Yaah9 Web
Yaah9 Web
Yaah9 Web
may 2017
H I S I S S U E ’S
T E !
FUL L G A M
DON E T S K
Battle for
the Airpor t
BAT OM
SQUAD-LEVEL C INE
IN THE UKRA
Comanchería 13 DAYS
DEBORAH MALMUD’S WE LOOK AT
REVIEW TWILIGHT
STRUGGLE’S
LITTLE BROTHER
ARTICLES Finnish Civil War · Conan · Hands in the Sea · The Great War
Command and Color: Ancients spinoff Scenarios Command and Colors:
Ancients · ‘65 Squad Level Battles · Stonewall’s Sword and more!
christy okane (Order #18094006)
christy okane (Order #18094006)
eZOC: Editor’s
Zone of Control
BY MARK H. WALKER
It’s Who I Am
My undergraduate degree is in psychol- esting interview is your wasted pages. There’s no mistaking what type of game
ogy. There’s a music minor tucked in is hugely popular with the gaming pub-
there, but that’s another story. Within Games. You all seem to like the sce- lic, but you guys want wargame articles,
my major, statistics was my favorite narios we offer. You aren’t rabid over and I have a bit of a problem with that.
course. Although I can be a head-in-the- them, but you don’t want us to cut them
sky, science-fiction-and-paranormal- out. By the same token, readers would Make no mistake, I’m a wargamer’s
stuff kind of guy, I like to measure, calcu- rather see complete games than com- wargamer. I can grognard with the best
late, and assesses probabilities. In other plete expansions to games that Flying of them. I can also rip through a game
words, I love statistics. A lot of gamers Pig has released. That’s cool by me, and of Days of Ire, Warhammer 40K Conquest,
that I’ve met, and I’ve met A LOT of that’s how we will proceed. Scenarios or Posthuman in a heartbeat, thoroughly
gamers, are the same way. So, the mea- will be offered, but so will a complete enjoying myself. Some of the most cre-
sure, calculate, and assess part of me de- game. But what era? The survey says ative mechanics in conflict gaming are
cided to ask these gamers—the readers that the #1 answer is World War II. No coming from games like these. Bottom
of Yaah! magazine— what they want to surprise there. The #2 answer, howev- line? Our articles won’t change. You’ll
see in Yaah!. Here’s what they/you said. er, might just startle you. If folks can’t get your wargame review, perhaps even
have their WW2, they want their WW3. five or six pages of history describing the
You don’t care about interviews. Not sure That’s right, y’all seem to like your al- battle portrayed in our issue’s game. But
that I understand why, but then again, ternative history. In fact, most Yaah! within our pages, you’ll also find words
I might. I think our interview with Jor- readers claim that they enjoy science- on The Others, Imperial Assault, and Riv-
dan Weisman was one of the best ar- fiction and alternative history gaming et Wars. It’s who we are. It’s who I am.
ticles we’ve produced in two years. Jor- almost as much as historical contests.
dan was most gracious and thoughtful
in his responses. All this from a man, Articles? Yepper, everyone loves our ar-
who by any account is damn busy/suc- ticles. In fact, like Playboy, a lot of you
cessful. You see, Jordan founded FASA claim you buy Yaah! for the articles (We
(You know, Battletech, Shadowrun, know it’s the pictures.) But what type of
etc), Whiz Kids (You’ve heard of Heroc- articles? Here the gaming industry and
lix, right?), Harebrained Schemes, and Yaah’s followers offer a strange conflict
was named by Seattle Business as one of tastes. On one hand, strategy games
of the top 25 innovators in Washing- such as Scythe and Zombicide garner a
ton state. Awesome, right? Maybe not. combined twenty-five thousand ratings
Several readers asked me (Obviously, on BoardGameGeek. On the other hand,
before reading the article.) who is this Comancheria, a popular wargame from
Weisman guy? Seems that my inter- THE major wargame publisher, gets 134.
Yaah! Magazine | 1
34 53
set-up SCENARIOS
4. Armageddon War Musing Greg Porter ’65 Squad-level Combat in the Jungles of Vietnam
48. Tet Offensive Josh Harris
Games we love 49. Ben Het Norm Lunde
8. Comanchería Deborah Malmud 50. Phase Line Red Norm Lunde
14. Finnish Civil War John D. Burt Stonewall’s Sword
20. 13 Days -The Cuban Missile Crises Nick O’neil 51. Low Hanging Fruit Hermann Luttmann
24. The Others Matt Foster Dead Reckoning
28. The Great War Dr. Robert G. Smith LTC (RET) 52. Quarantined Mick Sullivan
34. Conan Eddie Carlson Night of Man
42. Hands in the Sea Roger Leroux 53. Get to the Chopper! Mark H. Walker
Command and Colors Ancients
54. The 12 Battles of Arthur Chuck Turnista
68
this issue’s game SCENARIOS BONUS
62. Game Preface Ryan Kirk Old School Tactical
68. Donetsk Ryan Kirk 80. Tank on Tank Mark H. Walker
Design by Ryan Kirk, Developed by Art Bennett
Art by Ilya Kudryashov
Yaah! Magazine | 3
ARMAGEDDON WAR
MUSINGS ARTICLE BY GREG PORTER PHOTOS BY MARK H. WALKER
Armageddon barrel of the main gun. Captured tanks being driven by some-
one who had never driven one before. Dump trucks with sheet
And so it began.
4 | Yaah! Magazine
This was the sort of thing that colored my thinking when I’ve been playing tactical and strategic games since forever,
working out the stats and mechanics for Armageddon War. and familiar with most of the resolution mechanics and ways of
It was going to be a game where you had to hit someone re- presenting information on a counter. From the simplest “three
ally hard to put an immediate dent in them, otherwise you numbers and a unit symbol” all the way out to a dozen or more
would have to slowly whittle them down, and if you let up, numbers crammed onto a 3/4 inch counter or “we’ve given up
they would eventually recover their strength. A system where on putting numbers on the counter, here’s a separate reference
a unit’s ability to cause harm was dependent on far more than card for the unit” Can you say MBT? -Mark).
the list of equipment available to them, and where the range
of equipment would run from the 1950’s through systems I knew I was not going to get everything for a platoon-level
that in 2017 are still only prototypes (Armageddon War is set modern game down to 3 numbers, but I did want to streamline
in 2028). things as much as possible. Technically, a unit is going to have
only 4 numbers on it, but it also has color coding, can have a
few graphic icons, a letter code and possibly a keyword in its
name (like “Recon”). Before that starts sounding overwhelm-
ing, here’s a counter:
Yaah! Magazine | 5
So, the dice work in two ways. First, there are a small number of army with a technological advantage or training advantage will
things that affect the number of dice you roll, a “dice number be better able to utilize it. This sort of thing is represented by
modifier” or DN. The normal way of calculating the dice you roll the small lightning bolt you see on the right side of the counter.
is just your firepower less their defense value, but special situ- The US advanced infantry (red bolt) has a 1 level advantage over
ations like adding extra units the ISIL unit, (black bolt) so
“
or flanking fire or infantry the US gets a +1DQ if attack-
hitting unaccompanied ve- ing the ISIL unit, and the ISIL
hicles in urban terrain can get unit gets a -1DQ if attacking
you more dice. And there is
ARMAGEDDON WAR LETS THE TARGET the US unit.
a larger group of things that OF AN ATTACK DO ONE OF THREE
affect the type of dice you The other nice thing about
roll, a “dice quality modifier”
or DQ. Armageddon War dice
“
THINGS. the custom dice is that it
let me minimize a problem
come in green, black and red, and loophole we have all ex-
in increasing order of inten- ploited at one time or another
sity, the potential for damage and do so in a manner that
you can roll. The dice number represent the theoretical poten- does not slow down play. Your opponent’s unit has an “acted”
tial to do harm, while the dice quality represents how likely it is. marker of some sort on it, so you drive up in the open, park and
open fire, knowing that since the target has already acted, they
A simple example: The average infantry platoon has about the can’t do anything about it. Yes, it is a good strategy within the
same aggregate ability to do harm regardless of whose platoon confines of the rules of that game, but as a sound tactic? Not so
it is. much.
It is about the same number of people, their weapons have about Armageddon War lets the target of an attack do one of three
the same range and penetration ability, and so on. However, an things. First, they can retreat, ceding the hex but giving the
6 | Yaah! Magazine
Yaah! Magazine | 7
8 | Yaah! Magazine
Comanchería: The Rise and Fall of the Comanche Empire has coun- trouble was that they didn’t “feel” like the history I was read-
ters. Lots of counters. There are hundreds of counters rep- ing about. And so I scrubbed this and went to a hybrid prototype
resenting everything from bison to settlements to horses to that used cards and a map. I found I didn’t like that one either.
tribes, food, and four different colonial enemies. There’s also And so I came back to my roots and drew out a simple point-to-
a beautiful mounted map. There are dice (though I still haven’t point map and began to draft a game engine that was basically
figured out why the game comes with three of them, all dif- an enhanced version of Navajo Wars. Gradually we refined the
ferent colors). But after you set up game until it took on the form of the
“
Comanchería, the first thing you must published product.”
contend with are the 137 included
cards, where you begin making your Cards give the game its historical
first tough decisions. COMANCHERÍA contours. The game has four distinct
time periods from 1700-1875, three of
Eight different types of cultures are STARTED OUT AS A 50 years each and the last from 1850-
represented in card packs of three
levels each. You begin the game with
CARD GAME “ 1875. Each history card remains on the
board with game-wide effects in place
a free choice of a level 1 culture card. as long as that time period is opera-
Only when you have level 1 of a pack tive. Dictating not only the scenario
of Culture Cards can you purchase setup but special rules for enemy ac-
level 2, and only with level 2 can you get to level 3. These cards tions and responses as well as the victory objectives for that
offer various types of advantages and it is a strategic decision time period, the history cards allows modeling of the likelihood
early on whether you will choose something to give you a com- of various enemy behaviors in an unobtrusive way that is char-
bat advantage, such as “Warfare” (which modifies the rules a acteristic of this elegant design.
bit to allow for more aggressive behavior toward enemy tribes)
or “spirituality” (giving an advantage determining ratings of Additionally, four different Development Decks provide for
your tribal leaders). Alternatively, perhaps you’re interested in historical events that impact play. Trade alliances, disease,
a tactical or political advantage with the cards. Those are also treaties, the Indian Removal Act, Texas Independence, and
choices. even the American Civil War are all represented. (In case you’re
wondering, initially the Civil War gave the Comanches a chance
It’s fitting that the first game decision is a card-based one, as to recover and eased pressure on its borders.) Each historical
designer Joel Toppen has said “Comanchería started out as a period also has a “Missed Opportunity” card, forcing the player
card game. You conquered tribes by conquering their “card,” to discard any of the unused development cards they have at-
etc. Early prototypes of this were actually quite fun to play. The tained. Trust me, that is a painful reveal!
Yaah! Magazine | 9
A “War Deck” adds richness to your opponents’ behavior. (I umns work. This is by far, what I like most,” Joel Toppen says. “In
call them “opponents” because truly this game feels as if you Navajo Wars, everything stopped and you had to work through a
are playing against various groups of enemies rather than some flowchart process to resolve an enemy invasion. In Comanchería,
design-driven AI.) Each War Deck card can be read for one of two the game gives a better feel of simultaneity, that things are going
pieces of information—either a basic movement direction for on concurrent with what I’m doing as the player.”
an enemy (depending on the scenario, you are facing challenges
from the north, south, east, and west), or as a “war event.” Does the game already sound chock full of things to do and
think about? Well wait, there’s more!
War events can be surprise attacks, enemies moving faster than
usual, the opportunity to surrender your captives to end a war In addition to extending your territory, you also need to main-
early, or the revelation of bad intel which results in a sudden tain your cultural independence. It seems fitting that most of
increase in strength to your enemy (as well as other things). If the times I have lost this game, it’s because my culture has been
this sounds varied and realistic, you’re right, it is—incredibly compromised. This, combined with the military independence
so. The 25 war cards were a late addition to the game (and as you must also maintain, is among the many variables contrib-
such the draw pile spot for war cards is missing from the map), uting to the success—or failure—of your thriving Comanchería,
and their inclusion was a very good decision. They add a great your Comanche Territory. The game’s designer has appropri-
deal of richness to the gameplay. ately put a boxed note into the scenario setup reminding you
that it is “IMPORTANT” (his emphasis) to maintain your cul-
Working in conjunction with war counters that are drawn before ture and military prowess to at least some degree. Loss of both
a war actually breaks out, the game manages to create the sense is catastrophic and very possible—believe me. With so much
of impending doom. You can literally see your enemies on the else going on, it’s easy to forget to attend to the needs of your
horizon and not know exactly when they’ll be attacking, even culture. Raiding a neighboring tribe or hunting bison is so much
though you know they will. “I really like how Enemy War Col- more appealing.
