WW2 War Games - Board & Computer Simulations

[Jonny]

I took possession of a new desktop at the weekend, and in between finding free alternatives to MS Office I've finally downloaded a copy of Close Combat: Gateway To Caen that it'd picked up during the Christmas sale season; flashbacks to the original releases in the late 90's.

https://www.matrixgames.com/game/clos...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Jonny wrote: "I took possession of a new desktop at the weekend, and in between finding free alternatives to MS Office I've finally downloaded a copy of Close Combat: Gateway To Caen that it'd picked up during t..."

Someone is going to have a lot of fun if they have to self-isolate :)

[Liam]

Yeah, this could turn out to be the first chance in years for some of us to have the time & energy to get back into games... Seeing that link in Jonny's post just reminded me- I received an e-mail notification a while back from Matrix that 'The Operational Art of War IV' is out!!! I'm usually so zombified from work that I've hardly even played 'TOAW III' yet (and of course, computer issues have not helped), but for those of you who may be interested, here is the link:

https://www.matrixgames.com/game/the-...

[carl]

Oh yeah, this would wipe out all hopes of productivity !

[Jonny]

Matrix is a pleasantly rich seam to mine; a lot of the software would seem to be computerised versions of Avalon Hill out GDW's finest...

[carl]

You're not helping...hehe. loved the Avalon hill games. Still have a dozen or so.

Jonny wrote: "Matrix is a pleasantly rich seam to mine; a lot of the software would seem to be computerised versions of Avalon Hill out GDW's finest..."

[Jonny]

I'd better atone by pointing out that Matrix also sell through Steam... who do more frequent sales, so long as you're ok with downloads.

[Perato]

I have now played two games of Undaunted: North Africa(2020) published by Osprey publishing. My friend likes board games but isn't in anyways interested in the topic liked the game and brings it along occasionally for gaming.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2...

The game is 2 player game that pits against LRDG and Italian army. Its setting is surprising thinking how light it is in its game play. I would argue that the mechanics is something you could play with even older children but the theme is not so popular even in WW2 fanatics. We have played two scenarios and without rules and setting phase, the length have been less than 30 minutes each.

It's a mix of Dominion and Memoir'44, where one builds a deck and uses the cards in his deck(and hand) to move his troops around and shoot. Shooting and many actions involve D10 dice, so a lot of luck is in how plays form. Yet there are some tactical elements, and I'd like to think that just by knowing something about tactics and something about the game allowed me two easy victories. It's a lot smaller than Memoir '44, so the shooting starts almost immediately and there's less moving around for flanking or such.

There's also Undaunted: Normandy(2019) if one wants to play a different theatre.

So in short this is a game that you can enjoy for the theme of it and this is also a game someone else can enjoy just for the fun of it without any need to actually like anything about the subject.

If one isn't familiar about deck building games, check a rule video of this game(or Normandy), it has nothing to do about buying decks with real money, everything needed in the game is in the box.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Sounds like a fun game Perato, I use to love playing board games on particular battles or campaigns from Avalon Hill and then onto Squad Leader and Panzer Leader. I wish now that I hadn't sold them all back when I moved out of home :(

[Daman]

Kris wrote: "I was a big Avalon Hill guy,,, Blitzkrieg, Tactics II, Richthofen War?, War at sea?

Currently I play Unity of Command and Gary Grigsby's War in the East"

Your list brings back memories of classic strategy games! If you're ever in the mood to try something new, the Daman games app offers a fun and unique twist on prediction-based gameplay. It might be a nice change of pace alongside your usual strategy favourites like Unity of Command!