The nation of Languedoc longs to stretch to the sea from their base in southern North America, and is slowly building up their forces in the Republic of Texas in anticipation of an expedition into California. While Atlantis has significant forces south of Mexico, the oddity is Outremer’s colony in Cuba, as their power base is far away in Asia.
Developer: Basilisk Games
Author: Avery Abernethy
Eschalon Book 2 is a turn-based, single-player role playing game produced by Basilisk Games. I purchased my copy on a www.gog.com sale. There is a playable demo which can be found at: http://basiliskgames.com/downloads. I purchased a full copy without playing the demo because the price was low and I tend to like these sorts of games. This review is based on more than 30 hours of play. My fighter played the game to completion including exploring every map and completing every quest. My play style can be described as “overkill” and one should be able to complete the game in fifteen to twenty hours of play.
This was a fun game. There is a huge variety of skills, weapons, armors, spells, alchemy, and side skills that will warm the heart of any old-school RPGer. The combat is turn-based so there is no irritation at having twitched right instead of twitching left and thus causing the demise of a character. There are lots of enemies to smite and quests to complete.
The world is open. There is nothing preventing the player from wandering anywhere on the huge maps in the game – except the deadly monsters infesting the various maps. Play balance in open world games can be a design challenge. Play balance was done quite well done for my fighter character. I occasionally wandered onto a map with monsters far more powerful than I. But prodigiously using my potions and running really fast enabled me to escape, become more powerful, and return to wreak my pixilated vengeance at a later time.
The player receives a mysterious note at the start of the game requesting a clandestine meeting. As many RPG meetings of this type go, the contact is assassinated while leaving clues which drive the story for the rest of the game. There are a couple of neat twists on this plot which I will not divulge. Overall, the background story is enough to drive the character’s actions without becoming an annoying deus ex machina holding the whip hand over the player.
In Eschalon Book 2 the player can use perfectly adequate prerolled characters or can roll the computer dice until they get a player of their liking. The characters can be dramatically shaped by skill point allocation as they gain levels. Still, the basic characters tend to be a fighter, an archer, or a magic user. A combat-avoiding thief can be designed but I doubt the utility of that play style given how experience points are awarded.
Developer Totem Games
Publisher: Strategy First
Author: Boggit
I picked this quirky little naval gem on sale at Gamersgate. It’s quite fun, being focused on four small campaign scenarios set in the late Victorian period. Ships haven’t yet made the full transition to the warships we know from the First World War period onwards, so you’ll see ironclads with rigging, and many ships organised for broadside fire, although some get turrets.
The Spanish turret ship Puigcerda at bay. With her 8” guns and heavy armour, she played hell with my squadron .In the background one of my cruisers, the USS Boston, limps away heavily damaged.
I took my screen shots from the Marianas Incident 1887 mini campaign, where I played as a Yankee squadron commander. Whilst I won the game, all my cruisers, and my casemate ironclad had to withdraw due to critical damage, but I sank all the Spanish ships save one turret ship. I thought the AI put up a reasonable fight, although that could just be me overestimating my skills as a Commodore, or Admiral…
Starting the second year of GARPA – yes, this is episode 27 – we bring you an advance look as upcoming projects that have caught our wargaming eye, for both tabletop and computer.
Next Wave – Tide of Iron Starter Set & Stalingrad Expansion by 1A Games LLC
$6,183 pledged of a $30,000 goal funding ending October 17th
Tide of Iron, the successful squad based tactical World War II boardgame has come to Kickstarter. Well, not the original but a quick start set and an expansion. Now that Fantasy Flight has licensed 1A Games LLC to produce the Tide of Iron series we are seeing the first of their new editions that fall under the “Next Wave” moniker. This crowd funding project has two main parts. First is the Stalingrad expansion that you must own the TOI starter set in order to play. If you don’t have the starter set the other half of the project is the TOI Starter Set “Next Wave” edition. However, the Stalingrad expansion works best with the original TOI if you already own that. This new “Next Wave” line of products is compatible with the original games and expansions. They keep the same game system but provide quick start scenarios and present the rules in such a way that they are easy to learn and start playing.
The Stalingrad expansion contains the Soviet infantry and armor as well as the German armor needed to compliment the base game in order to recreate the brutal street fight of one of World War II most important battles. In all it comes to “90 figures, bases and vehicles.” In addition to the playing pieces this expansion comes with 12 double-sided urban terrain maps that include factories, streets, buildings and sewers that add another dimension to the game. Eight new scenarios, introductory battles and four linked campaigns also ship with the game.
The “Next Wave” TOI starter set reprints the tokens, reference charts and core rules from the original game. It also comes with double sided map boards, German and American infantry, tanks and half-tracks. As we stated before all of this is compatible with all the previous editions and expansions of the TOI series. This starter set reprint kicks off 1A Games plan for a full series of “Next Wave” expansions and games for TOI.
I highly recommend you head over and check out the projects Kickstarter page. Not only are your standard reward levels included but as you go up the reward levels you unlock some very cool rewards that include limited edition game cards, 3d models of a German sIG 33 armored self-propelled howitzer, and laser cut wooden initiative cards.
Click images to enlarge
Yep, we’re up to part 18. Go read last episode to refresh your memory. Just read the last one, though. If you read them all you’ll be late for work. Even if work is tomorrow.
What a Fart-Sucker.
The Incans snaked Antwerp out from under us. Going to have to do something to about them.
Enough Stomping Will Get You Anywhere.
Yes, it’s odd to have an elephant unit that doubles as a medic, but hey, you’ve got some serious litter-bearers there.