Tag: WWII

11/14/15

Grogheads Previews Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa

Your first look at the newest release coming from VR Designs and Matrix Games ~

Vance Strickland, 14 November 2015

click images to enlarge

Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa, DC3 from here on, is the third in the series of operational level hex and counter wargames from VR Designs, published by Martix Games. The first, Decisive Campaigns: Warsaw to Paris (DC1), let us fight the beginnings of WWII with the invasions of Poland, France and a hypothetical Sealion. It had regiment level units with historical OOB’s. Hundreds of units representing infantry, artillery, and armoured units on the ground and fighter and bomber formations in the air for all the major combatants. Next came Decisive Campaigns: Case Blue (DC2). With the same scale of units and map it took us to the Eastern Front of WWII to participate in the massive German offensive of 1942 again with detailed OOB’s conveyed by hundreds of counters on huge maps. This game upped the detail of the supply modelling and refined some of the Command and Control aspects of the first game.

Let’s see what we can expect from the latest installment of this excellent line of games.

Note: This preview is from a pre-release beta version of the game. Some art and content may change on release.

What’s New

Title screen only the main event... so far...
Title screen only the main event… so far…

The main entrance seems bare compared to the last version because there is only one scenario – the main event! There is no editor listed either but that apparently will be released as a separate entity that will work with the previous games as well. Also that that PBEM is now handled by Slitherine’s PBEM++ server system.

A plethora of options for lots of gaming
A plethora of options for lots of gaming

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11/7/15

Battle of the Bulge – An AAR

Developed by Shenandoah Studio and Published by Slitherine

Boggit, 7 November 2015

 

“To the German Commander.
NUTS!
The American Commander”

The response of General Anthony McAuliffe (acting commander of 101st Airborne Division) to General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz (commander of XLVII Panzer Corps), on being surrounded at Bastogne by far stronger German forces.

The Battle of the Bulge (hereinafter referred to as Bulge) is a popular setting for world war 2 games, and represents Germany’s last hope to forestall the Allies in the vain hope of bringing them to the negotiating table. Bulge is a divisional level game representing the German offensive in the Ardennes in late 1944/early 1945. The game itself is a port from an iOS game to the PC and Mac, and this short screenshot article is to give you a taste of what is being offered.

Bulge comes with 5 scenarios. There is a separate tutorial which deals with all the basics fairly quickly. The game is not difficult to learn, although as with many easy to learn games winning is not always easy. The game can be played either single or multiplayer.
Bulge comes with 5 scenarios. There is a separate tutorial which deals with all the basics fairly quickly. The game is not difficult to learn, although as with many easy to learn games winning is not always easy. The game can be played either single or multiplayer.

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11/4/15

Fortune & Glory – First Look!

Span the world in a boardgame!  We look at what’s inside the new box ~

Michael Eckenfels, 4 November 2015

 

I ordered Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game about a month ago and got it a few days before a business trip. That business trip kept me away for a week, and then once back I had a lot of catchup to do…so I’m finally having time to open this bad boy up to show it off.

This game is by Flying Frog, whom also made Shadows of Brimstone (another game of theirs that I own). I really liked the Indiana Jones feel to this game – a comparison that is inevitably made in just about any forum or article anywhere about it. It’s just as well, since it is a very apt description.

FandG-001

The box is huge and comes in at about 8 pounds or so (I’m working from memory on the weight from when it shipped to me). There’s a lot of stuff under the hood here, and I’ve seen plenty of videos on it to know what’s in store…but still, it’s nice to experience this for myself!

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10/24/15

GrogHeads Reviews: Heroes of the Pacific

Lock’n’Load heads to the PTO!

Doug Miller, 24 October 2105

 

Despite a proliferation of WWII tactical systems in recent years, tactical wargames covering the Pacific Theater tend to be rarer than hen’s teeth. Even the benchmark WWII tactical system, Advanced Squad Leader, isn’t overwhelmed with PTO modules and scenarios. So I was definitely excited to see that LnL Publishing was not only bringing many of their out-of-print Tactical Series games back, but also adding to the series with a dedicated Pacific Theater game.

Heroes of the Pacific focuses on tactical combat between the US Army and Marines and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Like other games in the series the core of the game is infantry combat between squads and weapon teams, supported by armored vehicles, various kinds of on- and off-board artillery, and air strikes.

The game uses the familiar Lock n’ Load Tactical Series rules. The rule book has been updated to version 4.0 and includes the additions to support the unique aspects of the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) in-line with the remainder of the rules. Significant rules changes are helpfully highlighted in green throughout the manual to bring experienced players up to speed quickly.

HOTPIMAG0160

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