E-Z: Look, Doc, we’re on our own for this one, and to make matters worse, we’re blind; we don’t have any intelligence on what we’re walking into. Just do what these guys say, move when they move. They’re hammers, to them, some things need fix’n while others just get nailed. Spider: I heard that. Hey, […]
ARC – The Underworld: Character Skills Read Post »
Designer Blogs
In this article, we’ll look at another one of the major game mechanics that causes players to make choices in any Men of Iron series game. You might think this would be movement or combat, as in many wargames. But that’s the point. Although players’ choices made involving those two mechanics are important in Men of Iron, they
Men of Iron: Seizure, I hardly know her (a nod to Mr. Berg’s humor) Read Post »
Designer Blogs
One of the most wonderful things about working with GMT is that GMT One exists, recognizing the value of solo play for historical gamers. There was always going to be a solo system developed for Cross Bronx Expressway, but early in the design I had no idea what shape it would take. Because of its
Cross Bronx Expressway: A Solo Urban Planning Sandbox Read Post »
Designer Blogs
This is the fifth in a series of InsideGMT articles from Paul Hellyer about his board game Tsar, currently on GMT’s P500. You can view the previous article here. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how players make decisions in multiplayer games. In Tsar, all players are part of the same government
Tsar: Decision-Making in Multiplayer Games Read Post »
Designer Blogs
Jolly: They ain’t paying us enough for this, man.Kip: I’m afraid I have some bad news.Box: Well, that’s certainly a switch. In ARC – The Underworld, the combat action between the ARC and REZ characters takes place in three forms: ranged, explosive ranged, and close combat. All three rely on a similar resolution method using
ARC – The Underworld: Combat Mechanics Read Post »
Designer Blogs
The Hellenistic period was undoubtedly one marked by much war: the prominent historian John D. Grainger for instance identified no less than nine “Syrian Wars”, i.e. wars pitting the Seleucids against the Ptolemies, in a span of 170 years… This should not surprise us with dynasties descended from Alexander’s generals, who had built their patrimonies
The Hubris Histories – Book 4: Of War and Peace Read Post »
Designer Blogs
In this article, we’ll look at one of the major game mechanics that causes players to make choices in any Men of Iron series game. You might think this would be movement or combat, as in many wargames. But that’s the point. Although players’ choices made involving those two mechanics are important in Men of
Men of Iron: What is a Turn Anyway? Read Post »
Designer Blogs
We have introduced in the precedent entry of these Histories the main players and movers of things in Hubris – Twilight of the Hellenistic World: the Kings and their Friends. Now we are going to examine what they were fighting over, i.e. as in most of history, land and the resources that could be obtained
The Hubris Histories – Book 3: The Lay of the Land Read Post »
Designer Blogs
As we have seen in the general historical overview in Book 1, individual leaders, first and foremost, but not exclusively, kings, drove the historical narrative in Ancient times. Accordingly, Hubris – Twilight of the Hellenistic World has been built around these leaders, their strengths and weaknesses, unique abilities and relationships. Who can you trust to
The Hubris Histories – Book 2: The Kings and their Courts Read Post »
Designer Blogs
Disease killed significantly more soldiers in the Civil War than bullets did. The Union lost 110, 000 killed in action and 225,000 from disease. The South lost 94,000 killed in action and 169,000 from disease. In addition, each side had about 30,000 men die in captivity, and almost all of those would have been die
Disease and Other Unexpected Losses in A House Divided Read Post »
Designer Blogs