Monthly Archives: November 2023

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Solitaire TacOps: From Double Blind to Solitaire

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Last week, we started off with by talking about the design principles and scale behind Solitaire TacOps: Ortona. This week we will be talking about the design behind the series system.

The Solitaire TacOps system, as a design idea, entered the formative stage while considering the map of the 1977 SPI game Cityfight by Joe Balkoski and Stephen Donaldson. It is clearly the work of Redmond Simonsen.  A cluttered Simonsen but a Simonsen nonetheless. Standard white for clear terrain, gray roads, multiple greens for different clusters of trees and even some water features. The buildings are mostly nondescript rectangles in a range of colors, which the map key explains refers to height. A standard hex grid is overlaid to manage movement, with the hexes grouped into megahexes (a central hex and its six surrounding hexes). Small triangles dot the map providing directional cues. Each of these details building a language that unfolds the physicality that gives its fictional city a real shape. Seen through this lens one begins to appreciate the complexities the urban landscape offers. 

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Hussites, Bohemian Catholics, and Foreigners: What Has Changed Without Adding New Rules?

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Upcoming game Žižka: Reformation and Crusade in Hussite Bohemia, 1420-1421 comes with a bunch of new mechanics such as new Assets, new rules for Crusade, for immediate surrender of some types of Strongholds, new multi stronghold Locale (Prague), or the whole new multi-purpose deck of so called Cause cards.  It also relies heavily on mechanics already introduced with the Levy & Campaign system by Volko Ruhnke.  When the series system is good, merely tackling its parameters and prerequisites can provide very different historical narratives from previous volumes. In this first part of the design diary, let’s take a look at how the already-known ruleset provides a new story and new challenges for the players by simply changing a few numbers or conditions.

In Nevsky, Almoravid, and Inferno, the map could be roughly divided into your and your enemy’s territory. This is not the case in Žižka as both Hussites and Catholics considered Bohemia their own country. The land is not a subject of dispute here, while the faith and the ruler are. With that, the first parameter changes come. The VP award for Ravaging is not 1/2 VP but 0 VP. Gone is the familiar hunt for VPs by inflicting as much damage on the opponent’s land? as possible. There is still an incentive for Ravaging as it helps to force Strongholds to surrender, brings the armies more food, and may prolong the sides’ will to fight (more on those later).

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How Scale, Effectiveness, and Maneuver Inform Solitaire TacOps

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At first blush, the connection between my first GMT game, Cross Bronx Expressway, and my next, Solitaire TacOps: Ortona, might seem tenuous. However, the connection is quite simple – I have an affinity for urban settings and how they serve as representations of human modernity.  Cross Bronx Expressway explores this through the social, political, and economic domains. Solitaire TacOps: Ortona explores it almost exclusively through the force domain. 

From the streets of the South Bronx to the streets of Ortona

Urban warfare is a very small niche of wargaming which shows up mostly as either scenarios within tactical systems, or stand-alone operational games. Both of these scales offer views into the nature of urban conflict, but each, removed from the other, loses the context to make those views complete. In order to model the dynamic impacts of urban warfare, Solitaire TacOps explores both tactical and operational considerations. 

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First Draft of History: Designing a Military Simulation of the Russo-Ukraine War 2022-2023

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Below you will find an article from co-designers D. B. Dockter and Mark Herman on the design of their upcoming game titled Defiance: 2nd Russo-Ukrainian War 2022-?, which is available for P500 preorder from GMT as of this December. This article was originally published on Conflicts of Interest Online in April 2023, and you can find the link to their version of the article here. Onward! -Rachel

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Fields of Fire Deluxe – Heartbreak Ridge Mission Book

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The new Mission Book for the Heartbreak Ridge campaign from the upcoming Fields of Fire Deluxe is now free to download from the Fields of Fire Deluxe P500 page at GMT Games for anyone with the original game to play with. [Link]

About The Campaign

Heartbreak Ridge was originally released as a free extra for Fields of Fire around 2010, and then later included in FoF 2nd edition, somewhat hidden at the back of the main Korean War campaign (Naktong River).

Personally, I think it’s one of the most fun campaigns in the series, and after we sent a bunch of playtesters up the ridge it became apparent that it wasn’t just me. The exciting AARs of the Manchus battling up the hill through NKPA trenches, of an enemy who refuse to give up, and desperate last stands at the mission objectives amidst mounting casualties convinced us that more people need to know about this “forgotten” campaign.

