Pulp Diction - "Paperback"

Our game of Small World flew by so quickly that Mike had a chance to bust out his copy of Paperback.

So, what exactly is Paperback? Well, in a nutshell, it's Dominion meets Scrabble.

Desirous of a less abstruse rubric? Then unerringly peruse the subsequent delineation via the endeavor's conclusive thermionic infobahn:

"Paperback is a word game where players create words. It's 2-5 players and takes about 45 minutes. You score words in order to buy better letters with cool abilities. But scoring won’t win the game – you must finish novels to make it as a paperback writer. All Kickstarter extras included - even a cooperative mode! Sturdy Two-piece box, 200+ grey-core linen-finish cards, full color instructions, wooden counters, dividers for organizing."

Wanna read the full rules dictionary? Then click on the following link to plow your way on through from Chimpan-"A" to Chimpan-"Z".

For the sake of full disclosure we used the following Optional Rules:

"Bounty" If you get stuck forming a word, your opponents can provide assistance. If you accept someone's help, they're given a wooden cube token which can be turned in later for a 1¢ bonus.

"Discount" When a card is purchased off the top of an offer pile, the corresponding alternate card gets a wooden cube token. Each token on a card reduces its cost by 1¢.

We also used the following Common Cards:

"Spacebar" Create two words with the cards in your current hand to score a bonus 1¢. If you end up taking the card into your deck, you can use it to create two words whenever it comes up.

"Dyslexic" Play it to reverse the order of any two-letter card. If you end up collecting the card, you can use it to reverse a two-letter card whenever it's played.

Like most deck-builders, everyone starts with the same load-out of cards. In the case of Paperback all players get a set of 1¢ letters  ("T", "R", "S", "L" and "N") plus five 2¢ Wild Cards. After this deck is shuffled thoroughly you draw five cards offa the top to begin the game.

I tried to supplement my initial card assortment with a slew of new ones, including a few 2¢ expendable vowels, a 4¢ "S" and two 5¢ acquisitions: a "D" and a "Y". Since there are a lot more options to choose from than say, a basic game of Dominion, the memory component inherent to all deck-building games becomes even more important. For example, I somehow ended up with two 5¢ "Y"'s even though I certainly didn't want them both.

Showcasing the importance of the two-letter cards, Andrew started building more and more complicated words. I tried to compensate for my initial oversight by snatching up a 4¢ "A"+"R" as well as a 3¢ "E"&"S". With these resources now available to me I began to construct more and more valuable words. Eventually I parleyed these into a decent little pile of Fame Cards.

Having played the game before, Andrew seemed to have his strategy locked down cold from the get-go. He quickly invested in a lot of two-letter cards which gave him a quick jump on building some pretty advanced words. As a result, he quickly out-paced the rest of us in money which allowed him to snap up all of the Common Cards. Like, literally, all of the Common Cards. During this time he leaned heavily on the "Spacebar" card, giving him a 1¢ bonus whenever he came up with such erudite word combinations as "PENIS LOVER". Ah, Andrew...always keepin' it classy.

In stark contrast, Matt kept things well above-board, coming up with some pretty impressive words along the way. He did quite well for himself under the "Bounty" rule, offering sage advice to both Mike and Andrew at times. He also snagged a respectable amount of Fame Cards but Andrew always seemed a step ahead of us in snapping up the Commons.

And then there was poor Mike, bless 'em. If I'd didn't know any better I'd say that he was picking letters completely at random. Occasionally he got a bit stuck and had to dole out a few "Bounties", but I also seem to recall him helping out Andrew at least once. In the end, he just seemed content to replicate Kevin Smith's career and spell "FART" over and over. Sure it was amusing, but it didn't earn him a lot of Fame Cards.

FINAL SCORES

Mike...24

Matt...33

Me...37

Andrew...77 (!!!)

***

PROS

• The game is super-easy to learn n' play: you just draw five cards, play 'em, make a word and then buy something new. We all jumped into it right away and never looked back. The only thing that gave us brief pause was determining whether or not a certain word was legal. Just keep a Scrabble dictionary or a Google machine close by and you'll be fine. 
• The theme is engaging and interesting. Between this and Star Realms, Dominion is deader to me than disco. 
• I love the graphic design, which includes a cool-looking box, a charming mascot named "Paige Turner" (natch!) and some delightfully-trashy-looking Fame Cards. Nice!
• Even though it helps to have a voluminous vocabulary, players familiar with the game's scoring will still have an edge. Just look at how Andrew destroyed the rest of us by maximizing compound letter cards, snagging Commons and then using longer words to score big payouts to buy those heavy-duty Fame Cards.
• Even within the parameters of the basic game there are still plenty of interesting choices to make every turn. Do I snap up a bunch of practical but one-shot vowels? Should I pick up more exotic letters like "Q" and "V" just for their raw monetary value? Or do I recruit certain letters purely for their special abilities? When it comes to the end game, should I the trust the "Wild" capabilities of the Fame Cards or snag those Expansion Commons to improve my earning potential? Like I said, there's a lot going on in this deceptively small-looking box.
• The play options here are positively prolific. Even though we used the "Bounty" and "Discount" optional rules as well as the "Spacebar" and "Dyslexic" Common Cards, there are also "Attacks", "Player Powers", "Awards" and "Themes". Hell, there's even a "Co-op Mode", fer Crichton's sake! 

CONS

• For the first few turns I kept mixing up the cost of a new card, shown in the lower left hand corner, and the money you make from a word, which is shown in the upper left hand corner and referred to in the rules as the letter's "Score". I'd clarify things. I'd like to see "Money Earned: ___¢" clearly indicated on each card. Trust me, I teach games to people all of the time and the more visual assistance and reminders you have working in your favor the better. 
• Yes, the game is positively chock-a-block with options and replay value but that north-of-$40 price point is a deal-breaker for me. Right now the only feasible way to get a copy at a decent price is directly through the designer so, needless to say, that's really driving up the cost quite a bit for us Canuckleheads here in Canada. I'm confident that Paperback'll get a wide distribution sooner rather then later which should lower its production costs and, ultimately, it's retail price.

***

Paperback is a ton of fun. Yes, the deck-building mechanic isn't a new innovation, but it's still super-exciting whenever theme and mechanics are so perfectly married together. This thing is compulsively playable, easily teachable and a definite must-buy for me as soon as the price dips into the realm of sanity.  

As such, the game earns four pips outta six with a huge tilt up towards that triple-word score!

***

Looking to score mondo cash with such poetic phrases as "ASS_GOBLIN" and "TURD_BURGLAR"? Then click on the image below to learn more about Paperback and help this blog spell "SUCCESS"!

"Small World", Big Fun

Lately I've been making a concerted effort to try and keep my place reasonably clean. Now that poor, hideously-overworked Dean can't host game night for the foreseeable future, I either have to schlep out to Lower Sackville to Andrew's place or over to Mike's house in, like, Sheet Harbour or wherever the hell he lives now. 

The old adage of "If You Keep It Tidy, Gamers Will Come" is certainly true. Actually it's more like "If You Invite Gamers To A Place With Indoor Plumbing They Will Come". If there's a decent-sized gaming table, enough seats to accommodate a few sedentary asses and coupla "Mountain Dew's" on da chill, your true friends won't give a rat's ass what shape your place is in. But, hey, I care and that's the number one reason why I don't host game night as often as I want to.

