I, Napoleon

by

GMT Games

Designed by

Ted Raicer

 This review is one that feels a bit strange to me. The reason being is that I have placed myself in the Emperor's shoes on many different battlefields. I have never had the chance to place myself in his bed or anything more than just in charge of his troops. I also have a small hurdle to overcome. That hurdle is the fact that this is really an RPG about Napoleon. The problem arises in the fact that when I play RPGs my characters are always long on muscle and agility and very light on gray matter. I always put as much points as I can in the beginning and throughout the games into strength. I cannot remember the last time that I tried to add any brain power to my characters whatsoever. My characters can barely hold a conversation in the games let alone read a book. To play an RPG with someone who consistently is listed as one of the highest IQs ever is quite a leap for me. Make no mistake about it, even though you are playing with crowns, political matters, and high diplomacy this is an RPG of Napoleon. The only unfortunate thing about the game is that you cannot reroll a die to become part of another family. In this case you are stuck with these people no matter how inept or voracious for money and power they are. I think Madame Mère rapped the wrong offspring on the knuckles. She should have taken a paddle to the whole lot of them. Lucien is the only sibling that gets a pass. His success as a politician, and his help to his brother, is always overlooked when it comes to Napoleon taking power. So, there we have it. You are Napoleon in this game. You not only want to be a success yourself, but you also want to leave a dynasty behind you firmly on the French Imperial throne. Oh, and I forgot, it would be really helpful to stick a shiv into Talleyrand and Fouche as quickly as possible, as soon as their usefulness is over.

The back of the box

 This is what GMT Games has to say:

"I, Napoleon is a solitaire historical role-playing card game in which you step into the boots of Captain Buonoparte (as he still was) in the year 1793. Louis XVI has just gone to the guillotine, the brothers Robespierre control the destiny of France, and all Europe has joined French Royalists to take down France, end the Revolution, and restore peace and safety for the hereditary principles that have underlain society for 1,000 years.

As an ambitious but unknown young artillery officer, who speaks French with a Corsican accent, you would seem to be an unlikely agent of destiny. Can you harness a brilliant mind, titanic energies, and a sometimes-terrifying charisma to leave your mark on history? Or will you die a minor footnote in the story of France?

Gameplay

In I, Napoleon, your fate lies in 220 beautifully illustrated cards, divided into three decks: Commander, First Consul, and Emperor. Overlaying a map of early 19th Century Europe are a series of Card Boxes, where you play out the events of your life and career, along with various tracks and tables to record the yearly passage of time and the events affecting yourself and France. The choices you make with the cards you are dealt will determine success or failure. You will have to manage politics, military campaigns, diplomacy, and the domestic well-being of the French while pursuing the Glory that lures you on. You will also have to manage your family, your wives, your mistresses, and your children, legitimate and otherwise.

Your path may lead you from the Americas to the Near East, from Spain to Russia, from a throne to exile. You will be the target of assassins, coups, and coalitions. You will deal with bad harvests and plague, face Wellington and Nelson, Kutuzov and Blucher. You will rely on—and perhaps be betrayed by—the slippery Talleyrand and unleash the secret policemen Fouche on your opponents. As you progress, your options will increase, along with the stakes.

Lead your men into battle and risk an early end to your life? Sail to Egypt or Ireland? Sell Louisiana or send an army to hold it? Marry a Habsburg or a Romanov? Create the Duchy of Warsaw or revive the Kingdom of Poland? Invade Russia or try to pacify the Tsar? Every choice will affect your legacy.

But there is not one version of a life here, but many. Every game will provide a different narrative, based on both luck of the draw and the decisions you make. In addition, you can start the game as a Commander, as First Consul, or as Emperor, each with its own starting situation and challenges. The story is yours to discover, and the decisions you make may just change the course of history."

The game map

This is what comes with the game:

222 Poker-sized Playing Cards

One Half Countersheet

One 22” x 34” Mounted Map Board

One 10-sided Die

One Rulebook

One Playbook

Two Player Aid Cards

 The Mounted Map is really more of a placeholder for all of the different cards and the decks they make up. It does have a period style map of parts of Europe in its background. The card placement areas are indicative of Napoleon's choice in color. The biggest fault I have found in Napoleon is his love for the color green. So, the card placeholders are about 70% green with the rest being red. There are numerous other placeholder parts of the map. These include the turn record track, and the General Records Track etc. The counters are nice and large at 3/4" and very easy to see and read what they are used for. There is one 8 1/2" X 11" card stock sheet that deals with the campaigns that can be played in the game. One side has the 'Potential Campaign Selection Table' and the other side is the 'Campaign Battle Mat'. Both sides have all of the instructions you need to use the cards different uses. 

 Next, we have the 24-page Rules of Play. This is your standard GMT rulebook with double column printing and in full color. There are examples of play etc. and all of what you need to know to play the game. Then we have a 32-page Playbook with the same full color and double column printing. It starts with a quick start guide and then moves into an example of play. This is followed by the complete 222 card manifest. Then we have a six-page history of Napoleon followed by design notes. It even comes with a suggested reading list from the designer along with his own take on the man.

