Pericles

by

 GMT Games 

 Pericles, oh Pericles, why oh why did you lead us to this point, oh Pericles? Pericles is said to have been the guiding force behind the greatness of Athens and its empire. According to Thucydides, he was also the person most responsible for the Peloponnesian War in Athens. Conversely, had the Athenians followed his advice and played their cards cautiously during the war, they could really not be beaten. As an example, see the Athenian expedition to Sicily. Even suffering the effects of a plague that twice rampaged through Athens, and also killing Pericles, the Athenians were still doing well in the war.

Back of the box

 The game is a bit unusual in that it can be played as a four, three, or two player, but also has rules to play it solo. This is a great mechanic that means the game can be played for game night or when you cannot find anyone. I think more games should have this many options. 

Player shields that also include game info

 Physically the game weighs in at more than four lbs. The box is roughly the size of the old 'soap box' game boxes from SPI. It contains the following:

Four Player Shields - Two Athenian: Aristocrat, Demagogue
                                   Two Spartan: Agiad, Eurypontid (Spartan  
                                                          Kings' families)
Pericles rules Of Play Booklet
Pericles Playbook
One Sheet Of Counters
Two Athenian Player's Aid Cards
Two Spartan Player's Aid Cards
One Phormio Decision Chart
One Phormio Athenian And Spartan Strategy Matrix
Three Card Decks  -  Athenian, Sparta, and Aristophanes 
One Six Sided Die And One Twenty Sided One
190+ Various Wooden Pieces

Play map

 The map is beautiful as well as functional. Two thirds of it is a map of Greece, along with small insets for Persia and Sicily. The other third is for the Spartan and Athenian political play. The game itself is the second in the 'Great Statesman Series' ( the first was the highly regarded 'Churchill') designed by Mark Herman. The complexity is listed as a six. Naturally with solo rules it is rated a nine on the 'solitaire suitability' chart. The cards are very interesting and informative. The 'Aristophanes' cards all have a play of his listed on the top of the card. He was naturally a playwright, but he also fought in one of the wars. The counters are 1/2" and are easily readable and well done. They also come with the corners pre-rounded. The colors of the wooden blocks are bright, and the pieces themselves are precision cut with none that are misshapen, etc. These blocks represent the various bases, along with naval and land forces of the different leagues and cities. The play aids are also nicely done and easy to use. They are invaluable with a game of this size and, I don't want to say complexity, but there is a lot going on for the players to keep track of. The rule book is only twenty-four pages long. It is in color and has many examples of play and record keeping. The play book is forty-four pages long. The contents are as follows:

Scenarios, Solitaire and two, three, or four player rules, a full thirteen pages of play examples, five pages of 'Card Personalities' (this is a short bio of important people in the game), Strategy guide, and finally Designer Notes.

Spartan Player Aid Card

 The game is played in six year turns. The game is interesting because it includes the issue of each side's 'Assemblies'. You are not put in the position of a ruler or omnipotent eye in the sky. This part of the game really shines. The political infighting in the different cities was almost as intense as the actual warfare between them. There are twenty-three historical scenarios to choose from. These run the gamut of small one turn scenarios to 'The Suicide of Greece 460-400 BC' one. Just as in the actual history of the war, there is a chance for plagues to affect play. Alcibiades (the man who helped defend Socrates at the Battle of Delium) even gets his own wooden counter. What more could you ask for in a game about ancient Greece? If I made the game out to seem too complex, in truth it really isn't. All of the books and aids pretty much hold your hand while getting your feet wet in this great game.

 I will use the game rules posted on GMT's website (the link is posted below) to show the sequence of play: 


" • Aristophanes Card Segment (5.1)
◊ Reveal and resolve the next card from the Aristophanes
deck (and optionally read the play quote out loud in your
best thespian voice)

• Political Cards Segment (5.2)
◊ If player has his Entourage available, discard 0-3 Entourage
Cards (5.21)
◊ Refresh hand to 9 cards, or 6 cards if Entourage used for
Brain Trust option (6.31)
◊ If hand size of 9 create new Entourage of 3 cards (5.23),
else use all 6 cards dealt (6.31)
◊ Add Faction Leader card to 6 cards to create a 7 card hand

• Boule Segment (5.3)
◊ If Hostages available, Controlling Faction has the option
to place War/Peace issue on other City-State’s Opposition
Faction track two space (5.33)
◊ Controlling Factions pick one issue (2 space, 5.32A), except
Ostracism and War/Peace issue (5.32E), which is placed in
the center (zero space).
◊ Opposition Factions pick one issue (1 space, 5.32B), except
Ostracism and War/Peace issue (5.32E), which is placed in
the center (zero space).
◊ Controlling Factions pick three issues (zero space, 5.32C)
◊ Opposition Factions pick two issues (zero space, 5.32D)

