To wargamers, Avalon Hill is holy ground — the company that more or less invented the hobby. Less remembered is that they also made a run of excellent sports games, and March Madness, their college basketball title, is one of the better ones. In this playthrough I put it on the table and see how well the old warhorse runs.
Tempo, matchups, and the upset
College basketball is the right sport for a board game because it’s built around tempo and matchups — exactly the levers a good design can put in your hands. March Madness lets you control the pace, exploit a mismatch, and sweat the kind of late-game possessions that make the real tournament what it is. It carries that Avalon Hill DNA a wargamer will recognize instantly: clean systems, meaningful choices, and just enough chrome to make it sing.
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Squad-level tactical games are relatively plentiful – perhaps more on the tabletop side of the wargaming arena than the PC, but there are a decent number of PC choices as well. MicroProse has entered the fray with a brand-new competitor that hews close to the traditional strengths of the genre as played on the tabletop. That it also nicely leverages the strengths of the PC platform is what makes “Second Front” such an intriguing entry.
The blurb for the game on the MicroProse website does a good job of summarizing just what this game is all about, and the main question you probably would like answered is simple: is the blurb (below) hyperbole, or has designer/developer Jo Bader pulled it off?
Second Front is an accessible WWII turn-based tactical game with more than 40 infantry units and 200 tanks, vehicles and guns. It has all the depth of a paper wargame and the ease of a computer simulation. Campaign, scenarios and a complete editor make it an infinite tactical sandbox experience. (MicroProse.com)
If you’re familiar with tactical wargames on the tabletop (and digital adaptations thereof) then the core gameplay of Second Front is going to be akin to meeting an old friend. The game is an IGOUGO system broken into phases – a system that has been at the core of many tactical wargames going back to the 1980s if not earlier. The phases are:
Move & Fire Phase
Enemy Fire Phase
Escape Phase
Advance Phase
Melee Phase
Recovery Phase
The names might be a little different, but the mechanics will feel like comfy old slippers to grognards. The first phase allows you (and then the AI-controlled enemy) to move, move and fire, or fire. The enemy will be able to take opportunity fire if you enter their line of sight (LOS). See? Familiar territory, and well-implemented here (you’ll be seeing that phrase a lot). The Enemy Fire phase allows you (or the AI) who can still fire (having not taken opportunity shots in the previous phase) may do so, firing at any units in LOS. No movement takes place during this phase. The Escape Phase is automatic – basically any units who have been broken by enemy fire will take this opportunity to run for the hills – and be subject to opportunity fire while doing so. If they can not run & hide they will surrender. The advance phase is also a familiar one from other tactical games: the phasing player’s infantry can move one hex (vehicles can not do this) and by doing so, initiate close combat (aka melee). The melee phase resolves the combat that results from the advance phase placing opposing forces in the same hex. Finally, the recovery phase allows leaders to rally their troops (or, at least attempt to do so), units with broken weapons/vehicles to repair them, etc. This ends the phasing player’s turn and if they are going first, the turn continues with the opposition’s turn – otherwise a new turn is begun.
The learning curve on this game will likely vary based on the player’s experience with tactical games. Because real-life tactics work: find your enemy (some of them will be hidden), fix him by fire, close in and assault. That’s easier said than done, of course, but that’s true of every competent tactical game out there. The game presents a lot of information to the player and understanding all of that, and how it impacts the chances of success for your actions, is probably where the biggest learning curve will come.
Luckily the game comes with a series of 12 infantry and 7 vehicle-specific tutorial scenarios which do an excellent job of giving the player the needed background on how things work in the game. After that, you can fight through the 48 stock scenarios covering battles of American forces vs German forces, Russian forces vs the Germans and vice-versa (12 each of US vs Germany, USSR vs Germany and Germany vs each of the Allied forces). The British, the Commonwealth forces, the French, Italians and all the other combatants are not present in the game, leaving plenty of room for future expansions.
The included scenarios unlock as you win them – at start you will have access to the first two scenarios for each matchup (8 in all). As you win those, more will be unlocked until eventually all 48 are available. There are also five campaigns included, which are a series of linked scenarios. You unlock those as well by winning specific sets of the 48 scenarios. The areas covered vary from Barbarossa’s early days, to combat in Italy by the US 5th Army, to D-Day, Stalingrad, Berlin and more. There is a ton of content in the base game – and with the Steam workshop, even more is available thanks to the game’s built-in map, scenario and campaign editor.
The “Garage” allows you to view the various vehicles and their capabilities.
