Gaming

“This game is so out of date, anybody who plays it would have to wear a leisure suit.”

• Al Lowe- Game Designer

By Patrick S. Baker

The husband-and-wife team of Ken and Roberta Williams founded Sierra Entertainment as On-Line Systems in 1979 to develop and market business software for the TRS-80 and Apple II. But the couple soon discovered text adventure games and Roberta had the brainwave of adding graphics to such adventure games.

Thus, with Roberta designing and Ken doing some programming, they developed Mystery House, the first graphic adventure game. Released in 1980 Mystery House sold 15,000 copies sold and earned some $167,000 (about $565,000 today). Buoyed by this success On-line Systems shifted from business software to adventure games.

Join Glenn, Tom and guest host Preston Jacka as they talk about the newly released Firelock Video preview, the upcoming Calvert Marine Museum event (deadline for registration is September 9th) and discuss the incoming fall season of gaming and new releases. Thanks for tuning in! and check out our event before time runs out.

By David Garvin

In my previous article, I discussed how the designers of Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) took the characteristics of real-world tanks and then incorporated them into the game. The tanks of ASL all have the same three characteristics as their real-world inspirations: Firepower, Mobility, and Protection.

As promised, this article will tell you, the player, where to find the information to tell you what kind of Firepower your tank has, how mobile it is and what its protection is. The inspiration for these two articles came from a 5-minute conversation with a new ASL player and this was about a week or so ago. He was just learning how to play and he wasn’t sure where to look for information on the vehicles in a certain scenario. This article (and the previous) are the result of that conversation.

By Jim Naughton

Introduction

With the publication of World War III: Team Yankee Soviets https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=7154 the options for Soviet artillery nearly doubled. Battlefront added the BM-27 Hurricane and the TOS-1 Buratino.  Opinions about the effectiveness of these new tools vary, and they have a significant AP differential over the older systems.

The recent publication of World War III: Team Yankee Warsaw Pact https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=7455 updates the PACT-unique artillery, providing options for the East Germans that didn’t exist at the publication of Volksarmee several years ago.  Also, the issue of black box support for PACT armies is cleared up.

By blending allied forces the PACT player literally has a golf bag of options.  A PACT player can choose to array his troops as Soviet allies, and access the newer Soviet artillery, or make his core a PACT force and use the better skill of PACT supporting artillery units.

By David Garvin

The dictionary defines “tank” as “an armored, self-propelled combat vehicle, armed with cannon and machine guns and moving on a caterpillar tread.” That much makes sense. Practically every war game depicting combat in the 2nd World War has tanks, and Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) is no exception. There are many other iconic weapons and platforms that stimulate the imagination when it comes to war, but none more so than the tank.

There are defining tanks, such as the Sherman, the T-34, and of course the Tiger. I will discuss this in this article, but I’ll confine myself to tanks and try to avoid discussing other Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs), such as half-tracks, tank destroyers, and assault guns. For the purposes of this article, I will expand upon the definition and further demand that tanks have a turret (or turrets) that house their gun. That said, the purpose isn’t to teach players how to use Tanks in ASL, but rather to show how the designers took the real-world use of tanks and translated that use to the game.

Lucky me, I get to sit down with Nick and Sophia from Georgetown University Wargame Society (GUWS) and hear all about who they they are and what they do!

The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever — Russian rocket scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

By Patrick S. Baker

After the huge success of both Sid Meier’s Civilization I (1991) and Civilization II (1996), both released by MircoProse, another sequel was inevitable, however, it was not going to be something as prosaic as a third Civilization (although a third Civilization game was developed and released in 2001).

Instead, Sid Meier, chief developer of the first game, and Brian Reynolds, the chief developer of the second game, decided to go for something different, more of a spiritual sequel than a direct one. That something became Sid Meier’s Alpha Centuri.

The various moves and decisions of MicroProse’s and its parent company, Spectrum Holobyte’s, management, which lead to Meier, Reynolds, and Jeff Briggs breaking ties with the companies and forming Firaxis Games in 1996 have been discussed elsewhere. The Firaxis team had left the Civilization Intellectual Property and name with MicroProse, so despite wanting to do another turn-based, “explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate” (4X) strategy game they couldn’t just do another Civilization. Plus, they wanted a fresh focus other than world history.

By Troy A. Hill

When it comes to gateway drugs in miniature wargaming, a historical period like the dark or middle ages isn’t a period one would expect to draw in new miniatures table-top wargamers. Is Lion Rampant Second Edition that gateway drug?

Is it another Song of Ice and Fire miniatures game that can use pop culture to bridge Hollywood fans into table-top gaming like a Crisis Protocol game for a certain Comic-to-Movie franchise? Or even a historical game with interesting meta-gaming twists like Saga and their battle board/saga dice system?

Is it a game that can draw in the Win At All Cost (WAAC) meta netlist players from that space orc game, and get them to play historicals?

Probably not, unfortunately. But, it is a stand-alone game in a crowded field of historical and fantasy-style historical-esque games. It’s a welcome addition to my gaming library.

By David Garvin

Ever since I first played Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) for the first time, back in 2015, I have spent many thousands of dollars on playing it. Not just in purchasing the widely-available gear and components, but in travel and in tournament fees. I have traveled across much of the US North East as well as across Eastern Canada.

When I lived in Virginia, I would spend hours on the road every month just to play; as a play-tester for Multi-Man Publications, as a member of the Fredericksburg Fire Eaters, and of course as a DC Conscript. Here’s the thing: my experience is not that unique in the world of ASL. There are many others who, like me, will spend a great deal of time, money, and energy on playing this game. This is something that I’ve not experienced to this level in any other game, though I’m quite sure ASL is not alone in this regard.

By Paolo Paglianti

ETC is probably the biggest and most important Flames of War tournament in the World – I already reported about it here. It was an amazing experience, and I hope to come back in following years. After the above article about the tournament, time to talk about my games with a full report of my six battles with the Iceland Team.

Playing ETC is deeply different than playing a normal, single-player FOW tournament. You are part of a team of six players, and the Captains of the two opposing teams try to find the best pairing for their players. For example, if the opposing team has a US Tank destroyer army, the opposing Captain will try to counter it with Recce Company full of nimble scouts relying on being hidden and to hit the weak side armor of the M10s. The Captains also need to choose which of their players will attack, maneuver, and defend, as they have two “cards” for each stance – ie, you can’t attack with all six players. A lot of strategy even before the game starts!