Hexed And Countered

Tag: Vuca Simulations

  • Gateway to Falaise: Caen, Normandy 1944 (VUCA Simulations) — Scenario 1 Gameplay

    Gateway to Falaise: Caen, Normandy 1944 (VUCA Simulations) — Scenario 1 Gameplay

    Box open, counters out — time to actually play Gateway to Falaise. This is Scenario 1, Operation Perch, the game’s solitaire learning scenario, and I run it from the German side as the British 7th Armoured Division comes on toward Villers-Bocage.

    Learning the system the right way

    Using the solo learning scenario as the on-ramp is exactly how I like to meet a new operational system — small enough to get the sequence of play into your hands, pointed enough to show what the design cares about. Defending toward Villers-Bocage is a fitting first test: the Germans have quality and position, the British have weight of numbers, and the Formation Series has to make that tension play cleanly. I flag what clicks and what I’ll be watching as the scenarios scale up.

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  • Gateway to Falaise: Caen, Normandy 1944 (VUCA Simulations) — First Look

    Gateway to Falaise: Caen, Normandy 1944 (VUCA Simulations) — First Look

    VUCA’s Formation Series gets its second entry, and it’s a meaty one. Gateway to Falaise: Caen, Normandy 1944, designed by Andrew Glenn (following Mirages), tackles the grinding British-Canadian fight around Caen after D-Day. In this first look I open the box and see what you’re working with.

    What’s in the box

    I go through the components, the player aids, and the combat sequence charts, then walk the eight included scenarios — from the opening Operation Perch on up. The Formation Series is pitched as an accessible operational system, so the question I carry into the playthroughs is whether it keeps that promise while still capturing the frustration of the Normandy bocage. The components make a strong first impression; the proof comes on the table.

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  • Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces (VUCA Simulations) — Scenario 3 Gameplay Part 2

    Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces (VUCA Simulations) — Scenario 3 Gameplay Part 2

    Turn 1 set the board; Turn 2 is where a tactical system either tightens up or starts to show its seams. This is Part 2 of Scenario 3 in the Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces expansion, and it closes out the fight — then steps back for an honest verdict on how the whole thing plays.

    Turn 2 — closing out the scenario

    The coalition keeps pushing down the road with Canadian and Danish Leopards, Viking tracked vehicles and Mastiffs, leaning on Apache helicopter fire to root out dug-in insurgent RPG teams and keep the momentum going. Turn 2 is where the impulse-and-initiative rhythm pays off: optics checks, counterfire against the armor, and the back-and-forth of who gets to act next all matter more now that both sides are fully committed. Once the dust settles I give my overall impressions of the system and components — what works, what feels fiddly, and whether the asymmetry lands. The short version is that the tempo is the real star here, and solo or two-handed players who like modern tactical wargaming will find plenty to chew on, even if the rules overhead asks for patience up front. Scenario 3 makes a solid case for the expansion.

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  • Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces (VUCA Simulations) — Scenario 3 Gameplay

    Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces (VUCA Simulations) — Scenario 3 Gameplay

    The first look showed the box; this is where the Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces expansion has to earn its table time. Scenario 3 opens with the coalition rolling into Helmand, and Turn 1 wastes no time putting that modern asymmetry to the test.

    Turn 1 — rolling into Helmand

    Managing forces along the eastern map edge, I push a column forward — Leopard 2 tanks, Vikings carrying combat engineers, and Mastiffs working the road network — while an Apache gunship stands by for close air support. The friction shows up fast: fouled tank optics, hidden insurgent RPG ambush positions, and the constant gamble of initiative and impulse points that keeps both sides reacting to each other. What works so far is that the system makes the coalition’s firepower advantage feel real without turning the insurgents into a pushover; a single well-placed RPG team can stall an advance and force you to spend an impulse you wanted somewhere else. It is a lot to track on a first pass, and the modern-tactical chrome won’t be for everyone, but the decisions feel like the right ones. This is the opening turn of the scenario — Part 2 picks up the fight and carries it through to a verdict on the system.

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  • Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces (VUCA Simulations) — First Look

    Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces (VUCA Simulations) — First Look

    Modern tactical wargames are a tricky sell — get the asymmetry wrong and you either crush the insurgents or drown the player in chrome. Modern Tactics: Afghanistan – British Forces, a VUCA Simulations expansion, is betting it can thread that needle, and this first look opens the box to see what you actually get.

    What’s in the box

    This is an expansion for the Modern Tactics system (base game by Shane Logan; this Afghanistan set designed by Kenneth T), and I work through the whole component list: the playbook and its Operation Herrick scenarios, rules for new terrain like rivers, and mechanics for VBIEDs and SAS stealth movement. From there it’s the counter sheets for British, coalition and insurgent forces, the double-sided day/night mounted map, and the unit data cards. Thirteen Helmand-based operations give the expansion real scenario depth, and the presentation looks up to VUCA’s usual standard. As always with a first look, though, components only tell you so much — the real question is how the terrain rules and the asymmetric insurgent mechanics play at the table, and that’s what I’ll be testing in the gameplay to come. If you game the modern period solo or two-handed, this is one to keep an eye on.

