Category Archives: Designer Blogs

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Simulating Asymmetry in Imperial Fever

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The 19th century is the age of British hegemony. This hegemony was expressed in terms of economic development, territorial expansion, diplomatic influence, and the capacity to project military power anywhere on the globe. In 1880 the British Empire was by far the largest in the world, including the vast territories of India, Canada, and Australia, as well as key bases straddling the oceans, which allowed Britain to supply its coal-fuelled navy and ensure the protection of its far-flung Empire. The City of London was the financial heart of the developed world, and the British Navy was bigger than that of the two following powers combined.

France in 1880 was also a first-class economic power and Paris was undoubtedly the cultural capital of the world, but the country was still reeling from its defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, which had left deep wounds in French national pride. The Third Republic, established after the abdication of Napoleon III and lasting until the French debacle in World War II, was characterised by political strife and instability. Many in France saw colonial expansion as a necessary balm to recover lost prestige and unify the country in an external venture, as they bided their time until they could take revenge on the new German Empire.

The recently unified German Reich was the youngest power in Europe, but it had demonstrated its military prowess by destroying the supposedly formidable French Imperial Army in a short campaign and capturing the French Emperor, Napoleon III, in the encirclement battle of Metz. The German Empire had prioritized European expansion and Bismarck was at first indifferent to building an overseas empire, an endeavour he considered expensive and of doubtful use. Bismarck’s priority was to build an alliance system that would isolate France and ensure peace in Europe under the terms imposed after the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian war. All this changed when Wilhelm II came to the throne with very different ideas. The young Kaiser promptly got rid of the aging Bismarck and embarked on a project of global expansion based on naval power that antagonized Britain. Wilhelm also tied the destiny of the Reich to that of the decaying Austro-Hungarian Empire, at the cost of friendship with Russia, which Bismarck had so carefully cultivated.

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WBC 2023: Battles of the American Revolution After Action Report — Part II

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Part II

The scenario for the Final match was “Howe’s Grand Assault” at White Plains.  Father Todd and I each wanted the British and so we bid.  It only took one round.  He bid zero and so I prevailed with a bid of 1 army morale point.  I surrendered it from my at-start morale, and we completed the game set-up.  Father Todd rolled for General Washington’s combat modifier and was successful in bringing Washington into the game with a combat DRM of “1” vs. a possible 0.  In a classic example of turn-about being fair play, his Militia Attrition die roll yielded the worst possible outcome and he had to remove seven militia counters from his deployed forces.  The seven units he selected amounted to 1,300 men!  The roads to upstate N.Y. and Connecticut must have been clogged with this human flotsam and jetsam as they streamed homeward, wanting nothing to do with His Majesty’s forces.  He made his secret die roll to determine his Ruse de Guerre set-up and we drew our starting hand of two Opportunity Cards each.  We were ready to start playing.  It was 10:00 AM.

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Infernal Machine: Three Alligator Thumbnail Biographies

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As “Infernal Machine: Dawn of Submarine Warfare” moves toward publication, it has been my task to research the backgrounds of those who made up the crews of the “fishboats.”

I am fascinated by the amount of information that is still available on many of these individuals. Census records gathered before, during and after the American Civil War are very informative. When combined with newspaper reports, tax documentation, church attendance records, even civil and criminal arrest warrants, the gathered information will, as Shakespeare once said, “Hold the mirror up to nature.”

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1848: The Springtime of Nations — The Battle of Ideas

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The 19th century was not only a century of intense political and economic change, but also great intellectual and ideological oppositions which sustained and accompanied them. The French Revolution moved the Enlightenment ideals from a handful of intelligentsia salons to the center of the political landscape across Europe, and as it did so new counter revolutionary and anti-Enlightenment ideas rose in opposition.

Indeed, the wars of the Revolution and the Empire were significant as much for plunging Europe into intellectual turmoil as for their military implications. After Napoleon was defeated in 1814 and 1815, it was the hope of the crowned heads of Europe that the Congress of Vienna could mark the end of these ideas as it ended the wars, but even through the repression and censorship that marked the postwar era, the new ideas kept on progressing among all parts of the population. It was from this ferment that the premises of modern ideologies such as nationalism and socialism arose.

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WBC 2023: Battles of the American Revolution After Action Report — Part I

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Part I

We tied our third-best attendance record for Battles of the American Revolution at the WBC this year with 31 players participating.  Among those were eight new, unrated players which speaks to the continued popularity of the series.  Also participating this year were six of the top ten AREA rated players which made for good leavening within the field.

