Monthly Archives: April 2018
Gaming Nostalgia – Magic: The Gathering
#TBT at GrogHeads!
This was the first ad to run in Dragon Magazine for Magic: The Gathering, and the games business hasn’t been the same since.
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RAF The Battle of Britain 1940 – The GrogHeads AAR, part 1 of 5
Michael’s got England in his sights ~
Michael Eckenfels, 3 April 2018
Introduction
This AAR covers the game RAF: The Battle of Britain 1940 (2009). It is a most excellent solitaire game with bodacious amounts of fun, given that there are three games in one in the box – a solo game where you play the beleaguered RAF, a solo game where you play the Luftwaffe, and a two-player game as well. GrogHeads just reviewed the newest version of the game, and I did a review of this game a few years back for GrogHeads here. I was also a fan of the original RAF game that was put out back in 1986. That last one was one of my staples growing up; it was fast, challenging, and always kept you on the edge of your seat.
This AAR is full-length and yes, before you even ask, it is complete. I’ve been working on it for a few weeks now, wanting to ensure it gets done one way or another before I even try to post it to the site.
I’ve also included a bit of padding/narrative to try to tell a (non-historical) story as I am wont to do on occasion. I hope you will find it entertaining and not a distraction. Though, honestly, it was a bit hard to write considering the viewpoint – I’m playing this from the perspective of the Germans, and as such, it means I have to ingrain myself in as the leader of the Luftwaffe. Or, the sub-leader. You see, in my alternate history, here, Goering choked to death on a goat meatball sandwich, and “I” take over on the eve of the Battle of Britain.
What’s Gus Playing? House of the Dying Sun
The lord of lilliputians launches some laser-like love ~
Lloyd Sabin, 2 April 2018
House of the Dying Sun not only sounds like the title of one of the great rock songs of all time (that’s House of the Rising Sun for the uninitiated) – it is also a great arcade space sim with VR support. I don’t have a VR set yet but I can vouch that House of the Dying Sun is just as fun and intense to play on a regular PC set-up as it may be in VR.
This game is about revenge and the cold termination of your enemies and not much else.
The basic story behind House of the Dying Sun is that your emperor has been usurped by a cabal of bloodthirsty rebel overlords. And you and what’s left of the past regime’s military must take power back for the throne, eliminating a total of a dozen of the new regime’s collaborators without prejudice.
House of the Dying Sun has a minimalist graphical style as well as a spartan UI which somehow produce an atmosphere of dark blood lust…I can’t explain it much more clearly than that. Rebel Galaxy this is not – if you are looking for a arcade space game with a sense of humor, look elsewhere. This game is about revenge and the cold termination of your enemies and not much else.
If you’re skilled at piloting your craft, the single player campaign should probably take you less than 10 hours. I got about half way through it in about 6 hours. Your ship is upgradeable as you succeed in the missions you are assigned and the campaign branches in different directions, giving the player a choice in the missions taken on. They ultimately all lead to the same ending, though – the complete destruction of the rebels and your re-domination of the galaxy. There are assassination assignments, interception, dog fighting and capital ship assault. But you will always be a pilot – you will never exit your ship for any reason.
