Thoughts on Star Wars: Battle of Hoth

 “My lord, there are so many uncharted settlements. It could be smugglers, it could be....”

— Admiral Ozzel

Last week, on its Facebook page, Days of Wonder released information and photos about a Star Wars: Battle of Hoth board game based on Richard Borg’s venerable Commands & Colors (C&C) game system. The news rapidly spread across the adventure gaming hobby internet landscape. Although stodgy old former reporters like myself might prefer to wait for some official press release on a website, I could not ignore this news (though one might argue such announcements on social media are now more acceptable or reliable than any official communication on something so antiquated as a corporate website). My production manager at West End Games uttered some colorful sayings in appropriate circumstances. The buzz surrounding this announcement brings one to mind: “Opinions are like [DELETED]; everybody has one.” (You can fill in “[DELETED]” with your imagined appropriately common and arguably vulgar body part.) I’m sure everyone concerned will debate the game with every teased bit of news until well after it’s released. Normally I wouldn’t wade into forum discussions — and I won’t — but I thought readers might care for my opinion with some perspective from a longtime Star Wars fan, a veteran gamer, and a gamer dad, all in the context of the business of making money in these uncertain financial times. I’m very excited about Star Wars: Battle of Hoth, but, like any game consumer, I take into account many factors, including personal ones, when considering whether I would ultimately purchase the game. For those few who wonder or care, I’m still undecided, but leaning toward passing on this one.

Emulation as Inspiration Strategy

 “Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another.”

— Voltaire

We find inspiration in many forms, whether for our game endeavors or other aspects in our lives. Emulating things we admire is one step along the path we take creating something new. We often look to similar sources for inspiration on our immediate projects. How does one game handle this kind of mechanic? How does another simulate a particular situation or dynamic? I’ve encountered emulation as inspiration strategy throughout my creative life, even as a teenager newly immersed in roleplaying games...and inspired to create my own fanzine based on the industry publication, Dragon magazine, I admired. This strategy works for our developing games in both form and function. We look to other games to see what graphic and component elements we might adapt to our own designs. We also draw on our exposure to mechanics when developing our own games, whether roleplaying games, board games, or wargames. Having a familiarity with numerous game systems can help us in designing our own, offering inspiration from a wide field of experience to create a more accurate game simulation experience.

Multiple Cardplay Choices

 “Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

I’m thankful my son and I have found the time and motivation recently to (sometimes) resume our Thursday after-dinner “game night.” I’ll admit I occasionally cajole him into a weekend afternoon game (when I’m not outside engaged in the Sisyphean task of yard work on numerous fronts) in an effort to disengage him from his electronic devices. My task becomes easier when I have a menu of games to suggest, titles we’ve played before he particularly enjoys. Lately most of our favorite games rely on card mechanics; they’re not all card games per se, but board games where cards determine how one can manipulate the pieces and conditions on the board. More often than not this pleasantly complicates the decisions players face. Do I use a card for its stated effect — usually something bending the rules to my advantage — or do I spend it to take some kind of “standard” action? This kind of cardplay dilemma expands the decision space an extra level without adding too much complexity in learning the game.

“Prep Is Play”

 “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.”

— Mark Twain

I haven’t engaged with roleplaying games in a while, owing to a lack of interested players and time. Gathering multiple friends for any regular game session these days has become a common meme trope for the adult gamer generations. So I’m exploring a solitaire roleplaying game to engage my urge to return to that form...and immerse myself in some much-needed gaming escapism to deal with an onslaught of personal stress and <waves hand> all this nonsense going on in the world. My game of choice? Ironsworn: Starforged by Shawn Tomkin. I backed it in Kickstarter and, though I’ve read it and explored its numerous oracle tables, I’ve not yet sat down to play it. I’ve been developing a character in the back of my mind, along with an initial contact and a sector with some locations, but otherwise I’ve relied on the random table “oracles” to guide my sector set-up and other bits for which I’ve no immediate inspiration. I’m having fun determining the elements for my future adventures, even though I’m not actually playing the game. Or am I? Starforged includes a heading I think all roleplaying gamers can take to heart: “Prep Is Play.”

A Pilgrimage with Game Diversions

 “The Road goes ever on and on / Out from the door where it began. / Now far ahead the Road has gone, / Let others follow it who can!”

