The Last Hundred Yards Volume 3

The Solomon Islands

by

GMT Games

 The South Pacific Islands are some of the most beautiful and desirable places to live on earth. They can also be one of the most inhospitable places that you would want to be in. Heat, humidity, and some of the most impenetrable jungles are present on a lot of the islands. Of course, the soldiers had to do their fighting on the latter and not the former. It was a campaign where your uniform rotted while you were wearing it. These islands also had their fair share of nasty critters, like poisonous snakes and crocodilians. The Japanese and Allied soldiers that had to fight on these islands considered the climate and terrain as much of an enemy as each other. Once the Allied forces decided on the 'island hopping' strategy, many Japanese soldiers were left to starve to death. The Allied command of the air, in the latter stages of the campaign, sometimes led the Japanese to cannibalism while they were still fighting the Allied troops. The US Marines were always knee deep in many of these battles. However, the US Army and its Allies also had to fight in these green patches of hell on earth. The sheer size and mileage of the campaign is breathtaking. For most airmen, their flights during World War II were measured in hundreds of miles. In this campaign it could be sometimes measured in a thousand or more one way.

 The Pacific Theater in World War II has had many games devoted to the full campaign and smaller parts of it. These are usually strategic in view or based on the separate campaigns. Most of the tactical level games are based on the naval war.  There are not too many that are tactical that are based solely on the island battles. One would assume that some grognards are not interested in being the hunkered down Japanese in most of these battles. With this game we have the early battles of 1942-1943, with one scenario from 1944. This is mostly before the Japanese would dig in and dare the Allied forces to take their defenses. So, let us go back to the years where the air would be rent with the yells of Banzai (literal translation 'may the Emperor live for 10,000 years). Notice it is not Bonsai, a small shrub or tree.

American Counters

 This is a blurb from GMT Games on The Solomons: The Last Hundred Yards:

"The Last Hundred Yards Vol. 3: The Solomon Islands is the third game in the Last Hundred Yards Series. This game focuses on the vicious and brutal Solomons Campaign, including actions to control the islands of Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and New Georgia.

When you play the Solomon Islands Campaign missions, you will experience some of the fiercest small unit actions in the Pacific Theater. The game will focus on actions involving the 1st (The Old Breed) and 3rd (Fighting Third) Marine Divisions, as well as the Army’s 25th Infantry Division—the unit that finally drove the Japanese off the island, earning them the nickname “Tropic Lightning.”

Take to the jungles of Guadalcanal with the 1st Marine Division as they begin the first ground offensive of the war. Landed onto Guadalcanal and with intermittent naval support as the struggle for naval supremacy raged offshore, the Marines fought tooth and nail to secure their small foothold around Henderson Airfield. They fought against Japanese Reinforcements coming from all over the South Pacific area. Engage in bitter jungle fighting with the 3rd Marine Division as they attempt to hold and expand the beachhead on Bougainville Island against the Imperial Japanese 6th Infantry Division.

Finally, serve with the 25th Infantry Division’s famed 27th Regiment, the “Wolfhounds,” as they try to reduce Japanese positions on Guadalcanal’s Galloping Horse Ridge (an action that is portrayed in the movie “The Thin Red Line”). You will also fight with the Wolfhounds in the jungle around Munda Point for the airfield on New Georgia. Each of these actions involved tense jungle warfare and the routing out of fanatical Japanese units from hidden bunkers and pillboxes. You will understand the nerve-racking frustration of clearing an enemy position, only to have infiltrators attack you yet again from a different direction, at night!"

Japanese Counters +

 This is what comes with the game:

4 double-sided geomorphic maps (8 total)

4 full-size counter sheets

1 half-size counter sheet

1 full-color Rules booklet

1 full-color Playbook

5 Mission Cards (10 missions)

2 Combat/Terrain Charts

1 Game Turn Track

4 10-sided Dice

Assorted Counters

  "How do I love thee?" Let me look at your counters. I am pretty sure that Mrs. Browning would not approve, but it seems appropriate for our beloved hobby.

 The game comes with four two-sided hard stock maps. This means you get a total of eight maps in total. The maps are numbered instead of lettered as in most games I have played. The colors on the maps are a bit muted, but they work just fine with the dank and dark areas that they represent. The hexes are 1 1/4" in size. This is really big for most wargame hexes. Each hex represents 50 yards across. The only thing that put me on edge with the maps is that they come with terrain height lines, with some of the hexes being at multiple height. I will explain later how the game deals with this in the rules. The counters are nicely done. They are also large at 3/4". The numbers on them that you need to resolve combat etc. are large enough. The numbers and letters that are used for setup are small. Each counter that has a gun or an armored vehicle has its actual name underneath it. Those are very small. The pictures on them are well done, so that if you know anything about WWII weapons, you will have no need of trying to read the names beneath. The counters are somewhat muted also to fit in with the maps. Setup for the units is almost always by Company or Platoon. As I mentioned, those numbers are small but still readable. 

