SONG FOR WAR

FROM

INVICTA REX

Song for War came to my attention some time back when seeing it mentioned in ZillaBlitz's list of top ten games, even though it hadn't even been launched on Kickstarter.  After his later videos unboxing and playing through some turns I was sold on this game enough to contact Chris Helm at Invicta Rex.  This led initially to a transatlantic phone call and then a session discussing and playing Song for War with Chris and his fellow designer, Seth Stigliano, on Tabletopia!

There is a lot to unpack both literally and figuratively.  The setting is the whole Mediterranean theatre of WWII presented in an area map painted in some of the richest and most dynamic colours, whether land or sea.  It is eye-poppingly stunning and clear, but clear! The land masses stand out dramatically against the sea areas which are themselves striking, both in changes of colour and in the scattering of depth numbers.  Though the latter play no functional part in game play, they add to the feel of you as supreme commander, pouring over just this sort of operational/strategic map in your nation's war room.

The whole shebang- map, units, markers etc...

Next up are the units - which explains the game's serious heft factor. That's because the proto-type units are wooden with images of the units pasted on.  The final components will remain solid wood pieces, but with even more sumptuous silk-screen printing.  There is a magnificent range, covering various types of ships, aircraft and land units.  Here too the colours are strikingly bold: Germans in red, Italians in yellow, British in blue and US in green.  Not exactly conventional, but you certainly won't confuse them and the whole effect of map and counters is amazing.  You just can't wait to be manoeuvring your units around on this stunning vista.

A closer look at just a small number of units

As you can guess from the four nations, this can accommodate from two to four players.  Perhaps too, because of the desire to accommodate four players, one of whom will be the US, the time span of the main Scenario [6 Turns] is from just before the landings for Operation Torch in November 1942, while a second shorter scenario [4 Turns] starts in April 1943.  Personally, there's more than enough action here to satisfy me with either time span, but the lack of an earlier starting date has been a disappointment for some. My initial thought was that with the physical components at your disposal, I imagined enterprising aficianadoes would be hot on the trail of self-designed preludes.  However, having met the designers, albeit via online video, I'm not surprised that they're already responding by working on just such earlier scenarios.  

More of the stunning counters and map design

To return to those four players, you'll be playing as two teams of two cooperative players.  That in itself appeals to me, because like many other aspects of this game it adds to the sandbox element of the game's concept and intention.  Player personality may definitely exert an influence here.  Will your co-nation player be an accommodating partner or will the sort of historical rivalries that bedevilled Allied relationships raise their head, as each of you thinks they know best how to pursue this war. 

It's worth emphasising the sand box nature of this game that I've just mentioned.  This game will only go down an historical road if all the players choose to follow it.  This is NOT a game scripted by its rules to pursue a largely defined historical path.  In fact, some of its most innovative elements will, I think, lead you in the opposite direction. 

British ships in deadly danger from Italian forces

Song for War's conception certainly visually has roots back in the designers' younger days playing Axis and Allies and conversation with them confirmed that, but in all respects they have equally achieved their goal to produce something richer and deeper and truly innovative. They've also succeeded in producing a system that is both highly interactive, while retaining a high fun-level factor - an element that has been singled out by all the enthusiastic video reviewers. 

Before moving on to explore the overall system in more detail, I'd like to take you through some of the details regarding the final finished product.  What you already see in the prototype is stunning in its own right, what you will get in the released game will be even more so.

The map from the Axis perspective

First of all that gorgeous map will be mounted in two sections, each of six panels combining to form a 54"x 31" playing area.  The majority of the many [475 to be precise] units will be  silk-screened on painted wooden pieces, while the 24 unique pieces will be in 3D plastic.  The hidden fleet dials will be cardboard fastened by a plastic rivet and each of the four nations will have a very solid Play Aid detailing all the relevant information for each unit.  Victory objective markers will also be wooden and each nation has a small deck of National Support cards.  Finally the Rule Booklet is a substantial full colour print measuring 330mm x 330mm.

All this, even in its prototype form, was enough to do more than get my attention.  Added to this were the extensive playthroughs on YouTube presented by reviewers and the designers themselves.  However, the absolute certainty that I wanted this game was cemented by having the opportunity to explore directly the system via Tabletopia with the two designers, Chris and Seth, and discuss with them their intentions and the background to the game and its design.

The British Play Aid

At first sight, each game Turn [called Stages] appears fairly conventional and consists of four Phases.  

Phase One : Tactical

Phase Two : Victory 

Phase Three : National Support

Phase Four : Resupply

Phases 2 - 4 are very swift to execute.  

Victory Phase 

This is the simple observation of the VPs  racked up this turn by each of the two sides, Axis and Allied.  These are scored for a variety of Objectives and the total will be visually recorded by wooden tiles which are placed against  a printed scale on the edge of the map.  No need to do even the simplest of addition.  The linear placement of these tiles will always record exactly what the score is at any point in the game. Both sides have totals which, if achieved, immediately win the game.

