02/13/18

What’s Gus Playing? Total War: Warhammer I

Our speed-bump-sized sovereign of steel speaks of swords and spells ~

Lloyd Sabin, 12 February 2018

The Norsca are close to a Viking type faction in real history, they inhabit the freezing cold northern wastes of the Warhammer Old World, they are evil, and they can align with Chaos in the end game, if the player survives. I can dig them.

Those who know me from the forums have a decent idea of my resolve (or lack thereof) in purchasing games. With most releases, I try to hold out as long as I can for a sale. And then there are games whose mere announcement drives me to pre-order…which I frown upon in general, try to minimize most of the time, and occasionally fail at doing. Some pre-orders are still made…I’ve pre-ordered Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Thrones of Britannia (A Total War Saga), and Vampyr….all of which will find their way in to this column eventually. OK…so maybe my pre-order resolve needs some work. But it does lead to more interesting and varied games for me to feature here!

Total War: Warhammer I was a rare case for me. I am only a casual Warhammer fan – I have never painted any of the minis and the books I find depressing in larger doses. I am just about finished with Dan Abnett’s Thunder & Steel omnibus and although I have liked some WH40K books by Abnett, I found Thunder & Steel to be quite the slog most of the time.

So with that in mind I actually held off on buying Total War: Warhammer I. Even after initial glowing professional and user reviews, the game just struck me as too fantastical, too wacky/fruity. That is, until the Norsca were announced.

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02/7/18

GrogHeads Reviews In The Trenches: Base Set II Doughboys

TBP promises to pack big fun into small packages.  How does their WWI series measure up? ~

Designed by John Gorkowski and published by Tiny Battles Publishing ~

Robert Ellis, 7 February 2018

In The Trenches is a series of games that depict platoon level tactical combat during WW1, and offers a good selection of scenarios and forces from many of the involved protagonists.

Each hex represents 100 yards and each turn 5 minutes.

The series so far consists of two base games (this being one of them) and four expansions, all of which require one of the base games to play.

‘Doughboys’, as you might expect from the title, is about US Army actions set in 1918, and has three scenarios that feature a mixture of US infantry and light tanks in both defensive and offensive battles.

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02/6/18

What’s Gus Playing? Battlefield 1 – Italian Front

The diminutive duke of disaster dishes on danger in the Dolomites ~

Lloyd Sabin, 5 February 2018

And it does so in an exciting, all-too-short War Story mini-campaign that I really enjoyed.

Never, not once, have I seen the Italian front (Isonzo, Caporetto, etc.) of the First World War portrayed in a PC game – whether it be in a tactical, strategic or first person shooter. Battlefield 1 may be ridiculous (and fun) in many ways, but it does portray the war between Italy and Austria-Hungary, from the Italian side.

And it does so in an exciting, all-too-short War Story mini-campaign that I really enjoyed. The back story is simple – two Italian brothers are deployed to the mountainous front: one is captured by the Austrians, and one is an Arditi commando. You don’t need me to spell out the rest.

And ‘the rest’ is done with solid attention to detail with loads of Italian weapons available. There is even a dramatic appearance of Italian Caproni heavy bombers! Clearly I loved this Battlefield 1 War Story, except for the fact that is was only about an hour or so long. If only more of these mini-campaigns would be made for single player fans. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s going to happen. So in lieu of that, enjoy the below screen shots of what may be my favorite bout of recent World War I gaming. Continue reading →