Campaign Series Vietnam Tutorial Walkthrough
by
Joe Beard
This is a series of videos that Joe Beard did for this excellent series.
Here is the link:
Campaign Series Vietnam Tutorial Walkthrough: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLujeLHPclRBNySMPROfnfgcums5QSknPN
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First of all the rules introduce a system
containing a number of very interesting concepts. The first and perhaps
most important is the use of a deck of ordinary playing cards to regulate and introduce a
mixture of control and randomness into the game. This is an element not
unfamiliar from some miniatures rules and systems. [An excellent instance
being To The Strongest - a superb set for conducting Ancient
warfare!] However, I haven't previously encountered this in board
wargaming. Here all court cards count as 1 pt, while all other cards have
their face value.
From the outset, these cards govern everything, including who will have the Initiative and play the turn. This latter rule stands out for me as a leading innovation and one I have certainly never met with before. There are four Initiative markers, one for each of the four suits in a pack of cards: Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, Spades. On one side of the marker is a flag to denote the German player, on the other a flag for the Allied player.
A pre-game card draw will determine which suits will
determine each side's potential starting Initiative. From
then on, each Turn begins with a card being drawn, the suit determines the
Initiative player and the Initiative marker for that suit is turned over to the
opponent's side. Thus a rhythm is
established that overall evens out, but can throw up surprises and causes each
player to focus very carefully on what he/she needs to do when they have got
the Initiative.
What is even more novel is that only the player
with the Initiative gets to directly activate their units with a choice of
actions from Movement/Improving a Position/Fire and Rally. However, and
this is the third original idea, the non-Initiative player's units have a
limited reaction ability. Each unit can either move away one hex when an
enemy unit comes adjacent or, at the point when an enemy comes into range and
line of sight, can"roll" [i.e. draw a card] to see how many reaction
pts the unit gets. This will allow the unit from 1 to 3 Defensive Fire
opportunities.
This sets up a highly interactive system that
benefits defenders well dug-in on good defensive terrain, especially when the
Initiative player has to cross open ground. It also creates a fairly fast
flowing pace to each turn, with the opportunity for reaction, but without an
overcomplex set of rules and conditions. .
What I like even more about the use of cards
instead of dice is that each player starts a Scenario with a a limited hand of
cards, with rare Random Event opportunities to refill or exchange some of those
cards. In a variety of cases, a player will have the opportunity to play a card
rather than randomly draw one.
Nowhere can this be more crucial than when you
have the Initiative, as your first decision is always how many formations you
are going to activate. To activate a single formation is free and
guaranteed. To activate more than one formation, then each formation
costs 2pts and each support weapon costs 1 pt unless it is stacked with a unit
from its formation, an Artillery strike costs 2 pts and an Air strike similarly
costs 2 pts. You must first announce what you are attempting to activate.
Obviously then you can use one of your precious cards in your hand to guarantee
success, but if you choose to risk a random card draw and don't pull a card
that will pay all your costs, then you forfeit all activation!
Lots of tense moments here, especially if you have
a lot of nice court cards in your hand which count as 1 pt - and remember you
can only ever play one card. So, perhaps you'll
be saving those high point cards for activation purposes in crucial turns, but
they're equally useful in Fire and Close Combat.
Fire is very straightforward with each unit firing
separately. It involves simply the play or draw of a single card plus
double the unit's firepower compared with the defending unit's morale added to
its terrain cover. If the Attacker scores higher, the Defending unit is
disorganised and, if twice the Defender's score, then the unit takes a step
loss as well. Gun/Armour factors add a few more twists too, though
the main problem here lies in the minute size of the print on the counters!
Close Combat involves a more complex combination
of cards, drawn randomly/played from hand, both face down and face up.
This takes a little thoughtful reading, but help is at hand as a substantial
amount of the two pages of examples is devoted to a very clear sequence
illustrating these particular rules.
Lock 'N Load Publishing Bonanza
Feast your eyes on the splendor!
I had one of the most glorious care packages known to man land on my doorstep. I am surprised it did not come by helicopter or get dropped off like a resupply mission out of the back of a C-47 with a parachute attached. These are the games that showed up (along with a handy truss to carry them in):
"Close Quarter Battles (CQB) is a tactical game system that allows players to recreate specific actions from the most famous battles in the horse-and-musket era. The series begins with the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815, focusing on the assaults on the fortified farms of La Haye Sainte and Hougoumont. It hopes to demonstrate how ferocious the fighting was around these iconic locations, which still bear the scars of that famous day.
Ju 87 Stuka Ace – You can play a single Mission or simulate the entire career of a Stuka Ace. Your Mission is to destroy as many targets as possible while advancing your pilot skills and increasing your personal rank and awards. Starting with operations in Poland in 1939 until the last actions in Soviet territory in 1944/45.
World at War 85 – WaW85 Series is a fast and furious platoon-level combat, set in 1985, in an alternate history of World War III, when the Warsaw Pact armies storm across the border of East Germany in a powerful attempt to seize West Germany and the whole of Free Europe. The WaW85 system features a unique combat system that involves die rolls by both attacking units and defending units, which keeps both players engaged throughout the game.
Point Blank – Point Blank is a World War 2 tactical squad-level card game where players maneuver forces to attack or defend objectives defined in scenarios. Game components are represented by cards consisting of squads, vehicles, support weapons, and leaders. Counters are included with the game and are used to mark player forces with information about the condition or state of a unit and a solitaire option is also included, well as team play.
Glory and Empire Series - First Victories: Wellington versus Napoleon. This series offers a fresh and dynamic approach to grand tactical command, maneuver, and combat during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. The system is designed to provide fast-paced gameplay while maintaining historical accuracy and a wealth of detail."
I would like you to take a close look at the packaging. If you are sharped eye enough, you will notice the absence of something that has been coming with boxed wargames for many years. That is right, there are no peanuts!!! Peanuts are the bane of every wargamer. True, some companies do send out the ecofriendly ones that you are supposed to be able to eat. However, even if they are palatable, go ahead and try. I will not; they still get static and stick to everything. I swear, sometimes my wife is less upset about the actual buying of the game compared to a kitchen full of the darned things. They are sometimes as bad as the Tribbles that were on the Enterprise. Grognards rejoice! We have been liberated from this horrible menace!
The games also came with canvas maps for four of the games. Ju 87 Stuka Ace came with the special neoprene mat.
This is the neoprene mat that can be purchased for JU 87 Stuka Ace:
Old School Tactical Volume 4: Italian Theater 1943-45
A Mark H. Walker Game
Designed by Shayne Logan
by
Flying Pig Games
Churchill's 'Soft Underbelly of Europe' did not seem so soft or easy as Churchill had in mind. The Allies had knocked Italy out of the war with the invasion of the Italian mainland at Salerno. Unfortunately, they forgot to tell the Germans to take their ball and go home. 'Smiling Al' Kesselring was going to make the Allies pay for every inch of Italian soil that they took. The mountains and rivers of Italy were the perfect natural barriers for the Germans to use to make the Allied offensive a slow grinding process. Even after Rome had fallen, Germans did not give up and were still a thorn in the Allied side until the end of the war.
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This is what comes with the game:
3 sheets of unit, weapon, vehicle, and condition counters
A large (We are talking HUGE!) 30" x 41" mounted game map, hexes are 1"
27 luck cards, such as Tank Killer, No More, and Veteran Skills
40+ unit data cards
Full-color Playbook with 14 scenarios, including SAS Raiders- British SAS commandos search for the Italian howitzers to protect the landings in Sicily and Fallen Allies- with the capitulation of the Italian state, the Germans moved quickly to seize power. Some Italian units did not go peacefully.
2 x player aid cards
Color rule book
Dice
Massive box
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The Soaring Swine have, and rightly so, a reputation for beautiful and huge, not just large, wargames. The components that come inside this extremely large box are completely up to that reputation.
