Grognard Wargamer Thread!

That’s come my way and I’ve just never read it every time I think about it. I’ll do that. Does it read like Dispatches?

Dispatches is still awesome as well obvs.

Not particularly. It’s more a synthetic account of all the aspects of covering the war, including a lot of the technical stuff involved in shooting film and getting it on the evening news. There’s a lot of good stuff about the differences between, say, officers in the field and the folks back home in Saigon for the “Five O’Clock Follies,” and a lot about Vietnam and the Vietnamese. It’s a very good book.

Done. When I get a break from research Vietnam-reading in a few weeks here, I’ll read it.

Oh, the whole Bad Moon Rising graphic made bme rebuy the game from HFD. Long story short, Paul Rohrbaugh is looking for playtesters for a game on the Battle of An Bao, May 5, 1968. This game uses the same system as Bad Moon Rising and Fortunate Sons. No Vassal, P & P kit.

Skies Above the Reich is straight legit. I fiddled around with some large single actions today, and wow, did these guys get this right. I am actually starting a campaign (1942, six missions) of this solitaire game. I never actually write on the record pad they give you with the game, but I’m writing on this one. Here are my four Experten in Me-109s hitting an element of B-17s in a level head-on attack. They will then climb and bank left to get into the sun.

https://www.miniaturemarket.com/gmt1807.html

I’m impressed that you’re impressed. Is it just solitaire? In any case, you’ve convinced me to give this a whirl.

Solo only. There is a kinda-sorta two-player where you can have two separate groups of fighters (one per player) but it’s really a solitaire game.

I normally don’t solo, but I know that is not your preferred. And I rarely Air game. Not my jam. But this has been so glowingly received that I am going to do an “out of comfort zone” on this one. Danke, Herr Galland.

Before you plunk down your $60 ($89 if you want it right now direct from GMT, as it has not reached MM yet) plus shipping, be aware that it is very much not a “traditional wargame.” It has cards, lots of “draw an effect from the cup,” and even some wooden blocks (although I’m not sure why they couldn’t have been large counters instead - cost?). But what it clearly is, is “purpose-built.”

What I love about the game is that someone actually designed it. They didn’t take a bunch of historical data, organize it in charts, and have you die-roll your way through your own adventure. They realized that to make a good solitaire game about the bombing campaign, you had to make the player the one who had the most decisions to make. And that’s the Germans. Yeah, the Americans had to plan their raids. But once that’s done, the rest plays itself. And single bombers had few real decisions to make. However, the Germans had both the macro problem of raid identification and interception, and the micro problem of tactically breaking down the bomber formations. The designers here go for the micro.

Once they have that decision nailed down, they decide to focus on how the US “combat box” evolved along with B-17 armament to give the bombers more protection. So that became the map you progress through, like the one to Mordor. And then they devised a neat tactical system that really flows like you’d expect a series of slashing attacks on a bomber formation would go. And the system is slick enough to play quite fast.

My biggest concerns are two: (1) the lack of geographic specificity might make repeated missions kinda samey eventually, even with the changing maps, and (2) the brutality of the loss rate, which rightly shows how dangerous these missions were for an eroding Luftwaffe. Unlike in an RPG, your ability to deal with threats goes down as you progress through a campaign, not up.

But this game shows a couple of designers thinking through a problem and solving it creatively, with a satisfying result. That counts for a lot.

And the rules, which initially seemed a little scattered, are actually complete and without any obvious holes so far. No question that couldn’t be conclusively answered in 30 seconds or less. That counts for something, too.

Which is the most important thing. Thanks for the info and the write up!

Excited to hear this, my copy arrives tomorrow (along with Hitler’s Reich). Does this game have the same terrific play aids that Enemy Coast Ahead: The Dambusters Raid featured?

Neat little Hollandspiele title in development. Brave Little Belgium.

Thanks for this!

Bruce, thanks for taking the time to express your thoughts on Skies. I took a preorder chance on it after a recommendation from someone who got to play an advance copy at a GMT event. It sounds like it could be a winner.

Great! Please let me/us know how your experience compares with mine.

Skies does look great, and I love soloing.

On the to-buy list!

One thought/question on Skies: At first glance it looks like it may be demanding in terms of footprint. I see there are multiple mounted boards and numerous play aids. I have a modest sized octagonal game table, and I am wondering if it is all going to fit. (For comparison, I do have Enemy Coast Ahead and I think I got that to work in my game space).

Is it correct that only one map will be in play in a given session?

Yes, one map at a time. Map 1/2 is smaller than Map 3/4.

For reference, this photo is taken on a table that is 42” x 60” (3.5 x 5 feet, I don’t know how far that is in kilometrons). Map 3 is shown.

And you don’t need all the play aids out. I keep them in a stack for reference.

What a piece of crap.

“As the Germans, can you quickly smash through Belgium without committing too many atrocities?”

There were no atrocities. British leaders later admitted it had all been atrocity propaganda planned before the Germans ever entered Belgium. But one sees how war propaganda rarely gets corrected afterward.