"Fighting Eagles"

Up for review is "Fighting Eagles", an introductory level WW1 Air Warfare game from High Flying Dice Games.
 

Though simple, it comes thru with realism and more fun than 90% of the WW1 air games ever made. And yes, I have most of them, and they are generally a rules fest - not fun at all, and where the rule book is thicker than most law books.

 

This game is completely opposite - simple, with only 1 and 1/2 pages of rules, and another 1 and 1/2 pages consisting of the four scenarios and how to read the aircraft counters and movement chart.

"Fighting Eagles" by High Flying Dice is designed by Paul Rohrbaugh and  graphics by Bruce Yearian, 2011-2018.

Fighting Eagles has a low amount of counters to move about and it does include AA, balloons, bombers, and of course the rickety aircraft made of wood, bailing wire and cloth. 1917 to 1918 was the time when the aircraft finally began to be built strong, fast, and deadlier.

About the only thing missing is the smell and breathing of castor oil, yes, that same old castor oil Mom may have given you to get you regular, that was used for lubricating the engines of these aircraft (aka "acft"). Now, imagine what effect on your body would be by breathing that in while flying for the 2 or 3 hours on a typical mission? Yeah... it happen.

First Impressions - The game comes with 78 *unmounted front and back counters for a total of 39 actual double sided counters, a game map, all on an 11"x17" card stock sheet (The actual game play map is 8.5"x11") and separate rules plus a 1/3 of a page errata addenda sheet. (I emphasize that one should make the corrections from the addenda sheet to the rules before starting the game.)

Also, one of the pieces of errata is for the Fighting Eagles Card Deck and it is just an explanation of that particular deck.

Game Map - That this is one good looking game map that I have seen in a very long time is an understatement. Since the air combat was mostly was over "no man's land", it was a pretty ugly and dismal looking, area. The game map is 64 squares (8 x 8 square grid) and is used to regulate movement. The line pattern you see are trenches (one side or the other, not both as the trenches are all joined).

Looking at the game map and finding this actual aerial photo, they look almost identical. I would bet a copy of this game that the game map was based on this aerial photo.

Counters- The counters are about an inch big and are very nice. Showing a top down view of the aircraft. When flipped over for damage, there is a flame along the plane and a reduction of the Action Factor and Defense. The observation balloons are side views. There are eight fighters, one bomber, and one balloon for each side. Plus eighteen other informational counters, used by both players. This includes the turn counter, a sun counter and a wind direction indicator (both important). The game map has a turn track on it and a combat die roll modifier table (remember to use ALL that applies) in addition to showing how to read an aircraft counter. 

 

You might want to purchase an extra counter sheet to have on hand to replace that any counters you might lose. I am glad I did, as I did lose the British bomber. Probably shot down while I wasn't looking. Usual cost is $1 to $2 or maybe more.

*note - don't forget Paul does offer a mounting service for all his games that have unmounted counters. it is low cost and per counter sheet for the mounting of counters. The counter sheet is glue to a nice cardboard backing, but you still have to cut them out.

By now, you should have notice that the turn track only has 4 spaces. Oh, don't believe it. This game, like most of Paul's designs, uses a deck of cards and once the entire deck is exhausted or a joker shows up, then the turn is over, not before.

In addition to the game, one will need a standard deck of cards or the enhance "Fighting Eagles Action Deck" (or as I like to call it the "FEAD" for this game.)  Cost is $8.00. Why the deck?

I am pushing it because if you buy these, a lot of "specialized" math rules go out the window... which is good.

For example, though the math is simple, one has to figure it out first. With the FEAD, one doesn't have to figure all that out, what you see is what you get - if a Black 5 is drawn, as the German, you would have 5 APs to move your planes.

Also, if in combat, when the same card color is drawn for your nationality, the number shown is doubled (example - as the German if you are in combat and draw a black 5, then it is doubled to 10 and then all the modifiers are applied. Pretty Slick.). Since there are no face cards, then any type of special activity is printed on some of the cards, such as "check for Guns Jamming". At that point you follow the cards. Makes life (and playing this game) so much easier. Plus in addition to the card deck, one will need to supply a standard 6 sided die (1D6)

Action Points "just a fancy name for doing stuff" - Action Points (AP) are equal to half of the card value, rounding up (example: a Red three (3) card is drawn, halved is 1.5, rounded up gives the Allied player two (2) APs to use for movement.) I believe (though not asked) this rule stops a player from moving everything at once. And puts the game into more manageable time elements, I believe. I am not sure what the size of a square is on the ground or the how many seconds/minutes an AP is - it just ain't important.

Once the AP's for movement and attack setup have been used, then the card is discarded. If one player is attacking the other, then the attacker draws a card for combat. These cards can be any color, doesn't matter for combat, with a regular card deck.

Movement - Each aircraft can move, but not all can move like the next. Does that make sense? Found on page 1 of the rules, is a movement diagram showing the cost and how these planes can move. The diagram also shows one how both the inline engine acft makes its moves and turns and how a rotary engine acft makes it's moves and turns. It is large and well placed. But I bet after using it 5 or 7 times, you will remember it.

Altitude with an attitude - The game does have different altitudes. These range from - very low, low, medium, high and very high. You use markers behind the acft to should where you are in the scheme of things (no markers for medium). And of course when it comes to bombing or strafing or being shot at by AA, altitude makes the difference.

More than one acft can be in a square, but you can't fire at anyone in your square. Heck you will find this all in the rules. There is also acft fragility (look's Italian, a major award!), Power Dive, High Climber, Observer Fire, Observer being incapacitated. And of course winning the game.

Fighting Eagles comes with just the right mix of items to keep the game going.

"Combat Part I or "WTF, why are they shooting at me?" - There are a couple of rules that one can use for face cards in combat as they aren't counted. Both players can (and should) agree that a face card is a miss or if one is drawn then it is discarded and another card drawn. Whatever you want. Some of the good-stuff rules forces the use of the rule "Face Cards being a miss". Such as guns jamming (any face card) and that happened a lot of the time due to faulty ammunition, dirt on ammo, MG's not clean correctly if at all, etc), or if you have a bomber with a rear observer/gunner, then he may be wounded/ killed by turning over a Queen or King face card. Face cards are required for bomb drops in addition to regular suit cards.

Words to live by... Oswald Boelcke did something that up until 1918 no person ever did. He wrote a set of rules to teach on how to become a better killer in an acft. He set pen to paper and wrote these rules. Presented first in his native language, then in English for the rest of us.

Die Dicta Boelcke von Oswald Boelcke
1. Sichere Dir die Vorteile des Luftkampfes (Geschwindigkeit, Höhe, zahlenmäßige Überlegenheit, Position), bevor Du angreifst. Greife immer aus der Sonne an.
2. Wenn Du den Angriff begonnen hast, bringe ihn auch zu Ende.

3. Feuere das MG aus nächster Nähe ab und nur, wenn Du den Gegner sicher im Visier hast.
4. Lasse den Gegner nicht aus den Augen.
5. In jeglicher Form des Angriffs ist eine Annäherung an den Gegner von hinten erforderlich.
6. Wenn Dich der Gegner im Sturzflug angreift, versuche nicht, dem Angriff auszuweichen, sondern wende Dich dem Angreifer zu.
7. Wenn Du Dich über den feindlichen Linien befindest, behalte immer den eigenen Rückzug im Auge.
8. Für Staffeln: Greife prinzipiell nur in Gruppen von 4 bis 6 an. Wenn sich der Kampf in lauter Einzelgefechte versprengt, achte darauf, dass sich nicht viele Kameraden auf einen Gegner stürzen.

Dicta Boelcke by Oswald Boelcke (English)
1. Secure the benefits of aerial combat (speed, altitude, numerical superiority, position) before attacking. Always attack from the sun.
2. If you start the attack, bring it to an end.
3. Fire the machine gun up close and only if you are sure to target your opponent.
4. Do not lose sight of the enemy.
5. In any form of attack, an approach to the opponent from behind is required.
6. If the enemy attacks you in a dive, do not try to dodge the attack, but turn to the attacker.
7. If you are above the enemy lines, always keep your own retreat in mind.
8. For squadrons: In principle attack only in groups of four to six. If the fight breaks up in noisy single battles, make sure that not many comrades pounce on an opponent.

