Category: Previews

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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10/17/14

A Visit With LNL Publishing – Old Roads Well Trodden

Jim Zabek, 17 October 2014

Following up his visit to Colorado, Jim drops some more Lock’n’Load news in our lap.

Click images to enlarge

Old Roads Well Trodden

Last week Grogheads published my initial take of a visit to LnL Publishing. Along with me, Dave Lowry also visited LnL Publishing and his article can be found on Clubfantasci.com. Between our articles a number of questions were raised by readers regarding the direction of the company. It is not the intention of this article to address every question raised, but rather to share additional information which should give readers a sense as to the overall direction LnL Publishing will take. Hopefully many of the questions out there will be given answers.

LnL Publishing’s roots are firmly established in traditional tabletop warming. Readers concerned that LnL might depart from those roots should rest at ease: all that printing equipment recently purchased is of little use to electronic games. Yes, LnL is interested in expanding its horizons into different genres and media, but gamers should rest assured that Mark Walker continues to work on boardgame designs.

What can gamers expect to see in the near future? I already hold in my hands (well, technically it’s in the chair next to me as I type) World at War Compendium 2. A reprint of Compendium 1 is also in my possession. Printed and sealed in a plastic bag, it lacks only counters, which have to be printed overseas, in order to ship out the door.

LNL-comV2-3
The new Compendium includes additional maps, along with the scenarios, counters, and AARs.

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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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