Dude! Take Your Turn!
A Gaming Life
Review – Gravwell 2nd Edition
Sometimes life really sucks.
I’m talking about Grade A disasters like missing the last bus of the night and having to find some place to stay because your stupid friend passed out right after you left and he’s not answering the door to let you back in.
(Not that I speak from experience…of being that friend)
Anyway, when things get you down, you can always bring yourself up a bit by thinking it could be worse.
You could be stuck in a gravity well on a ship with no fuel and no prospects of getting out of this mess until you all run out of food.
Or somebody comes up with the bright idea of using repulsors and attractors with all of the other ships also stuck there to try and slingshot your way out.
Not the reaction you want to hear from your Chief Engineer.
However, it does work!
And that’s the premise behind Gravwell, the game where all of the players are trying to step on top of each other to get out of trouble first.
Cooperation is not a thing here.
This review is for Gravwell 2nd Edition, a game designed by Corey Young with artwork by Kwanchai Moriya. The game was published by Renegade Game Studios in 2021. It plays 2-6 players.
Players take control of ships (each one with special powers, though some are repeated on other ships) that are using various elements to use anything but their engines to get out of the warp gate and back to freedom.
The first one to do so wins.
No word on whether the others ever get out or are lost to time and space after you leave.
Wow, that’s cold, bro.
How does all this work?
Let’s take a look.
Read MoreEvil Genius Productions To Launch New Take on d20 RPG System
Dude Take Your Turn is not a role-playing game (RPG) blog, but I did receive a press release that I think is very important to highlight.
From what I understand, the d20 RPG system is coming upon its 20th anniversary this year and Evil Genius Productions is celebrating by releasing a “fresh take” on the venerable system.
From the Evil Genius press release:
“Evil Genius Productions LLC, a black-owned game publisher, today announced that it will launch a modern-day roleplaying game called “Everyday Heroes™” — based on the d20 Open Gaming License and the Fifth Edition System Reference Document to create a fresh take on the twenty-year-old game.”
The new system will be called “Everyday Heroes” and will be on Kickstarter later this year.
What’s really cool is that the revamp will include one of the original developers, Jeff Grubb.
““It’s exciting to revisit the d20 system I helped design 20 years ago,” said Grubb. “How we think about game design has evolved significantly so this is a great opportunity to bring concepts of the ‘d20 Modern’ game into the fifth edition era for today’s players.”
Like its spiritual successor, “EveryDay Heroes” starts with key “d20 Modern” elements such as the basic classes — the strong hero, the fast hero, the tough hero, the smart hero, the dedicated hero, and the charismatic hero — but builds on this convention by introducing several new subclasses, a new wealth system, and a fully revamped chase mechanic. Grubb continued, “Our goal is to use ‘d20 Modern’ as inspiration, not duplication.””
I do love the concept of RPGs and I wish I had the time (and the people around me) to play with them somewhat. Since I don’t, that’s why I don’t cover them.
However, this is important for two related reasons.
The first reason is in my first quote above.
Evil Genius Games is a black-owned company. In this day and age where racism and other social ills still permeate the board game and RPG industry, it’s important to highlight black creators. I’m glad Boardgame Geek is doing a spotlight of black board game industry people every day this month.
Which brings us to the second reason.
February is Black History Month. Yet another reason that it’s important to highlight the work that has been done by black creators.
I also encourage you to go to the Evil Genius Games site and find out more about what they’re doing with the revamped d20 system.
It definitely does sound exciting.
If I was playing RPGs, I would definitely be jumping on this to see what’s happening and check out what is new in the system.
It sounds intriguing, and I wish them all the best with the Kickstarter launch when it happens.
I’ll be sure to let you know when it’s coming (hint, hint, Dave!).
Evil Genius Games was formed in 2021 to produce modern RPG systems. I know this is a big endeavour for them but hopefully in the future they will be able to branch out to even further systems (or, since I really know nothing about RPGs, maybe there will be enough in the new d20 system to keep them going for years to come!).
Check them out, keep an eye on them, and if you’re into RPGs, go ahead and back Everyday Heroes when it comes out.
You can also follow them on Twitter like I do, and then you’ll always be updated when something new is announced.
Are you an RPG gamer? If so, let me know what I’m missing in the comments below.
And keep an eye on these Evil Geniuses.
I know you’ll be hearing a lot more from them in the future.
Combat Commander – After Action Report – Scenario 75 – Sturmgruppe Beton
It’s February and I actually did an early game in our Combat Commander ladder, led by the superlative Patrick Pence, the man behind the Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials Youtube channel.
The ladder has been a fun way to play Combat Commander live once a month, rather than just the Play-By-Email (or in this case, Discord) games with my good friend Michal.
I lost yet again last month, which means I’ve lost two in a row and it’s time to get back to my winning ways!
Was I able to?
