(or here’s a list of what launched yesterday that might deserve a closer look)

Project: Carrier Battle: Philippine Sea

Designer: Jon Southard (Carrier: The Southwest Pacific Campaign – 1942-1943, Fire Team, Tokyo Express: The Guadalcanal Naval Campaign – 1942)

Artist: Bruce Yearian (Blue Water Navy: The War at Sea, The Russian Campaign, The Third World War: Designer Signature Edition)

Publisher: Compass Games (Crusade and Revolution: The Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939; Enemy Action: Ardennes; The Russian Campaign)

Genre/Mechanisms: aviation / flight, dice rolling, hexagon grid, nautical, simulation, solo / solitaire game, wargame, world war II

Player Count: 1

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: heavy

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A solitaire simulation of the largest carrier battle in history, fought during the invasion of Saipan (June, 1944). As the U.S. commander, you maneuver your task forces and conduct air searches in a tension-packed contest to find the Japanese carriers before they locate and attack yours. Simple game mechanics control Japanese movement and determine the timing and strengths of their attacks. You will not know that a Japanese air strike is headed your way until it is detected by radar and you scramble your fighters to intercept. The game has a total of nine scenarios. Four learning scenarios take you through the rules by programmed instruction using slices of the real battle. The other five are full-scale, fully replayable games. These include one-day scenarios for each day of the action, a two-day scenario for the whole battle, a hypothetical scenario presuming different US plans, and a hypothetical scenario in which Midway was never fought and the Japanese come armed with the full Pearl Harbor striking force. Carrier Battle: Philippine Sea is based on Carrier: The Southwest Pacific Campaign – 1942-1943 (Victory Games, 1990) but is a new, standalone wargame.”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $70

All-In (w/shipping): $130

Campaign Ends: 11/12

Game Ships: Feb. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 586% with 11 days to go.

Project: Cruel Necessity Deluxe Edition

Designer: John Welch (Cruel Necessity: The English Civil Wars – 1640-1653, Keep up the Fire!: The Boxer Rebellion, Levée en Masse: The Wars of the French Revolution)

Artists: Tim Allen (Cruel Necessity: The English Civil Wars – 1640-1653, Dawn of the Zeds Second Edition, Zulu on the Ramparts!: The Battle of Rorke’s Drift – Second Edition), Vinh Ha (Cruel Necessity: The English Civil Wars – 1640-1653, Circus Train Second Edition, Dawn of the Zeds Second Edition)

Publisher: Old School Wargames (1944: Battle of the Bulge, Antietam 1862, Chancellorsville 1863)

Genre/Mechanisms: action points, campaign / battle card driven, civil war, dice rolling, english civil war, pike and shot, point to point movement, political, religious, renaissance, simulation, solo / solitaire game, tower defense, wargame

Player Count: 1

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

Summary: “A solitaire game simulating the military, political, and religious struggles of the English Civil Wars (1640-53). You attempt to stop the advance of four armies bent on destroying Parliament and Puritanism, whom you represent; simply holding on to London is not enough. There are civil wars going on not just in England, but in Scotland and Ireland too; and each will have varying impact on the play of the game at different times. You can also play Cruel Necessity cooperatively with a team of players working together and deciding how best to preserve and propagate the principles of the Enlightenment and Reformation. The title comes from the purported response to the beheading of King Charles by his implacable foe, Oliver Cromwell, who remarked that this act of regicide was a ‘Cruel Necessity.'”

Base Pledge (w/shipping): $77

All-In (w/shipping): $77, same as above

Campaign Ends: 11/12

Game Ships: Aug. 2023

Funding Status: Funded; currently at 1,451% with 12 days to go.