Monthly Archives: November 2017
Deep Thoughts on Field of Glory 2
Are the roots of FoG2 found in tabletop minis? ~
Jim Owczarski, 11 November 2017
There’s not an awful lot of point in doing a straight review of a game like “Field of Glory 2” (hereafter FoG2) in a venue like this one. After all, we are a fairly aware lot and share information about the games we get, like, and dislike quickly. By now, you have all likely heard the game is the best of its kind in this generation (it is) and that it surpasses its only real competition — Interactive Magic’s much-admired “Great Battles” series. Were this the whole story I’d recommend slapping an “Order of the Hex” on the thing and moving on.
I think, though, many reviewers have missed the importance of FoG2’s roots in tabletop miniatures gaming, roots that have made this such a remarkably strong offering. Therefore, I would like, in place of a proper review, to point out five things that FoG2 took from the world of little lead men that make it so very special.
Dragon’ Up The Past – Week 3, Gary was pissed
Waaaaaay back into the vault for this one ~
Brant & Jim, 10 November 2017
Slip on your bell-bottoms as we go way back to an old issue of Dragon Magazine, and check out 1970s-vintage wargaming awards, a very angry editorial from Gary Gygax, a textual hype-man, and the first appearance of the Ninja NPC.
Don’t worry, there’s plenty more where this one came from – there’s 198 issues still to go!
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Gaming Nostalgia – Buck Rogers Role-Playing
#TBT at GrogHeads!
You would’ve thought one of the all-time sci-fi franchises would’ve garnered more respect for a reasonably-well-executed RPG. But maybe it was a combination of folks who were young enough to ‘get’ RPGs only remembered the campy Max von Sydow movie, and those old enough to remember the wonderful old movies serials were a little too old to understand RPGs.
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What’s Gus Playing? Episode 6
The GrogHeads’ munchkin of malice is mauling in Mordor ~
Lloyd Sabin, 6 November 2017
There is a lot to learn and the game is rather wide open, but you can get your ass kicked very easily.
I pre-ordered Shadow of War 8 months ago when I saw some footage of the game’s siege mechanics and drooled all over the keyboard. I am a casual Tolkien and Lord of the Rings fan at best, which is probably a good thing since Shadow of War does NOT stick to canon…not even a little bit. Which has sent some hardcore fans in to a bit of a rage. Fortunately for you, reader, there are other things in the game that have enraged me. The most enraging is the repetitive gameplay…a lot of the missions in Shadow of War are very, very similar, and very similar to the missions in Shadow of Mordor. I am only in the first act out of four, however.
The gameplay can be a bit tough as well, but I have improved at it as I have progressed. Another item that kinda, sorta enrages me is how long it takes to get to the aforementioned siege battles. The developers are making me slog through the first act, which is like a mini Shadow of Mordor game. Maybe I am being impatient but I need that sweet siege action. Give it to me!!
Convention Report – Spiel 2017
What did you miss in Essen this year? A special report for GrogHeads.com ~
Eddy Sterckx and photos by Ann Therie, 4 November 2017
Spiel is a boardgame convention held every year in Essen, Germany. There are 2 things you need to know about it :
- It’s big – really big – over a thousand new boardgames got premiered there this year
- It’s not a boardgame convention in the US sense of the word : people don’t go there to play games 24/7, they go there to get a demo and buy games – it’s more akin to a very large gamestore with a huge inventory and plenty of staff than anything else.
A tiny subset of the games getting presented there are wargames – or close enough – what follows is an overview of what managed to get my attention.
Phalanx Games
This Polish publisher managed to get the rights for doing the 20th anniversary edition of the famous Hannibal : Rome vs Carthage. It got overwhelming KickStarter support and was supposed to be delivered there, but got a bit delayed – they did have the final production version there though.
