Monthly Archives: October 2019

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Introduction to FAB: Crusader Part 1 – Why We Fight

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Why did we decide to do a game of Operation Crusader? Despite the fact that we love making games, we’re not entirely sure ourselves. There are many reasons why we think that the battles of North Africa make great gaming stuff and why the campaign was so fascinating, but at the forefront must be the place itself and the mystery and spectacle that surrounds it. At first we thought that the desert, is in a sense, a (nearly) literal sandbox where we can study tank to tank combat and fighting in near laboratory conditions. But as we read on and on, piling combat histories, academic studies, and oral narratives upon each other, we discovered that desert combat was anything but clinical.

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Historic Characters in Banish the Snakes: Ciarán

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The first of the early Irish missionaries to actually be born in Ireland was Ciarán. He was born into the ruling family of Osraige, but before this, his mother had a dream that a star fell into her mouth. The druids interpreted the dream to mean that she would bear a son who would be famous throughout the land.

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Space Empires: Close Encounters — More Ways to use Alien Technology

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The Alien Technology deck is a fun feature of the Close Encounters expansion that rewards you for colonizing deep space planets by giving you access to unique technological upgrades. You could end up with Cryogenic Stasis Pods that reduce the maintenance costs of your boarding ships and troop transports, or a Microwarp Drive that increases the attack strength of your BC’s. The cards are highly thematic, and work alongside the Empire Advantage deck to diversify each empire.

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1918/1919: Storm in the West: A Designer Looks Back

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1918: Storm in the West was my first published design for the late lamented Command Magazine. Plan 1919 was a follow-up addition that covered a What-If? Scenario using additional rules and counters. GMT is publishing a new boxed edition combining the two, so I’m going to take this opportunity to revisit the early days of my career as a war game designer.

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The New Hampshire Guys Visit Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (Well, at Least via the Game)

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Introduction: Designer Mark McLaughlin and I, unlike years past, no longer reside in the same area of the USA (a great disappointment to us both). I’ve lived about the country during my business career and now retired to a home in Charlotte, NC. Consequently, we try to get-together in-person at least annually and I recently journeyed to Mark’s place in New Hampshire to review gaming matters and Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) in particular.

Mark and I played several ACME games during this visit: one-on-one, then the two of us versus NPC (which uses the game’s Solitaire System to control an AI civilization – the NPC almost defeated us both until we combined against it), and the topic of this article, an exciting and entertaining 4 player contest.

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Historic Characters in Banish the Snakes: Auxilius

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According to tradition and the Irish Annals, Patrick brought three men with him when he began his mission in Ireland, including Auxilius. Then again, some say that Auxilius and Iserninus arrived in Ireland six years later, sent by Germanus to help. According to some sources, Auxilius was Patrick’s nephew, the son of his sister. There is one reference to Auxilius saying that Secundinus was his brother, but this might mean “brother” in the religious sense rather than the family sense. There is little written about his early life, but apparently he was Celtic and born in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany. This would mean that he grew up speaking a Celtic language, which is in the same family of languages that includes Irish.

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The Last Hundred Yards Mission 8.0: Black Cat Blues — A Narrative Style AAR

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August 27, 1944: It was 7:40 AM and Captain Cole’s L Company of the 3rd Battalion found themselves on the outskirts of the small village of Allan in Southern France. The rest of the 3rd Battalion was still 5 miles back and just now passing through Bois des Mattes. L Company was all alone. Not having seen any sign of enemy activity, Captain Coles ordered a recon in force. As soon as they stepped off, they began receiving enemy small arms and mortar fire. A pit immediately formed in Cole’s stomach as he realized that L Company might have bitten off more than it could chew.

Mission Objective: Mission ends if at the end of any game turn the Americans control 10 Building Points [see MSR 1.0, Building Points] out of the possible 12 in Sector 11, or when either side exceeds its Casualty Differential Limit, or when the Final Score is ≥ 51.

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Commands & Colors: Medieval Belisarius Campaign Part 3 – Dara (530 AD)

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Below is the third in a series of articles from The Boardgames Chronicle playing through the Belisarius campaign in Commands & Colors: Medieval. You can find the first two articles in the series here. Enjoy! -Rachel

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Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea: As Short or As Long a Game as You Wish to Make It

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Recommended Parameters for Short, Standard, Extended, and Campaign ACIS Games

As noted on page 55 of the Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea Playbook, players can choose the length of their game. Players need not play all four Epochs nor commence play with Epoch I (to enable experiencing Epoch IV’s “Imperial Rome”). Any game of any length is a “complete” game.

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Tank Duel’s “Hungary for Oil” Historical Scenario: A Mud-Soaked Reality Check

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Black and white picture. Murky and faded. In the background, a Pz VI Tiger tips precariously backwards into a flooded ditch. Its 88m canon points ineffectively skyward while troops of a Panzer grenadier unit either wade in water with chunks of floating ice or simply mill about, stalled, exposed, some at rest. Gaunt faces stare from beneath hoods into the camera as a tanker, directly in the foreground, turns away in the instant a fellow crewman takes the photo of their sinking leviathan during Operation Spring Awakening.