Posted on Nov 8, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Interceptor Ace Daylight Air Defense Over Germany, 1943-44 Game Review. Publisher: Compass Games Designer: Gregory M. Smith Price $75 Passed Inspection: Well written rule book with examples and an index, easy to learn and fun to play, immersive almost role playing game like play, beautiful components, addictive Failed Basic: Would have liked to have seen rules for the Me163, Me262, Dornier Arrow and other late war fighters; also a way to track days between missions would be nice; would also like to see a squadron success table and rules for late 1944 and 1945 operations March 7th – 2nd mission Lt Marten flying Lion’s Claw, a Bf109 G4 Jg27 is my home squadron. B24 raid on the Ruhr. Good weather. Intercepted a formation of B24 Liberators. No enemy escorts are visible- I and my wingman approach a B24 from 12 O’clock level. We fire from long range hitting the port wing badly. The B24 flips as pieces of the wing break off and the B24 enters a diving spin....
Read More
Posted on Nov 2, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Fields of Fire Volumes 1 and 2. Board Game Review. Publisher: GMT Games. DESIGNER: Ben Hull ORIGINAL DEVELOPER: Dick Vohlers SERIES DEVELOPER: Richard Gray Price: $75.00 (Vol 1) $82.00 (Vol 2) Passed Inspection- generates excellent narratives, replayability, and models the problems of command very well. Failed Basic- A rulebook and playbook that are in dire need of revision Fields of Fire is a solitaire company level simulation of combat during the Second World War, Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Rather than being a game specifically focused on infantry tactics, it tries to model the problems of command, with a skilled player being one who understands how to use is order points efficiently by taking advantage of the command hierarchy. The actual combat is abstracted out to a high degree, revolving around the draw of action cards. Both volumes of Fields of Fire contain an action deck, 3 different map decks representing the different eras of play, and 5 counter sheets totaling something over 800 different counters. Along with...
Read More
Posted on Oct 31, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Clash of Chariots : The Battle of Kadesh, 1274 B.C. Game Review. Publisher: High Flying Dice Games Designer: Paul Rohrbaugh Price: $11.95 (unmounted counters) $17.95 (mounted counters) Passed Inspection: Easy to learn. Interesting subject matter. Great looking components. Tense game play. Great for solo play. Excellent value for the money. Failed Basic:  Since the game play is depending on cards to end the turn, the game can go on for a good deal longer than one afternoon. “Morale†is misspelled on the “Moral Level Tracker†(Paul has that corrected now – ed) High Flying Dice Games (HFDG) continues their tradition of high quality, low price games with Clash of Chariots : The Battle of Kadesh, 1274 B.C. The Battle of Kadesh was a decisive battle between the Egyptians under Ramesses II (also spelled as “Ramses IIâ€) and the Hittite Empire under King Muwatalli II. From Wikipedia: The battle is generally dated to 1274 BC from the Egyptian chronology and is the earliest battle in recorded history for which details...
Read More
Posted on Oct 7, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Last Battle: Ie Shima, 1945. Publisher: Take Aim Designs and Revolution Games. Game Designer: Michael Rinella. Developer: Roger Miller. Price $ 30.00. Passed inspection: Easy to grasp area movement game that showcases a smaller battle from late in the Pacific war. Game board really captures the feel of the period. Solid game with easy to read counters. Failed basic: Nothing that would keep me from buying the game. It’s possible that single bad die roll can end a game turn early and wreck the US time table. It won’t happen every game and there is a way to mitigate the effect by controlling and using the advantage marker. As far back as I can remember, I always enjoyed playing the classic Avalon Hill Game ‘Storm Over Arnhem’. Partly it was that the game was released a few short years after the film ‘A Bridge Too Far’ had been on the television, partly that the topic was one of the pivotal actions of the Market-Garden campaign, but a lot of...
Read More
Posted on Sep 28, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Crossing the Line – Aachen 1944 Board Game Review. Publisher: Furor Teutonicus Games Designer: D.Blennemann, Developer & Art Director: P.Gebhardt, Graphic Artist: P.Bazerque, Rules Editor: J.Bruncken Price €55,00 / $60 Review by Matt White Passed Inspection: beautiful artwork and components, high production values, solo or two player, fluid turn structure, interesting combat mechanics and superb use of HQ units Failed Basic: Rules would benefit from more examples of play; game has lots of dice rolling that won’t be to everyone’s taste “Crossing the Line – Aachen 1944 is an operational level simulation of the Battle for Aachen, which took place from September 12th to October 21st, 1944. The game is intended for two players but is also suitable for solitaire and team play. The game is played in a semi-interactive way, as only one Division of the active player is activated to conduct actions at the same time and the inactive player sometimes can have one of his Divisions react to specific threats and interrupt the enemy’s actions. While...