 Assembly Phase (6.0)
• Starting with the Controlling Faction each City-State sequentially
conducts six debates (6.11, 6.14)
Political Phase (7.0)
• Oration Honor is determined (7.1, Honor 10.0) and Controlling
Faction is determined (7.2)
• Strategy Board Segment (7.3)
◊ Controlling Factions reveal 7th card and receive Strategy
Board Strategos
◊ Opposition Factions reveal 7th card and receive Strategy
Board Strategos

• Political Issues Segment (7.4)
◊ Resolve all non- military, league, diplomatic, and oracle
isues in the following order: War/Peace (7.41, 7.42), Games
(7.43), Citizenship (7.44A), Colony (7.44B), Krypteia
(7.45A), Agoge (7.45B)
◊ Determine if the status change from War to Peace ends the
game (see Scenario instructions)
• Theater Issue Award (7.5)
◊ All Factions substitute their military, diplomatic, league,
and oracle won Assembly issues for their corresponding
Faction colored marker plus their two rumor markers

Theater Phase (8.0)
• Theater Issue Placement Segment (8.3)
◊ In Honor Order (8.1), each player sequentially places facedown
one military, diplomatic, league, oracle or rumor
marker on one of the twenty Theaters and potentially Persia
◊ The placement of a second marker in a Theater or Persia
creates a stack of markers hereafter referred to as a LIFO
(last in, first out) queue (8.31)
◊ Continue sequence until all issues are placed in Theaters
or Persia

• Theater Resolution Segment (8.5)
◊ Reveal and resolve issues (Diplomatic 8.51, League 8.52,
Oracle 8.53, Military 9.0) one at a time to completion in
Honor Order
◊ A player must reveal one marker from his side that is at the
top of any Theater queue
◊ A player who has no markers from his side available to be
revealed passes his turn to the next player
◊ A player who passes still takes his next turn in the Honor
sequence and a player can pass multiple times
◊ In all cases the marker belongs to one of the players and
in all cases the owning player resolves the issue revealed,
regardless of who revealed it
◊ All Theater queue markers must be resolved
◊ After all Theater queue markers have been resolved, move
to the end phase

End Phase (11.0)
• Victory Determination Segment (11.1)
◊ Automatic Victory Determination (11.11, 11.12, 11.13)
◊ If last turn of scenario, determine winner (11.14); otherwise
continue
• Maintenance Segment (11.2)
• Redeployment Segment (11.3)
• Resolve Will of the Assembly (11.4)
• Start new turn"

 It seems like an overwhelming mouthful at first, but like many great boardgames the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it. 

Counters

 
 The game is one of the very few on BGG that has a rating of over 8 (8.10 to be exact), and also has a good number of voters. The game is that good and deserves every decimal point. I will admit to have not had the pleasure to play it in four player mode, but solo and two player are also great gaming fare. The amount of background of history and actual personalities stuffed into the box is an Ancient Greek geek's dream. You should be able to get a credit or two for college for playing the game. Certainly there have been some corners cut in the mechanics of the game compared to real life, but after all it is meant to be a game to be enjoyed. The game plays out, if you use the correct strategy, as the war did. Sparta is the heavyweight on land, and Athens is the heavyweight at sea. It is almost like two fighters, one in an earthen ring and one in a pool beside it. Athens must harass and disturb Sparta by raiding. Sparta desperately wants to come to grips with its enemy. The only way they can is through their different surrogates. Each city of Ancient Greece is up for grabs in this melee. Athens is a super power with an Achilles heel: its citizens' stomachs. Athens cannot feed itself without imports. Sparta has two problems of its own. The first is 'Helots'. These slaves are always on the verge of rebellion. The second is that there are only so many actual Spartans. Their killing off of their own and the extremely hard process to adulthood in Sparta meant that there were never enough full citizen male Spartans.

Examples of the three decks

 Pericles hits the sweet spot between a wargame and a political game. It also represents the fight for honor that the leading citizens of both sides felt was so imperative. It somewhat resembles the race through the Cursus Honorum of the Roman Republic except that it was much less regulated in the Greek city states. Totally wiping out your opposition, be they demagogues or aristocrats, happened much more frequently in Greece than in Rome. For all our love of the Greek civilization and what it brought us, it was a rough place. 

 Phormio is the name of the bot or AI that you play against in solo games. Some people have suggested that playing solo is really just a way to learn the mechanics in parts of the game. Others have had an enjoyable time playing solo and still do. While I agree it is a good way to learn the game, it will still give you a run for your money. The design along with all of the components are all top notch. It looks like I will have to pick up the game 'Churchill' soon.


