Into the Gamescape - Show 13 (uh oh - unlucky 13!)
March 12th, 2007 by MikeIt’s show 13 of ‘Into The Gamescape’.
Paul’s back from his travels!
And Richard Breese joins us as our Gamescape Guest!
Plus our usual chat about games played, our first ‘Into the Grogscape’ segment and a review of our favourite Richard Breese game ‘Reef Encounter’.
Hope you enjoy it!
March 12th, 2007 at 8:14 pm
Just listened to Show 13. Great show, as ever.
We played till 04:00 on Saturday night, so you did wimp out guys! We ended with a couple of games of Breakaway Rider, a great little Dutch game on bike racing but without the drugs. Simple enough and fun enough to play at 4 o’clock at night.
Si: sorry we deprived you of ‘proper’ gaming time by getting you to teach us Perikles. Some of us are renowned for relatively slow play! It was worth it for us though. We played again on Sunday, halving the time to play (also ending at round 2, owing to the justified destruction of Sparta!).
I hope to get enough time from somewhere to write a report.
Alan “BenthamFish” Paull
March 12th, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Hi Alan,
4am? Man, that’s real gaming stamina!
I certainly didn’t feel deprived of ‘proper’ gaming time - any time spent playing Perikles is time well spent as far as I’m concerned and Saturday’s epic was great fun throughout. I was happy to teach it and I’m glad you enjoyed it - I hope you didn’t find any rules I’d got wrong in your second game! Hopefully we’ll be able to play it again at your next games weekend, if not before.
Thanks again for an excellent day.
Si
March 12th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
“Si: sorry we deprived you of ‘proper’ gaming time by getting you to teach us Perikles”
Oh Alan, if only you knew! Si lives for teaching new games - seriously - if he can convert people to Perikles so much the better, but trust me, he blathered on about “having four more people who enjoyes Perikles” all the way home….
I nearly had to stop the car and put him out!
March 13th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Hi guys.
I’m having trouble listening to the latest episode. I just listened to episode 12 with no problem. When I try to listen to episode 13, Windows Media Player complains about not having the required codec. If I have it tell me what codec it is trying to use, it says it needs the “Microsoft MPEG-1 (50)” codec. Seems like this one got encoded differently than your other episodes.
March 13th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Hmmmm, well ain’t that the wierdest thing! I really have no idea what the problem is. Both show’s (12 and 13) were encoded as 48kbps using the same software.
I have no problems in Media Player when I play it. Have yu tried downloading it again and seeing if thats the problem?
Anyone else having issues?
Mike
March 13th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Lads,
Another grand show - with a blinding debut for “Into the Grogscape”!
I would like to vote for Combat Commander: Europe as the next wargame you try, as I will only be buying CC:E or Tide of Iron, and would like an opinion or two before I buy one. This is purely selfish - I wouldn’t mind some chat about AVL or Breakout Normandy, but I own them already…
Norman
March 13th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Hi Chaps,
Another excellent episode. Thanks for dealing with the sound levels, it was nice that the interview wasn’t under water this time!
Can I add my vote for Combat Commander: Europe as your next wargame (obviously I’d like Europe Engulfed but since that wasn’t on offer CC:E would certainly be the next choice) as I’d appreciate your views on it. I’m both a miniatures gamer as well as a boardgamer and of late I’ve been dabbling with board wargames - largely because they’re both a cheaper option and easier to put on a quick game with. Oddly enough I’ve found some of the rule sets actually more difficult to pick up than some of the minis rules I use. However, I’ve just started playing Bonaparte at Marengo and am really impressed by it - a real challenge but not hard to get to grips with.
Keep up the great work - just off to have a look at the microbadge on BGG now…
Al
March 15th, 2007 at 12:27 am
Hey all,
I would like to second what Norman said about Into the Grogscape and about Combat Commander: Europe. I, too, am deciding between CC:E and Tide of Iron, and would like as much help with that decision.
Noah
March 15th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
It looks like it could be CC:E then, come on all you KGB fans - I wannt make Si play that!!
March 15th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Another crackin’ episode. Good to hear from Paul. Now he has the chance to defend himself. Enjoyed into the Grogscape and would like to pile on for Combat Commander: Europe.
Cheers,
Jay
March 15th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Agree with Norman, great episode, good debut for Into the Grogscape. I vote for CC:E too. ASL SK#1 might be fun to consider sometime.
The interview with Richard Breese was very enjoyable. I haven’t played any of his games but it was really interesting and tied in well with the in depth look at Reef Encounter.
