Every now and then, everyone takes the plunge on a straight-up impulse buy. Sometimes, it’s an impulse pledge on Kickstarter. I give to you Explorers of the North Sea. Haven’t played it yet, but here’s what it looks like!
That right there is a bad-ass cover
Following a massively successful Kickstarter, and some shipping delays as the manufacture of components needed some tweaking, Academy’s reprint of Mare Nostrum, along with the expansions, finally started to get delivered. Folks who attended Origins were able to pick them up there. Hot damn!
This gallery includes both the base game Empires (on the right) and the Atlas expansion (left)
So, about 5-6 years ago, I started playing with an idea for a game/system. The idea was a basic unified set of rules for current events conflicts, with regularly-released updates that would provide unit information and updated map details for the current world situation. This would allow any player to just grab the current update, and “play forward” from there, to see how the various conflicts might shape up over the next few months or years. When the next update rolled around, the players would have the option to either reset to the current world situation, or adapt the update to their own ongoing conflicts and continue an “alternate future” using the update components.
It’s not like I was breaking any really new ground with the idea, but I had a pretty high-minded concept for how I wanted it to happen, but got quite bogged down in the actual execution of it all.
What I’d like to do here is reopen the discussion and attempt to reinvigorate the participation in the development of the rules and current updates, in the hopes that many minds are smarter than mine, and we can collaboratively move forward on an open-source set of rules and initial process for putting these kinds of tools in the hands of gamers with an interest in current events.
Swords & Sails (VR Soft)
$3k of $42k, ends 16 September 2016
Not even close to making funding – yet – this campaign just launched and includes options for a pretty cheap print-and-play-only copy, as well as a pledge level just for the metal coins included in the game. Yep, metal coins. It’s set in 1000AD, and allows 2-7 players to tackle rewriting the history of Europe as the French, Byzantines, Germans, Russians, or others. There’s an espionage mechanic that’s rare in a game like this, as well as your usual 4x goodness that let you build armies, fleets, cities, and more. Explore your way through their campaign page and see what you think.
What do the new geomorphic hex tiles look like in action?
click images to enlarge
We’re using some Mage Knight figures just for perspective.
This is a mix of meadows, paths, large trees, hedgerows, and edges.
The verdict? Very cool and very easy to physically put together, but don’t do it on carpet (just like any other puzzle).
The challenge can be finding roads, hedgerows, and paths that link together well to actually move in the direction you want, or create the intersections you need. Some of the graphics on the pieces don’t fit together quite as geomorphically as some wargamers will be used to.
Overall, if you’re going to set up a big terrain table for a larger battle, and have the time to put it all together, these are a great accessory. If you’re going to try to change the map on the fly as you move from encounter to encounter in an RPG, you will want to spend some prep time making sure you have all the tiles you need and that you know how you want them all to fit together.
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