Panzer Corps, developed by Flashback Games and The Lordz Games Studio, was published by Slitherine in 2011. The game is a spiritual successor to the 90's classic, Panzer General, which set a strong benchmark for the "beer and pretzels" segment of the wargaming genre. Panzer Corps takes that strong, yet straight forward gameplay and polishes it even further. The result is a modern wargaming classic that can be enjoyed by novices and grognards alike.

In the years since its release, Panzer Corps has been expanded via numerous DLC to allow for playing a much more lengthy German campaign, campaigns focused on specific theaters, and campaigns giving the player control of the Allied forces. It has also spawned spiritual successors of its own, including Order of Battle: WW2 and the far more fantastical Warhammer 40k: Armageddon. In this review, I will take a look back at the original base game of Panzer Corps, and discuss what makes that core gameplay so attractive to so many players.

Panzer Corps gives the player the same task as many other World War II wargames: Take command of the forces of Nazi Germany and see if you can do better than your historical counterparts. Heavier wargames might then present you with a dizzying array of NATO counters, rows of menu buttons to decipher, and a tutorial which consists of telling you to go study the manual for a few days and come back. While there is certainly a space and many fans for those kinds of games, they aren't for everyone, and even the most enthusiastic wargamer won't always be up for that kind of commitment. In steps Panzer Corps, which distills that heavy wargame experience down into its core elements, and presents them through an easy to use interface, where anything you need to do can be accomplished by one or two clicks of the mouse. In fact, a couple clicks is all you need to get your units moving and fighting. Gameplay within the scenarios consists of turn based battles on a hex grid. You move and attack with all of your units, and your opponent then does the same. Click on a unit and a graphic will pop up showing where that unit can move to. Mouse over a spot adjacent to an enemy and the combat odds will display, giving you a clear idea of whether attacking that foe with this unit would be a good idea. This well polished UI makes controlling the game a breeze, leaving you to focus on the tactics of the battle instead of fighting with the interface.

The UI makes movement choices easy to understand.

The Panzer Corps campaign consists of a series of linked scenarios, in which the player fights the highlight battles of WW2 in Europe. Success or failure to meet objectives in each scenario decides where the war goes next, or if it goes on at all. Win decisively, by completing more challenging optional objectives, and you can even alter the course of history. Victory is also rewarded in the form of "prestige" points, a key resource in the game. These points are used to replace losses, buy new units, or upgrade existing ones. As the same points are used for everything, the player must be wise in considering how to spend them.

The other key resources in the game are your units themselves. A "core" set of units are carried forward through the campaign and can gain experience and stat bonuses. They can also be upgraded with more advanced equipment as the war goes on. This is one of the primary appeals of Panzer Corps for me. This is a game where I get to decide what the mix of forces in my army will be, and where limited resources will be spent. The system also makes you feel more attached to your units by granting them medals and heroes over time, giving your veteran units far more character than they would have otherwise. Your veteran units can also become far more powerful than they were at the start of the game, as each star they gain at certain experience thresholds lets you give them an extra point of strength beyond the default of ten points. Losing one of these hardened units halfway through the campaign is a real one-two punch to the gut. Not only did you lose a unit that had been with you through many battles, but you have also lost a key component of your force that will be difficult to replace.

The wonderful tutorial campaign starts the game off on the right foot, presenting all of the previous concepts, and much more, over the course of a half-dozen scenarios linked together just like the real campaign. The tutorial starts off with a simple ground assault on a couple of towns, and then introduces every concept and unit type in the game across gradually more complex missions. You will get to try out bridging units, air combat, naval warfare, amphibious assaults, tanks, reconnaissance, and more. By the end of the campaign you will have a good handle on how the game works, and how to effectively use all the various unit types. This is a critical lesson to learn, as units like bridging crews and reconnaissance teams may not seem too exciting compared to buying more tanks or paratroopers, but in the right situation they can be vital to your success.

New unit types and upgrades become available throughout the campaign.

The tutorial campaign also gives you the chance to try out purchasing and upgrading units. Units you keep alive throughout the missions will be quite powerful by the end, having gained a star or two and a few stat bonuses. An additional wrinkle in this system will become apparent to the player as his units inevitably take some hits. Units begin with a "strength" level of ten, regardless of unit type. This level dictates both their ability to defend and to attack. A full strength unit can always take a couple of hits and deal out punishment in return, but a weakened unit may become helpless against even the unit type it is meant to counter. To get a unit back up to full strength, those losses must be replaced. The game gives you a few options in this regard. A unit can take on green recruits, which is cheaper mid-scenario, and free between scenarios, but reduces the experience level of the unit. To preserve that experience, elite replacements can be used instead, but these are more costly, especially if used during a scenario. So the decision will come up often, should I keep this unit at maximum experience, or save some prestige for other uses? Also, during a mission, you may have to decide whether keeping a unit in the fight is worth the extra cost, or if you can afford to send them back to base early. Playing the game well, will of course alleviate much of the tension here, take few losses while completing your objectives and you will have points to spare. That of course is easier said than done. There are also a few other ways to earn extra prestige. Control of every city on the map is usually not necessary for victory, but each one you take gives a little bonus. You can also get bonus prestige for forcing the surrender of enemy units by surrounding them, representing equipment and supplies captured from the enemy.

Once you have a firm understanding from playing the tutorial, it's time for the full campaign. The game offers several different starting dates for the main campaign. You can skip ahead to the epic battles of Barbarossa, or jump into the middle of the war with a 1943 start on either the Eastern or Western fronts. Of course, for the full experience, you will want to start with the invasion of Poland in 1939. This full campaign will give you the chance to mold and grow your force from humble beginnings into an elite fighting machine. Do well enough, and you will change history with your armies, to the extent of even invading England and the United States.

