Viscounts of the West Kingdom is the final instalment of the West Kingdom trilogy (Architects, Paladins and now Viscounts). A series which I have immensely enjoyed and if I tell you that my biggest gripe with the series is that I can’t get my head around the thematic link between the game titles and what you’re actually doing in the games themselves, it might give you a clue a to how this review is going to do down…(spoiler I like it).

Viscounts is the most visually appealing of the three games coming with a central circular board and eye-catching 3-tiered castle in the centre of the board through which 1-4 players will be moving their single Viscount figure around the action spaces of the circular board, constructing buildings from their individual player board i.e. ‘building their engine’. As you build you’ll derive immediate and ongoing benefits on both the central board and your individual player board.

Gameplay

Each turn you’ll complete 6 distinct phases, however, the meat and potatoes, if you will, comes as you try to complement your Viscount’s new action space with the ever-shifting cards on your player board. Being able to optimise cards and actions across the boards describes a standard level of competence. What seems to be beyond me, certainly during the later stages of the game, is calculating the effects of your workers as they infest the castle – essentially only 3 workers are allowed in any section and the surplus is pushed into adjacent sections triggering further effects.

Once you’re familiar with the iconography (which is largely shared with other games in the series) your player boards lay out the phases in your turn which repeat in player order until the Kingdom descends into Poverty, achieved by players rinsing the Debt cards and revealing the Poverty card; or by being virtuous and fulfilling Deeds until the Prosperity Card is revealed. However, the Poverty card will reward the players with the most Deeds, and the Prosperity card rewards the player with the most debts so there is a nice see-saw effect of players collectively taking debts and deeds until the game ends.

You’ll start the game with three Townsfolk in your hand and each turn you’ll have to add one to your player board. This will then push the existing Townsfolk to the right until there are at most three on your board. What’s nice, or crunchy – depending on your point of view, is that some cards have immediate bonuses, some have drop-off bonuses, and whilst they are on your board they all provide extra icons for your primary actions. There’s an element of deck building as well as you add cards to your discard pile and discard cards later in the game.

Your primary actions are determined by the icons which are present on the Townsfolk cards on your player board and constitute the meat and potatoes of the game. You can Trade, Build, Mess around in the cool castle or Do Some Churchey stuff. Trade is where you get the resources required to do the other actions all of which give you victory points which is ultimately what we’re trying to do here, as ever.

There are three different types of resources for which you’re trading, Gold (okay), Stone (okay) and Ink Wells (wait – what?). Which allow you to take the VP-rewarding actions. The first, Build, requires hammer icons to build either workshops, trading posts or a guildhall. Each building type has its own unique piece (beeple?) and provides permanent bonuses as well as victory points - “So far, so Euro”.

The third action is to Place Workers in the castle. This is the centrepiece of the game and arguably what makes this game stand out to a passer-by (what’s one of those?). Each section of the castle has an effect to resolve as you place your workers and you will also bump other players workers (or your own) off the castle. As more workers litter the castle the combos you can build (i.e. free actions) is nice. In fact, I think it’s one of my favourite aspects of this game – my brain can’t work out what’s going to happen when I place 4 workers on the 1st tier but it’s always a nice surprise when I’m the active player and get to resolve the second tier and third tiers as well as bumping a few other players off the castle. However, these types of combos are only possible when there are a number of your workers (as well as others) already in the castle and won't happen much before the last 30 minutes or so.

The fourth and final action is writing a manuscript…which I’ll admit is a bit of a departure from typical worker placement games action spaces. These manuscripts often have an immediate bonus and endgame scoring points as well as having some very important bonuses for set collecting.

Finally, for the purposes of this gameplay overview, there is a virtue track. Criminals, as in the other ‘West Kingdom’ games are considered wild cards and their icons can be anything but using them does give you some Corruption. Corruption and Virtue are tracked separately on the virtue track and can give lots of Deeds and Debt cards. The castle and this virtue track are the two elements that make this game stand out, not just from the other West Kingdom games, but as a "it’s different from anything else and deserves a place in my collection"-type game.

I’ve not tried to describe every rule, there’s a plethora of other actions and rules I’m not going to cover but hopefully what I have done is given you a flavour of the game and why I like it. I’ve not even touched on strategies, that’s for another person to give but suffice to say I don’t think there’s any particular dominant strategy and you’ll do well by dabbling in a little bit of everything.

Components

The game comes in my newly-favourite sized box – i.e. one that fits the components perfectly with no extra space. I 3d-printed an organiser which did free things up a little bit but there is a massive amount of game in this deceptively small box.

The cards all have a lovely linen finish making them buttery smooth to handle. The wooden components are fantastic and the plastic castle is a nice touch. In an ideal world, the castle and board slot together easily and stay together but that was not my experience. However, this is a very minor gripe about some rather unique components.

