by Billy Riley, 17 February 2022 ~ #UnboxingDay
This is a series of games I’ve invested in but not actually got to the table yet. I bought it because I liked the sound of some of the mechanics – which I won’t go into here, but they were intriguing to me.
This is my second volume of three – The Last Hundred Yards was Vol 1 and The Last Hundred Yards:The Solomon Islands is Vol 3. I now have all three because I like to collect games with similar rules – makes more gaming loveliness without the hassle of learning new rules all the time.
There’s a lot in this box, so lets get started
click images to enlarge
Box Art
I would say this about the box – it’s sturdy but unfortunately, it’s GMT being tight again. It’s a 2” box and packed with all the stuff – as packed by the manufacturer – there’s just enough space for everything. I don’t know how it’s going to look with loads of baggies – I do know there’s simply no space for counter trays.
If I remember correctly, they did the same thing with Fields of Fire and Combat! Packed to the gunnels (good thing) with kit, but no space to pack everything back in.
Come on GMT! This is a complaint from lots of people I see reviewing your products.
Anyway – the art – it’s Airborne alright…
The back of the box gives you an idea of the counters and map as well as details of the game. It’s a squad based game with variable turn lengths (one of the intriguing aspects for me). It’s also of medium complexity and medium solitaire suitability
The Rule Book
It’s standard paper stock and comes in at 36 pages total. First page is Table of Contents with the last five pages for Index, a Do Your Own Mission form and a summary right at the back on page 36 of what’s changed in these rules…presumably meaning if you have the first game and play it, you only have to check out the back cover and read those specific rule sections to get the updated ruleset.
That leaves, in total, 30 pages of rules. It’s all text too…very little in the way of diagrams. Standard two column layout.
The Playbook
36 pages in total with 11 pages of rule examples, 12 pages of extended play examples and 11 pages of designer notes
The Counters
So there are 4 full counter sheets and 1 half counter sheet – which has some replacement counters for The Last Hundred Yards game. There’s also a smaller sheet which states Replacement Counters – presumably for this game as there’s no mention of any other game on the sheet
Player Aid Cards
There are 3 player aid cards.
One fold out single sided with the game track and information on the sequence of play and some other info
There’s another double sided one highlighting specific rules
And there’s also a 4 page fold out one with specific rules, combat results table, terrain effects chart etc
Mission Cards
There are 5 double sided mission cards – starting at mission 13 (I’m going to assume The Last Hundred Yards had up to Mission 12)
Maps
There are 6 fold out map cards. They’re standard card stock…seem robust enough. They are 16.5” x 11”
There was an issue with the maps when the game shipped. It shipped with standard paper stock maps. So, when I pre-ordered this game and waited patiently for it to arrive, I then had to wait when it came into stock until the reprinted maps on card stock were shipped to the retailers.
It was a hell of a wait.
And just for god measure, the game also has the paper maps…just in case
There are also 6 die. Four 10 sided (green, white, black and yellow) and two 6 sided (red and white)
Thanks for joining this month’s #UnboxingDay with the Armchair Dragoons and we hope you enjoyed our recon of our recent acquisitions. You can always leave us your feedback in our #UnboxingDay thread, or in the comment area on this article, below.
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