All of the elements discussed before are present in the full campaign, only bigger and more complex. The scenarios pit your forces against difficult terrain and aggressive foes. Units like mountain troops and bridging units can be critical in overcoming these obstacles and outflanking the enemy, while in other missions they may completely superfluous. This highlights the necessity of building a robust fighting force to help you face each new challenge. Dropping all of your prestige into tanks won't get you very far when you need to take three or four cities in a row defended by AT guns and dug-in infantry. Rest assured, you will get the chance to let your big cats off the leash in wide open terrain where they can pounce on anything and everything. 

While some of the missions are designed in such a way that the player can try different strategies and be successful, many can feel more like a puzzle that needs to be solved. Especially since every scenario is limited by time, and getting a "decisive" victory often requires completing the scenario even faster. Since the scenarios always start the same, it becomes easy to have a try at a scenario, then start over with better knowledge of the enemy positions. You might send some paratrooper planes on a daring raid behind enemy lines, only to discover a fortress watching over your intended landing zones. Do you waste precious turns slogging it out, or reload and land your men on the other side of the city? The answer is easy if you want the best outcome. Simply put, having a trial run at a mission and then starting over will always give you a more efficient result, which translates into more prestige, which means you can buy better toys for the next mission. Playing through without any save scumming could lead to frustration for many players. Taking too many losses means you can't afford to upgrade you tanks or purchase a new fighter squadron. It might also mean that you can't afford to keep your units topped up with elite replacements, eroding away at their experience and leaving you with a weaker force as scenarios become more difficult.  This is really my only major complaint with the game, but it doesn't take away from the fact that picking apart these puzzle-like situations is FUN. Where on your first try at a scenario you may fail abysmally, the next time around, armed with just a bit of extra intel, you are able to find the chink in the enemy defenses and tear them apart. Knocking out one enemy unit after the other, while minimizing casualties among your own forces, can be wonderfully satisfying. You will feel like a master commander as you hit the enemy with just the right combo of units moving and attacking in concert.

Panzer Corps is no graphical feast for the eyes, but the solid gameplay is what matters.

Graphically, the game is not going to blow anyone away. The 2D map and unit models are mostly static, other than some adequate attack effects. That doesn't mean to say the game is ugly though. The maps can be nice to look at, and, most importantly, clearly convey the different types of terrain in each hex, which is critical for planning strategy. The unit models are all nicely done as well, and there are hundreds of them, representing just about every tank, plane, and other vehicle you would expect to find in the setting.

The game's sound is also well done, with strong explosions and angry blasts of machine gun fire accompanying every attack. You will, however, hear the exact same effects hundreds of times over the course of the game. The music is also nicely done and fitting for the game, though I couldn't say that any distinct tracks stick out in my mind after closing the game.  At no point when playing the game did I run into any kind of bug or glitch, no crashes or corrupted saves. This game was clearly polished to perfection in that regard.

Panzer Corps has some serious legs if you want to keep playing after finishing the campaign. There are several DLC on offer, including a much, much longer Grand Campaign for the Germans, campaigns for the Soviets and Western Allies, and a campaign focused exclusively on North Africa. There are also user made mods and scenarios if that isn't enough for you. Not to mention online play against human opponents using Slitherine's excellent PBEM++ system.

In summary, I will reiterate what I think is the heart and soul of this game: Mixing strategy gameplay that is simple and easy to understand (while retaining some depth) with a light RPG-esque system of building your own custom army that evolves and grows based on your leadership.  This system gives the player agency over their units, and then tasks them with putting that army to good use in the field. Smart decisions on one side of the coin gives rewards on the other, and the same is true for poor decisions. I would heartily recommend this game to anyone wanting to dip their toe into the wargaming waters, or to any hardened wargamers who want something that is fun to just dive into and play.

Dunkirk Movie Trailer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Introduction

Regular readers will be aware by now of our new team member Marc whose Bio is published in the GHQ section (hello Marc), however we also have two other talented chaps who have joined the AWNT ranks. First is Joe who will help out with PC game reviews mainly during busier periods and next is Mike who will be our main man over at the Model making section. The aim is to grow this section of the website and hopefully be able to review model kits sometime in the future...fingers crossed. Bio's for all members will be published ASAP on the GHQ page!

So I'd like to say a big hello to you all and I'm sure the website will be much better for all your future contributions!

It's good to see the page growing, the busier we are and the more articles we publish the better it is for our readership and for future growth. However we wont go for quantity over quality:)

Any suggestions from our readers are more than welcome. We want this website to be one of your must check pages when you log onto the net! So we are totally open to your ideas and suggestions on how we can grow the page and make it a first class website! Please use Contact Us over on top right.

2016: AWNT Year in review

Jason Rimmer

Top Five Games

1. Wings Over Flanders Fields UE

2. Combat Mission: Final Blitzkrieg

3. Graviteam Tactics: Muis Front

4. Warfighter WW2 by DVG Games

5. Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa with latest patch

 

My book of the year

Iron Cross Brigade by C Bauermeister and Jason Mark (eds.) 

 

Worthy of mention..

'Till Trumpets Sound Again Vol 1 and Vol 2 by R Nicol

This year I discovered and fell in love with military LEGO and was extremely impressed with Thomas Gunns miniatures. I also made some great new friends running this blog!

Also my top five are in no particular order:)

Looking forward to next year, we already have lots of  new games lined up for review when released and I hope the blog continues to grow:)

Happy New Year to you all!


Robert Peterson

Top Five Games

 Old School Tactical (Flying Pig Games)

 Decisive Campaigns Barbarossa (Matrix/Slitherine)

 Panzer Battles Kursk/Normandy (Wargame Design Studio)

 Gary Grigsby's War in the West (Matrix/Slitherine)

 Thirty Years War (Ageod)

My book of the year

 Sulla (by Lynda Telford)

 Operation Barbarossa 

Worthy of mention..

