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The American Revolution by Decision games       The American Revolution is a bit of a strange du...

The American Revolution by Decision Games The American Revolution by Decision Games

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!



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 The American Revolution is a bit of a strange duck when it comes to wargames concerning it. In the computer world it is hardly represented at all, however in the chit world it is well represented in both tactical and strategic games. 

 This game of the American Revolution is actually a reprint of the game that appeared in Strategy&Tactics #270. The map has been revised, and the rules have been redone. It also has had some optional rules added for more flavor. There is also an addition of a new scenario. The game now comes with a play-through and designer FAQ. The game rules are thirty-two pages long. It comes in the form of a zip-lock game from Decision Games. The map is a large one coming in at 34"x 22", and the game has 228 counters. The map is a mixture of point-to-point and area movement. The map is 75 miles to the inch. It is functional instead of a work of art. To be honest, it really doesn't matter if the components are beautiful or not if the game play isn't there. The pages of BoardGameGeek are bursting with beauties that are unplayable, and plain janes that are played so much that gamers are on their second copy, as the chits or map has been rubbed away. The map is large enough to accommodate the eastern part of the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, and Atlantic Ocean areas. The size of the area represented adds a lot to the strategic flavor of the game, especially if France and Spain enter the war. It is a two player game with the American player controlling the French and Spanish forces. Among the available forces available to each side are:

Naval Forces
Continental Army
Militia
Tories
Indians
German mercenaries






 Historically, the British won almost all of the large battles without ever coming close to winning the war. The American forces kept rising up like a Phoenix to force the British to play a losing game of whack-a-mole. In reality, because of the time period and the length of time and mileage, the British could never really win. Their only hope was for a negotiated peace based upon political incentives to bring the colonies back to the fold. I, for one, believe that General Howe and others thought that a few hard whacks would make the colonists see reason.When this didn't happen, they were at a loss of how to actually win. But I digress; back to the game. 

 The British player is presented with the most strategic choices. He can go for broke and try to subdue the colonies all at once, or like Clinton and Burgoyne, use the British anaconda to swallow one piece of them at a time. The American player is really only represented with the choice of attacking Canada other than that he mostly reacts to the British players' moves. The British player, at first or until France and Spain get involved, with his naval power can decide when and where he will descend on the colonies. He can bring overwhelming force to any point on the map he chooses at the beginning of the war.



 So what is the game play like?  

 Sequence of play:

 On the first turn the American player has the initiative; after that the player who commits the higher number of campaign markers has the initiative. On turn one, the British player also pays twice the normal amounts for mobilization and campaign markers.

 The second phase is the 'Political Phase'. Both sides add up their political points for the areas they occupy.

 The third phase is the 'Mobilization Phase'. The first player uses his political points from the last phase to build units or buy campaign markers, then it is the second players turn.

 The fourth phase is the 'Rabble Rousing' phase. Here you can commit markers to the three 'rabble rousing' tables: American revolutionary progress, colonial loyalty, and European balance of power.

 The fifth phase is the 'Campaign' phase. The campaign phase is in turn split into three parts: first, second, and third. The first phase is used for normal movement and then combat. The second and third phases are used for forced march movement and the combat that results from it.

 The six phase is the 'Supply' phase. This is split into two parts: forage and enlistment. In the forage phase the player that has the initiative checks his units for supply, and then rolls a die for each unit that cannot be supplied. On a roll of one to three the unit is eliminated. On a roll of four to six the unit survives.

 The seventh phase is the 'Victory' phase. You check for a sudden death victory, and if neither side gets one you continue to the next game turn.

 This is just a synopsis. There are rules for: militia expeditions, overrun, frontier warfare, massacre etc. The game turns are yearly so it is a fairly fast paced game, although each side does have many choices available for each turn. You can choose to play with the optional rules which would include the use of fortress, siege, and partisan markers.The game play is pretty free-wheeling, meaning that it is fairly easy to lose points and areas with a little bad luck. Your plan may make it look like you are on the verge of victory, and the next minute everything blows up in your face like an over charged musket. 


