Tag Archives: Zabek

GrogHeads (Exclusive) First Look at Victory and Glory: Napoleon

What’s Glenn Drover been up to since he stopped by The GrogCast last Spring?  Apparently he’s making more games ~

Jim Zabek, 3 October 2015

A new Napoleonic game for the PC is about to hit the shelves like a blast from the Grande Batterie.

Designed to allow the player to command at both a strategic and tactical level, the objective of Victory and Glory: Napoleon is simple – build the French Empire of Napoleon. Six full campaign scenarios will be included with Victory and Glory: Napoleon. They will each have a unique starting date and conditions. The first will be the 1800 campaign made famous by Napoleon’s brilliant victories in Northern Italy. The second is called 1805, The Dash for the Danube and starts with French troops poised on the English Channel but ready to drive toward Austria and glory at Austerlitz. Next is the 1806 campaign that starts after the Austrian defeat with the Prussians taking up the bayonet. Followed by the 1809 campaign where Austria re-enters the war while Napoleon is embroiled in Spain. The 1812 starting point campaign begins as Napoleon’s vast army prepares to invade Russia. And the last and most challenging campaign begins in 1813 immediately after Napoleon’s wrecked Grande Armee has struggled out of Russia.

VG-Zoomed Map

GrogHeads Reviews 80 Days

orderhex-80days

80 Days is a highly addictive, highly replayable handheld game that combines steampunk and historical trivia into a fun and challenging game. GrogHeads is pleased to induct 80 Days into the Order of the Hex for its excellence in mobile addiction.

Jim Zabek, 18 February 2015

Developer: inkle Ltd

Click images to enlarge  

Once in a while a game emerges that is so simple that the writing of a review of it is far more complicated than the game itself. 80 Days is one of those games. In a nutshell it’s a game for a handheld device where the player takes on the role of Passepartout, the valet to Phileas Fogg – the same person in Jules Verne’s novel Around the World in 80 Days.

As with the novel, the player’s goal is to make it around the world in 80 days, but the story has been updated. 80 Days is set in a steampunk world and this updates the game in a spirit that I would think Jules Verne would highly approve. The game is peppered with encounters with historical figures and is driven by the player’s interaction with the and others.

 

80 Days_conversation

GrogHeads’ 2014 Holiday Buying Guide

The annual tradition returns – the holiday buying guide!

Once again the holiday season approaches, and once again gamers’ loved ones may be struggling to come up with a gift that goes deeper than a tie, sweater, or fruit cake. Relax. Grogheads is on it, and once again we are proud to present our Buying Guide for the hard-to-buy-for gamer/military historian. Once again our categories are broken down into approximate areas of interest. They’re not going to be perfect, but hopefully at least one will cover a sufficient area of interest that you can safely point a gift-giver to. And enough of the dangling prepositions. Let’s get on with it!

For The Electronic Gamer

At the top of the list have to come PC wargames. Many good ones have been released this year and hopefully at least one on this list will hit a sweet spot.Command Air Naval Ops GH Award Logo

Command Air Naval Ops BoxCommand: Modern Air Naval Operations Wargame of the Year Edition

Fans of modern naval warfare on the PC will find Command a must-have. Players can simulate battles from the 1950’s through the modern era and pretty much any nation with an ocean view can be dialed up for conflict in this game, if one of the pre-made scenarios doesn’t do it for you.

 

 

Battle Academy 2: East Front

Gamers playing on the iOS aren’t missing out on much of the action. Battle Academy 2 has been released and East Front leads the way for some light tactical wargaming on the iPad. Offering fun, scripted scenarios this is one of those games that is both enjoyable and challenging. And it covers the Eastern Front. What more is there to say?

Battle Academy 2 Eastern Front Logo

A Visit With LNL Publishing – Old Roads Well Trodden

Jim Zabek, 17 October 2014

Following up his visit to Colorado, Jim drops some more Lock’n’Load news in our lap.

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Old Roads Well Trodden

Last week Grogheads published my initial take of a visit to LnL Publishing. Along with me, Dave Lowry also visited LnL Publishing and his article can be found on Clubfantasci.com. Between our articles a number of questions were raised by readers regarding the direction of the company. It is not the intention of this article to address every question raised, but rather to share additional information which should give readers a sense as to the overall direction LnL Publishing will take. Hopefully many of the questions out there will be given answers.

LnL Publishing’s roots are firmly established in traditional tabletop warming. Readers concerned that LnL might depart from those roots should rest at ease: all that printing equipment recently purchased is of little use to electronic games. Yes, LnL is interested in expanding its horizons into different genres and media, but gamers should rest assured that Mark Walker continues to work on boardgame designs.

What can gamers expect to see in the near future? I already hold in my hands (well, technically it’s in the chair next to me as I type) World at War Compendium 2. A reprint of Compendium 1 is also in my possession. Printed and sealed in a plastic bag, it lacks only counters, which have to be printed overseas, in order to ship out the door.

LNL-comV2-3

The new Compendium includes additional maps, along with the scenarios, counters, and AARs.

A Visit With LNL Publishing – The Overview

Jim Zabek, 11 October 2014

J-Z spent a few days hanging out with the LNL crew in Colorado.  There’s plenty more to come, but here’s a little wet your whistle.

Several months ago I chatted with Mark Walker, founder of Lock ‘n Load Publishing (since renamed to LNL Publishing – lnlpublishing.com) about the resent sale of Lock ‘n Load. In the interview Mark made it clear that he would still be the creative juggernaut behind his game series such as World at War, Nations at War, and of course the series which started it all, Lock ‘n Load.

 Click images to enlarge.  Really enlarge…

LNL's new lobby

LNL’s new lobby