanic, 1:1200 scale. The original company Spartan Games who made it went out of business, but WarCradle have gotten the rights and are working on a 3rd Edition of the rules at the moment. They also appear to have the original molds of the models and have been making and selling some of the models too, I've picked up a few to fill up and even out my armies. Really looking forward to them releasing it again. And my is understanding they will be tying this in with their other games systems for a Dystopian Age where the history and stories tie into each other.

[@ThomasGrellner]

AE-WW2 is great stuff. With Dust/Konflict 47 its a great time to be weird.

[@jensriisomschultz3809]

I jumped on Dust Tactics 3 editions ago. The rules have been in a constant state of change since then and I still haven’t figured out to get Paolos rules for the latest version. It bums me out that they got rid of the awesome dice from earlier editions. :(

[@victorsvariety4328]

Been meaning to pickup some Bolt Action and Konflikt 47, myself.

[@BradleyBlodgett]

DP9 Used to make one called Gear Kreig Back in the early 2000s. Big metal convertible walking tanks. It was pretty awesome

[@BillHaworth]

Bradley Blodgett And at 15mm too. I see a lot of the local Flames of War fellow players going to Bolt Action and Konflikt 47 (there are some Dust players, even one who just placed 3rd at the Adepticon Dust tourney, but it's still hard to get a game around here), and wondered why the FoW guys didn't do Gear Krieg, especially since they have the regular bits at scale already.

[@IwanDierckx]

Love Dust 1947. Very easy to get into: buy a starter set and you can play immediately (you can get the mini's prepainted from the factory), rules are easy and gameplay is fast paced. Time is ever more precious for all of us and this explains the growing popularity of quick skirmish games (e.g. GW Killteam), but there you'll still have to assemble and paint mini's and terrain before you can play and when you want to expand to full tabletop there is quite a step to be made (e.g. Killteam is a gateway game to 40K, 40K is not an expansion of Killteam). With Dust however, once you get hooked (and you will), it scales beautiful: expand your army as far as you like (without having to spend months paining an army) and go tabletop with the same ruleset.

[@jamescarnes9227]

I just started getting into Deadlands and I LOVE it!!!

[@themerchantofmandalore]

I'm not sure if it was a game or just models, but as a kid I saw these soldier and vehicle model kits for the Napoleonic wars in space. They could of easy been used for WH40K but seemed to just be for dioramas. Just sharing as you sparked the memory.

[@themerchantofmandalore]

Kris Jeneson No, it wasn't. Only human armies, wearing Jules Verne designed wargear during the Napoleonic wars era with space, underwater, and subterranean themes.

[@legamingdude5949]

Upcoming Time of Legends - Joan of Arc mixes historical battles with Medieval myths

[@goblinking2012]

Been really into Wild West Exodus since 2nd edition released. Scratches that itch for me. K47 is great too.

[@spartanalex9006]

I mean, I once used BattleTech A Time of War to play a Weird War II using Axis and Allied BattleMechs.

[@ripthac0451]

Fantastic stuff. thanks :)

[@BillRutledge23]

A friend of mine was an amateur game designer in the 80’s. The game I most remember playing with him was Foxbat and Phantom (boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4242/foxbat-phantom) with dragon rules added - so I was flying jets trying to defend Europe from dragon invasion.

[@charlesentrekin6607]

Peter Pig in the UK has a line of Napoleonic weird miniatures.

[@joeynobody1138]

Gaddis Gaming only sells miniatures and no rules on their website. I emailed them. So I will update this when I find out more.

[@someimperialfist1404]

Interesting Games i may look into at somepoint in my life

[@warvisiongaming40k11]

nice one sir!

[@MoragTong_]

Loving Dracula's America...finally a reason to buy Wild West Exodus miniatures!

[@dorkjedi]

Ares Games just did a kickstarter for their Wings of Glory WWI called Tripods and Triplanes where the Martians from War of the Worlds have invaded and you have WWI era fighters to fend them off

[@EasyEight3674]

And here's the granddaddy of Weird War 2, DP9's "Gear Krieg" game from 2001. A 15mm tabletop wargame, it was ahead of its time but has perhaps the best thought out history and vehicle tech of any system. www.dp9.com/gearkrieg

[@weirdwwii8775]

Ah, yeah. That's classic Weird WWII!

[@joshuarosenblum8155]

I would love to get into Weird War II, but I can't afford to take on another miniature habit, what with my 28mm fantasy skeleton habit, and my steampunk/VSF Prussian & Martian habit! Definitely some good steampunk alt-history games out there. In Her Majesty's Name, Wild West Exodus, Dystopian Legions. Actually, we play a modified version of Piquet: Din of Battle.

[@zanzalin]

Hey uncle Atom!! I have a konflict 47 german starter set. I won it as a prize for painting at a 40k tournament. its collecting dust on my shelf... do you want it?

