Tiger Leader – new solitaire & coop WWII board game!

 

DVG has launched a new Kickstarter campaign to fund a new game in the well known and popular Leader series. The game was eagerly awaited by fans of the series and funded in the first 24 hours! So the Tiger engine is already running full speed, but there is still time left for you to back it up to get even more convenient map tiles and other improvements that will be announced as new stretch goals for this campaign soon. By backing the game you may opt for the base game or for the game including 136 miniatures to add to your gaming experience!

Tiger Leader being the latest game in the Leader series is therefore based on an extremely polished and great working game system fans know from Hornet Leader, Phantom Leader, Thunderbolt-Apache Leader and U-Boat Leader. Check out the links to our reviews to see what we mean, these games are great for experienced wargamers and new players alike.

Campaigns take about 30 minutes to set-up, and each battle can be resolved in 15 to 30 minutes, game play time total is usually depending on your own style, which is one of the advantages of true solitaire games –  you can play whenever you have time, at your pace. But what makes the Leader games so special and what we always stress as one of the aspects that make them so outstanding is the fact you can bring a friend to the table and play cooperatively! Sit down, divide up your forces and plan with your fellow commander how to get the job of the mission done 🙂

Tiger Leader includes dozens of German vehicles and infantry types and includes 5 Allied Nations that you battle against: Poland, France, United Kingdom, Russia, and USA. The battlefield units for each nation have unique stats that reflect that nation’s combat capabilities. The game is played on a map that allows for always changing terrain and combat situations keeping the experience fresh and the replay value high.

Components announced so far:

240 Full Color Cards

2 Full Color Counter Sheets

3 Full Color Sheets of MOUNTED Terrain Hexes 

22” x 17” Full Color MOUNTED Tactical Sheet

11″ x 17″ Full Color Head Quarters Sheet

1 10-sided die

To back up the game, get more detailed information and to see a funny video explaining the game to you go to the official Kickstarter site –> HERE

As always with DVG games, you can expect high quality stuff inside the box reminding us of the famous quote by Heinz Guderian….

Nicht Kleckern, sondern Klotzen!

 

 

Web Grognard

“If you don’t know this website, you don’t know the wargaming hobby – period!”

The internet offers websites for almost any field of interest. There are also so-called “Link pages” for these fields, i.e. pages which collect addresses of all websites dealing with the respective topics. Such key pages are very important because they allow easy access to all sources of information in one location instead of forcing people to search the entire web where relevant information is often hidden in an informational chaos.

The wargaming hobby isn’t an exception to this rule; its key website in the internet where you can find everything related to wargames is called WebGrognard.

‘Grognard‘ is slang for someone who likes playing wargames, so this site is chock-full of information about The Hobby.

It’s subtitle “the site for wargames on the web since 1995″ is an accurate description, because it actually is the number 1 resource website for wargaming – there isn’t any other website offering more information and data about almost any wargame ever published! This incredible project was created by three men: Alan Poulter, Eric Pass and Skip Franklin. The site was then run for almost 20 years by Alan Poulter updated each sunday to add even more information (sent to him via email) to the gigantic data amount already online since 1995. 13th January 2013 the final update was made by Alan and the site now has a new management being run by Mark D’Agosta.

Mark decided to bring the no.1 site for wargaming content into the modern era with a new and fresh design, a new server structure, a new “Search” feature to make it easier to find the games you like. Updates will now be continuous, posting shortly after they are received and approved which is probably the most important new feature. In addition to the existing RSS feed, you may now follow Grognard.com via Twitter or may subscribe for email notification and hopefully a Facebook page will be available in the future. Grognard.com “originals” are planned like the Head-to-Head video series. The idea is to have two or even more experienced wargamers engaging in a popular wargame with discussion, game and strategy analysis and actual game play depending on the focus of the episode. The first episode can be watched here!

If you enter WebGrognard, you will see an alphabetical list which leads to all wargames beginning with the respective letter: A includes A3R, Totaler Krieg can be found under T etc.. This allows comfortable and quick navigation if searching for information about a specific game without the need to scroll through endless stuff you don’t need. Once you found your game, there is another listing of all data available to this game. By clicking on the links you eventually reach your destination.

WebGrognard offers almost anything, for example reviews, articles about strategy, errata, Q&A, FAQ, rule variants, zine indices, links to individual websites about the games, the publisher’s website, computerbased game assistant programs (GAPs), Mailing lists, replays, scenarios etc.. The information isn’t limited to boardgames, but does also include computergames, magazines, game conventions, PbEM aids, datafiles for download, shops, RPGs, card games, miniatures, reports etc..

If you don’t find it on Webgrognard, it doesn’t exist!

The site depends on submissions for new material, so if you have an interesting article, strategy tip, player aid, link or file you’d like to share please contribute to make this great site even better!

