Cruel Morning: Shiloh 1862

by

Tiny Battle publishing

 The Battle of Shiloh is considered by most to be the turning point of the war. Up until that time there had been battles, but this was the first one with a horrific casualty list. To add to the frightfulness was the fact that it really didn't affect the situation at all. True, it was a tactical win for the Union, but because of it the Union almost lost Grant (and Sherman). It was a blood bath that had no real conclusion, except that Americans were now really at war, and the bloodshed was only going to mount. Tiny Battle Publishing has been making a few Civil War games lately. I recently reviewed their 'The Devil's to Pay' about the first day of Gettysburg. That one was designed by Hermann Luttmann, one of my newest favorite designers. This game was designed by Sean Chick who I also like, and whom I have a fair amount of games from. So let us see if Tiny Battle Publishing can pull off another smaller or better coup. This is a blurb from Tiny Battle Publishing:

"Rally 'Round the Flag! is a brigade grand tactical system that combines old school hex and counter maneuvers with rules for command and control, leader personalities, and a CRT that favors quality and firepower over raw mass. For Shiloh the series will feature rules for the 47th Tennessee, Lew Wallace’s variable arrival, and Union gunboats among other things. The game comes with multiple scenarios, including a better Confederate attack plan, the battle starting on April 5, and the second day of battle. In addition, rules are included to modify each scenario with a variable arrival for Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio and part of the Fort Donelson garrison escaping and taking part in the battle. For those wanted to be even more adventurous, units are included from Earl Van Dorn’s Army of the West, and the brigades involved in the siege of Island No. 10."

 This is what comes with the game:

One beautiful 11"x17" paper map
One two-sided 8 1/2"x11" Player Aid Card
One single-sided turn and point tracking card with Random Events Table
One full-color 24-page rule book
121 two sided unit counters
Two Command Point markers
Two Victory Point markers
Ten Out of Command markers

One Game Turn marker 

 So you can see that for $22 you really do get a lot of gaming in a small package.

 The map is small, but entirely adequate for the job. The terrain features for each hex are easy to discern. Shiloh, like some other battles, was actually fought in a very small area so there is really no need for a larger map. The counters are large and very easy to read the information needed off them. The Rulebook is in black and white, and the rules themselves are only nine pages long. The other pages are filled up with four scenarios. To add to the replayability the designer has added eleven different options for the player to choose from for each new game. Some of these favor the Union and some the Confederates. These are the scenarios:

Historical Battle
Better Confederate Plan
Attack on April 5th
Day 2: April 7, 1862

Options:

Fort Donelson Division
Earl Van Dorn Crosses the Mississippi River
Island No. 10
Confederate Flanking Forces
Pittsburg Landing: Headquarters Army of the Tennessee
Henry Halleck in Command
Charles F. Smith in Command
Nelson Arrives
Lew Wallace Takes the River Road
Don Carlos Buell at Crump's Landing
Army of the Ohio and the Transports

 These help or hinder each side as far as the Victory Points etc.

 The Sequence of Play is:

Initiative Phase
Random Events Phase (if triggered during initiative)
Artillery Bombardment Phase
 First Player Phases
Activation Phase
Movement Phase
Combat Phase
 Second Player Phases same as First Player
Recovery Phase
Victory Phase

 The Units also have their quality listed as one through 5.

1: Green
2: Trained
3: Experienced
4: Veteran
5: Elite

 There are also Optional Brigadier Personality Rules. Each leader has his personality listed as:

(A) Aggressive: Brigade must be moved toward the nearest enemy; if equidistant the acting player chooses.
(C) Cautious: Brigade must move away from enemy and cannot enter an Enemy Zone of Control during movement.
(P) Prudent: Brigade cannot move.
(W) Wild card: No restrictions.

 The above effect play only when results of 2,3, or 10 are rolled on the Random Events table.

 Speaking of the Random Events table, it is exceedingly brutal at times and a complete game changer. If during the Initiative Phase the die rolls are a tie, the Random Events table is looked at. On a die roll of 1-3 it is a Confederate Event, and on a die roll of 4-6 it is a Union one. We will look at #2 as an example:

2. Grand Blunder: On a 1-5, move 1 enemy corps as if it were under your control. On a 6 you command that enemy corps in the following turn as well.

