I’ll make this clear up front: I’m not a great advocate of ‘collectible card games.’ I’ve played Magic: The Gathering and some of the other ones. But the sheer volume of knowledge required to even handle the basics seemed like too much squeezing for the juice. All the accounting required to keep everything straight killed the fun of it for me, and there would always be questions that arose during play, such as cards with seemingly opposable powers and situations that arose that required the intervention of a referee to determine what the correct course of action was. But now … Continue reading It’s a Kind of Magic→
The development of wargames over the past few years has followed two distinct tracks. The far more popular one has been in the direction of real-time strategy games, with a role-playing modification being the feature of note lately. The road less traveled is turn-based. Despite wonderful real-time games, I have remained a steadfast fan of turn-based games. The genre almost died out a few years ago, but was saved mostly by the Might and Magic, and perhaps the Warlords series. (Does anyone still remember when Might and Magic was an RPG?) Today, turn-based strategy remains popular, though I doubt it … Continue reading This Wonder Takes The Throne→
From the smoldering ruins of the great war, four tribes claw and scratch to rebuild and gain control. Afghanistan? No, Nevendaar. This is the basic story behind Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy, the turn -based strategy sequel to Disciples: Sacred Lands from Strategy First. In Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy, like its predecessor, you control one of four races; the humans, the dwarven mountain clans, the undead, or the legions of the damned. There are full campaigns and one-mission sagas type games for each of the four races. Disciples 2 is completely old school turn- based strategy. During each turn, your squads … Continue reading Disciples 2: Dark Prophecy→
Sid Meier’s Civilization III is the latest strategy game from Sid Meier (what, you were expecting Dani Bunting?) and which, in the grand style of its predecessors Civilization, Civilization II, and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri, calls upon the player to take control of some poor group of villagers and turn them into a nation-state that will change the fate of the world. If you’re interested in turn-based strategy games, but have never played a Sid Meier game, then don’t bother reading beyond this paragraph- just get a copy of Civ III. Sid Meier is a legend in his field because … Continue reading Civilization III: Yet Another Wonder of the World→
Divided Ground is the latest iteration of Talonsoft’s long-running East Front/West Front series. It covers the Arab-Israeli wars from 1948 through 1973, focusing on the forces of Israel, Jordan, Syria and Egypt. Like its predecessors, it is, in essence, a tabletop miniatures game adapted for the computer. It plays much like an advanced version of Command Decision or Spearhead with a scale of 200 meters per hex and 5-10 minute turns. If you’ve ever played the old Avalon Hill PanzerBlitz derivative Arab-Israeli Wars, you will feel right at home with this game. In general DG plays much like the previous … Continue reading Divided Ground Brings Tabletop to the Desktop→
Through all the to-do around the new console platforms and who’s got the hottest sports games and so forth, it’s good to see certain types of games that I thrive on enjoying some popularity on the PC. In particular, the economic/military strategy games are really starting to come out. Maybe it’s because of Civilization III coming out in November or maybe something else entirely. But I don’t care, I am just enjoying the influx. One game that I had the privilege of previewing was Patrician II. Patrician II takes you to northern Europe in the 14th century, during the time … Continue reading Patrician II is in a League of its Own→
Steel Panthers: World At War V6.0 (SP:WAW) is the latest iteration of the long-running Steel Panthers series of tactical simulations, and by far the most comprehensive. The game covers land warfare from the colonial wars of the 1920s to the end of the Second World War on a tactical scale. Typical battles range dramatically in scale, from company to regimental-sized engagements. Map size also varies, and can be customized. The largest maps are truly huge. For a game that traces its origins to a 1995 SSI release, SP:WAW has aged extremely well. Perhaps aged isn’t the right term; Steel Panthers … Continue reading World at War Has Got You Covered→
Merchant Prince II is a way to take the reigns behind one of the true powers in Renaissance Europe. No, not a King or Queen. Not even the Pope, but one of the rich merchant families of Venice. People tend to forget that while the Charlemagnes and Richards roamed around ruling the world, it was the Fuggers and Medicis who actually moved it. This is now your job. The basic premise of the game is simple enough to grasp – buy low, sell high. You look at what Venice has a lot of, buy some of those, and go off … Continue reading Merchant Prince II is One for the Books→
Everybody wants to rule the world. With Europa Universalis, you can do that. Starting as one of the major, or not so major powers, in the year 1492 (or other various starting points of the many scenarios that come with the game) you vie with either computer or live opponents (via the Internet options) all trying for the same thing – World Domination. Or at least you want to be the biggest and most successful country by the end of the game period (which is 1792 for the grand campaign and varies with the other scenarios). You can even choose … Continue reading Rule the Known World with Europa Universalis→
There were so many great new titles to see at E3, that it is hard to figure out where to begin. So what I wanted to do was take a look at an interesting game that was still pretty far out in terms of release date. Thankfully, we will see many great titles in just a few weeks. And since Ken and Hargosh wrote about console games endlessly at E3, I thought I would take a quick glance at a PC title. Disciples II: Dark Prophecy follows another game I reviewed called Disciples: Sacred Lands. Both titles stand out in … Continue reading Disciples II Takes Form→
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