This week’s post comes courtesy of jeffreyPaul Jones, an In the Shadows playtester. We hope you enjoy this solo After Action Report, which shows off some of the unique and exciting features of the Solitaire game.
Below you will find the second in a series of designer’s notes articles from The Last Hundred Yards series designer Mike Denson. In this segment he will discuss initiative and the activation cycle in LHY. You can also find this article on his ConsimWorld Community page. Enjoy! -Rachel
The little known battle of Brody-Dubno pitted the highly proficient German Wehrmacht against the unproven Red Army colossus, both supported by their own air forces. In the first part of this article, I described the Red Army, and now it’s time to address the Germans.
Let’s take a look at the German forces and how they are modeled into FAB Dubno ’41.
Introduction by Game Developer Fred Schachter: Hannibal’s Revenge builds upon the Card Conquest Game System pioneered by Hitler’s Reich GMT Games – Hitler’s Reich to allow one or two players (or teams of up to two players each) to refight the 2nd Punic War. (The rules are organized along the remastered rules model created by Kai Jensen for the 2nd edition of Hitler’s Reich.)
Unique to Hannibal’s Revenge is the introduction of up to two Carthaginian and two Roman Field Armies, each depicted by a wooden cylinder. These are commanded by Leaders. They are maneuvered on the gameboard by expending a friendly Conflict Card’s point value and these armies can engage in battles or sieges. This is in addition to the Hitler’s Reich game mechanic of declaring an attack from an adjacent friendly-controlled area. There is also a single Macedonian Army which can be brought into the fray through winning its Event Card. If the preceding piques your interest; be assured there’s more to come with future InsideGMT articles. As to the map, with apologies for the hand-assembled appearance, here it is:
Work continues on the Extended Examples of Play for the complete series of game volumes. We have found this an excellent way to “playtest” the down-in-the-weeds level of the game and rules and make small adjustments to ensure that the historical storyboard emerges with verisimilitude to a wargamer’s fond reading and research into the European Theater of Operation (ETO) at this series’ scope and scale. With the four-part Operation Weserübung example complete (here is part one), the team is now working on the D-Day invasion/response example. Getting the narrative right on the straight-up battle-odds & dice roll is easy; the trick has been getting all of the stuff in the French Interior department ringing true. The Partisan Detachments and Air Missions happening in conjunction with the invasion are a bit trickier to research.
Below you will find the first in a series of designer’s notes articles from The Last Hundred Yards series designer Mike Denson. In this segment he will introduce the article series and discuss the time lapse system in LHY. You can also find this article on his ConsimWorld Community page. Enjoy! -Rachel
If you’re a regular reader of this series, by now you know that People Power covers the political history of the Philippines post-Martial Law until the beginning of the Corazon Aquino administration. This 5-year period was full of activity and many pivotal moments, which are the focus of the scenarios in People Power. The main scenario covers the period after the assassination of Ninoy Aquino, while the extended scenario allows players to experience the full 5-year narrative of the fall of Marcos.
Below is an article featuring Labyrinth insights and first impressions from first time player and InsideGMT contributor David Wiley of Swords and Chit and Cardboard Clash. You can also find this article on David’s blog. Enjoy! -Rachel
September 1944 – Groesbeek Heights, Holland. By the second day of Market Garden, the German High Command was desperately calling for counterattacks by any forces available. Near the small town of Beek, scattered units from the 82nd Airborne had captured a wooded hill that offered excellent observation and fire positions over the surrounding countryside. On the morning of the 20th, Kampfgruppe Becker, hastily organized from multiple ad hoc units, began its assault against Hill 759. The crucial struggle for Devil’s Hill was just beginning.
The Pure Land depicts the decade-long Ōnin War in 15th century Japan, a civil war for control of the Muromachi Bakufu set against a backdrop of peasant unrest and religious militancy. This conflict precipitated the Sengoku (or Warring States) period that would continue into the 16th century, and was the beginning of the slow decline of the established order. In future articles I will go into more detail about the factions involved in the war and how I have chosen to depict them, but first I will set the scene with a short historical overview of this era.
