Air & Armor Wurzburg: Designer Signature Edition

Tactical Armored Warfare in Europe

by

Compass Games

 Trying to design a simulation about a war that never happened is, I assume, a bit of a pain. In this case, the Third World War might be a tad easier than most 'almost' warfare situations. We do have all of the information about the forces that would, or could, be involved. The once classified information about the armaments in use at the time are now almost all in the dust bin of history. To be honest, a soldier from World War II might not have been able to wrap his head around the battlefield of the 1980s. The lethality of the possible Third World War scenarios was tremendous compared to earlier warfare. The abilities of aircraft had multiplied tremendously even compared to the Vietnam War. Tank against tank warfare in Germany at the end of the 20th century would have made Kursk seem like a day at the park. So, the simulation that has been brought to us by Mr. Maxwell and Compass Games has scared away even some grognards. We will now take a look at it and see if there really is a rattlesnake in the box or just a pet snake looking for a home. There are some fine semi-historical books about these scenarios, my favorites being General Sir John Hackett's 'The Third World War, and 'The Third World War: The Untold Story'. Doing some reading about the Soviet 'Seven Days to the Rhine plan' should also help you get into the mood.

 

Back of the box courtesy of Compass Games

 This is what Compass Games has to say about the game:

"Hofheim, 15:00. Commander: “Oh thank God, help has arrived!” Gunner: “Those aren’t ours….”

Air & Armor: Würzburg, Operational Armored Warfare in Europe, Designer Signature Edition marks the return of one of the most highly rated wargames on modern warfare ever published. Air & Armor is a company-level simulation of a Hypothetical Soviet attack on West Germany in the mid-1980s. It depicts the collision of the Soviet 8th Guards Army and elements of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division and West German 12th Panzer Division in a ferocious battle around the German city of Wurzburg. This new edition is lovingly recreated with new map artwork, new unit counters, new unit values and updated rules.

Air & Armor employs a highly interactive game system with asymmetric rules modeling the different Command & control techniques of each alliance. The game simulates all of the major aspects of modern warfare: reconnaissance, combined arms operations, air, helicopter and artillery strikes, chemical and electronic warfare and engineering.  Multiple levels of hidden intelligence produce a true “fog of war” and provide plenty of opportunities for deception, surprise and ambush.  Play this game to find out what it really might have been like to command a division in battle.

Based on detailed research from Warsaw Pact archives now available, this new edition includes a completely revised Order of Battle featuring one East German and four Soviet Divisions. Air & Armor includes a Basic Game, covering standard armor operations, and an Advanced Game that layers in air and engineering operations and Chemical and electronic warfare. Each game level includes four to six Scenarios, which are complete games in themselves. Extensive Scenario, Player and Designer Notes provide advice on play and historical detail.

A quick note about the Rules booklet:

Why is the rules booklet larger in the Compass version than the original West End Games version?

– The average word count in Würzburg is around 900 words per page, compared to 1500 words per page in the original Air & Armor.

– Non-rules information (i.e. illustrations or examples of play) takes nearly 50% of all pages in the new edition.

The rules text in Würzburg is approximately 40 pages, as opposed to 148 pages, when following the same format as the original rules booklet. This is not a significant difference compared to the original rules.

Product Information:

Complexity:  Medium

Time Scale: 1 Turn = 2 Hours

Map Scale: 1 Mile/hex

Unit Scale: Companies and Battalions

Players: 2-7 players

Solitaire Suitability: Medium

Playing Time: 3 to 8 hours based on Scenario

Components:

Two 22″ x 34″ Maps

Five Countersheets (9/16″ size playing pieces)

Two Player Charts & Tables Booklets

Five TO&E Displays

Basic Game Rules Booklet

Advanced Game Rules Booklet

Two 10-Sided Dice

Game Credits:

Designer: Bruce Maxwell

Artist: Bruce Yearian

Project Director: John Kranz

Box Cover Design: Bruce Yearian & Brien Miller"

 Let us now take a look at what actually is in the box. The maps are impressive. They are two of the normal sized 22" X 34" maps that come with the game. The artwork on them is done very well. The terrain in each hex is extremely easy to discern. There is a terrain key on both maps. The reason I am most impressed by the maps is because they are made of card stock. This makes them a little harder to flatten out but makes them almost impervious to accidental tears. They are also covered in a glossy waterproof covering. Kudos to Compass Games for them! 

The two maps courtesy of Compass Games

 Up next is the main reason the game has gotten some flak over. This would be the 146-page Rule Book. Yes, you read that correctly. However, there are many mitigating circumstances to the length of the Rule Book. The main reason the Rule Book is that large is because of the giant size of the type and play examples. It is double-columned, but the type and pictures are a complete Godsend to the denizens of the Old Grognards Home for aging wargamers. The Rule Book is also manufactured much more like a book than a wargame Rule Book. The pages are also much more substantial than the 'magazine' pages that you sometimes find in newer Rule Books. The Rule Book, and both Players' Aids, are in full color. As far as the number of pages and learning the simulation, I will let the designer speak:

"Design Note: Even a veteran gamer is going to experience a sinking feeling weighing this booklet in his hands and wondering just how long it is going to take to digest these rules.  Take heart!  Three things lighten this load:

The first 15% of this booklet simply describes the components of the game and the various units and markers it contains; another 25% consists of detailed examples of play and Designer and Player Notes.  Only 60% of this booklet is actually rules, and some ten pages of those are optional.

There is a solid little introductory scenario (see Thermopylae, Case 47.1), which makes it easy to play your way into the game after reading just half the rules.

You will find extensive video clips online showing how the game is played.  Videos can be found at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS3eFl8PtEYXv2O6dt75jQxsxF6qoO1hn.

