Desert War 1940-1942

by

Matrix and Slitherine Games

 We wargamers seem to be split at times into two camps. First, we have the generation that grew up on computer wargames. Second, we have the grognards that cut their teeth on board wargames before they found computer ones. To me, Desert War is very much like a board wargame ported to the computer, and not a game that was built from the ground up as a computer game. This, I think, is where the almost Jeckyll and Hyde reviews of this game have come from. The younger computer generation seems to find the game hard to get into and the UI not user friendly, while those of us who have manually picked through stacks to figure out battle odds are more at home with the game and how it plays. I know I am over simplifying each side of the argument for length's sake. 

 In terms of what games wargamers really want, the North African campaign is always near the top of any poll. I believe this is because there has been so much written about the campaign compared to many others. Rommel has been put on a pedestal as the greatest German general, and a master of tank warfare. The Italians have unfortunately been labeled as inept, and very easy to defeat. I think you would get a different answer to that label by the English soldiers who were in the desert campaigns. This desert war has been shrouded in myth, much like T.E. Lawrence and his desert war. So let us see what exactly you get when you purchase Desert War:

  "Air, Naval, and Ground Assets are off-map capabilities that can be brought into play when the owning player sees fit.
Air assets represent squadrons that can conduct counter-air, interdiction, ground attack and ground support missions. Air reconnaissance (recce) assets represent flights of two to four aircraft. Air recce assets can collect information about the location and type of enemy ground units on the map.
Naval Assets represent individual ships able to provide of ground attack and ground support missions.
Off-map Ground Assets provide additional capabilities that can influence the on-map battle. Ground Assets include electronic warfare assets, command and control (C2) activities, and Special Forces.
Unlike in many computer wargames, Desert War 1940-42 employs a WEGO system. WEGO by its nature is about the Player’s ability to plan for and manage chaos; to find solutions to perceived challenges to accomplishing the mission with the tools at hand.
In this way, every decision you make must be carefully considered. Learn to think three moves ahead and outsmart your opponent!

• Re-discover surprise on the battlefield!  The WEGO game system makes for great fun and realistic game play.
• 12 scenarios that explore the action from the Italian Invasion of Egypt in 1940 to Rommel's defeat at El Alamein in late 1942.
• Control land, air and naval forces at the battalion, air group, and individual ship level.
• Allocate Command, Special Forces and electronic warfare (EW) assets to influence the battles.
• Simple on-line gameplay using Slitherine's PBEM system.
• Full game editor; build your own maps, forces, and graphics.  Includes an AI scripting language that provides a challenging AI opponent capable of "changing its mind" based on the human player's actions.

Scenario List:

• 2nd Battle of Bardia (introductory scenario)
• Operazione E: The Reluctant Offensive, 13-20 Sep 1940
• Into The Blue: Battle of Sidi Barrani, 9-12 Dec 1940
• Beda Fomm: Death of an Army, 1-7 Feb 1941
• Enter Rommel (only Multiplayer - no SP)
• Battle of Sollum: Operation Battleaxe, 15-18 Jun 1941
• Sunday of the Dead: Battle of Sidi Rezegh, 18-24 Nov 1941
• Rats vs The Ram: Battle of Bir el Gubi, 19-21 Nov 1941
• Gazala--First Five Days, 26-30 May 1942
• Gazala--The Cauldron, 29 May - 10 Jun 1942
• Gazala--Fall of Tobruk, 11 - 21 Jun 1942
• High Tide at Alam Halfa, 30 Aug - 5 Sep 1942
• 2nd Alamein: From Lightfoot to Supercharge, 24 Oct - 3 Nov 1942"

Options Screen

   So the first thing to notice about the game that it is a WEGO, and not a IGOUGO game. This type of action is where a computerized wargame really shines. To those unfamiliar with the term WEGO means that both sides determine their moves, and then they are simultaneously played out during the movement and battle phase. Board wargames have come a long way with simulating time and fog of war, but computer wargames are still better at it. The only thing that computer games cannot replicate is the ability to see the consternation in your opponent's eyes. 

Scenario Selection Screen

 The next item to notice about the game is the large amount of different scenarios that the game comes with. The game simulates the incredible difference in warfare from 1940 to 1942, not only the large difference in the armaments, but also how it was used.  

Battle of Sidi Barrani

  The third item about the game is that is has a lot of counters. I am talking a Grigsby game amount of counters. It seems funny that I have no problem, and actually enjoy, a board wargame with hundreds of counters. However, in computer wargames it is always nice to have an AI adjutant to hand things over to such as artillery fire etc. I can see where some gamers might have a problem with the amount of counters and data that a player must absorb in order to play the game correctly.

Introductory Scenario

  The developer likes input from buyers, but also non-buyers. The game has been worked on continually from its first version until now. That is one of the biggest reasons to support different developers.

 I am not a big fan of the North African campaign so maybe it is that fact that has given me more pause than usual in digging into the game.

Second El Alamein, These are just the Axis Units

  So I am not truly ambivalent about the game. It is just that I have to be in the right state of mind to fire it up. It is not a game that you can start and then play for a half hour, and then head off to dinner. For this game I have to be ready to invest some time and to sink into my chair for a good long while. I am sure players of 'World in Flames', or 'War in the Pacific' will understand. I like the game, I just have to be ready to delve deeply into it. For those of you who like 'beer and pretzel' games, please stay far, far away. For anyone who is looking for a deep wargame, here it is. It is unbelievable to me that this started as a labor of love. This was a free download once. The game has come a long way since then, but it's still really only a hobby project. For everything that the developer has added into the game this is still hard for me to grasp.

 If you noticed, the review is late. I waited for the first patch to see if some items cleared up. I was having 'artifacts' show up on my screen after playing for a while (an artifact is a left over portion of a window that has since been closed). After seeing that no one else was complaining of this, I updated my drivers etc., and it no longer shows up. The AI in the game was another matter. In some of the scenarios the AI would not really attack at all. The developer has worked on this and has said that he would continue to look at the AI. It does seem to be better after the patch. The other thing is this review seems to be cursed, at least for me. I have lost the rough draft twice on it, which is funny because it has never happened to me before. 

 So, bottom line, this is a good to great game as long as you are interested in putting the time into learning it. One good thing about the game is the number of tutorials that have been done. Some of the best have been done by "Slick Wilhelm" from the Matrix Games forum.

Robert

Ghost Panzer: Band of Brothers Remastered

by

Worthington Publishing 

  The game series name is based upon the Saint Crispin's Day Speech, from Shakespeare's Henry V. These are some of the words that the bard puts in Henry's mouth the day of the battle. 

 "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

For he today that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition.

And gentlemen in England now abed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon."

 Sorry, I know everybody knows it, but it still puts a lump in my throat.

  This game follows the 11th Panzer division through four years of war on the East Front. The divisions first commander was Crüwell later of Afrika Korps fame. The original troops of the division came from Silesia in Germany. This is the part of Germany that Frederick The Great stole from the Hapsburgs, and fought two wars to keep (War of The Austrian Succession, Seven Years War). 

 The game is on a tactical and squad level. The system is meant to replicate reality on the World War II battlefield without burying the player in a ton of rules. The rule book is set up to give you all of the rules, but also tries to show and walk you through any instance that may appear in the game.

Player Aid/Terrain Chart

 This game is different than most tactical games in a few respects. First, instead of just a battle or campaign you get to follow the Ghost Panzer Division from the start of the War in the East until almost the end of it. Second, there are no leader counters. Leadership is added into the counters' stats already. Third, the game has no CRT. I will post a bit of the designer notes:

 "Based on years of research, the game system uses a unique suppression mechanic. There are no longer two unique states for a unit, but varying degrees of suppression. This allows suppression to accumulate from multiple fire sources and means that the unit will not take take a morale check until it is asked to do something. You will never know for sure how your units will respond until they are needed"

Scenario Booklet

 So the game focuses much more on the morale side of battle rather than focusing on just casualties.This also increases the fog of war. So not only do you have to guess what your opponent is doing, but also wonder if your troops will follow orders.

