Fortified Niche

"Worse than brat summer" - regular listener, 48 Find out more at https://fortified-niche.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast .

Episode Notes The pod has forgotten everything except how to fight and kill in Brimstone and Lead , a fast-paced measureless skirmish wargame by MummyLaundering. Brimstone and Lead  is available here: https://mummylaundering.itch.io/brimstone-and-lead-arena Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/brimstone-and-lead-review/ Support  Fortified Niche  on Patreon: ⁠⁠https://www.patre...

Episode Notes The pod tries to remember what they were taught about Auftragstaktik in Battlegroup , a World War 2 wargame for platoon-and-bigger actions in 20mm by Warwick Kinrade. Battlegroup is available here: https://www.battlegroup.uk/collections/ww2 Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/battlegroup-ww2-review/ Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/f...

For this episode, former/sometimes pod host Cassa interviews game designer Jack Gassman of Force of Virtue fame, talking about putting virtue into rules, the influence of riding horses on game develop, and doing game design with unsuitable tools (Microsoft Word) Force of Virtue is available here: https://masterstrokegames.com Jack can be talked at/to on the Force of Virtue Discord: https://discord...

The pod crew reminds themselves that there's nothing for them beyond the Volga as they engage Heroes of Stalingrad , a war game board game from Devil Pig Games. Find the Heroes of Stalingrad rules here: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/248188/heroes-of-stalingrad Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/heroes-of-stalingrad-review/ Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠https...

The pod crew drills endlessly to fire three shots a minute in Sharp Practice v2, the Napoleonic/black powder large skirmish game for 40+ miniatures from Too Fat Lardies. Find the Sharp Practice rules here: https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product-category/sharp-practice/ Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/sharp-practice-v2-review/ Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠https://www....

The pod crew readies rayguns and rapiers to take on Space Weirdos and Sword Weirdos , two "skirmish heartbreakers" – one for sci-fi, the other for fantasy. Find the Space Weirdos rules here: https://caseyg.itch.io/space-weirdos Find the Sword Weirdos rules here: https://caseyg.itch.io/sword-weirdos Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/space-weirdos-sword-weirdos-revi...

The pod talks about friendship and feelings with their space slug wingmen before soaring out to fight in Mobile Frame Zero and Mobile Frame Zero: Intercept Orbit , Lego-based games of, respectively, mecha and space ship skirmish combat. Find the Mobile Frame Zero rules here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ncq9yndckj5secxaincf9/Mobile-Frame-Zero.pdf?rlkey=7xca0owf9531zqr6ish0fme4y&e=1&a...

The pod crew readies their electrobinoculars to observe the forces massing for Star Wars: Legion , a mass combat sci-fi wargame from Atomic Mass Games. Find the Star Wars: Legion rules here: https://www.atomicmassgames.com/swlegiondocs/ Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/star-wars-legion-review/ Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/fortifiedniche⁠ Fol...

The pod crew learns to accept battalion-level casualties to keep their divisions rolling forward in Eisenhower , " a tabletop game of the great battles of the European and Mediterranean theatres of the Second World War " by Sam A. Mustafa. Find the Eisenhower rules here: https://sammustafa.com/eisenhower Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/eisenhower-review/ Find th...

The pod is hiring any woodland critter with fire in their belly and a blade in their hand for Burrows & Badgers: Second Edition , a "skirmish game of anthropomorphic characters" by Michael Lovejoy. Find the Burrows & Badgers: Second Edition rules here: https://www.ospreypublishing.com/us/burrows--badgers-second-edition-9781472864666/ Find the companion post here: https://www.barr...

The year saw Fortified Niche and pod crew face many challenges - and a few games! What were the good ones? Did the lads learn anything? Did Jc's audio quality have to be that bad? Can love bloom on the battlefield - or a miniature game podcast survive into the year 2026? Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/fortifiedniche⁠ Follow the creators of Fortified Niche on social me...

The pod forgets the concept of infantry as they rush their steel behemoths into the fray in Hypersteel Nightmare , a miniature skirmish game of brutal vehicular combat across the multiverse. Find the Hypersteel Nightmare rules here: https://hypersteelnightmare.com/product/hypersteel-nightmare-core-rulebook-pdf-only/ Don't look for the companion post, as this episode was recorded before Chain of Co...

