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Author Topic: In The Trenches  (Read 12830 times)

bob48

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on: November 12, 2018, 07:00:23 AM
For anyone who may follow this series of WW1 tactical games from TBP (and I'm looking at you, Doug), there is a new addition to the series - 'Devil Dogs II - Faith and Sacrifice'.

This gives us more US Marines, maps and counters, and the module is designed by our own Cap'n Darwin, so it should be a good 'un.

https://tinybattlepublishing.com/products/in-the-trenches-devil-dogs-2

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panzerde

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Reply #1 on: November 12, 2018, 05:29:16 PM
It's possible that I may have play tested a fair bit of it, made a Vassal module for it (that was never used), and have most of it here in my ITT box...

I actually don't really like games.

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bob48

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Reply #2 on: November 12, 2018, 05:32:41 PM
Nope - as you know, there are no Vassal mods for any of the games.

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

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panzerde

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Reply #3 on: November 12, 2018, 05:42:10 PM
Actually, I believe there is for this new one. They had someone put one together.

I actually don't really like games.

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bob48

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Reply #4 on: November 12, 2018, 05:51:04 PM
So, when you and I were talking about it before, you mentioned an erratta, which I've never seen anywhere. Am I right in thinking this just exists in one of the expansions?

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panzerde

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Reply #5 on: November 13, 2018, 08:02:45 AM
So, when you and I were talking about it before, you mentioned an erratta, which I've never seen anywhere. Am I right in thinking this just exists in one of the expansions?

I believe so. It might have been on one of the BGG pages for one of the expansions as well, or buried in a discussion. IIRC, it was from Gorkowski.

I actually don't really like games.

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bob48

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Reply #6 on: November 14, 2018, 06:08:56 AM
I have just ordered the '1916' expansion as a birthday present to myself  :)

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


panzerde

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Reply #7 on: November 14, 2018, 09:39:32 AM
I have just ordered the '1916' expansion as a birthday present to myself  :)

 :applause:

I actually don't really like games.

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bayonetbrant

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Reply #8 on: November 14, 2018, 10:11:52 AM
I have just ordered the '1916' expansion as a birthday present to myself  :)


setting out to relive your youth, huh?   :bigthumb:

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bob48

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Reply #9 on: November 14, 2018, 10:16:50 AM
Cheeky bugger  :tickedoff:

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panzerde

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Reply #10 on: November 14, 2018, 05:37:29 PM
You have to admit you pretty much lobbed him a softball.

I actually don't really like games.

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bob48

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Reply #11 on: November 14, 2018, 05:45:05 PM
Well, yeah, but I didn't think he would stoop that low to catch it!

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

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bob48

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Reply #12 on: November 15, 2018, 04:29:39 PM
Its a really nice little game system. Could do with a few rules clarifications and a couple more examples of play.

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


bob48

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Reply #13 on: November 16, 2018, 03:19:54 PM
So, despite some misgivings, I brought the '1916' expansion since it includes a nice selection of nationalities and a few 96) scenario's.

Whilst you should not expect too much from 'budget' type games, there are a few things that I have found so far which are quite annoying;

Although the die cutting is not too bad, there is quite a few instances of 'colour bleed' and misalignment of printing on the backs of some counters. Fortunately, this is not so sever that you cannot read the info, but its poor QC for sure. Also, the counters are joined to the sprue at the edges rather than the corners, thus making it impossible to get a nice smooth edge. This does not, of course, affect play, but ti does make the counters look untidy.

The three maps are nicely done albeit a bit thin. the game description tells us that they are 11" x 8.5" but in reality they are 17" x 11"

The counter mix includes British tanks and French infantry,  but none of the 6 scenarios include these units, so they are 'spares' maybe useful for people who wish to make their own scenario's.

Also included - 2 German flamethrower units with no explanation or rules detailing how to use them. There is a very brief mention of them in the core rules, but nothing in any detail.

The first scenario calls for the capture of three 'strong point' without any clue as to what a strong point is, and there is not an illustrated terrain key to show what it looks like. The map has nothing that is an obvious feature, so I'm a bit baffled by this.

I've posted question on both BGG and CSW, but so far, it seems that no one bothers to read them any more.

Its a great pity, as the underlying game is very good with just a few niggles that, for me, detract from its play-ability.


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panzerde

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Reply #14 on: November 16, 2018, 05:09:11 PM
Having gone back and looked at it, I would have to say that the 1916 expansion looks like it wasn't really checked or play tested.

The first scenario in fact makes no sense. There aren't any strongpoints identified, at all. I have no idea what that means.

Looking at the picture for the second scenario, it looks like there should be British tanks. They're in the picture. What they aren't is listed in the OOB for the scenario.  What I don't know is if maybe you were sent the wrong counters - I punch all of mine and have no idea what came with what game anymore. There are definitely British, American, French, and German tanks in other scenarios, so it's possible you have at least one sheet of counters that shouldn't have been in there.

Flamethrowers, as indicated on the counter, have no ranged attack, which makes sense at this hex scale. They are only useful in close combat. If you check the Close Combat Table, you'll see that they have a close combat value of 12, versus the close combat value of a normal rifle platoon, which is 3. So, in a Close Combat between a flamethrower platoon and a rifle platoon, the odds are 4:1 if the player with the flamethrower is the phasing player, resulting in a +4 DRM when rolling for close combat. That's gonna suck for the rifle platoon.

The only problem is getting the flamethrowers close enough to actually perform close combat...

Both the 1916 and Rising Sun expansions had terrible die-cutting on the counters and very thin paper on the maps. Later expansions have properly die-cut counters and somewhat heavier maps. I've laminated pretty much all of the maps because the paper is so damn thin.

It's unfortunate that some attempt hasn't been made to go back and fix the 1916 expansion. I have to admit that I really haven't played any of those scenarios, and so wasn't aware of what a mess it was. I may have a go at trying to straighten the scenarios out and providing my private versions of them.

This really is the best WWI tactical system out there. I genuinely wish that some other company had the rights to it, since it clearly isn't going to get treated right in it's current home.

I actually don't really like games.

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