Archive For The “Articles” Category
Michael Eckenfels, 6 April 2020
Arguably, the conflict in the Pacific during World War 2 was one of the more complex campaigns that anyone could attempt to simulate, whether in computer or board game format. Some give such a great amount of detail that it almost slows things down to a crawl, while others are extremely simple and easy to play. Pacific Tide from Compass Games is definitely a simpler simulation of this war, which brings a vast campaign into a manageable and enjoyable format. More importantly, it can be played in one sitting. Even better, it’s not just a two-player game; either side can be played solo too.
Seeing a new way to do things ~
Brant, 31 March 2020
The professionals talk about wargaming in very different terms than the casual hobbyists do. Don’t get me wrong, the professionals know the difference between a hobby or game and their jobs. Most of them also wargame for fun, and have a huge knowledge of the hobby. But for casual wargamers the professional uses of wargames mainly seem like two cases, and an occasional third.
Michael Eckenfels, 3 March 2019
I had ordered Amerika Bomber at some point mid-year in 2019; pre-ordering a game is still a new concept to me, having just recently done this with a couple of Compass Games’ titles and some P500 titles from GMT. I still don’t entirely get the fascination with ordering a game and then having to wait months for it to arrive, but I understand the logistics of it. These companies must ensure there is interest in something before they go and print a mass run, only to have it sit and collect dust on their warehouse shelves.
This was most certainly NOT the case when it comes to Amerika Bomber. Designer Gregory Smith posted to the Solitaire Wargames Facebook group some time ago, saying how he was playing around with creating an ‘evil’ version of the classic B-17: Queen of the Skies. In B-17, you commanded a single B-17 bomber and attempted to survive 25 missions over Western Europe and Germany. As a solo system, it gave you tons of charts and guidance to move your bomber through Third Reich airspace, fight off swarms of Luftwaffe interceptors, and hope you could put your bombs on target.
Michael Eckenfels, 27 February 2020
On #TBT, we bring you the occasional classic article – an older review or analysis piece we wanted to rescue
Gamers, wannabe Romans, countrymen…lend me your eyes. Without having had a decent Romanesque conquest game of note in a while, Legion is on the scene and, while not one of the most realistic of games, it will bring you many months of gaming enjoyment. (more…)
Brant Guillory, 17 February 2020
Everyone that’s grown up in the fantasy RPG world knows how D&D’s “Vancian” magic works, and over almost 40 years of gaming, my experience is that virtually everyone hates it. There’ve been a variety of replacements introduced over the years, from spell points to the DD4e at-will/encounter/daily powers to skill-based magic. Stripping back from execution to concept, however, there are always a few considerations that need to be framed before moving forward with whatever way in which “magic” would appear in the game world. These underlying concepts are the building blocks which define virtually any magic system. (more…)
CPT Red Powell, 15 January 2019
My name is Red Powell, an Armor Captain in the United States Army, and I have been playing wargames since 2001. I played computer games and simulators initially but grew into tabletop wargaming in high school. I primarily play Warhammer 40000 (WH40K) now, but I also play a wide range of board games and other tabletop wargames. Some of the other games systems I play are made by Games Workshop, Flames of War, Warmachine/Hordes, Team Yankee, and many others.
I am attending the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC) and I am striving to earn my master’s in military art and science (MMAS) in wargame design.
I play WH40K in the Independent Tournament Circuit (ITC), scored across the globe. Last year I ranked 31 overall and first in my given army faction, my goal for the year! I run the Worthiest Adversary Blog, a WH40K blog that focuses on players throughout the competitive gaming community. I also am a co-host of the Alpha Strike Podcastwhere we discuss the current competitive meta of WH40k. Recently, I was grateful to be selected as the Team Captain of the WH40k U.S. Army Esports team. The U.S. Army kicked off the Esports Team initiative in 2018 and WH40k is a fledgling program that I think is an excellent outreach approach to the future generations of the U.S. Army.