03/30/14

GrogHeads Announces “Wargaming Central Command” for Origins 2014

Get your Grog on at Origins this summer!


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OriginsLogoGrogHeads.com and GAMA are teaming up to bring wargaming back to Origins this summer with the creation of the GrogHeads Central Command.  This new program is designed to engage wargamers in a variety of ways, but most importantly, by getting wargames back on gaming tables at Origins.

Our partners in this endeavor include Against the Odds Magazine, 1A Games, Lost Battalion Games, Collins Epic Wargames, Omega Games, and Columbia Games – all of whom will be present together in the exhibit hall, and sponsoring games in the gaming hall.  And we’ve still got room to add a vendor or two, so expect this list to grow!

Gaming events run through the GrogHeads Central Command are all ticketed events that will be played in the gaming hall in their own dedicated area.  Every event run through the GrogHeads Central Command includes at least one prize.  Every participant in every game also gets a 5% discount card for any purchase from the vendors in the GrogHeads Central Command group in the exhibit hall.  Vendors will even allow players to ‘stack’ several of these coupons for 15-20% off of a purchase!  Games will include head-to-head and team battles, as well as a few “come learn to play” games with new products from the participating vendors.

In addition to the gaming events, each of the vendors will also host an evening session in the gaming hall, with either an opportunity to “Play with the Designer” or a Q&A on a game series.  Non-gaming sessions will also be held in the GrogHeads Central Command in the gaming hall, but are not ‘prize’ events.  These vendor-centric seminars are not the only seminars in the GrogHeads Central Command, as there will also be panels on wargame design and uses of games for training and learning.  And don’t forget to stick around on Saturday evening for the GrogHeads raffle – every purchase, every game you play, every demo you try with the companies in the GrogHeads Central Command program gets you a raffle ticket for some great prizes.

Finally, the GrogHeads Central Command will also be hosting the Staff Wargaming Team, who had previously bunkered in up at the Origins War College.  These innovative “team” wargames put players in the roles of military staff officers, charged with planning and executing a complex mission using a simplified version of the US Army’s planning process – and the coaches include current and former Army staff members and trainers.  The Staff Wargaming Team events are all prize events, but the real prize is the great experience of the team dynamic in the wargame.

Look for events in the Origins Program Guide that are tagged as “GrogHeads presents…” to identify the events in the GrogHeads Central Command program.  Check back regularly as we may yet add a few more events.  And be on the lookout for the GrogHeads Central Command in the exhibit hall to support the wargaming companies bringing the wargames back to Origins.  See you at the show!


Discuss your Origins plans in our forums >>

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02/2/14

GrogHeads Readers’ Choice Awards – WINNERS!

Wrapping up the last of our 2013 year-end coverage, we have the results of our annual Readers’ Choice Awards voting.

Our Readers’ Choice Awards are a pretty simple concept – it’s all up to you!  We take nominations all year long in our forum threads, and any game that’s nominated that was released within that calendar year gets included.  Our editorial team helps group some of the categories together, but if you nominated it, it’s here somewhere.

We divide our categories into tabletop and digital games, with miniatures normally included with the tabletop games.  This year, however, we had no nominations for any miniatures games or products.  Within each of the digital / tabletop branches, we break out some separate categories, but we always include an “overall” category for each, pitting every nomination against each other.

 

Without further ado, here are your winners of the GrogHeads 2013 Readers Choice Awards:

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Our winners in each category are awarded the GrogHeads Readers’ Choice Award Gold Medal

 

The tabletop world saw nominations into several categories, include Wargames, Strategy Games, Magazine games and scenarios, Expansions, Reprints, and the ever-coveted Overall category.

Consim Press’ The Hunters hammered the competition for the Tabletop Wargame of the Year, with only A Distant Plain, even garnering double digits as A Distant Second.  The Ogre Designer Edition brought up the third place tail.