A TACTICAL SANDBOX
The editing capabilities in this game are excellent. It includes a wide variety or terrain (with various elevations), roads, bridges and railroads, buildings (over 140 varieties of building tiles), walls, hedges, flags, statues, signs and even period posters you can stick on walls. This may appeal to those who enjoy tabletop miniatures as it really captures that feeling of building out the battlefield for specific campaigns or scenarios. And it all works very well, both at the design level and in gameplay.
At the time I’m writing this, the game has not yet released and there are already over 40 scenarios on the Steam Workshop for the game as the content creators are already hard at work adding even more gameplay.
I would like to note here that the game’s aesthetic is very nice. You can zoom in and look inside buildings, or get super close to the units and see the individual soldiers. It’s a very cool feature.
The map editor is a miniature wargamer’s dream.
BOTTOM LINE – IS IT ON TARGET?
MicroProse really has a winner here. This game has everything you’d want from a tactical wargame, particularly if you enjoy a tabletop-like experience. From the hex-based map to the line of sight rules, to the variety of terrain and cover effects and the letter-perfect implementation of the various vehicles and weapons, Second Front really hits on all levels. The graphics are nice and helps reinforce that tabletop miniatures aesthetic. The game also leverages the power of the PC to make it all work. I played well over 30 hours before writing this review and experienced no crashes and no bugs or glitches either. This is an extremely well-designed and well-implemented wargame.
Unsurprisingly based on the paragraph above, this one is a definite recommend from me. If you enjoy wargames, this game is an outstanding addition to the genre.
ReLATED Videos
Video Series
Second Front
Videos on the PC game “Second Front” from MicroProse
Once upon a time, in the distant era remembered by some as “the Nineties” there was a game called “Master of Magic” that became a cult classic of 4X gaming. That game has been updated to the standards of modern gaming by MuHa Games and published by Slitherine – it is this remake of the classic (originally released in 1994) that is the subject of this review.
The game is an interesting combination of a strategy game (that ol’ 4X, you know) and a role-playing game in a fantasy setting where you take on the role of one of 14 stock wizards with diverse backgrounds who compete to dominate the linked worlds of Arcanus and Myrror. Each wizard can cast spells from one or two of several different schools of magic and command a nice variety of fantasy races while they race to expand their power and control over the world.
The bottom line for those whose attention span might not warrant a complete read is that if you enjoyed the original, you will enjoy the remake just as much – and possibly more. And if you’re a fan of 4X type games, it’s likely you’ll find this to your liking as well.
The game, according to Slitherine’s website, is tagged:
“Take up the role of a great wizard, wield powerful spells, command fantasy races and challenge your rivals in this remake of a cult turn-based strategy classic. Do you have what it takes to become Master of Magic?”
Zaldron the Sage, leveled up to “Lord” and something of a badass…
GAMEPLAY
The core gameplay of “Master of Magic” should be familiar to fans of the 4X genre. It’s fairly stock in that regard: it’s an empire-builder that takes place on a map that is itself split into the realms of Arcanus and Myrror and where you’ll build your cities, do your exploring and move your armies. The game also has a separate battle mode with a zoomed-in map where your units will take on the opposition in a tactical faceoff. This is true whether the opposition is a neutral faction, some monsters guarding a treasure horde (or a well of all-important “mana”), or in the toughest case, an opposing wizard’s forces.
The learning curve on this one can be a little tough. For one thing the AI is no joke – it does a nice job of expanding its territories, upgrading its magical arsenal and producing a roster of units that can give you an old fashioned whuppin’ if you fail to keep up. The central, key element to everything is the diversity of the game in its roster of races, units and most of all spells. You can go into battle thinking that you’ve hit upon a successful formula only to find out that the units you’re facing are immune to the spells you used in your last fight, and what’s more, they have some spells of their own that end up decimating your precious heroes and units. There’s nothing quite so frustrating as taking a hero you’ve painstakingly built up to an epic level and have him be wiped out by the opposing wizard’s undead beetle cavalry amped up on some particularly nasty death magic.
You will need to marshal your forces, build up a stockpile of both gold and mana (the currency of magic) and know how to best employ both to fit out your units and in the case of mana, wield your magical powers upon the world at large. The unit mix is fairly standard, but the variety of races gives some units an edge even with an archetype. Every race might have a swordsmen unit, but they’re not all created equal.
All of this does of course provide you with a plethora of options when it comes to replaying the game. Played as Merlin and got wiped out? Try Horus… or Ariel… or any one of the other ten or so wizards, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Eventually you might figure out how to become a arcane powerhouse by hitting on the perfect mix of spells and units, but it’s likely to take a lot of effort and frustratingly tough fighting to obtain that information.