I conducted a scheduled demo (since AGM Rob “Cappy” McCracken was an unfortunate late-scratch and couldn’t attend) as well as two 1:1 tutorial for individuals who couldn’t make the demo.  Among these folks, two showed up to play.

We ran six Heats to qualify eight players for the single elimination quarterfinals.  In-all, 52 separate games of BoAR were played from Heat #1 through to the Final match.  It was a long week for those players who committed wholeheartedly to the event, including the three players who had selected BoAR as their WBC team game.  On the other hand, the Swiss-Heat format provided others with maximum flexibility to come and go as their overall schedules allowed.  It was a nice mix. 

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Tanto Monta: The Title of the Game and the History

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Hi to the followers of the development of my game Tanto Monta. There are several of you who have asked me why the game is called “Tanto Monta” and not “Tanto monta, monta tanto”; so I have decided to explain everything around this and I hope I know how to answer the question.

Both expressions have their depth and justification in the history of the period that the game relates and that has come down to our time. The title of the game has its origin in the expression that Ferdinand first, then Isabella, adopted for their joint monarchy and this is recorded in many writings and remains of the time. Ferdinand, as king of the Crown of Aragon, adopted this personal motto as his own, alluding to the Gordian knot that Alexander the Great cut instead of untying: “it’s as easy to cut as it is to untie”. In other words, no matter how it is done, the important thing is that it is achieved.  And indeed this motto was presented on the arrows, with a loose string (cut) around it.

However, the monarchy of the couple Ferdinand and Isabella is articulated as a monarchical union where both monarchs are of the 2 kingdoms, Castile and Aragon and consequently act on them; although the character of involvement of Ferdinand in the affairs of Castile is more marked than Isabella in those of Aragon. In the end this was translated in an impression of the citizenship that both she and he were in charge, and that together with the motto of Fernando ended up becoming dual, inverting the order indicating that both had decision in the reign and from there the well-known popular motto “tanto monta, monta tanto Isabel como Fernando” (both Isabel and Ferdinand are so much alike) being reduced to “Tanto monta, monta tanto monta”.

In the game I used the popular motto to name the third natal card of the Spanish player because it is a powerful card that can be used indistinctly with both Aragonese and Castilian units, thus departing from the norm of the rest of the natal cards but at the same time allowing me to represent this dual character of the monarchs over the subjects of both kingdoms.

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Plantagenet: Additions to Levy & Campaign Series Mechanics

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Here the designer of Levy & Campaign Volume IV, Plantagenet (shipping as we post this), gives us a quick rundown of how this new entry alters certain game mechanics from the Series’ first three titles, Nevsky, Almoravid, and Inferno, to better represent unique aspects in the Wars of the Roses. (Be sure as well to catch my video take on the history and mechanics in the game.) Enjoy! -Volko

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1848: The Springtime of Nations — Armies

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One of the biggest differences, and most important additions, that 1848: The Springtime of Nations (1848) makes to the classic Twilight Struggle/1989: The Dawn of Freedom system is the addition of armies which can be placed on the board. Like in many wargames, these pieces can be moved across the different spaces of the map, and engage in combat. However, in 1848 they are not the main focus of the attention but rather just an important part of the game of political influence that 1848 and its illustrious predecessors portray.

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Imperial Fever: Deckbuilding With a Twist

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Many of the more experienced players of historical games have fond memories of Pax Britannica, a game published by Victory Games in 1985. According to its rules, “Pax Britannica recreates the dynamics of the colonial era, from 1880 to the outbreak of the Great War”. However, many players feel that Pax Britannica has not aged too well, and it is a difficult game to bring it to the table today. It requires detailed bookkeeping and players need to fill in meticulous tax-like forms to reflect income and expenses. Also, the action phase lacks structure, without any specific player order, so that players may interrupt and compete for actions without clear rules. When wars break out, a separate game system opens where only the involved players act, with the rest just looking on for what can be rather lengthy periods of time. Accommodating up to seven players, a game of Pax Britannica usually lasts a full day, often longer. There are other issues regarding diplomacy, asymmetry, and agency, but these are not relevant to the topic of this article.

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Order & Opportunity: Extended Example of Play, Part 1

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Some weeks ago, a new game named Order & Opportunity: Making of the Post-Cold War World Order entered GMT Games’ P500 list. This is the seventh in a series of articles covering different aspects about the game.

In this and a number of following installments, we will follow along a strategic, multi-turn example of how to play Order & Opportunity.

The year is somewhere early 2000’s and a new US administration — controlled by us! — has taken the helm. In this example, the EU, China, and Russia turns will be played by the bot system contained in the game, but we will abstract those turns away to allow us to focus on the US turns.