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Post by Whiterook on Nov 24, 2022 18:32:25 GMT -5
 …pre-Thanksgiving gaming at a buddy’s house this Wednesday! I’d brought my RISK: Game of Thrones game, which my wife bought me for Christmas a few years ago, but never got (no pun intended) a chance to play. It quite cool, really, though we played the basic Skirmish mode, which is just standard RISK, using the Westeros map (though you can do t(r same with the Essos map). The more advanced mode is called Dominion, which brings in character cards and purchasing powers for special stuff… I can see how it will be more GoT immersive in that form; and there’s another mode called World at War, that uses both the Westeros map and the Essos map!  |
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Post by Whiterook on Nov 28, 2022 19:42:31 GMT -5
The next game for the table! Pacific Tide, by Gregory Smith 
An area movement game (see, I can adapt to new game styles!), it takes place within five turns, each turn being a year from 1941-45 in the Pacific Theater. It’s a 2-Player game, but also has a Solo Bot that helps guide the intent of the Japanese as the bot. It begins with the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, and the goal for the US is to control the whole Pacific (excluding Japan and Okinawa) by end of 1945. 
I intend to get the system down over the next several days, so that I can play it on December 7th (next Wednesday). As background to why this is hitting the table next… I played in a playtest of a game called “Desert Blitzkrieg” at the Compass Games Expo a couple weeks back, which s centered on the lead up to Tobruk; which happens to have a similar mechanic of area movement up to two areas out that are connected by lines, which really stuck out as very cool in my mind. Well, a new acquaintance at the Expo, who lives in my town (and who just happens to be the designer of Desert Blitzkrieg!) plans to do a lot of gaming with me, and he asked in an email several days ago that he bought “Imperial Tide”, and asked if I’d like to give it a try. Well, I’d remembered I’d bought a “…tide” game some time ago, and low and behold, it was Pacific Tide! (bought from the Expo several years ago and still in shrink). I figured if I learned this, I can pick up playing Imperial Tide pretty quick! Aaaaaaaaand, low and behold, I again, remembered why I bought this game in the first place… it’s frickin’ cool!!! |
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Post by mikeh on Nov 28, 2022 23:52:59 GMT -5
Looks good! I personally am fond of area movement games and this may really work good for the great expanses of the Pacific Ocean. Solo bot is a good touch also.
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Post by Whiterook on Dec 2, 2022 20:25:56 GMT -5
Looks good! I personally am fond of area movement games and this may really work good for the great expanses of the Pacific Ocean. Solo bot is a good touch also. It’s a cool little game! …got it half price at Compass Games Expo a few years ago, so that was a plus. I’ve heard the second edition comes with a mounted map so, as I’m planning to go to the May Expo (they decided to have their expo twice a year!), I’ll probably pick up the new 2nd edition and either sell this one, or pay it forward. I’m having a little bit of an issue with the rules, but I’m getting the gist. I am hoping to get a first play tomorrow or Sunday. Started clipping the counters today…dug out an old 20-cell counter holder for the 80’s, haha, to organize things. Gorgeous counters on this game! |
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Post by Whiterook on Dec 5, 2022 22:44:36 GMT -5
Counters all clipped and in a tray, and have been reading the rules… the latter has been a chore, with even though there are only about a dozen pages, there’s a lot of fiddly details to remember, there’s a bit of repetition, and there’s some scattering on some mechanics split between sections that need to be pieced together in your head to remember it all goes together. This is not to say this is a bad game… in the contrary! …this is shaping up to be a very cool game indeed!
Current plan is to play around with it on the table tomorrow, for a dedicated playing Wednesday, December 7th. This looks to be a good Pearl Harbor Day game…. Hopefully, with a good WWII movie through the day.
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Post by Whiterook on Dec 10, 2022 17:26:17 GMT -5
Pacific Tide — First Go! This is a neat little game; little, as is not a ton of components and counters, and a 12-ish page rulebook… it went from tearing off the shrink to the table in just a few days, which probably would have been quicker with rules that were a little more well laid out. I can tell already that this is a fav, and that’s been the case with every game from Greg Smith to date for me. Setup is a breeze, with pre-set units for each side well defined.  Again, this plays out on five turns, each turn representing a year from Pearl Harbor 1941 to end war 1945. Card driven, you play the Japanese and American/Commonwealth forces in alternating card pick from a hand of cards, exhausting a years’ hand (or two consecutive passes to play by each side) ends the year. You earn Build points at the end of the year for certain conditions met, in which you can buy cards that were discarded, back! The cards are brilliant and I love the mechanic… it gives a great fog of war, in being limited in what you can do based on what you have in your hand for cards, and also introduces strategy in what and when to use them.
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Post by Whiterook on Feb 12, 2023 21:55:13 GMT -5
New year, off to a late start, but start it did! A “Ghosts of the Jungle” upgrade going on for me! Upgraded to miniatures with terrain tiles, and a minor tweak with a new terrain piece (rice paddies).    |
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Post by mikeh on Feb 13, 2023 11:47:43 GMT -5
That really is nice looking. No road tiles?
