By Mitch Reed
I have been a fan of the Strategic Command series since a company called Battlefront came out with two games that covered World War II and the Great War. Now that Slitherine Games has become involved with this series they have released a new version of the first two games and have released Strategic Command: American Civil War, which like its predecessors is an addictive time suck that makes you wonder where the day went.
Today I am joined by my battle buddy from podcasts of yesteryear and we talk with Gabe Garcia, the designer of War Stories, which lets you RPG all the exciting action of WWII. Gabe tells us about the game and the design process, and by accident got me into playing RPGs!
The game will be available for pre-order on 22 June at Firelockgames.com.
By Mitch Reed
Wargames tend to feature some of the most iconic battles in history and the fact that the battle of Gettysburg has so many titles shows its enduring popularity with gamers. I own many games on the battle and one of my first wargames was the 1977 version of Gettysburg from Avalon Hill. Some games on the battle are hits and some miss the mark, however, A Most Fearful Sacrifice (AMFS) from Flying Pig Games is the best game on the battle if not also a top ten wargame in your collection.
By Mitch Reed
I once again accepted the invite from Sebastian Bae to playtest his wargaming student’s final projects at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland. As with my last time doing this I was very impressed with the games the students developed over the course of a semester and feel that some of the projects they had on display were good enough for the commercial market.
By Mitch Reed
As the crowds head back to their local gaming stores the folks from Firelock Games have released an excellent online campaign for Oak & Iron that adds so much to a player’s experience and it is a free download on their website, firelockgames.com.
By Mitch Reed
I was honored to help the team at Battlefront write the initial Polish list for Team Yankee. The new Polish lists in Warsaw Pact forces make the force (that I love to play) even better. While not blessed with tons of new kit, the update is one that fellow Polish players will really enjoy.
Today we have a special treat for you! We got some time with Michael Long from Foolish Mortals Games, who designed the amazing wargame Radio General. The game is a new step in PC wargaming and if you a fan of the Canadian role in WWII, this game is for you.
By Mitch Reed
The makers of Blood & Plunder leave the high seas behind to immerse players in some of the most interesting fights that have ever taken place in North America. The new Fire on the Frontier book from Firelock Games takes the game in a new direction and now you can play with many of the forces that were seen in King Phillip’s and King William’s War that took place between 1675 and 1697.
By Mitch Reed
On a windy President’s day weekend, a group of 24 gamers gathered in a northern Virginia hotel to play three days of Combat Commander, a game series from GMT and Hexasim. The event run by Steve Gibson and Art DeFilippo was a smashing success, with over 70 individual games being played and a lot of new gamers (me included) becoming quick converts to this excellent game system.
By Mitch Reed
In our last article, we did an overview of all the games in the Commands & Colors series by Richard Borg. In this article we will compare how the core game mechanics are tweaked for two of the games that take place in the black powder era, C&C: Tricorne (CC:T) which covers the American Revolutionary War, and C&C: Napoleonics which covers the wars in Europe that started about twenty years later and shows how the subtle changes in the rules give you a unique period flavor for each game.
Each game uses the same basic mechanics that is shared throughout the entire C&C franchise, however, changes in how combat dice are calculated, the dice themselves, and some unique rules give each game a different experience and is not just a “re-skin”.
