To the table came six players from three generations, including a father, his millenial-age son, a lad of 12, and three guys from the late 30s to late 50s. None had ever played Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea before.
Gandhi includes a brand new Solitaire system, called Arjuna, that replaces the flowcharts that have become a staple of the COIN Series. Players who play COIN Solitaire have asked many questions about how the system works – and don’t fear! – COIN Series Developer Jason Carr is here to walk through the design, ergonomics, and play of Arjuna. This installment shows Arjuna in action as we begin our Campaign.
The Evolution of “Expansion or Extinction” (EOE) is an article series periodically appearing in InsideGMT. It features articles from the designer regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release. Parts 1, 2, and 3 of this series can be found here.
After the initial landings pushed the Germans back and secured the beaches, the British repulsed German counter attacks and finished their Mulberry. The US army linked Omaha and Utah by taking Carentan. Both Armies started driving into the interior while the Commonwealth forces focused on Caen and the Americans focused on the peninsula and taking the big port city of Cherbourg.
Cherbourg is pretty much a done deal. All that is left is one more city hex and one last town. The Cottentin army is very much toast and the rest of the line is not faring any better. Instead of containing the Americans at Portball on the western shore of the peninsula, they fell back all the way to Lessay and its airfield. More VP towns south of Carentan fell despite the best efforts of the paratroopers. The rest of the line all the way to the east is a similar story of Axis under-performance compared to the historical line.
This is going to put the Axis in a desperate situation. They will attempt to seek automatic victory by inflicting losses on the Americans and British since it’s starting to look like victory by game score will be impossible.
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 relies solely on GBACW system mechanics, except for invented dialogue between historical figures. While often merely an embellishment, the dialogue at other times serves to indicate the rationale behind player decisions. Any unfamiliar-sounding accounts of unit actions may well reflect series rules changes for the 2019 edition.
For the sake of continuity, I follow the action in a given sector throughout a specific turn before turning to another sector, rather than risk the narrative being fragmented by the chit-draw activation mechanic.
This article covers the scenario’s 1800 and 1900 turns.
Gandhi includes a brand new Solitaire system, called Arjuna, that replaces the flowcharts that have become a staple of the COIN Series. Players who play COIN Solitaire have asked many questions about how the system works – and don’t fear! – COIN Series Developer Jason Carr is here to walk through the design, ergonomics, and play of Arjuna. This installment shows Arjuna in action as we begin our Campaign.
The Prussian/Spanish player has a spikey role in COS, filled with dichotomy, exultation, and frustration. On one hand, you control the Enfant Terrible Frederick the Great (thirty-something version) and a potent Prussian army facing little threat, eyeing up multiple targets (Silesia, Prag, and Hannover city…). But the Prussians are politically naïve, set up to be diplomatically tricked out of the game twice, and, to the Prussian player’s chagrin, probably one campaign season and a tantalizing VP or two short of Decisive victory!
The US Army has reached Cherbourg and pierced the perimeter under the direction of VII Corps. After cutting the peninsula XIX Corps has turned south, pushing against Axis troops towards Coutances. VIII Corps is advancing south on the highway to St-lô. V Corps is trying to reach the southern edge of the map to split Axis forces in two lines. The British XXX Corps is helping in this endeavor while UK VII Corps continues the grind against Caen. The I Corps is advancing east trying to surround Caen from that direction.
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 indicate the rationale behind player decisions. Combat details which do not seem to square with the GBACW rules reflect rules changes in the new edition.
In this way I hope to demonstrate how rich a battle narrative GBACW is capable of conveying. For the sake of continuity, I tend to follow the action in a given sector throughout a specific turn before turning to another sector, rather than bouncing back and forth according to the activation chit draws.
This article covers the scenario’s 1700 turn. The third will cover 1800-1900.
Gandhi ships soon and includes a brand new Solitaire system, called Arjuna, that replaces the flowcharts that have become a staple of the COIN Series. Players who play COIN Solitaire have asked many questions about how the system works – and don’t fear! – COIN Series Developer Jason Carr is here to walk through the design, ergonomics, and play of Arjuna. This installment is the first in a sequence of connected examples of play covering Setup and basic principles of Arjuna.
Gandhi’s Solitaire system, Arjuna, introduces a number of new concepts and repurposes some old concepts, so let’s explore the system while playing an entire campaign of Gandhi. In these examples, I will be playing as the British Raj, seeking to generate support for the British Viceroy throughout India, while maintaining Control over its Cities and Provinces. These two goals are somewhat in tension, as we will see.