Birmihaven, capital of Merlin’s empire, showing the completed buildings
HEXED… OR BLESSED?
Bottom line? This is an update of a classic that is extremely well-executed. The game is engaging and tough enough to be challenging without becoming frustrating. It also offers a plethora of that much-beloved “replayability” – the sheer diversity of the magic, the units and the wizards (and yes, you can craft your own arcane master) means you can go at it again and again on new maps with new experiences.
Some may take issue with a somewhat slavish adaptation of the old 1994 game – perhaps some additions to take even more advantage of the technological leaps made in video gaming over the past 28 years would have been nice. But that’s nitpicking and I can’t really come up with a specific improvement that I’d like to have seen in this release. According to Steam I have nearly 50 hours into the game already and will likely have many more before all is said and done.
I give this one a hearty recommendation to fans of the 4X genre. There’s a lot of room for new content here too and I hope that MuHa and Slitherine do produce some DLC content to keep growing the game. The game itself is available on the Slitherine website and also on Steam.
One of the great pleasures of a good boxing sim is the fight that never happened. Marvin Hagler and Jake LaMotta ruled the middleweight division four decades apart, so they could only ever meet across a table — and that’s exactly the bout I put together here using The Main Event. Marvelous Marvin’s cold, surgical pressure against the Raging Bull’s granite chin and forward march: on paper it’s a wonderful clash of styles.
Does the game tell the story?
A sports sim earns its keep when the numbers produce a story you’d actually believe. Boxing is a hard thing to model — you want punches to land, rounds to swing, and a fighter’s style to shape the fight without the dice simply flipping a coin twelve times. This playthrough is as much a test of the system as it is a fantasy card: does a Hagler win look like a Hagler win? Watch and see how it goes the distance.
Sports sims are a regular feature here — boxing, football, hockey, racing, and more. Subscribe for the next bout.
The famous quote at the top, by Capt. Lloyd Williams, USMC was uttered during the Battle of Belleau Wood where the 5th Marine Regiment, attached to the U.S. Army’s 2nd Division, itself part of the American Expeditionary Force, took on the Kaiser’s Army in the immediate aftermath of the Germans’ 1918 Spring Offensive. The efforts of the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments (collectively the 4th Marine Brigade) in the area of Belleau Wood would add another chapter to the growing legend of the United States Marine Corps.
As the debut game in Tiny Battle Publishing’s version of John Gorkowski’s In the Trenches series (previously published by Grenier Games), In the Trenches: Devil Dogs covers the Marines’ efforts against the Kaiser’s crack troops in those battles during June of 1918, fights that caused the Germans to give the Marines the moniker “Teufelhunden” which translates to, you guessed it: Devil Dogs.
Some Aussies riding into a VC-controlled village in style on a couple of Centurion tanks
The solitaire mode is both creative and a challenge. The cards drive the action and determine what the enemy does during its impulse.
The City map – chock full of tactical opportunities across rice-paddies, cemeteries, large and small buildings, and of course – plain ol’ jungle.
“I really wanted to do my best Arnold impersonation and bellow ‘Get to the choppahs!’
– but I restrained myself.”
SUBHEADING
TIME TO ROCK IT FROM THE DELTA TO THE DMZ…
If you don’t recognize the little snippet above, it’s from the 1988 Robin Williams film “Good Morning Vietnam” – and I reference it because just as the words uttered by Williams’ character Adrian Cronauer (a real guy by the way) cover the length of the country of South Vietnam, so does Flying Pig Games’ “’65: Squad-Level Combat in the Jungles of Vietnam” offer a wide-ranging plethora of tactical scenarios during the Vietnam War.
Designer Mark H. Walker, the man behind Flying Pig Games needs no introduction to grognards. His creds vis-a-vis tactical wargame systems is about as legit as they come. After all, he is the guy behind Lock ‘n Load Tactical, World at War ’85 and Nations at War. He’s also written a bunch of books and now runs two game companies: the aforementioned Flying Pig Games and also Tiny Battle Publishing.
The card-driven system Walker employs in ’65 owes its lineage to a game called “Night of Man” which Flying Pig Games released in 2015. That one covered an alien invasion and though I’ve never played it, after playing ’65, it would be safe to say that I am more than a little intrigued about its predecessor.
