V-SABOTAGE:GHOST EXPANSION 

from

TRITON NOIR

If this series is new to you, I'd strongly recommend a read of my earlier review of the core game, V-Commandos [note, too, the change of name to V-Sabotage] to understand the basics on which all subsequent expansions build.  It goes without saying that the core game is essential for the play of any expansion, including this one.

So, what does this latest expansion add.  Well, once more, quite a lot!  More cards, more tokens, more commando operatives, more terrain tiles, more missions, more dice and more rules.  For once, I'm going to start with the rules, as I think these are the most cogent reason for buying this expansion.  Why?  Because they offer three modes for playing: XP Mode, Lone Wolf Mode and Campaign Mode. 

XP MODE

This allows your commandos to gain new abilities [XP = experience].  These are provided in the form of two decks of Experience cards.  As you complete 1 objective of a Level card, one of your commandos draws a card from each deck and keeps one of them.  Apart from the cards, another new component are 18 double-sided commando display sheets. Each commando can possess only a maximum of 3 cards, but can always draw two new ones, choose one and discard one of the those already on his/her display sheet.  A neat counterbalance to the benefits of XP Mode is that you also randomly draw a Danger Token - definitely not a benefit!

I don't think most of you will find it too difficult to know which film and actor influenced this Commando Display Sheet! [Just in case, the answer is at the end of my review*].

If you're playing cooperatively, you will need to decide an acceptable method for deciding whose Commando gets to draw and keep the card.  Randomly with the roll of a die is one obvious solution, the Commando whose action actually completes the objective is another, though this may affect game play and introduce a note of competition.  I'd never really contemplated this before, as I'd always seen cooperative play as involving the players spending some time discussing how they would proceed.

LONE WOLF MODE

As I often play solitaire, running two or three Commandos, those new Commando Display Sheets are a nice addition for keeping track of items.  However, Lone Wolf provides just my cup of tea... all you are allowed is one Commando [plus, if you wish, a trusty dog called Gander!] for the mission, whether it be a single level, an operation or a campaign.  

One trusty dog, as mentioned!

What to do is covered, whether you're playing with the core box or one of the previous two expansions and you must always incorporate XP mode rules.  Do I need to say that this part of the expansion is definitely for the experienced player!

Even better, among the several new Operations, one is a special Operation, entitled Operation One-Eyed Ghost from which the expansion gets its name.

Based as always on an historical background, there is an excellent one-page outline of the war time career of Leo Major, whose story steps straight out of any book entitled Amazing Tales! Enjoy, if you dare.  Too tough for your liking, well you can always add in some extra commandos for back up.

CAMPAIGN MODE

This really is very simply the sequencing of several Operations, making sure that you maintain the same number of commandos and accumulating all that you acquire as you move from Operation to Operation.  In itself nothing greatly original in the idea, until combined with the final section of this Expansion's rule book: Challenges and Medals.

The Challenges are divided into six categories: Combat, Equipment, Game Modifiers, Levels & Operations, Commandos and finally Stealth.  Each Challenge successfully completed has an accompanying number.  These are ticked off on the Medals chart working your way up from King's Recommendation for Brave Conduct to the ultimate Victoria Cross.  There is even a set of stickers to apply as you gain a medal!  And if you don't want to spoil your rule book, you can always download a copy of the medals page from Triton-Noir's site and, in case one sticker set of medals isn't enough, the game provides three.  

It's these little touches of completion and thought for gamers that I really like about Triton-Noir's production levels.  It goes without saying that every aspect of this Expansion adheres to the first-class production quality of the original core game.  The striking monochromatic artwork is reflected in the pairs of new Operation cards, Level cards, Event cards and XP cards.  

The many new tokens are as large, solid and colourful as ever, especially those for the Bonus Commandos and SS Enemies.  Similarly, the additional double-sided tiles for creating the terrain for the Levels are top notch; especially this large tank one below.

.... and if this Expansion isn't enough for you, just wait for my next review featuring the next addition to the series - Expansion: Miniatures Pack!

As always, a big thank you to all at Triton-Noir for providing this review copy.

-------------------------

*Commando Display Answer: Clint Eastwood in Where Eagles Dare

 

And just in case, you need more cinematic reminders of that excellent film, one of the new Level cards just happens to be ... 

the Cable-Car!