But two Wednesdays ago I made a special point to get my digs in order. It was Matt's pick and he went with Small World, primarily to test drive all of the expansion Races that he'd been feverishly collecting over the past few years.

I've touched briefly on Small World before (right here and here) but now it's time for a proper in-depth session report and review. So, without any further ado, here's Days of Wonder's version of "Once Upon A Time...":

"Designed by Philippe Keyaerts as a fantasy follow-up to his award-winning Vinci™, Small World is inhabited by a zany cast of characters such as dwarves, wizards, amazons, giants, orcs and even humans; who use their troops to occupy territory and conquer adjacent lands in order to push the other races off the face of the earth."

Looking for the full tale of this epic saga? Then click on the following link to read the full rules.

***

INITIAL RACES AND TURN ORDER

MIKE: BEHEMOTH SCAGS

Racial Trait: Randomly select and place one Loot marker face down in each Region you conquer. You may look at it only only after you have selected it and placed it on the board. When an opponent conquers one of your regions, reveal the Loot marker. If the Loot marker is a Skag Attack marker, the conquest is cancelled and the opponent loses one token (he cannot re-try any attack against this region during this turn). Otherwise, the opponent collects the Loot token. If you abandon a Region, leave the Loot token behind. When you go in Decline, or at the end of your last turn if you didn't go in Decline, reveal all Loot tokens in your regions and collect them.

Special Power: Your two Behemoths are each represented by a stack of tokens that matches the number of Swamp regions you currently occupy. These two stacks can never be split or mixed. Each Behemoths’ stack counts as an equivalent number of Race tokens for attack AND defense. The number of tokens in each stack is adjusted each time you capture or lose a Swamp region. A Behemoth must always be accompanied by at least one Race token. If the region it occupies is conquered, only the accompanying Race token is lost; redeploy your Behemoth (keep it as a single stack) at the end of your attacker's turn, as normal.

MATT: HILL PYGMIES

Racial Trait: Each time you lose a Pygmy token, roll a reinforcement die and receive as many new Pygmies from the storage tray as you rolled pips on the die (up to the number of Pygmies left). Deploy them on the board at the end of the current player's turn.

Special Power: Collect one bonus Victory coin for each Hill Region you occupy at turn's end.

ME: HISTORIAN ICE WITCHES (WTF???)

Racial Trait: Ice Witches collect one Winter marker for each Magic Source they control at the end of their Redeployment phase. At the end of their Redeployment phase, Ice Witches may place their Winter markers in their own Regions or any adjacent Region (there cannot be more than one Winter marker per Region though). A Winter marker permanently augments the Region's defense by one. It remains on the board as long as the Ice Witches are active. Regions with a Winter marker that are not controlled by an Ice Witch earn 1 less Victory coin than usual.

Special Power: Collect one bonus Victory coin for each Race In Decline at the time you select the Historians. While you're active, collect one bonus Victory coin each time another Race goes In Decline, and one final bonus coin when your own Historians go In Decline!

ANDREW: RANSACKING FAUNS

Racial Trait: During Troop Redeployment, collect one new Race token for each active region you conquered this turn. Your victims also receive one new Race token for each of their regions you conquered.

Special Power: Each time you successfully conquer a Region containing an opponent's active Race token, he must immediately pay you one Victory coin from his own personal stash (unless he has no coins left).

TURN ONE

Mike's Scags made short work of the southwestern quadrant of the board. By the time the dust settled, four enigmatic-looking Loot Markers were left scattered all across the realm, virtually goading the rest of us into attacking him just to see what they were. Before passing his turn, Mike stationed his two Behemoth bodyguards in the southern and eastern hinterlands of his domain.

Lured by the heavy concentration of Hills in the northwestern section of the board, Matt's Pygmies made significant in-roads there.

I made a point of staying well-clear of the brewing fracas, opting instead to enter the board from the northeast. Pretty soon my horde of Madonna-bra'd frozen tartlets had redecorated a Swamp, two Forests and some lakeside property with a sparkling sheet of wall-to-wall hard-ice flooring. As a final exclamation point, I used the two Magic Sources I'd captured to drop a pair of snow-globe Winter Markers on the board to bolster up my defense.

Well in-step with his aggro style of play, Andrew's Ransacking Fauns made their debut. His marauders entered the board from the northern Forests and then streamed down through two Farmland Regions, isolating one of Matt's armies in the process. At the end of this rampage he collected several bonus Race Tokens for conquering active Regions and stole a couple Victory Coins from Matt to boot!

TURN TWO

Mike continued his inexorable drive north, annihilating a Lost Tribe Token in the process. In a classic pincer maneuver, the Scags made an amphibious landing on the northwest peninsula, swarming the Farmland and then steam-rolling over yet another Lost Tribe living in the Swamp next to Matt's borders. This resulted in three more uber-tempting Loot Markers getting plopped on the board. Anticipating an attack to the north, he moved Mr. and Mrs. Behemoth to the vanguard in an effort to dissuade any potential aggressors.

Kicked around in the previous turn, all Matt could do is re-capture the northern Forest that Andrew had used for his entry point. At least the two Hill Regions he retained provided some measure of reparations.

Like Elsa from Frozen on a baths salts bender, I continued to capture and deep-freeze every single eastern Magic Source, snatching up a Swamp and two Hills in one fell swoop. This gave me dominance over no less then three mystical sites and when I blanketed my entire empire with Winter Markers I couldn't help but wince. I'd expanded very far, very fast and I knew that my rivals were thinking about sending some flamethrower-armed Welcome Wagon volunteers my way.

Meanwhile, Andrew continued to kick the crap out of Matt, driving his forces out of a Hilly region out west, collecting more bonus Race Tokens and ill-begotten booty in the process. This put him on a collision course with Mike, foreshadowing an epic conflict in the next Turn.

  

TURN THREE

Since Mike's Behemoths got a major perk from Swamps, he smashed his way through a Farmland-dwelling Lost Tribe and then conquered my marshy lakeside holdings. This also prompted the introduction of yet another Loot Marker to the board. He then diverted his two 'roided-up Behemoths to stand guard over these new acquisitions.

Still slavishly devoted to collecting his preferred terrain, Matt annexed the Mountainous region to the south and then made Mike run from the Hills to the West, scoring an unremarkable Loot Marker in the process. During this time, the Reinforcement Die was pretty cruel to Matt and he failed to score any bonus Race Tokens from the Pygmy's Special Power over the course of three separate turns.

Thinking that my Ice Witches had run their course, I decided to be the first player to put a Race into Decline. Not only would this give me the pick of the litter for next round I also scored a bonus Victory Coin thanks to my Historian Special Power.

Andrew's Fauns took back the Forest region to the north and also wrestled a Swamp away from Mike. He then expanded into the Mountains along the north bank of the central lake. Between his ability to snag free Race Tokens with every successful battle and rob Coins from his victims, this Era continued to be quite lucrative for him. This, of course, begged the question: would the Fauns ever go into Decline?