 My hat, or pileus, is off to the designer and GMT games for this excellent portrayal of this period in history. The games I have played have pretty much all come down to the wire. So much can happen that, just like in Chess or any good wargame, you always have to have a plan B,C, or D ready to put into play. I must thank the designer for another bit of gaming greatness. It seems (among many others) he was involved with designing 'The Art Of Siege', my favorite wargame of all. So if you have any interest in the age at all, or just want to play a cutthroat wargame, pick this game up. For anyone who is having trouble with the rules or just wants to play well, Mr. Herman has posted some excellent Youtube videos on the game. The only problem I have seen mentioned with the game is to find people who have enough time and commitment to learn and play it. Of course, that is where the alternate number of player rules comes in.

Play blocks

 This is a link to the final rules:
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/gmtwebsiteassets/pericles/PericlesRulesFinal.pdf

 This is a link to the final Play Book:
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/gmtwebsiteassets/pericles/PericlesPlaybookFinal.pdf

 This is a link to 'Just Ask Phormio ; or How to Teach Pericles By Mark Herman:
http://www.insidegmt.com/?p=17470


Robert

BARBARIANS: THE INVASION

from

TABULA GAMES

In essence, a worker placement and resource management game.  Just that your workers are barbarian champions and Domination Points are your "rose by any other name" i.e. Victory Points.  One avenue to gain them is by conquering lands in the world of Fenian - not quite sure what Irish gamers will make of that choice of name.  Still, as a student of W.B.Yeats' poem The Wanderings of Oisin and the stories of  Cuchulain and the mythos of the Red Branch Cycle, this world of warchiefs and gods & goddesses fits perfectly into the images presented in Barbarians: The Invasion.  However, on a more accessible note, just by glancing at the box art seen above, I'm sure most of you will immediately associate the theme and art work with the character created by Robert E. Howard, namely Conan the Barbarian. 

In fact, the whole physical creation of this game impacts immensely to the benefit of this product in so many ways, but for one feature and that is directly linked to my reference to Conan the Barbarian.  The card art and wonderful array of miniatures  strongly echoes the graphics so familiar both in the many books of Conan's adventures and even more so the films of Arnold Swarzenegger.  Bulging muscled warriors and berserkers and scantily clad female warriors and goddesses. 

It is the latter that has drawn disapproval from some gamers and may influence ultimately your own choice of this game.  In total we're talking almost exclusively about seven cards out of a vast array and several miniatures in each players set of figures.  Sensibilities may have changed in recent years, but nothing here seems out of line with images from computer games/comic book heroes and the current appetite for their T.V and cinematic interpretations .

What is unquestionable is that in total this is an awesome product and project.  Admittedly I have been fortunate to receive the Iron level Kickstarter package to review.  From the start I had followed the progress of this game and been amazed by what I'd seen and read. For many months, both the games I've received for review and those I've bought myself reflect the quality of modern production and each seemed to lift the bar ever higher. Barbarians: The Invasion has certainly pushed that bar up several more notches. 

On lifting up the lid, I was bowled over - another cornucopia, as item after item was lifted from the box!  How did so much  get crammed in here and you'll certainly find it's not easy to packing it all back.  For a start, I've abandoned the insert.  

This is just the top level containing the miniatures and the decks of cards.  Below lies the item which has caused the most excitement from the very beginning - the volcano!

This brings the concept of the rondel to new heights - in this case literally, as you will see in later shots, because it is a 3D plastic construct with three levels that can be rotated both clockwise and anti-clockwise.  Sitting snugly at each level are the thick cardstock  inserts on which your Barbarian "meeples" will be placed each turn. 

Below them lay the individual player boards on which you will track your five inert resources: food, wood, iron. stone and gold and your human troop resources: archers, berserkers and raiders.

Lurking beneath the player boards, you can just about see one of three map boards of Fenian; the basic board, plus two alternative map boards.  Below is a close look at two of the boards you can choose to play on.

On the right is the basic game's portrait-oriented board, on its reverse is a landscape oriented alternative board that focuses on the northern regions and to the left in the picture above is the other alternative board.  Copies of the rule book come in four different language booklets, besides English.  Initially I was overwhelmed by the sheer scope and multiplicity of pieces - you will need a fairly substantial amount of room to lay everything out, but my standard dining-room table has proved well able to host the full four-player game.

This demonstrates the full panoply of contents that will be on your game table, though not set up quite as it would be for actual play. [Notice - one of the figures in my picture was about to find that this barbarian world is flat and you can fall off the edge!]

Nor are the rules as complex as at first they may seem to be.  The core is the Action Phase when each player in turn places one of his three "workers" - Barbarian Champions - to gain resources, buy cards and, of course, go to war. The first Phase, Maintenance, couldn't be simpler, simply collect the requisite resources from as many building cards as you have the ability to use.  The final, appropriately named, End Phase is equally straightforward as you choose those benefits/avoid penalties that you can afford to pay for.