    First looks here always lead into full playthroughs. Subscribe so you don’t miss this one on the table.

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  • Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648 (VUCA Simulations) — First Look & Overview

    Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648 (VUCA Simulations) — First Look & Overview

    The Thirty Years’ War doesn’t get gamed nearly as often as it should. It’s sprawling, politically tangled, and grimly attritional in a way that scares off a lot of designers, so when a treatment as handsome as Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648 lands on the table, it earns a close look. This is designer Brian Asklev’s take, published by VUCA Simulations, and in this video I open the box and walk through what you actually get.

    What’s in the box

    In this first look I go through the components and the box back before committing to a full playthrough. VUCA’s production values are the first thing you notice — the map and counters are up to the standard you’d expect from them. I keep the overview focused on what the game is trying to model and how it presents the sprawl of the war, rather than getting lost in every chart. If you’re weighing whether this belongs on your shelf, the components alone make a strong first impression, but production is never the whole story.

    Is it for you?

    A first look is exactly that — my initial read before the counters start moving. What I want to know with any game on this period is whether it captures the grinding, attritional character of the war without collapsing into pure bookkeeping, and that’s the question I carry into the gameplay videos. I keep the tone honest here: I flag what looks promising and what I’ll be watching for once it hits the table. If the Thirty Years’ War is a period you’ve wanted a good game for, this overview should help you decide whether to dig deeper.

    The playthrough rounds are already up — start there to see it in motion. Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next.

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  • Thirty Years of Misery (VUCA Simulations) — Round 1 Gameplay & Walkthrough

    Thirty Years of Misery (VUCA Simulations) — Round 1 Gameplay & Walkthrough

    A first look tells you what’s in the box; a walkthrough tells you whether the system breathes. This is Round 1 of Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648, Brian Asklev’s design for VUCA Simulations, and it’s where the Thirty Years’ War stops being a handsome map and starts being a set of hard decisions.

    Getting the first round moving

    I take the opening round slowly and talk through the sequence of play as I go, so it’s clear why each step happens rather than just what the result is. Learning a new system solo means you’re refereeing yourself, and the value of a walkthrough is watching someone make — and occasionally fumble — those first calls in real time. Round 1 is where the shape of the war starts to reveal itself and you get a feel for the tempo the design is asking of you.

    First impressions in motion

    Seeing a game played is worth more than any rules summary, and this is where Thirty Years of Misery either earns its place or shows its seams. I keep an eye on how cleanly the turn flows once you’re past setup and whether the decisions bite early or take a while to matter. This is a full walkthrough running over an hour, so it’s the deep end rather than a highlight reel — the honest pace of actually learning the game. Round 2 continues from here.

    Round 2 picks up where this leaves off. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.

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  • Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648 (VUCA) — Round 2 Gameplay & Walkthrough

    Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648 (VUCA) — Round 2 Gameplay & Walkthrough

    Round 1 got the pieces moving; Round 2 is where a wargame usually tells you what it really is. This is the second gameplay round of Thirty Years of Misery: 1618–1648, Brian Asklev’s design from VUCA Simulations, picking up the Thirty Years’ War with the opening moves already behind us.

    Building on Round 1

    With setup and the first round out of the way, this session moves faster and digs further into how the system develops over time. I keep talking through my reasoning as I play solo, because the interesting part of a game like this is rarely a single die roll — it’s the accumulating pressure of decisions across rounds. If you watched Round 1, this is the payoff; if you’re jumping in here, I recap enough to keep it followable.

    How it’s holding up

    A shorter session than Round 1, this one is about momentum — seeing whether the design keeps its grip once the novelty of setup wears off. I stay honest about what’s working and what feels fiddly, because that’s the only useful thing a walkthrough can offer over a glossy overview. By the end of Round 2 you should have a real sense of whether Thirty Years of Misery is a game you want to spend an evening with.

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  • The Far Seas (Vuca Simulations) — First Look

    The Far Seas (Vuca Simulations) — First Look

    When war broke out in 1914, Germany had a squadron of modern cruisers on the far side of the world under Admiral Graf von Spee, with no way home and every reason to make trouble. The Far Seas, designed by Martin Anderson and Julius Brunken for Vuca Simulations, turns that opening chapter of the naval war into a solo-friendly game of raiding and pursuit. In this first look I open the box and walk the system.

    A raider’s problem

    Commerce raiding is a wonderful subject for solo play because the tension is baked in: a cruiser at large is powerful but fragile, hunted by a Royal Navy that can afford to lose ships in a way you cannot. The game hangs on coaling, intelligence, and knowing when a prize is worth the risk of being pinned down. The components look excellent, and the design offers several solitaire approaches — this first look covers the sequence of play, combat, and how the hunt comes together.

    A two-part solo playthrough follows this overview. Subscribe to sail with the squadron.

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