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Posted on Apr 26, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Age of War Game Review. Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games Designer: Reiner Knizia Price $12.95 Rick Martin Passed Inspection: Easy to learn, fast to play, beautiful graphics Failed Basic: Rules for Special Daimyo Battle Line are lacking and confusing, very abstract, no solo rules The Japanese “Age of War” (Sengoku Jidai) lasted from 1467 until 1603. During this turbulent period, Japanese feudal lords called Daimyo fought for control of neighboring kingdoms and, eventually, for control of Japan, itself. This was the golden age of the Samurai and the Ninja. Fantasy Flight’s Age of War is a highly abstract dice throwing game which allows from 2 to 6 players to take control of warriors, cavalry and bowmen in order to conquer castles and take control of Japan. The game is attractively packaged in a small box with gorgeous artwork. The components are 7 custom dice, 14 double sided castle cards and a one page, double sided rule sheet. The game is perfectly sized to take on trips. Age of War is...
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Posted on Apr 9, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
MBT BAOR and FRG Expansions Game Review. Publisher: GMT Games Designer: James M. Day Price $65.00 each Rick Martin Passed Inspection: Highly detailed but very playable expansions to a classic game system, easy to learn, beautiful components Failed Basic: Difficult to get the new maps to lay flat. In 2016 GMT released James Day’s fully updated MBT (Main Battle Tank) which was a tactical game based on a hypothetical war between the NATO forces and the Soviet Union in 1987. Now GMT follows up their initial release with these two well researched expansion packs which add the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) to the mix! And, hold on to your tracks MBT fans – GMT has added an expansion featuring the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group to their P500 list of possible upcoming games! MBT, as previously stated, is a tactical combat game. Each unit is one vehicle or aircraft or a squad or half squad of infantry or a special...
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Posted on Mar 30, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Golan ‘73: FAB. Board game Review. Publisher: GMT Games. Designer: Michael Gustavsson and Rick Young. Price: $65.00 Ray Garbee Passed Inspection: Explores a pivotal battle in the modern history of Israel and the Middle East. Quality map board presenting the geography of the Golan Heights. High quality components. Challenging game play. Failed Basic: The quantity of errata items that have been reported. The rulebook shares the same structure as other FAB series games with rules split between the ‘core’ series rules and those rules specific to the game. It’s a little confusing if you are new to the series. On October 6th, 1973 Israel was stunned as the Egyptian and Syrian armies launched a coordinated assault that coincided with the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. The Arab states – rearmed and trained by the Soviet Union – initially made impressive gains on both fronts. However, following the mobilization of the IDF reserves, these gains were erased by masterful counter attacks launched by the IDF. The war ended badly for...
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Posted on Mar 27, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Gone to Pieces The Battle of Binh Gia Game Review. Publisher: High Flying Dice Games Designer: Paul Rohrbaugh Price: $14.95 (non mounted counters) $19.95 (mounted counters) Rick Martin Passed Inspection: Exciting game play. Interesting subject. Dynamic turn sequence. Fantastic value for the price. Nearly perfect solo play. Easy to learn. Engages all players in the action at all times. Failed Basic: Needs a full sequence of play aid including rolling for weather sequence. A typo in the rules says that the map is only one 11 x 17 inch page when it is actually two 11 x 17 pages. High Flying Dice Games (HFDG) has consistently delivered highly engaging games at amazingly low prices. Each game covers a unique historical battle many of which have not been covered by other gaming companies. Their newest release “Gone to Pieces” is no exception. Gone to Pieces covers the Battle of Binh Gia which lasted from December 28, 1964 to January 1st, 1965. From HFDG’s own introduction to this game, “Following the...
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Posted on Mar 13, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Immortal Souls – Sword and Sorcery Board Game Review. Publisher: Ares Games Developed by: Gremlin Project studio Designers: Simone Romano and Nunzio Surace Price: $70.99 Rick Martin Passed Inspection: Beautiful components – great looking minis and wonderful dungeons and building tiles, exciting game play, perfect solo or group game, dynamic campaign, feels like a game run by a game master, exciting tactical battles Failed Basic: Rules are a little overwhelming at first, too many symbols to learn, too few scenarios in the basic game For those of us who remember the post apocalyptic Japanese animation “Hokuto no Ken” aka “Fist of the North Star” or “Ken North Star Fist”, the hero of the story would use a special attack on his enemies and then wait for them to die. He would tell them “Omae wa shindeiru” or “You are already dead” and then they would die usually in a pretty spectacular and gory way. In Ares Games’ new fantasy game series “Sword and Sorcery”, you can take “You are...