 The game functions on Command Points. Each Player is given a set amount of Command Points per the scenario rules. At the beginning of the Activation Phase the Acting Player rolls a die to see if they receive extra command Points.

 This is a great little game that has plenty of 'big game' glitz and rules. The amount of scenarios and options to play are really amazing for the price. A lot of work was put into the game by the designer. There is nothing wrong with small games, but you almost wish the ruleset was used in a full sized game of Shiloh. Thank you Tiny Battle Publishing for letting me review this small wonder.

The game's website:

https://tinybattlepublishing.com/products/cruel-morning-shiloh-1862

Robert

278th Squadron

"The Same 4 Cats"

by

Quarterdeck International

I do not know why, but I absolutely love Italian planes from right before and during World War II. I have flown them in every combat flight simulator that has been made, from the biplanes to the 2005 series of fighters and most of the bombers, including this one the Savoia Marchetti 79. This was usually shortened to just SM.79, or as the English called it "Damned Hunchback". The Italian nickname was Sparviero (Sparrowhawk). In this game you will be flying it in the 278th Squadron, nicknamed "The Same 4 Cats (I soliti 4 gatti). The plane, although of prewar design, was a very good torpedo bomber. It scored many hits against the Royal Navy in World War II.

 The game is composed of a Game Mat and several decks of small cards. These decks are:

Mission

Ship

Event

Resolution

 The game retails for $16, so understand these are small decks of cards made of thin cardboard. They all work fine except for one small snag, and it has nothing to do with gameplay. The Ship Cards are done in yellow and the small write up about the ship, not needed for play, is in a red that for me is very hard to read against the yellow background. Even with that slight blip it doesn't change or hurt the game one iota. 

 The rules are very simple. The player will play out ten missions with your SM.79 to try and torpedo a ship(s). So the Mission Card is pulled first. The Mission Card will show you if you have to add any cards to the Event Card deck for that mission. It might be more AA Cards or a Sun Card etc. Your plane will start out with seven Event Cards away from the ship. Now this is the tricky part, you can choose to release your torpedo between cards four through one. Of course, the closer you get the more you have a chance for a torpedo hit, or for you to turn into a fiery ball. On your way to the ship you have to deal with Event Cards that can help or hurt you ie. Sun Cards or AA Cards. Then when your nerves have had enough you let go of your torpedo and check to see if you have hit or missed the ship. You will have to make up 'Decks' of cards to figure out damage, hits, or what have you. The instructions will tell you exactly what cards will make up these Decks. So for example, the game will say to see if your torpedo hits, "make a deck of three Hit Cards and one Miss card". As I said, the rules are pretty easy. Your goal is to first, survive your ten missions and second, to torpedo ships and win medals.

 I am the worst pilot that the Regia Aeronautica has ever had. My abilities to miss a ship with a torpedo is only bested by my ability to attract AA fire. One problem that I have is that to increase my chances of getting a torpedo hit, I continually try to get as close as possible to my target. I should weigh the odds more and try from further away. My nickname in the Italian Air Force is 'Smoky'. I think it comes from my inner thought while playing 21 to always say 'hit me'. Either that or I believe that the ship will be damaged by the pieces of my flaming plane hitting it. 

 The game is simple to play, but it does have some thought behind it. The game is not just a time waster or card turner. You do have some control over the life of your plane. Thank you Quarterdeck International for letting me kick the tires in this fun, exasperating little game.

Link to the game:
https://www.quarterdeckinternational.com/store/278th-squadron-the-same-4-cats

Robert

Preview of End of Empire: 1744-1782

by

Compass Games

 I took advantage of the 40% off sale at Compass Games and finally picked this one up. It has the Colonial Wars between France and Britain, and the American Revolution rolled into one. Here is the blurb from Compass Games:

 "End of Empire: 1744-1783 is a two player game covering the three great conflicts fought on the North American continent between 1744 and 1783: King George’s War, the French and Indian War, and the American Revolutionary War. The game represents great value with 15 scenarios spanning these 3 wars."

This is the Northern Map

 This is what you get with the game:

Two 22 X 34 inch maps
Five countersheets (9/16” size) & Replacement Counters
One rulebook
One scenario book
Multiple reference cards

 The map is done very well and it is easy to read and figure out the terrain of each hex. The counters are excellent and have the picture of each general on their counter. The Rulebook and Scenario Book are in black and white, but the type is large and easy to read. The Rulebook is twenty-three pages long. The Scenario Book is twenty-seven pages long and is packed with the aforementioned fifteen scenarios. I was very pleased to see that Compass Games had added another scenario to the game 'Lord Dunmore's War 1744'.