 A Most Fearful Sacrifice 2nd Edition

by

Flying Pig Games

 The big guy is back in the ring. Flying Pig Games has a Kickstarter for A Most Fearful Sacrifice 2nd Edition coming out on October 26th. If you remember, this has a gorgeous map that is FIFTEEN SQUARE FEET in size. The unit counters are also very large at 13/16". Below will have the Designer Notes from Hermann Luttmann. I will also throw in some pics. Without further ado:

 "GAME CREDITS

Game Design: Hermann Luttmann

Publisher: Mark H. Walker

Game Developers and Testers: Claude Whalen, Stephen Poitinger, 

Zeke Conover and Fred Manzo

Map Art: Rick Barber

Game Counters and Aids Art: Jose Faura

Rules Layout: Guillaume Ries

DESIGNER’S NOTES

Thank you so much for purchasing and playing A Most Fearful Sacrifice! It has been quite a long, grueling process to get this project tested and finished … but it was indeed a labor of love. I have to first thank the individuals you see listed as the Game Developers and Testers. This group of gentlemen is the most dedicated, talented, and valuable team of gamers with which I have ever worked. They have been tireless in their efforts to test every aspect of this design and their contributions and observations have made this a much better game than I could have created on my own. So, my utmost thanks to all of them! I also want to thank Mark Walker and Flying Pig Games. They are a terrific company for which to design, and Mark is a wonderful guy who has also become a good friend over the years. 

I know many of you are saying … “Why another Gettysburg game?”. Well, honestly … why not? This is the iconic American Civil War battle and when taken in its entirety, it is a fascinating study in command, strategy, and tactics. It also tells some of the most heroic - and most tragic - stories to emerge from the annals of military history. The conduct of the battle and the myriad possibilities of how it could have evolved are fascinating topics to explore in a wargame. Overall, the consequences of the Battle of Gettysburg and its reverberating effect on the conduct of the remainder of the American Civil War cannot be understated and thus it has drawn warranted attention in the gaming world. 

Ultimately, the decision to do the entire battle was an easy one to make. We felt that we had a good core system with The Devil’s To Pay, which is essentially an upscaling of the Blind Swords system. But I did not want to do just an expansion to that game (which covers only the first day of the battle) for a number of reasons. Such an expansion’s footprint would have to be quite large in order to cover both the second and third days of the battle. In addition, the extra rules required to handle a multi-day battle would essentially have made the expansion larger than the original game. No – we needed one epic design to handle all three days and that’s what we set out to do. 

The system used for A Most Fearful Sacrifice is basically the same as used in previous games in the Blind Swords family, but because of the grander scope of the battle I needed to re-design the activation system, or the game would take way too long to play. Thus, was born the idea of converting from chit-pull to card-draw mechanics. Not only is it microseconds faster to draw a card than pull a chit, but more importantly, actual game information can be included on a card, and this results in a huge time saver – no more hunting for a rule or event effect on a chart or in the rulebook. Also, by switching to activating units by Corps, this cuts down severely on the number of cards that need to be drawn. Instead, an extra layer of player decision making was incorporated into the concept of the player needing to set up each Corp’s “Division Priority”. This certainly adds an additional element of command and speeds up gameplay at the same time. Other mechanics were also re-designed and tweaked to maintain just as much “crunchy” detail as before but with less effort. All in all, we feel that Black Swan is the ultimate ACW grand-tactical game system, and we hope you agree. 

Finally, we’ve designed thirteen scenarios of varying scopes so that players can explore every portion of the Battle of Gettysburg in detail. There are small and medium scenarios covering just snippets of the battle’s narrative (and these obviously require shorter swaths of playing time) or you can experience all three days in a “grand battle” extravaganza so players can explore all the strategic options for both sides. However, you choose to experience this game, we hope that you ultimately enjoy it. Once again, thank you for your kind support and good gaming!" 

