The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design
Ever fancied creating your own board game? Or just want to understand some of the underlying concepts?
Ever fancied creating your own board game? Or just want to understand some of the underlying concepts?
Yep, another game with dice and miniatures hit the table. This one is a heavily SciFi themed beast called Earth Reborn from Z-Man Games. There are quite a few SciFi themed games out there and it can be tough to stand out. This is another set in the post-apocalyptic Earth (hence the name…) and is basically a miniatures skirmish game between 2 factions – NORAD and SALEMITES. The closest game in style that I have played is Space Hulk so that should give you an idea of the scale. Having said that, Earth Reborn is a very different game.
Richard Borg has designed a series of games based on a similar system – Battle Cry, Memoir 44, Battlelore, Command & Colors Ancients and more latest incarnation of the system is Command & Colors Napoleonics. I’ve played them all and have a pretty good sense of how the core system works. Now just a couple pf points…
Ted Raicer is a well-known designer of a number of popular and respected war games, mostly set in WWI and I was very pleased to receive a copy of his game, The Pocket at Falaise, which looks at the allies’ attempt to cut off and destroy the German forces in Normandy. Historically, much destruction rained down upon Hitler’s forces from the Allied armies but enough of the German forces escaped through the unclosed pocket to fight on and prolong the war. Could things have been different?
So here we have a recent issue of Against the Odds Magazine, which is a very interesting publication on military history with a game in every issue. What more can I ask? Years ago, I used to subscribe to Strategy & Tactics magazine and I’ve played games published in the Wargamer, so this is all familiar ground for me. The magazine is of high quality with excellent articles, artwork, etc. and I highly recommend it to war gamers.