My Kingdom for a Trojan Horse (A Review of Iliad)

It was a time of myth and legend.  When fabled warriors inspired lesser men by the thousands to rise above their mundane lives and march into history’s pages.  While old kings squabbled over land and power and wealth, they fought for glory and honor and love.  Now you can relive the most epic conflict of the ancient world.  All because of a woman.

Pew Pew Pew! (A Review of Battle Beyond Space)

A little bit of Retro space art going on there

We always thought Space was the final frontier.  But I guess it's not, because somewhere beyond Space, there is a battle going on.  Fleets of 4 races are locked in eternal struggle to wipe out their opponents ships.  The wisest may survive, but only the boldest will destroy their enemies and emerge victorious.

This… is Battle Beyond Space.

Don't Prussia Your Luck (A Review of Leuthen: Frederick's Greatest Victory)

Warfare in the Age of Reason.  Now that’s a fun oxymoron!  I mean, what exactly about standing perfectly still, shoulder-to-shoulder, in well-dressed ranks trading volleys of musket fire sounds reasonable to you?  At any rate, the period receives little attention in war gaming.  Thus, one of the more brilliant military tacticians in history, Frederick der Grosse, is often ignored.  Too bad.  Because he didn’t get the moniker “Great” for nothing.  One of the ablest practitioners of “less is more,” he expanded his tiny nation threefold and created a new kingdom almost entirely through the use of the small, yet superb, army inherited from daddy.  Always outnumbered and strategically besieged, he nonetheless won victory after victory through decisive action and expert maneuvering with the best drilled and most disciplined troops on the continent.  Now you can fill his boots.  Or get kicked by them.

Strike First! Strike Hard! (A Review of Gunship: First Strike)

In the far future, civil war has erupted. Or perhaps just normal war.  Dozens of factions began warring after an unsteady era of peace, which followed a long period of exploration and expansion into the galaxy. Alliances were forged and re-forged,  factions rose and fell, enemies became friends and then enemies again. Fighting is pretty much the only constant left in the galaxy.

In the midst of that, two major factions happened to send out ships to claim a certain planet at the exact same time, and now they're going to fight over it.  It seems that everyone brought the exact same ships and equipment and everyone has an even chance of winning the battle.

Given that this is supposed to be happening in the midst of constant war and chaos, I'm not exactly sure what's "first strike" about it, but so it goes.  This is the backstory for Gunship: First Strike, a board game in which players take control of powerful gunships and battle for control of the planet below.