Category Archives: Playtest Reports

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A Play Session of Hannibal’s Revenge

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Introduction by Hannibal’s Revenge: A Card Conquest System Game Co-Designer,  Fred Schachter: To begin, readers have hopefully, by now, checked out the tantalizing glimpse of this game’s graphics created by the talent-extremis Mark Mahaffey.  His fine initial work, with assistance of Co-Developer Jason Carr, of Hannibal Revenge game components can be viewed via this link or above: January 18, 2024 Update from GMT: New P500s, Art Samples, Production Update, a Free Download, and More!! (mailchi.mp).

What a difference these are from the Mark McLaughlin hand-drafted Hannibal’s Revenge play test version shared by this article.

But now, onto the main event!

Robert Baynosa and I met, virtually that is, through his being an enthusiastic fan of the first game of the Card Conquest System, Hitler’s Reich.  Robert so enjoyed playing Hitler’s Reich that he was inspired to create a solitaire version variant for it which was shared through an InsideGMT article: Playing Hitler’s Reich Solo: A Suggested Variant | Inside GMT blog .

 When Robert learned of Designer Mark McLaughlin and I working on the next game of the series, Hannibal’s Revenge GMT Games – Hannibal’s Revenge, he enthusiastically volunteered to help play-test it.  To that end, I emailed him the necessary files to print-out and build his own physical copy of the game which is referenced and shown within this article.  As the photos show, Robert created an attractive and functional copy of Hannibal’s Revenge… well done!

To provide readers an idea of how Hannibal’s Revenge plays, by describing but a portion of an overall 90 minute game between himself and his gaming buddy EC Baltazar, here’s Robert’s illustrated report.  If unfamiliar with the Card Conquest System, it may be helpful reviewing GMT’s Hitler’s Reich site’s contents , – GMT Games – Hitler’s Reich; as it contains the latest rules and a host of related material.  With that, Robert, take it away! 

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Cuius Regio: Campaign Game Summary / Example of Play

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Cuius Regio is an operational level wargame depicting the military activities of the Thirty Years War.  This is a summary of activity in the first two turns of a Campaign game from one of our teaching games with our playtest group.  While this is not a detailed explanation of the rules, but it does provide a description of the flow of the game and the basics of how the game works.

NOTE: The Map art depicted in this article is almost final (pending a few minor corrections), but the counter art is not. This game was played online using Vassal.

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Borikén Game Three: Post-1529

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Borikén: The Taíno Resistance includes three separate games, each covering a distinct period of the history of the Taíno people of Borikén (modern day Puerto Rico). Each game uses the same map and the same basic system, but with different additional rules and objectives to model the particularities of its era. In my previous articles I played through the first game, covering the fifteen centuries prior to 1492, and the second game, covering the initial arrival of the conquistadors from 1493-1528. I was able to complete my objectives and resist the conquistadors for a time, but unfortunately their numbers and technology are too great, and now in the third game I am tasked with ensuring the survival of the Taíno people by escaping from Borikén. Like the second game, the third game can be played cooperatively, but I will again be playing solitaire as I explain some of the rules and history.

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Fields of Fire Deluxe – Progress Report

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So what’s going on with Fields of Fire Deluxe?

In October 2022, a draft of the new rulebook went online. This is due for another update once all the components are done to add new images along with a handful of new clarifications. The rulebook now contains all the base rules, with full explanations and examples, and should answer any question that comes up during play. However, that’s just the first step towards the new presentation of Fields of Fire.

The second step is the Starter Guide & Field Manual. Fields of Fire can be a tricky game to grasp, especially for players of other tactical wargames. The training course in this guide takes you through the basics of the game one step at a time and teaches you how to follow the sequence of play. The book also provides a series of examples and guidance for the various situations that the campaigns present; how to plan for an air assault, what to think about when setting up a defensive mission, a demonstration of between-mission reconstitution and replacements and so on. The main text is complete and it’s currently going through a series of checks, edits and design discussions to make sure it’s as user-friendly as possible.

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An Interesting Thing Happened on the Way to Jask

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Many strange situations crop up when playtesting even when that game is the sixth (or seventh? – TBD) game in the series. In this case, the playtesters ended up in a situation that required some working through the nuances of the rules. It didn’t break anything or require adding new rules, but it presented an interesting Air Strike Interception situation that I thought would be enlightening to share.