National Support Phase  

At the beginning of this Phase, each nation will draw 2 cards from their individual deck of National Support cards and will also be given a very small number of National Support tokens which they can spend to buy these cards.  Tokens may be saved from Stage to Stage and the cards cover four categories -  Strategy, Unit Upgrades, Unique Units and Events.  All of these will impact play either temporarily or in the long term.  It's for you to decide which cards to buy  and when you play them.  Plenty of decision making and flavour here.

The distinctive backs of each Nation's National Support Cards

Resupply Phase

Each nation gains supply points from the Objectives they control and can purchase new units with them.  The rules for this Phase are still simple, but a step up from most games, as each Objective is rated for Land, Sea and Air supply and obviously you can buy only the appropriate type of unit with its corresponding supply type.  Add to that the additional effect on your supply of controlling shipping lanes on the map and you can see just one significant way the designers have sought to create a much more detailed and realistic game, with simple, clear rules.

Tactical Phase

Though the first Phase in each Stage, I've kept it for last, as it is the heart of the game, will occupy most of your playing time and contains all of the most innovative elements of this game.  The designers' goals were to achieve a highly interactive system with little downtime that would appeal to a wide range of gamers.

The table showing all Movement steps and all Combat steps

Here is how they have achieved their goals. The first, and in my view, most significant decision was to divide the Tactical Phase into six separate Movement steps, with some lighter, faster units [e.g. fighters] having the ability to move [and potentially attack] in more than one of the Movement steps.  To explain further I shall outline play in Stage 1.

Being an odd numbered Stage, the two Allied Nations go first.  [On even numbered Stages, the Axis go first.] So they perform Movement Step 1- fighters and submarines move and as they move into an enemy occupied area they place a Combat marker and then resolve any legal attacks in the order shown on the Combat steps side of the table above.  Any defending enemy units that can legally fire do so.  This combat is simultaneous and as in many games, Combat is only mandatory when entering an area solely occupied by enemy units; on entering a contested area it's optional. 

Next the Axis nations repeat exactly what the Allies did - moving their fighters and submarines, marking where combat must occur and both sides performing eligible fire simultaneously. Each of the first five Movement steps follows this identical pattern creating an exceptionally highly interactive system of movement and combat.  

Movement step 6 is different, as all aircraft simply return to eligible bases or aircraft carriers.  Beware moving aircraft moving in earlier turns and being out of range of bases to return to.  Beware even more the enemy capturing your base/s!

This intertwining of Movement and Combat is, as far as I'm aware, the unique design concept and one that has been developed to make play engrossing and above all a fun experience. Inextricably part of this is the equally innovative handling of Combat.  Virtually all units are divided into one of three categories of Firepower shown by a colour code: blue, yellow or red. Similarly, each unit will also be designated as belonging to one of three defensive Armour colours; once again blue, yellow or red.  This hierarchy of colour from blue to red runs from weakest to strongest.  So a unit of blue Firepower can only hit a unit of blue Defence armour, whereas a unit of yellow Firepower can hit units that have either yellow or blue Defence armour.   To make this system even easier to operate, there are matching blue, yellow and red dice.  In among this are a very, very few special units that have the greatest strength and these are coded black!!  A further look at the British Player Aid below shows that for this nation blue and yellow predominate.

Every single piece of information needed is to be found on this one Player Aid for each nationality.  Movement, Armour type and Firepower type along with a variety of symbols that tell you what type of units you can attack, any special abilities that the units possesses and the cost to buy the unit in the Resupply Phase.  Consequently, each of your units simply displays a very familiar identifying image and an equally familiar lettered designation e.g. a tank symbol and the letter T.  The final item of information on the Player Aid is each unit's Firepower hit number.  No complicated combat charts, just a simple "to hit" number - roll equal or higher on a 12-sided dice and you've scored a hit.  Another factor I welcome wholeheartedly in the Combat system is that normally a unit can only fire on units that are of the same or lesser Defence colour as the Attacking unit's Firepower colour.  However, a neat addition allows two units of the same Firepower to defer their attack until the very last step of Combat in order to fire on a unit whose Defence Armour is one colour level higher 

Alongside these broad, overarching, distinctive elements of the system are some additional simple features either not generally found in most war games or here given greater definition without greater complexity of rules.  These include features such as: units when moving can attempt pass-through movement at the expense of suffering a simple defensive die-rolls; and more nuanced distinctions between eligible targets   

An area marked for Combat

[note the black marker indicates the Axis are the Attackers]

Only one area has raised a question and that is solo play and, in particular, the lack of a designed solo system.  As a gamer who began in the fairly early days of the hobby, when approx. 75% of gamers played entirely solo for lack of anyone else, the simple and only solution was play both [or even multiple sides] to the best of your ability.  All I would say for Song for War is that virtually everything that makes its system so innovative and special - namely its high degree of interaction, multiple simple steps, multiple avenues of movement and multiple paths to capturing the crucial Objective areas - make a solo system either impossible or would produce an A.I. that would remove the very fluidity, variety and flexibility that is the heart of this game.  I, for one, will happily want to explore this game solo playing all sides as best I can, while seeking every opportunity to play it with all number of potential players, whether two, three or four. 