 The game is a completely card driven game. So, I would be remiss if I didn't mention them. Of course, with the number of cards that come in the box it is slightly like the elephant in the room. Most of the backs of the cards are that green color again that he loved so much. There are also some cards to keep the different years separate etc. and they are, (gratefully) beige in color. The side of the cards that are used for playing each have either a portrait of the person in question, (Marshals, enemies, and events) or a picture of the important event etc. The cards are sturdy enough for a good amount of play. However, if you do plan to play a lot of the game, and you should, I suggest sleeving them.

 As usual the components of a GMT game pass with flying colors. 

Some of the counters

 The game comes with a few scenarios. These are:

Full Campaign Scenario 1793 - 1821

Commander Scenario - 1793 to Napoleon becoming First Consul or 1802

First Consul Scenario - 1800 to 1804 or Napoleon becomes Emperor

Emperor Scenario - 1805 until 1817-1821 

Napoleon can be killed on the battlefield, executed, or overthrown.

He can also face the treason of the Marshals, as in 1814.

The following are also reasons for the game to end:

  If Napoleon is overthrown as First Consul or Emperor, 

because Glory reaches 0 during those eras or because of a 

Defeat in Austria (Italy) (67), end the game immediately.

  Resolving certain cards, such as Louis XVIII Writes (97), 

Natural Frontiers (156), or Peace of Europe (209) end the 

game immediately.

  The game will always end, one way or another, during the 

Abdication Segment (13.1).

  The game always ends at the conclusion of the final Year 

(1817-21).

 As soon as a game ending event occurs, proceed to the Game 

End and Outcomes (13.0).

 The sequence of play is not long at all, especially if Napoleon is still a commander and not First Consul or Emperor. The higher you go, the more cards there are to play. This is the sequence of play:

Year Setup Phase [6.0]

 (Skipped in the first Year of any Scenario)

  Year & Card Draw Marker Segment

  Resource Income Segment

 Card Deck Phase [7.0] 

(Skipped in the first Year of any Scenario)

  Remove Cards Segment

  Add Cards Segment

  Shuffle Draw Deck Segment

 Card Action Phase [8.0]

  New Card Draw Segment

  Existing Card Play Segment

  Phase Advancement Segment

 Campaign Resolution Phase [9.0]

 (If the CAMPAIGN Box is empty, Discard all cards in the 

CAMPAIGN MODIFIERS Box, and skip the rest of 9.0)

  Assign Commanders Segment

  Spanish Ulcer Expeditions Segment (EMD Only)

  Resolving the Campaign Segment

  Commander Casualties Segment

  Other Campaign Events Segment

  Additional Resolution Segment

  Clean-up Segment

 Diplomatic Phase [10.0]

 (First Consul and Emperor Decks only)

  Foreign Diplomacy Segment

  Treaties and Conquest Segment

  Potential Campaigns Segment

 Domestic Politics Phase [11.0]

 (First Consul and Emperor Decks only)

 Clean-Up Phase [12.0]

  Reset Cards and Markers Segment

  Game End Check

Some card samples

 It is a relatively simple game; the complexity is listed as a '3'. However, the player is still given a myriad of choices to make in his trek toward power and dominance. The chance that the very next card, or the first one, could be the end of the game makes it a nail-biting experience. Just like the historical Napoleon, anything can happen at any time to your character. You can choose to play out his life as closely as possible to history to see if you could do better, or you can take his path to glory any way you want. The fun, mystery, and sometimes misery is all in the cards. I have lost games within the first couple of minutes, and I have lived as long as possible as the Little Corporal. One of the things that a lot of gamers, not necessarily wargamers, want in a game is replayability. In this game the sky's the limit as far a replay value. Each game and each turn are a new chapter that you can write in an ever-changing biography of the Napoleon that you happen to be playing. Of course, it helps if you have an affinity for the color green and Golden Bees. 

 This game comes with nicely done components and is easy to learn, and you will be playing in no time. The 2nd edition of the game is already on the P500 list, and it has a larger more complex version of the game coming 'I, Napoleon: The Limits of Glory'. The new game has a lot more characters and takes longer to play among many other things. This is a very good thing because the original game was great, and more of it can only make it better.

 Thank you, GMT Games, for allowing me to do a review of I, Napoleon. I must also say good luck to all the other budding emperors out there. May your cards always be lucky and you avoid pulling the dreaded card 33 and end up bleeding out at the Place de la Révolution. Although you do get a good view of Nostradamus's famous 'tile works'.

Robert Peterson

GMT Games

I, Napoleon

I, Napoleon: The Limits of Glory

8th Air Force 2nd Edition

by

Fortress Games

 

 When viewing the newsreels and photos of what was left of Germany after the bombing campaign, it is hard to believe anyone was alive, let alone living in those wastelands. A few of the bombing missions against German cities had a much higher death toll than the atom bombs on Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Let us be honest though, the Germans were desperately working on aircraft and munitions that would do the same to us. London itself was bombed pretty badly during the blitz. The Allied aircrews who flew and fought over Germany had some of the highest rates of casualties on our side during the war. The flak from the German defenses filled the air around the bombers. The German fighter pilots who had to go up against the US bomber formations also had a short life span. Shooting down an Allied four engine bomber was worth four points, while shooting down an Allied fighter was worth only one (this was in their calculations that added up to their various medals). So, this game is about putting you in command of the 8th Air Force. You are tasked with destroying the German ability to manufacture weapons and move them. At times, you will also need to help the Allied ground formations in their battle toward Berlin. Historically, in the beginning of the daylight campaign, the Allied losses were staggering. Early in the campaign the fighter escorts that you have available have very short ranges. This changes as time goes by, with  the new fighter aircraft that will help you in your task. Might I suggest a watching/rewatching of the movie Twelve O'clock High before or during your game time.

