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sean johnson
United States
avon
Indiana
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A little while ago I remember reading a thread where someone said they liked Memoir '44, but wanted a game like that during the American Revolutionary war period. There were a couple of suggestions for Battle Cry, and a lot of recommendations to pre-order Commands & Colors: Napoleonics. However, there were also a few people who recommended this game. I began to look into it, and the game looked extremely interesting, so I added it to my trade list. In 2011, I was able to acquire the game in a math trade. So was Hold the Line a good trade or will be the next game to be added to the trade list?
Game Overview
This game has a lot of visual similarities to Memoir '44. It is played on a similar sized board that also uses variable terrain tiles to set up scenarios. The little plastic guys from Memoir '44 are replaced with big rectangular counters (and for some units, smaller square counters). When it comes to gameplay though, this game stands on its own. On a player's turn they will a certain amount of action points to spend. The scenario will give each player a base amount of action points, and they will roll a die which gives 1-3 additional action points. These points can be used to order a unit to move or shoot. Each unit can only only use one point per turn. The majority of the units will be infantry, which can shoot up to two space away (artillery can shoot three). To shoot, the player rolls three six sided dice and a hit is based on range, so at two spaces away, only a six hits. In close range combat, a 4-6 hits. This means that with a good roll, a unit can loose three points of morale on one turn. Most units have four morale, and if it is reduced to zero the unit looses combat effectiveness and breaks in a route. Obviously terrain applies modifiers and can block line of sight. There are also special units like elite infantry, militia, and light infantry. How victory is achieved is determined by the scenario.
The Game We Played
We played the battle of Trenton. Historically this battle took place after George Washington made his famous crossing of the river. In the real battle the British (or German Hessians really) got beat badly by the Americans. Of course, my wife played the Americans and I played the British side. The winner of the game was the first one to six points. For every three units I evacuated across a bridge, I could earn two points. My wife begun by taking shot at my closest units. Meanwhile, I began trying to evacuate towards the bridge. This worked out well for me, because the unit my wife was trying to kill was an elite unit, which are harder to break the morale of. My elites, held the line turn after turn. Unfortunately, I was hampered by low action points so my retreat was slow. My wife moved some units up to engage my retreating forces, and I decided to meet her in combat. We had some fierce back and forth fighting, which I came out of slightly better than she did. My elite units finally broke, but they had bought enough time for me to evacuate three units and score 2 points. This got my point total up to three. However, my wife began to swing her units down and cut off access to the bridge. This meant my remaining four units were being hemmed in on two sides. Two of my units, were forced back away from the bridge and their morale did not survive this fighting retreat. I had an elite unit that attempted to hold the town, but my wife's pounding artillery made that hard. To finish me off, she moved in close but rolled poorly. I returned fire, and a great roll could have one the game but that did not happen. My elites were finally broken, and my wife got a victory point for capturing the town. This made the final score 6 to 5.
Our Thoughts
My Rating: 4 (Like it)
My Thoughts: I really like this game as a nice change of pace from Memoir '44. I like how important maneuvering is in this game. I also like how the limited actions and the decision to move or fire creates some really tense turns with hard decisions. I feel like this captures the feel of the American Revolution era battles while still being highly accessible.
Her Rating: 4 (Like it)
Her Thoughts: For a war game, it is not bad.
Verdict
Combined Rating: 8
We use to own BattleLore. While we liked it, we eventually traded it because my wife thought it was to similar to Memoir '44. Hold the Line looks and feels similar enough to Memoir '44 to be very comfortable for us, but it plays differently enough to separate it and make it worth having both. This is great for me, because this means I have a WWII game AND a Revolutionary war game that my wife will play with me.
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