GMT Bonanza and Random Thoughts

War Galley just arrived, and I've now been charged for For the People and Barbarossa to Berlin. Time to break out the comforable chair, caffeinated beverages, and concentration-oriented mood music as I get caught up on wargame rulebook reading! I still need to get Paths of Glory, Wilderness War, Wellington, and Sword of Rome on the table. Luckily, many of the core mechanics to these games are the same (with the exception of War Galley, of course). Napoleonic Wars is sitting at 499 orders on the P500 list, so I better subtract this cost off my hobby budget now...

My excitement is a little muted by the outcrys I'm seeing from grognards about the way GMT's new printer is cutting the paper maps rather than folding them. Thus, you have to line up the various pieces under your plastic overlay rather than just unfolding them as a single sheet. Apparently, the above three games were all victims of this new supplier before GMT stepped in and corrected them. Hopefully it's not as bad as some say. With this hobby, I've come to understand it's necessary to overlook a wart or two from time to time (e.g., horses pieces produced in four shades of brown in Winner's Circle). I'm still waiting for a reply from Eagle Games on my mangled RR Tycoon block...

War Galley looks like a lot of fun if you have an interest in massive trireme battles of the ancient era. I didn't realize until now that the game is the older sister to the recent Flying Colors game. There's now early talk of doing a samurai-era naval battle game using the same system. The GMT Great Battles of History (GBoH) series of games by GMT, of which War Galley is volume 7, seems to be more simulation than game, but War Galley is billed as a simple and fun addition to the series. If you're interested in checking it out, just let me know.