Category Archives: Designer Blogs

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Elite vs. Regular Units in the Last Hundred Yards

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The introduction of airborne units to the LHY series raised an interesting question: What was important to model Airborne units during WWII? Essentially, the challenge was how to model the difference between these elite units and the regular units depicted in LHY. We asked some military experts and they cited that an important distinction is that the elite unit selection process identifies people with a high appetite for risk and a penchant for action. That makes them more likely to get up and do something (for example: have initiative, recover under stress, provide the flanking effort, provide squad and platoon leadership, etc.). Elite unit training is therefore more demanding of such people and intentionally designed to produce esprit de corps and to reinforce their risk-tolerance and penchant for action.

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Never Tell Me the Odds: Strength-Dependent Risk Mitigation and the Combat System in Vijayanagara

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Introduction

In the previous articles we introduced some of the main modeling choices in Vijayanagara, and presented the central features representing each Faction’s goals and their means of attaining them. In this article we turn to the game’s combat system.
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Full-Court Press Double Teaming – Ancient Civ (of the Middle East) Style or… Kadesh Tomorrow, Ninevah Tonight!

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Egyptian and Hittite armies clashed in one of the first, great, recorded battles of ancient history- the epic clash of chariots at Kadesh. That is what is supposed to happen in the “Balance of Power” scenario of the now P-500 listed Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East GMT Games – Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East. And it would have if the Assyrians hadn’t showed up to the party.

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Congress of Vienna April 2021 Gameboard Update

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Introduction by Congress of Vienna Assistant Designer & Editor – Fred Schachter: First to our InsideGMT readers… the CoV team is flattered, thrilled, and more than a bit bemused at the outpouring of support this addition to GMT’s “Great Statesmen Series” has garnered since its initial P-500 announcement. We appreciate all the patronage Congress of Vienna has received to date through those who’ve placed orders for the game.

This April 2021 update conveys designer Frank Esparrago’s latest modifications to the game’s map, an image of which accompanies this narrative. As play testing continues, and it will continue until the happy day GMT advises production efforts may commence, the team will make adjustments based on the feedback of our international playtest teams, who consist of both Eurogamers and hard core grognard wargamers. What fun it is to be participating in these efforts!

For more regarding Congress of Vienna, there’s a host of material available from GMT’s site for the game: GMT Games – Congress of Vienna. With that, take it away Frank!

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Dubno ’41: The Little Known Battle of Dubno

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Below you will find an article from Francisco Ronco, designer of the upcoming P500 title Dubno ’41. This game will be the most recent installment in the Fast Action Battles series, and it will be available for P500 preorder soon. Enjoy!

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Congress of Vienna: Designing Its Two Player Game

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Introduction by Congress of Vienna (CoV)’s Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter: This article follows up a previous piece’s description of efforts made by one of the CoV Teams making fine and appreciated contributions to the game… “Gutt’s Guys”… who’ve come up with a set of rules converting CoV’s 4-player game into 3 and 2-player versions.

With this article, designer Frank Esparrago describes efforts to make Congress of Vienna into a completely competitive and fun two player game with all the intensity and excitement of its Standard multi-player versions… but one which delivers some unique design elements to hopefully create novel and exciting player experiences and “puzzles to victory” conundrums to explore. Later articles will describe how CoV’s Bots were created for solo play enjoyment; and shall provide a description, with examples, of how they work.

Understanding Congress of Vienna’s basic game system(s) should enhance readers’ appreciation of this article and its ensuing follow-ups. To that end, GMT’s site for the game contains a wealth of material: GMT Games – Congress of Vienna 

We hope you enjoy that content and take it away Frank!

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Crusader: FAB #4 Development Update

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First an update on where we are with the game at this moment. The final playtesting is underway and I’m very pleased by the excellent work the playtest team have done so far. The difficulties have been all the new concepts in this volume and to transfer the FAB system to the wide open desert and desert warfare, where there are no strict frontlines and swirling battles are fought all across the map. 

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“It’s All in the Cards”: A Compendium of Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East’s Cards: Chapter Two, Part One – Competition Cards

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Chapter Two: Competition, Trade, & Resource Cards of ACME

Part 1: Competition Cards

Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East provides eleven (11!) regular Competition cards. For those unfamiliar or needing a refresher as to how an Ancient Civ game’s Competition is resolved for each Contested area, see the extended example of a Competition accessible through this link: Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East (ACME) Example of Play Part 3 of 3: Reckoning Phase with Additional Examples of Competition – Inside GMT blog. Several of Chapter One’s Great Person Competition cards, as well a couple of those encompassed within this article, are cited.
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Faster Fire Resolution for Mons 1914 and Gallipoli 1915

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Mons, 1914: The Mad Minute will include the 2.0 version of the Rifle and Spade series rules; the 1.0 version shipped with Gallipoli, 1915: Churchill’s Greatest Gamble. The new version is focused on readability and faster play, while retaining the same historical accuracy. Rules that rarely came up in play or that were difficult to remember were dropped, obscure language clarified, and several key procedures simplified – the new rules are 20% shorter and the playtesters are all much happier. Gallipoli can be played with the 2.0 rules, using replacments of the Fire DRM chart and the Fire Results Table.

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Commands and Decrees of the Deccan Empires: Aims, Means, and Victory Conditions

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Introduction

In the last article we introduced some of the main modeling choices in Vijayanagara, in particular the concepts of Tributary and Independent Provinces, and Obedient and Rebelling Units. Having identified three major actors in the region during this period of Indian history, we set out to identify the central features representing their distinct goals and their asymmetric means of attaining them. The game is won by the player whose Faction’s victory condition is highest at the end of the game, with ties broken by comparing Resources. (A second, optional tie-breaker is a short match of Aadu Huli Aata, an ancient asymmetric hunting game found etched into temples where Vijayanagara once stood. This will be the topic of another article, and a copy of the game will be contained in the Vijayanagara box.) Each faction in the game has a set of standard Commands and special Decrees  which they may choose at different times in the game. We will now explore the unique goals and actions available to each faction in turn.