We’ve got a full review coming later, but we wanted to tease you with some first impressions from Slitherine’s new Battle Academy expansion.
Vance Strickland, 8 April 2015
The newest offering for Slitherine’s Battle Academy 2 is an expansion pack containing 2 new campaigns.
Each campaign takes place during the Battle for Kursk in July 1943. Players take on the role of the German attackers in the northern fighting and the Russian defenders in the southern pincer fighting.
Developed by Creative Assembly and Published by SEGA
System: Intel Core i5-2400 CPU @ 3.1 GHz, 8GB RAM, 64-bit Windows 7, NVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti
A Love Story for the Ages
Oh Total War series, how I have loved thee. From our initial flirty glances with the initial release of Shogun in 2000, to our lusty jaunts through the historical sheets in Medieval and Rome in 2002 and 2004, respectively…to our exchanging of vows with the release of Medieval 2 in 2006…probably one of my favorite games ever.
And then the rough days of our relationship: the release of Empire and Napoleon in 2007 and 2009. Highly ambitious, I stuck with the series through these more ‘trying releases,’ to be rewarded with Shogun 2 in 2011 – arguably the best Creative Assembly game as far as technical polish, artwork and AI are concerned. And then…well…Rome 2.
Hmm, Huns look like an interesting faction choice. Until players experience how drop-dead difficult they can be to play. I will try again with the Huns once I get some more experience.
And now, as a public service, a simple decision matrix to help you determine if you should purchase “World at War: Compendium #2” (hereafter Comp2) from Lock ‘n Load Publishing.
Are you a fan of the World at War series’ take on the Cold War gone hot?
Are you enough of fan of this series that you have purchased many — not to say all — but many of the games, modules, and expansions that have come out since the release of Eisenbach Gap?
Even if you are a fan of the series, did you neglect to pick up issues 8-14 of Lock ‘n Load’s “Line of Fire” magazine?
Are you a fan of the Bauhaus font?
If you answered “yes” to all of the above, there is no reason that I can think of for you not to pick up Comp2. It’s available for a scant $49.99 from www.lnlpublishing.com You’ll be glad you did. Thus endeth the review.
If, on the other hand, you answered “no” to any of the above, read on; matters are a bit more complicated.
Please note that this review covers the old 2d edition book for Fantasy Hero. The book has been significantly revised in the 15+ years since this review was originally written, and we have no idea if this material is still present or not in the newer versions.
First, a confession: I don’t play the Hero system. I’ve never played the Hero system. I don’t foresee myself ever playing the Hero system. Yet, this book has one of the most prominent places in my gaming library, and would probably be in the top 5-10 gaming items I would recommend for the any new player, and in the top 3-5 for any new GM.
Why? The back half of this book is one of the best sourcebooks I’ve ever seen.
I’ve been role-playing since 1981. I’ve been collecting since about 1983. I have yet to see a better overall sourcebook than the one included in Fantasy Hero.
I bought the game without knowing you needed the Hero system to play (yes, I missed the big warning on the back cover) but that didn’t stop me from using it over and over.
And over.
From pages 100 to 202, the book tackles, in order: creating scenarios, running scenarios, fantasy genres and their conventions, setting up campaigns, and worldbuilding. That’s just the game-mastering section. The Sourcebook offers sample character archetypes, a sample campaign described in simple but sufficient detail to play, two extended scenarios, 5 mini-scenarios, and two of best sections I’ve ever seen on designing monsters and magic items. Oh, and the last 50 pages of the book (202-252) are one of the best collections of spell-books I’ve seen in years.
The section on creating scenarios leads right in to how to run them, and the brief advice is exactly what you’d want in “Everything I Need to Know About GMing I Learned in Kindergarten.” Individualizing the NPCs; Cinematic fight scenes; Pacing, Climax & Rewards; Foreshadowing; and Cash Flow are all addressed in ways that beginners can easily grasp and veterans will love to be reminded of. Continue reading →
Twilight’s Last Gleaming first made an appearance almost 20 years ago as a board game by Decision Games, one that rates just below a somewhat above average 6 on BGG’s website. Hexwar’s recent partnership with Hunted Cow Studios has brought this title back into the gaming limelight, but playable on either a Mac or an iPad, and with many more battles to fight than the board game ever offered (three battles from the board game, and ten in this electronic version).
