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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

GAMES I WANT TO PLAY!

 Here are a few games I'd love to spend time with someday soon:

CAESAR'S WAR - by Decision Games

The first game I'd like to play and one that I own but have never yet played is Caesar's War by Decision Games. The history and time period appeal to me since I consider myself an expert on Classical History - especially the military history of that period. The game is very easy to learn and play. It works as solitaire or against another player. The Roman player has a decided advantage but the card-driven event mechanism keeps the game relatively well balanced. It's a short game that can be played in a hour or less and it less than $20 and the size of a small magazine.

I think Power Play Games will have to develop some small, short, easy to play games along these lines in the near future!







JULIUS CAESAR - by Columbia Games

Next on my list of  "games I own but have never actually played" is Julius Caesar, by Columbia Games. This is a classic block wargame (like all Columbia Games) which introduces a real fog-of-war situation and is also card-driven. I have always liked the block design and find it intuitive and fun.  This one is a great game to use to introduce a beginner into the hobby.  But as I mentioned above, I love this period and from what I understand by the reviews it's a blast to play. It plays clean and easy and fast but gives the players loads of strategic options and choices. This is one I mean to take off the shelf very soon!





TIDE OF IRON  3rd Edition - by 1A Games

Moving into the 20th Century is another game that I am really hoping to be able to sink my teeth into. It's Tide of Iron by 1A Games. Unlike most of my games which lean heavily strategic, this one is a tactical simulation of World War 2 combat. I have Memoir 44  which is a more abstract game which can simulate a wide variety of scales and battles and is easy to play and teach others, but Tide of Iron is a bit more complex and far less abstract in it's handling of combat in the Second World War. I have no tactical combat games and this would be a great addition to my collection. Like Memoir 44 there are a significant number of expansions covering the Russian Front, Mediterranean Front, etc. The rules seem fairly straightforward and logical and of course, what boy - old or young - doesn't like playing with toy soldiers and tanks! ;-)






BOBBY LEE 3rd Edition - by Columbia Games

See, I told you I like block wargames!
This one is another from Columbia that I'd love to get my hands on. the American Civil War has always been appealing to me and to be able to command the forces of the South as General Lee is an opportunity I can't turn down. Columbia has a few other titles that I would also like to play as well but this one is next on my list!





STAR WARS ARMADA - by Fantasy Flight Games

I've been hooked on the Wizkids miniatures game covering the Star Trek universe, "Star Trek Attack Wing" lately and love it so much, how can I turn down this one?  Naturally, as a total sci-fi junkie since being a kid, commanding a squadron of Star Destroyers in battle against the weak and pathetic rebel Alliance is a dream come true! Looks like it's packed full of fun Star Wars goodness!!!




Wednesday, March 18, 2015

WE HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN THE ATTACK WING CAMPAIGN!

We have also been working on the Attack Wing Campaign! Here is a small glimpse of the order of battle for first campaign in early testing called: The Earth Romulan War 2156-2160: The Sol Campaign

Here is a selection of the campaign book listing the miniatures and commanders and the task forces or squadrons participating in the campaign.

THE SOL CAMPAIGN
The Romulans launch a major offensive to attack Earth by destroying two space stations, attacking Denobula to use as a staging area for an assault against Earth itself. The Romulans drew away some of the Earth fleet to an adjacent sector in an attempt to eliminate any significant opposition.


Remember, the Attack Wing Campaign set is a print & play free product and will be downloadable inPDF format when it becomes available.

STAR FLEET ADMIRALS - The Entire Game Playing Area



Here is the entire game playing area. It is made up of eight 10"x16" heavy cardstock mats that fold up to fit in a 10" square box. The entire playing area is 3'-4" x 2'-3". Each hex is about 1.25".


STAR FLEET ADMIRALS - The Battle Board Game Play Example

In this tutorial, players learn how ship to ship combat is accomplished using the Battle Board. 
In this example the Imperium and their Sulomari allies attack a Federation task force.

There are no troops or stations involved and it is not a planetary system. There are no admirals in the battle because these ships are not assigned to a Fleet. In Fleet combat an admiral is always in command of the forces and lends his organizational and command abilities to the combat.
Each ship type has a letter identifier that tells players in what order it can attack and be attacked. Fighters are all class "A" meaning they can attack first. Following class "A" ships, class "A" and "B" ships can attack and be attacked. Once their combat is concluded, class "A", "B", and "C" ships and stations can attack and be attacked.

Finally once all ship-to -ship combat is completed and the defender has either retreated or been destroyed, invading troops may begin landing on the planet.




STAR FLEET ADMIRALS - Early Game Play Examples

More shots of some of the game play. The below shot is of an introductory scenario so new players can learn the ship movement, supply and combat rules. The scenario is about the surprise Imperium invasion of the Federated Worlds.




The next  scenario shown below is of the Sulomari Star Empire invasion of the Federation in coordination with the Imperium. This scenario is also a learning scenario and helps new players learn the mechanics of troop movement and planetary surface combat.


COMPUTERS: You love them and hate them!

Computer issues have slowed down development during the last couple of weeks. Hoping to get it all resolved by next week! then we can get Battle for Gallion's Reach: Fleets out the door, Finish creating the 1st Attack Wing Campaign set and begin some preliminary testing of the newest layout for Star Fleet Admirals.
Also we should have our first video blog out by the end of the month!

