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So You Think You Can Dance (With the Central Powers)?: An “Illusions of Glory” Note

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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, rules, and playbook can be found on the IoG webpage. 

Playtesters have remarked about the difficulty of fighting Large Unit Counters (“LCUs”) representing regular or elite German infantry corps.  Each of them has a Loss Factor (LF) of “3”.  Under the Combat Results Table, those units end up absorbing hits without taking step reductions.

 A unit’s step reduction is caused by applying the unit’s Loss Factor (LF) to the Loss Number (LN) generated by the Combat Results Table for damage inflicted by the enemy (Rule 12.6.2).  If the LN is equal to or greater than a unit’s LF, the unit loses a step; if the LN is less than the unit’s LF, then the unit absorbs the LN without taking damage (Rule 12.6.3). 

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2024 Fall Weekend at the Warehouse

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For those of you wondering about the dates for the Fall ’24 Weekend at the Warehouse, we have now set the dates for October 17-20, 2024.

Hotel Bookings:

Sequoia Inn:

The Sequoia Inn is pleased to offer the following special rates for your corporate group and will be honored on 10/16-10/20/2024. Rates are net, non-commissionable, federal and state taxes will be added.

$96.00 + tax  Traditional Room with 1 king bed (10 Rooms)
$96.00 + tax  Traditional Room with 2 queen beds (10 Rooms)

Please be advised that our check in time is at 4:00 pm, and Check out at 11:00 a.m.
Please have an Identification card and a credit card ready upon check in.

*Incidental hold/deposit of $100/stay is required.
*Roll away beds are only available for the following room type: king size bed, suite or VIP and they are subject to a small fee per stay.
*If travelling with a pet, there is a $75/stay nonrefundable fee. Please ask agent for more details.*
*Room cancellation must be 72-hrs in advance to avoid cancellation fee. No Show will be charged at regular booking rate.

For reservation please contact 559-582-0338, and please mention the group name “GMT” to receive the discounted rate.

Please make sure to book all your reservations by 10/8/2024 at noon and all unpicked rooms will be released to our house availability. The Sequoia Inn reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time.

HiltonHome2Suites:

The Hilton online booking link for GMT GAMES is now ready for use. Simply copy and paste the URL below into your browser to access the exclusive rates available for this group:

Booking Link: https://group.home2suites.com/bonkdv

Hotel:  Home2 Suites by Hilton Hanford Lemoore

Group Name:  GMT GAMES

Arrival Date: October 17, 2024

Departure Date: October 20, 2024

Booking Deadline: September 25, 2024

Actual stay dates can vary.  Simply select your desired check-in and check-out dates.

Please note, the entire URL must be copied and pasted for it to work properly.

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Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna – The Russian Contingent, 2024 Edition (Part 3 of 4) with their Prussian and Swedish Allies

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Introduction by Congress of Vienna (CoV)’s Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter – To familiarize the InsideGMT audience of what designer Frank Esparrago created with his fun and exciting Congress of Vienna game, which is now a GMT P-500 offering; InsideGMT presented articles of “Designer’s Notes” and a “Game as History” series entitled “A Historical Introduction to the Congress of Vienna Period (CoV).” Use this link to access copies of these articles and much more: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-850-congress-of-vienna.aspx.

Since this is the fifth game of GMT’s “Great Statesmen” series, it seems appropriate to focus on those very Statesmen who make the Napoleonic Wars historical period so captivating and compelling to our hobby from the perspective of the game Frank designed.

Consequently, following Part One’s “British Contingent” and Part Two’s “Austrian Contingent” (with its bonus of CoV’s Bibliography), here’s part three of a four part series: “Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna – The Russian Contingent, with their Prussian and Swedish Allies.” For the Russian CoV player controls cards and military forces representing Prussian and Swedish game Characters and together what a fascinating group they comprise!

The next and final increment of this series will address the French with their USA Allies for the War of 1812 and other non-aligned personages. It should be noted this piece was originally InsideGMT published during early 2020. This is the 2024 edition…which is an update including Terry Leeds’ gorgeous graphics of Congress of Vienna’s cards.

In italics we include a brief description of the cards with their CoV opportunities and weaknesses. However, before commencing this article’s main text, below is an aside regarding Leader Cards, a type of distinct card unique for each Major Power. Here’s the relevant Rulebook extract with an associated illustration:


I enjoyed learning more of the Historical Personages behind the game’s cards and hope you do as well. Now to meet the Great Statesmen (and military leaders) of Congress of Vienna’s Russian player…

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1867 Big Wyoming: Pressure Points

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I knew from the outset that I wanted people playing 1867 Big Wyoming to feel pressure. I didn’t want players to get comfortable, to bask too long in their short-term successes, to feel like the responsibility of changing the game state was on somebody else—I wanted players to feel like they were running a race, like slowing down was not an option, like there was always some ill-intentioned force waiting for the right moment to strike. In short, I wanted the game to put pressure on players in addition to what pressure naturally comes from their opponents. Some 18xx games are content to let players dictate the pace of a game and drive the game’s action; in fact, in many 18xx games, it’s theoretically possible that, if players behave in certain ways, the game will never end. While I very much appreciate many such games, that’s not what I wanted for 1867 Big Wyoming. There are several reasons for this.

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Napoleon in Egypt: Local Units Side with the French (Part 1)

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In Napoleon in Egypt, the French Player has several different types of Units at his disposal: Regulars, Grognards, Militia, and Auxiliaries. In this article, we will take a more detailed look at the background history of the various Auxiliary Units, original and colorful troops who can either be recruited by the French Player for 2 APs or show up through historical Events.

