Slitherine

So I posted on my Blog my commentary about some of the games features and about The Big Announcement.

Just keep in mind before you read I have 2 opposing viewpoints on 2 features of the game.

http://the-strategy-wargamer.tumblr.com ... st-the-big

http://the-strategy-wargamer.tumblr.com ... le-hangout

Some interesting arguments.

I actually don't see why SS shouldn't have a dabble into the physical wargames market. I don't agree that it's dying, I think there will always be a market and both can live alongside each other.

The hardest part to game development is coming up with a good system. If it becomes a tried and true system there's no reason why you shouldn't attempt to roll that out on as many platforms as possible as long as you deem each to be financially beneficial.

I don't have an issue with representing troop strength in terms of points rather than men. There's going to be a lot of abstractions in any wargame. This might sound strange but I find strength points more tangible. I haven't got a clue how powerful 3,285 men are but when that's translated into 3 strength points (based on their training, weapon type, morale level, etc) when the maximum might be 5 for a brigade I have a terms of reference.

Having said that I did take slight issue with the concept of the morale range being -3 to +3. Seven levels of morale? Is that really necessary? I'll admit I grew up during an era where American Civil War morale was represented by Green, Trained, Veteran and Crack. I have a concern that with 7 levels from -3 to +3 they just become numbers and you lose the flavour of what that brigade really was.

As a clarification: Shenandoah isn't going into physical boardgames. We're passing the design to Clash of Arms, whose business is board game production and distribution.

We see this as a win for everyone: CoA gets a proven design with known sales in advance, Kickstarter supporters who want a physical game get top-rank production values, better than we can deliver in house, and Shenandoah isn't distracted from iOS development by fussing with physical production.