 The Series Rulebook v2.0 is thirty-nine pages in length. It is also in full color. There is a two and one-half page Index included as well. I love when companies add that in. As this is the third iteration of the Last Hundred Yards games the rules are clear to me. The only part I had to go over a few times is devoted to the use of mortars in the games. The designer has tried very hard to mimic their use in real battles. That is why those rules are more involved than others. The Playbook is simply amazing. It is thirty-six pages in length. The first twelve pages show full color examples of most of the rules in the game. This part made even a dolt like me understand any rule that had some nuance to it. From page thirteen to twenty-seven there is a play example of four full turns. If the first part of the Playbook didn't help you to 'get it' these certainly will. The last pages of the Playbook are the Designer Notes. These are a full nine pages in length. Once again, this is incredibly in depth. It is almost like the designer, Mike Denson, invited you over for coffee and you talked at length about the game and his design decisions. 

 There are five double-sided Mission Player Aids. These are made of hard stock and have a picture of the map that you use with that scenario. That map picture also shows you north (don't laugh I have seen maps that didn't), and what sides your troop consider home territory. Being double-sided, this gives you a total of ten missions. The next two Player Aids (one for each player) are a four-page fold-out that have all of the charts and tables for resolving all of the combat etc. They also have the terrain effect table on one page. The last Player Aid is a fold out; this has these on it:

Casualty Track

Random Event Table

Time Track

Fate Table

Coordination Table

Time Lapse

Mortar Support

Sequence of Play

 This is the Sequence of Play:

"I. Initiative Phase: Both players make a die roll. The player having

the Initiative on the previous game turn applies their Initiative die

roll modifier, if applicable, to the Initiative die roll [each mission lists the Initiative die roll modifiers for each player.] The player with the higher modified die roll wins the Initiative and becomes the active player. The losing player is the non-active player. In the case of ties, the Axis player wins the Initiative if the modified die roll is odd, while the Allied player wins the Initiative if the modified die roll is even. The Initiative marker is adjusted on the Game Tracks player-aid card to reflect the side that won the Initiative. A player without a Platoon Leader or an AFV in play at the end of the Initiative Phase — and after any Random Event results — automatically forfeits the Initiative to the other player. If neither player has a Platoon Leader or AFV in play, play proceeds to III. Fire Resolution Phase. In all cases, if the unmodified Initiative die roll is 1 or 10, that player must consult the Random Event Table on the Game Tracks player aid [18.0].

II. Activation Phase: The active player conducts Actions with units

of friendly activated platoon(s) [7.0], followed by both players

conducting Reactions [8.0]. Units of an activated platoon without

a Platoon Leader in play are restricted in their Actions [13.3.4.2].

Once all platoon Activations and Reactions have been completed,

play proceeds to the Fire Resolution Phase.

III. Fire Resolution Phase: Fire attacks are resolved in any order.

Each DRM marker in play represents a single Fire attack. (Fire attack die rolls are based on the DRM markers in the hex at the beginning of the Fire Resolution Phase, even if players find an error was made when the DRM marker was originally placed.)

IV. Assault Resolution Phase: The active player determines the order

in which assaults are resolved [14.0].

V. Mortar Fire Adjustment Phase

1. Remove MDRM, Smoke, and Illumination markers.

2. Determine Mortar Recovery [11.4.8].

3. Forward Observers (FOs) that elect not to extend, or are currently

on their Final side, or in a hex without a friendly unit, are removed

— along with the corresponding Primary Impact marker — and

placed in the Mortar Support Pending Box on the Game Tracks

player-aid card.

4. Conduct Mortar Fire Extensions [11.4.9].

VI. Determine Time Lapse: The active player makes a die roll on

the Time Lapse Table to determine the Time Lapse (in minutes) and

adjusts the time on the Time Lapse Track accordingly.

VII. Clean Up Phase

1. Remove Overwatch and Motion markers from all vehicles that

did not conduct an action during the game turn.

2. Place returning Platoon Leaders [13.3.4.1].

3. Recombine squads [10.3.3].

4. Conceal any units not in LOS of an enemy unit.

5. Reset counter orientation and record earned Promotion Points

[22.2].

6. Check whether the Mission Objective or Victory Conditions have

been met."

