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A Civil Wars Special
It was sort of like "Pearl Harbor" all over again, but worse. Twice as many allied deaths, 400 ships lost, while the authorities resisted both the proven convoy system and the common-sense approach of simply turning the lights out on coastal cities.
It could have been much worse. While Stalin knew about Pearl Harbor in advance, Hitler did not. The Kriegsmarine started Operation Drumroll with just FIVE submarines and were navigating with US tourist guide books. But, with cities alight, US destroyers sitting in port, and merchant ships sailing with navigation lights burning, the Germans called it, "The Second Happy Time."
Some say the publicity campaign, "Loose lips sink ships" was not really about keeping information from German agents (which were almost non-existent) but to keep people from talking about the Allied disaster happening within sight of America's shores. It got so bad the British sent ships and planes to help America defend the East Coast!
Paukenschlag ("Operation Drumroll") covers Germany's attack on America, from January to June 1942, using the historical U-boat capabilities and optionally, adding the German long-range bombers which could have taken part. The game board is based on the sea maps the U-Boat commanders actually used themselves, covering the East Coast, Gulf, and Caribbean. Key elements like radar, "Huffduff," German "Milkcows," and a carrier task force are included.
Movement is simple. Decisions are complex. The next move is yours.
Miniature armies - carefully painted and labeled with unit names, strengths, and abilities - have been found in Egyptian tombs, suggesting that "wargaming" goes back a long time.
Of those miniature armies, no units take more precedence than the chariots - the "panzers" of their day. Keep in mind that horses of this period were too small to "ride" with a man on their back in a "cavalry" way. Only chariots offered a battle platform faster than sandals, and provided the "shock troops" of their day and a platform to designate the aristocracy and elite peoples. Alexander and the Roman legions might sneeze at chariot power... but not for another 900 years!
Kadesh must be the chariot battle of all time. Sources conflict and disagree, but there may have been as many as 5000 chariots in this twisted, confused, and bloody battle, fought to determine the borders between Egypt and the Hittite confederacy...
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Magazine & Wargame by Clash of Arms
In the beginning, it was Churchill's idea... a way of putting the old "pre-dreadnaughts" to useful service and making a show of strength in the waters off Istanbul which would, he said, cause immediate regime-change and take Turkey out of the war. It was thought very little infantry would be needed.
In the end, when the last Allied troops evacuated, the casualty count for both sides topped half-a-million. (And Churchill lost his job.)
"June 3 1864. Cold Harbor. I was killed."
Thus read the last diary entry, found in the pocket of a dead Union soldier. He had made the entry himself, while all around him, other soldiers were writing names and home addresses on slips of paper and pinning them to the back of their coats.
These veteran soldiers knew what was coming, although it seems their commanders did not. Three full corps launched a disjointed attack against well-entrenched Confederates. In just eight minutes, the attack had petered out. Over 7000 Federals covered the Virginia soil. A few minutes later, the orders came down to renew the attacks, but at each level, from corps commander to captain, the orders were "followed" only by increased firing -- most of it blindly -- while remaining in position.
Wargame + Magazine by Clash of Arms
Kulikovo 1380 is a game covering the battle between the Golden Horde clan of Mongols and the collected principalities that we know as Russia under the growing leadership of Muscovy, and the Grand Prince of Moscow, Dmitri Ivanovich, later entitled Donskoi for his victory at Kulikovo (which is right near the Don River). For 150 years, Tartar armies had readily destroyed all Russian opposition, and Kulikovo was the first sign that Russia was starting to emerge from Tatar domination. It would take several centuries more.
Kulikovo is considered a major turning point/battle of the Middle Ages, in that it not only showed that a western-style, 'heavy' army could defeat the Mongols, but it was also the first major step in the unification of the various Russian principalities under the leadership of Muscovy.
Kulikovo is an accessible, fast-playing, fun game of low complexity. Gamers who have played ATO’s Suleiman the Great (ATO #9), and/or GMT Games’ Men Of Iron should find all of this quite familiar.
Full color 22"x34" map
160 full color 5/8" die-cut counters
Rulebook length - 7 pages
Charts and Tables - 2 pages
Complexity - Low
Solitaire Suitability - Medium
Playing Time - 3 hours
Design - Richard Berg
Development - Paul Rohrbaugh
Graphic Design - Craig Grando
Imperial Sunset is a moderate level complexity simulation of the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The battle was fought from October 23-26 1944 as the US returned to the Philippines, landing on the island of Leyte. The US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy fought a series of actions that collectively have been recorded as the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The historical result was a decisive defeat of the Imperial Navy, virtually eliminating it as a viable force for the remainder of the war. For the US Navy, it was a victory that was almost squandered due to command problems.
Each game turn is six hours; there are three day turns and one night turn for each calendar day. Each sea hex is approximately 25 nautical miles across. The game map is used for all Task Force movement and movement by air units. Two tactical displays are included, one for naval surface engagements and one for air attacks.
By the beginning of 1954, both the French and Viet Minh realized that the war in Indochina was nearing an end. Ho Chi Minh had requested cease fire negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, and the French government was looking for a way out that would give them peace with honor. Both sides felt that a "big win" on the battlefield would finally secure at the peace table what they had been unable to obtain in six and a half years of war.
The site of this battle would be near a village called, in Vietnamese, "Seat of the Border County Prefecture" located in a distant valley of north western Vietnam near the Laotian border. The French high command, under General Henri Navarre, reasoned that such a remote location could not be successfully attacked. General Vo Nguyen Giap thought the position was nearly impossible to defend. The siege of Dien Bien Phu would be the result.
La vallée de la mort ("Death Valley") is a simulation of this epic siege that ended the French colonial presence in Asia and marked the beginning of a 21 year struggle for national unification. The game is designed for 2 players, one taking the role of the French commander of the fortress complex at Dien Bien Phu, the other of General Giap, commanding the Viet Minh forces laying siege. The game and scenarios are small enough to be played solitaire, however.
Each turn of the game represents one week. Each assault impulse represents one day. A point of combat strength represents 150 to 200 men, 6 aircraft, 5 or 6 guns, or a single tank. An inch on the map corresponds to 700 yards.
Also included in this issue is a bonus mini-game on Na San in late 1952. This smaller battle, similar to Dien Bien Phu, the French won, but lulled them into thinking their strategy was correct. Compare just how much each side learned about the other over the course of the two battles!
280 full color die-cut 1/2" counters
Rulebook length - 15 pages
Charts and Tables - 1 page
Complexity - Medium
Playing Time - 4 hours
A Dark and Bloody Ground is a simulation of the five-year struggle for control of Ohio in the Old Northwest Territory. One player assumes the role of the leader of the United States armed forces (militia and regular US Army), while the opponent operates the various Native American nations, and their potential allies from Great Britain and Canada. The game can, however, be played solitaire with little effort.
"When you're at Khe Sanh, you're not really anywhere. You could lose it and you really haven't lost a damn thing."
That is how B.G. Lowell English, the assistant commander of the 3rd Marine Division summed up his branch's rational for not wanting to fight for Khe Sanh. Unfortunately, Theater Commander Gen. Westmoreland felt differently - even years later, when he wrote his memoirs.
"Khe Sanh could serve as a patrol base for blocking enemy infiltration from Laos along Route 9; as a base for SOG (Studies and Operations Group) operations to harass the enemy in Laos; as an airstrip for reconnaissance planes surveying the Ho Chi Minh Trail; as the western anchor for defenses south of the DMZ; and as an eventual jump-off point for ground operations to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail."
