Hitler’s Reich Gets Real – First Look at a More Polished Play-Test Map and Conflict Card Art

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Hitler’s Reich just got real – a real artist, that is.  Veteran GMT artist Charlie Kibler has taken his professional brush to designer Mark McLaughlin’s hand-drawn playtest map and cards.  Although this is just his first pass and more work will be done to brighten it up and bring it to life, Kibler’s map is clean, crisp and clear.  The designer, editor and playtesters are excited about seeing the game’s wooden pieces march and retreat across Charlie’s map’s nicely delineated borders and into the production centers and capitals control of which will determine whether Hitler’s Reich will rise or fall.

Falling Sky: Dramatis Personae

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COIN Series Volume VIII, Falling Sky, casts players in the roles of great leaders during the Gallic revolts against Roman occupation:  Ambiorix of the Belgae, Vercingetorix of the Celts, and of course Caesar.  But the next tier of great personages appears in the game also—in the Event cards.  Here we present just a portion of the cards that showcase the individuals of each faction in Gaul that help propel the drama of Falling Sky.  To the card images we add historical background notes from the game’s Playbook (with thanks to Marc Gouyon-Rety for his assistance), citations from Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War in the format [book.chapter], and sometimes quotations (as translated by Carolyn Hammond, Oxford University Press, 1996).

Congratulations! You’re the New American President (Part 2)

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In Part 1 of this article, we looked at all the Set-up options, processes, and decisions when you begin a game of Mr. President. This article picks up where that one left off, as you begin play on Turn 1. We’ll cover the first month of your Presidency this time.

Note that over the past several months, I have streamlined the way the game deals with both Instability and Crises in a region. We still track Instablility and Crises per region, but I’ve eliminated the fiddliness of dealing with a bunch of chits marking Unstable Governments and Festering Crises. So the map situations you see in this article are going to look a bit different from those in the preceeding article due to these changes. Here’s a peek at Africa as an example.

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Talon Tuesday Issue #23: Talon Puzzle 2

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“Talon Tuesdays” is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays.  It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.

Issue #23: Talon Puzzle 2

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My copy of Talon arrived! It’s so weird seeing the counters and rules I’ve spent the last couple years working on come to my doorstep in an actual game box. It was also nice to not have to CUT sheet after sheet of prototype counters by hand… they did all the hard work for me this time.

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Falling Sky: The Gallic Ways of War

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Falling Sky—The Gallic Revolt Against Caesar depicts each of its factions’ personalities in war and diplomacy—as in the all the COIN Series volumes—mainly through its diverse menus of commands and special abilities.  But the card deck adds more such personality to each player role.  Here we present just eight Falling Sky events that display particular ways and means of the Gauls to combat the Romans and, of course, one another.  With each card, we add background from the game’s Playbook, which provides historical notes on each of the 72 event cards (with thanks to Marc Gouyon-Rety for his assistance there and in suggesting several of the events that are in the deck).  Citations below are from Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War in the format [book.chapter], quotations as translated by Carolyn Hammond, Oxford University Press, 1996.

COIN Series Falling Sky: Aedui Strategy

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Falling Sky leverages the COIN Series system to highlight Caesar’s triumph of “divide and conquer”.  In the third of our four peeks into its faction roles, we hear of the strengths and weaknesses of the Celts who personified the local propensity alternatively to side with or against the invader….

Delian League Diaries #1

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Today I played Pericles for the first time, so it’s game on! This is the first of a regular set of notes that I will pen and post on InsideGMT and on my Blog. So, what is Pericles?

Pericles: The Peloponnesian Wars is the sequel to my recently published Churchill: Big Three Struggle for Peace. Although Pericles is the second in my Great Politicians Series, it is its own design that does not follow a formula from its predecessor, yet borrows the conference mechanic to simulate how City State strategy was formed and executed in 5th Century Greece. Unlike Churchill, Pericles is a wargame, although a light one. So, let me frame my design for you.

Falling Sky Tactics: Roman Scout

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Following up on our earlier article on overall Roman strategy in COIN Series Volume VI Falling Sky, here is a much closer, blow-by-blow examination of just a portion of the tools in the legionaries’ and auxiliaries’ kit bags….

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Talon Tuesday Issue #22: Talon Puzzle 1 Solution

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“Talon Tuesdays” is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays.  It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.

Issue #22: Talon Puzzle 1 Solution

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I’m so pumped for the community’s response to the first Talon Puzzle. People really took to answering them. Within hours of the Talon Tuesday issue going live we had nearly 100% correct responses on BoardGameGeek and some really close responses in the comments section here on the InsideGMT page.  Let’s go through the solution as it highlights a key tactical maneuver.