TURN FOUR

Mike's Scags went into Decline, and not a moment too soon! By the time the Turn was over, everyone else around the table did their best to make this Race of no-necked, meat-headed goons as extinct as brontosaurus shit. Mike still made out okay since he got to keep all of those stupid Loot Tokens that he'd been hoarding, many of which paid off with free Coins! 

When the Scags faltered, Matt was quick to step into the vacuum, helping himself to a Swamp and a Forest Region. The luck with his special Racial Trait seemed to improve slightly and he finally scored a few free re-enforcements but it was definitely a case of too little, too late.

Meanwhile, I came roaring back onto the board with these guys:

ALCHEMIST HOMUNCULI

Racial Trait: Each time a Homunculi Race combo is bypassed, in addition to a Victory coin, you must also add a Homunculus token taken from the storage tray (if any left) to the combo. These tokens are added to those normally received when the Homunculi combo is finally picked, along with any Victory coins.

Special Power: Collect two bonus Victory coins at the end of each turn your race hasn't yet gone into Decline.

Even though these guys hadn't racked up a lot of bonus Victory Coins, they still had a decent number of starting Race Counters and their Special Power was clear and concise. I entered the board from the unoccupied Farmland to the east, taking care not to do any damage to my now-retired Ice Witches. Next up I booted Mike's Declined Scags outta the Swamp on the east bank of the lake, smashed into his Farmland to the southwest and then rooted him out of the Swamp further west. Contrary to these triumphs, every single time I tried to capture a Region without the requisite number of Race Tokens, the Re-enforcement Die would boot me right in the crotch. 

To no-one's surprise, Andrew kept the still-flourishing Fauns a-rollin'. He foisted Mike's flagging Scags out of the Swamp to the northwest and then bounced poor Matt out of his precious Hills along the west bank of the lake. Even though he was still scoring free Race Tokens and thieving Coins left, right and center, Andrew knew that this pace just wasn't sustainable.

TURN FIVE

Mike's new Race hit the board this Turn.

CATAPULT DWARVES

Racial Trait: Each Mine Region your Dwarves occupy is worth one bonus Victory coin, at the end of your turn. This power is kept even when the Dwarves are In Decline.

Special Power: Once per turn, you may place the Catapult in a region you occupy to conquer any region that is one region away (but not adjacent) at one less token than usual. The Catapult may be used to attack a region beyond the Lake, but not over Seas. The region with the Catapult is immune to enemy conquests as well as their racial and special powers. The Catapult disappears when you go into Decline.

Mike began this new incursion at the southern edge of the map, in a Hilly Region with a Mine. He then wasted no time launching his Dwarves into a Mountain area two spaces away which also contained a Mine symbol. He then back-filled the Farmland space in-between with a single Race Token and finished things off by branching out into the Forest region towards the east.

Deciding not to overstay their welcome any longer, Matt's Hill Pygmies finally went into Decline. In retrospect, he probably should have put these guys out to pasture a lot earlier since the tiny handful of Coins he scored during his first four turns virtually crippled his final score.

Unburdened by any terrain-specific agenda, my Alchemist Homunculi continued to cut a swath across the hemisphere of the board. First up they conquered a Mountain, then snatched up some Farmland and finally they destroyed one of the last Pygmy holdouts in a Swamp on the western edge of the board. 

Even though he was still in control of no less then nine different territories, Andrew knew that his Fauns had reached the apex of their civilization. Anxious to occupy another large swath of the board with a new, vibrant Race, he put the Fauns into Decline, forfeiting his turn in the process.

TURN FIVE

Mike continued his Catapult-based Region-hopping campaign by parachuting into my southwestern Farmland. Unfortunately he ran afoul of Andrew not long after who came galloping through with his new crew. At least Mike managed to score a few bonus Coins just for holding onto two Mine-related Regions.

Matt then introduced us to his new Race:

PEACE-LOVING SHRUBMEN

Racial Trait: All Forest regions occupied by Shrubmen become immune to opponent's conquests, racial and special powers, even when In Decline.

Speacial Power: Collect three bonus Victory coins at the end of each turn during which you have attacked no active Race. You have no love for In Decline Ghouls though, and may attack them without forfeiting your Peace-loving bonus.

True to this highly-thematic and imminently-logical combination, Matt entered the board from the northeast, which was like Boca Raton for my long-defunct Ice Witches. In quick succession he snapped up a Swamp and two Forests, the latter of which instantly became unassailable fortresses for the duration of the game.

Fearing that my Homunculi had no further tricks up their sleeve I decided to put them into Decline. In retrospect this decision was a tad premature since it gave Andrew an opportunity to come bombing in with his...

MOUNTED TROLLS

Racial Trait: Place a Troll's Lair in each Region your Trolls occupy. The Troll's Lair augments your region's defense by one (just as if you had an additional Troll token stationed there), and stays in the Region even after your Trolls go into Decline. Remove the Troll's Lair if you abandon the Region or when an enemy conquers it

Special Power: You may conquer any Hill or Farmland Region with one less Race token than normal. A minimum of one token is still required.

Well, as we should all know by now, the worse thing you can do is give Andrew an excuse to be even more conquer-y. Sensing that I'd become his greatest threat, his Trolls entered the board IN THE EXACT SAME FRIGGIN' PLACE THAT MY HOMUNCULI CAME ONTO THE BOARD LAST TURN.

He annihilated my active minions in the eastern Farmland, made my Ice Witches extinct by subjugating their Hilly homes, kicked another Homunculi off his Farm on the southern side of the lake, terrorized some poor frightened Lost Tribe in the woods down south and finally crushed Mike's Dwarven guards presiding over Farmlands to the south. I swear that he only stopped 'cuz he ran out of map. Even worse: he dropped a friggin' Troll Lair in every single one of these territories, making them doubly-hard to recapture. Well, fux.

TURN SIX

Still preoccupied with leap-frogging from one Mine to another, Mike doggedly kept using the Dwarves. He snatched the Swamp from my Homunculi in the south-west corner of the board and actually captured a few more Regions before experiencing some collective kick-back from the rest of us.

Matt continued to play to type, polishing off his own defunct Pygmy in the Farmland to the north and then evicting two of Andrew's old Faun Tokens in both the Forest and the Farmlands.

I started Turn Six by introducing my new Race to the world:

CORRUPT SLINGMEN

Racial Trait: Slingmen may conquer a Region that is one Region away from one they currently occupy, provided they do not control a Region adjacent to it. When a Region is conquered this way, they immediately take one Victory coin from the stash. They may conquer Regions beyond the Lake, but not over the Seas.

Special Power: Collect one bonus coin from any opponent each time they successfully conquer
one of your active regions.   

I picked these guys mainly because they'd been passed over a few times and had a small stockpile of Victory Coins on them. Plus I just assumed that Andrew was going to come after me so I wanted to give him pause for thought via the Corrupt trait. My newly-minted Slingmen then landed on the Farmland at the tip of the north-west peninsula, deposing one of Mike's last remaining Scags in the process. Next up they drove two of Andrew's endangered Fauns out of the connected Swamp and Hill Regions.

When Andrew sent his Trolls into Decline after only one turn it might have come as a surprise, if not for the fact that he'd expressed an irrational desire to play the Lava Orcs as soon as they became a viable option. Compared to my one turn with the Homunculi, it wasn't as crazy as it sounded since those damned Troll Lairs made Andrew's territories a helluva lot harder to conquer.

