05/28/14

Home of the Wargamers Report: “Clear and Present Gaming!”

Distant Worlds Universe and Other Imminent Matrix/Slitherine Releases meet Grogheads

An overview by Boggit

Following on from Home of Wargamers 2014, there has been a flurry of activity from Matrix/Slitherine regarding their new releases. Distant Worlds has only just released on 27^th May, and is to be closely followed by Pandora First Contact: Return of the Messeri Expansion, Close Combat: Road to Caen, and Qvadriga on Steam.

Distant Worlds Universe

You can start straight away with a pre-set human campaign, or mix things up with a custom game

For those players who haven’t got Distant Worlds, it is a massively scoped game that conventionally focuses on making broad policy decisions to guide your race to success. Essentially, you represent “the state”, but much of the game is heavily reliant on your private citizens. These private citizens trade, colonise, and exploit much of the universe’s resource potential. Distant Worlds Universe can be an incredibly deep 4X game (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) – if you want it to be. You can micromanage as much, or as little as you wish, although micromanaging carries the risk of your head exploding given the multitude of activities you can engage in! Continue reading →

04/27/14

Qvadriga – A Flash Review by Boggit

“Long ago the people shed their anxieties, ever since we do not sell our votes to anyone. For the people—who once conferred imperium, symbols of office, legions, everything—now hold themselves in check and anxiously desire only two things, the grain dole and chariot races in the Circus.” (Juvenal, Satire X, 77-81)

Qvadriga Developed by Turnopia and published by Matrix/Slitherine

Team Vincas Boggi recruits drivers from the “Life of Brian” as selected by Roman Governor Pontius Pilate!

Dedicated chariot racing games are not something you see very often. Qvadriga (Latin for chariot) looked as if it might hit a spot that had been neglected since the board game days of Avalon Hill’s Circus Maximus. Back in the day I’d play with a group of friends over a few beers, running a racing faction. The atmosphere was fun and immersive, having all the competiveness, skullduggery, and tactical skill you’d expect for this sport. It was with all these good memories in mind that I thought I’d give Qvadriga a go.

To my surprise Qvadriga is not multiplayer, which immediately disappointed me as it limited the social dimension of the gaming experience I’d hoped to see again. I hope that the developer will add this as a feature in a future update, making use of Slitherine’s excellent multiplayer lobby featured in many of their other games. Qvadriga would hugely benefit from offering multiplayer and become even more immersive from the additional competition, banter, and taunts to be expected from real human opponents.

You can choose your starting province. I chose “Galia” because I like melons. Oops! Don’t they mean “Gallia” here?

But what of the game as is? Single player, Qvadriga is a lot of fun to play. It is a remarkably simple game to learn, and is aided by well written, pertinent help pages in the game menu. I fully recommend new players take the time to read the help pages, since although the game is remarkably intuitive, there are a lot of tips and nuances to be learned here making for a better gaming experience.

Continue reading →

03/14/14

GARPA 40 – GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory

This week, GARPA has some nifty little strategy games for you to check out.

The Ancient World (Red Raven Games)
$21,000 or $15,000, ends 3 April 2014

From the creator of Eight Minute Empire comes a new civ-builder set in the ancient Mediterranean with a box full o’ cards that cover trade routes, combat, knowledge, and building. Red Raven’s artwork is some of the best thematic art on the market, and although it’s a light worker-placement game, it feels like your civilization is rising from nothing to dominate the neighborhood. At $50 for a copy, this is a good deal for a game that’s likely to become a staple of any game group that’s not exclusively grogs. Go see the Kickstarter page and get a load of the game, and some gameplay videos.

Continue reading →

03/4/14

Tuesday Screenshot – Rome 2 Total War

The Tuesday Screenshot is goes back in time to Ancient Rome

Click to enlarge

Playing as a barbarian tribe, there is little better in Rome 2: Total War than taking the capital of the known world. About 200 turns in (with some seasonal and turns-per-year mods running) I almost feel like I can call the campaign a victory by taking Rome. But Sparta and Athens remain...as well as some consolidation in Gaul. A city-burning marauder's work is never done! — Playing as a barbarian tribe, there is little better in Rome 2: Total War than taking the capital of the known world. About 200 turns in (with some seasonal and turns-per-year mods running) I almost feel like I can call the campaign a victory by taking Rome. But Sparta and Athens remain…as well as some consolidation in Gaul. A city-burning marauder’s work is never done!

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02/21/14

Celtic War Chariots – A Primer

Lloyd Sabin, 14 February 2014

Click images to enlarge

Celt1 — Celtic chariot pulled by a team of two

Beginnings and Basics
I wish I could have met the guy who invented the spoked wheel. It’s one of the most vital inventions in the history of mankind. Invented about 4000 years ago, it immediately made all human pursuits easier, from travel to commerce to war. And once the spoked wheel took off, it led directly to the development of the war chariot.

The earliest vehicles built for war and considered chariots were built by the Sumerians, Hittites, and Persians, around 2500 BC. Looking back, we today would probably just call them ‘wagons carrying a spearman’…because that’s exactly what they were. Heavy and cumbersome, with solid wheels, they were not very fast and made for easy targets until the Sumerians developed a more modern two-wheeled version, with the brand new spoked wheels. Speed gave the Sumerians battlefield dominance, and the modern technology of the spoked wheel began to spread.

Simultaneously, wheeled, chariot-like vehicles were being developed all over the world at the time. In the 2000 years before 1AD, examples of chariots appeared, often in a military role, in Chinese, Indian, northern and central European civilizations. The domestication of the horse helped with the advance of chariot technology, especially in European warfare.

Celt3 — A spearman mounted on a chariot, doing what he does best.

Perfecting the War Chariot, Inspiring Fear
Of all European cultures of the ancient world, the Celts are probably the best known charioteers, with some of the most feared wheeled vehicles of the ancient era. Not content just scaring the crap out of their opponents with tattoos, woad and war cries, the Celts also tricked out their combat rides with a host of nasty countermeasures that left their opponents reeling. This included scythed wheels, extra noise to spook opposing horses, and skill to jump from the chariot, fight on foot, and jump back on the chariot again to move along without their opponent able to catch up to engage…hit and run tactics at their best. Continue reading →

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Tag: Ancient