[@lucaswatson1913]

zanzalin I do lol

[@charioteer9527]

Feel free to send it my way 😉

[@poppyappletree1400]

Collecting Dust you say?

[@tabletopminions]

I appreciate it, but I already have the German starter set, so I’m good. Thanks for watching!

[@ericdeutsch2449]

Dude give me give me try you may find that you like pending different things I for example for a long time only painted Flames of war miniatures then I got bored with that I started paining Warhammer 40 K minis and privateer press miniatures and and painting something different maybe want to go back in and paint the flames were miniatures even more so dude give it a try

[@christianvega598]

Max Fitzgerald heard our cries for weird war Napoleonics and created Turnip28

[@darrenrichardson6146]

I wonder what peoples thoughts on "1949 Secrets of the Third Reich" by Grindhouse/west wind? Picked up the book in a charity shop last year, it's from 2008, wondered if anyone had played it?

[@Eric-jt8yx]

Still a great video in 2024. Thanks

[@H8FTW]

@Tabletop Minions..... Glad you like our game. Konflikt 47. Drop me a message if there is anything more you would like to know about our game and partnership with Warlord Games. We have lots more to add to the game with the second supplement coming out very soon from Osprey publishing. We have plans going on from that also with new units for all the nations and of course new walkers as well. Cheers H.

[@1TimTheEnchanter1]

Dystopian Legions - excellent game of weird late 19th century war (sort of Victorian steam punk). Initially released by Spartan Games, then died with the company, then IP bought by Warcradle Studios and according to Warcradle it's going to be re-released.

[@lwes4]

i know of few games i heard about there game called all quite on the martian front never played but read the books The Great Martian War about that there pretty fun. there also some game i stumbled across when i was looking for conversion parts to make to make my guard army based of the Union army 1860s... what was it ah wild west exodus no idea about that just adding to the conversation

[@cristianmeiler4031]

I think that generally anything with a pre WWI setting ends up being labeled as steampunk

[@GaddisGaming]

Any thing anyone wants to know about Shattered Crown we have a facebook group or you can ask here. We play Dust and K47 too we are Weird War addicts.

[@joaocaldinhas]

Now I really need a Napoleonic Weird War game...

[@GDL1181]

I would like to see Vietnam era weird war stuff. Team Yankee with ETs or something like that? 🤔

[@johnhaines4163]

Look at the recent Kickstarter, Full Moon Jacket. Werewolves in Vietnam. They are taking pre-orders.

[@hyghacinth1632]

Tour of Darkness, my guy

[@larsgottlieb]

Look up Flintloque and Slaughterloo by Alternative Armies - Napoleonics with Elves and Dogmen! (o:

[@rustedbeetle]

Of course there is the alt-historical Victorian era with Gaslight or Dystopian Wars. This is the realm of Steampunk and Dieselpunk games. This was an interesting topic. It doesn't occur to me that people might not be aware of alt-history games.

[@ivangroznyuk]

rustedbeetle In her Majesty's name by Osprey.

[@jooshjooshministhetics8048]

Hi Uncle Adam, I'd really like to hear your thoughts about the controversy surrounding the new edition of X-Wing that's coming out. I've been hearing stuff about FFG seemingly jacking up prices, and I kinda wanna know your take on the idea of conversion kits in wargaming when jumping from one edition to another and how it changes gameplay/game feel. Thank you so much!

[@jonstachon4921]

Achtung! Cthulu is a great game I found about at Gencon a few years back.

[@N0-1_H3r3]

Was about to mention it. It's a bit different - the whole thing is a "secret war" that runs alongside historical events, rather than an alternate history that diverges at a specific point.

[@sjhhej]

You need to check out the "A Very British Civil War" concept.

[@TheYorkshireTankie]

*shameful self promotion* got a video explaining it if anyone is interested :3 kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYmQpYekj5eBrac

[@sjhhej]

Interesting video, although i think its a little serious and lacks some of the "Britishness" that characterises our AVBCW games in the North East! :D. Also at 12 : 00 you have my Chopwell Communists listed as "Traditional Games"(?). Its the ones with the flags that say "Down with The King and That Woman" (referring of course to the unconscionable Wallace Simpson). They're my Communist forces who've been fighting for months to a current stalemate against a coalition of Lord Lambton's "Hounds", and the Gateshead BUF. (Dastardly fellows to a man). All forces were exhausted by a serious of major engagements and we left the action there some time ago... Its all on my blog: luddite1811.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20Very%20British%20Civil%20War

[@TheYorkshireTankie]

Luddite 70 thank you :) yeah I went for a bit more of a serious approach than I mostly play in games too. I feel the setting lends itself to both the comedic and the dramatic and it was just a bit easier to write it as a drama than a comedy (lazy writer I know aha) Also sorry about the mix up on your force (they look gorgeous btw and an inspiration to my own Leeds Socialist League! ) it's just the website they were linked to on google. I'll add your blog to the description now and see if I can get an annotation to cover up the mistake

[@drpretzel2086]

There is something appealing about tanks with legs

[@PackmasterJack]

The Great Rail Wars by Pinnacle was set in the Deadlands verse during the American Civil War - albeit not focused *on* the ACW . More a skirmisher than a historical, I believe.