Entries for the letter “A”. FAQs, Reviews, AARs, add-ons, card listings, rules summaries, tactics from various sources and even in foreign languages, are listed here

© 7/03 by HFC (www.homefrontcenter.de)

Bobby Lee (CG) Third Edition on Kickstarter!

Columbia Games has started a new Kickstarter Campaign to bring out a new version of the well known game Bobby Lee.

It will be an updated version, with a larger map, a larger scale, extra blocks and much more. Funding period is Oct 7, 2013 – Nov 11, 2013 (35 days), goal is 20.000 USD, about 8000 USD already in, so be part of the backers and get your Third Edition game asap on the gaming table 🙂

As usual CG makes you a no risk offer, support the game via Kickstarter or buy it after the funding period when ‘normally’ available –  you will get a 30 day full refund of the game if you don’t like it! 

>>>>> To support the Kickstarter Campaign for Bobby Lee click here!<<<<<

150 years ago a civil war raged in America, an epic clash between  northern and southern states that cost 650,000 lives. It began in 1861 and ended in 1865 with defeat for the Confederate States of America.

Bobby Lee brings to life this dramatic event in American military history. The game covers the war in the east, focusing on the one hundred miles between the two rival capitals of Washington and Richmond. For four years, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by the incomparable Robert E. Lee (known as Bobby Lee to his soldiers) defended these few bloody miles against overwhelming Union strength in men and supply.

The eastern theater saw the campaigns and battles of First Bull Run, Shenandoah Valley, Peninsula, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Petersburg, and Appomattox. You can re-stage all of these battles and campaigns, or devise your own “war-winning” strategies.

Players maneuver their armies on a map of the Eastern Theater. When enemy armies clash in the same location, a battle is fought. Battles are resolved on tactical boards where clever tactical maneuvers allow skilled players to defeat larger armies.

Bobby Lee is designed to be played again and again.  This game will give you and your friends dozens of hours of entertainment, and real insight into the American Civil War.

PLAYERS: Two, Ages 12+
Play Time: 2-3 hours per scenario

What you get in the box

• Full color, deluxe mapboard that is 130% larger (25” x 33”) than the original. The portion of the map shown below is at the new larger scale. There is ample room to fit 10 blocks in a hex.

• 90 Hardwood blocks, blue & gray. The Order of Battle is similar to that found in earlier editions, but includes six (6) extra blocks and the former NATO symbols have been replaced with period crossed muskets, sabres, and gun barrels. Below you can see, left to right, a USA Headquarters and Cavalry, and CSA Infantry and Artillery.

• 2 color copies of the rules. Five scenarios are included, one covering the entire war in the east, 1861-65, and one for each year 1861, 1862, 1863, and 1864 that can be played separately or linked together. The third edition rules are a blend of previous 1st and 2nd edition rules.

• Two larger, thicker tactical battle maps. Battles fought on these maps are similar to those found in Napoléon, but have rules to reflect American Civil War battle tactics.

• Four quality dice (2 blue & 2 gray).

HFC on Tour: Spiel 2012 in Essen, the world’s biggest consumer fair for gaming

Gaming tables everywhere!

This year, we attended SPIEL 2012 in Essen, the world’s biggest consumer trade fair for gaming. The fair was held in the Messe Essen from Oct 18th – 21st, which means four days of playing and testing popular and new (even unpublished) games and, of course, the opportunity to buy games. This attracted about 150,000 visitors from all over the world.

On 46,000 square meters of exhibition space, you can find all kinds of games and gaming equipment – from Eurogames to classics (like Chess and Go), consims and wargames, board games, card games, electronic games, role-playing games, tabletop games, up to LARP equipment such as armor, weapons, costumes, and clothing. In addition there is “Comic Action“, a Comic fair, which is part of Spiel. Here you have the opportunity to see, read and buy all kinds of comics and comic related stuff, from European and US mainstream comics up to quite bizarre Japanese Manga products.

Home of Wargamers!

Spiel 2012 was a really big event (the exhibition area, which extends over 10 halls, is even larger than Gamescom, the annual European video games fair in Cologne) and attracted visitors and exhibitors from all over the world. You could find the big players (for example Hasbro, German company Ravensburger…) next to small and highly specialized game shops, independent publishers, smaller companies and publishers (GMT Games, Matrix Games / Slitherine, UGG, Twilight Creations, Days of Wonder, Eagle Games…), organizations and clubs (the German consim society GHS, The Guild of Role Playing Gamers), and special booths, giving an overview over games from a certain country, for example Russia, or South Korea. Even companies who specialize in proofreading game concepts and producing your components (counters, maps etc.) were represented. There were also gaming championships and open tournaments going on, as well as workshops and tutorials.

Entire sections were dedicated to gaming equipment, for example dice, tabletop painting and modelling equipment, or card sleeves, and clothing and weapons for knights, orcs, and the medieval LARP household.

