Category Archives: Boardgames

Finally…….

Boardgames, Review + Session Report

Finished off a long and torturous session with the venerable and highly rated Panzergruppe Guderian.

Getting it on the table was a lengthy process.    Purchased on E-Bay eons ago.  Arrived in fetid condition, probably stored in a basement in Missouri for the past 20 years.  No slur on The Show Me State, as  I lived there for 10 years, and had a number of games go bad in the humidity.

Game spent about 6 months in a car freshener laced garbage bag along with some really smelly Osprey Men At Arms books.  Rules had to be copied since the originals were falling apart.  Lucky the copier didn’t succumb.

It is a fun play, until the German player has to get involved in (I think unavoidable) attritional showdowns at or east of Smolensk.  

Opening

 

The unknown Soviet unit strengths make it a very good solo game.  The Soviets keep throwing units into hasty defensive lines, while the Germans try their best to outflank them, and wait for their infantry to appear,  sew up the pockets, and get the ZOC kills.  Unfortunately, the infantry units are a little late in getting on the map. 

My mistake was to leave armored units to seize Smolensk, rather than push them east.  Again, if I’d been more patient, the infantry would  eventually  have arrived.  But, time is of the essence in this game.

Also, once a unit is in contact, it is committed and  can only  leave its opponent’s ZOC through victory or an unfavorable combat outcome.  Panzer losses reduce the ability to attack at doubled strength.

So, why long and torturous?  Just couldn’t bring myself to get muddy and bloody east of Smolensk once the Soviet defenses had really coalesced.  Kept looking at the game table and finding beer to drink and/or  chores to do.

The key to this last defensive line was using Soviet commanders – who have a command radius allowing units to use full movement – as “shepherds” to help units into action quickly.  Rail movement is limited, and the German interdictions drastically reduce rail movement.  So, getting everyone moving west is a Soviet priority.

The Soviets also have a limited interdiction capability.  This is limited to twice a game, but given the German line of communications bottleneck, an interdiction  reduce literally all German units east of Smolensk to half strength during that turn.  Timing here is critical for Soviet success.  

By Turn 8, it was coming down to one turn of die rolls for the Germans.  Without a breakthrough, stalemate.  Rolled them, and the Germans remained locked up, with only a limited reserve  too weak to continue east.  

End Game

A marginal victory for the Germans.

Weekend At Tim’s

Boardgames, Sessions, World War II

Real pleasant couple of days in Portland.  Hotter than Hell, but we stayed refreshed and hydrated.

Maybe that’s one reason not a lot of gaming took place.  Also a perceived need to view a few action films outweighed the desire to push cardboard.

We played “Operation Exporter” from  War In The Desert.  This is an operational simulation of the  Allied invasion of Syria.  Not exactly Tim’s cup of tea – low counter density, only a small portion of the map used and….gasp…..no real tanks (only a couple of Vichy light tank units with attack strengths of 1).  The Allies will win, it’s just a matter of time.  However, the victory point schedule makes time of the essence

Nonetheless, Tim did a great job as Allied Commander.  He used his one motorized asset to harass the Vichy flanks and optimized the use of his limited air assets and naval gunfire.  He also quickly assembled the two divisions available to him, with their enhanced combat power and zones of control.  The regiments and brigades that make up all the Vichy forces cannot be formed into divisions.

I played my part by having a (typical) cavalier approach to victory conditions.  While Tim didn’t win on VIPS, he certainly won the game.

I didn’t fare as well when we switched sides.

This is a good little scenario.  It’s viewed as excellent starter game as it has all of the Europa food groups, but without the counter density to make the experience overwhelming.

He’ll be out at The Pinecone Lodge around Labor Day for Storm Over Scandanavia’s hypothetical scenarios involving the invasion of Sweden.

Old Itch Scratched

Boardgames, Review + Session Report, Sessions

One of the lost games that I have fond memories of is SPI’s Oil War.  Don’t know where it went, but probably in a late 70’s purge along with the also lamented World War I.

Been looking for both on E-Bay but the high prices were off-putting.  Recently found a reasonably priced folio game and snapped it up.

Fairly quick to set up, moves along at a brisk pace, but there is one problem.  The Western nations have to really screw it up to lose.  Why?  Airpower.  Air attacks simply crush the combined Arab forces.  It will take time….but  victory conditions will be attained.

My approach was to establish airheads in southern Saudi Arabia, reducing logistical demands, snap up the Saudi oil fields, then gradually move north.  Yes, Kuwait has to be captured to assure a substantial victory, but that is an eventuality.

Arab forces need to defend airbases to deny the West their logistics benefits, and to give ground grudgingly, hoping that the game will end before losing the 25 oil fields signifying a substantial Western victory.

At the time, it was a challenging and fun game, dealing with a very current topic.  Now…..not so much, but I enjoyed playing it, and that’s the main thing.  Here’s a couple of photos.

First Time Through: Aggressiveairlanding  on the coast. Air units staged to savage Saudis defending oil fields. Significant assets attacking Qatar.
First Time Through: Too aggressive. Coastal unit just before ZOC kill.
Second Time Through: Slow and Steady.  No distractions and no sudden moves.