 I was extremely lucky this year in that it was very hard to pick between the games and books I played and read this year. Thank you Jason, and all of our readers for making this a splendid year. 

 

 

Mike Wall 

Top Five Games

Scythe designer Jamey Stegmaier [pub. Stonemaier Games]

Hands In The Sea designer Daniel Berger [pub. Knight Works]

Mare Nostrum:Empires designer Serge Laget [pub Academy Games]

Deadzone 2nd Ed. designer Jale Thornton [pub. Mantic Games]

Terraforming Mars designer Jacob Fryxelius [pub. FryxGames]

My book of the year
 
Operation Sealion by Leo McKinstry

[Rather Be The Devil by Ian Rankin - if we're stepping outside war.]

Worthy of mention..

Fief 1429 [if only it had been published a year later!]

Brilliant year for what's been published and starting to review for AWNT.  One great game after another.  Wading my way through piles of crime fiction too and seeing Ian Rankin talking about his latest Rebus novel!

Have a great Christmas and keep your eyes peeled for lots more games and lots more reviews in the New Year!




Marc Hanna

Top Five Games

Europa Universalis IV (Paradox Interactive)

Panzer Corps Gold (publisher - Slitherine)

Axis Empires / Dai Senso board game (update playtest ongoing) - Decision Games

Advanced Squad Leader board game series (new modules 2016) - MMP and other third party publishers

Drive on Moscow  (Shenandoah Studios) -- reviewed

My book of the year

Hitler's Arctic War: The German Campaigns in Norway, Finland and the USSR 1940-1945 by Chris Mann and Christer Jorgensen -- review pending.

Worthy of mention..


PC game: Tigers on the Hunt (publisher Matrix Games) -- review pending.

Board game: Runewars (publisher FFG). Simply one of the best game designs of the Century.

Book: 21 Days in Normandy: Maj. Gen. George Kitching and the 4th Canadian Armoured Division by Angelo Caravaggio -- review pending.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Joe Beard

Top Five Games

1. Squad

2. Falling Sky: The Gallic Revolt Against Caeser

3. Total War: Warhammer

4. Order of Battle:WW2

5. Overwatch

My book of the year

Way of Kings by B Sanderson

Worthy of mention..


Command Modern Air\Naval Operations. For the continued support and dvelopment of the game, and the dozens of community created scenarios. I only wish I had time to play them all.

My 2016 was relatively light on wargaming, as my wife and I had our first child in March. Finding the time and mental energy to delve into a monster wargame just wasn't there for much of the year. As the free time in my schedule has become more predictable recently, I plan to get back deeper into wargames in 2017.

Merry Christmas to all, may you have a wonderful end to the year.

Editors Note: Please excuse the grey and black text when it should be all black. Blogger can be a real pain at times, when we look at this article in blogger to edit it it all looks black! See you all next year!

Panzer Battles Kursk Southern Flank

By

Wargame Design Studio 

  As I am typing, I am playing the Prokhorovka Finale July 12th scenario. The only thing that is missing is the smell of cordite. The artillery, rocket, and other battleground noise is slightly deafening, and this is with the sound turned low. Visually and audibly stunning, let's see how the rest of the game has turned out.

 This is a review of 'Panzer Battles Kursk Southern Flank' with the new 1.02 patch installed. I will post the 1.02 update changes at the bottom of the review. A game about Kursk has some big shoes to fill. Arguably one of the most important battles of WWII, even if not really the largest tank battle, its place in the history of WWII is gigantic, just like the eastern front it was fought on. It had all of the makings of an epic clash: the immovable object pitted against the irresistible force. In the beginning, it was the Russians that were the immovable object. On July 12th at Prokhorovka, the tide had turned and the Soviet Fifth Guards Tank Army army was trying to blast the three SS panzer grenadier divisions off the map. 

 The scale of the new 'Panzer Battles' series is 1 hex equals 250 meters. The master map covers 102,000 hexes covering all of the action  on the southern front of the battle of Kursk. The order of battle includes over 15,800  units from this list:
Wehrmacht
SS
Luftwaffe
Red Army
Red Guards

 Just like 'Panzer Battles Normandy', Kursk comes with unit component, order of battle, and scenario editors. To let you tinker to your hearts content. The maps can be "chopped" into smaller segments for making custom scenarios.

 There are 60 scenarios to choose from. They range from 5 to 38 turns in length.

• July 4th; XXXXVIII Panzer Korp's preliminary attacks – 2 scenarios
• July 5th; II SS Panzer Korp's – 4 scenarios
• July 5th; III Panzer Korp – 4 scenarios
• July 5th; XXXXVIII Panzer Korp – 6 scenarios
• July 6th; II SS Panzer Korp – 7 scenarios
• July 7th; III Panzer Korp – 6 scenarios
• July 7th; XXXXVIII Panzer Korp – 1 scenarios
• July 8th; Voronezh Front – 9 scenarios
• July 9th; XXXXVIII Panzer Korp – 7 scenarios
• July 10th; II SS Panzer Korp – 6 scenarios
• July 11th; II SS Panzer Korp – 4 scenarios
• July 12th; Voronezh & Steppe Fronts – 4 scenarios 

 Almost half of the scenarios are 15 turns or less, and are meant to be playable in roughly one hour. There are some scenarios that are especially made for head-to-head gaming, but we solo players have not been forgotten. Other scenarios are meant for playing against the AI. The modes of play available are:

Against the AI
Play by email (PBEM)
Lan and internet live
Two player hotseat

The game comes  with copious amounts of documentation. Here are a few examples:

• Designer Notes (PDF file)
• Planning Maps (PDF file)
• Getting Started (PDF file)
• User Manual (PDF file)
• Summer Map (JPG file)
• Summer Map with Units (JPG file)
• Visual Order of Battle Guide (PDF File)  

 The laundry list of updates and improvements just keep getting longer. As of now, 'Panzer Battles Kursk' is at version 1.02. There is no reason to assume that Wargame Design Studio won't continue with the practice of John Tiller Software, and keep releasing updates, etc. John Tiller games are still updating some of their games from fifteen years ago. I know for a fact that play testing is a long and nit picking process, and that no matter how many scenarios one of their games comes with, all of the scenarios are tested before the game ends up on your computer.

