ITALIA 1917-1918

A FAREWELL TO ARMS

FROM

NUTS PUBLISHING

The Italian Front in WWI is definitely one of the lesser known periods in military history and so, not surprisingly, one of the less frequently gamed episodes.  The narrative in the famous Hemingway novel, from which the game's sub-title is drawn, was my first and only encounter with any battles in Italy during WWI, until SPI's folio game on Caporetto came out in 1978 as part of its quad, The Great War in the East.  Currently two other games on the battle are underway, one of which has just been published as I write. Caporetto, in fact, is probably the best known and often only known battle from the period.  Sadly too it was a major disaster for the Italian army. Though Italia does include this battle, it provides far more than that single devastating rout. What we do get is a very full and impressive package.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the three splendid maps, two of which are double-sided, plus a mini-map.  

The mini-map, Monte Grappa, is intended to allow you to dip your toe into the basic rules.  Billed as an introductory scenario, it does that job admirably. Though small in scale it introduces virtually everything in the Basic Rule Book.  It focuses on the major Central Powers attack at the end of the campaign and provides a short, brutal gripping defence by the Italians which historically stopped the Central Power forces.

Perhaps, it’s no surprise that the first full scenario is Waffentrue: the battle of Caporetto and this gets its own full size map.  

The Battle of Caporetto map

The remaining four scenarios are all played out on two full size maps that together are entitled 1918: The Battles of the Piave. On the reverse of two out of these three maps, you again combine them together to form the map for playing the whole Campaign game that covers a period from October 1917 to November 1918.  This major undertaking in game time is covered by the Advanced Rule Book which introduces many new concepts and rules, but more about those later.

The larger scale maps combined to form the Battles of the Piave

Italia 1917-1918 is the third game in the series using the same basic system.  The first two games designed by Nicholas Rident were Marne 1918 Friedensturm and Somme 1918: Bloody Spring.  Whereas this latest Italia, designed by Stephane Senechal, introduces several modifications which are easily identified by being printed in blue and can retrospectively be introduced into the previous two games.  In addition, rules specific purely to Italia are printed in red.  Being unfamiliar with the system, I found that they needed careful reading, despite being only 18 pages long.

The turn sequence overall is very easy to sum up and grasp, as it is made up of only three Sequences: Administrative Declaration, Operational and Victory Point. The last is very, very brief and takes little time to carry out and the first is hardly any longer.  This Administrative Sequence has three Phases - Offensives Declaration which can only be made by the Initiative Player and is determined by a Scenario's rules, a Supply Phase carried out by both players and an Air Superiority Phase which is an optional rule, but so simple, quick and easy that it's hard to see why you wouldn't always use it.

The core and depth of the game all comes in the Operational Sequence.  It contains four steps: Movement, Combat, Disengagement and Exploitation.  All four steps are executed first by the Initiative Player and then by the Reacting Player. As the Scenarios range from a single turn to two Scenarios lasting 3 turns Scenarios and two Scenarios lasting 4 turns, even the longest two initially appear likely to be playable in a short time. However, this is misleading, as in each Scenario's special rules, the Initiative player has to launch an Offensive every turn.  Launching an Offensive means that the Operational Sequence is carried three times in each turn!  You quickly realise that most of the Scenarios take nearly the equivalent of 9 - 12 turns and certainly cover a lot of action and require considerable rules' knowledge.

First of all the game layers in many familiar features: weather, creating pontoon bridges along with building and destroying bridges, forced march, the use of trucks, designating reserves and their use and activation, supply depots, disorganisation and reorganisation.  Along with these are some interesting developments such as  disengagement which follows combat and can only be applied to units identified by disengagement markers placed at the end of the Movement Phase.  

However, what significantly enriches, but also adds to game length is an exceptionally detailed combat system.  The first complicating factor is the distinction between conventional units, primarily infantry, some cavalry and, for this late stage of the war, an element of tanks as opposed to Support units.  The latter include HQs, artillery, a variety of assault troops specific to each nation, along with the optional air support units.

Combat starts with the indication of the standard combat units involved and then each side allocates artillery support types that may either be for bombardment or counter-battery purposes and the resolution of whichever types have been allocated.  This is the first significant increase to the length and complexity of the combat process.  