A final look at the whole picture 

Behind the qualities of this game are the co-designers and producers of this game, Chris and Seth, who have been incredibly generous of their time in discussing and allowing me to share in game play with them and readily respond on the various internet platforms to all questions and suggestions.

So to sum up, here are the key factors that make me consider this game an absolute must-have.

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION QUALITIES

STUNNING VISUAL AND TACTILE APPEAL 

HIGHLY INTERACTIVE SEQUENCE OF PLAY

MAJOR INNOVATIVE INTEGRATED MOVEMENT AND COMBAT SYSTEM

EASY TO EXECUTE MECHANICS

GREAT VARIETY OF PLAY

AND ABOVE ALL ... A FUN EXPERIENCE 

  

 

 The Hill of Death: Champion Hill

by

Tiny Battle Publishing

 I will be the first to admit that I knew very little about the campaign to take Vicksburg and some other events in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. So, I did what every other red blooded grognard would do and I read up on it. For me, wargaming is as much about the playing of the game as it is in learning about the history of what is depicted.  Rather than me just spouting off some history that I just assimilated I will leave it to the master, Hermann Luttmann, to describe the history and the game.

"The Hill of Death is the first game in the new "Shattered Union" American Civil War series by Tiny Battle Publishing. The series is designed to be accessible and fast-playing, suitable for gamers of any experience level. It is based firmly within the core design philosophy of the Blind Swords and Black Swan systems, but will focus on more obscure or over-looked battles and campaigns, including some fictional "what if" battles that could have occurred during the war. The entire series is governed by one relatively simple set of standard Series Rules, which are altered in each game by a few Game Module specific rules.

The Hill of Death is the first Game Module in the Shattered Union series and covers the entire Battle of Champion Hill. This critical engagement was fought just outside of Vicksburg, Mississippi on May 16th ,1863, between the Union Army of the Tennessee (under Major General Ulysses S. Grant) and the Confederate Army of Vicksburg (under Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton). Grant successfully landed his Union army on the shores of the Mississippi River and quickly advanced inland towards the Mississippi state capital of Jackson. General Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate force made only a token effort at defending the city and then Johnston instructed Pemberton to sally forth from the Vicksburg fortress and attack Grant’s line of supply. On the morning of May 16th, Pemberton’s Army of Vicksburg was in route to fulfilling that mission when it received new orders from Johnston to turn around and join him near the town of Clinton. Pemberton hesitated and as he contemplated his next move, Grant about-faced the Union army. Leaving most of Sherman’s Corps to hold Jackson, he began a determined advance against Vicksburg and Pemberton’s strung out and confused Rebel army. The Battle of Champion Hill was underway, and the fate of Vicksburg hung in the balance."

 This is what comes with the game:

1 – 17" x 22" Map

189 – Counters

45 – Cards

1 – Player Aid

1 – Series Rulebook

1 – Game Module Rulebook

5 – Six-Sided Dice (Red, White, Black, Blue and Gray)

 So, Mr. Luttmann has developed a third rule set of games for American Civil War Battles. This can only be a good thing for us grognards (Along with being a terrible thing for our wives and wallets. Come to think of it, someone should use wives and wallets somehow in a game or company title. Maybe even a gaming convention named 'Wallets sans Wives') 

 If you did not know, Tiny Battle Publishing is the little brother of 'Flying Pig Games'. To illustrate the difference just look at A Most Fearful Sacrifice and this game next to each other. Unlike David and Goliath you do not have to pick a side with these two. With Tiny Battles games you get the best of both worlds: great games with a very small footprint and quick play. You do not have to build on an addition to your house and buy a regulation pool table to set up your copy of A Most Fearful Sacrifice.

 The map is smaller than usual for most games at 17" x 22". However, this is to be expected from a company named Tiny Battles. It looks even smaller because the hexes are one inch wide. So, there is no trouble with cardboard clutter. The map is very well done and very easy on the eyes. It is one of those maps that you would like to copy and put on your wall. As you can see, it is easy to see what terrain each hex is made of. The addition of the names of the different families and their dwellings is a nice touch. It also helps to use the map to follow along with books about the battle. The counters are large at 3/4". They are extremely easy to read, and you can eschew your magnifying glass when playing. The colors are the standard blue and butternut for the Union and Confederate units. The game comes with one large 11" x 17" double sided Player Aid. It is in full color and made from hard stock and laminated. It really reminds me of a restaurant menu in size, color, and the type size. One side has all of the tables needed for the game. The other side has the Sequence of Play etc. on it. Like most games in a series there are two different Rulebooks: one for the series and another for rules that will only apply to the game itself. The Series Rulebook is fifteen pages long. It is made of your normal rulebook paper and is in full color. The type is a bit small but still readable. There is an index included on the first page. The game Rulebook is only eleven pages long with the last page of the Rulebook being another copy of the tables used in the game. The rules take up only five and a half pages. After the rules come the setup and Victory Conditions for the two scenarios. This is followed by a write up about the Optional Units that both sides can add to the game. The game comes with forty-five cards. These are the normal game size cards, but they do seem to be a little sturdier than most. There are Event Cards and Formation Activation Cards. The Formation Activation Cards come with a black and white picture of the units' General or CIC. The components as a whole are as good as you would see on more of the 'larger' games in our hobby.

