Tag: Gus

12/25/17

What’s Gus Playing? Episode 12

GrogHeads’ rump-height rapscallion rides the ropes ~

Lloyd Sabin, 25 December 2017

I’m sure there are many games that you return to after months or even years away. This was the case for me with Assassin’s Creed: Rogue. You know, the AssCreed just after Black Flag that kept the well done naval combat but shifted settings to New York’s Hudson River Valley during the French and Indian War in the 1750s.

It’s one of those games that makes players excited to be gamers, and I can’t think of a better comment to lavish upon it!

Oh and your in-game avatar spent most of the game breaking away from his usual Assassin’s guild and worked on joining the Templars. Traitor? Turncoat? Depends on your perspective.

Rogue does give players an opportunity to explore the beautiful Hudson River Valley hinterland as well as its bigger cities like Albany and New York City, one of the only games I can recall that provides that setting. And living here in that setting 250 years later made Rogue irresistible…it just draws players in with beautiful graphics, stealthy mechanics (where you want them), a solid naval combat component, even fleet management. Continue reading →

12/18/17

What’s Gus Playing? Episode 11

The wee wonder of warmongering waxes whimsically ~

Lloyd Sabin, 18 December 2017

Well my Polish campaign in Medieval 2: Total War (with the Stainless Steel mod) looks to be wrapping up in a way I didn’t really want…Hungary, Novgorod and now Venice have all found savory bits to lop off my increasingly small empire and I fear I may be knocked out of the campaign soon. Witness some of the below shots.

Initially I cheered at this news as the Holy Roman Empire was a victory objective for me to defeat but then I quickly realized that the powers that dismantled it were in the process of taking my Polish empire down too.

Continue reading →

12/11/17

What’s Gus Playing? Episode 10

Our pint-sized pistoleer picks up Pike & Shot ~

Lloyd Sabin, 11 December 2017

If you include fan made scenarios and campaigns, Pike & Shot Campaigns covers warfare all the way up to the American Revolution and the American Civil War.

As soon as I learned that the Pike & Shot: Campaigns engine was the same one used by the Battle Academy games, I knew I would be drawn in. I love those games for their simplicity and also for the sense of urgency their turn-based structure creates. In some ways they create a sense of tension usually reserved for playing against other humans, either digitally or in person in a board game. Pike & Shot is exactly the same, with the added bonus of covering European conflicts that are generally lacking in game coverage from the late 1400s to the late 1600s. If you include fan made scenarios and campaigns, Pike & Shot Campaigns covers warfare all the way up to the American Revolution and the American Civil War.

It had been a while since I had fired up Pike & Shot: Campaigns to look around, but I quickly downloaded literally dozens of fan made scenarios, including ones based on the 16th century Italian Wars, the early 18th century Great Northern War, a Gustavus Adolphus campaign and many more. I then started the first tutorial mission. It was one of four in the the tutorial campaign portraying the struggle of 17th century Transylvanian Boyars against the forces of the Holy Roman Empire. Digest that for a moment, I’ll wait… Continue reading →

12/4/17

What’s Gus Playing? Episode 9

The pummelin’ pocket Pomeranian packs a punch ~

Lloyd Sabin, 4 December 2017

I continue with my Polish campaign…the year is now 1313 and to get to this point I had to trample the Lithuanians and Kievan Rus while playing nice so the Holy Roman Empire wouldn’t do the same to me.

At this point it’s not exactly a two front war as much as it is a battle against two advanced, pissed off enemy powers.

In between, Hungary and Novgorod got all uppity and are trying to wipe me from the face of the earth. At this point it’s not exactly a two front war as much as it is a battle against two advanced, pissed off enemy powers.

The Stainless Steel AI is putting up a good fight, more so on the campaign map than on the tactical map, but I am finding myself being smacked around nonetheless. See some of the below images to find out exactly how I got to this point of questioning my nation’s independence and even it’s existence in the next few turns. If I annoy one more power…that may be the tipping point and then I’ll be fully on the defensive. Continue reading →

11/27/17

What’s Gus Playing? Episode 8

The low-flying lord of longswords swings his blade around Eastern Europe ~

Lloyd Sabin, 27 November 2017

With the darkness and cold this time of year, I need some comfort food and some comfort gaming as well as beer. My ultimate comfort gaming series is Total War. It just makes me feel good. And one of the best Total War games is Medieval 2.

It just makes me feel good.

Combine one of my favorite series with one of my favorite installments of that series and it just doesn’t get much better…unless I add one of the best mods for a Total War game…Stainless Steel! I recently installed Stainless Steel v6.4 after having issues with it for years and settling for v6.3. It works like a charm now, runs extremely smooth and I haven’t had one CTD in about 15 hours of play. Not sure what finally clicked but I’ll take it.

If you have loved the Total War series even a little, you owe it to yourself to try Stainless Steel v6.4. If you enjoyed Medieval 2, run, don’t walk, and grab it right now. You’ll need a copy of the Kingdoms expansion as well. Here, have this link. It has everything you need to get started. Continue reading →