Tag: Cold War

07/4/14

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #48

So the 4th of the July, we’re bringing 4 excellent GARPA possibilities. No, we won’t bring you 19 on the 19th.

 

BOAR, MBT Expansion (GMT Games)
203 Orders to date – not there yet

GMT’s modern-day tank shootout MBT has the usual suspects: the US 7th Army and the GSFG. But there’s plenty of tank-blasting goodness up on the Lüneberger Heide where the British Army of the Rhine was facing down an equally vast array of Soviet forces. The MBT games are scaled at the squad and individual vehicle level, ensuring tight focus on tactical shootouts where a bayonet charge is always possible. MBT is on p500 itself, but while you’re over there, get an order in for BAOR, too, and refight the whole shebang back in the late ‘80s.

C&CNapoleonicsbn1(RBM)

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06/6/14

GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #46

A new D-Day game, and (finally!) the digital version of one of boardgaming’s most popular conflict games of all time.  Smells like…. GARPA!

g46-twilightTwilight Struggle, digital edition (GMT Games)
$115k of $50k goal (though that’ll be surpassed by the time you read this), ends 3 July 2014

For several years, it could be wryly joked that the “Struggle” in Twilight Struggle was for the difficulties in getting the digital version deployed.  No more.  It’s not uncommon to see a Kickstarter campaign blow well past the full funding mark, into ridiculous levels of stretch goals.  It’s rare to see a Kickstarter campaign fully funded within hours.  Yes, hours.  Twilight Struggle was at $30000 around 400pm on June 5th, having only launched earlier that day, and within the next 90 minutes they almost doubled that total, to exceed their $50k goal.  They’ve doubled that goal within the first 24 hours.  Why are we not talking about the game itself?  Do we really need to?  It’s to top-ranked “wargame” at BoardGameGeek (though admittedly, discussions of whether or not it’s a “wargame” waste plenty of hours online).  A forum/team game has been running here at GrogHeads for a while now, and countless schoolteachers around the US use it to introduce their students to the Cold War.  Seriously, you don’t need convincing.  You just need to go figure out your pledge level and get it over with already.

 

Day of Days (MMP)
181 of 650 orders needed

It wouldn’t be D-Day without us digging up an Overlord game, right?  MMP has a new SCS game for D-Day that’s designed to cover not just the landings themselves, but the breakouts that followed.  There are even scenarios designed to skip the amphibious assault, and start with Allied forces on the beach.  This game is new enough that there’s no draft cover art, playtest photos, or anything else that’s leaked out.  We were able to scrape up a very rough image of the maps (yes, plural) to show the scope and scale of the game, which will include scenarios that focus just on the British landings, or the US landings.  It’s an MMP game, so it’s going to be a solid and well-tested game on a known platform (SCS) and all those great touches that come with MMP tackling the subject in depth.  Go get a pre-order in!

g46-day

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03/7/14

GrogHeads Reviews World at War: America Conquered

Unleash your inner Wolverine with the latest addition to the World at War family.

Reviewed by Scott R. Krol, 7 March 2014

Click images to enlarge

The World at War series from Mark H. Walker and his LNL Publishing is a series of tactical wargames set in a hypothetical mid-80’s World War III between the forces of  NATO and the Warsaw Pact.  Earlier titles focused on this cold war gone hot on the European continent, but now the war comes to North America with World At War: America Conquered (henceforth, WAW: AC).

Upon picking up the box for WAW: AC the first thing one will notice is that for a relatively thin box it feels like its made of depleted uranium.  LNL Publishing has filled the box with gaming goodness:  four 11” x 17” mounted maps, with European folds and no American valleys, over seven hundred counters, a couple of full color player aid charts and of course a rules book.  Unfortunately while all this fits snugly into the box prior to punching the counters, once the counters are punched there is no room in the box for the pieces because of the mounted maps.

Many dead trees contributed to your gaming pleasure.
Many dead trees contributed to your gaming pleasure.

 

The maps themselves, representing terrain in both Texas and Florida, are nice. The visuals may not be breathtaking but are simple and clean, with no confusion over what is represented.  Counters are of high quality, with an almost linen like finish.  Vehicles have full color side views while infantry and support weapons are NATO icons.

While many of the World at War titles have been expansions, WAW: AC is a complete, stand alone game.  Ownership of earlier titles is not required to enjoy WAW: AC . Continue reading →

02/16/14

Grogheads Interview: The Command – Modern Air Naval Operations Team

Command: Modern Air Naval Operations is one of the most decorated wargames of 2013, including a hard-fought Usenet award, and both of its categories here at Grogheads.  It’s also been one of our most-talked-about games of the past year in our forums.  The guys behind the game took some time to chat with us about where Command came from and where they’re headed next.

 

So guys, let’s start at the beginning – what was the impetus behind Command, and why did you want to build your own game instead of continuing to build on existing proven platforms?

CMANO-smallCommand is a culmination of all our hobby experiences. Our interest was born reading & watching the great techno-thrillers of our youth (Forsyth, Clancy, Ludlum, Coyle, Brown etc.), absorbing all the political & military history and facets of the Cold War (which at that day seemed far from over) and playing some really great amazing games of the era (F-19, RSR, M1TP, SPI’s CentFront series, the Fleet series, Gunship, Steel Panthers, Fleet Defender, Tornado, Harpoon and loads more). Our involvement with Harpoon and AGSI helped cultivate it as we met each other through the Harpoon community and really started learning about modern warfare, talking with professionals and thinking about simulations. We started out as avid modders for Harpoon 2 and then 3 and had great success helping to grow the Harpoon community and helping AGSI develop their game (including doing the grunt work for their first pro deal).  All of this played a part in our own development and helped us build  a strong and skilled team that had a vision of the game they wanted to build and the energy and motivation to do it. So we reached a point where we really wanted to do our own thing  and as is now self evident we went ahead and did just that.

 

When you have to describe Command to someone who doesn’t know wargaming, what’s the “elevator pitch” for the game?  How do you hook a potential player with just 1-2 sentences?

If the guy is getting off at the next floor and I have only 5 seconds:

“Command is the ultimate modern air and naval wargamer’s sandbox.”

If we’re both heading for the loft and he’s stuck with me for just a bit more:

“Breakfast – you trade machine gun fire & rocket salvos with pirates & smugglers in the littoral.

Lunch – you plan and execute an Alpha Strike from a carrier.

Dinner – you launch a strategic nuclear attack over the North Pole.

Midnight snack – you spin your own historical or what-if anywhere on the globe, with practically any war machine in existence post-WW2.

All with high realism & accuracy. All in one game. Command.”

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