07/3/15

The Zombie Apocalypse, Part 1: Are You Ready?

Why Zombies, and Why Now?

Jonathan Glazer, 3 July 2015

If you are questioning the need for a zombie themed discussion, you are not alone. After all, isn’t it a bit late for something like this? I have a picture of me killing a zombie in Gerber’s booth at the SHOT show a few years ago. Clearly the zombie trend is not exactly cutting edge. Perhaps this should have happened shortly before Hornady released their Z Max ammunition.

My response is that now is the perfect time for us to talk about zombies. Recreational shooting has taken a beating in the wake of the tragedy in Connecticut. People who were once proud to sport firearm themed attire are currently running scared and feeling outgunned in the public arena. The threat of punitive legislation lingers in the air with the possibility that many things we previously took for granted might become contraband. While guns can and have been used for evil, they also have been used for good. Many people are walking around today in perfect health because they or a member of their family used a firearm as a tool for defense. The exact number of people still alive due to the defensive use of guns can never be accurately calculated, but they know who they are. The end result of any further anti gun legislation will be a reduced ability to defend oneself as well as their family members and loved ones. Continue reading →

07/1/15

Hornet Leader – First Look!

Unboxing DVG’s Hornet Leader

Michael Eckenfels, 1 July 2015

The arrival of Hornet Leader: Carrier Air Operations (hereafter referred to has simply Hornet Leader) at my doorstep was something I was greatly looking forward to. For one, I was a HUGE fan and player of the original Thunderbolt/Apache Leader game, from 1991 when it was made by GMT. I absolutely loved being in control of my own squadron of Warthogs and Apaches and taking out targets in modern air-to-ground (and sometimes, air-to-air) combat.

I’ve head good things about Hornet Leader, but don’t really know what to expect as the game seems more balanced between air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. There’s also a choice between playing a US Navy campaign or a US Marine Corps campaign.

The game box is huge, probably close to two inches thick and with a bookcase-sized height and width. It’s very nicely designed, though personally, I’m not a huge fan of the F/A-18 Hornet. Rather, I’m more excited about the possibility of controlling F-14 Tomcats and A-6 Intruders. This game will let you do those, and many more.

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06/26/15

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #71

GARPA goes all over the map for this edition

Freeblades: Creatures of Faelon (DGS Games)
$2800 of $8500, ends 21 July 2015

The guys from DGS Games are back with some new toys for their Freeblades minis collection. These are wilder creatures that sport all manner of fangs, scales, claws, and… well, bark. Their last Kickstarter campaign dropped some jaws with their final sculpts, and their fantasy world is high fantasy with nice interesting twists. Hit their campaign page and drop your coin to get these minis funded.

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06/21/15

GrogHeads Reviews Quartermaster General

Euro wargame? Card-driven Diplomacy? The first fun game of logistics? Michael reveals all.

Review by Michael Eckenfels, 20 June 2015

Click images to enlarge

Quartermaster General is a board game focused on World War II. “Oh great,” you’re probably thinking, “another World War II board game.” The issue with thinking like that, though, is that you might think that for just about any game coming out about World War II, especially one named “Quartermaster General.” It’s not exactly a name that inspires fascination or even interest. For me, the title itself might be somewhat uninspired, but this is precisely why it caught my eye.

The name alone indicates there’s much more to this game than what its title is letting on to. It sounds like it’s more a game about supply and logistics, which is not something that’s covered solely in any board game I’ve ever heard of (feel free, though, to correct me in the forum’s Feedback page for this review, as I’d love to learn more about them). To me, though, the idea of a game solely revolving around logistics sounds incomprehensibly boring, compared with pushing minis or cardboard counters about a map in a struggle for supremacy!

And that’s precisely what this game says it is about, though – supply. As a player in this game, you are one (or more) of six countries involved in the planet-engulfing conflict that was World War II, and the game’s system revolves around spreading your control via Armies and Navies and trying to keep intact lines of supply to keep them operating. The six countries are divided evenly between the Axis and Allies – Germany, Italy, and Japan on one side, and the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union on the other. The game is for two to six players, with players doubling up on countries if there’s less than six.

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06/18/15

Scourge of War: Waterloo

Boggit returns from his own exile on the 200th anniversary of (arguably) the most consequential battle in Western History to conquer Scourge of War: Waterloo.

By Boggit, 18 June 2015

Developed by NorbSoftDev and Published by Slitherine

I was intrigued by NorbSoftDev’s Scourge of War: Waterloo. I had played some of the earlier iterations of the game engine (1^st Bull Run, and 2^nd Manassas), which had been good. With that in mind, and knowing that the development team had worked on several other titles in the meantime, it would be interesting to see how far they had advanced the game, and how well it captured the flavour of Napoleonic combat, as hitherto all their games were from the American Civil War.

The Menu and loading screens all use contemporary art, which adds a nice period feel.

Scourge of War: Waterloo is a pausable real-time representation of small to very large actions (including the whole battle) of Waterloo. It comes with 20 historical scenarios ranging from small brigade size actions to the ‘full Monty’ at army level. In addition there is a sandbox campaign, a sandbox mode (in which you can take any units from the order of battle (OB), and fight on eight different battlefields), and modifications, which include the OB for the entire French Grand Armée (i.e. with Marshal Grouchy at Waterloo), and a Grog mode for extra realism.

Here are the French scenarios, rising in complexity from clearing the woods at the Chateau of Goumont (aka Hougoumont) to the full battle (shown here).

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