Time to get Old School Tactical Vol. 5: First to Fight onto the table. This kicks off a solo playthrough of Scenario 1 from Flying Pig Games’ Poland 1939 expansion — the opening days of the war, where a Polish garrison has to hold against the German push.
Setup and the opening moves
Part 1 covers the rules in play, the pre-turn setup, and the early action: hidden sniper mechanics, smoke deployment by the German pioneers, the combat calculations, and even off-board naval bombardment from the battleship Schleswig-Holstein — the very guns that opened the war at Westerplatte. It’s a good showcase of why OST stays approachable without being shallow: the fiddly bits are there, but the decisions read clearly. Part 2 follows.
Part 2 continues the scenario. Subscribe to follow the fight for Poland.
The bunker assault heats up. This is Part 2 of the Scenario 1 solo playthrough in Old School Tactical Vol. 5: First to Fight (Flying Pig Games), and the Polish defenders are not going quietly.
Into the bunkers
Turns 6 and 7 push the German forces forward against determined resistance. Hidden snipers spring their ambushes, pioneer squads lay down smoke to cover the advance, and the fighting collapses into brutal close-combat melees around the fortified structures and bunkers. This is squad-level tactics at its most tense — the kind of grind where a single bad activation can stall an entire assault.
Start with Part 1 if you missed it, and subscribe for more OST.
A first look tells you what’s in the box; a playthrough tells you whether the thing actually works on the table. This is Scenario 1 of Old School Tactical Vol. 5: First to Fight – the Battle for Poland 1939 played solo, and it’s where Flying Pig Games’ tactical system meets the opening days of the war.
Setting up Scenario 1
I walk through the rules and the pre-turn setup before the shooting starts, and Poland 1939 brings some specific wrinkles worth slowing down for. Hidden sniper mechanics keep the Polish defender dangerous in a way you can’t quite see, German pioneers lay smoke to screen their advance, and there’s off-board naval bombardment from the battleship Schleswig-Holstein, a nice historical touch that also matters tactically. I take the combat calculations step by step so it’s clear how a firefight resolves rather than just showing the result.
How it plays solo
Old School Tactical has always been approachable without being shallow, and that holds up here. Solo, the system runs cleanly once you’ve internalized the sequence of play, and the 1939 material gives you asymmetric problems like a Polish force fighting for time against a German attack with more tools. This is Part 1, with the scenario still developing; Part 2 is where we see how the fight actually turns out. If you’ve been curious whether the Poland expansion is worth it, watching it played is the best way to judge.
Part 2 picks up right where this leaves off. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.
Poland, September 1939, is where the Second World War began and where a lot of wargames never bother to go. Old School Tactical Vol. 5: First to Fight from Flying Pig Games takes the popular tactical system back to the opening campaign, and in this first look I go through the components and what the expansion adds.
The forgotten opening
The 1939 campaign is more interesting than its reputation suggests — the Polish army was not the pushover of popular memory, and the early-war mix of tankettes, cavalry, and improvised defense makes for a very different tactical puzzle than the mid-war battles the system usually covers. Old School Tactical is known for being approachable without being shallow, and this first look sets up how the Poland material plays inside that framework.
Scenario playthroughs follow this overview. Subscribe to see it hit the table.
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
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.
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.
The third entry in Mike Denson’s squad-level tactical series is now available, bring the action to the PTO. We’ll take a look at what’s in the box. The rundown is below, or you can…
35-page rulebook (Series Rules version 2.0 – updated version available on GMT website)
Several charts at end of Rulebook including a Do-Your-Own sheet for both Europe and Pacific theaters
36-page Playbook featuring illustrated rules examples and several play examples as well as designer notes.
Game track with casualty and time tracks for scoring with Sequence of Play and several other play aids printed on it
5 double-sided mission cards, 10 missions in all, bring series mission total to 42.
Two identical player aid cards featuring several charts (including terrain effects chart)
Four full and one half sheet of die-cut counters and markers
Four double-sided mapsheets (11×17 in.), 8 maps in total
Four 10-sided dice in green, white, yellow and black
JOE’S THOUGHTS
As is the norm for GMT Games the physical components are all rock solid, well-designed components.
Liz Stephanoff’s maps are beautiful, with the hexes being subdued and therefore do not detract from the gorgeous terrain.
Counters are thick and large with the necessary information clear and easily readable
Designer Mike Denson’s rules are clear and easily digestible, particularly when going through the rule and play examples in the Playbook and his design notes offer a lot of insight into both the design and how to play the game.
In summary, this looks like another great entry in what is becoming a very strong tactical-level series.