Finally, it is worth relating that when playtesters first picked up the game, they consistently reported being daunted by the rules and the extensive Sequence of Play.  Once they got into it, they equally consistently reported that the game was easy to play because the Sequence of Play and the Charts & Tables support game play without requiring much reference to the rules.  Players familiar with my earlier game, NATO: The Cold War Goes Hot, may wonder why I have not used the Veteran’s Summaries that made those rules so easy to absorb.  The answer is that Air & Armor is played using a unique game system.  Even veteran wargamers are unlikely to have seen anything like it before.

Regards, Bruce"

 So, not exactly a 'buckle up for the ride' warning but more like keep your hands inside at all times.

 The Players' Aids continue with Play Book. It comes in at a substantial 58-pages. However, it is just as large inside as the Rule Book. The Play Book is broken up into these chapters:

Scenario Play

Scenarios (12 of them)

Player Notes

Designer's Notes

Developer's Notes

TO&E Notes

Index

Game Credits

 There are two copies of the Charts & Tables Booklet. It comes in at a mere 18-pages with a full page back cover of the two maps in all their glory. Yes, that is a goodly amount of charts & tables. However, the designer does hold your hand through the scary process (see above).

 The information for the players continues with a slew of card stock thick and full color single- and double-page Player Aids. They are made of card stock and are also covered in the same way as the map. These include:

Sequences Card 1(two copies)

Sequences Card 2 (two copies)

Warsaw Pact Tables of Organization & Equipment (two different sheets one double-sided and one single-sided)

Warsaw Pact Pool Card

Warsaw Pact Planning Card

Warsaw Pact Tracks Card (Game Turn, Sams, and Victory Points etc.)

Nato Pool Card

Nato Tracks Card

West German and U.S./Canadian Tables of Organization & Equipment (double-sided)

 Then we take a look at the counters. The first thing you will notice is that Compass games for a while now has been sending them out in their own plastic wrapping. They do like to jump off the sprues. They have side views of armored and non-armored vehicles. The planes and helicopters are shown from top down. The information on them is color coded and also fairly large for this size of counter (9/16"). There are six countersheets and they are split roughly 60/40 as far as information counters and actual fighting units.

 The box, although not large, has a good number of things in it and they are very well manufactured. I am as impressed with this game's contents as I have been with the other Compass Games down through the last few years. 

 The designer has taken the time to help the player by using the scenarios to teach them small bits of the simulation at a time, using them as building blocks until you can experience the whole game. He knew that to just throw the player in the deep end of the pool would be completely counterproductive. The game comes with so many ways and rules to help it represent the time of this hypothetical conflict. This is the list under the Rule Book heading 'Units':

Unit Assembly

Hidden Intelligence

Dummy Units

Used and Unused Sides

Unit Splitting

Unit Combination

Unit Transfers

 One of the most interesting design choices was in how the TO&E and steps of each unit are used in the game. I probably will not explain it that well but here goes. The steps of a unit are used in various ways. First, they can be used as both Dummy Units and Hidden Intelligence. Your opponent will see that there is a counter on the board of Abrams. However, he will have no idea if they are real or how many steps are backing up that single counter. The designer has thought long and hard about how to show on a 2D map the effects of both 'Friction' and planned Maskirovka (deception and camouflage in Russian). One would be tempted to say that some of these are just 'Pasta Rules' included for chrome. This is not the truth in any way, shape, or form. To match the design that Mr. Maxwell had in his head, he had to do a lot of thinking outside the box.

 This is a list of some of what the designer also took into account for his game:

River Crossing Major and Minor

Fire Combat (Infiltration, Offensive, and Defensive)

Reaction Movement and Combat

Reconnaissance

Fire Support

Artillery (Direct Fire, Indirect Fire, and Rocket)

Strikes

Air Units

Attack Helicopter Units 

Utility Helicopters

Anti-Aircraft Fire

Airmobile Units

Headquarters

Shatter

Night

Engineering

Military Bridges

Improved Positions

Obstacles/Mines

Electronic Warfare

Poison Gas

 The list of everything added is quite a long one. However, the mastery of the game is how, if approached correctly, the player will not get overwhelmed. There is a lot of things to do and think about in this game, the sequence of play leads the player through all of it in an easy and straightforward way. 

 The Play Book has a wealth of information in both the Player and Designer Notes. You will get to see the history of Air & Armor from its inception to this newest edition (It was first published by West End Games in 1986). Bill Thomas deserves huge kudos for hunting down the designers of excellent older games and revamping them for this century.

 As the designer states "A game system is only as good as the scenarios designed for it". Rest assured that he has never really stopped tinkering and playtesting them since the 1970s. As mentioned, the scenarios range from small and simpler to large and complex. The game comes with 12 scenarios. The twelfth is called Hammer and Anvil and is roughly the campaign game. 

 I believe the designer was able to successfully complete his mission. I believe he wanted an in-depth semi-monster wargame that was also player friendly. That is usually a task that would approach Sisyphus's. My hat is off to Mr. Maxwell and what he was able to achieve. 

 There are four sheets of errata that do come with the game. While some might think this excessive, please remember the total amount of pages and words in the rules. For a game about warfare in the 1980s there had to be such a lot of rules for so many different scenarios and usage, there was bound to be a few hiccups. There is also a small square patch to fix an issue with the map around Karlstadt.

 Thank you very much Compass Games for letting me review this deep and enjoyable game. Yes, I had to do more learning and take more time than is usual with a wargame, but it was definitely worth it. As the old anacronym say GIGO. If you do not take the time or the firing synapses to learn the game, it is your loss. After all, isn't that why we are into wargaming. Otherwise, we could spend our time with tiddlywinks or FB cat videos (sorry Meta). 