First turn setup


 As is stated in the 'designer's notes', the core of the game is the campaign markers. The random picking of the campaign markers means that you, as the player, might have to drop the plan you had in place, and rethink this year's turn all over. You also lose half of your campaign markers at the end of each turn. Again, as is stated, you may actually pull a campaign marker that can only be used by your opponent. You can choose these markers to be one of the ones you let go at the end of the turn, or you can keep it in order not to let your opponent use it. The campaign markers come in three flavors: action, rabble rousing, or tactics. 


 As I stated, it is a fast paced game, especially with its one year turns. The counter mix is small, so other than the map size the game's footprint isn't large. The game plays out quickly, and with the sudden death rules it could be over even quicker. The best bet, playing as the Americans, is to just remain alive and to work toward European intervention. The added troops and navies of the French and Spanish forces help to really put the British in the skillet with no idea of where to jump. The British player is naturally going to go for the opposite, and try and keep the other countries out of what he considers as his business. The plan for the British to slowly engulf the colonies bit by bit hasn't really been seen to be that effective. The game plays like a boxing match between a heavyweight and a middleweight. The middleweight can strike hard and often, but has to remember that one punch from the heavyweight can end it all. As the game goes on, the middleweight gains muscle and increases in size, and can also call two friends in to help him fell the giant.



Robert

Game: The American revolution
Publisher: Decision Games

 

 


Plutarch's Lives of The Noble Greeks and Romans by Guess Who: Plutarch  I wasn't going to advocate for...

Book of the Week Plutarch's Lives Book of the Week Plutarch's Lives

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

Plutarch's Lives of The Noble Greeks and Romans


by


Guess Who: Plutarch






 I wasn't going to advocate for any particular version of his work, but this one from Amazon looks pretty good, and has many good reviews. It is:

 Another thing it has going for it is that it is only $1.99 for the Kindle edition.

 The volume that I have is from when books were built like tanks. I paid more for it, but it has lasted more than forty years. It is not meant to be a straight biography of all these great, and not so great, men. It is meant by the author to show his own morals and how these men stacked up to them. The very great part about his books is that they are really the only biographies from anyone near the actual time they lived. Plutarch does get his moralizing in, but for the most part you also get the full biographies of his subjects in it.

 To those of us who are into Ancient history maybe you can relate. I was reading this book when my first child was being born. This was after the husband couldn't be in the room, and before we had to take classes to be in the room (I am still confused about the classes, because my role was pretty secondary to the action going on). The birth was imminent and my wife was surrounded by nurses and doctors. This birth was the only one during the daylight, so we had a lot of hands on deck. It was so crowded around my wife's bed that I couldn't even see her if I wanted to. So I stayed on the couch and read page after page of Plutarch. That is until a nurse came to me and said "Mr. Peterson you may want to see this". She was both right and wrong. Some of it was glorious to see, and some not so much. Anyway, the book has been with me during all of the most important times when I have had to wait around. I hope you find as much enjoyment out of it that I have.


Robert

 

If you want to start at the beginning, here's  Part 1 A brief recap: I have succeeded in my first objective of supplying an existing F...

Early Access Preview: Afghanistan '11 - Part 2 Early Access Preview: Afghanistan '11 - Part 2

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

If you want to start at the beginning, here's Part 1

A brief recap: I have succeeded in my first objective of supplying an existing FOB with two truckloads of supplies. I now need to push up my Hearts and Minds score while defending the FOB.

The FOB is loaded with troops and supplies, but is still quite isolated from HQ.
After taking a few dings in recent turns, I'm in the negative on Political Points (PP) and can't do much. I figure I will slow things down for a few turns and try to consolidate my position.


Units can be sent back home to regain some PP.
I'm forced to send home an Apache attack helicopter to shed some of my PP debt. I need to get back in the positive quickly in case an emergency crops up, and I have need of the special abilities like airstrikes or supply drops.