 This is the Sequence of Play:

1. Game Turn Marker Phase

2. Command Decision Phase

3. Held Formation/CIC Activation Card Phase

4. Activation Phase

  a. Draw Activation Card Step

  

  b. Immediate Event and Wild Card Step

  c. Formation Activation/CIC Card Step

  d. Fire Combat Step

  e. Movement Step

  f. Close Combat Step

  g. Regroup Step

  h. End Activation Step

5. End Phase

  a. Held Event Card Step

  b. Rest and Victory Point Step

 So, what we have here is a new subset of Mr. Luttmann's rules that are a bit streamlined for smaller battles. For those of us who wanted to have the battles of the American Civil War that did not make the 'A' list- Antietam, Chickamauga etc. this is a bit of a Godsend. Champion Hill probably influenced the ending of the Civil War as much or more than any of the much larger battles. 

 How does the game play? Fast and furious, as the designer intended. The footprint of the game and play time are both on the small side. The game is listed as taking two hours to play. From my experience that seems just about right. Of course, it helps if you have played some of his other designs. Naturally, two newbies to the systems are going to take longer on at least their first playthrough.  The game includes rules and counters of the Confederate Army Supply Wagons. As the Confederate player it behooves you to keep them safe. The rules also include some Optional Units for both sides that could have been present at the battle. I would say to get a least a game or two under your belt until you dabble with these 'what ifs'. The game system, like Mr. Luttmann's others, replaces a chit pull or die roll with cards for unit activation etc. So, he has been able to add many different actions that the player would not have if he just pulled a chit that activated x units. It adds a whole new layer to the 'friction' of board wargames.

 One thing about the Tiny Battle games is that if you are so inclined you can buy a PDF of the game and print everything out yourself at a substantial saving. My very few efforts at this have been underwhelming, to say the least. However, I have seen some people who have done it perfectly. Thank you, Tiny Battle Publishing, for allowing me to review another great game from Mr. Luttmann. It plays quickly but is still pretty deep. It also plays well within the bounds of historical accuracy.

Robert

Tiny Battle Publishing:

Tiny Battle Publishing

The Hill of Death: Champion Hill:

The Hill of Death -Champion Hill | Tiny Battle Publishing 

A review of The Devil's to pay: The first day of Gettysburg:

The Devil's To Pay! The First Day at Gettysburg by Tiny Battle Publishing - A Wargamers Needful Things

A review of Cruel Morning Shiloh 1862:

Cruel Morning: Shiloh 1862 by Tiny Battle Publishing - A Wargamers Needful Things

'85 Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires 

by

Flying Pig Games

 The aeronautical porcine is at it once again. This time they take us to Afghanistan in the 1980s. This is when the USSR tried their hand at pacifying that country. For Russia to have control of Afghanistan had long been a part of their strategy. England and Russia played the 'Great Game' for it during the 19th century. Now the USSR tries to see if they can do better than the Tsars. This is the second game in their Squad Battle Series. The first was '65 Squad Level Combat in Vietnam, which has earned some very deserved kudos from the wargaming public.

  This game is on Kickstarter right now. It has already almost doubled the first pledge hurdle. Now it is working on its stretch goals.

 "’85 Graveyard of Empires is the second game in the Squad Battles series. Building on the mechanics introduced in ’65 Squad Battles in the Jungles of Vietnam, Graveyard of Empires (GoE) features squad-level battles between the Afghan Mujahideen and Soviet Red Army in a card-driven, hex and counter game."

  "GOE introduces card-activated events, immersive helicopter rules, more tactical decisions, new powers and abilities, and of course beautiful counter and game board art. The counters are 1” or larger (for the vehicles) and the game board hexes are huge. Included are counters for Mujahideen RPG and RPD teams, rifle squads and heroes, as well as captured T-55 and BMP armored fighting vehicles. The Soviets respond with Spetsnaz, line rifle squads, heroes, Hind-24 attack helicopters and several types of AFVs, such T-55, T-62 tanks, BMPs, BTRs, and more."

 To add to the game, you can also buy an add-on that allows you to play solitaire.

 "Alone in the Mountains is a solitaire expansion for '85 Graveyard of Empires. Utilizing an updated version of the same solitaire system used in Night of Man and '65 Squad Battles in the Jungle of Vietnam, Alone in the Mountains comes complete with a full sheet of counters, a new map, rules, solitaire action cards, and 6 solitaire scenarios for Graveyard of Empires. All that for only $45."

