(12-22-2017, 02:05 PM)JayTownsend Wrote: From a Game Designer’s standpoint/viewpoint!

 
I first began as a player of course but while playing Panzer Grenadier I wanted more scenarios, more topics. In the earlier years of Panzer Grenadier I would spend time mixing and matching components from the few games they had at the time, maybe 2001-2007 or something around that time period and just wanted more, so I started designing my own scenarios. I kept mentioning to Avalanche Press’s owner Mike Bennighof that I wanted this or that and he said why not write something for their Daily Content. So in 2008 I wrote my first published scenario call: Kiska Evacuation and it was a supplement for the Alaska’s War supplement and my designing bug was started.
 
Next followed a full supplement in 2011 called Nihon Silk with an odd topic I was interested in at the time but kind of cool and it brought real parachute drops into PG action, and Japanese paratroopers at that. I wrote the initial rules but John and Mike fixed them up a lot better. When AP finally published them with actual counters, I was very happy but with the earlier supplements in those days, they used too many game components: maps and counters from too many products but back then, they were far fewer.
 
My first boxed game followed, with Saipan 1944. I was and still am really proud on this game but like anything it’s not perfect but it brought about some new types of actions/scenarios, new types of counters and what I always wanted in PG, actual amphibious landings, with all types of vehicles. To this day, scenario One: Red Beach is still one of my favorites. It also brought into action Caves, which can be place in scenario setup, making play different each time, depending on setup. Naturally with Saipan I had to do Guam & Tinian, which became book supplement called the Marianas 1944 with counters and two more beautiful maps and is only playable with Saipan 1944. One of the more unique scenarios in this book/supplement is one from Guam 1941, called Out of no Where, with an actually Japanese amphibious landing.
 
After this, I thought my designing bug was starched but it came back with Mike suggesting the Korean War in PG, I thought maybe I would do just the first part but ended up writing well over 200 scenarios, for the whole Korean War, and called it the Korean War Project. The First game was called The Korean War: Pusan Perimeter with the South Koreans and Americans trying to hold back the North Korean tide led by and armored division, followed by a game called the Korean War: Counter-Attack, which also has a couple amphibious landing scenarios and actual paratrooper drop.  I am starting to see a theme here, as I liked adding those types of scenarios into the PG mix. Where else do you get to matchup M46 Patton Tanks against T34/85 Tanks! I am very pleased with both of those Korean War games.
 
Now comes the confusion! I kept designing games for Mike/AP but they have such a backload of products and pervious commitments that I doubt few of the rest of my designs see the light of day? Also many of my later designs were too large for AP to handle with their financial commitments I fear maybe over stretched but who knows, maybe Mike will prove me wrong? The next Korean War game I called Intervention which would have added the Chinese into the mix but Mike mentioned he wants to divided that into two games and add some scenarios himself. Also I submitted a game supplement called Allies to the Korean War, which was to follow the Intervention game, and add more nationalities.
 
While doing the Korean War, I was also designing the Philippine games. I first started messing around with the Philippines PG game back in early 2003-2004 but didn’t have enough experience I thought. But after doing a few games, I said why not and brought in back to life. I started with the Philippines 1941-42 and did 75 scenarios on it, and found the topic very interesting. The I followed this up, with doing my dream game, the Philippines 1944-45 and over 105 scenarios, it was kind of like the Panzer Blitz of the Pacific I always wanted as a kid, and included amphibious landings, paratrooper drops, including Japanese ones, which is totally cool in itself this late in the war and the whole Japanese 2nd Tank Division with some newer Japanese tank types and self-propelled guns, which spiced this Pacific war game up even more. But like anything, nothing goes as planned and Mike wanted the last games split up, so it is now the boxed game call Philippines 1945 Luzon and a game supplement called Leyte 1944.
 
