Board Game Purge – Phase I

Is it too late for the obligatory “2016 – A Year in Review” or “2017 Hobby Goals” posts?

Anyway, following on from last years D6 Consolidation Move post I finally packed up the load of board and magazine games that I was sending to Noble Knight. Here’s what 88 lbs. of cardboard and paper looks like.

Combat Commander AFV Counters

The June release of Battle Pack 5: Fall of the West for GMT’s Combat Commander introduced experimental AFV rules that utilize existing infantry and support weapon counters to represent vehicles.  Thanks to Kozure at Board Game Geek, players now have the option of printing large AFV counters and a vehicle tracking sheet. The AFV counters may be used on the map during play while the infantry/weapons counters reside on the tracking sheet, greatly reducing clutter. I printed both of my sheets on card stock and ran them through the laminator.

D-Day at Omaha Beach – Unboxing Review

The reprinting of Decision Games D-Day at Omaha Beach was recently released and my pre-order arrived last week. D-Day at Omaha Beach is a solitaire game that allows the player to control the forces of the US 1st and 29th Divisions as they attempt to secure a viable beachhead on the Normandy shore.

Contents:

The 12″ x 9″ X 2″ box contains 2 sheets of 176 counters each, one 34″ x 22″ map sheet, 4 player aid cards, 55 event cards, one 32 page rulebook, one 8 page example of play book, one 16 page historical background book, and 4 ziplock storage bags.

Component Impressions:

The counters

The 352 color counters are well designed and, with the exception of the Wilderstandnest designations, very legible. Particularly I found the contrast of the white text on the green background of the American units to work well. The stock that the counters are on is rather thin, however where some may see this as a flaw I prefer this type of stock as it better facilitates clipping and, to some extent, storage.

The map sheet and cards

I find the map sheet and the cards to be of very good quality. As with the counters, the text and symbols on the event cards are well executed and easy to read. While also somewhat thin I also find this advantageous as I will be sleeving the cards (see: Prepping for Play). The map sheet is printed on very good stock and while the cacophony of symbols and colors may seem overwhelmingly busy, it is my understanding that they become very intuitive during play. Additionally DG has provided ziplock bags for component storage – always a welcome addition, even if they will be repurposed.

The player aid sheets

Of all the components, I find these to be the weak link. Although well laid out and intuitive, the stock they are printed on is disappointingly thin. More than likely these will be run through the laminator.

The booklets

At a quick glance, this is where the components really shine. Although not indexed the rulebook is very well organized and easily referenced from the table of contents. The examples of play is printed in full color and has a counter and card reference on the front, a terrain effects chart on the back, and 6 pages of examples. The historical background booklet titled “Their Greatest Day: From Disaster to Victory on Omaha Beach” is printed in full color as well, and seems to be an excerpt from World at War magazine. I will provide more feedback on these booklets as I examine them in greater detail (see: Prepping for Play).

Overall, I am pleased with the quality of this reprint and especially looking forward to diving in to the historical background and rulebook. Additionally I am grateful that DG provided a large enough box to hold a GMT counter tray.

Box

Counters

Mapsheet and Cards

Booklets

Player Aid Sheets

UP NEXT: Prepping for Play

ASL Errata

This weekend I spent some time applying all of the available sticky errata to my ASL rulebook. Doubtful that much of it will ever come into play, but I’m glad I took the effort to finish it.