 It has been a few years but the second game in the series has been released. This is Air & Armor: V Corps, Tactical Armored Warfare in Europe. From what I can tell it looks to be manufactured in the same exact way as its elder brother. There is a link to it below.

Robert Peterson

Compass Games

Air & Armor Wurzburg: Tactical Armored Warfare in Europe, Designer Signature Edition

Air & Armor: V Corps, Tactical Armored Warfare in Europe

 Pontiac's War: Frontier Rebellion, 1763 - 1766

by

Compass Games

 I was an avid reader of Allan Eckert and Francis Parkman books in my youth. They both wrote about the early frontier days of the thirteen British Colonies in North America. I had always read about the indigenous people since I was old enough to hold a book. I am not sure if it was in an Eckert book or somewhere else that I first read about Pontiac (Obwaandi'eyaag) the Odawa (Ottawa) War Chief, and his rebellion against the British. This was just after the end of the French & Indian War. British hubris, especially commanding General Jeffery Amherst's, was in full swing and their treatment of the natives was part of this. The British believed that they had beaten the French and that now most of North America belonged to them. This was without any thought of the natives who actually lived there. The Indians were no part of the peace treaty between France and England. The frontier turned into a powder keg after the French troops left and the English took over their forts. This game is about what happened after the fuse was lit.

 This is what Compass Games has to say about the game:

“I mean to destroy the English and leave not one upon our lands.”  Pontiac

“It is not in the Indian’s power to affect anything of consequence.” Major Gladwin.”

"Pontiac’s War: Frontier Rebellion, 1763-1766 followed on the heels of the French and Indian War which ended in 1763. Thanks to Indian resentment over the French surrender of their lands and the harsh policies of General Jeffery Amherst, governor-general of British North America, 20+ Indian nations rose up under the charismatic leadership of the Ottawa sachem, Pontiac and the Lenape Holy Man, Neolin. When the powder-smoke cleared, 450 British soldiers and countless Indians had lost their lives. Two thousand settlers were either killed or captured and 4000 more had been displaced. Moreover, Britain’s foreign conflicts had put the Crown 140 million £ in debt. These expenses led directly to a series of unpopular taxes in North America which in turn led directly to another uprising, our colonial revolution.

Pontiac’s War attempts to recreate the reaction of Indian leaders to British mishandling of frontier politics and the impending colonial crisis it presaged. Building on the point-to-point system and loose Indian alliances used in King Philip’s War and Blood on the Ohio, this design expands frontier conflict using Battle cards to introduce combat chaos, British expenditure on troops, Uncertain Indian Arms supply, siege rules, the capture of prisoners, French interference and trader influence.

The game offers five short introductory scenarios (15-30 minutes), three one-year campaign scenarios (2 hours), and one three-year grand campaign (5-6 hours). Although not a solitaire design, it is solitaire friendly. Players will appreciate the high-production quality of the components which includes a MOUNTED game map and large, 5/8″ size punch-out counters."

Product Information:

Complexity: 4 out of 10

Solitaire Suitability: 5 out of 10

Time Scale: Seasonal turns (approx. 3 months per turn)

Map Scale: Point-to-Point map (approx. 60-75 miles between points)

Unit Scale: 30-50 men, 4-6 artillery guns, individual officers and sea vessels

Players: 1 or 2 (best with 2)

Playing Time: from 15 minutes (intro scenarios) to 6 hours (grand campaign)

Components:

One 22 x 34″ MOUNTED game map

Four Counter Sheets of deluxe, 5/8″ punch-out counters

106 Game Cards

16 Wooden Cubes

11 Player Aid Cards

Rules Booklet

Eight 6-sided dice

Box and Lid

This is the center part of the map. I am still trying to figure out the best placement for the Indians in the first turn.

 The game comes with a colorful mounted map. It shows the territory from Wisconsin to New York and Pennsylvania, along with all of the area in between. The English forts are displayed on the map. The many and varied Indian Nations villages are also on display. The map has all of the pertinent information on it. The turn track, razed forts, and Indians arms, among others, are all right there for the player. The writing on the map is nice and large. The map has point-to-point movement. The game comes with two Off-Map Forces sheets. These are made of card stock and are a half page in size. Next up are two full sized Player Aids. These have the Charts and Tables on one side, and the Combat Sequence on the other. These are both full sized pages and are both made of card stock. The last Player Aid has the 'Indian Nation Activation' rules on it. It is also full sized and made of card stock. It is only single-sided. The Rulebook is 36 pages in length. However, the rules themselves only take up the first 18 1/2 pages. Then comes the information to play the three shorter scenarios and the campaign game. This is followed by a description of some historic sites and then the Designer's Notes. This is followed by a first turn playthrough from page 25 until page 36. This is a very nice addition to be able to see the game being played and the rules you need to use. The game comes with four counter sheets. The counters are nice and large and very easy to read. Both sides have their own deck of cards. Each side has a deck of 50 cards. They are of normal game size, but they do seem to be sturdier than most. The game actually comes with 16 six-sided die, eight per side, and small plastic cubes (these are for use on the Indian Nation Activation Player Aid).

This is the same area of the map (I am still debating my first turn placement) with the addition of a card form both decks. Atrocities on both sides were the name of the game in this conflict. 

 The game rules show us the actual realities of the conflict. The Indian Nations are disjointed and have their own agendas. The British forces are, of course, under their officer's control but are hamstrung in different ways. The Indians' pressing concern is to keep their Arms Track, guns and ammunition, as high as possible. To do this they must take forts and win battles. One of the major reasons that the war took place was because the British were starving the Indians of powder and ammunition that they now used for hunting. By taking forts and winning battles, they can replenish their limited supply of guns and ammunition. Great Britain nearly bankrupted itself during the Seven Years War. This was a global conflict that taxed even the British treasury. So, the number of troops in North America was pared down to keep costs low. As the British player you can add to your forces, but the amount of these forces and their shipping etc. comes with a cost in victory points. So, the Indian player needs to attack, and spend Arms points to do so, but they have to weigh out the loss in arms compared to their possible gain. 