STAR FLEET ADMIRALS: The Game Board

Some new shots of the Star Fleet Admirals game board. we are testing out three different boards. This one is hex-based map of a region of the galaxy being fought over.
This version introduces three minor empires who may or may not join in the fight. There will be a series of scenarios covering smaller areas of the war and one large war scenario using all eight 10" x 16" mat boards.





ABOUT STAR FLEET ADMIRALS

In case you've been wondering, the game Star Fleet Admirals is an interstellar wargame simulating the 2nd Rimward Frontier War between the Federation and the Imperium as well as minor allies of both in the region.
The game map represents about 10,000 light years of space from side to side and 15,000 light years from top to bottom with all the major star systems, planets, nebula and other assorted stellar terrain and objects such as the Dyson Sphere, the Crab nebula and two connected wormholes, etc.
The region is the frontier where the Imperium and Federation meet and have fought a couple of smaller wars in the past. alongside these two huge empires lie smaller realms belonging to minor races who also participate in the war. The region is known for massive gaseous nebula, spacial rifts and an enormous white hole as well as other difficult "terrain", making any combat operations more difficult.
The war has a basic back-story fully written and the complete war game scenario will usually follow the path of the "historical" war, however, players will draw cards that will initiate events such as bringing in allies, political instability affecting supply, troop recruitment, insurgents and uprisings, other fronts opening up and drawing away men, ships and equipment, technological developments, etc.
This is not intended to be a light abstract strategy game but a true wargame. However, in an effort to open the game up to non-wargamers who might be interested in playing,while the game is "deep" and rich in detail the general rules will be easily accessible and relatively non-complex. The mechanics and concepts will be streamlined so a s not to add much clutter. Players can even trim down the rules by eliminating all troops and planetary invasions and stick to a ship-only game if they so choose. So consider it a huge low-to-medium complexity game.
Both players will have to make difficult choices involving attack and defense while maintaining supply lines to colonies, troops and fleets. Admirals are to be assigned to create fleets, assault bases coordinate large multi-turn planetary invasions, new technologies will aid in gaining an edge and the Imperium (the attacker) has a limited time to exploit the federation's weakness and unpreparedness before the Federation can bring on more resources to drive the Imperium back to their own space. At some point the Federation player will have the option of invading the Imperium and taking the entire region for itself. Such a political decision, and the potential harmful ramifications with allies and domestic support for the war are also represented in the game.
While many wargames are not necessarily "balanced", we are trying to balance this game while giving either player a unique experience when playing an opposing side. The ebb and flow of a major campaign should give both players a feeling of a being in a dynamic and unpredictable situation that only some luck and good strategy can lead to victory.
The game can last from a single hour (for a tutorial scenario) to a multi-session war (for the full game). with a series of scenarios depicting segments of time of the war, players have a wide variety of experiences to select from.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

STAR FLEET ADMIRALS PROGRESS REPORT


Below are some shots of a few of the playing mats used in the game. We are testing two distinct versions and scales: 1) each mat represents a sector of space many light years across with numerous star systems and one planet each and 2) each mat represents a single solar system or nebula or sector of space. each system will have a few planets and other objects. So players would battle over solar systems and not single star systems.
Here are the samples of the second version.









You'll notice that the planets have three distinct types and are identified by the colored ring around them: Red = Hostile, Lt Grey = Vacuum, Lt Blue = Terran..
Also, all systems have at least one Highspace Gate which is the portal through which starships enter and exit the system. each gate has at least one white arrow that denotes from which adjacent sector ships can enter and exit from. there can be as many as four gates in a system and as few as one. High space Gates were left over by an ancient powerful race and cannot be destroyed.
Finally, each planet has a number on it. This number denotes how many troops (other than planetary defenses) can be placed on a planet by one faction. So on a planet with a "2", either side can place at maximum, 2 troops for a total of 4 at any one time. Militia and Colonials count against this limitation.
We have the first generation of counters from the printer and they are beautiful. we hope to print out the system maps and Operations cards and begin actual early playtest development very soon.

There will be between 12 and 16  10" double-sided mats in the game. 

Monday, March 2, 2015

POWER PLAY GAMES VIDEO BLOG COMING THIS MONTH!

Yes! The small studio is set up and ready to go live!
We will be airing a regular video blog starting this month! Most blogs will concern the development and release of  our games, but we will also be posting instructional and player's aid videos on how to play our games as well. We might even do a review of another company's game as well from time to time...especially if something really impresses us.

Our first video will introduce myself, the founder and "main guy" here at Power Play Games and I will introduce our first published game, Battle Force Saturn. We will also have an instructional videos of the game play as well.

After this, we will be releasing our next game Battle For Gallion's Reach: FLEETS and we will do the same for that product.

We are really excited about this opportunity and hope it will generate interest and support for our games!

See you soon! ;-)

POWER PLAY GAMES VIDEO BLOG COMING THIS MONTH!

Yes! We will be airing a regular video blog starting this month! Most blogs will concern the development and release of  our games, but we will also be posting instructional and player's aid videos on how to play our games as well. We might even do a review of another company's game as well from time to time...especially if something really impresses us.

Our first video will introduce myself, the founder and "main guy" here at Power Play Games and I will introduce our first published game, Battle Force Saturn. We will also have an instructional videos of the game play as well.

After this, we will be releasing our next game Battle For Gallion's Reach: FLEETS and we will do the same for that product.

We are really excited about this opportunity and hope it will generate interest and support for our games!

See you soon! ;-)