 These are the scenarios:

Invasion of Canada 1775

Main French and Indian War

Full French and Indian War

The American Revolutionary War: 1775 Start

American Revolution 1776 Start

The British Invasion Scenario

American Revolution 1777 Start

The Saratoga Scenario

Burgoyne's Second Chance (What If)

The 1778 Scenario

The Southern scenario

The Final Year Scenario

The British Dream Scenario (What If)

King George's War

The war of Jenkin's Ear

 So with the added scenario that gives a player a whopping sixteen. The game pieces look excellent and it portrays some of my favorite periods to game. I cannot wait to get this on the table. Compass Games' sale continues until 4/5, so hurry up and get your order in. Thank you Compass Games for what looks to be another great gaming experience.

Robert

Preview of

Lock 'N Load Tactical Digital

by

Lock 'N Load Publishing

 Here we are very lucky to have the best of both worlds, the digital and boardgame, and able to choose which we would rather play at the moment. There is a time for boardgames, even solo, and a time for the computer to lend a helping hand. I have reviewed and liked the tactical series from L'NL and was a little wary of how the digital version would turn out. I have also reviewed some of their 'Nations at War' series of boardgames and really liked them. So I was very pleased to find out that the digital version of them was excellent. I was wary about the Tactical series in digital, because lightning very rarely strikes twice. So, was L'NL able to put it in a bottle and use it for this game series also? The answer is an unequivocal YES! The game plays pretty much exactly as the boardgames do. The AI is also as good as the one in Nations at War Digital. The game will becoming out on Steam very soon. The L'NL Tactical base game comes with four scenarios from their Heroes of Normandy game and two from their Heroes of the Nam game. They are releasing two scenario packs of the aforementioned games with twelve scenarios each when the game launches. The scenario packs will be add-ons that you will have to purchase separately. They are also working on adding the rest of the Tactical series games as other add-ons to the base game. The tentative release date is 4/2, so keep your fingers crossed.

This is the link to L'NL Tactical on their site:

https://store.lnlpublishing.com/series/digital-games/lock-n-load-tactical-digital-on-Steam

Oftentimes, you hear the term "tried and true" thrown around when discussing various game mechanics and styles of play. There may not be any flavor of strategy gaming more tried and true than that which was epitomized by the classic Panzer General released in 1994. Many, many war and strategy games have drawn from its simple, yet effective style of turn based combat. Just about every type of setting from fantasy, sci-fi and real history has gotten the Panzer General treatment at some point.  If you aren't familiar with this sort of game, here's the quick version. Hexes, IGO-UGO turns, resource points, units which gain experience and are carried forward from mission to mission, and the ability to upgrade those units over time to bigger and meaner versions of themselves.

One of the most prominent of these successors was Panzer Corps from Slitherine, which stuck closely to the original setting of WW2, while updating everything about the game from the visuals to the number crunching going on under the hood. The game was obviously quite successful, as it spawned an almost never ending supply of official new campaigns and user made scenarios. Now Panzer Corps takes another leap forward in the form of a brand new sequel.

Right off the bat, Panzer Corps 2 is visually the prettiest thing Slitherine has ever released. Caught somewhere between trying to appeal to the wargaming crowd and the mass market, the publisher has put out many games over the years that were "just okay" when it came to visuals. With Panzer Corps 2 I think they can confidently say that they finally have a truly great looking game to show off. Not just on the technical side of things, but in terms of pure style. Panzer Corps 2 has got style in spades, even compared to many mainstream games. The entire package, from the menus, the unit models, the UI, the new strategic view, and most especially the map itself, looks sleek and polished. The colors really pop off the screen, with a perfect level of contrast and lighting that makes pretty much everywhere you fight look beautiful, be it green forests or arid deserts. The unit models all look great, being realistic enough, but with just a touch of style to smooth the edges, matching the look of the trees and mountains around them. The developers clearly were proud of the models, as you can zoom in as close as you like to check them out. I could go on, but you get the idea, this is a visually appealing game whether we are talking mainstream or wargames. 

