Oldie but Goodie, Warts & All

 "Intruder" by Task Force Games. 

 

What's happening is I'm starting to rough up some new game materials. Part of the process will be playing through some solitaire games because I think that's what I'm planning to design, that is, a solitaire game or two. 

First up is "Intruder" from Task Force Games. I did a single play recently, but I've probably played this 7 or 8 times before over the course of a few years. Once or twice was played as a cooperative effort. In my humble opinion, it's an oldie but goodie, warts and all. 

To clarify, I'm not reviewing the game here or providing any detailed background on it. You can google that stuff. What I am doing is sort of logging my general impressions of the game, so here goes:

Intruder came out in 1980, long before Aliens or anything remotely resembling a franchise. Back when it was just Alien. In the game, the ship is called the "Prometheus" and there's an alternate scenario in this game that involves marines returning to the Prometheus knowing it's completely overrun with "intruders." Again, this came out in '80, a full 6 years before Aliens. But no one agrees with me when I try to convince them that this game influenced the course of the Alien story.

For me, one of the most striking characteristics of  this game is that's it's pretty easy to win, making it distinct from most solitaire games of this type that are usually difficult games in order to keep players engaged and enhance replayability. That said, I like winning. Most people do, if they're honest, and so for me that's actually a positive. In playing this, you usually win unless you get on a horrible roll streak or are completely out of touch with how to approach the situation.

This particular recent play in brief:
Engineers wasted a couple turns making useless prods. We did manage to cage and stow away a number of the roaming lab animals in the Lab. Science officers did some Inventorying leaving us with two blips left. We ganged up on them, cornered them and one of the COs took out the xeno (Stage 3, fast, strong, and immune to cold and vaccum) with a blaster. A good time was had by all. And no Panics.

Won with the +7 score.

The only real issues with the game as originally presented are the disorganized rulebook, the glowing orange Intruder counters and the compartments are just too small for all the counter shuffling required.

 
The rules are all there (sometimes only implicilty, though) and it's pretty simple so a thorough reading and play through solves the rulebook issue for the most part. (except "Cages go in the Lab!")

I have a method of using other pieces for the face down counters so I don't use the glowing neon intruder counters on the Prometheus map.

But honestly, they could have used the same size map, kept all the charts there and still increased the areas of the compartments. 

And the Prometheus map itself should have been darker overall for several obvious reasons. 

As for the game being too easy to win, the rules are simple enough that you'll have no problem making the game harder without disrupting the "system" such as it is. For example; start out the xenos at stage 4 or 5. Or make everything Fast or...

Also, I know there's at least one newer improved version of this game out there and that's great.

I still like this one, though. 

Mostly because I like actually winning a game once in a while!

Hellwig's Conquest: A Tactical Game based on Chess Rulebook now Available.

 

This book now available on Etsy and ebay. Or direct from me.

Letter-sized, perfect bound, w/ color plates, 144 pages, $25 + shipping.

ISBN: 978-0-9822892-5-9

Hellwig's Conquest rulebook on ebay

Hellwig's Conquest rulebook on Etsy

Originally released in Germany in 1780 under the title Versuch eines aufs Schachspiel gebaueten taktischen Spiels von zwei und mehrern Personen zu spielen, this is probaby the oldest published set of modern wargame rules.

This book is a new English language translation of this classic set of groundbreaking game rules.

 

Hellwig's Conquest

What and why this book?

Hellwig's Conquest: A Tactical Game Based on Chess 

by Dr. Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig. 

A book translated from German by Nate Dray. 

ISBN: 978-0-9822892-5-9

 

I just published this book, or Diluvian Enterprises did, and it's been almost impossible to explain this little project to people. It's either because it's an unusual thing to do or that I'm terrible at explaining things. Probably a bit of both.

But let me try again here...

If one digs into the origins of current conventions employed in the design and play of wargames at the club, or in the classroom, kitchen, drawing room, parlor, library, man cave or church basement, one inevitably runs into the name Dr. Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig. It’s my contention that the modern wargame as we know and recognize it today really originated with the publication of his book Versuch eines aufs Schachspiel gebaueten taktischen Spiels von zwei und mehrern Personen zu spielen in Leipzig in 1780. At the time, you could probably also pick up a copy around Christmas in Brunswick. Either way, it’s the first appearance of something, of a game, that concerns itself with and regulates with written rules the things we use today to model war operations and make games or simulations. Before Hellwig, wargames were just chess variants.

As soon as I learned that this game existed I wanted to play it or at least understand how it was played and so spent a good bit of time looking for an English version of the rules. I searched and searched but couldn’t find one anywhere. Failing that, I decided to start translating them for myself, realizing along the way that other people might want to read them too. I’ll admit, I thought that with all the new smart translating software out there now that this would be an easy project. I was very wrong.

The original book is not written in the German language as we know it today. This book was penned long before the formation of the modern German state and before anything like a standardized German language existed. It's archaic regional German and I think - I think - it's a South Marchian dialect, but I could be completely wrong. Old-fashioned terms and ideas abound in this document and the original was printed in a really funky Gutenbergy typeface that was already long out of fashion even in 1780. Concepts of organization and presentation are primitive as well. Tables, lists, charts and reference can be somewhat difficult to parse.

And players are expected to make or have made 900 playing pieces and the game boards themselves. Actually, players are expected to have them made by craftsman along with a specially made table with compartments for storing the pieces and extendable shelves for holding lamps at the four corners of this custom eight and half by five foot table made exclusively for this game. If you want to avoid the tiresome task of setting up the game for yourself, the rules tell you that a competent domestic servant can be taught to set it up for you given patient instruction.

But most importantly, this book, when first published, was a first for many things. Primarily, it’s a popular press wargame book with an honest attempt at making a realistic warfare simulation. Making a board game that deals with and models things like line of sight, terrain, artillery and supply was completely new, novel and unprecedented at the time of publication as far as I can tell.

 

Ordnance Finished

 The artillery and mortar pieces done and I'm hardcore editing the new book.

Not much to report, otherwise. Doing a project like this solo is a lot of fun...and a lot of work. No matter what, it always takes me longer than I think it will, so, anymore, I just have more of an 'it's done when it's done' attitude.  

"Wurkung des Geschußes"

 

Von der Artillerie

These are the beginning stages of ordnance pieces for the game made according to design instructions for an 18th century idea of cool-looking game pieces to represent cannon, mortars or howitzers. The tactics and ideas used in the game were state-of-the-art at the time of initial publication.

Schachspielfiguren zum Spielen

"Schachspiel Figuren" 

So this is all 212 pieces required painted. Not a single king piece in sight, though. Now working on the ordnance and other bits and boards. Printing proofs soon as well. Going a little slower than I anticipated, but I really hope to have everything pretty much some sort of done by...early October? hope that isn't too optimistic because I've been ADHDing really hard lately. 

 

'Versuch' Project Progress

"...Auftritte des kriegs sinnlich zu machen."

A phrase that's difficult to render in contemporary English because it's neither contemporary nor English.
We're making progress, though. The text is being cleaned up, the tables and charts are coming along and the demonstration game setup is slowly but surely taking shape.