 The soaring swine have some of the largest and beautifully made games in the wargaming world. I urge you to take a look at this and all the others they have to offer.

Robert

'85 Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires -A Squad Battles Game by Mark H. Walker — Kickstarter

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

Old School Tactical | Flying Pig Games

Bohemund of Taranto

Crusader and Conqueror

by

Georgios Theotokis 

 This is a very informative book on not only the man himself, but also the age he lived in. As far as the man, we do not have many books at all about him in any language. So, this volume is more than welcome.

 The book is filled with information that is not known to many. For example: his birth name was actually Mark. Because of his size at birth, he was given the sobriquet of 'Buamundus Gigas' the name (Gigas means giant) of a mythical giant whose story is lost in the ravages of time, according to the author. He was of Norman extraction (Normannorum being the Latin term for Northmen). Many of the later generations of Normans had sailed for the new and different world of Sicily and Southern Italy. His size had continued to grow apace of his contemporaries, so it was quite easy to pick him out in a medieval crowd. 

 The author goes into great detail of how the Normans ended up in these sunny Mediterranean lands. The book continues with Bohemond's family and how his famous father Robert Guiscard had divorced Bohemund's mother when he was just a child. Even though this made Bohemund technically a 'bastard' it does not seem to have lessened his worth at his father's court. 

 The largest part of the book is dedicated to his different dealings with and invasions of the Byzantine Empire. This may surprise some people because of the large role that he played in the First Crusade. You would think that the Byzantines would want him as far away as possible from their lands, instead of letting him march an army close to their capitol. The author describes in detail what happened during the First Crusade and how in the first years Bohemond's military astuteness was one of the main reasons that the crusaders were successful.

 Most of what we know about him was written down by a Byzantine princess named Anna Komnena. She was the first born of Alexios I Komnenos, the Byzantine Emperor. She does let her venom come through toward him at times. At other times it is plain that she begrudgingly admired him. 

 The author has done a fine job of showing the reader the life of this truly giant man. Thank you, Casemate Publishers, for letting me review this very informative book and shining the light on Bohemond's life. His life and adventures would match or surpass any of his Viking forebearers.

Robert

Book: Bohemond of Taranto: Crusader and Conqueror 

Author: Georgios Theotokis

Publisher : Pen & Sword

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

 Guadalcanal: The Battle for Henderson Field, 1942 - 1943

by

War Diary Publications

 "Starvation Island", "Island of Death", or simply hell were among its many epithets. As bad as the conditions were for the American Marines/Soldiers, unbelievably the Japanese had it worse. The Japanese were forced to resort to cannibalism during the end of the battle for the island. Most everything rusted and your clothes would rot while you were wearing them. Contrary to some reports, the Japanese were not highly trained and acclimated to fighting in the jungles of the South Pacific. It was as much a shock to them as it was to the American forces that were on the island. Even being on the troopships before seeing the island was a misery. This is where our wargaming takes us with this game.

 The game was designed by Mike Nagel, and he also did the art, using the 1966 release of Guadalcanal from Avalon Hill Game Company as a template. It was not really taken up by the wargaming community as many of the Avalon Hill games were. In fact, I had played and knew about almost all of Avalon Hill's games and had never seen or heard about this one until reading about this game. 

What comes in the box

 This is from the publisher:

"Deluxe Guadalcanal: The Battle for Henderson Field is a grand tactical game on the efforts of the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army to capture and hold the island of Guadalcanal during the beginning of the island-hopping campaign to push back the Japanese empire.

Errors in strategy and logistics at large made this effort extremely difficult for the Marines, as they held on to the island in the face of Japanese onslaught with dwindling supplies.

Players experience huge swings of fortune from one side to the other and back again as the battle for the island unfolds. Critical to the efforts of both sides is the capture and holding of Henderson Field, an air strip whose control dictates air superiority and the ability to land supplies and much needed reinforcements.

The game includes a huge 17” by 55” map, provided in easily printed letter- and tabloid-sized sheets (8.5x11” and 11x17” respectively, this is for the Print-N-Play form of the game), that covers the northern extents of the island. Combat units are mostly battalions, with a smattering of regiments and companies, representing infantry, armor, and artillery. There are also specialized units such as engineers and LVTs that aid in the maintenance or destruction of Henderson Field as well as movement across the difficult jungle terrain.

The basis for Deluxe Guadalcanal is the original Guadalcanal game published by The Avalon Hill Game Company in 1966. The project began as an effort to create an updated version of the original game’s map, providing some tweaks here and there for accuracy or playability. Once completed, it was not that much of an effort to also create a new, colorful set of counters (including new informational markers) that simplifies play. It was then a short, additional step to rewrite the rules in a manner that incorporates some of the “advanced” rules, some new rules and mechanics, and known errata to create a new, cohesive rules set of under twelve pages."

