| Bill MacVicar (wzaidi@przm.com) |
|---|
| This is quite possibly the game that I have had the most fun playing in the 17 years that I have been playing miniature war games. The pace is fast and the realism, while not exactly right on, is close enough that the feel is still there. Most people will tell you that WW2 miniature games are slow and tedious, but with this system I was able to hold a game with more that 3,000 units on a 8' x 16' table and do it in less than 12 hours. The average speed of a turn over that 12 hours was about 1 every 15 minutes, including firing. I have been very impressed with Robert Yarr's work and will continue to use it for many years to come. |
| Dan Higdon (hdan@fc.net) |
| I just ordered this ruleset, and I must
say that I'm a happy gamer. I hope to put a more complete review up
once I've had a chance to play a few more scenarios, but here are my first
impressions:
First, I'm a sucker for ring-bound materials. Each page is stuffed into a holder, so this book should last forever, and easily withstand any spilled drinks. The detailed description gives a good account of the rules, so I'll refer anyone interested in particulars to that link. Suffice it to say, First Watch is a very fast, simple game that lets you replay your favorite armor battles or invent new ones. (I've had some success converting Easy 8's Panthers East! scenarios - another excellent product if you're into tanks.) This game also includes more vehicle data than I've ever seen in one place. Granted, there isn't much data (move, armor, weaponry, date introduced), and the player is expected to use some common sense and refer to the miniatures (to tell, for instance, which units have turrets) for certain information. But with this game, you don't need any more information. Another side effect is that "rules lawyers" don't have much room to abuse rules. If you don't have an opponent who can graciously handle making judgement calls without rules to back them up, you may need a referee to play this one. The warts - page layout isn't this game's strong suit. There are some rules (artillery supresses infantry that it doesn't kill, for instance) that are only mentioned in footnotes to the tables. Also, there is no morale. You might find this to be a blessing :-). However, due to the simplicity of the system, I suspect that cooking up a morale rule would be pretty easy, if you really wanted to add one. All in all - a very nifty game, and quite a respectable entry into the fast-play corner of the microarmor world. |
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| Last Updates | |
|---|---|
| 14 April 1999 | comments by Bill MacVicar |
| Mon Apr 05 01:21:48 PDT 1999 | comments by Dan Higdon |
| 13 May 1997 | link to publisher's website |
| 18 January 1997 | updated scale information |
| 30 November 1996 | link to designer's webpage |
| Comments or corrections? | |