Louis XIV's Marshals of France

by

James Falkner

 This is a book that I have been waiting to read for a very long time. Out of these Marshals of France I have only seen in English one biography of Turenne and another, done by this author, on Vauban. The author has opened up a large window on the wars of Marlborough by his various books on the subject. It is true that he did pen the book about Vauban, but other than that he has usually written about the English history of the War of the Spanish Succession.

 The book gives us small biographies of these Marshals:

Turenne

de Fabert

de Créquy

Luxembourg

Catinat

Boufflers

Villeroi

Vendôme

Villars

Vauban

Berwick

 The history in the book goes from before Louis XIV's childhood, and the Fronde, to the first years of Louis XV's reign. These men have a large part in the growth of France during the Sun King's reign. They run the gamut of being the children of simple folk to the illegitimate son of a king. The Fitz part of Berwick's name Fitz-James denoted at the time a child from the wrong side of the sheets, much like the name Snow in GOT. 

 The book also comes with 24 plates. These are of the 12 Marshals, and a further 12 are for other people who make up a large part of the Marshals' lives. 

 The lives of the Marshals are shown during their glory years and their not-so-great years. Marshal Tallard was not ostracized after his return from captivity after his self-inflicted debacle at Blenheim. Quite the contrary, he was held in high regard by Louis XIV after his return. Marshal Luxembourg went from pariah to heights of glory after his imprisonment during 'The Affair of the Poisons' (If you have not read about it, you should. It brings a whole new light on the Sun King's reign.). These are just two samples of what you will find in the book.

 There are only two things that I find upsetting/missing in this book. The first is that at 239 pages it is much too short. This book really needs to be a tome in length to give us all the information about these great men. The second is a technicality that I was hoping the book would find a way around. I have never found a biography of the Grande Conde in English. The technicality is that he was a Prince of Blood and therefore had no need of the title of Marshal to command armies for Louis XIV. He is shown during some of the other Marshal's lives but way too fleetingly for my taste.

 The author has done a spectacular job of helping to close the void or rend the veil that has hidden the Marshals of Louis XIV. These Marshals are a very large part of the history of Louis XIV's reign. While it is true that Louis did at times take the field with his armies, he never deluded himself as to who was actually in charge on the field of battle. Thank you, Mr. Falkner for this much needed glimpse into the French side of these conflicts. Thank you also, to Casemate Publishers for allowing me to review this excellent title.

Robert

Book: Louis XIV's Marshals of France

Publisher: Pen & Sword

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

 The Battle of Stalingrad

The Beginning of the End for Hitler in the East

by

Dmitry Degtev

  This is a book that is a bit hard to review. This comes mostly from the fact that the author flies repeatedly in the face of what we 'know' about the Stalingrad campaign. The author does not include any memoirs from anyone on either side of the campaign. He believes all of them are tainted by censorship and distorted reality. These are some of his own words from the Introduction:

"As a result, I became convinced that almost all of the books about Stalingrad are a mixture of real facts with numerous legends. Take at least the popular stories about sniper duels in the city, about which they even made feature films. In fact, the author could not find a single mention of snipers in any German or Soviet document! Also in the books, the success of Operation Uranus, as a result of which the 6th Army was surrounded, is explained by good planning, good training of the Red Army and the use of a large amount of artillery. In fact, it turned out that there was no artillery, and the Russian offensive did not differ in any way from similar highly incompetent attacks undertaken by the Russians in other sectors of the front."

 Do not think that he lets the Germans off the hook. He shows how the Fall Blau Campaign started out fine but turned into a complete fiasco with German troops crossing each other's paths and no real reason for some of their moves that were made.

 The author also comes up with much different figures for the captured and casualties on both sides. He does spend a lot of time showing the reader all of the movements and successes and failures of the Luftwaffe and the Red Air Force.

 Mr. Degtev has been the author of around 45 books. So, I think it behooves us to take a look at this book even though it contradicts a lot of what we have already read about the campaign. The book also comes with 32 photos and maps from the period. The only part of the book that brings me pause is something that afflicts many military histories. This would be the lack of enough maps. 

 Thank you, Casemate Publishers, for letting me review this book. Readers and other historians might have a bone to pick with the author due to his conclusions. However, I think this is a book that anyone interested in the Stalingrad Campaign should read, if just to get another take on the history of it.

