Introduction by ACME Game Developer Fred Schachter: The February 2021 GMT Update contained a wonderful new development as the game proceeds towards production readiness… the first increment of professional graphics by the talented Mark Mahaffey!
Most tactical games start when your units make contact with the enemy, and bullets start flying. While tactical games will occasionally introduce hidden units, and operational games like Silver Bayonet require players to conduct recon to find the enemy, most wargames start when the action starts. Fields of Fire is different. Because you control an entire rifle company in Fields of Fire, your mission begins in the planning: What is the mission objective? How will we accomplish it? Who will maneuver? Who is in reserve? How will I coordinate with Battalion HQ?
This distinguishes Fields of Fire from every other wargame I’ve played. While the situation starts static in most tactical games, every mission of Fields of Fire will play out differently as the situation evolves and the enemy disposition is discovered. This narrative and the way that the game puts you in the position to attempt to solve the unknown is what drew me to Fields of Fire and is the main reason I wanted to work with Ben on Fields of Fire: The Bulge Campaign. Since the P500 announcement, I’ve been asked a lot what the next steps are for Fields of Fire generally.
Ian M. Sullivan is the Special Advisor for Analysis and ISR at the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, US Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in this post are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, or Army Training and Doctrine Command
You bought a copy of Dominant Species: Marine, it finally arrived and now you can’t play it with your friends because of COVID. What’s a gamer to do?
Round up one to three friends and head to TableTop Simulator, of course.
Thanks to the efforts of Andrew Clifton, enabled by an assist with graphic files from Simon Dorfman, you can now play DS: Marine on TTS (via Steam). Some of the features include: automated setup, functional Reseed, and variant setups for “The Long and the Short of It” options. In addition, the alternate animal displays are available and the Random Earth set-up is also possible now.
As there are a lot of animals swimming around to keep track of, HappyHexagon on BGG passed on this tip for players new to TTS: If you highlight and left-click to grab several items while keeping the left mouse button down, press a number on your keyboard. It will organize the items into rows equal to the number you pressed. This should make organizing and counting cubes on hexes easier.
If you would like to play Dominant Species: Marine on TableTop Simulator (via Steam), follow the link here.
Introduction by CoV Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter: Designer Frank Esparrago, Developer Dick Sauer, and I are grateful for the Transatlantic Team’s Congress of Vienna play test contributions. They’re quite the group of sharp, excellent, veteran grognard play testers! What a grand, fun, game the below-described AAR was for the three turn Spring Campaign of 1813 – Introductory /”Short” Scenario with Wargame Flavor Rules: a true “nail biter” to the end, eh? Thanks guys!
To best appreciate this After-Action-Report, a composite of AAR emails I issued the team after each session of play; a background concerning the Congress of Vienna game’s mechanics is helpful (and if this is the first article you’ve ever read regarding this pending GMT P-500 game; it is strongly urged you consult this repository since this article presumes knowledge of what CoV is about). This can be obtained through material found within GMT’s site for the game: GMT Games – Congress of Vienna .
Hopefully, the below AAR provides readers an idea, not only of Congress of Vienna‘s game system, but how players seek applying those mechanics towards achieving victory in their play of this wonderful game by designer Frank Esparrago. Enjoy!
Below is another great article from The Boardgames Chronicle, this time showing his remote game of Time of Crisis using Tabletop Simulator and VASSAL. If you would like to read this article on his blog, you can find that here. Enjoy! -Rachel
Ian M. Sullivan is the Special Advisor for Analysis and ISR at the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, US Army Training and Doctrine Command.
Disclaimer: All views expressed in this post are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, or Army Training and Doctrine Command
In this fourth InsideGMT article about Prime Minister, we’ll take a look at the game’s thematic side: the people, bills, and events that bring Victorian Britain back to life.
