Category: Featured Posts

02/21/15

GrogHeads Reviews Gary Grigsby’s War in the West

The epic struggle drags across Europe

Michael Eckenfels, 21 February 2015

Scratching the proverbial wargaming itch is a difficult proposition. Often, that itch is in the most hard-to-reach place, where only the right combinations will relieve it. I’ve found that most 2 by 3 Games’ products are very akin to the perfect backscratcher…at leastfor me. Some sizes may not fit all, and not all 2 by 3 Games’ products will likely be popular with all wargamers. And yet, with Gary Grigsby’s War in the West (hereafter referred to as WitW), they’ve managed to craft a really good wargame back-scratcher.

PRESENTATION

Covering major campaigns from 1943 on in Western Europe and North Africa, WitW is all about the struggle of the Western Allies versus the Germans and Italians. The earliest scenario, and conveniently the introductory one, is Operation Husky. With a fairly small number of counters, this simulation of the invasion of Sicily is a great way to get introduced to the system without being overwhelmed. However, there is plenty of detail under the hood (and even quite a bit that spills out from under the hood), which makes the frame in which it is presented so much the better.

 

Hapless Sicily, the eve before the Allied invasion.
Hapless Sicily, the eve before the Allied invasion.

Continue reading →

02/19/15

Birth of the Federation, an AAR, Part 11

CHAPTER XI: TOUPEES AND TERRIBLE ACTORS

click images to enlarge

The third Excalibur-class Light Cruiser is well on its way, and is named…wait for it…the USS Enterprise.

 

BOTF-8-018

I’m going to send the Enterprise north, but further than the small fleet I have built up around the Excalibur. The Enterprise will help project Federation interests to the new colony worlds out there.

Continue reading →

02/14/15

Flash Review of Combat Mission Black Sea

Developed and Published by Battlefront Inc.

Reviewed by Boggit 14 February 2015

Black Sea is the latest addition to the Combat Mission series. It focuses on a speculative continuation and escalation of the present Ukraine crisis to a new flashpoint in the central Ukraine Dneipr river/Donetsk area set during the summer of 2017. NATO has now been drawn into the fight and with the release of this game we see US troops joining the fight between the Ukrainians and Russians. Conceived well before the current crisis in the Ukraine, this is another of Steve Grammont’s eerily prophetic modern Combat Mission games – the last one was Combat Mission: Shock Force set in Syria in 2008!

Ukrainian scouts cautiously advance. A barrage meanwhile slows any advances on their left flank.
Ukrainian scouts cautiously advance. A barrage meanwhile slows any advances on their left flank.

As a flash review/first impressions feature, this article is based on my gameplay of a couple of the scenarios, and around half a dozen quick battles. It’s not exhaustive by any means, but I hope that I’ve covered things sufficiently to give some useful insights into what the game is all about. If I’ve missed something – it happens – well now you’ll know why. 😉

Continue reading →

02/13/15

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #64

It’s always GARPA, GARPA, GARPA!

Holdfast Korea 1950-1951 (Worthington Publishing)
$9500 of $2500, ends 3 March 2015

On the heels of their successful Holdfast Russia game, the boys at Worthington are back with a Korean War game that lets replay the first year of the war with the same basic rules system.  Guard the Pusan perimeter, and outflank your opponent with an amphibious landing, conquer your opponent, and have the news break into a radio drama to tell the world about it.  But first, get your pledge into Kickstarter, and if you and a friend team up, you can save a few bucks by pledging two copies.

g64-holdfast

 

Continue reading →

02/7/15

GrogHeads Interviews Joel Billings of 2By3 Games

Boggit, 7 February 2015

Joel Billings of 2By3 Games talks to Boggit about War in the West and game design in general

As always, click images to enlarge

GrogHeads:  Joel, thank you for agreeing to talk to Grogheads about your recent work. War in the West is your latest release and shows some interesting innovations in the development of 2By3 games.

Tell us about yourself. How did you get into wargame design?

Joel Billings:  I started SSI in 1979 when I had just graduated from college. I was a long time player of historical wargames and had tinkered with various game rules and created miniature campaigns. I started SSI because I thought computers were a natural evolution for wargames which would allow for better fog of war and an AI opponent.

War in the West ships with 10 scenarios, including 3 full campaigns, and two introductory scenarios.
War in the West ships with 10 scenarios, including 3 full campaigns, and two introductory scenarios.

GH: Your recent products of War in the East and War in the West are massive in scope and detail, which might be potentially off-putting to all but the most hardcore gamers. Tell us about the design decisions in making such apparently challenging games.

JB: The first decision was whether to go with an IGOUGO system or a plot and execution system. Gary had used the later in his previous Eastern Front games. We decided to go with the IGOUGO because we thought it would attract more players as it could be made to be a very addictive game where you want to keep making one more move, one more combat. This is especially true in 1941 Russia. Of course we wanted the extreme detail that people expect from Gary, and that comes from the database.

Continue reading →