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Morpheus posted:Uh yeah what the heck. Carefully?
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Apr 5, 2019 14:26
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Morpheus posted:Uh yeah what the heck. One picks up the mini and puts it down again. Azathoth in Cthulhu Wars functions the same way as in the Call of Cthulhu RPG. You can't summon all of him, but you can open a portal that lets a tiny part of him through. If enough damage is dealt to that part, he goes away. Fighting Azathoth is a little less of a problem in CW than CoC because the players are at least Great Old Ones themselves (or Elder Gods), and going mad is no problem at all because the world is already doomed.
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Apr 5, 2019 14:33
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Morpheus posted:Uh yeah what the heck. Yes. There’s definitely a thematic/genre misunderstanding with Cthulhu games especially as they play out in board games. The ones where you’re playing as detectives play out more like you’re adventurers and the ones where you’re commanding these elder gods like generals don’t make sense when the whole point is they don’t care. Of course the real reason is that Cthulhu is just easy nerd bait that doesn’t have to be licensed.
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Apr 5, 2019 17:40
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Rutibex posted:I feel like whoever is making this stuff does not understand Lovecrafts stories if they think Azathoth is an appropriate unit for a miniatures combat game. As has been said it's more like you're summoning a fragment of his splintered psyche to wreak havoc on everyone else. Which is also why there's two versions of him that can show up at the same time  Also there is a certain amount of adaption necessary for the game, like Hastur not being a city. Jedit posted:Also you don't have the Daemon Sultan faction, but that Kickstarter doesn't start for a couple of weeks yet. Must have missed that announcement. I'll have to keep an eye out for it! (drat my completionist nature...)
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Apr 5, 2019 18:02
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You can definitely punch Azathoth to death with the power of friendship imo
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Apr 5, 2019 18:03
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I don't know if I missed a discussion here, but recent board game drama is over GMT publishing a game called Scramble for Africa which carries all the "YIKES" connotations you can expect from a name like that. Now as an apologetic player of Phil "loving" Eklund games I can tolerate a problematic theme if the game itself allows me to explore the implications of my actions. For example in John Company you're playing as the bad guys, but through the mechanisms the game really highlights the fragility of a capitalistic empire the moment it stops turning a profit. But SoA is poised as a 2 hour 4x-ish game that hopes to attract your Euro playing wife! And while I can only base my opinion on the devlog, the look and description of it makes it out to be as historically accurate as Civilization with the straight abstractions of Mumbasa. There's even a mode that lets you randomize Africa to truly get that Dark Continent feeling. I have to say I'm disappointed in GMT for picking this one up, the same company that put out Comancheria and Navajo Wars two games where you expressly play as natives fighting off colonists!
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Apr 5, 2019 20:29
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al-azad posted:For example in John Company you're playing as the bad guys, but through the mechanisms the game really highlights the fragility of a capitalistic empire the moment it stops turning a profit.  It helps that John Company was created by Cole Wehrle, not Phil Eklund.
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Apr 5, 2019 20:37
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Gutter Owl posted:
Well, even the joke with Eklund is that the free market rules... until one person gets ahead, then everyone has to abuse it to keep up. Hello, friend. I hope you don't mind if I extort your business. Not at all. I'll just incite a riot so it stops turning a profit. I just bribed the government to nationalize it. That's acceptable. Tea at 4? I promise I won't poison it. I hope you don't! I'm toppling Diaz at 5! Capital. I'm loyal to Diaz but I'll show my true colors when the time comes.
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Apr 5, 2019 20:53
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al-azad posted:I don't know if I missed a discussion here, but recent board game drama is over GMT publishing a game called Scramble for Africa which carries all the "YIKES" connotations you can expect from a name like that. Now as an apologetic player of Phil "loving" Eklund games I can tolerate a problematic theme if the game itself allows me to explore the implications of my actions. For example in John Company you're playing as the bad guys, but through the mechanisms the game really highlights the fragility of a capitalistic empire the moment it stops turning a profit. I'm disappointed but I mean the default political mode of wargamers includes confederate apologists, CIA analysts and wehraboos so i'm not exactly surprised. Comancheria, Navajo Wars, Cole Wehrle and Spirit Island are all pretty much part of a new trend of People's History-esque historical analysis in board games - but as far as I know that is pretty much where it starts and stops.
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Apr 5, 2019 21:45
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quote:I think Scramble for Africa fits in that space between serious wargame and family strategy game. Some might compare it to a “Euro-game.”
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Apr 5, 2019 22:23
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tbh I wouldn't be as upset if it wasn't so flippant. The blog post reads like an Onion article where someone is describing a horrible tragedy in a tone of voice I can only describe as "pleasant" which is totally how I would describe the tone of Mombasa or Puerto Rico.
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Apr 5, 2019 23:09
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Impermanent posted:I'm disappointed but I mean the default political mode of wargamers includes confederate apologists, CIA analysts and wehraboos so i'm not exactly surprised. Comancheria, Navajo Wars, Cole Wehrle and Spirit Island are all pretty much part of a new trend of People's History-esque historical analysis in board games - but as far as I know that is pretty much where it starts and stops.
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Apr 5, 2019 23:12
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I would say my group is split 50/50 between left and right leaning on various issues. The group is comprised of mainly active duty military and veterans. With the exception of spirit island I don’t recall ever having a discussion about colonialism. We normally confine our talks to games, current military issues and finances. To be fair we are mostly Eastern European or white Americans so there is that Ropes4u fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Apr 6, 2019 |
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Apr 6, 2019 02:34
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I don't think the COIN games are examples for woke or critical wargames. America has never won a war against an "insurgency" using force, and all historic example of successful coin (invasion) are "slaughter people until they've got no fighting spirit left". Giving America a wincon in such a situation, like Afghanistan, Vietnam had worked out if only they had applied the senseless violence a little differently, is neocon bullshit.