The rule book itself I found clear and well organised with the mechanics easy to understand, but initially there have been some uncertainties and contradictory interpretations.  Largely, this was because of the strong dependence on a profusion of symbols both on the game board and on the cards.  Intended to help language independence, they would have benefited immensely from a fuller play aid than the back of the rule book provides.  

Mastering and remembering the many symbols needed to understand the actions, along with the interplay between the various boards and tracks may seem daunting on an initial explanation.   Frankly, after a couple of plays I found that this all falls into place and becomes easy to remember. 

What remains slightly more difficult is the use of colour in the production.  It certainly adds to the dark image of a mythic barbarian world, but it can make it a strain being able to see clearly the multitude of icons on the volcano that tell you what action you have chosen.  This is not a game to be played in poor lighting!  By contrast the alternate side to the rings on the volcano which is used with the Hunt Expansion is much more readable.

A closer look at the main board with the volcano in place

Equally, the similarity in colour between the backs of the various terrain cards has caused problems.  I hasten to add that none of these are insurmountable issues: printing a simple play mat for the terrain cards with the location and colour printed on needed just a few minutes spent on the computer and I've found that, after a few plays, recognising the icons on the volcano becomes much easier.

Leading the many substantial qualities of the package is first and foremost the volcano which is at the heart of the game and the focus for your Actions.  Placing your first Champions on the topmost ring and then descending step by step with each subsequent Champion is quite unlike any other game I've experienced. 

The 3rd Era has just begun

Do not be deceived by anyone who claims that a set of little wooden meeples and cubes of wood for marking your resources is all that's needed.  I say that as a gamer who is largely indifferent to bling and what in so many games is often a tacked-on theme.  In Barbarians: The Invasion the theme is reinforced by every aspect of the game and the sight of the barbarian miniatures as they start to throng the volcano is part of the strong visual pleasure and experience.  Even more so when you've invested some time in painting the miniatures, as subsequent pictures, like the next one, will reveal.

There is a vibrant richness to all the elements which  is strongly emphasised when all the cards are laid out for use, as again you can see from the photo taken from one of my four-player games at a recent convention.  It's worth noting that even including the explanation needed for three players who'd never played before everything was finished in just on three hours.

Game play is engrossing with the interaction of so many branching elements.  Everything begins with the all important choice of actions on the volcano.  These may lead directly to gaining the resources with which you can buy troops when taking the War Action on the map of Fenian or pay for the Warchief and God cards that supplement and aid various aspects of the game. 

Other actions help your personal markers advance on one of eight tracks [four Barbarian Tactics tracks and four Barbarian Knowledge tracks ].  The former reduce the number of battles you have to fight when trying to conquer one of the regions on the map and the latter support a range of benefits including your resource collecting, defence against the penalties of a lost battle, the ability to use from 1 to 4 buildings and how far out into the island worlds of Fenian you can voyage.

Another glimpse of the volcano,

with the Knowledge & Tactics Tracks to its right 

These are just some of the many diverse aspects that add both to the originality and the way the game draws you in and keeps your attention.  I particularly like the range of small, additional benefits and bonuses that accrue in many different ways, such as: some of the actions on the volcano, being first or second to reach the end of one of the eight tracks just discussed and especially through the bonuses granted by the Warrior and God cards. 

However, I'm sure that for many it is the fighting of battles that stands out and here this game has come up with a set of highly original concepts. First of all, you will be trying to conquer territory in the islands that make up the realm of Fenian.  At the beginning of the game, each region will have a random counter placed face-down and then all are revealed showing the colour of one of the four clans and its Domination value [i.e. VP value].

In a 3-player game, some of the regions have already been conquered as indicated by the players' individual banners.

To conquer the territory and place your faction's banner there, you will face a war made up of a number of battles. How many battles you have to fight will depend on how far a player has advanced on the Tactics track of the attacked clan [the maximum is 6 the minimum is 2].  Each battle is determined by drawing a card from the terrain deck corresponding to the region you are attacking.  To win the war and take control of the region and gain the VPs, you must win half of the battles [rounded up].

Already I hope you can see the originality of ideas and there are more to come.  Each type of terrain card shows which of three types of warrior [archer/berserker/raider] you will have to fight and also which of the three types is most likely to be encountered. Before you reveal any of the cards, you have the opportunity to spend combinations of resources to buy troops for the battle.    

Your player board [seen above] handles all this efficiently and easily.  On the left are the tracks to record your resources and on the right the superb miniatures that track the number of troops of each type that you have. 

Once you've purchased the troops you want, each battle card is turned over one at a time and you decide whether to spend the troops needed to defeat each individual turn of the card.  As you can imagine there is a whole little meta-game involved here.  

