Category: GARPA

11/7/14

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #57

Brant Guillory, 24 October 2014

Your semi-weekly wallet-wounding world of wonder!

Wilderness Empires (Worthington Publishing)
$8k of $5k goal, ends 2 December 2014

The French and Indian War, and the associated wars before and after leading up to the American War of Independence, have fascinated gamers for their mix of exploration, politics, colonial combat, and multi-sided mayhem.  Worthington throws their hat in the ring with a fascinating game that mixes historical details with quick gameplay and includes a solo capability.  It’s got a block-and-card look that seems eerily familiar to those that have played Columbia games in the past, but the cards are distinct events and the units include the key leaders that made the colonial wars such a fascinating period.  Stretch goals are still being met, and there’s plenty of time to add more, so sail over to Kickstarter and get your pledge in.

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10/24/14

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #56

Brant Guillory, 24 October 2014

Not another GARPA!

War & Seas (Wargame Process Edition)
P500 for $49, or 39€

There’s a definite ‘ooh and ahh’ factor to this one.  It’s an age-of-sail slugfest with a build-your-own-ship twist.  You kit out your ship by the use of mix-and-match blacks that represent cannons, crew, officers, etc. and the blast away.  The combat dice are not normal d6s either; they are multi-symbol faces that apply numbers to the actions you’ve chose.  It’s a small fleet action with built-in multiplayer support, and well, did we mention it looks cool?  Go get a p500 order in now and get this thing made already!

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10/10/14

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #55

GARPA hits the speed limit!

 

Toulon, 1793 (Legion Wargames)
Preorder price $50, MSRP $70

An area-based game of Napoleon’s siege of the city, this game spans the latter half of 1793, and includes rules for multi-player, international cooperation, spies, and logistics.  The usual ‘siege’ necessities are present, to, of course – forts, attrition, and defensive positions all matter – but there’s a bit of room for the defenders to counterattack and maneuver if the attacker leaves the wrong opening, so it’s not a pure ‘tower defense’ scenario, especially since the whole game opens up with the French maneuvering into position for the siege in the first place.  The map is designed to evoke the period maps of the Napoleonic age and, well, you can see for yourself, eh?  It’s on preorder for $50 right now, so grab it before the price goes up as it goes to press.

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09/26/14

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #54

Hey now, hey now…  you didn’t really want to start saving for Christmas shopping, did you?  You really wanted to blow it all on these fine pre-orders and crowdsourced games instead!

Sea Kings (Worthington Publishing)
$4800 of $15k, ends 1 Nov 2014

Worthington makes some of the best lightweight wargames in the business, with hits like Hold the Line and Band of Brothers.  Sea Kings looks like it’s going to take that track record to the age of Vikings and give you a great little empire-builder that looks like a Euro with it’s cute wooden pieces, but whose theme actually means something and evokes a real time and place.  A combination of card play and area movement, Sea Kings is something that grogs can whip out with the non-wargaming crowd to still get a historical challenge when forced to play with a table full of folks that can’t spell “ZOC”.  Sail over to Kickstarter and conquer your fear of pledging.

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09/12/14

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #53

The first GARPA of football season brings you a variety of gaming projects for you to throw your backing behind, and includes (gasp!) digital games!  Also of note is that none of these have hit their funding goals yet, so they all need your help.

 

Hitler’s Reich (GMT Games)
P500 price $48, not there yet

GMT recently dropped 5 new games on their p500 system, but Hitler’s Reich is the one that grabbed our attention as being the first of a new series of strategic level card-based games.  We can’t wait to see some art samples, as a fast-playing game that lets your re-fight WWII while still incorporating key personalities like Patton and Zhukov.  An economics model truly puts this at the “full-theater” level and if it really can be played in one sitting, then it’s totally worth dropping your pre-order dime at GMT’s site.

HitlersReich

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