Focus On...............'Old School Tactical' (OST).
Published by Flying Pig Games and designed by Shayne Logan, OST is a series of WWII tactical games that now runs to three 'core' games and several expansions, which are as follows;
Vol.I - Eastern Front plus 'Stalingrad' expansion.
Vol.II – Western Front with several expansions' these being as follows;
Airborne.
Ghost Front.
Phantom Division (with three small paper maps)
Pocket Battles, which is a collection os scenarios only.
Vol.III – Pacific plus 'Hell Bent' expansion.
Rumour has it that Vol.IV will be centred around the Sicily/Italian campaign and will feature British and Commonwealth forces, which I for one will greatly applaud since its largely an area that has been ignored by designers/publishers.
All the games feature huge mounted maps (the exception being three small maps included in the 'Phantom Division' expansion) and large, very nicely produced counters. All the supporting material is again extremely well produced and robust and the games come in coffee table size sturdy boxes.
I have seen it said of this, and other similar scale tactical games, that they are viewed (by some) as being 'ASL Lite', a view that I do not share at all. Personally, I tend to think of such games as being 'ASL Alternatives' but that's just me. What do I know?
I digress.
I find that the games play well, are easy to learn and flow along nicely. For additional replayablity, I would recommend Norm Smith's Campaign Rules which you can find on BGG. These are well thought out and have the additional advantage of using the full area of the gigantic maps. I can only think of one scenario with a Vol.II game that does this, which is a pity as the maps are very nice graphically.
Oh, and some Vassal mods are available, at least for Vol.II, which is the only one I have (plus expansions).
Anyroadup, as we are wont to say; we solicit your views/comment and so forth, so get cracking and lets hear it for what will be the last of our 'Focus On' series.
« Last Edit: December 07, 2021, 04:11:38 PM by bob48 »
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