Tag: Brant

01/26/14

A Review of GMT’s A Distant Plain

Brant tackles GMT’s latest COIN series game, A Distant Plain, and reports from the front.

GrogHeads has covered A Distant Plain with an interview with the designers, and the photos of the unboxing.  All well and good, of course, but how does it play?

There are several reasons why A Distant Plain can be tough to review.  That said, they are all the same reasons that make it a compelling game.  How many multiplayer wargames have you played where the players are not simply extensions of a team, but rather working at cross purposes as often as not?  How many wargames have you played with an elastic time scale?  How many wargames eschew anything resembling unit factors or quantified values?  And now take all those tweaks and roll them into a single game, and drop into an ongoing conflict whose outcomes are not yet truly determined.

 

The Story

There are four players: The Coalition, The Government, The Taliban, and the Warlords.  Of these, the Taliban are the only one for whom you can draw a reasonably straight line directly from the real life organization in Afghanistan directly to a game role.  The Government essentially represents the Karzai administration, but there are game effects that seem to clearly outstrip the existing government’s capabilities.  The Coalition is a mix of ISAF, the US, some NGO capabilities, and other external actors attempting to influence actions in Afghanistan.  Finally, the greatest amalgam – the Warlords – are the ultimate ‘floater’ faction representing a collection of decidedly non-aligned ‘real’ actors who nevertheless represent a unified set of goals within the mechanics of the game.

The varying scenarios allow you start the war in 2002, 2005, or 2009, but all tend to end around 2013 or so.  Obviously, the 2009 scenario is the quickest of them, but any of them will take most of an afternoon, if not more.

ADP-setup
The setup for the “surge” scenario, starting in 2009.

 

Opening the Box

We’ve covered the unboxing before, but to save you jumping to the link, here’s what you get: a solid, 8-panel, mounted, folding map with a ton of useful marginal tracks, boxes, and record-keeping tools; a single sheet of mounted, die-cut counters that are virtually all administrative in nature; a bag of Euro-game-ish markers for the players, representing bases and forces; some dice and pawns; a bunch of plastic bags; the deck of cards used to drive the game along; and a ton of very clear, useful, and well-designed player cards that clearly lay out what players can do on any given turn. Continue reading →

01/18/14

GARPA 36 – GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory

Hey, it’s still Friday somewhere…

This week is an all-tabletop-gaming week, even though they aren’t all games, per se.  Read on, friends!

G36-Salerno

VCS: Salerno, Multi-Man Publishing

Multi-Man Publishing is kicking out a new series of games called the Variable Combat System, and Salerno is the first title.  Amphibious assaults, coordinated actions across multiple maps, and alternate histories that include options for airborne assaults, and different commanders.  Awesome Eskubi artwork, revolutionary mechanics, what are you waiting for?  Head over to the pre-order page and plunk down your shekels.

 

Earthdawn RPG, FASA Corporation
$28,600 of $10,000 goal, Ends 12 February

The original ’90s-era Earthdawn was lavishly-illustrated and notoriously fiddly.  The reboot looks fan-freaking-tastic and promises to play just as good as it looks.  The risk setting was always the hallmark of Earthdawn, and the Kickstarter campaign includes all manner of add-ons, upgrades, and stretch goals that build out the world, from new adventures to location sourcebooks.  You can pick up poster art, hard- or soft-cover books, and, for a cool $1200, play an eight-player game with the creator by video chat.  Or, you could just check out the Kickstarter page and order a copy of the game. Continue reading →

01/3/14

GARPA 35 – GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory

Authors: Brant Guillory and Jim Zabek

If this winter has taught us one thing here in LongBladia, it is that it can always get colder and snowier. The highs next week are forecast to be subzero Fahrenheit. Simply put, it would be wise to stay indoors, peruse some crowd-funded gaming projects, and sip hot cocoa. If you must go outside, make sure you run by your local game store and thank them for getting out in the cold to open their doors and sell you games. It’s the least you can do.

But, what we can do here at GrogHeads is share some of the recon we’ve conducted on upcoming projects. So grab your mouse and hot cocoa and get ready for some temptation!

Tabletop Games

Wise Bayonets by Acies Games

Available for Purchase

GARPA-35-Wise-Bayonets50.1When a Napoleonic wargame is published in the Italian peninsula about a battle that took place on their soil, it’s worth a gander. Acies Games has published a number of games that range from ancient Rome to control for the island of Sardinia and beyond. To call these battles “obscure” is to deny our wargaming roots; we love this stuff! The chance to learn about the nuances of forgotten conflicts, to possibly change the course of history…this is the meat and potatoes of wargaming. And gamers seeking to refight the battle of Trebbia now have the opportunity to do so. No, it’s not crowd-funded, but it’s definitely worth checking out: http://www.aciesedizioni.it/trebbia-eng.htm

 

Fief – France 1429 by Academy Games

$47,524 pledged of $20,000 goal, ending February 11th

GARPA-35-Fief.75

 

Academy Games is no stranger to porting foreign language games into English, polishing them, andreleasing them to the English-speaking wargaming wilds. Fief – France 1429 is an existing French language game of medieval “dynastic ambition.” Players take control of one of four families, with which they use to attempt to gain control of various villages on the map. Players must both cooperate and compete with each other through marriages and alliances. Events such as papal annulments, good and bad harvests all pop up to help keep things interesting. And having already met its successful threshold for fundraising, players can expect unlocks of stretch goals to continually improve this game. Check it out on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/617871702/fief-france-1429

