Till Darkness Goes

Title:   Till Darkness Goes 
Price:   $*
Designer:   Paul Rohrbaugh
Graphics Designer:   BruceYearian
Publisher:   High Flying Dice Games, LLC
Published Date:   2012

Subject:   A game on the NVA attack against the ROKMC 2nd Brigade's, 3rd Btn, 11th Company at Tra Binh Dong, 14-15 Feb 1967.

Daihan, lai, lai!!!  "Korea, Come, Come!!!" -  On a cold wet foggy dark night 14 February, 1967 at aprx 2320hrs, a small probing force of NVA tested the defenses of the perimeter of the 11th Company's position.  They were heard and illumination rounds fired to light up the area. The probing force retreated. The 11th Company went on alert. Nothing was heard again from outside the wire until aprx 0410 hrs on February 15th.  Drums, whistling, and yelling signal the start of the attack. The perimeter was breached and  hand to hand fighting commenced with the enemy. The battle was finally over at 0730 hrs with clean up and very light combat for the next several hours.  The 11th Company still held their position, while the NVA was soundly beaten.

In the aftermath of this battle, the 11th Company lost 15 KIA and 33 WIA. The NVA and VC count was 243 KIA from small arms. Another 60 KIA presume from small arm fire and 2 POWs.


The 11th Company not only received some of the highest medals from the Republic of Korea, but also a U.S. Presidential Unit Citation. All personnel received a very special honor, everyone (including KIA) were promoted 1 rank higher. This is only the second time in the history of the Republic of Korea military (since 1948) that this honor has been given.

Scale & Game Area:   Area movement where 1" equals 100 yards. ROK Marines are platoons with the North Vietnamese Army/Viet Cong units each being aprx companies (reduced) in size.

Player Supplied Components:   A deck of cards and one ten sided die (1D10, with 0 being 10). 

Card Set:  Of course HFDG has a card set for this game. Cost is $* + postage.  Best to order it with your game to save on that postage!!! And why buy this? Well, eye candy! And the math is done for you for the activations and you don't have to keep remembering what face cards allow you to do such as artillery or A-4 air strikes, or flipping reduced units to full strength, etc.  Easy peasy and still keeps the price under 20 buckazoids.

Components:  Each game comes with  the following:

• 11"x17" game map.
• 44 un-mounted double-sided counters.
• a player's aid card.
• 5 pages of rules, plus a cover sheet!
• a small set of addendum for the game. 

Note: I am going to call the Republic of Korea's Marines player as "ROK".  This is no dis-respect to my brother Marines in Korea. And the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong player as "NVA/VC". This is breaking with the nomenclature the game uses for both sides.  Also $* means I don't know what the cost is now.  But there is one.

Game Map:   The game map represents the ROK 11th company's base camp and the surrounding country side complete with jungle, clear, fortified areas, and shrubs (see the Player's Aid Chart). There are no hexes and the game (as mentioned before) uses area movement with one inch equaling 100 yards. It is very well done. (see 3.2, 9.1, 9.1.1, and 9.1.2)

On the west side of the map is the Game Turn Track. The game has 7 game turns with each turn representing 2 hours. Game Turns 1 to 4 are night turns (night turns do affect die rolls). Turn 5 is  dawn and turns 6 and 7 are daylight, allowing the ROK to use A-4 Air Strikes in addition to artillery. (see 3.2, 4.2, 4.4, and 6.0)

On the east side of the map is the Game Record Track that can be consider the heart of the game, as both the ROK and NVA/VC use it for tracking the morale levels of each side - a.k.a Resistance Level for the ROK and the Morale Level for the NVA/VC.

The Game Record Track is also used for tracking the number of NVA/VC artillery support strikes, the ROK artillery support strikes, and for dawn/day turns, the number of A-4 Air Strikes available for each turn.  What makes this track important are the boxes shaded in blue (9 to 7), yellow (6 to 4) and red (3 to 1).  These boxes determine if any additional or lessening of activations occur and/or if an automatic victory is claimed. (see 5.0, 5.1, and 5.2)

In each area on the map are circles with numbers in it. The circles with the top half as black (with white lettering) are Mine Areas, while the other circles are the Area Identifier. On the lower half of all of these circles are numbers that are terrain defense modifiers. If that number is red, it is a modifier for both sides. If the number is blue, it is a modifier only for the ROK units (note: these blue numbers only occur in the ROK tan fortification areas and important to know).(see Player's Aid Chart and 2.1, 3.2, 3.2.2, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.4).

Player's Aid Card:   The various terrain on the game map is listed on the Player's Aid Card (PAC), such as clear, jungle, scrub, etc. The PAC also explains the Mine and Area Identifiers. On the PAC is the Activation Track and a guide to what each type of card draw does. The PAC needs to be cut away from the counters. 

Counters/Markers:  The counter art is different from Bruce's usual NATO symbols as it uses generalize drawings of a ROK Marine and NVA regular.  The counters are nicely done and need to be mounted. Of course, if you don't want to mount the counters yourself, you can have it done for a small fee, request at the time of ordering.  You will still need to cut them out, though.  The counters are aprx 5/8" in size and represent both the Republic Of Korea Marines (ROK) and the North Vietnam Army and Viet Cong (NVA/VC) at this battle.

The ROK player has sixteen counters. Of these, seven combat counters (the 11th Company)  and nine various markers for victory points, resistance level, and other markers needed for the ROK player. 

The NVA/VC player has nineteen counters with twelve combat counters representing the 40th and 60th NVA/VC Btns including the unknown Viet Cong unit (a Btn of VC from Quang Ngai by the way). The NVA/VC player also has an additional seven various markers to be used.

There are eight wire breached markers for use with the variant wire breaching rules and one game turn marker for the sum total of 44 counters.

The combat unit markers seem to have generated a bit of history as players complained at not being able to figure out how to read them.  Here is a graphic of the counters that shows how to read the combat units. 

 
Bruce, imho, always does a fine job on the graphics of any game he touches.  This is no exception.  The map, counters, and player's aid are nicely done!!!

Game Versions / Scenarios:   There is only one scenario but several variant rules (that add just a touch of complexity, but do give the game a more historical feel).  Honestly, the game should be played with these rules as it truly brings the sapper units into their own.

Complexity (Scale of 1 to 10): "2" -  The game is rated Introductory. With adding the variant rules, this complexity is, imho, a tad higher that introductory.  And more bloody as was the actual battle.

Setup Time:  Once the counters are mounted and cut out, anywhere between 5 to 8 mins. Of course if the counters are segregated into a gaming tray or small plastic bags, set up is even quicker, with only who is going to play which side and of course getting one's beverage of choice being the slow down factors.

Playing Time:  Game play time is between 1 to 2 hours. If the variant rules are used, add 30 mins to another hour.  Of course with eating pizza and drinking beer, time doesn't matter much.   

Solitaire Playability (Scale 1 to 10):  "9" - Like most of HFDG's games, this game can be played solitaire, and to be honest, this particular game series is HIGHLY suitable, even though it was not designed as such. I give it a 9 and it doesn't matter which side is played as the NVA/VC have one goal with 2 different groups, while the ROK has to survive an attack from these two groups.  Pick whichever side you want to play and go at it.

Rules:  There are five pages of rules. On the last page is a condense history of the battle and an abbreviated sequence of play. The rules are quite good, being short and sweet.

Addenda:   Yes, there is a little addenda and it is duplicated here for those who might have not have any.  As always, it is available from HFDG via email.

Till Darkness Goes 
Addenda, July , 2019

1.0 Components (clarification): The numbers on the counters are as follows:

Top left: Attack Factor (AF)
Lower left: Defense Factor (DF)
Right: Movement Factor (MF)

5.1 and 5.2 (clarification): The 1 through 3 areas on the RL and ML tracks printed on the map are colored red (the yellow boxes are 4 through 6).

Cover (correction). The year date on the cover should be 1967 (not 1966).

Bibliography (update): The link to Jae-sung Chung’s article given in the bibliography is out of date. The current, functional link is: http://www.vietvet.co.kr/us/trabinh.htm.

And that is pretty much it as far as addenda goes.

Description of Play:  Play alternates back forth using card deck draws for the total amount of activations and who gets to activate each round. Players take turns preforming a Card Draw (CD) with each player activating on their color, no matter who draws the card.

Using the "draw of cards" to decide who moves and for combat is a good way to show this type of a see-saw battle, a fire fight, as it does seem like time stands still.  No one can think or act/react in a standard war game of u-go/i-go.  The only other way of possible playing the game is on a computer and have it move, attack/defend while one is doing the same. Of course one can be in actual combat (trust me, you don't want to be there)....

