by Billy Riley, 23 July 2020 ~ #UnboxingDay
I was wanting a copy of OST Vol II Western Front and in my travels all the stores were out of stock. I found a copy from a British supplier on BGG and thought my luck was in. Alas he had also sold his last copy.
I decided at that point to buy OST : Vol III – Pacific which was in supply…and so I did along with Hell Bent additional scenarios.
However – I couldn’t get rid of that itch to get West Front. I decided to take a chance and buy off BGG from a guy in Spain. He came through promptly and I am now the proud owner of OST : Vol II West Front 1944/45
click images to enlarge
Obligatory dice…4×6 sided die
The rule book is in colour and made from decent semi-gloss paper. It’s 22 pages front to back and seems to be laid out decently with a Sequence of Play at the back. However, it was noted that there was no “Extended Play Through” or “Designer Notes”…two things I have noticed in some games I’ve bought recently.
There’s a scenario booklet showing 18 scenarios. Again decent semi-gloss paper and in colour. Two of the scenarios are designated S1 and S2. I can’t see any notes in the scenario book to tell me why they are designated differently and so I’m guessing they are Starter scenarios (though why at the end of the scenario book?)…looking through the book though, they are the only two scenarios with Solitaire Specific rules – so perhaps these two are specifically for solitaire play?
There are German Unit Information cards
American Unit Information cards
And Luck cards – all good quality card and well laid out
There are 2 double sided Player Aid Cards. One side shows Combat Tables and modifiers and the other has Terrain Charts as well as other important info for playing
Then we have the units. All cracking card stock and very clear. Nice and big and pre-punched and rounded – so all you who are obsessed with rounding corners (of which I am one) – you don’t have to – you can just dive right into the game.
Also – system counters. I saw a playthrough and I have to say – it looked like you could quickly run out of USED counters. I think I’ll bag all my system counters together and use them across the games – I won’t run out then.
And the piece de resistance….the map
Now I don’t really know how I feel about the map. It’s cracking looking – no doubt – but the size. They’re definitely limiting their market by having such a big map…not everyone has that table space. I almost didn’t buy the game because it wasn’t going to fit in my fold-away. But I decided to pick it up because it did fit on my dining table.
I just think – given some of the scenarios only use a portion of the map, perhaps 2 half maps or 4 quarter maps would’ve been more practical for a lot of people. Maybe even go one further and split the whole map into 8 polymorphic sections.
Anyway – it is beautiful although I would have liked the hex designations to be more prominent for my old eyes.
And that’s that. I don’t know when I’ll get around to this – I’m currently playing my favourite solitaire game Combat!…but I do think I’ll put this next on my list of games to get on the table and jump it ahead of The Last Hundred Yards.
Thanks for reading.
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