Category: Whatever

06/1/14

Home of Wargamers Report: An Unexpected Journey, part 2 of 2

A Boggit’s tale

Day 2 of Home of Wargamers 2014

Part 2 of a Boggit’s Tale concludes the story with the Day 2 presentations, and concludes on Day 3 with the Saracen Warrior Trophy competition. Let’s get back to the games presented…

Peacock Hall

Here we saw

  • To End All Wars

To End All Wars is a classic AGEOD style game addressing the First World War. Why on earth did AGEOD produce this when First World War Gold is ostensibly an AGEOD game? Doesn’t it compete? The fact is that it’s nowhere near the same as the other game save for the link with AGEOD. It is not set at the Army level as First World War Gold is, but at the corps level with divisions, brigades, and regiments putting in appearances. Also the learning curve doesn’t leave you fighting the game.

 

Philippe Malacher – ‘Pocus’ on the forums - takes us to the border of East Prussia in To End all Wars
Philippe Malacher – ‘Pocus’ on the forums – takes us to the border of East Prussia in To End all Wars

If you are a player of AGEOD games, you will ease relatively comfortably into this. As I mentioned earlier, this is classic AGEOD with all the depth, attention to detail, decisions, and political events. This is definitely on my review list! It’s a solid looking, but nonetheless a starter base game – as with other recent AGEOD titles, it will be fleshed out over time with DLC to extend the range of campaigns, and scenarios. There are two 1914 Campaign games, the standard one in August, and a ‘what if’ campaign as a preparation for war starting in July where players can try out differing deployments to test the various national war plans.

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05/30/14

Home of Wargamers Report: An Unexpected Journey, part 1 of 2

A Boggit’s tale

The Prologue

Living a quiet, unadventurous life as a Review Scribe, Boggit almost missed the opportunity to go to this annual event simply by not paying attention on the scrying screen, sometimes known as the forums! Far to the East in the distant land of Italy strange things were happening. Brant – the great wizard of Grog had heard news of great treasures, and was determined to send a scout to learn the truth. The first to answer the call was the Bard – Undercovergeek – but he was sidetracked by nubile Norwegian elves. The Paladin – Jarhead – having slain so many dragons, had problems finding a tame silver dragon to cross the Great Sea. At the last moment, when all seemed lost, Boggit from the Shire of Dorset piped up. “I’ll go!” And a great adventure began.

 

Boggit crosses the Alps. Hannibal did it the hard way!
Boggit crosses the Alps. Hannibal did it the hard way!

Leaving the Shire of Dorset, Boggit travelled the Great Road to a place where tame silver dragons could be found. Stopping overnight at an Inn he fell in with another adventurer -Fraser Brown a proud Northern Scribe – with whom he shared a few beers, and learnt of Fraser’s intrepid journeys to places of learning where clever warlocks display their magic arts. The next day the two adventurers left for the Cave of Dragons, finding a friendly one, and rode it to the mysterious land of Italy.

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04/15/14

Tuesday Screenshot: From Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai

This Tuesday, Shogun 2 strikes fear into the eyes of the enemy.

Click to enlarge

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See the look in the eyes of those two soldiers in the center of the shot? Clearly its fear…fear of my mounted troops mowing them down like weeds, like the men on the right side of the image. Maybe they’re also thinking that they may have picked the wrong side in this war. Or maybe they’re thinking of their wives. We’ll never know because shortly after this image was taken, every member of that unit was killed. We talk a lot about not prioritizing graphics, but this screen shot shows how well emotions like fear can be expressed with a good graphics engine.
Image & Caption Lloyd Sabin

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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!

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