Robert Peterson

Book: Battle of Stalingrad: The Beginning of the end for Hitler in the East

Publisher: Frontline Books

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

 Antietam

For Men to Live Through

by

Command Post games

 Antietam: the very name should be talked about in hallowed whispers. The United States has seen many wars and tons of battles. However, this is the place where there were more American casualties in one day than any other battle. The date of September 17th, 1862 should be known by every US citizen. The names of Burnside's Bridge, the Sunken Road, and especially the Cornfield have resonated down through the years. The Cornfield, Miller's Cornfield to be exact, was a blood bath for many hours during that fateful day. More than one person described the corn stalks as being sliced right off as close to ground as possible, as if some large being had used a razor to cut them clean. Unfortunately, it was actually canister and musket balls that did the job. The odds against the Confederates were close to two to one. If McClellan had actually used his army as an iron fist instead of disjointed fingers the history of the American Civil War might have been entirely different. This game by Command Post Games gives us a chance to refight the battle.

 This is what Command Post Games has to say about the game:

"In this game, you will lead an army through a key historical battle in the musket era.  With multiple players, you will run part of the army (Corps or Wing) on a team with other players.  Unlike most games, you won’t have God like knowledge and control of everything.  Like real generals, you will often not know what the enemy has, where they will attack from, when they will move or even when your own troops will move. 

How do you win?

You win by sacking one of the enemy’s baggage trains or by inflicting 50% losses on their army first. 

How does it work?

As you fight, your units take hits, fall back and become ‘Spent’.  Spent units are vulnerable and easy to kill.  You can unpack a baggage train to rally them back to Fresh, but unpacked baggage trains can no longer move.  If the enemy sacks one or your baggage trains, you lose!

What makes this fun and very tense, is that all the pieces remain hidden on upright blocks.  You can’t be sure which ones are fresh or spent, elite or poor grade troops.  Where are the baggage trains?

Each command moves in random order by chit pull.  This is very chaotic, just like real war.  Who will move first?  You can use your HQs to try to jump ahead or delay your move.  Is it better to move first or last?  It depends.  Do you need to plug critical holes in the line or seize key terrain before the enemy does?  Do you want the enemy to go first so that you can fall back and delay their advance?  Or do you want the enemy to attack first so that you know where to commit your reserves?  All combat is saved till the end of the turn.  So, movement during the turn is very fluid and up for grabs.  Timing is everything.

In this battle, the Confederates are badly outnumbered and hard pressed.  Their backs are up against the wall of the uncrossable Potomac River.  They have better troops and good defensive terrain initially.  If they are knocked out of those positions, their defense can unravel very quickly.

Rated Most Realistic & Accurate for:

• Command & Control limitations

• Fog of War -hidden units and chaotic move order

• Logistics -deployment crucial to victory and keeping your forces able to fight.

Used to train officers in the US military and in military academies around the world.

What the Professionals Play

Great for teams and solitaire play.

• Period style map.

• Kriegsspiel style, hardwood pieces.

Options

Divisions:  Much faster setup and play time.  Great for playing out at restaurants or pubs:  Pub Battles!     

Brigades:  More precision and accuracy for troops & terrain.  Playing with brigade blocks will take about 2-3 times longer.

Brigades blocks Only:  Optional upgrade for players with Divisions.  Includes updated rules & scenario."    

    

The Cornfield

 These are the options for the game that you can order:

You can order the game with either a canvas or paper map. It can also be ordered with just the blocks and stickers. In this case, as in all of their games, if you can afford it go with the canvas map. 

It can come with either divisions of brigades. Trust me, brigades is the way to go.

 This game, and its siblings, used to be called Pub Battles. The name has been changed to Musket Battles. I prefer Musket Battles. It pretty much sums up exactly what you will be getting or looking for on the web.

Another view of Miller's Cornfield

 The number of pieces that come with the game is not overwhelming at all. What is amazing is how wonderfully they have been manufactured and look. The canvas maps could be used with a frame to decorate your game room and believe me it would be worth the price of the game.

 The Musket Battles Rules of Play is in full color; it is also ten pages long. It comes with tons of examples of play to learn the system. The type is of a good size and is in triple columns on the pages. The Antietam folder is really only five pages long. The first two give you the information on this battle. Then there are two pages that can be photocopied. One has the Divisional breakdown of each army and the other has the brigade breakdown. In the center is the sheet that has the brigade stickers for the blocks. On the back page is a picture of Little Mac and Robert E. Lee. To round out the paperwork is a photocopied black & white copy of the battle map.   The stickers themselves are little pieces of artwork. They are very easy to pull off the page and are easily maneuvered onto the blocks correctly. The blocks are also well done and are all uniform in shape and size without any flashing.