Criticisms

The only criticism I have of this game is my lack of awareness of what a Viscount is. An architect designs buildings, Paladins are fighting monks, Viscounts – not sure, do they write manuscripts…? I just don’t have the familiarity with the term or the ability to link my in-game actions with a particular purpose of a Viscount. Maybe the designers’ adherence to the ‘West Kingdom’ trilogy (North, South and East as well) is providing too many constraints. I just don’t feel like I’m being a Viscount or my actions are anything to do with Viscounting…but that doesn't really detract from the excellent gameplay.

Conclusion

So with all that said, what do I think? The initial set up and cards provide a large number of variables and create a highly replayable game. I definitely want to play this again and again, however, as the UK is tentatively eyeing the easing of Lockdown in the next few months I expect that my groups' demands and appetites will be very wide and varied. Replaying the same title month on month or week on week is just not going to happen any time soon.

There is a lovely balance in lots of different aspects of the game and make it feels like it is in a constant state of flux. Any strategy you decide upon will likely have to be adapted turn by turn, in order to do well but any strategy (as long as you’ve got one will probably do alright). This is a testament to the balance of the game. I was initially enamoured of the castle strategy to win, and then the manuscript strategy and I’ve dabbled with the Building strategy (although not successfully). It is clear that the mechanics integrate together perfectly and there are multiple paths to victory.

In terms of the trilogy, I have liked each game more than the previous. And I started out liking Architects a lot. Maybe I suffer from a bit of cult of the new, but Viscounts is my standout game of the series.

I’d like to thank Asmodee UK for sending this review copy. You can use this link https://www.asmodee.co.uk/contentpage/find-your-game-store to find your Friendly Local Game Store; which need all the help they can get at the moment.

Designers: Shem Phillips, S J Macdonald
Bgg page:  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/296151/viscounts-west-kingdom
Playtime: 60 mins - 90 mins
Players: 1 - 4

 One Small Step

by

Academy Games

 

 The Space Race: on the outside a scientific marvel; on the inside a propaganda and military powerhouse for both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Those missiles grew bigger and stronger each day. The same missiles that had school children on both sides cower under desks. From Sputnik until the lunar landing it was not even twelve full years. Robert Goddard was one of the first rocket pioneers. The real dream of Werner von Braun was to put a man on the Moon. we will never know exactly how much we are indebted to Jack Parsons for his contributions to the effort. However, once President Kennedy threw the gauntlet down in front of the world the race was on. Both superpowers put their all into the effort to land a man on the Moon. This game from Academy Games allows the player to fill the shoes of either superpower in those heady days. Let us see what comes with the game:

1 Game Board

1 Beginner Map Overlay

2 Agency Boards (1 USSR, 1 USA)

46 Event Cards (12 for Era 1, 12 for Era 2, and 22 for Era 3)

19 Hazard Cards

14 Advancement Cards (Not used in Beginner Game)

12 Crew Mission Cards (6 USSR, 6 USA)

24 Satellite Mission Cards

90 Temporary Resource Tokens (10 of each kind)

54 Permanent Resource Tokens (6 of each kind)

12 Crew Markers (double sided, USA / USSR)

12 Satellite Markers (double sided, USA / USSR)

Bonus Tokens (21 Satellite, 10 Crewed Missions, 14 Media, and 9 Advancement)

3 Dice (1 Gray Agency Die, 1 Red Satellite Die, 1 Brown Crew Die)

4 Administration Worker Meeples (2 Red USSR, 2 Blue USA)

4 Engineer Worker Meeples(2 Red USSR, 2 Blue USA)

2 Summary Sheets (Beginner on one side, Advanced Game on other)

1 Rule Book

2 VP Track Markers (1 Red and 1 Blue Cube)

2 Media Track Markers (1 Red and 1 Blue Circle)

 Have no doubt about it, this is a Eurogame, and as such it shows it. Upon opening the box you will be presented with a cornucopia of items. Not only that, but the quality is second to none. Old hoary grognards have the wrong idea about Eurogames. To them they are all glitz with no substance. Guys I am here to tell you something that you may not have noticed. The word wargame actually does have the word game in it. 

 As mentioned, your eyes will be pretty much astounded at the components. The game board is only 22" square, but it seems much bigger. It is very nicely done, although at first glance it looks a little empty in some spots and busy in others. It is mounted, and feels like it will last for however much gaming you put it through. There are three counter/token sheets filled with beautiful and large tokens. They are also very thick and sturdy. The Beginner and Advanced Summary Sheets (Player Aids) are of cardboard, and like the rest of the game are eye-popping with color. To fit all of the game's actions, the Advanced Summary Sheets are done in small print. There is a lot to the advanced game so the sheets are busy, and because of the print size I do have to pick them up to get them closer to my specs. Naturally, the Beginner Summary Sheet is in larger print and much less busy. There are two sets of cards. Both are of very good quality. One is the normal size for game cards, and the other is a much smaller deck. However, the smaller deck can be read easily. The 'Meeples' are kind of cute in a way. The two Agency Boards are well set up and are not crowded. The Rule Book is twenty-seven pages long. It is the standard Academy Games Rule Book. By that I mean it is beautiful to behold and very well written. If you have problems understanding and following these rules, I would not blame the Rule Book. All in all, this game screams Eurogame, but a very well produced Eurogame. 

 I hate to tell Academy Games this, but even though I lived through the Space Race my interest in it was near nil. Now, give me a book or game about Alexander's Successors and I am in. So, this will have to be a very good game to pique and keep my interest. 

 Victory is won by how many points each side can accumulate. This is the Sequence of Play:

Phase 1 - Countdown

Phase 2  - Replenish

Phase 3 - Draw Cards

Phase 4  - Placing Workers

Phase 5  - Personnel

Phase 6 - Play Cards

Phase 7 - Launch Missions

 The game gives you both Administrator and Engineer workers. Each of these can only be used on their corresponding spaces. Personnel Cards have the different Astronauts' names on them. Along with them the cards also have some of the following:

Military Missiles

GPS

Cold War

Freeze-Dried Foods

Velcro

Satellite Research

Navigation Testing

  In a nutshell, this is a worker placement, and resource allocation game at its core. Having a Basic and Advanced version built in is very helpful for table longevity. It is a two to four player game. In the four player version two players are on the U.S. and two are on the U.S.S.R. sides. The missions that both sides have to fulfill are definitely a two edged sword. The tougher the mission the greater the gain for your side. The downside is that you do not want to fail missions. These setbacks have some real consequences to your attempt at everlasting fame. The game also has a Media track that is predicated on your successes and failures. The Beginner game is simpler, but that does not mean it is simple. This is a game that definitely has some meat on its bones. The advanced game is just that, advanced, or to be truthful very advanced. This is not a light Eurogame. It may not have tanks and hexes, but it is a deep thinking man's game. All through the game your choices are myriad, and unlike some games can have negative outputs for your side. Please remember that you are not just playing against yourself. There are hazards that both sides can add to missions to make them even harder than they were to begin with.

 

 Bottom line, this is not really a game I would recommend for a boardgame newbie. This is, however an excellent game for grognard to switch gears and learn to play. It is a deep game. Academy Games even touts it as a good game for teachers to help explain the Space Race to students. Please remember that this is a game about the entire Space Race. You as the player have to build your country's Space exploration history from scratch. Thank you very much, Academy Games, for letting me review this excellent game. The game has also come close to doing the impossible. It has managed to spark and interest in me to start reading about the history of the Space Race. If a game can do that, it has to be great.

 For you grognards out there who have been under rocks please take a look at their stable of 'Conflict of Heroes' games. It is a wonderful tactical series.

Robert

Academy Games:

Academy Games

One Small Step:

One Small Step - Academy Games

My review of Conflict of Heroes 'Storms of Steel Kursk 1943'

Storms of Steel - Kursk 1943 3rd Edition - Academy Games

 

 Frontier Wars

by

Draco Ideas

 We grognards have a love hate relationship with toy soldiers. As a group, we look longingly back in time to when we played with them. However, to introduce them onto our tables, where hex and counters reign, is another thing altogether. Some of us are elitists; I am guilty of this at times, where we long for just sixty to 100 page rulebooks and an Ardennes map where each hex represents fifty yards. You know, games where we will only get to play them once or a few times during our lives. I am here to tell you that I was wrong and so was our thinking on games. The smallest footprint game can have great gameplay. A game that is short enough to play four times in one evening can still be a great game. Can a grognard play a game that has plastic toy soldiers? The answer is a resounding yes, as long as he manages to rise above his stuffy thoughts on what a wargame MUST be behind. Chess is the world's oldest and most beloved wargame, and guess what it has: toy soldiers. We must also forget our rulebook mania. A simple game can be a great game, and guess what guys, it might just bring new blood into this elderly hobby. Face it people, we grognards are not getting any younger, and if we really love the hobby we will want it to continue to thrive. So, I am removing myself from the soapbox, and onto the review. 

Here is a blurb from Draco Ideas about the game itself:

"Frontier War" ("Guerra Fronteriza" in Spanish) allows you to take control of one of the four most relevant factions in World War 2.

Choose which role you want to take in the fray: United States, United Kingdom, Germany or Russia in games for 2 to 4 players.

Recreate battles of the largest military clash in history.

Learn how to manage your resources, make bold tactical movements with your troops: infantry, tanks, artillery and airstrikes.

Make alliances that meet your interests, but remember, your allies can stop being so at any time!

Fight Smart and never cease exploring your options, since the end of the battle can arrive at the most unexpected moment.

The game includes 100 fully detailed miniatures, a modular battle field for new and different games each play, as well as 90 cards that will make each game unique.

We’ve worked hard to give the game easy mechanics and a quick learning without losing a high tactical complexity, all of it within the frame of fast, dynamic games.

Are you ready?"

 This is what comes with Frontier Wars:

100 Cards

100 Miniatures

 30 Double-Sided tiles

 4 Army Boards

 3 Game Boards

 100+ Tokens

 Rules and Scenario Book

 In the basic game there are three sets of cards. These are: Attack Orders, Defense Orders, and Tactical Orders. These all have the same backs to them. On the front of the cards is their explanation and usage along with various photos taken during World War II. The action that the cards describe are straight-forward and do not need to be deciphered. There are four types of miniatures in the basic game: Artillery, Infantry, tanks, and airplanes. These are small, but very well done. For their size they are very robust. The tiles are hexagonal, and very large at almost 4" across. There are many different tiles to play the scenarios on. These are:

Neutral Tiles

City Tiles 

Airport Tiles

Strategic Point Tiles

Starting Tile

Water Tiles

Swamp Tile

Port Tile

Fleet Tile

Desert Tile

 Some of these give you extra Resource Cards, Victory Points, or increase your card hand limit. The Army and Game Boards are also large and easy to read. The Tokens are done in very thick cardboard. All of the components are built to last through many games. The Rules Book is thirty-one pages long. It is in full color and is done on magazine type paper. The rules only take up nine pages with a further two pages+ with Optional Rules. The game comes with thirty scenarios. These go from beginner to advanced. They are also from two to four players in size. Some are historical, while others are completely made up for the game. You get a very large bang for your buck with everything that comes with the game, and how well the parts were constructed.

 The game is easy to learn and play. I believe Frontier Wars is a great game in its own right. It also bridges the gap for new players from  simpler wargames, or just games, to more complex games. I mean, that is what we grognards are all about, isn't it? We entrap new players and then feed them a simple diet of beer & pretzels wargames. Slightly more complex games follow, until they start noticing hexes in their everyday life. Then when they least expect it we force them to play an entire weekend of Fire in the East or something similar. Okay, maybe other people do not do that, but I would love to have a dungeon full of hex and counter playing slaves. Enough of that. Frontier Wars is an easy to learn and fun wargame. This is the Sequence of Play:

 Turn Order

 Drawing Resource Cards

 Reinforcements

 Actions

 Tactical Phase

 Arms Race

 Upkeep

 

 Frontier Wars is a game that has a small footprint, is quick to play and learn, and most of all it is fun. Draco Ideas did add an expansion that includes France and Japan to the mix. You can also buy trucks with new rules for them. They were nice enough to send me the Solo Rules and the Weather Cards that add a lot to the game. These come with large double-sided fold out player aids that explain in simple terms how to use the Weather cards and play in solo mode. Any game that comes with a built in solo mode nowadays is sure to get my vote, especially if it is as easy to understand and play with as these are. Thank you Draco Ideas for letting me review this sleeper of a game that seems to have slipped under most peoples' radar. 

Robert

Draco ideas:

Draco Ideas editorial | Boardgames publisher

Frontier Wars:

Frontier Wars | Draco Ideas editorial

 

 Saladin

by

Shakos Games

 His correct name is Al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, but we in the West know him as just Salah ad-Din or Saladin. Once this brilliant man became leader of both Egypt and Syria, the Crusaders' days in Outremer were numbered. In fact, after he took back Jerusalem, the Crusaders were left with only a small strip of land on the coast. One of the reasons that the Crusaders had been as successful as they had was because the potentates of Egypt and Syria were mostly busy fighting each other (sometimes with Crusader help), instead of the Crusaders. The three way power structure helped the nascent Crusader Kingdoms when they needed it most.

 This is a brand new series by Shakos Games. So, I will let them speak for themselves about it:

"This series will present for each opus a legendary medieval leader and two battles highlighting them. Saladin, first opus in the series, is a game intended to recreate the famous battles of Hattin and Arsuf where Saladin was opposed to the crusaders troops of Guy de Lusignan and then those of Richard the Lionheart. In Saladin take over one of the armies that fought each other. Order your horsemen to harass the crusaders ranks or launch a devastating charge with your heavily armored knights. Saladin is an epic game designed for history and strategy fans.

Will you be able to lead your men to victory ?

