TRACES OF HUBRIS
FROM
VUCA SIMULATIONS
Traces of Hubris is the second game in Vuca Simulations series, that began with Traces of War. Whereas, the latter was set in 1943/44, involving a crushing Soviet offensive against a desperate German defence, here we're in the familiar territory of Fall Blau (in English - Case Blue). Whether thought of ultimately as the drive on Stalingrad or campaign to Stalingrad, it's summer 1942 and the Germans are set on driving for the oil rich southern regions of the Caucasus. Hitler's obsession with Stalingrad is yet to manifest itself, but is reflected in the hexes of the city being, unsurprisingly, VP targets.
This game continues the simple and immensely playable system of its sister game. It follows a basic chit-pull mechanic of activation that allows all the units within range of the respective HQ to move and have combat. As previously this does allow, perhaps ahistorically, a mixture of formations to fight together, but in game turns makes for very easy application. In keeping with the simplicity of this driving mechanism is the attacker/defender odds ratio CRT (Combat Results Table) with its very limited number of terrain DRMs (Die Roll Modifiers) that rapidly become second nature.
The effect is to create a hugely playable game where your head is rarely going to be in the rule book and your attention is almost entirely focused on what's happening on the map in front of you.
If you do need to check or remember anything, it is easily found in the well illustrated rule book [as seen below].
However, in reality all you are ever likely to need are the play aids which are excellent in more ways than one. Well, first of all there are two of them - Play Aid A and Play Aid B, next there is a pair for each player, thirdly they contain virtually every bit of information that you need to play the game and finally they are printed on so solid a thick card that they are their own little mounted board. This is a very familiar feature of the quality of all Vuca Simulations’ games.
In contrast the two maps that make up the playing area are printed on paper. I’m not going to bog down in the perennial debate between paper and mounted maps, nor the question of colour palate choices. They are far too much a personal choice to be resolved by anything other than your own taste and preference.
Personally, I really like these paper maps. I like the muted colours that the counters stand out vividly on. They suit my overall storage needs and especially lend themselves to my method of covering with plexi-glass and stacking that allows me to play such games over a period of time. Unlike the complaints of a poor match up between the two maps in Traces of War (a niggle that I found grossly exaggerated when you had actually set the latter game up and got playing), these two marry up very well. No doubt someone out there will disagree!
Also for a majority of the game's 9 Turns, all but a handful of your units will be operating on the western map, making the play area even easier to manage.
Here you see the opening set up, with a thin line of single Russian infantry counters and a sparse few units further back. Facing them are largely double stacks of the German attacker.
Returning to the rules and rule book, they are presented in a simple, easy to read and organised layout. They’re colourfully illustrated and exemplified and a bare 15 pages long, plus a couple of pages of Designer’s Notes, Player Strategy for both sides and, as always, historical background.
Historical background
The Sequence of Play is very straightforward and, as mentioned, is set out in detail on one of the excellent Play Aids.
Here is the simple outline.
SEQUENCE OF PLAY
1. LUFTWAFFE REORGANISATION PHASE
2.COMMAND CHIT SELECTION PHASE
3. ACTION PHASE
4. TURN END PHASE
1, 2 & 4 are extremely simple and brief.
The Luftwaffe Reorganisation Phase is a simple die roll to see how many air units you get this turn. A nice little touch is that you get two numbers e.g. 6/2. The 6 tells the maximum number of units and the 2 tells you that you may select up to 2 of those units for Air Supply. Though you will primarily be choosing Air units to support your combat, the use of Air Supply can be critical.
The Command Chit Selection Phase is done secretly and is critical on Turn 1 for the Axis player as he can only choose four out of the six German HQ chits and none of the Axis Minor HQ chits. However, as both Panzer HQs have two chits each, I've found it rare that I don't want to choose all four of them. In the next four turns, the Axis choice is even simpler as largely they can choose all or nearly all of the potential chits available! For the Soviet player the choice is much more limited. For most of the game it is 3 chits plus a choice between the Stavka chit or the Reinforcement chit. Even here circumstances tend to force a path that seems likely to be the same from game to game. Particularly the choice between Stavka and Reinforcements. The Stavka chit allows you activate one HQ twice or a fourth HQ, but the pressing need for Reinforcements will most often dictate that that will be your preferred choice.
