Distant Worlds Universe and Other Imminent Matrix/Slitherine Releases meet Grogheads
An overview by Boggit
Following on from Home of Wargamers 2014, there has been a flurry of activity from Matrix/Slitherine regarding their new releases. Distant Worlds has only just released on 27th May, and is to be closely followed by Pandora First Contact: Return of the Messeri Expansion, Close Combat: Road to Caen, and Qvadriga on Steam.
Distant Worlds Universe
You can start straight away with a pre-set human campaign, or mix things up with a custom game
For those players who haven’t got Distant Worlds, it is a massively scoped game that conventionally focuses on making broad policy decisions to guide your race to success. Essentially, you represent “the state”, but much of the game is heavily reliant on your private citizens. These private citizens trade, colonise, and exploit much of the universe’s resource potential. Distant Worlds Universe can be an incredibly deep 4X game (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) – if you want it to be. You can micromanage as much, or as little as you wish, although micromanaging carries the risk of your head exploding given the multitude of activities you can engage in! Continue reading →
Your semi-weekly wallet-blasting gallon of goodness is back! GARPA checks out some excellent new projects waiting for your pre-order dollars.
Kuzaarik Forgers: Freeblades Fantasy Miniatures (DGS Games) $4100 of $8500, ends 18 June 2014
The boys from DGS are back with another nifty-looking expansion to Freeblades. Ramp up your fantasy games with some excellent new minis of the Kuzaarik, the Dwarves with a bit of a twist. The concept art is fantabulous, and if the minis are even half as good as the advance sketches, the backers of their new Kickstarter campaign will be some happy gamers. Pledge away, dear readers!
New York 1776 (Worthington Publishing) $13k of $2500 – ends 27 May 2014, so hurry up!
A battle of the AWI, New York 1776 was a key campaign for the Brits following the loss of Boston. A hex-and-block game with integrated fog of war, New York 1776 has so ridiculously exceeded its Kickstarter goal that some of the stretch goals – terrain blocks? – almost seem like they were making it up as they went along. A combination of a strategic map and a tactical battle board gives battles some depth while retaining the ‘big picture’ of the strategic situation. Read more at their site, and hurry up with your pledges before the Kickstarter campaign ends.
Boggit hit the road to join Slitherine and Matrix at their unveiling of this year’s upcoming hits. This is the first of his reports from adventure.
Developed by “88mm” Games and Published by Matrix/Slitherine Screenshots by Boggit
as always, click images to enlarge
The Blitzkrieg thunders East! Upcoming DLC will unlock with new time periods
Just released, I first saw this game just a few days ago over at Home of Wargamers 2014 in Italy. Whilst I haven’t had the opportunity to play it, I had the game presented to me, and had the opportunity to ask developer Ionut Georgescu about his debut game with Slitherine.
Lots of units add to the variety, which in turn affects gameplay
Our own Undercovergeek marches into Stalingrad, and comes out with this review of the action.
Lucky 13 April, 2014
I’m a terrible German officer, but that’s ok, I’m a terrible Russian officer as well.
It’s a testimony to Lock & Load’s Heroes of Stalingrad that it has been able to teach me that. As my numerous attempts at claiming or defending small patches of land surrounding Stalingrad mounted up, it occurred to me that neither Stalin or Hitler had made the right choice in putting me in charge. Either that or this game has a much more devious AI than I bargained for, or I’m just crap at throwing digital dice.
Pavlov and his team unwisely leave the safety of their house to assault a flamethrower unit
Heroes of Stalingrad first appeared on my radar after getting lost in a Matrix Games forum a long time ago. I should be honest at this point and say I have never played a Lock & Load board game, never played Advanced Squad Leader, and never actually played a WWII themed board game at all. But I have played Blood Royale with a tricorn hat on, because I thought it was the same as Napoleons.
However, I was there at Bastogne commanding the Commodore 64’s finest in Battle of the Bulge, I was there on the fields of Gettyburg in North and South, all the way through to the first Combat Mission and up to and including Market Garden, where it’s safe to say that Frost and Urquhart are also probably thinking about removing my commission. When it comes to losing my men of the digital variety, I’m confident in my CV. So when I first saw the screen shots of small, squad based battles in and around the familiar railway yards and factory buildings, and extra immersion created by having my own set of officers and heroes, I was delighted to have found my next set of pixeltruppen to throw hopelessly into the mincer of battle.
For me personally Heroes bears a great amount of responsibility. It is my great hope of board game to PC game crossover. I see them in there, through their game’s club windows, laughing and joking, throwing their dice and clapping each other on the back with their ‘board game players’ camaraderie, telling stories of great triumphs and tragedies. Then they turn and point at the lonely, sad faced PC wargamer outside who can never know what it feels like to hold the counters, set up the board, smell the cards and feel the rattle of dice, and rub their victim’s face in the agony of a successful ambush. I want all these things dammit, and it’s maybe not fair to expect this of Heroes, but it does not falter under the weight of my expectation.
Heroes of Stalingrad focuses on small, personal skirmishes encountered during the Battle of Stalingrad. The intimate settings necessitate a good deal of finesse in ordering units and squads around that the tactical player will revel in. The map could be a simple village or an important crossroads or other close quarter environment consisting of three or four infantry sections with some leaders and support teams, sometimes backed by tanks or other AFVs Continuity is provided by the persistence of a core of soldiers. These units gain points by surviving campaign scenarios and destroying enemies, points are reinvested in various improvements such as increased range, strength, or leadership , hardening armour, extra offense opportunities and adding a weapon or special skill.
The infamous girl, your success relies on her safety
