The Endorsement: Worthington's Holiday Sale

 

This is my third Endorsement on A Fast Game, and my second involving Worthington Publishing. I don't intend to make this kind of promotion a regular feature, but this is time-sensitive given the particular subject.

Worthington is holding their annual Holiday Sale right now. early everything is marked down. but I would draw your attention to a couple of things in particular; 414BC: Siege of Syracuse (Worthington Publishing, 2022 - review here) and 1569: Siege of Malta (Worthington Publishing, 2022 - review here) - at time of writing - are down to twelve copies each at the Worthington warehouse, and they are each available for US$20.00. That's a ridiculous price for such tight, replayable, and fun games. And while shipping is never cheap to Australia (or elsewhere) from anywhere in the US is never cheap, Worthington manages to keep it reasonable; another $40.00 for one box, or $65.00 for both.

Designer: Dan Fournie. Solo game.

Designer: Maurice Suckling. Solo, but with a two-player option.

Worthington's online store is linked above. Lots of other publishers currently have sales at the moment as well, but I'm singling these guys out because I've dealt with Grant and Mike a lot over the years and they've always been really helpful and If solitaire siege games aren't your thing, there are discounts on nearly everything in the store. Do yourself a favour and check out the sale.

Note (November 21): 1565: Siege of Malta is now sold out. There are still some copies of 414BC: Siege of Syracuse, and there are a bunch of other games still available, with deep discounts on several Civil War Brigade series games and Band of Brothers sets (note that you need to have Screaming Eagles to use Texas Arrows; the others are all stand-alone). 

The Endorsement: Worthington’s Pacific Theatre

  

 

The Old School Wargames arm of Worthington Publishing currently has a Kickstarter campaign running for three games in the company’s Travel Games line. I’ve made no apologies for being a fan of Worthington’s output generally in the past; they generally produce really nicely put together games on the rules-lighter side, and that play in between one and three hours, which suits my personal gaming circumstances. Their travel games stick to Worthington’s lane, except they are smaller (about the size of a big pencil case), and tend to play out in a shorter time frame.

Full disclosure: I don’t own any of Worthington’s travel games, and I haven’t had the opportunity to try any out, either (I’ll come back to this). I haven’t promoted their Kickstarter campaigns in the past, but this is a special case. 

Task Force templates for Midway Solitaire. Photos are taken from the KS campaign page.

The current campaign offers three titles covering different aspects of the war in the Pacific; Midway Solitaire (a new title, not to be confused with the solitaire Battle of Midway game released in World at War magazine (Decision Games) in 2017 and repackaged as Midway Solitaire Deluxe in 2021),  a reprint of one of their first travel games, Pacific War 1942 (Worthington Publishing, 2024),and a refashioned Tarawa 1943 (Worthington Publishing, 2021). 

Anyone who has been reading A Fast Game from the start will know that Tarawa 1943 is one of my all-time favourite fast-playing solo games. It’s been out of print for a while, the Worthington folks are innovators, reimagining this classic block game as a small, travel-friendly game with a smaller footprint with cardstock components replacing the blocks, but maintaining the depth and intensity of the original game. 

The refashioned Tarawa 1943 map. Neoprene maps are available for all three games
as add-ons, if that's your thing.

Tarawa is the only one I can speak to personally. There is a wealth of content available on YouTube regarding Pacific War 1942 – a quick search brought up play-throughs by Zilla Blitz and the Player’s Aid, as well as a short review by Grant from TPA. But I can wholeheartedly endorse Tarawa 1943. 

You don’t have to buy all three games – there are options for backing just one or two if you prefer, though shipping overseas favours multiple purchases. At time of posting there is about sixteen days remaining on the campaign, so check it out.

The Endorsement: Gallipoli: Ordered to Die (Kickstarter campaign)

 

Proposed cover art

Okay, this is a first for A Fast Game, but I'm going to take a bold step into new territory here and give my personal endorsement for a game that has just begun it's campaign on Kickstarter. This is something I can't see myself doing often - I don't like to tell people how they should spend their money, but this something I feel like I can get behind with a clear conscience.

Gallipoli: Ordered to Die (The Dietz Foundation, ~2025) is the game in question. Its designer, Clint Warren-Davey has been gaining some traction lately. His first published wargame - One Hour World War II (Worthington Publishing, 2024) is a nominee for the Best World War II game category in the Charles S. Roberts Awards (voting is still open at time of writing; go here and vote if you haven't already), and Legion Wargames will be shipping Mr Warren-Davey's second published game, Werwolf: Insurgency in Occupied Germany 1945-1948 (Legion Wargames, 2025), inside of the next couple of months. 

I'm boosting Gallipoli: Ordered to Die for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I have some familiarity with the game; about a year ago Mr Clinton-Davey was kind enough to send me the print-and-play files for the game when it was well through its playtesting stage. By the time I saw it, it was a mature game with solid rules. I confess I never got around to paper-crafting my own copy, so I haven't played the game, but I did go through the rules a couple of times and liked what I saw there. G:OtD promises to be a solid, robust, tense, and unforgiving game that nonetheless should be playable in an evening. A fast game and a good game. I feel comfortable recommending the game on this basis.

A picture of the game detail I lifted from the KS campaign page
(for illustrative purposes only)..

Secondly, I'm a fan of the Dietz Foundation and what they do. Jim Dietz set his company as a foundation run by himself, but under the scrutiny of a board of directors with the stated goals of educating people through games giving back to the community through scholarships and school outreach. In the seven years-or-so of the foundation's existence, it has released some seriously good games.

The final reasons are parochial and selfish, but - like it or not - Gallipoli is a part of international history that has a particular hold over the Australian psyche. There are, of course, other games on the subject (Kieran Oakley and Russell Lowke's Assault on Gallipoli (Hexasim, 2024) springs foremost to mind), but the subject warrants revisiting often through play and reflection.

Finally, at time of writing, the Gallipoli: Ordered to Die Kickstarter campaign has about 27 days to go; it is due to close at the weirdly specific time of 1:03am Adelaide time on Sunday, June 15. In the meantime, Jim Dietz is offering a special early-bird pledge level specifically for Australian supporters of US$45.00 (at current exchange rates, about A$72.00) shipping inclusive. This offer is limited, but as this post goes live, there are still about 120 slots open for local punters to back the campaign at this pledge level. And, if enough punters back the game 

I don't know Mr Warren-Davey - we've only communicated via email the once - and I have no skin in this particular game, so to speak. but I'd really like to see the project get up. It's a solid game and it deserves a wider audience. And if it gets some of a new generation of kids asking questions about the Gallipoli campaign and  engaging with or shared past, that would be a good result.

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