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Post by Whiterook on Feb 13, 2023 18:48:08 GMT -5
That really is nice looking. No road tiles? Actually, there are… I’ve not finished them yet. There’s a mechanic in the End Turn Events roll where an armed truck can fly by, hosing any Unhidden Green Beret down! …I’ve wanted to allow a tile with open ground or a jungle tile with more than one image (you can see a small dirt road between the images) to do that event, to see how that works, but just haven’t rolled that event! I’m not sure what would be better… that, or just tiles with dirt roads… any thoughts? |
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Post by Whiterook on Mar 26, 2023 16:57:59 GMT -5
 Reading the rulebook to Stout Hearts …planning on playing in the next few days. |
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Post by Whiterook on Apr 7, 2023 8:48:29 GMT -5
…I got sidetracked with home stuff and errands this week, but I managed to get halfway through a second read of the rules and plan to pop this on the table today. Yeah, I still find it necessary to go through the rules at least a couple times on a new game…though I seem to be comprehending things a lot easier now; my previous, over multitasked worklife brain is starting to finally cool down, lol. You know, seriously, I was working at such a high overload capacity that I knew I was not functioning the way I knew I could…I was just always at full throttle. I think this is one of the greatest opportunities of retiring… reestablishing *yourself* as the priority in life, which includes, restricting the amount of crap you put on the docket! …OK, a little too *deep* for this early in the morning  I'm liking what I’m seeing in this game… at first, I was wondering if I had another Dog Sector on my hands, where it was the same endless, one scenario mission that, while fun, starts ti feel too repetitive in consecutive plays… since you’re basically working your way up the map through enemy lines seeking victory points; the way the game is designed, you’re basically hammering your way through endless defensive lines the whole way, so a shitload of *hidden* (blank topped counters that are revealed as you go) position hexes in what looked like a cluttered map board. But that’s honestly, just impression on my part… I think it will play not only well, but with enough in the design (particularly with all those hidden German units, which many are dummy units) to make this a little less repetitive than DS. As for the rest of the mechanics, a lot of 5is is quite elegant and novel… I’ve played similar style games (with lots of these style mechanics (like Zones of Control), but this takes unique twists in overall design. I’m excited to give it a try. I need to get this played now, ‘cause I have to get Lock ‘N Load Publishing’s, Nations at War on the table the rest of the month to prep for Compass Games Expo in May! |
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Post by Whiterook on Apr 19, 2023 17:42:36 GMT -5
 About to go on the table! Will be the frost play with this newer version, second edition…many upgrades and new features in the rules, and new design on counters, maps, and charts. Should be interesting…I’m a Pisces so, I generally hate change of any kind, but the frost edition had the worst maps! |
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Post by Whiterook on May 4, 2023 19:24:53 GMT -5
Played the Vierville scenario for White Star Rising last weekend, with my good friend Brian at the Gaming Garage (Chuck Tewksbury’s place) in Gardner, MA.  It was my first playing of the 2nd edition game (3rd edition rules), and the new maps are so much better! ….I prefer the counters on my 1st edition game more, but these new versions are pretty nice; they just rely too much on color and have too many disparities in variation in hues within formations. The system has many cool upgrades in mechanics, too, which bring a lot more substance to game play. As the Germans, I conceded the game, unable to get to the American paratroopers held up in a city…I just plain ran outta time! But my whole goal was to not only see the new version in action, but to reacquaint myself the system after a loooooooong time away! |
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Post by mikeh on May 4, 2023 23:13:20 GMT -5
Pretty cool. Can you use the 1st games counters with the new version?
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Post by Whiterook on May 6, 2023 10:26:48 GMT -5
Pretty cool. Can you use the 1st games counters with the new version? Thank goodness, yes! The only issue is there may be a few units (like some air) that weren’t in the 2st edition…I’m not sure if the units names have been changed…sound like the seeds of a thread on comparisons! I started switching out my 2nd edition counters from counter trays to baggies last night  …baggie per formation, so it’s easy to grab what formations you need. The baggies I have on hand are 3x5 inch… I ordered 3x4 inch on Amazon last night and they should be here tomorrow or Monday…I’ll switch them to those. My dilemma at present is, I have a week and a half until I leave for Compass Games Expo - May Edition, in Connecticut… I’m bringing and playing three specific Wargames: White Star Rising, Pacific Tide, and Memoir ‘44… I want to p,at a couple scenarios of each, as I’ve not played them much in a bit and want to be able to teach them effectively. I was going to play a couple scenarios this weekend but, I got my new playtest endeavor in the mail from Decision Games Thursday, and am reading the rules today… It’s called Eleven Days War: Final Offensive In The East 1918. It’s due to be in one of Decision Games’ magazine game issues in 2025. It’s a 2-player wargame covering the final Central Powers offensive on the East Front, February-May (Operation Faustschlag). It features the initial 11-days of offensive operations against the Bolsheviks and the ensuing pursuit into Ukraine. It’s the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and allies) against the Bolshevik’s and allies. It models the chaotic situation of the Eastern Front during the opening of the Russian Civil War. About 14-pages of rules, which I’m halfway throug at the moment. I’d like to get it on the table (prempting WSR/PacTide/M44) so I can maybe play it against my buddy Tim at the Expo; but also, because my first of four required reports is due May 23rd, two days after my return from the CGExpo! Reports are then due every two weeks, concluding on July 4th… it’s a much more aggressive timetable than the other two playtest games I have in the pipeline…hey, didn’t I retire? |
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…baggie per formation, so it’s easy to grab what formations you need. The baggies I have on hand are 3x5 inch… I ordered 3x4 inch on Amazon last night and they should be here tomorrow or Monday…I’ll switch them to those.