 It is the designer's contention that all battle is first and foremost confusing to the participants, especially at the tactical level. Many games try to take this into account, but others give you 'God mode' like powers to change your units mission and orders on a dime. As Mr. Denson writes in the Designer Notes "This has always bothered me about tactical level games, and one of the goals of LHY is to at least give the 'eye in the sky' cataracts." In this I believe that the design has done exactly what they started out to do. 

 The next important difference of this game to others is the 'Time Lapse System'. The game does not actually have game turns in the usual sense. In most games you will see each turn listed as 'X' amount of time as in fifteen minutes etc. After the turn is done you actually roll a die to see how much time has elapsed. This is meant to put the players on the proverbial hot seat. The amount of time it takes a player to complete their goals is added to their final score. So, dawdling is not encouraged. The only trick to this is that you have to roll the die at the end of each turn to find out how much time has passed. This could be anywhere from two to five minutes. This is to simulate the one factor that is completely out of your hands, which is the time it will take your units to do any action. To add to this, if a player rolls a one or a ten for initiative, they must consult the Random Events Table. If the player rolls a one, they are allowed to remove a concealment marker from an enemy unit that is five hexes away and in the LOS of a friendly unit. If you roll a ten you must consult the 'Fate Table'. These naturally are either a good outcome for the player or a bad one with some being worse than others. 

 Initiative is also done differently than other games. With LHY it is treated more like momentum and is slightly difficult for the opposing player to regain the initiative. So, it is not just the standard die roll at the beginning of a new turn. It sort of makes it like you need to wrest the initiative back from your opponent. If you have the initiative the game allows you to more easily go for broke.

 One other thing to take into account is the actual map size. Most are only 650 yards long. There is no maneuvering before battle really. You are dropped right into the midst of a knife fight. The terrain elevation of each hex is measured by what terrain height the actual center dot of each hex shows.

 What is the verdict, you ask? I believe the designers have hit one out of the park. They have achieved what they set out to do which was to make a tactical game with many new ideas and nuances. Playing this game made me go out and buy the other two volumes. If that isn't an endorsement, I do not know what is. The rules really give you some immersion. You are at times both happy with your units and then mad. You even take the Time Elapse roll as a personal affront at times. 

 Thank you, GMT Games for allowing me to review this game. Count me as being very impressed by this new system. The game volumes are:

The Last Hundred Yards:

GMT Games - The Last Hundred Yards, 2nd Printing

The Last Hundred Yards Volume 2: Airborne Over Europe:

GMT Games - The Last Hundred Yards Volume 2: Airborne Over Europe

The Last Hundred Yards Volume 3: The Solomon Islands:

GMT Games - The Last Hundred Yards Volume 3: The Solomon Islands

Coming up are:

The Last Hundred Yards Volume 4: The Russian Front:

GMT Games - The Last Hundred Yards Volume 4: The Russian Front

The last Hundred Yards: Mission Pack 1:

GMT Games - The Last Hundred Yards Mission Pack #1

 Almoravid

Reconquista and Riposte in Spain, 1085-1086

Levy & Campaign Series - Volume II

by

GMT Games

  His name was Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, we know him as El Cid. He was given the moniker Al-Sid by the Spanish Moors. It morphed into El Cid, meaning 'The Lord'. The Spanish knew him as 'El Campeador 'The Champion'. What I knew about him for a long time was derived from the 1961 movie El Cid. First things first, he did not resemble Charlton Heston in any way. I must admit to be sorely lacking in Spanish history during the Moors or the Reconquista. I was under the impression that he was from a later century than the Almoravid game is based in. So, I was a little bummed out to find the actual time the game portrays. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the mighty El Cid was actually in the game, and my timeline for his life was completely wrong. I have tried to play the game using a profile look like Heston, much like John Barrymore, but my attempts were futile. You cannot really see the board and my nose was not meant for it. So, just like any good wargamer, at least I hope, my job was to read as much as I could about the times portrayed in the game. As usual fiction beats the cold light of history by a mile, although it is not always the case.

 This is GMT's writeup about the game:

"Al-Andalus, 1085. The western jewel of Islam had broken into pieces. The petty Taifa emirs who inherited the once-mighty Caliphate squabbled and fought, then paid the Christian lords Parias in gold to avoid fighting at all. Alfonso VI, Christian king of a unified León and Castilla, could now put his extorted dinars to work. He would muster a great feudal host—not merely for plunder but to rip out the heart of Muslim Spain. He would seize the ancient Visigothic capital of Toledo and with it the great central plain to declare himself imperator of all Iberia.