Some good news!

The coalition supported candidate wins the Afghan national elections, this means we get a few bonuses like reducing the number of Taliban missions. As you will see, this reduction was hardly felt...

Sending vehicles ahead without mine sweeper support is dangerous.

I send a transport loaded with some ANA soldiers down south to visit the friendly village there. Since it is far from the mountains, I decide to risk sending it racing ahead without mine sweeping operations going first. My Husky minesweeper was already damaged by some roaming Taliban. Unfortunately, the ANA troops hit an IED, which ruins their whole day. Now I have two vehicles damaged and exposed.

Heavy enemy presence detected!
I can't risk sending the Husky back to base without scouting the area, so I launch my recon drone. It's not a pretty picture, a total of FIVE Taliban units are hanging around in the area. 

Taliban sent packing.
 I hit the Taliban with artillery, airstrikes, an Apache, and mechanized infantry. My ground forces take a couple of hits, but the Taliban are either destroyed or on the run. Now to get everyone back to base to recover.

Uh-oh, that was just the beginning.
Before my forces can get back inside the FOB, another swarm of Taliban units appear and surround the base. Artillery hits them again, and more coalition ground forces join the fight to hold the FOB.

Taliban defeated, but we have many wounded.
I'm able to push the Taliban back again, but I have a lot of wounded soldiers. I use the engineers on hand to add a field hospital to the FOB so that my infantry can be healed up to full strength.

Here we go again.
On the next turn I organize and dispatch a small convoy to head west across the river and build a new FOB. They leave just as another wave of Taliban fighters moves against the FOB. 

Oh, come on. Right now?
Congress, in its infinite wisdom, decides to cut off funds even as the fighting rages here on the front lines.


The area around the FOB is looking pretty scorched after constant battle.
Once again, my forces are able to beat back the Taliban. My convoy sent west encounters no resistance and manages to set up a new FOB. Things are looking good!

I spoke too soon...

The enemy gives me a few turns of relative peace, and I use the opening to deploy some troops to the nearby villages, knock out a couple of opium fields, and fly in additional artillery ammo to the FOB.  However, the relief does not last long, another large wave of Taliban insurgents appears around the FOB.

What a mess.

Although things had been going quite well at the western FOB, somehow an enemy group slipped in and planted an IED just outside the line-of-sight of my FOB. An already wounded infantry unit sent on a routine trip to the village was hit and destroyed.

When it rains, it pours.
My recon drones will now be more expensive to deploy. I did not have much luck with events during this scenario.

The western FOB is now threatened as well.

Attacks on the central FOB continue, I lose another helicopter to RPG's, and now my western FOB is surrounded and has no infantry available to defend it. I also ran into several annoying bugs that I did not encounter during the first portion of this AAR. 

As my score begins to slip further and further from reach, I decide to call it quits for now. I conceded defeat.

The final game state.

I look forward to playing a more updated version of this game, and will give it an in depth review on or right after the March 23rd release. There are a lot of good things going on here, but as you can see, the very first scenario out the gate is quite difficult to even survive, much less win. The balance currently feels a bit off. I was hesitant to ever send my regular US infantry into combat with Taliban fighters, since they had an almost even chance of losing. The ANA infantry had even worse odds. This meant I only had a few options for attacking the enemy, and there were a LOT of enemies around. I'm still very much a novice at the game, so maybe the balance is fine and I'm just not approaching things correctly.

There were also more than a couple of bugs, but that's to be expected at this point. I imagine most have already been ironed out and will be patched soon. My favorite was a Taliban unit that survived being shot at by an Apache, ran around the perimeter of my FOB, shot an RPG at the helicopter, then teleported a half-dozen hexes away, turned and fired back at the FOB, blowing up a supply truck, then disappeared into the fog of war. Those guys were just a little over-powered, I have to say! 

I anxiously await the final version of the game, and look forward to giving it a full review sometime next week. Although this match ended in a frustrating way, it still did a great job of capturing the frustrations of the real conflict. There is a constant struggle to achieve multiple goals at the same time with limited resources.

