"Simple Squad level game recommendations. (WWII and modern)" Topic

I am not specifically looking for a game with miniatures. I have a number of those. I have had Squad Leader since first introduced. It was great until the expansions made a nightmare of it. I want a boardgame similar to Squad Leader but no more complex than the initial releasem preferably less complex.

I have seen Heroes of Normandie (kind of cartoonish) and the Lock n Load tactical series. Any others out there?

I now this should be a miniatures topic but you folks are the most knowledgeable I can think of and many of you play board games.

TIA

I really like the conflict of heroes series. It even has a good solo expansion. Check it out at this link.

link

'Combat Commander' from GMT Games is worth a look:

If you like armor, GMT just re-released 'Panzer' and V2 of Avalon Hill's 'MBT':

You want to try Schwere Kompanie, miniatures rules but they took what was Squad Leader and ASL and condensed into the best version of the game around.

I can second Panzer and MBT from GMT games. No need to take our word for either game – Panzer and MBT have full rulebooks online for you to decide while Schwere Kompanie has a lite version available online.

Ditto for Panzer Grenadier from Avalanche. COunters are platoon,s 200m per hex. Lots and lots of add on sets for the game. I just got mine in the mail yesterday….

Panzer is a great game, but it is on a complexity level similar to ASL. CC is also more complex and than the original SL.

Panzer and MBT are a little more difficult than the others but not ASL. ASL has a complexity of 5 on BoardGameGeek. Panzer's complexity rating is 3.65 while MBT's 3.67.

Panzer and MBT are both designed by James Day and use the same mechanics. The rules are broken down into introductory and advanced levels so you won't be overwhelmed.

Armchair General review of Panzer: link

James Day's designer notes for Panzer & MBT: insidegmt.com/?p=498

Free rules can be download here: link and here: gmtgames.com/p-478-mbt.aspx

I bought mine from Coolstuffinc which offers great prices.

Why not just play Squad Leader if you like it?
All those extra rules are optional – you don't have to use Bore Sighting and Bypass Movement if you don't want to.
Just use the basic rules plus the minimum needed for the scenario, and leave out all the optional stuff.

I recently purchased …anyway, I was a life member of Avalon Hill…anyway, another story.
Do you have an opponent?
Anyway, the group I play with, love Crossfire.
It should be easy to translate using chits and hexes.

The Combat Commander series and the Conflict of Heroes series are both good and they are easier to understand and less complex than the Squad Leader series. Both give many examples of play, are very popular and are quality products. The problem, for *me*, with the COH series is that they do not have a game where the Americans in Europe are represented. So far they are only in the Guadalcanal game. Combat Commander has been around longer and are represented in Europe, Italy and the Pacific. Both are a lot of fun. After reading the rules for Panzer I decided that it looked too complex to buy.

The rules to Jim Day's "Panzer" series of boardgames are very intuitive in my opinion (at least in their basic game format). I did not read them beyond that point.

>>>The rules to Jim Day's "Panzer" series of boardgames are very intuitive in my opinion (at least in their basic game format).<<<

Yes, it's true that the "Panzer" basic game is easy and intuitive at only 21 pages, *but* when the advanced rules are included the game inflates to over 60 pages!…and IMHO becomes considerably more complex. So the game costs just over $50.00 USD, and if you play with only 1/3 of the rules offered you've kind of gyped yourself. OTOH, both "COH: Awakening the Bear" and "Combat Commander: Europe" are both complete in less than 20 pages! To me, that means that in these two you have fully developed games that will get you to the same place with much less complexity, or as some might say, "chrome".

I like Tide of Iron by FFG. It is a squad leader lite game.

@Terrement – The flying pig stuff I might be interested in is OOP. Last time I looked I could not find an FLGS or eBay seller offering their game.

@Dexter Ward – I do play the basic SL game but if you want tanks or theaters other than the Russian Front it is very difficult to separate out all the additional rules. I get rather frustrated with all the symbols on the tank counters which seem to be needed to use them.

@sillypoint – yes I do have an opponent but he is a snowbird so I have about 5 months of solo gaming ahead of me.

@45thdiv – Had not thought of Tide of Iron. I have Memoir 44 but thought that it and ToI were too similar to buy both. I am not too fond of M44 it does not feel like squad level tactical combat. Just pushing toy soldiers around.

I agree with Dexter Ward. You can just play Squad Leader.

Combat Commander may be only 20 pages but it does not handle tanks – and the basic system is such that it can't be modified to do so either.

I love Combat Commander: Europe for its tension and fun. Criticisms I've heard include no tanks and that chaos doesn't necessarily tie with what is happening on the battlefield. Don't care, it is a terrific game.

I'm also a fan of the Band of Brothers games by Worthington, especially now that they've been improved. These have a great combination of simplicity and realistic tactics. A criticism I've heard is that the emphasis on correct tactics can make games feel the same. You'll have to suppress and attack again. My games have been fun anyway, and I've not yet tried the Texas Arrows scenarios, which I've heard good things about.

andy

Solo gaming- have you got a tablet, iPad or computer?
For the computer, I would recommend Close Combat – Matrix games.
To me it plays like squad leader, you set what the squad does, and it's forward arc. The computer works out los, combat results, plays even better if you can find an opponent and set up a lan…
There are other similar products for tablets, which have since distracted me 😜
I am guessing, but the last 10 or so (war) board games I have purchased, have not been played….don't become me.

Ambush. Squad level game and it's designed solitaire to boot. Great game.

Also, I second sillypoint's point! The Close Combat series of games are fantastic. Spent many an hour playing through the WW2 series of games.

Airfix battles is squad level, no more than a few tanks and AT guns on the board at once. Mortars and MGs too.

Game comes with all the counters and maps you need so no miniatures needed unless you want.

Solo rules included too.

A magnitude less complex than Squad leader though.

Cheers,

Furgie

Panzer/MBT are both great games, in any iteration.

You could also pick up one or more of the three ASL Starter Kit boxes; gives you the basics of ASL without a lot of the 'chrome' (Starter Kit 1 has an 8-page rulebook IIRC). There are also a few Starter Kit only add-on products (including a campaign game on a historical map).