The very well-done map shows both the pastoral and rugged terrain that the Allies and Axis soldiers fought over. It does not show the really rugged terrain of the Battle of Monte Cassino. This is shown in the OST Volume 4 expansion 'For the Empire' (that also includes the Commonwealth forces that fought in Italy). As usual, the hexes are large and show exactly what terrain is in each one. You get a Rulebook that is magazine type in style and is 25 pages long and also has an index. You also get an 18-page Playbook in the same style as the Rulebook. Both are in full color and the Rulebook is studded with examples of play etc. The players each get their own aid card with all of the terrain, CRTs, and pretty much everything else you need to play. The counters, along with everything else, are made to the same high standard that we have come to expect from Flying Pig Games. Next up, we have three countersheets. Two are for the units and one for gameplay. The infantry counters are 3/4" large and the armor etc. are 7/8". Then we have a deck of unit data cards, and another deck marked 'luck'.
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The scenarios included run the gamut from the fighting in Sicily to the landing at Anzio near Rome. I was very happy to see that they included one of the more successful Italian pieces of armor: the Semovente. This was roughly the Italian equivalent of an assault gun/tank destroyer. It was probably smaller than the Hetzer, but it gave a good account of itself in battle.
Thank You, Flying Pig Games, for allowing me to review another of your games in the Old School Tactical Series. The original game was about the fighting in Western Europe. They followed it up with Volume 2 taking place on the Eastern Front and Volume 3 in the Pacific. They also have an equally wonderful series called 'Black Swan' that was designed by the master Hermann Luttmann. This includes his magnum opus A Most Fearful Sacrifice. This has been joined by a game on the almost historical Pipe Creek campaign. The next massive beauty in the series is coming up and is called The Rock of Chickamauga.
I will have at least one more follow up piece on the actual gameplay of OST Volume 4.
Robert Peterson
Old School Tactical Volume 4: Italian Theater 1943-45
My Review of Old School Tactical Volume I
My Review of Old School Tactical Volume II
Eylau 1807
Battles of Napoleon Volume I
by
Sound of Drums
A Uwe Walentin Design
I will confess up front that I am a Napoleonic fanboy, and not only in my choice of wargames. If I had my way, some of the decor in my house would be of the Napoleonic variety, much to the chagrin of my better half. To top it off, the Battle of Eylau has for some reason always been my favorite Napoleonic battle to read about and to wargame. So, I might look a little more harshly on a wargame based on the battle compared to others.
The Battle of Eylau need not have happened. After the destruction of 90% of the Prussian Army in the 1806 campaign, Napoleon was trying to come to grips with the Russian Army who were allies of the Prussians. Time had moved inexorably forward, and it was now almost full winter. Both Armies had pretty much gone into winter quarters. The Battle of Eylau was mostly caused by Marshal Ney disregarding his orders (He might have been the 'Bravest of the Brave' but he was certainly not the brightest of the bright) and causing the Russian Army to stir. Both armies finally met at Eylau in typical norther European weather. The battle was technically named Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, this being the town's actual name. However, the slaughter in the snow would make a more accurate description. The Russian Army was as tenacious as always, as Frederick the Great, Napoleon, and others came to find out. Sometime during the battle, a raging snowstorm took place to make the soldiers and generals jobs that much harder. Marshal Murat at the head of 10,000 French horsemen is usually credited with stopping the battle from becoming Napoleon's first defeat. It ended as the first check and not the outright victory that Napoleon had encountered. The battle was summed up by this conversation between Napoleon and Marshal Soult: Napoleon told Marshal Soult, "The Russians have done us great harm," to which Soult replied, "And we them, our bullets were not made of cotton." This famous interaction between a commander and his troops also took place at Eylau: "At the battle of Eylau, seeing his horse grenadiers lowering their heads as bullets whistled around, Lepic uttered the famous words: "Heads up, gentlemen, these are bullets, not turds!" (Haut la tête, messieurs, la mitraille ce n'est pas de la merde !)."
This is what comes with the game:
two 88 x 56 cm map sheets
1120 counters (15 mm)
220 alternative counters (15 mm)
40 grey and 42 black cubes
20 blue and 20 green cube
2 army charts
2 OOB charts
2 play aid charts
2 tally sticks
2 counter trays
4 custom dice
1 rulebook
One thing about the game that was brought up before it was released was the map. This wasn't a discussion about how excellent it looks but the fact that it has a white overlay to it. Apparently, some people wanted to see the little brown buildings in the town etc. Well, here is a news flash. The battle was fought in the middle of a hard winter during a snowstorm. I thought from the very beginning that the map color added to the game and actually added to the historical immersion of it.
