SKU: 52623740286

Wargames According to Mark

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Wargames According to MarkI am delighted to write a second foreword to Mark Herman's book, even if I'm playing the proverbial second fiddle to Jim Dunnigan, who mentored Mark at Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) and played a huge role in sucking me into the Wargaming hobby and, ultimately, the wacky world of professional Wargaming. Although I knew of Mark from those early SPI days, I did not have the pleasure of meeting him until a game convention (Avaloncon, if I remember

I am delighted to write a second foreword to Mark Herman's book, even if I'm playing the proverbial second fiddle to Jim Dunnigan, who mentored Mark at Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) and played a huge role in sucking me into the Wargaming hobby and, ultimately, the wacky world of professional Wargaming. Although I knew of Mark from those early SPI days, I did not have the pleasure of meeting him until a game convention (Avaloncon, if I remember correctly) back in the late 1980s. I was working on my own book about Wargaming and went to the con primarily to meet Mark and ask him if I could set up a time to interview him for my own research. His very gentlemanly agreement led to a long-term friendship and even a professional collaboration, on our game War in the China Sea, created for the Office of Net Assessment in the Pentagon.

Working on that game with Mark gave me a chance to see firsthand how he started the process of designing a game. It was much like a whirlwind. Butcher paper and marker pens; a sketch map and a buckets-of-dice combat system. Not quite mixing paint for Picasso, but as close as I ever came to such an experience.

This book can give you a taste of that experience. It is a no-holds-barred dive into the mind of a true wargame-design master. Mark does not claim to provide here any sort of "right way" to design an historical wargame; instead, he focuses on describing his own approach, philosophy, and thinking about how he designs historical wargames. And that is really the heart of the matter. Mark is an historian, first, and his games concentrate on presenting the historical narrative-not only the paths actually taken in reality but also (and more importantly) the "envelope" of paths that could have been taken.

In the process, he discusses his views about the core ideas needed to translate that historical envelope into a game system that offers its players agency in the context of their simulated roles. Look at the table of contents. He starts with a brief description of his early background in the Wargaming business. Then he quickly presents a series of chapters ranging from how he uses "smoke and mirrors" (design tricks) to distill history into a playable representation of the key options facing historical commanders and presenting those options for players to decide among them, to the core elements in the toolbox, from the sequence of play to the adjudication of combat results. Throughout, he uses examples from his huge body of wargame designs to illustrate and illuminate his thinking.

If you are a fan of historical wargames-and especially of Mark's games-you will find, as I did, that these mini stories are fascinating glimpses into the workings of one of the most creative and prolific wargame design minds since Dunnigan himself. And one of the most thoughtful and insightful. His ideas will help you understand better not only his own games, but also all historical wargames. And I would be greatly surprised if they did not inspire you to think about how you might find some of his ideas useful in your own wargaming, either as a player or as a designer. As he says at the end of his introduction, "I hope this book contributes to the community knowledge on how designing a game can be accomplished." I think I can safely say that he achieved his goal.

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SKU: 52623740286

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4.8 ★★★★★
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ForTheLOVEofBooks
Draper, US
★★★★★ 4
Pretty Darn Good
Format: Kindle
So I’ve been on a omega kick and this definitely hit the spot. Madison was frustrating at times with how she acted towards Lucas, Gray, and Rian. It was like she said towards the end, she didn’t believe she deserved nice things. It would have been nice to hear from her best friends again. They kind of were there in the beginning and the gone except for mention of text messages received from them. I feel like her friends would have been great help in encouraging Madison to go with the pack and never give Brent another chance because he was toxic. I loved Rian. His personality was awesome. His humor. His ability to make Madison comfortable whenever she was feeling overwhelmed. And the fact he fell for her and she fell for him first. They are cute together. I do feel like Lucas was the odd man out though. Like Lucas didn’t develop as much of a relationship with Madison. I would have really liked to see more development in the relationship between them. It was also the same with him and Rian. There is really no relationship displayed. Most of the relationship being displayed is between Rian and Gray. Nevertheless, I loved reading about the dynamic that came to fruition during the entirety of this story. Madison finally got her happiness. And Brent finally got punched in the face. Everyone got exactly what they deserve.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2022
E
Verified Purchase
ediebegonia
Lowell, US
★★★★★ 3
Pack's Promise was okay but not great
Format: Kindle
Pack's Promise was okay but not great. I won't recommend it to anyone that I know. PRO: * Very likable characters * Lots of steamy scenes that are written very well * The spelling and grammar are good * The punctuation is good with the exception of using hyphens instead of commas. Lots of hyphens. Lots and lots of hyphens. CON: * Almost no interactions with any characters outside of Madison and the pack * Nearly no plot. They meet, get together for a heat, agree to make it permanent, done * Quite a few typos such as extraneous words, missing words and words out of order THINGS TO KNOW: * More steamy scenes than storytelling * A lot of MM & MMM, some MFMM during heat
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Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2023
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LJM
Battle Creek, US
★★★★★ 5
such a good read
Format: Kindle
Madison, Lucas, Grey and Rian were made for each other!!! First time reading from this author and I’m not disappointed!!! Absolutely love the Love in this book and couldn’t ask for a better OV!
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Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2023
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Beccaroo
Whiting, US
★★★★★ 4
Fluffy and Nice Omegaverse
Format: Kindle
… this would have made 5 stars but for 2 reasons. A.) there were quite a few typos; misspelled words, missing quotations, “the his” mistakes, and various signs that maybe a proofread would do good. B.) the writing was quite textbook. Late blooming omega is struggling with her new self, finds a absurdly wealthy pack of alphas, every thing is almost insta-love but she resists, then decides to love herself and let everyone be happy. Rian was my favourite (obviously the author’s favourite too because he got the most page time) but I wish we could see more of his CEO side? He went to work maybe ONCE the entire time. Gray was supposed to be the “growly one” but he turned out to be puppy dog. Lucas was a genius brainiac doctor - but also super alpha with an aggressive hindbrain with a breeding k*nk?? And then there was no actual “breeding”?? Spice 3/5 - normally omegaverse books are super high on messy smut but this was tamer. Romance 3/5 - insta-love that was then resisted because of personal hangup’s Plot 2/5 - weird paced head hopping, showing the same scene from different POV’s that made me feel like it was 2 steps backward, 1 step forward. Humour 4/5 - there were a dozen lines that genuinely made me chuckle out loud Would have been five stars but the lack of proofreading and the predictable plot made me unable to get up to ADORED IT level - four stars is still and official ENJOYED IT, y’all. This isn’t a bad rating. The “Club Heat” has intriguing possibilities so I’m going to give the second one a shot.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2023
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SR
Boise, US
★★★★★ 5
Good start to a series
Format: Kindle
I delayed reading the series for reasons I don’t remember. But my TBR list is huge so I thought I’d take a shot of this and I was pleasantly surprised. I didn’t think the blurb about it was anything special. But it was a very good book. It took some interesting twists and turns. I am so glad the second book is already out. Because I would not have waited patiently. Very slow burn but good storyline. 🔥🔥/5
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Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2025

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