 The game is played in seasonal turns. British Officers and Indian Sachems are prime targets for their enemies. The Indians will be hard pressed if they lose the five victory points for the loss of both Pontiac and Neolin. Neolin was the Lenape/Delaware Prophet. As in some other Indian Wars a native prophet (Neolin) was preaching a return to a lifestyle before the Colonials appeared. There are no stacking limitations, except in forts and during winter (the Off-Map Player Aids come in handy). The game has rules about captives, ambushes, and the destruction of both settlements and native villages. The Indians have to raze as many British forts as possible, and the British can knock the different Nations out of the war by destroying all of their villages. The Indians can move ten points per turn, and the British can move eight. Captives play a large part in the game. The game also gives both players a deck of Combat Cards to be used with, you'll never guess, Combat. Some of the cards also affect the game in other ways in the bigger picture. In the Campaign Scenario the British player has a historical setup to adhere to. In that same scenario there are some rules to adhere to setting up the Indians, but the player is given a lot of leeway. The big question for the Indian player is whether to try and take Detroit on the first turn or not. You can have enough different Nations warriors at Detroit to try it. The other strategy is to spread out your forces and sweep up the numerous smaller English forts first. Historically the latter idea was tried with Detroit trying to be taken by a coup de main. The additions of the cards to play along with luck of the die makes either one a viable option for the Indian player. The victory conditions are based upon the realities of that moment in time. Obviously, the British and Colonials, given their power and population and time, would eventually steamroll over the different tribes. At best, historically, the Indians could have kept the status quo for a decade or more. 

 The game comes with these scenarios:

The Rising - Spring, Summer & Fall 1763

The British Response - Spring, Summer & Fall 1764

The Inconclusive Conclusion - Spring, Summer & Fall 1765

Pontiac's War - The Full Campaign 1763 - 1765

There are also five Introductory Scenarios. Four of them are of two turns each and the fifth has four turns.

The designer has also added six optional rules to help give the players even more replayability and ways to use their gray matter.

This is the Sequence of Play:

Indian Reinforcement

 1. Optional Annual Activation

 2. Key Leaders

 3. War Belts

British Reinforcements

 1. Militia Volunteers

 2. (Spring) Guinea Loans

Indian Movement/Combat/ Both sides replenish cards

British Movement/ Combat/ Both sides replenish cards

Supply/ Siege Attrition

Rebuild Forts & Rally

Lift Sieges/ Wintering

Determine Victory Points

Advance the Turn Marker

 There is a sheet of errata that can be downloaded here:

Pontiac's War Official Clarifications Sheet

You can also download the Rulebook.

 Thank you, Compass Games for allowing me to review this very well-done game on Pontiac's Uprising. I also want to thank the designer John Poniske for developing a game on this important historical period.

Robert Peterson

Pontiac's War: Frontier Rebellion, 1763 - 1766

Compass Games

The Doomsday Project: Episode 2, The Battle for the Balkans

by

Compass Games

  This is a subject I lived through and until very recently I did not really explore game wise. Strangely enough, another title that I reviewed for Compass Games gave me the bug to start gaming the era. For those of you that do not know, this series of games takes place in 1985 when the Cold War goes hot. It has a neat and believable historical premise behind the game series. More on this will be below. So, sit back and put the laser disc in and we will watch: Back to the Future, Commando, Pale Rider, and St. Elmo's Fire. Of course, we will also ruminate on where the time has gone. Then we will get down to wargaming business.

 This blurb on the game is from Compass Games:

"Although the World War Three scenario of NATO versus the Warsaw Pact never happened, it happened countless times on the wargaming table. It may not be part of history, but it is part of our hobby’s history. The Doomsday Project is a subseries of the Operational Scale System featuring wars that never happened. There will be games on the Persian Gulf, Central America, The Battle for Northern Europe, Manchuria, the strategic naval war, and of course, a game of total nuclear war. All the games will feature rules that allow you to play some, part or all of the great war that never happened. The first game in the series will feature the fight that could have happened in Germany. Chemical weapons, tactical nuclear attacks and politics will be present – as well as all the forces that were stationed in the region in 1985. Both sides, notably the United States, were reequipping their forces with many new weapons joining the line. The process had started but is not yet completed.

This is the fourth game in the “OSS” system; and the second game in the Doomsday series. This game will cover the battle for the southern front of Europe. The map will stretch from Northern Italy to the Bosporus and all the nations that could have fought in this area will be represented in the game. This series is made to be highly playable and to be completed in far shorter a time that is common for this size game. Low counter density and a concentration on conceptual complexity is the focus of this series. While still mechanically simple, The Doomsday Project will also have all the necessary rules to cover this theater and period. In Episode Two, The Battle for the Balkans game, as you will see in all additional games in The Doomsday Project, will add another facet to the mechanics of the system. Sophisticated political rules will make their appearance. Players will have to content with heads of state and their positives and negatives in play. Rules to retrofit these rules into the Germany game will be provided as well."

Don't they look just beautiful!