But Alfonso would find there was fight left in al-Andalus, as Christian strikes radiating from Toledo were too much for even the emirs in their pleasure palaces to bear. Al‑Mutamid of Sevilla, the strongest among them, would risk the Taifa dynasties’ independence and call to arms a Muslim force unlike any that the Christian Kings had faced. Granada and Badajoz would join him to invite the Almoravid fundamentalists in to save the Muslim faithful. Yusuf, Sultan al‑Murabitun, had secured his Berber empire in Africa and seized a port and fleet just across the Mediterranean strait from al-Mutamid's Algeciras. A titanic campaign for Spain was set to unfold."

This was a promo picture that I just love

 This is what comes with the game:

A mounted game board 22" x 25 1/2" 

• Sixteen Lord cylinders (7 yellow, 9 green) 

• A Lords sticker sheet (apply to cylinders) 

• Sixteen Lord mats 

• One Battle/Storm mat 

• 78 Horse wedges (26 silver [Knights], 23 steel [Sergeants], 10 

blue [African Horse], 19 brown [Light Horse])

• 83 Foot bars (30 steel [Men-at-Arms], 14 blue [African Foot], 

33 brown [Militia], 6 tan [Serfs])

• Three sheets of markers and counters. 

• Four decks of playing cards (26 Christian and 26 Muslim Arts 

of War cards, 27 Christian and 33 Muslim Command cards)

• Two player aid foldouts (summarizing Sequence of Play, 

Commands, Forces, and Battles) 

• A Taifa Politics and Orientation Map reference sheet 

• Two screens 

• Six 6-sided dice (three yellow, three green) 

• A background booklet (not needed for play) 

• This rules booklet. 

Lord Mat

 This game was designed by Volko Ruhnke, who also designed Nevsky: Teutons and Rus in Collision, 1240-1242. That game took the wargaming world by storm when it was released. Sadly, I have not had the chance to play it. However, Almoravid is the second game in the 'Levy and Campaign Series'. It uses much of the same rules and playing as its older brother, but naturally has been fine tuned for this time period in the Iberian Peninsula.

One of many of the Player's Aids

 As mentioned, the map is mounted. However, that is just like saying the Mona Lisa has a frame around it. It is a beautiful pseudo-medieval map of some of the Iberian Peninsula. Movement on it is from point to point, but the points are mostly cities that are done in an elegant style. It looks like a map that might have come from an early edition of Lord of the Rings. The Lord Maps are like army holding boxes from other games. They look like oversized square coasters. They are not overly adorned, but work well with the other components. The four Decks of Cards do not have much art on them, but again work with the rest of the game parts. They are very easy to read and follow. There are three hard stock Player Aids. They are also in full color. Two are a four-page foldout for each player. One page is for Commands, and the others are for Forces, Strongholds, Battle & Storm, and the Sequence of Play. The third Player Aid has a map of the game to see where the Lords from both sides start on the map. The other side is for the Taifa Politics. The Rulebook is in full color and large type. It comes in at thirty-five pages. However, the rules themselves are only 23 pages long with the rest being the scenarios. There are five scenarios and the Campaign Game. The Background Book is worth its weight in gold. The first eighteen pages are filled with Examples of Play. From there until page forty-eight is a history of how the events came to pass. It also has small biographies of each of the Lords in the game. This part of the booklet is worth the price of admission alone. Then comes a separate write up for every one of the Arts of War Card deck. The counters are large sized and easy to read. They also seem tough enough to take a lot of game play. You do have to put sixteen stickers on their respective round Lord wooden pieces. GMT Games was very nice in adding another sixteen stickers as spares. The piece de resistance is the two-fold out screens for each player. The outside of the screens looks like a medieval tapestry. The inside has all of the different Lords on each side and their flags. The separate pieces are excellent, but the entire ensemble is wonderful to behold. You will be playing this game in style.

Picture of some of the Cards

 So as I mentioned, I had some reading to do before actually getting down to playing this game. It is absolutely essential for me to know the history behind the times/campaigns of the games I play. I want wargames to not only play well, but also to put the player into the shoes of the adversaries as much as possible. Nothing turns me off on a game more than feeling that you could put Cataphracts or Tanks on the map and it would feel the same. With this game we have nothing to worry about in that sense.

The Lords that play in the game

  This is the 'General Course of Play':

"In Almoravid, two players (or teams) take the roles of Christians (yellow) and Muslims (green), respectively. The Christian and Muslim sides are Enemy to one another. The Christians represent the rising kingdoms of northern Spain and their allies. The Muslims comprise the dynasties ruling a patchwork of Andalusian emirates and their allies, including an Islamic Berber army from Africa. 