 The game play, like all Tiller based games, is meant to provide the player with the most realistic battle situations, and command options available. This does make their games more mentally labor intensive than most. Like most cerebral games, the more you put into it the more you will get out of it. The scenarios with their smaller size, compared to 'Panzer Campaigns', are meant to be nail biters, and they succeed in this admirably. You cannot afford to leisurely play 'Panzer Battles', and decide to just go through the motions for this turn. The AI or your opponent will pounce on your mistakes and teach you a lesson very quickly. Playing as the Russian, you will need all of your powers and the strength of your units to stop the German juggernaut. A little good luck is also helpful. Playing as the Germans, you cannot afford to make any mistakes if you are to see the onion spires of Kursk.

 The 'Panzer Battles' games fill a void in the wargaming world. The scenarios included in both the games are either small enough to get in a game before dinner, or large enough to keep you occupied for much longer. Rarely do you find so many scenarios in a game now, and probably never of such diversity. These games, especially with their modding options, should be a big hit with the wargaming crowd. That would be excellent, because then they could afford to branch out into less known and more arcane battles of the period. Some battles have never had games about them, or very rarely. I see on the Wargame Design Studio website there is already a 'Panzer Battles 3' listed. There is also a write up about the creation of a Maleme scenario.

  I am going to button my hatch now and get back to the maelstrom that was the battle of Kursk. Happy holidays to all and I hope you have a great new year ahead of you. Please also look at my 'Panzer Battles Normandy' review.

 http://www.awargamersneedfulthings.co.uk/2016/07/john-tillers-panzer-battles-of-normandy.html



 Robert

Game: Panzer Battle's Kursk Southern Flank
Developer: Wargame Design Studio
Distributor: John Tiller Software
Date of Review: 12/5/16




These features include improved user interface, new terrain graphics and simplified folder structures. The full list of changes is below;

Kursk Patch 1.02 Changelog

Bug Fixes

• Adjusted reporting for air attacks
• Corrected hex stack reporting when a wreck is in the hex   
• Corrected a crash bug when the last man/gun/vehicle is destroyed by defensive fire
• Corrected a fog of war bug when right clicking
• Included a check that all off board artillery is not placed on the map.
• Any fixed unit that is fired on will now instantly un-fix
• Units could use a bridge while in travel mode to enter an obstacle and then exit the hex, rather than lose their whole movement allowance. This has been corrected and units will now lose all their movement points if they move into an obstacle hex
• Engineer units were in some cases isolated when in a minefield - this should no longer occur
• Engineer units will not clear a minefield in a turn that they recover from disruption
• Adjacent engineers no longer remove isolation for units in minefields
• Off map artillery was not firing during the defensive fire phase - this will now occur at the same frequency as on map artillery
• Engineers that attempt to damage a bridge or AT ditch will reveal themselves if currently concealed
• Units can no longer combine if in mismatched travel modes
• File mismatch due to different encryption setting during PBEM - fixed
• Campaign auto-advance on wrong password entry – fixed

 

Enhancements

• Newly implemented:  View > Map Elevations, View > Map Coordinates, View > Map Combat Modifiers.
• Optional Zoom to hotspot – Settings > Center Zoom on Hot Spot
• New parameter file entry - Fatigue factor. Used for scaling fatigue accumulation. Set at 2.0 for Normandy & Kursk. Will be 3.0 for future titles to match the fatigue calculations in Panzer Campaigns. 3.0 is the more appropriate value to use, but none of the Kursk & Normandy scenarios were tested with the higher value
• New on counter broken and disrupted markings - visible when stacked and unstacked.
• New Getting Started documentation, including Campaign Primer and Terrain & Combat tables
• Updated General Help guide with a revised layout and additional information.
• Updated User guide with a revised layout and additional information. All manuals are a work in progress and will continue to be rationalised over time.

 

Order of Battle

• Corrected Soviet 27 76mm Gun btty (hs) causing scenario crash

 

Graphics Changes

• New -small- terrain features. All files are under \Maps\ Terrain Small. Copy all the 8 files into the map directory and overwrite the existing. To revert to the graphics released in Patch 1.01, copy the files out of \Maps\ Terrain - Default directory back into the Map directory. To revert to the graphics released in the original game, copy the files out of \Maps\ Terrain - Original directory back into the Map directory
• New Cover art. Various versions available in the \Screen directory

 

Map Changes

• Alternate small map graphics included

 

User Interface Changes

• New Shortcut keys
• New Toolbar Icons in traditional and standard configuration. Small, Medium and Large versions also available for each.
• File/folder reorganization, with creation of the following new folders:  Data (.oob & .pdt files), Logs (.log files), Manuals (.pdf files), Saves (.bt? files), Scenarios (.scn, .map files etc.), Screens (various game .bmp files).
• New logging system (with various .log files in the new Logs folder), to assist in game testing, and identifying and fixing bugs.

