“Talon Tuesdays” is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays. It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.
Issue #26 Talon Puzzle 3 – Solution
OK. Answer time for Puzzle 3.
“Talon Tuesdays” is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays. It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.
Issue #26: Vassal Module
It’s finally here!
The Vassal module for Talon!
“Talon Tuesdays” is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays. It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.
Issue #25: Talon Puzzle 3
OK new Talon Puzzle! This time I decided to throw the Terrans some love by way of Fighters. FTRs are extremely powerful. They are the most maneuverable ship in the game and can be deadly once they get locked in behind a capital ship. Unlike other ships they don’t generate their own AP and instead rely on their Carrier to transmit AP. Typically 4 FTRs are launched with every CV.
“Talon Tuesdays” is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays. It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.
Issue #24: Talon Puzzle 2 – Solution
I get to show off a bit of our Vassal module here; exciting stuff. Stefano Tine’ and I (but mostly him) have been hard at work crafting the module. The pics here are of a work-in-progress so they may not reflect the final version… For instance: Please use your imagination and pretend that BC Victory is DD Predator from before. Talon DD’s aren’t fully operational yet.
When we last left Guderian she just had a barrage of Missiles fired at her from BC Honor.
“Talon Tuesdays” is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays. It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.
Issue #23: Talon Puzzle 2
My copy of Talon arrived! It’s so weird seeing the counters and rules I’ve spent the last couple years working on come to my doorstep in an actual game box. It was also nice to not have to CUT sheet after sheet of prototype counters by hand… they did all the hard work for me this time.
“Talon Tuesdays” is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays. It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.
Issue #22: Talon Puzzle 1 Solution
I’m so pumped for the community’s response to the first Talon Puzzle. People really took to answering them. Within hours of the Talon Tuesday issue going live we had nearly 100% correct responses on BoardGameGeek and some really close responses in the comments section here on the InsideGMT page. Let’s go through the solution as it highlights a key tactical maneuver.
“Talon Tuesdays†is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays. It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.
Issue #21: How to Build a Warhead
Missiles, perhaps, underwent the greatest number of changes during development in terms of mechanics. They are a Talon faction weapon and a mainstay of combat with a lot of character. We wanted an on-map tracking weapon, but we didn’t want it to be so complex it took away from the rest of combat and became a game unto itself. Initially, Missiles only took 2 hits to destroy and had a turn radius of 1. We were designing from a “realism†perspective at first with this. We wanted to be able to see Fighters make tight turns and dodge the missiles; and we wanted to be able to shoot them down. This proved to be a real problem. First it was too easy to shoot down a missile as Patrick will explain below. Second it made Missiles way too easy to get inside of and really diminished their power. From a practical standpoint it harmed the streamlined nature of the game as we had separate damage counters for the Missiles and the Missile turning status was tracked by flipping the counter. Now, Missile damage status is tracked by the Missile counter itself with a really simple system described on the Play Aid Card below. Patrick joined the team after we ditched the Missile turn radius but they still had a ways to go. I’ll let Patrick tell you the rest of the story.
“Talon Tuesdays” is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays. It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.
Issue #20: Talon Puzzle 1
Things are winding down here on Talon Tuesdays. In the last 20 consecutive weeks, we’ve taken you on a whirlwind tour of the Talon game system, the game’s design and events surrounding its development. We’re not done yet, we still have a few more things we’d like to share, plus I feel like there is so much more to show off! I’ve heard from the guys at GMT that the game is shipping now as I write this article so there’s a lot to be excited about. The Talon Tuesday posts will probably slow down to less than once a week going forward.
“Talon Tuesdays†is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays. It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.
Issue #19: The Newest Ship in the Fleet by K. Patrick “Shadowmeld†Barley
One of the challenges we had to overcome in Talon was balancing fleet strength across the factions. We have several areas of fleet imbalance between Fighters, missiles and the Talon Dreadnaught, but as a whole the fleets needed to be able to field large or small forces that at least feel balanced. Through the first year of playtesting we started with a central ship the Heavy Cruiser (CA). Our first battery of play tests had us pitting three CAs against each other to test Talon tools versus Terran tools. It was this testing that rooted out the need to add afterburners and eventually lead to some Talon structural increases. Wave after wave after wave of Talon CAs clashed into their Terran counter parts, disruptors alight. Phasers and torpedoes fired back and as the dust settled, our win rates came closer and closer to even.
We then slowly folded more and more ships into the scenarios, first Scouts and Frigates, then Terran Light Cruisers and both factions’ Destroyers. The Talon Destroyers had us adding missiles for the first time, and while we were trying to weigh this unconventional weapon system it seems another issue flew under the radar. The Light Cruiser.
“Talon Tuesdays” is an article series appearing on InsideGMT periodically on Tuesdays. It features articles from the Talon development team regarding the game’s design, development and upcoming release.
Issue #18: The Player Aid Cards
One of the challenges of making a war game more accessible is trimming the number of tables. STOPPING play to reference something goes against making any kind of streamlined game. Not that I have anything in particular against tables: as a developer they are a fantastic tool. With them you can add a great deal of depth, flavor or choice to an action (see the article on the crit table from last week). As a player, I love them too, in moderation.
I remember the first time I picked up an AD&D player’s handbook and being totally awestruck by the fact that there was a (serious of) table(s) delineating what my 9th level fighter’s household guards have equipped. They’ve thought of everything! Simulation and theme!
