December 8, 2024
News

Pre-Orders Galore & More ~ #TuesdayNewsday

Armchair Dragoons PAOby Armchair Dragoons PAO

Dive into the heart of tabletop warfare every #TuesdayNewsday, where we bring you the hottest news and trends in the wargaming universe, usually about 15 minutes before GMT drops a major monthly update.

 

5News 1 top

Reviewers aren’t required to like everything they play, no matter what their fans, publishers, or designers say.  There does seem to be a surplus of positive reviews in the wargaming world, largely because most reviewers are unpaid volunteers or hobbyists, and are less likely to spend much time on something they dislike – either extensively playing it, or taking the time to write/speak about it.

Now, if a reviewer unjustly slags a game because they didn’t follow the rules or skipped an entire turn phase or somehow failed to play the game as designed, then that absolutely should be called out.  Moreover, if/when that happens, reviewers who are interested in retaining their credibility should admit it, correct it, and move on – either to their next project or replaying/re-visiting the game in which they erred.

If a reviewer or player makes a good faith effort to engage with a game and finds it unsatisfying for a gameplay reason and articulates that gameplay-related reason1 in an understandable fashion, then the reviewer’s opinion is what it is.  Accusing a reviewer of bias is like accusing a chef of cooking – that’s the entire point of what they’re doing.

 

5News 2 Below 1

In a new column on Substack, Geoff Englestein talks about plot vs mechanics through the lens of reskinning a game with a different theme.  The initial comparison is an interesting take on how “press your luck” mechanics change based on the role played by the players.

However, the second example is one that doesn’t quite feel right

We experienced a similar thing when designing Survive: Space Attack. In the original Survive, the players are attacked by other players in the guise of sharks and sea monsters.
In our initial re-theme, we riffed on a Death Star attack. The island was now the Death Star. The player tokens were imperial grunts fleeing for safety. The sea creatures became rebel fighters that attack the player tokens as they try to float to safety in escape pods or just out in their spacesuits.
But there’s a real difference in attitude when you use a shark to go after someone swimming than if you’re piloting an X-Wing and actually just shooting innocent defenseless people floating in a spacesuit.

Seems like a bunch of playtesters need to re-watch Clerks

 

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5News 3 Incoming

This week’s releases that you’ll want to know about

TN montage 022024

 

5News 4 launch

Getcher orders in now and then either (a) wait for it impatiently, or (b) forget your ordered it and be surprised later!

 

5News 5 falling

Saving money? Spending just as much but getting more for it?

 

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5News 8 Blogs

This week’s best written coverage from the wargaming world

 

5News 9 screen

The best videos this week from our wargaming friends

 

5News 10 industry

Various news & notes from the business end of the gaming world

 

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5News 6 regiment

It’s been a busy week for the regiment; here’s what you might’ve missed!

 

5News 7 muster

Don’t forget to check our consolidated event & convention calendar for more!
You can also submit your own events for our calendar here.

Yes, we need to get the rest of the calendar loaded. We’re working on it.

 

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5News 11 Pros

Focusing on the practitioner world ~ don’t forget about our dedicated area in our forums for the wargame professionals!

 

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5News 12 different

Something neat from outside the wargaming world we thought was worth sharing

You never knew you wanted to know this much about pencils

 

 

That’s all for this week!
Be sure to drop by our forums and join the fun, and next Tuesday we’ll drop some more news on you.

Thank you for visiting The Armchair Dragoons and mounting up with the Regiment of Strategy Gaming.
You can find our regiment’s social media on Mastodon, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and even Threads, if we could ever get an auto-post to it.
(We have an Instagram page and it’s really just a placeholder & redirect to our articles.)
You can support The Armchair Dragoons through our Patreon, also, and find us at a variety of conventions and other events.
Feel free to talk back to us either in our discussion forum, or in the comments below.

On Tuesdays, the wargamers convene,
For news on each strategic scene,
With updates in tow,
They’re ready to go,
In battles on both tables and screens!

Footnotes

  1. we’re intentionally leaving out issues of ‘that designer gave me the side-eye at a convention 6 years ago’
  2. they do ask that you donate to one of the author’s favorite charities
  3. pay no attention to the fact that it is 0.99% off
  4. the guy is asking about all kinds of solo games, but has a distinct category for wargames
  5. 3rd Thursday of the month

Armchair Dragoons PAO

Official Public Affairs account for The Armchair Dragoons, for official site news, and other contributors.

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