Do you take the war action early and face many battles in order to grab high point scoring tokens, but face draining loss of troops and the additional consequences of losing some battles or do you spend actions in the early part of the game to advance your Tactics tokens so that you face fewer battles later in the game.  Do you gamble on buying fewer troops to conserve resources for the many other purposes that they can be used for?  You also need to think about advancing the Knowledge track that allows you to attack more distant islands or the Defence track that helps you avoid the penalty of losing a battle. 

These are just some of the pressures, choices and decisions you face when contemplating the War Action.  At the same time, you have plenty of other decisions crowding in on you. The need to be buying among other things building cards that will give you extra resources in the Maintenance Phase and provide end game bonuses or Warchief and God cards that also give a variety of aids and additional abilities.  Regarding the God cards, there have been some criticisms of their powers being unbalanced and the fact that one is randomly given to each player at game set-up has drawn comments about the detrimental effects on the game.  All I can say is that from a series of 2, 3 and 4 player sessions, none of the players has felt there was any evidence of this problem and, as has been pointed out by other reviewers, a simple house-rule modifying their play or distribution at the start can easily be instituted. 

Though conquest and the end game bonuses on the building cards provide the main source of those game winning Domination points, there are many other sources for small incremental gains throughout the game.  These latter should not be overlooked or considered insignificant.  This is a game that rewards attention to the diversity of options and another reason why I rate it so highly.

And don't forget that if you want even more options, you can turn to the Hunt Expansion with new figures and cards or the other two Fenian map boards, whose configuration changes the avenues of conquest. 

All in all, Barbarians: The Invasion provides a multi-layered experience - starting with the variety of combinations and interactions of the effects of placing the players' pieces on the volcano and the ability to rotate levels of the volcano.  This is deepened by the interplay of using the many cards that can be bought and then crowned by the fascinating mechanics of the War Action.

It is a game that plays equally well with two, three and four players - a rare factor in many games.  Though I like to get in the full complement of players if possible, every two-player confrontation has been a real duel!  And finally, you can enjoy an equally riveting solo play. 

Personally, this is a game that has had and will continue to get many plays.  At conventions where I've introduced it, merely setting it up has drawn eager players and claimed the attention of a steady stream of passers keen to know more.  Another "keeper" in my collection and to entice you I'll end with just a few more pictures of the painted miniatures.  Good slaying!

The production line starts here!

The banners of conquest control.

Resource Markers

The Champions of the Green Player

The Champions of the Blue Player

Many thanks to Tabula Games, the indie games design studio, for the review copy.   This is a name to look out for.

What do your hear? Nothing but the rain!

Good news for fans of Battlestar Galactica Deadlock, a new DLC has been announced for release in the near future! The Broken Alliance will add several new ships to the mix, and integrate new missions and a new subplot directly into the existing campaign structure. Here's the official description:

Tensions are rising during the First Cylon War.

Anti-Caprican sentiment threatens the Quorum alliance. Discontent and pessimism spreads throughout the colonies. While politicians and diplomats frantically negotiate to keep the alliance together, Colonial Fleet receives a strange request from Aquaria. It’s the start of a chain of events that could change the tide of the war…

New Quorum campaign

“The Broken Alliance” presents players with 8 new story missions that are integrated seamlessly into the single player campaign, and linked together into a brand new plot that explores the intricate maze of Colonial politics. New characters enter the fray, disrupting old pacts and forging new partnerships. The Broken Alliance expands the lore of the Battlestar Galactica universe, and brings a new story of intrigue and backstabbing to Deadlock.

New ships

The expansion comes with four brand new capital ships and two new squadrons, bringing new functionality and tactics to the First Cylon War.

Minerva-class Battlestar – The precursor of the Mercury-class Battlestar, the Minerva is a new addition to Colonial Fleet that concentrates artillery, firepower and life support into a compact hull. Although it has less staying power than other battlestar classes, the Minerva’s versatile gun placements and expanded missile capabilities have provided it with a reputation as a devastating capital destroyer.

Celestra-class resupply ship - The Celestra class is a Colonial research ship that uses a suite of drones to apply ablative armour plating to friendly units. A resupply depot has been retrofitted into the hangar, allowing Raptor crews to make supply runs mid-mission to fleet cruisers and battlestars.

Assault Raptors – Assault Raptors are an aggressive variant of the trusted Colonial utility vehicle. The external rocket pods on these ships are capable of significant anti-capital support, and the crews are trained in live combat support, at the expense of their usual ECM suites.

Argos-class Basestar - As Colonials continue to push fighter space supremacy as a force in the war, the Cylons continue to reply with their intent to overwhelm with numbers. Larger than the Cerberus and Basestar Mk I, the Argos contains an overwhelming array of hangars and missile tubes, but hosts little in the way of self-defense.

