A Brief Review of Old Contemptibles
by Mark Mokszycki

After spending some time with this game by Ty Bomba, I'd like to share some of my impressions.

It was with some anticipation that I finally tracked down a copy and punched the counters for play. I tend to like Ty's games, and the subject matter here is interesting.

First a quick word about the components. The map by Joe Youst is superb, and has a lot of detail and flavor, as well as a combination of colors that is very pleasing to the eyes. The map graphics are nice enough that they could have easily appeared in a professional, boxed wargame by GMT or DG and no one would have batted an eyelash. To see this quality appear in a magazine (S&T) is a pleasant surprise. I also like the fact that the map was printed on nice, heavy paper, even heavier than what you get in most boxed games.

The counters are functional but not fancy. The are solid black, gray and white (for the three German divisions) and red for the British units. There is really nothing about the counters that makes them stand out or gives them a WWI era feel, but they are easy to read. Basically, they look like the counters for a lot of Command magazine era Ty Bomba games. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. I was pleased to see that the counters were the larger 5/8 inch size, that is until I went to put them in the small hexes. The counters are a tad too big for the hexes, but since stacking is so low (esentially 5 units, only 1 of which can ever be a German infantry) it really wasn't a big deal.

The rules themselves are well written and concise, and leave little to the imagination. The errata is mercifully short.

So how is the gameplay?

The game does a good job of simulating the horrendous losses of WWI. The CRT necessitates attacker losses, even at the most favorable odds. The defender first has an opportunity to use Defensive Fire, which often time does one or more step losses to the attacking units before they continue their attack. The net result quite often chews up the attacker in the process. Often times a four step German unit, starting with a combat strength of 8, will lose 2 or even 3 steps during a single turn.

Attacker effectiveness drops quickly in this system. The Germans start at a strength of 8, then drop to 4, 2, and 1 as they take step losses. The game does not allow for replacements due to the short time span represented here (two days). So although the Germans look powerfully unstoppable, they quickly lose their edge as they attack and suffer the mandated attacker losses.

The artillery in this game can dish out really severe losses. In fact, most of the damage to units on both sides seems to come from artillery. This is probably realistic given the era and the battle. One thing that did bother me, however, was the German artillery's ability to move and still bombard at full strength. Heck, they could even spend the turn using march movement (basically a "Strat move" that let's you use double your printed movement allowance if you are not adjacent to an enemy at any point during your move) and *still* bombard at full strength, dishing out horrendous losses to the Brits. It just felt wrong to me, especially during the latter half of the game when the British are fleeing towards Bavai and the Germans are in hot pursuit, lobbing full strength artillery as they give chase.

Overall, I like the game. I wasn't sure if it was going to be much fun at first, given the situation. Basically, the Brits are guarding the canal and the Germans are trying to push their way across. They can only cross (or attack across) the canal at bridges. There are seven bridges across the canal, and they must hold six of these by the end of the seventh game turn for an early victory. The canal stretches from one end of the map to the other. The situation, while historical, wasn't exactly what I find thrilling about wargames. The Germans lob artillery at the British units defending the canal bridges, then try to force their way across, sucking up terrible losses in the process.

The second half of the game, which is much more mobile, is where I started to have more fun. The contrast between the first and second halves is rather pronounced, and it reminded me a bit of The Mighty Endeavor, which I played recently. In ME, the first half is a slug fest as the Wallies try to escape the hedgerow country, and the second half is a cat and mouse chase across France as the Germans try to delay and fall back into favorable defensive terrain. I've read a few comments from people who didn't enjoy the second half of ME as much as the first. I'm quite the opposite. I thought the sudden change in strategy, with all the open countryside and ability to maneuver, kept the game interesting and exciting during the second half.

Old Contemptibles is much the same situation (though granted on a vastly different scale). Once the Germans cross the canal (which they ultimately will) the Brits have no choice but to fall back into favorable terrain, leaving a few units to delay the Germans as necessary.

If the Germans did not win automatically by taking the bridge at the end of turn 7, the game continues until turn 14 and the victory conditions change. Now, the Germans must meet 2 of 3 criteria to win: destroying 20 or more British units, not allowing 10 Brits to escape via the south map edge, and capturing the city of Bavai.

In both of our games, the Germans failed at their turn 7 victory (though just narrowly each time), but ultimately took Bavai and dished out 20 dead units, thus winning the game. The balance of the game feels fairly pro-German to me, but I've read comments on Consimworld that assert quite the opposite. So I can't really comment on balance. Our 2 of 2 German wins may only be due to the way I was playing the Brits (I played the Brits in both games, and my opponent played the Germans).

The game has some nice touches of chrome that give it a good feel for the era and the battle. For example, the German corps cannot cooperate in combat. Turns 7 and 8 are night turns, during which there is no artillery fire, the Germans may not march move, and the Brits cannot choose the Move-Move turn sequence. Defensive fire by the defenders makes the attacker think twice before commiting to a low odds attack (and any lower then 4:1 in this system can be considered low odds in terms of favorable outcome). The Brits can choose a variable turn sequence: Move-Move, Move-Attack, Attack-Move, or Attack-Attack. This choice is often a tough one, as the Brits feel like they need to be able to do everything, twice, every turn. The inexperienced Germans don't have a variable sequence luxury. They must Move-Attack each turn, though they can also use march movement to double their movement distance.


PROS: Nice chrome touches and a good feel for the era. I really did feel like I was witnessing a WWI battle unfold. Solid rules with very little errata. Attractive map graphics. Low unit density and playtime mean you can easily finish a game in an evening.

CONS: Nothing major, really. The static situation during the first half of the game was less than thrilling (to me, but your mileage may vary). Counters are just slightly too big for the hexes. The artillery rules which allow German artillery to march move and still bombard at full strength felt wrong to me, and made the German arty too powerful during the second half of the game.

Complexity: 3.5 / 10

Length: about 1.5 - 3 hours, depending on whether the Germans win on turn 7.

Overall: 6.5 / 10 (if you have a particular interest in WWI, I'd maybe bump this up to a 7 or 7.5)

Overall, I like the game but it's not one of my favorites by Ty. I would recommend it mainly to those interested in the battle, or in WWI in general. It would make a fairly good introductory game for wargaming newbies, though some of the unusual mechanics (defensive fire, mandated attacker losses) and the static situation during the first half of the game make it feel less than ideal in this role.

I'm going to post some pictures of our game here at BGG in the near future.