You’ll just have to keep reading to find out! (It’s not like I’m going to spoil it for you now, though you being here seeing this counts as a view, so maybe it doesn’t matter?).
Anyway, what was I saying?
Oh yeah, February’s ladder game!
February’s scenario is from the Fall of the West battle pack for Combat Commander. These scenarios take place during the German invasion of Belgium, the Netherlands, and France.
It has a contingent of German paratroops who had landed and taken the bridges at Vroenhoven and Veldwelezt in Belgium. The Belgian force is trying to evict the German paratroops from their positions while the Germans are awaiting reinforcements.
Here’s the setup for it. I was the Germans and my opponent, John D, was the Belgian force (using the French card deck which really made a difference).
The Germans are in the bottom southeast corner defending the road to the bridge while the Belgians are in the north trying to advance.
By scenario special rule, the Belgians only get exit victory points if they exit through hexes N10 or O10, which signifies getting to the bridge. That means the Germans don’t have to defend the entire board edge, which is good because they don’t have a lot of units at the start!
The Belgians do get double victory points for eliminating German units, but that may not happen too often because the Germans are entrenched.
How did that go?
Let’s take a look.
(As usual, you can click on a picture to blow it up)
Read MoreTop 25 Games Played of All Time – 2022 Edition (#10-6)
We’re almost to the end of my Top 25 games played of all time, 2022 edition, and there may have been a few surprises.
I know there have been some new games, and some games have fallen drastically from their 2019 ranking.
I feel bad about that somewhat, but one thing I think I did in 2019 is over-estimate some of the newer games that I had played at the time.
Or maybe I just hadn’t played that many awesome games?
Still, I’m glad to see that a bunch of them have stayed in the Top 25, even if they have fallen somewhat. That means that they are still great games that I would love to keep playing.
I’m kind of mellow about all of that.
One game that really took a plunge is London, by Martin Wallace.
I really did enjoy my two plays of this game and I want to play it again.
But I haven’t played it since 2017 and maybe part of the problem is lack of exposure.
Or maybe there are just a bunch of games ahead of it (I really wish I had kept my 2019 total list to see).
It fell from #15 to #113 and I’m not quite sure why.
I have to put my usual disclaimer in here (in case this is the first post you’re seeing). I’ve only played around 420 games, so there are a bunch of top-ranked games that I haven’t played.
So you Everdell fans, maybe I’ll be able to join you when the app comes out!
Until then, don’t get pissy at me that your game isn’t ranked.
On that note, let’s begin!
Read MoreStorm Above the Reich – After Action Report – Mission #13
After doing my AAR for my Combat Commander ladder game last week, I decided to take the week off from my Storm Above the Reich campaign, just so you don’t think I post nothing but After Action Reports.
Six missions into the second season of the Staffel Roy campaign and things are going much better now.
I’m not worried that I’m going to fail the season. You have to reach 30 victory points to “not fail” (40 victory points to win) and it was looking bad after the first couple of missions.
But after Mission #12, we were at 17 VP with four missions left. That’s barely 4 VP a mission!
We can do that easily, right?
Right?
Ahem.
Anyway, it’s time for lucky Mission 13 and let’s see if we can pull this out!
Read MoreTop 25 Games Played of All Time – 2022 Edition (15-11)
It’s another week so it’s time for another edition of the Top 25 Games Played (by me) of All Time – 2022 edition!
We’ve gone through ten of them so far and so far they have been very cool games!
I don’t really care if you don’t agree with me.
Ok, I do…please come back.
Anyway, there have been some major drops from the 2019 list as well as new additions to it.
For some reason, Gugong dropped off from #21 to #98. Part of that is because I haven’t played it since but I think also it’s a matter of time and me thinking I may have overestimated it back then. I had just played it recently and that experience was still in my head.
But now, when I think about playing it, I’m kind of…
I’ll do it and I’ll probably enjoy it, but it’s not something I’ve been itching to play for a while.
To be on the Top 25, it should be a game I’m always willing and wanting to play.
I guess maybe I should have put a spoiler alert on that?
Oh well.
Usual disclaimer: I’ve played a little over 400 games, so there will be some noteworthy absences.
You Food Chain Magnet fans can just go right back to your restaurants and jam a french fry into a place where it’s not supposed to be.
So on that happy note, let’s begin!
Read MoreCombat Commander – After Action Report – Scenario 65 – Road Trip
It’s time for another After Action Report for Combat Commander ladder run by the incomparable Patrick Pence (he of Patrick’s Tactics & Tutorials Youtube channel)!
December’s loss was disheartening but I was hoping to come back with a win in January.
I needed to get back near the top!
Did that happen?
You’ll have to keep reading to find out.
January’s scenario was taken from the Combat Commander: Resistance expansion and has a cadre of French Partisans facing off against a contingent of German soldiers who are trying to get to Normandy to fight of the Allied invasion.
This month’s opponent was Stan M and he was playing the Germans. I had the task of playing the Partisans and learning all of their new rules!
