Before GMT had announced Falling Sky as an upcoming COIN Series volume, a couple images of our prototype posted on GMT’s Instagram site spawned a Boardgamegeek thread  contending that application of the COIN Series system to ancient Roman warfare was an unwise and awkward mismatch – a square peg in a round hole. I was a bit amazed […]
Rendering Caesar’s COIN (Part I) Read Post »
Designer BlogsHitler’s Reich is World War Two in two+ hours – and sometimes less. One of the reasons this game plays so fast, once players become familiar with the rules, cards and their interplay on the map, is that all conflict in Hitler’s Reich is resolved through the play of cards. Each player has a designated War
Hitler’s Reich – The Event Decks: Broadening the Front in Hitler’s Reich Read Post »
Designer Blogs, Development UpdatesThe design of Time of Crisis started with one fairly simple idea. Wray was living and working in Chicago, so I was lucky to be able to meet with him in person fairly frequently. At one game day at my house, we were discussing possible game design projects, and I related my interest in the
Time of Crisis Design Diary: A Design History Read Post »
Designer BlogsWe’re excited to be adding Cataclysm to our P500 list this coming week. This is the first of several planned articles by William and Scott to give you guys insight into what this game is all about. Enjoy! – Gene ——————— In the wargaming hobby, every war has to fit into a box. When it comes to
Creating World War 2.0: The Genesis of Cataclysm: A Second World War Read Post »
Designer BlogsJerry White has been attending our GMT Weekends at the Warehouse for many years now. A few years back, as I greeted him at one of the events, he mentioned that he had a game design that he wanted to show me. This happens a lot at GMT Weekends, and it’s kind of “hit and
Enemy Coast Ahead: Evoking the Story Read Post »
Designer BlogsI guess it’s been six or seven years now since I got a call from Rick Young asking me if we’d be interested in publishing games from a proven block game designer. I was a little hesitant, as we didn’t have many block games in the line back then, although Rick and Jesse had done
Triumph and Tragedy: Outside the Box Read Post »
Designer BlogsConflict in Hitler’s Reich: A Card Conquest System Game, henceforth referred to as Hitler’s Reich, is resolved much like the classic card game “War” – but with dice and event cards added in. The principal deck has four suits, but instead of Spades, Clubs, Diamonds and Hearts, the suits are Iron Crosses, Fasces, Soviet Russian
Hitler’s Reich: A First Look Inside The “War” Deck Read Post »
Designer BlogsWhen I set out to design Navajo Wars, I had a couple goals in mind. First, I wanted to tell the story of the Diné (“the people”) in a way that was faithful to the historical record, honorable, and from the perspective of the Diné. When I was finishing up Navajo Wars, I knew already
Telling the Story of Another People Read Post »
Designer Blogs, Inside the Game as History…. Hammerin’ Sickles, a regimental-scale Gettysburg game! What? You say you already own a dozen Gettysburg games? And you currently have a multitude of games with all sorts of different tactical American Civil War systems? I suspect that a lot of gamers think this idea is ridiculous – why would a designer waste his time
And Now For Something Completely Different …… Read Post »
Designer BlogsJim Day has been a respected designer in our hobby going back to the 1970s. When Andy told me a few years back that we had an opportunity to work with Jim on completely retooled versions of his terrific tactical wargames, I was thrilled, as I knew his systems were first-rate and was impressed at
Design Background – Panzer and MBT Read Post »
Designer Blogs