The Ottoman Empire The period covered by Baltic Empires saw the Ottoman Empire at the absolute height of its power. The steppes of southern Ukraine and Russia were controlled by the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate, who were vassals of the Ottoman Empire, while the southern border of the Poland-Lithuania was inhabited by semi-independent Cossacks […]
Foreign Intervention in Baltic Empires: Part Two Read Post »
Designer Blogs
This is the third in a series of InsideGMT articles from Paul Hellyer about his board game Tsar, currently on GMT’s P500. You can view the previous article here. As the new year arrived in 1917, Russia’s Tsarist regime teetered on the brink of collapse. Public opinion had turned against it, its army was struggling
Deciding the Fate of the Tsarist Regime Read Post »
Designer Blogs
The historical power struggles occurring during the period covered by Baltic Empires (1558-1721) did not happen in a vacuum, but were of great importance to the interest to major powers on the edges of the map of Baltic Empires: England, France, the Netherlands, the Habsburg-controlled Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. Each of these
Foreign Intervention in Baltic Empires: Part One Read Post »
Designer Blogs
More of GMT’s Digital Offerings that allow you to “Play GMT Games Anytime, Anywhere. As I noted in our first article, we have created, in cooperation with individual programmers and digital game platforms, numerous ways for customers to experience our boardgames on your digital devices. We’ve done this for one large, underlying reason: We want
Play GMT Games Anytime, Anywhere! (Part 2) Read Post »
Digital Versions of our Games
In William Shakespeare’s Richard III, the eponymous character is described as physically deformed and a psychopathic villain. Was this the truth or Tudor era propaganda? Shakespeare has these lines in the play depicting Richard as deformed in body: “To help thee curse this poisonous bunch-backed toad.” “O, thou didst prophesy the time would come that
Men of Iron Historical Look – Battle of Bosworth 22 August 1485 Read Post »
Designer Blogs, Inside the Game as History
The stewardship of the U.S. economy is one of the most important political concerns for modern U.S. presidents, and American economic performance has a large and undeniable impact on election outcomes. Yet Mr. President isn’t, and doesn’t want to be, a macroeconomic simulator. The complexity of macroeconomic modeling, the limited effectiveness of most economic tools,
Economic Matters in Mr. President Read Post »
Digital Versions of our Games
While the game comes with 12 scenarios, there is also a 2-page roll-your-own scenario system that will generate a HISTORICAL situation in about 5 minutes, after which both players secretly choose from one of many historical forces of platoon-to-company size with which to fight. -Chad Jensen on Combat Commander: Europe (2006) Magical Realism The premise
A Vietnam RSG: Capturing the Core of the Combat Commander System Read Post »
Designer Blogs
In today’s article, I wish to discuss the context around designing A Fading Star as an ongoing conflict. The game covers a pivotal period of the Somali Civil War (2007-2014), which one could term “the golden age of Al-Shabaab.” But since I started working on the game and researching this topic, the situation that stemmed
A Fading Star #3: On Designing a Game About an Ongoing Conflict Read Post »
Designer BlogsAs seen on TV, or at least in the movie Kingdom of Heaven, the Leper King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was a striking figure in a silver mask to hide his leprosy. There is no evidence that Baldwin IV wore a mask, though he suffered from disfigurement of his face and limbs as his disease
Men of Iron Historical Look – Battle of Montgisard 25 November 1177 Read Post »
Designer Blogs, Inside the Game as History
This is the second in a series of InsideGMT articles from Paul Hellyer about his board game Tsar, currently on GMT’s P500. You can view the first article here. As part of Nicholas II’s coronation in 1896, the Tsarist regime planned an event to placate the common people of Moscow: a giveaway of food, kvass,
Historical Events in Tsar Read Post »
Designer Blogs