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Tanks Alot
United States
Fort Mill
South Carolina
www.facebook.com/HistoricalBoardGames
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There is something about Victory Point Games that I really like. Its almost like a class on wargaming. Most of the games they produce are pretty simple but can have a lot of replayability. One of my favorites was actually Battle for Moscow. What I liked about this game is it simply explained the story of how hard it was to take Moscow. I played this game via email about 6 times and tried all sorts of strategies, and had some really good strategy whooped up on me, but it was nice to play a game without a lot of complexity that still felt deep. I think there are 4 pages of rules.
Another game I liked was Ancient Battles Deluxe. What surprised me about this game was combat rules, and how flanking was critical. Now this one looked like a simple game til combat happened. There were a lot of things to consider when calculating combat, so much it was almost overwhelming. Once I figured it out I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see if I could use that "tactical approach vector"
The Napoleonic 20 (Jena 20, Waterloo 20 , Austerlitz 20) series is an amazing concept of using 20 pieces or less to represent a battle. There is a little bit of historical accuracy lost in the way both sides have objectives in the game but there is also a lot to be learned here about how to use your better units, the terrain, and tactics. Plus the event cards really can change the game for you. I really like this series.
I have to confess I hate solo games, but I had to try Levy en Masse. When I first bought it I was hoping to learn more about the campaigns of Napoleon, but I actually found myself learning about the french revolution. So much I began spending hours studying it. It's a truly frustrating game, yet light enough to where even a non solo player had fun.
Paul Koenig's DDay beach and Operation Market garden are more tactical games, with chit draws driving the game. Very small ruleset but nice demonstrations of the history involved.
In my opinion Victory Point games is doing something more than just creating games here but inspiring history at a level that is often overlooked. Games that are wargamish, and approachable by non wargamers that teach and inspire. I do hope that the rulebooks will be streamlined a little more for younger players or possibly better player aide's to get younger players and non wargamers into the game. Sometimes the cross referencing between a rule book and exclusive rules seems to be a bit much for people new to the game.
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