War of 1812

War of 1812

War of 1812

War of 1812 is an elegant strategy wargame depicting the Anglo-American struggle to control the Great Lakes and Canada. War of 1812 sets up in five minutes and plays in 1-2 hours. This classic game has been enjoyed by thousands of gamers for over 30 years. Unit types in this edition include artillery, cavalry, infantry, and navies. The map board is unchanged from previous editions. Read more

EuroFront 2 at ConsimWorld Expo 2008

EuroFront

EuroFront

Two ‘tables’ of EuroFront2 were actively played throughout MonsterCon. The ‘newbie’ game (initially under the guidance of designer Craig Besinque) stayed “on the rails” and therefore eventually came down to the Russian steppes, where the Germans were decisively stalled in S41 well short of the historical advance. With the resulting Production advantage, the Russians pushed the Germans back to the Carpathian Line by S43, obtaining a concession shortly thereafter. The ‘grognard’ table began with a ‘prequel’ game of the Spanish Civil War, which carried through to Sept/39 without a decision (Franco held only the populated south, but enough to prevent Foreign Recognition of a Republican win). This triggered the ‘SCW Carryover’ rules and had a profound influence on the EuroFront game that followed. Under the carryover rules, the SCW continues as a sideshow (with neither power requiring National Supply) until someone Declares War on either side, whereupon the 2 sides join the Allies and Axis respectively as normal Minor Powers (which DO require National Supply).

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Liberty 1781 Scenario (Virginia Vortex)

Liberty

Liberty

https://secure.columbiagames.com/product/2701

Prolific scenario designer, Alan Marian has created a 1781 quick scenario for Liberty.

Download the free PDF

 

Athens and Sparta Vassal Module

A new Vassal module for Athens & Sparta has been posted free to the Vassal Community site:

Athens and Sparta Vassal Module

Module created by Stan Hilinski with artwork from Columbia Games.

Hammer of the Scots PBeM tournament finished

The 2006 Hammer of the Scots PBeM Tournament is in the books. We had a terrific tournament that went down to the wire. We began in the fall of 2006 and ended Jan. 20th 2008. Thirty players began the tournament. We played 28 games with the Scots winning 15 of the games including winning the majority of the games in the last round.

George Seary was able to add the PBeM Championship to his three straight WBC Titles. I believe he has been able to win most of his tourney games as the Scots. He was able to go undefeated throughout this tournament as the Scottish rebels. The perception is the Scots are the underdog in this game and it seems that the statistics do not support that position in this tourney.

The other top finishers were as follows: Suzanne Tuch, Bill O’Neal, Hank Burkhalter, Ray Freeman & Paul Barrett. I want to thank all the players and Don for the support of this event.

Columbia Games block game history on Boardgamegeek.com

Boardgamegeek.com user John Owen has compiled a complete list of block games published by Columbia Games and its forerunner, Gamma II. The games are listed in order of publication from Quebec 1759 to Crusader Rex. Athens and Sparta has not yet been added.

To view John’s list click:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/17994/item/343720#item343720

Recent Athens and Sparta questions

1. Does the loss of double defense by the defender on the Betrayal card occur for a single round or both rounds of a Storming Attack?

Both rounds

2. Can a unit move directly from the hex that is the source of the Haliacmon River to the hex that is the source of the Arathus River?

Yes, but you must stop in that hex.

3. Rule 2.14 implies that reinforcements only occur at Major Cities while section 8 allows existing blocks to take reinforcements or new Reserve blocks to be placed at Minor Cities. Which is correct?

This is an inconsistency. 1 BP is allowed in a minor city. Rule 2.14 will be changed.

4. According to Rule 1.5, if a player moves a ground block into a Strait hex with an enemy ship, the ground block loses 1 step and retreats (back to hex it came from according to the Retreat rule). What’s the point of ever making such a move? This also seems to contradict the Straits example in the sidebar on page 3.

This effect applies only if the move requires the strait was crossed to reach the town. If not, the strait rule doesn’t apply at all. Players sometime blunder into a navy but will learn that crossing a strait into unknown forces is risky.

5. Suppose there is an enemy block on the Naupactus hex. It would seem that a player could move two blocks from the Pleuron hex into the Naupactus hex if the enemy block was considered to be on the Naupactus side of the strait but only a single block if the enemy block was on the Peloponnese side of the strait. Which is correct?

The hex that the unit is coming from establishes whether the move involves crossing a strait to reach the town or not. For Naupauctus, a move from Pleuron or Delphi does not cross the strait while a move from Patrae or Sicyon does. The location of the town is the key. The Naupactus defenders are deemed to be where the town is.

Wizard Kings Scenarios

2 new Wizard Kings scenarios have been submitted by Rich Fulcher and posted to the Wizard Kings website.

Against the Necrom
The Undead, lead by a powerful Necrom, have poured forth from their tombs beyond the Jabari Desert and overrun the lands as far south as Goranda. A well-equipped force of Feudals sets out across the Bridge of the Gods to cleanse the lands of this unholy host and destroy its commander.

The Relief of Khax
A Dwarven expedition has succeeded in reclaiming several of their mountain holds, the greatest of which is Khax. The nearby orc tribes respond with a massive assault force. Can the dwarves retain their ancient homes until the relief force can arrive?

We will be posting new scenarios separately from the scenario book that is currently online. Later, these scenarios will be incorporated into the longer scenario book.

Events at GenCon 2007

GM Cal Stengel is planning Wizard Kings, Liberty, and MasterFront events for GenCon 2007.

Wizard Kings II: up to 24 players
Thu. 8am-12pm
Thu. 8pm-12am
Fri. 8am-12pm
Sat. 8am-12pm
Sat. 8pm-12am
Sun. 8am-12pm
Sun. 12pm-4pm

MasterFront Up to 6 players
Fri 10am – Sunday 4pm

Liberty: Up to 6 players
Thu. 10am-2pm
Fri. 10am-2pm
Sat. 10am-2pm
Sun. 10am-2pm

Wizard Kings Scenarios

A new Wizard Kings scenario has been submitted by Eliot Hemingway and posted to the Wizard Kings website.

Lady Syllith of Limona (Elves) was preparing for war. Though lacking the means to create large permanent garrisons along the entire coast, Syllith could muster an impressive army for a short campaign. Her plan would be direct: cross the narrow sea and capture every Viking port on the coast. Not only would this put an end to the raiding, but this campaign would also add the sizable Elwood Forest to the territories of the Empire. And all that stands in the way are the unsuspecting human tribes of the Elwood and their allies from the plains beyond.

We will be posting new scenarios separately from the scenario book that is currently online. Later, these scenarios will be incorporated into the longer scenario book.

Here are some scenario ideas that I encourage someone to develop:

Wizard Proving Ground: B+ Wizards seek to “graduate” to A+ by inflicting 10(?) hits on enemy blocks using level 1 spells. 2 players (or possibly multiplayer) compete to train several wizards faster than the enemy.

Heroic Epic: One player’s hero undertakes a quest to find a lost magical artifact and return it to friendly territory. The opposing player controls chaos beasts seeking to stop the hero en-route.

Minotaur Mayhem: An army of 4 Minotaurs descend from the mountains to raid. Possible solitaire scenario.