Blog Archives

We keep playing this and making slight adjustments between sessions. Progress seems nonexistent and sometimes I wonder if an earlier incarnation of what we were doing might have been better. But looking at the initial outline for this scenario, I really can’t believe what’s not on it…! We had a problem with the game devolving […]

The inclusion of a complete wargame has long been a staple of magazines dedicated to the tabletop wargame hobby.   The tangible difficulties are minimal, as the physical requirements are limited to a foldable paper map and a few counters, and the marketing value obvious.  At the cost of a (relatively) expensive sheet of counters, a […]

Over at The Players’ Aid, Grant A. Kleinhenz has a great interview with designer Harold Buchanan. This nugget in particular is of especial interest to aspiring game designers: Grant: What was the hardest part about the design for Liberty or Death? Harold: Finishing the game! Mark Simonitch said: “The last 20% of the game takes […]

Before calling it quits on this one, my dad wanted to do one last big tank vs. tank battle. The Chinese Farm scenario in The Arab Israeli Wars is one of the largest in terms of piece-count. Two contingents of Israeli armor and mobile infantry move in from the south and east against a string […]

Alexander over at The Players’ Aid has a rave review for Columbia Games’ Richard III: I cannot state emphatically enough how refreshing it is to play this game. The aesthetic is great, I also love the period and setting – I’ve never played another war game from this period. The time of play is a […]

After the sound drubbing I’d given the Egyptians, I thought I would hand my dad a gimme by playing as the Jordanians in 67 battle of Kalkiliah (Qalqilya). We were both very wrong in our prediction of how this battle would turn out. Set-up primarily as an infantry battle with some Israeli Tanks coming in […]

According to the mainstream narrative, wargamers are alternately either losers that have never really left mom’s basement or else monsters that are keeping women out of gaming. Imagine my surprise then to see something completely new on this point: the wargamer as romantic lead! I am positively beside myself. The Wargamer woos me. He invites […]

A new series! I’m taking a break from overarching principles of wargaming to look at specific Wargames and what they do well. This examination stems from a belief that a perfect Wargame has not been made and the best is yet to come. I’m something of a game designer, which means I spend way too […]

We have a bumpercrop of great posts on wargaming posts for you here this week! At the top of the heap is The Player’s Aid, weighing in with an exclusive interview with COIN Series creator Volko Ruhnke. If GMT going overboard with all these new COIN titles? Volko responds: Calling a design “COIN Series” at […]