To read Part 1 of this Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea solitaire series, follow this link.
Monthly Archives: May 2017
Red Storm – Scenario Mix
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In designing scenarios for Red Storm: The Air War Over Central Germany, 1987, I’m trying to provide a wide range of scenarios in terms of size, complexity, and “standard” versus “unusual” situations. Regarding size, the variance is based on three main factors: the amount of the map in play, the number of flights on each side, and the density of ground defenses (SAMs and AAA). Complexity varies based on who is doing what. One side bombing? Both sides? Good or bad weather? Lots of Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) and electronic jamming aircraft? The final aspect is standard vs. unusual. Here, “standard” would be daylight missions with one or both sides bombing targets and one or both sides trying to intercept the other. Order of Battle tables determine the exact flights and available munitions. An “unusual” scenario would include specific pre-designated units with special rules (like a cruise missile attack, paradrop or helicopter assault). At this point in testing, we are working on a total of 29 scenarios. I’m not sure if all of those will make the cut, but I figure it’s good to have too many at this point instead of too few. Any that don’t get into Red Storm will likely be future C3i magazine scenarios or be offered through some other venue.
The Pendragon Chronicles – Vol. 9 – The Fall
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Now that we have surveyed a range of individual aspects of Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain, we would like to see how they interact to transport us into the final travails of the Roman presence in Britain. As we discussed in the previous Chronicle on Imperium, Pendragon for the first time in the COIN Series not only provides a dynamic simulation of Britannia, it models the transformation of the island’s political-military-economic affairs from one system to another. While Andean Abyss enables you to enact the relations among diverse factions in modern Colombia to varying outcomes, the system of insurgency and counterinsurgency represented functions essentially the same at the end of the game as at the beginning. In Pendragon, we can begin in a diocese of the Roman Empire and end amidst warring kingdoms of the Dark Ages. To see how, we must view the behavior of Pendragon’s elements as a complex and interlocked whole.
Solitaire Play of The God-King of Egypt (Part 1)
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Introduction by Game Developer Fred Schachter: A previous two-part InsideGMT article pitted one of the Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (ACIS) designers, Mark McLaughlin, solitaire against the trials and tribulations of this exciting, quick-to-play, and fun game. Links to Parts 1 and 2 of the article can be found here and here.
To best appreciate this article, the reader may wish to reference InsideGMT’s other content regarding ACIS for better context and reading enjoyment. This is not necessary, but it could help enhance your appreciation of the game action. Furthermore, this article provides more detail than its predecessors regarding ACIS’ game mechanics… and there’s more to come with future pieces as the game’s development continues.
This is a replay of Mark’s co-designer Chris Vorder Brugge’s experience with another of the game’s solitaire contests: The God King of Egypt.
Can Chris fare better than his good friend Mark’s InsideGMT ACIS solitaire game experience (or the historical “Land of the Pharaohs” for that matter)? Read on!!!
Unleashing Hell: Redeployment Rules in Pericles
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“At my signal…unleash Hell…”
One of the interesting things that occurs when a new game is released is that members of our tribe try to push the rules to the extreme, then immediately conclude that there is a problem. The purpose of this strategy piece concerns the redeployment rules. Redeployment in Pericles is very broad and allows for very aggressive force concentrations that, when first seen, can surprise the other side with thoughts like, ‘you can do that?’ For today, let’s consider not that you can do this, but rather what should you do about it when someone, like in Texas holdem, goes ‘all in’.
Hitler’s Reich: A “Bot” Driving Toward Moscow (Volume II of VPJ Arponen’s Bot series)
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The following article is the 2nd volume of a two volume series (Volume 1 is here), written by VPJ Arponen, originally appearing on The Players’ Aid blog earlier this week. To make sure that all of our GMT customers get to see this excellent article, we’re including it here in InsideGMT as well, with the permission and agreement of our friends at The Player’s Aid. We hope you enjoy the article!
Multi-Player Variant for “Illusions of Glory”
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When I first suggested that “Illusions of Glory” be published as a game for two to four players, I also proposed additional strategy cards. The powers-that-be objected that it would increase the game’s production costs. After the game went into production, I arrived at a solution that doesn’t require more strategy cards. Now, here is my variant for up to two players on a side: