Storm Over Jerusalem

The Roman Siege

by

Multi-Man Publishing

 Jerusalem: for many people down through the ages it was, and is, considered the center of the world. The first Roman siege of Jerusalem was in 63 BCE. Pompey the Great had just finished the Third Mithridatic War. Mithridates of Pontus was finally dead, and Pompey was now making a leisurely stroll through the territories that had now become adjacent to Roman lands. That siege actually lasted three months before the entire city was taken. Now, we go forward more than 100 years to the Jewish Revolt of 66 CE. The Jewish freedom fighters had almost completely thrown out the Romans from the whole of Judea. Nero then gave the task of reconquering it to the future emperor Vespasian. We are very lucky in the fact that Vespasian captured a man called Josephus who proceeded to write down the history of the revolt and the following Roman campaign. Jerusalem has probably a greater history of sieges than any other point in the world. The sieges started pretty much right after King David made it his capitol and have continued down through the roughly 3000 years since. Assyrians, Babylonians, and so many others have tried to make the city theirs. This game deals with the siege that Vespasian started, and his son Titus continued, in 70 CE. Strangely, with so many sieges, there are not many games about them, ancient sieges that is. For some reason wargame designers do not think to develop too many actual siege games. 

 So, here we are in 70 A.D. and about to either try to take the city or defend it. This is what Multi-Man Publishing says about the game:

"By the year 70 of the Common Era (CE), the province of Judea had been in revolt against Rome for nearly 4 years. The protests and riots that began in 66 CE had quickly turned into open rebellion. The standard Roman punitive force under Syrian legate Cestius Gallus, having failed to capture Jerusalem, was wiped out at Beth Horon. General Vespasian was given command of the Roman army in the region and ordered to crush the rebellion and restore order. Turmoil in Rome, however, saw Vespasian recalled to become Emperor. In early 70 CE, Emperor Vespasian dispatched his son Titus (a future Emperor) along with four legions to end the rebellion in this important province. Titus arrived in Jerusalem in April to find the city still at war with itself. Throughout the rebellion, differing Judean factions had fought a bitter internecine war among themselves. The primary factions fighting each other in Jerusalem at this time were controlled by Simon bar Giora and John of Gischala. With the arrival of Titus and his legions, however, they were now faced with a common threat to their immediate survival.

The brutal siege of Jerusalem lasted nearly five months. During the siege, city walls were breached one-by-one, much of the city devastated, and the Temple—central to both the Jewish religion and the defense of the city—destroyed and burned. With the capture of Jerusalem, Titus had effectively ended the Judean revolt, with the last of the rebels finally cornered and eliminated in the legendary siege of Masada in 73 CE.

Storm Over Jerusalem is a card-assisted, area-movement game based on Multi-Man Publishing’s Storm Over series of games (Storm Over Stalingrad, Storm Over Dien Bien Phu, and Storm Over Normandy). Cards augment the game play and increase the tensions and choices faced by each player.

As the Judean player, you are outnumbered and surrounded; you must use your forces wisely to hold out as long as possible behind the Walls of Jerusalem. As the Roman player, you must breach the Walls to capture the city, eliminate the rebels, and end the Judean rebellion before time runs out."

 So, we see that the game's pedigree comes from the highly acclaimed games in the 'Storm Over' series. We also see that it is card assisted and has area movement. Let us take a look at the components. This is what comes with the game:

One 22"x34" full-color map

Two full sheets of counters (162 3/4" counters and 88 5/8" counters)

Full-color rulebook with examples

Two double-sided player aid cards

Card deck with 55 full-color cards

4 six-sided dice

 For those of us who have any knowledge of Jerusalem, be it secular or not, the map is an amazing piece of time travel. We get to see the city exactly as it was laid out at this time in history. Other than being completely historically accurate, the map was designed as a wargame map. It was not designed as a piece of art that you would hang on your wall. However, that does not detract one bit from it. The colors and illustrations are perfect for its use. The artist has truly given you the image of an oasis in the midst of desolation. The map paper comes with a coating that will help with its longevity. No, do not bring your different beverages around the game table to see if it endures; it will not. The counters are what my daughter used to call as a child "big huge". All of the Jewish and Roman units, along with a few of the gameplay ones, are 3/4" sized. They have a nice picture on them to denote their weaponry. The numbers on them that are needed for the game are very large. Their very physical and number size bring tears to an old grognard. There are two identical full-color Player Aids. They are made of light card stock. The writing on them is not large, but it is also not really small as some I have seen. The fact that some of the parts/tables are in different colors helps you find what you are looking for. The two decks come together in cellophane, but they are also in a cardboard holder. That is a nice touch so that you do not have to find something yourself to keep them from sliding around the box. The decks are different colors on the back; red and blue is the game's theme. The front of the cards is done in a gold coloring, and each has a very nice piece of artwork as the background. The cards' covering makes them pretty slick and they do try to get away from you. The information size is comparable to any others. The Rulebook is only twelve pages long. It is easy to read and understand. It comes in full color and has a great many examples of play. That is pretty great for only twelve pages. The components are very well done as a whole. 

The Sequence of Play is:

Each turn the following sequence is performed:

A. Draw Phase: The Roman and Judean players draw 

enough cards to fill their hands. If a player has more cards in 

hand than their hand size, they must discard down to their 

hand size. The Game Turn track indicates the hand size of 

cards each player has for that turn. Note that there is one value 

for the Roman player and another for the Judean player. Control of Area 19 (Tyropoeon South) or Area 30 (Lower City) with 

no enemy units in the area provides one additional card to the 

controlling player (see 5.1) for each area.

B. Impulse Phase: Both players perform alternating impulses (see 6.0). The Roman player takes the first impulse on each 

turn.

A player may pass if he does not wish to perform any actions 

for their impulse. If a player has no units that can perform 

actions and does not have any cards remaining in their hand, 

they automatically pass.

If the Roman player passes the turn enters the end phase, 

unless the Judean player immediately discards one of their 

tactical cards (the card is not played, just placed in the discard 

pile). Exception: Judean card #54 (Romani ite domum) can be 

immediately played after the Roman player has passed, it does 

not require another card to be discarded. If a card is discarded, the game turn continues normally, with the Judean player 

taking their impulse, and then the Roman player taking their 

impulse, and so on.

C. End Phase: Both players perform the following sequence 

listed below.

• Cards may be discarded (see 5.3), with the Roman player 

discarding first.

• Remove any Out of Supply markers from the map.

• If the Roman player controls areas 1 through 11, the Roman player rolls a die to see if the Judean Supply Restrictions will increase on this turn (13.3).

Then the Judean player must check the Judean Areas Unable to Refresh (13.3) to determine how many areas containing spent Judean units will not flip to their fresh side 

during this End Phase. The Judean player should mark 

the affected areas with an Out of Supply (OOS) marker. 

If there are not enough locations with spent Judean units, 

any excess OOS locations are ignored.

• Next, players should flip all spent units and siege towers 

to their face-up (“fresh”) side, other than the units in areas 

that the Judean player designated as OOS in the previous 

step.

• The Roman player may remove any Siege Towers from 

Roman controlled areas.

• The Roman player now receives up to 6 reinforcement 

units for the turn and places them on their fresh side in 

any area adjacent to their Reinforcement Zone (see 11.0). 

Roman reinforcements do not all have to come from the 

same Reinforcement Zone. If there are no units in any of 

the Reinforcement Zones, this step is skipped.

• If the Roman player controls both Area 22 (Temple Mount) 

and Area 27 (Herod’s Palace) the game ends with an automatic Roman victory. 

• Each player that controls Area 22 (Temple Mount) or Area 

27 (Herod’s Palace) gains 1 Victory Point for each area. If 

the Judean player controls all city areas (12-31), they gain 

1 VP.

• The Roman player gains 1 VP for each Judean Leader that 

was not placed on board this turn. After this, remove any 

Judean Leaders on board so they can be placed during the 

next turn.

• At this point the turn ends. If it is not turn 8, the turn 

marker is advanced one space on the Game Turn Track, 

and the sequence of play is repeated. If the current turn is 

turn 8 (or 7 if the Judean player played Judean card #54), 

the game ends. Both players must discard all cards and all 

Escape the Siege cards discarded at this time will trigger 

as an event.

 The gameplay is great. The game actually feels like a historical siege. One of my grail games is the Art of Siege by SPI. So, it shows that I find wargaming sieges as not only viable as a wargame but very entertaining as far as gaming. Each player is situated under his own Sword of Damocles. The Romans only have at most eight turns to take the city, or to accumulate enough victory points. The Roman player also has only so many options based on the cards and game length. He has to build Siege Towers and these cost both a card and an impulse. However, the walls of Jerusalem when undamaged give the defender a +4. The Roman player also has cards, Onager, Catapult, Battering Ram, and Siege Ramps, that will help him to breach the walls. Conversely, the Judean player can repair that wall using a card to do so. The Judean player has to decide when to attack or just wait for the Romans. The game makes counter attacking a really bloody part of the game at times. That is why the player has to really think about each attack. Because if it is a failure or does not really hurt the enemy, those attacking units are placed on the backside of the counter. These leave them extremely open to the other player's counterattack. 

 To add to the historical side of the game, the Judean player has to deal with having two leaders and their supporters. The Roman player has no leaders, but the Judean player has both a John and Simon counter. These represent Simon Bar Giora and John of Giscala. Historically before the siege started, and a little while after, there was serious fighting between the different factions in the city and even between the zealots themselves. A player has to use them wisely. They give both defense and attack bonuses to the Judean player. However, if they are eliminated in battle each of them is worth one point to the Roman player for every subsequent turn. 

  So, we have a game that historically feels like a siege and is also fun and nail biting to play. What more could a grognard ask for. The short and easy to understand Rulebook, coupled with simple but innovative rules help to make this game as great as it is. This has everything that I would want in a wargame. It is about ancients and features a siege. Kudos to Multi-Man Publishing for doing an ancients game and to Scott Blanton for designing it. 

Map close-up

 Thank you very much Multi-Man Publishing for allowing me to review this great game. It has been a long time since I played a 'Storm Over' game, and it looks like I will have to dig one or two of them out. This game is part of MMP's International Game Series. There are also Storm Over Stalingrad and Storm Over Dien Bien Phu available from MMP.

P.S. I have really warmed up to the map since I started playing. It is a piece of art that you would hang on your wall.

Robert 

Multi-Man Publishing:

Multi-Man Publishing (mmpgamers.com)

Storm Over Jerusalem: The Roman Siege:

Storm Over Jerusalem [IGS-STOJ] - $86.00 : Multi-Man Publishing (mmpgamers.com)

East Prussian Carnage: The Tannenberg Campaign 1914

by

Three Crowns Games

 

 The Second Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 is usually referred to as the first victory of the Hindenburg and Ludendorff duo. The actual truth is that the battle was won long before they stepped off the train in East Prussia. The Chief of Staff of the German Eighth Army was a man by the name of Carl Adolf Maximilian Hoffmann (usually just denoted as Max Hoffman). Hoffmann had devised the plan to attack both the Russian Armies that were invading East Prussia. The slowness of the Russians, the terrain, and the German railroad lines would allow the Germans to strike one Russian Army at a time. Unfortunately, Hoffmann was given no kudos, outside of the German Army, for his plan. Hindenburg and Ludendorff had become the heroes of Germany using Hoffmann's plan to virtually destroy the Russian forces.

Max Hoffmann courtesy of Wikipedia

 

  The fear of the Russian hordes by Helmuth von Moltke the younger, the German Army's Chief of Staff, is usually credited with the failure of the German Army on the Western Front to defeat France because he sent reinforcements to the German Eighth Army from the German Western Army. In actuality, due to Hoffmann's plan and its success, the German Eighth Army was in no danger. However, the Schlieffen Plan, not a real plan just a thought exercise, against France was never going to work. The German Western Army was nowhere near strong enough, even without the missing troops, to actually complete its envisioned defeat of France.

 The next question is why it is called the Second Battle of Tannenberg when it didn't really take place near there? This was because the Teutonic Knights were effectively crushed in the first battle by an allied army of Lithuanians and Poles. The German psyche needed to try and wipe that stain away. All three, Hoffmann, Hindenburg, and Ludendorff took credit for naming the battle.    

 So, Three Crowns Games has given us a game about the 1914 Tannenberg Campaign. While the German forces are outnumbered, you can use the above-mentioned factors in the Germans' favor to offset this. This is what comes with the game:

- A full color A1 map

- 16 page rulebook

- 143 high quality, 15mm die cut counters

- Front and Back cover with game aids, charts and tables

- Sturdy 100my ZIP-lock bag

 This is what Three Crown Games says about the game:

"East Prussian Carnage is a two-player game that recreates the stunning German victory over Russia at the beginning of World War One. The Germans must use superior command control, interior lines, and the mobility provided by railroads to stop the large but lumbering Russian army. The Russians must try to pin the Germans down and bring their superior numbers to bear."

Part of the game being played.

 I have reviewed a few of Three Crowns Games, although some were published by different companies. I did review their 'Tolling of the Bell', and I will put a link to the review below. Their games come in ZIP-lock bags instead of boxes. However, this also means that the shipping costs from Sweden to other areas is cut down immensely. It does not take away anything from the actual games. Sometimes, a grognard just wants to play a smaller game and not have to reach over the table to move a stack or does not have the space at the moment for a large game. 

 The map is a little over 23" X 33" in size. The hexes are large in size. The map goes a little bit west of Thorn and Danzig on the western side to one hex east of Bialystok (The producers anyone?). The map colors are somewhat muted. The rivers also go along hex sides. The Turn Record Track and some other tracks are on the map. The counters are both thick and wide in size. They use the usual NATO markings on them. The numbers and the other information on them are nice and large. This is just what an old grognard wants to see. There are two Player Aid Cards. They are both one-sided and made of thick card stock. The Sequence of Play and any other chart or table you need are on them. They are also in full color and the writing is large enough to read without a problem. The Rulebook is sixteen pages in length. It is mostly in black & white with colored sections of Historical, Designer, and Game notes. The print is again of a nice easy to read size. The components are certainly up to snuff for a lower priced game. 

Some of the counter artwork.

 The game map represents 10km for each hex. The game is powered by a chit pull system for both the Russian and German Player. The Turn Track specifies how many German and Russian Command chits are used in each turn. There is also one German Special Command chit. The game uses Zones of Control in a pretty standard pattern. They block lines of supply, and you have to lose a step if forced to retreat in an enemy ZOC among other rules for them. The game also comes with a few optional rules. These mainly affect the German Player and his use of the Hoffmann counter. There are two scenarios in the game:

The Campaign Game of sixteen turns.

The Battle of the Masurian Lakes from turn twelve to sixteen.

 This is the third iteration of this game designed by Magnus Nordlöf. The game is the first one in Three Crowns Games Collison of Empire Series of games. These are to represent battles and campaigns from 1870 - 1920. 

 The first thing about the game you should know is it is no lightweight. It comes closer to a simulation than just a beer and pretzels wargame. The one thing that sticks out is its Random Events Table. Every single turn has different events that could happen. These even include a player getting points for taking a specified hex. This amount of randomness in both the chit pulls and the events means that the game does not get stale. Each time you play there are going to be differences compared to your last time. 

 I am just as impressed with this game as I have been with the other designs from them that I have played. Both the Russian and German player have a chance for victory. The German player must make use of his interior lines to deal with the Russian hordes. The Russian player must ponderously try and use his elephant to stomp the German lion into the ground. It is a good nail biter of a game.

 Thank you, Three Crowns Games, for letting me review East Prussian Carnage. I thoroughly enjoyed the game and the amount of history that was put into it. Please take a look at their game, but also the two that Revolution Games has published of theirs:

Konigsberg

Across the Narva

Revolution Games | Main Page

Robert

Three Crowns Games:

War Game Design | Three Crowns Games Production (3cg)

East Prussian Carnage: The Tannenberg Campaign 1914:

East Prussian Carnage | 3CG (threecrownsgames.com)

My review of Tolling of the Bell:

Tolling of the Bell by Three Crowns Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

 Stalingrad: Advance to the Volga

Solitaire Area Movement Series: Volume 1

by

Revolution Games & Take Aim Designs

 Stalingrad has almost as many games about it as Gettysburg or Waterloo. However, the actually tooth and nail fight for the city itself is not as represented in wargames as the campaign is. It has been compared with the Battle of Verdun in the First World War. The city itself was almost completed destroyed during the back and forth fighting during the end of 1942 and the beginning of 1943. The battle is often called the turning point of World War II. It certainly was a turning point on the fighting on the Eastern Front. 

