This overview provides historical perspectives on the KPD playable faction in The Weimar Republic, as well as some insight as to how the faction functions in gameplay terms. Future posts will highlight the other playable factions and the game’s general mechanics in a more detailed manner. For an overview on the NSDAP faction, be sure to check out my earlier post on that faction.
This overview provides perspectives on why the National Socialists is a playable faction in The Weimar Republic, as well as some insight as to how the faction actually functions in gameplay terms. Future posts will highlight the other playable factions and the game’s general mechanics in a more detailed manner.
First off, I’d like to mention the solo system, designed by Joe Schmidt. This simple yet dynamic system can substitute any faction for a card-driven set of automated impulses that are easy to use and require no complex flowcharts. With Joe’s system there is precious little downtime as well, as the “bots” do not contemplate strategies or actively try to win the way a human player would. Rather, they provide an increased level of difficulty for the human player(s) to achieve their victory conditions.
Obviously this addition to the game is a great asset, both for players who wish to play but lack the full number of human opponents required, and for those who simply want to avoid playing any given faction. With the solo rules you can still experience the harsh, dog-eat-dog atmosphere of The Weimar Republic, shaping Germany’s destiny in the process.
Introduction by Fred Schachter – Congress of Vienna (CoV), Assistant Designer & Editor: What a wonderful and pleasurable journey it’s been in this “labor of love” regarding Designer Frank Esparrago’s Congress of Vienna game. Previous InsideGMT articles were devoted to various aspects of the game (see: GMT Games – Congress of Vienna); but with this piece Frank focuses on the game’s production status as of January 2024 in elaboration of what was shared by the 1/18/24 GMT January Monthly Update: January 18, 2024 Update from GMT: New P500s, Art Samples, Production Update, a Free Download, and More!! (mailchi.mp). So, take it away Frank!
We intend to offer up our design notes regarding our simulation of the 2nd Russo-Ukrainian War, Defiance, beginning with Volume 1: Miracle on Dnipro: Kyiv & Chernihiv campaign, from time to time. Given that we are designing a simulation regarding an ongoing conflict, it’s a first draft of history. Consequently, at least you’ll get some insight into why we got some items wrong. 🙂 In our 2nd article in this series, we discuss how we capture the political dynamics related to the 2nd Russo-Ukrainian War in our simulation of the conflict. We’ll begin with a survey of how politics gets reflected in a few of our favorite wargames, before moving on to Defiance. Feel free to break out a beverage of your choice.
We’ll also include a recipe for a cocktail, mocktail, or appetizer at the end of each of our Defiance Design Happy Hour articles.
Welcome to the inaugural InsideGMT article for Firefight Tactical (FFT), and the beginning of Firefight Fridays. I am going to start putting out a small article every week to give more insight into my design process for FFT, along with some previews of scenarios, units, and mechanics. I wanted to put these together to drive interest in the game (of course), but also shed some light on the more unfamiliar aspects of Firefight Tactical. For this first article I want to focus on the heart and soul of Firefight Tactical: the dice draft.
Many of the more experienced players of historical games have fond memories of Pax Britannica, a game published by Victory Games in 1985. According to its rules, “Pax Britannica recreates the dynamics of the colonial era, from 1880 to the outbreak of the Great War”. However, many players feel that Pax Britannica has not aged too well, and it is a difficult game to bring it to the table today. It requires detailed bookkeeping and players need to fill in meticulous tax-like forms to reflect income and expenses. Also, the action phase lacks structure, without any specific player order, so that players may interrupt and compete for actions without clear rules. When wars break out, a separate game system opens where only the involved players act, with the rest just looking on for what can be rather lengthy periods of time. Accommodating up to seven players, a game of Pax Britannica usually lasts a full day, often longer. There are other issues regarding diplomacy, asymmetry, and agency, but these are not relevant to the topic of this article.
Note: All game images are of Vassal playtest art and not final
Volume 3 of Fields of Fire brings three campaigns featuring The British Army – the Battle of Arnhem in 1944, the Falklands War in 1982, and Helmand Province, Afghanistan in 2008.
Previous Article: Episode 1 – Arnhem
Flipping through the pages of Military Modeler magazine as a twelve-year-old kid, I and found scattered throughout ads for board wargames. Who would have thought that these games would help lead me down the path to becoming an Armored Cavalry officer and serve in the U.S. Army for twenty-five years? Then to a further career as a civilian working in the Department of Defense, then to design my own historical board wargames, and now finally to designing my own modern tactical wargame?
Before all that, I had some lawns to mow. A lot of lawns.
When I finally saved up enough, the first game I ordered from one of those ads was MechWar ’77, a 1975 Simulations Publications, Inc. release by Jim Dunningan. I soloed it countless times, picturing myself fighting the Soviets in the fields of Cold War Germany. I also played Dunnigan’s Firefight (1976) and Mark Herman’s innovative MechWar 2 (1979), all piquing my fascination with modern tactical warfare. I entered the United States Military Academy in 1981, though it would be many more years before I would design my own game.
In this article I will talk about the game engine behind Iron Storm, the main mechanics of this system that I have invented. Some time ago there were not so many strategic World War I games, but in the last few years there have been a number of them released. Many people interested in Iron Storm ask how is this game different from the others? I would say that, apart from the fact that the entire war can be played realistically in one session, what is different is the game system. I think the system is innovative enough that it doesn’t look too much like any other published wargame.
Introduction by Fred Schachter (ACME Game Developer): Deb of the GMT Office forwarded a letter to Chris, Mark, and myself from Francesco Guerrieri of Rome, Italy, whom, as you’ll read, is a fan of the Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East game GMT Games – Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East.
That initial exchange of correspondence grew to the point where we realized it could make for an interesting InsideGMT article, particularly for those who play, or will play, ACME. So here it is commencing with Francesco’s letter which started it all. I edited the ensuing correspondence to provide readers a sense of the fun back and forth Chris, Mark, and I enjoyed with Francesco.