Cheers
Russell
March 16th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Thanks for the compliments guys! If ‘Into the Grogscape’ continues to be this popular we’re going to have to work out a way to get Paul to play wargames too!
It’s good to see that CC:E is getting the votes - I’ve had a run through the game example in the rulebook and played the scenario out to the end, and really enjoyed it. I think this is one Mike and I will be able to get into quite quickly.
Russell, Mike has ASL SK1 and I have number 2, so they’re definitely on the list. We found ASL SK1 a bit tricky when we had a go at it a while back which is why we’ve stepped back a little on the complexity scale with Storm Over Arnhem and Victory in the Pacific. But I think once we’ve got to grips with CC:E we’ll be ready to have another go at it, so watch this space!
And please don’t vote for KGB! Although come to think of it, it might be worth playing it just once so we don’t have to hear about it every episode
March 16th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Yep - I think that ASL is a way off still, we have CC:E, Hammer of the Scots, Breakout Normandy, Thunder at Cassino, Storm over Arnhem (again!!) , Europe Engulfed and Subbuteo Angling to play yet!
We need to get some more gaming in then!
March 16th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
Stay with us Paul - don’t go over to the Dark Side…
Really enjoyed the interview with Richard Breese guys - and excellent show all round. Personally, I’d like a game of KGB just to find out what all the fuss is about.
March 17th, 2007 at 10:44 am
I am resisting the pull of the dark side. May the force be with me.
To demonstrate this Nick, did I hear you say a while ago that you have Thurns and Taxis? If you do can you bring to the table next week. I played this on Thursday and definitely think it needs another look.
March 17th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Hmmm, Thurn and Taxis or Europe Engulfed - hmmmm, thats a tricky one - what do you think Si
March 17th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
Use your aggressive feelings Paul…
To get back to Euros and add to the Yspahan discussion from the show, we’ve found with our games (which have only been 3 player BTW) that the caravan is only used to remove a scoring souk piece if you forget to hold a camel back to protect it. We’ve tended to ignore the cards as well, going for buildings and souks instead. It is hard to see how the caravan can win you the game if the other players are following another strategy.
Norman
March 17th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Hey you three,
I just wanted to chime in and say that I’ve been listening for a few episodes now and am quite enjoying the show, this last episode easily being the best all-round. I’m starting to really favour podcasts that are either very broad in their tastes, or which heavily feature wargames. The more (gaming variety) the better I say! Your wargaming experiments, contrasted with all the Euros, fit this bill nicely.
Although it’s moot now, definitely I want to hear about CC:E. It has quite the pricetag on it but it is gaining such *enormous* enthusiasm from the buying public that it really warrants as much commentary as possible — to help me justify the expense.
Lastly, I would love to hear comments about the C&C:Ancients first expansion pack if you’ve gotten the chance for a play yet. C&C: Ancients is one of my very favourite games but I’ve still been hoping for more discussion in the podsphere before picking up my own copy.
Keep up the good work,
Raphael
Los Angeles
March 17th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Hi guys,
Great Show (finally caught up with them all now!) I’m with Nick on the dark side tho’ - Stay with us Paul!!! As for Thurn and Taxis, I think its a good game, so I’m definitely up for a game of it one week. And can we play Subbuteo Angling - Ok I’m only kidding about this one Mike, but I would like to see it, as I still can’t believe you don’t have to flick the fish ashore…
March 18th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
I second Subbuteo Angling - but I’m not kidding, I really want a game!!!
March 20th, 2007 at 12:22 am
Another fine show, guys. And it was great to have Paul back!
So, is the BattleLore ladder off in favor of a C&C:A ladder?
Regards,
Herb Petro
mentis on BGG
March 20th, 2007 at 7:15 am
Hi Herb
You make a good point there, I have been somewhat tardy with the Battlelore Ladder! I guess it’s all wrapped up the fact that we haven’t played BL since the “Assault Card” incident and the fact that our spare time tends to get diverted towards learning more wargames so that we can bring games to the new Into the Grogscape section!
So, if anyone who has sent in a request to joint the ladder still wants to play some BL on Vassal, let me know, and I will distribute email addresses amongst you and we can have some friendly games.
March 20th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I’m all for the Hammer of the Scots detailed review. I bought it recently when Columbia offered free shipping worldwide, but haven’t opened it up yet. I realise ASL-SK1 is a bit more complex and will have to wait awhile.
Best wishes
Russell