#Undaunted: Stalingrad

[jacqueline-riggwells-gaming-blog]

So I started playing Undaunted: Stalingrad with my primary analog game partner this month, we're four scenarios in - having split 2-2 so far. I withdrew like 3 turns into this last one, though, because I knew he'd just destroy my engineers, and I might need them later? I think overall he's got worse casualties and wounded cards, maybe, but he's also got some really good upgrades on other cards. Perhaps most importantly, I know myself, and I know that I won't wanna commit my good veterans to some of these upcoming fights for fear of losing them. It's just like having a javelin of lightning in D&D and not wanting to use it even though that's what it's there for. I think we are both having a lot of fun, though, which is the goal.

[thegaminggang]

[razistoricharka]

Good news, my friend got Undaunted Stalingrad, we're gonna play it later today. Bad news, I lost the game of rock paper scissors to determine who gets to play as the soviets

[613mandi]

I FINALLY got Undaunted: Stalingrad to the table. It's difficult for me to get campaign games played but @pawlom offered to join me. I love the other Undaunted games and this one seems to be going in a good direction. I talk about it more in Ep. XIII of the podcast.:) #boardgames #games #analoggaming #gamers #gamergirl #blerd #blerdgirl #blerdgirls #new #fun #undaunted #campaigngame https://www.instagram.com/p/CpN9EMsr-50/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[nebulousneuroticism]

It’s been a busy few days.

On Friday, I woke, had some breakfast, packed a bag, and then summoned my mental fortitude to leave for my best friend’s house.  It took about an hour to drive there.  I arrived at his house, which is very large and fancy, and was greeted by him and his girlfriend.  It took me a bit to warm up, but once I did, it was just like it always was.  He and I just click, socially, and it’s so easy to talk to him.

We spent the night playing some board games--we played Root and a complicated political game called Pax Pamir.  We played a lot of board games this weekend--actually, that’s basically all I did.  Late at night, we played a little Call of Duty, which is always fun.

I slept okay, up in one of the spare bedrooms of the house.  The house is very fancy--lots of different rooms, lots of space, nice furnishings.  Parts of the house even have heated floors, which is a level of luxury I’ve never experienced.  His parents own a business that has done very well in the time I’ve known him.

Saturday was much the same.   We went out for some bagels, and then started playing a wargame called Undaunted: Stalingrad.  That was pretty fun.  I’m glad I can play long, complicated games with him--few other people in my life are willing to spend the time to do more than a simple card game.  In the evening, another of his friends came over and we ate ramen and played Mansions of Madness.  Yep, lots of board games.

Today, I got up around ten, and we played another round of Mansions of Madness before it was time to leave.  I drove home, joined my parents, and then we went to meet my aunt and uncle for a nice dinner and a card game.  It was a nice night, but I felt kind of overstimulated after such a social weekend, and it seemed like my parents were stressed out about something or another.

All in all, a pretty good weekend.  I’m feeling quite tired tonight.  I have one more day to relax at home, and then my long vacation is over, and I shall return to my apartment and start on my project (or so I hope).

[whovian223]

Undaunted: Stalingrad Coming From Osprey Games

Undaunted: Stalingrad Coming From @OspreyGames @trevormbenjamin @djackthompson Can't wait!!!

Two posts today (One coming later)! I couldn’t wait until tomorrow to post this one. I saw on Twitter today that another entry in the Undaunted deck-building wargame series designed by David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin is going to be coming this Fall. Undaunted: Stalingrad will take the game to the carnage of this Soviet city as the German army and the Soviet hordes fight it out in the…

[epochxp]

Is Historical Wargaming Dying Out? And If So, What Can We Do About It?

Historicon 2019 | Miniatures Page

I don’t normally write editorials on this blog, but this issue has always been one that’s divided gamers for a while: Are we as a hobby dying out? There are many data points to suggest that we might be in trouble.

