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The Lordz Games Studio will bring the award winning board game Bloody April, 1917 to the digital arena! Read more here:
http://www.thelordzgamesstudio.com/site/2016/10/bloody-april-1917-coming-to-the-digital-arena/
Cheers,
Tim aka LZ
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :D
Please be advised, .. I am not a patient man .. ::)
.. having said that, .. I can't wait .. :)
Cheers
Tom
Great news. Looking forward to it.
Whooooff...that is awesome! ;D
Looks interesting. Will The Lordz self publish this?
Cool! I've had the game and the expansion on my shelf for quite a while now but still haven't even read the rules.
You have my attention, sir!
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Great News!
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 20, 2016, 10:02:11 AM
Cool! I've had the game and the expansion on my shelf for quite a while now but still haven't even read the rules.
The mechanics are very similar to LBW's more recent
Wing Leader games, albeit from a top-down perspective. Simo's air war games, this & the Arab-Israeli one,
Elusive Victory, came from the same pedigree (
Downtown) as you well know.
I'd kinda rather see Elusive Victory, or even Downtown, over the WWI title. If only because they have more of a learning curve due to the SAM, Radar, and EW rules. Plus those more modern air wars have a higher emphasis on hidden opponent units (being more air defenses). But Bloody April is one of the lightest of the bunch, so maybe this is just the first in a series? *wink wink nudge nudge*
I hope the digital version has some kind of long-term campaign. The British air offensive around "Bloody April" suffered huge pilot attrition. Trying to keep the crews alive, to fight the next day/sortie into enemy territory, should be a big part of the gameplay! Was a tough grind. It would take a long time and some home brewed rules to do such a long campaign with the tabletop, but a digital version would be a perfect way to go. Bonus points if it has some procedural mission generation.
Quote from: Nefaro on October 20, 2016, 10:57:45 AM
...
The mechanics are very similar to LBW's more recent Wing Leader games, albeit from a top-down perspective. ...
Huh... I would not have made that comparison at all. BA is groups of individual aircraft and their movements over the battle field, while WL is squadrons of aircraft...
I'll have to go back and look at BA as it's been almost a year since I've had it on the table and I've been playing lots of WL since it came out.
I've never played the "modern" versions of the game.
Quote from: Barthheart on October 20, 2016, 11:04:33 AM
Quote from: Nefaro on October 20, 2016, 10:57:45 AM
...
The mechanics are very similar to LBW's more recent Wing Leader games, albeit from a top-down perspective. ...
Huh... I would not have made that comparison at all. BA is groups of individual aircraft and their movements over the battle field, while WL is squadrons of aircraft...
I'll have to go back and look at BA as it's been almost a year since I've had it on the table and I've been playing lots of WL since it came out.
I've never played the "modern" versions of the game.
They all use counters representing approximately 1-4 aircraft (a Flight or less). BA's also uses Flights, although the occasional damaged plane can break off and head for home.
After reading the BA/EV/Downtown rules, and the Wing Leader rules, you'll see the mechanics are related. Looking at the Aircraft Data Cards, and the tables on the charts, between the two series, you'll also notice the similarities. ;)
Sure, the two systems are different in some ways. They're not exactly the same. Just related.
Oh I believe you .... it's just it would not have struck me that way without you saying it.
To be honest, I don't know that I'm really all that much of a fan of Wing Leader. Now that I've got enough games of it under my belt, I find that it's a little to constrained and a little too reliant on dice rolls. Up until flights actually engage, there's not really a lot of player choice available as most flights are required to act within a very narrow set of parameters. I wish I liked it more than I do as I'm a big fan of the subject matter. I'm a huge fan of LBW's Bomber Command. Nightfighter is OK but it's a little too light for my tastes and it's not really a two player game. I haven't tried Downtown or Elusive Victory as the jet era holds no interest for me anymore. I did play Burning Blue once but we had to quit early so I never really got that much of a feel for it. I did like what I saw though.
I picked up Bloody April because it was on a Christmas clearance sale for $20. I think it looks interesting but I don't know that I'd be able to get the couple of wargamers I have to play against locally to give it a try. They aren't really fans of air warfare or tactical level games which is a shame as those are my faves.