Back of the box

 This is what comes with the game:

 The game comes with the 28″ x 22″ mounted gameboard, 2 player aids (the calendar/bombing campaigns aid shown below), 18-page rules manual loaded front to back with examples, 2 dice, and 290 laser-cut thick, sturdy game counters representing almost 150 USAAF and Luftwaffe Groups/Gruppen, plus plenty of reinforcing squadrons, and dozens of strategic and tactical targets.

 This is what Fortress Games says about the game:

"In 1943, the US Army Air Force (USAAF) began a strategic bombing campaign with a small but growing number of aircraft. By 1945 it had, for all practical purposes, swept the German air force (Luftwaffe) from the skies, and was bombing targets throughout the shrinking Third Reich almost with impunity. But getting to that point was no easy task…

You, as commander, 8th Air Force, have a very full plate! Early on, ensure victory in the Battle of the Atlantic by bombing submarine bases in western France, then support the eventual Allied invasion of occupied France by bombing railroads and river crossings throughout France and western Germany. Failure in these critical bombing campaigns is not acceptable. Long-term, you’ll need to pulverize Germany’s aircraft factories and oil facilities to reduce the Luftwaffe’s aircraft production and support and win the war by blasting Germany’s heavy industry. There will be more challenges along the way, from providing heavy support for the D-Day invasion and Normandy breakout, to suppressing the demoralizing V1 and V2 attacks on England, to assisting your Soviet ally by attacking German army staging areas in the east. In the meantime, the Luftwaffe is developing advanced jet and rocket technology that may tip the tide of the air war if you have not crippled their industrial capacity."

 

Mounted map board

  I was surprised to find that the game has a mounted map. It follows the gaming industry trend, but I was not expecting one from a new, smaller company. The map is somewhat different, as the view is from Great Britain south toward the European Continent. So, finding the different areas to bomb is a little confusing at first. It is an area movement map. As you can see, from above the map takes a minimalist approach instead of being arty (although there is a nice piece of artwork at the bottom). All in all, it is a nicely done map that once you get yourself oriented it is a breeze to play on. The Rulebook is nineteen pages long. It also is a bit different than normal. The front and back pages are not only card stock but also laminated. This gives them another point in the plus column. The Rulebook is in full color and the pages look like magazine pages, but they are definitely thicker than them. There are two single sided player aid cards that are in full color and are made of card stock. Most of the pages are very easy to read and well-spaced. The Calendar portion of one page is a bit busy, but the Rulebook explains exactly what you are looking at. Now we come to the counters. There is a small sheet that explains that these are laser cut and need to be cleaned off with a moist towel or rag. This allows them to be thicker and denser according to the sheet. They do seem to be. I have dealt with these counters before and take the time to clean them. It is definitely worth your while. There are roughly two and a half sheets of large 5/8" sized counters. The counters a very well done. They have a nice top-down view of all the different planes on them. The game management counters information is large enough to read in low light. The whole ensemble has great production values. My hat is off to Fortress Games.

Page from the Rulebook

 The game has you leading the entire daylight bombing campaign against Europe from Great Britain. So, this is from a strategic viewpoint instead of the single plane or squadron games we have seen recently. You have a chance to get some help from the RAF Lancasters night bombing each turn. 

 This is what Fortress Games has on the first page of the rules:

"This game is designed to be learned this way:

  1. Skim over the directions;

  2. Set up the game;

  3. Play, following "The Turn" section which walks you through the Turn phase by phase.

  4. Lots of examples throughout will help you"

 I find the above funny and excellent at the same time. A game company who knows how we actually learn a game and sets the rules up accordingly. Of course, this takes away the hour or so of complete stumbling that we do searching through rules. 

 So, how does it actually play, and does it live up to its designer's ideas? While it is not as immersive as some games can be it does have many good points. The rules look like they have been streamlined (it is, after all, the second edition). With this game the play is the thing and not a lengthy setup time or delving through rules to find the one you might have missed. The game also comes with some optional rules for people who like to bend history a bit. One allows the Germans to get a group of ME163 fighters. The other one, which is more plausible, is that the Germans get jet aircraft earlier in the war. This might seem like a game breaker, but you have a die roll to see if the USA's own jets make an early appearance. The rules are simple and so is the setup, but the game is far from easy or a 'light' wargame. There is a lot of thinking that has to go on in a player's mind. You have to figure out a way to hurt the German war effort without destroying your 8th Air Force in the process. The player is also given "Bombing Campaigns" which are orders from SHAEF to assist the ground war or take out the V1s for example. You have to decide on how to use your replacements (in this game called 'Refits' and 'manufactures'). Do not forget to assist in the Bombing Campaigns or you could find yourself out of a job. As an example of the game's depth, there are four ways to lose the game and only one way to win. Once you scratch the surface of this game you will find it much larger and deeper than the box it comes in. Everyone knows good things come in small packages and this game is a prime example. The game has been compared to AHs Luftwaffe which should make most grognards ears perk up. Unfortunately, I have to admit in 57 years of wargaming I never played it or owned it. I have heard it whispered about in hushed tones now and again. So, that is something to think about.

