It is an irony that the more work I am doing on BFE and other gaming projects the less time I have to post updates. This has the effect of making it look like I am not doing much! In fact, there is a load of things happening behind the scenes. The ACW game is now developing fast and I have continued work on the book rules (as opposed to simply up-dating the play-sheets). This is very positive. We have been playing variations of this BFE-based game for many years, but it is far more stable now. It is amazing how long this process can take when you only play the period occasionally. Fortunately I have a group in Italy playing the game too and their initial feedback has been very useful.
BFE3 is in a hold pattern. Until the ACW game is done I am not sure how deeply BFE3 will be a revision or a tidy-up. There were definitely some things that I needed to add/rewrite for clarity. Things like the siege rules and large buildings sections had gaps that I have now filled. The basic game however didn't need much revision - just textual corrections and precision. We will see. Doing any of these projects "off the side of your desk" is not the best way to get things done. But play-testing is also a very slow process and I want to make sure my games are well tested before they go out there for consumption.
I have also designed an ancient to "renaissance" (early modern) grid-based game. This is going really well. The mechanics are, like most games, familiar, but conceptually it is very different from anything I have seen. The grid is such a wonderful simplification and cleans up so many vagaries in play. Now, I would not use a grid for many period or levels of play, but for large battles set in pre-modern wars I think it works really well. To the Strongest clearly shows what can be achieved with a grid but is a game that did not fly in my group. So I wrote my own.
Sorry for the lack of pictures. I know that the people who visit the blog seeing just text is a turn-off, but I wanted to get a new post up. Pictures will follow.
Chris, thanks for the update. I very much look forward to BF3 once it hits the stands (sorry, old reference to magazines and newspapers when they went to print and then were put out to be sold).
ReplyDeleteJust saw your comment! BFE3 has taken a new direction. Instead of a completely revised book I will be putting out campaign specific books. I shared some of my ideas with my play testers and they felt the game different enough not to be called BFE "3". So I will continue to support BFE 2 with a few clarifications and errata but the new games will be a bit of a change. I don't think the new games are all that different but run with the alternative "chartless" option that was in BFE 2.
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