Tag: Sci-Fi

03/5/18

What’s Gus Playing? Call of Duty – Infinite Warfare pt1

Our bite-size bald battler blasts baddies ~

Lloyd Sabin, 5 March 2018

And each one of these set-piece battles is invigorating…not just exciting, not just well done, but hard driving, balls to the wall fun

Some games just grab on and never let go – especially in the world of first person shooters. Call of Duty has a long and proud gaming history, replete with fantastic single player campaigns, but has met a downturn in the last few years.

With the installment of Infinite Warfare (IW), the single player component was not only revitalized, it was supercharged. IW has received some flak from some players, but honestly I cannot see why. In the single player campaign alone players get to fight in space-based dogfights, lead infantry assaults, besiege giant capital ships, fight mechs and even, for a few fleeting moments, pilot a huge battlecruiser.

And each one of these set-piece battles is invigorating…not just exciting, not just well done, but hard driving, balls to the wall fun, with all kinds of space-based troop types including sailors, marines, battle droids, assault troops…if you can think of it, it is probably included in IW. And the arsenal at your command? As you level up, the player’s arsenal reaches fantastic levels of wonder. Each weapon has an intricate design and a serious heft to them that the player can feel, and using them is just a blast (heh).

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11/25/17

GrogHeads Reviews Ogre (6th Edition)

Steve Jackson Games relaunches Ogre and we take a look at what’s inside ~

Michael Eckenfels, 25 November 2017

Despite my longevity with board gaming, and my particular fondness for Steve Jackson Games’ products (see our slew of Car Wars nostalgia articles I wrote), I never played Ogre. Ever.

I’ve been a student of military history since I was eight years old – about the time the first Ogre game came out, but that was because of a visit to Pearl Harbor and not because of the game. I’d seen Ogre in my various favorite game stores over the years, but I just never had enough interest in it to ever buy it. I could see the appeal of a futuristic David vs. Goliath conflict, but it didn’t appeal to me. I much preferred large armies duking it out over epic-sized maps to small-scale tactical combat. Even a gigantic tank rumbling without a care over desperate small units trying to stop it didn’t appeal much.

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08/30/17

Outpost Gamma – A GrogHeads AAR, part 4

The legionnaires are far from home, and facing impossible odds to play each turn in a reasonable amount of time ~

Michael Eckenfels, 30 August 2017

AAR: PART 4 (TURN 3)

It should be noted that I forgot about a stunned Irdan unit in the south; here is an updated map for your perusal.

When we last left off, the Irdan hordes were advancing slowly but surely on Outpost Gamma. Let’s get back into the action without further ado!

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07/26/17

Outpost Gamma – A GrogHeads AAR, part 3

The legionnaires are far from home, and facing impossible odds.  Still. ~

Michael Eckenfels, 26 July 2017

AAR: PART 3 (TURN 2)

Just a note – if the map or counters look different from this point forward, it’s because I’ve moved to another format. The VASSAL module is awesome for pure play-through, but when it comes to writing up an AAR and needing more finite control over the pieces, it’s not meeting my needs.

The differences are minute, and hopefully you’ll see it as an improvement for the purposes of this write-up. I encourage you, if you’re a fan of VASSAL, to go click on the link above and check it (and other DwarfStar products) out.

We’re one turn in and we’ve only managed to pop two of the Irdan Rebel units, but this should hopefully change as they come within range of more weapons.

Of course, that means THEY have a chance to hurt the Legionnaires, too…

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