WW2
Combat Mission: Beyond Normandy — First Look
Battlefront.com released Combat Mission: Beyond Normandy in mid-May. We have had a chance to spend a little bit of time with it since then. For those who have been waiting for a redo of the classic CM the good news is the worth is not only over but was well worth it. The game delivers the play that Combat Mission fans would expect. The new graphics engine is very nice and rivals that of third-person shooters from just a few years ago. The game engine seems equally as solid and our initial games have gone well with no glaring issues.
The detailed spotting and artillery rules are probably the only major changes that veterans will notice right from the start. Otherwise players will be able to jump right in and feel at home. As with the modern-day CM titles both the play and pause and turn-based play options are included. For old and new players alike there is a detailed manual that does a good job of explaining the rules and even includes an introductory walk through to get players into the action quickly.
Scenario selection is good but not great. The game includes 21 scenarios and five campaigns. Hopefully scenario packs will be forthcoming. Of course there is a battle generator as well as a full blown scenario builder included so players are certainly not stuck for new adventures by any means and fan built scenarios will certainly be on the way.
If you have any interest in WW2 tactical combat this is a must get title. And now even Mac owners can get in on the action. Well enough wasting time here we’re gonna get back to it!
Incursion SNAFU — Review
Grindhouse Games’ first expansion for its weird-war WW2 board/miniatures game is now available. SNAFU is a 64-page softcover book that includes new units, new missions, painting guides and an official FAQ. The book follows the Incursion rulebook style and continues the high design and pulp feel of the original game.
Released separately are a host of new miniatures that cover the new units in the book. But as always if you do not want to play the game with miniatures standups are also included (this time as a download only). The Allies get the official release of the MI-13 rules along with new rules and miniatures for Bazooka APE, Zip Kelly and Gracie. The Germans get some new Sturmzombies, the evil Drohne, and the massive Panzeraffe. Rules are provided for all of the new units and their weapons. The stat cards are a separate download and are not included with the book.
The Panzeraffe is a huge model and even makes the Gracie walker look a tad small. The Panzeraffe can be kitted out for shooting or close combat and Gracie can stomp over units as easily as it can gun them down. Both Zip Kelly and the Drohne represent the lighter but more nimble choices. Overall the new units are a welcome addition to the game and will add to a player’s tactical choices.
The meat of the expansion is certainly the new missions. SNAFU includes nineteen new missions in all including six solitaire missions as well as three two map missions. You will need the map expansion or an extra copy of the game to play the larger missions. The Cinematic missions include a couple pages of the needed rules for solitaire play. This is a nice addition to the game and allows for some unique forces. The mission selection overall is a nice mix and, especially when combined with the new forces, increases re-playability considerably.
Rounding it all off are a few pages of painting guides including color recommendations and also a complete FAQ for the rules to date. All-in-all if you have any interest in Incursion this is a must get expansion. If you thought the re-playability of the original was a bit limited this also solves that problem. New meat for the Grinder!
Crisis in the Ardennes — Now Available
Test of Battle Games just released Crisis in the Ardennes: The Battle of the Bulge 1944. It is a campaign book for their WW2 battalion-level miniatures rules Test of Battle. ToB has been one of our Top Picks from the beginning. We haven’t seen the new book yet but the others have all been excellent and should be of interest to anyone who games in WW2 even if not using ToB.
On December 16th, 1944 the German Army launched Operation Wacht am Rhein (Operation Watch on the Rhine). This operation, whose goal was to split the Allied armies and capture Antwerp, was the last major offensive launched by Germany in the West. Known as the “Battle of the Bulge” due to the shape of the German advance into Allied lines, it has secured its place in history as the largest battle fought by America in the war, and the nail in the coffin of the Wehrmacht.
If you would like to read more on the Battle of the Bulge check out the following titles,
5cm KwK Nest — Review
The new AT bunker from Battlefront is now available for your Flames of War and other 15mm WW2 battles. The 5cm KwK Nest is direct order only. It is a rather basic model. The gun is in three metal parts and the bunker itself is two large resin pieces. The casting is all typical Battlefront quality. The only minor issue is that the top and bottom halves of the bunker did not fit perfectly together and you will need to file them a tad. But the fit is very close so it just depends how picky you want to be.