Gathering Storm by GMT Games

P500 not yet filled

GARPA-35-GatheringStorm-2.75What’s that you say? A World at War wasn’t big enough or long enough for your gaming tastes? Fear not, for Gathering Storm is here to fill the void. With Gathering Storm players can start the ramp-up to the Second World War as early as 1935. This prequel allows gamers to fiddle with the “what-ifs” leading up to the war, which can range from Doenitz successfully getting a significant investment in his submarine fleet to the French extending the Maginot Line, to the conflict breaking out in other parts of the world first, such as a French pre-emptive attack, or Germany going after Russia first. Crazy? Crazy like only a wargamer can be. This is the stuff we live for, and if you’re man enough to play A World at War you’re definitely going to want to get in on Gathering Storm’s action. Check it out here: http://www.gmtgames.com/p-467-gathering-storm.aspx

Continue reading →

12/20/13

GARPA 34 – GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory

Authors: Brant Guillory & Jim Zabek

As Santa’s elves are banging out the last of their projects to be delivered next week there have been a number of game developers who’ve been making similar plans but with the help of crowd-sourced funding. Those of us in the US have even enjoyed a reprieve in the weather, with temperatures around LongBladia managing to briefly climb above freezing. The levels of snow we’ve received could be characterized as harassing fire – enough to cover the lawn and roads but not enough to make the kids happy with a day of school closure. Not to fear, temps are expected to come crashing down soon, but you know what that means: spring can’t be far behind.

Tabletop Games

Castles – A Strategic Card Game by AAIIEEE! GAMES

$7,339 pledged of $2,500 goal ending January 2nd

GARPA-34-Castles-Card-GameIf Castles looks familiar to you, it did to me, too, and for good reason.

Way back in November AAIIEEE GAMES (their capitalization, not mine. Really.) launched Castles as a “Strategic Card Game For Two Players” and set their funding goal at $6000. It failed to come anywhere near that goal, gaining a modest 2,787. Undeterred, the developers have reworked their math and decided that they could make do with backers supplying a more modest goal of $2500 and removing the word “strategic” from their game’s name.

They must be evil geniuses because this time the public got solidly behind them, easily meeting the $2500 goal and – surprisingly – have more than four times the number of original backers have coughed up $7300 worth of support, an amount that would have surely satisfied their first attempt at funding.

Crowd-sourced games can be strange in that way. In any case, if you’re looking for strategic card game for two players, with mild elements of fantasy and some attractive artwork, Castles may be the game for you.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aaiieee/castles-a-card-game-for-two-players

 

MegaMat Gaming Mat by Frontline Gaming and TABLEWAR

$73,374 pledged of $15,000 goal ending December 22nd

GARPA-34-Megamat-ImageMiniatures gamers are constantly on the prowl for a better mousetrap. Anything which gives their gaming experience an edge is carefully considered for addition to what is likely to already be a well-stocked inventory of gaming accessories. The limits of discretionary income are often the greatest impediment to buying wholesale swathes of accessories for our tables and it is well that we should have limits lest we have no room to store our accumulated treasures.

So it is that I am well aware how tempting it will be to many readers when I place these gaming mats here for your consideration. The creators of the MegaMat have already reached a successful level of funding. Their offering is simple: 4’ x 4’ or 4’ x 6’ gaming mats that provide a color base on which to game. So far it appears as though three backgrounds are available: grassy plains and blast zone were the first two mats promised if the minimum fundraising goal was met, with additional plans for more mats to be unlocked as fundraising levels were achieved. Planned stretch goal maps will include urban combat, alpine, and barren wasteland.

The mats have been created by professional game artists and the printed resolution is promised to be at 300 dpi (current test images are said to have been at 150, which already looks quite good).

The material the maps are printed on is similar to that of a mousepad, which provides a flexible material for ease of storage that is also crease resistant, and has a rubber back to help secure it to whatever surface it is placed upon. The mats are also coated with a water-resistant material to help resist stains and keep it clean. If any of these mats needs to be on your gaming table you’d better hurry as the fundraising window is closing rapidly.

Continue reading →

12/18/13

Review of Eight Minute Empire

Brant takes a look at Eight Minute Empire, a game that plays waaaaaay faster than it takes for him to write the review

Brant Guillory, 18 December 2013

How does a game with 2 types of blocks, a map that could hide in a magazine, and no combat pack a legitimate realm-building adventure into a 10-minute game?

Elegantly.

8-minute-1
The small box includes 5 colors of tokens, punchout coins, a deck of cards, a very short instruction page, and a mounted, two-sided map. The box is pretty solid, too. You could really hurt someone if you hurl it at them.

Eight Minute Empire from Red Raven Games probably takes about ten to twelve minutes to play, but you lose the cute alliteration of the name in doing so.  Still, taking over the map twice in a lunch break at the office, and still having time to talk smack about it, is nothing to sniff at.

First question – “Does it really only take eight minutes to play?”  Yes, if you’ve got a two-player game of guys who know what they’re doing.  But let’s just suppose you double the length of the advertised game.  Are you really going to be unimpressed with a game that let’s you conquer the map in less time than it’ll take you to read this review?

Second question – “Whaddaya mean there’s no combat?  How do I conquer the world?”  The guy with the most armies (cubes) in the space controls it.  Ties go to nobody.  It’s not rocket surgery.

Third question – “Is it just beating each other up?”  Nope.  There are potential cities to found, a treasury to manage, and trade goods to collect.

So here’s how it works. Continue reading →