Category Archives: First Impressions

Space Beast Terror Fright, oh my!

SBTF

A little background…I was there when the FPS was invented [que the angels singing], Wolfenstein, Doom, Quake, Unreal Tournament, in the beginning I played them all.  Sure, time has marched on, reflexes have dimmed, no more snatching the pebble out of the master’s hand.  However, Two hours of play time with Space Beast Terror Fright (“SBTF”), or as I like to call it, “how I can die a dozen times in a half hour simulator”, and an impression has definitely been left on me with a giant kick to my ass!

SBTF

-budd-,

Grogheads Is Loving Field of Glory: Empires!

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If you’ve been reading the Groghead’s front page for the last week or so you have seen the couple of teaser articles we published in anticipation of the Field of Glory: Empires (FogE) launch on July 11. It has been a while since a PC strategy game has generated the kind of excitement that we have seen in our forums.  So, we’re going to continue with our coverage here to hold you over until our detailed review is ready – the only difference being that you all can now play the game along with us. We even have a massive MP game set to kick-off on July 18 between 16 different GH forum members!

Lloyd Sabin,

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Its launched!

Thunder in the East: A First-time Player’s Perspective

TITE first SPLASH1

Our guest author takes us to ConSimWorld Expo for a report on VPG’s upcoming east front mini-monster ~

Christian Snyder, 21 July 2018

I recently had the amazing opportunity to sit down with some good folks at ConsimWorld Expo’s Monster Conand play Frank Chadwick’s Thunder in the East for the first time; it was fantastic! Full disclosure: I am currently awaiting my Kickstarter copy of the game and had seen some Vassal play prior to arriving in Tempe, Arizona. Seeing the game on videos and reading the rulebook, however, are nothing compared to sitting down to play with the printer’s proof copy at the show. Since the game is not available, this is not a review, but a first impression focusing on what impressed me about seeing, playing, and meeting the development team for Frank Chadwick’s ETO Vol. I: Thunder in the East.

Frank Chadwicks ETO Vol I thunder in the east

Frank Chadwick’s ETO Vol I: Thunder in the East! Nice maps, charts and counters!

Thunder in the East is a dynamic, action packed game covering the entire Eastern Front of World War 2 in six scenarios starting with the German Operation Barbarossa and ending with the Soviet Operation Bagration. You can do each scenario singularly or start a full campaign from these points with incredible systems for morale, seasonal activities, economy and unit reorganization. My experience consisted of three playthroughs of Operation Barbarossa using the optional and campaign game rules. For each of our playthroughs, we were typically unconcerned with capturing Moscow. However, to capture Moscow, along with Stalin, would have been a scenario automatic victory.

GrogHeads First Impressions of Stars in Shadow

Screenshots of snake-people swashbuckling around the stars ~

Boggit, 26 May 2018

Developed by Ashdar Games Inc and published by Iceberg Interactive

I’ve been meaning to have a look at this game for some time now and finally have got around to it. Playing Emperor “Gritok the Devourer” of the Gremak Empire – an aristocratic race of four-eyed cobra alien slavers – I took to the stars in a huge Galaxy to try my luck as the mean and nasty imperialist snake people!

Here’s a collection of screenshots from my early expansion into the stars, which gives you an idea of how the game is presented, as well as the sort of options available to players. I liked the artwork, which unlike a lot of space games is nice, bright and colourful – and even a bit cartoony – which added to the fun. I liked what I saw with this game, which reminded me of the classic Master of Orion 2 in terms of gameplay. A big plus is that it is simple to play like Master of Orion 2, yet had sufficient depth to keep my attention.

 

So here we start at our home planet of Gremal. We’ve already made life a misery for the poor Enfi race that shares our planet having enslaved those centuries before. Now we have a chance to enslave other species to our will.

Arms & Ambition – Playtest Report

GrogHeads had a chance to check out a pre-release playtest of the new Arms & Ambition boardgame ~

Chris Caran, 15 November 2017

This weekend while attending the MACE convention in Charlotte, I had an opportunity to sit down with Brad Warren and play his new wargame, Arms and Ambition. The game is in development, but very polished so far – a beautiful vinyl mat, 3D printed pieces, and professionally printed cards. Only the rules and documentation are still in developmental mode.

In the game, you play one of eight noble families vying for the throne after the ruling dynasty collapses. Each family has starting territory and “family ambitions” – victory conditions specific to the player. The overall goal is to gain 100 victory points and declare yourself the new king. You have starting units and each territory you own (represented by a card) has an income value.

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