Map Section

 The game comes with seven double-sided geomorphic maps that are 8 1/2" by 11". The hexes are large and are meant to represent forty yards across. The maps can be joined in all different ways to represent the battlefield being played on at the moment. The unit counters are large, at 7/8 inch in size. The action counters are 1/2 inch in size. The illustrations on the counters are well done, and represent infantry, tanks, planes etc. The numbers and other info on the counters are also large and easy to read. 

Rule Book

 The game comes with two player aid cards that have the terrain charts and situations chart on the back. The rule book is twenty pages long. It has two pages of play examples in it. There is also a glossary and an index of the rules. The scenario booklet is just as nicely done. All of the booklets and the aid cards are in color and are relatively easy to read. It would have been nice to see the rule book in larger print, but it has so much in it that it would then end up to be thirty to forty pages long. I have seen people posting about how long rule books make them not look at the purchase of a game, even if the game might interest them. So, this might have been for the better. The rule book is this long because it is for the whole series of the 'Band of Brothers' games. So if you learn or have the rule book for one game you now know the whole series. The scenario booklet comes with fifteen scenarios. As mentioned, the scenarios cover most of the war so the player gets to use a plethora of equipment on both sides to experiment and play with. One good thing about the counters is there a lot of them. One bad thing about the counters is there are a lot of them. The counters are large and thick, which is nice, unless your are trying to cut them away from the cardboard sprue. You will definitely get a workout of your scissor hand.

Counters

 The sequence of play is as follows:

Command Points Phase: Each player receives a certain amount each turn
Operations Phase: This is the phase where most movement and fire takes place
 Movement
 Infantry Fire: This actually includes tanks and guns also
Suppression and Morale Checks; MC in the rule book
Opportunity Fire
Final Opportunity Fire: This is for units that are marked 'used'
Rout Phase
Melee Phase
Recovery Phase

 Their are also special rules for the following:

Special Anti-Tank Weapons: Piats, Panzerfausts etc.
Flamethrowers
Mortars
Fortifications
Smoke
Night Scenarios 
Along with many others

 So as you can see, the game has all of the bases covered as far as what could or did happen on the battlefield in World War II.

Introductory Infantry Scenario

 As I have mentioned before in another review, tactical wargames are the toughest to get right. One can know how far a man can walk or run with a pack or certain weight. One can also know how far a weapon can shoot reliably and accurately. It is the time and other variables that make or break a tactical game. I might also add that the designer of a tactical game is playing to a rough crowd. In my almost fifty years of gaming, and reading about gaming, and listening to gamers grumble (hence our title grognards), tactical games, especially World War II tactical games, for some reason bring out the fightin' words in gamers. Every designer has an idea in his head of how tactical combat works. They base it on Dupuy or any other number of pundits on the subject. It is almost like they are directors of a movie or a playwright. The question usually comes down to: is it believable? I think the more important question is: is it fun? Is this game something you want to spend a few hours or more of your precious life playing? To me Ghost Panzer answers both those questions as a resounding yes. I believe that the rules give you a good representation of the tactical battlefield of the time. It also plays quick and is really fun. So, to you grognards, take a chance on someone else's vision and check out the Band of Brothers line. I have reviewed a good number of Worthington Publishing games and have never been unsatisfied. Going by the other reviews and their scores on BGG, I am not the only one by far.

 The other games in the series are:

Band of Brothers: Screaming Eagles Remastered
Band of Brothers: Texas Arrows
Band of Brothers: Epic Battles Expansion

Robert



 

Imperial Bayonets

Tactics of the Napoleonic Battery, Battalion, and Brigade as Found in Contemporary Regulations

George Nafziger

 You would expect from the title that this book would just be a boring rehashing of some 18th and 19th century works. In this you would be totally mistaken. It is filled with many little known facts and surprising tidbits. Marshal Ney's, who is rarely represented as thoughtful, writings on grand tactical maneuvers is gone over in one part of the book. Under the chapter 'Operation of Combined Arms' you will find these three definitions by the author:

1) Moral ascendancy over the enemy and cause him to collapse

2) Hold him in place and punish him until he collapses

3) Maneuver the enemy into such a position where he has no chance of success and collapses 

 The book abounds with information This is not limited to the French, but also their allies and enemies.

 I have to say that I normally like my history dry, and without too much of the personal added to it. That being said, even I was a little hesitant to read this book. I have tried to read a few other books that have like sounding titles. Even I was forced to finally accept that they were too dry even for me. So, I had steeled myself for a trek through a desert before starting this book. I was extremely and pleasantly surprised once I started reading the book. This book by its very nature will appeal to only a subset of wargamers and history readers. The other point I would like to point out is that the title is a bit of a misnomer. It does include everything from the title, but also includes a lot more. These two chapters will illustrate this:

Operation of Combined Arms

Grand Tactical and Strategic Operations 

 The book is filled with illustrations to accompany the text. These are extremely helpful for we dolts to follow the sometimes intricate maneuvers. The book also has a large amount of tables in it. These range from musket accuracy to the different armies' marching speed, and the rate of fire of artillery. Most board wargamers are a bit oblivious to the information in this book, even if we can name all of the battles Napoleon fought and commanded in. Almost all of our games already have this information calculated for us. Not so for our table top brethren. To them this book should become their bible. If not that, at least it will give them a lifetime of arguments over their beautiful reproductions of battles.

 The information in this book is invaluable to anyone who wants to try and understand battle during the Napoleonic age. More than that, it is a reference material for wargamers and designers of those also.

 Robert

Book: Imperial Bayonets

Author: George Nafziger

Publisher: Helion&Company 

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

Lützen and Bautzen

Napoleon's Spring Campaign of 1813

by

George Nafziger

 This book is about a man made miracle. Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 with roughly 600,000 men all total. By early 1813 he was back in Paris, and the Grande Armee probably had only 60,000 soldiers, and half of those should have been in a hospital bed. Napoleon had slunk back across Europe, and was back in Paris. Napoleon was now to add another title to the long list of monikers he was given. Along with Emperor and Ogre, you could now use the word magician. He was able, like a stage magician, to pull something from his hat. In this case it was a new army. When he took the field in April 1813, he actually had more soldiers in his army than the Allies had in theirs. This campaign and book is about those young soldiers, the Marie-Louises (named after Napoleon's second wife). These men/boys were able to march and fight almost as well as the few grizzled veterans still with the colors.

 Dr. Nafziger has put another feather in his cap with this book. He is able to move seamlessly from the political to the military sphere. He also effortlessly goes from the strategic to the tactical without missing a beat or losing the reader. 

 The book itself is filled with black and white illustrations of the generals and other players. It also comes with a twenty-one page color section of maps. To top it off, in true Nafziger style there is an Order Of Battle that is almost 100 pages long.

 The book shows how Napoleon appeared among his enemies like a thunderclap. If it wasn't for some extremely bad luck and some very bad judgements of some of his Marshals, along with a lack of cavalry (Napoleon, for all his work, could not produce horses out of his hat). Napoleon should have scattered this group of enemies just as he had the earlier ones. 

 Unfortunately for Napoleon, and possibly Europe, the wheel of fate had turned. Even more than the 1814 Campaign, this one is adrift in what ifs. No matter how brave the young Marie-Louises were, they still died in droves. Napoleon was able to win both of the battles of Lützen and Bautzen, but due to his lack of cavalry he could defeat them but not crush them.

 The book goes from the back drop of the 1812 Campaign to the armistice in early June 1813. The author is able to take the reader to the battles and councils of both sides of the conflict and bring them both to life for the reader. Thank you for giving us another great book on Napoleon's campaigns, and especially for a book on the Campaign of 1813. I eagerly await the next one on the Battle of Dresden, and the second half of the campaign.

Robert

Book: Lützen and Bautzen: Napoleon's Spring Campaign of 1813

Author: George Nafziger

Publisher: Helion&Company

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

The Battle of the Odon

by

Georges Bernage

 This book is a mesh of a straight forward history book and a photo book on Operation Epsom in 1944 outside of Caen. Usually books with this many pictures and maps etc. are a bit thin on the written history; not so with Battle of The Odon. Almost every page is covered with World War II pictures of people, places, and armaments. It is also filled with many pictures of the same from nowadays. The author has added tons of maps to enable the reader to follow along with no trouble. There are also many first hand accounts of the fighting to captivate the reader, but the author does not lose sight of the big picture. 

 The roughly 280 pages of the book follow the British and German forces from June 25th, 1944 to June 30th, 1944. It is pretty amazing that the author has found this much info and pictures dealing with just five days of the Battle for Normandy. The book follows the desperate defense of the Odon valley by the German SS troops. To quote the author "The resources committed by Montgomery were extensive, especially considering the enemy only numbered a few hundred infantrymen, who were supported by a hundred or so Panzers".

 From Tiger Tanks to Bren carriers, all of the armaments are shown. This is also one of the few books that I have read on battles or campaigns that show the amount of civilian casualties and their plight. There are pictures of the poor civilians trying to escape the fighting, carrying everything they can of their possessions. It really brings the human part of the battle to the forefront. 

 The author is painstaking in his efforts to tell the complete story of this battle. He also does not have an axe to grind, nor does he take any sides. This is history as it was meant to be, purely retelling an important part of our history without embellishment or any skew. The written history is done well enough for any history buff who normally eschews picture books. On the other hand, the amount of pictures and data is almost the same as a coffee table book. For those of you who actually remember any of the French you took, the author's books are available in English and French on the Casemate Publishers' site.

Robert

Book: The Battle of The Odon

Author: Georges Bernage

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

Königsberg

by

Revolution Games

 Normally, I try to stay away from games that one side cannot win outright. So, gaming the end game of World War II in Europe, especially 1945, is usually something that does not end up on my table. With these types of games, you have to do better than your historical counterparts did. Most of the time it is just holding a hex or hexes up until the end of the last turn, while inflicting more casualties on your enemy than was historically accurate. On the Soviet or Allied side you are trying to finish the war earlier than it did historically, or in this case taking Königsberg earlier and inflicting more damage on the Germans. You should not, as the Germans, in any game based somewhat on reality, be able to defeat the Russians in 1944-1945. You can only prolong the inevitable. However, I have even played games about trials so I will keep an open mind as I am playing.

 We will start with the facts, and "just the facts Ma'am". The game comes in a Ziploc bag and contains:

22'x34' Map

280 Counters

Twelve Page Rule Book

Color Player's Aid Card

 You could play the game as a three player one, with a player taking one of the 2nd or 3rd Belorussian fronts. The Russian player who has taken the most victory hexes would be the winner. That is, of course, if it ends in a Russian victory.

 For those of you so inclined, there is also a Vassal module available.

 The game takes place in East Prussia and northern Poland from January 13th to February 1st, 1945. The number of turns in the game is ten. The playing time is estimated at four to ten hours. The scale of the game is five miles/eight kilometers per hex. The units will go from brigade to corps size. The solitaire suitability is listed as high. You will need to supply a six-sided die along with a chit pull container.

 The map is very well done, and is of high quality. The terrain and defenses etc. are clearly marked. Everything from the CRT to the turn record track is on the map. So it should be easy for almost all gamers to have a place to set it up. The game length, especially during the learning phase, will probably mean you will have to leave it set up for at least a day or two, depending upon your free time for gaming.The counters are 1/2", and are easily readable and compare to the best counters I have seen in a Ziploc or wargaming magazine. Depicted are Soviet Guards units, Volkstrum units, along with air units which are mostly for the Soviets, and the Admiral Hipper even shows up on the German side.

 The rule book is in black and white, and it shows no examples of game play. On the other hand, the game rules are of a pretty standard fare for hex wargames, so unless you are a complete tyro you really don't need too much hand holding. The German player controls all his units, but the Soviet player is split between the 2nd and 3rd Belorussian fronts. So the German player gets X activations each turn while the Soviet player gets activations for both fronts. During the chit pull, you will pull a Command Chit for whatever Headquarter unit, and then the sub-units of that force can move and attack etc. The game also comes with independent units on both sides. These can be activated by any active Headquarter unit in range, meaning that independent units can be activated more than once per turn. German HQ units can activate three independent units, while Soviet HQs can only activate two independent units. A HQ unit has their command radius listed on their counter. The way I read the rules is that you do not count the hex the HQ is in when tracing command. There are a few optional rules, ie. using the rebuilding 20th Panzer division, or two other small German forces. 

 Within the last two years I have had to adjust my thinking about block wargames and a few other things. Once again, I have been shown the errors of my ways. Playing a wargame that you can 'win' only by the victory conditions is actually entertaining and still teaches you a good amount of history. Playing as the Germans, you will have to keep your wits about you, and accurately judge when to cut and run. Do you try to save those surrounded Panzers, or do you just make a defensive line farther back? The Konigsberg area in East Prussia is where many of the German Junker (noble) families come from or at least are close to. The German officers were probably trying to save every inch from the Russians. Playing that way as the German player will have you beaten in no time. Playing as the Russians, you play pretty much historically. You can not even worry about casualties, and just keep storming ahead trying to overwhelm your opponent. I would think a nice touch to the rules would be the following: If the Russian player does not gain X amount of victory hexes in X amount of turns, that player gets a knock on the door from the NKVD and it is a German victory, just to give the Russian player that much more incentive.

 This is a good medium sized game, and relatively easy to play,  about a much overlooked historical period. Anyone who wants to be in the German or Russian shoes in 1945 should give this a try. Equally, anyone who thought like I did about gaming lost causes should rethink this and other gaming possibilities.

Robert

The Anatomy of Glory

Napoleon and His Guard

by

Henry Lachouque and Anne S. K. Brown 

 To many eyes, this book might seem strange. The reason being is that the Battle of Waterloo is almost a footnote in it. As a matter of fact, it only takes up ten pages of the book's 570+. Many of us have heard over and over about the Imperial Guard's last battle and what happened (or didn't). We seem to forget that the Guard came from Napoleon's original consular Guard long before he crowned himself Emperor. So this book fills a large void in most peoples' shelves about the entire history of the Imperial Guard's existence. This book shows the history of the Imperial Guard from its inception, and continues through the different campaigns it fought in. From the heat of Spain to the snows of Russia, the Imperial Guard was the rock that most, if not all, of the rest of the Imperial Armies relied upon. 

 The book itself is filled with tons of black and white, and a few colored pictures to show the Imperial Guard and all of the Generals etc. that come up in its glorious history. It is also filled with anecdotes and quotes that you will find nowhere else. Napoleon speaking to a grenadier on guard duty before Austerlitz said "Those chaps across the way think they have nothing to do but gobble us up'" The grenadier replied "we'll serve 'em the meal the other way round". Battle stories like these are aplenty, but the book also shows what the Guard did in peace time. 

 The history of the Imperial Guard is really the history of the actual men of the Guard. One, Lieutenant Markiewicz  of the Polish Light-Horse lived in three centuries. Born in 1794, he fought in the Russian campaign, was decorated in 1813, and was still alive in 1902. Napoleon III based his tainted Imperial splendor on his famous uncle, and he based his Army on a new Imperial Guard that was only a shadow of the first one. These men ate and slept near Napoleon. The earned the title 'Grognard' (grumbler) from being outspoken in his presence. Many he knew by name and remembered where they had fought together. For more than a decade, the bearskin hats of the Imperial Guard struck fear in its enemies. Only two days before Waterloo, the Imperial Guard was used in its role as a finisher of battles by smashing through the Prussians at Ligny. This was unfortunately to be its last victory.