The demise of larger hex and counter wargame companies over the last thirty years: Look at all the companies that used to be in the market? Avalon Hill, GDW, SPI, West End Games. These were all large companies. But none of them survived the 1990s. There was a lot of market forces at play but was there also the fact that the gamers of the 1960s and 1970s, who made these companies were now in their 50s and are now on fixed incomes that don’t allow them to spend the kind of money they used to on these games. Print runs for these games used to be 20-40,000. And now? They’re running about a quarter of that or less.  There have been similar losses in the number of manufacturers of miniatures and rules. 

The average age of wargamers in surveys such as The Great Wargaming Survey is trending up, not down. 

The rise of both non-wargames and computer gaming as something that captures the imaginations of younger gamers. 

The demise of history education in many educational venues that would fire the historical imaginations of many would-be historical wargamers.

All of these would suggest that we’re in trouble. I disagree. The fact is, the hobby does need new blood, but we are primed for it. We just haven’t had that “aha” moment yet that’s captured the public’s imagination. We need to, as a hobby, reach out to younger gamers on their level. They don’t want complex, crunchy rules. Look at the generation of gamers who have embraced D20 and rules-light roleplaying games. This current generation of gamers wants a good game that delivers in two hours or less. 

So, delivering a good historically based wargame in two hours or less? It can be done and done realistically. I would point out Osprey’s Wargaming division, from their Undaunted series, or their fantasy Frostgrave title (which is a great D & D crossover, which can pull people into historical miniature wargaming, but if you adapt it, you can make something historical out of it!) to Warlord’s Games efforts with Bolt Action are just a few I can think of that make great modern-day “trainer wargames” designed to bite people with the wargaming bug. And let’s not forget Memoir ’44. That game is out there teaching USMC’s junior Marines the basics of tactical thinking. There’s also the idea of Junior General and using wargames in the classroom to reach kids with the idea that miniatures and hex and counter can be just as awesome, and in some ways, deeper than the latest Xbox offering. 

And that’s the big effort we need to make. I know gamers are overall reluctant to talk about our hobby as a learned behavior. We’ve all experienced it. You get to talking about how you spent your weekend breaking a square at Waterloo or fighting block by block for Stalingrad around the watercooler at work on Monday, and you can just hear the eyes roll. I know I have. But we can’t let those experiences stop us. When someone engages you about wargaming? Engage Back. If this hobby is under threat of dying off, then we alone can save it.

Make an effort, run the big game at a con. Put Beginners Welcome in your event listing at the con. Be patient with the 12-year-old kid wargamer who’s on sensory overload. I was that kid, and I went to Historicons in the 1980s and 1990s, and I still go today, and I haven’t lost that sense of wonder completely. I will admit, now, I am one of the grognards, but fellow grognards, be the example we want the young ones to be. And reach out to them. I know it’s tough, we don’t relate to them, or their music, but we have to try. Trust me, give them time, and they’ll understand what the magic of breaking a square at Waterloo or getting the troops ashore at Normandy really means.

And to the young ones, welcome. Ask questions. Lots. And don’t come with the attitude of “OK, Boomer.” Take a stool and listen. Those grey balding guys with the 30-year-old rulebooks held together with tape and hope? They’re the ones who made Catan and D & D possible. Hey, your saving throws? Concept of Mr. Donald Featherstone. And most of the ideas for the races and combat systems for the first D & D? Well, Gary Gygax was a historical wargamer. Historical wargaming has a rich history all of its own, from HG Wells to today. We stand on the shoulders of giants, and now, it’s your turn to stand on my shoulders and carry the torch forward. So, get in the game, ask some questions? Maybe you might find a historical period or two you like. If so, there’s plenty of reading out there. History’s given us plenty of fodder to wargame. Make the most of it.

  But both sides should remember the cardinal rules of wargaming:

Have fun doing what you’re doing?

Be good to each other.

 --

At Epoch Xperience, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse Epoch Xperience’s service on our parent site, SJR Research.

--

(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)

[jacqueline-riggwells-gaming-blog]

Played some Undaunted: Normandy the other day, to slowly introduce the mechanisms to a friend before we do the campaign of Stalingrad, maybe? Want him to have a feel of things before we jump into Actions Have Consequences. The cards were kind to me, the dice were kind to him, it mostly evened out? I swear some day I'll remember to take more pictures.

[thegaminggang]