Before I dive into the various components that come with the game there is something very important I have to say. That is, this game has some of the finest materials that I have seen in a game. It truly looks like the labor of love that it is. I was impressed by their earlier Hellas game, review link below, and its pieces but I am blown away by what you find inside this box. Now to be clear, I am talking about what comes in the 'regular', seems a pity to use that word, game box. I was lucky enough to get some of the special items from Mr. Walentin like the mounted map and the special dice. These only added to the magnificence of the ensemble.
Unfortunately, my descriptions and the pictures do not do the game components justice. However, I will list off what comes in the box to the best of my ability.
So, let us start off with the map. As mentioned, it comes in two pieces. The size is a little over 22" X 34". I remember that we were supposed to change over to the metric system in the early 1970s, but I digress. It is simply a real wonder of an understated style. It is designed to show a landscape draped in winter and in this it succeeds admirably.
Next up are the counters. Many games have huge amounts of counters. Usually, these counters are on the small size and rather hard to read, but not with all games. These come in around 5/8". This size is quite sufficient for most people to be able to see the pertinent information. They also have a small picture of the different Marshals and Generals, and they use what we have come to call the NATO symbols. The game places a lot of emphasis on command and control of the different units, as it should in a Napoleonic battle. So, being able to read the different Corps and division numbers is very necessary. The actual game units only take up two and 3/4 of the countersheets. The other 7 1/4 are the counters used in gameplay. The counters also come prerounded. I know this puts a damper on those of you who revel in piles of cut off pieces of counters. There are two types of alternative counters. The first is a set of alternative Marshal and General counters which have a flag instead of a small portrait. The other are 'Pollard" markers to show unit loss of strength. The game has regular loss counters of one number on each. The "Pollard" ones have four numbers on each side of the counter, and you put the correct number toward the front of the counter. Each counter also has a line or a column side. The game also comes with small wooden cubes to keep track of the different parts of the game. These are all uniform and do not have flash or bits of wood hanging off the ends.
The Rulebook and the Scenarios, Notes, & History Booklet come in magazine type style. They are both in full color. The Rulebook does come with examples of the rules and play. The Rulebook comes in at 33 pages and the other at 19. The size of the lettering could be a little larger. However, the size of the Rulebook would then become a bit unwieldly. It comes with two large colorful foldout Orders of Battle, one for each side. The two identical Player Aids are made of the same material as a mounted map. All of the charts and tables needed to play are on them. You also get two foldouts to keep track of orders etc. These are also made of the same material as a mounted map. It also comes with two Tally Sticks, (more on them later), along with four custom dice. The entire game, except the map, is a bloom of color like a Napoleonic battle should be.
Strangely, for a game this size, the designer attempted to make it as easy as possible to play and remember the rules, without the constant checking and cross referencing that is needed in some game systems. The game is listed as a 5/10 on the complexity scale and the game length is listed as 180 minutes. This time is naturally based on knowing the rules and system and not for complete tyros. For a large game like this that is pretty amazing. The amount of counter clutter on the map has been cut down to as small as it can be. Mr. Walentin was trying to design a game series that would involve the player and be historical and yet still be extremely playable. I believe he has succeeded admirably in his assignment to himself. You get all the flavor of a Napoleonic battle without all the fluff and added rules that other systems use.
The gameplay is the very meat and potatoes of our chosen hobby. There are many beautiful games that gather dust on numerous shelves because of coming up short in this aspect. This game, and series, will not be one of them. The weather is also a large part of the rules and indeed that of the battle. Augereau's Corps staggered toward the Russian lines in a snow whiteout and was almost destroyed by the Russian cannon. This led to one of the most magnificent feats of the entire Napoleonic Wars. Murat led forward 10,000 French horseman who cut their way through the Russian Army and then repeated the process on the way back. The tableau has been used by numerous painters of the Napoleonic Wars.