Read More
Posted on Sep 24, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
B-25 Prince of the Skies Board Game Review. Publisher: None – Print and Play Game Designer: Lee Smith Price FREE Review by Rick Martin Passed Inspection: Easy to learn, strong solo narrative, beautiful components, FREE!!! Failed Basic: The Ki84 shouldn’t be included in the 1942 Doolittle Raid scenario. A few typos. If you don’t like dice rolling, this may not be for you. Skills that your crew could earn would be a nice addition and add to the role playing experience. Mission #2 of the Betty Page. B25 Mitchell bomber of the 42 Bombardment Group flying out of Port Moresby, New Guinea. “A collective groan escaped the bomber crews this morning when we were briefed that our target for today was, once again, that damned Japanese naval airfield at Gasmata that we failed to damage yesterday. We knew they’d be expecting us back and the welcoming committee would be angry as hell. This mission got worse when our fighter escort failed to meet us at the rendezvous point. ...
Read More
Posted on Sep 17, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Glory Recalled: Hong Kong 1941. Publisher: Homeland Workshop (US Distributor, Quarterdeck International). Game Designer: David Cheng. Price $70.00. Passed inspection: A fast playing game of a rarely covered chapter from the Pacific War. Failed basic: Color choices on cards may be an issue for those with red/green color blindness. A player aid chart detailing the turn sequence would be a welcome addition. Good day and welcome to my review. First up, I’ll admit that I have a weak spot for games covering the Pacific theater in World War Two. This goes back to playing the snot out of classic Avalon Hill games like ‘Victory in the Pacific’ and ‘Midway’. This carried over across the years into tabletop miniatures that led me to doing a lot of reading on the battles fought across the Pacific from the Aleutians to New Guinea and from the jungles of Burma to the forests of Oregon and Washington state. So, I may be pre-disposed to enjoy this game more than the typical casual...
Read More
Posted on Sep 13, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Fighting Eagles –  Board Game Review. Publisher: High Flying Dice Games  Game Designer:   Paul Rohrbaugh Price $7.95 with unmounted counters or $11.95 with mounted counters Passed Inspection: Fun, introductory aviation war game, fantastic value for the price, perfect to take on trips, excellent solo play Failed Basic: nothing at all Paul Rohrbaugh’s High Flying Dice Games has made a name for itself in the field of easy to learn, fun to play, inexpensive board war games. The zip lock bagged “Fighting Eagles†covers the air war in Europe during 1918 on a tactical, plane to plane scale. The game’s components include: a 3 page rule booklet an 8 ½ “ x 11 “ map board 39 counters You’ll need 1 pack of playing cards and 1 six sided die. Yes – you read it right!!! This game comes with a 3 page rule book and in those rules are covered everything you need to know about playing World War I air combat including altitude, combat, maneuvers, strafing, anti-aircraft fire,...
Read More
Posted on Aug 23, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Race to Tokyo – Operation Coronet: The 1946 Allied Landing Plan for Tokyo. Designer: Yasushi Nakaguro. Price $39.00 Passed inspection: Fast-playing game, good introduction to hex and counter wargames without complex rules. Good coverage of a hypothetical campaign that could have been, but wasn’t. Failed basic: Translated player’s aid card could have been slightly clearer regarding Japanese reinforcements and strategic reserves. Back in the day, I had a college instructor that was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He’d waded ashore on Pacific beaches and onward to serve through Korea and into the 1960’s. He’d speak a little of his experiences, mostly how he and his comrades knew that the logical next step after capturing Okinawa would be the invasion of the Japanese home islands. He was a full supporter of using the atomic bombs on Japan, if for no other reason than he had an excellent understanding of what that cost would have been to himself and the other Marines, soldiers and sailors tasked with executing...
Read More
Posted on Aug 16, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Peloponnesian War Board Game Review. Publisher: GMT Games Game Designer: Mark Herman Price $65.00 Passed Inspection: beautiful components, stunning cover artwork, dynamic narrative to the game play, solo and 2 player rules included, multiple scenarios covering different wars, tons of replayability, can be played in one sitting, easy to learn Failed Basic: a few typos or unclear rules, map board doesn’t law completely flat on the left side, counter stacks can get unwieldy Mark Herman has taken his Peloponnesian Wars game originally published by Victory Games in 1991 and given it an unbelievably brilliant upgrade. This new edition is winner! For those who own the original edition, Herman has added the following to the game: 1) This new edition not only covers the 2nd Peloponnesian War (431 BC to 404 BC) but now includes the 1st Peloponnesian War (460–445 BC), the Archidamian War (431 BC to 421 BC – a shorter game which can be played in an hour or so), the Decelean War (413 BC to 404...