The system that drives Night of Man – and ’65 – is as mentioned earlier, card-driven. This strips down the gameplay and makes the game both fast-moving and easily accessible. There aren’t a lot of rules to memorize, and the rulebook itself is short, to-the-point and full of examples that help newbies (or FNGs in Vietnam parlance) get started without too much heartache.
Generally speaking each side gets a hand of four cards. There are some situations where you might have fewer (or more on at least one occasion). These cards allow actions to be performed. The basics being move and fire, though there are various “types” of actions that cover those two categories (things like Flanking Fire and Fast Move are two of the many examples).
There are also cards that you can play to support your own action, or if the opponent is playing a card, can allow a reaction to occur. And there are card actions that allow you to rally or reconstitute units that have taken hits in combat. And yes, there is Op fire when a unit passes within the line of sight of a non-phasing unit – as long as you have a fire card.
The card design is clever and utilitarian, as they typically contain not only two of the action/reaction/support triggers, but also two boxes that will determine the result of combat. Everything from ranged combat, to close assault, to armor and artillery is covered within these two boxes. The cards even determine when a turn ends, as there are four “End of Turn” cards and each scenario will include the number of these cards that will need to be drawn to end each turn.
Speaking of turns, the game turns feature impulses in which the players will alternate actions with the opponent naturally being able to do things like opportunity fire or play reaction cards. Units will be marked with “Moved” or “Fired” markers after performing one of those actions, or “Ops Complete” if they have done both, or have used a “Power” – another trigger on certain cards.
Powers – and abilities – are icons on the unit counters. These give variety to the units beyond the typical attack, movement and defense values that most games feature. The powers need to be triggered by the word “Power” on a card, while abilities (in general) are always on. Powers include things like adding firepower to an attack or making an assault more powerful. Abilities will allow units – and heroes – do things like hit multiple targets within a hex, or redraw a card to avoid a bad result, and much more. The variety of abilities and powers really highlights the differences between the units. An NVA rifle squad is not the same as a US Army squad which itself is not the same as a USMC squad, and that goes beyond just the “attack & movement” numbers thanks to abilities & powers.
The unit mix is very nice too – you get the rifle squads, the machine-guns (M-60s and RPDs), the RPGs, the Sappers, etc. But you also get the heroes mentioned earlier, each possessing a specialized ability (or three) that makes them very valuable. And, it being Vietnam, you also get helicopters. I really wanted to do my best Arnold impersonation and bellow “Get to the choppahs!” – but I restrained myself. There are two flavors of Hueys – the transport & gunship varieties and the USMC add-on brings some Cobra gunships with a pretty fearsome firepower.
There are also vehicles – from the tanks (PT-76s for the NVA, M-48s for the US forces and Centurions for the ANZACs), to trucks (some toting guns) to Ontos and M-113 APCs.
The base game is very good in its own right but when you add the expansions to the mix, the game moves to the level of great. I’m lucky enough to have all the add-ons for this game: Alone in the Jungle (the solo module), the USMC/ANZAC forces and the City map as well as the additional action cards (which add things like ‘Sudden Downpours’ with potentially turn-wrecking consequences).
The solitaire module is brilliant. It too is card-driven (with its own deck) and the cards, coupled with scenario specific “stances” for the NVA/VC forces, provides a competent opponent. The solo add-on also brings some random events and extra terrain tiles to the mix, as well as six scenarios designed for the solo mode. My opinion, which – full disclosure, I have yet to test – is that the base scenarios could, with a little work, be adapted to work with the solo rules.
The USMC/ANZAC expansion brings not only the forces of the title organizations, but also new abilities – flamethrowers, anyone? – and powers that really help differentiate the Aussies, the Kiwis and the Corps.
Then there’s the City map – big, dark and chock full of tactical opportunities thanks to many buildings, rice paddies, cemetery hexes, bridges spanning a river that rolls across the map and even the ubiquitous jungle. I played the city scenario and it was a blast.
About the only thing missing in this game is air power. Sorry guys, no “Puff the Magic Dragon” or Phantoms laying down some snake n’ nape in this one. But trust me, you won’t even miss ’em.
To sum up, this is an excellent game. Yes, it’s not new (it was released right around the end of 2016/start of ’17) and to me that makes it feel like a bit of an under-appreciated gem. The card-driven impulse-based system just works. The powers & abilities make the different units feel distinct and the scenarios (especially the solitaire ones) are both fun and filled with little touches that really make the game immersive.
Technically out-of-print, I couldn’t recommend this more highly. If you like tactical games and can find a copy – get it.