In turns covering 40 days (a traditional period of military service), Christian and Muslim players will levy lords and vassal forces, gather transport, and recruit capabilities. Each lord’s forces and assets are laid out on a mat. The players then plan and command a 40-day campaign with their mustered lords. A cylinder on the map represents each lord, while markers on a calendar show how much time remains in the lords’ service, influenced by hunger, pay, and success or failure on campaign.

DESIGN NOTE: Christians and Muslims in medieval Iberia warred not only on each other but on their co-religionists. 

“Christian” and “Muslim” in this game refer to the player sides, even though each side features adherents of either religion."

Counters

 You will find a Sequence of Play on two of the Player Aid Cards:

 I never had the chance to play Nevsky, so I was a total tyro to the Levy & Campaign Series. I did not have any problem in learning the rules. It does have some rather simple game concepts. The problem I think people will have with the game is its adherence to history. This is a game where you have to think and play the long game. Getting your different Lords to do what you want is chief among your worries. The game is based on the medieval realities. You will need wagons and mules, and then sometimes when you have them your plan goes poof. The Taifa (Muslim Lord) Politics will also make you lose some hair. Do not get me wrong, these are all good if not excellent points in the games favor. If you are looking for a game that puts you in the shoes of a Lord in medieval times, look no further than this series. If you are looking for a game where you can do what you want with your pieces at any time, then look away. 

These are from the Vassal Module, but the game pieces look the same

 This game is another in a growing line of games that are a cross between a Euro game and a wargame. This does not mean that you get the worst of both parents. The DNA in these types of games seem to mesh only the good parts of both. So, you not only get a 'real' stimulating wargame. The game and its components are a sight to behold to old grognards eyes. Thank you very much GMT Games for letting me review this excellent game. Of course, I also have to thank you for once more giving me another chapter of history to read about. By the way, in reality El Cid was a mercenary who fought for both sides, and this is in the game.

 For those of you who are not aware these two Deluxe Editions of older games have been released by GMT Games:

Great Battles of Julius Caesar - This contains both 'Caesar: The Civil Wars, and 'Caesar: Conquest of Gaul'

Musket & Pike Dual Pack - This contains both 'This Accursed Civil War', and 'Sweden Fights On'

Robert

GMT Games:

GMT Games

Almoravid: Reconquista and Riposte in Spain, 1085-1086:

 GMT Games - Almoravid: Reconquista and Riposte in Spain, 1085-1086

 Storm Above the Reich

by

GMT Games

 In the last part of the decade before The Second World War, in-line engines for fighters were all the rage. Before this was a time when the bomber could definitely 'get through'. Some of the bombers were actually faster than the fighters that were supposed to intercept them. Some of the countries that were soon to be embroiled in the war were still flying biplanes! At roughly the same time, the English Spitfire and German BF109 were being developed. These two designs were to revolutionize fighter aircraft. The one thing both had in common was that they were powered by in-line motors. These depended on a water-cooled radiator to keep the engine running at a safe speed. The only problem with an in-line aircraft engine is that one nick from the smallest caliber bullet on the water-cooling system leads to catastrophic failure very quickly. This would be analogous to your car's engine and the antifreeze. On the other hand, radial engines are usually air cooled; both types also use oil, for the most part. At the time, bombers were almost universally equipped with radial engines for the sheer power that they produce. The only problem with radial engines is the drag that they produce on the airframe. As a plus, radial engines can sustain a lot more damage and still fly compared to an in-line engine. All of the countries soon to be embroiled in the war were working on how to fit a radial engine to a fighter and still get excellent speed and maneuverability. The P-47 Thunderbolt or 'Jug' for Juggernaut is one that comes to mind for the Allies. In Germany Kurt Tank, a designer for Focke-Wulf, came up with the FW 190. When it appeared over European skies in 1941, the Allies were shocked to say the least. Its nickname of 'Wurger' or Shrike, also called the 'Butcher Bird', pretty much sums up how Allied pilots who had to fly against it felt. The amount of armament a FW190 was able to carry was also a leap ahead in the war. Even some of the early ones were able to carry four 20mm cannon MG 151/20E and two 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns. This was when a good number of other airplanes were carrying two-four machine guns. The Butcher Bird was very soon living up to its name. It was also able to carry even more normal and some exotic armaments, but at a loss of speed and maneuverability. Storm Above the Reich is a solitaire game, with a two-player version built in (cooperative), of you taking charge of a Staffel of FW190s attempting to defend the skies above Europe against Allied bombers and their escorts. This is the write up from GMT Games:

"Storm Above the Reich is a solitaire game depicting a Luftwaffe squadron of Fw190s struggling to deter and destroy the relentless daylight raids over Germany during World War Two. The player’s individual aircraft, each represented by a stickered block, must confront the mighty “combat box” formation of the United States Army Air Force, a deadly terrain of B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. Like its counterpart, Skies Above the Reich, the game is a broad strokes depiction that presents the arc of the desperate air war. Stretching from late 1942 to early 1945, Storm Above the Reich follows that trajectory in a series of missions strung together to make a campaign. Each mission will take a half hour or more to play, while a campaign can last anywhere between 6 to 60 missions."