The Ultimate Piston Fighters of The Luftwaffe by Justo Miranda   The Ultimate Piston Fighters of The Luftwaffe i...

The Ultimate Piston Fighters of The Luftwaffe by Justo Miranda The Ultimate Piston Fighters of The Luftwaffe by Justo Miranda

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!



by







 The Ultimate Piston Fighters of The Luftwaffe is not the book I thought it would be. I thought it was going to be a book about the possible 1946 air war, and all of the (some outlandish) propeller planes that Germany might have flown. Instead, it is an encyclopedia of all the different propeller fighters that were on the drawing board for pretty much the entire war. 

 The introduction discusses the effects of  'compressibility buffering' and how advanced the Germans were in understanding it. Then it goes on to list all of their major aeronautic testing sites, especially the wind tunnels that were state of the art, for the time. It also examines the effect that the blockade had on German industry, and their attempts to come up with ersatz solutions for the missing pieces, such as high octane fuel, oil, and rubber. One of the things the Germans could do nothing about was the lack of metals like chromium and molybdenum that were used in hardening steel. Without these, their jet engines would always be prone to breakdowns, meltdowns, and have a generally short life. The Jumo 004 jet engines sometimes had a span of only thirty hours between overhauls.




 The German airplane industry worked hard to develop the best piston engine fighters they possibly could. The book is not a compendium of crackpot last minute war winning schemes. It is a treasure trove of actual designs for the continued development of in use aircraft (BF 109, FW 190 etc.), and some advanced aircraft and weapons that we were lucky to not have to face. 




 The book has more than a few plans for for dual contra-rotating  propeller planes. This then segues into the development of the ejector seat, these being needed to escape instant and horrible pilot death by the pusher props.





 The book continues with plans for large caliber weapons, and then goes on to show the many rocket projectile plans. There are also some plans based on the 'Schrage Musik' weapons. These were weapons that were pointed at an angle coming out of the top of the airplane, to allow night fighters to fire into the bombers' bellies from below. There are also some designs that were based on the photo sensitive rocket/shells that were actually used on some ME 163s. The shadow of the bomber going over the aircraft would set them off. At least one Allied bomber was lost to this weapon.

  Each plane and weapon is accompanied by scale drawings of them. The planes have listed their weapons, speed, and ceiling based upon wind tunnel experiments, etc. The descriptions are filled with the aircrafts' uses, and what specifications from the Luftwaffe they were meant to fill. 

 The book is the ultimate for German prop plane junkies. Hopefully Mr. Miranda is working on more books about the other Axis and Allied countries' designs.


A big announcement from Slitherine/Matrix Games today! They are working on Panzer Corps 2, and expect it to be released some time...

Panzer Corps 2 Announced Panzer Corps 2 Announced

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!





A big announcement from Slitherine/Matrix Games today! They are working on Panzer Corps 2, and expect it to be released some time next year. The game will use Unreal Engine 4 and feature full 3D graphics. We look forward to seeing what other changes and improvements will be included in the sequel. I reviewed the original Panzer Corps and gave it high marks. This will certainly be one to watch!

See below for the announcement trailer and official press release:





Panzer Corps 2 is in the making
A sequel to genre-defining game will hit the stores next year

The Panzer Corps series has built an impressive following over recent years and allowed many players, old and new, to experience a type of wargame that was equally approachable and challenging. It managed to reinvent a format while keeping it true to its origins.

The release of Panzer Corps also marked the return of a long-neglected gaming formula, which still had a large and loyal following. Its spectacular success brought an almost forgotten genre back into fashion, it inspired multiple clones and literally gave new life to an entire market.

After over five years of expansions, mods, challenges and tournaments, a brand-new instalment of the franchise is ready to take the strategy gaming segment by storm again. This time, with even bigger ambitions.

Panzer Corps 2 is currently in development using Unreal Engine 4, to allow an impressive leap forward in both technological capabilities and visual impact. Hundreds of World War 2 units will be shown with a level of quality and detail never seen before in a wargame.