 What you get with the game certainly passes inspection from an art point of view. However, as usual the gameplay is the thing.

 The Musket Battles simulations are of the Kriegspiel variety. They are meant to simulate 18th and 19th century warfare. This part of the blurb from Command Post Games deserves to be read again:

"Rated Most Realistic & Accurate for:

• Command & Control limitations

• Fog of War -hidden units and chaotic move order

• Logistics -deployment crucial to victory and keeping your forces able to fight.

Used to train officers in the US military and in military academies around the world.

A much cheaper option than a full Field Maneuver Wargame is the Command Post Game.  Instead of actually calling out the troops, this wargame simulates the same thing by tracking the units on maps.  The first great, codified version of this is credited to von Reiswitz’ “Kriegsspiel” in 1812.  The Prussians developed this as a way of preserving and passing on the vast experiential command knowledge gained by officers from the Napoleonic Wars. 

The new generation of officers growing up in the peace that followed, learned how to maneuver, plan and write orders by playing command post games.  How well can simple command post games on paper simulate the reality of war?  History lists Kriegsspiel as a huge contributing factor in the victories of the Franco-Prussian war that followed.

Good command post games allow us to learn real world lessons, directly applicable to the real world in at a highly accelerated rate.  Meaning:  you can learn things from a game in a few hours that would normally take you 10 years of working experience in the field to learn.  They can be incredibly powerful learning tools.

You get out what you put in.  Train hard.  Train for real."

"Amateurs study tactics. Professionals study logistics". I am not sure who first said it, but it is true, nonetheless.

They also have Ancient Pub Battles

 You can see from the above that this is a simulation and not a game. You are put in the boots of a general or Field Marshal of the time and this simulation attempts to put you in their place. This means that you will have to deal with all of the question marks and Fog of War that the real generals had to. You also have to take into account Moltke's "Friction". This means what happens when two forces collide and all of your well-planned thoughts for the battle go out the window. To me, the Musket Battles series succeeds in everything the designers tried to do and simulate. You have to worry about moving your troops in column during road movement if you want to get somewhere fast. This of course leaves those same troops vulnerable to attack. Flanking, Line of Sight, and Baggage Trains are just a few of the things and pieces that you have to deal with or remember the rules about. The rules are relatively short and well written. I really like the fact that when in doubt about things both players or player is expected to be an adult and act accordingly.

 Thank you, Command Post Games, for sending me this beautiful copy of Antietam to review. If your games can teach reality of the battlefield to an old dullard like me, they can teach anyone. Please peruse their site to see all of the excellent games they produce.

Robert Peterson

Command post Games

Antietam: For Men to Live Through

Here is a review I did about the Gettysburg module of Musket Battles:

Pub Battles Gettysburg by Command Post Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

This video comes from Example of Play, a YouTube channel focused on a wide variety of strategy games, tactical titles, simulations, and more. Subscribe to  Example of Play  for more tutorials and gameplay!

Advanced Tactics Gold is a unique wargame that offers infinite replayability with randomly generated worlds to conquer using WW2 era forces. The game gives maximum freedom to the player to create their military, designing their own unit formations and order of battle. That can be a bit overwhelming at first, so I created a series of tutorial videos to help you get going!

 Balkan Fury

by

TKC Games

 The whole problem of the Balkans for the Axis powers in World War II can be laid at Il Duce's door. Mussolini was upset about Germany taking all the glory with their rapid march of conquest through Europe. So, he decided that he would attack Greece from Albania that Italy had conquered earlier. Hitler had expressly told Mussolini in at least one of their conferences to not stir up trouble in the Balkans. Not that he was afraid of the armed forces of those small countries. No, he was afraid of English intervention in Greece, as had happened in World War I, and the possibility of the English bombing the Romanian oil fields. Germany had no real oil fields and even before the war was trying to make as much synthetic oil as possible from the coal that they had in abundance. Besides a few oil fields in Hungary, the Romanian oil fields were all there were in Europe with the exception of the Soviet Union, from which Germany was getting oil due to the 1939 Non-Aggression pact with the Soviet Union. The Italian army was fine in 1936 when it helped put Franco on his pseudo throne. By 1940 however, the Italian Army was already far behind the other major European powers. So, Il Duce botched the Greek invasion which, cue the I told you so, led to British intervention in Greece. Yugoslavia also had a coup that put them firmly on the side of the Western Allies. Germany had to bail out Italy in Greece and on the way through decided to try and conquer Yugoslavia. This led to a continual fight against Yugoslavian, Greek, and other nationals rising up and becoming almost as large a problem as Napoleon had with his Spanish Ulcer. Many historians have written that the Balkan episode delayed Operation Barbarossa long enough to make certain that Germany did not win in the Soviet Union in 1941. Il Duce stumbled from one failed attempt to recreate the Roman Empire to another. Germany had to bail him out in North Africa and after he was deposed captured him from his own people and set him up almost in a sort of Manchukuo in northern Italy. It is possible that the entire Italian Balkan adventure was the reason that Il Duce ended up hanging upside down at a gas station. This game, Balkan Fury 2 gives you the chance to invade Albania, Greece, Yugoslavia and to also try your hand at Operation Mercury in the island of Crete or to defend against those same invasions. 

 This is what TKC Games has to say about the game:

"BALKAN FURY 2 is the eagerly anticipated revision and expansion of the second game in the TSWW series. Balkan Fury is an exceptionally fun game to play… and now includes an much extended timeline, partisans, partisans and more partisans… plus of course all the original elements of our top selling game!  In the revised edition the game rules, order of battle booklets, and at start booklets are perfect or stitch bound (depending on booklet size), whilst the charts are printed on the high quality card stock so beloved of owners of Day of Infamy, Barbarossa, and Singapore!  Of course, we still provide you with 2 D10 dice (we can delete them on request if you have enough dice to start a shop already) and the usual TSWW refinements ranging from “what if” forces to a game system that gives historical results if you play using historical decisions.

Balkan Fury is the all-encompassing operational game covering the campaigns in Albania (39), Greece (40 and 41), Yugoslavia (1941), the Balkan partisan wars (1941-43) and the Aegean. The game mates with Barbarossa, Blitzkrieg and Mare Nostrum seamlessly to provide coverage of the War in the West from 1939-43…"

Balkan Fury includes:

MAPS

2 TSWW Standard size maps (each about 18″ x 26″) covering the Balkans. On map area includes Albania, Greece, Yugoslavia, plus parts of Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey. Maps are to our latest graphic standards and are updated to include the very latest information..

COUNTERS

2800 counters on 11 countersheets with the forces that fought in the Balkans, representing Albanian, Croat, Serbian, Yugoslav, Yugoslav Communist, Slovenian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Montenegran, Italian, Greek, Bulgarian, German, British and Hungarian forces, with 2 in game modules at a 5 day rather than a half month scale to permit a super detailed approach to operations in Albania (1939) and Crete (1941) to be shown.

ORDERS OF BATTLE

The OBs are dramatically expanded with 20 plus modules and scenarios provided to help players learn the game system, ease into the fury of combat in the Balkans and finally master the Grand Campaign overall.  Highlights include various small learning modules, the Italo-Greek War, the planned but never attempted Italian invasion of Yugoslavia, Operation Marita, the German invasion of the Balkans, Operation Merkur, the catastrophic assault on Crete by the Luftwaffe’s crack paratroops, Balkan Fury – the over arching grand campaign, and much, much more.

RULES AND CHARTS

Fully updated to include the very latest TSWW rules and Chart elements, like the rest of Balkan Fury 2, they include all known FAQ and Errata elements from the first release of the product, and build upon the success of the original game.

2 D10 DICE!

 

 If you own a TKC (The Knowledge Company) game, congratulations! You have in your possession one of the finest simulations of World War II in your hot little hands. If you do not, wherefore Romeo or Juliet are you not possessed of one? They have a large number of simulations about World War II in their TSWW (The Second World War) lineup. These are going to be joined soon by a good number of them from their upcoming TFWW (The First Worls War) series. I am waiting with foetid breath the release of these new games. I will have a link at the bottom to the other review I did of TKC's Barbarossa.

 So, the first thing you need to know is that the boxes that their games come in are large and weighty. This one is a bit lighter than usual because of only having two maps. This is instead of the usual amount that needs an auditorium to set them out. 

 The maps remind me of the old Europa maps. These would be them if they were updated to 21st century standards. I am a big fan of the TSWW maps. The rules for the terrain mean that you do not have to argue about what terrain is actually present in each hex. This is a direct quote from John Bannerman, the designer and publisher, about the maps:

"Our maps are UV coated (which does reduce fading a bit) and then single side matte laminated with a plastic finish.  This should (and does) make them all but impossible to tear or crack.  It also means you can spill a drink without major issues if you mop it up quickly."