 This game has two scenarios, one between September 13th and September 30, 1942 for nine turns. There is also a smaller five turn scenario from October 14th until October 31st. It is a solitaire game where the player takes on the role of the Germans. It is an area movement game for those of us who love hexes. You as the German have only a few turns to win the battle. If during that time the Germans control every area on the map you win an Automatic Victory. If, however, the German Morale Track reaches '0' at any time the Soviets get an Automatic Victory. If the game runs all the way to the end of turn nine without either of the above, then these are the Victory Conditions:

"If Automatic Victory has not been achieved by the start of the End

Phase of Turn 9, the game’s final turn, the German player wins an

Operational Victory if they control at least one Heavy Urban Area

and the “German Controlled” markers on the Record Track are 40

or greater. Design Note: this is the roughly historical result. If

they fail to do so, the Soviet side is the victor and the player has

lost the game."

 This is what the designers have to say about the game:

"STALINGRAD: ADVANCE TO THE VOLGA, 1942 is a solitaire game simulating the campaign by the German Sixth Army to capture the Soviet city of Stalingrad between September 13 and September 30, 1942. The player commands the attacking German forces and the game rules handle the defending Soviet forces. In reading these rules, if any capitalized term or abbreviation confuses you, refer to the index and glossary at the end of this rulebook. The numerical references found therein and throughout these rules should be ignored during first reading and used only later to refer to related sections for greater clarity."

 As you can see, the rules come with both an index and a glossary. It also has a History and Suggested Reading section.

 This is what comes with the game:

17 x 22 inch MOUNTED Map

One sheet of 5/8" die-cut counters

One player aid card

16 page rulebook

Eight six-sided dice (4 red and 4 black)

Game Box

 This is the Sequence of Play:

1. Dawn Phase

  Reinforcement

  Withdrawal

2. Random Event Phase

  Roll 3d6 and consult the Random Event Chart.

3. Supply Phase

  Roll 4d6 for German Supply

  Consult Supply Cost Table

4. Combat Phase

  Bloody Streets

  German Movement/Attacks

5. End Phase

  Automatic Victory Check

  Flip all spent units to their fresh side.

  Reduce German Morale by -1

 As with all of the Revolution Games that I have played this game's motto is 'you get more with less'. This does not mean that they cut corners on their components. As a matter of fact, it is quite the opposite.

 The game map is smaller than a lot of games. However, it still manages to have all of the needed features and adds a lot of immersion to the game. I am assuming that it was made from an original German map of the time. Either that or the artist added them all on top of his own map. As I mentioned, it is very immersive with the German language parts on it. All of the historical parts of Stalingrad that we have read about are on it and shown in English. Such as the Grain Elevator and all the rest. The counters are very well done. They have either a NATO symbol or a profile for the tank and panzer grenadier units. At 5/8" the counters are nice and large for a game this size. They are also not cluttered, and the information needed for play is nice and large. The Rulebook is only sixteen pages long. It is in full color and is easy to read and understand. It also has a few pictures and examples of play to boot. The actual rules only take up eight pages. Then comes a page of optional rules. Then there is the setup for the smaller scenario followed by an article on the history and one on game strategy. The back page is a checklist of all the areas on the map for both scenarios. There is one Player Aid that is made of card stock that has all the information you will need to play, and it has the Sequence of Play on it. It also has the setup for the first scenario on it.

 There are more and more games that are being released that either can be played solitaire, or like this one built from the ground up for it. This is a very good idea for our hobby. More and more people are finding it hard to get friends, or enemies, to play wargames. So smaller games that can be played by yourself and do not take up much space are really needed in the 21st century. That doesn't mean that monsters are dead; far from it. It is just harder to coordinate getting a group together. 