ReLATED Videos
Video Series
’65: Squad-Level Combat in the Jungles of Vietnam
The series covers the components, a playthrough of one of the base game scenarios, a demonstration of the solitaire expansion, partial playthrough of the USMC/ANZAC expansion (including armor) and an AAR-type playthrough (with one full turn) of the City scenario, which includes helicopters.
Dan Verssen Games (DVG) has long been a true friend to the solitaire wargamer. The “Leader” series, which stretches back to Dan Verssen’s days at GMT Games in 1991 has been a staple of solid, fun games that are fully solitaire, covering everything from World War II fighters (Corsair & Zero Leader) to armored warfare (Tiger and Sherman Leader) to modern jets (Hornet Leader) and ground attack (Thunderbolt-Apache Leader) and the series continues to grow with Stuka Leader having enjoyed a successful Kickstarter campaign earlier this year. And all that is without mentioning the Warfighter Series, the “Commander” series or the more recently added (and outstanding) “Valiant Defense” series. All of ’em – yep, solitaire games.
And while it may seem like everything in the DVG portfolio is solitaire, that is not the case. Among the many other offerings at DVG is the “Down in Flames” series, which like the Leader series, dates back originally to Dan’s GMT days. The first Down in Flames games were World War II era games and the series focuses on the guns-only, piston-engined dogfighting of that global conflict. This is a series of card-driven games and the back-and-forth between the players is fun and the action quick.
In 2018, DVG released “Down in Flames: Locked-On” and that game took the DiF series to the Jet Age. Covering conflicts from the Korean War to the Gulf War, the game includes aircraft models from the early days such as the first American and Soviet built jets to the staples of the end of the Cold War era such as the F-14 Tomcat (of the original “Top Gun” fame), the F-15 Eagle (an aircraft I maintained in my Air Force days and for which I therefore have a great affection, and their Soviet/Russian counterparts such as the MiG-29 and Su-27.
Yet, because it was a two-player game, I never gave it much of a chance. And when it was released to Kickstarter, not all that many others did either. And that, my friends, was a crying shame because this game is, in a word, awesome. Plus, DVG came up with a creative and easy to use method to play it solitaire, making it an instant classic in my book.
PAYLOAD
What’s in the box you might ask? Well, you get a lot, as you might expect in a game covering four-plus decades of aerial combat.
Specifically, what you’ll find inside the box :
The rules, naturally. Short, because the game isn’t overly complicated. The only potential gripe for some is that some aspects of the game aren’t described as thoroughly as you might like, but in my opinion, the rules are well-done and concise.
A booklet covering the solitaire system. Like the main rules, this is succinct and gets the job done.
98 Action cards which drive the game and include various tactics as well as determining whether you can fire missiles or guns.
126 aircraft cards – 2 for each of the 63 jets in the game. Some jets are duplicated – there are multiple versions of my F-15 for example (USAF and Israeli for example) but each has two cards in the set.
A set of 6 campaign cards, each covering a historical conflict such as the aforementioned Korean War and including others like the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the 1982 Falklands War and more.
What’s not included, and something you’ll need for the solitaire mode, is a single 10-sided die. But if you’re a wargamer, you’ve got plenty of dice around.
I created a card set back in 2014 in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Normandy invasion. This set honors the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice as members of the U.S. Armed Forces in the Second World War. I am re-releasing this card set to remember these brave souls for Memorial Day 2022.
This card set is for PLAAY Games’ History Maker Baseball. Each card bears the name of a servicemember who fell in World War II. Please download and enjoy these cards, and while playing, spare a moment to remember the brave souls whose names are printed on the cards.
John Butterfield is a designer who is both well-known and beloved by solitaire wargamers. From the classic Ambush! to the soon-to-be released Enemy Action: Kharkov, Mr. Butterfield has delivered a slew of well-imagined solitaire games that are both fun, historically accurate and definitely tough to win.
This review is on one of these classics – and it’s not a new game. But as they say when you buy a used car, it’s “new to you” and in this case, that’s true for me. My initial foray into the “D-Day at” series which was created by Mr. Butterfield and began with 2009’s D-Day at Omaha Beach. D-Day at Tarawa was the second game in the series, originally released in 2014 with a second edition boasting a mounted map board (among other improvements) followed in 2017. All the “D-Day at” games have been published by Decision Games with Tarawa being followed by Peleliu (2015), Iwo Jima (2018) and the upcoming D-Day at Saipan (scheduled for summer 2022).
