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The Struggle For Zorn: The Red Blight

2024-02-14T22:31:02-05:00

Vendor: Blue Panther
Type: Board Games
Price: 142.95

Designer	Ryan Heilman Hermann Luttmann Fred Manzo
Publisher	Blue Panther
Players	1-5
Playtime	60-240 mins
Suggested Age	13 and up
Additional Info	406713/struggle-zorn-red-blight http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/406713/struggle-zorn-red-blight/forums/63

The Struggle for Zorn: The Red Blight is a 1-5 player semi-cooperative fantasy wargame. Players collectively represent the various Houses of the Kingdom of Zorn, and these Houses have joined together to defeat the existential threat of the vile Red Blight. The Red Blight is an evil entity that has just launched an invasion of peaceful Slumbering Troll Valley, the northern-most province of the kingdom. The monsters of the Red Blight are now holding the citizens of the valley hostage and have absconded with the province’s valuables, treasures, and vital resources. The Houses have been summoned by King Rufus V of Zorn to launch a Royal Crusade to free the valley and rid it of this blight. The game’s players will each control a Commander, a Magic User, and a House Army, made up of various types of military units. Each player attempts to defeat enemy units and capture Treasure Tokens, and by so doing earn Glory Points. The player scoring the most Glory Points will be awarded with the title “Hand of the Crown” and win the game. However, players must cooperate and assist each other as well. If the Red Blight achieves certain conditions, all the players lose the game, regardless of their situation or amount of Glory Points. If players can stave off The Red Blight’s attempt to exploit the valley for four full days, the monsters will lose access to the malignant power that sustains them. If this evil has been successfully thwarted, peace and freedom will be restored once again to the valley and one of the intrepid Houses will gain the ultimate royal reward. Will you become Hand of the Crown, Sire?

-description from designer

Ginormopod 2050 A.D.: Attack of the Giant Bug Monsters

2023-02-09T07:12:57-05:00

Vendor: Hollandspiele
Type: Board Games
Price: 82.95

Designer	Ryan Heilman Dave Shaw (II)
Publisher	Hollandspiele
Players	1-2
Playtime	45-60 mins
Suggested Age	10 and up
Additional Info	368227/ginormopod-2050-d-attack-giant-bug-monsters http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/368227/ginormopod-2050-d-attack-giant-bug-monsters/forums/63

GASP! at a startling vision of the world yet to come!

CHEER! for the brave people of tomorrow fighting a desperate struggle for survival!

SCREAM! at uncanny creatures too horrifying to describe, the children of the nuclear age who now wish to claim our dying planet as their unholy birthright!

As waters and temperatures rise, and coastlines sink, gigantic insects sweep across the western United States. The only thing holding them back is the Fusion Fence built along the mighty Mississippi. But will it buy us enough time to complete work on the anti-mutagen – humanity's last hope?

Ginormopod 2050 A.D.: Attack of the Giant Bug Monsters is a retro-futuristic treat, presenting a 2050 as it might have been imagined by Hollywood a hundred years earlier. The proven design team of Ryan Heilman and Dave Shaw (Brave Little Belgium, White Eagle Defiant) has returned with another action-packed game. One player controls American forces and their allies, choosing carefully where to defend, when to fall back, and how to counterattack. Their resources are limited, and every decision has a cost. Their opponent controls the Swarm, throwing an endlessly respawning supply of mutated ants, spiders, and worms, brought to life by the delightful illustrations of Wil Alambre.

—description from the publisher

White Eagle Defiant: Poland 1939

2022-07-18T21:13:31-04:00

Vendor: Hollandspiele
Type: Board Games
Price: 84.95

Designer	Ryan Heilman Dave Shaw (II)
Publisher	Hollandspiele
Players	1-2
Playtime	60-90 mins
Suggested Age	12 and up
Honor	2020 Charles S. Roberts Best World War II Boardgame Nominee
Additional Info	293112/white-eagle-defiant-poland-1939 http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/293112/white-eagle-defiant-poland-1939/forums/63

White Eagle Defiant, the follow-up game to the bestselling Brave Little Belgium, recreates the German, Slovak and Soviet invasion of Poland in September and October 1939 that marked the beginning of the Second World War. Germany and its Slovakian ally began the invasion on September 1, 1939; the Soviet Union followed suit on the 17th. Known in Poland as the September Campaign and in Germany by the codename Fall Weiss (Case White), the campaign ended on October 6, 1939 with Germany and the Soviet Union splitting the country in two.

In White Eagle Defiant, one player controls the Germans, Slovaks and Soviets (simplified as the Germans in the game) while the other player commands the Poles. The German objective is to gain control of Warsaw and other designated Victory cities while preventing Polish forces from destroying their forts in East Prussia and recapturing Victory cities. If the German player does so in less time than the historical campaign, they win the game. Anything less is a draw or a win for the Polish player.

This quick-playing wargame employs very similar mechanics as Brave Little Belgium, but with a modest increase in complexity. The game uses a point-to-point map and a chit pull mechanism to simulate the campaign, with each turn representing four days. Random event chits are included to add variety and excitement to the game, reflecting the weapons (such as armored trains and aerial bombardment) used at the beginning of World War II. The combat system, while still simple, is enhanced to better simulate mechanized warfare, as well as the use of combined forces (players can bring forces from adjacent spaces into an attack, creating primary and secondary combat groups).

Other new features in White Eagle Defiant include Panzers for the Germans (which can roll two dice instead of one) and cavalry for the Poles (which can roll a “first shot” at the beginning of a combat round). A Victory Point track allows for variable entry of Soviet forces (depending on the success of the German player in capturing Victory cities), as well as the possibility of the Allies launching an attack in the West (if the German player fails to do well in capturing Victory cities). Finally, a “blitzkrieg breakdown” track is used by the German player; if the turn ends before both German army group chits are pulled, the German player may elect to activate a group, but possibly suffer a “breakdown” while doing so – and if five such breakdowns occur, the German player automatically loses the game.

Players who enjoyed Brave Little Belgium will find that White Eagle Defiant offers the same tense play for both sides, while presenting new challenges that reflect the dawn of the blitzkrieg era.

—description from the designer

Brave Little Belgium

2019-03-14T23:34:47-04:00

Vendor: Hollandspiele
Type: Board Games
Price: 79.95

Designer	Ryan Heilman Dave Shaw (II)
Publisher	Hollandspiele
Players	1-2
Playtime	30-60 mins
Suggested Age	10 and up
Additional Info	255516/brave-little-belgium http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/255516/brave-little-belgium/forums/63

After Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot dead by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, a series of events propelled the great nations of Europe to prepare for war. By August 3rd, Germany had declared war on both Russia and France and was preparing to invade France through neutral Belgium.

In Brave Little Belgium, you assume the role of either the Germans or the Allies (Belgians, French, and British) at the start of World War I. As the Germans, can you quickly smash through Belgium without committing too many atrocities? As the Allies, can you slow down the German advance and halt their plans to capture France?

This quick-playing wargame uses a point to point map and a chit pull mechanism to simulate the beginning of World War I on the western front. The game takes place over the period of time between August 4 and August 27, 1914. Each turn represents three days. In each turn, you pull chits representing the different generals and armies in the battle. A pulled chit allows you to move that army and battle opposing armies. Random event chits are also included and when you pull and activate them, you can use them to help you or hurt the other player.

If you are the German player, you must try to get through Belgium as quickly as possible while also destroying the two major forts at Liege and Namur. If you can do so quicker than it historically occurred, you win the game. Anything less than this is a draw or a win for the Allies.

-description from designer