The Last Hundred Yards (GMT) p500 $38, MSRP $59 – not there yet
Because what you really need is another tactical level WWII game, right? But this one includes a significant dose of battlefield chaos and an emphasis on the decisions made by the men on the ground far more than the technical capabilities of their gear. Early feedback from GMT’s Weekend at the Warehouse is positive, so check it out.
We venture beyond hex-and-counter wargaming for much of this week’s GARPA ~
GrogHeads Staff, 22 April 2016
The Dark Sands (GMT Games) p500 $38, MSRP $55 – made the cut
Ted Racier strikes again! He’s taking his East front campaign system from The Dark Valley and dropping it into North Africa. You get to refight the dramatic 2 years of back-and-forth warfare between Cairo and Tunis at the operational level, with a focus on combat and planning. Notably, the GMT copy on their promotional material pokes fun at a certain well-known North Africa game with a heavy logistical focus. Meanwhile, you’ve got a highly solo-friendly game that spans a grand campaign from a designer we all love and a company that churns ass-kicking products. Got get your order in before you can’t get the p500 price anymore.
HOLDFAST: North Africa 1941-42 (Worthington Publishing) $21k of $2500, ends 15 March 2016
Worthington’s Holdfast series is back. After Russia and Korea, they guys head to North Africa. The standard Holdfast features are back, with fog of war, fast play times, and engaging turn sequences that keep players constantly guessing about what’s up next. Like every other North Africa game, you need a table that’s about 24 inches wide and 28374652938762 feet long, but you’ll be chasing panzers across the sands before you know it. Rumble over to their campaign page and you can fire off your pledge.
Here’s GARPA, our fortnightly bundle of pre-ordering goodness! ~
Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain (GMT Games) p500 $65, MSRP $95
It got funded in a few days, so it is going to press. The latest entry into the COIN series keeps giving us counterinsurgency warfare from off the beaten path – no Malaysia or Sri Lanka here. This entry brings in a greater level of economics, and boffo-keen (though ahistorical) castle meeples. Scots and Saxons are among the factions that vie for power and veterans of the COIN system already know how to play. Liberty or Death sold out in a hurry, and that’s after all the p500 orders were delivered. Get this now, or miss out and be the laughingstock of the forums when you look for sympathy.
After Action Report for JTS’s Panzer Battles: Normandy ~
Boggit, 30 January 2016
John Tiller Software has released yet another Panzer Battles game – the first being Kursk: The Southern Front last year. From my perspective I find it a fascinating period, and the game not only looks extremely pretty, but has the usual wealth of historical research and elegant gameplay that players can expect as standard from John Tiller Software. The computer opponent is certainly much better than I’ve seen in some older John Tiller titles, and it is a very rewarding game for a single player. That said I suspect – as with other John Tiller titles – that the optimal opponent is another human. Play by email is fully supported, and from experience I will add that it’s an easy system to use multiplayer.
The Normandy campaign can in some ways get understated given the scale of what was happening at the time on the Eastern Front with Operation Bagration, but don’t lose sight of the fact that during this campaign more German troops became casualties, or surrendered than at the better known Battle of Stalingrad. The Normandy campaign led to the near total collapse of German forces on the Western front for nearly a month, during which France and much of Belgium were liberated. To give you a flavour of what is being offered, here are some screenshots and an AAR from the Brettevillette scenario, a historical action set during 28th June 1944 (mid-way through the Normandy campaign). Enjoy.
Panzer Battles: Normandy has 65 standalone scenarios. 59 are unique and 6 are AI ‘variants’ focused for the single player against the computer. The spread of scenarios cover the whole campaign starting with the initial airborne attacks on 6th June 1944, and end with the decisive Falaise battle on 20th August. Two campaigns and five variable scenarios provide a further 28 variants of scenarios.