 This is what comes with the game, plus some other information:

Complexity: 7 out of 10

Solitaire Suitability: 8 out of 10

Time Scale: 1 day per turn

Unit Scale: Divisional/Brigade/Regiment

Players: 1-2

Scenarios: 5 (+1 massive campaign game with The Battle for Germany)

Components

Four Maps at 22” by 34”

One Map at 11" by 17"

One Map at 8.5” by 11”

Five Countersheets

Eight Player Aids, Charts, and Displays

One Rulebook

One Scenario book

Two 6-sided dice and two 10-sided dice

1 Box and lid

Game Credits

Designer: Adam Starkweather

Graphic Artist: Nadir Elfarra

Counter Sheet #1

 First up I will be talking about the maps. You get six maps in the game, and they are made of paper with a bit of lamination on them. Four of them are the usual 22" x 34" variety. Then you get an 11" x 17" map of Istanbul and the mostly Turkish territory in Europe, and a small bit of Turkey proper. The 8.5" x 11" map is for filling in between two of the larger maps on the Adriatic coast. I like the maps. Their size is 12 kilometers per hex. The colors to me were a good choice. As far as terrain, it is easily distinguishable between the types of terrain. The Rulebook is forty-two pages long and is in full color. They are made of a flatter finish instead of the glossy magazine type we are getting used to seeing. It has double column spacing and the type size is large enough to easily read. The Scenario booklet is twenty-eight pages in length. It is made the same exact way as the Rulebook. First you have the setup and rules for the game's six scenarios and then you get a four-page example of play. There are seven thick card stock Player Aids. Six of them are one-sided and then there is a double-sided terrain chart. One side is the Terrain Effects Chart, and the other side is the Restricted Terrain Table. The six one-sided are:

Nato Player Aid

Warsaw Pact Player Aid

Warsaw Pact Air Display

Nato Air Display

Military Leaders/Political Leaders Charts

General Game Display

 They all have decent sized printing on them, except for a small part on the Military Leaders/Political Leaders page. The counters are very well done with either a silhouette for tanks and APCs, and a top-down view of aircraft. The five countersheets come wrapped in plastic, which is great because they want to fall out of the cardboard sprues. This is just like the counters I have been seeing in other Compass Games products. The political leader counters are small portraits of the leader it represents. The first thing you will notice is there are no numbers on them for movement and attack/defense (I know- heresy). The only numbers on them show the size of the unit. The game rules and die rolls take care of how strong or weak a unit is. There are also a fair number of counters to show unit losses and its state. The components are a mirror image of the first game in the series: The Battle for Germany. If you liked them, and I do, then you can be assured to like these.

Counter Sheet #2

 

 The game has no need of movement rates on the counters. All units are considered to be motorized except for an actual leg unit. The basic unit movement rate is five. The terrain is much more difficult than in The Battle for Germany maps. The road network is not like what is present in The Battle for Germany. The units can have primary and secondary equipment listed on it. This is usually shown with APCs and tanks, although a unit can be of only one type of armament.

 If you are looking for history and plausibility, then look no further. This game has these and many more besides:

Armor/APCs

Surface-to-Surface Missiles

Helicopters

Fighters/Bombers

Airborne

Warsaw Pact Guards Units

Marine Units

Air Transport for both supply/attacks

Nuclear Weapons possible use

Fresh/Spent Units

Supply Points Usage

Poor/Penal Units

Spetsnaz

Leaders (not seen very much in games of this scale)

 Guaranteed that if it was ever in a wargame, it is in this one.

 Below shows some of the sequence of play:

The Strategic Phase

 Check Weather

 Check Communications

 Place Arriving Reinforcements

 Air Allocation Phase

 Resolve All SSM Attacks

 Supply and Infrastructure Phase

 Strategic Air Mission Resolution

Warsaw Pact Activation Phase

NATO Activation Phase

Activation Sequence

 HQ Activation Segment

 Unit Activation Segment

 Cadre Segment

 Initial Movement and Combat Declaration Segment

 Reserve Movement Segment

 Bonus Movement Segment

 Combat Segment

 After Combat Loss Segment

 Check Stacking Segment

 HQ Movement and Refresh Segment

 Bivouac

 Night Battles

End Phase

 Eliminate Friendly Units Phase

 Victory Check Phase

 Victory Check Segment

 Politics Phase

 Time Phase

 As you can see, the game has just about everything in it that was ever discussed about a Third World War game. Compass Games has it listed as seven out of ten on the complexity scale. The one great bit about it is that the game has suitability of solitaire ranked as high. I can attest to this. It is actually rather easy to play solitaire because there is so much to do each time you change sides the slate in your mind is wiped clean.

 This is a list of Special Units in the game:

Warsawa Pact Regiments and NATO Battalions

VKK Units

Spetsnaz

Military Commanders

Refugees

 A game at this level that also has the player dealing with Military Commanders and Refugees is pretty remarkable. There are six Refugee counters. One is put in the Refugee Box of the NATO Players Aid if one of these occur:

A Combat Chit is placed in a city hex.

Nuclear Attack Marker is placed on the map.

Chemical Attack Marker is placed on the map.

 The NATO Player can spend supply points to remove the Refugee counters. For each two still on the Player Aid Box the NATO infrastructure is reduced by one.

 The Military Commanders can have these five traits:

Pensive

Deliberate

Prudent

Aggressive

Reckless

 Military Commanders can be in use for both land and air units. Military Commanders are only used in a campaign game or a combined game (Battle for Germany).

 Yes, to learn the game you have to put your thinking cap on. This is not a series where you can just sit down and read a manual for ten minutes and be ready to play. The game comes with five scenarios to play. The first Austria Stands Alone would be the smallest and best to learn the game on. There is a sixth scenario and that is if the player has the first game in the series, Battle for Germany, and has enough room to play with all the maps from each game. The designer, Adam Starkweather, has also done some YouTube videos on how to play and learn the game. 

 Unlike a lot of other games, combat uses the most time and gray matter. The first thing is that there are four types of combat. These are:

Meeting Engagement : 1 MP if Cross Country or 1/2 in Road Column.

Hasty Attack: 2 MPs if Cross Country or 1 MP if in Road Column.

Prepared Attack: 3 MPs if Cross Country or 2 MPs if in Road Column.

Deliberate Attack: All MPs(may not be in Road Column).