10 | Yaah! Magazine
“
phase. (“Medicine” here is declension. As the history of
used in the sense of super- the Comanches illustrates,
natural and other power that almost diametrically opposite
is gained over the course of a THERE’S A NECESSARY trajectories were possible.” In
lifetime—not in the Western this game, you’ll need to play
sense.) AMOUNT OF ABSTRACTION extremely well to win, but win
you can.
The interplay between these
leaders dictates how many
IN THE GAME “ The Comanches were em-
bands (or collections of war- pire-builders who colonized
riors) you can have active at and displaced thousands of
any given time, as well as how effective other aspects of your Apaches and other tribes. They fought back the Spanish north-
efforts will be. For me, the rules on managing the headmen ern expansion and increased their empire over many decades.
were a bit convoluted and resulted in some repeated errors on Their equestrian-based hunting way of life thrived for many
my part. This is a small knock on an otherwise well-described years and as the player in this game in charge of managing the
rule set for this complex game. Comanche, you have a lot to handle.
Comanchería (published by GMT in 2016, who provided a review THE SOLITAIRE MECHANIC
copy of the game for this article), is Toppen’s second game, fol- Most wargamers focus on theme/historical period when decid-
lowing 2013’s Navajo Wars, though he is far from a newcomer ing on a game. As a solitaire wargamer willing to learn about
to the board game world. He’s credited as developer on some almost any historical period, for me one of the central deciding
of the most significant games of the past few years, including factors in game purchase and enjoyment is how the AI is en-
Washington’s War, Labyrinth: The War on Terror and Labyrinth: The acted. In this game, it’s quite simply brilliant.
Awakening, as well as the first COIN game, Andean Abyss.
With four enemies coming at you—Spain, Mexico, USA, and
His experience shows. One of the many gifts of this game is the Texas—not to mention a variety of tribes who can become allies
connected nature of the cultural, political, and military aspects (but not for long) or enemies, you might be wondering whether
of Comanche life, intertwined to such a degree by the game’s there is a 20+ step procedural chart to carry out their actions.
mechanics that writing a linear description of how the game Far from it. Hands down, Comanchería utilizes the best solo AI
works seems to diminish it. instruction mechanic I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot.
The designer notes reference quite a few sources for the game, Raids, wars, trading actions, encroachments, settlements, and
but highlights The Comanche Empire by Pekka Hämäläinen (Yale even the establishment of peace are all represented by counters
University Press, 2008) as the book that most influenced the that are assigned to one of four enemy areas. With a simple die
design. Indeed, reading this Bancroft Prize-winning history, roll you decide which enemy will be active that turn and execute
one sees the designer’s genius in bringing to life an academic their orders by moving down a column of counters. Other die
narrative of frontier-borderland studies. rolls during the game randomize the columns, and a simple (re)
placement mechanic for used counters ensures that you’ll never
Taking on the role of the Comanche people as they spread their be doing the same actions more than once in a row even if the
influence and power throughout an increasing area, you play out same enemy is activated. With hundreds of possibilities, the
the narrative Hämäläinen has so convincingly written. It’s im- enemy instructions are carried out by the player in a manner of
portant to bear in mind that by 1800 the Comanche numbered minutes. It is, truly, unique and lightens what could be a big bur-
Yaah! Magazine | 11
12 | Yaah! Magazine
“
course of 13 months.” Will
As I said, I haven’t yet played solitaire gamers have some-
Navajo Wars but to me this thing new to rejoice about?
game is far from a battle-fest. THERE’S A NECESSARY “To that I’m going to stay
(The rules for battle take up silent for now and simply
less than one page in 20 pages AMOUNT OF ABSTRACTION tell people to wait and see.
of rules.) You’re constantly It’s gonna be good,” Toppen
worried about whether or not
you should conduct a raid on
IN THE GAME “ says. “I’m trying something
really new here and don’t
a rival tribe or conduct trade want to say too much at this
with an ally; about whether to time.”
spend culture points to bolster your aptitude in an aspect of cul-
tural development; about whether to send horses or tribal lead- Solitaire or not, the next Joel Toppen design is going to be worth
ers or goods to trade out with your warriors; about when to spend the wait. For now, gamers new to Comanchería have something
one of your precious development cards to move a Rancheria or deep to sink their teeth into. On my end, Navajo Wars has just be-
groups of warriors for free; increase the longevity of your lead- come a Must Buy.
ers; or conduct an extra trade action (among many other things).
