One of the (many!) best parts of the Space Empires: Close Encounters (CE) expansion was the addition of the empire advantages deck. If you are not familiar with the expansion, this deck gives players variable starting powers by having them play unique alien races—an aspect of modern sci-fi board games that seems to be almost […]
Space Empires Close Encounters: More Encounters Read Post »
Scenarios/Variants, Strategy ArticlesStrategies for South Pacific: Breaking the Bismarck Barrier Scenario in Empire of the Sun Welcome back to the 2nd half of this strategic study of the South Pacific Scenario from C3i Magazine #30. For those who haven’t read Part 1, it can be found here on Inside GMT. Remember, I’ll be discussing South Pacific strategy
Secrets of the South Pacific – Part 2 Read Post »
Scenarios/Variants, Strategy ArticlesMark Herman’s ground-breaking, innovative and thoroughly enjoyable game (insert any title of his here, but in this case, Fort Sumter) is the kind of game you can play over and over again and get a different outcome almost every time. It’s only failing, at least for me, however, is in its victory conditions. No matter whether
Fort Sumter: Making “Victory” Mean Something — An Option to Make Winning More Satisfying Read Post »
Scenarios/VariantsIntroduction This is the third and last installment in my after-action report for “Fisher’s Hill”, one of Death Valley‘s 1864 battles. Like the preceding parts, it employs a “narrative” style designed to display the GBACW system’s level of detail. In all but the final section of the article I avoid game terminology. Nevertheless, the AAR
Fisher’s Hill: A Death Valley Narrative-Style AAR (Part 3) Read Post »
After Action Report, Designer Blogs, Scenarios/VariantsIntroduction This is the second in a three-part after-action report for “Fisher’s Hill”, one of Death Valley‘s 1864 battles. Like its predecessor, it employs a “narrative” style, avoiding game terminology but relying solely on GBACW system mechanics for its details, except for invented dialogue between historical figures. Where not entirely indulgent, the dialogue serves to
Fisher’s Hill: A Death Valley Narrative-Style AAR (Part 2) Read Post »
After Action Report, Designer Blogs, Scenarios/VariantsAs a counterpart to the after-action report for the Death Valley scenario, “Carroll Burns the Bridge”, which appeared several months ago in this blog, I now offer this first installment of an AAR for one of the game’s 1864 battles, Fisher’s Hill. This one, too, employs a “narrative” style. I believe the GBACW system is
Fisher’s Hill: A Death Valley Narrative-Style AAR (Part 1) Read Post »
After Action Report, Designer Blogs, Scenarios/VariantsLowering his head, the Commander slumps back into the gulley – this battle is lost. He has failed to take the high ground, and worse – the Germans have a commanding view of the field of battle, and are moving up additional tanks and infantry to secure their lines. “Get ready to fall back, we
Tank Duel Scenario 2: Hold the High Ground – Round 10 Read Post »
After Action Report, Playtest Reports, Scenarios/VariantsStrategies for South Pacific: Breaking the Bismark Barrier Scenario in Empire of the Sun The South Pacific Scenario was initially released in C3i Magazine #30 in late 2016. It was also integrated into the 2nd Edition/2nd printing (or 3rd Printing) of the Empire of the Sun base game that was released in Feb 2019. At
Secrets of the South Pacific – Part 1 Read Post »
Scenarios/Variants, Strategy ArticlesFire erupts from the barrels of the Panther and PZ IV nearly simultaneously as they open up on the T-34/85, which is creeping further into the building. The Commander sees one shot impact the T-34/85 in the hull between the driver and Assistant driver! No smoke or flames, but how bad is the damage? The
Tank Duel Scenario 2: Hold the High Ground – Round 9 Read Post »
After Action Report, Playtest Reports, Scenarios/VariantsCoughing from the acrid smoke that envelopes his men, the Commander realizes that they are going to lose this battle unless they can kill the Panther and Stug that have captured the high ground in front of him. And they need to do it soon as German reinforcements have been spotted moving towards the hills.
Tank Duel Scenario 2: Hold the High Ground – Round 8 Read Post »
After Action Report, Playtest Reports, Scenarios/Variants