Grogheads Developer Interview! KatHawk Studios

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Grogheads recently had the opportunity to meet with Steve Hawkins, the man behind KatHawk Studios, developer of the upcoming Sci-Fi 4x strategy title Alliance of the Sacred Suns (“AotSS”).  Taking place a thousand years in the future, humanity stands on the brink of collapse. Noble Great Houses belonging to the last human empire compete for control over a deteriorating feudal state on the brink of a new interstellar dark age. Players take on the role of a young newly crowned emperor or empress who carries the last glimmer of hope for a brighter future among the stars.

Described as a “grand strategy game, with 4X elements, but also character and House management,” AotSS adds a 5th ‘X’ to the 4x formula, which the developer calls ‘eXist’.  AotSS differs from most other 4x strategy titles in that game play centers around the development of the player’s character, who will rule by interacting with other characters in order to develop a web of beneficial relationships.  These characters must be appointed into central roles within the player’s government in order to carry out the players directions and objectives.

If games like Master of Orion, Stellaris and Crusader Kings interest you, read on to gain more insight into this very exciting upcoming title.

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Alliance of the Sacred Suns

By: Craig Handler

Grogheads Honors – John Tiller

It is with deep sadness that Grogheads shares the news that John Albert Tiller passed away on April 26, 2021.  John is quite simply a legend in our world of strategy and wargaming and the hobby will not be the same without him. Whether it was Squad Battles, Panzer Campaigns, Napoleonic Battles or Early American Wars, John’s genius at designing games at all operational levels and across centuries of military history provided us with uncountable hours of joy.

We extend our heartfelt sympathy and prayers to John’s wife and family. He will be truly missed by all of us at Grogheads.

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R.I.P., Mr. Tiller

By: Grogheads Staff


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Grogheads Impressions! Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector

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It is no secret that we at Grogheads just love Warhammer 40,000! We are shameless fanatics and our loyalty to the Emperor is without bounds.  Personally, I’ve been obsessed with 40K from the moment I looked up and saw the original Rogue Trader rule book on the store shelf in 1987.  Over the next two and a half decades, there has been no turning back and although I sadly no longer play any table top, I otherwise,  like the Great Devourer, mindlessly consume all things 40K – PC and mobile games, books, movies, animation, etc.  So, when a new PC title is announced, we obviously get pretty revved up  around here.  When Slitherine and Black Lab Games announced a new turn-based strategy game set in our beloved Games Workshop universe, we dropped to our knees and broke out in praise to the Emperor of Mankind!

Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector (“Battlesector”) is described as a “battle scale” turn-based strategy game that takes gamers to the battlefields of the 41st Millennium. Players will pick a force, develop it into a highly capable army led by mighty heroes and will use them to fight for victory by applying superior stratagems, awesome capabilities, and devastating weaponry, all in turn-based action on grid style maps.

Battlesector will be released on PC in May 2021; with console versions (Xbox One and PlayStation 4) following in the summer. Grogheads was lucky enough to get access to an early preview build and so far, this one has left us very excited for the refreshing take this title looks to be bringing to the genre.

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By: Craig Handler

Grogheads Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide! Roger Wilco Zulu Alpha

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You can practice marksmanship for years on end and stockpile freeze dried food and fish antibiotics in ridiculous quantities, but your chance of survival alone is small.  Being part of a team when the flesh eaters start to hunt you is probably the single most important determinant of whether or not you will be able to make it past the breakers and continue breathing.  For now, I won’t go into how to build a team and who to include.  I want to talk about communications.  If you are part of a team, hell, even if you aren’t part of a team, you will need to communicate with others.  And this means beyond shouting distance.  Communications, or “comms” for short, cover how individuals and groups transmit messages and ideas from one point to another.  There are two components to comms, transmitting and receiving.  Someone has to send up the smoke signals and someone has to interpret them.  Whether it is two people speaking face to face or on cell phones, the principles are the same.  In fact, we as a society have become so dependent on cell phones, that we have forgotten how to communicate in other more traditional ways.  As they say, everything old is new again.  Cell phones will be paperweights once society crashes.  The infrastructure required to keep them all functioning will come crashing down once things go bad.

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By: Jonathan Glazer

What’s Gus Playing? King Arthur Knight’s Tale!

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You know Neocore Games. They are the PC gaming outfit from Hungary who have put together some solid offerings over the last 5-10 years, including WH40K: Inquisitor, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing and King Arthur: The Role Playing Wargame and its sequel of the same name.  I haven’t played Inquisitor, but I have put some hours into the action/horror RPG Van Helsing which I enjoyed, as well as the original King Arthur game strategy game/RPG hybrid, which I liked a lot but could never win. I always got to a specific point in that game and could not advance. I think I was missing some key progression point and after a few playthroughs grew frustrated. I never played the sequel…maybe one day.

Now Neocore return with their Early Access title King Arthur Knight’s Tale. I feel like there is a slash or a comma missing from that title – maybe it will be added later. This new game combines action RPG elements by giving the player a selection of knight’s from the King Arthur mythos to play through the game with.

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By: Lloyd Sabin