 This book was actually first published in 1961. Thank you Frontline-Books for bringing this classic back into print. It is a work that is monumental in scope. It is a must have for anyone interested in the Napoleonic era to have on their shelf.

Robert

Book: The Anatomy of Glory: Napoleon and His Guard

Authors: Henry Lachouque and Anne S. K. Brown

Publisher: Frontline-Books

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

Midway

by

Turning Point Simulations

 Midway was a battle that should not have been lost by the Japanese. They had an overwhelming amount of ships and planes. Unfortunately for them, they were also suffering from what has been called 'victory disease'. Admiral Yamamoto's plan was to crush the remnants of the U.S. Pacific Fleet and sink our carriers, which were untouched by Pearl Harbor. The Japanese had just suffered a black eye from the Doolittle Raid. In actuality, the raid did only pin pricks of physical damage. The damage to the Japanese ego was much greater. The Midway invasion was planned to force the U.S. Navy into a showdown to protect Midway island. In fact, it turned into a debacle for them because the Americans had broken their naval codes. So the U.S. Navy knew exactly what forces and roughly when they would be near Midway. Even then, if not for an errant search plane on the Japanese side, things could have turned out differently.

 So what do you actually get with this Turning Point Simulations  game? First, you actually get two games. One is the on the well known battle I have been droning on about. The other is about the planned, but aborted, Japanese invasion of Midway Island. The game comes with a twelve page rule book. There are rules for laying smoke, submarines, Japanese seaplane bases, and many others. This is not just a beer and pretzels game. The rules continue with ones about CAP (combat air patrol) AA fire, and it even has a rule about what 'wave' each carrier airplane unit is in. This would represent when each unit showed up, if it did at all, and attacked. 

Counters

  The map is hard bound. It has two separate sections. The first is a hex grid of the ocean around Midway Island. The second is a battle board used for surface actions when two task forces are occupying the same hex. There is also a stiff paper map on which to play out the invasion of Midway Island. The counters are large and easy to read. American carrier fighters and torpedo bombers only have a movement allowance of two hexes. Almost all of the Japanese carrier planes have a movement allowance of three hexes. This simulates the historically longer range of the Japanese planes. Just as in the carrier war, you have to find your enemy to strike them. For each enemy task force you roll a die to see if they have been spotted or not. A submarine or CV (carrier) in close proximity increases your chances of spotting. The battle board is used when you have a task force in the same hex as the enemy. After four of his fleet carriers went up in smoke, Yamamoto was desperately trying to engage the U.S. Naval forces in a surface action. The U.S. task forces have to stick and move like a boxer, and avoid any of the enemies Sumo charges. As the U.S., you are David fighting Goliath. The battle was decided historically in about five minutes' time. Anything could and did happen during this early part of the war. Some of the U.S. carriers were equipped with radar, but it was still in its infancy. 

U.S. Deployment sheet

Japanese Deployment sheet

 I an very impressed with this game. There is so much stashed away in here compared to others in the same price range. Most, if not all, of the routines of carrier air battles are here. The only two parts of the battle really missing are the sending out of search planes one at a time, and the weather in each hex, although the die rolls for spotting each turn do make up for the vagaries of these two points. This is my third Turning Point Simulations game, and to me it was the best so far of the three. I was not really a big fan of board games on carrier operations. Until this game, I felt that a computer rendition of carrier operations was the way to go. 

Midway Island invasion map

Robert

YAAH! Magazine Issue #9

With The Wargame: Donetsk The Battle For The Airport

by

Flying Pig Games

 Many different companies have issued their own wargaming magazine down through the years. Some, like 'The General' from Avalon Hill, were just extra scenarios and write ups about their own company games. Other wargaming magazines were about the hobby as a whole. Many of these magazines came with a game. I am not sure why, but a lot of the times it has seemed that gamers looked down upon magazine wargames. It has never made sense to me. A lot of the magazine wargames were designed by the same people who gave us boxed games. I went out of my way to buy a bunch of the magazine wargames I no longer had when I got back into board wargaming about fifteen years ago. One thing that the wargames from magazines had over boxed games is that it seemed like the publishers would go out of their safety zone with these games. Meaning that we would see a lot more battles, and especially obscure ones, than we could get from boxed wargames. This was more prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s than now. With the advent of Kickstarter and only publishing games that make the cut now, we have been seeing more obscure wars and battles in the boxed game selection. 

