Posted on

Reconquista and Riposte – Almoravid Full Scenario Replay

by

Ace Levy & Campaign testers Christophe Correia and John Campbell face off in a run through the full-length scenario of Volume II, Almoravid. The scenario covers the Reconquista years 1085 to 1086 that historically saw Christian conquest of Toledo and a major Almoravid intervention from Africa in response. Christophe played the Muslims and John the Christians, all on Brian Reynolds’ beautiful production Vassal module, play-time for this epic scenario 7-8 hours. Cristophe gives us the blow by blow, including a climactic Battle of Toledo that will decide the conflict, while Volko adds rules orientation and historical comparisons. Enjoy this trip to medieval Spain!

Posted on

Cross Bronx Expressway: Building Historical Narrative Arcs

by

As soon as an event deck was introduced to the design of Cross Bronx Expressway, it was clear that it needed to be split into periods. Covering 60 years of history, for the game to have an event from the 1940s played in the 1990s only works if you abstract away all of the historical meaning of the event itself. A deck of generic events from such a broad timespan would leave players without the context to understand the decisions the game has them make. An event deck like this would make the Bronx just a background setting without any real significance. My aim was to give players the agency to play through the history, and to accomplish this the event deck is split into six periods, each featuring a set of events from the corresponding decade to serve as historical guideposts. 

Posted on

A Holiday Gift from GMT One: Free Print-and-Play Solo Opponent for Fort Sumter

by

It’s been a whole year of GMT One, and to say thank you to our customers and supporters, we have a Holiday Gift for you: a free print-and-play Solo Opponent for Mark Herman’s Fort Sumter. 

During the pandemic, I spent many nights working on the Solo Opponent for Fred Serval’s Red Flag Over Paris, which uses the same game system as Fort Sumter. As we were wrapping up, I realized that the underlying approach could easily be ported to Fort Sumter, so I asked Gene if we could do the Solo Opponent as a free giveaway. He was quite enthusiastic, so I got to work. It turned out to be a bit more work than I expected – as most Solitaire rulesets seem to be – but it was also a lot of fun to dissect Mark’s game. 

Posted on

Getting to Know I, Napoleon: Part 1: The Components

by

First, let me thank everyone who caused I, Napoleon to advance up the p500 faster than any of my previous designs. Second, let me thank Richard J. Kane Sr. and Michael Ruttle for Clash of Arms’ game Legion of Honor, which inspired this design. Legion of Honor covers the career of an ordinary French soldier through the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, which raised the question in my mind, What if that soldier was instead Napoleon Bonaparte? Though I, Napoleon turned out to be a very different animal, it would not have occurred to me without LoH.

Posted on

Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 3

by

Volko’s test replay of Levy & Campaign Volume III proceeds into the scenario’s first Campaign, with the formation of each side’s Plan, while he incorporates and explains some ongoing development of the game. All art shown is merely for playtest, not final. …

In the first two parts of our Inferno replay we set up this introductory scenario (set in the Spring of 1259) and then Levied some added forces. Now it’s time to Plan each side’s Campaign—the movement of troops and stuff by marching and gathering supply and their pursuit of objectives by ravaging, besieging, and perhaps even fighting each other.

Posted on

“There stands Mr. Beneš, and here I stand!” – Victory Conditions in The Bell of Treason

by

Hitler gave two speeches targeting Czechoslovakia during the Munich crisis. The first speech at the Nazi party rally in Nuremberg was mainly a message to Sudeten Germans that they are “not helpless and abandoned”. Two weeks later, during the second speech at Berlin Sportpalast, Hitler targeted Czechoslovak president Dr. Edvard Beneš, revealing his world view of a fight between two men embodying their nations. Beneš was so tired from his hard work trying to manage the crisis that he slept through the whole speech. When he was later told about Hitler’s personal attack, he just smiled and replied: “That’s an honor.” The Bell of Treason is a game about the Czechoslovak decision to either concede the demanded Sudetenland territory to Germany, or to stand and fight against German aggression, even without allies and with little hope for victory. From the perspective of the decision itself, achieving victory is simple, with victory points representing the popular legitimacy of the decision to Concede or Defend. However, the strong personalities of Beneš and Hitler complicate that decision for both players. Let’s start with Beneš.

Posted on

Gameplay Overview—How to Play Bear Trap

by

In this article, I’ll provide a high-level overview of the mechanics found in Bear Trap, and an explanation of the gameplay. This example of combat in a prior InsideGMT article will also help elucidate some of the explanations found here.

Note that, for the sake of brevity, the rules aren’t described here in complete detail—for anyone interested in reading further, the draft player aid and draft rulebook can be found on GMT’s webpage for the game.

Posted on

Combat Commander: Europe Scenario 101 Rubble-Rousers — AAR and Lessons Learned

by

Below you will find another fantastic article from David Waldorf, one of our InsideGMT contributors. If you would like to read his previous articles on InsideGMT, you can find those here. Enjoy! -Rachel

Posted on

Caesar vs. Pompey as Depicted by Commands & Colors: Ancients, Part 2

by

I love coming back to C&C Ancients from time to time – that game really gives me a lot of fun. Some weeks ago I played with Marcin couple of Civil War battles (Caesar vs Pompey) and we decided to continue. These are some of the largest and pretty balanced struggles so it was obvious we will have a great time. What we decided to bring to the table was:

  1. Thapsus (46 BC) – a battle which ended the Civil War in Africa. It features Elephants and should be an interesting scenario.
  2. Munda (45 BC) – here the Civil War ended – the last bastion of Pompeians, and face-off between Caesar, Pompey Son and Titus Labienius. Very interesting due to terrain.

Without further delay, let me invite you to the session report! Enjoy!