Hydra-class resupply ship - The Hydra is a Cylon resupply ship equipped with repair drones that are launched and attached to friendly units. Despite having no armaments of its own, the Hydra has a complex Fire Control system that is heavily integrated with its Tech Bay. This system allows it to coordinate missile strikes with nearby friendly units, significantly increasing the efficiency of the Cylon’s deadly missile tactics.

Scorpion Sentry – The Scorpion is a defensive sentry drone with high calibre guns and pin-point accurate anti-missile capabilities. Although they excel at area control, they are unable to operate until they have been stabilized after moving.

I'm personally very excited to get a chance to cover this DLC. I'm a huge BSG fan and always enjoyed the political infighting just as much as the space battles. I started a fresh campaign to experience how the DLC fits into the game, and as you can see in the above screenshot, I've just reached the point where the new story line begins. Expect more coverage soon!

- Joe Beard

Against The Odds magazine #42

With The Game: A Thunder Upon The Land:

The Battles of Narva and Poltava

 This will be a two part review. the first part will be about the magazine itself, and the second part will be about the game 'A Thunder Upon The Land'. 

 I love food, a picture would prove it. However, if given a choice between reading and eating, food for the mind or soul wins every time. Wargaming magazines have been around for about fifty years or so. They have usually been filled with pretty pictures, but we really do read them for the articles. To think of Jim Dunnigan wandering about in his pajamas and a pipe in his mouth is a bit disconcerting. He is, however, our Hefner (I know S&T started earlier, but it really took off under him). 

 This is my first Against The Odds magazine. I have to save I am mightily impressed. Physically, the magazine is impressive. The maps are especially well done and extremely informative. I have been reading about Charles XII of Sweden for fifty years, so I was very surprised to find new information about him in the background article. I learned that unfortunately Charles XII was an object of hero worship by the Third Reich. The other articles are just as well done as the article about the game history. This will not be my last copy of ATO by a long shot, and I can recommend it to any wargamer.

 Magazine wargames have always gotten a bad rap for some reason. I have never understood why. Some of my favorite games, and gaming moments, have come from them. The rules of this game are sixteen pages long. Physically, they are of the same high quality as the rest of the magazine. One excellent part of the rules is that you can take out the two middle pages of the magazine and have a players aid sheet for both players. There are actually two separate tactical games included. One is the Battle of Narva in 1700, and the other is Poltava in 1709. The map is two sided and is large at 22" x 34". I can say it is one of the best magazine maps I have ever seen. The colors and drawings are extremely well done. The counter colors are vibrant, and they are easy to read. The counter attachment to the cardboard sprues and the left over cardboard on the counters is the only thing about the game that is middle of the road.  

 Narva is either looked at as a master stroke, or the luck of a madman. Poltava is described as a bad piece of luck, or the comeuppance that Charles XII deserved. I believe that Poltava could very well have turned out differently had Charles not been wounded before the battle. Charles had the very bad luck not to have been killed by the bullet that shattered his foot. If he had been killed, his unbroken string of victories would be looked at differently, and Poltava would have been blamed on others.

 The Russian Army that you either command or fight with in Narva is nowhere near the Russian Army of Poltava. So the game shows the progress of the Russian military through the years of the Great Northern War.

 Tsar Peter I was very busy in his reign. He almost single handedly pulled Russia from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century. he did this by literally pulling his nobles by their beards as they were kicking and screaming. 

 The game sequence is as follows:

Initiative Determination phase (on turn one of both games, this is by default the Swedish player)

Activation Phase
  Command Activation Segment
  Out-of-Command units Segment

End Phase
 Replacement Segment
 Recovery Segment
 Victory Determination Segment

 The game comes with zone of control, facing, and command rules. Morale and disruption also play a big factor. These are pretty much what you would expect in a tactical wargame of the early eighteenth century. 

Narva Map

 The player with the initiative uses an AM (Activation Marker) to activate units that have a LOC (Line of Command) to its command leader. This LOC has to be four hexes long, counting the units hex, but not the leaders one. The rest of the AMs are put into a container to be pulled randomly. There is also a 'High Command' AM that is available to each side in the Battle of Narva scenario, but only on the Swedish side at Poltava. This will allow certain listed units to activate once more even though they may have done so with their normal activation marker. In the replacement phase, a unit that does not move or take any other action and is within command range of certain command units, allows the unit to be flipped back to its original strength. The recovery segment is where units that are disrupted or routed can attempt by die roll to rally. Victory is determined by capturing certain hexes, or by unit step loss or leader elimination. 

