LIMITS OF GLORY: 

BONAPARTE'S EASTERN EMPIRE

FROM

FORM SQUARE GROUP

The Prologue

Recently I first heard of this game's title - nothing more and I instantly headed over to BGG for enlightenment.  At that point the only message was "No discussions" and three photos.  Despite - or was it because of this lack of information - I determined to contact the company to see if they might provide a copy of the game to review.  But first I had a board wargaming convention to get to soon.  

A little later...I arrived at a venue near Coventry where PunchedCon 2023, a new board wargame convention which was started and held for the first time last year was being held for its second time!

Walking into the large gaming hall, I was surprised to see there was a person setting up a demo stand for Form Square Games, the future publishers of Limits of Glory: Bonaparte's Eastern Empire.  Not only was this person the publisher, he was also the game's designer, Andrew Rourke.  Several conversations with Andrew and his fellow gamer, Ray, and a play through of the game later and I was back home with a proto-type copy from the designer [many, many thanks] and straight on to BGG to post my first very brief impressions of the game and a promise to write a full review.  The rest, as they say, is history or rather this review of what, from now on, I shall for brevity's sake call Bonaparte.  And why Bonaparte and not Napoleon?  The answer is for historical accuracy.  The game is set in the period when he ranked as General of Division Bonaparte. His crowning of himself as Emperor Napoleon lies in the future.  This points to the fact that, though this may be considered a light game, it is one for which the designer seeks to create the right feel and historical verisimilitude for the period.

In The Beginning

The campaign in Egypt, for this is what the game portrays, is generally not widely known.  If it is, then the Battle of the Pyramids and the naval Battle of the Nile in 1798 [sometimes called the Battle of Aboukir Bay] along with the British landing three years later, also at Aboukir Bay, are the main and only events usually mentioned.  The other famous fact is that the French expedition led to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, so important in the later deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphics.  My one and only board wargaming experience with this campaign has a map that is widely considered fairly off-putting and it was the map for Bonaparte that immediately grabbed my attention.  Here it is, remember that it is a proto-type and then read on.

Perhaps your reaction was similar to mine. It certainly grabbed my attention and my curiosity, but my impressions and reactions were mixed.  Its parentage was clearly a cross between Eurogames and more traditional board wargames..  The colours were strong, vibrant, perhaps even, dare I say, garish. And what had happened to the sea?  As I commented on BGG, it was a " strangely pale and un-blue sea. This turned out to have been a designer's typical nightmare, as Andy showed me a photo of the board's colours that went off to the printers with a lovely pale blue sea and came back with...well. a different colour."  Thank goodness, only the proto-type!  To emphasise the point my photograph here doesn't even give you an accurate representation of the printer's incorrect colour, turning it into a far more sludge-like one!!

The board, as you can see, is very simple, and mainly an area movement map of parts of Egypt, Syria and the Mediterranean.  But what was the purpose of that dominating numbered track and what are those cartoons dotted around and why are they there?  Answers to those two questions will come later.

In part, I'm trying to recreate for you my experience and what yours may be if you see and buy this game. I was intrigued, I was puzzled, I did want to know more. It didn't look like the normal game I would buy, despite being an avid board wargamer for 47 years and a similar Eurogamer for a mere 15 years.  Particularly, would it satisfy me to play as a grognard board wargamer and here I'm going to leap ahead, just in case you give up reading at this point, it did.  I was hooked! 

The game has its abstractions, but models the campaign surprisingly well. It provides both an historical feel with an exciting game and a system which has more unique features than I've come across in any game in a long time.  Even more unique features than in my previous recent review.

 The System

I'm going to start by looking at the two key points of the system.  The first is that the numbers 5 and 6 govern everything.  To move from one area to another whether on land or sea, you need to roll at least one 5 or 6.  

How many dice you roll depends on the those numbers you see printed in each area on the map.  Want to move from an area designated with the number 1, then you get just one dice to roll to achieve your critical numbers 5 or 6. That's a tough area to move from.  An area is marked with a 3, that's easier to leave because you've got 3 dice to roll and you only need the one 5 or one 6 to be successful.  In combat, want to inflict a hit on an enemy unit, yes roll a 5 or 6 and you've achieved a hit.  This time the number of dice you roll is always four.  So, you might inflict up to 4 hits.  Sounds all too simple.  Well, those basic rules couldn't be simpler or easier to understand - a feature generally of the rules in fact.  Despite this, there is plenty of subtlety incorporated, especially in the combat system. 

However, the second and even more important key feature of the game's system is Glory Points.  This will take a little longer to explain, but is just as easy to learn and apply.  It also explains the generic part of the game's title, Limits of Glory. This heralds that the game is the first in a series and the second game design is already underway. To understand more, we need to turn to the two sides' separate Leader Displays.  As the game is focused on Bonaparte, it's the French Display I'm going to use as an example.

Each Leader has two markers on the display.  The first time a Leader is placed on the map board, one Leader marker is placed directly on the map, while his other Leader marker is placed on the Glory Track after rolling for his Glory Points as indicated on the Display Chart.  Their purpose will be explained later as we move into the Sequence of Play.

A closer look at the Glory Track

Set-Up

Before all this, you will have set up the map with all the appropriate units on it and all other necessary charts and displays.  Besides the main map and the Leader Displays are two other Charts of very thick solid cardboard.  The first is the Events Clock and again a definitely new approach that I enjoy whole-heartedly.

The Events Clock

The other chart is the Combat one and, dare I say it, here is yet another unique approach.  In fact there are several original features embodied in this Chart that I'll discuss when exploring Combat.

Combat Chart

Sequence of Play

First of all there are three Phases to this game and it's important to note that this refers to three separate stages in the course of the game, not that there are three phases each turn.

The first stage is the Invasion Phase.  This is a brief "cat and mouse" section involving three French fleet markers of which two are dummies and one is the real fleet, commanded by Admiral Brueys, and one British fleet commanded by, of course, Nelson. The three French fleets set out respectively from Toulon, Genoa and Civitavecchia.  I love this stage of the game as the French player tries by how he/she manoeuvres the fleets to deceive the Allied player as to which is the real fleet, while endeavouring to reach the coast of Egypt without being discovered and, if possible, visit Malta en route and Nelson simply tries to intercept and discover the real fleet.

Nelson fails to reach me, before I'm about to disembark!

There are three possible outcomes;  [1] the French Fleet will be intercepted at sea [2] the French Fleet will be intercepted while disembarking the French troops in Egypt [3] the French Fleet will disembark without being intercepted.  Whichever happens, you move on to the Disembarkation Phase.

Disembarkation Phase

First, consult a chart that tells you what actions to take, how many troops Bonaparte lands with and where, as well as how many Glory Points to calculate for him, plus 2 VPs if you did manage to visit Malta. [I can't help adding that in the game I am using for photos, I managed to visit Malta, scoring 2 VPs, land without Nelson intercepting the French fleet, thus arriving with his maximum number of troops and chalked up 63 Glory pts for Bonaparte to use - one less than the maximum.]

Here he is having disembarked safely, by the way there are 26 infantry and one artillery unit in that stack!  It's a lot bigger than it looks.  I also love the counter to the right, Les Savants, and the attention that this game design gives to creating such an historical atmosphere.  These were a group of scientists and intellectuals that as the French player I have to get to the Valley of the Kings and maintain them there as part of achieving an automatic victory.  Frankly that's the easiest part, for the rest of an automatic victory the French only need to capture all the built-up areas that award VPs!! 

Other enjoyable narrative elements that add historical colour in this very brief Phase are the possibilities that you might have some Mamluks to fight or a Bedouin marker that causes a test that may mean a minor loss of Glory.  All these little details add so much flavour and enjoyment to this game with such simplicity and ease of rules.   After disembarking, it's on to the last and longest and most important Phase of the game.

Conquest Phase 

At the beginning of each turn in the Conquest Phase, an Event roll is made on this chart.  At first you will roll a single die and locate the Event on the Chart corresponding to the number rolled.  As the game progresses, certain Events will lead to an increasing number of dice [up to an eventual maximum of four] being rolled and added up to find the Event that has happened.  Some Events happen each time that number is rolled [indicated by the letter R after the number], others when rolled are replaced by a new Event.  This is an ingenious and engaging device that is another important factor in producing that historical ambiance.  It also creates a degree of linearity to events, while allowing some potentially never to occur while others may appear earlier than expected.  

Lurking among those Events is the one located at the crucial number 14 - roll this number and the Peace of Amiens occurs and the game immediately ends!  

But look carefully at the Event instructions; you need to have reached the maximum of rolling four dice before there is any possibility of the game ending, but, once it is a possibility, the tension starts to ratchet up.

After the Event roll, each Turn then proceeds with the French player always active first and the Allied Player active second. Each player's half of the turn begins with a Momentum roll of 4 dice and. like every other roll in this game. a 5 or 6 will gain you a Momentum marker and each payment of a glory point allows you to reroll a failed die.

A player's turn is very, very fluid, being a mixture of movement and combat.  An initial area will be chosen and, as described earlier, a number of dice are rolled according to the number in the area that you are attempting to leave.  A single roll of 5 or 6 is a success and rerolls can be attempted by spending glory points from the senior commander.  There is so much possibility for variation here.  For example, if there were three leaders and a number of units in the area, all could move into an adjacent area together or each leader could move into a separate area with or without accompanying troops.  If any moved into enemy occupied areas, then combat would have to take place in all such areas before any other further movement could be taken.  Provided a group has not failed in moving or combat, they can continue further movement and combat as the active player wishes.  Any failure results in one of the Momentum markers being placed in the area where the failure occurs.  Once all the Momentum markers gained by the first player at the beginning of their activation have been placed on the map, then their activation is over and the second player follows the identical process.

Above you can see the French steam-roller led by Bonaparte has momentarily been halted, while Menou has been dispatched to garrison the adjoining Cairo area.  Meanwhile on a different route seen below, Lannes is about to overwhelm a small leaderless force on his way ultimately for a massive confrontation with the Ottoman leader and a strong force at Acre.   

Obviously, the French player carries the burden of the attack from the beginning of the game onwards with generally superior leaders allowing the potential for major marches and magnificent victories to be won, but they get precious few reinforcements and attempting an automatic victory inevitably leads to separating some leaders and troops, while the necessary victory areas must be garrisoned with at least a leader, if not some troops.  Slowly the game is likely to begin to swing toward the Allied player whose automatic victory conditions are much less grandiose than the French ones.  He/she simply has to capture and retain control of Cairo and Alexandria until the end of a turn.

If neither player wins an automatic victory, then the game ends when Event 14 occurs and the player with most victory points wins.  Inevitably, this is the most likely way the game will end.  At the start of the game, the Allied player occupies all the victory areas and so has 25 VPs, while the French player has none. Slowly or swiftly, the French will start to capture and take control of those VP areas.  In a demo game that a friend played at PunchedCon, he was barely in the lead and desperately hoping for the ending Event 14 to be rolled.  In my current game, my huge initial success as the French has led me to gamble on splitting my forces and driving for an automatic win.  Probably hubris, but what satisfaction if I can pull it off.  Combats have decimated the Mamluks with barely a French unit lost.  Soon a contingent will be marching with the Savants to the Valley of the Kings, while Buonaparte will be hastening to Alexandria and Kleber with his subordinate leader, Lannes, are already about to capture Arish and then on to Acre and a very tough siege against the city manned by a substantial Ottoman force.  Meanwhile, My Allied opponent is lurking off the Egyptian coast and a fairly substantial Ottoman force and fleet has appeared in Rhodes!  The clouds of opposition are gathering! And there's no doubt that combat and sieges play a crucial and exciting part in the game, using the distinctively original Combat Chart and combat system.