Map

  The magazine itself is eighty pages long, and it is in color. The pages do not feel like a normal magazine page. They feel more substantial, like a page from an oversized book. The first article is on Flying Pig Games newest game, 'Armageddon War'. One of the things about its rules is that there is no CRT. It comes with custom dice instead. The articles continue with 'Comancheria' from GMT Games, followed by 'Finnish Civil War' from Compass games. In total there are seven separate articles about different games from different publishers. Next up, we have add on scenarios for several different games. There are three scenarios for Flying Pig Games '65', and one for 'Night of Man'. The section ends with six scenarios for 'Command And Colors Ancients', and these are the battles of Arthur. Yes, that Arthur.

Back of counters

  The last part of the magazine is dedicated to this issue's game 'Donetsk'. It is about the different battles for the Donetsk airport. This would be between the Ukraine and separatist forces with the separatists having Russian help. The background history takes up five pages. The actual game rules are another ten pages. This is followed by more than a page of 'game notes'. The game comes with four different scenarios for you to play. The back page of the magazine is a full sized player aid card for the game. 

Front of counters

  The game comes with eighty-eight unit and action etc. counters. The counters are not like Flying Pig Games usual ones. These are thin even by magazine game standards. They are however, fully functional and easy to read and distinguish between. The map is 11x17, and has hexes (without full hex lines) that are marked from rows A to X. The map is well done and if not a work of art a lot better than some I have seen. Some of the counters are squad size (8-15 men) while heavy weapons and leaders represent three to five men. AFVs and trucks etc. are represented singly. The hexes have a scale of 150 meters per hex.
 

  The game's turns are broken into two phases. The first is the activation phase, and this includes:

 Remove all Smoke Markers
 Remove all Pin Markers
 Resolve pending Fire Support from the previous turn; Ukranian          player first and the results applied simultaneously.
 Plot and check current Fire Support; same as above
 Determine the Initiative Player for the Action Phase

 The Action Phase consists of:

 Initiative Player activates units
 Non-Initiative Player activates units
 Players continue alternating unit activations until no units on both      sides are left to activate. Players cannot pass to save activations,      they must activate at least one unit even if the unit performs no        actions.

 The fire support each side will have will be listed in each of the four scenarios. There are rules on 'wrecks' and also on the setup of heavy weapons. There are even some buildings that are multi-level and rules to deal with that. The game was designed to try and replicate modern warfare, so that it takes into account that today's killing distance is much greater than in earlier battles. A player's initiative is gradually eroded by unit loss. So going in guns blazing might win you one of the airport buildings, but then cripple you for the rest of the scenario. Victory conditions for most of the scenarios rest only on capture of some or all of a building's hexes. 

 

 In all, it is a pretty good little game. Those of us who are used to thinking in sweeping terms, and suffering a lot of casualties will have to readjust their thinking before starting this game. The game gives a good representation of today's massive firepower; in fact, even a small amount of casualties are often seen as excessive in the 21st century (as they should be).

 I was impressed by the articles and the fact that the additional scenarios didn't just belong to games made by Flying Pig Games. The game was one that has a somewhat limited replay value, but for someone who is interested in the conflict or has not played a game with new weaponry it is well worth the cost. The other issues have contained these games:

Beast At The Gates - U.S. Civil War
Lion Of Malaya  -  World War II
Steamroller - Tannenberg 1914

Robert  

I take a very first look at the new 4x strategy game from Proxy Studios and Slitherine, Warhammer 40k: Gladius - Relics of War. This one takes 40k to a new genre, the 4x. Take a look!