The game is won or lost by the amount of each army's fatigue points. As usual, you lose fatigue points for eliminated units, commanders, and the loss of objectives. However, you also lose fatigue points for each order that you issue. The way that fatigue is kept track of is also different. Instead of just having an army fatigue number that if you hit or go under, your side loses. The black and gray cubes are used to keep track of it. Essentially you have a stock of cubes at the beginning of the battle and scenario. You can win or lose them according to the rules above. When one side loses all of its cubes it has lost the battle. You can play with the historical weather, or you can roll a die to see what it is that turn. Now onto the Tally Sticks. Instead of having to find a bone or possibly a slide rule these are just included to help the player keep track of the army fatigue points etc. that are used in the game. These are a small but elegant addition to the game.
I am going to break another one of my review rules now. That would make two in this month. While I will not mention the actual price, I can tell you that it is way below what a lot of other companies would charge for a game this size and is designed so well. There are so many outlets for buying games that I feel that it is not to the grognards' advantage to mention just one price. I do understand that it is best to send the money straight to the companies. However, some companies do sell their games to outlets that sell them for as low as the KickStarter prices. The grognard community as a whole is an older group. A lot of us are on fixed incomes and the 'younger' ones are dealing with college tuition for their children and many other things. In this day and age every penny counts.
Please take a look at the other games that Sound of Drums has released and also take a look at the ones forthcoming. In their Battles of Napoleon Series, the next game is the Battle of Quatre? bras. That one, like Eylau, is a battle that could have gone either way.
Robert Peterson
Eylau 1807 Battles of Napoleon Volume I
My review of Hellas: History of the Ancient Seas I:
Hellas: History of the Ancient Seas I by Sound of Drums - A Wargamers Needful Things
Blitz in the East
The Russian Campaign 1941-45
by
VentoNuovo Games
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| The very stylish colorful map |
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| Back of the box |
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| Counters |
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| One side of the Player's Aid |
The scenarios that come with the base game are:
The game comes with two tutorials
Beyond the Dnieper
Blitz in the East
Operation Barbarossa
Russian Campaign
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| A picture of some gameplay |
Robert Peterson
The Fate of All
Strategikon Book I: Alexander's Campaign Against the Persian Empire, The First Diadochi War, and Other Deeds
by
Thin Red Line Games
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Megas Alexandros, the son of Philip II and Olympias, both of which have had numerous books written about them, was born in July 356 B.C. Philip II was a hard man and king who had two desires. The first was to be considered Greek by the Greeks; most thought of the Macedonians as barbarians. The second, to invade the Persian Empire supposedly in retaliation for the two Persian invasions of Greece. Olympias was another matter entirely. To Alexander she was a doting mother who considered her son to be divinely born, or at least half divine. To others, she was Mommie Dearest on steroids. Anything or especially anyone who got in Alexander or his offspring's way was considered fair game for horrific retribution. The story of Alexander's invasion of Persia and his marching all the way from India and back is the stuff of legends and is well known. However, the stories of his generals are not as well known. Napoleon was well served by most of his Marshals. In reality they could not hold a candle to Alexander's generals, especially the Diadochi (Successors).
I am breaking a rule that I have followed since I started wring for AWNT a good number of years ago. This rule was to never compare one game to another, the main reason being is that much like children, all games are different, and they are the offspring of each designer's thoughts. There are two games that I would never part with. These are the Art of Siege and The Conquerors, or just Conquerors. Both were released by SPI in the late 1970s. Between the two, The Conquerors is in the number one spot of this grognard's heart. I have three copies of the SPI version, two just for extra maps and counters. Both I got for a steal, and even another version by Excalibre Games released in 2011. As grognards we all have our most favorite games, and we also have extra copies in case of something untoward happening (much like how Foghorn Leghorn has his numbered feathers for emergencies). However, my heart skipped a beat when I opened the first map I came across and looked at the area of Lydia. I was absolutely enthralled. I was not really expecting to be. This game after all is about Alexander's invasion of the Persian Empire (The Conquerors also has a campaign about the Roman war with Antiochus the Great). Whilst I have read all of the books that have been written about Alexander and his great enterprise, I was never really a fan of Alexander's. Some things he did have really touched a chord with me such as smashing Cassander's head into the wall repeatedly when he laughed at the obeisance that the Persin nobles showed Alexander (Cassander being no favorite of mine). The Diadochi and their wars and battles have always meant much more to me than the great Alexander. I saw that one of the scenarios was about the first Diadochi War. Then I saw a counter that really grabbed my wargamer's heart. It was a counter for Antigonus, who according to Plutarch "was the oldest and greatest of Alexander's successors". To finally find a boardgame with a scenario about one of my heroes pretty much put me in awe of the game. It was from that moment that I began to realize that I had found a successor, no pun intended, to SPIs The Conquerors.
