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Author: Rick Priestley Publisher: Pen and Sword Military ISBN: 147389008X Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 220
Book Description
Unlike chess or backgammon, tabletop wargames have no single, accepted set of rules. Most wargamers at some point have had a go at writing their own rules and virtually all have modified commercially available sets to better suit their idea of the ideal game or to adapt favourite rules to a different historical period or setting. But many who try soon find that writing a coherent set of rules is harder than they thought, while tweaking one part of an existing set can often have unforeseen consequences for the game as a whole. Now, at last, help is at hand. Veteran gamer and rules writer John Lambshead has teamed up with the legendary Rick Priestley, creator of Games Workshops phenomenally successful Warhammer system, to create this essential guide for any would-be wargame designer or tinkerer. Rick and John give excellent advice on deciding what you want from a wargame and balancing realism (be it in a historical or a fantasy/sci-fi context) with playability. They discuss the relative merits of various mechanisms (cards, dice, tables) then discuss how to select and combine these to handle the various essential game elements of turn sequences, combat resolution, morale etc to create a rewarding and playable game that suits your tastes and requirements
Author: Rick Priestley Publisher: Pen and Sword Military ISBN: 147389008X Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 220
Book Description
Unlike chess or backgammon, tabletop wargames have no single, accepted set of rules. Most wargamers at some point have had a go at writing their own rules and virtually all have modified commercially available sets to better suit their idea of the ideal game or to adapt favourite rules to a different historical period or setting. But many who try soon find that writing a coherent set of rules is harder than they thought, while tweaking one part of an existing set can often have unforeseen consequences for the game as a whole. Now, at last, help is at hand. Veteran gamer and rules writer John Lambshead has teamed up with the legendary Rick Priestley, creator of Games Workshops phenomenally successful Warhammer system, to create this essential guide for any would-be wargame designer or tinkerer. Rick and John give excellent advice on deciding what you want from a wargame and balancing realism (be it in a historical or a fantasy/sci-fi context) with playability. They discuss the relative merits of various mechanisms (cards, dice, tables) then discuss how to select and combine these to handle the various essential game elements of turn sequences, combat resolution, morale etc to create a rewarding and playable game that suits your tastes and requirements
Author: Rick Priestley Publisher: Pen and Sword Military ISBN: 1473890098 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 192
Book Description
Unlike chess or backgammon, tabletop wargames have no single, accepted set of rules. Most wargamers at some point have had a go at writing their own rules and virtually all have modified commercially available sets to better suit their idea of the ideal game or to adapt favourite rules to a different historical period or setting. But many who try soon find that writing a coherent set of rules is harder than they thought, while tweaking one part of an existing set can often have unforeseen consequences for the game as a whole. Now, at last, help is at hand. Veteran gamer and rules writer John Lambshead has teamed up with the legendary Rick Priestley, creator of Games Workshop’s phenomenally successful Warhammer system, to create this essential guide for any would-be wargame designer or tinkerer. Rick and John give excellent advice on deciding what you want from a wargame and balancing ‘realism’ (be it in a historical or a fantasy/sci-fi context) with playability. They discuss the relative merits of various mechanisms (cards, dice, tables) then discuss how to select and combine these to handle the various essential game elements of turn sequences, combat resolution, morale etc to create a rewarding and playable game that suits your tastes and requirements
Author: Rick Priestley Publisher: ISBN: Category : GAMES & ACTIVITIES Languages : en Pages : 157
Book Description
"Unlike chess or backgammon, tabletop wargames have no single, accepted set of rules. Most wargamers at some point have had a go at writing their own rules and virtually all have modified commercially available sets to better suit their idea of the ideal game or to adapt favorite rules to a different historical period or setting. But many who try soon find that writing a coherent set of rules is harder than they thought, while tweaking one part of an existing set can often have unforeseen consequences for the game as a whole. Now, at last, help is at hand. Veteran gamer and rules writer John Lambshead has teamed up with the legendary Rick Priestley, creator of Games Workshop's phenomenally successful Warhammer system, to create this essential guide for any would-be wargame designer or tinkerer. Rick and John give excellent advice on deciding what you want from a wargame and balancing 'realism' (be it in a historical or a fantasy/sci-fi context) with playability. They discuss the relative merits of various mechanisms (cards, dice, tables) then discuss how to select and combine these to handle the various essential game elements of turn sequences, combat resolution, morale etc to create a rewarding and playable game that suits your tastes and requirements.
