Tag Archives: Patton’s Best

Patton’s Best Pt 2

On the road again and this is a late post.

Started the campaign game, which didn’t last long.  An 88mm anti-tank gun blew “Ripper” up on the second day of combat.  All unspotted AT guns are treated as 88s until spotted.  This one wasn’t, I didn’t use smoke and get the hell out of there, so (in Tim’s words) “Blammo”!

Definitely hooked on the game.  Fairly comfortable with the rules and sequence of play.  It’s heading back to Central Oregon, and will be set up on return.

Patton’s Best

 

Patton’s Best (PB) lies somewhere near the other end of the solo spectrum from In Magnificent Style. I would characterize it as “accessibly granular”. An excellent review can be found here.

 I received this game as a gift in the late 90s. It has languished since then, even exiled to The Lake. However, the continuing bad weather was enough motivation to get it on the table and start punching counters.

 The rules are organized, but lack a play-thru to help synthesize an understanding of the many steps involved. While an outline of the daily sequence is printed on the mounted map (along with several charts and Battle Board), one has to jump around between three other charts and brief explanations in the rules to gain a rudimentary understanding of game flow. It took several hesitant steps to get semi-comfortable with how to proceed.

 Like its cousin, B-17, PB is best played as a mini or full campaign and not a one-off, although the rules allow for interesting daily missions. The elusive (it’s appended to the back of the After Action Report Pad, and took an internet search to locate) Combat Calendar breaks the Northwest European Campaign down into operational segments with differing tempos of operations, weather and missions.

 PB has a great deal of replay value. The wide variety of German weapons, areas for combat, and types of Shermans (18!!!), make for any number of trials and tribulations for the crew. The After Action Report allows for good narrative and character development. A fine example of this is the “Spring Chicken” saga over at Web Grognards.

 I’ll be digging into this one over the next several days. Might even bring it back to Central Oregon.