TURN SEVEN

Mike flung yet another one of his Dwarves onto the centrally-located Mountains. I think holding on to the Dwarves this long was a major oversight on his part. Yes, he now controlled four Mines for four bonus Coins, but at the end of the Turn he only occupied four Regions in toto. Bottom line: if you're not earning at least double digits per turn in Small World then you need to realize that someone else around the table probably is.

On the other hand, Matt had learned his lesson from his overdue Pygmy declination (?) and turned his Shrubmen to the monochromatic side.

I stayed the course, swallowing up a Farm, a Swamp and a Forest in the north-west corner of the board with minimal effort. I was trying to be as brazen as possible, daring Andrew to come at me, bro-style.

And eventually he did, with these clowns:

LAVA ORCS

Racial Trait: Each not empty Region your Orcs conquered this turn is worth one bonus Victory Coin, at the end of your turn.

Special Power: At the end of your turn, for each Mountain Region you occupy, you may place one Lava Token in any Region adjacent to that Mountain Region (excluding Regions protected by Special and Racial Powers). All tokens in this Region are taken in hand by the defeated player and treated as if the Region were conquered (except there is no loss of tokens). The Region may not be entered by any other player until after the beginning of your next turn. At the beginning of your next turn, remove all Lava Tokens from the board and proceed as usual.

Andrew is nothing if not consistent. One again he'd selected a race that dove-tailed perfectly with his style of play. Funneled between Matt's verboten Forests, Andrew surged across the northern reaches, trampling Shrubmen into the bog, then uprooting more Shrubmen in the Hills and the pasting even more Shrubmen in the Farmlands. Unfortunately he ran out of gas before he could Fed Ex some bribe money to me.

ROUND EIGHT

Seemingly oblivious to the impending conclusion of the game, Mike just kept tossin' his Dwarves (?). This time he launched one of the runty little bastards clear across the central lake in order capture yet another Mine Region from me. Again, Mike really needed a fresh start at least two turns ago. By the time Matt's new Race careened through the southwestern corner of the board, Mike's Turn Eight score was only six Coins.

Indeed, Matt really came aboard with this populous new Race:

(_______) KOBOLDS

Racial Trait: You may never occupy (nor conquer) a Region with less than two Kobold tokens. When going In Decline however, keep a single token in each Region, as normal.

Special Power: I don't have a clue. The photos don't reveal this and no-one can remember. Boo-urns.

A veritable tidal wave of these multitudinous, foul-smelling, dog-faced, mean-spirited little shrimps poured across the southern border. They quickly overwhelmed Mike's Hill Dwarf duo and then murdered two of my last Homunculi, one a tranquil Mountain-dwelling hermit and the other a poor jobber who was just tryin' to eke out a peaceful life in the Swamp. He then blitzed through some southwest Farmland and finished up by going all ISIS on Mike's Swampland Mine Dwarves. Yeeeeeeesssh!     

I expanded briefly but then ran afoul of Andrew's advance. This wasn't such a bad thing since I earned a few cheap Victory Coins by playing Quisling to a bunch of magma-fueled Orcs.

My anonymous Benedict Cumberba...er, Arnold gave Andrew the back-door key to my Farmland just northwest of the central lake. I earned even more payola when the traitor in my midst leaked some key military secrets, leading to the overwhelming defeat of two Swamp-stationed sentries. Oh, the humanity!

This pretty much ended Andrew's expanse. The vanguard of his army settled into a nice little patch of Farmland, literally surrounded by the armies of every single one of his opponents. 

FINAL SCORES

Matt...75 Victory Coins

Mike...79 Victory Coins

Me...80 Victory Coins

Andrew...85 Victory Coins

***

REVIEW

PROS

• Like every other game produced by Days of Wonder, Small World looks gorgeous. The board is practical and colorful. All of the game Tokens are high-quality and charmingly-illustrated. It's just a tremendous production all-around.
• The game is a breeze to set up and learn. Once you've played a Turn or two, you don't have to worry about dippin' back into the rules to puzzle stuff out. You might spend a few seconds wrapping your head around some of the more esoteric expansion Races and Powers but even the more complicated ones are intuitively designed. Basically the rules serve the fun and there's plenty of fun to be had here. 
• The sheer multitude of Race Banners and Unique Special Power Badges provide a lot of variable play options. Even Small World veterans will be be left scratching their heads when faced with such oddball pairings as Barricade Amazons, Historian Igors and Were-Halfings.
• Even though combat is heavily abstracted, the Reinforcement Die provides a nice little dash of random luck.    
• Since there's no running tally of Victory Points, players are kept guessing about the winner right up to the very end. 

CONS

• Going first sucks. Like, really, really sucks. If everyone decides to lean on you in the same Turn it could prove disastrous to your final score.
• Although the art style is a huge draw for some people, I prefer my fantasy more Warhammer and less Disney. 
• The game's a bit too light n' fluffy for me. Given the choice I'd much rather play History of the World.  
• Some of these expansion Races and Powers feel pretty "bottom of the barrel". Marauding Barbarians I get but Diplomat White Ladies is all kinds of yawn. What the fuck is that anyway, an army of Hillary Clintons?

***

Small World is a fast, fun, easy-to-learn-n'-play area-control game that fans of light fantasy will positively love. It's devotees would probably argue that it belongs in everyone's game library and, quite honestly, that might very well be case. It just doesn't belong in mine.

As such, Small World gets four pips out of six with a slight (and disturbing) tilt up towards the Hung Giant's crotch.  

***

Wanna annihilate your opponents with a slavering horde of Peace-Loving Pixies? Then click on the link below to learn more about Small World and ensure that this blog never goes into Decline!

Playing At The World - "Rise Of Empires"

I talked about the luxury of having access to a large gaming group in my last post and the last game night I went to really backed this up. When Andrew did his usual Monday morning roll-call we looked like the walking wounded. Mike was "out for two weeks", probably because his current assignment with C.S.I.S. keeps him hopping, Andrew was acting as the parental heavy lifter in lieu of a sick spouse, Chad was spending quality family time and was otherwise indisposed and Dean was desperately trying to remember what the phrase "work / life balance" means.

This left me, Kris, Jeremy and Matt to forge on. And forge on we did. It was Kris's pick so he invited us down to the cafe for a mystery game. When we arrived he told us that we were going to play Rise of Empires.

Here's publisher Mayfair's synopsis on this Martin Wallace-designed, area-control civ game:

Don't just make history-guide it! Take the reins of a developing civilization, choosing the resources and development paths that will lead to the fastest expansion, as you claim and defend territory on a map forging an empire that eventually encompasses whole continents.

Rise of Empires play is divided into three eras. Choices made early in the era are repeated late, so your decisions must have both short-term and long-term benefits to be successful. This process requires tough decision-making and promotes an atmosphere with nail-biting suspense. Victory points are rewarded for building cities, having an empire, for progress in science, and for trading goods.

Rise of Empires breathes new life into the civilization games genre! Balance gold and food, war and agriculture, territory and technology to forge an empire that is destined to rise above all other nations!

Lookin' to read the full encyclopedia? Then click on the following link to get the rules.