This is a major element in the game and a favourite of mine.  Above all, it allows by the use of leaders' glory points significantly smaller French forces the ability to defeat much larger Allied ones and substantially adds to the concept of that Series title, Limits of Glory.  This is by far the most complex part of the game rules, but is very quickly and easily learnt.  The combat system begins by placing your Combat Pawn in the box where the total combat value of your troops on the top horizontal row of the chart intersects with the vertical column for nation and command.  [e.g. the Allied player cross-referencing 9 Mamluk value of troops led by a Mamluk leader would place their combat pawn in the box with the large number 17 and the information that a 6 will score one hit and a 5 will score none.]

Next, both players roll 4 dice.  Each player then decides whether to spend glory points rerolling failures and finally each player decides whether to spend glory points forcing their opponent to reroll successes.  If the total of the final 4 dice is equal to or greater than the large number in the box where your combat pawn is then you look at how many hits a 5 or 6 scores.  Yes, you did read that correctly - the number of hits scored by rolling a 5 or 6 varies.  Generally the French player will score more hits per 5 or 6 than the Allied player.  Even more unusual, however, is the rule that, if the total of your 4 dice is less than the large number, then you have scored no hits at all!!  As I keep emphasising, there is a lot of originality in this game design.  This game doesn't just have an historical feel and appeal, it has its very own distinctive game feel and appeal.  These were both very important factors in firing my enthusiasm for and enjoyment of Bonaparte's Eastern Empire.

On top of all that, there are those strangely familiar artists named in the credits: George Cruikshank, Isaac Cruikshank and James Gillray. If you haven't guessed who they are from the box art, then one look at the board and all the leader counters should do the job. They are the trio of cartoonists from the late 1700s and early 1800s whose satirical lampoons of the great and the good brought them to fame.  On the box is Bonaparte scrabbling to reach the top of the Great Pyramid, while on the board there's Nelson cracking the heads of tricolour flag-draped crocodiles.

Each cameo head and shoulder image on each leader counter is similarly drawn from the contemporary historical drawings of these three men. This game really is unique in so many different ways and this art work is just one more feature in that uniqueness.  The one major component that I can't fully comment on is the rule book, because as a proto-type I'm working from a simple, stapled booklet of black on white A4 pages.  What I can say is that the booklet is well organised in much the same order as I have followed in my review. The rules are clear and easy to understand, presented in what I would describe as a narrative format rather than the minutely regimented multi-case number format.  Layout with good sized print and spacing adds to that easy reading.

All in all, I hope I've been able to share my enthusiasm for everything about this game.  It's certainly one that I shall be adding to my collection with every intention of following the series and for those who might be heading to UK Games Expo this weekend, I'd strongly suggest dropping in on Four Square Games to have a good look at Limits of Glory: Bonaparte's Eastern Empire.  Otherwise, look out for information about the game's launch on Gamefound towards the end of June/beginning of July.

 

 

 WE ARE COMING, NINEVEH

FROM

NUTS! PUBLISHING

The front of the box lid

Where to start?  There are so many avenues to approach with this game. Well, my starting point is going to be a personal one - recently I was at PunchedCon, a new three-day convention of board wargaming launched last year and located in Coventry.  One of its two sponsors is Nuts!Publishing and so I had the greatest pleasure to meet Florent Coupeau, the head of the company, who I've been communicating with for several years, whenever I've had one of their games to review.  That pleasure was doubly compounded by the opportunity to play a ftf game against Florent himself of their newly published We Are Coming, Nineveh, which I had already received to review.  He was a great guide through the game, as we played, and just the nicest person to meet.  So, it's a huge thank you to Florent for providing my review copy and for the time spent gaming and talking about games with me.

My prior reading of the rules helped and I was already enthusiastic about the game just from that and viewing the components;  I left the table absolutely certain that I will be playing this game repeatedly.

The next avenue I need to explore is the topic and history being presented in the game.  This is a major issue.  Recent and, in this case, very recent warfare always raises questions about whether they are suitable for the gaming table.  I won't rehearse in detail the arguments for and against that I touched on in reviewing, early in January this year, FITNA [also published by Nuts!Publishing].  For some, including a few I spoke to at the convention, it will be unlikely to be their choice.  However, considering the huge success of the game, Labyrinth: The War on Terror, I'm sure this will not be a bar to the game being a success, for reasons that I hope will become clear in my review.

What we're dealing with is the last battle to retake Mosul and the intriguing title, We Are Coming, Nineveh - some I've met were baffled by it - is the name of the operation launched in 2016 to overcome Daesh or what many know better as ISIS.  As the game uses the word Daesh, that is what I shall use throughout my review. This was a brutal conflict and no individual encounter more so than this last appalling battle.  Some games on modern conflicts have been criticised for how little the historical facts are dealt with.  That cannot be said here, as the separate Design Notes booklet devotes the first eight of its eleven pages to the historical background alone.  These I found to be a serious and well presented section, well researched and referenced.  The remaining section begins with that very consideration of the ethics of gaming modern warfare and then explains the gaming decisions taken to fulfil the objectives of modelling this battle.  I have to say that during my game with Florent, he devoted plenty of time to exploring and developing my knowledge of this side of the game.

