ColumbiaGames.info

A review/tutorial of Richard III:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/468642

Interesting article in the UK Guardian.

Richard the Third is an epic two-player game that recreates the 15th century, bloody dynastic struggle between the royal houses of Lancaster and York for the throne of England. Will the mad-king Henry VI and his Queen Margaret keep the throne or will the Duke of York recover it for the Plantagenets. Also strutting across the game’s stage are Edward IV, Richard III, Henry VII, and Warwick, the notorious “Kingmaker”.

The object of play is to eliminate all five enemy heirs and/or win control of the powerful nobles of England. The Lancastrians start the game holding the throne, and the Yorkists are in exile ready to invade. Kingship can be won or lost several times during the game. Will Richard III emerge triumphant, or will he perish in battle as he did historically?

We are pleased to announce that Richard III is now available.

The rules are available for free download.

Click here to learn more…

Everyone is raving about the gameboard:

Click here to learn more…

This story is going around the internet. I found it interesting so I thought I’d post it here.

WWII Monopoly

Starting in 1941, an increasing number of British airmen found themselves as the involuntary guests of the Third Reich, and the Crown was casting about for ways and means to facilitate their escape. Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate  map, one showing not only where stuff was, but also showing the locations  of ’safe houses’ where a POW on-the-lam could go for food and shelter.

Paper maps had some real drawbacks — they make a lot of noise when you open and fold them, they wear out rapidly, and if they get wet, they turn into mush.

Someone in MI-5 (similar to America’s OSS ) got the idea of printing escape maps on silk.  It’s durable, can be scrunched-up into tiny wads, and unfolded as many times as needed, and makes no noise whatsoever.

At that time, there was only one manufacturer in Great Britainthat had perfected the technology of printing on silk, and that was John Waddington, Ltd. When approached by the government, the firm was only too happy to do its bit for the war effort.

By pure coincidence, Waddington was also the U.K. Licensee for the popular American board game, Monopoly. As it happened, ‘games and pastimes’ was a category of item qualified for insertion into ‘CARE packages’, dispatched by the International Red Cross to prisoners of war.

Under the strictest of secrecy, in a securely guarded and inaccessible old workshop on the grounds of Waddington’s, a group of sworn-to-secrecy employees began mass-producing escape maps, keyed to each region of Germanyor Italy where Allied POW camps were regional system).  When processed, these maps could be folded into such tiny dots that they would actually fit inside a Monopoly playing piece. As long as they were at it, the clever workmen at Waddington’s also managed to add:

1. A playing token, containing a small magnetic compass
2. A two-part metal file that could easily be screwed together
3. Useful amounts of genuine high-denomination German, Italian, and French currency, hidden within
the piles of  Monopoly money!

British and American air crews were advised, before taking off on their first mission, how to identify a ‘rigged’ Monopoly set — by means of a tiny red dot, one cleverly rigged to look like an ordinary printing glitch, located in the corner of the Free Parking square.

Of  the estimated 35,000 Allied POWS who successfully escaped, an estimated one-third were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly sets. Everyone who did so was sworn  to secrecy indefinitely, since the British Government might want to use this highly successful ruse in still another, future war. The story wasn’t de-classified until 2007, when the surviving craftsmen from Waddington’s, as well as the firm itself, were
finally honored in a public ceremony.

It’s always nice when you can play that ‘Get Out of Jail’ Free’ card!

Wizard Kings continues to be popular and many are saying the 2nd edition rules changes make a significantly better game. This thread on BoardgameGeek.com called Wizard Kings Rebooted explains why. Also visit the new Wizard Kings Wiki.

Some consideration is being given to a new Wizard Kings expansion with armies of Romans, Greeks, Celts, Persians and other ancient empires. Developer Ed Thilenius is working on the armies now:

I have created a series of “spells” for the clerics in the game. For example: An Egyptian Temple Priest (the Egyptian Cleric), pays 1 step to cause “Corruption” on his Roman opponent, if successful, the Roman loses up to half his income on the next turn (due to insider evil doings). I have each army with its own unique abilities. From poisoning, bribery, corruption, assassinations, Truces, Hornets, and even flaming pigs [a great counter to enemy Elephants].

Comments are encouraged on the Block Games Forum and also on the new Wizard King Wiki.

1.01 rules have been posted now.

Changes from 1.0 noted in red text.

http://www.columbiagames.com/cgi-bin/query/cfg/zoom.cfg?product_id=3041
_________________
Visit Columbia Games GamePlan and preorder upcoming wargames!

Rome vs. Rome is a new proposed game from Columbia Games by Designer Justin Thompson. Rome vs Rome brings the drama of the Roman Civil War to life. Players take control of the legions of Caesar or Pompey and fight to rule Rome as Emperor. There are two campaigns: “Crossing the Rubicon” in which Caesar faces Pompey, and “Augustus”, in which Caesar’s nephew Octavian battles with Marc Antony and Cleopatra. The map board depicts the major theatre of operations during the Roman Civil War 49BC-31BC. Visit our GamePlan preorder page and Pre-order now: http://www.columbiagames.com/cgi-bin/query/cfg/allgameplan-waritems.txt

These new labels for Quebec 1759 are for sale separately on the bits and pieces category of Wargames on Columbia Games website. 25 red and 25 blue blocks are also required.

The decoys have been replaced with 1 step detachments and there are leader blocks for Montcalm and Wolfe.

War of 1812 is an elegant strategy wargame depicting the Anglo-American struggle to control the Great Lakes and Canada. War of 1812 sets up in five minutes and plays in 1-2 hours. This classic game has been enjoyed by thousands of gamers for over 30 years. Unit types in this edition include artillery, cavalry, infantry, and navies. The map board is unchanged from previous editions. Read the rest of this entry »

Field of Daisies is an introductory adventure for HârnWorld. Although designed to be used with the HârnMaster rule system, it is generic enough for easy conversion for use with other rule systems and can easily fit into any medieval fantasy game setting. The adventure unfolds in the fief of Falkath, a small manor in northern Kaldor, a feudal kingdom in eastern Hârn. Falkath’s knightly lord, Sir Mayald Vobenor, is looking for able-bodied people to search for a missing child. Can the players find the boy or will they end up buried in a Field of Daisies?  http://www.columbiagames.com/cgi-bin/query/cfg/zoom.cfg?product_id=5951