 You actually have to spend movement points to place a combat chit on a hex. The combat chits also show which die to use (either the D6 or D10). Then the attacker can decide on whether to add Artillery Support, Air-to-Ground Support, or Helicopters. The Combat Chips have to be drawn. Some of them have a Random Event possibility on them. The Combat Chit also has an A, B, or C on it to tell you which of the three Random Event Tables to use. There is so much more to just talk about with combat let alone the rest of the game. The game also shows the lethality of the almost modern battlefield. While you do not have to worry about drones you will still have to husband your forces to take your objectives. All of your well-thought-out plans will fall into the waste bin when presented with what Clausewitz called 'friction'. This game differs from The Battle of Germany in having a full-fledged political segment in its rules. 

 Victory is also a bit different than other games. This is from the Rulebook:

"8.2.1: If a player has 21 points and gains victory points, those points are deducted from the enemy total. If a player has fewer victory points and what they might lose in victory points through play, the remaining victory points that cannot be lost are instead added to their opponent's total."

 "Players may "pay" victory points to do several game actions. They may do this even if they have 0 points but by adding the victory points to his opponent's total."

 So, you may 'bet' upon you getting more victory points by using them earlier to try to get a larger victory.

 I really like the system. So much in fact that I had to purchase a copy of The Doomsday Project: Episode 1 The Battle for Germany, just to have the complete game series, at least of the published games. The next in the series, Episode 3, will be taking place in northern Europe. I think I will also have to purchase the other two games in the OSS (Operational Scale Series) series Vietnam: A Rumor of War, and A Test of Faith: The Arab-Israeli War of 1973. Both of those games were also designed by Adam Starkweather. Thank you, Compass Games, for allowing me to review this great game. I can recommend it to anyone who is a true grognard and likes to get into meatier games. 

 Compass Games next Expo will be here:

Compass Games Expo Fall 2023 will be held November 9-13, 2023 at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Meriden, CT.

 They also had a Spring Expo this year so hopefully that continues to happen. 

Robert

The Doomsday Project: Episode 2, The Battle for the Balkans

Compass Games

The Doomsday Project: Episode 1, The Battle for Germany

 

 

 

 Death in the Trenches

The Great War 1914-1918

by

Compass Games

 'The Great War', 'The War to End All Wars', these were epithets that have been used to name the First World War. This war was a first for many reasons: aerial bombardment, poison gas, tanks, and masses of machine guns were used in it. Death and destruction of civilians was not a new thing. It had been happening since the dawn of wars. The First World War just took it to a new and frightfully unprecedented level. The western countries have always looked at it from the mostly static trench lines in France. The Eastern Campaigns usually had more freedom of movement and only stayed in one place for at most a year and usually not even that long. Four great empires were dissolved by the carnage of World War I: the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and the Ottoman empires all fell. The horrific loss of life led straight to the devil-may-care 1920s. All of the soldiers who escaped this abattoir were scared by it, whether mentally, physically, or both. In this game the designers have tried to put you into the shoes of the Entente or Central Powers from a strategic viewpoint. You will be in control of your forces across the globe, whether it be in the sky, on the ground, or at sea. 

 Compass Games has once again produced a game about World War I. As I mentioned in another review, they seem to be on a roll as far as games taking place during it. So far, their batting average has been excellent as far as each game goes. Let us see if they can keep this streak going.

 This is what comes with the game:

1 34×22″ map covering Europe and the Near East – Mounted

3+ countersheets (9/16″) of military unit counters, markers and chits – total 400 (double sided)

1 rules booklet (Game System and Random Events included)

6 8½ x11″ color player aid and display sheets

10 six sided dice

1 full-color box and lid set

 This is the hex size and turn length etc.:

Complexity: Medium (about 6 out of 10)

Playing Time: 10+ hours

Solitaire Suitability: Excellent

Time Scale: 1 turn = 3 months

Map Scale: 1 hex = approximately 80 miles

Unit Scale: Army and Corps

Designers: R. Ben Madison and Wes Erni

Artist: Jonathan Carnehl

 This is a blurb from Compass Games that I believe is worth reading:

"Death in the Trenches is a strategic-level World War I game covering the entire war, from the opening shots in Serbia and Belgium to the final defeat (or victory!) of Germany and its allies in 1918. The map, executed by Jonathan Carnehl, is designed to give you a feel for 1914 by using textures and colors featured in atlases of the time. It stretches from the Pyrenees to Moscow, and from Norway to the Sudan, covering every square inch of territory in Europe and the Near East which saw combat from 1914 to 1918, in a manageable 34×22″ format. Colonial battles around the world take place on an additional 8½x11″ map showing Germany’s empire.

The game also features 456 beautifully-illustrated counters depicting all the national armies that fought in the war – from the Germans, French, British and Russians all the way down to the Persians, Montenegrins, Armenians, South Africans, and a host of specialized units (French Foreign Legion, Gurkhas, Italian “Arditi”, Cossacks, Tyrolean Kaiserjäger, Zionists, Bavarians, “Dunsterforce”… even China may send a small expeditionary force).

For the World War I buff, the game’s simple off-map system of Allocation markers fills your world with historical detail: Tanks, Alpenkorps, artillery barrages, flamethrowers, poison gas, Krupp guns, Mustapha Kemal, the Royal Air Force, French elan, Rommel’s mountain tactics and Galliéni’s taxicabs… while the great wartime leaders all leave their mark (good or bad!) on history: Bruchmuller, Haig, Hoffmann, Mackensen, Hindenburg and Ludendorff, Rennenkampf and Samsonov, Sarrail, Von Francois, Foch, Brusilov, Nivelle, Plehve, Putnik and Yudenich. All this detail is added without forcing you to remember special rules.