I'm looking forward to the digital version of this game because there is SO much book keeping in this game, mostly done with status markers on the game board. It would be great to have the PC do all that work for me... yes I'm lazy. :P
This news pleases the Toonces.
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 20, 2016, 11:34:41 AM
To be honest, I don't know that I'm really all that much of a fan of Wing Leader. Now that I've got enough games of it under my belt, I find that it's a little to constrained and a little too reliant on dice rolls. Up until flights actually engage, there's not really a lot of player choice available as most flights are required to act within a very narrow set of parameters. I wish I liked it more than I do as I'm a big fan of the subject matter. I'm a huge fan of LBW's Bomber Command. Nightfighter is OK but it's a little too light for my tastes and it's not really a two player game. I haven't tried Downtown or Elusive Victory as the jet era holds no interest for me anymore. I did play Burning Blue once but we had to quit early so I never really got that much of a feel for it. I did like what I saw though.
I picked up Bloody April because it was on a Christmas clearance sale for $20. I think it looks interesting but I don't know that I'd be able to get the couple of wargamers I have to play against locally to give it a try. They aren't really fans of air warfare or tactical level games which is a shame as those are my faves.
Bloody April, EV, and DT are much the same way. Although they are more front-loaded with hidden mission planning. Routes mostly iirc, although the jet-era games also have more Air Defense stuff, as mentioned.
The big difference being that those three games have a heavy reliance on limited or hidden information. Doesn't solo well on it's own, in most cases, but could be ideal for a digital game versus AI or other players on PBEM server. Although, in BA, the German side is very focused on defensive missions.
GIGGITY
Nice! I hope the 'board game goes digital' trend continues. O0
I'll just RoF it.
Very cool
Quote from: bbmike on October 20, 2016, 01:39:29 PM
Nice! I hope the 'board game goes digital' trend continues. O0
Depends on the board game. Some games have rules only a human can comprehend and hard to do a good AI.
Am I reading right, development won't start until 2017...so likely will get in 2018?
Quote from: Nefaro on October 20, 2016, 10:57:45 AM
Quote from: Silent Disapproval Robot on October 20, 2016, 10:02:11 AM
Cool! I've had the game and the expansion on my shelf for quite a while now but still haven't even read the rules.
The mechanics are very similar to LBW's more recent Wing Leader games, albeit from a top-down perspective. Simo's air war games, this & the Arab-Israeli one, Elusive Victory, came from the same pedigree (Downtown) as you well know.
I'd kinda rather see Elusive Victory, or even Downtown, over the WWI title. If only because they have more of a learning curve due to the SAM, Radar, and EW rules. Plus those more modern air wars have a higher emphasis on hidden opponent units (being more air defenses). But Bloody April is one of the lightest of the bunch, so maybe this is just the first in a series? *wink wink nudge nudge*
I hope the digital version has some kind of long-term campaign. The British air offensive around "Bloody April" suffered huge pilot attrition. Trying to keep the crews alive, to fight the next day/sortie into enemy territory, should be a big part of the gameplay! Was a tough grind. It would take a long time and some home brewed rules to do such a long campaign with the tabletop, but a digital version would be a perfect way to go. Bonus points if it has some procedural mission generation.
I'll happily play the digital version. I seem to remember Simo mentioning somewhere in some design notes (maybe for BA) how BA relates in terms of time, speed and distance to Downtown and Elusive Victory. Of course BA has a very different feel to it than the jet games do. One thing I recall from having played BA a few times, is how hard it is to climb in an airplane in 1917.
A campaign would be fine and more workable in a digital format, I'm sure.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 20, 2016, 07:01:41 PM
Am I reading right, development won't start until 2017...so likely will get in 2018?
Well.... these guys have already been working on the
Check Your Six! digital translation. So I hope they get that one done before moving all their eggs to different baskets. Looking forward to a CY6 computer series more than anything, but I'll throw money at them for nearly any tabletop air wargames they wanna do. 8)
Sounds very interesting. O0
Quote from: jomni on October 20, 2016, 06:57:57 PM
Quote from: bbmike on October 20, 2016, 01:39:29 PM
Nice! I hope the 'board game goes digital' trend continues. O0
Depends on the board game. Some games have rules only a human can comprehend and hard to do a good AI.