Poltava Map

 The game has rules for cavalry charges and counter charges. Infantry charges, a Swedish favorite, are also represented in the game. One rule that sticks out is that infantry can form square. From my reading, I believe that historians are still arguing about when the infantry square came into being, so I was a bit surprised about the rule. The game also comes with many optional rules. You can add volley fire to the mix and use it to increase your chances on combat results. There is also a 'Swedish Desperation' optional rule. If the Swedish player has the initiative and is losing the game, he can make a die roll on the 'Desperation Attack Table'. This will show you how many desperate attacks the Swedes can make that turn. One unit in an attack has its attack factor doubled for the attack, but suffers disruption immediately after it. One optional rule that is not really represented is having Charles XII not wounded at the time of Poltava. There is an optional rule to have him appear in the Poltava battle but he does not turn up until turn four. Charles was actually dragged around the battle in a litter, but was not really able to influence the outcome at all. The Swedes saw him as a good luck charm. His military skill and Swedish morale could very well have turned the tide at Poltava.

 The rules for the most part are easy to read and understand. The designer Paul Rohrbaugh has been very helpful to people with rule questions on BGG. 

 The games play out much like in history. At Narva the Swedes attacked in a snow storm, and they were not even supposed to be near the Russians. Charles broke most of the rules of warfare at the time, and in doing so won a spectacular victory. On the other hand, the Russian Army at Narva is brittle and the rules for that scenario help to make it a historical battle. Poltava is thought by some to be completely unwinnable by the Swedes according to most historians. As the Swedish commander, you have to fight through a line of redoubts and then actually attack a fortified Russian camp; and did I mention the Russians have plenty of artillery? Even with Charles able to conduct the battle, it is a very hard task. Under the historical conditions with both Swedish commanders hating each other it is almost impossible. I like these two games. One of the big reasons is that the designer did not fiddle with history to make it more 'gamey', and to give each side a level playing field. The optional rules, if you choose to use them, do add a little more historical flair to the games, but also make it a bit easier at times on both sides. 

 Unfortunately, the battles of Charles XII and his generals have not really been made into too many games. The most produced game of this war is usually Poltava. I will admit that being of Swedish descent I have always had a love and hate relationship with the battle. For the longest time it was the only battle that you could game, but the situation is a desperate Swedish attack into Russian field works with really no other option. With the Battle of Narva, the Swedes can decide exactly where and when they will attack. The treatment of both battles in this game are first rate, and anyone who is interested in the time period should check them out.

 
Robert

German Heavy Fighting Vehicles

of the Second World War

by

Kenneth W. Estes

 This book is only about the German heavy fighting vehicles that were actually built to some degree. This book does not include the Third Reich's flights of fantasy, or designs that were still on drawing boards. From The Tiger I to the E-100 these vehicles were either used in battle or at least had a hull manufactured.

 The book starts with German tank development from 1918-1939. Then there is a small chapter on the German heavy tank program in general.

 The next part of the book has separate chapters on the various types of heavy fighting vehicles, from the Tiger I to the Sturmmorser Tiger (Sturmtiger). It then continues with a history of the numerous German heavy tank, or antitank, units in the war. The middle of the book is filled with sixteen pages of colored photos, most of them of the inside of a Tiger II.

 The most interesting part of the book are the five appendices. These are either US or British evaluations of German heavy tanks, or interrogations of German engineering doctors involved in the production of them. In the epilogue, there is a list of all the remaining German heavy fighting vehicles that can be seen, and what museum they are in. The small amount of them remaining means that few of us will be able to see any of them in person.

 One of the recurring themes of the book is the detrimental effect Dr. Ferdinand Porsche had on the German heavy vehicles program. His interjections into most of the programs seem to be a Godsend to the Allies. From what the book shows, he should have stuck with Volkswagens and race cars.

 The author also shows us that the hurried nature of the development of these behemoths led to tons of teething troubles. We are also shown how the actual engine development lagged far behind the rest of the parts of these vehicles. The engines and transmissions of these large tanks and tank destroyers were always their Achilles heel.

 This is a well written book for the military reader to see the inner workings of German engineering and back story to the development of these vehicles.

Robert

Book: German Heavy Fighting Vehicles of the Second World War

Author: Kenneth W. Estes

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

War of The Rats: Stalingrad

by

 Russ Schulke of 626 Designs LLC 

"War of the Rats: Stalingrad” NEWS

We recently touch bases with Russ Schulke of 626 Designs, LLC and asked about the status War of the Rats: Stalingrad boardgame.

“It has been a busy year; most of this time has been directed to updating the new game to meet the parameters of the boardgame section of the U.S. Copyright Office.

Last winter, a few members of the Winterfest Wargamers club playtested the airwar and the Volga Flotilla components of the game. The playtesting went well, and clearly showed the conceptual charting results and the reality of the actual gameplay, changes were made.

Last month, I purchased the rights to the game box artwork from the Mary Evans Picture Library. This artwork was first published in the Illustrated London News, 23 October 1942.

Last week, Greg S. (1990, University of Cambridge) joined the team and will be the lead proofer (quality control) for the map, scenario sheets, charts, and tables. Hopefully, his Queen’s English will come in handy.