Liaison 1914 by Edward Spears Review

 

 Those who know me or are regular readers will be well aware of my obsession with WWI. It goes without saying that I'm going to have a fairly extensive WWI book collection, though I've said it just in case:). Only a handful of those books I'd class as poor or were difficult to get through, on the other hand a good number of them I thoroughly enjoyed and I'd really struggle to make a list of my top ten without feeling I'd left out many books well worthy of a place in the list. Then we have those that wouldn't just be in my top ten WWI books but be in my non-fiction military history top ten list and, finally, a handful would be vying for a place in my all time favourite books ever, no matter the subject matter or genre. Carry on reading to see where I'd place Liaison 1914.

 

 

 The book is a fairly hefty tome at 469 pages and a further 119 pages of Appendices and Index. Altogether 589 pages to delve into (see, I can count and add up). The book is a narrative of the authors time in Belgium and France as liaison officer between the British and the French. At  the time Edward Spears was a young, highly literate lieutenant with the Royal Irish Hussars, but due to his fluency in French he was made liaison officer between Field Marshal Sir John French the British Expeditionary Force commander (BEF) and the French High Command. As you can imagine, he was in a fantastic position to understand what was going on at the time, most likely better than anyone else on the Entente side at that time. This means this book, his narrative of the retreat from ⚔ Mons, a retreat that could have wiped out the BEF before they even started, would\should make an engrossing read, a real page turner...and it does, with bells on! 

 

 All the major Entente players in France and Belgium make an appearance at some point to a greater or lesser degree. He manages to bring these men, with such immense responsibility on their shoulders, to life just as well as any great author. You can really get a grasp of their personalities, including both good points and their flaws. He also manages to convey to the reader the urgency and perilous nature of the circumstances he and the Entente as whole found themselves in at the time, not helped by the inherent  mistrust (remember until now France had always been the British natural enemy and it had been Prussians i.e Germans who had saved the day for us against the French 99 years previously at Waterloo) which at times broke out into anger between Sir John French and commander of the French armies, Joseph Joffre.  This obviously didn't help the situation and it was more luck, excellent low level leadership and bravery of the men at the frontline that managed to save the day and put the Entente into a position where they could strike back, which they did do with the famous battle of ⚔ The Marne and then the so called Race to the Sea, until both sides were worn out and dug in. Digging-in created the famous trench system that ran from the northern coast right down to Switzerland, though this is beyond the scope of the book which ends on September 14th.
 

 

 For me, this book in particular really brought to life those historic days and helped me understand not only what was going on during that near disastrous period of the War but also how it must have felt on the ground for those involved. When I read military history books, memoirs in particular, I always have a feeling I'm listening to ghosts from the past, many cut down during or not long after the events told, but in a small way still alive on the pages of the book, so they aren't forgotten.

 Edward Spears was one of the first British officers in France due to the nature of his role and, over the course of the War, he continued to serve as liaison officer. He had been wounded four times by the time the War ended and had earned a chest full of medals and awards, he managed to survive the War. I truly wish he'd written several volumes to cover his entire War experience, but sadly that's not going to happen. Before his death at the good age of 87 in January 1974 he had been interviewed for the BBC's famous and "must watch" 1964 documentary The Great War and so appeared several times over the course of that excellent documentary. He also appeared in one episode of the WWII documentary, A World at War, talking about his WWII experience. If you search the web you can find some of his Great War interview clips.

 

So at the start of this review I talked about the WWI books I've read and where this one would go with regards to my top ten list. Well I can't say what number it would be but I will say it's a definite for my all time top ten books of any genre! As for just WWI books, it easily deserves a place in my top five! Anyone with the slightest bit of interest in WWI must at some point read Liaison 1914. I'd even recommend it as a great read to those who haven't shown any interest in the War, though I reckon by the end of it this would be the first book of many they'll end up reading about the War:) Go out and treat yourself to a copy, or if you know of someone who can't decide what to get you for Xmas then look no further!

Thanks for your time. Until the next time have fun, oh nearly forgot, have a Happy Xmas and New Year!

A quick mention of a good companion read A Frenchman in Khaki by P Maze
  

Tigers Unleashed the TSS Series: News from behind the scenes!

The story starts many years ago when on the Gamesquad forums are heard a WW2 version of the highly complex but apparently bug ridden modern tactical wargame POA2.5 developed by HPS Sims. Though news of what appeared to be an uncommunicative and reclusive developer named Scott Hamilton didn't instill much confidence it was even being worked on. So, when in the autumn of 2012 Tigers Unleashed suddenly appeared on the scene available to purchase I was taken aback but in a good way.  As soon as I had the money I bought it, and then came the disappointment. Not only did it have it's fair share of bugs it just didn't play how I'd imagined it to, I didn't see the complexity and to be honest never gave it enough time before I was asking for a refund and removed the game. Refund was given no problem, however I soon started to regret this hasty decision....

 Over the next few days something was bugging me about it, so as I had no spare cash at this point I asked my Mum to buy the actual CD for me as a slightly early Christmas present, and I'm so glad I did (sadly this situation at a later date was used against me when someone decided I'd pirated the game and contacted Scott with this information. Thankfully at that time, unknown to many, I was already good friends with Scott). As soon as it came I reinstalled and decided to contact Scott about the issues  I had found and also my thoughts overall about the game. I could see by this point the immense potential this game had if it's problems could be fixed and features enhanced. Scotts reputation however made me feel I wouldn't get a response so when this lengthy yet very interesting reply came I was rather surprised.

