On the Net                                        by Alan Poulter

News: Charles S. Roberts Awards winners

The official winners of the 2001 Charles S. Roberts Awards were announced during the World Boardgaming Championships 2002. Categories and winners are given below:

Best Pre-World War II Boardgame Wilderness War (GMT Games)

Best World War II Boardgame Barbarossa: Army Group North (GMT Games)

Best Modern Era Boardgame When Dragons Fight (XTR/Command #54)

Best Wargame Graphics Wilderness War (GMT)

Best DTP-Produced Boardgame Longbow (BSO Games)

Best Magazine-Published Boardgame War of 1812, S&T No. 207

James F. Dunnigan Award Volko Ruhnke, designer of Wilderness War

Clausewitz Award HALL OF FAME Joseph Miranda

Best Professional Wargame Magazine Strategy & Tactics (Decision Games)

Best Amateur Wargame Magazine The Boardgamer, editor Bruce Monnin

I should admit I got most of my guesses wrong, as given in the previous On the Net. Oh well, better luck next year!

News: the spread of P500

P500 is the process GMT pioneered for selecting which games they print. They produce a list of possible games, give information about those games (online reports of playests, pictures of counters and maps, and possibly rules) and allow people to sign up either online or via a flyer to buy these games at a discount. When 500 orders are reached for a game, it goes into production. In practice P500 has worked well in giving GMT cash (from pre-orders) to pay up front printing costs and in ensuring good games get published. As an example of the latter point, in the previous Awards section, both Wilderness War and Barbarossa: Army Group North are P500 graduates. Other companies have followed suit with their own versions of P500: Columbia Games, MMP, Clash of Arms, Decision Games, OSG and UGG.

Like everything, there are drawbacks. Some games are better supported pre-publication than others. For example, I pre-ordered Wilderness War after reading designer Volko Ruhnke’s excellent play-through reports on Consimworld. If a game has no active online champion then it is not likely to pick up pre-orders. Online such support is easy to provide but offline it is not, making choice of games very much harder for those not online. Some companies in the list above also appear less committed than others to providing the sorts of information to tempt people into pre-ordering.

The process will only work if people are prepared to pre-order. There are some gamers it appears who will buy a game if it is available but will, under no circumstances, pre-order, even though they risk nothing by so doing. My feeling is that if you want to influence the games to be produced in the future, get pre-ordering now! If not enough information is given, then let the company and/or designer concerned know. Sticking my neck out here I think that downloadable demos of games for pre-orders should be available, so that the buyer really knows what they are getting: see the report under Shrapnel Games below for an example.

A handy list of pre-order scheme web pages in alphabetical order follows - if I have omitted any please let me know (by emailing me at grognard@grognard.com):

http://www.clashofarms.com/projects.html http://www.columbiagames.com/Products/GamePlan/wargames.html http://www.decisiongames.com/html/pledge_page.html http://www.gmtgames.com/p500/gmtp50.asp http://www.multimanpublishing.com/preorder/preorder.php http://www.napoleongames.com/store/storePo.cfm http://www.ugg.de/p500tab.html

News: L2 reprint line grows

Bucking the pre-order trend are L2, a company banking on the collectability and sheer gaming awesomeness represented in its proposed chiefly reprint line. Says one of the founders, Art Lupinacci:

“My philosophy on running this company will be to publish games we can get behind now, next year and hopefully, a few more years down the road as well. Streets of Stalingrad (SoS) is the magnus opus of games. It is a no brainer and will be supported to my dying days, I guess. I have passion for the game.

The Russian Campaign, albeit a game, more then a simulation, is still going strong after 25 years! Korsun Pocket is a historical study with the same meat as SoS. Dunkerque 1940 is unique and richly deserves a make over.

These games will continue to stay in print as long as interest and support is there. We will do our part to update them, enhance them, occasionally give them a touch up and support them with Gamers Guides filled with history, replays, variants and the like. Call our Gamers Guide a super "General" if you will.

I feel Bitter Woods very neatly fits into our plans. There are many games to choose from for the same topic. Bulge is no different. However, many will continue to be the flavor of the week. Bitter Woods will still be around and played long after the flavor of the week has come and gone.

The same will apply to original designs we plan to market. Russian Besieged, our "Streets of" series we plan to expand and market, and many other titles, god willing.”

For more information see: http://www.l2designgroup.com/

News: Gene’s sabbatical

Gene Billingsley, owner of GMT, has decided to take a sabbatical from running the company. Andy Lewis reports that:

“GMT Games announces that Gene is taking a leave of absence. The reasons for the leave are personal; they are not a life threatening health issue. Rodger, Tony, Andy, Mark, Jewel, and Letitia, the everyday people of GMT Games, understand and respect Gene’s desire for this leave and his right to privacy. GMT Games was, is, and will remain Gene’s company. We look forward to Gene’s return to GMT Games at some time in the future. We hope that you can respect Gene’s privacy and will focus any discussion on GMT Games.

