The Horus Heresy, mine at last. Long have I craved to defend Holy Terra from the traitorous Horus and now, with my faithful companion, Brother Librarian Boudreaux, we shall turn back history and defeat Horus, saving the Empire and driving the forces of Chaos back into the Void where they belong.
Share your own unboxing photos here >>
Grogheads Buying Guide – Holiday 2013
Authors: Brant Guillory and Jim Zabek
The holiday shopping season is upon us. Once again we, or our loved ones, will be faced with attempting to find something for at least one person who either has everything, or is so eclectic that they’re difficult to buy for. What to do? At Grogheads we have a tradition of suggesting a few things that you may not have seen at the mall. Conversely, if your loved ones are struggling to find you something and you are a regular at Grogheads, you’re probably not too interested in most of the things at the mall. Game stores can be intimidating to those not used to frequenting them. So we’ve done some recon on your behalf. We hope you’ll find at least a few things that will save time or be something for that someone who isn’t easy to buy for.
Hardcore boardgamers can be notoriously difficult to shop for. Unless you game with them you’re probably at a loss as to where to start. Here are some great games which, if they don’t have them, they probably should.
Dan Verssen Games Thunderbolt Apache Leader
Thunderbolt Apache Leader was designed from the ground up to be a solo game. A solid wargame about close air support on the modern battlefield, it is perfect for a boardgamer to break when other gamers can’t make it through the snow. Multiple scenarios and campaigns make this highly replayable, and there are even some miniatures that can be purchased to further up the immersion.
Counter Cutters
Some folks like neat, clean lines on their boardgame counters. If they’ve been using nail clippers to get cleaner counters maybe it’s time to get them something actually built for the job. Here are some counter clippers, both large and small sizes, to help expedite their quest for order.
First Strike ‘62
Perfect for the Cold Warrior, First Strike ’62 simulates the Cold War going hot with wings of bombers flying over the poles to deliver their payloads. Here is where the strategic might of the air forces come into their own. ICBMs and bombers will cross the sky in a race to see who might “win” the unthinkable struggle of nuclear war.
Author: Jim Zabek
Winter isn’t coming, it has arrived. The Landgrave of LongBladia is expecting tonight’s temperatures to fall into the low teens. Bitterly cold? I’m thinking we’re getting there.
To warm your hearts, if not your hearths, we’ve selected a few crowd-funded games to please the forward-looking gamer seeking to invest in a project with the hope of a grand return. Whether you consider this goal modest or grandiose, that is our mission the each GARPA column and we hope we live up to your expectation.
Approaching Infinity by Bob Saunders
$6,089 pledged of $5,000 goal ending December 11th
“Roguelike” is a term that often gets batted about. It’s a genre well-loved and much aspired to by gamers and developers alike. Approaching Infinity is a Roguelike 2D retro game of space exploration. With procedurally generated environments the universe is infinitely scalable, which means that it literally has no end. As the player increases is power and reaches further into the virtual universe, the game scales with him – without end.
The funding goal has been met which means that the developer is now working on code for the Mac platform. The PC code is already a given, and a demo can be found here: http://ibol17.wordpress.com/2013/11/16/approaching-infinity-v0-0-6-is-live/. If you’re looking for a retro 2D space exploration game that can go on forever, Approaching Infinity is approaching the end of its funding time, so check it out before it ends. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/181428952/approaching-infinity-a-space-adventure-roguelike
Continue reading
While attending the MACE convention this year in Charlotte, NC I got the chance to play a demo of Hull Breach, a new deck building space warfare game from Not So Broken Games. According to the two-person NSB Games team, it was so new it hadn’t even cleared customs yet.
The game’s premise is that each player represents an interstellar faction vying for galactic dominance. Each player has control of their own space station and associated modules. You deploy ships of different sizes along with associated fighters, drones, and marine complements. In addition to the unit-type cards, there are also various upgrades and options for your units as well as generic galactic events and tactics to give your faction the edge.
It is a resource-building game as well, your resource (raw material) and currency (funds) generated each turn by your station, attached modules, and other breakthroughs or upgrades to modify your turn-by-turn abilities. That being said, it’s pretty simple to keep track of and there was never any point of confusion as to buying power or reach.
In place of miniatures and maps, the combat mechanic takes a cue from CCGs and has a “Magic: The Gathering”-like assignment of attacking units towards another player’s space station. Once in combat, the game brings more complexity to the table – in a good way.
Winter is coming. As a blast of cold, icy air descends from the Arctic we here at Grogheads are doing our best to keep your blood hot for some new games and we’re leading off with GMT’s Fields of Fire, which sounds hot even when you read it through the cool glow of your monitor. Don’t miss some other great gaming goodness beyond the Read More link which includes some awesome terrain for sci-fi minis and some remakes of a couple of classic electronic games.
Fields of Fire II from GMT Games
Cleared p500 and in final development
Still available at the p500 price of $55, this sequel from GMT Games takes the highly-regarded Fields of Fire series into action with the USMC. You’ll lead a rifle company through a variety of solitaire scenarios ranging from the WWII PTO through the present day. A card-driven game with a terrain deck and action deck, Fields of Fire has been described by combat veterans as a pretty damned good representation of the kinds of decisions you need to make in combat. Check it out here and go place your order with GMT.
Millennium Wars Advanced: States of Conflict from MCS Group
Still on preorder, no timetable
The Millennium Wars games are an odd fish. Clearly a map-and-counters wargame that any grog should grok at first glance, but quite complex in the interplay of assets, missions, capabilities, and environmental constraints. A heavy focus on C4I puts the Millennium Wars series in the forefront of modern conflict simulation, and allows solid modeling of organizational cohesion as well as varied non-combat effects like cyberwarfare and political fallout. Still on preorder at $49.95, MWA is a package stuffed with a variety of conflicts to make you squirm your way through the difficult decisions faced on today’s battlefields.
Zeppeldrome
$4600 of $35000, project closes 15 December 2013
Steampunks! Yeah, you! Wanna race? Wanna race an airship? Wanna race and airship and fight dirty? C’mon, you know you do. Interchangeable boards, wacky characters, dirty tricks, and lemmings – it’s all here. Players have modular airships that allow you to mix and match capabilities. Racecourses change each game, and the deck of dirty tricks looks like a Mario race in the sky. Put on your brass goggles and silk scarf, float over to Kickstarter to check out a video of gameplay, and plunk down a couple of bucks for a rollicking ride through the sky.