Post by Whiterook on May 4, 2022 9:21:43 GMT -5
This was a KickStarter I pledged for and is finally on the road somewhere towards my doorstep! Projecting for delivery might be as as soon as this Saturday! It’s actually three months sooner than what was the anticipated planned delivery so, this is awesome!
I made the Deluxe Pledge choice at $120, which got me:
- The core game
- “Fatherland”, the Bundeswher Expansion item 2
- All Stretch Goals
- 2 solitaire scenarios
The extras you get, as a pledger can’t be beat, and they’re free! …such as 9 KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVE Action Card, such as Courage, Extra Ammunition, and Reinforcements, to name but a few; Linen Card Backs; and a cool Mouse Pad!
This is 1985. This is World War III. But this is not your typical World War III.
There are many accurate-to-the-underwear-brand World War III games to choose from, and the ones that I have played are quite good. This, however, is not one of them. Although The Long Road flirts with reality, it’s not ready to move in and live with it. This game has a twist. From the moment I designed World at War: Eisenbach Gap I envisioned a war that was something else, a war that was predicated by something other than oil or warm-water ports or ill-defined land grabs. A war instigated by powers without geographical affiliation, powers unknown to us.
The agents of those powers might be nothing more than a special ops team of mysterious origin sent to assassinate a world leader, nothing more than a militia, ambushing foreigners raping their mother country; nothing other than normal. Then again, they might be other than normal, or—by definition—paranormal.
So that is the twist, a wargame with paranormal elements. Make no mistake, I’ve strived to make this an accessible, yet accurate wargame. Included is everything from advanced sights, multi-spectral smoke, artillery-delivered minefields, to electronic counter measures, anti-tank guided missiles, attack helicopters and the man-portable, air defense systems required to bring them down. You’ll command the weapons of the time; Abrams tanks, T-80 tanks, M60A3, T-64B, and Sheridan tanks. Bradleys, M-113s, BMPs, infantry, spetsnaz, and more.
But of course, war isn’t won by equipment; war is won by soldiers. In The Long Road soldiers’ training and morale is integral to the game, integral to combat resolution. But even more important than the rank and file grunts are the heroes. The men and woman who can - turn the tide of battle. We’ve included them too. People like Mike Hudson, Colonel Adrik Aleksandrov Shabalin, tank commander Sergeant Matt Dahl, and Commissar Colonel Elena Petrova. Heroic humans, but humans nonetheless.
But there is something more. Somethings that are not "humans nonetheless." Demons that summon electrical storms, rendering advanced weaponry nearly useless, Lycan clans that fight with assault rifles, RPDs, and RPGs, as well as the fang and claw of their elders. A witch with an agenda, plus the powerful spells to make it happen, and of course, Katarina Ubirek; an amoral Romanian vampire worth dozens of inexperienced soldiers in combat. You know those things that you have read about, watched in movies, heard about on horror podcasts? Well, in The Long Road they are real.
But not every scenario contains nightmares. Sometimes you’ll fight with/against/in spite of these paranormal beings, yet often your battle will be about nothing more than depleted uranium rounds, reactive armor, maneuver, and massed fires. In fact, we include a separate scenario book in the game titled Long Road Tactics that includes nothing but historical, for lack of a better word, scenarios.
So that is The Long Road; part military horror, part authentic recreation of World War III, but all fun. We hope you enjoy it.
Coming to Kickstarter soon!
Each copy of The Long Road includes.
· 5 sheets of thick (2mm thick), large (1" square, large) counters.
· 3 MOUNTED 17” x 22” map geomorphic boards. Not paper, not stiff cardboard, but rather 2mm-thick, wrapped and backed mounted game boards.5 sheets of thick (2mm thick), large (1" square, large) counters.
· 27 full-color Action Cards. The game isn't card driven; it's card assisted.
· Full-color rules.
· 4 Player Aid Cards.
· 5 ten-sided dice for resolving combat.
· A quarter ton of scenarios
— Mark H. Walker, Designer, Owner of Flying Pig Games
There are many accurate-to-the-underwear-brand World War III games to choose from, and the ones that I have played are quite good. This, however, is not one of them. Although The Long Road flirts with reality, it’s not ready to move in and live with it. This game has a twist. From the moment I designed World at War: Eisenbach Gap I envisioned a war that was something else, a war that was predicated by something other than oil or warm-water ports or ill-defined land grabs. A war instigated by powers without geographical affiliation, powers unknown to us.