What other WWI games make ruthlessly complex, Death in the Trenches simulates with elegant simplicity. Face-up units are entrenched; face-down units aren’t! Simple as that. Emphasis is on the fun stuff rather than the boring stuff; there is no bean counting of production points, supply rules and strategic redeployment are easy, and in combat there are no complicated terrain modifiers to memorize – those are baked right into the combat die roll."

 Let us first take a look at the components. The heft of the box is pretty good. However, now that so many games, this one included, come with mounted maps this is no longer a variable denoting gaming goodness (it actually may never have been). We grognards were always sucked in by large and heavy boxes. 

 The map has been judiciously set up to give the player the entire European and Near Eastern areas where campaigns took place, and more, on one normal sized map. That the designers were also able to include the turn record track and some other tables, and a subset map of India, is even more impressive. The map, while appearing plain, has an innate beauty, at least to me. The major cities that did and could have been a part of the campaigns are included. It would seem from the amount of area squished into the map that it would lose something in the conversion. However, at eighty miles a hex it seems just perfect for a strategic view of the area. Naturally, with this large of an area depicted you do not get much of the tactical obstacles, or benefits. The map's muted colors seem to match the somber tones that should accompany this war. There is a one sheet mounted map that has the areas in the Pacific, German East Africa, German Cameroon, and German South Africa that were also fought over during the war. This game is one of the very few that depict these areas. 

 The Rulebook is in full color and is twenty-eight pages long. The type is a bit on the small size. The rules go out of their way to explain that this is not your father's wargame. The game rules etc. have been based on Wes Erni's calculations and his WESCOM (the Warfare Equivalency System and Combat Operations Model). I will have more to say about this later in the review. The Events Book is twenty pages long and has a little color but is mostly in black and white. The first few pages are for the game setup. The next few pages are a complete catalog of what is in each hex. I do not remember ever seeing this in a game before and it is a nice touch. The last eleven pages are of all the events that can take place in each year. The game comes with six hard stock Player Aids. There are two fold out Omnibus Markers Track sheets. One is for the Entente and the other for the Central Powers. Then we have two Special event sheets, one for each side, that both have twenty-five events on them. Then there is a Battle Board and an Attacker Battle Chart. Some of the printing on this is also on the small side. Next up, we have four countersheets. These are adorned with the owning country flag on them. They come pre-rounded and easily come out of the sprues. These would be the most colorful part of the game. A few of them also come adorned with ships, artillery, and planes. The package on the whole is one that your game table will be calling for. 

 Now we will have a blurb from the Rulebook on WESCOM:

"WESCOM (the Warfare Equivalency System and Combat Operations Model) was created by Wes Erni, for the game Absolute Victory (designed in the 1990s but not published until 2016 by Compass Games; the first edition of Death in the Trenches was actually published first). It has been used in several other

games. The principle behind WESCOM is to engage a player’s personality in the Battle system, so that a player’s own level of aggression, or timidity, is vividly expressed in the way that player approaches each individual battle. The key to the WESCOM system is the infamous “Overroll”, where the player rolls as many dice

as he wants to, trying to achieve a die roll as high as possible but without going over a limit; if you go over the limit, you achieve nothing! In this way, the aggressive player constantly risks disaster. While critics who don’t understand the system complain (“What do you mean I rolled all those dice and did no damage?!”), thoughtful players of these games enjoy the emotional roller-coaster that the system forces them to ride. Firepower is essentially an index of offensive power, and takes into account morale, equipment, low-level commanders, and national temperament.

Fortitude is essentially an index of defensive strength, and takes into

account morale, equipment, low-level commanders, and national temperament.

In DEATH IN THE TRENCHES, Fortitude ratings are a little hard to decipher as they have been abstracted to show vast disparities in unit sizes. But the effect is to make every Division worth “one” on attack and defense, which enormously simplifies Battle mechanics for the player compared with the First Edition. Players should note that while Firepower seems like an “offensive” quality and Fortitude seems like a “defensive” quality, both ratings are used by both sides

in a battle, because Battle is simultaneous. While most games have a simplistic "I attack you all along the front, then you attack me all along the front” system, WESCOM accurately represents the intricate ballet of forces on the battlefield."

 Per the above, I hope that I am seen as a 'thoughtful player'.

 This is from the designers describing their thoughts on each country's relative strength:

"The basic unit of force in the game is the “division,” abbreviated “Div”. The exact size of a Div in the game is a mathematical

abstraction, but conceptually you can think of a Div as equaling approximately this many men: AH 20,000; USA 19,000; Russia 18,000; Italy 17,000; France 16,000; Turkey 15,000; Britain 14,000; Germany 11,000. Those numbers are not trivial! The Battle and logistical systems in Death in the Trenches are driven by Wes Erni’s finely tuned mathematical calculations. For game purposes, for instance, an Austro-Hungarian Division is nearly twice the size

of a German Division. This means that an Austro-Hungarian Division has a Battle advantage over a German Division, if only on account of its enormous size. The effect in the game can seem bizarre at first glance – Austrian units actually perform better on attack than Germans do! This is only because they are so much

larger. The flip side of this, however, is that Austrians are much harder to replace, because their casualty rates are so much higher. While this may feel like the Austrians are hard-to-replace ‘élite’ units while Germans are below-average ‘grunts’, the per capita effect is exactly the opposite. Just be aware that this entire system is extremely counterintuitive and takes some time getting used to. "

 Precisely because the system is so 'counterintuitive' is why I have decided to post the designer's words in full. On the outside this game seems like a cross between Axis and Allies and the old Avalon Hill game 'Guns of August'. While the ideas are simple, they do seem to be completely different than almost any other wargame. Most wargames battles are still based on a CRT and a set of modifiers. In simple games it will only be a few modifiers while in others it will be a list as long as your arm. Having a game based upon how lucky or belligerent a player feels means that you get a game where you can have battles like the Somme or Verdun. The battles can be absolutely brutal as far as casualties go. 