Competition in the Tabletop Strategy Game of the Year was a little more heated, with the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game narrowly edging out the much-anticipated Firefly Board Game to take the title.  Eldritch Horror nailed down third place. Continue reading

08/5/13

2012 Charles S. Roberts Award Winners

CSRLogo1As announced last week at WBC, here are the winners of the Charlies for games released in 2012.

Best Ancient to Napoleonic Era Board Wargame: The Battle of Fontenoy (by Paul Dangel), Clash of Arms Games

Best Post-Napoleonic to Pre-World War 2 Era Board Wargame: Bloody April (by Terry Simo), GMT Games

Best World War 2 Era Board Wargame: Red Winter (by Mark Mokszycki), GMT Games

Best Post-WW2 Era Board Wargame: Andean Abyss (by Volko Ruhnke), GMT Games

Best Pre-20th Century Era Computer Wargame: Levee en Masse (by John Welch), Victory Point Games

Best 20th Century Era – Modern Computer Wargame: Battle of the Bulge, Shenandoah Studios

Best Science-Fiction or Fantasy Board Wargame: Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game (by Jeffrey Kniffen), Fantasy Flight Games

Best Science-Fiction or Fantasy Computer Wargame: X-Com: Enemy Unknown, Firaxis 2K Games

Best Magazine Game: Beyond Waterloo (by John Prados), Against the Odds magazine (ATO)

Best Desktop Published (DTP) / Print-and-Play / Postcard Game: City of Confusion: The Battle for Hue, Tet 1968 (by Paul Rohrbaugh), High Flying Dice Games

Best Expansion or Supplement for an Existing Game: Festung Budapest (by Bill Cirillo), Multi Man Publications, Inc. (MMP)

Best Board Game Graphics: The Battle of Fontenoy (by Charles Kibler), Clash of Arms Games

Best Computer Game Graphics: Battle of the Bulge, Shenandoah Studios

Best Professional Game Magazine: C3i, RBM Publications

Best Amateur Game Magazine: 1914 Dispatches, Oregon Consim Gamers

Best Historical/Scenario Article: 1914 – A postwar Solution for Austria-Hungary’s Mobilization (Michael Resch C3i nr 26)

Best Game Review or Analysis Article: For the People – Defending the Union (by Dave Dockter and Mark Herman), C3i Magazine

James F. Dunnigan Design Elegance Award: Dean Essig

Clausewitz Award HALL OF FAME: Brian Youse

What are your reactions?  Tell us here >>

07/16/13

2012 Charles S. Roberts Awards Voting Now Open

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Voting is now open for the highly prestigious Charles S. Roberts Awards for 2012. The Award is given annually to wargames which show excellence in the industry. Named after the founder of the Avalon Hill Company, voting takes place in a number of categories including board and computer games. Write-in candidates are also being accepted, and the ballot is being expanded as new nominees are put forth. In the past the Awards were given at Origins, but since 2000 the presentation of the Award has been given at the World Boardgaming Championships.

Voting will be open from today (July 16, 2013) through July 29, 2013 and can be found here: http://charlesrobertsawards.com/voting.php. You will be required to register anew even if you have voted in previous years. After that you may change your vote as often as you wish (until voting closes) by logging into your account.

Questions or comments regarding the Award can be directed to the CSR Committee at CSRCommittee@charlesrobertsawards.com.

06/16/13

Origins Announces Award Winners

Straight from the show, here are last night’s winners of the 2013 Origins Awards, with the press release from GAMA:

COLUMBUS, OH (June 15, 2013) The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design is proud to announce the winners for the 39th Annual Origins Awards.
The Origins Awards are presented annually by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design to recognize outstanding achievement in design and production of games and game-related products.
The winners were voted on by attendees at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH on June 12th – June 16th from the nominees in each category chosen by retailers at the GAMA Trade Show. The winners were announced at the Origins Awards Ceremony on the evening of Saturday, June 15th.
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