Falaise Pocket is a two-player game (Germans vs Allies) set in mid-August, 1944 in France. German units are in danger of being pocketed, and must try and escape off the east map edge by the end of turn 5, while the Allies (British, Canadian, Americans, Free French) must try and prevent this. Units (9/16ths inch square) are division level (rated for attack, defense, and movement), with no stacking of units allowed. The Combat Results Table uses combat differential (e.g. a 7 attacking a 5 defender is resolved on the +2 column), with terrain modifiers. The map is a traditional hexagon grid, with terrain of clear, bocage, forest, town, rivers, and bridges.
Units must start the game in (or adjacent to) their "ID hex" (as marked on the map) indicating their historical starting places, with the Germans setting up first. Victory is determined by how many defense factors the Germans can exit off the east map edge by the end of the game. The exact number required for victory is determined by secret bidding before the start of play; high bidder plays the Germans, and must exit off the bidded number (or more) or else the Allies win. Optional rules include Allied Airpower, German fuel shortage, strategic movement, chit draw variables, more. The Germans are in a tough position, but the bidding mechanism makes this a very competitive game. Ideal for wargaming rookies, or for veterans wanting a simple yet interesting contest on a World War II topic.
Advanced Salvo! 1939-1941 is a simple tactical naval game, using three dice, ship ratings (battleships, battlecruisers, heavy and light cruisers from Britain, Germany, Italy, and France), and game tables to recreate naval battles occurring in the first three years of World War II. Object of the game is to sink the enemy's ships by (abstractly) maneuvering and firing your own to best effect. Each turn, each player selects one Action his ship(s) perform. Faster ships have the advantage of (usually) going last, after seeing what the enemy has done. Biggest guns fire first, thereby giving an advantage to ships with largest main guns. Ships are rating for flotation, speed, armor, gun size, turrets, stern-broadside-bow gun ratings.
When you "straddle" an enemy with your salvo, you roll three dice on the Straddle table to see if you have hit (and damaged) it. Die roll modifiers include for gun size, range, target's armor, and any damage the firing ship has. Damage includes flotation, turret/gun direction, Special and Critical damage (e.g. steering, hydraulics, flooding, explosion, plunging fire, etc.). Cruisers may fire torpedoes if close enough.
Ships Included: Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Graf Spee, Scheer, Prinz Eugen, Blucher, Leipzig, Emden (Germany); Littorio, Vittorio Veneto, Roma, Duilio, Garibaldi, Barbiano (Italy): Richelieu, Dunkerque, Strassbourg, Lorraine, Colbert, Betin (France); King George V, Prince of Wales, Hood, Nelson, Rodney, Queen Elizabeth, Resolution, Renown, Cumberland, Dorsetshire, Exeter, Ajax, Achilles, Belfast (Britain). Several scenarios and tourny suggestions are included. This is a very simple game, ideal for "tray table" or lunch time play. Identical with Salvo! except it adds several options, more ships, and two-player rules.
Penal Battalion
Unfortunately, you find yourself a member of a penal battalion on the east front in World War II. Your current job is clearing land mines. Your dilemma is, if you comply with your orders too well, you will tend to go BOOM. But if you slack off, the guards will pull the trigger. The object of the game is to survive the day (once through the deck of cards). If you do so, you "win" and get to do the same thing tomorrow. Each turn, you draw an Action card, and must decide your "attitude" towards it. Your attitude may either be "comply" or "slack". Another draw will determine--in conjunction with your attitude--what happens that turn. A combination of luck and skill is required to do well. Basically, why pass the time playing standard solitaire when you can (via your imagination) be clearing land mines on the eastern front? To quote the Designer's Notes, "Penal Battalion is a game which, if you play it once, you'll probably play many, many times."
Longstreet's Disaster is a solitaire game that recreates Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg, with the player assuming the role of the Confederates. The game uses a modified Cold Harbor (Panzerschreck #3) system of play. Basically, after the CSA bombardment phase each turn, the player advances his troops against Union cannon and rifle fire and attempts to occupy one of the victory hexes on Cemetery Ridge. Nine CSA brigades (each with six steps) are arrayed against eight USA brigades. If you can occupy one of the victory hexes by the end of turn 8, you have managed to nudge the outcome of the entire battle back into the "undecided" category. But achieving victory is not easy, and you are bound to take massive casualties. How many Confederate brigades would it have taken to breach the Union line? The game system used is easy (and bloody) and plays quickly, enabling you to replay the events of that July afternoon on your table top.
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