 Another interesting concept from the game is Reserve Divisions. These can be used by the player for:

Strategic Redeployment

Building Armies

Special Event Loss

Destroyed in Battle

 I must admit having been taken in by the look of the game. I was not expecting the game to be anywhere near as deep as it actually is. The game mechanics also help with the counter clutter. You do not feel as if you are a God that is using a tweezer to negotiate the buildings of the Manhattan Skyline. The designers have actually gone with a KISS style to the game. The only thing the player needs to do is to open himself up to new ways of thinking about wargames and their rules. Without, hopefully, beating a dead horse, they are counterintuitive. However, they work and work very well to simulate World War I. The game is listed as being as either one or two players. It is also given high marks for playing in solitaire mode. I can agree wholeheartedly with this assertion.

 Some of the Events are:

Achtung, Panzer - Germany's lumbering clumsy A7V tanks attack. This gives +7 firepower to any German attack in a clear hex.

Bruchmüller - Artillery genius, great for surprise attacks. This gives +30 firepower to any German attack

Strosstruppen - This gives +10 firepower to any German attack.

Foch - At the start of any EP pulse, you may "unflip" one stack of French Armies.

Voie Sacrée - At the start of any EP pulse roll three die. The French may add that many Divisions to Armies in any one hex in France.

Smith-Dorrien - At the start of any EP pulse, you may "unflip" one stack of EP Armies (at least one Army must be British).

 This is the Sequence of Play:

2.1 First Random Events Phase

1. Draw one chit to determine what Random Events occur (see 3.0).

2. Divisions are now added to Reserves/Armies by the Events just drawn (3.1).

3. The EP player may now transfer Fleets from Sea to Sea (8.2).

4. The CP player may now transfer Fleets from Sea to Sea (8.2).

5. Players may now challenge Naval Supremacy (see 8.3).

2.2 CP Logistics Phase

1. Each CP unit in a CP Units Holding Box may be built, or rebuilt, by the CP

Player (5.3). You may leave units in the Holding Box if you choose. Armies built at this time may also be reinforced by attaching Divs from Reserves (as in step #3 below).

2. CP may transfer Divs from one unflipped Army to another unflipped Army of the same nationality within 3 hexes (marching distance).

3. CP may transfer Divisions from Reserves, to unflipped Armies (Rule 6.4). This includes the transfer of Minor Forces (4.3) from the Minor Forces Reserve Box to the map.

4. CP may now transfer Divisions from unflipped Armies, to Reserves (Rule 6.4). This includes the transfer of Minor Forces (4.3) from the map to the Minor Forces Reserve Box.

2.3 EP Logistics Phase

The EP player repeats the preceding steps (2.2), using his own Armies and Divisions. Both Players can do this simultaneously if they trust one another.

2.4 Pulse Phase (see 6.0 and 7.0)

[2.4.1] During the Pulse Phase, play proceeds by a series of alternating pulses, kind of like chess moves. First one player goes, then the other player, and back again, alternating until both sides either have nothing left to move, or don’t want to move anything.

[2.4.2] The player who moves first in the turn is indicated on the Turn-Record Track next to the turn number (CP on Turns 1, 2, and 3; EP on Turn 4, etc.)

[2.4.3] During a Pulse, the player who is moving (“the phasing player”) moves one stack of units as explained in Rule 6.0. If this results in the moving stack entering an enemy-controlled Hex occupied by enemy units, the Battle occurs, as explained in Rule 7.0.

Certain Special Events (3.4) are done during, or instead of, movement.

[2.4.4] A player may also “pass” during his Pulse, and hand the right to move to his opponent. If both players “pass” consecutively, the Pulse Phase ends. (So be careful – don’t give the other Player a chance to end the Turn unless you’re prepared to live with the consequences!)

2.5 Unflipment Phase

1. All Armies on the map which were flipped, now “unflip” and return to printed-side-up.

2. Spend Divisions to Repair forts (8.4).

3. Roll for Armenian Massacres (14.2).

4. Surrender Checks (12.0); check Russian “Hammer and Sickle” cities (13.2).

2.6 Second Random Events Phase

1. Draw again for Events, as in 2.1 (every turn).

2. Divisions are now added to Reserves/Armies by the Events just drawn (3.1).

3. Put all Event Chits back into the cup for use during the next year (Fall turns only: see rule 3.0).

This concludes one turn. The cycle repeats until one player resigns, or Fall, 1918 has ended (see 16.0).

 As you can see, deciding to when to 'Pass' during the Pulse Phase is an important decision on the player's part. 

 Another interesting rule is 'Reds' (Partisans). If any Great Power Surrenders (except Russia), the victor places two Reds Armies in the territory of the surrendered nation. These will be commanded by the opposite player. So, if France surrenders, the Reds would be under the control of the Central Power Player. The Russian Revolution has its own set of rules. 

 Thank you very much Compass Games for letting me review this great addition to World War I games. The most important thing about our hobby is to learn things, at least to me. This game does not really teach you that much history, you should already know all of that. It does make you open your mind to learn a new way of thinking toward playing and understanding wargames. A day without learning something is a day wasted. I have really enjoyed playing this game.

 Please remember that Compass Games Expo is coming up on November 10-14, 2022. This will take place at the beautiful Comfort Inn & Suites in Meriden Ct. I hope to see you there.

 It is also that time of year again. Compass Games yearly sale is in full swing. Please take a look.

Robert

Death in the Trenches: The Great War 1914-1918:

Death in the Trenches – Compass Games 

Compass Games:

Compass Games – New Directions In Gaming

Compass Games Expo:

Compass Games Expo 2022 – Compass Games