 Next up, we come to the smorgasbord, or plethora, of Player Aids. There are 18 double-sided (36!) of them that are made from card stock and are in color. These are 11.5" x 8+" in size. There are two more that are double that size and folded to give you eight more Player Aids. That means that the total number of Player Aids is a whopping 44!

 We will now take a look at the counters. There are certainly enough of them to give you Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in whatever hand you use scissors in. The blurb from TKC says that there are 2800 of them and I will just take their word. I know it is enough to make Guns of August pale in comparison. These 2800 counters are just for the campaigns in this small area of Europe. I cannot imagine the lengths that Mr. Bannerman went to, to create these Orders of Battle. The counters themselves are .5" in size. They are on the thin side. However, unless you also wanted to pay for a pack mule to help deliver the game they really have to be. There is a lot of information on them. The size of the information has to be somewhat small, (see above), but unless your myopia and age has gotten that bad, they are readable. The counters use the usual color-coded system for each country and different colored troop/naval counters within that country.

 There are four Manuals or booklets that come with the game. One of them is about the size that you would expect to find in a game box. The other three resemble yearly reports for Project Blue Book in size. Together they are about the size of a small city's phone book. They are printed in a no-nonsense way. They are totally in black and white. There are no examples of play or anything like that. Anything that is needed to be in color for the player is taken care of in the Player Aids. The printing uses the whole page, instead of the two columns we are used to in game rulebooks. The type is on the small side. Again, if it were larger the game would need to come with a back brace. 

The rules Manual, with index, is 142 pages long.

The Axis Order of Battle is 80 pages long.

The 'At Starts' for each scenario is 97 pages long

The smallest is the Allied Order of Battle at 22 pages long.

 The Order of Battle manuals also have a large amount of what ifs information for the players. This includes refitting of ships to the collapse of the entire Italian Army in Albania and everything in between.

 This is not a Euro wargame by any stretch of the imagination. It will not win on a catwalk exhibition of wargames for which is prettier. It is, however, among the penultimate hex wargames of 2025. This is a late 1970s wargame on steroids and using all of what the 21st century manufacturing can muster. Is it a pig with lipstick? Not by any means. It is a tour de force of substance over style.  

 Why do we play these monsters, even ones that are as manageable as this one? That I suppose is the question that has been asked since 1970 or so. There are computer games that can help with the minutiae. However, you lose the comradery and joy of being with and playing with other gamers. I know learning games is much easier with others to help. I still cannot help but think what a caveman from 50,000 BC would think of our wargames. I know, it is a strange thing to think about. In some ways I know that wargames help us to fight off the ravages of father time on our minds. Why exactly are we or have we chosen to be grognards? But I digress, just forget the above and put it down to a fevered dream.

 The one major thing about the campaign is that Britain is in the unusual situation, in this campaign, where their naval assets are in serious danger. Historically the Italian Fleet was not much of a player in the Mediterranean Campaign. Mostly, this was because of orders from on high. Mussolini was just as reticent as Kaiser Wilhelm to risk his big, beautiful ships. The cramped area of the Aegean made for easy hunting of British ships for both the Italian and German air assets. So, while we usually think of the invasion of Crete as a German fiasco it could have easily turned into a British one. When playing as the Italians you do have older tanks and airplanes than the Allies. However, your troops, especially with German help, can still be capably led. Just because the Italians did everything wrong during these campaigns does not mean you have to. 

 Balkan Fury II is a labor of love, just as much as anything that an artist can create. Mr. Bannerman has chosen to take us back to a time in history where momentous decisions were made on a daily if not hourly basis. The main thing from our point of view is that Balkan Fury II, and all of the TSWW 'games', works as a simulation of that period in time. Is this game time consuming to setup and learn? You betcha. Is it fun and stimulating for our historically bent minds? Of course. This game was made for players who love minutiae and well written rules that allow us to see a glimmer of what the actual commanders saw. If we wanted to play an excellent game, we would play chess. If we wanted to just waste some time, we could play Candyland (unless we were playing with special youngster). No, we have drawn the line in the sand, and we want to setup those 2800 counters and place them on a map of 1940 Europe and let the iron dice roll. 

 This game expects a lot of the players. In return it also gives back a ton. Just from a purely historical point of view, to see exactly how each army is setup for each scenario is a revelation. Military history books in the main are usually bereft of maps or have maps that resemble a child drawing something in the sand. Wargames fill in a lot of the empty spaces that books a lot of times leave out.

 Thank you TKC for allowing me to review this in-depth simulation of World War II in southern Europe. If you have not yet, do yourself a favor and look at the other games that TKC has in its stable. If you are intrigued by this game, they have even larger ones to get lost in.

Robert Peterson

TKC Games

Balkan Fury

My review of TKC's Barbarossa:

Barbarossa by The Knowledge Company - A Wargamers Needful Things

 TRACES OF HUBRIS

FROM

VUCA SIMULATIONS

Traces of Hubris is the second game in Vuca Simulations series, that began with Traces of War.  Whereas, the latter was set in 1943/44, involving a crushing Soviet offensive against a desperate German defence, here we're in the familiar territory of Fall Blau (in English - Case Blue).  Whether thought of ultimately as the drive on Stalingrad or campaign to Stalingrad, it's summer 1942 and the Germans are set on driving for the oil rich southern regions of the Caucasus.  Hitler's obsession with Stalingrad is yet to manifest itself, but is reflected in the hexes of the city being, unsurprisingly, VP targets.

This game continues the simple and immensely playable system of its sister game.  It follows a basic chit-pull mechanic of activation that allows all the units within range of the respective HQ to move and have combat.  As previously this does allow, perhaps ahistorically, a mixture of formations to fight together, but in game turns makes for very easy application.  In keeping with the simplicity of this driving mechanism is the attacker/defender odds ratio CRT (Combat Results Table) with its very limited number of terrain DRMs (Die Roll Modifiers) that rapidly become second nature.

The effect is to create a hugely playable game where your head is rarely going to be in the rule book and your attention is almost entirely focused on what's happening on the map in front of you.  

If you do need to check or remember anything, it is easily found in the well illustrated rule book [as seen below].  

However, in reality all you are ever likely to need are the play aids which are excellent in more ways than one.  Well, first of all there are two of them - Play Aid A and Play Aid B, next there is a pair for each player, thirdly they contain virtually every bit of information that you need to play the game and finally they are printed on so solid a thick card that they are their own  little mounted board.  This is a very familiar feature of the quality of all Vuca Simulations’ games.

In contrast the two maps that make up the playing area are printed on paper.  I’m not going to bog down in the perennial debate between paper and mounted maps, nor the question of colour palate choices. They are far too much a personal choice to be resolved by anything other than your own taste and preference.

Full double map layout

Personally, I really like these paper maps.  I like the muted colours that the counters stand out vividly on.  They suit my overall storage needs and especially lend themselves to my method of covering with plexi-glass and stacking that allows me to play such games over a period of time. Unlike the complaints of a poor match up between the two maps in Traces of War (a niggle that I found grossly exaggerated when you had actually set the latter game up and got playing), these two marry up very well.  No doubt someone out there will disagree!

Also for a majority of the game's 9 Turns, all but a handful of your units will be operating on the western map, making the play area even easier to manage.

Here you see the opening set up, with a thin line of single Russian infantry counters and a sparse few units further back.  Facing them are largely double stacks of the German attacker.

Returning to the rules and rule book, they are presented in a simple, easy to read and organised layout.  They’re colourfully illustrated and exemplified and a bare 15 pages long, plus a couple of pages of Designer’s Notes, Player Strategy for both sides and, as always, historical background.

Historical background

The Sequence of Play is very straightforward and, as mentioned, is set out in detail on one of the excellent Play Aids.

Here is the simple outline.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY

1. LUFTWAFFE REORGANISATION PHASE

2.COMMAND CHIT SELECTION PHASE

3. ACTION PHASE

4. TURN END PHASE

1, 2 & 4 are extremely simple and brief.

The Luftwaffe Reorganisation Phase is a simple die roll to see how many air units you get this turn.  A nice little touch is that you get two numbers e.g. 6/2.  The 6 tells the maximum number of units and the 2 tells you that you may select up to 2 of those units for Air Supply.  Though you will primarily be choosing Air units to support your combat, the use of Air Supply can be critical.  

The Command Chit Selection Phase is done secretly and is critical on Turn 1 for the Axis player as he can only choose four out of the six German HQ chits and none of the Axis Minor HQ chits.  However, as both Panzer HQs have two chits each, I've found it rare that I don't want to choose all four of them.  In the next four turns, the Axis choice is even simpler as largely they can choose all or nearly all of the potential chits available!  For the Soviet player the choice is much more limited.  For most of the game it is 3 chits plus a choice between the Stavka chit or the Reinforcement chit.  Even here circumstances tend to force a path that seems likely to be the same from game to game.  Particularly the choice between Stavka and Reinforcements.  The Stavka chit allows you activate one HQ twice or a fourth HQ, but the pressing need for Reinforcements will most often dictate that that will be your preferred choice.