Combat Part II (continue) - There is one rule you need to know about and that is about these two face cards - the Queen and King, if drawn in Combat it is a "miss" and you will need to check your guns by rolling a 1D6. If the die roll is greater than the acft AF (Action Factor) then your guns are jammed. 

 

Don't worry, while you can't shoot, you can try to unjam your guns each time your card color comes up and spend 1 Ap.

To unjam those deliverers of death, you spend 1 Ap, and roll a 1D6. If you were attacking a balloon, add +1 to the die roll. If the Pilot is an Ace, then -1 to the die roll (and yes, you could be an Ace pilot attacking a balloon, then they would cancel each other out.). If you roll less than or equal to your acft AF (you should know what that is, by now) then the guns are cleared (unjammed, able to fire).

I am not sure if this can only be done once a game or if it can be done every card draw. Me, I believe that the reason pilots carried wooden mallets was just for this - to whack at the MG to get that miss-fed cartridge out of the breech. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. And I would support in my games, rolling when one's card is drawn and spending that 1 AP. But if you want to know the the correct version, I believe you should sent HFDG, LLC an email asking to clarify - then let me know. 🙀

Combat Part III (continue) - One draws a card, consulting the Combat Modifiers Chart table on the game map, You take the value of the card and add or subtract all of the modifiers that applies to arrive at your final number. Remember, everything is accumulative and add or subtract it from the card's value that you drew. If the attackers value is greater than the defenders defense then the defender's acft is damage and flipped over. That's it. A damage acft has various rules that get applied to it. Be sure to look them up.  There is also AA combat, Strafing, Bombing, and Balloon Busting. Just read the rules and don't try to read too much in them. They will make sense.

The five scenarios included in the game are Red Baron's Final Flight, Frank Luke's Final Flight, Bombing, Balloon Busting, and the primary scenario giving in the beginning. You can always change things up by switching places, make the British sweat watching his balloons go "POOF" or the Death of Albert Ball (don't forget the 3 AA guns and 3 dummies).

This game is more than a game, it is a gaming system where all sorts of battles can be played. If you don't like the time period late 1917 to end of 1918, then with a little research, you can come up with planes from 1915 - DH-2, anyone? Or an Eindecker, bitte! And if you don't like having weather or sun, then just play without.

 

Play with the DH-4 Bomber or Halberstadt C.1, only this time they are Recon acft, out taking photos of the front lines. for example They could be protected by 2 SE-5a's or several Tri-planes if you want.

With this, I am going to close on this review:
Complexity of the game = LOW.
Solitaire = HIGH (very little work is needed, but very doable!)
Fun Level = HIGH (the only thing missing is the Castor Oil)
Nail biting = 8 fingers worth, lost almost all of those nails.
Length of typical full game = 1 hour to 3 hours (my fault as I took my time!)

Update - 25th April 2019 - Out of the 50+ games, I have played, both sides won and lost, victories have been very even. I tend to think of it as it that as in real life, the game is just the luck of the draw.

Other tidbits of useless info...
My love of WW1 aviation came about several ways - my family has always been with flying in one form or another. Watching World War I aviation movies (my family has always been involved with movie production and theaters too).

This is my collection of DVDs/Blu-Rays:
The Blue Max (1966) - Good, though one has to think beyond the bi-planes used.
Hell’s Angels (1930) - Tops. The action makes up for the love story and even has Zeppelins.
Aces High (1976) - ok, not great.
The Dawn Patrol (1930) - The original. Very good 
The Dawn Patrol (1938) - a better remake of the original. Tops
Von Richthofen and Brown (1971) - Good
Wings (1927) - Great movie. Great action and the planes are the real McCoy. Being only 9 years after the great war.
The Eagle and The Hawk (1933) - Good
Suzy (1936) - too much of a love story for my taste.
FlyBoys (2006) - never watched, too much CGI for me
The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) - Interesting story. What starts at the end of WW1 is finished some years later.

Thanks for reading!
-ab out 

Also I need to add, this blog is considered to be a living blog. Changes will be made to it as needed to clarify, correct errors or update with new information. And I apologize, but this review may contain references to graphics that are no longer on this blog. LOL, it was Google who removed them.

RATTENKRIEG

Rattenkrieg (Rats War) Pocket Battle #1 is a solitaire game on a battle during the Stalingrad Campaign by the German 6th Army - the assault on the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Factory. Stoutly defended by the Soviets, who made use of the sewers and underground passages to move about the area like rats, to defend it block by block. Hence the name *Rattenkrieg or Rats War.   

