The View from the Turret

Band of Heroes — Review

Posted on 11Jan08 Updated on 25Aug09

Lock ‘n Load’s Band of Heroes is a board wargame on World War Two squad-level combat. It has been out over a year now but with new expansions on the way I thought this would be a good time to look back at the original game. The Wargamer has an excellent review of Band of Heroes. I agree with the reviewer’s comments especially those on the rulebook. It works OK for reading through but is terrible as a resource for looking up rules during the game. Also the terrain identification issue has been solved with the Terrain Chart Supplement. The map boards are very well done but they have a very garish hex grid superimposed on them that is very distracting and also makes determining the hex, especially hexside, terrain type tough at times. This hex treatment came under considerable fire after the game’s initial release and LnL released a pack of ‘haloless maps‘ with a much toned down pattern. The maps in the Not One Step Back expansion are of this same haloless design and Swift and Bold does not have any maps. Boardgame Geek has an excellent BoH reference sheet. Version three of the LnL rules are currently in playtest.

The new Line of Fire magazine includes BoH information. LnL also has an excellent 32-page demo of BoH. It includes printable map, counters, reference cards, a scenario, and most of the rulebook so you can try the game out for yourself.

Overall Band of Heroes is an excellent WW2 tactical wargame and with its ongoing expansion is more complete and much easier to digest than even the Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kits and unlike Combat Commander includes vehicles. Recommended.