Archive For The “Articles” Category
Jim Owczarski, 7 March 2019
It seems like a lifetime ago — admittedly it was 1993, which for some reading this is a lifetime — that Richard Borg released “Siege of the Citadel”, his mass-market introduction to the world of the Mutant Chronicles. The latter was ever an attempt to knock Games Workshop’s Warhammer: 40,000 from its perch atop the world of ultra-violent future dystopia tabletop skirmish gaming.
Coming as it did on the heels of the mass market success of “HeroQuest”, however, “Siege of the Citadel” shipped laden with toys: a shovel-load of decently-sculpted plastic miniatures, bright plastic game components, and even a garish cardboard and plastic citadel over which the sides could fight. Players led teams of elite commandos, each team typed after one of the human nations which had taken over a planet in our solar system, against an army of demons. Gameplay was simple and moved very quickly. I fell so hard for the system, and was so disgusted by the changes being made to WH:40K, that I eventually bought three copies of the boardgame just to have the figures. (more…)
Avery Abernethy, 22 January 2019
Pearl Harbor represented the single worst defeat in US Navy history. The debacle of December 7, 1941 was so horrible that every wargame I’ve played covering the entire War in the Pacific has “special rules” to replicate the disaster. The Japanese attacked without declaring war catching the US forces in Hawaii completely by surprise. The US Army Air Corps was caught on the ground. Only a couple of US Navy Ships managed to raise anchor. Many anti-aircraft guns did not fire early in the battle because their ammunition was locked away and could not be loaded into the guns. The Order of Battle WW2: US Pacific Campaign is highly scripted in order to simulate the total surprise of Pearl Harbor.
Avery Abernethy, 21 January 2019
Pearl Harbor represented the single worst defeat in US Navy history. The debacle of December 7, 1941 was so horrible that every wargame I’ve played covering the entire War in the Pacific has “special rules” to replicate the disaster. The Japanese attacked without declaring war catching the US forces in Hawaii completely by surprise. The US Army Air Corps was caught on the ground. Only a couple of US Navy Ships managed to raise anchor. Many anti-aircraft guns did not fire early in the battle because their ammunition was locked away and could not be loaded into the guns. The Order of Battle WW2: US Pacific Campaign is highly scripted in order to simulate the total surprise of Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor Start
Pearl Harbor is the first scenario in the US Pacific Campaign. I’m playing the campaign on the Lieutenant level of difficulty.
Michael Eckenfels, 5 January 2018
PART 4: TURN 1 ADVENTURE PHASE (ZHUKOV); TURN 1 VILLAIN PHASE
When we last left off, our Soviet Hero Doctor Zhukov was about to partake of the dangers of the Mine of Lost Souls, an 8 Fortune Temple located in Greece. He’s just finished off the last Nazi Henchman, though the evil Herr Teufel has disappeared into the ruins, spitting Teutonic witticisms in his wake. Zhukov has little choice but to proceed, as leaving the Mine to Herr Teufel is out of the question!
Doctor Zhukov has to pass a Danger, and for each Danger, he gets one Fortune – that means there’s eight Dangers to pass to clear the Temple. If he draws the last Fortune, he gets the Temple piece, which counts as a 3 Fortune Artifact in and of itself. There’s a lot of moolah to be made here, but a lot of Danger to overcome. And oh yes, did I not mention that Temples can collapse, too? Fun!
Cyrano & The Guys, 12 January 2019
It’s What A Tanker! on the Tabletop Simulator, streaming live on YouTube. You can also watch the recording once the game is over…
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Michael Eckenfels, 5 January 2018
PART 3: TURN 1 ADVENTURE PHASE
When we last left our Heroes, two of them were bound to slow-moving transports taking them basically nowhere for the turn. Unfortunately, this is both Grant and Nigel, whom spend this Phase doing nothing but waiting for time to pass.
We have Doctor Zhukov (MASSTEERRRR OF SCIIIIIENNNCEE) who’s about to go toe-to-toe with some dirty Nazi scum in an ancient Greek Temple, and in Siberia, Li Mei is about to dive into a dangerous adventure to find The Jar of Hades. We’ll start with Li Mei, as the combat in Greece might get a little messy for our Bolshevik scientist.
The Jar of Hades has a Danger of 4, which means Li Mei has to pass four Dangers in order to claim the Artifact.