Now, how about the gameplay, are we looking at a massive leap forward there as well? Well, the short version is that if you loved the previous game, this is a no brainer to purchase. If you hated the first one, you probably won't find a radically different experience here. If you were in the middle, read on, as there are a lot of nice tweaks across the board that improve the experience in many ways. 

Often, when a sequel to a game with a lot of DLC comes out, users find themselves feeling like the sequel is quite anemic in terms of content compared to the fleshed out previous game. They might also be concerned about the expectation of buying a lot of the same DLC all over again. (*cough* The Sims *cough*). With Panzer Corps 2, while I have no doubt DLC is on the way, the initial experience is quite beefy. The campaign only lets you play from the German side of the war, but features more than twice as many possible missions as the Panzer Corps 1 campaign. You can play the war from start to finish, or jump ahead to the operations of Barbarossa, Kursk, North Africa, or Italy. While playing the full campaign, you will often get chances to choose one branching path or another, offering different experiences on a second play through. In addition to a bigger campaign, Panzer Corps 2 also comes with a tutorial campaign, several tactical puzzles, some large standalone scenarios (Crete, Fall Weiss, a couple fictional ones) and a random skirmish generator. I found the random skirmish generator to be a fun alternative to the campaign, giving you a chance to experiment with all sorts of units and tactics while not worrying so much about being efficient across multiple missions. It also lets you set up chaotic free for all battles between every faction in the game, something you certainly won't experience in the normal missions. Not to mention all of this can be done in multiplayer matches as well. 

I feel like a key missed opportunity here was not including some kind of mode akin to the Advance Wars series, where you fight over resource producing towns and unit producing factories. As far as I can tell, you get a starting set of units, initial resource points to spend as you please, and that's it. This makes for fierce but brief battles, which is fun but there's room for more here. I would have loved a mode where you start with perhaps only a couple basic units, and then gain resources each turn depending on which objectives you hold, leading to an escalation over time of more expensive units appearing on the battlefield. Just a thought, if developers or modders are listening!

The mechanics of the game have been tweaked in a lot of minor and significant ways, although the core experience will be readily familiar to fans of the genre. Generally speaking, Panzer Corps 2 does a lot of things that give the player control over their experience and I love this aspect. When starting a campaign, you can choose a preset difficulty setting, or fine tune things in some interesting ways. For example, as in many turn based games, there is an undo button for those times when you misclick or just flat out make a bad move. Here, you have a ton of options about how this feature works. You can limit yourself to only so many "undos" per turn, or per mission, or none at all, or unlimited. You can change how revealing the map works, how random the combat results are, whether supply and weather are a concern, and how many commander trait points you get (more on that in a moment). You can also crank the difficulty way up in different ways, or switch on Ironman mode. 

The game also gives you new options in how to shape your force to match your play style. At the beginning of the campaign, you can customize yourself as the commander. You get a couple of points to put into perks like extra mobility for tanks, or making enemy units deteriorate faster when you cut them off from supply. You can also choose some negative options like getting new units later, or not having access to artillery at all. Selecting these negative traits gives you more points to spend on the positive ones. This system is great, as it can really let you change up how you play the game on different campaigns. There is also a new system for specializing your units over time. After every mission you will get a new "hero" which you assign to a unit, and each unit can have up to three of these guys. Heroes don't give flat stat bonuses, which are always boring, but instead gives the unit an interesting perk. Some examples are one that gives the unit a large experience bonus when it takes losses, and another that causes any enemy unit attacked to lose all of its movement points for the turn. This in turn makes for fun choices about how to best utilize them and eventually combine 2-3 perks in one unit.

So now we've hit on many of the supporting elements of the game, but what's new and improved about the core of Panzer Corps: the combat? While the heart of the gameplay remains the same, numerous of changes have been made which add some much needed nuance to your battles. I won't list out every single change, but to suffice to say many changes have been made to make the experience more enjoyable, flexible, and minus a few of the frustrating aspects from the previous game. I will go into some of the things that were highlights to me, and made the combat much more engaging than before. One huge change is to the way supply works. It is now very similar to Order of Battle, in that certain cities and other spots on the map serve as supply hubs, and your units must be able to trace a path to them to stay "in supply." If cut off from supply lines by the enemy, a unit will quickly become less effective and then completely helpless. This is a great change, and opens up a lot of tactical decision making about cutting off enemy units instead of fighting head on, and deciding how risky you want to be when racing units ahead of your main force. 