 Stalingrad is a game that gives the player so many choices. Besides that, there are so many changes and twists and turns from one game to the next that it never goes stale. The German supply is your currency for all you can do. This alone makes the game a nail-biter. You can make the most grandiose plans and then find out you cannot do half of what you intended. This is even before the random events kick in. I want, and will get, a monster game about the street fighting in Stalingrad. However, even after that purchase, this game will still find a place on my table at times. It is just that good.

 Thank you, Revolution Games for allowing me to review this game. The designer of this game is Michael Rinella. I will now have to be on the lookout for more games from him.

Robert

Revolution Games:

Revolution Games | Main Page

 Against The Odds Issue #58

featuring

Clash of Carriers

 The name of the magazine speaks for itself. In this issue, they really take on what in hindsight was not even against the odds, but pretty much impossible. The Japanese Naval Air Force was shattered and almost totally destroyed by the fighting of 1943. Japan did have carriers. However, they did not have trained pilots to fly off them. True, the amount of carriers Japan had seemed paltry to the amount the U.S. had. The one thing that Japan had still was the unsinkable carriers that were its island bases. The Japanese thought that with both, they just might be able to strike the U.S. Navy hard enough to stop its inexorable march across the Pacific. Japan had a plan that was called A-Go which was really just a rehash of their earlier plans, even before the war, for a naval showdown between the U.S. and Japanese Navies. The only real thing that the Japanese had on their side was that their planes had always been designed with longer ranges than the U.S. ones. They might just be able to spot and hit the U.S. fleet before their ships had even been sighted. Plan A-Go was a gamble but one that would have to be taken. The battle has become known as 'The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot'. This should give you some idea of the actual outcome. It is pretty amazing that the big gun battleships that until 1941 had ruled the waves were just bystanders in the battle.

 Hard to believe, but this is issue #58 of Against the Odds. ATO is a wargaming magazine whose production values are second to none. I have been a fan of ATO for some time now. Some of my favorite magazine wargames have been made by them. The actual name of the game inside this issue is Clash of Carriers: The Battle of The Philippine Sea. The designer is Mark Stille. The game itself is based off of ATO's issue #17 game Imperial Sunset.

 This issue of the magazine deals with the Battle of the Philippine Sea which was caused by the U.S. decision to invade the Marianas Islands. The Japanese knew that this invasion had to stopped or the Japanese mainland would be in the range of bombers taking off from the Marianas Islands. The magazine starts out as always with a succinct but invaluable retelling of the history of the game's battle. It is not just a primer on the battle but goes far deeper than that. Your reading of it will give you all the information you would want to know. It also comes with a list of sources used for it and the game. 

 This is what comes with the game:

Maps - One full color 22"x34" hex mapsheet

Counters - 160 large 5/8" and 160 standard 1/2" die-cut pieces

Rules length - 16 pages

Charts and tables - 8 pages

Complexity - Medium

Playing time - Up to 6 hours

How challenging is it solitaire? - Poor

Designer - Mark E. Stille

Development - Russ Lockwood

Graphic Design - Mark Mahaffe

 The articles that come with this issue are:

Clash of Carriers: by Mark Stille

Exploring a Hard Pounding Fight: Optional Rules and Ideas (This is about a game on the battle for La Haye Sainte during Waterloo. It is published by ATO's partner Turning Point Simulations.) by Paul Rohrbaugh

On Guards: How These Fish Sharpened Their Teeth (about the U.S. Submarine Fleet in WWII.) by Andy Nunez

And The Data Shows: Shooting Fish in a Barrel (About the airplane and its coming to age against Battleships) by Ed Heinsman

Thunder Gods: The Kamikaze Offensive, April 1945 by Paul Rohrbaugh

Simulation Corner: Wargames Around Taiwan: Who Won? by John Prados

The "Archive Rat" Passes by Kevin Zucker. This is a tribute to John Prados who passed last year.

The Fifth Columnist: The Hussite Wars (An upcoming game from ATO.) by John D, Burtt

 All of these articles are what you have come to expect from ATO. They are incisive and full off history and facts and figures and all of them are too short. They always leave me wanting the article to be much larger than they invariably have to be.

