jeffro
Jeffro's Gaming Blog: Car Wars, Star Fleet Battles, Ogre, Battletech, and more!
Review Roundup
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I've found the Wargaming goldmine link:
http://members.tripod.com/stromata/id21.htm
This guy covers just about everything going in historical gaming.
I'm sort of at a gaming mid-life crisis. I'm trying to decide what's good, what's worth playing, and what direction I should go with my purchases over the next couple of years. Historical games are tempting in that they are more respectable than the sci-fi favorites from my teen years. You even learn a lot historical facts through them.
On the other hand... Ogre/G.E.V. plays in an hour or less. Car Wars is a great 6 player game that can be played in an hour or two. Star Fleet Battles has a huge range of tactical options and can still be played in good short tournament style games.
My sci-fi games have been rigged from the ground up for playablity and fun. On the other hand, some historical games are catching up in that area as designers gain in their artistry. It's a toss up, but unless the historical games can be played in less than three hours, they simply aren't an option for me now that I'm a grown up.
Anyways, here's some reviews I've been perusing along with my comments in parentheses:
War Between The States
"The game can be played as a huge campaign using all three maps and simulating the entire war from beginning to end. That requires hundreds of man-hours."
http://www.decisiongames.com/html/war_between_states.html
(Note the link to the complete rules of the game!)
Guilford Courthouse
"Given that GMT's Revoluntionary series is already aimed more at playability than simulation, the low counter density of the battles in Guilford Courthouse -- plus an abbreviated scenario for each battle, based on historical unit positions after their approach marches -- makes for genuinely quick playing games that can be completed in an evening's play (perhaps just a few hours for experienced players)."
(Uh oh... my #1 gaming pet peeve is present! I always loose on initiative rolls! That's the main reason I haven't gotten around to playing Battletech again!)
"At the start of each turn, both sides roll a 10-sided die to see who gets initiative and goes first, so you may be able to move twice in a row, giving you a chance to mess up your opponent or escape from a bad situation."
(And we also have paper/rock/scissors!!)
"Other modifiers can come from what is one of the more interesting parts of combat, in which each side secretly picks an offensive or defensive tactics chit, such as 'frontal assault,' 'stand fast,' or 'turn flank,' and the results are compared on a tactical matrix."
http://www.bouldergames.com/gamenotes/gamenotes_19.asp#4
GMT's Ardennes '44
(This sounds much better than the above guessing game approach.)
"The CRT conveys a bit of tactical flavor, as some results allow the attacker to roll on a 'Firefight' table on which you can try and press home an attack at the risk of higher losses; similarly, the defender can sometimes try to hold a critical hex by rolling on a 'Determined Defense' table that may give the defender higher losses."
http://www.bouldergames.com/gamenotes/gamenotes_16.asp#5
Axis & Allies: D-Day
"As is, the game takes about two hours, and that's an impressive achievement as it really does pack a lot into that time."
http://www.bouldergames.com/gamenotes/gamenotes_19.asp#1
I've found the Wargaming goldmine link:
http://members.tripod.com/stromata/id21.htm
This guy covers just about everything going in historical gaming.
I'm sort of at a gaming mid-life crisis. I'm trying to decide what's good, what's worth playing, and what direction I should go with my purchases over the next couple of years. Historical games are tempting in that they are more respectable than the sci-fi favorites from my teen years. You even learn a lot historical facts through them.
On the other hand... Ogre/G.E.V. plays in an hour or less. Car Wars is a great 6 player game that can be played in an hour or two. Star Fleet Battles has a huge range of tactical options and can still be played in good short tournament style games.
My sci-fi games have been rigged from the ground up for playablity and fun. On the other hand, some historical games are catching up in that area as designers gain in their artistry. It's a toss up, but unless the historical games can be played in less than three hours, they simply aren't an option for me now that I'm a grown up.
Anyways, here's some reviews I've been perusing along with my comments in parentheses:
War Between The States
"The game can be played as a huge campaign using all three maps and simulating the entire war from beginning to end. That requires hundreds of man-hours."
http://www.decisiongames.com/html/war_between_states.html
(Note the link to the complete rules of the game!)
Guilford Courthouse
"Given that GMT's Revoluntionary series is already aimed more at playability than simulation, the low counter density of the battles in Guilford Courthouse -- plus an abbreviated scenario for each battle, based on historical unit positions after their approach marches -- makes for genuinely quick playing games that can be completed in an evening's play (perhaps just a few hours for experienced players)."
(Uh oh... my #1 gaming pet peeve is present! I always loose on initiative rolls! That's the main reason I haven't gotten around to playing Battletech again!)
"At the start of each turn, both sides roll a 10-sided die to see who gets initiative and goes first, so you may be able to move twice in a row, giving you a chance to mess up your opponent or escape from a bad situation."
(And we also have paper/rock/scissors!!)
"Other modifiers can come from what is one of the more interesting parts of combat, in which each side secretly picks an offensive or defensive tactics chit, such as 'frontal assault,' 'stand fast,' or 'turn flank,' and the results are compared on a tactical matrix."
http://www.bouldergames.com/gamenotes/gamenotes_19.asp#4
GMT's Ardennes '44
(This sounds much better than the above guessing game approach.)
"The CRT conveys a bit of tactical flavor, as some results allow the attacker to roll on a 'Firefight' table on which you can try and press home an attack at the risk of higher losses; similarly, the defender can sometimes try to hold a critical hex by rolling on a 'Determined Defense' table that may give the defender higher losses."
http://www.bouldergames.com/gamenotes/gamenotes_16.asp#5
Axis & Allies: D-Day
"As is, the game takes about two hours, and that's an impressive achievement as it really does pack a lot into that time."
http://www.bouldergames.com/gamenotes/gamenotes_19.asp#1
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