  This is what comes with the game:

one 17” x 22” map board (double sided)

one 22” x 34” map board (double sided)

one 8.5” x 22” off-map display panel

one 8.5” x 11” pad: Pilot Roster & Staffel Log (double sided)

two countersheets (one sheet of 1” counters; one sheet of 5/8” counters)

60 blocks

one sticker sheet

96 attack and continuing fire cards

four bi-fold player aids (11” x 17”, double sided)

one pursuit map (8.5” x 11”, double sided)

one interception map (8.5” x 11”, double sided)

one rule book

one situation manual

one advanced rule book

two 10-sided dice

 For those of you who have played Skies Above the Reich it will be a simple process to just jump into a Basic Game play through of this game. It is only when you get into the Advanced Game Rules and the Optional Rules will you need to read up on things. The Advanced Game Rules add one more part to the game; this is Vectoring. Vectoring is your flight from your airbase to the formation you are trying to intercept. When you are dealing with the 'Friction' of war it becomes obvious how much could happen between those times. Planes could develop engine trouble etc., or you could be set upon by enemy planes. This is a list of what could happen:

Escort - run into enemy fighters

Garble - a radio transmission to you is garbled

Malfunction - one of your fighters returns to base

Radio - you can either be rerouted or rendezvous with other fighters

Straggler - if you are playing the Advanced Game Rules you intercept a bomber that has been damaged

Weather - affects you in different ways

 This is what GMT Games says about Vectoring etc.:

"In Storm, you also get an expanded set of advanced rules that stretches a Mission to include the vector to the bomber formation where your fighters may themselves be intercepted by United States escort fighters. Will you devote some of your fighters to tackle American escort, leaving others equipped to attack the bombers? Will your Sturm 190s be able to fight their way through to the bombers or did you leave them vulnerable? And for those who already own Skies Above the Reich, in Storm you’ll find new Experte skills and green penalties, aft firing rockets for those Sturm 190s, as well as a feature exclusive to that fearsome machine – the “Aggressive Attitude” that augments its Determined Mode capabilities. Finally, the B-24 will be seen in Storm Above the Reich to fly a greater variety of formation patterns than in Skies, reflecting the USAAF’s experimentation with that heavy bomber."

 

Various results to your planes in the game

 The box is a big hefty thing. It is one of the four inch GMT Games boxes and it has some weight to it. It is filled to the brim with game components. The weight is mostly because of the two mounted maps. The maps are, as is the norm with GMT Games, a sight to behold. Even though they are mostly B-24 Liberators in different configurations the style is very nice. I also have an affinity for B-24s, so I might be prejudice. At first glance they might look 'busy' to the player's eye. However, having most of the tracks and information charts on the maps does speed up gaming, at least to me. You do not have to worry about having to find room for tons of tracking sheets along with the maps. The counters come in two sizes 5/8" and 1". The 1" counters for some reason look even bigger than other games I have seen 1" counters in. The blocks are used for the representation of the different airplanes in your flight. They are all the same size and do not have any jagged pieces coming off them. The cards are extremely well done and as a bonus are the same exact ones used in Skies Above the Reich. This might come in handy if you own the first game and have a wee accident. The Players Aids are all of rigid cardboard and have large print on them and are in full color. The game comes with two Rulebooks. The first one is sixty pages long and is in full color with very large print. The next one is the Advanced Rulebook and is thirty-six pages long. It is printed in the exact same manner as the other Rulebook. Taken as one piece at a time they are very well done by themselves. When you spread out the whole ensemble you just want to say thank you GMT Games. 

The four different maps

 For the neophytes to the game series, please do not be alarmed. Even if you have never played the first game you will be in the air in no time. By the amount of components and size of the Rulebooks you think you would be reading for a good long time before playing. This is not the case at all. The Basic game is very easy to get a handle on. The length of the game and the complexity naturally go up if you start using the Advanced and Optional Rules. In the Basic Game you are just trying to use your Staffel and its armaments to knock the bombers out of formation. In the Advanced Game you get the chance to try and gain more points and actually shoot down a lone bomber. If you do happen to own both games there are rules to combine both together. You can even have a Staffel of half BF109s and the other half FW190s. 