The Surface Battle Display (Map)

 The game components are excellent. They are just like you would find with a boxed game costing much more. The counters are especially well designed. They come with a nicely done profile of the ship or plane that they represent. The numbers that you need to play the game are large and the counters are not cluttered. The ship counters are 5/8" and the planes and informational counters are 1/2". Normally I like to play only historical wargames. However, in this case you have to go with the designer and his choice to make the USN victory conditions, as he puts it, tough. The game also comes with plenty of Optional Rules including Secret Movement. There are three scenarios included with the game. These are:

Historical Scenario

TF 58 Unleashed Scenario (This allows the USN to be unleashed from protecting the landings in the Marianas Islands.)

The Japanese Dream Scenario (All of the penalties for being untrained are taken away from the Japanese forces, among other things.)

 

This is a tense game for both sides, especially if you use the hidden movement rules. Because of the victory conditions and the fact that historically the USN was chained to the Marianas Islands does give the Japanese Navy a chance to pull off a big upset. Just be forewarned that playing the Japanese is a tough challenge and a draw should be considered a great outcome for you.

 

Thank you Against the Odds for allowing me to review another great issue and game from you.

These two have already been released by ATO:

ATO Annual: Beyond Waterloo

ATO Annual: Cruelest Month (The Airwar over Arras in 1917)

These three will be coming up from ATO:

ATO #59: Blind Faith (The Hussite Wars)

ATO Annual: Operation Roundup (Allies Invade France in 1943)

ATO #60 Cities of the Damned (Cassino and Aachen)

Do not forget to take a look at the line of games that Turning Point Simulations has to offer.

Against the Odds:

Against the Odds (atomagazine.com)

Against The Odds #58:

Against the Odds (atomagazine.com)

Turning Point Simulations:

Turning Point Simulations - Home Page

 

 

Wouter Schoutteten on his upcoming game 'Dreaded Flags'

Naval Conflict in the Age of Piracy 1568-1720

 This is look into Wouter Schoutteten's new, and first, game Dreaded Flags. Everyone, please practice your Arrgghhs.

 Dreaded Flags is a game for 1 - 3 players about historical naval conflicts between small fleets in the Age of Piracy. It's a hex-and-counter wargame of medium-light complexity, with playtime ranging between 30min and about 2 hours and available as a gamebook.

It is my first release and hence my first (very instructive and enjoyable) experience with game design! 

Robert asked me to write something about the game and since this piece goes together with a review, I like to give you an inside look into the development process.

Much of what we (think we) know about pirates, stories with protagonists like Blackbeard, is highly romanticized. Many of those stories can be traced to Charles Johnson's collection of stories (fact or fiction?), A General History of Pyrates. Nonetheless, when we look at the facts behind the legend, a fascinating story persists. These freebooters did manage to hijack ships or steal goods. How did they do it, with a small - often outdated - ship, only a few cannons and a very small crew? 

Rulebook

The few alliances we know of did not last (as we see between Bonnet and Blackbeard, and Every and Pharo, all featured in the game). Sea battles were deadly dangerous and the gains often unpredictable. A captain had to earn the trust of his men, and had to be able to maintain it in chaotic combat. And then there is the trick of just also being an agile, technical captain who can skillfully steer his ship and keep it on course. My first goal for the game was to make a realistic game in the setting of the age of piracy.

In addition, I also made an amazing observation. Just about all games about the age of piracy lose themselves in the romanticized, mysterious portrait of pirates. A historical simulation - or wargame - based on the facts at hand, is almost impossible to find. And the few I did find are outdated, cumbersome and/or out of print. That brings me to my second goal Dreaded Flags should also be a fun, playable game in addition to its historical depth.

The Counters are on the Back Page of the Rulebook

Playable for me meant that the game should not take hours. One of the mechanisms that slow down play is when the main action or narrative has to be interrupted to do some bookkeeping or when dice have to be rolled again (e.g. if a player rolls an X, roll again to see what happens). 

