Monthly Archives: October 2021

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War or Diplomacy? The Struggle Between the Wargamer vs Eurogamer Soul in the Design and Development of Congress of Vienna

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Introduction by Congress of Vienna Assistant Designer & Editor – Fred Schachter:This article is appearing after conclusion of an InsideGMT article series, a Standard Game After-Action-Report (AAR) of one of Congress of Vienna’s Scenarios, “The Clash of Armies”, which starts in August 1813 and runs through the end of that fateful year which encompasses many of the epic battles of a truly epic era. For those four episodes, see: GMT Games – Congress of Vienna

One of the Design/Development conundrums the CoV Team confronted during its fun and intriguing journey is how to characterize this wonderful creation of designer Frank Esparrago. Is it a wargame? The hardcore grognard wargamers, of which I number myself, certainly believe so, particularly when playing with all the “Wargamer Flavor Rules (WFR)”… which, as explained below, will be retitled “Optional Historical Rules (OHR)” going forward. That term seems better suited to those rules’ intent, eh?

Then there are the CoV Team’s Eurogamers, who proclaim that Congress of Vienna’s Standard Game is representative of the more involved kind of Eurogames they so enjoy. It’s almost like Designer Frank had two angels perched on his shoulders as he labored on his game creation… one a “Wargamer Angel” and the other a “Eurogamer Angel” each whispering their imprecations into his ears. Whom did he heed? Well, from the reception Congress of Vienna has received to date… it seems to be offering something to gamers of all flavors!

In this article Frank shares some of the design considerations he’s confronted in bringing Congress of Vienna from concept into a GMT P-500 offering. For those interested in learning more of CoV’s genesis, see: Congress of Vienna Designer’s Notes (Part 1 of 2) – Inside GMT blog If you enjoy reading of how a designer deals with complex game elements… this article should strike a chord of interest! With that, take it away Frank!

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The Last Hundred Yards Ladder Play After Action Report: Mission 13.0 — Bridge 10

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Below you will find the third 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 two articles in this series here and 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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18 India: Mitigating Randomness (Part 2)

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In the previous InsideGMT article, we shared how 18 India mitigates the randomness of the initial distribution of certificates in Francis Tresham’s 1829 Mainline. In this issue, we will discuss another mechanic tweak that further decreases the randomness found in 1829 Mainline while maintaining its unique fun.

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“No Plan Survives Contact”: Playing Labyrinth: The Awakening (Part 2)

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Below you will find the second 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 part in the series, that can be found here. Enjoy!

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The British Way: Kenya

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We continue our chronological coverage of the individual games in The British Way by moving on to the British counterinsurgency campaign in Kenya from 1952-1960, although the game only covers the most intensive years from 1952-1956. While the British were beginning to gain the initiative in Malaya, they responded to rising violence and unrest in Kenya’s Central Province by declaring a state of emergency and carrying out Operation Jock Scott, a mass arrest of moderate nationalists (including Jomo Kenyatta, who would later become the first president of Kenya after independence). However, Jock Scott failed to hit the main perpetrators of the rising violence, a collection of militant nationalists, who would form an insurgency against British rule commonly known as the Mau Mau.

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The Last Hundred Yards Ladder Play After Action Report: Mission 24.0 — All for a Piece of Dirt

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Below you will find the second 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 article 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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Cross Bronx Expressway: Modeling History Through City-Building

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The map for Cross Bronx Expressway shows eight out of twelve community board districts in the southern section of the Bronx. A few communities in the city of New York, in the state of New York, in the country of the United States, on this planet we call Earth. The game zooms into this small corner of urban life, in an effort to simulate the historic changes that happened in cities across the globe during the second half of the 20th century. Examining the effects of these changes on the South Bronx reveals many of the issues that arose during this period.