Setup:  ROK player goes first and places the infantry, HQ, and the Heavy Weapons units in any of the tan fortified areas, one unit each. The ROK Divisional Artillery support marker goes into either area 26, 27, or 37 (see 2.1 for other setup info). Once placed, the ROK Divisional Artillery Support marker can not move. Plan carefully.  Artillery support missions are determined for turn 1 (see 4.3).  

Next, the NVA/VC player sets up the six units of the 60th Btn in any jungle areas 1, 2, 3, or 5 with no more than 2 units in an area.  The remaining units of the 40th Btn (six units) are held off the map until called for optional entry into the game. (see 2.2 for other setup info).

Note: For the first round of the first game turn, the NVA/VC player goes first and rolls 1D10. to see how many units that activate.    

Activation and Stacking:  If not using the HFDG card set, then a card deck is shuffled with all four suits (Ace to King) and 1 joker.  Aces are treated as "1's".   

A card is drawn by either player to activate units. Remember - A unit can activate once per Card Draw (round), many times in a turn.

Up to 2 friendly units can stack in an area. And opposing units may occupy the same area.

The NVA/VC player activates on any red card, with the ROK player activation on black cards.  If it a regular numbered card, halve the number, dropping any fraction but not less than 1, for the amount of activations that player can have for that round.

Examples: a black 5 is drawn. The ROK player has up to 2 activations or a red 9 is drawn and the NVA/VC player will have up to 4  unit activations.

Play-Balance:  This game is very finely balance between the two different forces at battle. As in real life this battle could have gone either way (actually, the NVA/VC should have won this battle, but for the training, esprit de corp, and the firepower that was able to be brought to bear on the compound, the battle was hard fought and won by the ROK Marines. Plus the fact, those ROK Marines are tough!

Special Counters:   Special mention needs to be made of three very important counters in the game - two of these are for the ROK player - the HQ unit and the Divisional Artillery Support counters (labeled as "Support Missions" on the counter). The third important counter is for the NVA/VC player and there are two available - the NVA/VC Sapper units, one for each of the NVA/VC battalions. What makes these three counters special?  Good question!!! 

The ROK HQ unit is placed in any of the tan fortification areas during setup. The HQ unit's area location is where a returned ROK unit from a black face card draw is placed. The HQ unit is also used for various adds or subtractions to the many different die rolls for both sides.  If eliminated, two things happen. The ROK player cannot return an eliminated unit back to play, but there is a possibility the HQ unit can be return to play, starting at the end of game turn 3. (see 2.1, 3.2, 5.1, 5.2, 6.0)

The ROK Divisional Artillery Support counter, once placed, cannot moved. If a NVA/VC unit enters the same area as this counter and it is not stacked with another ROK unit, it is eliminated (see 4.1).  This counter is also very important to the ROK with various adds and subtractions. Once eliminated, it cannot be returned via rule 6.0. (see 2.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 7.0)

Note: I believe this counter represents Sub Unit One, 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO), and Lance Corporals Jim Porta and Dave Long, two US Marines assigned to support the 11th Company. Though both of these Marines and artillery support played a good part in this battle, their names and 1st ANGLICO have disappeared from the ROKMC history on this battle. Please do note that both US Marines survived Nam. 

The NVA/VC Sapper counters are very important to the NVA/VC player as well.   Being able to breach the wire, assist in combat or aid a NVA/VC unit to negate the cost of wire crossing,  There is also a special exception rule for the use of these counters when stacked with a regular unit. (see    As a result, the variant rules 9.1 to 9.1.2 should be used (well, all the rules should be used including 9.2).  

Summary:  There are a few games designed about Nam (HFDG has a lot, with more on the way), but none on any of the South Korean battles, except this one. South Korea has always been a US ally since the Korean War and generally supplies the next largest compliment of Armed Forces to any conflict that the US is involved in (bigger than all other countries, including the UK).  Besides military aid, South Korea also supplied medical and civilian aid to South Vietnam. 

Maybe I have some bias for South Korea as my spouse of 44+ years is from there. One of her brothers was in the Blue Dragons in Nam. To be honest he never talked about it and I didn't ask.  We would sit for hours with our "soju", sometimes "sake", the bottle of Johnny Walker "Red" I would bring over, and/or my favorite "maekju" (beer) and not say anything.

I find this game reminds me of a French Foreign Legion post being besieged by  attacking Arabs.  Will the Legion (ROK's) be able to stand off the attackers or will the walls be breached? The same here.  There are numerous possible outcomes in this game. I find the game to be nail biting, close to the possible battle, and fun.  

In my playing, I have found the following - one can't play either side haphazardly. One must think of a plan and follow it. However, one must be able to change plans if something goes wrong (bad die roll or missed card draws 2 or 3 times in a row). Always have a backup plan.

The key for the ROK player is the artillery and air power. It will kill the NVA/VC units. However, remember to protect the ROK Divisional Artillery Support counter as once eliminated, it cannot return to play.

The key for the NVA/VC player is his sapper units. Use them wisely and make sure you protect them.  Always keep them stacked with another unit. If they are eliminated, bring them back as soon as possible. And use the jungle terrain.

Honestly, thank you for stopping by! I would like to hear any comments you may have on the game, good or bad.

-ab

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.

Pocket battle Games, so far....

UPDATED - Dec 21, 2024.

This is a review "of sorts" on all the pocket battle games (aka pbgs) from the original publishers,  LPS, Inc and High Flying Dice Games, Ltd.

Up to now (Nov 10, 2019 April 27, 2021, Mar 31 2023), (Oct 15, 2023) Dec 21, 2024, LPS, Inc has put out (30) (32) (34) (36) 38 various pocket battle games (PBGs) under two different companies - Turning Point Simulations and Against the Odds magazine.  High Flying Dice Games, Inc has put out two under their company logo, but I believe more are on the way, 😉.

Now, I am not going into an in depth review or point out which is the best design or play, as what I like and believe is very good, you may not, but I am listing the PBGs that are available and what each game covers. 

Turning Point Simulations (LPS) Pocket Battle Games
#1 2nd Ed Rattankrieg* Assault on the Tractor Factory - WW2, Stalingrad.
#2 Nothing So Well Lost. The Siege of Rhodes 1022.
#3 Fateful Days, The Marne 1914 - Opening of WW1
#4 Operation Pedestal - WW2, convoy to Malta
#5 A Hard Pounding Fight* - Napoleon 1815, La Haye Sainte
#6 Rattenkrieg 2 Battle for the Barrikady Factory

ATO Magazine (LPS) Pocket Games
#1 Stand At Mortain - WW2, The stand of the 30th Infantry Division
#2 Some Poles Apart - WW2, German invasion of Poland 1939
#3 Showtime Hanoi* - Nam, Lt Cunningham's victory over Colonel Toon
#4 Morgan's A' Comin- ACW, Rebel raider Morgan crosses the Ohio
#5 The Toast of the Town - Boudica takes Londinuim 61 AD
#6 Paying The Peiper - WW2, Battle of the Bulge 1944.
#7 A Dash of Peiper - WW2, Battle of the Bulge 1944
#8 The Bagged Peiper - WW2, Battle of the Bulge 1944
#9 Just A Piper Dream - WW2 Battle of the Bulge, 1944
#10 La Garde Recule!* - Napoleon 1815, Old Guards at Waterloo
#11 The Union Forever*- ACW, the entire Civil War
#12 Operation Cerberus - The Channel Dash* - WW2
#13 Marschall Vorwarts - Napoleon, Battle of Leipzig 1813
#14 A Matter of Honor - Napoleon, Battle of Leipzig 1813
#15 The Nations Assemble - Napoleon, Battle of Leipzig 1813
#16 Trapping the Ogre - Napoleon, Battle of Leipzig 1813
#17 The Siege of Alesia - Caesar's classic battle 52 BC
#18 Behold A Pale Glider - WW2, Eben Emael, 1940
#19 Not Men, But Devils - Mexico, Battle of Camarón, 1863
#20 Imua - Unification of Hawaii, 1795 - Hawaii Civil War
#21 The Utah Beach Landings* - WW2, D-Day
#22 The Omaha Beach Landings* - WW2, D-Day
#23 The Gold Beach Landings* - WW2, D-Day
#24 The Juno Beach Landings* - WW2, D-Day 
#25 The Sword Beach Landings* - WW2, D-Day
#26 Goto Hell - US and IJA tank battle on Saipan
#27 Barring the Gate* - Napoleon 1815, Hougoumont
#28 Operation Kita - WW2, Pacific, 1945
#29 Grant Me Night… or Blücher! - Napoleon 1815, Waterloo
#30 Mind the GUIK - Cold War 1988, USSR and NATO in the Ocean
#31 Guarding the Land* - ARW 1781, Ft Griswold 
#32 Masterpiece - The 3rd Battle of Kharkov (NEW)

High Flying Dice Games (HFDG) Pocket Games
#1 Dueling Eagles Over Malta* - WW2, British Air Defense of Malta
#2 Rock and a Hard Place* - WW2, what if German invasion of Malta
## Thunder Gods* - WW2, Pacific, Kamikazes

(though this isn't considered a PBG, Thunder Gods is composed of 3 pbg size gaming maps and the counters.  I put it here to complete this post.)