Pursuit maps of the single bombers

 

 The one thing about this game is that you have more of a choice of what extra munitions, called attachments in the game, you can add to your FW 190s. Of course, the more that you turn them into flying tanks the more they will fly like them. These are the planes you can purchase to add to help your Staffel in the sky:

MC202 - One of the best Italian fighters of the war.

BF110 - Two engine heavy fighter.

JU88 - Originally a medium bomber. It was also used as a heavy fighter along with everything else but a float plane.

IAR 80 - Romanian fighter.

Me 163 - The only mass produced rocket fighter in the world. In reality as dangerous to its pilots as the enemy.

 With the addition of Skies Above the Reich these two planes can be added to the mix:

Me410

Me262

 The attachments that you are allowed to use on your FW190s:

Cannon

Cable

Rockets

Armor

 The cable was pretty much what hung from balloons used in defense against air attacks. Starting in 1944 you can also arm half of your Staffel as 'Sturm 190s' this is short for Sturmböcke (battering ram). These FW190s will automatically be equipped with armor and cannon. You can also equip rearward firing cannons to your FW190s instead of forward firing ones.

Play Example

 How does it play, you ask? It is just as engrossing and fun as its older brother. One German ace describes the BF109 as a rapier, and the FW190 as a cutlass. The Germans were well aware how difficult it was to take down a B-17 or B-24 in formation truly was. It was perceived as being four times as hard as shooting down another fighter. You as the player will soon learn the same lesson. As great as the game is when only playing one mission, the Campaign game is where it really shines, and you will have to learn to think ahead. It does you no good if you have taken out four bombers, but your Staffel is almost all shot up, or down and you have wounded pilots. Your job is to get in there and do the job while still weighing the life of your pilots against success. Every action on your part does have a consequence for good or bad. 

 

Counters

 Thank you, GMT Games for letting me review another of your excellent titles. This is a wonderful new game in this series. If you liked the first game then you will really like this one, with the additions that have been made to the rules. 

 Robert

Storm Above the Reich:

GMT Games - Storm Above the Reich

GMT Games:

GMT Games

Skies Above the Reich my review:

Skies Above The Reich by GMT Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

 Bayonets & Tomahawks

The French and Indian War

by

GMT Games

 I believe it is time to sip some tea and watch 'The Last of the Mohicans' one more time. I will give 10 points to anyone who knows Hawkeye's real given name. I believe he is called more names in the book than many rap sheets have aliases. 

 The French & Indian War was not, strangely enough, a cut and dried English and Colonist victory from the start. As a matter of fact, the French were winning pretty much right up until 1759. This is pretty amazing when you look at the population figures:

French Colonists in North America - 50,000

English Colonists in only the 13 Colonies - 1,000,000

 If it had not been for the parsimoniousness of the Colonists it would have been a walkover. Oddly enough this ultimately led to the loss of the Colonies to England. The English government finally realized that to win in North America they would have to bring large amounts of troops and supplies. To do this meant spending an enormous amount of money. After the war, England tried to make the colonies pay for some, if not most, of the war which led directly to "Taxation, Without Representation". 

 This is really a great historical time to create a boardgame out of. You have the Colonists and the English on one side. Then you have the French and most of the Indians on the other one. You have Montcalm and Wolfe, let alone their famous death scene paintings, along with Amherst, whose own penny pinching leads to Pontiac's Rebellion. The only real assets the English have are their population and the Iroquois Confederacy. So let us see what comes with the game:

22" x 34" mounted map

54 cards

135 unit counters

8 Commanders

17 Vagaries of War tokens

1 small fabric bag

6 custom dice

1 sheet of markers

1 Player Aid sheet

5 Scenario Information sheets

Rulebook and Playbook

Complexity is listed as a '3'

Solitaire Suitability is listed as a '6'

Game Scale for Units is:

300 - 1,500 Men

16 Cannon

5 Ships of The Line

Each Round is approximately 3 Weeks

Playtime is listed as 2 hours per Year

 This is one of the new breed of games that are truly wargames, but are presented as Euro games as far as their components. It is a wonderful time to be a grognard, except of course, for most of our ages. As long as we still have our wits about us and our glasses handy, we will be fine. The map is mounted, and is extremely colorful. The way the territories are presented are a bit different, and it takes a bit of time to get used to. Canada is situated on the left, and the rest of the Eastern part of North America is on the right. There are no hexes, and it is a point to point movement system. In area, it goes from Louisbourg in the North to the Cherokee Nation (roughly South Carolina) in the South. It has all of the major, and some minor, of the points of interest in the French and Indian War such as Le Detroit, Ticonderoga, Montreal, Quebec etc. French forts and towns at the start are blue in color, and the English ones are red. All of the tracks, victory, turn etc., are on the map. The Rulebook is in full color, and is twenty-one pages long. The last two pages is a large two page Unit Reference Chart. The Playbook is forty-eight pages long. The last two pages are a Counter Manifest and one page called "Easily Forgotten Rules". The latter is a nice touch needed in a few other games as well. The Counters are very large and easy to read. They also have pre-clipped edges. Their shape is either triangular for light troops, square for normal troops, and round for artillery and fleets. Leaders are square shaped, and forts are circles. There are three decks of Cards. These are Indian, French, and English. Some have instructions on top, and all come with a combination of triangles, squares, or a combination of the two. There are six Die that were made especially for the game. There is a black pouch included to hold the Die. The game comes with two four page Player Aids. The lettering is large enough to read easily and they are set up in a sensible manner for checking rules etc. It also comes with two full page Scenario Setup cards for all four scenarios, double-sided, two for the English Player and two for the French Player. There is also a fifth setup card, one-sided, that is used for the Indian Nations setup in every scenario. The game also comes with a good amount of small baggies for the counters. As usual with GMT Games, the presentation of the game is excellent.

 The Scenarios in the game are:

Vaudreuil's Petite Guerre 1755

Loudon's Gamble 1757

Amherst's Juggernaut 1758-1759

French & Indian War Full Campaign 1755-1759

There are three Scenario Variants:

Early French & Indian War 1755-1756

An Ambitious British Offensive 1758

French & Indian War with historical reinforcements 1755-1759

Also included is an Optional 1760 Campaign Year 

 Do not let this game's look deceive you. Yes, it is manufactured in the EURO style, but it is a real wargame nonetheless. It forces the player to answer the same question wargames did fifty years ago. First, what is my plan of operations, and once my plan is shredded by my opponent's 'friction', what do I do now. The game is pretty much a two in one game. If you are playing the one year scenarios you do not have time to think about the long haul. In those scenarios it really just becomes a victory point grab free-for-all between players. With the longer scenarios you are able to build up your forces and really concentrate on winning a much longer war. France has the edge early on, but England is able to build up a much larger force given time. The Indian Nations are an invaluable asset to whomever swings the most of them to their side. This is the first game I have played that really gives the Indian Nations the credit they deserve in helping or hindering each side. Without the Indian Nations that were on the French side, the war would have been much shorter historically. One thing you have to remember is that your playing field is mostly wilderness. The contested ground between both sides was not what most of us probably imagine. Twenty years later Burgoyne was still hamstrung trying to go from lake George to Albany by the wilderness. As the French Player I would strike hard and often with raids. Remember, the English Player has to come to you to win the victory points he needs. Louisbourg is exactly what it was historically, the gateway to the St. Lawrence and Quebec and Montreal. The English Player, in the long game, can afford to wait and build up his juggernaut. He cannot run all over the map trying to stop French raids etc. It would be like playing whack-a-mole. He has to decide on a strategy and stick to it.

  The Designer states " I have more fun moving armies on the map than managing logistics". Then he goes onto explain that is why he designed the cards the way he did, and how much work went to get them to work the way he wanted. He was trying to get as many historical outcomes as he could, or at least match the history at different times. He goes on to write about how much work was put into the Die also. Then he shows how his system of using the Die does actually mimic historical outcomes. Every time a Player destroys an enemy  Metropolitan Brigade (French or British Army Regulars) the Player gets a WIE (War in Europe) chit. These can count as Victory Points at the end of your chosen scenario. The way the Designer writes he seems a bit proud of himself for this game and its system. I agree with him. He should be proud of what he has given us in Bayonets & Tomahawks. As someone who has read as much as possible about the conflict, I believe the game gives the Players much of the same goals, forces, and starting off point as in history. You can use/suffer these different strategies or events in the game:

Build Roads

Raid

Build a Fort

Lose Commanders in Battle

This is only a taste of what you can do.

This is actually a shot of the game on Vassal

 Thank you very much, GMT Games for letting me take a test drive with Bayonets and Tomahawks. I am very pleased with the historical accuracy and gameplay that is built into it. 

Robert

Bayonets & Tomahawks:

GMT Games - Bayonets & Tomahawks

GMT Games:

GMT Games