Em’s Games Log

[Whiterook]

It’s a new year, and a new Game Log! Last year, I didn’t Play as many games as I’d wanted to, but I did manage four pages of One Shots, so I’ll take that as a win. My goal this year is 25+ games making it to my tables…might as well be ambitious!!!


My first edition of Lock ‘N Load Publishing’s, World at War: Eisenbach Gap Deluxe to get the ball rolling.
(See here for a more detailed game review)

I’ll start this years’ log with what was to be my ending year play in ‘23, but got pushed off… so, I actually like the Karma of putting this gem as my first game to play in 2024! It’s kinda cool too, because I started a new Facebook Group devoted to just the original Lock ‘N Load Publishing’s, “World at War” game system so, perhaps prophetic?




… it was the game version released not long after the original core game (Eisenbach Gap) that combined that core game with the zippy-bag expansion Death of the First Panzer all in one box.

As an aside: Though I have the newer, retooled version of this game and have played it recently in face-to-face games, I still come back to the original versions of the game, which the retooled hasn’t caught up to yet. Yeah, the new system offers a lot more *things* to do, but I just want to chuck dice and blow shit up!

I personally use the rules to the expansion, Untold Stories, which are about 15 pages long (versus the 100+ page complexity of the newer system)…



Lookin’ forward to playing this old nut… the simplicity brings me back every time, because I can just play without having to be a rules hog! My goal is to play all the games I own in this series, which is comprised of sum 15 games, as well as scenario packs!

[Whiterook]

Been playtesting TET Solo, and game scheduled for release in 2025, by Decision Games, in their Strategy & Tactics magazine. It’s in the first round of testing, so the game map and counters will likely be altered somewhat in graphics. Vietnam War action during the Communist TET Offensive, it models just on space for North Vietnam where your troops cannot enter, so B-52 missions are your only way to take out Charlie; and four Corps Zones in South Vietnam, where all the action takes place. The map is really gorgeous and the counters are good, but need work. Action takes place in 1968. I’ve three games played of the play test scenario and though there are bugs, the system works very nicely.

[Whiterook]

Next up… Duel on the Steppe: The Winter Campaign in the Ukraine, Jan - Mar 1943
(See here for a more detailed game review)

Bought this for $39.99 last week and am just starting the rules. I may have overpaid, as I see Noble Knight has it currently for $18 in excellent (but used) condition, but new for about the same price…oh well, it’s all good, as it was ten bucks off on sale.

Duel on the Steppe: The Winter Campaign in the Ukraine, Jan - mar 1943, is a simulation of the Winter Campaign in the Ukraine, from 29 January to 17 March, 1943. Known as Operation Star and Gallop, the Soviets arrayed their incredible numerical advantage against some of the best units in the German army. This game uses the same rules system as Sedan: The Decisive Battle for France, May 1940 (World at War #24), and Tobruk: Operation Crusader, Nov-Dec, 1941 (Strategy & Tactics #278), but is modified appropriate to the scale and the theater. Here, the Soviets have air superiority, albeit somewhat uncoordinated.

Duel on the Steppe includes one counter sheet (228 counters), and one map of the Ukraine area of the Soviet Union (approximately 260 miles, or about 418 kilometers), each hex representing about 6.5 miles (~10 kilometers). Unit sizes vary from kampfgruppes to corps, the latter which can be broken down into smaller formations for more operational flexibility, or simply to absorb casualties.

Components: One 22" x 34" map and 228 counters

I’m looking forward to playing this one in-between playtests!

[mikeh]

Looks like a good one. Sounds like a quality vs quantity battle.

[Whiterook]

This one is next at bat!





I’ve read through the rules once and I am hoping to be playing this by the weekend the latest…sooner, hopefully!

[Whiterook]

Next up: PanzerLeader, from Avalon Hill!





Using newer rules and maps…





I’ve been discovering over the last week or two that there’s a TON of add-on material that expands this venerable Oldie But Goodie; fan-made maps, counters, and scenarios. And most interesting of all, having read the new updated rules, I’d forgotten how much I loved this game in the past, and how I’d not really looked more deeply into the possibilities of tons of gaming goodness offered.

One of the things that literally just happened yesterday was, a cousin passed on some information on my dad’s unit in the Canadian Army, during WWII, which confirmed much of what I’d pieced together… I’m going to see what I can recreate for Juno and what he went through.

[Whiterook]

About to start playing this one with the revved up components, finally! Planning to playtest a couple new scenarios the designer shuttled my way… the plan is to start tomorrow and play the rest of the week.

[Whiterook]

Newest Playtest! West Front ‘44, which is a soon-to-be-released game in one of the Decision Game’s, magazine game issue in 2025. NOTE: Pictures shown below are mock-up game components and not in Final form yet, as it is now entering Bravo Testing. 

This game is a 2-Player offering, featuring the campaigns along the Rhine in the Winter of 1944-45 (December - March). The Allies are attempting to establish beachheads across the Rhine River, while the Germans are planning for their Ardennes counteroffensive. Unlike the alt-history game I tested last for Ty Bomba, this is a true historical simulation from Joseph Miranda.



I’m nearing the end of the rules at present, and have been working on those the past three weeks, editioing and proofing. I’ll be setting up the game over the next few days and will have a ARR play thread for all plays; my commitment is to try for four game-playthroughs played. It uses the Boots/Manstein’s War system to model command, control, and logistics on an operational scale. Though I’ve not been familiar with that particular system, it utilizes a lot of mechanics I’d used in my last playtest game on the Bulge; notably, Lines of Supply and Communications, though this system is far more aggressive in penalties for not being in supply and communication with the front(s). 

The general structure of the game is for each player to randomly draw Command Markers (chits) from an opaque containor each, which subsequently activates sub-Commands at the Corps and Battalion-level, as well as a few surprises in additional operational capabilities, like air, naval, and even major operations units like Wacht am Rhine.

As you can see above, the map is gorgeous! …I would say the best I’ve seen yet in a playtest. The tables are all on the map, so no- separate charts…





This game has a small cadre of counters than my last playtest, and they are also the most gorgeous! To ensure I had all counters needed (as they are assembled at Decision Games, and they are known to sometimes short you), so I laid them all out on the provided counter sheet copy…





I am really looking forward to playing this one!!!