Direct combat has been changed with a more detailed system for suppression and accuracy. Units will now often take suppression "damage" which reduces their attack capabilities for the turn. Some units like artillery and anti-aircraft batteries will not do much direct damage, but will inflict a lot of suppression, indirectly protecting friendly units and softening up targets for attack. Accuracy is a new stat for units, determining how many of their shots actually hit in each attack. This value can be influenced by many factors, including the presence of an adjacent recon vehicle or aircraft. This makes recon units that much more useful in combat. There are actually many such adjacency bonuses that will influence how you shape and deploy your force. Having combat engineers on hand will let other units ignore some of the enemy entrenchment level, anti-tank units can now provide supporting fire from behind the front line, and having friendly units in flanking positions makes an enemy easier to attack.  

Another welcome change is how aircraft work. No longer do aircraft wander the battlefield for numerous turns, waiting to run out of fuel. Instead, they now can only operate within a certain range of their assigned airfield, and will return to base at the end of each turn. This feels much better than the old system, and gives each side a certain area of the map in which they can or can't project air power. Capturing airfields is more critical than ever, as doing so will allow you to bring your aircraft forward to continue supporting your advance. 

There are many other changes I won't go into detail about, but all of them add up to make the experience of playing Panzer Corps 2 feel more polished and fun than ever before. The more nuanced combat model, the inclusion of unique perks for your commander and heroes in individual units, and the gorgeous, slick visuals combine together to make for a fresh beginning for a long standing series. A lot of these changes will go a long way towards addressing the chief complaint that many had about the first game, which is that it felt more like a puzzle you needed to solve than a true strategy game. Although I haven't made it all the way through the full campaign, I have yet to hit a point where I felt like continuing was impossible due to choosing the wrong unit mix along the way, or that a given scenario had one "correct" way of playing it. The many small changes have made it such that things are far more flexible, both on and off the field of battle.

Overall, I find Panzer Corps 2 to be a significant step forward from the previous game. Lessons have been learned both from that game and the success of other games in the genre over the past decade. Take those positive changes in design philosophy, along with some new ideas, and a fresh coat of paint, and you've got yourself a real winner. I think most anyone who enjoys this kind of game at all will enjoy Panzer Corps 2, and even some critics of the first title will be won over by the improvements. 

Panzer Corps 2 is available on Steam or directly from Slitherine.

- Joe Beard

Follow me Twitter at @_AWNT_ or email me at beardjoe33@gmail.com

 Wings of the Motherland

The Air War Over Russia 1941-1945

by

Clash of Arms Games

 I knew of Clash of Arms Games because of their exquisite Napoleonic games. I have ones from the Napoleonic Operational series, namely Jena and 1807: The Eagles Turn East. I also own a copy of la Bataille de Ligny from their Tactical Napoleonic series. They are also famous for their 'Battles From the Age of Reason' series. From the latter, I'm extremely fortunate to have gotten  a hold of The Battle of Fontenoy (one of my Holy Grail games). So, I was a little surprised at how little I knew about the rest of their stable of wargames. This is my first foray into a top down two-dimensional flight game since I played Dogfight in the 1960s. This review is about the fourth game from their 'Fighting Wings' series.  The other three would be:  

Over the Reich - 1994

Achtung Spitfire - 1995

Whistling Death - 2003

 There were also a few add-ons made. I had played the computer versions of Over the Reich and Achtung Spitfire (these were released by Avalon Hill), but never have I seen the boardgames. 

 This review has to be both an unboxing and a regular review, simply because of all that comes with the game. I usually do a list from the manufacturer of what comes with the game, and then do a write up about the different contents, but in this game there is so much that comes with it. I will do the list, but I will go through the items in greater depth than normal. This is what the box says you get:

280 Aircraft Counters (1/2" square)

280 Ground Unit Counters (1/2" square)

70 Ship and Play Aid counters (1/2"x 1")

2 Game Maps (34"x22", front and back printed (4 maps total)

1 Game Rules Book (80 pages)

1 Game Rules Supplement Booklet (16 pages with play examples)

1 Game Scenarios Book (120 pages)

1 Aircraft and Ship Data Card Book (60 pages)

1 Play Aids Booklet (32 pages)

 So if you have been keeping track, that is 308 pages of different books and booklets to peruse. That is simply mind boggling even for a deep wargame/simulation. The massive scenario book is much more than that. It starts out with a brief history of the War. Then it goes into the different aircraft the Soviets and Germans used during the war. There are no 'exotics' or planes that could have been listed here, The ones you are given are going to be the run of the mill planes that carried the air war on their backs. There are:

Soviet Fighters - 11

Soviet Bombers - 9

German Fighters - 5

German Bombers - 6

German Auxiliary Types  - 5

 There are no ME-262s or anything like that. You do not get to fly 190 Doras or ME 109 Kurfursts either. The amount of scenarios is pretty mind boggling. Here they are:

Training - 2

Introductory - 9

Standard level - 150!

Ground Attack Introductory - 10
Ground Attack Standard Level - 40
Ship Attack Introductory - 3
Ship Attack Standard Level - 20
Mission scale Scenarios - 6

 Once again, for those keeping track, that is 240 scenarios to play through. The Scenario Booklet itself is in black and white with a few pictures of planes throughout. The book is so large it actually has a normal book spine to it. At the back of the book is a few pages of designer notes and play tips. The information in it is incredible, and that is over and above the actual amount of scenarios in it. 

 The Rules Book, as they call it, is so large that it has a three page index. These are a few sentences from the beginning of the Rules Book, and they are worth printing:

"Read the basic Rules of each chapter first. Skip any advanced Rules and continue reading until instructed to play a solitaire 'Training Scenario'. When finished, return to where you left off and continue until you complete all Training Scenarios."
"Be Patient, Have Fun! Do not expect to learn everything in a single sitting. Take your time. This is a game, so enjoy yourself as you strive to master the techniques and tactics of World War II aerial combat. Good Luck and good hunting!"

 Even before you take to the skies in Training Scenario I you will learn about the following:

Counter Positions
Counter stacking Limits
Aircraft Collisions
Aircraft Movement
Fractional Value Table
Stalled Flight Procedure
Spin Procedure
Slatted Wings Effects
Wing Flap Effects

 Along with more than just a few more rules and information needed to take to the skies, the first Training Scenario has you flying both a MIG-3 and a Bf 109E-7U1. The Bf 109's moves are written out in the book, and your aim is to try to get and keep the MIG-3's gun arc trained on the Bf 109. The Rules Book is in black and white, but it does have a good number of play examples in it. By the end of the Rules Book you will be level bombing, firing rockets, and also taking on enemy Naval assets. It seems like the size of the Rules Book would overwhelm you, but just take the designer's advice and "Be Patient, Have Fun!' to heart. You will be going back to the book a lot to make sure you have everything right the first time you fly or try something new. After that, I promise it should become second nature to you. This game comes with the 3rd Edition Rules Set, by the way.

 The Play Aids Booklet is filled with table upon table, and also play examples to help you fight your way in the clouds. The two Rules Supplement Booklets are even more helpful for a fledgling pilot. Their play examples are also in 3D so that you can more easily visualize your aircraft and the enemies in a 3D world. 

 The Aircraft and Ship Data Card Book is exactly as it sounds. It is filled with the data the player needs to be able to fly his aircraft in a historical manner. Each plane, or different plane type, is given its own full page write up of its performance, firepower, and power/speed charts etc. The booklet also has the various ships', from battleship to sub chaser, information.

 The counters are small, but because there is nothing that needs to be read on them (all the information is on the data cards) their size is not a handicap to the player. On them are top down illustrations of each plane in question. For someone who has read a lot or played flight simulations the aircraft are easily discernable from each other. The various ground assets that you will try and destroy are also well represented on the counters. The tanks and some other counters do have information printed on them along with the top down view. They are a little small, but even I can read them, so that counts for something.

 The maps are extremely well done. They represent city, field, and also water on their four sides. The color is a bit muted and is mostly of a green and brown mixture. The size of them allows the players to have more than enough room to fight in any style. You can 'Boom and Zoom'; you are not forced to fight turning battles.

