GARPA IN SPAAAAACE! OK, not just in space, but there’s a pair of space games for you this week, along with some OCS action and the non-explosive type of RPG.
Falling Stars: War of Empires (LNLP) $2600 of $10k, ends 26 March 2015
With its new ownership, LNLP is branching out into digital products, too, and they’ve’ got a 4x space game out there for you to check out. A strategic game that includes a heavy dose of negotiations with its ‘bartering’ mechanics, Falling Stars gives you more than just a ‘chat with people before you kill them’ vibe for its diplomatic channels. Check out the Kickstarter page, or find them on Steam Greenlight, and stay tuned to GrogHeads for a preview soon.
Scratching the proverbial wargaming itch is a difficult proposition. Often, that itch is in the most hard-to-reach place, where only the right combinations will relieve it. I’ve found that most 2 by 3 Games’ products are very akin to the perfect backscratcher…at leastfor me. Some sizes may not fit all, and not all 2 by 3 Games’ products will likely be popular with all wargamers. And yet, with Gary Grigsby’s War in the West (hereafter referred to as WitW), they’ve managed to craft a really good wargame back-scratcher.
PRESENTATION
Covering major campaigns from 1943 on in Western Europe and North Africa, WitW is all about the struggle of the Western Allies versus the Germans and Italians. The earliest scenario, and conveniently the introductory one, is Operation Husky. With a fairly small number of counters, this simulation of the invasion of Sicily is a great way to get introduced to the system without being overwhelmed. However, there is plenty of detail under the hood (and even quite a bit that spills out from under the hood), which makes the frame in which it is presented so much the better.
Hapless Sicily, the eve before the Allied invasion.
So you may have heard about this little shooting match that happened waaaaaaaay back in the ‘40s? Started out when the Germans decided they needed a little more elbow room and they decided that Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and most of Western Europe was perfectly suited to their needs? No? Buddy, you really need to read up on your WWII history.
Tide of Iron is a hex-and-figures boardgame (a combination gaining in popularity) covering actions between the US and German forces on the Western Front in WWII. It is played at the tactical level – squads of soldiers and individual vehicles – and decked out in Fantasy Flight’s trademark gorgeous components and graphics.
Tide of Iron also supports a four-player mode, in which teams play each side; the pieces are color-coordinated in two different shades to support this multiplayer mode.
World War II – Europe, hereafter WWII-E, is Schwerpunkt’s latest offering in the operational level of computer wargaming. Literally a “Mom and Pop” operation, Ron Dockal and his wife KC have released three other games at this level. First there was Russo-German War 41-44 featuring combat on the East Front of WWII. Then came Anglo-German War 39-45 featuring the Western and desert campaigns of WWII. Third was Middle East War 1948-2010 which included the Israeli Wars, Iran-Iraq Wars, the US Iraq Wars, and what-if’s. All have involved operational level combat and all have been well received.
Returning to WWII, Schwerpunkt has combined their first two titles into one new game with a reworked user interface, higher quality map, and well researched OOB’s that has been their signature through their games.
It’s been a long time coming…here’s what it’s all about.
What’s Inside
For the $50 dollar download currently available you get 52 scenarios, 2 of which have been available since release day. There are a total of 102 scenarios planned. That’s about 50 cents a scenario when they are all released by August 2015. They range from small short actions with a few units and about 4 turns, to longer, beefier scenarios that have hundreds of units per side and last up to 34 turns. When the campaign scenarios are released they will be true monsters, including an entire War in Europe scenario played out at 1 week per turn.
The scenario listing is laid out in chronological order with the campaign for that period listed first followed by smaller scenarios in that period. The 3 largest campaigns are listed last in the selection panel.
Great list of scenarios
Both historical battles and some hypothetical ones are included in the mix. Some of the What-If’s include the invasion of Malta, Gibraltar and England, variations on the fighting in North Africa and a promised 1943 D-Day scenario.
The Longest Day invades your iPad. Michael tells you where you’ll find all the sand afterwards.
Michael Eckenfels, 3 January 2015
click images to enlarge
The Longest Day is a second effort by the makers of Frontline: Road to Moscow, a game which I’ve heard of but have not played. If you’re looking for comparisons between the two, keep on looking because they ain’t here.
Instead, what you’ll see here is how Slitherine has created a fairly basic and AI-timid romp through the hedgerows and beaches of Normandy. It is June 6, 1944 (at least, on your iPad when you fire this up, like me), and you’ll find yourself in control of several Allied units looking to wrest control of Utah Beach from the occupying Germans.
However, before you get there, there’s a bit of confusion. The app itself is called “D-Day: The Longest Day,” but when you touch the icon, you get a mish-mash of images on a screen, including infantry storming a beach, but there’s no game title.