I wanted as much info as possible to already be hardwired into the game, before any dice are rolled. I believe we have succeeded in that, and it’s the strongest point in the gameplay, if you ask me. Some modifiers provide more or less dice, while others manipulate the value of the dice. Factors such as number of guns, distance, morale, wind speed...all are contained in one small table. Players roll a number of dice once for their cannon fire and immediately read the result. And with the addition of 2 colored dice for the optional hit table we increase the realism (and the agency of the players because with this rule they can aim at either hull or rigging). This way, Cannon fire and combat is very fast and yet yields incredible detailed results. To interrupt the action as little as possible, most bookkeeping and extra checks happen after the main action. 

Some Action from a Test Game

Another way we want to make the game accessible and playable is by avoiding jargon (and probably naval wargame fanatics will raise their eyebrows here!). But new players can't tell terms like backing, aft or port. And because there is already so much info for new players, we have left out any jargon as much as possible. This way gameplay is more intuitive and easier to understand for novice naval wargames. To preserve some of the atmosphere, the well-known terms bow and tern have remained. But wind attitudes have been translated to a number, from 1 to 6. We speak of small fleets - not flotilla, and so on.

Playable for me also means replayability. And that means versatility. In the choice of scenarios we have taken this into account. There are 2 completely solitary scenarios in it, while other scenarios are perfect with 2 players. There is 1 scenario for 3 players. Some scenarios are short and can be played in 30 min, others are longer but can also be played in 1 evening. Something for everyone. Another nice extra, I think, is that besides the 8 scenarios, players can easily create their own scenario. In the book are blank log pages with which they can work out their own duel. The system is perfectly scalable to play with even more players as well ( I think 8 players is a bit the maximum for practical reasons) Also, the standardized map makes working out scenarios easier.

Developing a game from A to Z is an incredible experience. But as a rookie, I still have a lot to learn. I am incredibly grateful to my test players and proof readers. It never ceases to amaze me that people want to take the trouble and time to test a game that may turn out to be rubbish. Or to pick out spelling errors from a text not written by a native English speaker! But it is indeed the passion, knowledge and willingness to help that makes our niche so wonderful. 

One of the things I had the hardest time with was deciding which input from the test players to respond to and which not to. In doing so, I tried to go back to my original goal: a fairly fast-playing, accessible game of medium complexity with the necessary historical depth and realism. Balancing realism with playability became a real obsession. 

You can also use Miniatures to play

For example, I was satisfied with how hits translated into damage. You always have to consult and execute the hit table in a fixed order. This yields predictable damage results. One test player found that not realistic enough and upon request I developed the Advanced Hit Table. Since this adds another layer of complexity to the game, I decided to make this an optional game rule (again, pondering how complex game rules should be).... But I notice that I now always play Dreaded Flags with that optional rule, so maybe that should become a standard rule! So, putting my ego aside here, input from playtesters is very valuable.

I think making a complex game is easier than a simple but challenging game. So what to delete and what to keep? If you want the development process to keep moving forward smoothly, you have to be prepared to make choices quickly. 

This whole process went pretty fast but that's what I had chosen. In a short period of time, this gave me a much better overall understanding of game development and what is involved. I hope Dreaded Flags finds a small, enthusiastic group of players. I am working on new games, and I hope the success of dreaded flags motivates me to continue working on them.

Thank you all for your support!

Wouter

 Thank you Mr. Schoutteten for giving us a look at your new game.

 These are some of the Battles:

The Trader (A learning Scenario) - 1716
The Ambush: John Hawkins vs. the City of San Juan de Ulúa - 1568
The Sacking: Henry Morgan vs the city of Maracaibo - 1669 (Solitaire)
The Heist: Henry Every vs. the Murghal Fleet - 1695
The Salvaging: Charles Vane and Henry Jennings vs. The Spanish Salvage Fleet - 1715
The Hunt: Frances Hume vs. John Martel - 1717
The Reckoning: Blackbeard vs. Stede Bonnet - 1718
The Menace: Black Bart vs. the people of Barbados - 1720 (Solitaire)

This is the Amazon page for the U.S.:

Dreaded Flags: Naval Conflict in the Age of Piracy 1568 - 1720: A Wargame Book: Schoutteten, Wouter: 9798390935064: Amazon.com: Books