Category: Featured Posts

07/11/13

A Civilization V AAR – Part Brant’s Old Jersey Number


Brant Guillory, 11 July 2013

Seriously. I wore #16 for about 28 of the 35 years I’ve been playing soccer. It’s totally a superstition thing at this point.

Click images to enlarge

Last episode, we turned our first spy loose on the world, and started really bringing some city-states into our orbit. This time? Read on…

civv

Going Nowhere Fast.
Our galley can’t cross open ocean just yet, so we’re going to have to bring him home to upgrade him. We’re working on researching our way toward navigation, but aren’t there yet. Still, it’s going to take this guy a while to get there, so we’ll start home now.

Normally, you can just disband a unit that’s so far from home rather than go through the travel time (and maintenance cost) to bring him back. But this guy’s been upgraded twice, and I don’t want to lose those upgrades and would rather keep them with the upgraded unit.

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07/10/13

Tuesday Screenshot(s!) – Civilization 5: Brave New World

Brant Guillory – 9 July 2013

The much-anticipated Civilization 5 expansion Brave New World was released today.  Here’s a first look at some of the new features from the game itself.

 

Civ5bwn-1

There are new civilizations in the game, including some that were previously city-states, such as Venice.

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07/5/13

GARPA 22 – GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory

Authors: Dan Pinkham and Jim Zabek

The boys here at GARPA took some time this week to celebrate 4th of July here in the US. Even with all the remembrances, parades, cookouts, and fireworks we are able to bring you an abbreviated version of GARPA (though LongBlade has managed to sneak in a couple of contributions of his own). Join us in two weeks when we are back with the full column.

Boardgames

Battle Merchants by Minion Games

$5,250 of a $30,000 goal funding ending August 5th

GARPA 22 Battle MerchantsWe all love a good game set in a fantasy world, the good races of dwarves, elves etc. fighting the orcs, goblins, and other evil creatures.  While this theme has been presented in many different ways it is usually entertaining and we can’t seem to get enough of it.  However, when a game comes along that takes these fantasy themes and incorporates them in a unique way we tend to take notice.  Enter Battle Merchants, set in a fantasy world that is embroiled in the good vs. evil conflict.  Instead of controlling one of the sides you are in charge making and selling weapons to the warring factions.  A kind of fantasy arms dealer or “merchant of death” if you will.

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07/4/13

Warlock Four-Player AAR – The Command Tent Round 1

LongBlade: So far this four-player game of turn-based mayhem is going smashingly well. MetalDog kicked things off with a bang. Then we looked in on Bartheart to see how his kingdom was faring. For whatever reason Tuna’s initial moves have been lost to the instabilities of the magic weave. But fear not! I have his subsequent reports. So it is that we now turn to The Command Tent to peer in on his nascent empire…

The Command Tent: Turn 1

Behold my mighty city of Sagecliff.  Set on the coast and north of a natural bottleneck that will make defending enemy attacks from the south much easier.  First order of business is to explore the surrounding areas to find the other mages as well as scout for possible city locations.

Warlock Four-Player-AAR-Session1-TCT Turn 1

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07/1/13

Book Review: Cain at Gettysburg

Author: Ralph Peters

Publisher: Forge Books

Reviewing Author: Dan Pinkham

With the country in the midst of the 150th Anniversary of the American Civil War and the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg this year I have found myself somewhat disappointed in the apparent lack of coverage of this pivotal period in American history.  So to fill the void I rummaged around the internet and came across a recently published (2012) historical-fiction novel titled Cain at Gettysburg by Ralph Peters.  Before buying the book I read some reviews and many compared it to Michael Shaara’s excellent Gettysburg novel, Killer Angels.  I can tell you that this is not the case.  While both books are excellent in their own respects I believe Cain at Gettysburg brings a soldier’s unique perspective in a way many books do not.  The author Ralph Peters, a retired Army officer who has written over 20 fiction and non-fiction books many with military themes, brings the Battle of Gettysburg to life in a whole new way.
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