Monthly Archives: June 2013
Origins 2013 – Exhibitor Hall!
Brant Guillory, 26 June 2013
The exhibitor hall was refreshingly busy. Some of the dealers I spoke to had reported some slower sales, and the big guns of wargaming that had been present for so many years – GMT, MMP, Avalanche, Matrix, LNLP – were all missing for various reasons. But if you wanted to find some great gaming, there was no excuse, because it was everywhere. Even without the more well-known companies, there was plenty of wargaming to be found with Grognard Simulations, Proving Ground, Zvezda’s big booth, Collins Epic Wargames, VPG, and more.
What else did we find in the dealer hall? Check it out. Click on images to enlarge.
That’s it for our 2013 Origins coverage. See y’all next year!
Warlock Four-Player AAR
LongBlade: The first report of our four-player Warlock brawl was filed by MetalDog and can be found here. MetalDog, it should be noted, has a couple of nom de guerre and folks sometimes refer to him under his Steam moniker, Stophro. It’s the same guy, just a different name. Hopefully this won’t confuse readers if I warn you ahead of time.
I’ve started trying to color code each person’s name with the color of them in the game. MetalDog is blue. Bartheart, I have just learned, is yellow. Yellow (see what I mean?) doesn’t show up too well with a white background so I’m going to use a slightly different color, amber.
Anyway, during the last session the game was just starting and we were following MetalDog as he discovered Bartheart to his southeast. Now I will pick up the narrative from Bartheart’s perspective as he explains his starting position and his reaction to finding his neighbor, MetalDog, so close to his own borders.
Bartheart: Turn 1 – Déjà vu all over again
So, here we go again with a different group of vict… err… players that MetalDog has dug up for our bash fest. Should be interesting.
Origins 2013 – Gameplay!
Brant Guillory, 24 June 2013
Look, you’re at Origins to check out all things gaming, right? But what about actually, y’know, playing games?! There’s plenty of gameplay to be found through the convention center. Here’s a snippet of what was going on Saturday.
Stay tuned for our final installment of our Origins coverage from the Exhibitor Hall later this week.
Tuesday Screenshot – Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm
Jim Snyder, 25 June 2013
click to enlarge
Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm
Soviet armor is attempting to smash through a West German defense around the city of Lauterbach. Many knocked out vehicles and squads are indicated by the little crosses on the map. Craters from artillery strikes also dot the landscape. As you can see from the screen shot the Flashpoint Campaigns game main screen in divided up into 6 areas each with information for the player to use or access. The map is the majority of the screen and shows off all of the action in the game. At the bottom you can switch between a Subunit list showing the units composition and status or the Tac Ops Diary which gives information related to the units actions during the game. On the right there are a number of windows providing important information. At the top we have the start turn button and the game date and time, weather and current visibility. Under that is a tabbed window with Player information, C3 information, Order of Battle, Victory Point Status, and Effects (Sounds and in-game options). Next is the current unit status window. In this case we are looking at one of the Leopard 2 tank platoons and its current conditions. At the bottom right is the mini-map. You can see the entire map, your units, VP locations and spotted enemies. At the top there is also the standard windows style menu bar with even more options.
Civilization V: The Guide to Mods
Chris Mohon, 23 June 2013
Your Guide to Civ V Modding Madness!
I am a gamer.
Like so many of you, I started gaming at an early age, pushing cardboard pieces around on colorful maps, shooing the family cat away, and rejoicing when the alien technology plucked out of the Roswell UFO crash resulted in a brand spanking new Commodore computer on my desk. Because really, of all the wonders that a computer can bring into your life, what’s better than computer gaming? Ummmm…..well, keeping in mind that this IS a family website, anyway…..
Without a doubt, no game has stolen more hours of my life away than Sid Meier’s Civilization series. I’ve logged in over 500 hours on Civ V alone, and I’ve played every previous version at least as much. Back in the days when a new top-of-the-line computer was obsolete within a year, two at most, occasionally a game came along which drove otherwise rational gamers to upgrade their computers so they could play the darn game. Civilization II-III and Panzer General 2 were responsible for many pitiful explanations (by that I mean begging) to my wife as to exactly why I needed a new graphics card and more memory or the Holy Grail, a new machine!
Clearly, I’m not the only Civ junkie. Every new Civ is an automatic best-seller, but the most telling thing about the game is perhaps the devotion of the fans who create mods, civilizations, maps, units and scenarios for the various Civs. As thrilling as Civ has always been to me, the opportunity to add units and maps of my own preference to Civ is the icing on the cake. Dreadnaughts, air ships, helicopters, nuclear carriers and subs, panzers, giant Mechs, Celtic kings, and Southern Generals, huge maps of the real world and detailed maps of fantasy kingdoms, most of these things have found their way into proper Civ games at one time or another, with many being initially created by fans to be inserted into a very moddable Civ universe.
