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Comment by Hermann Luttmann on February 6, 2009 at 1:54pm

Great news, Mark. You guys are really pumping out some fine products. I really think the key (at least from my point of view) is that your games are PLAYABLE. My days of reading 60-page rulebooks and menus of modifiers and rules exceptions are over. Playing a game in two hours with minimum rules lookups and table consultations is just damn refreshing. The games look great, "feel" right for modern warfare and come down to the wire almost every time. That equals a satisfying night of gaming and that's what gaming should be about. Keep up the good work!

Comment by Mark H. Walker on February 6, 2009 at 12:55pm

Yes, ATZ is coming along. B$B is in, Noville comes in 2/21 and HoB is at the printers. Right now the race is between ATZ and Ring of Hills to see which goes to the printers next... but White Star Rising is coming up fast on the outside.

Comment by Mark H. Walker on February 6, 2009 at 12:54pm

Yes, Hermann, that IS disturbing...well sorta...what movie were you thinking of seeing? I guess if I was taking Blood and Bridges to the movies, we would see Defiance.

Comment by Hermann Luttmann on February 6, 2009 at 12:21pm

Well, Mark, I was considering flowers and a movie for Valentine's Day. Now that is VERY disturbing! By the way, we're also looking forward to All Things Zombie for an occasional change of pace. I hope that's still coming along well - it looks like a blast.

Comment by Andy Brown on February 6, 2009 at 12:19pm

Sorry I meant I sent a message to "orders@locknloadgame.com" with my account number....

Comment by Mark H. Walker on February 6, 2009 at 11:49am

Hermann, I'm glad you like the way it looks. And that isn't creepy at all...I mean unless you buy it a bottle of wine or something. :-)

Andy...where are you, Great Britain?

Comment by Andy Brown on February 6, 2009 at 11:05am

I'm still waiting for my copy... :(

Comment by Hermann Luttmann on February 6, 2009 at 10:53am

I got Blood & Bridges Monday and I have to say it's one of the most physically attractive games (that sounds creepy) I've seen in a long time. The map board is thick and alot bigger than EG, the counters are really nice (though the colors don't exactly match the counters from the previous games) and I love the color rules and player aids. I haven't had a chance to play yet (probably this weekend) but the new rules look like alot of fun - especially the Battlefield Chaos chit. I'm always a fan of more Fog of War / Friction of War effects in wargames. I feel that they make the games more fun and realistic at the same time. Great addition to a great game system. Hopefully we'll have some battle reports soon.

Comment by Brian Blad on February 4, 2009 at 10:54am

Cross Posted from Mark's Blog

Blood and Bridges –A Publisher’s Review

As many of you know, the second complete game in the World at War series, World at War: Blood and Bridges is shipping. I wanted to take a couple of minutes to provide a capsule review so that you’ll know what to expect from the game.

For those of you unfamiliar with the World at War system, it is a platoon-level game depicting combat in the Third World War of 1985. Counters represent platoons of tanks and infantry and the special weapons they carry, such as anti-tank guided missiles. The units are activated by formation and chit pull. On average NATO formations represent companies and Soviet formations are most often battalions. NATO formation usually activate twice as frequently as their Russian counterparts. Combat is straight-forward. The attacker rolls a number of die indicated on the attacker’s counter. Each die that equals or exceeds the to-hit number listed on the counter hits the target. The defender then rolls defense die to negate hits. That, in a nut shell, is it.

Blood and Bridges is our most ambitious project. That doesn’t mean the biggest, but rather the spare-no-expensementiest (sic). There’s a thickly-mounted 22”x34” mounted map. How thick? Two millimeters, which equates to the same thickness as those nice Conflict of Heroes boards. For the first time, we have gone with a full-color rule book and player aid cards. Now I know what makes those Euro-games seem so easy to play. It’s amazing how much more accessible rules look in color. Rounding out the components are two counter sheets. High-gloss, approximately 40-point thick. That’s thicker than Band of Heroes counters, but slightly thinner than Dark July counters.

The rules are the rules. They are essentially the same as those that shipped with Eisenbach Gap. We have added air support, air cover, support weapons for tanks (T-80s and T-64 platoons can fire Snipers and Songsters), bridging equipment for the Soviets, and MLRS and jamming strikes. Additionally, the new Chaos table injects a variety of craziness into the mix, from fog and rain to airstrikes and shell shocked formations. These additions raise the total pages of rules from 10 in Eisenbach Gap to 16 in Blood and Bridges, but that number is slightly misleading for two reasons. Reason one, the layout in Blood and Bridges is an airy one, requiring more pages, and two, not all the rules need to be read to play a scenario.

On the other hand we have tried to make the game more accessible by graphically designating which support weapons are used with what units and also better defining mortars. Where appropriate, we’ve included FAQs into the rules. Keep in mind that I don’t consider readily located answers, or individual misinterpretations a frequently asked question. Hence, every question asked about the game doesn’t warrant an extra line of rules. We’ve also changed formation activation slightly. Now if a formation fails to activate, its owner won’t end the following turn until it does.
The game ships with 12 scenarios, and yes, they tell a story. Tom Clancy ain’t shaking in his boots, but there is a linear and logical procession to both the scenarios AND the Soviet’s march across the map. As a rule, these scenarios are bigger than those found in Eisenbach Gap, but some, such as A Kiss Goodbye, Separation, and First Contact, can be played in less than an hour. Many, however, involve numerous, large formations on both sides. It gives a real feel for the rapid carnage the war witnessed.

What’s not to like? Obviously, I think it’s a great effort. I’d prefer if the counters were a little less glossy. I like matte, but I think most folks will like these. There were some rules, such as tank night-fighting capability that were cut. I think it is important to keep players playing, and when there’s two much detail, it’s too much work to learn the rules. Still there might be some disappointed detail freaks. Overall, I think it’s one of our best games. We have opened six boxes and have yet to find a production mistake. I hope you all like it as much as we do.

Comment by Hermann Luttmann on January 17, 2009 at 12:01pm

Looking forward to Blood & Bridges next week. Is everything still on track for a Jan. 23rd shipment date? Also, anything in the works regarding a campaign or linked-scenario system? If not, we have some ideas brewing.

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