Archive For The “Reviews” Category
Michael Eckenfels, 30 April 2020
The American Civil War was not a simple affair. Mention this event, or any battle during those bloody years of American history, and you’re sure to have a debate on your hands – political or otherwise. The period evokes a certain amount of interest from those of us uninterested in the political side of things and more interested in the combat and strategic decisions made. There’s also a certain amount of fascination with a war fought with deadly weapons yet using massed tactics that harken back to the days of Napoleon and before, ensuring mass slaughter and a nation that took years to lick its wounds – and in some places, still licking them.
Michael Eckenfels, 23 April 2020
On #TBT, we bring you the occasional classic article – an older review or analysis piece we wanted to rescue (more…)
Brant Guillory, 16 April 2020
On #TBT, we bring you the occasional classic article – an older review or analysis piece we wanted to rescue
click images to enlarge
There are several reasons why A Distant Plain can be tough to review. That said, they are all the same reasons that make it a compelling game. How many multiplayer wargames have you played where the players are not simply extensions of a team, but rather working at cross purposes as often as not? How many wargames have you played with an elastic time scale? How many wargames eschew anything resembling unit factors or quantified values? And now take all those tweaks and roll them into a single game, and drop into an ongoing conflict whose outcomes are not yet truly determined.
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.
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…)