— Bilbo Baggins, The Return of the King

This past week I made a pilgrimage from my home in Virginia to Indianapolis, IN, to attend the funeral of a beloved uncle...and to spend time with family members mourning his passing and celebrating his extraordinary life and the inspirational impact he had on so many lives. Along the way I distracted myself stopping at two game stores to pick up a few small diversions to feed my and my family’s gaming interests. Now that I’m back home I’m busy unpacking, doing laundry, resuming tasks I left off last week, taking a break to examine my gaming goodies, and getting back into some sense of routine...and spending a little time to reflect on a long four-day trip.

Perspective “In This Moment”

 “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

Five years ago the covid-19 pandemic hit America hard. School and businesses started to close. News stories speculated about infection methods. Toilet paper and other essentials started disappearing from store shelves. People worked from home when they could. Masks. Social distancing. People dying in droves. Everything changed. Nobody quite knew where it was going...or how it might end. It was a moment in history for those of us used to reading about, studying, or even gaming with history. Suddenly we weren’t just looking back on some distant event with full knowledge of its aftermath. Our immediate perspective offered little insight how the crisis might play out. For once we occupied the position of people throughout history, experiencing history at that moment, unable to see where it was all going, with only future uncertainty ahead. Like playing a constantly changing game, we could only “estimate the situation” to the best of our knowledge and proceed with what seemed at the time as a suitable course of action

Short Games, Multiple Plays

 “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

Over the years my taste in games has skewed more toward more concise games that don’t consume vast periods of time yet still deliver meaningful play experiences. I certainly don’t mind spending an occasional weekend afternoon with a more involved game, but more often I find occasions for something that won’t keep us up all night while still delivering a satisfying evening’s entertainment: our occasional weekday, post-dinner “Game Night,” casual gatherings with friends curious about games, or more educational demonstrations showing how games can enhance learning. (I defer to “short” games because it emphasizes the time involved, although “concise” probably conveys a better sense of both time and quality.) Shorter games have their place in the vast adventure game hobby landscape, suitable environments where they best satisfy the host’s intentions, audience needs, and other contextual constraints (such as time). A well-designed short game encourages more streamlined rules comprehension, multiple plays, and time afterward for discussion...all key elements in both enjoying and learning from games. Many games that fit this “concise” profile prove excellent teaching tools when thoughtfully employed as games for learning.

Watch Read Play: Battle of the River Plate

 “My policy with three cruisers in company versus one pocket battleship — attack at once by day or night.”

— Commodore Henry Harwood

Last summer I proposed a learning rationale called “Watch Read Play” (or WRP) encouraging people to explore interests by first watching media, then reading, and finally playing a game about a topic, usually historical, that might engage them. I haven’t had much of a chance to try it myself, but over time I managed to achieve that trifecta for the Battle of the River Plate. That clash was the first major naval battle of World War II, when the German pocket battleship Graf Spee — after preying on Allied merchant shipping — encountered a British cruiser squadron hunting the commerce raider across the vast spaces of the south Atlantic. The severely damaged Graf Spee sought refuge in Montevideo, Uruguay, and, after some diplomatic controversies with the British cruisers lurking in international waters, the crew scuttled the ship. I explored the battle through a variety of media, including the 1956 film The Battle of the River Plate, two books, and the latest game on the subject, The Hunt. Each offers a different perspective to experience.

The Cycle of Estimation & Action

 “War itself has been declared to be a game, and rightly so, for it has the game characteristic of the presence of an antagonist.”

— Captain W. McCarty Little, USN

I believe games of all kinds can teach us about ourselves and the world around us. Playing them can inform our lives, adjust our perspectives, and broaden our experiences. I’m also encouraged by the increasing trend of using games for learning — notably in professional military education, government consulting institutions, and even universities — and am sometimes dismayed when they aren’t used for learning in environments where they might inspire young people (such as libraries, museums, historical sites, and secondary education). The value of “estimating the situation” (and all that entails) remains one of the most important lessons games can teach us. It’s a phrase pioneered at the U.S. Naval War College that succinctly summarizes the process a player uses — knowingly or subconsciously — when making decisions in any game. It also applies to how we might make decisions in real life, though far too often we stumble along simply reacting to the flood of challenges inflicted upon us with little time for anything but reflexive instinct. We rarely have the time or clarity to step back in our hectic lives, consider immediate events or even the big picture, and rationally reflect on our situation and what we can do to affect it in our favor. We can take time to estimate the situation and form a course of action in a game; the more we do so, the more we train ourselves to use that approach to our benefit in everyday life.