The pod says "hello" to Ford and partial-fucking-dice-spend to defeat the Nazis in Chain of Command 2nd edition , the long-awaited update to TooFatLardies' hit World War 2 wargame. Find the Chain of Command rules here: https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product/chain-of-command-2-pdf-rules-2/ Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/chain-of-command-2e Support Fortified Niche on Patreon:...

The plod pledges to defend Umberland till their last card and their last echo in Malediction , a deck-building miniature wargame from Loot Studios. Find the Malediction rules here: https://malediction.gg/game/ Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/malediction-review-fortified-niche/ Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/fortifiedniche⁠ Follow Fortified Ni...

The pod gets their halfling mercenaries ready for another expedition into the dark woods of ArcWorlde 2nd edition, the "narrative fantasy battle game" from Warp Miniatures! Find the ArcWorlde rules here: https://www.warpminiatures.com/pages/arcworlde-rules-downloads Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/arcworlde-review/ Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠https://ww...

The pod has been inserted into the temporally-forward AO to improve METT-TC data for successive operations against the Dark Lord in Forgotten Ruin , a solo skirmish "adventure wargame" by Nordic Weasel himself, Ivan Sorensen, published by Modiphius. Yes, it's based on that book series! Find the Forgotten Ruin rules here: https://modiphius.net/products/forgotten-ruin-the-adventure-war...

The pod crew uses their at-will power "Podcasting" to discuss the world's biggest fantasy wargame - Dungeons & Dragons 4E! Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/fortifiedniche⁠ Follow Fortified Niche on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/fortifiedniche.bsky.social Follow the creators of Fortified Niche on social media! JcDent: ⁠Barrel Drill blog ⁠ BlueSky⁠ T-shirt store⁠...

The pod discusses whether carrying the four-Move order card in your helmet brings good luck as they storm the beaches in V for Victory , a World War 2 miniature game of platoon-on-platoon violence by Studio Tomahawk. Find V for Victory rules here: https://www.studio-tomahawk.com/en/v-for-victory/ Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/v-for-victory-review/ Support Fortified Nich...

The pod operators kinetically insert into the AO to get eyes-on the HVT in the POI in Spectre Operations , the third edition of spec ops miniature rules from Spectre Miniatures. Find Spectre Operations rules here: https://spectreminiatures.com/pages/spectre-operations Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/spectre-operations-review/ Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠https://w...

The pods sends another enemy champion to sleep on the red snow in Midgard: Heroic Battles , a (fantasy) rank-and-flank by James Morris that emphasizes heroic deeds. Find Midgard: Heroic Battles rules here: https://mogsymakes.net/where-to-buy-midgard-heroic-battles/ Here there be army builders and such: https://mogsymakes.net/resources-for-midgard-heroic-battles/ Find the companion post here: https...

The pod boys load stripper clips with order dice in Bolt Action 3rd Edition , a World War 2 game of clashing platoons by Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley. Find Bolt Action 3rd Edition rules here: https://eu.warlordgames.com/products/bolt-action-third-edition-rulebook-includes-book-figure or here: https://www.ospreypublishing.com/us/bolt-action-third-edition-9781472863799/ Find the companion pos...

The pod crew respawns together with their destroyed mecha in ignition:core, an anime miniature wargame that is the closest we'll ever get to a Titanfall RTS . Find ignition:core rules here: https://www.ignitioncoregames.com/game-downloads Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/ignition-core-review/ Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/fortifiedniche⁠ Foll...

The pod compose their death poems before riding off to fight for the control of Hymukai in Kensei: The Awakening, a game of (fantasy) Japanese warfare from Zenit Miniatures. Find Kensei: The Awakening rules here: https://web.zenitminiatures.es/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/kensei_theAwakening_v2-5.pdf Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/kensei-review/ Support Fortified Niche on...

The causes an uproar in the admiralty over whether their super science ships are supersized or not in Dystopian Wars , a tabletop wargame of naval battles from Warcradle Studios. Find Dystopian Wars rules here: https://www.dystopianwars.com/resources Find the companion post here: https://www.barreldrill.com/dystopian-wars-review/ Support Fortified Niche on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/fortifi...