Missions detail

 Thank you, Fortress Games, for allowing me to review this game. While my own tastes go toward less abstracted games, this one plays well and gives you the feel of the bomber campaign. The added optional rules for adding more German and actual Allied jets puts a new spin on the historical campaign. To anyone who is interested in the 8th Air Force's bombing campaign or just wants a good solitaire gaming experience, I can highly recommend this game. They also have a game about the 20th Air Force and Superfortresses over Japan.

Robert

Fortress Games:

Fortress Games – The Art of Wargames (fortress-games.net)

8th Air Force:

8th Air Force, Second Edition! – Fortress Games (fortress-games.net)

 LANZERATH RIDGE

FROM

DVG

Here we have the latest in David Thompson's Valiant Defence series, Lanzerath Ridge.  Though retaining a solid core, each one introduces some new nuances or variations.  In this case along with a new artist, Nils Johansson, a major difference is the move away from the constricted location of a single building to a slightly more expansive terrain.

As before, a period of considerable historical research lies behind the transfer of this knowledge to a game and the gaming table.  As with Castle Itter, I and many others have been treated to another little-known episode, but this time drawn from a very famous and often gamed WWII battle.  In this case, we are treated to a very small, but very crucial encounter on the first day of the Battle of The Bulge.  Having played many Bulge games and still owning several such treatments of the whole campaign, it was a pleasure to be introduced to a location, the said Lanzerath Ridge, and the equally brief, but significant delaying action that took place there.  

Once again, I'm indebted to DVG for not only providing this review copy of the game, but as they have so often done in the past provided bonus material.  In this case, the Companion narrative booklet, that is becoming a familiar and very welcome addition to David Thompson's designs.  This is a very substantial 40 pages. replete with several maps, photographs and aerial shots.  All complement a thorough narrative of the engagement and its aftermath, plus extensive appendices detailing the honours the individual men received - sadly many years after the war.

The physical game reflects all the high qualities that are the familiar and expected features of DVG production and the artistic elements of all the Valiant Defence series.

First off is the mounted map.  I'm uncertain how much the differences lie with a new artist or the fact that we're being treated to the much more expansive terrain of woods in winter.  I like it very much.  It has an almost monochrome effect and successfully creates a chill wintry scene for me. I also enjoyed having the linear set up with the American soldiers on the north side and the Germans on the south.  A very different feel than the previous games, though I'm glad to say that the strain of where your men are and where you're going to move them to and what they are going to do still generates the same high degree of tension.

As can be seen your troops, the individual soldiers retain the identical features - headshot, name, numerical information, key letter coding for specific skills/attributes and a colour code to differentiate the three squads.  The German enemy units are significantly smaller than usual and that was a little disappointing, except for the four full size MGs. The rest of the counters are generally very small and for once I've taken advantage of the range of coloured blocks supplied as an alternative form of marker.  Normally, I've not wanted to do this as I've liked both the quality and consistency of visual appeal given by the cardboard markers.  Here though I've found the cubes indicating dispersed status and to mark the five men you choose to activate in each Defensive Phase stand out much more clearly and considering the amount of usage that those five Activation Markers are going to get, I think those five green wooden blocks will be absolutely essential.

In all other respects the components match the consistently high standards of DVG games and all David Thompson's previous games.  Four substantial player aids detail all the actions you and your A.I. opponent will take.  This saves a substantial amount of rule referencing in the rule book and helps to rapidly fix them in your head.  The rulebook itself carries on the same qualities of clarity and ease of understanding of all the previous games in the series.

The above example of play, providing step-by-step details of the A.I.'s Assault process, as well as the following extract of one your own Major Actions as the Defender, are perfect examples of the blend that provides such an easy walk through of the rules.

The presentation of the rule book provides yet another of the underlying formats that allows a gamer to move easily from game to game in the series.  Without doubt Pavlov's House, the first in the series, stands a little apart because of its attention to what best can be described as a pyramid of the tactical, operational and strategic feel of a battle. 

In contrast, the last three out of the four games in the series have had the closest links by focusing in on the tactical feel, with Castle Itter undoubtedly the simplest in terms of rules and game play.  Lanzerath Ridge lies somewhere in the middle of the three in terms of complexity, but follows more closely in the footsteps of Soldiers in Postmen's. This is immediately seen from its division into four waves of attack with four distinct decks of cards. 

The first wave of attackers is a mix of fallschirmjagers ranging from 1 - 3 strength points, along with several 3 strength leaders and a smattering of MG42s.  This and the second wave which adds mortars to the attack, I have found relatively easy to cope with.  However, with the third deck, the pressure is really ramped up with significantly more mortar and MG cards starting to bite into your defenders and whittle them down, along with the Disguised Forward Observer card which is displayed at the beginning of this third Attack Phase.  Finally, with the fourth attack you are hit purely by soldiers and a very different sort of game plays out.  This is because of the change of your objectives through two new cards, Deny Equipment and Make Contact, which are placed face up at the beginning of the attack.

Essentially your aim is to get as much equipment and as many of your men off the map and onto those two cards respectively!  I've found this stage immensely exciting and rewarding, but as mentioned the tension and strain is there all the way.  

Apart from the variations in pace and objectives giving this game some of its distinctive features, they also show one of the ways in which David Thompson works the historical facts in so smoothly.

