Had another go with this excellent board wargame at my fathers last night and another great gaming session it was to. After last outings close run thing with Sudden Death victory conditions I decided as Ivans to contest one or two cities during the German 'happy time' in 1941. This worked well as it slowed Hun advance and keep his VP total a few points shy of the required Sudden Death levels. I had a couple of good combat results particularly in Odessa with Exchange results (main points being he cannot occupy the vacated city hex and my ability to re-occupy said vacant real estate). This time my father ignored Leningrad and went all out for Moscow but Ivan reserves and my contesting cities slowed him too much. Again several Exchange results reduced his combat power (Huns get no replacement for first 5 turns and cost 2 discards to re-fit on table units). By mid-1942 the Whermacht were retiring westward to shorten their lines as Ivans began to gear up for advance. Again had to finish it there (we are getting quicker but still having to look up far to many straightforward rules) and again appetites whetted for more. A really good game this one, simple without being simplistic, highly playable and yet evoking the Ostfront very well.
Of course none of this is helping me paint any figures !!
Crappy iPhone pics
Von Manstein trying to select a strategy in 1941
German offensive has shattered Soviet Western defences (but Odessa still occupied)
Limit of German advance around Smolensk
But a year later and the Germans are pulling back bruised and battered (several units on their 'flip sides') as Soviets gear up for the Great Patriotic Advance (Tank & Shock Armies soon to appear) with Smolensk and Kharkov back in rightful owners possession
Very interesting, new operational boardgames seem so much slicker than Third Reich used to be.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for round 3
ian
Never played TR myself but did play several other Op games. This is indeed much slicker mainly by using considerable fewer counters and use of cards.
ReplyDeleteMy best friend just bought this one along with the supplement to Devil's Cauldron (which I own) and Sekigahara. There's some goos wargaing in our future. How'd you like the game? I'm a big fan of Eastfront 2 at this scale.
ReplyDeleteDave
I had this game when I was a kid, I couldnt ever figure it out.
ReplyDelete"How'd you like the game? I'm a big fan of Eastfront 2 at this scale."
ReplyDeleteLove it is the answer its is very nicely done very playable and has great flavour of the Eastern Front.
This despite(or maybe because of ?) being quite abstract in many aspects, having low density of counters, fast pace. Certainly a lot less units/counters than most other games on the subject I have tried. Certainly lacks the nitty gritty of some of the 'monster' games but none the worse for it Imho
Check Board Game Geek for several videos/reviews which is how I made my mind up to buy it
"I had this game when I was a kid, I couldnt ever figure it out"
ReplyDeleteOriginal version by Victory Point Games published 2008 this new updated/upgraded/deluxe version just last year ?
Yikes..I have this game confused with a game from the 80's thatw as just like this as far as the screenshots. I thought this was the game since it had the same sort of map and game pieces. It was confusing as heck, I had to figure out line of site and all this other jazz. I was 14 when I had the game.
ReplyDeleteI looked for games like this but I dont think it was Panzer Leader but alot like that. I remember I bought it because I was huge fan of Axis and Allies and I bought all those games in that series, Broadsides and a Gary Grigsbys Pacific War for Dos. Anyway, I couldnt figure it out, it was exactly like this game though.
Going to kill me to try and remember it.