The move to a fully 3D engine is a natural evolution of the game, but the core gameplay will always remain true to its roots: pay tribute to the classic gameplay of a distant golden age of strategy gaming, refine it, perfect it and use the most recent technologies to enhance these experiences and bring them to a new generation of gamers. In other words, strike the perfect balance between tradition and innovation, both in visuals and gameplay.

Players can follow development on the [official forum] and on the [Flashback Games site] and they are welcome to give ideas and suggestions towards what their dream Panzer Corps sequel would look and play like.




- Joe Beard

  Beyond all expectations!      A huge thank you to all of you for following this website and reading our out pouring's over ...

Broke the 200,000 mark! Broke the 200,000 mark!

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

 

Beyond all expectations!

 
 
 A huge thank you to all of you for following this website and reading our out pouring's over the last eleven months. A week or so back we actually broke the 200,000 view mark which has taken us by surprise and makes us even more enthusiastic about AWNT and the future. Never did we think we'd manage to get anywhere near 200,000 views within our first year. Again it's all because of you readers who obviously keep coming back for more:) I hope this is a sign we are doing things right and moving in the right direction.
 
 So onwards and upwards. We have lots of reviews lined up for you all so I hope you stick with us for the long run:)
 
Again huge thanks!
 
The AWNT Team!

V-COMMANDOS front and back This is, as the heading suggests, an advance notice of my next review from a new compa...

Advance Notice V-Commdos are coming! Advance Notice V-Commdos are coming!

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!


front


and back





This is, as the heading suggests, an advance notice of my next review from a new company, Triton Noir - love that name!  This is a tactical game of stealth operations in WWII involving one to five single man counters.

This looks an intriguing game and, as an appetiser, the company are running a competition at v-commandos.com/pages/contest


















We are on Twitter!          Just a quick shout out about our new Twitter account. If you use Twitter please follow to be inf...

TWITTER ACCOUNT! TWITTER ACCOUNT!

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

We are on Twitter!

 

 
 
 
Just a quick shout out about our new Twitter account. If you use Twitter please follow to be informed of all the latest reviews etc that get published!
 
 

  Typhoon Over Moscow by T Broderick and Death on the Volga by T Broderick      Again my book of the week visits WW2 and th...

Typhoon over Moscow and Death on the Volga. My Books of the Week. Typhoon over Moscow and Death on the Volga. My Books of the Week.

For your Wargamer, Toy soldier collector, MiniFig collector, military history nut. Reviews, interviews, Model Making, AARs and books!

 

Typhoon Over Moscow by T Broderick

and

Death on the Volga by T Broderick


 
 
Again my book of the week visits WW2 and the East Front fiction genre. Typhoon is the first book, Death on the Volga the second, not sure if there will be any  more in the series but I do hope so. They are both rather pricey in paperback (though I say worth it) however Kindle format are easily affordable and great value. The author is obviously a very keen historian and his research is impeccable. Nothing can ruin historical fiction more dramatically than historical errors and I have to say this is flawless. I can't find anything to raise even an eyebrow. Unlike my previous recommendation which followed a squad of Axis soldiers, here we have a whole host of characters, from both sides of the conflict, with no bias shown to either side.
 
Character development is very good, as is the narrative, for example battle scenes are exciting and you are there in the action and there is nothing that pulls you out from your imagination like some glaring historical error. Again this reads like a book written by an experienced author and a very good one at that. It's not stilted and flows well, conversations feel natural and not contrived to move the story along. There is no sign of an amateur author here like you can get with this type of novel. To be perfectly honest, if this had been an old war classic like say Life and Death I wouldn't have been surprised, it's written that well.
 
So if you have an interest in WW2 and fancy a great novel buy them! If you have an interest in the East front then definitely get them.
 
Highly recommended!
 
Jason
 

Edit: Sadly it's unlikely to be anymore, just noticed the publication dates!

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