Aspects of this will be expanded on, as I look at the components and the games system.  I hope I can do justice to what there is to see and read and play in the game and to what Florent told me.

On the surface visually, We Are Coming, Nineveh [WACN for short from now on] is an area movement, block game.  The mounted map, like many other images used in the game, is viewed as an aerial picture of West Mosul depicting the open areas [dark brown], urban areas [light brown] and The Old City [dark grey].  These are the colours ascribed to the areas in the rule book.

Here's the full board and I would call those open areas and urban ones dark tan and light tan.  Doesn't make any difference, but I'm just anticipating someone commenting on my inaccurate colour palate! 

There is an unusual addition to area movement type games, I would say unique if I could be 100% certain that there wasn't another game lurking out there that might have this terrain feature.  This unusual feature is the important addition of the use of major roads - marked in light yellow along with key road junctions marked with a yellow circle.  These are very important for ISF movement.  For historicity, district names are written in block capitals and a number of individual buildings are picked out and labelled.  There is none more important than the Grand Mosque of al-Nuri in the Old City where the leader of Daesh declared the establishment of a caliphate in 2014.  

The units are the very familiar wooden blocks with the equally familiar sheet of stickers to be detached and placed on the blocks: black ones for Daesh and green ones for the Iraqi Security Forces [ISF for short].  I'm glad to say that they fit well on to the blocks, unlike some games I could mention! The number on each edge of a block is the "to hit" value, ranging from 2+ to 6+.  So, for 2+ you'll hit on any number except 1, but for 6+ only a roll of 6 will hit.  A slightly different twist on the usual procedure and you'll need to be very careful that you rotate them correctly, as we're so used to seeing numbers decrease as we take hits.  As the special HQ blocks do follow the normal pattern of decreasing in number as a point is used and increase as you resupply them by one point each turn, these need even more care.  On first play, I found myself initially rotating them in the wrong direction!  In the photo below, you can see on the left and bottom right the stickers and top right shows the very few carboard markers needed to play the game.  Unit density, as can be seen from the number of block stickers, is low and adds to speed of play.

Other vital components are several decks of cards which I shall introduce and discuss when I move on to discuss the rules and game system.  Lastly there are the two booklets, the Rules book and the Design Notes books.

This whole game was designed as a university  project by two students for their wargame design class. In the process, their Professor, Rex Brynen, provided some design advice.  However, the two students, Juliette Le Menaheze and Harrison Brewer are the creators of this impressive game and writers of the Rules Book.  Later in the process and after Nuts Publishing had appreciated the quality of their design and signed the game up, the well known designer, Brian Train, entered the project, advising and working as the final proof-reader.  After some initial work by Brian towards a solo mode, the final solo design incorporated into the game was the work of Rex Brynen, while the Design Notes book was a collaboration of thoughts and ideas from all four participants and written by Rex Brynen. 

So, that's the genesis of WACN.  Now it's time to look at the game in action and immediately encounter  a major aspect of WACN that generates its individuality, its variability and above all its high replay value.  Before play starts, each player takes an identical deck of three cards seen below.  He/she secretly chooses one of these three victory determinants which will be scored on the three tracks on the edge of the map board.

Time is obviously dependent on when the game ends: there is maximum of 12 turns, unless the ISF player automatically ends the game by eliminating all Daesh units in the Old City.

Collateral Damage tracks the amount of damage done by the ISF. 

Casualties tracks the number of unit blocks lost by the ISF player.

Finally, the scores on these tracks may have small adjustments made to them at the end of the game.

What I like about how this is developed is that there are two ways of assessing victory at the end of the game. 

[1] Competing Narratives.  For each of the three Tracks there are a series of written descriptions of what this level of victory means for each side.  

or

[2] Victory Points. At the end of the game, the points on a track chosen by a player are doubled and if both players have chosen the same track they are trebled.  All the adjusted points are then totalled and compared to a victory point table: the lower the total the greater the ISF victory, the higher the total the greater the Daesh victory [even if such a victory may be very much considered a pyrrhic one].  

No doubt the real combatants might disagree about the statements made, particularly on Method One of judging victory and perhaps the players too may choose to argue about it as well!  [How like more peaceful real life events. Just think about any sport or competitive occasion!] 

Next each player takes their core unit cards that will remain the same in every game.  These cards tell each player how many of these units they receive and the specific capabilities of the particular type of unit.

The ISF player receives: Headquarters, 9th Armoured Division, Counter-terrorism Service [CTS], Emergency Response Division [ERD] and Federal Police units.

In the right-hand column are the core ISF unit cards

The Daesh player receives: Leader, Veterans, Militia, Rumours [in most games these would be simply called Dummies] and IEDs, large IEDs, and VBIEDs [vehicle-borne ideas].  These last three may be one difficult element of the game for some, because of the images they immediately arouse.  Yet how many board wargames involve hidden mines or minefields from North Africa in WWII, to caltrops in ancient battles, to barrels of gunpowder in siege warfare, to Spanish guerrilla tactics in the Napoleonic Peninsular campaign...  Not to mention the many films, novels, history books et al.  It is an issue only the individual can resolve.  All I can say is that this game treats it with seriousness and due respect. 

The next step of preparation, Additional Units & Capabilities, also introduces another and perhaps the strongest feature to give the game its high replay value.   Both players have a Capability Deck, 25 cards for Daesh and 18 cards for ISF.  They provide a mix of extra units and special abilities and each card has a purchase price.  Each player has 30 pts to spend on purchasing whichever cards they want up to that limit. 

Typically the cards break down into supporting the three victory determinants I've outlined.  So, generally players will select from amongst those that best support their chosen path for victory.  At first, your choices may seem a little overwhelming and you might feel that it slows the game down for you.  Don't worry, the designers have taken care of this by providing a prepared selection of cards tailored to fighting the campaign according to its historical terms.