Familiar Odds Ratio CRT and Combat Modifiers

The next step is wholly familiar and easily applied:- a normal odds ratio CRT [Combat Results Table] comparing each side's strength points to find the appropriate column to roll on.  Then add many typical DRMs for terrain, morale difference between lead units, tanks, assault troops, being out of supply etc. One original touch that I like is that should the attacker be left with no unit that fulfils the requirements for a lead unit, the attack is cancelled and the attacking unit with the highest morale loses 3 steps.  Ouch!

Normally, the last step rolling the dice and checking the result is the easiest.   What is added to the system in Italia gains my qualified praise. Four dice are rolled - two white, one blue and one green. The summed total of the two white dice referenced to the ratio column on the CRT gives you the basic number of hit points each side takes.  So far so good. But then you have to reference the blue Central Powers die and the green Entente die to an additional Tactical Coordination Table that has both its own modifiers and set of results that produce both compulsory and optional actions.  

Tactical Consideration Table

My praise goes to the granularity of detail added to the combat results, but my qualification is for the considerable length of time that every combat takes.  Nor is everything finished yet. The results from the Tactical Coordination Table have all to be applied before the CRT results are dealt with and the hit points have to be converted into step losses. 

Hit Point Conversion Chart

The Operational Sequence is rounded out by Disengagement and Exploitation.  The first of these, Disengagement, allows units so marked at the end of the Movement Phase to leave enemy ZOCs, however it doesn't allow Support units to move. The other, Exploitation, is even more limited as only those rare few units qualify that received an Exploitation marker because of a Tactical Coordination result during combat.  It allows those that are adjacent to an enemy unit to have combat if wished while those marked with Exploitation (or a Reserve marker) that are not adjacent to an enemy unit may move.

Finally, a Turn is rounded off with the removal of appropriate markers and the conventional totalling of VPs.  What I've detailed so far allows you to play all the Scenarios.  One Scenario is played on both maps that together make up the map labelled 1918 The Battle of Piave, while another Scenario uses the southern portion of both those map sheets.  Two further Scenarios are played, one on the west map and the other on the east map of 1918 The Battle of Piave and finally the Caporetto Scenario is played out on its own single, full sized map.  They all provide substantial medium to medium/high level games.  

Having absorbed all the not insignificant number of basic rules, we come to the Advanced Rule Book and another 18 pages of rules.  Its introduction states,

"The Advanced Rules do not make the game any more complex.  In the majority of cases they are organised such that players can learn them as they go along."

Just looking at the list on the front cover of the Advanced Rules Book (seen above) had me doubting that statement and reading and assimilating them hasn't changed my mind.

First of all, there are both totally new rules and significant modifications to the basic rules. On the simple level, each player has a new Phase, Strategic Movement, which takes up a full two pages of rules.  In many a game, this entails a simple doubling of movement while remaining a specific number of hexes away from enemy units. In Italia 1917-18, these detail the use of Strategic Movement markers and their use in Offensive and non-Offensive turns, the movement of units from the map to the Strategic Reserve Box or Rebuild Track and strategic movement on rail lines.

However, what is the most complex new addition for me is the Unit Admin Phase.  It introduces the rebuilding of eliminated units, units’ rest and recuperation and the managing of artillery support.  Apart from its extension of the rules, it substantially adds to an already sizeable play area by needing two display charts, one for each player.  The relevant rules add two more pages explaining the use of morale tracks and a brigade or regiment track along with four separate boxes for resting, loss, eliminated and encircled units.

Inevitably what I do like most in the Advanced rules are the extensive decks of Event cards of which the four illustrated below are a mere taster.  They are something I intend to explore adapting into some of the basic game play. 

So, to sum up, the basic game is a detailed and very thorough treatment of this infrequently covered theatre of WWI.  It provides real value for an amazingly low price (£50.95 at Second Chance Games - my go-to supplier), though as always I've Nuts Publishing to thank for providing this review copy. Its three maps are an exceptional geographic presentation and the package provides a good range of substantial scenarios with Caporetto probably being the one that most gamers will plump for.  For me, the Advanced rules took it to a level of depth outside my comfort zone, so the grand campaign will probably remain unexplored and I would suggest is more likely to be played at conventions where time can be devoted to it.