There’s just so much going on here and the combat part of it feels About the author
just that—a part of much bigger concerns. In the real world, Deborah Malmud is a non-fiction book edi-
tor of neuroscience, psychology, and education books. She is
Each action and operation in the game and each agonizing deci- also the voice of “Geek Gamers,” a YouTube channel devoted to
sion about what to do next feels like a piece of a puzzle. Yet this discussion of strategy and wargames. Reach her at citygeekgam-
game plays like a game and not a simulation or puzzle where ers@gmail.com or youtube.com/c/GeekGamers01.
Yaah! Magazine | 13
FINNISH
CIVIL
WAR ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY JOHN D. BURT
New game topics are very attractive to a gamer like myself; I’m
always interested in learning about new events and trying them
out- after all, how many times can you play Market Garden,
Bulge, or Gettysburg? (In my case, about once every two years.)
So I was quickly drawn to the game in Paper Wars issue 84, the
Finnish Civil War, designed by Brian Train.
Finland had been a part of the Russian Empire since 1809. When
the Russian Revolution of 1905 broke out, Finnish national-
ists began rising to the surface, clamoring (and fighting) for
independence. During the First World War, these nationalists
joined with the Germans training for the day when the Rus-
sian Empire would fall apart. After the abdication of the Tsar
and the advent of the Bolsheviks into power in November 1917,
the Finns felt their time had arrived. However, not all agreed;
some felt that a socialist government, like what Russia now
had, was more to their liking and the country split apart. On one
side, the Nationalists, with Baron Gustav Mannerheim at their
head, began developing a National Army, supported by militia
known as the White Guard. Opposing them were the remnants
of the Russian Army, supported by their militia, not surpris-
ingly known as the Red Guard. From January 1918 through May,
the two sides fought for control of the southern portion of the
country. The Whites were bolstered by the return of national-
ists from the German Army, as well as additional German units,
while the Reds were weakened by the signing of the Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk, which lowered Soviet support for the Red faction
in the war. Ultimately, the Whites won out.
14 | Yaah! Magazine
Yaah! Magazine | 15
The companies and battalions are drawn from a pool of such from Brian, plus part of the historical discussion – the rest was
units and vary in their ratings: companies from 0 – 2 attack inadvertently left out but is available online.
strength and battalions from 2 - 5, for example. Both sides also
have some guerrilla units- they don’t have values, so are use- The game sequence for each weekly turn goes through event
ful only in creating some movement problems for the “other” table, reinforcement/replacement, and operations phases,
side. Some of the units are marked for “shock”, meaning they and ends with a recovery phase. The 2D6 events table provides
are better trained than most. If enough of these shock capable events which can raise morale of either side, saddle one head-
units are employed in combat a special combat results table is quarters with no supply, or impact reinforcements of move-
used. Note the word “main” up there: Brian has also included a ment. During the event phase is also when peace negotiations
brigade level version of the game, with its own counters. More take place, with each side rolling 2D6 and subtracting the Red
on this version later. roll from the White roll: a positive result is added to the Peace
Track, which starts at 0. At various levels on the Peace Track,
The rulebook is embedded in the Paper Wars magazine and, things happen, and generally, the Reds will not like it. For ex-
given that Brian had been publishing this game on his own, is ample, at level 8, either the German 27th Jager Battalion ar-
very complete. Although you will have to flip through the rules rives, or the White player can take six FNA companies that ar-
a lot initially (like when checking on peace negotiation events), rive at Vassa; at 12, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is “signed” and
once you get into the game, it’s relatively straightforward – the Red Army no longer receives reinforcements.
you’ll just have to deal with a lot of variability both at the start
of the game and later. The magazine also had players’ notes In the reinforcement phase, both players get several randomly
16 | Yaah! Magazine
Both sides can also get additional replacements based on ca- If more than half of a side’s units are shock capable, the shock
sualties from the previous turn. Attack factors are added up table can be used for the combat, which adds the possibility of a
and cross-referenced with a side’s morale to see how many re- Defender Panic result, which eliminates the defender and makes
placement points are returned. It’s not much, but when you’re those units ineligible to return or be considered in the replace-
up against it and suffering a lot of losses, every replacement ment phase.
point can be vital.