Saladin is a historical wargame for 2 players. Having chosen one of the two battle scenarios and set up the game, each player, in turn, will order one of their Banner. They will make them fight in order to disorganize those of their opponent. For this it will be necessary to spend Order tokens, the number of which will decrease at the beginning of each turn. The player who will manage to preserve the cohesion of their troops by retaining the precious Order tokens will be declared the winner."

Arsuf Map

Hattin Map

 The box it self is a small one. It measures roughly 9"x7". You know what they say about small packages. Let us see what comes in the box:

 1 Double Sided Mapboard

 28 Banner Cards - 14 for both the Ayyubids and Crusaders

 4 Leader Cards - 2 for each Battle

 115 Wooden Bars (Lances) - 59 for the Ayyubids, and 56 for the Crusaders

 26 Wooden Order Tokens - 13 for each side

 1 Shield Wall Marker for the Crusaders

 1 Fire Wall Marker for the Ayyubids (for the Hattin scenario)

 6 Combat Die - 3 for each side

 1 Rulebook

 

 The mounted mapboard is 11 3/4"x16 1/2", give or take. As you can see, the mapboards are a bit busy looking. The scenes and terrain are done in a pseudo-medieval looking style. However, given the style of the game it works quite well. The wooden tokens are well done and look uniform. The cards are very large at 2 3/4"x4 3/4". The Leader Cards are very nicely done, and have a picture of each leader on one side. The Rulebook is twenty-three pages long and is extremely colorful and easy to follow. 

 "The Sequence of Play:

A turn is divided into four phases:

• Chaos

• Initiative

• Activation

• Redeployement

Activation

Starting with the player with the initiative, players will chain activation in turn or pass. A player can pass only if all their Banners and Leader cards are on their Ordered side. A player who has passed can no longer take activation, their opponent will then be able to perform several successive activation until they pass. Upon activation, the player activates a Banner or their Leader.

Activating a Leader

By activating a Banner the player must in order:

1. Choose an Action on their selected Banner card.

2. Spend the necessary Orders.

3. Choose a valid target for this Action.

4. Ask if the targeted Banner performs a Reaction, if possible. In this case solve the effects of the Reaction and proceed to step 7. A Banner that performs a Reaction remains on its Deployed side.

5. Simultaneously apply the effects of the Action to the targeted Banner and the acting Banner by rolling the indicated Combat dice if needed.

6. Move the Lances on the game board if there is a status change of the Banner.

7. Turn the Banner card on its Ordered side if it was on its Deployed side. Leave the card on its Ordered side if it was already on that side.

Activating a Leader

By activating a Leader the player must in order:

• Choose on their Leader card one of the available Actions.

• Apply the effects of the Action.

• Turn the Leader card on its Ordered side."

 Normally I have the ability to take longer with a game, for research and play, than I have had to inspect this one. This one is going into KickStarter in just a few weeks, so Shakos Games asked me to take a look at it before then. I was surprised at the size of the game, and the way Shakos games had implemented it. I had reviewed their Napoleon 1807 (link will be below), and I was very impressed with how they had combined the flash of a Euro game with a very deep wargame. So, I was expecting to find a large game with a lot of panache. However, I have learned not to judge a book by its cover, especially with wargames, so I dove right in. Saladin is very deceiving as a game. Its small footprint and setup makes you think that you are getting a simple beer & pretzels game. The game, in reality, is much more nuanced than that, and much deeper. It is simple enough for Shakos Games to tout it as a learning tool. They describe the game as follows:

"This game is designed to act as a fun and highly instructive working model of historical events. Engaging with the game will encourage any child to understand why certain important events occurred, as well as what may have happened if different decisions had been made. Easy rules and attractive components will help the younger player ease into the educational and sociable pastime of historical gaming. Enjoy the game!" 

 I really couldn't agree more. I love truth in advertising. Thank you Shakos Games for letting me take the game out for a spin.

Robert

Shakos Games:

Shakos | Historical board games

Saladin:

Saladin | Board Game | BoardGameGeek

My review of Napoleon 1807:

Napoleon 1807 La Campagne de Pologne by Shakos Games - A Wargamers Needful Things

 