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Solo Playthrough of Borikén Game Two: 1493-1528

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Borikén: The Taíno Resistance includes three separate games, each covering a distinct period of the history of the Taíno people of Borikén (modern day Puerto Rico). Each game uses the same map and the same basic system, but with different additional rules and objectives to model the particularities of its era. In my previous article I played through the first game, covering the fifteen centuries prior to 1492, and was able to successfully establish myself on the island of Borikén as High Chief on the Taíno. Now, in the second game, the conquistadors have arrived, and I must attempt to resist their incursions onto the island while also completing certain historical objectives. This game can be played cooperatively with multiple players, but I will be playing solo, without the help of anyone else!

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Solo Playthrough of Borikén Game One: Pre-1493

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Borikén: The Taíno Resistance includes three separate games, each covering a distinct period of the history of the Taíno people of Borikén (modern day Puerto Rico). Each game uses the same map and the same basic system, but with different additional rules and objectives to model the particularities of its era. The first game, taking place in the centuries prior to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in 1493, is competitive, with players aiming to establish their own Taíno faction on the island, competing against each other and the rival Caribe people, with the dominant player at the end of the game becoming Agüeybaná I, High Chief on the Taíno, in the second game. The second and third games then chart the players’ cooperative struggle against the conquistadors from 1493 to 1528, and finally their desperate attempts to escape and survive after 1529. All three games can also be played solitaire, with the first (competitive) game coming with additional rules and objectives for solo play. In this series of articles I will play through all three games, providing an introduction to the rules and themes as I go (all art featured in these articles is prototype material that will be replaced before publication). 

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“Cat-Herder-in-Chief”: Playing the Mr. President 2017 Hard Scenario (Part 2)

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Gene: When last we left our intrepid cardboard President, Rick had just finished the first half of Activation Phase 1. Note that the Activation Phases are organized so that the first half (the left column) of each Activation Phase features more “game opponents” actions with some player reaction opportunities. The second half of each Activation Phase, which Rick is beginning now, gives the player more action opportunities, with a small reaction segment for the opponents. So Rick should have a good opportunity during the rest of this phase to plug holes created by the opponent’s actions and to grab the initiative and began to work his plan. We’ll start with his Ally Actions, which can be very useful if you’ve kept your Ally Relationships strong.

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“Cat-Herder-in-Chief”: Playing the Mr. President 2017 Hard Scenario (Part 1)

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By way of introduction, Rick is simply one of the best playtesters I’ve ever known. His enthusiasm for and contributions to the development of Mr. President have been numerous (usually because he was using and abusing the game system in ways that I had not anticipated – which is one thing great testers do). Many, MANY times during the development process, Rick has sent me an AAR with notes about how “easy” it was to win – and Rick REALLY likes to win. That usually ticked me off! ? But he chronicled his games in such great detail and provided me with the “whys” behind what he was doing that it made it very easy for me to compare his approach to what I believed was “real-world-plausible” and “game-legal” and then make the design better (and more challenging) based on his reports. I have received many subsequent emails from Rick – usually after I nuked or modified his favorite way to abuse a rule or Action – that referred to me as “The Evil Game Designer™” (and occasionally questioned my parentage!). As you might glean from that, Rick is a lot of fun to play (or test) games with. At our yearly playtest sessions at Consimworld Expo in Tempe, Rick provided much hilarity over his play-by-play “what I’m thinking as President right now” announcing of his test games.

Our whole team has been incredibly blessed because Rick has been a part of us. Below, you have a recent AAR that Rick wrote, to help give potential players a sense of how the game flows. He has asked me to insert comments on his play throughout. So, I guess this is my chance to get some payback! ? My comments will be in italics below. Enjoy Rick’s article! – Gene

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Border Reivers Two-Player Playtest AAR

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Those of you who have read the Border Reivers rules will know that 2 and 3-player versions of the game exist, even though the expected number of players is either 4 or 6. I’m trying to get the 4 and 6-player versions finished first, so even though I’ve experimented enough with 2 and 3-player to be confident they work, I had never finished a full game of either. Until today. And it’s a story worth telling.