The agents of those powers might be nothing more than a special ops team of mysterious origin sent to assassinate a world leader, nothing more than a militia, ambushing foreigners raping their mother country; nothing other than normal. Then again, they might be other than normal, or—by definition—paranormal.
So that is the twist, a wargame with paranormal elements. Make no mistake, I’ve strived to make this an accessible, yet accurate wargame. Included is everything from advanced sights, multi-spectral smoke, artillery-delivered minefields, to electronic counter measures, anti-tank guided missiles, attack helicopters and the man-portable, air defense systems required to bring them down. You’ll command the weapons of the time; Abrams tanks, T-80 tanks, M60A3, T-64B, and Sheridan tanks. Bradleys, M-113s, BMPs, infantry, spetsnaz, and more.
But of course, war isn’t won by equipment; war is won by soldiers. In The Long Road soldiers’ training and morale is integral to the game, integral to combat resolution. But even more important than the rank and file grunts are the heroes. The men and woman who can - turn the tide of battle. We’ve included them too. People like Mike Hudson, Colonel Adrik Aleksandrov Shabalin, tank commander Sergeant Matt Dahl, and Commissar Colonel Elena Petrova. Heroic humans, but humans nonetheless.
But there is something more. Somethings that are not "humans nonetheless." Demons that summon electrical storms, rendering advanced weaponry nearly useless, Lycan clans that fight with assault rifles, RPDs, and RPGs, as well as the fang and claw of their elders. A witch with an agenda, plus the powerful spells to make it happen, and of course, Katarina Ubirek; an amoral Romanian vampire worth dozens of inexperienced soldiers in combat. You know those things that you have read about, watched in movies, heard about on horror podcasts? Well, in The Long Road they are real.
But not every scenario contains nightmares. Sometimes you’ll fight with/against/in spite of these paranormal beings, yet often your battle will be about nothing more than depleted uranium rounds, reactive armor, maneuver, and massed fires. In fact, we include a separate scenario book in the game titled Long Road Tactics that includes nothing but historical, for lack of a better word, scenarios.
So that is The Long Road; part military horror, part authentic recreation of World War III, but all fun. We hope you enjoy it.
Coming to Kickstarter soon!
Each copy of The Long Road includes.
· 5 sheets of thick (2mm thick), large (1" square, large) counters.
· 3 MOUNTED 17” x 22” map geomorphic boards. Not paper, not stiff cardboard, but rather 2mm-thick, wrapped and backed mounted game boards.5 sheets of thick (2mm thick), large (1" square, large) counters.
· 27 full-color Action Cards. The game isn't card driven; it's card assisted.
· Full-color rules.
· 4 Player Aid Cards.
· 5 ten-sided dice for resolving combat.
· A quarter ton of scenarios
— Mark H. Walker, Designer, Owner of Flying Pig Games
Note in the quote above, the reference to World at War: Eisenbach Gap, which started the original series of World at War games back in the days Lock ‘N Load Publishing was owned by Mark… that series was got me into his style of Modern Warfare in hex and counter games; I own every game in that series so, you can tell I’m in love with that game! I noted in another thread that I love symmetry in my gaming, so this was right in my wheelhouse!
…but also note that, this game isn’t a remake of World at War, but rather holds its roots in Mark’s, “Platoon Commander” platform, which is basically his retake on his original World at War. There are some similarities, but PC is really its own thing. Further though, this crosses game series boundaries with Tiny Battle Publishings’, “Sticks & Stones” (and the variants that came after, like the Korean War). What’s exciting about TLR is, you can play several games (Platoon Commander Kursk, Sticks & Stones, etc.) and stay within the same-ish core rules. That’s awesome, in my book!
Long Road Tactics Scenario Book!
This is one of the cool features of The Long Road. It's called Long Road Tactics. A bonus scenario book that ships with the game. Inside are several scenarios that depict combined forces battles in the Long Road universe. Nothing paranormal, just Soviets vs Americans. If you are dubious about the fantastical elements in The Long Road, these are the scenarios for you.
…to be honest, this was one of the major selling points of the game for myself, personally… whereas I 5ink I’ll enjoy the paranormal elements, vampire and all, I love that this system accommodated straight WWIII warfare sans spookies! The solitaire scenarios were another, as I am a huge solitaire fan, and these provide a roadmap to DYO solo scenarios.
Also, I also own several of the Platoon Commander games, of which the mechanics of this game are based upon, so again, symmetry!
I’m really looking forward to this one! Indications seem to point t9 no VASSAL module planned for this game, though it was mentioned on BoardGameGeek that a version may come to Tabletop Simulator? We’ll see.
