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Posted on Mar 14, 2023 in Boardgames, Front Page Features

On the Wings of Eagles – Legion Wargame’s “Aces of Valor” Brings You to the Skies of the Western Front. Board Game Review

On the Wings of Eagles – Legion Wargame’s “Aces of Valor” Brings You to the Skies of the Western Front. Board Game Review

By Ray Garbee Aces of Valor. Publisher: Legion Wargames. Designer: Eric Von Rossing. Don Hendon. Artist Mark Mahaffey.  Price $72.00 (current sale price $55.00) Passed inspection: Solid rules and quality components deliver what the box promises. Highly abstracted air combat model allows you to quickly spin through engagements over the course of a mission. Magneto switch, on! Clear! The ground crew heave the propellor around, and the engine catches and roars to life. You are about to lead your patrol of scout fighters into the air on a patrol over the trench lines of the Western Front in Aces of Valor. Games come and go in cycles. What’s hot and what’s not. In 2023 what’s hot seems to be the trend of solitaire games – continuing a trend that really took off during the pandemic – and air combat games. Now while games of aerial combat have been with us for a long time (Richtofen’s War, anyone?), the last few years have seen continued growth in games covering aerial...

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Posted on Apr 16, 2022 in Boardgames, Front Page Features

Opening a New Front Against the Ottomans. “On to Baghdad: The Campaign in Mesopotamia & Persia, 1914-1918”. Board Game Review

Opening a New Front Against the Ottomans. “On to Baghdad: The Campaign in Mesopotamia & Persia, 1914-1918”. Board Game Review

On to Baghdad: The Campaign in Mesopotamia & Persia, 1914-1918. Publisher: Decision Games. Designer: Joseph Miranda. Price $49.99 Passed inspection: An engaging game of an obscure First World War campaign. Attractive hex map that showcases the theater while integrating most of the charts and tables around the perimeter. Large, legible counters. Failed basic: A handful of minor typos on counters and text, but the majority of these were caught and integrated into the text before the rules were printed.    Mention a conflict in Iraq and most folks will think of the recent 21st invasion and occupation by the United States and her allies to replace the Iraqi government and nominally secure the flow of oil. But a century earlier, another global power waged a multi-year war to take control of Iraq and Iran (Persia) in order to…secure the flow of oil. The more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s a campaign that first came to my attention via the book Wings Over Mesopotamia by Mark...

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Posted on Dec 27, 2020 in Boardgames, Front Page Features

One Last Big Push to Victory. “1918/1919: Storm in the West” Board Game Review

One Last Big Push to Victory. “1918/1919: Storm in the West” Board Game Review

By Ray Garbee 1917/1918: Storm in the West. Publisher: GMT Games. Designer: Ted Raicer. Developers: Ty Bomba and Chris Perello. Price $49.00 Passed inspection: An excellent update to a proven design. Good coverage of a pivotal year in the war. Excellent expansion covering the ‘what if’s’ surrounding the strategic decisions on both sides. Failed basic: A solid design that’s had all the kinks ironed out over the years, there’s nothing to not like about this game! GMT’s recent release 1918/1919: Storm in the West dropped onto the game table in December. This is a game with a storied past, dating back to its initial release in 1992 with Command Magazine. 1918/1919: Storm in the West was Ted Raicer’s first game design and it was an immediate success, earning a Charles S. Roberts Award nomination. Its popularity inspired the design of a Plan 1919 variant which assumed a German defensive strategy in 1918 with an all-out Allied assault to win the war the following year. GMT’s release presents this classic magazine...

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Posted on Jul 31, 2016 in Electronic Games, Front Page Features

Wings Over Flanders Fields Expansion 3 Game Review

Wings Over Flanders Fields Expansion 3 Game Review

By Rick Martin Publisher: OBD Software Games Price $39.99 Passed Inspection: Completely immersive, control over difficulty levels, amazing graphics, realistic flight models and AI, more flyable aircrafts than any other WW 1 flight simulator Failed Basic: No multiplayer OBD Software continues to expand on its award winning World War I flight simulator Wings Over Flanders Fields with this 3rd expansion to their simulator. For a complete review of the game and its first two expansions, see: http://armchairgeneral.com/wings-over-flanders-fields-pc-game-review.htm While many enjoy playing the graphically gorgeous but solitaire impaired Rise of Flight, Wings Over Flanders Fields (WoFF) gives the players a fully immersive world to play around with. Covering from 1915 to 1918, WoFF with this 3rd expansion now features 83 different aircrafts including trainers, scouts, two seaters and heavy bombers — Nieuports and Fokker Eindeckers to Albatroses, Be2cs, Se5as, Gothas, Zepplins and Spads Oh My! WoFF 3 is not just a flight simulator but a fully crafted dynamic World War I environment with role playing elements in that you can track...

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