Note: Games in italics have reviews on this blog and are linked to those reviews.  Games in this color can actually be joined together to create the entire battle. 

Big Games?

The PBGs above in yellow can be joined together and played as bigger games - for example #6, #7, #8, #9, create the Battle of Bulge; #13, #14, #15, #16, the entire battle of Leipzig; and #21, #22, #23, #24, #25, make up all five beach landings on D-Day. I have played them all, but my favorite "big" game is #21 to #25, the D-Day set. One can get advance rules to play the games combined.

Well, what are they?

In all honestly, these are not monster games with 4 or more large game map sheets covering a 4' x 6' or larger table with 1000's of counters, pages of errata, volumes of rules or the complication of said rules, and  taking months if not years to play.  Nor are they like a standard size game with an 11"x17" (or larger) game map, 80 to 100+ counters and 6 to 20 pages of rules. But, three can be considered "monster" PBGs as they have four game maps and can be join together. 😁

These are nice, simple to play games.  Complicated enough not to be able to figure out the ultimate "win all the time" game plan strategy within a few plays if at all.  If I had to say what the games are like, they would be akin to the old SPI Capsule Games or Meta-Gaming Micro games, though, much smaller, better graphics,  and a more variable play result - Easy to play, but hard to master.

Four inches by six inches (post card size), heavy duty poster board with 16 to 20 counters (most have 17 counters) each. Nicely printed with a game map on one side and rules on the other. I have noticed that each seem to have a clear coating, too.  Dice may be needed for some of the PBGs and some use a playing card system for movement and/or combat.

The games are not slapped together in a haphazard fashion, but truly planned out with attention to detail. I was once told by Paul Rohrbaugh that "it is harder to design these pocket games to be as true to history and fun, than it is to design a larger game.  Only 4"x6" of playing surface and 20 or less counters.  Fun is the key word here, as with any game, if it is not "fun" to play, then why play it?".  I agree.

Clear, concise rules that cover everything has to be provided. Units must equal what was at the particular battle.  For example, ATO #11, The Union Forever, covers the entire American Civil War to include blockade runners, Lee's invasion of the North, C.S.A. state militia and armies, Union Armies, and carpet baggers (i.e. Federal control of Southern states) (and this is one of my favorites). Another PBG, TPS #1 "Rattankrieg" covers the German attack at the tractor factory during the Battle of Stalingrad. Design for solo play, it is not a walk over for the Germans. As a bonus, these two games are designed and developed by two of the nicest and devoted to history game designers out there - Steve Cunliffe and Paul Rohrbaugh.  Again, a lot of thought and probably a lot of hair pulling went into this game.

Ok, what about the cost and how do I get them?

The games, are inexpensive, with the LPS (ATO/TPS) series being free with a purchase (this also gets you mounted die-cut counters for your PBG as well), or if you have an ATO magazine subscription, I believe you will get a few as part of your subscription. 

High Flying Dice Games offers 2 PBGs = the first is "Dueling Eagles Over Malta" and the second is "Rock and a Hard Place" and  one that not consider as a PBG "Thunder Gods" but comes on 3 PBG size game maps.

Three ways to get HFDGs PBG #1 "Dueling Eagles Over Malta" -

1. When one purchases four games from HFDGs, ask for it. 
2. It is included in ATO magazine #45, the issue with "Red Dragon: Blue Dragon game. 
3. It is available for $* with a card set and a set of mounted counters from HFDG.  

It is an excellent little game and worth what ever it takes to get it, especially since it is a fairly easy to play air combat gaming system, that is exciting. Both have reviews on this site.

HFDG's pbg  #2 "Rock and a Hard Place" can be purchased for $* and comes with a card set (worth it right there as I have this card set and it is nicely done).

HFDG's ## "Thunder Gods" can be purchased for $* and a card set can be bought.

NOTE - ATO is now selling different, hmmm, how to say, PBG Packs.   You can find more about them here. 

HFDG card replacement for PBGs and others...
I need to make a special note that High Flying Dice Games has a lot of card sets made up for the PBG's that uses cards. These card sets are used to replace the normal playing deck one may need in a PBG. You can click here to order.  Price is $* and shipping.  Are they worth it? Yes, as all the info one will need to play the pbgs are on those replacement cards.

note - $* - means there is a cost for them, but at this time, I have no idea what it is now (prices have gone up). Best to go to High Flying Dice web site and check it out for yourself.

So how does one play them?
Once one figures out which PBG to play, cut out the counters as carefully as one can, grab a card deck if needed and/or a die, and read the rules then sit down to play. 

I blow the game up to 11x17 and may make new counters. I also make a copy of rules on the back, glue/mount and cut out the new counters (click here for instructions on how to mount counters), and find all the addenda I can (below are links, but there is not much). 

Note: Addenda for the Games can be downloaded from ATO or TPS for their series of games and contact High Flying Dice Games for their addenda. 

Note: The rules for combining all of the Five for Fighting PBGs has been updated and contains now the rules for the all the variants, including the USA Paratroopers. You can download them here.

 

Errata for the pocket battle games from ATO, download here.

Errata for the pocket battle games from TPS, download here. 

 

Link to the different pocket battle games from ATO, click here.

Link to the different pocket battle games from TPS, click here.

Since I know I will play the PBG a lot of times, I make sure to take care of the counters and map. These little games are well printed on very stiff poster board and can take a beating, but like anything paper, if it gets wet or mistreated, will fall apart.  

Note: Just remember, these games just like their big brothers are COPYRIGHTED by the publisher.   Not for copying to give to your friends or loved ones. And if you give your pocket game to someone else, then you need to give what you copied/made to the same person or destroyed it. It is only fair and right.

If you have made it this far, that's it.  As stated above, I have reviewed a bunch of these games for the blog and each game that I play, impresses me just that more. They are fun, they don't take a lot of resources in playing, they don't take up a lot of room (good, if you are a traveling person) and best of all, don't take a lot of time to play.  And perfect for introducing someone to the world of military conflict gaming.  

 

A FYI - I removed my updated counters and house rules, etc for these small games, due to namby-pamby jack wagons posting their XXX crap on my google drive.

thanks for reading,
-ab

 

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, it was Google who removed them.

La Garde recule!

Yes, another small pocket game, Against the Odds' Pocket Battle Game #10 "La Garde recule! Attack at Waterloo" the retreat of the Imperial Guard, the final French attack at Waterloo, 18 June 1815.

Title: La Garde recule! Attack at Waterloo
Price: $0 free with a purchase or buy The Waterloo PBG Pack from ATO
Series: Pocket Battle game #10
Designer: Paul Rohrbaugh
Graphics Designer: Mark Mahaffey
Publisher: LPS, Inc
Published Date: 2011

Subject:  This pbg concerns the last actions of Napoleon's Guards in the final French attack on the Allied center. 

Abbreviations used:  AF = Attack Factor, DF = Defense Factor, MP = Movement Points, CD = Card Draw, ACT = Activations, PBG = Pocket Battle Game, "Allies" = British and Dutch, "French" = Old, Middle and Young Guard,  " > " is the Greater Than math symbol.

Scale:  A quick guesstimate, if I may, considering that the infantry units can fire up to 2 hexes away,  a hex is aprx 100 yards with the units representing battalions.  But, this is really not important. 

Complexity:  Introductory!!!

Description of Play:  Either player draws a card (CD). The color and type of card allows one player to activate up to 3 units. Once activated, the unit can either move one hex or preform fire combat or flip a unit over from a reduce state to full strength.