We hope that this newly produced mission book, in the new style we’re using for this edition, along with the new components included with Fields of Fire Deluxe (and the Update Kit), encourages players to give it a go. For anyone who has just completed Normandy and are looking for where to go next, I can definitely recommend this one.

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Plantagenet – War of the Roses Replay by Christophe Correia, Part 2

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Below you will find Part 2 in a Plantagenet replay series from Cristophe Correia originally published on The Boardgames Chronicle blog. You can read Part 1 here. Enjoy! -Rachel

After the defeat and the death of Henry VI and Somerset at the Battle of Ipswich, Richard York becomes King of England for the next 10 years. However, things go badly between him and Warwick – his old ally.

The sons of Richard York and Warwick fight for power – and when York chooses his sons Edward and Richard (of Gloucester) over Warwick, the latter decides to rebel against them by joining the Lancastrians.

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A Roman, a Carthaginian, a Gaul and a Latin Ally Walk Into a Bar…and Tear it Apart — The Conflict and Event Cards of Hannibal’s Revenge

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Introduction by Hannibal’s Revenge Game Developer, Fred Schachter: To those who placed P500 orders for the game and/or InsideGMT readers curious regarding the all too long hiatus in communications regarding it, Mark and I, after tragic periods in our personal lives (we both lost our beloved wives within a single year), are pleased to resume Hannibal’s Revenge progress with our wonderful publisher, GMT Games’, support. The first game of the “Card Conquest System” series is Hitler’s Reich.  This game, although using a similar “engine” for resolving conflict, modifies the system to depict a fascinating and legendary historical struggle. Now to Mark for his update of this next “Card Conquest” Series game.

Introduction by Game Designer, Mark McLaughlin: Hannibal’s Revenge is not your typical game about the titular scourge of Rome.  Nor is it your typical wargame. It does cover the Second Punic War, as have so many games which have come and gone before (with a tip of the helmet to Mark Simonitch for his classic Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage | Board Game | BoardGameGeek  – both the original and the glorious remake with chess-like model soldiers), but in a unique manner. As to my design regarding this topic…

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Decisive Action: Movement and Opportunity Fire

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by Evan Yoak and Joe Chacon

Last time we shot, this time we’ll move, next time we’ll communicate. Erm, we’ll shoot this time, too. Maybe communicate as well. Heck, we’re just going to do it all!

That said, we’re not going to cover movement in Decisive Action in any great depth since, if you’ve ever played a hex-and-counter game before (pretty likely if you’re reading a wargaming blog), you already know what’s going on. Instead, we’ll talk about two features that are different from your standard hex-and-counter fare.

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Plantagenet – War of the Roses Replay by Christophe Correia, Part 1

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Below you will find Part 1 in a Plantagenet replay series from Cristophe Correia originally published on The Boardgames Chronicle blog. Enjoy! -Rachel

Levy & Campaign Series developer Christophe Correia and his friend John O’Reilly face off in a run through the full-length scenario of Volume IV, Plantagenet. The scenario covers the full War of the Roses between 1459 and 1485. The scenario is composed of three smaller parts, that represent the 3 periods of activity of the War. Christophe played the Lancastrians and John the Yorkists. The Playtime for this epic scenario was around 15 hours. Christophe gives us the blow by blow, including all the many battles that will decide the conflict. Enjoy this trip to medieval England!

Protagonists will enter and leave the field, as they die and new pretenders arise! In the full-length scenario of Plantagenet, the Lancastrians and Yorkists fight across three different, shorter scenarios, representing the three main periods of fighting. The Lords of those scenarios are split between Heirs, who can end up being King, and lesser magnates, who are there to support the Heirs and help their side.

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Resisting Revolution: The Soviet Union

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The Soviet Union was just as surprised as everyone else when the Cuban revolution succeeded, and their initial attitude towards Castro was cautious, as it was not yet clear where his sympathies lay. The Cuban communist party (the PSP, or Popular Socialist Party) had even supported Fulgencio Batista during his first presidency from 1940 to 1944, and were regarded with suspicion among the Cuban revolutionaries, who came from a diverse range of political backgrounds. However, after the US embargo was established in October 1960 the Soviet Union stepped in to purchase Cuban sugar and provide other economic aid, and this relationship rapidly escalated after the Bay of Pigs invasion, eventually leading to the deployment of nuclear weapons and the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962. Similar to the United States faction, the Soviet Union faction represents especially those within the Soviet government and military who are in favour of using Cuba as a tool to increase their regional influence and extract concessions from the United States.  In this article I will outline some key features of the Soviet Union faction and their new menu of Operations and Special Activities.