WAR ROOM - New Larry Harris Game

Larry’s earned the benefit of the doubt, let’s see what additional details emerge. I’m still waiting for Flashman to comment on the railroads.

Perhaps there could be sculpts of naval, army and air “groups” with hidden markers underneath that differentiate size, specialization and other tactical factors.

This looks cool! I’m excited about this… and about time too.  :-)

@CWO:

@Karl7:

That is, if he will tell me anything…

In fairness, he probably won’t because playtesters usually operate under a non-disclosure agreement.  On the other hand, the War Room website says there will be demos of the game on June 24 and July 28-30, and I assume that the game will become publicly discussable after the June 24 demo, which is next week.

now that the game is “out” he may spill some beans!

@The:

Counter type war games have been around since the dawn of commercial war gaming in the early fifties. Still a large contingent of war gamers play these style games. Doesn’t appear to be any blocks, just thick counters. Block games are different and add a level of fog of war to the mix.

Counter type wargames nearly killed the market for wargames, because playability (or diversity of presentation) was not the goal;  producing a large variety of very, very complex games very, very cheaply was the goal.    According to Avalon Hill (which indisputably carried the genre for decades)  Africa Korps, Age of Sails, Stalingrad, Civil war…pretty much any war themed game concept or genre can be handled the same method;  massive rows and bags and piles of tiny, anonymous delaminating chits, played on a boring, folded paper hexmap.

There were compelling games that could not have been done any other way or by anyone else at the time (Republic of Rome (1985)…well…New Angeles (2017) seems inspired by this one… Amoeba Wars??), these ASL style games have a massive learning curve, huge time commitment, extremely complex rules, and unlike most modern tabletop wargames, there is not much aesthetically interesting or engaging about the game board and pieces.    That’s where AxA came in.  Remember those ads on the back of comics in the 60s where you got 6000 army men for $20?  What if they made a game like that?  That was its niche.  Play with Army men but it comes with real rules, rules that you and your little brother can play by…

Axis and Allies continues to have a strong following at these events 30 years out, and I believe one of the reasons is that it was one of the first “3D army men” style games, which by the 1990s (Warhammer, Hordes, etc.) became the popular, internationally adopted format for TT wargaming and combat RPG games.

I attended Gencon last year and while there were dozens of custom and even one-off homebrewed wargames, hundreds of new euro-style games, I saw virtually no-one playing the classic Squad Leader style games.  Same D&D and Magic…Pathfinder Paizo and Fantasy Flight ate their lunch because they actually cater to their audience.

I’m glad that there are tons of new games coming out, and I’m not naysaying that.  Quite the contrary; there are really so many new games now, and so many good games, I’m not sure that I’m going to buy a game that appears inspired by the chitwars era.  Even if the game contains a substantially higher quality or variation of pieces, or deep and compelling rules and procedures covering logistics etc. just seeing a stack of 12 cardboard chits to represent the American war effort…isn’t compelling in my opinion, as a gamer of 30 years.

Who knows, it could be great.  Have many great games on my shelf that have yet to find a “local audience” lol.

Yea. German army 33 attacking with Italian army 140 against Soviet army 27. Naw I’ll pass if its like that. I prefer differentiation of unit types. I don’t like “Lazy Susan” style games. Id rather have a 60inch wide map, not a grotesque cartography because somebody figured it was innovative after seeing that other round map game that didn’t sell too well.

Larry should stick with the concepts that sold the games to start with.

This is good news for your The Great War game then, you wont be competing against Larry over the plastic piece junkies  :-)

Well lets keep an open mind anyway. Who knows it could be innovative, though these other two designers don’t understand what or how AA appeals to so many.

I think YG made some very astute observations toward the end of his last video.  Wizards may have abandoned the creator, thus the creator had to go somewhere else, do something slightly different, innovate and recreate.  Just a theory . . . .  I like to be sympathetic to the guy whose genius made a game, several in fact, that I very much enjoy.  BTW, I will miss the little army guys and will probably come up with some house rule to put them back in.

For anyone who did not receive the Nightingale Games bulletin:

Welcome!
This is the first WAR ROOM Bulletin.  Before the Kickstarter launches this Fall I plan to send bulletins about twice a month, or when something significant happens.  Please let me know at warroombulletin@gmail.com if you find errors in viewing this newsletter or browsing our website: http://www.nightingale-games.com

Help with the Hype Train!
We’ve been working on this game for around 4 years, and we are just this month going public.  Please help spread news of the game as we slowly get up to speed on our hype train.  There will be a boardgamegeek.com listing soon.