The Map in all its glory

 This is the component list:

352 laser-cut counters

2 19" x 27" full-color map sheets

2 player aid cards

9 special event cards

16-page rulebook

6-sided die

Close-up of the map and the tables and turn track

 

 The map is pretty big. Because of the actual terrain, it will never be thought of as a piece of art. However, it shows the island's topography as it actually was. It is a long and relatively thin map, although most gamers will have a place where it will fit. The Rulebook is in full color and is made of glossy paper. It is only sixteen pages long but has a good number of play examples. The type used in the Rulebook is nice and large and very easy to read. The game comes with two players aid cards that are on glossy hard stock. These have all the tables and the Sequence of Play on them. There is also a glossy hard stock one-sided sheet for the Optional Reinforcements Setup Chart. The counters are big and have the usual NATO, or what we have come to call NATO, markings. They are very easy to read and really pop out against the map. The cards are sturdy if a bit plain. They have a picture from the box on one side and the event side is really just type. However, matching the rest of the components, the type is nice and large.

 Sequence of Play:

Random Event

U.S. Victory Points

U.S. Naval Bombardment

U.S. Reinforcements

U.S. Artillery Supply

Guerilla Action (only the U.S. player)

U.S. Movement

Japanese Artillery Fire

U.S. Artillery Fire

U.S. Combat

Japanese Random Event

Japanese Victory Points

Japanese Naval Bombardment

Japanese Reinforcements

Japanese Artillery Supply

Japanese Movement

U.S. Artillery Fire

Japanese Artillery Fire

 I think the game is a very good one and is quite a testament to its original forefather. This is what was said about its first iteration:

"Although innovative in many ways, GUADALCANAL was a failure as a design and as a seller. The huge mapboard was virtually wasted as 95% of the action took place on 20% of the mapboard. GUADALCANAL was discontinued after having sold only 27,000 copies. Its failure left AH with the impression that the Japanese were poor “box office” subject matter for years to come."

 I think most wargaming companies today would jump for joy if they sold 27,000 copies of a game. The designer has added victory points for controlling the different village places on the map. This means that the whole map is really now in play. The game still has Henderson Field as its focal point. The whole reason both forces were in this jungle hell was the airfield. The original was also labelled 'very complex' by Avalon Hill. I think the game now is much closer to a medium complexity. This is even with the bells and whistles that the designer has added. The game play is still largely based upon each side's reinforcement schedule. Both players are also compelled, just as in reality, to deal with the lack or surplus of artillery supply. The naval war is abstracted. The air war and forces are not explicitly mentioned, but I believe those forces are added into the different sides' artillery strength. The rules also allow Japanese units to go into Stealth Movement. They can remain in that mode for three turns maximum. For each turn they remain hidden, and not detected by U.S. forces, they get to multiply their movement points. So, if a Japanese unit has been in Stealth Movement for two turns, they would multiply their movement points by two. When moving they can only move into jungle hexes and each of those cost four movement points. There is an optional rule to allow U.S. units to also use Stealth Movement.

 Thank you very much War Diary Magazine for allowing me to review their first published wargame. One can only hope that the endeavor is crowned with glory, and they publish many more.

  

  These are the two latest volumes of War Diary Magazine:

CURRENT ISSUE:  Number 21

MEETING TRIUMPH AND DISASTER:  The Italian Campaigns in East Africa and Greece by Paul Comben

THE FALL OF CRETE:  The Games by Andrew McGee

CRETE:  The Battle by John Burtt

GUADALCANAL:  Updating a Classic by Michael Nagel

ROADS TO LENINGRAD AND MOSCOW:  Con-Z House Rules by Clair Conzelman

THE ITALIAN ARMY IN THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN by Patrick Cloutier

FRONT TOWARD THE ENEMY:  A Review by Arrigo Velicoga

PASS IN REVIEW:  Capsule Reviews by John Burtt and Hans Korting

The Coming Issue:

THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN vs. RUSSIA BESIEGED by Art Lupinacci

Robert

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 SONG FOR WAR

FROM

INVICTA REX GAMES

Look out for this new simulation on the whole of the Mediterranean conflict in WWII - the first game launched by a new company, Invicta Rex Games.

Look out too for a special review exploring this stunning project here on A Wargamers Needful Things next month.

 

SGS PACIFIC D-DAY

and

SGS OKINAWA

from

STRATEGY GAME STUDIO

Strategy Game Studio have a long legacy of successful games which for me replicate everything I want in a board wargame. The majority, though not all, cover WWII.  So, it is with great thanks to Avalon Digital for giving me the opportunity to review their latest two games. This duo takes us to the island hopping battles of the Pacific.

My focus will be mainly on Pacific D-Day because this offers a magnificent five island battles.  In historical order they are:

Tarawa       November 1943

Saipan        June 1944

Tinian        July 1944

Peleliu       September 1944

Iwo Jima   February 1945

Several of these battles I'd already directly experienced on my gaming table in the tried and trusted  hex and counter form of Decision Games D-Day At ... series, which covers all but the battle for Tinian.  I was very aware of the Death Ride Series too covering at least one of the island landings, Tarawa, and in ways that take detail [and cost!] to astronomical levels.