In fact, it was that selection that was used in the game I mentioned against Florent Coupeau. 

The front of each card in the Event Deck

This whole aspect of the game introduces so much of value to the game play and for me is a very strong element, admittedly one among many other reasons, for adding this game to your collection.  It is original and a very interesting stage of the game, which  provides extra factual knowledge and understanding of this battle and modern warfare in general.  Each card is kept secret, until you first use it.  A rare few are single-use only in the whole game, but the majority can be used each turn, with the familiar turning the card at right angles to the board when used or you can employ my preferred alternative of putting some handy marker [a blank counter, coloured bead etc] on them.  There is a whole little game within the game of trying to divine your opponent's victory determinant from their capability cards and the potential for introducing an element of bluff or deception through your game play.  Like it! 

The Event Deck too adds equally strongly to the replay value and the tension of game play.  In total there are 71 Event cards and though some several cards of the same event, there is a very wide range. 

Each card has either a 1 or a 6 printed on the front and so whenever a 1 or a 6 is rolled in combat, if the matching number is on the top card of the deck it is turned over and the event carried out.  This generally deals out a high number of events from my experience and, if you want a massively eventful game, the rules suggest carrying out an event every time a 1 or 6 is rolled, never mind what number is on the top card!

ISF approaching the Old City, but still  a lot to achieve

So, you are now ready to set-up all your core units and any extra ones you purchased on the map.  The ISF player places his green wooden unit blocks first and the rule for this was one of the only two rules that caused me a moment's hesitation.  The rules state that the three set up areas are marked with a star.  Looking at the map, the three areas on the south edge of the map are very, very obvious, but are marked with the symbol of a white bird on a green background.  Looking more carefully, I realised that there was a very small star on each bird symbol.  Slight doubt over.

The Daesh player sets up second and has the more thought-provoking decisions, as these black wooden block units can be placed anywhere on the map following stacking limits.  The choices made will strongly influence the game.  I have some personal opinions on placement, but nowhere near enough plays to judge their value. I look forward to forthcoming views on this and even more on that eternal knotty question of play balance. 

The Turn Sequence is very straightforward: an IGO-UGO system with the ISF player going first each turn.  Each player carries out three Phases.

Support Phase

Considerations of supply are dealt with and these are very simple and limited.  Generally, each HQ regains one step to each block and the most significant action may be those which result from any Capability cards that can be activated in this Phase.

Movement Phase

The rules are very clear, with the ISF having the advantage of the ability to use Fast Movement using the road system, while very few types of Daesh units can.  Other than Fast Movement, moving is one area at a time.  No surprise that all areas of the Old City with its narrow alleyways provide a slow grind forward for ISF as they try to clear it and end the game before turn 12.  Also, though the ISF 9th Armoured are very powerful and are the only units that have a saving roll against hits, they can only operate outside the Old City.  So, it's important to preserve your strong Counter-Terrorism Service forces for that crucial and difficult task.  Very simple differences like this and the differing Capability cards for each side build to create the distinctive feel of each side and the flow of the game.  

Combat Phase

Combat is mandatory when you enter an enemy area and is handled very effectively. After a single round of combat, the defender decides whether to retreat.  If they don't retreat, the attacker must retreat, but with the option that very specific units [Veterans for the Daesh player and Counter-Terrorism units for the ISF] may remain for a second round of combat.  After this second round, if any defending units still remain, the attacker must retreat.  So, each individual combat ends either with one side having retreated or one side having been eliminated.  Modifiers are few and all rules easily learnt so that, like every other step in this game, they are quickly assimilated and rule book referring to is seldom needed.

Should you find yourself without a partner - and I realise that solo play for some is preferred or forced upon them by lack of players where they live - Brian Train's solo mode rules are equally short and manageable.  However, you can only play solo as the ISF player, as  the Daesh player is handled by a deck of cards labelled Military Council.  Not being a lover of BOTs, whose rules I find may often be cumbersome and can produce long-drawn out turns, the Military Council cards and the ability to make sensible decisions when necessary provide a satisfying alternative.  Still, there's nothing like the challenge of a live opponent!

 

Conclusion

The low unit density of the game makes for quick moving turns and, through the combat system and actions that may happen as the ISF enter Daesh held areas as well as the effect of Event cards, both players feel involved the whole time.  The game play, the rules system, the tension, the multiple decisions, the replay value, the immediate enthusiasm generated from reading the rules and ftf and solo play - all have added We Are Coming, Nineveh to my list of favourite games.  Learning to play the game is easy and playing either side is rewarding and enjoyable.  It's the sort of game that you want to set up as soon as you finish it, just to try out one new combination of cards or one different approach.  It's also safe to say that the short nine core-pages of very well written rules contribute to this.  Over the years, I have come to value highly conciseness, clarity and the ability to play a game with barely any need to refer to the rule book after a few plays.

Still having seen one large group dedicate one out of three days at the convention to setting up Death Ride Kursk, all I can say is "each to their own taste!"  WACN is definitely to my taste and I highly recommend it to yours.

 The White Swan

by

JMBricklayer

  This ship could be from the late 19th or the early 20th century. This is much more of a display model other than a toy that you can play with. The sails and some other parts are a bit too dainty for a child to play with. However, what it lacks in the play department it makes up for in sheer beauty when built. The kit comes with 1672 pieces and is meant for ages 14+. 

 Once you feel how heavy the box is you know that the kit is going to be a big one. The kit comes with six marked bags of parts with another bag with the sails and chains in it. Just look at the details that you can see in the picture below.

 Make no mistake, it is a large and pretty much intricate build. I spent a whole week on it, working on it for two to four hours a day. I did not want to make a mistake and find out near the end of the build. 