During the French campaign in Egypt and Syria, Bonaparte faced a major challenge: the renewal of his troops. Since the start of the Revolutionary Wars, the French armies had always maintained a link with their mother country, a natural source of new soldiers. Moreover, the revolutionary enthusiasm which had spread to some conquered territories and populations had assured an influx of allied units for the Republic. But after the naval disaster in Aboukir, sending troops from France to Egypt and Syria became impossible. Bonaparte had no choice: if he wanted to swell his ranks and benefit from fresh troops, he had to recruit local units, a principle he would later adopt throughout the Empire.

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How to Win at Twilight Struggle: Red Sea (Three Basic Tips, #11)

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Typically, my strategy posts cover fairly long, heavy games. These are the ones that benefit most from my approach of three easy-to-remember strategy tips for beginner and intermediate players, as you get some guidance for a game which you might not play again very soon to apply the experience you gathered from the first game. This is not the case for Twilight Struggle: Red Sea (Ananda Gupta/Jason Matthews, GMT Games): This game plays in barely over 30 minutes, so you can easily play it several times in a row. I still want to cover it here not only because I think it’s a fun game, but also because of the fondness I have for its big sibling Twilight Struggle (Ananda Gupta/Jason Matthews, GMT Games) – after all, original TS was the game with which I kicked off this series, and I know how many of you love it too. Yet this little TS spawn plays decidedly different. And so I want to focus on a few things that might be new even to seasoned TS players…they certainly were for me.

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1867 Big Wyoming: Union Pacific & Burlington Northern Acquisition

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One of my earliest goals when working on 1867 Big Wyoming was to create an endgame that differed from your standard 18xx “script.” Most 18xx games end with a prolonged and workmanlike series of operating rounds in which meaningful decision points become increasingly rare and the dynamic character of earlier game phases gradually disappears. While this sort of endgame appropriately rewards players for the foundations they’ve laid over the course of the game, I’ve never found them very fun or very engaging. I have yet to meet anyone who claims the end of an 18xx game is their favorite part.

1867 Big Wyoming’s endgame, which is driven by a series of acquisitions by the non-player Union Pacific and Burlington Northern systems, is my favorite part of the game. The seed of this acquisition system can be found in 1860: Railways on the Isle of Wight, designed by Mike Hutton. 1860’s acquisition system, while a breath of fresh air, lacked player agency and often tended only to make the rich richer. 1867 Big Wyoming’s acquisition system is, by contrast, full of meaningful decision points that have a significant impact on the game’s outcome.

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Hannibal Wonders, “Do ALL Roads REALLY Run to Rome?”: A tour of the penultimate version of the map for Hannibal’s Revenge

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It has been a long road (no pun intended) from my original kindergarten-(well, maybe 2nd grade) level playtest map to what we are soon having printed for ongoing play test and “Learn the Rules / Play the Game” demo session purposes, but it has been worth the trip. Readers can glance at the original Hannibal’s Revenge hand-drawn map I devised (should they want to start their day with a groan or a giggle, depending on their point of view) by going to this posting: Meet the Leaders & Gameboard of Hannibal’s Revenge | Inside GMT blog

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Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna – The Austrian Contingent, 2024 Edition (Part 2 of 4) with CoV’s Bibliography as a Bonus

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Introduction by Congress of Vienna (CoV)’s Assistant Designer & Editor, Fred Schachter – To familiarize the InsideGMT audience of what designer Frank Esparrago created with his fun and exciting Congress of Vienna game, now a GMT P-500 offering; InsideGMT presented articles of “Designer’s Notes” and a “Game as History” series entitled “An Historical Introduction to the Congress of Vienna Period (CoV)”.  Use this link to access copies of these articles and more: https://www.gmtgames.com/p-850-congress-of-vienna.aspx .

Since this is the fifth game of GMT’s “Great Statesmen” series, it seems appropriate to focus on those very Statesmen who make this Napoleonic Wars historical period so captivating to our hobby from perspective of the game Frank designed.

Consequently, following Part One’s “British Contingent,” here’s part two of a four-part series: “Meet the Statesmen of Congress of Vienna – The Austrian Contingent.”  The next article increments will address the Russians-Prussians (a single player controls them both) and finally the French with their USA Allies for the War of 1812. It should be noted this piece was originally InsideGMT published during early 2020.  This is the 2024 edition… which is an update including Terry Leeds’ gorgeous graphics of Congress of Vienna’s cards.

This piece includes bonuses!  #1: The Military & Diplomacy Cards of Congress of Vienna and #2: a Bibliography, whose works lay behind the game’s design.  Alas, as previously explained, this material could not be accommodated within CoV’s Playbook due to space limitations and is consequently here presented.

I enjoyed learning more of the personages behind the game’s cards and hope you do as well. Now to meet the Great Austrian Statesmen (and military leaders) of Congress of Vienna…

In italics we include a description of the cards’ historical background, and their CoV opportunities and weaknesses:

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Factions of The Weimar Republic: Democratic Coalition

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This overview provides historical perspectives on the Democratic Coalition playable faction in The Weimar Republic, as well as some insight as to how the faction functions in gameplay terms. For overviews on the NSDAP, KPD, and Radical Conservatives factions, be sure to check out my earlier posts on Inside GMT.