Category: Featured Posts

08/3/14

GrogHeads Reviews Picket Duty

Dive into this solitaire WWII game and stave off the attacks on your destroyer.

Michael Eckenfels, 3 August 2014

 

Picket Duty is a solitaire board wargame that focuses on giving you ‘spiritual’ command over a Fletcher-class World War II destroyer during the Okinawa campaign. Your job is to guide the crew as it fends off wave after wave of Kamikaze and ‘special’ attacks while at its duty, or picket, station. Most Fletcher-class destroyers served in this ‘Picket Duty’ capacity to provide early warning to the larger and more valuable fleet targets, such as aircraft carriers, supply ships, and troop ships. So, of course, Kamikaze planes sometimes focused on these destroyers to pave the way for other Kamikazes to get a good shot at those targets.

PicketDuty-3

The game, unfortunately, focuses on little else other than Kamikaze and ‘special’ (or, normal) Japanese aircraft attacks. There is no surface-to-surface combat action, nor DD-vs.-submarine action, or any land-based fire support. Given the complexity and amount of work put into this title, though, it’s hardly a surprise. I just wish it might have done a little more. For the purpose of fighting off hordes of Kamikazes, if you want to feel like you’re the only ship in the American fleet and getting all the attention of these deadly attacks, you’ll very likely love this game.

Continue reading →

08/1/14

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #50!

GARPA turns 50!  Can we get a “w00t! w00t!” ?  Last month it was all games that had already made the cut.  This month?  You gotta work for ’em…

 

G50-trumpetsNo Trumpets, No Drums (One Small Step Games)
Pre-order price of $44.95

New from OSS, No Trumpets, No Drums is a strategic- and high operational-level game of the Vietnam War from ’65-’75.  Picking up after the French have left, and running past the departure of most US ground troops, this expansive game covers the ground campaigns, with a heavy dose of the political machinations that ultimately decided the war.  It’s a hex-and-counter layout on your table, but the game plays on several levels and is conducive to team play, as well.

This is a remake of an earlier magazine game from the early 80s.  They are hoping to get it out by the end of the year, but only if they can get enough preorders in to make it into production, so get to their website and place your pre-order.  OSS makes some great games, from some cracking designers and developers.

Continue reading →

07/31/14

Prosciutto – Hamming it up with the di Parmas… Part XXVII

The Prosciutto still hasn’t spoiled, as part 27 drops on your lap.

As always, click image to enlarge

In Part 26 Benvenuto’s brothers laid claim to his County and Ducal titles and split the di Parma family with a civil war. Robbed of a proper army by jealous, back stabbing vassals Benvenuto had to negotiate with the brothers as opposed to bringing about their destruction, fortunately part of the settlement involved the imprisonment of both brothers. Salerno’s prison held four schemers. In this part, what to do with the schemers, and revenge on an old foe.

 

Pic260

Locked in a dungeon it would be hard for Buonconte to escape any plot to kill him. Benvenuto concocts a plan and contacts his supporters

Continue reading →

07/27/14

GrogHeads Interviews Heather Brown of Proving Ground Games

With an Origins Award-winning game already on the market, Proving Ground Games is getting ready to branch out with a Kickstarter campaign for a more traditional board game.  Heather Brown, business manager and game designer for Proving Ground, was kind enough to give us a few moments to talk about 1740, and the launch of their Kickstarter campaign.

 

DSC_0002

So 1740 appears to be a pretty wide change of direction for the company that just won the award for Best Historical Minis game at Origins. What’s the thought process behind 1740 and how did become the “next game out the door” for you guys?

1740 has been in the back of my head for years. We went with Fields of Fire first because we had a well-tested set of beta rules from the 90s that just needed updating and tweaking. Books are less expensive and easier to publish, so we wanted our first foray into game production to be something that we knew we could get off the ground.

Now that we have that experience behind us, we’re poised to launch additional projects with a much better handle on the process. 1740 is a departure from Fields of Fire, but it still falls within our core game development philosophy. Our mission statement, if you will, is to produce games that are historical, accurate, fun to play, and easy to learn. 1740 fits that to a tee.

As far as why 1740 and not something else? I’ve loved 18th Century history since I was a girl. I grew up reenacting and actually my husband Mark and I met at a reenactment. One of my favorite books in high school was Outlander. It’s the story of a woman from 1945 being thrust back into Scotland in the 18th C. That kind of thing resonates with a reenactor. When I met Mark, he was portraying a Scottish loyalist regiment in the Revolution. So, 1740 brings together a lot of my passions into one place.

Continue reading →