War Game – Page 2 – Stately Play

Counter insurgency war game, Afghanistan ’11, coming to iOS next week

October 20, 2017 David Neumann 24

iPad, PC • Back when Slitherine was in the business of publishing mobile war games, one of the best was Every Single Soldier‘s Vietnam ’65. It broke ground by focusing not only on battlefield tactics, but on winning over the local population and dealing with political problems back home. The theme worked fantastic in ESS’s follow-up, Afghanistan ’11, which was released for PC in March. Next week the PC-less of us will have a chance to give Afghanistan ’11 a go when it arrives on the App Store.

Cardboard Critique: Nemo’s War (Second Edition)

September 20, 2017 David Neumann 19

Tabletop • I’ve never played a solo game quite like Nemo’s War from Victory Point Games. I went into it prepared for the usual solo/cooperative game tropes–turns divided by a “bad” phase, more fires to put out than you have hoses, a general sense of being completely screwed–but found none of those. Instead, Nemo’s War felt more like one of those open-world video games like the Elder Scrolls series. Do whatever the hell you want, when you want, and have fun doing it. There’s never that moment, as in other cooperatives, where you “beat the game”. It’s strange, yet mesmerizing.

The tide turns for Gettysburg: The Tide Turns

July 18, 2017 David Neumann 0

PC • A long, long time ago there was a brand new developer that wanted to make high quality, complex war games for iPad called Shenandoah Studios. Sounds crazy, I know, but it really happened! You could say they succeeded, with fairly amazing releases such as Battle of the Bulge and Drive on Moscow proving that complex strategy on iPad wasn’t just a pipe dream. In 2013 they ran a Kickstarter for their magnum opus, Gettysburg: The Tide Turns, an American Civil War title for iOS as well as a cardboard version. Nearly 1000 folks gave them close to $30K to develop it. As of July 18, 2017 those backers haven’t seen hide nor hair of Gettyburg on their touchscreens, nor their tabletops. Instead, last week a version for PC arrived on Steam.

Lordz and HexWar combine forces on the just released Lightning: D-Day

July 14, 2017 David Neumann 4

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • We’ve known that the wargame developers Lordz Games Studio and HexWar are working on bringing the classic GMT title, Commands & Colors: Ancients, to our iPads for a bit. What we didn’t know is that C&C: Ancients isn’t the only project they’ve been teaming up on. This morning they launched another board game (well, card game) conversion on iOS, Android, and PC/Mac based on a 2004 Dan Verssen design, Lightning: D-Day.

Carrier Deck from Every Single Soldier sneaks onto the App Store

June 27, 2017 David Neumann 3

iPad, PC • It probably won’t come as a huge surprise to readers of Stately Play that we’re not on the press list of Slitherine. As such, unless I’m actively searching out for Slitherine news, it passes us by. Last week they published a game developed by Every Single Soldier, the gents behind the wonderful Vietnam ’65 and it’s companion title, Afghanistan ’11. Their latest is called Carrier Deck and it’s not another hex and counter war game. Instead, it’s a naval simulation that puts you on the deck of the titular ship and it couldn’t be more different than their previous titles. Even more interesting, however, is that it was released for both PC and iPad.

Qvadriga developer tackling naval combat in Mare Nostrum

June 9, 2017 David Neumann 3

PC • Qvadriga was one of those titles that few people had ever heard of, but those that had absolutely loved it. I’m quite confident that Qvadriga was (and probably still is) in Owen’s top 5 mobile titles of all time. While the title was published by Slitherine, the developer was Turnopia. Yeah, I hadn’t heard of them either. Turns out they’re still hard at work on other titles, with their latest just heading to beta now. It’s all about ancient naval combat and is called Mare Nostrum.

Next up for HexWar, the War of 1812

May 12, 2017 David Neumann 8

iPad, Android Tablet, PC, Mac, Linux • While you’re probably familiar with the fact that, last year, HexWar published a digital version of Academy Games‘ wonderful 1775: Rebellion, you might not be aware that 1775 isn’t the only game in the series. It’s actually only one of three games dealing with early American warfare with the others covering the French and Indian War of 1754 and the War of 1812. The games aren’t clones of each other, but they do share several similarities, so I had been wondering if HexWar would be porting the others to digital at some point down the line. We aren’t sure about 1754, but today they did confirm that 1812: The Invasion of Canada will be coming to in June.

Tank on Tank rolls onto Steam

May 10, 2017 David Neumann 2

Windows, Mac • You ever get an email from someone that triggers a memory of a long-ago email that you were supposed to reply to, but forgot and now you feel like an ass? It happens to me at least three times a week, with the latest being an incoming missive from Jo Bader, the developer who brought the digital version of Tank on Tank to life. We reported on our ignorance of Tank on Tank’s existence back in February which prompted a discussion between us and the fine folks at Lock ‘n Load that we let die an inglorious death in our inbox. This is why I yell at my kids to be more organized, so they don’t grow up to be major screw ups like their old man (that, and I’m sick of always picking up their crap). Anyway, back to Mr. Bader’s email. If, for some reason, you’ve been putting off getting Tank on Tank directly from the LnL website and really wanted it in your Steam library instead, today’s your lucky day.

The patches are coming! 1775: Rebellion updated to version 2.0

April 12, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS Universal, Android, PC/Mac • As a huge fan of the tabletop version, 1775: Rebellion was one of my most anticipated board game ports in 2016. When it launched in November, it managed to capture the light brilliance of its forebear, but as Matt mentioned in his review, was a bit subpar in terms of AI and other glitches here and there. Fear not, fellow gamers, for HexWar has been on the case and has just released a massive update to the PC/Mac version that will soon also be coming to the App Store.

Rubicon opens beta signups for Epic Little War Game

April 11, 2017 David Neumann 0

iOS, Android, PC • The original Great Little War Game made its way to our phones way back in 2011 and was one of the first must-have titles for strategy gamers. It was followed up by Great Big War Game and Great Little War Game 2, both of which were also strong entries for strategy gamers looking for anything with a some bite on their touchscreens. Announced back in 2014 was the next iteration of the series, Epic Little War Game, and nearly three years later Rubicon Development is announcing the beta is starting and they need help.