 

What’s Not To Like?…..Revisited

Boardgames, Sessions

In May I posted up about my positive impression of Avalon Hill’s old Arab-Israeli War.

Since then, I’ve played a couple of the advanced scenarios and confirmed why the game isn’t that well regarded.

The first is line-of-sight.  It can be hard to envisage, especially if the player does not have any experience with map countours, military crest, reverse slope and dead ground.  For that player, it’s a puzzler.

The second is the slow pace of play.  Slow, if the Israeli’s want to win.  The Israeli’s have to advantage of the ground, and maintain their ability to stand-off and destroy the Arab units piecemeal.  This takes patience.  No charges up any valleys.  Slow and steady working on the flanks.

The Arab player’s best hope is to delay/defend and reduce the level of Israeli victory by having the game end before objectives can be achieved.

While not necessarily action-filled armor fun, this type of play makes it an interesting challenge for both sides.

 

What’s Not To Like?

Boardgames, Review

TAD at The Sunfish Capitol Of The World.  It’s a holding area for some of my older AH games.  Never know when there will be a couple of boring rainy days.

Set up The Arab-Israeli Wars,  the final iteration of the Panzer Blitz Series.  When I opened the box, I discovered three old envelopes containing the counters for Situations (they didn’t call them Scenarios back then) 2, 3 and 4.  Have no idea when I last played.  So….start at the beginning.

Before all of that, I read the rules.  Three levels; Beginning, Standard and Advanced.  Each layers on unit capabilities and additional types of units, even including fixed wing and rotary aircraft.  The usual foodgroups for tactical armor games; direct fire, indirect fire, overrrun, and close assault.

Scenarios reflect increasing complexity and number of units.  Counters are large and easy to read, maps are bland, but functional.  On the other hand, what can you do with the desert?  Well, someone did get creative with Bar Lev.

(In)Famously Psychadelic!

In short, what’s not to like for a reasonable armored combat simulation that doesn’t bog you down?

My only gripe is that the charts are on a double-faced fold out requiring all kinds of fiddling to  work with…..and some genius included the turn track.  But, the genius did add dotted lines so the track can be cut away from the charts.

It’s sunny now, but will still get in a few plays.   Here’s a photo of the whole shooting match.  Excuse the E-Bay Listing Approach.

 

Fall Grun – What Was He Thinking?

Boardgames, Review + Session Report,

After two gratuitous posts, here’s (hopefully) something of substance, and very late getting to the blog.

A couple of weeks ago, Tim and I played Fall Grun, a Europa game covering the proposed German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938.  The hypothetical conflict was previously covered by both Command and Strategy and Tactics magazines.  In each of our three “games”, Tim had the Czechs.

This iteration is published  by New Europa Games, using John Astell’s Blitzkrieg Unleashed rules.  Mr. Astell’s involvement with the Europa system goes back to, I think, the inception.  The rules closely follow the Europa template, but involve some interesting changes to ZOCs and Overruns.

The New Europa website is apparently dormant, but has been an excellent source for variant counters.  Also, a game anticipating a Hungarian-Roumanian war in wake of the Czech conflict is supposedly in the making.  That would be fun.

The game components are of high quality, however the lack of comprehensive charts presupposes ownership of other Europa games.  The map is vinyl.  Apparently this is cheaper to produce than a paper map.  The only downside is that the creases are more obstinate than  paper, requiring some improvisational and forceful re-shaping

The Germans have their work cut out for them.  The Czech’s have a quality army that receives strong infantry and armored reinforcements very early in the game.  The German initial deployment is rather “even”, without any real point of main effort.  Many German units, especially valuable engineers and artillery regiments, are placed some distance back from the Czech-German border, and require time to assemble or move to contributory locations.  There is also the possibility of Soviet intervention of the Czech side, with also a desulatory appearance by the anti-Czech Poles obsessing over three hexes.

The real German strength is their airforce.  Many units, well suited to ground support, but with fighter cover that lacks range and (initially) limited airfields close to the Czech border.  Also, Astell’s latest rules (early war) allow positive combat modifiers for an armored mix as low as 10 percent of the attacking forces.

After setup, we played the initial two turns.   I dutifully went through the Blitzkrieg playbook using the first turn to annilihate the Czech airforce and mass units for border attacks.  Tim countered, and my attacks stalled.  And, that was that.  A learning experience.  Reset for Saturday.

Well, Friday was a learning experience, but not a good one for me.  Still allocated aircraft to airfield attacks, but this time I had deployed my engineer units to quick construct airfields, or move into positiion close to the border to construct them on Turn Two.  I concentrated my attacks to the southeast and southwest of Prague, hoping to isolate Prague from the strong Czech units facing Vienna.

Initial Setup. That Vinyl Map Needed Anchoring
Germans Attempt To Isolate Prague
Limited Gains

Weather.  Why worry about it, right?  Never a thought.  It’s October…….crisp fall weather.  Oh…….then just roll on the weather table  for …..MUD.  Ugh…..bad, bad amateur move.  It stings even three weeks later.