COLORS 

Me...Blue

Jeremy...Yellow

Kris...Red

Matt...Green

FIRST ERA

We let Kris go first since, in theory, he knew what he was doing. He kicked things off by procuring a City for four Gold and three Food which gave him two built-in Victory Points every turn. He was also the first to claim a Territory Tile, starting with a Forest and then adding a Plains later on. To bankroll this aggressive campaign he took a Trade Action to earn more cash monies. Next up he went with a Progress Action, developing an "Iron Axe" that helped him wring more Resources out of his previously-secured Forest. Finally he took an Empire Action and established his holdings around the Middle East and the Holy Lands.   

Jeremy picked up a City for two Gold which gave him one recurring Victory Point. Next up he used a Territory Action to develop a Plains Tile, which added one Player (I.E. population) Cube and two Food to his supply. He then selected an Empire Action and established a tidy l'il domain centered around the Balkans and Constantinople. Later that Turn he snagged a second City for another sustained Victory Point, but this one cost him two Gold, two Food and a Resource Disc. For his last Action he took an "Iron Weapons" Progress Tile which helped to improve his future military efforts.

I kicked things off by establishing my civilization in Egypt. I probably should have seized a second region but I didn't wanna draw needless attention to myself. Next up I took a "Calendar" Progress Token, hoping to leave more options for myself in the "B" phase of the Turn. I then spent one Food and one Gold to construct a grand City for an ever-renewing Victory Point and then picked up some extra cashola via a Trade Action. Finally I performed two back-to-back Territory Actions, ending up with one Mountain and one Town, which gave me some bonus peeps, a few extra Benjamins and some always-valuable veeps.  

Matt had no qualms about getting aggro, swallowing up Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean via two separate Empire Actions. After scoring more Gold via a quick Trade he went on to acquire a "Ships" Progress Token which he used to wring extra assets from his island holdings. Next up he snagged a Mountain with a Territory Action which promised to bump up his Player Cube count. 

In the "B"-side of the Era, Kris and Jeremy got into a l'il slappy-fight over Constantinople. Kris also added an "Agriculture" Progress tile to the mix which helped improve his Food production. He also picked up a slew of new Villages, giving him the resources needed to power those new Victory Point-generating Cities.

After inventing his own "Iron Axe", Jeremy went nuts with the civil planning, adding two additional Cities, one which cost two Gold and two Food for two ongoing Veeps plus THE FREAKIN' COLOSSEUM which doled out an insane six Victory Points at the end of every Game Turn for two measly Player Cubes and two Resource Discs. To power all of this expansion he also conquered a Forest and an Island Territory Tile for added Resources, Player Cubes and Food.

After doggedly re-enforcing my turf I decided to expand into the Mediterranean. I then settled another Mountain range which gave me some young, pristine, unbroken bodies to exploit as well as a new Town and a Field to feed them with. To exploit my new-found Mountain ranges I decided to tap into the "Mining" Progress development to get more Resource Discs. All of this gave me enough incentive to add a new City, which cost me one Gold and a Food for an extra Victory Point.

In addition to beefing up the defense of his home regions, Matt decided to horn in on my turf in Egypt. To facilitate this he picked up an Island Territory Tile for more Food and drones. After using a Roads Progress Tile to optimally re-arrange all of his block-headed minions he made sure to keep every hooligan fed via the "Agriculture" development.

SECOND ERA

After walking away with the first player token I quickly snapped up a new City which gave me two recurring Victory Points for the initial cost of three Gold and a sustained Food cost of one. I also picked up the "Navigation" Progress Tile which let me overwhelm North and South America with a bunch of ignorant, pushy, destructive assholes. Instead of making enemies with a military offensive I just used an Empire Action to re-enforce my current position. Next up I traded a Resource Token for some badly-needed funds via a Trade Action and then scored four cheap Victory Points by spreading the taint of "Religion" all over my realm like a pompous, self-righteous, know-it-all.

Matt pulled off a few more bold military moves, eventually striking directly into the heart of Central Europe. He then augmented this strategy by settling another Island and then declaring a state of "Diplomacy" with Jeremy to quell any thoughts of retribution. During the "B" side of the Second Era he was quick to recognize the intrinsic value of the "Printing" Progress Tile. This gave him the priceless freedom to ignore additional Gold costs whenever he choose an option further along the Action Display track.

In one fell swoop Kris used an Empire Action to take over the uncontested India. To help populate his expanding realm, he performed two Territory Actions and added two more Fields to his collection. By this time he was running a bit low on funds so he kicked off a timely Trade agreement for three Gold. With four Fields now at his disposal he snatched up the "Steam Pumps" Progress tile, which promised four Resource tokens during the Income Phase. He then snagged one of the best Era Two City Tiles for four Gold and three Food which gave him three Victory Points at the end of every Turn. During the second half of the Second Era he also picked up the "Farming" Progress Token which gave him three bonus Food and St. Paul's Cathedral for four Gold, four Resources and three Player Cubes. This gave him an obscene ten Victory Points over the next three Turns.

Having first dibs on the Progress Tokens, Jeremy quickly snatched up a "Port", which gave him the ability to interchangeably convert Gold, Resource Discs and Player Cubes. Next up he took two Territory Actions in a row, developing new stretches of Forest and Plains. To help aid his future military schemes he then invested in the "Mercenaries" Progress Token and dropped three free Player Cubes into Eastern Europe. A last-minute Trade Action gave him a chance to replenish those exhausted coffers right at the end of the Era.               

THIRD ERA

Matt took the vanguard in Era Three, going right after Kris with an Empire Action. By the time he was done, all of India and China had fallen under his sway. To celebrate, Matt then constructed Big Ben for eight Gold and a sustained cost of three Food but it promised a whopping six Victory points during the last two Turns of the game. After snagging a Victory Point slot on the Trade Track, he then kept his slack-jawed population nicely distracted with the "Shiny Objects" er...the "Football" Progress Token. He ended the first half of the Era by investing in more Island Territories and then employing a Trade Action to replenish all of the cheddar he'd just spent building the UK Parliament.

Desperately low on Resource Tokens, I took the "Steam Pumps" Progress Action and then added another Plains with a follow-up Territory Action. My rivals were quickly snapping up the best Cities and Wonders, but I did manage to build the Tower of London (presumably on the banks of the River Nile!) for six Gold and a sustained two Food in exchange for five Victory Points over the next two Turns. Hoping to keep pace with my rivals I took a high slot on the Trade Track for a healthy little dollop of Victory points. Next up I placed an Action Disc on the Empire Track, which let me liberate the long-held Holy Land from the infidel Kris. Another Empire Action let me drop some re-enforcements down on the board as insurance.    

Jeremy used an Empire Action to boot Matt out of Central Europe and then conquer the vast steppes of Russia. He then used this same Action later on to avenge his loss against Kris in Turkey by sneaking into his opponent's back door (?) via the Middle East. As if that wasn't enough win for one Turn, he also used a City Action to snag Westminster freakin' Abbey for seven Gold and four sustained Food in exchange for two more hits of six Victory Points. Next came the procurement of the "Fertilizer" Progress Token which gave a nice boost to his Food production. He then took a Trade Action to score some major dinero and then used the spoils to bankroll a charming l'il palazzo for four Gold and two perpetual Food for four Victory Points over the next two Turns.  

