Monthly Archives: October 2021

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Caesar vs. Pompey as Depicted by Commands & Colors: Ancients

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Yet one more mid-week wargaming evening and another mini-campaign played! The idea was to bring to the table C&C Ancients scenarios featuring the clash between Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompey. That most famous Roman Civil War completely obliterated the Republic system and paved the path for the creation of the empire. As we had only as much time as one evening, we decided on 3 of the most interesting or prominent scenarios – the full set encompasses as many as 11 battles!

So what we have chosen is here – with a short comment why:

  1. Ilerda (49 BC) – A very interesting battle, with hills in the middle and the largest (!!!) number of Heavy Infantry in all the scenarios
  2. Dyrrhachium (48 BC) – A direct face-off between Caesar and Pompey, with time pressure on the former to salvage the situation
  3. Pharsalus (48 BC) – A decisive clash of two giants, which inevitably gave victory to Caesar

Ok, so without further delay, let me invite you to the first century BC, Rome. First and foremost – Illerda!

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The Last Hundred Yards Ladder Play After Action Report: Mission 5.0 — Counterattack at Hatten

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Below you will find the fifth in a series of After Action Report articles written by players participating in The Last Hundred Yards ladder play on BGG. You can find the first four articles in this series here. If you would like to participate in the LHY ladder play, please contact Mark Buetow through the LHY Facebook page or on BGG. Enjoy!

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Graphical Timeline for Flashpoint: South China Sea

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As additional background information for those of you interested in Harold Buchanan’s upcoming Flashpoint: South China Sea, today we present this graphical timeline created by project artist Terry Leeds. We hope you find this interesting and educational. Stay tuned for more Flashpoint: South China Sea content as the game heads to the printer in November.

Click Image to See Full Resolution

Previous Articles:

The State of Crisis: Setting the Stage for Flashpoint: South China Sea

Flashpoint: South China Sea ― Key Mechanics

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“No Plan Survives Contact”: Playing Labyrinth: The Awakening (Part 3)

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Below you will find the third in a four part article series from Elihu Feustel featuring a Labyrinth: The Awakening turn-by-turn playthrough. If you would like to read the first two parts in the series, those can be found here. Enjoy!

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Cross Bronx Expressway: Positioning Players in the Bronx

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Asymmetric game design often lives and dies on the way players relate to their positions, frequently expressed through factions. In historical simulations, the faction design provides a framework through which players can execute their strategies. When done well the strategic choices presented to them create a decision space which mirrors the history, or at least the history as presented in the game. This is an important distinction, because any historical game is still the biased presentation of that history from the perspective of the designer. So before getting into the ways in which I have positioned players in Cross Bronx Expressway, it’s probably worth noting what my position is as the designer.

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The British Way: Cyprus

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In this article, we will conclude our coverage of the games in The British Way by overviewing the British emergency in Cyprus from 1955 to 1959. Cyprus is probably the easiest game in the pack to learn for those new to the COIN series, but will offer a drastically different experience for COIN veterans due to the new counter-terrorism systems already briefly outlined in our article on The British Way: Palestine. In Cyprus, the British faced a small but flexible clandestine terrorist organization known as EOKA (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston, or the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters), led by Georgios Grivas. In sharp contrast to the previous campaign covered in Kenya, the British in Cyprus were under intense international scrutiny due to efforts by the Greek government to keep the issue raised at the United Nations and the work of local activists who raised complaints about British repression to the newly formed European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

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Playing Hitler’s Reich Solo: A Suggested Variant

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Introduction by Hitler’s Reich Co-Designer Fred Schachter: An admonition of my fellow Hitler’s Reich design partner Mark McLaughlin and myself, for every GMT game we’ve worked or are working on, is to encourage players to feel free to modify a game if it enhances their enjoyment of it. Our refrain of “Hey, it’s your game!” has been consistent over the years.

When Hitler’s Reich fan Robert Baynosa introduced himself to me with his suggestion to modify Vez Arponin’s solitaire version of Hitler’s Reich; his ideas to modify Vez’s creation, which so many have enjoyed puzzling out and being entertained by, seemed too good to keep just to ourselves. Hence, it is here shared with InsideGMT’s audience. Give it a whirl if you’re so inclined!

Incidentally, some knowledge of how the Hitler’s Reich game system works, as background for fully appreciating Robert’s presentation, is available at: GMT Games – Hitler’s Reich .

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The Last Hundred Yards Ladder Play After Action Report: Mission 8 — Black Cat Blues

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Below you will find the fourth in a series of After Action Report articles written by players participating in The Last Hundred Yards ladder play on BGG. You can find the first three articles in this series here. If you would like to participate in the LHY ladder play, please contact Mark Buetow through the LHY Facebook page or on BGG. Enjoy!

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Winston Churchill Through the Lens of Mark Herman’s Churchill

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Below you will find another fantastic article from Clio’s Board Games, this time discussing Winston Churchill through the lens of GMT’s Churchill. You can also find this article on Clio’s blog. Enjoy! -Rachel