The Turn End Phase is simply the assessment of whether the Axis player has achieved the single Victory Condition of controlling NINE in-supply Target Hexes.  Should this not be achieved by the end of the game, VPs are totalled and if the Axis player has achieved 15 or more VPs, the game is declared a draw, though this is qualified by the comment that you may consider it a Minor Soviet Victory!  If less than 15 VPs then it is a Soviet Victory.

The Action Phase typically is the heart of the game and it is a very straightforward process.  The Action Chits placed in the draw bag are selected one at a time and activated.  If it is an HQ chit, then all units within that HQs radius can be moved and then have combat, which is voluntary.  This makes the choices even simpler than in Traces of War, where you had the option of choosing Move/Combat or Combat/Move.  If the Soviet reinforcement chit is drawn, then the player places the designated reinforcements on the map and the number of units are generally substantial!  In contrast if it is the Axis reinforcement chit, a dice is rolled and a meagre dribble of units [maximum 7] will be gained - too often these are mainly a few Axis Minor troops usually of a single strength point.  For that reason, I've found that on the turns when you have to choose between either the OKH chit or the Axis reinforcement chit, I've almost always chosen the OKH chit which allows you to activate any HQ you like [even if if it has been activated twice already].

One of the delights of the system for Traces of Hubris and its 

predecessor, Traces of War, is how it keeps to the bare essentials both in rules for movement and combat.  The few modifiers for both are soon committed to memory and combat itself is made simple, being both non-compulsory and a familiar d6 die roll on an attacker strength/defender strength odds ratio CRT, with most results being R or RR [i.e. retreat 1 or 2 hexes] and a single step loss only starting to appear at odds of 4:1.  While any significant step losses only result at 7:1 odds or above.

Besides making the computation of attacks very smooth and easy, these factors also significantly drive the nature of this campaign - surrounding and pocketing is very much the focus of the Axis player's strategy.  This is supported in two ways.  First the drive to achieve the major pocketing of Soviet troops is encouraged by the opening set up, where the line of Soviet infantry already creates a shallow bulge.  This is further bolstered by the strong Panzer divisions being positioned toward the flanks and, as previously indicated, both have two HQ chits allowing the possibility of being activated twice.  Secondly, the slightly higher movement factor of German infantry [4 MPs as compared to most Soviet units having 3 MPs] and the substantial 8 MPs of German tanks allows for the Axis player to frequently carry out single hex or more infiltration.  This advantage also allows the tanks and mech infantry to disengage easily and make sweeping manoeuvres.

A pocket starts to be formed

The other element that plays a very significant role in the situation is the Supply Phase and its rules, as this occurs once each Turn only when the Supply chit is drawn.  The Supply check is made simultaneously, so both sides units can potentially lose a step.  For the Axis player this creates an element of potential risk taking when trying to create pockets or in lunging for VP targets.  Do you gamble a few high quality units when you have the chance to cut off  significant numbers of Soviet units from supply?  These opportunities, if looking likely to occur on the up-coming turn, may also determine the choice of selecting Luftwaffe chits for Air Supply.  

So, how does it play?  For most of the game, the Axis player is on the attack with the Soviet player engaged in the all to familiar defensive shoring up task.  However, it is nothing like the wholly desperate, frantic, nail-biting scramble that the Axis player has in Traces of War.  It is a more measured retreat, with several potential hobbles put on an Axis advance -the main one being the large number of Soviet reinforcements.  For me, the question of when that Soviet Supply chit gets drawn is perhaps a too powerful and unpredictable, but deciding factor.  

Tenuous German hold on Stalingrad broken

What it does do is give considerable variety to the course of the game.  In one particular such game, the Axis player was repeatedly on the verge of a crucially sizeable pocketing only to be thwarted by an early Soviet Reinforcement chit being drawn in four out of six turns.  

Frustrating though this was, the game was still hugely enjoyable and like many East Front games, solo play is always very rewarding and immersive.  As with the previous game, there is the helpful play aid that presents all the necessary tracks for solo play on one sheet.  However, it's important to note that solo play is purely you playing both sides to the best of your ability.