For more history or information, please do a "Duck Duck Go" search on "Stalingrad".

Now what makes this game different than all the other Stalingrad games out there? Besides being solitaire, it is also the smallest Stalingrad game ever made! And it packs a punch in it's PBG format.

This is Pocket Battle Game #1 by Turning Point Simulations (TPS). Turning Point Simulations and Against The Odds Magazine are divisions of LPS, Inc. (Landsknecht Publishing Services, Inc.). This game is copyrighted by LPS, 2010-2022.

Rattenkrieg was designed by Steve Cunliffe and developed by one of my favorite game designers Paul Rorhbaugh (see a review of his game Kekionga! A Dark & Bloody Battleground 1790" on this blog.).

The whole game comes on a 4"x6" format, printed front and back on medium card-stock, it looks like it will hold up for a few years of play. The game board is on the front, along with the "air strike tracker". In addition to the game, a player will need five D6. I used 2 yellows and 3 black d6 myself.

Here is a German aerial photo of the area on the game map, 1942. It is of the Tractor Works. The Germans did not create aerial photography, but they had the best optics in the world for their aerial cameras.
 
On the backside of the map are the instructions. Counters are double sided and need to be cut out for play (btw, one can get a free set of die cut counters for this game and the game with an order from either TPS or ATO Magazine.).

Time to break out the reading glasses and a magnifying glass. 😀

Setup is straight forward, Soviet counters are placed upside down (no peeking!) on the red (dark grey) shields. The extra Soviet counters are placed upside down to be used as reinforcements (i.e. the "pool"). German counters are placed on the grey arrows on the left side of the game board with a maximum of 2 counters (and 1 General) on each arrow. Air Strike counter is placed on "4".

Since it is a solitaire game, the Germans are controlled by the human and referred to as "the Player". While the Soviet is pretty much programed into their spots and they do not move (I would say historically accurate as Soviet units didn't think on their on very much and were under orders "to defend to the death".).

Game Turn: (or how I won war, Ma!). Find a recording of "The Sacred War" and other Soviet War songs to play during the game or the Horst Wessel Song for the Player. Also a few swigs of Jägermeister for the Player (5 or 7+ shots).
then proceed to do the following:

Strategy Phase steps 1-3
step 1 - is Soviet infiltration.
step 2 - is German movement.
step 3 - is deadly surprise (snipers & ambush).

Combat Phase 4-7 do steps 4-7 for each of the contested areas
step 4 - is dice determination
step 5 - air strike
step 6 - hellish combat
step 7 - bloody aftermath

Victory Conditions or Terms of Victory
The player wins instantly when no Soviet counters remain on the map or loses the instant there are more Soviet counters than German on the map otherwise the game continues another turn, repeating steps 1-7.

That's it. Out of the 10 100's now or so games I have played, I have lost 85% of them. Those snipers hurt! I bet there were some wicked snipers as "Hell hath no fury" like a female sniper and I don't blame them! How close to history? Well, the Germans lost the entire 6th Army at Stalingrad! They lose it here too.

Complexity of the game = VERY LOW
Solitaire = HIGH (hell, it was design from the beginning as solo, dumb bunny.)
Fun Level = HIGH
Nail biting = 4 fingers worth. And it is my scratching finger too!
Length of typical full game = 15+ minutes. Play is fast, maybe 15 to 25 minutes. First time was 45 mins, learning the rules.

The game can be found here Rattenkrieg (click on name) on Turning Point Simulations website.

Tell them that "ab" sent ya. You won't get it for free and you'll still have to pay for your coffee.

I am glad to say, I like this little game a whole lot. I am glad it was the one that Steve picked out to send to me.  As it has been a whole lot of fun this past week playing in the wood shop while waiting for glue and paint to dry on a couple of normal wood working projects I have going on. (I best be taking photos for me other blog, huh!) 

Enjoy and Goodbye till next time!

Thanks for reading!
-ab out

Also I need to add, this blog is considered to be a living blog. Changes will be made to it as needed to clarify, correct errors or update with new information.  And I apologize, but this review may contain references to graphics that are no longer on this blog. Long story, but it was Google who removed them.

