Assuming I pull my finger out, and don’t encounter any insoluble problems during testing, this year’s play-by-comment CM session will commence next Tuesday. Currently, it’s looking like there will be slots for six players. Chances are, three of those slots will be reserved for airlifters – the generous readers whose subscriptions are all that stands between Tally-Ho Corner and instant extinction.
You have to admire the brutal honesty on show in the 25-minute post-mortem video embedded below the break. According to studio head, Griffin Johnson, Armchair History Interactive embarked on their first wargame without a clear plan and proceeded to make a string of classic beginner’s mistakes.
Using the following clues (the map above is purely decorative) in combination with Street View, work out my location.
What a pity there wasn’t a Battle Academy fan amongst the sixteen Bellecour École students who made Cut Off: Road to Dunkirk. The free two-level vertical slice is handsome, très friendly, and refreshingly Gallic, but absent morale and fairly insignificant terrain undermine its wargame aspirations.
This week’s handmade co-op puzzle won’t defox itself. If you’re a dab hand at quizzes, lateral thinking, and search engine sleuthing, why not help out.
Three things you probably already know about Iwo Jima. 1) It’s a small volcanic island 750 miles south of Tokyo. 2) In early 1945 it was the scene of a fierce and costly five-week battle between US and Japanese forces. 3) While cinematic recreations of said battle are often memorable and exciting, hexy interactive ones tend to be decidedly dull affairs.
Four things you possibly didn’t know about Hakodate. 1) It’s a port city on the island/prefecture of Hokkaido. 2) In 1934 it was devastated by a fire that killed 2166 people. 3) In 1976 a MiG-25 Foxbat piloted by Soviet defector Viktor Belenko landed at its main airport. 4) You can beetle through its streets in Tramcity Hakodate, a new £13 Early Access tram sim with old-fashioned graphics, great audio, decent physics, and unusually truthful traffic lights.
Seldom mentioned in reviews, main menu screens are, of course, the most important aspect of any game. I’m sure I’m not the only one who instantly uninstalls a new purchase if I don’t like the main menu artwork, then hunts down the person or persons responsible, and maims them using a thematically-appropriate weapon or tool.