There are several other matching elements that echo the previous game.  One is the Tactical Deck that offers two extra levels of increased difficulty. I love this latter addition, at the expense of making me feel even more inadequate a player!!  Another is the feature of an obstruction to hold up the progress of the German attackers along each track.  In SiPU, these were barricades, in Lanzerath Ridge, they are fences that have to be breached.  I like the additional touch of flavour in that beyond each one there is a further obstacle, a hand grenade that will take out one of your attackers.

Besides being variations on the gaming system they help to introduce and build up each game's narrative individuality.  

Nowhere is this more so than the development of victory conditions for this most recent game.  First of all, there is the out and out failure that can occur at the end of any of the first three Attack Phases, if even one Attacker unit occupies a Defender combat position or at any time if the Defender's morale drops to zero!  If you reach Attack Phase 4, but don't complete it, you do at least earn a draw.  However, if you survive to the end of Attack Phase 4, then a variety of factors bring you VPs that will reward you with anything from a Minor Victory and the award of the Bronze Star to an Epic Victory and the Distinguished Service Cross.

I may never manage an Epic Victory, but I've no hesitation in citing Lanzerath Ridge as an epic addition to the Valiant Defence Series.

 Keep up the Fire

The Boxer Rebellion

by

Worthington Publishing

  This quote has been attributed to Napoleon “Let China sleep. For when she wakes, the world will tremble”. It is in the movie 55 Days at Peking (1963 movie about the same history as the game). Nowhere can the quote be explicitly attributed to him. However, some of his sayings on St. Helena do come close and have the same gist.

 The year is 1900, and China has begun to awake. At this moment China is akin to a prostrate beef cow who is being carved up still alive by the European powers and Japan. China had been ruled by the Dowager Empress Tz'uhsi or Cixi for almost forty years. The 'secret' Chinese society ' Righteous and Harmonious Fists', hence the 'Boxers' had been around for a few years. The Boxers original reason for existence was to overthrow the Qing/Manchu dynasty of China, while also expelling the foreign devils. They were especially against the Christian Missionaries, much like the North American Indian movement the 'Ghost Dancers' (active around the same time). The Boxers felt that by doing certain exercises they would make themselves impervious to weapons. Around 1898, the Chinese in government who agreed with the Boxers about the foreign powers came to an agreement with them. In return for a truce against the Qing dynasty, the Imperial forces would be used to help the Boxers rid China of the hated foreigners. So, this is the backdrop to the situation and game. The Boxers and the Imperial Army have attacked the Foreign Legation compound that is close to the Forbidden City of Peking. They have also broken the railway and pushed back a small force of foreign troops that were on their way to the Legations. 

 The game starts here, or should I say games. This is a solitaire game where the player has two different objectives. The first is to hold out in the Legation Compound as long as possible. The second is to march a new, much larger, foreign contingent from the port city of Taku to save the people in the Legation Compound. 

The Legation Compound Game Board

 This is what comes with the game:

Rule book

Large hard mounted tactical game board of the Legation

Smaller hard mounted strategic map for relief column

Deck of Action/Event cards

Counter sheet

Battle Archive

1 die

Tray for components

 The beautiful box illustration looks to be taken right out of a still of shot from 55 Days at Peking. The game comes with two mounted maps. The first is a 22" x 17" map of the Legation Compound and surrounding areas. The second is an 8 1/2" x 17" map of the Relief Column trek to Peking. Both maps are very nice looking with period piece artwork. The counter sheet is small and contains only forty counters/tokens. However, the counters are very large. They have some nice artwork on them and are extremely easy to read. I can almost read them without my bifocals. The Rulebook is twelve pages long, including the Designer Notes and Historical Notes. The rules themselves take about just over ten pages. The Rulebook is in full color. There are two separate card decks of twenty-four cards each. One is used with the Legation Map and the other with the Relief Column one. The cards have either four or five parts to them. They have the title of the card, such as "Hold That Line Soldier", then an explanation of the card's use. Command points are also shown on the cards. Next up is a small, but very evocative and immersive picture or photograph of the events at the time. The bottom of the cards have a historical footnote about the siege and what happened on different dates. Due to the normal size of the card, the historical footnotes are small. The Battle Archive is a small booklet where you can keep track of your victories or defeats. This is a very nice touch that has found its way into other Worthington Publishing games. Opening the box, I was a little taken aback by the small number of components inside. The siege of the Legation has been in my mind since I saw the movie as a small child. My small disappointment with the number of components was totally erased by the game play. 

 This illustration of the Sequence of Play is a perfect player's aid for the game.

 The Victory Conditions are spelled out in this illustration.

 This game sets a precedent with me. I almost never look at reviews or anything about a game I am going to review. I had to look at some with this game. I was afraid that, even though the rules are simple, I was somehow playing the game wrong. I could not win for the life of me in the beginning. I take that back. I wasn't just losing - the game was spanking me. I swear I saw the boards light up with glee every time I lost another one. Do not get confused here. It is not that the rules make the game unwinnable. It is just that you have to play really well, with some luck, to win it. This really makes sense in the historical situation the Foreign Powers in the Legation faced. It is pretty much a miracle that they survived the siege. So, to show that, the game is meant to be hard to win. The rules are very simple, and they all make sense. If you are scratching your head over these rules, it is time for a new hobby. 