Does this mean that GMT Games will be on hiatus or quit operation?

No, Gene followed a very wise course of action several years ago by delegating out responsibilities and building a team of capable individuals to assist him in running GMT Games. Over the last two years when Gene began experiencing severe health problems, virtually all of the day-to-day decision-making and much of the operational responsibility devolved to that team which remains in place. GMT Games will not fail for lack of capable hands to run it.

What does this specifically mean for GMT Games as a company?

It means that we will not have the services of a valued team member for a period of time. His absence will be felt by all to some degree since Gene was our point man. Gene’s cheerful and gentlemanly on-line style will be silent for a while.

GMT Games will, otherwise, remain much the same company that it has been recently (though we hope to continue to improve things as we have been). We may be a little slower in the near term on some items as we divide Gene’s administrative responsibilities amongst ourselves. However, the game production rate should not be affected as those responsibilities had been taken over by people besides Gene; C3I #14, Eutaw Springs/Guilford Courthouse, and Von Manstein’s Backhand Blow are all nearing release.

Who will be in charge?

GMT Games will continue to function as it has - as a team organization. We will each continue to be responsible for our areas of expertise. Goals and direction of the company have been made by team consensus and they will continue to be done so. Andy will be the main spokesman on-line, but as has been our standard practice, Rodger and Tony will also contribute answers and information when and where they can.

Tony, Rodger, and Andy VPs of GMT Games”

News: the BROG award

Richard Berg, publisher of Berg’s Review of Games (BROG) has made the following announcement:

“Beginning in 2003 (and honoring games published in 2002), BROG will sponsor a new award which, every year, will recognize and honor Creativity in Historical Game Design. "Creativity" encompasses new systems and mechanics, new turns on old systems, and just plain old-fashioned design ingenuity. The ultimate definition and decision resides with BROG. In addition to the recognition, the winner will receive from $250 to $500, depending on the decision of BROG and the advisory panel.

The award is open to any designer, for any game published in the year in question, including DTP games, which will be given equal consideration. To be eligible, however, either the publisher or the designer must provide a copy of the game to BROG by sending it to BROG, c/o Richard Berg, POB 28196, Charleston SC 29413. (It might be helpful when submitting to ask BROG whether it - it being me - already has a copy, in which case it is not necessary to send one.)

The winners will be decided by BROG with the help of an advisory panel of designers, usually from 2 to 4. For the 2002 award, BROG has, so far, enlisted Mark Herman and Dean Essig as such advisors. This will be a floating panel, with different advisors from year to year. Announcement will be made at the year's WBC/DonCon.

The award is named The Alexander - of the Alex - in honor of both my boyhood hero, Alexander the Great, and my best friend, my late son, Alex, who was just as great.”

News: seen at Origins, now out on the streets

As reported in the last On the Net, the following ‘seen at Origins’ games (listed in alphabetical order) are now available:

Advanced ETO (Decision Games) Advanced Tobruk (Critical Hit) Afrika Korps (Avalanche Press) Civilization (Eagle Games) Drive on Stalingrad (Decision Games)

Avalanche

New from Avalanche is US Navy Plan Red, the latest in their Great War at Sea series. US Navy Plan Red was for a naval war against Britain so all the scenarios are hypothetical US/British clashes. The game map runs from Norfolk in the south up to Newfoundland in the north (on the west side). The series rules are the booklet from 1898. The scenario booklet has 5 pages of rules changes, 4 battle scenarios, and 9 operational scenarios.

Also just out from Avalanche is Dave Powell's Gettysburg 1863, the first instalment in a new War of the States series. Dave Powell is a veteran designer of American Civil War games, chiefly for The Gamers as was, and this is an unusual effort for him in that it is a low complexity, mostly divisional-level look at the battle using an area movement map and hourly turns. Players check at the start of each turn to see who has initiative to attempt to move first, what leaders are in command, and how many formations (generally Corps) they can activate. It is even possible for both sides to fail to activate any units on a turn. The counters are attractive; the map is serviceable and the system is smooth, fast-playing and fun. See: http://www.avalanchepress.com

Clash of Arms

1777: The Year of the Hangman is an operational study of the campaign for Philadelphia in the American War of Independence. Designed by Ed Wimble it is a brigade/division level game with day long turns divided into several movement pulses. There are scenarios for the campaigns of Trenton and Princeton and several "what if" scenarios. The quality of the physical components is excellent. See: http://www.clashofarms.com

Columbia Games

Hammer of the Scots is the latest offering from Columbia Games and the first graduate of their pre-order system. It is a cracking game with a colourful area map, simple rules and a short playing time! It uses the trademark feature of Columbia Games, blocks, which hide units and their strengths by facing blocks towards their owning player. In this game the blocks represent armed forces (infantry, cavalry etc) or Scottish nobles and the latter come in two versions, red for English-controlled and Blue for Scottish. Each side can win instantly by controlling all these nobles or killing the opposing King. At game end victory comes from most nobles controlled. Each turn each player reveals a card, which allow one (or more) areas with forces to be activated for moment and combat or an event to take place. Five cards make up a turn. Turns can end early if two events appear together. Combat is by die rolling to hit over three rounds maximum. There are two scenarios, one for Wallace, the other for the Bruce. See: http://www.columbiagames.com