Note: If you have played TSP's pocket battle game #5, "A Hard Pounding", then you will know how to play this one. Differences is no French Arty marker or Major Baring, but the Allies do have the "Duke", himself and all cards are used in the deck, no 9 or 10 cards pulled. 

Components and Physical Quality:  The game comes as a standard size 4" x 6" postcard cardboard. The card is very nice and can take a lot of plays.  Printing is very good. The rules along with a small player's aid listing the terrain with it's corresponding card modifiers and unit breakdown are on the backside with the game map on the front.  Counters need to be cut out for playing.

Counters:  The game only has 17 counters. Allies have ten (9 infantry units and 1 Duke of Wellington leader) counters and the French have six and one game turn marker. Allied units are red (British) or green (Dutch) with black lettering and the French are blue with white lettering.  

 
Note: There are no differences between Guard units and regular line (foot) infantry.

Game Map:  For such a small game map it is well design. I can see why LPS, Inc uses Mark as their GD.  

Player added Component:  Players will need to provide a normal deck of cards.  

Card Deck setup:   Shuffle a standard card deck with 1 Joker,  A CD is perform with the French using black cards and Allies using red cards.  An activation allows a unit to either move or perform fire combat.

Each type of card does the following:

• An even CD allows up to two units to activate.  
• An odd CD allows up to three units to activate. 
• A face card CD allows one unit to activate or to flip one unit from reduced to full strength. 
• An ace is treated as a one for combat or odd for activation.
• For combat when a face card is drawn, it is an automatic "miss", exception is Duke of Wellington, as he can be eliminated on a CD of a black ace or king. See "Special Unit Counter" below).
• The Joker signals the end of the game turn when it is drawn for either activation or combat resolution, unless it is drawn before both sides have activated units. In this case, bury it and continue play until the end of the deck.

Note: Of course, High Flying Dice Games, has their own card set for this game. Cost is $8 plus postage. Click on the .jpg to the right.

Solitaire Playability (Scale 1 to 10):  This is like A Hard Pounding.  I give it a 7.  It can be played as solitaire, as just about any game can. 

Versions/Scenarios:  Only one version, no extra rules or scenarios.

Setup Time:  Once everything is cut out, what, maybe 3 mins for setup? It will take longer to shuffle the card deck.

Playing Time:  This one is quick.  My games last 30 to 45 mins if that long. Maybe 45 mins to 1 hour to learn the game the first time, but after?

Rules: The rules are simple and flow nicely from the various areas of "Setup" to "Play" to "Combat" and to "Reinforcements".  After looking over and playing this little game, I found these rules to be very logical, concise, and can see why "A Hard Pounding (TSP's pbg #5) plays so well. Most important - NO ZONES OF CONTROL and combat is voluntary.  No stacking except for the Duke.

Addenda:  "none" as I can't find any.

Description of Play:  Play is very easy, almost as if the designer was using a formula that he perfected in the past, sweet. This game has the following:

• Setup:
• Six Allied units setup on the red diamonds, and three units on any "R". 
• Two "1st wave" French units on any blue diamond.
• No stacking, except if the Lord Wellington counter is used as an allied reinforcement.
• Play:
• A card draw (CD) activates units for either moving 1 hex or fire combat.
• It doesn't matter who draws the card, as it is the color and type of card that  depicts which unit(s) are activated.
• Combat:
• Units may fire up to 2 hexes away.
• Infantry have a -2 CD modifier if firing at a non-adjacent hex.
• Allied Artillery firing at a French unit in an adjacent hex has a +1 CD modifier.
• Allies "Lord Wellington" adds +1 CD modifier for attacking and +1 DF for any Allied unit he is stacked with.
• Terrain on combat
• Hill terrain has a +1 CD modifier against clear terrain.
• Units in woods have a -1 CD. 
• No firing thru other units, hills, woods, but can fire into such hexes.
• To perform a combat resolution, the attacker picks out the lucky defending target.
• a CD is performed (any color or suite is used), adding this to the AF. 
• Subtract the DF and hex terrain and/or range.
• Face cards are an outright miss (exception: the Duke of Wellington is killed if the unit he is stacked with has a combat CD of black Ace or King)
• A hit is scored on the defender if the final modified value is greater than the target units DF. 
• If the unit was full strength, it is flipped over to it's reduced side. 
• If the unit was reduced from before, it is eliminated and removed from play.
• If the modified value is equal to or less than " < " the target's DF:  No Effect.
• Reinforcements:
• Only the French receives reinforcements. 
• There is a number on the lower right side that indicates the earliest turn the French reinforcement can arrive. They can always enter on later game turns.

Game Length:  The game last up to 5 turns of card deck shuffles. Victory is dependent on the French securing their victory conditions - either eliminate all Allied units or exit three non-reduced units (or four units if one of them is reduced) along the north edge of the game map. Otherwise the Allies win.

Special Unit Counter:  There is one special unit, the Duke himself, "Wellington". He enters the game on game turn 2 by spending any red CD and placed on any allied unit.  Once in play, he cannot exit the game. He doesn't have to enter the game. He has to be stacked with an Allied unit at all times. And confers a +1 to a CD and +1 to the DF to the unit that he is stacked with. 

If the unit the Duke is stacked with is eliminated, the Duke is moved to another unit. If all Allied units are eliminated, the Duke of Wellington is captured and the game ends in a French victory.  If the Duke is eliminated on a card draw of a black ace or king for combat, there is no adverse effect for the Allied player.

That's it, pretty much everything one would want to know about this game. 

Play-Balance:  This pbg, imho, is finely balance as "A Hard Pounding". Out of the 20 or so games played, the Allies won 60%, with the French winning 40%.  Now some may say "well, thats not balance", but think about it, did the French really have a chance with such few battalions of the Guards attacking?  

• At Ligny, Napoleon used 19 Infantry btns (11 btns of Guards and 8 btns of Gerard's Corps), with 28 squadrons cavalry (4 squadrons. of Guard Cavalry and 24 squadrons of Cuirassiers) to break thru the Allies line and was successful.
• At Waterloo on the western wing against the British (inc KGL) and Dutch, only 16 Infantry btns (8 btns of Guards and 8 btns of Donzelot's division), with 3-5 squadrons of cavalry (1-2 squadrons of Guard and 2-3 squadrons of Cuirassiers was used).  This was not enough. 
• And on the eastern wing, fighting the Prussians in Plancenoit, 10 btns of Guards and 9 btns of Mouton's Corps with no cavalry was used and again, this was not enough.

In the battle, when the Guards broke thru the first line, they were spent, but the follow up Guard btns were almost as spent and just didn't have the men or stamina to carry the attack. Not enough men assign to the task at hand shows that fighting on two fronts is a solid and loud "Non!". And was Napoleon's biggest fear. 

Which begs the question, "what if Napoleon had a B-52 at the Battle of Waterloo?"

Not sure what heading to use:  I had two full paragraphs on possible strategies but you know, the game is small enough enough, you can come up with your own. Besides my non-ability not to win many of the games as the French disqualifies me from offering advice. :D 

Summary:  This is a sister pbg to "A Hard Pounding Fight", the battle for La Haye Sainte.  There are many books written on the Battle of Waterloo. I have ten myself from the quint-essential bible on Napoleon "The Campaigns of Napoleon" by Dr Chandler to Scotty Bowden's masterpiece "Waterloo" and all in between. There are literately dozens of websites not only on Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo, but on the different regiments, battalions, brigades, and other leaders. This time period is covered more than the Roman Empire or Germany versus Soviet Union.  Games are very numerous too.  For example, I have 15 board games, three sets of miniature rules, and the six pocket games. Though most tend to take hours (and hours and hours, and...) to play, these little pocket battle games take only 45 mins or less. A bargain these are and the price is right too.   

It would be nice to see a six pbg series that all joined up on the Battle of Waterloo, like the four pbg games on Leipzig 1813 and using that scale. 

 

I kept my line above as I got my wish - four different smaller battles in one large one (Waterloo). If one looks at the 4 different areas that Paul  made as PBGs, then one can see the entire battle.  

Now that is something....

-ab

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.

"A Hard Pounding Fight: The Battle for La Haye Sainte"

Yes, another small pocket game, this time it is Turning Point Simulations Pocket Battle Game #5 on the battle of La Haye Sainte during the Battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815.