A Time for Trumpets

 The Battle of the Bulge, December 1944

by

GMT Games

 'Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein' (Operation Watch on the Rhine), or the 'Ardennenoffensive' (Ardennes offensive) it is called in German. The Ardennes Counteroffensive is the official Allied military name. Please do not call it the 'Rundstedt Offensive'. He had nothing whatsoever to do with the planning. In fact, his answer when he was asked about the plan after the war was, "If Old Moltke had thought that I had planned that offensive, he would have turned over in his grave." Neither Rundstedt or Model, fanatical Nazi that he was, believed the plan had any merit. Josef 'Sepp' Dietrich (who commanded the 6th Panzer Army during the battle) said of the plan "All I had to do was the cross the river (Meuse), capture Brussels, and then go on to take the port of Antwerp. The snow was waist-deep and there wasn't room to deploy four tanks abreast, let alone six armored divisions. It didn't get light until eight and was dark again at four, and my tanks can't fight at night, and all this at Christmas time!" As a side note, Rundstedt said Dietrich was "decent, but stupid". So why is this battle so much in demand many to so many wargamers? It seems that you could find five to ten different company's versions in each wargamers hoard. Well, this was the largest battle that Americans had ever been in (the English were involved also, but not too deeply). The Allies were completely taken off guard by this attack in an area that was considered 'safe' because of the terrain. The German plan was pretty much thought of in Hitler's mind even as the Allies were dashing across France, and it looked like the war would be over by Christmas. The Allied offensive was hamstrung by the lack of supplies, and came to a halt at the German border. The Germans used their phone lines instead of radio chatter etc. So, the Allies did not have their usual Ultra intercepts or much else to judge German intentions. The offensive took the Allies very much by surprise. The German Army was considered a spent force. The schwerpunkt was supposed to be with the 6th Panzer Army at the top of the Bulge. In actuality the U.S. troops, some of them green, mostly fought the SS to a standstill. The greatest penetration into the Bulge was done by the 5th Panzer Army. I will list out the number of troops and AFV's etc. that have to be modeled in the game. These numbers are from the start of the German attack:

Allied

Troops - 229,000

Tanks  - 486

Tank Destroyers & Assault Guns - 499

Other AFV's  - 1,921

Anti-Tank Guns & Artillery - 971

6 Infantry Divisions

2 Armored Divisions

Casualties at the end of the battle - 90,000

German

Troops - 406,000

Tanks - 557

Tank Destroyers & Assault Guns - 667

Other AFV's - 1,261

Anti-Tank Guns & Artillery - 4.224

13 Infantry Divisions

7 Armored Divisions

Casualties at the end of the battle - 98,000

So, GMT has brought this battle once more to the wargamers' table. Let us see what we get. This is what comes in the weighty box:

5 full size game maps (65"x48" total playing area)

12 counter sheets (2304 playing pieces)

1 Rules Book

1 Scenario Book

1 Play Aid Manual

Four 11"x17" player aid cards

Five 8.5"x11" player aid cards

2 dice

 This is GMT Games information on the game from the Rules Book:

"A Time for Trumpets (or ATfT) is a one to five player game depicting Germany’s last offensive in 1944 known as the “Battle of the Bulge.” The Campaign Game includes the period from 16 to 26 December when the Germans had to achieve decisive results.

Game Scale

Each game-turn represents approximately 6 hours of real time.

Each map hex represents a distance of 1 mile across and an area of

about one square mile. The units consist primarily of battalions and

companies plus a minimal number of other sized units.

The Map

The map shows the Ardennes including portions of Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France where the Battle of the Bulge was fought. The map illustrates the most prominent terrain features of this region. A grid of numbered hexagons (hexes) has been superimposed on the map as a means of regulating the movement and positioning of the playing pieces. Also located on the map is a Game Turn Record Track, Off-Board Movement Areas, German Bridge Holding Boxes and depictions of the Terrain Features."

 The map scale is at one mile per hex. The 65"x48" size makes it a monster, but a monster that has a lot of scenarios that only use one, two, or three of the five maps. The maps are not rehashed ones and have been completely reworked and checked and rechecked against wartime topographical maps. The colors are nicely done, and it is easy to see what terrain is in each hex. The twelve counter sheets (my thoughts are with the grognards that are compelled to clip counters) are very well done and use the typical green for U.S. troops, Grey for the German Army, and Black for the Waffen SS etc.

The counters are larger than you would think for such a big game, and are easily identified. As with any 'monster' game there will be a large amount of counters on the map. The Rules Book is as large as one would expect with such a game. It is sixty-four pages long, including the index. It is in full color and looks like other GMT Games Rules Books. At the end of it are some examples of play. The Scenario Book is sixty pages long. Pages thirty-three to forty-nine have on one side the German and Allied setups for the different parts of the map. Unless I am miscounting there are 13 scenarios in total (they will be below). Each scenario seems to build on the other as far as sticking your toe into this deep pond. The Play-Aid Book is forty-eight pages long. It is filled with full color Reinforcement Charts, Area of Operations, and setups for the End Game Scenarios. The three books are made up of paper pages with no lamination. I assume the cost would have been prohibitive. There are a total of nine Play-Aid cards. These are made of thin cardboard and do have some lamination on them. One has the Allied and German chains of command. Four of them are one-sided and have the German Artillery Park information for each corps. If you want to see a grognard's eyes light up just open up the box in front of him.