The Location

The Galeria

Essen is one of the 10 largest cities in Germany and located in the heart of the industrial Ruhr area. The infrastructure is very good, the city can be reached easily by plane (via airport Düsseldorf), train, or car. It takes only a few minutes from the central station to the fair grounds “Messe Essen” and shuttle busses as well as subways connect the Messe to the inner-city.

We went to Essen by car, which took probably longer than getting to the fair grounds by subway, because the sheer size of the fair led to a minor traffic collapse around the Messe. There were several parking lots, but some were reserved for exhibitors or journalists, and most of the public parking lots in the Messe vicinity were already occupied by the time we got there. A parking guide sent us to a remote parking lot and advised us to return with the (free of charge) shuttle bus, but fortunately, we discovered a secret parking garage near the Gruga park, a large city park close to the Messe.

War of the Ring (FFG/Nexus) – revision!

Roberto di Meglio, one of the designers of the boardgame ‘War of the Ring’ has announced that a rules revision and an upgrade kit for the cards is currently in the works. He made clear that for all those who already own the the game there’s no need to buy a new version but a download of a pdf with the changes will be sufficient to be up to date with the current thoughts on the design. Because there will be some changes to the wordings of specific cards and the idea is to have cards that are easier to read (i.e. larger letters) there will be an upgrade kit available for those who own the game already, which will include cards, card sleeves, and a tin box to keep all of it.

The designers also consider a change of the victory condition for the Shadow player, asking players whether 10 victory points for the Shadow is ok or that the Shadow should conquer more territories to qualify for a win.

If you want to chime in on this discussion you can either answer Roberto’s question on Facebook here or as a member of BGG you can leave a post here in the relevant post.

So, besides the news post here, we would like to say that there’s no need at all in our opinion to change anything in the victory conditions of both sides in the game. One can argue whether the expansion ‘Battle of the Third Age’ used all the opportunities that were clearly present (e.g. siege towers just a dice roll modifier…something more interesting and innovative would have been possible here) or even if the expansion is necessary to get the most out of the game, but there’s – in our humble opinion – no reason to bugger about with a game that is just fine as it is. It works, it fits the overall story of Tolkien, it has the right atmosphere, it’s fun and gameplay is full of tension and it’s dropping with theme, in short there’s nothing wrong with it and one of the best LOTR wargames out there.

So, if you have some time on your hands dear designers, think about another, better or let’s say ‘richer’ expansion than BotTA was  – or even better …consider a revision of Marvel Heroes – The Boardgame because there is where things don’t work completely right and where expansions would be great. Do we hear the word ‘licence issues’? Yes, Francesco said that already in our little discussion about the game, but hey…we just wanted to use the opportunity to say ‘we still think about the MH game’ 😉

Boardgamegeek

Boardgamegeek – the nerd page!

“CSW, Web Grognards and Boardgamegeek make up the ultimate trinity in Wargaming!”

Boardgamegeek is not a pure wargame/consim website, but it belongs to the key pages and most important central information sites for The Hobby on the web. Boardgamegeek was founded in the year 2000 and it grew into a page with information about board and card games in a very extensive way. So wargames also belong to the games listed there and the wargame area is already very large and still growing.

The database contains over 45,000 board games (January, 2010) and each game has its own game entry which gives information about a game, user ratings and fora for specific discussions on the game and topics related to it.

BGG is an extremely active platform

Boardgamegeek is interesting because it allows the readers to get all information in a very accessible and compact way. Each game has its own page and there you can find everything related to the specific game: pictures, reviews, ratings, publishers, downloads, strategies, discussion, player aids, files etc.. Everyone can upload files, so these games are supported with information on a steady base.

The website is done in a very clear style and you can start searching from the main page within different categories, say looking after the designer, the year of publication, game mechanics, map/cover artists and so on.

A game page offers detailed information about a game: Publisher, year, players. In addition, you find photos, a forum, files, player aids, comments....

The game statistics allow insights on how you would rate the game for yourself, for the page is not only giving abstract ratings, but personal commentaries as well. These are most important because some players like to rate a game even without ever having it played, just based on what they think the game is about or whether they like the topic or not. This makes the ranking a bit pointless but the true information lies in the reviews given by players who actually played the game, in their comments and in the pictures of the game components. This usually gives you a useful first impression whether a certain game might be for you or not.

Geeklists put together various games on the base of different topics so you can easily see  how many games on a  certain topic exist and  what  could fit your playing style and expectations. Through the marketplace you can get thousands of games and it also allows for a quick check what a game you want to sell is currently worth. Everybody can also start his / her own journal to let other gamers take part in their hobby and their thoughts regarding it. Overall BGG offers a tremendous resource site where you can find many fan made or official player aids, rules and useful stuff to enhance your enjoyment of a game. Registered members can also customize the look of the site a bit to their personal liking so you  always get the info you actually need to know.

It’s free of charge to become a registered member of BGG, although you are certainly encouraged to help improve the site by adding your own reviews and thoughts on games to the existing database or by giving a donation. If you want to see what BGG has to offer: check out the Guide to  BGG .