Title:  "A Hard Pounding Fight: The Battle for La Haye Sainte"
Price:  $ Free with an order or buy The Waterloo PBG Pack from ATO
Designer:  Paul Rohrbaugh
Graphics Designer:  Mark Mahaffey
Publisher: LPS, Inc 2019

Subject: This PBG concerns the fight for the small walled farmhouse that was very crucial to the battle of Waterloo as it was in the center of the battlefield. Both Napoleon and Wellington made mistakes about this farmhouse during the battle. Napoleon failed to supply enough men to take the farmhouse earlier in the day and Wellington did not realize the importance of the farmhouse until almost too late. 

Abbreviations used:  AF = Attack Factor, DF = Defense Factor,  MP = Movement Points, CD = Card Draw, ACT = Activations, PBG = Pocket Battle Game, "Allies" = British and KGL, FAm = French Artillery marker, and last the " > " is the Greater Than math symbol. 

Scale:  Honestly, this is not important for this game. But a quick guesstimate, if I may, considering that the infantry units can fire up to 2 hexes away, and they are using muskets (French), with the Allies using the Baker rifle, one could say that a hex is aprx 100 to 150 yards with the units representing from companies to possibly battalions.  But this is really not important.  Also note, no Cavalry.  Though the Allies do have the horse battery, commanded by Lt Col "Sir" Hew Dalrymple Ross on that fateful day. 

Complexity:  Introductory!!!

Description of Play:  Either player draws a card (CD). The color and type of card allows one player to activate up to 3 units. Once activated, the unit can either move 1 hex or preform fire combat or flip a unit over from a reduce state to full strength. 

Note: If  you have played ATO's pocket battle game #10 "La Garde, recule!", then you will know pretty much how to play this one.

Components and Physical Quality:  Standard 4" x 6" postcard cardboard that LPS, Inc uses. Printing is very good. The rules along with a small player's aid listing the terrain with it's corresponding card modifiers and unit breakdown are on the backside with the game map on the front. Counters need to be cut out for playing. 

Counters: The game only has 17 counters. Allies have eight and the French the same number and one game turn marker. Allied units are red with black lettering and the French are blue with white lettering. 

Game Map:  With the various shades of greens and browns used, my daughter said it looked surreal like a soft water colour painting, which means she likes it. I will take her word for it. On the game map are the setup and entry points for the units and the reinforcements, the terrain of  the walled farm house and the important "sand pit".  The game map also has the game turn track (down the left side for the French and the right side for the Allies).   

Player added Component:  Players will need a deck of cards, that is all that has to be provided.

Card Deck setup:   The card deck is setup with all 9's and 10's being removed and one Joker added to the deck. A CD is perform with the French using black cards and Allies using red cards.  An activation allows a unit to either move or perform fire combat. Each type of card does the following:

• An even card allows up to two units to activate.
• An odd card allows up to three units to activate.
• Face card allows any one unit to activate or to flip one unit from reduced to full strength.  And a black face card for the French allows (starting on game turn two) the French Artillery marker to be used in addition to moving 1 unit or flipping a reduce unit to full strength. 
• An ace is treated as a one or odd.
• For combat when a face card is drawn, it is an automatic "miss", exception is Major Baring. He can be eliminated on a black ace or king. See "Special Unit Counters" below).
• The Joker signals the end of the game turn when it is drawn for either activation or combat resolution, unless it is drawn before both sides have activated units. In this case, bury it and continue play until the end of the deck.

Note: Of course, High Flying Dice Games, has their own card set for this game, silly person for asking. Cost is $8 plus postage. Contact HFDG for further information.   Click here to go to HFDG for more info

Solitaire Playability (Scale 1 to 10):  This is like the Five for Fighting series of PBGs. I give it a 7 playing the French as the Allies can stay put and bring up more units to keep La Haye Sainte and the sand pit from falling to the French. Or play the French and take Haye Sainte from the KGL!

Versions/Scenarios:  Only one version, no extra rules or scenarios. At least not yet. I have learned one thing about LPS, Inc, they usually have something up their sleeves in regards as an extra "Black Swan" type add-on for their subscribers (including the PBGs) via their ATO magazine.  And no, not their armees!  

Maybe this includes the three "Low Ammo" counters included on the die-cut counters sheet, along with the KIA message on the back of Major Baring's counter? And it does make me wonder too.   However, for now, it is a mystery and shall remain as such until reveal sometime in the future by Steve, the LPS, Inc publisher.  

Setup Time:  Once everything is cut out, what, maybe 3 mins for setup? It will take longer to shuffle the card deck.

Playing Time:  This one is quick.  My games last 30 to 45 mins if that long. Maybe 45 mins to 1 hour to learn the game the first time, but after?

Rules:  The rules are simple and flow nicely from the various areas of "Setup" to "Play" to "Combat" and to "Reinforcements". This is imho, a very well written set of rules. I found these rules to be very logical, concise, and short.  Most important - NO ZONES OF CONTROL and combat is voluntary.  Oops, sorry, just not having a ZOC excites me to no end!  No stacking except for Major Baring. More on him, later.

Addenda:  There is a tiny bit of addenda and here it is:

• Under the Reinforcements section. It is mentioned that the French Artillery marker comes into play starting game turn "3".  Wrong, as it is turn "2" just as it says on the counter.  Easy fix, just "wite-out" and write in a "2".
• Just a misspelling - Under Combat, 3 line, should be (but not through).
  
• Infantry attacking 2 hexes away (non-adjacent) have a -2 CD modifier.
• The Allied artillery unit, "Ross", when attacking adjacent French units has a +1 CD. 
• Just as for the wrong turn entry for the FAm (above), wite-out the mistakes and correct with a pen.

Note: Canister and Grape shot does hurt!

There might be more addenda or not, however, I don't believe there will be. The above will help keep those pesky French at bay.

Play:  Play is very easy, almost as if the designer was using a formula that he perfected 20 years ago. :D  Sweet. This game has the following:

• Setup:
• No stacking, except for Major Baring.
• Play:
• a card draw activates units for either moving 1 hex or fire combat.
• and it doesn't matter who draws the card, as it is the color and type of card that depicts which unit(s) go.
• Combat:
• Units may fire up to 2 hexes away. 
• Inf have a -2 CD modifier if firing at an non-adjacent hex.
• Allied Arty (Ross) if firing at a French unit in an adjacent hex has a +1 CD modifier.
• French Arty marker adds +1 CD modifier to ALL French attacks for the turn.
• Allies Major Baring adds +1 CD modifier for attacking and +1 DF for any Allied unit he is stacked with. 
• Sandpit and Hill terrain have a -1 CD modifier.
• No firing thru other units, hills or La Haye Sainte, but can fire into such hexes.
• To perform a combat resolution, the attacker picks out the lucky defending target.
• A CD is performed, adding the card number to the AF of the firing unit. 
• Face cards are an outright miss (exception Major Baring and a black Ace or King, which eliminates him) 
• Ace is equal to 1.
• Subtract the target's DF and any CD modifiers for range or terrain the defender is in. 
• A hit is scored on the defender if the final modified value is greater than the target units DF. If the unit was full strength, it is flipped over to it's reduced side. If the unit was reduced from before, it is eliminated and removed from play.
• If the modified value is equal to or less than " < " the target's DF = No Effect. 
• Reinforcements:
• Only the French receives reinforcements. There is a number on the lower right side that indicates the earliest turn the French reinforcement can arrive. They can always enter on later game turns. French units also have a arrival hex that they enter on.
• The French Artillery marker enters play on turn 2, when a black face card is drawn. It will stay in use the entire turn and removed at the end of the turn. It can come back during the next turn when another black face card is drawn. 
• Game Length:
• The game last up to 5 turns of card deck shuffles. Victory is dependent on the French securing their victory conditions - all 3 hexes of La Haye Sainte and the Sand Pit being free of Allied units. Otherwise the Allies win.

Special Unit Counters:  There are two special units, the French Artillery marker (FAm) and  Major Baring. Each will affect the combat CD for their respected side.

• The FAm has been talked about to death above. Basically, I believe it represents Napoleon's "Grand Battery" of over 63+ artillery pieces he had at Waterloo. 

• Major Baring is the Allies special unit. He must always be in one of the three hexes that comprise La Haye Sainte.  He cannot leave them.  He confers a +1 CD to any unit he is stacked with when it fires and a +1 DF to the unit he is stacked with when defending. If the hex Major Baring occupies is fired upon, he is eliminated on a CD of either a black Ace or black King. Also, if there are no Allied units in one of the 3 hexes of La Haye Sainte, Major Baring is eliminated on any CD when fired upon.

That is it.  Pretty much everything one would want to know about this game.  

