Unboxing new games

[Bison]

Yeah I need to setup a game on the table one of these days.  Not a lot of free time to do much of anything lately.

I really like the tank combat in Panzer.  The infantry rules are not it's strong suit.

[MengJiao]

Ah- now I see.

And here is (from 1995 -- third edition) Great battles of Alexander deluxe:

  And from 2003, the Tyrant module in context (based on Great Battles of Alexander) next to a great cloud of potential cohesion loss.  Note the wargamer-ish spelling of altar as "alter" -- certainly not a mere Punic mistake.  Plus -- in games before Hoplite (2014) flipped counters meant "moved" -- in the Hoplite version flipped means "out of command" -- and leaders no longer flip to finish since that's all ordered and ordained by chit-pulls:

[Nefaro]

I debated picking up Ran at the local gaming store, when I saw it there a few months ago, but was rather iffy about it.  I'm sure there is more troop variety to be had from the Classical GBoH titles, like you have, than Japanese battles from the Sengoku Jidai.  I ended up just getting Le Lion L'Epee for a line battle fix but still have yet to set it up.

Although I'd still like to get some kind of hex & counter game (maybe a grand strategy one?) based on the Sengoku Jidai sometime.  Maybe A Most Dangerous Time?  Something with a bit of flavor for each different clan, if only positional/income strengths & weaknesses.  I'm open to suggestions.

[MengJiao]

I debated picking up Ran at the local gaming store, when I saw it there a few months ago, but was rather iffy about it.  I'm sure there is more troop variety to be had from the Classical GBoH titles, like you have, than Japanese battles from the Sengoku Jidai.  I ended up just getting Le Lion L'Epee for a line battle fix but still have yet to set it up.

Although I'd still like to get some kind of hex & counter game (maybe a grand strategy one?) based on the Sengoku Jidai sometime.  Maybe A Most Dangerous Time?  Something with a bit of flavor for each different clan, if only positional/income strengths & weaknesses.  I'm open to suggestions.

  I don't know much about games about Japan.  On the topic of the GBOH series -- I have tried it a few times in the 1990s and even recently (Cataphract), but it wasn't until the Hoplite rules of 2014 that it seemed like a workable solitaire system (chit pulls, simpler command!).  So I'm trying those rules out in earlier incarnations of the game.  A big all-new edition of Great battles of Alexander Extended Super Deluxe is coming out soon and it should dovetail better with Tyrant (2003) than the 1995 edition.   The ruthless gang at Noble Knight Games jumped on all this and managed to sell the Diadochai module for 95 bucks!  Of course Diadochai will be part of the big all-new edition of Great battles of Alexander Extended Super Deluxe so probably Diadochai would never sell again for anywhere near that much.  Yes!  News from the front lines at Ebay!

[Nefaro]

Does Hoplite use the "light" GBoH ruleset?  Or is it the full deal?

[MengJiao]

Does Hoplite use the "light" GBoH ruleset?  Or is it the full deal?

  As with all these GBOH games, there is a huge segment devoted to the light version.  With the tighter rules, I think the heavy version is somewhat
easier to play than the light, but then I've played various versions of the heavier version unsuccessfully for over 20 years.  The version of the heavy GBOH system in
Hoplite works very well for me and for the first time the GBOH system seems pretty workable.

[panzerde]

Just received my first issue of Against the Odds magazine. The game this time is about the Great Northern War and was done by Paul Rohrbaugh of High Flying Dice Games.





You can also see a map and counter for Paul's A Test of Mettle game, which is what I had on the table when the ATO game arrived.

[bayonetbrant]

Just think - if you hadn't come to Origins, you wouldn't be boardgaming again :D

ANOTHER (RE)CONVERT!

[MengJiao]

Just received my first issue of Against the Odds magazine. The game this time is about the Great Northern War and was done by Paul Rohrbaugh of High Flying Dice Games.





You can also see a map and counter for Paul's A Test of Mettle game, which is what I had on the table when the ATO game arrived.

Very fine Against the Odds!  I like the piling up of games in situ in the unboxing images.

[MengJiao]

Ah- now I see.

And here is (from 1995 -- third edition) Great battles of Alexander deluxe:

  And from 2003, the Tyrant module in context (based on Great Battles of Alexander) next to a great cloud of potential cohesion loss.  Note the wargamer-ish spelling of altar as "alter" -- certainly not a mere Punic mistake.  Plus -- in games before Hoplite (2014) flipped counters meant "moved" -- in the Hoplite version flipped means "out of command" -- and leaders no longer flip to finish since that's all ordered and ordained by chit-pulls:

Shattered Armada (Command at Sea module):

[GJK]

Just think - if you hadn't come to Origins, you wouldn't be boardgaming again :D

ANOTHER (RE)CONVERT!

Me loves it!  +1!

[GJK]

Does Hoplite use the "light" GBoH ruleset?  Or is it the full deal?

  As with all these GBOH games, there is a huge segment devoted to the light version.  With the tighter rules, I think the heavy version is somewhat
easier to play than the light, but then I've played various versions of the heavier version unsuccessfully for over 20 years.  The version of the heavy GBOH system in
Hoplite works very well for me and for the first time the GBOH system seems pretty workable.

I'm guessing that Richard Berg didn't write the GBOH "light" rules...is that a correct assesment? His games are generic enough and touch on subjects that I'd like to deal with but I refuse to "deal" with anything Dick Berg, personally.

[MengJiao]

Does Hoplite use the "light" GBoH ruleset?  Or is it the full deal?

  As with all these GBOH games, there is a huge segment devoted to the light version.  With the tighter rules, I think the heavy version is somewhat
easier to play than the light, but then I've played various versions of the heavier version unsuccessfully for over 20 years.  The version of the heavy GBOH system in
Hoplite works very well for me and for the first time the GBOH system seems pretty workable.

I'm guessing that Richard Berg didn't write the GBOH "light" rules...is that a correct assesment? His games are generic enough and touch on subjects that I'd like to deal with but I refuse to "deal" with anything Dick Berg, personally.

  I don't know.  It may be that I have the same responses, I just never connected them with Dick Berg.  All I can really say is that -- after maybe 20 years of really not liking the GBOH system in any form, the rules in Hoplite seem fine -- even elegant -- to me.

[MengJiao]

  More in the GBOH...Chariots of Fire:

[bob48]

No piccies as yet, but new on the table for me is 'No Retreat:The North African Front and the Invasion of Crete' by GMT