Whether you want to glue the two bunker halves together or not is a question. There is enough room inside to place a few crew figures but not enough for a stand. The only reason to not glue them would seem to be if you were worried about the gun knocking loose. But otherwise it might look better to just glue it together and fill the seam.
Overall it is a nice looking piece. Battlefront has a nice article on detailing the bunker (with a part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5) if you want to take it to the next level. Battlefront also has a nice article on using bunkers and fortifications in Flames of War.
Also see New Flames of War Fortifications.
If you would like to read more on German fortifications in WW2 check out,
- Fortress Third Reich: German Fortifications and Defense Systems in World War II
- German Field Fortifications 1939-45 (Fortress)
Military Strategy History Books)
[Updated: 27MAR11]
Spearpoint 1943 — Review
Frontline General’s Spearpoint 1943 WW2 tactical card game has been out awhile now. Initially we didn’t pay much attention to it, but the recent announcement of an expansion got us to give the game a try.
Spearpoint 1943 is a WW2 tactical card game that let’s players game battles between Allied and German forces in Italy in 1943. It ships in a small box that fits the two decks of cards and four D10s. The cards are of good quality with historical photos and clear iconography. There are four types of cards: First are the unit cards for the Allies and Germans. These include equipment such as tanks, guns and aircraft as well as the crew units for the respective equipment. A deck of Damage Effects cards track damage and combat results to units. The Command Deck are the cards used to actually order your units around.
The rules are very straightforward and fit on a two-sided 11″ x 17″ sheet. The site also has an excellent example of play that clears up any confusion. Basic flow of the game is to pick a starting force based on points (or play a scenario) and then you divide your forces into starting forces and reserves. Starting forces begin in your hand and the reserves form your draw pile. This is a tactical game and you are playing with what is basically a reinforced platoon. You then ‘commit’ your forces simultaneously to play and attack with them based on initiative. You commit units to either a frontline or a rear line and some units can be in one or the other or both. Thus you can place your tanks up front and your artillery in the rear. This gives a nice sense of depth and allows for breakthrough actions. Command Cards can be played that allow various special actions such as ‘Fire Mission!” that gives a rear line artillery unit a bonus 3 to its attack. Combat is also tactical with weapon attack values compared to defense values. The combat and damage mechanics are slightly confusing on first read but after you actually play through a couple of combats they become second nature and play proceeds smoothly.
Games play quickly and can be concluded in about 30mins. The standard points based games are fun but we prefer the scenario based games. So far Frontline General has released eight scenarios (they call them ‘situations’) that cover a variety of tactical situations.
What really grabbed our attention was the upcoming Village and Defensive Line Map Expansion. This expansion adds a map with terrain tiles to allow you to fight over actual terrain instead of the abstract front/rear lines. This should work well with the Spearpoint 1943 system and add some real maneuver to the game. It is currently in pre-order. There is an excellent video walk-through of the new expansion on BoardGameGeek.
Overall if you like WW2 tactical combat and are looking for a quick pick-up game give Spearpoint 1943 a shot.
[Updated: 18AUG11]
New Flames of War Fortifications
The new Wargames Illustrated Issue 280 (and now the BF website) has an announcement of a new German bunker for Flames of War, the 5cm KwK Nest. This is in addition to the previously announced pre-painted AT and unpainted MG bunkers. The 5cm KwK Nest will be direct order only and is unpainted.
In addition, Battlefront will be releasing their defensive terrain pieces in individual packs (barbed wire pack, dragon’s teeth pack, etc. but direct order only) and will also be releasing new artillery gun pits (sandbag, log and trench). Release date is 27MAR11 for those.
Last but not least are new pond and swamp terrain piece sets.
It’s a good time to be the defender!