Kris spent an Action Token to claim one of the high-tier Victory Point rewards along the Trade Track. Next up he took a Territory Action to add yet another Field to his booming "Steam Pump" enterprise. Then, via an Empire Action, he drove Jeremy out of Turkey and then barricaded himself up within the oil-rich boundaries of Saudi Arabia. Noting the vastly-increased appetites of his exploding population, the "Fertilizer" Progress Token came next, bestowing a timely windfall of three free Food. Kris then purchased a humble little two-up, two-down split-level for two Gold and one Food which offered three enduring Victory Points. Finally, he set himself up for the second half of the Era by picking a Trade Action to replenish his Gold reserves. 

Matt may have had some initial success with his aggressive military strategy but his lack of balance started to hurt him. He kicked off the second half of the final Era right by scoring one of the top tier Victory Point Trade results and then taking a Town Territory. After raising some bread via another Trade Action and then jumping all over the "Chemicals" Progress chit (giving him four Resource Discs), he used his "Printing" development to get the jump on one of the most advanced Wonders of the game: Sputnik. In spite of the steep cost of two Gold, seven (!) Resources and two sacrificial Cubes, the sixteen Victory Points that came along with inventing this thing gave his current score a massive shot in the arm. Matt finished up with a widespread Empire action: challenging Jeremy in Central Europe and the Balkans and then gettin' all up in my grill in Egypt.

In contrast to Matt, my early investment in Cities served me pretty well. I started off with an Empire Action to evict Jeremy out of the Balkan states. Even after a Trade Action gave me a bunch of Gold I still didn't have enough Resources to buy that valuable City I wanted, so I took a Territory Action to snag yet another Plains with the intention to "Steam Pump"-ing it into oblivion. Unfortunately Jeremy got to the City I wanted first and I had to settle for a dump which gave me only two crappy Victory Points for two Food. I then dropped the "Ideology" Progress token which gave one last-minute Victory Point for each of six different Regions I occupied.   

Jeremy used his first Global Action to kick Kris out of Turkey with three Player Cubes. He also got the jump on everyone, snatching up the amazing Windmill Wonder for one Gold, six Resource Discs and two Player Cubes. In the end this would net him a redonkulous fourteen Veeps! To make this acquisition even more valuable, Jeremy then added the "Electricity" Progress Tile to double the Victory Points on any one of his Cities! Three guesses as to which one he ended up picking. Next up he scored a high slot on the Trade Track and then took another City Action, picking up another development which cost four Food for three Victory points. He then capped off this fine turn with an eleventh-hour Global Action to establish a second-place presence in both the Middle East versus Kris and South America against me.

Alarmed by Jeremy's surge, Kris tried to fight back with the options still available to him. Anticipating an expensive turn, he kicked things off with a timely Trade Action. Irked that both Matt and Jeremy had already snatched up the most valuable Wonders, Kris was forced to pay three Player Cubes and four Resources to Smash the Atom for twelve Victory Points. Next up he used a Global Action to swarm the Middle East with four Player Cubes, achieve dominance versus Matt in India, bolster his hold over Saudi Arabia and then lock in a second place presence in the Holy Land against me. He then opiated the masses by busting out the "Television" Progress Token, scoring five Victory Points during the final tally. A Trade Action allowed him to ring the Victory Point dinner bell one last time while the "Hail Mary" acquisition of a Town Tile helped mitigate his massive end-game expenses.

FINAL SCORES

MATT - 112

ME - 124

KRIS - 144

JEREMY - 162

REVIEW

PROS

• Fine components all around. The board itself looks aged and vaguely neoclassical. Some might bitch that it's a swamp of earth tones but at least it looks tasteful and the art quality definately is heads and shoulders above Nations. Yes, the map is heavily abstracted but at least you don't hafta spread it out over two ping-pong tables. Also bonus points for accommodating the Turn Order Track and the Action display right into the design of the board. The Display board is functional, clear and compact. The Progress, Territory, City and Empire Tiles are all well-made and the iconography is crystal clear. This makes calculating your expenditures and rewards at the end of any given turn super-easy.    
• Yay for Player Aids that actually aid players! The rules themselves are extremely straightforward and we rarely found ourselves rooting through the manual to puzzle something out. As a result, the game's pace never felt draggy or protracted.
• Of course, the original conceit here is the Action Display which plays out from right to left and then reverses order for the second half of the turn. Participants who've been studying the Player Aid and have a good plan in mind can really take advantage of this mechanic.
• The player in last place gets to go first next turn, which helps to keep everyone in the game right up to the very end. 
• The three Eras and the developments that go with it really give the game some thematic flair. Yes, the Colosseum could end up in China but Rise of Empires is a civ game first and an historic game second. A very, very distant second.
• The economic engine at the heart of this game is very elegant. Sure you can go nuts settling Forests and Mountains and building vast Cities and Wonders, but you gotta make sure that your plebes don't go hungry and the coffers remained topped up! Mercifully you can cut funding on older developments at the end of a turn in lieu of more efficient stuff. 
• Combat via the Empire Tiles is also abstracted, but perfectly suitable for a game like this. Kudos to Martin Wallace for designing a civ game with little to no luck.
• It's fun to experiment with tactics. You can go nuts with military moves but this could end up being costly, especially if you make a lot of enemies. You can invest in a lot of Progress Tokens but you can't neglect your City development. Snapping up Territories and Wonders is all well and good, just make sure that you have the cash flow to pay for it. Between agonizing over specific Actions and setting up your strategic priorities for the next Era, there are plenty of interesting decisions to make.   

CONS

• The Player Cubes and the Resource Discs are super-bland. Plastic figures and l'il ore nuggets or oil blobs would have been a lot more thematic and intuitive. One more components-related gripe: Tiles from previous Turns have no home and have a tendency to sprawl all over hell and creation.
• Even after a single play I know that Cities and Wonders are the key to victory. Matt tried a Food / Player Cube / Global strategy but found out (all too late) that the Victory Points the rest of us were earning every turn from Cities and Wonders were piling up quick. He rallied quite well at the end of the game but the damage was already done. Needless to say, if I ever play Rise of Empires again, I'll do whatever I can to snag the best Cities and Wonders as quickly as possible.
• The game was very simple, almost too simple. You're not guiding a specific, historically- accurate civilization so I had very little emotional connection to my horde of l'il wooden Cubes. As a result, the experience felt kinda hollow to me. A general barometer of how much I liked a game is how quickly I write up the corresponding blog entry and let me tall ya, I dragged my ass on this one, folks. But, I must confess, the more I wrote about Rise of Empires the more I liked it. 

***

If you want a quick and easy civilization-building game that only takes two-to-three hours to play and won't leave you bickering over rule semantics, Rise of Empires fits the bill.

It won't blow you away or dazzle you with innovation but it does what it says on the tin and gives you a perfectly enjoyable night of gaming.

Rise of Empires scores four pips outta six with a major tilt up towards Sputnik "booping" and "beeping" overhead!

 

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Wanna distract your own horde of serfs with "Football", "Religion" and "Television" while engaging in an aggressive war over oil...er, Resource Discs? Then click on the photo below to learn more about Rise of Empires and help sustain this blog reach a new Era of success!