That's why they all must have a hotseat mode. 8)
Yes!
One of my gaming buddies and I played a campaign day with the board game. A heck of a lot of fun...but took us 9 months.
So looking forward to a faster option to play this game.
My only fear is that I really haven't seen many board game / digital translations that really work for me. All, seem a little out of place and clunky.... The exception is "Heroes of Normandie". But there are plenty of other great board games that can really suck once they go digital: I am not a fan of what they did to "Conflict of Heroes" and "Empires in Arms" for example.
IMHO, if they just ditch the pretense of staying true to the board game, and make a real time game...like the WWI version Combat Modern Air Naval Ops with some pilot management thrown in for good measure, they will have a hit.
Looking forward to both this and Check Your 6.
Seems like exactly the sort of thing that makes great sense as a digital conversion. I'm a lot more likely to play this with the PC doing most/all of the bookkeeping!
I need CY6 like a crack addict needs, well.....more crack :uglystupid2:
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 20, 2016, 07:01:41 PM
Am I reading right, development won't start until 2017...so likely will get in 20182020?
Fixered
I've always expected someone to make a digital version of Ace of Aces. It would be easy to just fly in WOFF, ROF, WWI FS:SDOE, or Canvas Eagles and take screenshots at just the right moments in order to create the books. I even considered trying it myself at one time.
Quote from: Hentzau on October 25, 2016, 03:52:14 AM
I've always expected someone to make a digital version of Ace of Aces. It would be easy to just fly in WOFF, ROF, WWI FS:SDOE, or Canvas Eagles and take screenshots at just the right moments in order to create the books. I even considered trying it myself at one time.
This! I've always wanted a digital flip book version of Ace of Aces. Tried several times myself with Visual Basic and then again with just a data base program. Turns out I'm too lazy to be a programmer. :buck2:
Ages ago I played Dawn Patrol - is this game similar to that one? I have always felt it would make a good conversion to digital.
Quote from: rocketman on October 25, 2016, 10:32:04 AM
Ages ago I played Dawn Patrol - is this game similar to that one? I have always felt it would make a good conversion to digital.
No, this is not similar to Dawn patrol. Bloody April (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/69136/bloody-april-1917-air-war-over-arras-france) isn't about dogfighting/BFM, but about mission planning & execution for multiple flights, and air defenses to some extent.
The scenarios in the tabletop usually cover a few hours to a day, over a small section of the front. But hopefully the digital version will have more extended campaign options with carryover & such.
The other tabletop game they're currently developing, Check Your Six! (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30958/check-your-6),
is more like Dawn Patrol. Except it's World War 2 aircraft, the system is 'WEGO' style, and the mechanics are more a derivation of another old WWI tabletop dogfight game,
Blue Max.
Nef....thanks for the link to Check Your Six. That would be way more appealing to me than Bloody April if it comes out in digital.
Quote from: Rayfer on October 26, 2016, 07:36:17 AM
Nef....thanks for the link to Check Your Six. That would be way more appealing to me than Bloody April if it comes out in digital.
O0
Hopefully it'll do well enough to warrant the Check Your 6! Jet Age (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/75644/check-your-6-jet-age) version too. Would enjoy the Korea-Vietnam-Arab&Israeli settings more myself, but it's all good. We haven't had much of this stuff in PC format.
QuoteHopefully it'll do well enough to warrant the Check Your 6! Jet Age version too.
(https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/jc/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAYrAAAAJGYxMjJiMWUzLTk2YzYtNDNhOC1hNTNhLWJlYWU0OTNiNDNjZA.jpg)
All current published and upcoming unpublished scenario books of both CY6! and CY6! Jet Age will be covered. We plan to guide you from WW2, through the start of the Jet Age like Korea, Vietnam to the last of the real dog-fighting jets in the Israeli-Arab Wars and a bit beyond.
So the first release of CY6! will just be the first base game and we see it more as the start of a large new series of games.
Beta is planned to start end of this year, aim is to release of the first part Q2 next year and build the series out over the next two years to come afterwards.
Thanks for the update! O0
Awesome.
Figured we'd draw one out, if the threads went on long enough. >:D