“Write What You Know”

 “For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

On those rare occasions people ask me for writing advice, I tell them “Write what you know”...and it’s just as valid for game design. It’s one of those trite maxims we parrot as “advice” that, without reflection, means little beyond its superficial simplicity. Yet it’s not an axiom on which to sit complacently, to limit one to writing or designing only based on what they know at that moment. It is a challenge. Write and design what you know...and if you want to work with something you don’t know, strive to know it. Research. The concept is related to another saying worthy of reflection, from Socrates: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing” (expressed in other times and cultures by various people). And if we know nothing, we must go out and learn something, experience something, so we can draw on that knowledge in our future endeavors...especially activities we do for fun.

Thoughts on Morschauser’s Frontier Rules

“We may stumble and fall but shall rise again; it should be enough if we did not run away from the battle.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

My large chessboard set-up with “toy” style
terrain and stands of mounted Risk figures.

Earlier this month Bob Cordery posted the text of Joseph Morschauser’s “Frontier Wargame Rules” as published in Wargamer’s Newsletter #62 (May 1967). Cordery’s Wargaming Miscellany blog has long expanded my horizons with his views on gridded wargames and other such diversions. Although I’ve quite enjoyed exploring Cordery’s work in gridded wargames, I’ve never read Morschauser’s How To Play Wargames in Miniature, though The History of Wargaming Project edition has long been on my various wishlists. So I read and pondered the “frontier” game rules from the blog, printed a copy, and ran a few self-play games with a gridded board and some “toy” style figures readily at hand. I discovered a great deal that appealed to my appetite for concise games with basic core mechanics...and a few elements I would fine-tune if I wanted to pursue it for future games.

My Favorite RPGs

 “In our leisure we reveal what kind of people we are.”

— Ovid

Goodness knows I’ve played a good number of roleplaying games over the years. Sometimes I dabbled by reading rule- and sourcebooks, drafting some characters, jotting down adventure notes, even writing entire scenarios. Other times, after all the preparatory play activities, I brought a game to the table with friends or even strangers at a convention. I’ve played one-shots and lengthy campaigns. Along the way I tried numerous rules systems in various genres, with varying degrees of success and satisfaction. Although I’ve enjoyed it all — and some stand out as pleasant memories of my gaming past — I’ve come to admire a few games, both systems and settings, I’d default to if I had more chances to run roleplaying games.

Degrees of Solitaire

“Solitude is independence.”

— Hermann Hesse

I have, out of recent necessity, focused more on the solitaire game experience across all aspects of my adventure gaming hobby. I haven’t had a regular gaming group for a while, but I still indulge in games on my own, enjoying the occasional afternoon with a few like-minded friends around a few board games or the rare instance I attempt to convince them to try a roleplaying game. I find some satisfaction engaging in solitary game activities most of us enjoy: reading and comprehending rules for new games (or reviewing old favorites); developing materials for roleplaying games; painting miniatures and crafting terrain; and reading historical non-fiction to support my gaming activities. But sometimes you just want to play a game. Doing so without other players provides varying degrees of satisfaction depending on the nature of the solitaire play. Looking back on my own experiences, I classified my solo gaming into three categories: player-versus-player (PVP), cooperative, and true solitaire.

Strategic Choices in 300: Earth & Water

 “If you men think that I rely on numbers, then all Greece is not sufficient...but if on men’s valor, then this number will do.”

— Leonidas

I dabble in ancient history both in my non-fiction reading and my gaming...so I’m always on the lookout for something new and interesting. The epoch often engages me with notable military leaders, wars on land and sea, culturally distinct architecture, and the panoply of pantheons. I’d recently read some positive buzz about 300: Earth & Water from designer Yasushi Nakaguro and released by Nuts! Publishing. So I ordered a copy, read the rules, and played a few games with my son, who very quickly identified the nuances of strategy as we alternated playing the Greeks and Persians. 300: Earth & Water is a wonderfully concise game: relatively easy rules to learn (and reference in game); short play time (30-45 minutes); yet containing a satisfying number of strategic choices for players to consider every turn.

Finding Joy in the Past Year

 “Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.”

— Jane Austen

I’m slow in my New Year’s appreciations, given how numerous holiday preparations and celebrations in November and December consume my life. That said, I wanted to look back at 2024 to remind myself of the highlights that brought joy to me amid occasional heartache and disappointment...and in the face of the anxieties, hardships, and challenges I — and the world — face in 2025. The Jane Austen quote I used in my last blog post encouraged my usually pessimistic self to reflect on positive events that uplifted us throughout 2024. It comes as no surprise they’re mostly related to games, books, and history. I’m hoping these memories sustain and inspire me through the difficult times ahead.