My Collection: Ambush! (1983)

Ambush! is the solitaire game of combat, adventure and heroism in World War Two France. Using a ground-breaking development of the programmed paragraph solitaire system, Ambush! gives the player control of an American squad, faced with a variety of missions against an ever-changing, hidden German foe. So the commentary on Board Game Geek goes.

Another gift from my mate. This is a real treasure as I know it's a sought after collector's item and can go for a good sum on e-bay. It was on my collector's list already so I would have probably gotten around to purchasing it when I could afford it.

The cat is going to love this one. The tactical methodology of the enemy seems right up it's street!

My Collection: Patton's Best (1987)

I got this as a surprise gift from a mate who was clearing out his loft and ended up giving me three other Avalon Hill / Victory Games titles - all very nice and much appreciated!

This is an Avalon Hill solitaire game involving tank command - that is you control a Sherman tank (17 variations) and command a crew assigned to the 4th Armored Division as you move out of the "Cobra Breakout" following the Normandy invasion.

I like the idea of commanding a tank against Tigers and other German horrors. I can do my Brad Pitt impression in a Sherman Fury and try to avoid the Panther!

 

One Hour Wargames: WW2 Scenario

I had the notion to play a miniatures game so I decided to setup one based on my standard WW2 US and German forces and put them in a scenario that was just created free form. I got out some terrain pieces and all my hedgerows and randomly placed them on the table in a manner that appealed to me visually. I then placed the units where I thought they would have been deployed.

I wanted a river and a couple of bridges with a village to be defended by the Germans. This was to be a pretty low level tactical game so we are dealing here with platoon formations under a company commander.

The US forces had a daunting task to attack a prepared German defence so I decided to give them an edge in experience and made them all elite while the Germans remained regular. This did have a subtle and ultimately decisive effect on the outcome with superior activation and combat results. 

Here is the position towards the end of the game - probably around turn 7 or 8. After a costly advance in terms of an eliminated platoon and tank the Americans managed to take out some of the key German units and establish a numerical advantage. With their superior experience this assured victory.

This was a lot of fun. What looked like a certain US repulse actually transformed into a decisive win. 

The cat showed it's excitement too. 

My Collection: PanzerArmee Afrika (1973)

PanzerArmee Afrika: Rommel in the Desert, April 1941 - November 1942, is a simulation of the North African Campaign between April 1941 and November 1942. Battalion, Regiment and Brigade-sized units represent the actual forces which took part in the fighting. Included in the game is a Variable Orders-of-Battle Chart that offers variations in forces to demonstrate how history might have been different.

The game spans the entire 20-month campaign, allowing players to recreate the famous battles of the period between the British-led Commonwealth forces and the Axis forces of Germany and Italy, to include Rommel's Panzer Army Africa. Set at an operational level, players must manage their military forces and precious supplies better than their opponent to achieve victory. The Axis aims at capturing Alexandria, the key to the Suez Canal. The British player has to prevent all this.

And so goes the description on Board Game Geek. I picked my copy up quite cheaply on e-Bay. There were only four counters missing and I've created substitutes to fill in which look OK.

The components and gameboard are quite attractive and it looks very playable solo - I've just not got round to doing anything with it yet. Too many other projects on the go just now.

Desert Cat only showed a little interest!

My Collection: Lord of the Rings (Hasbro 2001 Edition)

This has been in my collection for some time now. I got this version back around the release date of the Jackson Films in order to play a LOTR simulation with the kids. 

This is a co-operative game where the object is to destroy the Ring while surviving the corrupting influence of Sauron. Each player plays one of the Hobbits in the fellowship, each of which has a unique power. The game is played on a number of boards: the Master board indicates both the physical progress of the fellowship across Middle Earth and the corrupting influence of Sauron on the hobbits and a number of scenario boards which detail the events and adventures of particular locations. Progression across the boards is determined by playing cards (many of which represent the characters and items of Middle Earth) and the effects of corruption are represented by a special die. The game is lost if the ring-bearer is overcome by Sauron or won if the ring is destroyed by throwing it into the volcanic fires of Mount Doom.

We had a couple of enjoyable games but we never really played it extensively. 

Component quality was good and the rules and were backed up with a useful summary.

The artwork was tremendous and captured the other world feel of Tolkein's Middle Earth. These are the various scenario boards:

The kids loved the corruption scale mechanism which had the Sauron piece move towards the hobbits. Here is the One Ring that came with this edition.

The artwork on the cards and counters provided a pleasant dimension to gameplay.

Here is the Gandalf card.

And here is another little goblin!

Command & Colours Napoleonics: Rolica (French First Position) - 17 August 1808

I played a game of Napoleonics over the course of last weekend taking an overnight break to complete the scenario.This is the first game in the scenarios book with a simple setup and not too many units. It still offers a challenge to the Anglo-Portuguese commander.

It proved to be a fun contest in which the British didn't get their way in outflanking the French and the defenders managed to pull off a convincing 5:2 victory repulsing units on either flanks while holding the hill line.

This series of slides shows how the game played out.

Vive le chat!