Tales of Design

Connecticon 2010: Wargaming 101 Panel

2010-07-09T14:56:12Z

Today at 6pm EST I will be presenting a Wargaming 101 panel at Connecticon. I will be filming it to put on this site, but I also wanted to post all the links from that panel for people who couldn't/didn't want to take notes. Video will get posted next week.

Yomi - Fighting Card Game Tutorial Video

2010-07-07T14:45:33Z

Those of you who are fans of David Sirlin may be excited to hear that he is designing and producing some card games. The first one (Flash Duel) is already out and is a lighter game of positioning and timing. The next game to be released (Puzzle Strike) is based around the concept of Super Puzzle Fighter II (the console game) but uses mechanics similar to that of the board game Dominion. The third game in this lineup is entitled Yomi, and that is the game we're taking a look at today. It attempts to recreate the decisions one would make in a fighting game, but removes the elements of timing and dexterity from the equation. What at first appears to be nothing but a glorified Rock-Paper-Scissors (Lizard-Spock?), reveals itself as a deep game of knowing your opponent and knowing yourself. Check out the video after the break.

Sturm Europa! Playtest - Initial Thoughts

2010-07-07T14:23:50Z

Sturm Europa! is a game I have been following for quite some time. I was disappointed in Europe Engulfed for a few reasons and was looking for something similar that addressed my issues with EE. The designer of SE! (Michael Tan) told me himself that the spark for this game idea started out with a desire to make a better EE. First I will lay out my own issues with EE and then discuss why I think SE! is a better game. Finally, I'll discuss the actual mechanics that I played with and how the game went

Sons of the Watch (AAR)

2010-04-18T16:32:54Z

Our group finally got around to playing another round of Burning Wheel last Sunday. I didn't feel that the first time round I did a great job as DM keeping the pace. I was determined to make this one count. To that end I created some player aids and character sheets which you are free to use if you are interested in running this scenario. So we sat around the table and I explained the situation. If you are unfamiliar with this scenario I suggest you read the first page of the wiki to get an idea of the character's motivations and what's going on at the start.

PAX Report: Beyond Dungeons and Dragons

2010-04-02T19:53:06Z

So I went to PAX East (The Penny-Arcade Expo in Boston - celebrating all things gaming) this past weekend. It was a pretty amazing experience. I had not been to any of the PAX conventions on the west coast, so the only thing I had to compare it to was Connecticon (a video game/board game/RPG/Anime/Sci Fi convention). I was very impressed with the organization considering the number of people. The enforcers did a great job of keeping order, and they even had big screens setup with geek-related games/votes/movies to watch while standing in line to get into the convention.

Pointing Out the Obvious

2010-02-20T16:37:48Z

So I play a lot of board games, especially war games like Combat Commander, Twilight Struggle, Axis and Allies, etc. Often when playing such games one player or the other will make some stupid obvious mistake. A perfect example occurred just a few weeks ago when playing Axis and Allies 1940: Pacific. I (Japan) was looking at the placement of my fleet and attempting to move it close to, but out of range of, the Allied fleet. I looked at each of the Allied fleets and counted out the spaces from them to me at least 3 times to make sure my units were out of range. The other players watched this. On the american players turn, he proceeded to move in and attack me via a route I had not observed in my counting. I had missed it. It didn't wind up being critical in the scope of the game, but it irritated me to no end.

Epic Space Hulk - 7 Players, 33 Marines, 2 Hours, 16 Sq. Ft., Countless Genestealers

2010-01-26T04:01:36Z

So my friend Dave invited over a bunch of us to play Space Hulk! He had setup a huge 4x4 board with 6 entrance points and his own special rules for the game. It was the first edition rules with some extra values for different W40K units above and beyond those found in space hulk. In addition, there would be 6 space marine players with their own squads, and he played as the genestealers.

12 numbers "vents/holes" were scattered around the map which were entrance locations for blips. He would roll Seven 12-sided dice and add one blip in the location for each die (to a maximum of 3 blips lurking). The space marine turn would start with every player rolling their own 6-side die to acquire command points. Then the timer (set at 2 hours) was started. Once all marine players had finished, the timer was stopped and the genestealers moved. If we ran out of time before the mission was completed, we failed.

First Post!

2010-01-14T16:03:36Z

So I've decided to finally do a blog. I've always got plenty to say and usually I just post it on forums, but I decided to put it here instead. Since the focus of this site is games and my discussions usually revolve around game design and balance, I decided to name it Tales of Design.

So what will you find here? I am currently designing an Alternate History WWII Block wargame and I plan to keep anyone interested up to date here on the blog. So you'll get updates about game systems and insight into my thought process as I go along. In addition I'll be posting about whatever games I am currently playing be it Left 4 Dead 2, TF2, RUSE, or board games such as Fast Action Battles: The Bulge. I'll post my reviews and critiques as well as strategy discussions.

So, for all 2 of you out there that enjoy my work and have found this site, subscribe to the RSS and i'll try to post about once a week. I make no promises though!