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Posted on Feb 28, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
The Invincible Armada 1588 AD Game Review. Publisher: Turning Point Simulations Designer: Mark G. McLaughlin Price: $29.95 (zip lock) $34.95 (boxed) Rick Martin Passed Inspection: Small footprint, simple to learn but dynamic to play, great value for the price, exciting, plays perfectly well solo. Also a great educational experience. Failed Basic: Needs a better explanation of the Parma counters (turns out these are used during the Armada Rendezvous sequence but they are not referenced directly in the rules), a few rule typos, “Eddystone Light” on the strategic map should just read “Eddystone” as the lighthouse wasn’t built until 1696 – over 100 years after 1588. Fireship rules could be “unpacked” a little for clarity. The Invincible Armada 1588 AD is a game in Turning Point Simulations’ “Battles that Changed the World” series. As with the other games in the series, this game is available in a zip lock version or a boxed version. Surely the battle between the British Navy and the Spanish Armada must be remembered as one...
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Posted on Feb 16, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Tiger Leader upgrade kit. Boardgame Review. Publisher: Dan Verssen Games. Designer: Rick Martin Free with Sherman Leader or download for free from DVG website. Ray Garbee Passed Inspection: Updates rules to the Sherman Leader standard. Adds some additional units to the game. Improved game play results in more engaging game. Failed Basic: Presents rule changes as addendum, does not have an updated integrated rulebook. Retains the original unit card graphics. Dan Verssen Games (DVG) released Tiger Leader in 2015. Tiger Leader was Rick Martin’s game of combat in World War II from the perspective of a German battlegroup commander. Designed expressly for solitaire play, Tiger Leader allowed the player to engage in campaigns across the spectrum of the war from the initial invasion of Poland through the fall of Berlin. While the game was generally well received, there was some critiques of the operational movement model and the tactical combat model that appeared to make your opponents quite skilled and always on the attack. In 2017, DVG released Sherman...
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Posted on Feb 8, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Fast Action Battles: Sicily Board Game Review Publisher: GMT Games. Designer: Rick Young Price $60.00 Ray Garbee Passed inspection: Gorgeous map. Good balance of detail with speed of play. Elegant method for integrating air support, artillery and low level supporting units. Game contains two scenarios, plus an introductory scenario. Supports exploration of alternative strategies. Failed basic: Rules were a bit dense and could benefit from better organization. In July, 1943 the Allied armies invaded Sicily and took the war to the Axis home turf. The invasion – known as Operation Husky – is a bit of a paradox. It’s both a well-known iconic military campaign in which generals Patton and Montgomery competed with each other in the “Race to Messina” while at the same time, the details of that race have receded into the dusty recesses of faded memory. Fast Action Battles: Sicily, from GMT Games, blows away that dust and shines a light on the campaign. A light that reminds us that the battle for Sicily was much...
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Posted on Feb 8, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Check out Academy Games’ first science fiction combat game now on Kick Starter! Based upon the popular video game series Saints Row, Agents of Mayhem: Pride of Babylon features Man to man fighting in a 3 D city environment! Team vs team action packed board game on a destructible 3D map with has a full radiant storyline where every choice you make ripples through the entire campaign! They will be using this same storyline system in their upcoming Storms of Steel solo campaign. Agents of Mayhem: Pride of Babylon is being Kickstarted at:...
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Posted on Feb 6, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Rambo the Board Game- Board Game Preview. Publisher: Everything Epic Game Designer: Chris Batarlis, Sam Bailey Price to be determined (on Kickstarter now) Rick Martin Chris Batarlis who brought us Secrets of the Lost Tomb and the upcoming Big Trouble in Little China Board Game and Sam Bailey of Star Wars Imperial Assault and Forbidden Stars fame have licensed the classic Rambo movies and are now Kickstarting Rambo the Board Game! They sent Armchair General a prototype copy and we can safely say “It’s a blast!” Rambo the Board Game is a tactical game in which each player plays either John Rambo or Sam Trautman or two other team mates. Three missions are included in the prototype and each mission can be played either solo or with up to four players – each player taking a team member. The game controls the enemy and the story line. From the press kit “The game provides sealed “legacy-like” Operation Envelopes which gradually expand the game as each mission completes. Each mission...
