Solitaire TacOps: Ortona — The Campaign Game as a Roguelike OODA Loop

In the previous series of InsideGMT articles for Solitaire TacOps: Ortona, I shared some of the inspiration for the design, discussed the role scale, effectiveness and maneuver play in the game, the structure of play from turn to turn, and what differentiates it as a hex and counter game. This article introduces the next series […]

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Designer Blogs

 The National Will Death Spiral in Illusions of Glory

The second edition of Illusions of Glory: The Great War on the Eastern Front (“IoG”) is currently on the P-500 list.  Links to prototype unit counters, player aid cards, mapboard, and playbook can be found on the IoG webpage.  The following discussion includes rule references in parentheses. The rulebook can also be found on the

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Designer Blogs

How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: Russia (2024 Edition)

Introduction by Congress of Vienna Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter: Game Designer Frank Esparrago continues his InsideGMT exposition of CoV Major Power Strategy pieces, the last presented through a “Strategies for Austria” piece: How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: Austria (2024 Edition) | Inside GMT blog . This link

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Designer Blogs, Strategy Articles

Congress of Vienna at Nov. 2024’s SDHistCon Gaming Convention

As mentioned in a prior InsideGMT post, Jon Carter, of CoV Transatlantic Team Playtest Team fame*, created a version of the game, from Terry Leeds’ graphic files, for bringing Congress of Vienna to SDHistCon in San Diego.  In recognition of a four-hour time limit per play session, Jon chose to present the three turn Desperate Times: The Campaign

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Convention Report

The Medical Breakthroughs of the Armée d’Orient in Egypt (Part 2)

The first part of this article showed us the many advances made by the French in the crucial field of injury treatment and emergency response in the heat of battle. Now it’s time to see how this relates to the mechanics of Napoleon in Egypt. French Regulars are the most powerful unit in the game.

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Developer Notes

Order & Opportunity: November 2024 Development Update

It’s been a very exciting few weeks for the development of Order & Opportunity. Over here in Europe, the Essen Spiel Fair 2024 took place in early October. With a little bit of help from a friend, the Estonian designer and publisher Aigar Alaveer, I was able to get some table space and demo Order

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Designer Blogs, Development Updates

Propaganda and Strategy in Hammer and Sickle

In the previous article, we covered the Production phase of each Season and saw the differences between Summer and Winter. In this final installment, we’ll explore the Propaganda phase of the Season and conclude with some strategic thoughts for how each faction can maximize their chances of victory. Hope is born in [the people’s] hearts,

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Designer Blogs

How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: Austria (2024 Edition)

Introduction by Congress of Vienna Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter: Game Designer Frank Esparrago continues his InsideGMT exposition of CoV Major Power Strategy pieces, the last presented through Part 2 of 2 of “Strategies for France”: How to Play with Each Major Congress of Vienna Game Power: France (2024 Edition) Part 2 of 2,

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Designer Blogs, Strategy Articles

The Hammer and Sickle Economy

In the last article, we examined Combat in the game. This time, we’ll discover why the game is titled Hammer and Sickle as we look at the economy. By themselves, the soldiers stopped the [Great War], while the peasants took over the land and the workers the factories. Lenin had only to sanction the accomplished

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Designer Blogs
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