I was intrigued to find out what SGS's approach would be. Like many of their previous games, the maps are area-based ones and for these operational battles that choice seems both obvious and ideal.  In particular, it makes the games very playable without sacrificing all the elements I want and expect in these situations. The combination of land, sea and air that WII Pacific actions involve is a great draw.  However, being invasions, the sea and air elements are more stylised with two boxes, one for US Carriers and one for US Battleships.  So, as must be expected, no searching for the enemy's fleets or battles between them.

Instead, each invasion will reflect its historical nature of American troops making beach landings supported by gunnery fire from the battleships and aircraft strikes from the carriers.  

A typical opening screen shot from the first conflict -

the landing on Tarawa.

Though this may sound like a recipe for repetition, there is plenty of variation to keep you engaged, as I was to discover!

Before considering this aspect of the package, however, it's important to look at the game system and sequence of play.  There is a fairly extensive rules section that you can refer to, but as this is largely generic rather than covering specific elements of the rules particular to these conflicts, I found little reason to turn to it at any point.  I say this with great appreciation after the experience several years ago of a 50+ page online rule book that needed far too much reference to to make sense of what I should be doing.

My first victory on Tinian

[still haven't figured out what 15% refers to!]

For the absolute beginner, the five short video tutorials should be more than enough to get started and, though an infrequent player of computer wargames, I launched in quite successfully without reference to them.  In fact, it was only later that I checked them for purposes of this review. They cover in order:

[1] Region Inspection

This is more useful than it sounds, as it covers not just the physical terrain along with such things as stacking, but also how to examine units and structures [e.g. bunkers].  Much of the time this knowledge won't add significantly to your play, but at key moments, such as preparing for a major battle it can be worth exploring the extra information.

[2] Air Movement and Rebase

Possibly the most useful, especially for the novice, though a few turns should see you dividing your planes and naval artillery into potent groups and sending them to their targets smoothly and efficiently.

[3] Land Movement and stack splitting

This is mainly helpful in making you quickly effective in splitting up large groups.  Playing the game, however, is best for discovering which units can't venture into some types of terrain or without other types of unit accompanying them.

[4] Stacking is as functional and obvious as in most war games whether digital or manual.  Moving your units will quickly teach you the fairly obvious facts about the limitations of infantry only moving into mountainous terrain in small numbers!

[5] Battle

The is the longest of what are all short and succinct learning videos and much of what you learn will be fairly obvious on playing your first battle.

So let's launch into a typical game turn. I'll focus on playing as the US player, though the option is there to play either side.  It's just that my limited forays into being the defending Japanese player have largely been monumental failures.  The computer A.I. does a far better job than I've been able to muster when trying the Japanese side..

Here's me getting an early trouncinging as the Japanese!

Each battle opens with a Turn 0 when both sides get a selection of cards to choose from; one of them is always the Historical set up and that has been my standard preferred choice.  Other choices primarily give you extra reinforcements/increased air or naval power - all at the expense of negative VP costs.  It's worth noting that the Japanese A.I. always seems to take some of these optional boosts.

Then it's into the following TURN SEQUENCE.  Note that the game doesn't use exactly the same terminology in every Phase I have used here for familiarity's sake. 

CARD DRAW PHASE

Just like many of my favourite board wargames, each turn begins with a single card draw.  Most can be saved to play when you want, but a few [edged in purple] must be played immediately.  They're the typical mix of good and bad.  Here's just a sample: bad weather preventing your carrier aircraft from taking off or restricting ground unit movement, a reinforcement card that you can delay playing to gain VPs, a very good range of combat support benefits.

AIR AND NAVAL BOMBARDMENT PHASE

Slightly misleading in its title, as what you are doing is sending these units out to locations where they will take part in Combat in a later Phase.  Note that both types of units can be placed in areas where you intend to move land units or can be sent to soften up targets by themselves.  

Typically you'll have 10 air units and 9 naval bombardment units at the start of battles.  Generally, this will diminish as the game progresses, but with some naval reinforcements and cards that restore an aircraft or two.

Main decisions choices here are as to allocating in small or larger groups and whether to have air and naval units target the same area.

Above you can see the two on-map boxes at a typical point later in a game, where I've divided my naval bombardment units in the USN Battleships box into two stacks of three units and my aircraft in the USN Carriers box into three groups of three.  A simple drag and drop process to first set up the groups can be followed by a further drag and drop process to direct them to their land target areas.  By and large this a simple, fast and fairly intuitive process.  

The screen will show the path you're tracing, indicating by colour whether it is allowed or not, while text will show whether aircraft will encounter AA fire and a symbol whether your destination is legal.  Occasionally, I've encountered minor glitches, such as a left click suddenly doesn't have any effect, but a right click does or, occasionally, a unit might not show a glowing outline to show that it's being immediately allocated to a group.  But trying again eventually will get you there and I've never had any hang-ups/crashes resulting from any of my actions - not even when one air group seemed to be settling, thankfully temporarily, into a weird weaving backwards and forwards pattern.