Play-Balance: The game is well, pretty darn even. Remarkable.   

Summary:  This is a "sister" pbg game to "La Garde, recule". There is only one difference and that is in the setup of the cards used for the card draw.  This game shows how well the pocket battle game series are coming along. I believe that Paul just keeps honing his designer skills on each game he comes out with. Whether it is a big game like Vicksburg or a small pocket battle game like this one, his games just seem to get better.

It's the little things about these games, that Paul is including, such how in this case, the Grand Battery is depicted and used.  Also, how Major Baring rallied and held his troops together to be a thorn in the side of the French (+1 CD and +1 DF). He started with aprx 400 men and by the time he was able to leave, he was down to aprx 42 men. (He would have won the MoH if he was an American for his actions at La Haye Sainte). 

Graphic Designer Mark is showing good progress in his art skills, too. I still believe his graphic design on "Five for Fighting" series of PBGs is the cat's meow, especially the counters.

This game is fun. It is not a walk over for the French and can go either way, down to the end of game turn 5. The French have a tough job ahead of them to clear out all 4 hexes, the three of La Haye Sainte and the sand pit for victory by the end of turn 5.  But it can be done.  Wise use and a little luck with getting that French Artillery marker will make it a whole lot easier than without. 

The Allies have to be careful not to let the French chew up too many of their units in the walled farm house. Major Baring is the key here, as he was in the real battle. Watch out that you don't leave him by his lonesome, as he will surely perish.

It is said that Wellington was not the hero he has been made out to be for winning Waterloo. Considering that British troops only comprised about 35% of his forces and more than 65% of his troops spoke some type of German, that it is actually Germans who won this battle. I know that there were several important small battles that comprised the entire battle field (I was able to visit most back in the early 80's when stationed in West Germany), at least to me and a few others, the battle for La Haye Sainte has always been the most important. It was the center of the battlefield. If Napoleon had held it before the Prussians arrived on the field, he would have been able to take the Allied center.  As it was, the King's German Legion commanded by Major Baring held the farm long enough to keep that from being a reality.

All in all, good gaming to you. I hope you will grab this little game and play it. If so, let me know what you think about it, as I am interested in hearing how you fare.
-ab


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.

Clash of Lions, Battle of Jiradi Pass: 6th June, 1967

This review has been ongoing for a few months now. Different things keep jumping up and say "hey work on me now", so without any further excuses, on to this review.

Title:  Clash of Lions, Battle of Jiradi Pass: 6th June, 1967
Price:  $* plus shipping
Designer:  Paul Rohrbaugh
Graphics Designer:  Bruce Yearian
Publisher:  High Flying Dice Games
Published Date:  2011

Subject:  The battle of Jiradi Pass at the beginning of the 6th Day War between Egypt and Israel on 6th June 1967 fought in the Sinai Desert between the remnants of the Egyptian 7th Infantry Division and Israel's Tal Armored Division.

Scale:  Each hex is 500 meters across with each unit representing either a company (Egyptian) or a platoon (Israeli).  Armor units are company in size (both sides).  Note that since the game is on the 3rd battle for the Pass, most of the Egyptians were possible at platoon size due to the attrition from the previous Israeli attacks. I would consider this to be tactical, maybe grand-tactical in scope.

Game Area:  The game map represents the desert terrain of the Jiradi Pass.

Player Supplied Components:
The only thing a player needs to supply is 2 dice, one for each player.  That's it. Unlike many of High Flying Dice Games, no cards are used for activating units for movement or combat. It took me a few tries to get use to this, as I like the card activation.

Components and Physical Quality:  Graphics are "old school", however, I like old school. It sure beats this avant garde, new way of using the NATO symbols a lot of game graphic designers are doing these days. Easier to see for one thing.  And for that reason, this game to me from the graphics to the game map, to the player's aid, and to the counters are top notch.

Everything is printed on stiff 11"x17" paper with the counters and player's aid on one side and the "8.5" x 11") game map on the other. 56 total counters that need to be mounted, cut out and the game map to be separate from the counters. You can leave the player's aid attached or cut it from the game map, your choice (I left mine attached).  And of course if you prefer, when you purchase the game, you can have HFDG mount your counters for a small charge.    

Counters:  As mentioned before, I like the way Bruce used tank silhouettes for the armor and NATO symbols for the others - Infantry, Heavy Weapons, AT guns, and Artillery. 

The colors used for the counters are very good with light green for the Egyptians and medium blue for the Israelis.  Each counter except for the Egyptian Artillery (1) and the Israeli Aircraft (3) markers have their unit number on the upper right side of their symbols with an attack factor (aka the "fire combat factor"), range, and movement allowance.  What's nice is the range factor is outline in white.

There are 17 Egyptian units and 19 Israeli units for play. Four infantry units of the 19 Israeli counters are for the "what if" scenario. One game turn counter and 19 "Disrupted" counters are also provided. All of the counters are single sided and .5" square in size.

Game Map:  Small at 8.5" x 11", it is compact, but highly functional.  Terrain is composed of sand, level 2 elevations, entrenchments (only Egyptians can use), crest hex-sides and roads.

Each different type of  terrain affects movement, fire combat, close assault combat, and sight if using the advance rules.  

Complexity (1 to 10):  "1-3" introductory rated, but normal for High Flying Dice Games, complexity can be added via the optional advance rules.  These optional rules can also be used to "even out" between the players different abilities. Very nice.

Gamer Versions/Scenarios:  Clash of Lions has two scenarios - the historical battle and a "what if" that adds more Israeli units, a different victory point/win and boosting the complexity level up to a "3". 

Setup Time:  With such a low density of counters, about 5 mins. Grabbing a beer out of the fridge would take longer.

Playing Time:  30 mins to 60 mins for basic game. With advance rules, add 30 mins. And with the "what if" scenario add about 30 mins to 1 hour. 

Solitaire Playability (Scale 1 to 10):   8. Due to the low amount of counters involve in the game,  no special rules are needed,  just common sense. I also tend to use the Egyptians as the non-player as they don't really need to move (everything was well dug in, including the IS-3M (JS-3M's.)).

Rules:  3 freaking pages!  That's right, just 3, not counting the cover. Actually it is 2.5 pages, but hey, who is counting! Well written. Everything is there, maybe not in a crazy bunny order, but they are there... 

Addenda:  Yes, we do have addenda...

Note: Though this is very moot, but to keep history correct the Israeli armor counters should be labled as M-48s, instead of M-60's as there were no M-60's used by Israel in the Six Day War.  All, but one company of M-48's, were armed with a 90mm gun. This company was armed with the British 105mm and had a better chance (though not great) at damaging the flank or rear of the IS-3M but not the front (122mm of armor).  For more information, please click here. It will take you to an excellent article written by a tanker, Major Warford, US Army, retired.

Description of Play (a.k.a 4.0 Sequence of Play): There are 10 turns to the game. Each turn is composed of the following- 

• Random Event Determination (see 4.1) - Both players roll 1D6 and add the numbers together to get the random event (see 9.0) number.  This is where UAR Artillery and Israeli Air Support comes into play (sorry, bad pun).
• Initiative Determination (see 4.2) - Both players roll 1D6 and add their morale number (see 6.0) to each roll. The player with the highest total wins the initiative and performs the first set of operations for the turn. (Note: On the 1st game turn, the Israeli player gets the initiative).
• Operations Phase (see 4.3) - Players move and fight their units by performing alternating sets of "impulses".  
• The player with the initiative rolls 1D6 and that is the number of units that can either move (see 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3) and perform "Close Assault Combat" (CAC) (see 7.2, 7.3, 7.4) since CAC is part of movement or  perform "Fire Combat" (see 7.0, 7.1, 7.3, 7.4) for the first impulse.  
• After the player has moved or attacked, then the second player rolls 1D6 and performs the same as above. If any player has any remaining units that have not moved or fired, the first player rolls 1D6 for the second impulse or next set of units to move or fire, etc. 
• The Operations Phase ends when both players have moved or fired their units or both pass.   
• To recap, a unit can either move or fire, not both unless it is performing a CAC as part of it's movement.
  
  
• End Phase (see 4.4) - Following the conclusion of the Operations Phase, 
• all units with a "Disrupted Marker" can attempt to "Rally" to recover to normal status (see 8.0). 
• If this is not the last turn of the game, advance the Game Turn marker one space and repeat Random Event Determination (see 4.1).
• If it is the last turn of the game, players calculate the number of Victory Points they have earned to determine who has won the game (see 10.0, 10.1).

