Month: April 2012

04/18/12

Boardgame Review of Commands & Colors Ancients

by Dan Pinkham, 18 April 2012

Designed by Richard Borg for GMT Games

Unleash the armies of Rome and Carthage upon your dining room tables, albeit with much less sand and blood than their historical counterparts.

Introduction

Commands & Colors Ancients, the ancients boardgame from GMT Games, brings the armed conflict between the Romans and Carthaginians to life on your tabletop. Designed by Richard Borg of Battle Cry and Memoir ’44 fame Commands & Colors Ancients continues to build on the concept of the “command card system.” The Commands & Colors Ancients game is the base of GMT Games’ series that allows you to delve into ancient warfare on your gaming table. This block wargame was designed with two players in mind but there is a variant for solo play to be found online. Most scenarios should be able to be played in about one hour, however expect to spend some time assembling the game before jumping into your first gaming session.

Components

The first thing I noticed when picking up my copy of Command & Colors Ancients is how heavy the box is. This has something to do with the bag of 345 gray, brown and black wooden blocks representing the Roman and Carthaginian units, and victory blocks respectively. To go with the blocks are five pages of stickers representing the various units used in the game, all of which must be affixed to the front and back of their corresponding block. Along with the blocks and their stickers are seven large black battle dice that need their corresponding stickers attached to their six sides. The game board is a double-sided hex-tiled battlefield representing a flat and barren landscape. One side of the game board is missing one of the short edges border in order to combine multiple boards to play larger scenarios. To help spruce up the barren battlefield the game contains 45 double-sided terrain tiles; including broken ground, forest, hill, fortification and water feature tiles. A set of 60 command cards are also included. At the bottom of the box you also find the ‘Core Series Rule Book,’ scenario book, and two quick reference cards. Continue reading →

04/6/12

PC Game Review of Unstoppable Gorg

By Jim Zabek, 6 April, 2012

Grumpy Grog Says: Flying saucers from space…what’s not to love? Just don’t mix up Gorg with Grogs.

I really enjoy tower defense games where my job is to weave a complex layer of defenses and watch mindless enemies walk into my trap. They aren’t easy to play, either. They generally have some kind of puzzle solving component – the winning solution needs to have a mix of different units. Unstoppable Gorg is no exception, but what sets it apart are the map and the atmosphere.

From soundtrack to graphics, Unstoppable Gorg has a wonderful 1950s style to it. The music could have been written for the original Lost in Space series, andthe writing has a perfect balance of cynical humor that will appeal to modern gamers. The graphics and sound are highly polished and satisfactory.

The story isn’t complex: aliens are attacking Earth and the player needs to defend it. Battles take place around various planets, moons, and space stations and it’s here that the map sets the game apart from other tower defense games. Continue reading →