What boardgames have you played recently?

Robin Reeve

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Clank! with three of my students.
It was a good fun time.

I am trying to muster two to six other players next Saturday, to play History of the World, 2018 (Z-Man) edition: much shorter than my previous, Av. Hill, 1993 edition, with only 5 epochs and attacking being more rewarding.
 

Proff3RTR

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Anyone play titles from the GBACW series? My brother-in-law is coming down tomorrow and we may try something from Twin Peaks (I'm trying to quickly cram enough of the mechanics into my head that I'll be able sit down to this and muddle through, with considerable help).
GBACW is a good series from what I have played (Twin Peaks funnily enough), it was my first dabble into ACW after I bought Alexander deluxe and had a bash at that series. However, I am not yet ready to go into ancients or ACW as I have sold both on, not bad games, just not my era as there are no Pz III L or M's and not a T-34 M43 in sight.

all the best

Perry
 

Robin Reeve

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History of the World, Z-Man 2018 edition.
I actually tried it solo, to compare with my Av Hill 1993 edition.
And the comparison is positive : faster (5 epochs rather than 7, about two hours to play vs the 5-6 hours for the '93 edition), cleaner (no more epoch specific unitcounters, just pawns that you lay down when they become inactive) wilder (attacking is more rewarded than in the older version).
Better aesthetics too.
This is the end game situation :HOW 2018 End game 29.9.18.jpg
 

hongkongwargamer

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560089592.524502public.JPEGGot a long weekend and a lull in my ASL schedule. Punched Hexasim's GREAT WAR COMMANDER (WW1 based out of GMT Combat Commander) and played out the official "Example of Play" and a few turns beyond.

Thoughts :
  • It's a CDG. Orders, Actions and Events aside, it's really just 20 pages of rules. After several rounds of moving and firing, it seems .. simple.
  • Routing is not a given but once you have the proper card you can get the other folks to rout. If they rout off their own side or forced to rout into an enemy unit they are eliminated.
  • Defensive Fire is virtually unlimited once a (defending) unit gets activated. (Strange?)
  • Time is a very fluid concept. Turns don't roll to the next until you pull a "Time Trigger"
  • FP don't double at pointblank range (there's a card for grenade attacks and some units +1 FP if adjacent). You can't encircle. There's no bypass. There's no upstairs.
  • Firegroups are weak. Units apart from a designated "core" unit adds only +1 to the total FP.
  • LOS check happens before you decide to fire.
  • There are tanks but I haven't tried them yet.
The bit that prompts me to lay the game out is the fact that the foot print is small so I can keep unfinished games between sessions.

These are merely first impressions though, from the point of view of someone who had really only played ASL. I am sure a lot of elements are hidden in those cards (again - orders, actions & events). Seems like an interesting tactical look at WW1.

The other WW1 tactical box I got hidden away is Red Poppies Campaign - The Battle for Ypres
 
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djohannsen

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GBACW is a good series from what I have played (Twin Peaks funnily enough), it was my first dabble into ACW after I bought Alexander deluxe and had a bash at that series. However, I am not yet ready to go into ancients or ACW as I have sold both on, not bad games, just not my era as there are no Pz III L or M's and not a T-34 M43 in sight.

all the best

Perry
Well, the day proved over-full (too much time spent at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, as if it were possible to spend too much time there), so we weren't able to get the game on the table. Still, reading through the rules a couple of times has me itching to try to series. The command efficiency, initiative, the tracing of command, the chit pull mechanic, and the difficulty of changing orders seem to be pretty effective ways to model combat of the period (without getting too rule heavy). I, too, used to not be overly interested in the Civil War (a dead end in tactical evolution - that and the Franco-Prussian war as the last gasp of shoulder-to-shoulder tactics), but a score of years living in the the heart of much of the Civil War (and the scene of a large battle) has finally gotten me interested enough to read a dozen or so books and walk all the local battlefields (and some not so local). I hope that I'll get a chance to try the series soon. (I also have a copy of Gringo, and look forward to learning a bit more on the Mexican-American war).
 