A word from the designer, Larry Harris:
“Board games are one of the most social forms of gaming out there.  People actually can see and talk to each other.  All through the development of WAR ROOM I envisioned thousands of basements and spare rooms all over the world being converted into imaginary World War II War Rooms.  The room is transformed into a place where like-minded folks gather and become – for an afternoon-- Generals commanding vast, historically-based armies, fleets and air armadas against each other.  If this theme is up your alley, than check out WAR ROOM.  We had you in mind.”

And now for a teaser bullet list of game features:
• Multiple scenarios based on # of players (eastern Front, War in Europe, Pacific War, and Global War)
• 7 Nations (USSR, UK, USA, China, Germany, Italy, Japan)
• 42" diameter round world map with polar view
• 10 unit types (4 naval,3 air, 3 land) formed in “Command Stacks”
• Simultaneous, secret movement and production orders
• Alliance discussions (where team members secretly discuss plans)
• 3 resource types required for unit production (oil, iron, and OSR - “other strategic resources”)
• Bid oil for Turn Order Rank
• After all movement, players choose a “Hot-spot” in turn order to resolve conflicts
• 2-stage battles: Air Battle then Surface Battle (land/sea)
• Choose unit type “Battle Stances” (for example: dogfight vs. strafe for fighter planes)
• Simultaneous (effectively) combat dice system with custom d12s
• Coastal and Trans-Ocean Convoy raiding
• Rail usage (and disruption)
• Strategic Bombing (affecting new unit production and infrastructure)
• “Civilian Goods” available to counter stress
• Track Medals, Stress, and Civilian Goods on the Morale Board
• As wartime stress compounds each nation faces dire penalties on the “Homeland Status Track”
• Trade resources with Neutrals (or invade and face resistance)
• Territory cards serve as resource income reference and are exchanged when lost
• “Contested Status” for territories cause reduced resource income
• “Port Advantage” (free naval unit repair)
• “Air Supremacy” (extra wild black die)
• “Force Advantage” (to encourage diverse surface forces)
• Soviet-Japanese Non-Aggression Pact
• and more…

Forthcoming WAR ROOM bulletins:
• Details about our experience as game developers.
• More images and details about the game.
• Voting!

Until next time!

Tom,

Nightingale Games LLC
warroombulletin@gmail.com
WAR ROOM Bulletin #1
6-20-2017

That reminds me a bit of “Hearts of Iron” - condensed to a board game. Interesting!

@P@nther:

That reminds me a bit of “Hearts of Iron” - condensed to a board game. Interesting!

Excellent! I’ve always wanted this :)  I must admit I am getting more excited about this game by the minute…

@crockett36:

Wizards may have abandoned the creator, thus the creator had to go somewhere else, do something slightly different, innovate and recreate.

It’s all speculation in a way, but I’m thinking Larry Harris may of felt the need for a fresh start or that AH/WOTC did not want to back this particular project…who knows but Larry and the game companies.

There are many designers who do work with and release through different companies. AH/WOTC may still have a good relationship with Larry…

One other thought of mine was that with it being put on Kickstarter, I wonder what kind of add-ons and or stretch goals may or may not be available. That may be a way for guys who want them to get their plastic dudes…

@The:

…
There are many designers who do work with and release through different companies. AH/WOTC may still have a good relationship with Larry…
…

Indeed they have, at least according to Larry.

@The:

One other thought of mine was that with it being put on Kickstarter, I wonder what kind of add-ons and or stretch goals may or may not be available. That may be a way for guys who want them to get their plastic dudes…

So what is kickstarter exactly?

@Private:

@The:

One other thought of mine was that with it being put on Kickstarter, I wonder what kind of add-ons and or stretch goals may or may not be available. That may be a way for guys who want them to get their plastic dudes…

So what is kickstarter exactly?

It’s a a sort of crowdfunding. See www.kickstarter.com

Thanks very much P@nther.

I personally am looking forwords to it. The plastic minis is something we can get around. Secret movements? Convoys? Railroads? This is everything  we ever wanted!!!

Ha. Somebody will figure out away to implement the plastic aa pieces. Me ? Ha  :?

Its the plastic miniatures that makes the game fun to play. With counters you may rather play a pc game. Would chess be fun with out figurines ?

Something tells me the “pieces” will end up as cardboard. The weight of any game that has “Italian army #140” Means 140 thick plastic tokens times 7 players. Shipping would be cost prohibitive, so enjoy round and stacks of cardboard chits.