 Each game plays out entirely different than the one before. You have to choose very carefully about your actions. Simple rules, but the game is deep with many choices.

Random Cards

 This is an excellent and quick playing game about the siege. The table space it takes up is minimal, but it is not really an issue because of the relatively short time it takes to play. The game can also be played with a team of friends playing against the game's AI. In effect, just like the different powers had to play nice with one another to live through the siege. Thank you, Worthington Publishing for allowing me to get frustrated with this game, originally. My next review for them will be 'Dawn of Battle'. That review has had to wait on me, because I really just want to play it and not review it. 

Robert

Keep up the Fire:

Keep Up the Fire! Deluxe — Worthington (worthingtonpublishing.com)

Worthington Publishing:

Worthington (worthingtonpublishing.com)

Tiger Leader

The World War II Ground Combat Solitaire Strategy Game

2nd Edition

by

Dan Verssen Games (DVG)

 "Tyger, Tyger burning bright,

 in the forests of the night:

What immortal hand or eye, 

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

(William Blake)

 Yes, it is a different Tiger, but the response of its enemies is pretty much the same: sheer terror. The amount of Tigers that Germany built compared to the totals of other tanks on each side was quite small. However the Allied soldiers would see them behind every house or large bush. Reading the Allied and Soviet reports, they destroyed 10,000 German Tigers. Germany actually constructed only 1,347 Tiger I's and 489 Tiger II's. Yes it is actually a Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B., not a Tiger II. However, not all wargamers have as much OCD about things as others do. Before we get pigeonholed, we have to remember that you will be in charge of a German Panzerkampfgruppe (Battle Group). You will not only have tanks under your command, but almost every other German land combat unit. It will also be a long time before you see or even dream about Tigers if you play the early campaigns. You may even start the game with Panzer I's. these were no better than any other machine gun equipped tanks from the mid 1930's. So, what does DVG actually give you in the box:

Enemy Units include units from the Polish Army, French Army, British Army, Russian Army, and the American Army.

240 Full Color Cards

440 Full Color Counters

12 2.5" Terrain Tiles

1 22"x 17" Mounted Display

1 11"x17" HQ Sheet

1 Player Log Sheet

1 Full Color Player Aid Sheet

1 10-sided die

 All of the DVG games I have played have four things in common:

1. Everything in them is large and easy to read.

2. When possible they fit everything including the kitchen sink in the box for the player to use.

3. They are all excellent solitaire games

4. Mounted map boards

 I could simply end the review here and say why are you bothering to read this, then tell you to go out and go buy it, case closed. However we have to conform to the standards, so here goes. The map board is well mounted; not a surprise there. The 'hexes' on it are almost as big as the bases for miniature wargame units. In reality they are actually 2.5" wide. The counters are 5/8" in size, and very easy to read. Your counters only have numbers at the bottom, to use in conjunction with the unit cards. The enemy counters have their designation, for example infantry, etc. They also have their Armor Piercing and High Explosive ratings on them. The cards are separated into six decks: Event, Unit, Special Condition, Objective, Battalion, and Leaders. The rulebook is only twenty-two pages long. It is also in full color, and is in large type. Examples of play are scattered throughout it. The one Player Log Sheet needs to be copied. I am not a big fan of manual record keeping. However, in this game it makes sense. DVG has given us so much in the box already that some of it would have to be removed to replace the manual record keeping. The twelve Terrain Tiles are double sided. Their use gives the game extra depth and replayability. 

 These are some of the German units you will be playing with:

Tiger Leader includes the following units:

Panzer I

Panzer II

Panzer III

Panzer IV

Tiger Tank

Panther Tank

King Tiger Tank

Stug

Marder

Infantry

Armored cars

Halftracks

 Naturally you will be fighting some of the above and more in your solitaire quest to survive the war. This is a list of the campaigns you are able to fight in:

The Invasion of Poland 1939

The Battle for France 1940

The Battle for North Africa 1941

The Invasion of Russia 1941

The Battle for North Africa 1942

The Fight for Italy 1943

The Fight for Russia 1943

The Days of D-Day 1944

The Final Days in Berlin 1945

 The game has been revised a good bit in this Version 2 release. Let me clarify that. If you own only the original Tiger Leader, there have been changes to the game to make it closer to Sherman Leader in the rules. If you already own Tiger Leader and the upgrade kit, the changes are mostly in the artwork. The upgrade kit fixed the issues that people found with some non-historical rules.

 The game is both Card and Die driven. The main driving force behind the game is Special Option (SO) points. These are given to you to use from the Objective Cards. You will purchase your units with SO points. The Leader games from DVG are not supposed to be a highly detailed simulation of whatever they represent. They are a commander lite simulation of the historical conflict that takes place in their area of focus. They are also eminently fun and great games. Just like any other wargame, people can argue about the different numbers given to each unit in the game. It is really a pointless exercise because each person has his own view of what they should be. When you purchase a wargame you are seeing the designer's thoughts on the effectiveness of each unit. I do have an idea, though. If you do not agree with the designer, then try your own. It is a boardgame that you have purchased. Feel free to fiddle with them as you see fit. However, realize that your own numbers might make the game totally unbalanced. There is a reason the designer used his numbers, and it is because play testing showed which ones represented reality in the designer's mind. 