GMT

Another cracking game is World War 2: Barbarossa to Berlin from GMT, which is Red Raicer’s follow-up to the much-loved Paths of Glory. As in Paths of Glory, the heart of the game lies in the action cards (55 each for the Axis and Allied players). Each card can be used for operational movement and combat, strategic movement, replacements, or for an event. The movement and combat systems are similar to those in Paths of Glory, but have been modified to recreate the blitzkrieg campaigns of 1941-45. The game really does capture the feel of World War Two in Europe at the strategic level. Components are ever are excellent.

Also new from GMT is Guilford Courthouse/Eutaw Springs, a two battle package in their American Revolution series. It has a new separate series rulebook applicable to the earlier games Brandywine and Saratoga. An exclusive rulebook is included for the two battles in this package as well as a crib sheet for special rules for Brandywine and Saratoga! These battle games are quick playing, with a low counter density. Maps are top notch. See: http://www.gmtgames.com

Phalanx

As I write, this game is out in Europe but not yet available in an English language version. Waterloo is the latest game from Phalanx and was intended by veteran designer Richard Berg to be a bridge between classic wargames and ‘German-style’ strategy games like Settlers of Cataan, El Grande, Princes of Florence and Puerto Rico. Waterloo is as graphically as stunning as the earlier reprint of A House Divided from Phalanx. In Waterloo cards are used to move units around a square grid, as well as for events, but in a much simpler fashion than in games like Paths of Glory. It will be interesting to see what reception this game gets and also what sales it achieves. Board wargames are lucky to sell in thousands whereas popular ‘German-style’ games can sell in hundreds of thousands. 

Shrapnel Games

Shrapnel Games are a computer wargame publisher but they have decided to take the plunge into board wargames with Lock 'N Load designed by Mark H. Walker. The game on the tactical squad-level and set in Vietnam. The aim of the design is to maximise player fun by minimising rules but still produce a realistic result. It sounds like a second attempt at Squad Leader. Expansions covering other wars and theatres are promised. You can try it for yourself before purchasing as there is a demo available at the Shrapnel Games web site: http://www.shrapnelgames.com

Steve Jackson Games

Steve Jackson Games is reprinting One-Page Bulge, which should have appeared back in September but at the time of writing no reports of copies have been seen. See: http://www.sjgames.com

Magazine games

Strategy and Tactics issue #211 contains Operation Elope, on the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. There were reported problems with this game: for fixes see: http://grognard.com/errata1/elope.gif

Issue #212 contains Rough and Ready, on several battles from the Mexican-American War, designed by Richard Berg. This is an upgrade of his earlier design for BSO, Gringo. See: http://www.decisiongames.com/

Vae Victis issue #46 contains Verdun 1916 , which has been well received, while issue #47 contains Poland Campaigns, the second in the Jours de Gloire Campaign series. See: http://www.vaevictis.com/

Desktop Published Wargames

Cuban Missile Crisis is a new Kerry Anderson design for Microgame Design Group on the crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Political and strategic decisions and events are represented by 40 cards. Rules cover air and ground operations, photo-reconnaissance, convoys, accidents, world opinion and nuclear warfare.

Also new from Microgame Design Group is Operation Whirlwind, a Brian Train design on the street battles between Hungarian rebels and Soviet invaders in November 1956. The game features an area movement map of downtown Budapest. Optional forces include extra Soviet forces, US Special Forces teams and the 101st Airborne Division. See: http://www.microgamedesigngroup.ca/

Breakthrough at Gemehalo 1999 is a new Perry Moore design on the massive assault by the Ethiopian Army on the Eritrean Gemehalo fortress. It was a Great War style battle fought with modern weapons. The game comes with a 11x17"map, 280 counters and rules in which morale levels will create success or failure. See: http://pweb.jps.net/~perrya/

Web sites

Check out the new Ludopress site at: http://www.simtacludopress.net/

GR/D have a changed web site address: http://www.grdgames.biz/

Skip Franklin has completely redesigned the directory of wargame companies at: http://grognard.com/skip/twceal.html

Enjoy photos of the fun at the World Boardgaming Championships at: http://www.boardgamers.org/wbc02/candids.htm

If you liked the old SPI game Freedom in the Galaxy check out some excellent new variants, which are pretty much redesigns, at: http://grognard.com/board.html#f92

Also 3W’s Scratch One Flattop has had a variant published, which is also a complete redesign, at: http://grognard.com/board.html#s068

Finally there is a new PBEM aid available, called VASSAL, based on the VASL tool for Advanced Squad Leader, see: http://www.vasl.org/vassal/

 
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