Native Americans whooping on some US butts

"Kekionga! A Dark & Bloody Battleground 1790" (a.k.a. Harmar's Defeat") is the first of a series of games concerning the US expedition in 1790's to 1800's to the Northwest Territories (the areas around western Ohio and eastern Indiana) and to spoil the surprise, the US was soundly beaten. From High Flying Dice Games, LLC, design and published by Paul Rohrbaugh, with graphics by Nils Johansson.

note - this review was originally posted Oct 21 2017 and was the game that lead me to make this blog - well written? Nah, but still ok. Unfortunately, Blogger ate it, changed the colors and font sizes. I am trying to remember it as it was to put back. I apologize if you have been here before and it is now different. 

History of the Battle: Since much has been written about this campaign, I will not touch on how it came about, just the principle battles. If you want to know those "why's", look it up! Just do a search for "Harmar's Defeat".

In a nutshell, Gen. Harmar's Campaign primary objective was the destruction of the large main Miami village of Kekionga with a secondary objective to punish the Native American's (NA's) for attacking US Citizens and "to allow US citizens  to rob and steal land from those no good redskins" (my words - not my belief, but the truth on how most folks thought at that time and unfortunately, still do to this day).

15 October 1790, General Harmar dispatched 600 men under Colonel John Hardin for a forced march to "surprise" the NAs at Kekionga. When Col Hardin's detachment reached Kekionga, they found it was abandoned. Hardin's detachment burned the town together with everything they found and camped south of the destroyed town.

17 October 1790, General Harmar reached other Miami villages near Kekionga and proceeded to do the same to the villiages as he did to Kekionga -  destroy everything.

19 October 1790, General Harmar sent out a scouting party under Colonel Hardin consisting of 180 militia, Major James Fontaine with his mounted Kentucky riflemen and 30 regulars under Captain John Armstrong. The scouting party's mission was to estimate the strength of the NA's and attack the village of Chief Le Gris and destroy it.

On their way to the village, the party came within a few miles of Kekionga and the scouting party spotted a lone NA on horseback, who lead the scouting party on a wild goose chase into swampy lowland near the Eel River 13 miles NW of Kekionga. Little did Col Hardin realized he was being lead into an ambush (no knowledge of an area leads to death for chasers - just ask the 7th Cav.). Ambush time! Little Turtle and his warriors (around 100) attacked from 3 sides. 22 regulars and 40 militia were killed with 12 wounded. This became known as "Battle of Heller's Corner" or "Hardin's Defeat".

20 October 1790, Gen. Harmar arrived outside of Kekionga. He sent a detachment of 300 men under Ensign Phillip Hartshorn northward to scout for NA movements. Eight miles north of Kekionga, Ensign Hartshorn was ambushed by a large NA force, which killed him and 19 of his men. General Harmar pull his troops back instead of attacking. He refused requests from his subordinates for a burial detail. Needless to say, morale went down. The remains of the men were finally buried by Gen "Mad" Anthony Wayne a few years later.

On the evening of 21 October 1790, Colonel Hardin advanced with 300 militia and 60 regulars commanded by Major John P. Wyllys.

Dawn on 22 October 1790, Col Hardin found about 1,000 NA's camped at Kekionga. Hardin immediately sent word to Harmar requesting reinforcements. When Harmar heard about the size of the enemy force, he became shaken and ordered his remaining men (about 800 to 900) into a defensive square and refused to come to Hardin's aid. This left Col Hardin alone to face an enemy more than twice his size.

Col Hardin, not knowing that he wasn't going to get help from Gen Harmar, still waited expecting reinforcements to arrive at any time. In the meantime, he divided his command into four groups under Major Wyllys, Major Hall, *Major Fontaine, and Major McMullen. He planned to attack the NA's on all sides. Little Turtle had other ideas and attacked first (He threw down a 6 while Col Hardin threw down a 2 in game speak).

Col Hardin lost 14 officers (including Major Wyllys and Major Fontaine) and 115 men. 94 were wounded. NA's estimate losses are from 120 to 150 warriors. It was a solid Native American victory.

This is the battle known as "Harmar's Defeat" and this is what this game is all about.  The Native Americans have their own name for this battle - "Battle of the Pumpkin Fields", because the steam raising from the scalped heads, reminded them of steaming squash in the Autumn air.

