Category Archives: Designer Blogs

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Infernal Machine: The March of Time — An Overview of the Fortunes of War Cyclopedias

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The American Civil War lasted from April, 1861 to May, 1865, just over forty eight months.

When I was researching the background information for “Infernal Machine: Dawn of Submarine Warfare” I knew there would have to be some way of showing the influence of the outside world on the Player’s project.

The Player’s role in the game is that of Inventor and entrepreneur.

As such, you must be forever cognizant that, while that team of engineering wizards you’ve hired are busy constructing that underwater terror of yours, there is a Civil War raging across the formerly United States.

Current events generated by that Civil War will occur both near and far in relation to your machine shop’s front door, frequently accompanied by a frisson of dread.

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All Bridges Burning: A 2-Player Variant

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At the time of writing this, All Bridges Burning, COIN Series Volume X, is the latest released COIN Series game.The game tells the story of the Finnish Civil War of 1918 including the lead up to the war during the previous year.

In this article, we will introduce you to a new variant to All Bridges Burning for two players. The 2-player variant is released as free download with this article. All the rules and procedures needed to play are contained in this PDF file.

I want to thank Adrian Rubiero for testing and preparing the variant with me.

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Infernal Machine: The Inventor’s Vade Mecum (Nautica ed.) Part 8 — Acquiring Letters Patent

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By Ed Ostermeyer, Master Engineer (Grade 2)

Good day to you, young Inventor.

In these chaotic days of this accursed Civil War, it is well that you have all your important papers in order.

Especially important is to have in your possession documents known as “letters patent.”

Today’s session of instruction from the Inventor’s Vade Mecum will discuss the acquisition of two of these letters patent from the War Department.  

The first of the letters patent can be useful, though you may not need its help right away.

Of the other letter patent, a young Inventor and his fishboat cannot afford to be without one.

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Sovereign of Discord: External Support

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Last article, I covered the struggle in South Vietnam between the Ngo Dinh Diem regime and the Viet Cong (VC) insurgency. Both sides in the war received external assistance and advice from sponsors seeking to direct the conflict and exert control over their clients. Over the course of the Kennedy administration (1961-1963), US assistance in South Vietnam dramatically increased until there were 16,000 advisors in country by the end of 1963. Likewise, beginning in 1959, North Vietnam gradually increased its military assistance and advisors to support the insurgency. The North eventually sent thousands of trained “regroupees,” southerners who regrouped to the North in 1954 as part of the Geneva Accords, to add additional strength to the insurgency. In this article, I’ll focus on how Sovereign of Discord models American and North Vietnamese external assistance.

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Infernal Machine: The Inventor’s Vade Mecum (Nautica ed.) Part 7 — Running Your Pressgang: A Methodology in Recruiting Sailors to Your Project Team

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By Ed Ostermeyer, Master Engineer (Grade 2)

Ah, the budding entrepreneur returns.

Welcome back, young Inventor.

If you will open your copy of the Inventor’s Vade Mecum to the section entitled “Sailors,” we will get started.

You must be mindful that several decisions must be made before you are allowed access to the Navy’s manpower pool.

How will your fishboat be powered?

If your underwater marvel is to rely on muscle power, then a surplus of brawn would be advantageous.

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Infernal Machine: The Tale of the “Pioneer”

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Though the “H.L. Hunley” was the first submarine to sink another vessel in combat, it was by no means the first submarine built by the American Confederacy in the 1860’s.

There were multiple underwater marvels in various stages of completeness at several different locations when war broke out between North and South in April, 1861.

We will concern ourselves with a specific vessel, not just because it was one of the first of a type called a “fishboat” by the popular press of the time, but also for the knowledge it imparted to a team of bright young engineers and mechanics who had a dream of building a craft that would allow them to travel and fight underwater.

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Sovereign of Discord: The Strategic Hamlet Program

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In my last InsideGMT article, I gave some background on the Ngo Dinh Diem regime and covered some of the threats to the regime besides the Viet Cong (VC) insurgency. In this article I shift focus to the war in the countryside between the ARVN and VC players. In the early 1960s, the Strategic Hamlet program was the major counterinsurgency strategy of the Diem regime. The main goal of the program was to separate the rural population from the Viet Cong while increasing the state’s control of the countryside. Sovereign of Discord introduces new wooden strategic hamlet pieces and additional mechanics to Fire in the Lake to model this strategy.

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The Powers of Baltic Empires — Prussia

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This is the third article in a series I will present each of the five powers of Baltic Empires in turn. This time I will cover Prussia, the clear underdog among the powers during this period (1558-1721), and certainly not the Prussia from later eras that wargamers may be more familiar with.

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Infernal Machine: The Inventor’s Vade Mecum (Nautica ed.) Part 6 — On Choosing and Caring for a Journeyman

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By Ed Ostermeyer, Master Engineer (Grade 2)

A good day to you once more, young Inventor.

In our last look into the Inventor’s Vade Mecum, we learned how to recruit and retain your project’s Mechanics.

In today’s lesson, the Inventor’s Vade Mecum will provide you guidance in choosing and caring for a surprisingly necessary crewmember for your Wonder of the Age, the Journeyman.