Bob the Temple Builder | 06 May 2016 1:45 a.m. PST |
I have now managed to mount a simple play-test of these rules, and the results can be seen on my blog here = link
I used the first scenario or 'mission' that came with the game, and all-in-all I found it to be a quick battle to fight and fun as well. It seemed to combine the better aspects of both old and new styles of wargamer design, and I can seem myself using them quite frequently when the mood takes me. I may even see if they work on a hexed terrain grid so that I can use my collection of Hexon II terrain.
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Yesthatphil | 06 May 2016 2:56 a.m. PST |
Sounds good … ! Phil |
Andy ONeill | 06 May 2016 3:06 a.m. PST |
30% losses are almost guaranteed to rout a real world assault. |
Bob the Temple Builder | 06 May 2016 3:13 a.m. PST |
Yesthatphil, You'll have a chance to try the game out at COW2016 as Alan Paull is running a session using AIRFIX BATTLES. |
20thmaine | 06 May 2016 5:25 a.m. PST |
One thing that slightly bothers me about this game is that the victory condition can be achieved by killing the CO on either side (Destroy 3 stars of their forces). Are there rules to offset the game descending to "kill the king" being the dominant tactic? If the CO is with a unit is he the last to die, for example ? |
Bob the Temple Builder | 06 May 2016 5:40 a.m. PST |
20thmaine, I must admit that I had not spotted that when I set up my play-test battle. I suppose that one side could win by killing the enemy commander … but I should imagine that it would make for a very sterile game. I'll have another look at the rules to see if there are rules to stop this. |
20thmaine | 06 May 2016 5:48 a.m. PST |
Thinking a bit more – as this is the "starter" scenario to teach the rules it may not be that much of an issue – as the scenarios include bigger forces the victory conditions will presumably increase as well, thus lessening the importance of "killing the king". I always look carefully at the victory conditions to see if there is a potential "flaw" – ever since long ago games of Squad Leader where there was one scenario that could be won by "hiding" until the last turn and then mass rushing onto the objectives. The chances were that the player that did this would retain enough troops to meet the victory conditions no matter how well the other player had deployed his troops to prevent this. |
Frederick | 06 May 2016 6:16 a.m. PST |
Thanks for posting – I was curious as to how these rules worked |
furgie | 06 May 2016 9:52 a.m. PST |
Hi Bob, in your setup your Captains should have been attached to your veterans and so in the same square. See page three of the rule book, under Attachments. This would mean that you could choose to kill off all the veterans before your captain takes a hit ( See top of page nine). As 20thMaine says, this would make him last to die. Cheers, Furgie |
furgie | 06 May 2016 9:56 a.m. PST |
Here's my setup for scenario one link Cheers, Furgie |
Bob the Temple Builder | 06 May 2016 10:09 a.m. PST |
Furgie, Thanks for sharing the photo of your set-up for this scenario. It looks even better in 3D … and is a very convincing argument in favour of using figures and models in place of the counters. |
furgie | 06 May 2016 11:10 a.m. PST |
Hi Bob, Indeed, it does play well with the figures, although tanks cramp up the board a bit. Here is scenario three: - link I'm just about to start scenario five. cheers, Furgie |
20thmaine | 06 May 2016 12:05 p.m. PST |
This would mean that you could choose to kill off all the veterans before your captain takes a hit ( See top of page nine). As 20thMaine says, this would make him last to die. That seems very sensible |
furgie | 06 May 2016 12:35 p.m. PST |
I think it has to play like that, as leaders allow you to play (and hold) order cards. As leaders die off, your ability to give orders to units reduces, and the number of cards you can draw reduces, thus limiting your tactical options – quite a smooth, simple C&C I feel. Cheers, Furgie |
Bob the Temple Builder | 06 May 2016 12:38 p.m. PST |
Furgie, I must admit that at the start of my play-test I wasn't sure if that was how the rule about attaching Officers to other Units worked, but by the end of my play-test my German Veterans and the Captain were co-located. |
Bob the Temple Builder | 06 May 2016 12:48 p.m. PST |
Furgie, I can see what you mean about the presence of tanks rather dominating the battlefield. As most of mine are 1:87th ROCO Minitanks rather than 1:76th Airfix ones, they will take up slightly less space. My understanding of the role of Officers in the rules is in line with yours, which makes protecting them from danger rather important. |