 This is definitely the largest block kit I have worked on so far. I was a little taken aback at the number of bags (7) that were in the box. 

 I had made some comments about the last JmBricklayer kit that I had constructed. The comments were made about how the instructions could have been a bit better in places. Either JMBricklayer took them to heart, or they were already working on making building easier without my input. These instructions were very easy to follow even with the number of instructions and bricks being so large.

The most perfect piece in the entire box.

 In the pictures above is one plastic piece that puts JMBricklayer above every other block kit company I have had the pleasure to build kits from. This is the handy dandy fixer for those of us who still have problems following instructions. This will take apart any type of bricks that you have put together through either not paying attention or just being in a rush. I used to use a small eyeglass straight screwdriver for my mess ups. This led to some close calls of almost impaling the palms of my hands. This little device is worth its weight in gold.

 Above is the next big trick that JMBricklayer has up its sleeve. They now have the ability to make bricks that can be printed with what you would want on them! This is a real game changer. The above piece now sits proudly on my desk.

 The build proceeded in a fairly straight manner. Other than there being just more pieces and instructions.

 In a shorter time that I believed possible the ship was taking shape. As I mentioned, I was not trying for a speed build but was taking my time with it. Building these kits are somewhat soothing, and at least for me, calming. 

 The ship comes with so many excellent details that you lose track of all of them. Here is a bit of the list:

Chains for the front of the ship and for the lifeboats

Railings

Tiller wheel

Propeller

Rigging for the masts, and so much more

 I have to admit that I had to stop the build right before doing the last step. The only thing that remains to be done is putting the thread that is used to add three more small sails like the one at the stern. The thread also really gives it a look of a real sailing ship from the time period. If you looked at the box, you would see that the suggested age for building the kit is 14 and up. This is that high because of the cloth like sails and the rigging using the thread. I stopped the build here because I wanted to get the review posted as soon as possible. I also wanted to take my time with the thread and sails to make the ship look as nice as possible. 

 Thank you JMBricklayer for allowing me to build this excellent kit. I will add a picture once I am done with the sails and rigging. I am still surprised that the sails are not made of plastic and yet looks so good on the masts.

 JMBricklayer has graciously given some codes to lessen the price on the White Swan:

1. The US Amazon code for White Swan 40104 is:  vipawgnft15  (from tomorrow to June 16) , and now it has a $8 off, so if you use the code, it will be $8 OFF+ 15% OFF

        US amazon link is  https://www.amazon.com/JMBricklayer-Ship-Building-Adult-40104/dp/B0BMK9WN7K

2. On our website www.jmbricklayer.com

the code is: vipawgnft15 (from now to 2323 12 31)

for all non-discounted sets

worldwide shipping, free shipping, and tax.

If customers register to be our members, they will get 100 points worth $10 , and with the code , it will be $ 10 off + 15% OFF

our website link https://www.jmbricklayer.com/product/the-white-swan-ship-40104/

Robert

JMBricklayer:

JMBricklayer Building Brick & Block Sets

The White Swan:

The White Swan Ship 40104 | JMBricklayer Building Brick & Block Sets

Preview of 'The Soft Underbelly 1943-1945'

by

Dissimula Edizioni

 Our very own Polydor has done a review of one of Sergio's earlier games:

FROM SALERNO TO ROME - A Wargamers Needful Things

 My name is Sergio Schiavi, I live in Turin, Italy;

I started designing games (and making them) recently, my first design was Radetzky's March, released in 2019; it’s about of the 1849 campaign in Piedmont, a very short campaign that ends with the battle of Novara. Now I'm about to print the second edition of the game, much improved.

The following year I published From Salerno To Rome, about the Second World War in Italy, a decidedly complex game but which had considerable success, over 1500 copies sold.

In 2021 I released Give Us Victories, on the Chancellorsville campaign, a game that uses the same RM system a more refined. In the box there are two other games, one strategic and one tactical, and a system for playing the campaign alone.

I usually draw everything in my games: system, maps, counters, box; I fund them if I can with Kickstarter and then I produce them.

Some time ago I came across Yasushi Nakaguro's Bonsai games and was very impressed by them; I designed a small game inspired by his design: little format, very cheap but very deep and fun.

The Soft Underbelly is a very small, inexpensive, two-player game that typically lasts about an hour.

It concerns the Second World War in Tunisia, Italy and southern Europe, the period I know best.

Some of the Map

It uses a very simple system where there are wooden blocks, which represent generic forces, and traditional counters, which instead represent specialized forces: tanks, planes, elite forces, fleets. The blocks, in addition to fighting, are used to buy specialized forces.

It is a game that generates a lot of tension, it does not admit mistakes; to win it you need a good strategy together with a little luck. It is asymmetrical: the Allied has many forces but must be able to make space to be able to deploy them all. The Axis, by contrast, must attempt to defend key areas, but inevitably must divide its scarce and costly forces widely. And eight turns pass quickly. There are events in the game that players can trigger by playing a chit: new reinforcements, premature end of a battle, partisans, and so on.

I also designed this game to bring new players as close as possible to our hobby and at the same time offer a good game, fast but not simple, on a little treated topic.

If it is financed, I intend to make others with the same system, on different themes, which I am already thinking about, including the Korean war 1950-53; the attack on Yugoslavia and Greece during World War II; the Norwegian campaign in 1940.

Among the next traditional projects instead, in September I will present a very large game about Husky and, later on, if I can, the continuation of From Salerno to Rome, which will be called To The Alps, which many are inciting me to draw.

https://www.dsimula.com/

The Soft Underbelly 1943-45:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/guv/the-soft-underbelly-1943-1945

 Scope U-Boot

by

Draco Ideas

  Churchill said that the only thing that scared him was the war in the Atlantic Ocean between the convoys and the U-Boats. Oddly enough, in 1942, just as the U-Boats were sinking the most ships they ever had, the tide turned against them. They changed from the hunters to the hunted in a matter of months. 