After this battle, General Harmar lost all confidence in himself, his men, and decided he couldn't continue the attack. He and what was left of his command retreated to Fort Washington, 3 Nov 1790.

*note: I asked Paul why wasn't Major Fontaine included in the leader mix. Paul explained as follows - "I did not include Fontaine in the counter sheet as he was rather ineffective here. Game design, as well as any historical portrayal regardless of format books, articles, web pages, etc,. involves interpretation and a thesis. In normal game format, these are very important. Keeping it simple and involving, as well as true to the history, are important challenges.".

And it is true, Major Fontaine was ineffective, as he was killed early in the battle on 22 Oct 1790, by charging into a group of Native Americans with his saber. Now, two ways to think about this - he was ineffective for the US side, but he was effective for Little Turtle, as his death help contribute to the declining US morale. Devils advocate, I love it.

On to the game...

The Game:  The game costs $* from High Flying Dice Games. It consists of one 11"x17" heavy glossy card stock map. A rule booklet, and a sheet of unmounted counters - 56 of them to be exact. What is needed in addition to the game for play is a deck of playing cards and one 6 sided die (1D6).

I did purchased the mounted counters and Paul does an excellent job of mounting. I also purchased an extra counter sheet, for one never knows when a counter might go missing.

A card set designed for this game, called the "Battles of the Old Northwest" card set, cost is $*, is also available. The same card set can also be used for St Clair's Folly and the other 4 games being designed (with any luck, next year). I did buy this card set. It is well thought out and needs to be cut out like the counters.

Note: $* this means the costs have changed.

Game play:  Once the counters are mounted and cut out, one is almost ready to play the game. You will  need a deck of cards as mentioned above. Prepare the deck for play by removing all face cards from the deck, leaving just the ace to 10 and 2 jokers. Separate into 2 piles, red and black.

The rules state to give the red set to the NA player and the black set to the US player. Or use the "Battles of the Old Northwest" card set (it is already setup correctly).

The combat table, movement table, acts table, and other special tables are interspersed thru-out the game booklet under the sections where they are used.

Game "setup" for the units is located in the middle of the rules booklet under "Setup" (wow, that was a hard one for me to find - honest, as I keep forgetting where the different tables where located!). US units setup below the Maumee River and accordingly to the setup diagram, the US can setup Hall's units (on the left side of the river as well) as per the drawing.

Game play, IMHO, is simply fantastic! First off, there are no zones of control! Thank God, someone made a game that doesn't use them. And it makes for a very fluid action game, which the campaign is very much about.

There are 8 turns in the game, but each turn has an limited amount of rounds played out by drawing a card from their card deck. The 1st time a joker shows up, the player who drew it, receives no activation (acts) but instead rolls a 1D6 on a random event table. Play continues until the 2nd Joker is drawn, ending the turn.

In general, each player shuffles their deck and turns one card over just like the old card game "war", the highest card wins that round and the number on the card gives the winning player that many activations (acts). When the last joker is drawn, that turn ends, cards are shuffled and the new turn begins.

The winning player for that round can do one of 5 different actions -

• move - up to the movement allowance
• fire combat - infantry (reg, militia, and warriors) - this is muskets/bows, i.e. range weapons.
• move and assault (Cav only) A Cav unit can "move and assault" but ends it's turn.
• assault (reg, militia, Cav and warriors) - this is hand to hand combat.
• rally troops. Each unit (or counter) gets one act.

Counters:  The counters are beautiful and well done. With the various NA tribes and American units in different colors for easier setup. Combat factor is displayed as a number with the movement factor represented by dots on both sides (US leaders have stars instead of dots).  

Game Map:  The map is printed on a heavy duty card stock paper that is glossy. It has several different terrain features such as woods, open (clear), villages, cornfields and river. Movement is regulated by a very faint hex grid printed in white.  The major rivers are in white. No roads or trails are on the game map. 

For the money, this is a lot of game on a subject that I believe until this game, was not touched upon. Work is needed to get it ready (mounting and cutting out of the counters).

I'm not going to touch on all of the aspects of all of this, it's enough to let you know , "go out and get a copy!"