 This is the Sequence of Play, Combat scale:

Initiative Phase - Initiative Rolls
Tailing Friendly of Enemy Aircraft
Sighting & Blind Arcs
Movement Phase
Combat Phase Action Steps
Breaking Off From Combat

 This is a rule heavy game so to help you with different aspects there are a number of Logs in the Game Rules Book that can be copied. These are:

FW OP-Scale Mission Logs
Simple Movement A/C Flight Log
Ship Damage and Move Log
FW A/C Flight Log Sheet

 For anyone who questions the price tag put on the game, I believe the above statements should clear that up. Yes, it is worth it, and we haven't even discussed the gameplay itself. As with any Clash of Arms Games that I have purchased, the proof is in the detail and artwork of the components. You will find that here, along with a massive amount of  player information etc. No wonder the game took so long to actually get to the printer. 

 As I mentioned in another review, I was a late comer to the various 2D games that covered air war. I never really understood how a designer could give you the feeling of 3D flight in a 2D world. I am now totally convinced that I have cheated myself out of a lot of excellent game time by thinking that way. The designer of this series not only portrays it, but he takes you by the hand and only spoon feeds you what you will need at that moment to start to understand the system. I will say one thing, and that is that this system will only be worth it to someone who wants to take the time to learn it. You cannot, as a newbie, just set up the game and take to the skies to start shooting things down. Actually, I take that back. You could learn about just that part of the system in a short period, but you would be cheating yourself out of the whole ensemble of flight that COA has given you. So how is the game? C'est magnifique!. For an aviation junkie like myself it is an excellent experience in gaming. As far as its depth, if you can learn the intricacies of some Napoleonic games and tactical ground games of the Eastern Front you can learn this system. I am actively looking to get my hands on a copy of 'Whistling Death' to start enlarging my library of the Fighting Wings games.

 Thank you Clash of Arms Games for letting me review, once again, another excellent product. I have had a blast taking it through its paces. Please keep up the excellent work. For those of us Grognards who only know you by your Napoleonic games, take some time and peruse the rest of their games.

Clash of Arms Games:
https://www.clashofarms.com/
Clash of Arms Games Wings of the Motherland:
https://www.clashofarms.com/WingoftheMotherland.html
I couldn't resist adding this one:
https://www.clashofarms.com/LaBatLigny.html
Robert

Combat Infantry:

EastFront 1941-43

by

Columbia Games

 Here we are on the Eastern front in World War II. You would think that this has been gamed to death. In a way you would be correct. That is, there are only so many battles that took place to do games about. However, each designer also  has a separate take on how to make a game more (fill in the blanks; playable, realistic, or historical) in our playthroughs. So, even though it looks gamed to death it really isn't, not when you add everyone's different vision of how to properly game/simulate it. We still read every, or almost every, book that comes out about Stalingrad etc. So why not have different games on the subject? Then we come to the different types of games that each designer brings to the table. These can be designed to be fast paced and light to deep simulations. We Grognards are a fickle bunch. One minute we will be praising a game for its depth and the next we will be castigating another game because we have to spend a lot of time reading the rulebook. Just because a game does not give historical outcomes does not mean it is not fun or stimulating to play. Now the Eastern Front diatribe is over on to Combat Infantry: EastFront 1941-43.

 This is the second in the series Combat Infantry. The first took place on the Western Front and had the Americans and Germans going at it in 1944-1945. That game is an excellent game of tactical combat on that front. Games, and more importantly their rules, either work or they don't. The Combat Infantry games are block wargames which means they are simple to set up with usually less rules that their cardboard cousins. Notice I did not say 'less deep', just simpler. Chess is about as simple as you can get for ease of setup and rules, but never say it isn't deep. With block wargames there is no need for writing down a unit's stat, it's right there for you to see. At one time I was a firm believer that block wargames were not as 'worthy' as my counter heavy collection. I thought that they were fine for playing with your kids or trying to get someone interested in the wargaming hobby. I could not have been more wrong. Block wargames have become some of my favorite ones to play. 

 So, Combat Infantry: EastFront 1941-43 is a tactical block wargame of the early years of the Russo-German war. its name is actually a misnomer because you do not just get to fight it out with infantry. Columbia Games has given you the whole gamut of tactical forces to try your luck with. As you can see by the list below, they have not left out anything. There is even Air Support included for your units.

