05/9/14

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #44

It’s time for our semi-weekly preview of awesomeness in gaming

Some images click to enlarge

Chainmail Dice Bag (AlphaMailleChainmail)

$20 – available now

We’re breaking the rules slightly on GARPA here. Our first item this week isn’t a pre-order, but is actually already available. However, it happens to be on sale right now, so we’re pimping it a bit. After all, what self-respecting grog wouldn’t want a chainmail dice bag. You read that right: Chainmail. Dice. Bag. Let’s those words sink in a bit. Then cruise on over to the maker’s Etsy site and check out the medium sized chainmail dice bag for sale for only $20. Say it with me now: “oooooooh… aaahhhhhh…”

Next War: India-Pakistan (GMT Games)

p500 – not there yet

They’ve covered Korea, have Taiwan on their p500, and now GMT Games heads to the subcontinent for oh-God–lets-hope-it-doesn’t-go-nuclear showdown between India and Pakistan that also ropes in the Chinese and Americans. With the conflict in Kashmir boiling over, shots get fired again, and yet another war breaks out between India and Pakistan. Varying scenarios let players explore either side in the role of aggressor, and an intervention matrix determines what role other power play in the conflict. It’s on GMT’s p500 program, but it hasn’t made the cut yet – and won’t if you don’t go pledge!

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12/16/13

Spearpoint 1943 with Designer Byron Collins – BONUS

Byron had sent some videos our way. And in classic GrogHeads “we’re-making-this-up-as-we-go” style, ~~we forgot to include them in this weekend’s post~~ decided to devote a new article just for them, since they’re so outstandingly awesome.

Discuss this article in our forums >>

12/14/13

Spearpoint 1943, Kickstarter Preview and Interview with Designer Byron Collins

Byron Collins has launched a new Kickstarter campaign for the Spearpoint 1943 system, and is closing fast on his funding. He took a few minutes out of his busy days pimping this excellent card-driven WWII game to, well, to continue pimping it, but with GrogHeads!

Brant Guillory, 14 December 2013

Give us 3 words to describe Spearpoint 1943 as a game system.

Quick, Fun, Deep

OK, now give us the short paragraph – what’s special about the way Spearpoint 1943 plays, and where are wargamers likely to fit this into their staple of wargames?

Spearpoint 1943 is an expandable card game at its core (non-collectible). It’s highly portable with its small box and small footprint of play. It’s quick, deep, and keeps players interested because as you play, the game really tells a story. For players who want even more depth than just playing with cards, they can optionally expand it with the Village and Defensive Line Map Expansion that got a 2013 Origins Award Nomination for Best Historical Boardgame. The Map Expansion adds terrain boards that set up differently each game- it really changes the game and takes it even deeper- offering new challenges to Spearpoint players. It’s a very scalable system. Spearpoint fits nicely into a gamer’s library who seeks a great fast filler that’s easy to teach (even to teenage sons/daughters), yet scratches that tactical itch without drowning players in minutia. It’s also been called an excellent ‘filler’ game between larger wargames.

What was the genesis behind Spearpoint 1943 and what were some of the design challenges you experienced along the way?

Spearpoint 1943 came about at WBC one year. I was trying to demonstrate my very first design, which was much more complex (Frontline General: Italian Campaign Introduction). I didn’t have time to show such a complex game, so focused on demonstrating just one element of it- combat. From there, Spearpoint was born. After honing the game to be a standalone card game, the combat system became even better and more fun. Breaking it out of my first game made me realize that everything else I had done with that original design wasn’t quite as fun as just focusing on the combat. The original Spearpoint 1943 is my best-selling game, was my first game in distribution, and remains popular- hence the expansions and new standalone game- Spearpoint 1943 Eastern Front. Continue reading →

08/7/13

Go To Games: 7 Wonders

Brant Guillory, 7 August 2013

For a lot of people, their “go-to” game is the game they boot up on the computer when they have time to kill in the evenings, or over a weekend when they’ve got the game on TV and want to safely ignore commercials. And while I have a few casual “go-to” games in the digital world, I would be remiss if I failed to extoll the virtues of my tabletop “go-to” game for multi-player gatherings: 7 Wonders.

For most wargamers, 7 Wonders barely registered on their radar. A fast-playing European production, 7 Wonders has an abstract combat mechanic, and one that can be safely ignored and still result in a resounding victory. With so little battlefield relevance, it’s not wonder that many grogs steered clear of 7 Wonders when it was released. Their loss. Seriously.

The core schtick of 7 Wonders is a play-a-card city-building mechanic where players use resources to build parts of their cities, including attempting to build one of the Wonders of the Ancient World. The original game came with players’ boards for the widely-acknowledged 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, but subsequent expansions (including a brand-new pack of boards) give players almost 20 options around which to build their cities, including the Colosseum, The Great Wall, and Stonehenge.