“Below is part 5 of the fictionalized Essendarium replay. It has so far been a blast to write and I hope you are enjoying it as well.” -Jeff
Apocalypse Road: The Essendarium – Part 5
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Tank Duel Scenario 2: Hold the High Ground – Setup and Introduction
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The Russian commander looks out from the cupola of his SU-100, surveying the ground before him. His orders are to advance to the low hills approximately 400m away and hold them against a suspected German tank force in the area until reinforcements arrive. An uneasiness grips him, for he knows the Germans also want to capture the hills a bit further away, and that whoever holds the high ground will have a commanding view on the neighboring areas and be able to halt any further advance.
He knows this area well, having fought here just a few weeks ago. There are a few buildings, brush and woods in the area, crisscrossed with shallow gullies here and there. With the recent rain, some areas will probably be mud – he will need to keep an eye out for that. The Hills are a mix of brush and woods, finding cover will be key to helping fend off the Germans.
The commander looks to his right and left, confirming that a couple of T-34’s are there to protect his flanks. Excellent, we have a T-34/85 in addition to the older T-34/76. He’d like some infantry support as well but none are ready to move out now. He looks over and gives the command to start engines, load ammo and prepare for action…
4 CMBG: Combat Units – 1987
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In September 1987, when MBT’s hypothetical hostilities commenced, 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (4 CMBG) fielded three combat maneuver battalions plus support elements. The following is a summary of those forces.
Apocalypse Road: The Essendarium – Part 4
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“Great news, great news! In case you were unaware, Apocalypse Road has reached the 500 mark between the writing of this article and the previous one. It is my firm belief that once Apocalypse Road enters the ‘wild’ that word of mouth will spread and it will do very well among people that are not frequenters of the GMT P500. Essentially taking the same path as Thunder Alley but maybe with even more appeal to those that might overlook a stock car theme. We played the game over the weekend to celebrate the achievement and I remembered just how enjoyable it was. All of the hard work put in by Carla and myself over the past three years really paid off. Rest assured, the game is complete and ready to go and the instant Mark asks me if we are ready, the answer will be a resounding YES.”
Playtesting Imperial Struggle
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It is 2019 and Imperial Struggle is so close to players I can almost taste it. Thanks to Joel Toppen’s heroic work on the VASSAL test kit, the game has received much more intensive playtesting than it ever has – probably more in the last four months than in the rest of the development cycle combined.
Playtesting is such a challenge. Often, a designer will rely on two types of playtesting. The first is repeat play from a trusted group, sometimes a face-to-face hobby group that is generous with its time and tolerant enough to try a game that is definitely not finished. That type of testing is wonderful, but the same people testing a game against one another over and over will inevitably lead to favored lines of play getting much more play than others.
Apocalypse Road: The Essendarium – Part 3
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“Welcome back to the Essendarium, the ongoing recap of the final race in the Apocalypse Road series where I will be revealing the teams of Apocalypse Road, the cars and the stories behind the game, both fictional and real. These first few articles will be covering the various teams in Apocalypse Road and possibly some background on who is behind them and how they turned out the way they did. Some of the teams still have openings for sponsorships and I will be providing you a pathway to join the Thunderverse by sponsoring a driver or a team or even a track. Carla & I do this to allow you to become a part of the game and at the same time provide a small revenue stream for Carla and myself that we use to print prototypes and attend conventions where we get more chances to interact with you. Thanks for your patience” – Jeff Horger
The Dark Sands: AAR of Designer Solo Campaign Game (Part 5) – Final
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Below is the fifth part in an series of articles from designer Ted Raicer in which he shares an After Action Report of the Campaign Game of The Dark Sands. Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 can be found here, here, here, and here. Enjoy! -Rachel
FAB Crusader AAR: The Winter Battle of North Africa 1941 (Part 2)
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Below is Part 2 in Michael Gustavsson’s Playthrough AAR of FAB: Crusader. Part 1 an be found here. Enjoy! -Rachel
Apocalypse Road: The Essendarium – Part 2
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“Welcome back to the Essendarium, the ongoing recap of the final race in the Apocalypse Road series where I will be revealing the teams of Apocalypse Road, the cars and the stories behind the game, both fictional and real. These first few articles will be covering the various teams in Apocalypse Road and possibly some background on who is behind them and how they turned out the way they did. Some of the teams still have openings for sponsorships and I will make those clear in the story. In addition I will be providing a pathway to join the Thunderverse by sponsoring a driver or a team or even a track. I do this to allow you, the fan to become a part of the game and at the same time provide a small revenue stream for Carla and myself that we use to print prototypes and attend conventions where we get more chances to interact with you. I will try to minimize these opportunities for those of you that are not interested in them. Thanks for your patience.” – Jeff Horger
Carroll Burns the Bridge, Part 3: A Narrative-Style AAR for Death Valley’s Variant Cross Keys Scenario
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This is the third installment in a three part series depicting a playtest for one of the Alt-History scenarios from Death Valley. Parts one and two can be found here and here. The action here starts with the 1400 turn; see my previous articles for the 0800-1000 and 1100-1300 turns.