This is what comes in the box

 

 So, what do we have here? This is a small card game about the war in the Atlantic. It is mainly a game about U-Boats hunting convoy ships. However, in turn the U-Boats are being hunted by the convoy escort ships. This is what Draco Ideas has to say about the game:

"Playing time: 15 minutes

SCOPE U-boot is a game for 2 players, in quick and dynamic 15-minute games, recommended for ages 12 and up.

It is an independent and very different installment of the SCOPE system, the only similarities are its grid of cards forming the board and the many strategic possibilities it offers!

 In U-Boot the German player will remain hidden under the surface and the Allied player must find him and avoid being sunk. The ships move on the surface, although the cargo ships move more slowly. The submarine gives away its position when it fires a torpedo, but beware! You will have to choose as an ally whether you prefer your freighters to dodge it or move your destroyer to the area from where the torpedo was fired and sink your opponent.

SCOPE U-boot has several game modes, with different levels of complexity and duration."

Yes, it is in Spanish. However, the game is simple enough to get the gist even without knowing the language.

 The game is a bit like cross between Stratego and the old card game concentration with the ability to actually move your pieces. The Rulebook is only seventeen pages long. There is both a basic and an advanced version of the game. There are also some Alternative Scenarios to allow the player to play some variant scenarios and to make up their own. You can also have a surface naval combat between the two players. 

 The Game Area is made up by placing Empty Sea Cards as the map that you will use in the game. Four of the Empty Sea Cards make up a quadrant. The game comes with these card and tokens:

12 - Allied Ship Cards

 2 Freighters

 2 Tankers

 3 Destroyers

 1 Battleship

 1 Escort Carrier

 2 Flower Corvettes/Mies

 1 Armed Freighter

 

7 - German Ship Cards

 3 Submarines

 1 Destroyer

 1 Battleship

 2 S-Boot/Mine

35 Sea/Empty Area Cards

6 Surface Firing Cards

6 Tokens

 4 Torpedo Tokens

 1 Allied Direction Token

 1 German Direction/Ping Token (Sonar)

  The scenarios are listed by the amount of Empty Sea Cards that you will use. These are:

Lone Wolf (One Submarine) 5x5 Empty Sea Cards

Coordinated Attack (Two Submarines) 5X6 Empty Sea Cards

Wolf Pack (Three Submarines) 5X7 Empty Sea Cards

 The German Player then secretly exchanges his units for some of the Empty Sea Cards in the first row on his side of the game area. The Allied Player does the same with the first two rows of the Empty Sea Cards on his side. Each player is allowed one action per turn. They then alternate turns. The actions allowed are:

Submarine Movement

Torpedo Launch

Fast Ship Movement

Slow Ship Movement

 The game continues until Target Points listed for each side in the scenarios are met or there are no more operational Cargo Ships. Each ship has a value number.

 For a small simple game, the players need to use strategy and learn the game's nuances. While this type of game is really not my cup of tea, I can see where others will really enjoy it. The components are very well done and feel like they will last through a great number of games.

 For those of you who like tactical hex and counter games, I suggest you look at Draco Ideas 'War Storm Series'. These are five games that are well worth their price. Their 'Saladin' game is also a good one.

Robert

Draco Ideas:

Home - Draco Ideas editorial

Scope U-Boot:

Scope U-boot (dracoideas.com)

War Storm Series:

“Normandy” and “Alone in the Storm” (War Storm Series) - Draco Ideas editorial

 ONUS TRAIANUS

FROM

DRACO IDEAS

Back in September 2016, I reviewed Onus from Draco Ideas which, if you check via this LINK, was a remarkably small, but impressive game.  With this latest addition to the series. things have got a whole lot bigger and what a stunning package it is!  In my previous review I used the cliche "good things come in small packets": well even better things have just come in a much, much bigger packet.  The simple comparison below makes that very clear!

I also wasn't wholly sold on the rather cartoonish original box art and, as you can see, that too has taken a turn for the more serious.  The period has also shifted from the early days of the monumental clashes between Rome and Carthage to the glory days of the Emperor Trajan and an incredible range of cards to cover an amazing tranche of opponents - Celts, Dacians, the Germanic tribes, Parthians and Sarmatians, along with a massive deck of Mercenaries and to help out the Romans, a deck of auxiliaries.  The system remains the same, an admirable transformation of miniatures using cards for units instead of metal or plastic figures.  

Lifting the box lid and focusing purely on the cards, you can see just how many are stacked up.  There is ample storage not just for the cards, but also measuring rulers, dice and all the many markers. 

There are in total a magnificent 272 unit cards, 34 General cards, 98 action cards and 6 quick reference cards.  What I value even more in the storage facility is that all the compartments are designed to be large enough to hold the cards, if sleeved.  Usually, sleeving is my immediate choice, but in the case of Onus Traianus, I'm reluctant to sleeve the cards that represent the units, as I find them harder to manoeuvre over the battlefield.

Set out above are the five enemy nations, the Roman core units and below them the auxiliaries, the extra large stack of mercenaries, on the far right the stack of generals, with Trajan uppermost, and below them, the largest stack of all - the many action cards that determine your orders.

Even when you add in all the other components, the box remains delightfully spacious.  So much so that I'm intending to transfer my cards from the original Onus to this storage as well.