REINFORCEMENTS

For the USN, these are mainly Battleships. Land reinforcements largely come by card play and are rarely substantial and are limited to highlighted beach landing areas.

LAND MOVEMENT

As with most games this will occupy most of your playing time.  It includes all the usual features, terrain costs, effect on combat, stacking allowed, impassable to certain types of unit, effects on supply etc.  No surprises here and, of course, none of the accidental errors associated with playing games on your table top.  The one omission that I'd like included is the take-back function present in most of the computer war games I play.  So, the zoom-in/out facility comes in handy here to check key destinations.  What makes this system so playable is both the choice of area movement and a relatively low counter density.  I've given up on several hex and counter computer war games purely because of the tedium of pointing and clicking to move massive numbers of units, turn .. after turn ... after turn ... zzzz.

COMBAT PHASE

This probably is the Phase I'm most conflicted about.  First of all a screen appears listing all the combats you've set up and you then click on each one in whatever order you wish to resolve them in.  Typically these range from four to ten battles.  Consequently the Phase moves very fast - you can also adjust the speed at which they play out. 

At the start of each individual battle, you and the A.I. have the opportunity to play one or more cards to affect the outcome.  Only playable cards will be highlighted, quite often this may be a single card.  Your decision is more often whether to play the card now or use in a later battle or wait until a later turn in the game.  Don't forget you're only drawing one card per turn and not all of them affect combat.  You are guided a little in your decision by a bar at the bottom of the screen which indicates the percentage chance of winning the battle for each side.

The choice of battle card at the beginning of a battle.

Once a battle has been chosen, all the units appear and all that's left to do is click on the tab at the bottom of the screen to activate each step of the battle.  This is essentially Bombard, followed by Fight.  As each unit fires, the number it rolls flashes up superimposed on the unit.  Any hits scored are automatically allocated by the computer.  A battle lasts three rounds maximum and the only choice you have as the attacker is when the screen offers the opportunity to click on a white "Retreat" tab.

My main ambivalence about the process is not knowing the rationale behind how hits are allocated on the enemy and the fact that you have no control over the hits allocated to your own units.  Also puzzling have been the occasions when the enemy has suddenly retreated or routed.  Nice when it happens, but I'd like more understanding of why; still it could be argued that that's a realistic factor of war.  Similarly, sometimes you'll get the opportunity for some pursuit fire and occasionally a breakthrough occurs with the opportunity for some units to advance and, if they enter an enemy occupied area, create another battle.  This ability to Breakthrough is the one I've struggled most to implement successfully.  Sometimes the method has worked, sometimes it hasn't.  After Combat, a screen appears detailing all the results. 

REPLACEMENTS

These are usually just one or two build points per turn.  Each point restores an infantry unit to full strength, while two points are needed to restore armour units.  Consequently, they are best saved in the early stages of a battle and applied to units that are on their last strength point or two. The strength of a unit is shown by the number of white SP dots; as a unit takes hits, this is shown by the dot turning grey.  Tracking losses is therefore a simple and clear process.

Once you, as the active USN player, have taken your turn its over to the Japanese A.I. whose turn will zip by in seconds.  Even when the A.I. is playing the USN, their turn is remarkably fast!

Another glimpse of me playing the Japanese

Over and above the game play which is smooth and fast [up to you whether you want to slow down the Combat section], graphics are simple, clear and the zoom facility  enhances visual examination well.

So far, I've played through three out of the five battles and all three have proved very different experiences.  Tinian, my first victory, went down to the penultimate turn of its 19 turns and so far seems the easiest.  As the shortest battle, it was a good starting point.  Next up was Tarawa, which initially was an abject failure as my progress was so slow that the invasion got cancelled - oh, the shame of it!  By comparison when I moved on to Saipan, the landings were an easy cake-walk.  Ashore with little opposition which was overwhelmed on the first turn and the coastal road looked like a beckoning highway! But if my experiences are an accurate reflection of the battle just wait till you start having to winkle the Japanese infantry out of the mountains.  Not only are they a tough nut, but they have some bite back if you're not careful - you're going to need those replacement points.

I've barely dipped my toes into the waters of SGS Okinawa, as this is a completely separate game purely on the one battle.  It was historically the last major one of the US island campaign and deserves its individual treatment, especially when you consider that more American troops were involved than in the D-Day landings on the Normandy beaches! Not surprisingly it's a much larger undertaking than any of the individual battles in Pacific D-Day and has two scenarios: the full 40 turn campaign and a moderately shorter 31 turn scenario, the Shuri Line.  So, in a few weeks I hope to bring you a closer look at what has happened there.

However, if you haven't had enough of the Pacific yet, my next review will be focusing in detail on the naval war with Vuca Simulations Task Force Carrier Battles in the Pacific.