Read More
Posted on Aug 15, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Thunder on the Water. Publisher: High Flying Dice Games. Game Designer: Paul Rohrbaugh. Price $14.95 (base game) $28.95 (with mounted counters and the custom draw deck). Passed inspection: A fast playing game of a pivotable naval battle in North Carolina waters. Failed basic: A number of typos in the rules and player aid chart that can cause some confusion and some questions on unit names and ratings. A long time ago, I lived in eastern North Carolina. At the time I was doing a fair bit of travelling between the Outer Banks and Greenville and often found myself traveling around the waters of Albemarle Sound. As I passed through Plymouth or crossed the bridge at Edenton, I’d often think of that epic naval battle fought between the Union Navy’s wooden warships and the Confederate ironclad CSS Albemarle. After assisting with the Confederate victory at Plymouth, the ironclad had then sortied in attempt to steam south to the Pamlico Sound and help in the assault on the town...
Read More
Posted on Aug 1, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
‘The Last Hundred Yards’. Publisher: GMT Games. Game Designer: Mike Denison. Price $ 59.00 Passed inspection: Colorful counters depicting the troops of both combatants, map board graphics that are evocative of the European countryside, core rules that cover the major elements of WWII ground combat. Good mix of scenarios. Captures the feel of company – platoon ground combat in the European Theater. Failed basic: Focused solely on US and German forces in ’44-45. Vehicle assortment only covers the basics of the armored and support units found on both sides. There are few more iconic wargaming experiences than the Western Front in 1944. The image of heroic GI’s going toe to toe with the grim Wehrmacht troops defending the Reich has been ingrained into popular culture through photographs, books, movies and, of course, games. It’s rare when a game triggers both feelings of nostalgia and an appreciation of innovative design. Mike Denison has nailed both of those with ‘The Last Hundred Yards’ from GMT Games. Why nostalgia? This game transported...
Read More
Posted on Jul 29, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Tim Williams Another One Gone… Richard Berg 1943-2019 Richard H. Berg was one of the best wargame designers that ever took up a pencil and a history book and converted the results into a historical simulation game capable of stimulating players’ interest in History, sharpening their intellects, and damaging their friendships. Outside of movies, my primary hobby between 1977 and roughly 1991 was Board Wargaming, and Berg designs were prominent in my collection, which at its peak numbered approximately 320 games. Aside from game design, Mr. Berg was a retired Criminal Defense Lawyer by trade, but was also a true ‘Renaissance’ individual, capable of holding forth with great authority on subjects as diverse as Literature, Baseball, Haute Cuisine and Opera. Having joined several wargame-related FaceBook pages some years back, I took a chance and sent him a friend request, which to my surprise he accepted. I was even more surprised how willing he was to make comments on my posts, especially considering that we were not actually “friends†or even...
Read More
Posted on Jul 23, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Marathon 490 BC Board Game Review. Publisher: Turning Point Simulations Game Designer: Paul Rohrbaugh Price $33.95 zip lock bag, $39.95 boxed Passed Inspection: beautiful components, fun to play, can be played in 2 or 3 hours, small table footprint, easy to learn rules, high replay value owing to both a historic and a hypothetical scenario Failed Basic: abatis counters are printed too lightly, counters must face a hex vertex which I kept forgetting to do, needs slightly bigger hexes ‘With you it rests, Callimachus, either to bring Athens to slavery, or, by securing her freedom, to be remembered by all future generations. For never since the time that the Athenians became a people were they in so great a danger as now. If they bow their necks beneath the yoke of the Persians, the woes which they will have to suffer…are already determined. If, on the other hand, they fight and overcome, Athens may rise to be the very first city in Greece.’ Herodotus The Battle of Marathon...
Read More
Posted on Jul 8, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Halls of Montezuma: Publisher: GMT Games. Designers: Michael Welker & David Fox. Price $55.00 (On sale for $35.00) Passed inspection: Does a good job of teaching Mexican geography through the map. Highlights the key events of the war through the event and action cards. Failed basic: Set up instructions are unclear. Original rulebook is a muddle that makes learning to play the game very difficult. Card driven games have become a staple of the board game hobby. Be it “Twilight Struggleâ€, “For the Peopleâ€, or any of the growing number of COIN series games, the card driven game seems here to stay. And rightly so as the mechanism of the card driven game allows a great blend of history lesson, special rule delivery vehicle and an agent for conveying the fog of war. The Mexican American War is a great topic for a card driven game. With a rich history of events that span political and military affairs, the period offers the opportunity to convey a lot of...