 The game also comes with Optional Rules to enhance gameplay. There are three of them:

Tenacity

Battlefield Heroics

Flank Attacks

 For Tenacity you can decide to extend a battle by one turn, at the cost of each participating Commander gaining one extra stress point. For Battlefield Heroics, if a Commander's unit is destroyed, he can take over from a KIA, Unfit or wounded Commander from the same type of unit. Flank Attacks take place with a die roll at ranges of 0 or 1. Tenacity and Battlefield Heroics also cost one SO point for each week of the campaign that the rule is used.

 The game tries to be as user friendly as possible. The Sequence of Play is shown right on the top of the mounted map. This is the sequence:

Campaign Set-Up

Select Campaign Card

Select Objective Card

Draw Battalion Cards

Buy Units

Select Commanders

Start of Week

Special Condition Card

Assign Units

Pre-Combat

Event Card

Place Turn Counter

Place Terrain Tiles

Place Friendly Units

Place Enemy Units

Combat

Fast Move and Attack

Roll for Enemy Movement

Enemy Actions

Slow Move and Attack

Advance Turn Counter

Post-Combat

Event Card

Battalion Status

Record Commander Stress

Record Commander Experience Points

End of Week

Move Battalions

On Leave

Adjust Special Option Points

Repair/Replace

Priority R&R

End of Campaign

Campaign Outcome

 The game's rules are easy to understand and the fact that almost all of what needs to be done each turn is right on the map makes it that much easier to remember. The big difference in DVG solitaire games is the fact that you are playing campaigns and not separate scenarios. Many players win games by totally exhausting their troops to win one scenario. If they were forced into a battle again with the same troops, they would quickly lose the second battle. Tiger Leader and its brothers are commander games. The player is forced to deal with fatigue, loss, and all the other problems that a real commander is faced with. If you go into the first scenario with guns blazing you will quickly lose the campaign. The player has to deal with the battle at hand, but also keep looking at the long haul. You must win every battle, and also have a strong force left to fight all of the rest. This game has been tweaked to be even better than its first iteration. Tiger Leader has excellent gameplay and components, not much more can be asked of a wargame. If you are interested in WWII European Theater land combat acting as a commander, then this game is for you.

 DVG was nice enough to send me three expansions with the base game. These are:

Tiger Leader Expansion #1 Blitzkrieg

Tiger Leader Expansion #2 Panzers

Tiger Leader Terrain Tile Pack #2

 This comes with new:

Campaign Cards

Situation Cards

Special Condition Cards

Event Cards

Enemy Battalion Cards

Commander Cards

Enemy Battalion Counters

 This comes with these new items:

Vehicle Cards

Infantry cards

Vehicle Counters

Infantry Counters

 Among the new Vehicle Cards are one for a late war E-50 and E-100

 This set comes with these new tiles:

River

Bogging

Urban

Riverfront

Industrial

 You can also purchase a Neoprene mat to play on, and Tiger leader Terrain Tile Pack #1.

 These serve to make this excellent game even more so. Thank you very much Dan Verssen Games for allowing me to review Tiger leader 2nd Edition. I have reviewed about six of their games, and they just keep upping the bar with each new release.

Robert

Dan Verssen Games:

DVG

Tiger leader 2nd Edition:

Tiger Leader 2nd Ed - DVG (mcssl.com)

CASTLE ITTER

FROM

DVG

A little more than a year after the appearance of Pavlov's House,  David Thompson has put his excellent solitaire system to equally good use in this second game, Castle Itter.  Before I say anything else about its implementation, something definitely needs to be said about the historical facts that give rise to the game's sub-title; The Strangest Battle of WWII.  For me and I'm sure for many others, there may be other strange battles of WWII, but I think this certainly ranks as one of the strangest and one of the least known!

It's May 1945 near the small Austrian Tyrol village of Itter and, in almost classic Hollywood movie terms, a small group of assorted German and American soldiers, a handful of French political prisoners and an SS officer seek to hold out against an SS force until an American relief force arrives.  Nor were these any old political prisoners - of them two were former prime ministers of France and one was Charles de Gaulle's sister according to the research that I've done.  I say this because the named French counters that the game gives us differ to some extent from those in online documentation, particularly in the omission of de Gaulle's sister.  Also the fact that only one defender died in the battle, though that was the commanding Wermacht officer, may indicate a less than last ditch defence.  However, don't let that deter you from enjoying this thoroughly taught and engrossing game.  

If you're new to this site, I'd strongly recommend a read of my review of Pavlov's House, as I shall be making a number of comparisons between the two games.  The first is in the scale of each game as represented by the marked difference in the playing boards.

Here we have the three panelled board for Pavlov's House, which moving left to right takes us from the tactical to the operational scope of the game. In contrast, Castle Itter remains purely on a tactical scale and it's very much as if we simply took and expanded the left hand panel and added the German movement tracks from the central panel.  

Consequently, we have a much more intimate game concentrating on the various areas of the castle and its approach on the right via the Gate House and its lone defending tank, the most curiously named Besotten Jenny!

This change of scale brings in many differences.  Most obvious is that there are fewer rules and fewer options for you the player to choose from.  Instead of drawing a hand of cards each turn containing a variety of actions and having to juggle where you consider the main threats currently to be coming from across three locations, you can take five actions from among four choices: fire to eliminate an enemy counter, fire to place suppression markers, move from one area to another or turn a unit counter back to fresh from exhausted.

