CWTE #10 Published

My wargaming podcast, Contact With The Enemy, has just put out Episode #10. Download it here.

Ivanhoe: Where's the love?

If you know anything about Euro-type games, you've heard of Reiner Knizia. He's one of the most prolific game designers out there, and some of his games--notably Tigris and Euphrates, Through the Desert, and Samurai---are seen by many Eurogamers as among the best of the genre.

I'm not that much of a Eurogamer--I prefer wargames and less "elegant" games--but there are a few Knizia games that I quite like, including Tigris and Euphrates. One of Knizia's most underrated games, though, is Ivanhoe, published by GMT in 2000. It is a very good game--simple rules, fast playing, tense, and well balanced. I simply don't understand why more people don't like this game. If you like Euro-type games, check it out--it's well worth your time.

AVL Picture

Here's the situation at the end of all Soviet moves in turn 3 (the turned opened with 4 consecutive Soviet activations, I'm done for this turn). Things are going slowly up north, and I don't like that my reinforcements this turn won't be able to arrive across the river. But I think that things are going well in the south. The Axis have tried to hold solid lines against me, which I think is a mistake--he should be withdrawing more. So I've been able to kill a fair number of German units all ready, which is a big boost in the Victory Point column for me. And as of now I've got a fairly open shot towards Rostov and Stalino.

Things change very quickly in this game, though, so I'm not getting overconfident.

A Victory Lost PBEM

I've managed to start not one but two PBEM games of A Victory Lost. I tried generating a graphics file of the map using Vassal, but it seems to working badly, so I couldn't get a decent one. In the game, it's is the end of turn 1, and I'm playing the Soviets. My opponent is not doing what everyone claims you're supposed to do as the Axis--run away. So my initial progress is slow, but I hope this means I'll get some shots at his German units early in the game. Given that I'm lousy at most of these games, I expect I'll lose, but I hope I'll at least make it competitive.

Reprints

Two games with huge reputations are being reprinted this year (at least according to the companies reprinting them). One I already have, but the other . . .

• 1830, the classic train game that spawned a huge line of games (well, not quite accurate--1829 actually pre-dates 1830, but 1830 was the first 18XX game published in the U.S., and it's the game that generated the insane love for the series). Mayfair Games will be reprinting it, apparently with some variant rules. I own the AH original, so I'm not interested in this one, but it's nice to see the game will be available again. Of course, the fact that several dozen 18XX games are already in print diminishes the excitement for this one, I suspect, but I think a lot of people will still pick this up.
• Breakout: Normandy, long regarded as the best of the area/impulse games (and according to some the best Normandy campaign game), has been out of print for years. L2 Design Group will be reprinting in time for WBC. This is a game I'd love to try, but given their other games I expect this will be very expensive, so I doubt I'll get it. Of course if someone wants to donate it to me, I'd humbly accept.
  

Tom Waits and the World of Darkness

In an earlier posting, I talked about how King Crimson's music (especially the album "Beat") fit my view of Over the Edge. Another musical association I make is between Tom Waits (especially "Rain Dogs") and the World of Darkness. Why?

• Waits describes life in the underbelly of a big city; his cast of characters included criminals, bartenders, and struggling workers. The screwed up nature of these characters' lives reminds me of the WoD.
• The people in Waits' songs are often desperate and crazed, covering these up with bravado and violence. And alcohol. If there's an official songwriter of drinking, it's Tom Waits.
• The world Waits describes is seedy and decaying.

If I ever run a WoD game again, I definitely will draw on Waits' music for inspiration. And possibly background music.

A World of Darkness Campaign Frame

I've been thinking for a while about a campaign framework for a World of Darkness game for a group of players who know virtually nothing about the setting. That lack of knowledge makes running a Vampire or Werewolf game very hard, but straight-up Hunter doesn't exactly fit what I want either. I've come up with several different ones, but recently I came up with one that I think has legs.

The setting of the campaign is Chicago, mostly in the neighborhood of Rogers Park (where I lived for 7 years). Since I love the city, and think it's a great WoD setting, this makes sense. The PCs are newly assigned members of a gang crime task force that includes the Chicago police, the prosecutor's office, and several federal agencies. In particular, the players are assigned to the section of the task force dealing with Russian gangs in the Rogers Park area.

However, all is not as it seems--the PCs are acting as undercover agents because the Feds suspect corruption. Someone on the task force--maybe several people--has been bought by the gangs, and is sabotaging the task force. So the PCs' real job is to find out who the corrupt people are, and take them down.

How is this a World of Darkness game? Lurking in the background are supernatural forces. The PCs don't know about this, and neither do the players, which makes it good for WoD newcomers. It also presents all kinds of opportunities for intrigue and deception, which is what a good WoD game should have (at least I think so).