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Posted on Jan 26, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
878 Vikings – Invasions of England Board Game Review. Publisher: Academy Games Game Designer: David Kimmel Price $70.00 Rick Martin Passed Inspection: Concise elegant rules, beautiful components, visually pleasing, easy to learn and play, approachable even by non-war gamers, excellent value for the price Failed Basic: Flavor text on cards a little too small for “mature” gamers. Viking Reinforcement rules were a little confusing on first read and play through. 878 Vikings – The Invasions of England (hereinafter “Vikings”) is the first game in Academy Games’ Birth of Europe series and it’s fantastic! Like its brethren in the Birth of America series, Vikings shares a common core game design and is based on die rolls, cards and counters. This time the board shows the shires of Britain as they were in the 800s. The main regions are Wessex, Susea, Essex, Kent, Middle Anglia, Mercia, etc. and each region is broken down in to shires listing either cities or fortified cities. Certain regions allow reinforcements to be marshaled at the...
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Posted on Jan 19, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Rob Oren’s 2017 Review of Games demonstrates his love and passion for the war gaming hobby. Check it out now and check out other Rob Oren Reviews on YouTube and Facebook! title=”Rob Oren and the Dice Tower’s Top 2017 War...
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Posted on Jan 8, 2018 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Sherman Leader Board Game Review Publisher: Dan Verrsen Games. Designer: Richard Martin. Price $90.00 Ray Garbee Passed Inspection: Mounted map board that provides a clear representation of the battle space while providing access to commonly used charts and tables. Clearly written rules that include illustrated examples. High quality die cut counters. Well designed unit and leader cards with artwork that captures the feel of the period. Quick game play that builds and engaging narrative. Failed Basic: Does not contain an exhaustive inventory of equipment/units. Could use additional terrain tiles to expand the variety of constructed battlefields. THUNK! The runner flopped to the ground next to the lieutenant. “Sir, Sergeant Saunders says he sees three enemy tanks moving up through the draw on the left and about 20-30 infantry moving into the woods on the right. Sergeant wants to know if he should shift right and take on the rifleman and let Howard’s boys deal with the tanks.” As he spoke he pulled out his canteen. Out of words, he...
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Posted on Dec 29, 2017 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Alfred the Great: The Ethandun Campaign Game Review Publisher: High Flying Dice Games. Designer: Mark H. Sheppard. Price: $14.95 Ray Garbee Passed Inspection: The game includes a well laid out color map showing the key locations and terrain. Clean, clearly laid out game pieces that convey all the information you need. Well-structured rules that provide a quick playing game. Failed Basic: There were a few minor typos and layout problems with rules and charts that required clarification. The mists hung in the cool, thick air, silencing the call of the birds. The only sound was the slopping suck of the Viking’s own footsteps as the weary warriors tramped through the heavy clay muck. The marsh lands of the Somerset Levels were proving a more dangerous foe than the warriors of the Briton king. What had started as a profitable campaign of conquest and pillage had become a forlorn search within the trackless marshes surrounding the Saxon redoubt at the Isle of Athelney. Would Odin guide them to their foe...
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Posted on Dec 22, 2017 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
The 2017 Armchair General Holiday Buyers Guide for Gamers 2017 has been a great year for gamers and, more specifically, war gamers! We at Armchair General believe that if 2017 isn’t a “Golden Year” for games, it will certainly qualify for an “Almost Golden Year”. For solo gaming, we have seen some truly fantastic and innovative games released plus at least one update of a classic solo game from yesteryear. We have had not one but two excellent B17 Flying Fortress games this year but each one features a different aspect of the air war over Europe! For multi-player games, we have seen games covering so many different topics and subjects that there is certainly something for everyone. In addition, some great science fiction, fantasy and horror games have graced our gaming tables this year! While not all of the games listed below have been covered by reviews yet, rest assured that we at Armchair General are very stoked about them and you, dear readers, will be seeing reviews...