[Updated: 2MAR11]
New Battlefront Podcast
Battlefront released what I believe is their first ever Flames of War podcast, Radio Free Battlefront. It is a one hour show with Mike and Wayne of Battlefront. They discuss the new D-Day books and give a nice battle report covering the La Fière Causeway mission along with a discussion of their forces. Overall a nice job and hopefully we will see more of these in the future.
Episode 2 covers Task Force A and the FFI (Free French) Company.
Don’t miss the Villers-Bocage and Monty’s Meatgrinder scenarios. And of course if you want more Flames of War podcast goodness check out the What Would Patton Do podcast.
[Updated: 10FEB11]
Point 2 Point Episode 43 — Now Available
Jason White, of the board wargaming podcast Point 2 Point, made a New Year’s resolution to produce a show every month in 2011. To achieve this he may need to do a lot of the shows without his co-host Scott. Episode 43 is his first effort of the year and he does a great job. We’ll ignore his digs on Conflict of Heroes and chalk it up to stress! They are currently having trouble with their main site so Jason is posting on the ConsimWorld blogs.
Jason flies solo for this new episode of P2P. He talks about a number of games including: Hellenes, Hearts and Minds, Command and Colors Ancients, Combat Commander Pacific, and Asia Engulfed, among others. He also gives his current top ten list and his hot ten list. He introduces some new segments, including a pre-order of the month. This month he focuses on GMT’s first design in the Fighting Formations series, a game focused on the Grossdeutschland Division. After the credits, you are welcome to stay tuned for an “Extra Point,” a non-gaming segment that will appear from time to time after the credits.
Combat Mission Battle for Normandy — Coming Soon!
Battlefront.com announced they are working on a WW2 version of their updated Combat Mission engine, Combat Mission Battle for Normandy. The original Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord was our favorite tactical computer wargame of all time and has been on our Top Picks since the start. It is a WW2 tactical level combat game with squad/team units and individual vehicles and guns. When it first released it was the first hardcore wargame to use 3D graphics. The new Battle for Normandy brings WW2 gaming up to the level of their modern combat CM versions. This includes enhanced options, better AI, improved graphics, and much more. It also means pausable real-time action. We have never liked the real-time play option because even though you can pause to give orders you still can’t be in two places at once so you sometimes miss out on the action. The current modern titles still have the original YouGo/IGo play as an option so hopefully that will remain in Battle for Normandy.
Building upon the legacy started 10 years ago with the release of the ground smashing Combat Mission Beyond Overlord, CM:BN incorporates years of experience and customer suggestions to produce what we think is the most genuine and enjoyable simulation of tactical ground warfare of World War Two. CM:BN is based on the extremely powerful proprietary CMx2 engine – the foundation for which was laid with the Combat Mission Shock Force series of Modern tactical warfare games. The CMx2 game engine is now in its 4th year of improvements and expansions, not the least of which are the host of brand new features necessary to simulate WW2 warfare in a temperate climate.
They have a great after action report posted from the viewpoints of both the American and German players.
If you are new to the series and want to check it out Battlefront.com also sells an update to their CM:Afrika Korps game that allows it to run on modern Vista/Windows 7 machines, and it is still a great game even after all these years and well worth getting if you have an interest in the topic.
Flames of War Invades Normandy
Battlefront released a new D-Day: Battle for France two-book set for Flames of War. The set includes the Allied Turning Tide book and the Axis Earth and Steel book (both also available separately). Together the two volumes replace all of the previous D-Day related force books. This leaves D-Day to Operation Cobra forces now covered by just these two books.
Both books are typical gorgeous Flames of War hardbacks in full-color. The limited availability slip case is also of high quality, thick hardback stock with a nice finish. Both books are over 200 pages each and feature tweaked army lists, new point costs, all new lists, and painting guides. You can now field a Churchill company, a captured French armor unit of the Beutepanzerkompanie, and much, much more. For a great overview of D-Day and the changes over the previous books listen to the WWPD: News from the Front, Episode 6. Forward to 0:48:15 to get right to the review.
The various beach landing, bunker, and fortification rules are now in Das Book.
If all of that wasn’t enough, Battlefront announced a number of Normandy-related boxed sets as well as some new ready-to-play bunkers.
The View from the Turret 
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