I followed these up, with my other dream game, Sicily 1943. Originally I wrote 75 scenarios for this and was very happy with it but the counter mix was too much for AP and again the game had to be divided into Sicily 1943 (The American Sector) with an eventual supplement to add the British and Canadians. I finally got to write scenarios with German Tiger Tanks and it was started on in development at some point but got shelved, for any number of reasons, most likely APs backlog or financial reasons? Who knows, communications is very lacking.
 
Not learning my lesson and still having that itch back in the middle of 2016 I designed what is most likely my last PG game design, called the Greco-Italian War 1940-41. The subject is the most interesting subject I never knew about until I read up on it from both Greek and Italian sources. It has never been published in platoon level game like PG before, as everyone has played games with Germans invading Greece and Crete but very few know the bloody struggles on the Albanian/Greek border for almost 6 months. It offers a very cool history, many types of Infantry units on both sides, Cavalry, mountain guns, an Italian Armored Division to spice things up, three air forces and a wide variety of scenarios.
 
It would be a low cost game to produce, only four maps, the standard 352 counters and only 40 scenarios and only 3 Battle Games. I still think is might have a shot at getting published but I am not sure with AP’s business practices if any more of my games will ever get published or not!
 
I wrote my last three scenarios for Panzer Grenadier about two months ago, called the additional Canadian scenarios and are for the Maple Leaf Brigade supplement and two are historical and used in the Korean War: Counter-Attack game and one is a hypothetical cold-war pitting the Canadians against the East Germans. These can be found in PG-HQ or the BGG website. Over on BGG, they are found under the Maple Leaf Brigade attachments. These will be the last Panzer Grenadier scenarios I ever design/write! I will not be writing anymore Avalanche Press, Panzer Grenadier scenarios ever again!
 
I can’t explain how much time it takes to design a game. First there is the research, reading and more reading, not just about the battle but the units, the weapons, the formations, battle results. Then comes trying to make a counter spread-sheet with only 352 counters to fit into the scenarios, then comes rough drawings of the maps, so you can match scenarios up with conditions. Then comes writing the scenarios, which have to matchup with the counter mix and maps and have introductions and conclusions, which I found Mike always edits my wording into his style anyway. Then comes making good victory conditions even with unbalanced forces and fun to play to boot. Last comes a year of back and forth with the developers, art people, maps guy and so on. It wouldn’t surprise me if it took 400 hours per game.
 
I tried to make each scenario, as something I would like to play, interesting, fun and with some type of replay ability. I think overall most of my scenarios hit the mark but I know I dropped the ball on a few like Dust Clouds which was totally unbalanced. But I am only human, so one or two misfires out of hundred isn’t too bad. After playing well over 500 scenarios and even play testing many of the published and unpublished scenarios myself I have a pretty good idea what works and what doesn’t, even if it is to my style.
 
But at my current status, I am burnt out on designing and writing PG scenarios. Whether Mike/AP publishes the rest of my unpublished designs or not, is not in my hands anymore and I am not going to worry about it anymore. I want to go back to being a game player again, with so many PG scenarios I haven’t even attempted yet, I have a lot to enjoy. I will also play other game systems more offend, as I have a long list of things/games I want to play from other companies as well as my PG stock pile.
 
 
I went ahead and started designing games for Lock ‘N Load Publishing this year and have submitted four products, three games and one supplement for the Nations at War series.  Something that has interest me for a while, on topics I was interested in. I am looking forward to seeing these games and believe they will do well. Hopefully they will see the light of day soon and this company so far has been less frustrating to work with and more rewarding. But again, now that these products/games are finished, I am going to take a long break from designing games. I will still support my published and submitted unpublished games but I think I need to step back from designing and spend more time with family and actually playing games again, as well as my normal job. I might help out LnL a bit more, with products, as they have been fun to work with but I think I am a Retired Game Designer!

With that said, I want Mike & Avalanche Press to succeed and PG to live on and continue to grow! 
 
Thanks for the supporters and gamers who played my designs, keep on gaming!
 
Sincerely,
 
Jay Townsend

(12-23-2017, 08:23 AM)Hugmenot Wrote: I am helping Matt some, but just a fraction of previous years.