 It quickly became apparent to me Scott really wanted and needed some committed people to help test the game and get involved in improving it and getting it to reach it's potential it also became apparent on how committed he was to the game. So from that moment onwards I haven't stopped helping Scott and the other long term team member Jeff in trying to get the game to reach it's amazing potential. It seemed all this time he was wanting people to get involved and help out, he wasn't some recluse who kept it all very secret. To show how much he had needed people to help test and give feedback was when after three months of testing he told me he had had more feedback from me in those three months than in all six years of previous development. Another major thing quickly became apparent aswell, it was going to be a long drawn out process and not one for the impatient. The game is so complex plus with just one of us doing the code (Scott) that even minor issues can take weeks to fix and may require whole sections of the code to be rewritten. This can then have some knock effects which will need to be fixed as they become apparent in testing. To give you an idea of how complex the game is I once asked Scott if he could modify something regarding LOS (can't remember exactly). His reply was an explanation of how the game deals with sighting, it involved photons and god knows what else, so wasn't just a case of a quick number change here and there in the code. I suppose as POA was also made for the military then it had to be this complex to model new offensive and defensive technology.

 Due to the games complexity and the time it can take to fix things or add things any patches released have been very few and far between. Leaving a customer base extremely unhappy and convinced the game is dead and abandoned. Tigers Unleashed is another POA2.5 Or future customers are put off buying it. Yet work hasn't stopped since the day of release. I doubt a day hasn't gone by where nothing was done. Apart from the testing I've created more or less a whole new set of unit symbols for more or less every vehicle and Infantry type in the data tables. I've also added loads of new sound effects. As far as testing goes I have over forty pages in Outlook containing all the emails I've had in reply to my own and I'd say I've sent Scott three or four times that many.I promise that we who work on it are also extremely frustrated about how much time it is all taking. I'll say here and now when at times it seemed we had taken one step forward and then, yet again, another two steps back I felt like throwing in the towel. However we have all become firm friends and we all still believe in the game and it's future potential is just to great to abandon and leave behind. So we continue to work on it, over the course of the few years I've been involved the odd person has come along to join us but soon left as the game does require alot of commitment and belief. One other drops in every now and again and that's Harry (Hello Harry). He really gets into the nitty gritty and will be very valuable in the later stages of testing and all the obvious things are working as they should be and I hope start getting close to it's full potential.

 Alot has been done and achieved over the last four years, most of it the player wont really notice but needed doing. Alot of code has been fully rewritten which will help with any future bugs etc by speeding up the fix process. The game also has some new features the player will notice and I'd say nearly all game features have been improved on to some degree since release. My latest test patch is playing better than ever when it comes to a game being derailed by a bug or crash. Infact those who haven't played the game since near the release will definitely notice the all round improvement to the game. Saying this we still have a long way to go. Currently there are two biggies that need to be done. The first is that the AI needs a total going over, both it's defensive and offensive capabilities need work. The second is that there are still some issues regarding actual combat which need ironing out so that the game plays out in a realistic manner. Then we have my own personal wants and requests. I feel the game needs some new ways of getting over information to the player say at the end of each turn I've done a couple but the stock scenarios do the game little justice and they need reworking. More aswell as better use of current features, for instance the combat report could and should be something that can immerse the player aswell as add tension etc to the game. SOPs based on distance to enemy be added which in turn when set with the current set of SOPs for the AI during scenario creation will help improve it's performance immensely. Scratch built, unique, non geomorphic maps created, some creating the actual terrain a historical battle was fought on. Make sure all weapons, ammo, vehicles and infantry types in the data tables are also in the games extensive TOEs the players can pick from when creating a new scenario. Last I suppose on the list is the campaign feature which isn't actually working so the award\medal system doesn't work. Again this is something that will get done as we'd love to make actual campaign disks once the game has reached it's potential and I guarantee when that happens it will sell and sell well.

 Looking back I've really enjoyed testing the game and have made a great friend in Scott. I also gained new skills making the new default unit set which I really enjoyed doing and I feel not only enhances the game visually but also helps the player with regard to knowing exactly what vehicle, AFV or infantry type it represents.The new sound effects also help with the immersion aspect. That's the additions I've personally have made to the game besides which it also sports an endless list of fixes and improvements, aswell as new features, some obvious and others not ,which again improve the game experience. So what is easily the most complex and deatiled tactical wargame ever developed for civilian use is improving at every step and the next patch is the one I think were players notice the game making good strides towards it's full potential. Which is a great thing as I reckon we wont see a tactical wargame of this complexity released to the public for a very long time, if ever.

 So I'll leave with this. I promise you, behind the scenes work has never stopped on the game and it will continue until Tigers Unleashed is flying on all cylinders and stands dominant as the greatest tactical WW2 wargame ever made, which Scott, Joseph and myself fully believe it can and will be. Even at that point we'll keep working away with new games in the series. A great thing about TU is that any new game will share the same exe file so only the actual data tables and obviously scenarios are different. This means all work done on a new game is also being done for TU. So when working on a new game for the series Scott is also working on TU for no actual extra work..if you follow:) I hope this helps ease any worries about what's happening with the game. Now back to testing....

One more thing. People must understand that TU is really a labour of love and really just a one man project. There is no money to hire people to do things like pay for another coder etc. Those who work on it are unpaid and doing it for free, because of faith in the game and also to help a friend continue with his labour of love:) TU is a work in progress and will be even when it has surpassed it's original design because things can always be improved or added too. This means TU will continue to improve long into the future. So when you look at the game remember it's growing like a person, currently it's at the primary school age which means it still has alot of growing and maturing to do:)

Note: I'll keep you updated on progress as much as possible, however until you hear work has stopped on TU (not happening),  which I'd post here,  we will be busy working away at the game.

United Bricks New Releases!

 

TIGER LEADER

BY DAN VERSSEN GAMES

What I'm going to say may have started to become a touch familiar, nay repetitive, if you have read my previous reviews of DVG games, especially as they have all been from the Leader stable of games.  Is it my fault that their production quality is some of the finest and most reliable in the hobby ?  There's no getting away from the fact that they put out consistently top-notch physical components - unboxing is a sheer delight  - and this from a company much smaller than all the really big names.

