Articles by Sean Finch
OriginalSultan, also known as Red Leader, is part Dwarf and part Christian. A descendant of Irish immigrants, he makes a living by going on ‘Attack Runs’. He also reviews board games, tabletop miniatures games, and whatever else strikes his fancy.
40k: A New Direction?
As the latest rumors would have it, Games Workshop is apparently taking a new direction in overall product design and marketing strategy. Thanks to The Bolter and Chainsword for this interesting post (who, I should mention, originally took it from Dakka Dakka). New Direction of Games Workshop
A lot of what is said in the post about the new overall design strategy sounds good to me. This is despite the fact that the guy who’s recently been put in charge of this shift in policy, the ‘product and hobby strategist’, is none other than…Jervis Johnson!
Despite the fact that Jervis is in charge, I still feel that this comes as good news. For those who don’t know, Games Workshop is not in the best financial position, having reported losses (again) in this year’s annual report. The old tried and true methods of making short-term financial gains at the expense of long-term game development and new player growth have finally caught up with the company. Whether or not they will reduce the prices of their miniatures remains to be seen, but this sudden shift in policy is definately a change for the better, in my opinion anyway. Many of the overall games development and marketing strategies that put the company in this predicament were instituted by Games Workshop’s business brass higher-ups – most of which are not gamers and do not play Games Workshop games. [Read the rest of this article]
Tie One On: A Review
The Big Picture: Tie One On (by Parker Brothers) is a word guessing game not unlike Taboo or 25 Words Or Less in which the reader has to get their partner to guess the words or phrases written on his/her card, without actually saying the words. Now I know what you’re thinking: “Oh no, another one of those ‘party’ games”, but WAIT, I say, because this one has a lot of good things going for it, and might actually surprise you (I was certainly surprised!). In short, it is a much better designed game than others of its kind (i.e. Taboo, 25 Words or Less, etc) that even a serious ‘strategy’ gamer could appreciate, even if not necessarily enjoy. For fans of party games, you will love this one. [Read the rest of this article]
Axis & Allies Revised Edition: A Review
It’s like the old Axis & Allies…only better! A new map, new units, and new victory conditions give this old classic a much needed, and much appreciated, face-lift. What you get is a game with more strategic options, increased tactical flexibility, and better balance. Axis & Allies Revised Edition is the fourth edition of this classic game. Released in 2004 by Avalon Hill, which acquired the rights to the game from Milton Bradley, the game is a light/medium war game covering the entire scope of the second World War. There are five great powers – U.S., U.K., Russia, Germany and Japan – that are divided into two teams: U.S., U.K. and Russia form the Allies, while Germany and Japan form the Axis (hence the name of the game). Two to five players can play, and a game will take several hours to complete. For those people that are familiar with the original game, this version of the game acts more like a big upgrade rather than a totally redesigned game.
The Details - Components and Appearance – The components are a major strength of the game. In the original game, each country had the same scuplt for the pieces (except the infantry); the only thing that was different were the colors. Not so in this version of the game. The fighers, bombers, tanks, artillery, submarines, battleships, destroyers, transports, aircraft carriers AND infantry are all sculpted differently for each country. A few exceptions apply (i.e. U.S. and British tanks use the same mold) but for the most part they are all different. Not only that, but they are modeled after the actual vehicles used by each country in WW2! The country unique pieces really add to the theme as German Panther tanks battle Russian T-34s, while U.S. P-38 fighers dogfight with Japanese Zero fighers. The only bad thing I can say about the components is that the game doesn’t come with the little styrofoam storage units to keep the units in. This means that you will have to buy a plastic container with sub-sections from Michaels or Jo-Ann fabrics to keep your pieces orderly. In terms of appearance the game is also a noticeable improvement. The map got a face-lift in terms of its appearance. The oceans were darkened, Russia and Japan’s territories were made to be more brown and yellow (respectively) to make it easier to tell them apart, and the sub-sections to place additional units that were on the previous board were eliminated – which gives more room to place units. Furthermore, the rulebook looks great, and is filled with helpful illustrations with captions. It’s very easy to read through and much clearer than the previous one. [Read the rest of this article]
