Ludic Futurism
October 6, 2022 Leave a comment
Thanks to Emma Carter, there is now a VASSAL module available for play of District Commander: Kandahar!
https://vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:District_Commander_Kandahar
April 2, 2022 1 Comment
Fresh today – Alexander Klein of The Players Aid does an unboxing of District Commander modules Binh Dinh (Vietnam 1969) and Kandahar (Afghanistan 2009).
Just a look in the box, and comments on the components, but if you haven’t had a chance to see the inside of one of these, this is your chance.
I hope he and Grant will enjoy playing these! They did comment on how they found District Commander Maracas rather a challenge.
April 16, 2021 Leave a comment
Here and now: a FAQ-so-far, together with collected errata, clarifications and some comments on play on the DC system and the three modules released. Also posted to Boardgamegeek under the DC: Maracas module page and on the Free Games page.
Thanks to James Buckley for his help and editing! James has also written a longer, joined-up example of play for the Maracas module on Boardgamegeek.com for people who want a bit more demonstration on how to put missions together.
December 1, 2020 Leave a comment
Moe’s Game Table has a look at District Commander: Kandahar, the Afghanistan 2009/10 module of the series. He likes what he sees.
Thank you Moe!
October 15, 2020 Leave a comment
Armchair Dragoons does a decloaking of District Commander: Kandahar. You can get a pretty good look at the components.
They were sent a copy to review, and review it they shall… later.
Also, Kevin Sharp rips the shrink on his review copy of the game!
September 29, 2020 1 Comment
Starting today, District Commander Kandahar is on sale from Hollandspiele!
In fact, all three District Commander games are currently on sale.
Buy two and use the discount code “DCdiscount” at checkout will save an additional $5.
Buy all three modules and use “traingames” to save an extra $10.
I’ve made it, I’ve become a discount code!
I really like Tom’s ad copy for this one:
District Commander: Kandahar simulates the problems facing insurgent and counterinsurgent commanders in southern Afghanistan circa 2009-2010. This is not Brian Train’s first or even second game about this conflict, and you might be wondering, what does this one have to offer? We think that the District Commander system – with its emphasis on bluff and deception, scarce resources, and shifting operational goals – is an especially good fit for capturing the pace and nature of operations in Afghanistan.
Brian Train’s District Commander is a series of operational games on counterinsurgency situations. The players alternate activation of groups of units (stacks) to perform discrete operations (missions) through the expenditure of Task Points (TP). Some missions are Tactical Missions – straightforward military tasks such as performing patrols, ambushing or attacking enemy forces, or moving from one place to another – and these may be performed multiple times by a stack during a turn. Other missions emphasize the “non-tactical” end of the campaign, establishing friendly influence, control, and infrastructure in an area, reducing the enemy’s claim to the same, and recruiting or training troops. These missions take more time to perform and so unlike the tactical missions may be the only mission performed by the stack during the turn.
Missions are resolved by play of secretly-held Chance Chits, each with ratings that are better or worse for certain types of operations. Chits are played simultaneously and the ratings compared, modified by units, assets, and the current board state to determine the outcome. Using the right chit at the right time – knowing when to save a good chit for later and when to use it, and trying to determine if your opponent is going all-in or holding back – will require steely judgment in an atmosphere of doubt and deception.
All this is done in pursuit of objectives handed down to you by your superiors (i.e., chosen randomly) and kept secret from your opponent – objectives that may even change over the course of the game. Within this framework, the two sides – Government and Insurgent – play very differently, with the Insurgent player, in particular, depending on bluff and deception to achieve their goals. A large number of variant rules allow you to turn the game into a sandbox for exploring counterinsurgency doctrine and practice.
Now go have fun in the sandbox….
September 27, 2020 Leave a comment
Coming next week from Hollandspiele: District Commander: Kandahar, the third in a series of four volumes using the District Commander system.
Tom gives a quick introduction to some wrinkly and attractive parts of the system, and references the procedural videos he made last year to introduce District Commander: Maracas.
I hope you’ll give this one a look!
The fourth and final (so far) volume will be District Commander: ZNO, which takes place in Algeria 1959. It will be out some time next year but meanwhile you can get it for free print-and-play here.
Link: DC Maracas: Two Videos
Link to the Hollandspiele store: https://hollandspiele.com/collections/all
November 23, 2018 Leave a comment
Two unboxing, or rather unbagging videos of the OSS editions of Kandahar and Operation Whirlwind.
However, the poster is speaking in Romanian, a language I do not know. I presume it’s a positive impression!
March 31, 2018 Leave a comment
Grant Kleinheinz does an unboxing (technically unbagging) video of Kandahar from One Small Step Games.
Thank Grant! I hope you will enjoy the game.
2:02 Green Beret and a couple of other titles are “out of stock” right now because the publisher ran out of folio covers… so as soon as he has some more printed, these will be back in stock! Real Soon Now.
3:45 counters and map by Ania Ziolokowska! Very nice.
4:15 playable solitaire, no AI, though more fun with two certainly.
4:50 there is one enormous long (2 pages) example of play at the end of the booklet to show how it all works together.
8:06 That’s right!
9:20 Right again!
13:45: eight games of mine? You have a few to go before you can call yourself a true completist! B~)
June 16, 2017 4 Comments
On now through the 4th of July, get 20% off on all published items.
Amounts to five bucks off each of my folio designs with OSS.
Sale does not include items already on sale, pre-order games, or subscriptions… so Tupamaro is not eligible as it’s still in pre-order.
Use coupon code “SummerSale” at checkout.
brtrain 
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