A formal webpage should be up mid-summer and right now I am still assessing the P500 (Pledge 500) or Kickstarter route to release the game"

 

 Box Artwork

Game map: 3 sheets 35"x 60" (Total size 102" x 60") 1" overlap per map. The map folds are strategically placed, and each sheet can be folded to the minimal size for most scenario requirements. Alternatively, you can back-fold and add a few more maps printed charts. The game comes with a complete set of hand-held aids, charts, and tables. This project was created with AutoCAD (85%) and Photoshop (15%).

Game map: Game Scale: Company/Platoon  Hex scale: 300 meters  

Game map: The game map was created from 1942 German reconnaissance maps tied to GPS. 220,000 buildings and factories represented, the digitizing and colorization took about five months total.  

River crossing tracker: Units of the Volga Flotilla are preparing to cross the Volga River. 

 

 

Day tracker (morning/afternoon/night), weather and river ice tracker.

 Thank you Russ, for the update on what is shaping up to be a great game about Stalingrad. 

Waterloo The Truth at Last

Why Napoleon Lost The Great Battle 

by

Paul L. Dawson

  To merde or not to merde, that is the question. Did General Cambronne say it, or did he utter "The Guard dies but never surrenders", or was he as this book says lying unconscious on the ground? 

 This book is large at roughly 500 pages, and it is jam packed with first person accounts of the battle. What makes this book different from so many others is that these accounts do not gel at all with the history as we have been told until now. We have been taught through word and screen that the Old Guard was destroyed by English troops. The author shows more than just a few accounts that say the Old Guard was actually destroyed by the Prussians. Another 'myth' the book tries to do away with is why the French attack was so delayed. We have been taught it was because of the condition of the ground that morning. There are many accounts and the author shows us that the French were just not ready to attack early. The author also questions if this army was one of the better ones that Napoleon commanded. This has been put forth in many written accounts of the battle.

 Mr. Dawson backs up his assertions with a lot, and I mean a lot, of facts and figures. The book can stand on all of the points the author shows that can be backed up by figures etc. The only problem with these first hand accounts is what if they are not correct, or are remembered incorrectly? 

 This book is one that everyone should have in their library, whether they agree with all of its findings or not. It is good to have a book that makes us question what we have believed in for the past two hundred years. The only thing I can fault the book for is a total absence of maps. A map to show where the author believes the Old Guard was destroyed/surrendered would have helped the reader to understand what exactly, and how much, the author was trying to correct the historical record. Even with the lack of maps, it is still a great book for a reader to ponder over. Do yourself a favor and read the author's other books on the campaign.

Robert

Book: Waterloo: The Truth at Last
Author: Paul L. Dawson
Publisher: Frontline Books
Distributor: Casemate Publishers


 

Hitler's Secret Weapons

by

David Porter

 Readers who are looking for a story about the history of the Third Reich's secret weapons should look elsewhere. For those of us who are enthralled by statistics and diagrams, this book is for us. The book does not only dwell on one weapon system, but shows all of the different types manufactured or on the drawing board. The author also starts out by going backwards in history, and shows us a little about the large caliber guns that were German secret weapons in World War I.

 The book takes us through the tanks, jets, and rockets, along with much more, that were used or dreamed up by the German engineers in the Second World War. There are tidbits of information on every page. Did you know that a Panzerkampfwagen IV, and Panther cost about the same to make as a Sherman tank? The same chart shows that a Tiger I or II cost roughly three times more than the aforementioned tanks. There are also charts that show the monthly production rates for the Tiger I and II tanks. Charts and diagrams that show the different speeds, armor thickness, and gun calibers of some Allied and German tanks are shown. According to the book, an IS2 tank was slower than a Tiger I, and a Churchill VII crawled along at only 15.5 MPH. The Maus is here along with the unbelievably huge land battleships of the 'P Series Land Cruisers'. These had 11" guns the same that were in the Scharnhorst battleship/battle cruiser.

  The book also shows the different railroad guns Germany made, and a chart compares their various muzzle calibers.So the largest gun ever built, the railroad gun Gustav, is here. Its smaller brothers of 'Anzio Annie' fame are shown here also. The author also shows us the state of the art infantry anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.

 Each weapon has a small write up about it. The main focus of the book is the charts and diagrams that are liberally shown throughout the volume. Land, Air, and Sea weapons are shown, from the largest battleships ever dreamed of to miniature submarines. From 'Mistel' bombs (a fighter with a bomber attached to the bottom of it filled with explosives) to jets that actually made it off the drawing board and were produced by other countries after the war, this book has them all. So if anyone needs a reference book that has the dimensions of a E100 tank or a H-45 battleship, this is your book.

Robert

Book: Hitler's Secret Weapons

Author: David Porter

Publisher: Amber Books

Distributor: Casemate Publishers