Proff3RTR

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Well, the day proved over-full (too much time spent at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, as if it were possible to spend too much time there), so we weren't able to get the game on the table. Still, reading through the rules a couple of times has me itching to try to series. The command efficiency, initiative, the tracing of command, the chit pull mechanic, and the difficulty of changing orders seem to be pretty effective ways to model combat of the period (without getting too rule heavy). I, too, used to not be overly interested in the Civil War (a dead end in tactical evolution - that and the Franco-Prussian war as the last gasp of shoulder-to-shoulder tactics), but a score of years living in the the heart of much of the Civil War (and the scene of a large battle) has finally gotten me interested enough to read a dozen or so books and walk all the local battlefields (and some not so local). I hope that I'll get a chance to try the series soon. (I also have a copy of Gringo, and look forward to learning a bit more on the Mexican-American war).
I was posted out to Norfolk Virginia a few years back (over 10 now to be honest) and I took a few days out from training troops to drive around a few of the nearer battlefields, I visited Fredricksburg, then went to the wilderness battlefield, then cut back to Chancellorsville battlefield. What got me was how close they were sometimes, I think there is a part of thew wilderness battlefield where they were something like 30 yards apart tearing into each others lines with musket fire! Really good few days.

all the best

Perry
 

djohannsen

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I visited Fredricksburg, then went to the wilderness battlefield, then cut back to Chancellorsville battlefield
I live in Fredericksburg. Toss Spottsylvania Courthouse (and North Anna) onto your list and within twenty or thirty miles there are some of the biggest battles of the war (with Manassas and the Shennandoah Valley and Cold Harbor and Petersburg and... not too much further away). Even having read several books on Fredericksburg, it's hard to imagine the Union troops marching shoulder-to-shoulder against the Sunken Rd, and doing so multiple times. It's a pretty compelling chapter in US history to me anymore.
 

Proff3RTR

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I live in Fredericksburg. Toss Spottsylvania Courthouse (and North Anna) onto your list and within twenty or thirty miles there are some of the biggest battles of the war (with Manassas and the Shennandoah Valley and Cold Harbor and Petersburg and... not too much further away). Even having read several books on Fredericksburg, it's hard to imagine the Union troops marching shoulder-to-shoulder against the Sunken Rd, and doing so multiple times. It's a pretty compelling chapter in US history to me anymore.
I remember standing in the sunken road looking towards the small house which when I visited was acting as a visitors center, I then walked up the hill to where the guns are and looked out towards the axis of advance of the union troops......mental, what kept them going is beyond me.

All the best

Perry

P.S

If I am out in America and in that area again I will visit the ones you mentioned, I would really like to walk Gettysburg as W.D.Pender (Confederate Divisional commander III Corps Army of Northern Virginia) is a long distant relation of mine and although I am a primarily ww2 buff and 'Ost front kampfer' war game wise Gettysburg has always grabbed my interest.
 

djohannsen

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I would really like to walk Gettysburg
I've been lucky enough to tour Gettysburg a couple of times - it's an incredibly well-preserved and well-presented battlefield. I heartily recommend Sears' book on Gettysburg. That book is an absolutely wonderful read and I couldn't imagine touring the battlefield without reading it first. If you're ever again around F'burg and looking for a game of ASL, just give me a shout.
 

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There ARE solitaire rules?
You can download them from the "airbattle" page: http://www.airbattle.co.uk/d_downloads.html

Though this version doesn't include the "Introduction" (and hence looks to be incomplete), my understanding is that these solitaire rules were published in C3I magazine (so they are probably pretty thoroughly polished) - maybe removing the "Introduction" prevents any copyright issues.
 

djohannsen

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you will highly enjoy "Downtown" by all means. excellent game. ASL over North Vietnam - in just about every respect. :)
I watched some Youtube videos and this does look pretty darn cool! Got an upcoming ASL "gameday" to prep for, and then I hope to start looking at the rules.
 
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