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Posted on Dec 21, 2017 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Nemo’s War 2nd Edition Game Review. Publisher: Victory Point Games Designer: Christopher Taylor and Alan Emrich Price: $65.00 Rick Martin Passed Inspection: Perfect solo gaming experience, dynamic story based on the book, unique game play, beautifully designed Failed Basic: footprint slightly too large for an average card table, rules need an index I have always loved Jules Verne’s classic 1870 novel “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. Form my first view of the Nautilus as a youngster watching the film adaptation on The Wonderful World of Disney to reading the novel when I was 10 to re-reading it now as part of this review, to its adaption in to Japanese anime with the classic TV series “Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water”, Verne’s adventure story was ahead of its time. Now Victory Point Games puts you in the roll of Captain Nemo as you chart your path of exploration and revenge with your crew and the super submarine, Nautilus! The box art, components and rules are works of art. The...
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Posted on Dec 13, 2017 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Naval Battles in Archipelago Game Review. Publisher: Forsage Games Designer: Pedrag Lazovic and Dragan Lazovic Price: $80.00 Rick Martin Passed Inspection: Beautiful components, complete “sand box” allowing for any number of scenarios and modifications, easy to learn rules, family friendly, completely fun, addicting Failed Basic: Abstractions may alienate hardcore gamers, needs a critical hit system, initiative rules are unclear, map boards could use an identifier for creating scenarios, needs a few deep water (no island) map boards, rules could use an index and little more English language editing Remember the thrill of getting a big box of toy soldiers and then opening the box and seeing the massive possibilities for playtime battles? For me it was getting the toy soldier set I believe was called “Bridge Attack” back in 1969 or so which was put out by Marx. That sense of wonder is something that adults don’t usually experience but I experienced it again when I opened up the review copy of Forsage Game’s Naval Battles in Archipelago! The...
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Posted on Dec 13, 2017 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Lighting North Africa Game Review. Publisher: Decision Games. Designer: Dan Verssen. Price: $20.00 Ray Garbee Passed inspection: Well-designed cards that are evocative of the events and units that appeared in the campaign. Four pages of rules. Sturdy box for storage and transport. Quick easy to grasp rules coupled with a fast playing game. Failed Basic: Layout could have been a little clearer regarding the definitions of operations and actions. Lightning North Africa (LNA) is a two-player card game depicting the conflict between the Allies and Axis for control of North Africa during the Second World War. Each turn, players will conduct operations with cards representing the military forces deployed to the theater and use other cards to take actions and conduct battles. The playing space is defined by a set of six map cards that depict the areas of North Africa between Cairo in the East and Algeria in the West. The cards contain a map showing the rough location of the space as well as any rules specific...
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Posted on Dec 12, 2017 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Tripods and Triplanes Wings of Glory Expansion Game Preview. Publisher: Ares Games Designer: Andrea Angiolino, Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello Rick Martin Ares Games brings 2017 to a triumphant end with yet more Wings of Glory goodness! This time the Earth is uniting against an alien threat! Tripods and Triplanes has hit Kick Starter! From Ares Games’ own description – “March 18th, 1918: the nearest approach of planet Mars to Earth. The First World War suddenly changes into a War of the Worlds, when what appears as a meteor shower falls over a wood in Alsace. A few hours later, just after dawn, an army of giant alien fighting machines appear out of the trees and starts burning villages and houses with their lethal heat-rays, leaving pestilential trails of black smoke behind them. A truce is hurriedly signed between the warring nations and, against the advancing Martian tripods, the best war machines of Earth are dispatched, manned by the most gallant and skilled warriors of our planet! In Wings...
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Posted on Dec 7, 2017 in Boardgames, Front Page Features
Hindenburg’s Hour: The Tannenberg Campaign, 1914 Game Review Publisher: Dr. Richter Konflictsimulationen \ Gesellschaft für historische simulationen (Society for historical simulations), Designer: Benjamin Richter Price $29.95 Ray Garbee Passed Inspection: Solitaire game. Compact game with die cut counters. Small table footprint that is perfect for small spaces or as a travel companion. Fast playing game that models the high-level decision making by the German Eighth Army in the Tannenberg campaign. Nice map that captures the feel of the period while still overlaid with a hex grid for movement. Failed Basic: Could have used a spare small plastic bag in which to store the counters, once punched out. Good things do come in small packages! Dr. Benjamin Richter has produced a compact, elegant game that covers the Russian invasion of East Prussia in 1914. While the main armies of Germany, Britain and France clashed in the West, a single German army fended off an invasion by two numerically superior, though less capable Russian armies. The German plan is to protect...
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