The Turn End Phase is simply the assessment of whether the Axis player has achieved the single Victory Condition of controlling NINE in-supply Target Hexes. Should this not be achieved by the end of the game, VPs are totalled and if the Axis player has achieved 15 or more VPs, the game is declared a draw, though this is qualified by the comment that you may consider it a Minor Soviet Victory! If less than 15 VPs then it is a Soviet Victory.
The Action Phase typically is the heart of the game and it is a very straightforward process. The Action Chits placed in the draw bag are selected one at a time and activated. If it is an HQ chit, then all units within that HQs radius can be moved and then have combat, which is voluntary. This makes the choices even simpler than in Traces of War, where you had the option of choosing Move/Combat or Combat/Move. If the Soviet reinforcement chit is drawn, then the player places the designated reinforcements on the map and the number of units are generally substantial! In contrast if it is the Axis reinforcement chit, a dice is rolled and a meagre dribble of units [maximum 7] will be gained - too often these are mainly a few Axis Minor troops usually of a single strength point. For that reason, I've found that on the turns when you have to choose between either the OKH chit or the Axis reinforcement chit, I've almost always chosen the OKH chit which allows you to activate any HQ you like [even if if it has been activated twice already].
One of the delights of the system for Traces of Hubris and its
predecessor, Traces of War, is how it keeps to the bare essentials both in rules for movement and combat. The few modifiers for both are soon committed to memory and combat itself is made simple, being both non-compulsory and a familiar d6 die roll on an attacker strength/defender strength odds ratio CRT, with most results being R or RR [i.e. retreat 1 or 2 hexes] and a single step loss only starting to appear at odds of 4:1. While any significant step losses only result at 7:1 odds or above.
Besides making the computation of attacks very smooth and easy, these factors also significantly drive the nature of this campaign - surrounding and pocketing is very much the focus of the Axis player's strategy. This is supported in two ways. First the drive to achieve the major pocketing of Soviet troops is encouraged by the opening set up, where the line of Soviet infantry already creates a shallow bulge. This is further bolstered by the strong Panzer divisions being positioned toward the flanks and, as previously indicated, both have two HQ chits allowing the possibility of being activated twice. Secondly, the slightly higher movement factor of German infantry [4 MPs as compared to most Soviet units having 3 MPs] and the substantial 8 MPs of German tanks allows for the Axis player to frequently carry out single hex or more infiltration. This advantage also allows the tanks and mech infantry to disengage easily and make sweeping manoeuvres.
A pocket starts to be formed
The other element that plays a very significant role in the situation is the Supply Phase and its rules, as this occurs once each Turn only when the Supply chit is drawn. The Supply check is made simultaneously, so both sides units can potentially lose a step. For the Axis player this creates an element of potential risk taking when trying to create pockets or in lunging for VP targets. Do you gamble a few high quality units when you have the chance to cut off significant numbers of Soviet units from supply? These opportunities, if looking likely to occur on the up-coming turn, may also determine the choice of selecting Luftwaffe chits for Air Supply.
So, how does it play? For most of the game, the Axis player is on the attack with the Soviet player engaged in the all to familiar defensive shoring up task. However, it is nothing like the wholly desperate, frantic, nail-biting scramble that the Axis player has in Traces of War. It is a more measured retreat, with several potential hobbles put on an Axis advance -the main one being the large number of Soviet reinforcements. For me, the question of when that Soviet Supply chit gets drawn is perhaps a too powerful and unpredictable, but deciding factor.
Tenuous German hold on Stalingrad broken
What it does do is give considerable variety to the course of the game. In one particular such game, the Axis player was repeatedly on the verge of a crucially sizeable pocketing only to be thwarted by an early Soviet Reinforcement chit being drawn in four out of six turns.
Frustrating though this was, the game was still hugely enjoyable and like many East Front games, solo play is always very rewarding and immersive. As with the previous game, there is the helpful play aid that presents all the necessary tracks for solo play on one sheet. However, it's important to note that solo play is purely you playing both sides to the best of your ability.
Whether you play solo or 2-player, both the relatively low counter density for a two map game and a mere nine turns sustains the immensely satisfying playability of this series. With this great playability and sustained high quality of Vuca Simulations presentation, I hope that further campaigns will follow, whether on the eastern front or turning to the western theatre.
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