Wargaming Wednesday - D-Day

A couple of days ago marked the anniversary of D-Day.  "The Normandy landings (codenamed Operation Neptune) were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 (termed D-Day) of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II."  Over on military.id.me, there's a fine graphic from last year reminding us how much went into this day militarily here.

While there are more games than I will mention here at this time depicting the events of D-Day, the earliest might well be the Avalon Hill classic D-Day (first edition) (1961).  It doesn't get a very high rating on the Geek by today standards but D-Day (second edition) (1977), which re-implements the game, does a little better.  Even by the early 90s, D-Day games weren't up to snuff by BGG ratings standards, so the Smithsonian edition, which simplified the original, gets little love in D-Day (1991).  However, veteran designer John H. Butterfield under the publisher Decision Games managed it with D-Day at Omaha Beach (2009) according to those who rated it on BGG.  I will say that as a long time hex-and-chit wargamer, I don't have a problem with the time it takesw to play these classics nor do I have trouble with checking rules or consulting tables, so a lot of what irks modern gamers about the old classics doesn't bother me.  Your mileage may vary.

Finally, from the LuckyPennyShop.com YouTube channel, and in case you're wondering about the contents of the original game, here's an unboxing video.  Enjoy!

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Wargaming Wednesday - World Warring

Over on sternrakestudio.blogspot.com, Ted Henkle takes a look at some "Great War Naval Games" here.

Also, on axisandallies.org, Will Henson looks at "Global War 2nd Edition (1936-1945)" here.

Finally, on theboardgaminglife.com, a couple years ago, Harvey Mossman gave us "Paul Koenig’s Fortress Europe: A Boardgaming Life Review" here.

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Wargaming Wednesday - Battle Reports

Three wargaming battle reports from the blogosphere this week with the first being from AJ's Wargaming Blog where he gives us "HATG Scenario Play Test at Ralph's" report here.

Also, on Mark D's Gaming Site, he tells us of "Bolt Action Moderns" here.

Finally, on Cardboard Campaigns and Metal Melées, he sat down to a hex and chit game with Mr. Invisible in "Starting Off the New Year with a Bang!: Ukraine '43" here.

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Wargaming Wednesday - Land, Sea, & Fantasy

Adam Carriere on Fencing Frog gets a lot of wargames to the table and writes some wonderful, pictorial battle reports.  So far this month it includes "Panzer Lehr vs Soviet Hero Assault guns" here.

Also, Adam runs "Two Naval Games" here.

Finally, he runs "The Living Museum" scenario from Frostgrave here.

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Wargaming Wednesday - Sid Meier's Civilization: The Boardgame (2002)

Just last weekend, I finally got a chance to play Sid Meier's Civilization: The Boardgame (2002).  As a fan of the mother of all Civilization (1980) wargames, I was glad to finally get the chance to play it.  While there is definitely more combat complexity to the Sid Meier game (and that doesn't mean there is a lot at all), I was struck by how the balance of the game could be quickly upset by a few combats and quick acquisition of the technologies cards.

The description of the game from Board Game Geek:

Please note: This article covers the 2002 release of Sid Meier´s Civilization: The Boardgame by Eagle Games. This game is unrelated to the similarly named 2010 FFG game Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game.

Finally, a boardgame version of this award-winning PC strategy game. Create a civilization to stand the test of time! The game begins in 4000 BC where the players found a pair of villages of a fledgling people.

Each player’s civilization :- Explores the world around them, discovering resources and the native people that defend them.- Expands by sending settlers out to create new cities.- Researches new technologies to gain advantages over the other players.- Builds unique “Wonders of the World”.- Increases the size of their cities (4 sizes from village to metropolis) to increase production.- Builds military units to defend what’s theirs, and to conquer what’s not. 

Features:- 2 sets of rules (standard, and advanced) allow anyone to play the game.- 784 plastic pieces featuring 22 different, professionally sculpted playing pieces that represent cities, settlers, armies, navies, artillery, and air units from 4 different eras.- Over 100 full color Technology and Wonder cards.- A giant 46” x 36” gameboard featuring the artwork of Paul Niemeyer.

It's a good looking game and maybe it just requires a larger number of players than the three we had to make sure everyone is kept in check.  I'd give it another try at some future gameday or convention.

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