I decided to go with D-Day at Tarawa as my entry point for this series, based on two factors: first, I am a sucker for Pacific Theater games and a Marine Corps fanboy (despite being a USAF veteran) and second, I had read that Tarawa was a better introduction to the series than Omaha Beach. This put in a good spot amongst its “siblings” – Peleliu is considered extremely tough and Iwo Jima, the first in the series not designed by Butterfield, has taken a lot of flak (of the printed variety) for, among other things, its abandonment of the firing “dots” used by Butterfield in the previous entries in the series.
D-Day at Tarawa currently boasts a solid 8.2 on BoardGameGeek, .1 behind Omaha Beach and Peleliu, but well ahead of the much-maligned Iwo Jima entry (6.9). Having now taken it for a spin, I feel it’s time to provide my thoughts on this classic.
ONE SQUARE MILE OF HELL
Tarawa itself is an atoll in the Central Pacific, consisting of several islands, the largest of which is Betio (pronounced Bay-sho) – and it was here that the 2nd Marine Division landed and did fierce battle with the Japanese defenders over three days beginning on November 20, 1943. The invasion was the first in the Central Pacific portion of the U.S. forces’ island-hopping campaign that culminated at Okinawa 19 months later.
I’d highly recommend for anyone who likes to get to know a game’s setting before playing the book “One Square Mile of Hell” by John Wukovits and also, if you have Amazon Prime, you can watch at no cost the 2005 documentary “As It Happened: Tarawa” which uses archival footage and some interviews with surviving Marines who took part in the battle.
The title of Wukovits’ book is an accurate one-sentence descriptor for the battle the 2nd Marine Division faced on Betio. The game does a fantastic job illustrating just how tough this fight was – up to, and beyond (for some) the point of frustration. The frustration is due to the way the game models the difficulty the Marines had just getting to shore, let alone what happened once they did make it onto the beach.
The tactical, squad-level category is an increasingly crowded one. We have the venerable “grandfather” of tactical games in Advanced Squad Leader, which was an evolution of the much simpler Squad Leader. ASL has a massive following and its DNA is all over many of the tactical games that followed it. But none have really unseated it as the king of the hill for its rabid following (who are vocal and always ready to defend it against the challengers who have cropped up over the years).
But ASL is an older system and as time goes on, innovation emerges that push the envelope and deliver fresh mechanics that push the tactical genre forward. Games like Conflict of Heroes, Lock N Load Tactical, Combat Commander, Combat Infantry, Old School Tactical (yes, the list is getting long and I’m not including nearly everything) have all earned devoted followings of their own.
Into this crowded field a relatively new contender has emerged: The Last Hundred Yards. Designed by Mike Denson and published by GMT Games, LHY (as it will hereafter be called) debuted in 2019. The base game (or volume 1 as some – including me – now call it) featured the U.S. Army and German Wehrmacht in France, following the Normandy landings.
The base game proved successful and garnered some 2019 Charles S. Roberts Award nominations (though it did not win) and currently boasts an 8.1 score on BoardGameGeek. Fittingly, a follow-up was released in 2020, The Last Hundred Yards Volume 2: Airborne Over Europe. And yes, you guessed it, it featured paratroopers – lots of them, including the two famed U.S. Airborne Divisions: the 101st Screaming Eagles and the 82nd All-American. Volume 2 boasts a slightly better 8.2 rating than its parent game on BGG.
2021 saw the release of LHY Volume 3: The Solomon Islands, bringing the system to the Pacific Theatre of Operations. It is this third volume that is the subject of this review.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
The move to the PTO means the debut of both the U.S. Marine Corps and the Imperial Japanese Army in the LHY series as well as a whole new set of terrain – with jungle being the most frequent (and most obvious). The player in LHY assumes the role, essentially, of a Company commander. Depending on the mission the player will have at their disposal one or more platoons of infantry, various support weapons such as machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons (and also possibly some flamethrowers too), and armor as well. Yes, there were tanks in the PTO, including the M4 Sherman, although the Japanese had nothing like what the Germans fielded in the ETO.
If you’re wondering what’s in the box, I just happen to have done an unboxing article and video here. I talk about the fabulous components there as well – everything in the box is top-notch and the maps (there are eight of them) are fantastic.
The addition of the Japanese forces to the system brings some new rules. The Japanese were known as fanatical fighters and as designer Mike Denson notes in his design notes, were probably the best light infantry force in the world. They were expert at the type of fighting that would take place on the islands and atolls of the Pacific and gave the Marine Corps and U.S. Army units they faced a brutal and difficult fight, often fighting to the last man.