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Apr 6, 2019 08:31
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Is anyone disagreeing with you on that point?
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Apr 6, 2019 09:15
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Oh Sorry, I mixed up Ruhnke and Wehrle. people itt have called Ruhnke "unbiased" before, but this post was based on me mixing up names.
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Apr 6, 2019 09:53
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I'm not sure anyone who has seen Labyrinth would consider Ruhnke unbiased, but at least he is self-aware and honest in the world view he takes when he designs a game.
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Apr 6, 2019 10:38
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dishwasherlove posted:I'm not sure anyone who has seen Labyrinth would consider Ruhnke unbiased, but at least he is self-aware and honest in the world view he takes when he designs a game.
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Apr 6, 2019 11:48
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Unbiased isn't perhaps the right word. Cole Ruhnke is leaning neocon, but he's both generally smart and self-aware about it he doesn't go Eklund about it.
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Apr 6, 2019 13:58
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discount cathouse posted:America has never won a war against an "insurgency" using force What about Native Americans?
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Apr 6, 2019 14:16
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Lichtenstein posted:Unbiased isn't perhaps the right word. Cole Ruhnke is leaning neocon, but he's both generally smart and self-aware about it he doesn't go Eklund about it. Do you mean Volko Ruhnke? Now you're getting him confused with Cole Wehrle. E: My CWO3 just showed up. The box is about twice as big as Brass was, and that had two games in it. Jedit fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Apr 6, 2019 |
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Apr 6, 2019 14:30
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Volko's the COIN guy, Cole's the baby-COIN guy, so Colko must be the tween-COIN guy.
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Apr 6, 2019 18:20
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Yeah, meant Volko! That's what skipping morning coffee gets you.
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Apr 6, 2019 18:26
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I was asked for a small convention to teach "Stuffed Fables". Any common mistakes or something I should be aware of?
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Apr 6, 2019 18:55
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Colko Wehnke
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Apr 6, 2019 19:10
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Selecta84 posted:I was asked for a small convention to teach "Stuffed Fables". Skip the first couple paragraphs of story or you will alienate everyone over age 3.
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Apr 6, 2019 19:27
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Anyone got thoughts on the upcoming Hellboy co-op game?
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Apr 6, 2019 19:36
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Dr. Video Games 0069 posted:Skip the first couple paragraphs of story or you will alienate everyone over age 3. Ok. I will have time to play the game a few times before the convention with my group and I will see how much they can take.
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Apr 6, 2019 20:19
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Gort posted:Anyone got thoughts on the upcoming Hellboy co-op game? Got my copy. Can't bear to read the rules because I know its probably going to be junk. The art and models rule. Too much stuff in the box like any miniature Kickstarter, I don't even know where to start. Glad I didn't buy the expansions even though I'm a massive Hellboy and BPRD fan, even though Mexican Hellboy rules.
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Apr 6, 2019 22:02
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admanb posted:Colko Wehnke Vole Runkle
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Apr 6, 2019 22:33
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Gutter Owl posted:Vole Runkle
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Apr 6, 2019 23:35
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discount cathouse posted:I don't think the COIN games are examples for woke or critical wargames. Have you played A Distant Plain? The US Coalition is, morally, a terrible actor in that game, and meeting their wincon requires doing really inhumane poo poo. I think it's pretty insightful about how the inter-faction dynamics and goals create really bad incentives and outcomes.
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Apr 7, 2019 00:59
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Brian Train of all of the COIN designers has his head on straight. CT even fixes one of the base things that was plaguing the base game since AA and is better researched politically.
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Apr 7, 2019 01:15
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GMT is dropping Scramble for Africa. quote:P500 Update: Removing Scramble for Africa
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Apr 7, 2019 01:37
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Colonial themes being banished from euros would be a good thing and it's kind of weird that gmt of all places might be the start of a trend. Edit: or rather uncritical colonial themes. cenotaph fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Apr 7, 2019 |
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Apr 7, 2019 01:41
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where's my Battle Line deluxe GMT!?
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Apr 7, 2019 01:48
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The wording of their apology is weak — basically framing Eurogamers as the catalyst — and they don’t acknowledge it was the uncritical theme that was criticized, but I’m glad they addressed this quickly without digging their heels in.
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Apr 7, 2019 02:08
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ehhhh, there's a charitable reading of the "topic and treatment" line and the eurogamer mention seems more like respecting their audience rather than calling them out as being opposed to the wargame audience. Maybe I'm just being too charitable.
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Apr 7, 2019 02:13
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It’s just a very PR apology to save face for themselves by saying “the game just didn’t fit our vision and we realized it too late.” I think the most important thing about their specific wording is not to embarrass the designer by calling out his work, by including his “consultation” so that it seems amicable. And maybe it was, I’m just always suspicious of these emails but I don’t begrudge GMT none. Maybe the designer can take it to Kickstarter. I’m sure it would garner interest from a certain crowd as the banned game.
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Apr 7, 2019 02:29
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Speaking of this issue, Here's a contest for game designers who are interested in designing games from a different perspective.. So happy to see this, so tired of the poo poo GMT was trying to peddle. They should be embarrassed.
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Apr 7, 2019 02:57
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