My one and only slightly adverse criticism of the new edition of U-Boat Leader and its American counterpart Gato Leader was the small size of mounted main gaming board and the fact that DVG then published as an "expansion" a decent sized board for them along with some fairly irrelevant plastic ships.  Well, Tiger Leader, which came out a year before them in 2015, hasn't even got that minor blip!

I'd go so far as to say that it is one of my favourite game boards in their series.  It's a four-panel, mounted board and fractionally over the standard 22" x 17" folio size that many companies put out as paper maps.  In the central play area is a magnificent sepia map of the Ardennes where that last desperate throw of the Third Reich, namely the Battle of The Bulge, took place.  Even more amazing is that this map is ultimately purely eye-candy, as once the main "Battle" Phase of the game gets under way, it is overlaid by six generic terrain pieces [in the same fashion as the earlier Thunderbolt/Apache Leader game].  Equally odd is that out of the nine excellent campaigns the game offers, the Bulge isn't included.
How can you leave out the Bulge? [sob]

However, as a war gamer who cut his teeth on hexes, these large, four-hex tile overlays are very impressive.  They are made of substantially thick, durable, glossy card-stock: double-sided so that you can fight in three different terrain localities - Europe, Desert and Winter.  They get a big, loud "Len's 10" from me [apologies that that metaphor's probably only understandable in the UK, not sure how many countries we've sold it to - so other nationalities can google "Strictly Come Dancing"].  So too do the two counter sheets that include the substantial numbers of Polish, French, Russian and American troops to fight against.

Along with the units are a wide range of Damage markers, one side for Armour damage, the other for Infantry damage, the inevitable red Stress markers, enemy Battalion counters and, of course, your own German units.

Ultimately, you will be selecting some of those evocative Tiger tanks, but if you're like me that will be some time in the future, as there are nine Campaigns to choose from starting with Poland 1939, France 1940, Russia, North Africa and Europe 1944.  There's nothing to stop you dashing on to those legendary monsters and don't let me stop you.  Perhaps it's just my OCD tendency, but I like to work my way gradually through the historical time-line!

And, naturellement, in a DVG product, lots of lovely cards to drool over [didn't I tell you I always sleeve mine - now you know why!] : German unit cards, German Commander cards, Battalion cards [in three types - Assault, Supply and Command] Event cards, Special Condition cards and Objective cards.  Some of them will be placed on the main mounted board called the Tactical Display Sheet, that I've already waxed lyrical about, some on the large card-stock display called the Head Quarters [sic - yes, it really is divided into two words]Sheet.  Not sure where you quarter your arms, legs, etc!

Apart from the map section I've already detailed, the two separate Displays provide you with Holding boxes for all those lovely cards, a detailed Sequence of play and enough information to just about cover all aspects of the game without reference to the rule book.  This tends to be a good feature of this series, but is for me one of the strongest and most workable examples in those games I possess.

As always the Rule Book is very substantial in quality and detail, following what I've come to recognise as their signature design.  First comes the Campaign Set-Up taking you step by step through each process while enumerating all the relevant details about the counters and the cards with carefully labelled and itemised pictures, exactly when needed. Though, in one way, there is more detail here, each step is so easy and straightforward that I've found the process simpler than expected. 

Select one of the nine Campaigns and a specific Objective.  Each Campaign will tell you the difficulty level, any additional Special Ops points [SOs], the terrain type and the Commander Skill levels and any special features.  The Objective card next provides how many SOs you have available to spend on buying units and other resources, the number of weeks the Campaign lasts, Battalion points for randomly selecting the necessary enemy Battalion cards, specific rules  modifications to the Campaign and the Evaluation table to determine your level of success at the end. 

If you are totally new to the Leader series of games, this may already be making you wonder if this game is for you, all I can say is that it is a very smooth process and reads far more dauntingly than the actual execution of what I'm describing.  Though my developed familiarity with the overall systems may have influenced my next statement, I genuinely believe - and I am being as objective as possible - that this game is easier to learn, flows more smoothly overall and plays more quickly.  What I have also found is that it is just as easy to lose!

The next step is one that appeals to me.  In the previous DVG games I've reviewed your unit and its commander were one and the same.  Buy a submarine and you choose one of the cards that represent the vessel and named commander at different levels of ability usually from Recruit to Ace, the same with your planes that were governed by the level of the pilot's skill.  In Tiger Leader, the SOs you've been allocated are for buying purely the units that you will use to fight the Campaign - a few more SOs may come your way during the following weeks of fighting - but by and large most of what you buy now will be what you're stuck with as they suffer and get shot up or eliminated. 

[Here's a typical combination of a machine-gun team and some transport.  They don't have to go together, but the combo allows your vehicle to move your men forward and then both the transport and the infantry can fire.  If the infantry are by themselves they can either move or fire, not do both.]

Then you choose, for free, one Commanding officer for each unit.  Once again, each of these Commanders do come in six levels of ability.  What prevents you just grabbing an Ace for each unit is the Campaign card that designates how many of each level of ability you may choose for up to seven units.  For example, the Polish campaign allows you 3 Recruit, 2 Green*, 1 Average and 1 Skilled Commander.  You'll notice that one level of Skill is starred.  Any units that you buy above seven have to be allocated another of the starred levels.   So, if I bought nine units I'd end up with 4 Green Commanders in total.  

[Tank Commander Dietrich hopefully on his way to Ace status, with all the necessary stats.  Notice that, like the images used for units, these aren't photo shots but sketches.]

Another very good wrinkle is that the assignment of Commander to unit can be changed at the beginning of each week.  You have three categories of units: Infantry, Armour and Unarmoured - obviously each type of unit must have the relevant type of Commander.  No giving an Armour Commander to an Infantry unit.

