Monthly Archives: December 2019

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Your First Game: Combat Commander for Beginners and Experts

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Author’s Note: this article has Combat Commander: Europe as its focus, but is more or less applicable to the series in general.

Speaking in the broadest of terms, if you are thinking of playing your first-ever game of Combat Commander, you fall somewhere along a spectrum that starts with people who have never played a wargame and ends with those who are decades-long devotees of complicated hex-and-counter systems like ASL. Combat Commander has something to offer for everyone, but depending on your position on this spectrum you might want to know what mindset to have when approaching this game to help you figure out what it is all about.

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Nevsky: Scenario Balance and Strategy

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The designer gives us a close look at the shorter scenarios in Volume I of the Levy & Campaign Series, with advice for competitive play plus possible adjustments to even the odds in one of them. A detailed look at how the game works appears in five parts starting with Part 1 here.

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Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East Design Background and Differences from Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea Part 4 of 4: The “Real History” Behind the Game

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Introduction

Part 1 of this series provided General Background regarding GMT’s upcoming Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME). Part 2, Playing Your Role, covered a recommended player attitude when engaged in a game of ACME to best get into the spirit of the game and have a grand fun time. Part 3 addressed how ACME differs from the first game of the series: Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea (ACIS).  This final installment is my way of sharing what I learned, courtesy of Designers Chris Vorder Brugge and Mark McLaughlin, of the history behind the Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) game. And it is a fascinating history indeed. To best appreciate this series of articles, some knowledge of ACIS is helpful.  GMT has a wealth of information regarding ACIS in its site for the game: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-624-ancient-civilizations-of-the-inner-sea.aspx
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Commands & Colors: Medieval Belisarius Campaign Part 4 – Satala (530 AD)

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

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Historic Characters in Banish the Snakes: Moninne

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Born in Ulster Province, Moninne was the daughter of Machta, a high chief of Ulaid. Tradition says that she was baptized as a child and also later confirmed by Saint Patrick himself. It is said that he predicted that her name would be remembered forever. Perhaps because of this prediction, she chose a religious life, and was raised in the faith by Brigid of Kildare. Some say that when the time came, she was “veiled” by Patrick.

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Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East: Meet the Indus Valley Civilizations (or “Dravidians, Harappans, and Mauryans, oh my!”)

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Below is a replacement, prompted by GMT fan feedback, for the fourth in a series of articles from Mark McLaughlin showcasing the 16 civilizations in Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East.  Please note there’s an associated map change: PACTYA, in the map’s SE corner, is now MOHENJO-DARO. You can find the first three articles in the series here.

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Combat Sequence in Seas of Thunder

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The concept for a combat flow chart is as old as the hills in war gaming. While I don’t think Neal, Chuck or myself broke any new ground on the concept, I think our implementation of the system is quite a pleasant and engrossing experience. One glance at our system should make it clear that we were heavily inspired by the War at Sea and Victory in the Pacific system and I’d like to acknowledge that lineage at this moment. If we hadn’t had those masterpieces to build upon, we might have had a much tougher time creating a stable foundation for our game. You should see as we get into the game however, there are fundamental things that I disagreed with in those original systems and felt the need to either adjust or just plain toss away in Seas of Thunder.