Other Parts of the Rules:  There are Zones of Control (see 5.2) and stacking (see 5.3) is allowed.  Morale (see 6.0) plays a huge part in the game.  Units can become "Disrupted" (see 7.3) due to combat (highly important). Units can retreat (see 7.4) and don't forget about rally (8.0).

Combat (see 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 12.1, 12.2):  There are two types of combat, Fire Combat and Close Assault Combat that occurs during movement.

• Fire Combat (FC) (see 7.1 & 12.1): 
  
• If a unit is undistrupted, it may fire upon an enemy combat unit when activated. 
• Fire Combat can only be used by units that do not move. 
• Enemy units must be within range and have a clear "line of sight" (LOS). 
• The attacking player rolls 1D6 and modifies the roll for each of the following:
• +1 modifier if defending unit is on higher elevation.
• +1 if defending unit is behind a crest hex side.
• +1 if defending unit is in an entrenchment hex (Egyptian Only).
• -1 if defending unit is in an adjacent hex.
• If using optional rule 12.1: +1 if Israeli unit moved and fired (this optional rule supersedes 7.1).
• If using optional rule 12.2: -1 if firing unit qualifies for a flank shot. 
• If the modified DR is less than or equal ( < ) to the Attacking units Fire Combat Factor, the defending unit (target) is hit. A non-disrupted unit (i.e. normal status) becomes "Disrupted" and receives a Disruption marker.  A disrupted unit must make a Morale check (see 6.3. See I said that is important  :P  ).
  
  
• Close Assault Combat (CAC)(see 7.2, 7.4): 
• Friendly undisrupted units may enter an enemy-occupied to engage in Close Assault Combat. 
• Since this is part of movement, CAC can only be initiated by units that have not engaged in fire combat, earlier in the turn. 
• Disrupted units may defend in CAC, but at a disadvantage. 
• To resolve CAC, both players total the combat factor of their units in the hex and each roll 1D6 (note - Egyptian AT have a combat factor of 1 during CAC):
• The attacker modifies the DR for each of the following: 
• +1 if ALL of the attackers morale level is higher than the defenders.
• -1 if any of the attackers morale level is lower than the defender's.
• -1 if the attacking units moved from a level 1 hex to a level 2 (i.e. attacked uphill).
• The defender modifies their DR for each of the following:
• +1 if the defender's units morale level are higher than the attackers.
• -1 if any of the defender's morale level is lower than the attacker's.
• +1 if the defender is occupying an entrenchment hex.
• The player with the highest total wins and
• the losing side's units are retreated 1 hex (see 7.4) 
• and once a CAC is resolved, those activated units used for this are finished for the turn.

Whew, that's it for combat! 

Play-Balance:  This is a tricky question. Is the game a walk over for the Israeli's or not. In the actual battle, the training, knowledge of the land, knowing one's equipment, and one's belief in what one is doing, allowed the Israelis an edge to win a battle against a foe who had modern equipment, dug in and fortified, but poorly lead.  The game is close. It is not an easy walk over for Israel and a victory can be so easily snatched away.  When a game is like this, I would say that the play balance is spot on. 

Summary:  Highly recommended. Great for a fast playing game. I like this game. It isn't perfect, no game is, but it is very, very, good. It has a small game map, low amount of counters, sensible short rules. Graphics are in a style I like.

One will have to pay attention and not play haphazardly as the Israeli. The use of die rolls to see who and how many units can activate is different (for me) from using cards for activation and it did take me a few turns to get use to this new fangled approach to gaming (lol, just joking). The "what if" scenario adds more infantry to the Israeli side to show what would have happened if Israel had delayed their attack to wait for the  infantry.  Optional rules are common sense that can add to the game, while not increasing the time for play and the added complexity is just a little bit more. These optional rules are also good to handicap a veteran player against a less experience player.

Well, that's about it. Grab the game, it is a keeper! For such a small game I find  it is fun, heart stopping and made me think - I had to plan before the game started. As mentioned before, the game is not a snoozer and one has to pay attention to their game play. Otherwise, unlike Israel, you may lose this important battle to open up a supply line and the northern road, which in all likelihood, may lose the whole war.  Yes, that is how important this one battle was.

-ab out

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.

A Five for Fighting Series Pocket Battle Games

Hopefully you took advantage of ATO's 75th Anniversary of D-Day commemoration and get all five of their latest Pocket Battle game set? I sure did and here's my take...

A few weeks ago, all the free world (except Google) celebrated the 75th anniversary of one of the most spectacular, largest, and important invasions in all of history, "Operation Overlord", the return of the European allies along with the Americans to the European continent 6th June 1944.  Notice, I didn't include the Soviet Union as they were on the other side of Germany and to be honest, doing just fine right where they were.

In honor of this, Against the Odds magazine released a new pocket battle game set (series) of where Operation Overlord began with the 5 beach landings code-named "Operation Neptune" (commonly known as D-Day) - Utah (#21), Omaha (#22), Gold (#23), Juno (#24), and Sword (#25).  This series is design by one of the most prolific game designers I have ever known, Paul Rohrbaugh. 

Title:  Five For Fighting Series Games and Campaign Rules to link all 5 together.

Price:  NEW - You can purchase all five PBGs from ATO for $21.95 (US), $31.95 (others).  Click here. Tell 'em that you saw this here. Also, the Five for Fighting PBGs is still being offered individually as freebie choices starting on from ATO. Good news as they are excellent.

Note: there is a now available the 2nd edition of these five pocket battle games. Corrects spelling on the game boards and the little bit of errata they had. 

Designer:  Paul Rohrbaugh
Graphics Designer:  Mark Mahaffey
Developer:  Against The Odds (ATO) magazine
Publisher:   LPS, Inc
Published Date:   June 2019

Subject:   D-Day beach landings

Scale:  The game, time scale and unit size is not given. However, after asking the designer, I received the following: "The game's scale for a hex is a little less than a half mile across. Units are regiments/brigades (infantry) or battalions/KG/BG (armor and paratrooper). The games represent the first day, so a turn is about 2 hours of time".

Abbreviations used:  AF = Attack Factor, DF = Defense Factor,  MP = Movement Points, CD = Card Draw, ACT=Activations.

Map Area:   Each pocket game covers one of the five beaches from Utah to Sword. Utah and Omaha are separate while Gold, Juno, and Sword can be combined. Please see the campaign linking rules for more information.

Components and Physical Quality:   Each Pocket Battle game is 4"x 6" on very nice, coated cardboard, printed nicely on the front and back. Counters will need to be cut out unless one gets the die cut counters (hint- do it).

Player added Components:  Players will need for each game, 2D6 and a deck of cards. For the Campaign, only 1D6 and 1 deck of cards is used, not 5 decks. To be honest, I have not found where any dice is used in the separate beach landing pocket games, as movement and combat  is resolved by a card draw. I do know 1D6 is used as  the game turn indicator.  However, in the Campaign linked rules, a 1D6 is used in several places for random events, Duplex Drive tanks, etc, as a Game Turn track is provided.

Card Deck setup:   The card deck is setup with all 9's and 10's being removed and one Joker added to the deck. For the Campaign game, two Jokers are used. Germans use black cards and Allies use red cards.  An activation allows units or stacks to activate (1 for the German or 3 for the Allies with odd numbered card draw, 2 for both sides with an even card draw).  Face cards of the correct color allow either side to use their Artillery Support or Naval Support marker or flip a reduced unit back to full strength.  Yes, this will be mentioned several more times.

Note: High Flying Dice Games, has their own card set for this set of games (or each individual), Cost is $* plus postage. Contact HFDG for further information.   Click here to go to HFDG for more info

Complexity (1 to 10):   "1". This is not the end all of D-Day games, but a fun, small, and easy to play series of well thought out games and a campaign.

Game Versions/Scenarios:  There are no additional scenarios, however  there are the campaign linking rules which increase the play value by adding random events and a couple of optional rules such as Duplex Drive tanks and what I like to call "Hitler finally listen to Rommel" setup but officially known as the "Variable Free German Setup".

Under this optional rule there are variant units and reinforcements for both sides (airborne units for the Allies, Lehr Panzer and some other infantry for the Germans) that I found.   The variant counters have a "V" on the upper right side.  Nicely done as die-cut counters  make the pocket battle games that much better. 

Those folks at ATO are rascals! Here is the Five For Fighting extra rules, including the extra for the Allies. Click Here to go there.

