Tag: DVG

03/7/15

GrogHeads Reviews Fleet Commander: Nimitz

Fleet Commander: Nimitz from DVG (Dan Verssen Games)

Michael Eckenfels, 7 March 2015

 

THE GAME

Fleet Commander Nimitz is a grand strategic game covering the struggles in the Pacific during the Second World War, from the start of 1942 through 1945. This is a solitaire game, where the player takes the role of Chester W. Nimitz and tries to stem the Japanese onslaught. Success or failure is measured by Objectives on the map (such as Alaska and New Guinea), and these change depending on the Campaign you choose to play. Victory is determined by the number of Objectives you hold; the more, the greater your level of victory. However, if you fail in stopping the Japanese tide across the Pacific, failure is not measured by a Japanese invasion of the mainland U.S. or Australia. Instead, interestingly, failure results in you losing your job.

FCN-photo 4

The game has a ton of beautiful (if at times mystifying) components, a relatively clear rule book, and game play that requires a playthrough or three in order to wrap one’s mind around the concepts. The fact that I have gone back to this game again and again to learn its intricacies is largely due to its magnetic appeal. The game does draw me in, even though it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

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11/29/14

GrogHeads Reviews Field Commander: Rommel (Deluxe)

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Published by DVG (Dan Verssen Games)

Michael Eckenfels, 29 November 2014

 

The career of Erwin Rommel was laced with brilliance and interspersed with disasters that didn’t quite come to fruition. It seemed that each time, the ingenuity and initiative of Rommel and his subordinates were just enough to bring about victory when defeat seemed inevitable. This played itself out across the Western Front in 1940, in North Africa over the following two years, and then in Normandy, but to a much lesser extent. Indeed, it seemed as time wore on, Rommel’s field fortunes ebbed and waned much the same as Germany’s as a whole.

Moving through the French countryside, conquering for the Fatherland (i.e. me).
Moving through the French countryside, conquering for the Fatherland (i.e. me).

Field Commander: Rommel is a solitaire game that puts you square into the same command halftrack (figuratively) to make the decisions he was faced with over three historical campaigns mentioned above. Faced with dwindling supplies and increasing Allied strength, your victory is never assured and hinges on your initiative and choices. Sounds like most games, doesn’t it? That’s nothing new. What is new, though, is creating a solitaire game that can use the same system for the player to manage, growing from a division-sized unit in the first scenario to an entire defensive network in the last. Continue reading →