Impressive as all this is, it is the various books that add a distinctly luxurious feel to the game.  The original rule book was small, compact and did a very, very good job of setting out the rules.  For its small size, it included an amazing number of illustrations, but it was crammed to bursting with eye-straining text!  The new rule book is capacious and voluminous.  The print is still on the small side, but with double-spacing of all the text, plus frequent use of extra white space it is ease itself to read.  Combined with this are a steady flow of illustrative pictures to support the many examples of each clearly explained step in the sequence of play, a comprehensive 2-page Contents list at the front of the rules, a 2-page alphabetic Index at the back, a single page Important Rules Summary and finally on the back cover is a summary of all the Modifiers neatly headed according to each element of the game that they apply to.

Comprehensive  Summary of Modifiers

All this makes it a genuine pleasure to sit down to read, whether for the first time or simply to browse and refresh your memory.  An awesome accomplishment in rules presentation that deserves full praise as does the striking and handsome front cover illustration.

The rule book begins with a one page Introduction, which draws you in with a pictorial display of the card backs of all the nations included in the original game, its two expansions and now this stand-alone game. Then a page of new additions to the rules is followed by three pages explaining the three types of card in the game: Unit Cards,  General Cards and Action Cards.  Each page offers a compact illustration of a typical unit card with brief explanations of all the symbols they contain.

We quickly pass on to Setting Up which covers Historical Scenarios and creation of Scenarios by point count, Victory Conditions and Troop Deployment which details how to set out your card units on the gaming area.  The bulk of the book [32 pages] takes you through the Turn Sequence in order providing all-embracing, detailed, step by step rules. They provide an admirably clear explanation throughout which, as mentioned earlier, is significantly helped by the layout so that you never feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the level of detail.

In brief, the Turn has 7 Phases.

Activation

Movement

Ranged Attack

Skirmish

Melee

Flight

End of Turn

Among the many easy to understand rules, those explaining movement and melee stand out for me.  Especially the latter - melee rules - have so often with other sets of miniatures rules been a nightmare of complexity merely to understand, never mind actually carry out in a game.  Having watched in the past with other systems, ten or more minutes of number crunching, percentage calculations, modifier applications et. al. result in both sides suffering no effects, Onus' method is a gamer's blessing.

Many capitalised side headings, sequences of short simple statements, exemplification distinguished by its text being in italics and plentiful full-colour illustration all contribute to take the work and effort out of absorbing these rules.  I have two sets of very substantial miniatures rules for gaming battles in the ancient world which I thoroughly enjoy reading, but Onus Traianus covers so much in a straightforward way that leads to an ease of execution.

When you get down to play on your tabletop, this ease of understanding is augmented to a major extent by the fact that the units are cards not miniatures.  First of all, I always know immediately what a unit is simply because its nationality and type is written on the card.  I have a rather nicely painted set of 10mm ancients miniatures, but because of the scale I often strain to make out even such simple things as exactly what type of cavalry I'm seeing.

Typical set up for a basic game

Even more important is that all the key data needed for movement capability, ranged fire, melee strength in attack and defence, morale and health are also printed on the card.  

No need for reference to a multitude of extensive tables to extract this information.  The only limited reference needed is to the icons for special abilities and even here there are benefits, as colour coding on the cards quickly distinguishes those special abilities that are triggered automatically [orange and green circles] and those that need to be activated [blue circles] by placing a distinctive marker on the card.

Finally, the unit card serves as the base on which to place a range of markers, such as marching or fleeing, broken morale, number of wounds, the presence of a hero or loss  of an officer - all of which simplifies the organisation of your game in the course of play.

Romans v Celts

Whatever you're level of experience as a gamer, Onus Traianus provides a great range of qualities.   Perhaps the most important is that you're getting a satisfying depth of game play coupled with an ease of learning and a sand box of material with

 a very easy point system to design your own battles. Next it allows you to explore a wide range of conflicts from this period of the Roman Empire against so many different opponent nations.  This is not just because of the unit decks for these nations, but because of the impressively large Campaign Book - all in all, 95 pages and 38 battles organised into 4 Campaigns.  If the Rule Book looks superb, this Campaign Book is gorgeous and of a very substantial weight and thickness.  You really have got a book in your hands .

There are four campaigns covered and each one is prefaced by a simple map with the battles marked on and the order in which they occurred.  Each individual battle is illustrated with a full colour set up map, an historical outline, any special rules and victory conditions.  The one drawback is that only approximately half of the battles can be played easily with just Onus Traianus alone.  Frankly, if the Campaign Book had given you only those eighteen alone, you'd be getting huge value for money, but to play the others you will need the Terrain and Fortresses Expansion box, which will be explored in my follow-on review.  I defy you to withstand the lure and I must thank Draco Ideas for their generosity in providing the Expansion to review as well as the core game.

The last item in Onus Traianus is a very slim booklet for playing in Solo mode and here I did struggle to understand their workings because of the brevity of explanation, especially after the thoroughness and clarity of the Rule Book. In particular, I think the several tables used need much fuller explanation to make the system work smoothly. I have to admit that it is not something I would choose to support me in playing this game solitaire, but nor is it needed for me to enjoy playing the game solo rather than against a live opponent.  For those who absolutely insist on playing solo only by using a game system, it might not serve.  However, there are few miniature gamers I know who would consider this essential or even how they would play solitaire.

So, to sum up.

Excellent components throughout

Visually attractive 

Comprehensive rules well set out and clear to understand

Ease of play

Magnificent Campaign Book - extensive range of battles linked into four campaigns

Solo mode only weak point

I really hope that Draco Ideas will look at producing an Expansion for the Republican battles between Julius Caesar v Pompey the Great and/or the battles between Marius v Sulla.

Once again many thanks to Draco Ideas for providing the review copy for Onus Traianus and the Expansion Terrain and Fortresses which I shall be reviewing next.