The result is a much quicker game to learn and a much quicker game to play.  It took several plays of Pavlov's House and constant referral to the Play Aid to get to know what the choices written on each card offered you.  Here you will have memorised your actions and the enemies after a single play.  But, DO NOT think that this makes the current game inferior.  Both are intense struggles.  Both demand that you prevent an enemy unit from reaching and breaching its objective building, though there are other ways to lose in Pavlov's House!

Though the terrain is obviously abstracted to a certain degree, there is far more sense of place here, as a glance at the board reveals.  Initially at set up, there are only German attackers, one rifleman in each of the twelve starting locations, and the five French prisoners lodged in the cellar, which in real life would be below the castle, but here is placed in the bottom left corner.

In the picture above, the rest of the game's physical components can be seen.  Above the board are the various markers: Action Tokens, Command Tokens, Disrupted Tokens, 1 Load Token [for loading the tank's main gun!] and Suppression Tokens.  Below it on the left are the range of SS counters [lots more riflemen, scouts, sturm troopers, machine gunners and mortars].  In the centre are three reinforcements for the defenders, to their right the German wermacht defenders and then on the far right the American defenders.

A closer look at the main part of the castle

Every single item is substantial from the glossy mounted board to the large, thick individual counters.  As with Pavlov's House, many of the defenders are named and, in a touch that contributes to the atmosphere of the situation, have special attributes identified by a capital letter.   Some of the rank and file German defenders have low morale which is offset by the presence of an officer in the same location.  Four of the five French prisoner defenders can inspire others in the same location by adding a die to their attack value.  Those Americans marked with a T for tank can make use of several special locations [mainly on the tank itself] that significantly boost attack and suppression dice, while the senior Wermacht officer has the sacrifice ability to die in the place of one French defender who becomes a casualty. 

Most of the Defenders

Once again these unit counters are of a very satisfying size and robustness which makes both for ease of handling and ease of reading the information on them.

The rule book is a model of clarity and personally I'm pleased with the decision to move to an A4 format which makes for ease of handling.  It's a glossy well laid out product with numerous full colour examples to support every detail of the game from set up, explanation of counters and cards and every action that can be performed.

It is a very straightforward game to get into.  A turn involves the five actions taken by you, followed by drawing three cards from the German deck and carrying out the instructions on them. The first four turns are swift and particularly easy for you the defender as each turn you must use each of your five actions to place one of your defenders on the board and perform an action with them.  At this early stage of the game, this will mainly be placing suppression markers.  

The curiously named tank, Besotten Jenny, fully crewed

From then on the fun and thrill of the game is deciding on what five actions to take and then awaiting the resolution of each of the three German cards which must be drawn and executed one by one.  Your two aggressive actions are firing at a single enemy unit or placing suppression markers that can be used to fire at an enemy unit only when it is first placed on the board.  

Once one of your units has taken an action, it is flipped to its exhausted side and it then takes an action simply to turn it back to its active side again.  Moving a unit within a location is a free action thus allowing the chosen unit to do something else, but moving from one location to another is a complete action.  Soon some of your men are going to become disrupted and, yes, it takes an action just to remove a Disrupted marker.

You have a few units that have the special Command ability to perform three actions on other units that occupy the same location.  Mainly these will be used to remove a Disruption marker or refresh an exhausted unit.  But such affected units are marked with Command markers to show that you can't then use them in the same turn.

Always there are more actions needing to be taken than the five you are allotted and as the various SS units begin to encroach nearer and nearer on their allotted paths to the castle, the tension is ratcheted up.

Here are some of your worst enemies.  The machine gunners and mortar teams cannot advance to take the castle, but remain on starting points for the opportunity to lay down fire when the appropriate cards are drawn, while the Sturm units are the most difficult to kill of your opponents that will be advancing down the avenues of attack!

All the SS actions are governed by the turn of three cards each turn.  These cards are a range that mingle the introduction of units that can advance and those that are stationary, but can fire along with a variety of actions directed to suppress units, damage the fabric of the castle or seek to destroy your one and only tank.

All these involve dice rolls that often seem to have a mind and will of their own!   As these rolls are based on two D6, with the expected range of 2-12, laying down suppressive fire on areas 6-8 is advisable particularly early in the game.  But typically always expect the unexpected.  Having built up just such a defensive shield against those areas, I was subjected to a series of low rolls of 4s and 5s that had the enemy units streaming in on the opposite side of the board.

I've had the tank survive all rolls against it and at other times seen it brew up along with a full complement of soldiers destroyed with it.  My leading German officer has been sniped at and killed as my first casualty, while a terrace full of soldiers has come through unscathed.

Here is one of my more ignominious defeats, as the SS breach the castle. Technically you lose immediately 1 unit makes it into the castle, but I couldn't resist seeing how bad the effects of the killing card play was and, as you can see, three units have breached my defences, with two more lined up behind them.

All in all, I've found Castle Itter a fast playing, nail-biting experience, very easy to learn and highly rewarding to play.  What's more, should you find it easier to survive than I do, there is an excellent Tactical deck of cards that can be introduced that turns the screw from merely difficult to insanely impossible!  Don't say you haven't been warned.

I've no hesitation in recommending this as an addition to anyone's collection and count Pavlov's House with Castle Itter as a perfect pairing.