The next step is to draw a Special Condition card that will affect all the Battles in a given week.

One of the beneficial Special Condition cards - overall these cards have a balance of positive and negative effects and many of the negative ones can be cancelled by paying SO points.

Then it is decision time.  How many Battalions am I going to choose to fight at the start of the week and which of my units am I going to allocate to take on each Battalion?   Just choose one and send in all your men and you'll probably gain an easy victory, probably reaping about 3 VPs.  Do that for any of the Campaigns that last three weeks and you'll end up with about enough VPs to earn yourself an Evaluation ranging from Dismal to the lowest level of Adequate.

[ Just one of your likely adversaries, a fairly meaty Infantry Support Battalion. ]

One advantage of this game is that you don't lose any VPs for your own units and Commanders that are eliminated.

So, it's off to our first Battle of the week and the draw of an Event card which normally will affect only this particular battle.

As with Special Condition cards, about half have good, half bad outcomes.  Notice here a very familiar image - one of its earliest manifestations being a stylised version on the 1st edition of the famous Squad Leader game. 

Six random tiles are drawn to form the battlefield; you place your units on the bottom row of map hexes and the enemy units' positions are randomly selected by dice rolls in the top two hex rows of the map.  Most Battles last five turns.  As with previous Leader games, your units that have a Fast Commander will activate first to move and/or shoot, then all the enemy ones  and finally all your units with Slow Commanders.  A very satisfying, simple chart and a single die roll provides the A.I. for enemy movement.

Here is the set-up of my forces in an early Campaign with a tank, machine-gun unit and transport in the light cover on the left flank and two more tanks on the right flank.

Combat too is very easy with a few, typical modifiers, such as terrain.  For you, hit the enemy and it is eliminated - couldn't be simpler.  For the hits scored by enemy units, it's draw one of the double-sided Damage markers and apply the appropriate side of the marker: either Infantry or Armour.  As a result your units tend to survive longer than the enemy ones, as they may take several different types without being eliminated, though two of the same type usually will kill.  There is the rare chance of an Explosion and bye-bye unit and Commander.  It is rare, but in the second week of my first campaign, I had three tanks and each turn the Explosion damage was drawn when a unit shot at a tank.  Don't say I didn't warn you!

At first sight this asymmetrical procedure for Combat may seem to hand it to the Germans on a plate.  Experience of playing the game disproves that notion.  The range of damage, the limited ability to remove some of it between each week of Battle, the choice of a Commander who might help in the process, all add greatly to the narrative produced by the game and this draws you in to the atmosphere of the game.

To defeat a Battalion you have to destroy a set number of unit points, but there is also a point at which the Battalion is reduced to half strength [gaining you half the VPs].  So, you may decide, if possible, to avoid further combat by manoeuvre - not always an easy thing to do - until the end of this Battle and return the next week to finish the Battalion off with a fresh force.

Standard to all the Leader series is the Post Combat phase at the end of each week, when Experience is logged and possibly spent to upgrade the ability of a Commander, if he has earned enough points, attempt repairs and replacements depending on whether you've gained SOs and acquire new Commanders if any have been killed in the previous week's fighting.

Personally, I've had a thoroughly good time with this game.  The different elements introduced have greatly appealed . Among these  are the Operational Display on which your enemy Battalions are placed according to information on their Unit card and the rule that means they may advance or retreat week by week, the Tactical Movement chart already mentioned, the difference of having a map and terrain to fight and manoeuvre over, the combination of unit and Commander discussed in more depth earlier, the flavour given by the Damage chits and learning the best combination of units to meet a particular type of Battalion.

Despite my strongly favourable reaction to Tiger Leader, I was aware before I started that there had been quite some criticism of this particular addition to the Leader stable of games.  Especially, intimations of it being "broken", poor rules and lack of difference between units had made me wonder what to expect.  From extensive reading, my view is that most of the adverse comments boil down to the old realism/historicity argument.   First and foremost, the rules as written I found clear, consistent and easy to follow.  To repeat an earlier point,  they were easier to assimilate than any of the three previous Leader games I've reviewed.   They provided a good flow to all my games; even when I made monumental mistakes, they weren't mistakes in the rules!

Admittedly there are only small differences between the stats for the tanks, but at the level being focused on I wouldn't expect anything else.  Certainly, there is at least and I would say more difference here than between the submarines in U-Boat and Gator Leader.  But added to that there is the difference between individual Commanders and between their different Skill levels.  So. I would feel safe in saying that the differentiation is not one that is in any way out of line with the other Leader games.

Mutters about the sameness of all the battles, I would strongly refute.  I soon learnt that fielding the wrong combination of units against specific Battalions was a quick way to a losing situation.  Only one oddity that struck me was that there were limitations on the ability of some of my units to fire/move, but not on similar enemy units - if that bothers you then it's dead easy to give your enemy the same restrictions.  However, I felt that the game intended to handle that distinction through the movement limitations produced by the Tactical Displays A.I/. system.

The campaigns are tough, even the Poland 1939 one.  As at least one commentator has pointed out, you certainly don't romp through 

the Polish units.  If that's what you want to do, just give yourself some more SO points to field more units.  Perhaps, they are tougher than they ought to be, but then I don't find much fun in a situation where I really can't lose. 

Here are some of those Polish units

I'd rather have what I've got in this game than spend my time killing loads of enemy units with no trouble at all and then find that I've lost because the victory conditions say I should have killed even more.  Many other games I've played on the Polish campaign tend to do exactly that to achieve what they call balance!

So, bottom line for me - a fun experience, giving a very different feel from both air and submarine warfare [and so it should], broad brush approach that works, good clear rules, ace quality physical package in all departments [cards, counters, boards, rule book].  Nuff said, I hope.