Read More
Posted on Jul 5, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Bloody Dawns. 2017. Publisher: High Flying Dice Games. Designer: Pierre Razoux. Developer: Paul Rohrbaugh. Price: $45.00 Passed inspection: Game provided insight into the little covered Iran-Iraq War. Rules were easy to digest and focused on speed of play and player experience. Great introduction to card driven games. Die-cut counters! Failed basic: A few minor bits of errata you need to integrate into the rulebook, but that errata are included with the game. Mention the Iran-Iraq war to most American’s and they’ll likely focus on either the first gulf war in 1990-91 or the post-9/11 events of the past 18 years. Those that do remember the conflict often view it through the lens of Ronald Reagan’s presidential victory, the end of the Iranian hostage crisis and a more militant, interventionist United States foreign policy. What’s often lost in this view are the details of an eight-year war that pitted two intractable competitors engaged in total war. While it’s easy to view this as a proxy war between cold war adversaries,...
Read More
Posted on Jul 4, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Warfighter The World War II Pacific Combat Card Game Board Game Review. Publisher: DVG Games Game Designer: Dan Verssen and Kevin Verssen Price $59.99 Passed Inspection – fast playing, fun, the game creates an immersive narrative for your squad, unique combat system, beautiful components, solo or cooperative play Failed Basic:  rules could be reorganized for easier reference, needs an index, box cannot hold everything once you unpack the cards. There is a steep learning curve. Game requires a large table top footprint, rules say you can play Japanese or American teams but the game only includes cards for playing as the Americans, needs more equipment and weapon cards, I would prefer a greater variety of enemy encounters. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller’s quote above was actually made during the time he served in the Korean Conflict but it easily applies to the US Marine and Army combat in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. The quote especially applies to the adventures you will have in...
Read More
Posted on Jun 18, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
An Undeniable Victory: Operation Fath ol Mobin. Publisher: High Flying Dice Games. Designer: Paul Rohrbaugh Price: $45.00 Passed inspection: Game provided insight into a little covered battle of the Iran-Iraq War. Focuses rules were easy to digest and focused on speed of play and player experience. Die-cut counters! Failed basic: A few minor bits of errata you need to integrate into the rulebook, but the errata is included with the game. I was a teenager in 1982. I was also a wargamer with a keen interest in ‘modern’ Cold War gaming. But the real-world action in those days did not focus on the Inter-German Border. Instead, the newspapers had sketchy reports from the front lines of a distant land – the ongoing war between Iraq and Iran. In 1980 Saddam Hussein launched an offensive into Iran designed to weaken the Islamic Revolution, secure Iraq from infiltration and allow Iraq to replace Iran as the dominant power in the Persian Gulf. As you might know, that plan did not work...
Read More
Posted on Jun 12, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Retro Review # 3 Ace of Aces Game Review. Publisher: Nova Game Designs Game Designer: Alfred Leonardi Price: varies (EBay or limited copies reprinted by Flying Buffalo Games) Passed Inspection: Easy to learn, can be played almost in real time, each set covers different time periods of military aviation, can almost fit in your pocket, different levels of complexity Failed Basic: out of print so it can be difficult to find, a few errors in the pages, early World War I planes are somewhat unbalanced, not solo compatible Ace of Aces is 39 years old this year. First gracing the shelves of your friendly neighborhood game store in 1980 (for me it was the Tin Soldier in Dayton, Ohio), Ace of Aces has not lost any of its allure and, like a fine wine, seems to get better with age. For Retro Review number 3, come with me in our biplane of the imagination and let’s take a closer look at the Ace of Aces game system. As stated...
Read More
Posted on May 30, 2019 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Sails of Glory 2018 Ship Pack Expansion Miniatures Game Review. Publisher: Ares Games Game Designer: Andrea Angiolino and Andrea Mainini Price $13.00 to $20 depending on the ship Passed Inspection – beautiful, fully built and painted ships ready to set sail using the Sails of Glory game system Failed Basic – not a single thing “A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.â€Â When the legendary Rear Admiral and computer scientist (think COBOL) Grace Hopper made this statement in which she was re-quoting John G. Shedd , she was not talking about sailing ships from the 1700s and 1800s but her statement is completely apropos to ships of that time period which is the focus of Ares Games’ brilliant Sails of Glory. In late 2018, Ares released 12 new ships for the game. With the addition of these ships, the total number of ships available is now 58 ships including ships of the line, frigates, sloops and merchantmen. Each fully painted and assembled...
Read More
