Posts made by Raymond Biesinger

@Canuck12:

@Raymond:

Anniversary, 1942 2nd Ed., and a bit of TripleA for me. Otherwise, I play some “homebrew” A&A up in Laval and I’m eying my un-played Europe 1940 like a sandwich waiting to be eaten.

Yrs.,
R.

How do I get in on that game in Laval? It is a crying shame that your Europe 40 board has never been played…

It is a shame. Our group has been learning and “digesting” Anniversary Edition, but we’re now playing it pretty quickly and I think we’re just about ready to step up the complexity to Europe 40.

And how do you get in on that Laval game? Step one would be to move to the area. Are you still in Vancouver?

Yrs.,
R.

Anniversary, 1942 2nd Ed., and a bit of TripleA for me. Otherwise, I play some “homebrew” A&A up in Laval and I’m eying my un-played Europe 1940 like a sandwich waiting to be eaten.

Yrs.,
R.

@wove100:

It’s almost as if they have to pay rent on a physical space, stock it with product, advertise their existence, and have it staffed with people who can help customers who wander into the store. And how come they can’t get a quantity discount for pre-ordering a couple of copies from WOTC?  :-D

Well said, as the husband of someone who once ran a boutique. Online sellers are killing jobs at ma and pa shops like crazy.

Yrs.,
R.

Neat neat. I think I need that Peter Perla book.

I ran into this now, too:

http://www.boardgamestudies.info/pdf/issue3/BGS3Hilgers.pdf

Prussians using “Kriegspiel” to train officers, starting in 1812. See pages 65-71 for a peek at a gameboard. It’s is modular, like Catan.

Found that through the wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriegsspiel_(wargame)

Yrs.,
R.

Hi A&A.org/forum,

a bit ago I was listening to a lot of H. G. Wells sci-fi audiobooks (he’s one of my favourite authors) and eventually came upon something he wrote in 1913. Its title’s a little long, being “Little Wars: A Game for Boys From Twelve Years of Age to One Hundred and Fifty and For That More Intelligent Sort of Girl Who Likes Boys’ Games and Books.”

Here’s an engraving from the thing:

I was floored to learn that my one of my favourite authors would take over the parlour and play fake war for an afternoon with his writer pals. The book actually describes how his war gaming developed, outlines the rules they invented, gives a play-by-play of several “campaigns” he fought, and closes with an appendix describing the history of “Kriegspiel.”

You can hear the whole thing for free on Librivox right here:

http://librivox.org/little-wars-by-hg-wells/

And of course Wikipedia has an entry on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Wars

Anyone hear of this before? Anyone play it? Any other fans of that novelist and thinker? Are there any other complex war games anyone knows of from that era? I’m all kinds of curious.

Yrs.,
R.

@TheVenocWarlord:

The worst part about this game so far that’s it’s not released yet.  :wink: :-(

My vote as well. I was originally very bummed about the way the board looks–I’m a graphic artist and care a lot about that kind of thing–but I’m now curious enough about it to strongly consider a purchase. I’m sure once it’s in my hands at the store I’ll give in.

Yrs.,
R.

PS. I actually skipped the 2004 Revised edition because I thought the board looked like garbage. I don’t think I missed much on that one.  :-)

@Flashman:

Really, its the insistence on America going to war early that throws this game’s timing out of joint.

I’d be really curious to find out how many rounds your average A&A player plays per game. I have a feeling us on A&A.org/forums are heavy users who find turn four “early”, but it could be that turn four is pretty “late” for your average board gamer who’s paying money for the box.

It could be out-of-joint timing for history’s sake, but just in time for buyers who don’t have the luxury of pausing a play by forum game online. Just a thought.

Yrs.,
R.

@wove100:

And the power to unleash the Spanish Influenza.

Ha! Roll two die per unit. “Snake eyes” means death.

Yrs.,
R.

@vonLettowVorbeck1914:

It looks like somebody copied and pasted “6 infantry, 2 artillery” too many times.

Funny and true. That said, I can see myself getting sucked into this one despite some surface problems.

Yrs.,
R.

@aaronimpulse:

Should have tried to sneak the maple leaf in there somewhere!

Like most artists, the obvious often evades me. Next version I will definitely do that.

Yrs.,
R.

@aaronimpulse:

This is a sweet shirt! Good job!

Thanks, Aaron. I just added another shirt to our order today, meaning 15 of these will be floating around.

Yrs.,
R.

@LinkandMarioman:

By what you said, the starting income for the Allies is 114 IPCs while 77 for the Axis, the difference being 37. It seems quite normal that the Allies at the start earn about 1,5 times as much as the Axis, but in this game I think it�s harder to conquer territories in a hurry, so the advantage for the Allies might be greater than usual.
I�m glad that the US only earns 20 IPCs per turn, though, making it possible for them to land � after the initial invasion of course � merely one transport full of units per turn. That�s actually quite a weak performance right there!  
:-D

I imagine two other things: since the Central powers are on the offensive first and fighting on Entente land they’ll be able to “neutralize” the income of a lot of Entente income immediately. That should even the odd a bit, and quickly. Also, I have a feeling the USA might get a “war production bonus” the moment they declare war, as they do in other A&A games.

Yrs.,
R.

PS. we now have confirmation that the UK starts at 30 IPCs. Thanks, Larry!

I might need to see an eye doctor, too, but between the production chart in the Sahara and Larry Harris’ Reports from the Front I’ve deduced some numbers. Here’s what I’m thinking:

-Italy starts with 14 IPCs
-the Ottomans start with 16 IPCs 
-the USA starts with 20 IPCs
-France starts with 24 ICPs (as per Larry Harris)
-Russia starts with 25 ICPs (as per Larry Harris)
-Austria-Hungary starts with 26 IPCs (as per Larry Harris)
-the UK with 30 IPCs.
-Germany starts with 35 ICPs (as per Larry Harris)

Yrs.,
R.

Training me at World at War since last year. I’ve been playing A&A for twenty years, of course, Al.  :wink:

Yrs.,
R.

Nope. Total Boy Scout over here.

Yrs.,
R.

@Gargantua:

Once the tubes are flooded, and the ports open, even Raymond’s small french one is fierce.

Ha!

Yrs.,
R.

I’m with Garg and witmann in the bar. In this situation: make drunks, not war.

Yrs.,
R.

Absolutely. I see the fatigue, the sometimes overwhelming complexity, the social qualities of a multi-player alliance, awful luck, great luck, dumb errors, varying levels of chivalry, the uneven-ness in play skill and confidence, etc. as integral parts of the game. Every one of those things has an analogue in messy and awful real wars and is welcome at my table.

Yrs.,
R.

With our group, “fixing mistakes” is up for negotiation. If an Axis player forgets something vital the Allies get to decide whether to allow them to fix it out-of-sequence and vice versa. Usually, this is done verbally with a “if we make a comparable error later, you need to let us fix it too.” The opposition holds the power to decide, but there are informal “credits” given and taken. Eventually, the friendly bartering of mistake for mistake hardens into a “tough luck” stance on both sides. It’s fun to see how much the tone of the game changes once the first foot is put down. Serious business.

Interesting moral considerations re: scrambling and convoy zones in Global '40. I’m slowly steering the club towards playing it, but we’re still a little shy in the experience department.

Yrs.,
R.

Consider this a note of protest. I would like the isle of Montreal to stay right where it is, thanks.

Yrs.,
R.