Hermann

Flying Pig Games:

Flying Pig Games

A Most Fearful Sacrifice:

A Most Fearful Sacrifice 2nd Edition/Reprint | Flying Pig Games

Kickstarter for the 2nd Edition:

A Most Fearful Sacrifice -Second Edition by Mark H. Walker — Kickstarter

 

KICKSTARTER LAUNCHED 

TRENCH CLUB LEGACY

FROM

PKB GAMES

We're glad to announce the Kickstarter for PKB Games Legacy edition of their stunning game Trench Club.  If you liked Company of Heroes, you'll definitely want this.

Magnificent full colour boards

Overlays

Variety of troops in detailed miniatures

Plus the Legacy mode

All that the original game contained has been increased with the addition of a Strategic map board that allows you to craft your own path and destiny through WWI.  Create your own story with the legacy campaign, adapt the map, unlock new units and weapons.  The original was stunning...this takes you even further.

Click HERE to access the Kickstarter video.

 World War II Snipers

The Men, Their Guns, Their Stories

by

Gary Yee

 This book is about a part of World War II that is not mentioned nearly enough. To be honest, Hollywood has more examples of snipers than most history books about the conflict. The author Gary Yee and Casemate Publishers have set out to set the record straight. Now onto the book.

 This is a blurb from Casemate Publishers about the book:

"Thousands of volumes have been published about World War II but relatively little attention has been given to the sniper. Drawing from memoirs, government documents and interviews, World War II Snipers incorporates eyewitness accounts to weave a comprehensive narrative of snipers in World War II.

While certain common traits were shared among belligerents, each had its unique methodology for selecting and training snipers and, as casualties were high, their replacements. Drawn from hunters, competitive shooters, natural marksmen, outdoorsmen, city dwellers, farmers and veteran soldiers, they fought to assert local battlefield dominance and instill among their enemy a paralyzing fear."

Mauser ‘BYF’ K98k with Zf41 scope. Dave Roberts collection. Image courtesy Rock Island Auction Company via Casemate.

 To start out with, this is a very large book. It measures roughly 8 1/4" x 10 1/4". Its length is 352 pages. To top it off, it is jam packed with either black & white or color photos. There is at least one photo or inset on every page. This book goes into everything, and I mean everything, about sniping and snipers in World War II. It takes us from the Weapons, to training, to the history, and also has the snipers' personal stories. This is a list of the contents:

Part I: Selection & Training

Chapter 1: Prewar and Early War Years

Chapter 2: Selection

Chapter 3: Training

Part II: Wartime Sniping

Chapter 4: Western Europe, North Africa, and Italy

Chapter 5: Liberation of Northwestern Europe

Chapter 6: To the Rhine and the Elbe

Chapter 7: Drang Nach Osten

Chapter 8: The Stalingrad Kessel

Chapter 9: Nach Berlin!

Chapter 10: Far East

Chapter 11: Southwest Pacific Theater

Chapter 12; The South Pacific Theater and Asia

Part III: The Weapons

Chapter 13: Guns and Equipment

Conclusion

Notes to the text

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Snow camouflage suit-clad 6th Airborne Division sniper in the Ardennes, January 14, 1945. British Official Image via Casemate.

 This book is one of the most detailed reference books I have ever read. The material it has in it about the guns themselves is worth a book itself. I have used a scoped rifle many times in my life. However, because of this book I have learned so much about scopes that I seem to be a simple tyro in my knowledge regarding them. The information inside the book is almost a training manual for sniping, at least with World War II weapons. The only unfortunate thing about the book is how historically snipers were treated by all major combatants. It seems that even soldiers in the same armies hated snipers so much that it even boiled over onto their own snipers. The author informs us that no country really ever let a sniper surrender. Universally if a sniper was found there was no quarter given. Even possessing a scoped rifle was cause for swift execution. The fear of snipers was also universal in all of the world's armies. Having to worry about getting shot while responding to the call of nature and eating etc. put all of the soldiers on edge. 

German armed with M91/30 with PEM scope mounted on siderail mount. Image courtesy Georg Oberaigner via Casemate.

 Thank you so much Casemate Publishers for letting me review this excellent book. I also want to thank the author, Gary Yee, for writing it. It is certainly a labor of love on his part. If you have any interest in sniping or World War II, you need to have this book in your library. 

Robert

Book: World War II Snipers: The Men Their Guns, Their Stories

Author: Gary Yee

Publisher: Casemate Publishers