OK, give it one more try.  Another set up after dinner.  Same bloody result.  This time, more aggressive, greater gains.  But, again, MUD.

New Game….Same Result….Stalled

No wonder the General Staff was ready for a putsch.  Tough army, difficult terrain, limited mechanized advantage, and an untried airforce lacking airfields.  And, also, MUD.

I don’t know if Tim is ready for it, but I’d like to switch sides and see what he can do.  He’s good, very good.  But this is quite a challenge.

Good game in the tradition that is all best about the Europa system.  And, given the strange and terrible saga of this system, it’s best to remember the good.

In A Rut

Boardgames, Review, Solitaire, World War II

Opened up a box and it jumped right out at me!  “It” is an old S&T magaizine game, Saipan.

Why not?  It’s solitaire and is the first game I’ve ever played that has any of my old units in it (2/24 and HQ 24th Marines).

It’s another slog.  Wristage and more wristage; have to reduce 88 (yes 88!), Japanese fortifications, plus the chance of encountering Japanese troops every hex you move into (except destroyed fortifications).  Lots of rolling to do.  I can handle that, but what’s vexing is the step losses.  Yes, one has to use numbered chits to designate losses.  Ugh.

All that griping aside, the system seems viable, with NGF, Air support, Japanese coastal defenses, and reasonable command and control (called Lines Of Communication) rules for Division and Regimental HQs.  All in all, the game seems a reasonable representation of a meat grinder of a campaign.

I have Bloody Buna on the table and now this damn thing.  It is a rut!  Need to get an East Front game out (and not Stalingrad) next!

Mangled Turn 1, forgetting Japanese reactions to Marine movement.  But, it was an easy re-set.  Will try it again tonight.

Ready To Grind

 

More Table Fun

Boardgames, Review

Been playing another small game.  It’s a game with a war theme, so I guess it is a war game.  Realism…….not so much.  Entertainment and Fun……so much.

It’s Pocket Landship, a PNP game I stumbled across over at Boardgamegeek.

The link is for the updated version, with more options and better graphics.  The original looks like this when set up.

No, The Cards Are Not Huge. Yes, The Dice Are Very, Very, Small.

Game is simple and elegant.  In the basic game, you control one Landship, with three components – Hull, Sponson, and Gun.  The enemy has six random elements, including infantry, artillery and other land ships.  Only the front three are in play at any one time.  Roll three die for the enemy.  Assign lowest die to the left unit, and other two in ascending order.  See what happens.  For your Landship, roll three die and allocate as best you can. If you destroy one enemy element, another moves up.  Last Man Standing wins.

Fun and compact.  As the say, a great “filler” game.  Just like TAC, buy this one before it gets snapped up, pimped up, and priced up!

 

Table Fun

Boardgames, Review, World War II

Undertook a mini project when TAD.  It was TAC – Table Air Combat.

This is a simple, fun, inexpensive WWII aerial combat game with a wide variety of aircraft types.  It can be found over at Wargamevault.

You get a PDF copy of the rules with each aircraft type.  The PDF is very well done.  Other help is available for free download.

The aircraft maneuvering card includes all the information you need to fly the aircraft, so after a few plays, and familiar with the general rules, you can seamlessly transition to any aircraft you like.

The counters show a single aircraft on one side, and two aircraft on the other I’m thinking about mounting 1/700 aircraft on a counter for a 3-D effect.

Speaking of 3-D, the system incorporates “energy” as a means of simulating vertical maneuver.  The concept is simple, an aircraft can gain energy by climbing (reducing linear movement), which allows it to gain speed in a dive.

The footprint is very small, making it a great travel game.

For what it is…..it’s great!

Rules are well illustrated, easy to understand and have great graphic qualities.
BF 109-E Turning Into A Polikarpov I-16. Note Data On Manuever Care.

A Little Bloodier

Boardgames, Review + Session Report, World War II

Was able to get through about 12 turns of Bloody Buna before I left for latest elder-care iteration.

It’s easy to understand why the response to this game was muted. Supply is everything, and there isn’t enough of it. Unlike many games where new supply counters are generated every turn, or MSRs linking supply sources to units are lengthy and developed, this game has short MSRs (2-4 hexes), and a very limited number of supply counters.

The result is the need to accept attrition die rolls as the cost of conducting business. While Allied units can huddle in defensive positions near supply sources, they will have to conduct operations far from these sources in order to win. The Japanese face a dwindling level of supply as the campaign progresses, and will have to hold on to their gains in order to eke out at least a marginal victory.

This isn’t the Western Desert. No booming and zooming.

So far, the Japanese were able to advance to Kokoda, eliminating Australian units that were tasked with a delay/defend mission. However, the Japanese are now on half-supply.

Another Japanese force moved east of Buna to cut off Allied forces that had moved west from Milne Bay. Again, both sides will soon be out of supply and subject to random attrition and accompanying loss of combat power.

I’m charmed by this game, if only because of the limitations created by factors taken for granted in so many other games.

Here’s a couple of bad pics depicting the Japanese attack on Kokoda, and the situation when I left.  Number chits indicate supply turns remaining.