Category Archives: Designer Blogs

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Cards in Bear Trap (Part I of II): Card Types, Force Pools, & Deck Composition

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In past InsideGMT articles, we looked at the gameplay in Bear Trap and provided a simple combat example.

Part of the asymmetry in Bear Trap emerges from the way the cards work. And so, in this InsideGMT article, I’ll explain how the how the different cards work as well as look at the force pools and deck composition for each side. This is first part in a two-part series of InsideGMT articles about the cards in Bear Trap—in the second part, I’ll give some historical comments on some of the more interesting strategy cards.

Broadly speaking there are 3 types of cards in Bear Trap—unit cards, loyalty challenge cards, and strategy cards. (Note: The cards depicted here are playtest components and still subject to possible change—including text, art, and graphic design.)

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Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 6

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The fall of Cortona has put the Guelphs on top, putting the ball in Siena’s court in this closing episode of Volko’s test replay of Levy & Campaign Volume III. All art shown here is playtest only, and game rules featured remain provisional.

Siena’s army stood by, a short march off at Asinalunga, as the Guelphs reduced Cortona. Now it has the next move, with most the second Campaign to go in our test play of Inferno’s introductory scenario. A direct attack on the Guelph army seems attractive, as the latter’s effective numbers are far reduced by its bloody storm of the town. But the enemy would only avoid southward, into Ghibelline territory, probably to Ravage there. So  best path for the Sienese to achieve something is to turn south themselves and use their Hold card, SURPRISE, for a stab at the rebels of Montepulciano.

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Infernal Machine: The Inventor’s Vade Mecum (Nautica ed.) – Part 1: Where Do I Start?

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By Ed Ostermeyer, Master Engineer (Grade 2)

Good day to you, young Inventor.

You are to be congratulated.

You hold in your hand the Inventor’s Vade Mecum, a handbook for you to use whatever, wherever, whenever and, most important of all, why-ever you have questions or need assistance in your chosen field of endeavor.

Your enthusiasm for the field of maritime engineering at this moment in our country’s history places you at the forefront in the development and construction of nautical devices and mechanisms that will astound and discomfit our country’s foes.  

Using your knowledge and that of your team plus the latest tools and methods that 19th century science and industry can provide and the steps found in this Vade Mecum, you should encounter fewer interruptions and delays in making your latest technological marvel the Wonder of the Age.

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Line of Sight Decision Tree in Mons 1914 & Gallipoli 1915

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Line of Sight rules are always a challenge for any designer. They have to be accurate, but also be easy to understand and fast to resolve.  For the Rifle & Spade games (“Mons 1914, The Mad Minute” and “Gallipoli 1915, Churchill’s Greatest Gamble”) I did not want to use “rise over run” calculations because they can slow a game down. So I opted for a case-based system written out in text. It works, but it has more of a learning curve than I would like.

At Consimworld Expo in September 2021 we experimented with a “matrix” layout, rather than straight text. The matrix was easier to understand and faster to use. As I was tidying it up after the convention, I realized that it was really a “decision tree” in disguise. A decision tree has a visual flow like a flowchart – it presents the player with a number of questions that lead to an answer. For example, the following section deals with lighting conditions.

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Dramatis Personae Cards in Baltic Empires

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In Baltic Empires players can enhance their capabilities by having up to 5 Dramatis Personae cards attached to their Power’s Court. There are nearly 50 of these cards in the game, and each of them is named and inspired by a notable historical figure of the period who in one way or another left a mark on history. Each Round 5 cards are randomly drawn from the deck and laid out for the players to see. During the Production phase the players can buy any one of these 5 cards and place it in their Court on their Power Mat, gaining the benefits listed on that card.

The Dramatis Personae cards do not only represent advisors and ministers to the court, but also abstractly represent a whole range of historical changes, such as technological innovation, administrative reform, military reforms, or good diplomatic relations to foreign powers, and additional factors such as brilliant generals or even treacheries and rebellions – all exemplified by the named historical character on each card. As the historic person they are named after is merely an exemplar, these cards are not limited as to which power can buy them – all Dramatis Personae cards are available to all Powers to buy during their turn in the Production Phase, but naturally not all will be equally useful to all Powers in all situations.

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Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 5

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As the Ghibellines manuever and ravage, the Guelph army finds itself in a tight spot beneath the walls of stubborn Cortona.Volko’s test replay of Levy & Campaign Volume III proceeds. Neither art nor game rules featured here are final. …

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Infernal Machine: Dawn of Submarine Warfare — Setting the Stage

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It was a United States $20 gold piece that started it all.

A badly dented $20 gold coin, minted by the U.S. Treasury in 1860.

A gift from a young lady named Queenie to her beau, Lieutenant George E. Dixon, formerly attached to the 21st Alabama Regular Infantry, Confederate Army of Mississippi.

The coin got its dent on April 6th, 1862 during the battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.

That day, the 21st Alabama lost six color bearers and over two hundred casualties fighting over a thicket on that bloody battlefield; a thicket that became known as “The Hornet’s Nest” by those who fought there.

During the battle, a Yankee minie ball struck Dixon in the left thigh. The force of the bullet’s impact was dissipated by its striking the $20 gold piece in his trouser pocket.

The dented gold piece not only saved Dixon’s leg, it probably saved his life as well.

Dixon certainly seemed to think so.

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Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 4

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Opposing armies march out their city gates, as Volko’s test replay of Levy & Campaign Volume III introduces us to Command and Revolt actions in the game. Note that not only the art shown but several game mechanics discussed remain provisional as test and development continues. …

In the last part of our Inferno replay we formed each side’s Plan for the Campaign of early Spring 1259. Not let’s see what Florence and Arezzo’s Guelph and Siena’s Ghibelline forces actually do and where they go.

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Inside the History of Twilight Struggle: Red Sea — Conflict in the Horn of Africa (Part 3)

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The Context between the Super Powers

Part 3 of a three part series: The Cold War in the 1970s.

Twilight Struggle Red Sea is now nearing completion and will soon join the cue of GMT titles ready for printing.  TS: Red Sea is a free-standing, two player card-driven game that builds on the Twilight Struggle system.  The game covers the period between the mid-1970s and the conclusion of the Cold War.  It emphasizes the many proxy wars and revolutions in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa during this portion of the Cold War.

With a more limited scope and much shorter playtime, TS Red Sea is the perfect way to introduce new players to the Twilight Struggle. Yet this new game maintains all the tension, decision making, and theme of the original classic. 

This is the third of a three article series, introducing players to the history reflected in the game, and providing some example events that illustrate the ties between history and gameplay.