Slaying Private Ryan: "Combat Commander: Europe"

For the longest time this was the core membership of our local gaming group:

Me

Dean

Andrew

Chad

Mike

Whenever my pick for game nite came around I always went with something that could accommodate all five of us. This is due to a latent psychosis beaten into my head by my mother which dictates that if you invite people to your party, then you'd better make sure that no-one is off sitting alone by themselves. Otherwise you'll be perceived as a BAD HOST. 

Honestly, it's a wonder I can even tie my own shoes without help.

Many times I've wanted to table just one of the awesome two-player games in my collection but I always ended up folding faster than Superman on laundry day in lieu of something that all five of us could play. I guess I was afraid that if I picked a two-player game and three people showed up then the odd man out would be relegated to spectator status.

And this kinda sucks since my gaming career practically started with two-player lite wargames, an addiction that persists to this day. Complexity, playing time, a dearth of willing opponents: none of this seems to matter to me. When Combat Commander: Europe emerged as the new wargaming hawtness a few years back I quickly snapped it up. After reading the rules and deciding that it was pretty straightforward, the game then sat on my shelf and collected dust for years due to my aforementioned BAD HOST phobia.

But then something miraculous happened. We added five new members to the group:

Jeremy

Matt

Kris 

John

and (occasionally) Mark

After effectively doubling our numbers we suddenly had a lot more options. I didn't feel as douche-y for proposing a two player game since enough people would often be left over to spin off into one or more separate games.

Even better, certain people in the group are predisposed to certain two-player games in my collection. For example, Chad loves Hammer of the Scots, Andrew digs Space Hulk, Dean's been bugging me to play Tide of Iron since it was first published and Kris is a big fan of World War II era-wargames, notably Combat Commander: Europe. Even better: Kris is pretty fluent in the game's rules and was willing to teach it to me.

So, waaaaay back on September 24'th I made a point of picking CC:E as my official selection.

So, why is it rated the best World War II era game of all time and the 94'th best game period on Board Game Geek? Well, a lot of good intel can be gleaned from the Introduction preamble in the game's surprisingly readable rulebook.

"Combat Commander is a series of card-driven board games covering tactical infantry combat in World War II. In this first volume, one player assumes the role of the Axis (Germany) while another player commands the Allies (America or Russia). These two players will take turns playing one
or more Fate cards from their hands in order to activate their units on the mapboard for various military functions.
 
"Players attempt to achieve victory by moving their combat Units across the game map to attack their opponent’s units and occupy as many Objectives as possible. The degree to which a player succeeds or fails is measured by a scenario’s specific objective chits, the destruction of enemy units, and the exiting of friendly units off the opponent’s board edge. 

"Each measure of game Time is divided into a variable number of player Turns. In each Turn, the sequence of play is fluid – with Orders being given by the active player and Actions being taken by both players – depending upon the cards in their hands. Events, both good and bad, will occur at
random intervals to add a bit of chaos an uncertainty to each player’s perfect plan."

We decided to play Scenario Four: "Closed For Renovation". Here's the setup:

SITUATION REPORT: HUMAINE, BELGIUM, DECEMBER 27'TH, 1944

"After days for fierce combat and heavy bombardment, the town of Humaine was surrounded by forces of the US 2nd Armored Division. Most of the German defenders surrendered after some heavy fighting.

"Remnants of the 9'th Panzer Division occupying a chateau on the north end of town refused to give up, however, and it fell to CCR to root out these stubborn troops." 

Before Kris arrived I noticed that one of Mike's kids had left the top half of his Darth Vader helmet lying on the floor. Naturally I picked it up and set it on my head at a jaunty angle. Naturally, when Kris arrived and saw this it pretty much ended all debate as to what faction I'd be playing.

Hey, this isn't any less ridiculous then determining who goes first in Pandemic.

FACTIONS: ME - Axis, KRIS - Allies

POSTURE: ALLIES - Attack,  AXIS - Defend,  INITIATIVE CARD - Axis

SET UP: ALLIES - last; 1 hex deep, AXIS - first; 9 hexes deep

VP MARKER: "20" space (Axis side)

TIME TRACK: TIME - "1" space, SUDDEN DEATH - "7" space

OBJECTIVE CHITS: OPEN - Q and R, no secret objective

OBJECTIVE CONTROL: ALLIES - none, AXIS - all

So, what this all translates to is that, as the Germans, I had to hold on to hex I17 for seven cycles through the Fate Deck. No problemo.

Knowing how important coverage is, I turned every possible approach to the chateau into a kill zone. In the stables to the far east I crewed a Light MG with an Elite Rifle unit.  In a small utility shack behind the mansion I kept a Weapon crew in reserve. Then, to make Kris's job as hard as possible, I strung five hexes worth of barb wire along the north east approach to the mansion.

Just to get to this point Kris's troops would have to dodge through withering cross-fire from no less than three long-range guns. Guarding the objective hex was an Elite Rifle Unit operating a Light MG. In the front east wing of the house was a Elite Rifle chit armed with a Heavy MG. Then, dead center in the lobby of the mansion was my precious IG 18 gun helmed by a dedicated Weapons crew. I wouldn't have a huge fire arc with this thing but at least it wouldn't be as vulnerable to snipers.

The main building was re-enforced by my two officers, Lt. Schrader and Lt. Lauerbach as well as a back-up Elite Rifle team and some Weapon specialists. I love how Kris just sat there, whistling innocently as assigned all of my valuable Elite Rifle squads to the long-range MG's and cannons instead of the dedicated Weapons teams. Man, I was such a dumb-ass!

Finally I set up was my last Elite Rifle team in the farmhouse to the West.

Kris didn't have a lot of choice RE: his set up but by the time he was done, he had a pretty formidable force headed my way. From East to West along the far end of the map there was:

1. An Elite squad toting a Medium MG.
2. Sgt. Buehler commanding another Elite unit.
3. An Elite Unit with two Satchel Charges.
4. One Line squad in each of the next three hexes.
5. Lt. Wray with another Elite group.
6. A Line platoon.
7. An Elite Unit armed with a nasty-looking .50 cal MG.
8. A final Elite Unit by itself. 

Kris also had a Radio which he could use to call in an Artillery Strike. Yippee!

As the game kicked off, Kris charged towards the chateau, ducking and weaving around a hail of bullets and doing his best to stay under cover. We exchanged some long-distance fire but at that extreme range, it was about as meaningful as a grade school pissing contest.

After reaching the relative safety of a copse of trees in hex C5, the Elite Unit lugging the .50 Cal sniped my Elite Rifle unit standing guard in the West wing of the house. Kris caught another break when a random Event gave the Elite unit sneaking up along the eastern tree-line "Veteran" status and a +1 bump in every stat. Damn! During all of this I did what I could to suppress his advance with my long-range beat-sticks but I didn't have much success.

 
Kris managed to get three Line Units and Lt. Wray into cover just a grenade's-throw away from the mansion. He continued to press his luck, dashing one of his Elite units across the CORRIDOR OF DEATH to jump into cover. My Heavy MG was on the case, however, stopping them in their tracks and inflicting a pretty nasty state of Suppression.