Solitaire Play Aid

Whether you play solo or 2-player, both the relatively low counter density for a two map game and a mere nine turns sustains the immensely satisfying playability of this series.  With this great playability and sustained high quality of Vuca Simulations presentation, I hope that further campaigns will follow, whether on the eastern front or turning to the western theatre.  

 Marches & Batailles Belgium 1815

by

Sapper & Vet

 This is a new Napoleonic game that just a few days ago had its Gamefound campaign started. The following is a write-up about the campaign and the game by the designers.

"« MARCHES & BATAILLES ! » is a historical simulation game at the operational level, or “grand-tactical.” It is played on the historical map used by generals during the campaign. This first opus covers the Campaign of Belgium, which ended with the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815.

The counters, made of MDF wood and printed on both sides, represent approximately  one division (or brigade) of about 4,000 infantrymen, 1 600 cavalrymen, or 40 pieces of artillery. Their size is to scale with the map, so the type of terrain will play a role in the number of units you can line up in a position.

Units are characterized by a strength that differs depending on whether they are in column or deployed. This strength, which varies from 1 to 9, represents both the morale of the units (militia, line, guard) and the training of the soldiers (conscripts, regulars, veterans). It is used to resolve combat situations and morale tests.  These units move from position to position without any need to measure distance.

Generals and staff command these units and lead them into battle against the enemy's positions. It is up to you to use them wisely, but you’ll not be involved in tactical battle management.

 

During combat, you will just have to choose which units to commit and which units to keep in reserve. These choices will prove decisive in the outcome of combat and morale tests. All these tests are carried out without dice, using colored tokens drawn at random from the test bag.

The sequence of play makes it uncertain whether the player's strategy will be carried out to the letter, replicating the uncertainty that reigns on a battlefield. This sequence alternates between marching movements, attacks, supply line management, ...

A game is won by breaking the morale of the opposing army by routing its units, capturing its communication points, or even capturing its commanding generals... 

Each scenario will bring you back to a historic day between June 15 and June 18, the day of the Battle of Waterloo, the culmination of the Belgian Campaign. These scenarios can be played in sequence and form an epic campaign full of twists and turns. 

Developed by two enthusiasts of this period and supported by La Sabretache (https://lasabretache.fr/), the world's oldest military history society, this self-published game is the subject of a crowdfunding campaign on Gamefound (https://gamefound.com/fr/projects/sapper--fifer/marches--batailles) from May 23 to June 18, 2025!"

 The Gamefound campaign for the game has already passed the 100% funding level in only four days! This is the link to the campaign:

Marches & Batailles by Sapper & Vet - Gamefound

 If the game plays as well as it looks, they will certainly have a winner on their hands.

Robert

 LAV - 25 by LETbricks

 This is a review of the LETbricks LAV (light armored vehicle) - 25. The company LETbricks is a newer company in the block building industry. They also deal a lot in MOC (my own creation) builders of block sets. They have over 18! pages of military sets to choose from. They have everything from World War I planes to mighty carriers and aircraft.

 LETbricks was nice enough to send me their LAV - 25 set. The LAV - 25 was introduced into service with the United States Marines in 1983. It has a 25mm chain gun and two 7.62mm machine guns. As its name suggests it is light armored. However, because of that fact it also has a road speed of 62 mph! That means it is perfect for the role of a reconnaissance vehicle.

 The set comes with 476 pieces. So, for a lot of the sets you see nowadays it is on the small side. Of course, LETbricks has incredibly large sets to also choose from. The instructions were very clearcut. The set goes together easily, and the bricks stay together without any problem. I have done a lot of kits from different companies, and I was very impressed with the set. It looks pretty much spot on to what the actual vehicle looks like. While it did not take long to build it was still enjoyable while doing the build. 

 As I have mentioned, the company LETbricks, has a ton of military sets to choose from. They have a beautiful line of naval warships sets that you will not find anywhere else. These include some ships that were really only planned along with some great historic ships. They have a set for the British Battleship Nelson along with sets of some Italian Battleships. 

 Another impressive group of sets they carry are ones that gives the builder car, truck, and airplane engines! These are large and very intricate true to life sets of these engines.

Just look at these:

One of the Titanic's Engines

V16 Diesel Engine

This is the Italian Battleship Vittoria Veneto set:

3259 Pieces!

 These are some pics I took during the build:

Thank you LETbricks for allowing me to review your LAV - 25 set and seeing how easy it was to build and how great it looks on the shelf when it is done.

Robert Peterson

LETbricks

LAV - 25