Tag: Tactical

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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11/22/17

Classic Reviews – World War II: Panzer Claws

“…by the start of the day, eight Panzers thundered mightily over the dusty tracks that passed for a road, with several squads of Panzergrenadiers in attendance. By the end of that day, resistance was so fierce that merely two Panzer III’s remained, both damaged, and nary an infantryman was to be seen…”

-From the author’s own After Action report

Michael Eckenfels, 22 November 2017

Developed by Zuxxez and Published by EIDOS Interactive

Panzer 101

Using World War II as its canvas, Panzer Claws paints an RTS strategy game in vivid appearance, clustered with frantic game-play that fits perfectly in the chaotic battles it portrays. Although not realistic – Panzer Claws has a resource-gathering and unit-building system similar to other RTS’s, such as StarCraft – the game is still fun to play.

Soviet heavy armor lined up in the dirty, smoky snow, awaiting orders.

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11/21/17

Tuesday “Interview”: The Grogs’ Favorite Tank Games

We asked the Grogs to give us their favorite tank-heavy game ~

The GrogHeads Team, 21 November 2017

Cyrano

This one’s not even close:  Combat Mission in its various iterations.

These are games played with a merciless physics engine that feel every bit as gritty and grand now as they did nearly two decades ago.

I remember getting hooked on the WEGO gameplay and the ability the 3D environment gave you to peek over the shoulders of your digi-troopers and guess at what war must have been like for them.  Multi-player randomized battles to the wee hours of the morning were pretty great too.  What made both x1 and x2 really special, though, was the incredible variety of, yep, AFVs.  I’m not an WWII rivet-counter — I save my O.C.D. for Napoleonic games — but the fellows who designed Combat Mission are and it shows every time you pan around their products; not to mention the remarkable array of modifications available on-line.   There are no CRTs or bog charts here.  These are games played with a merciless physics engine that feel every bit as gritty and grand now as they did nearly two decades ago.  They’ve let me play with some of the most famous tanks of the war and some I never even knew existed.

Others have come for her throne, but CMx1 and x2 are still queen of the battlefield for me when it comes to tank warfare.

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11/13/17

What’s Gus Playing? Episode 7

Our very own half-pint hammerhead is back at war ~

Lloyd Sabin, 13 November 2017

If you’re keeping track of what I’m playing you really need a better hobby. That said, last week I covered my foray in to the first act of Shadow of War, and despite myself I found I kept coming back for 10-12 hours of pretty mindless orkish bloodletting. Now another week has passed and after moaning and wailing, I have arrived at the second act of Shadow War, just in time for army construction and that sweet, sweet siege warfare I have been screaming for. And wouldn’t you know it, just as I’ve developed a good head of steam and plowed directly in to the act…I have started to lose interest.

So I am some distance in to the second act of Shadow of War and feeling a little ‘meh’ about the whole thing.

I don’t dislike Shadow of War, but as noted last week, the entire first act is more of the same from Shadow of Mordor. Relatively speaking, that’s a good thing and the nemesis system is solid…I just wanted more NEWER FASTER!!! And I didn’t get to it quickly enough.

So I am some distance in to the second act of Shadow of War and feeling a little ‘meh’ about the whole thing. For a time I am going to shelve Shadow of War and move on, for my own sanity and yours. I will come back to it, and probably pretty soon, but right now my brain needs something else. An old favorite, a new take on an old formula, something totally out of left field…I’m not sure yet, put it that way. But whatever I start gaming in the next few days will make this little column here more interesting than my mewling about that sweet, sweet siege action. I know this.

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