While we’re on the subject, I wanted to point out a very interesting recent essay on the Pawnderings blog about the role of fiddliness, or detail, in war games. The author proposes that rather than reflecting a tradeoff between realism and playability, the question of how much detail to model differentiates between games focused on demonstrating commanders’ limited control over the battelfield, and games focused on providing players the opportunity to witness history.

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Little Rock, AK: Proposal made to overturn current law which states that you can’t be convicted for aggravated robbery while recovering a gambling debt. (source)

Tampa, FL: Fist and gunshot over $4 dispute in a dice game. (source)

Leicestershire, UK: Woman robs numerous elderly victims in order to feed her gambling habit. (source)

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A new version 3.1.0 of this software for person-to-person board games over the internet is available for free download. This update fixes a number of bugs, but also improves zooming, installation, and room management, and adds an Aide de Camp module importer.

For those not already familiar with the application, VASSAL is used mostly for war games, but it is by no means restricted to that genre. VASSAL excels at live over-the-internet play, however, it can also be used for ansynchronous situations (aka, PBEM). Playing a specific game requires the appropriate module. Hundreds are available.

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That’s the subject of two games shipping this week from GMT, both in fact covering the same time period. The Halls of Montezuma is a card-driven strategy game about the Mexican-American War, while Battles With the Gringos is a collection of four engagements for the Great Battles of the American Civil War series.

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