Thin Red Line Games are known for their massive simulations about the Third World War happening in 1985. It seems the minute they go into print they go out of stock and the games then hit astronomical resale numbers? on those markets. I had read about those games, but never have I seen one up close to see for myself what all the other grognards were swooning over. Having seen the contents of this box I can now say that they have absolutely wonderful production quality. If they World War III games are like this no wonder, there has been such hubbub over them. This is a list of their WWIII games:
In a Dark Wood
1985: Under an Iron Sky
Less Than 60 Miles
1985: Deadly Northern Lights
The Dogs of War
1985: Sacred Oil
Die Festung Hamburg
This is what comes with this game:
4x 90×60 cm matte plasticized map, covering Greece, Anatolia and the Middle East
1x Battle Map
5x 5/8″ matte plasticized counter sheets
20x Fate Cards
Rules Booklet
Scenarios & Designers’ Notes Booklet
Strategikon Booklet, containing examples and suggestions for the Commanders
2x Charts & Tables booklets
4x Player Aid Charts
2x 10-sided dice
10x zipbags
Game Highlights
30 km per hex, one month per turn
Units representing various formations, from Phalanx to Chariots
Order of battle and commanders based on primary sources and the most recent historical research
Realistic supply problems with realistic and possibly violent solutions
Cavalry Reconnaissance, Foraging and Raiding
Reaction Movement, not so easy retreats and catastrophic routs
Attrition and Army Morale, your first problems in the morning
Naval Warfare
Satrapies, Taxation and Bribes
Revolts, Treachery and worse
Five Different Scenarios with different complexity
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| A picture of all you get with your purchase |
This is what Thin Red Line Games has to say about their magnum opus:
"Loosely inspired on SPI’s “The Conquerors”, The Fate of All is an operational / tactical simulation covering the first four years of the campaign led by Alexander the Great against the Achaemenid Empire ruled by Darius III.
The final goal is to give a realistic representation of ancient warfare, without strange salads of godly interventions, auguries and Homeric duels. In the end, players will find that the problems faced were similar to those encountered during the Napoleonic era or the American Civil War.
The four maps cover Greece, part of the Balkans, Anatolia, Egypt and the Middle East up to Babylon. The scale is 30 km per hex with monthly turns.
The maps are designed using the latest archaeological studies and findings, but despite centuries of research several things are still only vaguely known: Some examples are the extension and path of the Persian Royal Roads, the location of several important cities and the exact route of Alexander’s Army. In these cases, the “most accepted theory” rule has been used.
Counters are 5/8″, each one representing a formation, from a Macedonian Phalanx Taxis (approx. 1500 soldiers) to a Cavalry Ile (200 – 300 mounted soldiers). Commanders and naval forces are also represented and will be key elements for the final victory.
Rules are centered on the problems of army organization, supply and morale: Commanders are essentials, armies must be organized in a balanced way, or they will move slowly, cavalry must be used for foraging, raid and reconnaissance, morale must be kept under control using sound military achievements or donations.
Political aspects are also a key element: Actions like Plundering and Sacking will have a negative impact on the local support by the ruling class and population, and both sides will have to use money or threats to gain it back. Last but not least, treason, revolts and dubious allies will be a problem too."
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| The map pieces put together |
I will just say at the beginning that the booklets and pieces of the game are really a sight to behold. There is a gaggle of player aids that come in the box. Here is a rundown on them.