 This is what comes with the game:

132 Wooden Blocks

22 Wooden Markers

1 Sheet of labels

2 Large Geomorphic Maps 16.5" x 22"

Rulebook

3 double-Sided Scenario Cards

4 Dice (D10)

 The game hexes are 100 meters wide and you get to play with units comprised of:

Leaders

Rifle Squads

Machine Guns

Mortars

Anti-Tank 

Tanks
Air Support


 The components of the game are what we have come to expect  from Columbia Games. The maps are very well done, especially if you like the color green or some of its shades. They have large hexes to accommodate the blocks. The labels are pretty simple, but the pictures on them, although small, are great looking little pieces of artwork. The blocks are, well, blocks. They are however completely uniform in shape. Yes, I have seen games where they were not. The rulebook is only twelve pages long. It is in full color and does have some examples of play. There are three double-sided scenario cards. These are of cardboard, not too thick, but pretty rugged. Now I can hear the howls: this game comes with six scenarios only! Yes, yes it does. However, do not let that be a stumbling block if you are looking to purchase it. The original game WestFront also came with limited premade scenarios. There were scenarios created for the game by players and the designer, and I assume for this one also. You do not have to wait for them. You can create your own with just a tiny bit of time and effort. The second to last page of the rulebook gives a breakdown of how to create scenarios for yourself. It also has a chart that gives unit values to each unit in the game. This allows you to make scenarios with X amount of points and then just choose them for each side.

 Normally, you will be the commander of either a Soviet or German battalion which is composed of three infantry companies. Then a company is broken down into three infantry platoons. Platoons are also broken down into three squads of infantry, and usually a heavy weapons platoon (mostly machine guns). The battalion can be made stronger by the addition of some extra assets such as tanks, artillery, and anti-tank guns. Leadership is very important in the game and you must keep your units in command range. If not, they must pass a morale die roll, and some assets cannot act at all outside of command range. The strength of your units is easily kept track of  by the block wargaming system. You usually start out with a unit at full strength and then turn the block to the next strength/step number if it suffers damage. Some of us gamers are very used to opportunity fire and suppression, among other things. These are among some of the other well known tactical rules in games that are not found here. I will list what is not in the game and why by the designer Tom Dalgliesh himself:

"Opportunity Fire
Opportunity fire is excessive in many tactical
games. WW2 Infantry and vehicles simply did
not move through open terrain without clinging
to every tiny bit of cover available, nor without
fire support to keep enemy heads down.
Defender first fire in Assault reflects opportunity
fire in close combat when it was most effective.
Suppression
Suppression fire is handled by the step reduction
system. Units that take hits have less firepower
and are partially suppressed until they Rally.
Facing
Guns and tanks would have no difficulty
turning to fire in any direction given a 10-30
minute interval. Tanks did have thinner armor
in the belly, flanks, top, and rear and this is
allowed for by making them more vulnerable to
bombardment (6.6) and assaults (9.65).
Hard & Soft Targets
The armor class system reduces firepower
against armored targets. This eliminates the
need for separate hard and soft firepowers.
Status Markers
Status markers should not be missed. Cluttering
maps and units with markers such as "Used",
"Suppressed", or "Final Fire" is not necessary.
Units are upright, face-up, or face-down
depending on their action."

 The nature of block wargames lends itself to Fog of War, and EastFront does this particularly well. The only caveat to this rule is tanks. "Tanks are the exception. Veteran infantry could determine the location and identity of tanks just from the sound of their engines. Hence, tanks are revealed when they fire or move." The scenario that you have picked will state which player goes first. After the first turn a die roll determines who goes first. The active player can then activate one headquarter per company; "When commanding multiple companies, HQs are activated and resolved one by one in any desired order." The gameplay is fast and furious because of the design decisions made in the rules. I think the game is a great tactical one that gives you a lot of bling, but does not wrap you up in a cocoon of rules to play it out. After your first or second game there really is no reason to be perusing the rulebook anymore, unless you are extremely forgetful. Thank you Columbia Games for letting me review this great addition to the Combat Infantry stable. I hope the games will spawn either different areas or years during World War II. That way we can play in the Pacific or use airborne troops etc. I will have the link to my Combat Infantry: WestFront 1944-1945 review along with some others below.

Columbia Games:
columbiagames.com/

Combat Infantry Series:

columbiagames.com/combat-infantry/

My review of Combat Infantry: WestFront 1944-1945
https://www.awargamersneedfulthings.co.uk/2018/02/combat-infantry-by-columbia-games.html

This is my review of Columbia Games Julius Caesar:
https://www.awargamersneedfulthings.co.uk/2018/11/julius-caesar-by-columbia-games.html
Robert