Tag Archives: Medieval
GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #95
Plenty of tabletop gaming goodness for you this time ~
GrogHeads Staff, 19 August 2016
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.
Tracer Rounds: Attack of the Killer Poetry
What do you do with a backlog of reviews? ~
Brant, 04 April 2016
We get all kinds of games sent to us, along with the ones we pick up one our own. Some good, some bad, some gorgeous, some not so much. We try – we really do try – to get to all of them for review purposes, but it doesn’t always happen. There’s a reason I’ve got a weekly blurb here called “What I’m doing this week when I should be playing games”. Moreover, when I play a game for review, I want to play it multiple times to ensure that the review I’m writing is accurate based on how the game is balanced, and how it plays over time – especially if replayability is one of the key factors we want to discuss.
Among the reasons I’ve made it a point to start republishing a bunch of the ‘classic reviews’ are that I don’t want my reviews to be dependent on someone else’s site continuing to exist, as well as wanting folks to be able to find opinions on older games that they may want to take for a spin. Additionally, many of those older reviews (some of which I’m going to get to soon) were longer borderline-investigative-journalism pieces that really dug into the games through repeated plays. That was a lot easier when I was in grad school. Working 3 different teaching jobs, plus being the editorial director here, makes all that a lot tougher.
So, this episode of Tracer Rounds is designed to catch up on those reviews – with a twist.
GrogHeads Advanced Research on Projects Advisory #90
What’s up for preorder in March? Space wars, dice, castles, and WAR! ~
GrogHeads Staff, 25 March 2016
Hull Breach!: In Defiance of Dictators Card Game (Not-So-Broken Games)
$10k of $33k, ends 17 April 2016
We’ve been tracking the Hull Breach gang for a while, going back to 2013 (http://grogheads.com/?p=3199), so now that their new release is hitting Kickstarter, of course we’re going to throw them some love! It’s a deck-builder type of game, with tactical gameplay that depends on how well you can structure and deploy your assets. Your home base (“station”) needs your protection, and you attack with all variety of ships, marines, and special weapons. Mixing and matching with other boxes lets you customize your deck; fret not, though, as it’s not a collectible game, just a customizable one. The new box includes enhanced rules for team play, new victory conditions, and a streamlined rulebook, to go with a truckload of new cards. Launch for their Kickstarter page and fire off your pledge.
Prosciutto – Hamming it up with the di Parmas, Part 35
In Part 34 we saw Oberto gain and lose the Duchy of Genoa under the stewardship of a power hungry Emperor. Oberto turned his back on the Empire and looked west to further the di Parma cause, at the head of an 8000 strong army he invaded the Muslim controlled lands of Aragon. In this part – expansion, new enemies, old enemies, more enemies and the loss of two sons.
The Muslims attack just as Oberto and the Holy Army join forces – its a massacre, over 4000 Muslims are killed and the siege of Barcelona begins.
Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai
Gus takes on Fall of the Samurai for your weekend entertainment ~
Lloyd Sabin, 22 January 2016
I love you, Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai. You are truly the pinnacle of the Total War series as far as AI wilyness, graphical atmosphere, and all around immersion. But oh…how I hate you as well, never having been able to beat you. I am the closest I have ever been right now, with the help of the Radious mod, which adds a giant rice bowl’s worth of features, including a tamping down of the dreaded Realm Divide event that occurs in the late game pitting whatever clans are left against the player. I presently hold 10 of the required 14 domains needed for a Short Campaign victory by 1882…the year of my last turn is 1870. I am moving on Kyoto, with plans to take Musashi as my final move. The last time I played, a few years ago, I actually ran out of time while besieging Musashi and lost the campaign by samurai’s hair. Not again…not again!
Early in my campaign, capturing the island prefecture of Tsushima was one of my first victories. Looting was not yet on my mind – I didn’t want all of Japan turning against me so early in the campaign due to bad battlefield behavior.