[@BillHaworth]

PackmasterJack Yep, Deadlands was my first taste of "weird" settings, RPG and not wargame, and more "weird West" though the ACW was still going on.

[@PackmasterJack]

The Great Rail Wars was a skirmish game they did in the setting. Never played it myself (it was before I became a wargamer) but I know it would later serve as a model, mechanically, for Pinnacle's Savage Worlds ruleset (which can be used for both RPG and minis).

[@cunneyes]

this is great, thanks

[@daddystabz]

Have you looked at the Weird War II RPG? Have you also looked at Achtung! Cthulhu and World War Cthulhu?

[@-Markus-]

Just realised this is not "every other sunday" but the sunday inbetween :( Guess ill have to rewatch a few of the latest videos instead!

[@thickbrod6488]

Where can I buy the German ww1 tank because I went on Gaddis Gamings website and they did not have it. They hand a very small selection of infantry but that’s it

[@Sharok888]

What's that light on the right

[@GameplayReviewUK]

Thanks to you I'm now imagining Napoleon with a steam punk tank army.

[@davidcashin1894]

Napoleonic, Slaugherloo and Flintloque. More of a fantasy twist. So the Napoleonic wars but the Brits are Orks, French elves, Russian s zombies etc etc

[@rorikeiriksson7494]

Flintloque was the first weird war game I picked up figures for.

[@roshee5573]

, yes love those games but no one plays anymore

[@darrenrichardson6146]

I had Flintlogue back in the mid 90's, just started getting into it again, a nice little weird (old) war system.

[@johnstantinople]

What about Dystopian Wars, Armored Clash, and All Quiet on the Martian front?

[@GameplayReviewUK]

For me a lot of weird war is taken care of by 40k like I would never make a weird war WWI table top army when I could be messing about with korps of krieg for example...

[@Swooper86]

How did you get through this video without mentioning Dystopian Wars?

[@EmpressInYellow]

To be honest, there are very few games that couldn't be improved with the addition of laser werewolves.

[@RonnocFroop]

I can't remember what it was called, and it was more of a board game than a war game, but I know there's a alternate-Napoleonic game out there.

[@krisjeneson5017]

RonnocFroop was this man o war ?

[@RonnocFroop]

Nope. Land battles. I'm pretty sure it was based on the Command and Colours system.

[@chuckaroobob]

There's "Slaughterloo", miniature nappies with elves orcs etc.

[@nomanchaudhry8727]

Don't know if it counts, but Flintloque by Alternative Armies is Napoleonics

[@m34nb34n]

Very cool

[@joelatkinson4967]

one I like is wild west exodus played it when the second kickstarter came out but now the rules have changed with a bunch of changes to the factions and basic units which kind of fucked with the army i bought which sucks

[@analeigholdeworlde4178]

So....could a Hellboy theme apply?

[@thepenismightier]

Easily.

[@analeigholdeworlde4178]

James Wright That holds some interesting options...the gears are beginning to turn...😄

[@TheBigEB2589]

i played this game a few times called the Incident Report. takes place in 2012. The mayans perdiction of the end of the world was right but instead of the world just ending these aliens come back from outer space to gather their followers and when they dont find the warm welcome they were expecting they go to war with humanity. best/worst part is the game says you can use any type of models you already have which makes it easy to get ppl to play but lacks a bit on the immersion side. basically you pay for a rule book with fluff and art and you get a custom dice and your blast template and your good to go. they are on facebook.

[@mikebaker6804]

Dystopian Wars by Spartan Games. Land Ironclads by Wessex Games

[@EmbraCraig]

I was watching thinking that WW1 didn’t sound like the Shattered Crown game I’d heard of - turns out there are two different War games out there called Shattered Crown. Can these designers not do a quick google before releasing stuff? Love a bit of Weird WW2, and a lot of steampunk stuff crosses into weird war for the Victorian era. I can’t bring myself to drop money on Dust though - I’ve had fun the times I’ve played it, but the complicated publishing history and number of rules systems they’ve released under different names gives me no faith in it as a game to get into. I really like K47, but I wish they’d waited 6 months to release it under bolt action 2nd edition rules... having to remember back to BAv1 is just another layer of things to remember before adding K47 changes back on top.