And lets not forget about the Morale Level Chart:  As the game track is used, the "Morale Levels" are adjusted as follows -

• for every friendly leader eliminated, decrease the ML by 1
• for every two friendly units eliminated, decrease the ML by 1.
• Increase the US ML by 1 as soon as all NA camp hexes are free of NA units.
• Increase the NA ML by 1 for each US Cav unit eliminated.
• Increase the ML by 1 for every two other enemy units eliminated.

Ratings:    Complexity of the game = LOW with moderate teasing (easy to learn, medium difficult to master)
Solitaire = Medium (though the game is designed for 2 players, it is very easy to play both sides solo)
Fun Level = HIGH
Nail biting = 5 fingers worth.
Length of a typical full game = an hour or two.

Out of the games I have played, the Native Americans won every game. Paul said that the US should win 40% to 45% of the games. LOL, I better play it some more and find the answer to this puzzle.

My only complaints about the game are as follows: 
1) The map's hex grid is too faint, using white instead of black or a dark grey for the grid and the rivers left as white.

2) The rivers can be colored in, but not the hex grid.  It would be nice if a different game map was offered for purchase with black hexes. 
3) The font, imho, used for the rules is just too small. Even with my more powerful x3.5 glasses and a magnifying glass it is a little too hard to read. Maybe the rules should have been printed as a single column on an 8.5"x11" instead of as an even smaller booklet?

Last note - this is a well thought out game. It's fun, doesn't take a long time to play and has low counter density. Can't ask for more!

Thanks for reading!
 -ab out 

 

Also I need to add, this blog is considered to be a living blog. Changes will be made to it as needed to clarify, correct errors or update with new information. And I apologize, but this review may contain references to graphics that are no longer on this blog. Long story, but it was Google who removed them.

START HERE and Welcome...

Semper Fi. The flag raising on Iwo Jima

Wrong think is honored here. You don't like what I like or how I review, NO PROBLEM!  It's ok.

Short and sweet... For what it is worth, here it is. Nothing to brag about or get much excited about. My thoughts, right or wrong.

No computer or console or phone games here, they are too complicated.

And you may have noticed, not a lot of the "big" games. There is a reason and here it is - if it is more than 4 to 6 pages of rules, I get confused. It takes forever it seems to even learn and play a small game. 

I have a brain tumor, it is in the right frontal lobe and yes, it does have a fancy name, but I can't remember it. I have fought it to where it is now small but still there and hopefully not growing as I can't have anymore MRIs to check on it. It's a hard fight, but every day is a victory. Besides, who knows how long any of us has left on this earth.

If you need to get hold of me, here is my email - roorunner@gmail.  Be warned that I get more spam than anything I have ever seen before and these jerk-wads won't stop.  

Note: Changes to everything - The price of the games on this blog have changed as has everything. I will use "$*" as my catch all for the costs of games, cards, and what have you. 

And no, I will not go back and change the reviews to the correct price, just be aware if you see a price, it is probably not correct. This blog has been here since 2017.   

Also, if I can find the stuff I made for some of the games, I will put up them up as a .png in the review so you can copy it if you want.

Everything is an opinion - every blog, YouTube page, website on reviewing games is just that, a presented opinion.  My opinion is no one else's, just mine. That is why I don't do a "Top 10" list or "Best of 20XX", or anything like that. What one may say is a Top 10 is probably bullshit to another and generally shows what the post maker likes. Of course designers eat this up, lol, they love "Best of..." lists.

Hopefully, what I do here will help you to try out a game. And if it is one your "Top 10", then by gosh, I am happy for ya.

Note - comments are now "ON".

Links are now in purple. (actually some other color until I can get this new theme figured out) Yeah, yeah, I know. I needed a colour fast so I could make sure they were working....

I post here on the blog as I can't do you tube. I don't have the ability to learn new software, the equipment, or talk correctly without sounding like I am mental.  But I can blog with the written word - wrongly.

Notice that on the bottom of each review is now a link to the Veteran's Crisis Line.  If you know of anyone or even yourself that could use these services, it is free and please, do call them.  It's confidential, but it could be a life saver of someone you know or yourself. (I know these are GREAT folks- vets like you and me).  

Us Veterans both retired and AD are dropping dead for various reasons, such as "survivor's guilt" by our own hand each day.  It need not be...

-ab