(As usual, you can click on a picture to see it larger)
This was the setup, but I should mention a few things first.
The Partisans are different than all of the other Combat Commander factions for a number of reasons.
First, they only have 36 cards in their deck instead of 72 (but they don’t have any Time triggers).
Secondly, their leaders don’t have Leadership value for their units but just for weapons (since Leadership is for Squads and Teams and Partisans don’t have those) and they don’t have a Command radius.
Instead, when a leader is activated, they can activate any Partisan unit in line of sight of that leader.
That can be a lot! Or maybe not so much if they are isolated.
Thirdly, Partisans aren’t assigned weapons by the scenario. Instead, they are assigned a certain number of random weapons that are drawn at the beginning of the game. You don’t know what you’re getting!
Finally, when a broken Partisan unit (except a leader) breaks again, you draw a “Force Draw” card. It’s very possible that the unit will just be reduced rather than eliminated.
(There are a couple more oddities, like circled movement ratings making it so each hex only costs 1 movement point regardless of terrain).
With that in mind, can my Partisans hold the line and eliminate a bunch of Germans?
Let’s see, shall we?
Read MoreUndaunted: Stalingrad Coming From Osprey Games
Two posts today (One coming later)! I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to post this one.
I saw on Twitter today that another entry in the Undaunted deck-building wargame series designed by David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin is going to be coming this Fall.
Undaunted: Stalingrad will take the game to the carnage of this Soviet city as the German army and the Soviet hordes fight it out in the rubble.
I have yet to play the series though I do have Undaunted: North Africa (stupid COVID!).
According to the blog post on the Osprey site, it’s going to be pretty massive too, at least in content if not in length (still 45-60 minutes!)
“Game designers David Thompson & Trevor Benjamin said, ‘We’re very excited about the release of Undaunted: Stalingrad. We’re digging deep into the storied Battle of Stalingrad, a key battle not only for the Eastern Front but the entire Second World War, and we’re doing it with a massive box full of content unlike anything Undaunted fans have seen before. We’re introducing new units, actions, and ways to interact with the environment. What we’re most excited about though, is that we’ve created an integrated campaign, where the results of each scenario impact the rest of the campaign’s rich narrative and will set the stage for scenarios to come.'”
It sounds like you will be able to change how the setting looks each scenario of the campaign depending on what you do in the current scenario. Maybe a building will be demolished and stay demolished next scenario?
Did I say massive?
I meant massive.
The game’s going to come with 375 cards and 129 tiles (I think North Africa comes with, like, 25-30 tiles, but I don’t have the game with me).
The Integrated Campaign sounds really fun and it’s cool that they are still keeping each scenario to around an hour. Perfect for a lunchtime campaign!
(Sorry, Vicki).
Keep an eye here and on the Osprey web site for more information as this game moves along.
Are you as excited as I am?
Top 25 Games Played of All Time – 2022 Edition (20-16)
It’s that time again!
Yes, it’s another installment of my Top 25 Games Played of All Time – 2022 edition, all because I’ve now played over 400 games. The last edition was 3 years ago, so there are a bunch of new games in here as well as some movement from those that were on it before.
Some majorly dropped off (like Gizmos, which fell from #9 to #56 for some reason that I can’t really determine).
Other new games jumped very high up onto the list, like some Olympic athlete.
(I swear I’m not getting paid to post John Belushi gifs…)
Anyway, usual disclaimer. I have only played 420 games or so and it’s very possible your favourite classic game won’t be on here because I haven’t played it yet.
So don’t get pissed off that Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 isn’t on here.
I’ll get to it, ok?
Sheesh.
With that out of the way, did you want to see the next installment?
What, you don’t?
Then why are you here?
Let’s begin.
Read MoreStorm Above the Reich – After Action Report – Mission #12
We’re now 5 missions into the second season of the Staffel Roy campaign of Storm Above the Reich and things are looking up!
Last week, the Staffel gained 6 Victory Points, bringing us to the point where we might actually be able to salvage this season.
We’re currently at 13 VP with 5 missions left, and we’re required to gain 30 VP to “not lose.”
Could we maybe even manage to get to 40 VP and win?
Heaven knows!
Before I continue, I thought you might be interested in seeing how much table space is used for this game, or at least my playthroughs.
As you can see, the table is not the biggest and it’s a bit tight, but it’s easily manageable as long as all of the extra stuff is off to the side somewhere (all the extra unused fighters and auxiliaries, the unused markers, that sort of thing).
Anyway, it’s time for Mission #12.
And for the first time in a while, I’m actually not afraid of what’s going to happen.
I have faith in my boys!
I post this in the briefing room so it’s the last thing they see before they hit their fighters.
They haven’t figured out that this guy is an Englishman from the future.
Sssshhh!!!!!
And as the pilots man their planes, let’s set up the situation.
Read More
Dude! Take Your Turn! 