Even though my initial luck was it's usual rotten self, the killzone that I'd instinctively set up was proving to be tremendously effective. My IG 18 emplacement Broke Kris's .50 Cal Elite unit encroaching in the West. I decided to reward this gunnery crew with some sandbags which provided additional Cover as they conducted their deadly handiwork. Temporarily stymied by the daunting task of a direct frontal assault, Kris kept his Sgt. Beuhler-led Veteran Elite team creeping up along the stone fence to the East.

Still unable to repair his damaged .50 Cal, Kris made a daring and desperate move. Under the cover of Smoke, he boldly stormed the North West wing of the estate.

Just as the .50 Cal team repaired their weapon, the suicidally-heroic Line unit got close enough to heave an entire satchel full of Charges at my IG 18, damaging this all-important piece of ordinance. The Elite Unit guarding the western farmhouse rushed back to the chateau and managed to Suppress the interlopers in the resulting fire-fight.

With time running out Kris was forced to make some kamikaze-like moves. His newly-repaired .50 Cal opened up but didn't find a target. In contrast, my distant Heavy MG struck true, forcing Kris's Elite team to hit the dirt. The troops that he'd been amassing just behind the eastern tree line suddenly made a dash towards the objective hex. This included two re-enforcement Engineer units, one led by the plucky Lt. Wray and another sporting a freakin' Flamethrower! In an attempt to disrupt my defense during this frontal assault, Kris tried to lob an artillery shell into the south-east wing of the estate!

Fortunately he over-shot the target and it landed in the t-intersection of the dirt road right behind the house!

The impact on all the adjacent hexes was negligible, allowing me to turn my attentions back towards annihilating Kris's charge. Things immediately went my way when the Flamethrower-armed Engineer Unit got snagged up in my perfectly-placed Wire, making their attack ineffectual.

Under the expert leadership of Lt. Lauerbach, my Elite Rifle squad used their Light MG to great effect, Breaking that unit. Kris, curse his hide, responded with a "Light Wounds" Fate Card which allowed him to replace them with a matching unit at the cost of one Victory point.

Moments later my Elite Heavy MG unit ensconced in the eastern stables put Lt. Wray in the dirt and cut the Elite squad he was leading into ribbons. Meanwhile my Weapons team in the foyer of the mansion finally got the IG 18 repaired and used it to keep Kris's hunkered-down Line unit at bay. But just like a stubborn batch of green-clad kakerlakes they just refused to die.

With my IG 18 back up and running I pounded Kris's .50 Cal unit ensconced in the woods to the northwest into submission. This gave Lt. Schrader an opportunity to co-ordinate two Weapon Units and an Elite Rifle squad in a concentrated attack on Kris's pinned-down Line Unit. My tenacity finally paid off and the beleaguered platoon finally gave up the ghost.

Growing increasingly desperate, Kris shoved the Line Unit in tree cover directly in front of the mansion out towards the Wire in hex I6. Almost immediately my Elite Rifleman-crewed Heavy MG turned them into confetti but not before they cut through the Wire there. As daring as this was I knew that it was just a distraction for the main assault coming in the east.

Guided by Sgt. Buehler, the Elite Unit manning the Medium MG gave cover fire to the wounded Flamethrower-armed Engineer which was now crawling out of the Wire and headed due south. Upon arrival there they quickly dug a Foxhole for some cover. Finally, Kris used a Fate Deck card to split the wounded Elite unit skulking around the grounds to the south east into two separate 2/1/1 Elite Units.

Sensing that the east wing of the house was about to be turned into a giant hibachi, my troops responded by bricking up the wall there, effectively constructing a makeshift Pillbox.

 
This development couldn't have come at a better time. Kris let loose with the Flamethrower again but it failed to penetrate my asbestos wall. Ultimately, it wasn't the flame-spouting wand of death that ended up wounding my plucky Elite Rifle unit dug in there but the Elite Medium American MG team two hexes away.

Bloodied but unbowed, my boys stood their ground and prepared for the final assault. But even as Kris used a Fate Deck card to reconstitute one of his wounded Elite units back up to full health, we both knew that he was running out of time. Sure enough, when Kris performed his very first mandated "Sudden Death" die roll it came up in my favor.

WINNER: ME! 

***

REVIEW

PROS

• For a grognard weaned on the crude components of Avalon Hill or SPI games, Combat Commander: Europe looks gorgeous. The heavy stock chits completely outdo the silhouettes of yore and feature detailed miniature artwork to depict all of the leaders, units, weapons and equipment. Yes, it would have been great if the boards were mounted but I'm sure GMT just wanted to keep their production costs down and avoid shipping out boxes that weighed heavier than your average Sherman tank. Besides, by using foldable card-stock they could include a bunch o' different boards and give players a lot more options. Just invest in a few small, thin sheets of plexiglass and you'll be off to the races.
• For a game that's trying to simulate so many battlefield realities the rules are incredibly intuitive and understandable. All game designers should take a page from the Combat Commander: Europe rulebook. The language is clear, the illustrations are helpful, the index is user-friendly and the myriad of examples really drill home all of the important concepts. And if that wasn't awesome enough, designer Chad Jensen includes a very detailed "Example of Play" at the back of the Playbook which really helps to tie everything together.
• Back in the day, olde-skool wargames tried to simulate all of the variables of combat with a host of rules governing every single variable. But this game uses the brilliantly-designed Fate Deck to auto-pilot such potentially-complicated concepts as initiative, weapon jams / breakdowns, snipers, medics, air support, shell shock, random fires, heroes, smoke, morale, field promotions, sappers, reconnaissance, re-deployments, interrogation, command confusion, infiltration and reinforcements. Yes, a lot of this is abstracted, but when you put all of the abstractions together it feels pretty durned real.
• This scenario of Combat Commander: Europe I played against Kris represents the most tense, thematic, immerse gaming experience I've had in recent memory. It's downright thrilling to see your troops dive into Foxholes, string Wire around a defensive perimeter, huck Grenades, construct a Pillbox, lay down Suppressing Fire, trigger an Ambush or engage in desperate Melees. Just look at the clear narrative I managed to spin out of these photographs that I took three months ago; it plays out like an episode of Band of Brothers! Even if the game hadn't ended when it did, I still had an ace up my sleeve. If Kris charged the Objective Hex next turn I was going to surprise him with a "Booby Trap" Fate Deck Card which would have laced the area with deadly Mines! I mean, c'mon, how dramatic is that?

CONS

• I'm sure some people will bitch and moan about the absence of tanks and other vehicles, but that would have added another huge rules overlay onto the game. Frankly I'm perfectly content with the way things are and I wouldn't change a darned thing.            

***

To me,  Combat Commander: Europe is the tactical World War II game of my dreams. Man, I wish I had access to something that was half as good as this as a kid. Armed with twenty to thirty years worth of board game evolution, Chad Jensen has streamlined the clunky designs and boring legal-document rule sets that hampered my budding interest in wargames and made everything so user-friendly.  

Without a doubt, this is one of the best games I've played in the past five years and, as such, it deserves a perfect score of six pips outta six!

 

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Wanna give your opponent a healthy dose of shell-shock? Then click on the image below to learn more about Combat Commander: Europe and keep this blog strong in the fight!