Author: Pat Harrigan Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 026233495X Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 845
Book Description
A look at wargaming’s past, present, and future—from digital games to tabletop games—and its use in entertainment, education, and military planning. With examples from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Harpoon, Warhammer 40,000, and more! Games with military themes date back to antiquity, and yet they are curiously neglected in much of the academic and trade literature on games and game history. This volume fills that gap, providing a diverse set of perspectives on wargaming’s past, present, and future. In Zones of Control, contributors consider wargames played for entertainment, education, and military planning, in terms of design, critical analysis, and historical contexts. They consider both digital and especially tabletop games, most of which cover specific historical conflicts or are grounded in recognizable real-world geopolitics. Game designers and players will find the historical and critical contexts often missing from design and hobby literature; military analysts will find connections to game design and the humanities; and academics will find documentation and critique of a sophisticated body of cultural work in which the complexity of military conflict is represented in ludic systems and procedures. Each section begins with a long anchoring chapter by an established authority, which is followed by a variety of shorter pieces both analytic and anecdotal. Topics include the history of playing at war; operations research and systems design; wargaming and military history; wargaming’s ethics and politics; gaming irregular and non-kinetic warfare; and wargames as artistic practice.
Author: Henry Hyde Publisher: Casemate Publishers ISBN: 1783830697 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 554
Book Description
An extensive reference guide to the exciting hobby, for beginners as well as longtime players. Wargaming is a fascinating, engrossing, and exciting pastime that encompasses a wide range of different talents. The average wargamer uses the skills of artist, designer, sculptor, illustrator, historian, librarian, researcher, mathematician, and creative writer, as well as the more obvious ones of general, admiral, or air marshal for large games, or perhaps lieutenant, commodore, or squadron leader for skirmishes. Aside from calling upon many skills, wargaming also covers many aspects of combat, spanning the history of Earth. With science fiction gaming, we plunge into imagined worlds many thousands of years into the future, and a fantasy gamer, of course, deals with eons of imagined history, as anyone who has read The Lord of the Rings will know. A wargamer may find themselves recreating an encounter between a handful of adversaries one day, or a massed battle involving perhaps hundreds of miniature troops the next. Moreover, it is possible to play wargames that recreate warfare on land, on sea, in the air, or even in outer space. This book demonstrates the wonderfully varied hobby of wargaming with miniatures, looking at the broad scope of what it has to offer as well as detailed explanations of how to get involved, including comprehensive rules for gladiator combat, Wild West skirmishes, and the horse and musket era, as well as lots of advice for anyone new to wargaming. Whether you’re a complete newcomer to the hobby, or a veteran of many years, you’ll find plenty in The Wargaming Compendium to entertain and inspire you.
Author: John Lambshead Publisher: Pen and Sword ISBN: 1526700069 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 135
Book Description
Many wargamers enjoy the challenge of skirmish games where, instead of the strategy of vast armies portrayed by traditional wargames, the focus is on the tactics of a small unit. However, skirmish rules are often so complex that it can take hours of rolling dice, consulting tables and recording data to recreate what would in reality be a fast and furious firefight lasting just minutes. Now these new rules make it possible to recapture the speed and intensity of these actions where every man, and every second, counts. The basic rules are supported by sections which give special rules and scenarios to capture the flavor of a range of different periods, from Napoleonic to Modern Warfare and beyond with Sci-Fi. From the 95th Rifles scouting for Wellington, Western gunfights and WWI trench raids, through WW2 parachute assaults or Special Forces strikes in Afghanistan, or even Space Marines storming a space station, Squad Firefights elegantly simple system allows you to focus on proper tactical decisions rather than rolling buckets of dice or calculating masses of modifiers.