The Rulebook is in full color and is 23 pages long. The front and back cover have the famous mosaic of Alexander attacking Darius III in the latter's chariot. The different sections are headed by titles made to look like ancient Greek writing. This is a nice added touch to the game. Next up is the Scenarios and Designer Notes Booklet. It is 19 pages long and both of the above are designed in thick magazine style. The print is large enough where you do not need a magnifying glass and the rules etc. are written out so that you are not jumping back and forth to learn them. The Strategikon is an eight-page booklet of examples of all of the types of play. It is wonderfully illustrated for the player to follow along easily to learn the ropes. The charts and tables booklets, you get one for each player, are done the same way as all of the rest of the booklets mentioned. They are six-pages long and give the player everything he needs at his fingertips. There is a map made of card stock of the entire area of the map. It comes with the Forage Value of each of the different Satrapies. Then there are two card stock sheets for each side's Force Boxes. Each side has four armies and four fleet boxes with the Persian side getting an extra box for troops in Persepolis. This means that the map is not cluttered with large stacks of individual units. Last is a card stock sheet with the Calendar, Satrapies Alignment, and the Movement Points track. The counters of troops and markers are on five sheets and are a nice size of 5/8". The troop counters are little works of art and even show portraits of the different leaders on both sides. There are four wonderful maps from roughly Babylon to the entire Greek Peninsula. There is also a large fold out map for the tactical battles that comes with extra-large hexes. Both the counters and maps are in matte and come 'plasticized'. I know these help with waterproofing; however, it will be a cold day in hell before I let liquid of any kind near any of my games. Of course, this is a personal preference and is a very nice touch that has been added to the game. It will also help the life span of the maps. The game has a deck of 20 Fate Cards that are in line from an artistic point of view as the rest of the game. These give a historical feel to the game and also give it a bit of a wild card approach to play. So, there you have the long list of what you get. I cannot stress too much the excellent design and manufacturing of the game parts. You really have to see and feel them for yourself.
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| Phoenicia and Cyprus |
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| Macedonia |
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| Two different event cards form the deck. Oops, there goes Cleitus the black. The latter might show his marriage to Roxana. |
The Fate of All has been able to make me decide to put an old friend on the shelf probably never to be played again. This is both a sad moment for me but also a revelation and a wonderful feeling of great gaming to come. The fact that the designer was also a fan and used The Conquerors as a steppingstone mitigates my sadness. I am a self-professed ancient's nut when it comes to military history. The fact that this game has a scenario about the first Diadochi War is just the best icing I have ever tasted on the cake.
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| The Battle of the Granicus setup. |
"The Shattered Bonds
The first Diadochi war, 320 BCE
In 321 BCE, most of the internal rebellions caused by the untimely death of Alexander and the subsequent splitting of his empire have been quelled, and the Diadochi are finally ready to put every energy toward their common goal: Killing each other.
As Perdiccas moves to settle the score with Ptolemy, a coalition formed by Antipater, Craterus and Antigonus prepares to invade Anatolia, hoping to undermine Perdiccas’ dominant position and to bring support to Ptolemy before it’s too late.
The defence of Anatolia is entrusted to Eumenes, a previous secretary of Alexander raised to the rank of general thanks to his capabilities. Perdiccas also assigns Neoptolemos, an able officer but with a reputation for troublemaking, to act under the command of Eumenes.
As Antipater and his allies move into Anatolia by land and sea, Perdiccas’ faction is hit by a string of defections: Neoptolemos, the fleet admiral Cleitus the White, the Lydia Satrap Menandros, and the Karia Satrap Asandros all side with the enemy.
It’s only the beginning of a bloody war that will claim the life of most of its protagonists."
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| Read the introduction carefully. |
A Wargamers Needful Things is a one stop blog for Wargamers, Military Minifig collectors, Toy Soldier collectors and military history obsessives. We will do our upmost to cover in depth as much as possible. We shall be reviewing books, miniatures\toy soldiers, MiniFigs and of course games, plus interviews, model making and AARs! Quote from a reader.. "Your site is a much needed breath of fresh air, I absolutely love the spectrum of things you cover/review. Keep up the great work. "
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