These are the scenarios, with maps:

7th Army Scenarios - 3 - 2 maps

6th Panzer Army Scenarios - 2 - 1 map

5th Panzer Army Scenarios - 2 - 3 maps

Campaign Game 

End Game Scenarios:

3 - 1 map

1 - 2 maps

1 - 3 maps

 So, the main point I want to get across is that this game type is as hard to find as a rare gemstone. It is a playable monster game. There are Advanced and Optional rules that bring more chrome or make it easier on the player. Let us look at the game's RuleBook:

"There are three types of rules: Basic, Advanced and Optional. If a

rule is not identified as Advanced, then the rule is Basic. The Advanced rules impart significant, historical facets to the game; they

are intended to loosely drive the progress of the game by interjecting

intelligence as it was known in 1944. By mutual consent, players

should add advanced rules as they become familiar with the basic

system. During the extensive playtesting of the game, the advanced

rules were usually used. Optional rules are provided simply to facilitate ease of play—they are found in rule sections as applicable."

 The game's pedigree goes right back to the earlier days of wargaming. The designer Bruno Sinigaglio was involved with three of the greatest wargaming titles: Battle of the Bulge, Siege of Jerusalem, and Bitter Woods. A Time for Trumpets is an opus that he has been designing for more than forty years. The only thing you can really say derogatory about the game is its sheer size. To set up the maps alone you need a space roughly 6'x4'. When you add in the extra space needed for the Player-Aids etc. it is a sizable area. The beauty of the system and the scenarios is that there are enough scenarios that only use one, two, and three maps. Players will be able to learn and play with any setup they have now in their house. Then if you wanted to, you could join in at a group play at a convention etc. if you wanted to (whenever they happen again).  

 One of the biggest pieces of the game rules is command and control. The Area of Operations rules for the allies ensures that they cannot just willy-nilly advance across the map, and overwhelm the Germans. All of the different Areas of Operations makes it so if an Allied force moves into another Area of Operation it is immediately out of command. The Germans are similarly stopped from bunching together in a large mass. The Allies were incredibly worried about Liege. This city was the linchpin of the Allies' long tenuous supply line. In the Campaign game if the Germans occupy any of the six Liege hexes they win a Substantial Victory. In most of the other scenarios the Germans must occupy different key points on the map. If at any time a German Tactical Victory in the Campaign game happens, a German AFV enters a hex across the Meuse River from Givet to Liege City. If this happens the Scenario Book remarks "The German player should heed Field Marshall Models's words and "get down on his hands and knees and thank God." You can see by that that the German player has to have all the die rolls and luck on his side. The Allied Victory Conditions are to stop the German from getting to any of his Victory Points. This game has everything in it that you want in a game. Some examples are:

Bridge and Combat engineers

Anti-Tank and Heavy Tank Units

Motorized Infantry

Nebelwefers

Tactical Aircraft

Strategic bombing

Improved positions

Bridge Demolition (The Allies best friend)

Leaders

Artillery of all kind

I am very grateful to GMT Games for allowing me to review this game. I was tentative at first because of its depth and size. However, the design of the scenarios makes it very easy for a grognard to play out bits of it before trying to swallow the whole game at once. The other point I made, but need to stress, is that this is a playable monster. This is not a game that will sit on your shelf and you will look longingly at it for years before it gets bequeathed to an unsuspecting child or spouse. The game is fine to play solitaire also (very few games are not) for one of us mostly lone gamers. The price for some maybe a sticking point. However, we are now used to paying 2/3 of the cost for A Time for Trumpets for games that do not give you anywhere near the actual components, let alone game play. I was very ambivalent in the past about Battle of the Bulge games. I am not anymore.

Robert

Thank you to Marty Sample and Tom Stearns from BGG, for the use of their pictures.

GMT Games:

GMT Games

A Time for Trumpets:

GMT Games - A Time for Trumpets: The Battle of the Bulge, December 1944

 Napoleon Returns 1815

by

Worthington Publishing

 The Waterloo Campaign, Gettysburg, and the Bulge are the trifecta of wargaming. If we grognards only had games on these three campaigns/battles, we would have enough to fill our shelves and play for a very long time. Of the three campaigns, in my mind Waterloo is the one that is the most of a toss-up. There are so many 'what-ifs' to the campaign. Napoleon who always, up to then, was conscious of time ( Napoleon's quote "I may lose a battle but I will never lose a minute), was an incredibly large part of making war successfully. He seemed to completely forget it in the Waterloo Campaign. He and his army were definitely affected by the 'slows' during the campaign. You can ascribe this to ill health, or any number of other things. At Ligny, the French had a chance to crush Blucher. After Ligny, the next day the French Army sauntered after the Prussian Army instead of herding it like cattle. The rainstorm the night before Waterloo, and Grouchy not 'marching to the guns' are more examples of 'what-ifs'. Enough of the history. Let's see what Worthington Publishing has put in the box:

Mounted Map 

18 French, British, and Prussian Corps Cubes

25 Small Yellow Wooden Markers

1 Six-Sided Die

2 Full Color Player Aid Sheets

2 Full Color RuleBooks

68 Battle Cards

5 French Objective Cards

 The map is meant to look like an old parchment map. It succeeds at this very well. It is a mounted map, and looks and feels to be able to live through as many games as you want to play on it. Movement on it is from point-to-point. Infantry Corps normally move one point, and Cavalry normally move two. The Corps wooden cubes that I received were uniform in size, except for the French Cavalry block, which was slightly larger. Friendly gamers playing the game would have no problem with this. If you are playing with someone who uses this to deduce where that block is, get yourself another gaming partner. They would also mark their cards. The Player Aid sheets are of strong stock, and slightly laminated. One side shows the setup for the pieces on the map. The other side gives the Sequence of Play etc. The back of the Combat Cards show a weary dejected Napoleon who is obviously suffering from piles. The front of the cards show a small painting from the different parts of the campaign. The Rulebook is eight pages long. It is made of paper with a bit of lamination on it, like a well done magazine. It is in full color and has examples of play included. All in all, the components are first rate.  

  The game is based on each corps' Cohesion Points. These can be deducted for Combat Losses, Extra Movement by Infantry (Forced March), and Retreat. So Cohesion in this game represents morale, combat losses, and fatigue of each of the Corps. Combat in the game is totally reliant on the Combat Cards. Each corps is worth 'X' amount of combat cards. Here is what it says in the Rulebook about Army Commanders and Corps:

"Below the army commander is a list of the corps in the

army. Each corps is listed by the corps name and its

leader name. Shown for each corps is the number of

combat cards that corps adds to combat if present, which

may be reduced based on its current cohesion point

number. Each corps has a tactical rating that determines

its ability to reinforce combat at an adjacent location and

its ability to counterattack during combat if no army

commander is present and if its Tactical Rating is used."

"Each corps has a set amount of cohesion points showing

how many cohesion reductions that corps can take in

movement, combat, and retreat before it is eliminated

from game play. Track cohesion by placing one of the

yellow cubes at the highest cohesion level for that corps

to begin the game. When a corps takes cohesion point

reductions, move the yellow cube the appropriate

number of spaces down the corps cohesion point track.

If a corps reaches cohesion point below 1, it is eliminated

and remove the corps unit from the game board. Shown

at the approximate halfway point on the cohesion track

for each corps is a mark that shows when the corps

reaches this level, any combat that it participates in, will

draw that reduced number of combat cards."

 Is the game a detailed simulation of Napoleonic warfare? Of course not. It is a game, very delightful and easy to play, but hard to master game. Does it give the player tons of choices on an operational level? You bet. You can play a few full games of it on gaming night. The components are simple, yet well done. The game mechanics can be described the same way. Thank you, Worthington Publishing for allowing me to review this game. My normal hex and counter obsession would have never let me really look at the game. 

Robert

Worthington Publishing:

Worthington (worthingtonpublishing.com)

Napoleon Returns 1815:

Napoleon Returns 1815 — Worthington (worthingtonpublishing.com)

NWS Wargaming Store

A Wargamer's Best Friend

 Naval Warfare Simulations is rightly known for its excellent line up of computer naval warfare sims. Among them:

Steam and Iron: The Great War at Sea

Steam and Iron: The Russo-Japanese War

Rule The Waves

Rule The Waves II

Warship Combat Navies at War

 What a lot of people do not know is that they also publish their own board wargames and miniature rules on:

www.navalwarfare.net

 It is my assumption that consumers do not realize that they run a wargaming store, and it is one of the best on the internet. Their prices are great, especially for slightly older games (although they are also good for new releases). They do not sell used board wargames, like some sites, but they sell minty fresh new in the shrink wrap games that a lot of people are paying way too much for on the 'used' market. 

 Their customer service is second to none. I have read almost no accounts of there being a problem buying from them. The two I believe I did read were taken care of right away, and actually had to do with the game's publisher, and not NWS. I have been dealing with them for years, and actually did some reviews of their computer naval wargames (I will post links below). On their contact page they have links for email, FB, and their help desk. 

 So, before you click buy on any used wargame make sure you check out the prices, and service, on NWS Wargaming Store. They have around 1500 items in their store now. They also cater to the miniature wargamer. 

Robert

NWS Wargaming Store:

NWS Wargaming Store

Naval Warfare Simulations:

SHOP | NWS Wargaming Store

Rule The Waves review:

Rule The Waves by Naval Wafare Simulations Review - A Wargamers Needful Things

Steam & Iron The Russo-Japanese War review:

Steam And Iron the Russo-Japanese War - A Wargamers Needful Things