Author: Katie Salen Tekinbas Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 9780262240451 Category : Computers Languages : en Pages : 680
Book Description
An impassioned look at games and game design that offers the most ambitious framework for understanding them to date. As pop culture, games are as important as film or television—but game design has yet to develop a theoretical framework or critical vocabulary. In Rules of Play Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman present a much-needed primer for this emerging field. They offer a unified model for looking at all kinds of games, from board games and sports to computer and video games. As active participants in game culture, the authors have written Rules of Play as a catalyst for innovation, filled with new concepts, strategies, and methodologies for creating and understanding games. Building an aesthetics of interactive systems, Salen and Zimmerman define core concepts like "play," "design," and "interactivity." They look at games through a series of eighteen "game design schemas," or conceptual frameworks, including games as systems of emergence and information, as contexts for social play, as a storytelling medium, and as sites of cultural resistance. Written for game scholars, game developers, and interactive designers, Rules of Play is a textbook, reference book, and theoretical guide. It is the first comprehensive attempt to establish a solid theoretical framework for the emerging discipline of game design.
Author: Neil Thomas Publisher: Pen and Sword ISBN: 1473840937 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 226
Book Description
A fun and practical new approach to wargaming that lets you complete a game in about an hour—includes rule sets and scenarios for most popular periods. One of the biggest problems facing wargamers is finding the time to actually play. Most commercially available games require several hours to set up and see to a conclusion; some can even take a whole day or weekend to complete. Apart from time, lack of space can also keep wargamers from enjoying their favorite pastime. In One-hour Wargames, veteran gamer and rule-writer Neil Thomas has addressed both problems. Now it is practical to play a satisfying game in around an hour on a normal dining table or living room floor. The book contains 8 all-new sets of very simple rules for various periods—from Ancient to WW2—and thirty stimulating scenarios which can be played using any of them. All the rules and scenarios are intended to be played on a 3ft x 3ft battlefield. The rules only require a small number of miniatures, so this really is an ideal way for new gamers, or veterans trying a new period, to get started with minimal investment of time and money. Also ideal for a quick game in the evening with a friend. Also included are sections on campaigns and solo games.
Author: Warlord Games Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN: 1472817885 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 96
Book Description
The year is 1940, and the German invasion of Britain has begun. With this new campaign book for Bolt Action, players can fight the battles of World War II's greatest 'what if' scenario. Defend the cliffs of Dover and the beaches of Kent from wave after wave of German landing craft. Parachute into the Home Counties in a surgical strike to capture Winston Churchill. Rally the Home Guard in a last, desperate attempt to keep England free of the Nazi invaders! Containing new rules, scenarios, and unit types covering all of the unique features of this alternate history campaign, it offers a chance for all Bolt Action players to truly rewrite the history of World War II.
Author: Maurice W. Suckling Publisher: Taylor & Francis ISBN: 1040100376 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 335
Book Description
James Dunnigan’s memorable phrase serves as the first part of a title for this book, where it seeks to be applicable not just to analog wargames, but also to board games exploring non-expressly military history, that is, to political, diplomatic, social, economic, or other forms of history. Don’t board games about history, made predominantly out of (layered) paper, permit a kind of time travel powered by our imagination? Paper Time Machines: Critical Game Design and Historical Board Games is for those who consider this a largely rhetorical question; primarily for designers of historical board games, directed in its more practice-focused sections (Parts Two, Three, and Four) toward those just commencing their journeys through time and space and engaged in learning how to deconstruct and to construct paper time machines. More experienced designers may find something here for them, too, perhaps to refresh themselves or as an aid to instruction to mentees in whatever capacity. But it is also intended for practitioners of all levels of experience to find value in the surrounding historical contexts and theoretical debates pertinent to the creation of and the thinking around the making of historical board games (Parts One and Five). In addition, it is intended that the book might redirect some of the attention of the field of game studies, so preoccupied with digital games, toward this hitherto generally much neglected area of research. Key Features: Guides new designers through the process of historical board game design Encapsulates the observations and insights of numerous notable designers Deeply researched chapters on the history and current trajectory of the hobby Chapters on selected critical perspectives on the hobby
Author: Rick Priestley
Author: Rick Priestley
Author: Rick Priestley
Author: Rick Priestley
Author: Pat Harrigan
Author: Henry Hyde
Author: John Lambshead
Author: Katie Salen Tekinbas
Author: Neil Thomas
Author: Warlord Games
Author: Maurice W. Suckling