Setup Time:   Subjective, 5 to 10 mins for one game, 15+ mins for the setup of the campaign game if game pieces are separated into a gaming tray (ATO sells some nice trays btw).

Playing Time:   Again, subjective, from 30 mins  to 45 mins per pocket game to 90+ mins, if playing the campaign game.

Solitaire Play-ability (Scale 1 to 10):  "5", as the game wasn't designed for solo play, but like anything else, one can play it that way.  Just don't cheat :}

Rules:  Are very well written. If anyone can write rules for these pocket games, it is ATO.

Play-Balance:  The game series is very balanced. Just like the real deal, the Allies could have lost and can do so in this game series. 

Errata:  Note the following please - The German AT and Infantry attack CD values are reversed in the rules.  They should be:

Infantry attacking a target in a non-adjacent hex: -1 CD
AT unit attacking an armor target in any hex: +1 CD

There might be more errata or not, however I don't believe there will be. The above will help keep those pesky nazi's at bay.

Description of Play:  Play is very easy as each game has the following (with the one exception being Sword Beach, noted below): 

Setup
Game Play
Combat
Combined Arms Bonus
Artillery and Naval Support Markers
Game Length
Victory Conditions
German Reinforcements (Only Sword Beach game has reinforcements, this being the 21st Panzer Division) (note - there is an optional rule and variant units for the Campaign game that allows even more reinforcements, but for the single game, this is it.)

Game Play: is based on what card is drawn with the color and type of the card (odd or even or face card) regulating what can be done - i.e., move, fire combat, used for flipping a reduce unit or using Artillery (German) / Naval (Allies) support.  For example if a Red 2 is drawn the Allies may activate up to two units.

Special 1st turn:  This needs to be mentioned. Before the first card is drawn and after setup, the Allies go first and get 2 activations. This simulates the actual beach landings.  After this event, the card deck is drawn from.

Activation allows a player to either move or have fire combat, but not both. A unit can only have one activation per CD. The exception to movement or fire combat is a "face card". A face card allows a player to either use their artillery/naval support OR flip one reduced unit back to full strength.  Eliminated units may never return to play.

There are no Zones of Control.

Movement points of all units on both sides is 1 hex per activation. Hexes occupied by enemy units cannot be entered, nor can stacking limits be violated.  A player can stack one infantry unit with either one armor or one anti-tank unit for a combine arms bonus.  All sea hexes cannot be entered.

The cost of movement for all terrain is 1 MP even across rivers.  The various terrain outside of all sea hexes doesn't affect movement, only combat. This terrain being "Clear", "Beach" (-1 DF), "Hill" (+1 DF), "River" (-1 AF), "Road", "Villages", and "Strongpoints" (+1 DF).

Combat:  is pretty easy and straight forward. No dice are rolled, but instead a card is drawn (color or suite of card has no bearing, except if a face card is drawn, it is always considered a miss). Units can fire into, but not through Hills, Villages, Strongpoints, or other units, friendly or not.  Attacking is voluntary and is done one to one, by a single attacking unit against a single defending unit. The only exception to this is a Combine Arms stack may combine their AF for attacking. However, a Combine Arms stack may not combine their DF for defending and each unit in a stack defends separately.  All terrain AF/DF modifiers and card draw modifiers are cumulative.

To resolve combat, the firing player performs a CD, don't worry about color or if the card is odd/even, unless the CD is a face card (a miss).  Add the AF of the single unit or combine arms stack to the card number, then add or subtract the terrain modifier for the hex the firing unit is in.

Besides the "terrain Modifiers" there are these additional modifiers, that are added or subtracted to the attacker's card draw -

• all infantry units have a -1 CD if firing at a non-adjacent hex.  
• Armor unit have a -1 CD if firing at an adjacent hex.
• German AT units have a +1 CD at all ranges when firing at Allied armor. 

These numbers get added or subtracted for the final Attacker's CD number.
  

Subtract the defending unit's DF and add/subtract it's terrain modifiers. If the final number is ">" (greater) than the modified defender's DF, the unit is "hit" and is flipped over, if it has two steps. If the defending unit has only one step, it is eliminated from the game.

However, if a unit has 2 steps and is already reduce, instead of being eliminated, it may retreat one hex, towards a beach hex for the Allies or away from the beach for the German. The retreating unit may not violate stacking limits. Other units in the hex are unaffected by any results suffered and must be separately attack (note - combine arms stacks). A few times using this system was required for me to get use to it but it became second nature.

Artillery or Naval Support:  is also easy, as any enemy unit on the map anywhere, can be attacked this way. When a correct color face card is drawn and the owning player decides to used their arty/naval support, the marker is placed on the game map on any enemy unit. Perform a CD, adding the +1 CD bonus on the marker, minus the target units DF and terrain modifiers. If the final modified CD value is ">" (greater than) the target's DF, then the target was hit. Either eliminate the enemy unit if it was a 1 step or flip it over if the target was full strength. It never came up, but if the target is already reduced, can it be retreated instead?  I say "yes", but I will ask this question and get back here with the answer..  

Game length:  5 turns or 5 shuffles of the card deck. And a game turn ends when the joker is turned up. Of course the joker is ignored if neither side has had an activation and play continues to the end of the deck.  Use a 1D6 to record the number of game turns, by placing the 5 spots up, then going down each time the deck is shuffled.

In the Campaign game, two Jokers are used. The first time a Joker is drawn, consult the Random Events Table. The second time a Joker is drawn, the game turn is over.

Victory conditions:  are primarily on the Allied Player. The Allies win the game if all German Strongpoints and all but one village hex were last occupied by the Allied player.  Also each Allied unit that exits the game map from the South edge before the last turn of the game, reduces the number of villages that need to be occupied. Of course they can't re-enter the game.

Any other result is a German win, where-by the Soviets after they steam rolled into Berlin, then liberate the rest of western Europe under Communism, there-by changing the cold war and world as we know it. A very grim future for Europe and the world.

Of course the Campaign has a slightly different version of the victory conditions based on winning the number of beaches (each card): The Allies:

Win 5 out of 5, Decisive Victory.
Win 4 out of 5, Major Victory.
Win 3 out of 5, Minor Victory
Win 2 out of 5, Minor Defeat
Win 1 out of 5, Major Defeat
Win 0 out of 5, Decisive Defeat

Evaluation:  The Pocket Battles series of games have matured thru-out the years, with this series being at present, IMHO, the pinnacle of these games. What started out as a challenge to use up a bunch of blank postcards has turned into a game craze that should have the big guys worried.  

Soapbox:  There are a lot of good ideas in this series of games. I am always impressed at how Paul comes up with new games while re-cycling the card draw system. 

I honestly believe that this is probably the best way to put the fog of war into a game.  I have heard that some don't care for this as the game moves too slow for them. But honestly, in war, does one side sit patiently waiting while the other side gets to move all of their troops and plan out to the perfect die roll with the right amount of combat factors for an over run to get the odds up to 7-1 for a sure kill? I think not. 

Outside of having some one take pot-shots at players, arty going off with aircraft screaming overhead, there is no way to simulate a war. But,  I believe the card draw system comes closest.

NOTE - As noted from an email from ATO, these PBGs are being offered, starting May 1 as  individual freebies. 

History:   Everyone knows of this invasion. It was that important. And if you don't know of it (like Google) then you need to read up on it.

Summary:   That's it, I have enjoyed not only playing all 5 beach landing games, but also the campaign. Omaha beach was the toughest for me, but I was able to pull 3 wins out of 5. I can blame it on the cards.  Utah Beach was the easiest as it was on 6th of June, 5 out of 5 wins. Gold and Juno were next easiest with 5 out of 5, though I did have a few moments of agony.  Sword Beach, I won 4 out of 5 as the 21st Panzer activated and it hurt. I don't see how the Brits managed to beat back that armor division.

Speaking of, High Flying Dice Games, does have a small game out called "Nemesis" and it is reviewed on this blog. Here is the link.

In this review, I wrote about having D-Day as 5 to 6 small games. I got my wish.  The 6th beach landing game would be Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France.  Not available, but hopefully, maybe....

The campaign game was tough, especially using the Duplex Drive tank rule.  Too many tanks sank to the bottom of the Channel with their crews.  The game is not an Allies walk-over. Just like the real landing, it is touch and go for the Allies, but we pulled it off.  Thank God, we pulled it off.

Addendum:   And to all the brave soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians that perished that day, 75 years ago, it was not in vain and thank you.  And good-bye Vera.

-ab
updated: 25th June 2019 1 July 2019, April 2020, June 2020

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.