Here’s an example: Two stacks of Red units, totaling twelve at-
The operations phase is another randomizer. Both Red and tack points in three SRA and seven Red Guard militia companies,
White factions get three operations markers (less if morale is attack the town of Picksämüki defended by eight defensive points
low.) These are drawn one at a time, with the side picked get- of White units, including a 3-3-4 battalion of FNA, plus one FNA
ting to do an operation. There are three operations- they can and three White Guard militia companies. Both sides have head-
either move in one of two ways, or they can perform combat quarters and the Whites have an artillery unit. Base odds are 3-2,
with adjacent enemy units. Movement is either overland (hex reduced by the town to 1-1. If the combat die roll is a 2, reduced
to hex with no Zones of Control here!!) or railroad mode. Over- by the White’s artillery to 1, the result would be a loss of three
land movement is about as familiar to most gamers as any. companies for Red and two for White, and the town would stay in
Terrain costs, but will change mid-game when the spring thaw White’s possession. If however, the result was a bloodbath, then
arrives to make lakes and streams more difficult. Did I men- combat resolution is a bit more complex, as follows:
tion no Zones of Control? Guerrilla movement is simply picking • The weakest defense factor in the town’s defense is a 1-1-5
them up and moving somewhere within five hexes. Stacking militia unit. It’s lost and a single 1-1-2 Red Guard is also
depends on terrain and ranges from three units in swamps to eliminated. Combat could stop here, but with so many
twelve in cities. Railroad movement allows a number of units more Red Guard units available, the Reds can (and should)
equal to the side’s morale to move along railroads as far as they continue combat results:
want as long as: 1) they stop when entering an enemy guerrilla • The next weakest defense factor belongs to a 0-2-2 White
unit’s hex, 2) a hex adjacent to a regular enemy unit IF there’s Guard Militia. It’s eliminated, and the Red player must now
already a friendly unit there, or 3) a hex that isn’t adjacent to an lose at least two attack factors – either by eliminating two
enemy unit. Players choose their operation for the phase and 1-1-2 Red Guard or a single 2-2-3 SRA company.
Yaah! Magazine | 17
The Red attacker can keep going. He’ll lose more units but he FNA companies, plus 3 + 1D6 White Guards and 0-5 guerrillas.
could end up emptying the entire town of defenders and still The red faction gets 4D6 Red Guards, up to nine SRA compa-
have units to take possession. nies, and 0-5 Guerrillas. Thus, you could start the game with
seven white units and 38 red units. Add that both sides roll 2D6
Morale on both sides plays a major part of the civil war. You can for their starting morale (adding 6 to the total). In short, every
gain (or lose) morale through taking (or losing) towns and cit- game starts differently, but usually the Red faction starts with a
ies, by special events and through losses in battle. Morale can numerical superiority, and must use it before the peace process
affect operations and reinforcement. City or town capture lets mandates significant White reinforcement and Soviet with-
the victor decide whether to raise his own morale or drop the drawal. As noted earlier, the only disadvantage the Red faction
enemies. Nice touch. starts with is the dearth of headquarters, making any turn one
attacks half strength.
Variability – and thus replayability – in the game comes from
the random chit draw for operations, the blind draw of rein- Victory is based on towns (eleven) and cities (four – all in the
forcements in which you never know exactly what you’ll be get- Red zone initially) controlled by each faction, with each city
ting, the Peace Talk die rolls, and the random events table. If counting as three towns. The ratio of town points provides a
that wasn’t enough, Brian adds more variability in the game’s level of victory from marginal to smashing. Surprisingly, driv-
setup. Almost all White and Red regular, militias and guerrilla ing an enemy’s morale to zero is not a victory condition.
forces are established with die rolls. The Whites start with three In general, the Reds must start aggressive, while the Whites
18 | Yaah! Magazine
Yaah! Magazine | 19
13 DAYS
THE CUBAN
MISSILE CRISES
OR HOW TWO GUYS MADE
TWILIGHT STRUGGLE A BIT
MORE MANAGEABLE
20 | Yaah! Magazine
Once the game is set up, it is clear, just in case you did not know
already, that 13 Days is a card driven game, just like Twilight
Struggle, and it is through the play of these that the two players
will seek to control the various areas of the board and advance
their own aims. After seeding the board with some influence
cubes and shuffling the two card decks, players are dealt three
Agenda cards each, marking them on the board with their flags,
and select one in secret to become their agenda for that round.
Right from the start of the game players will be attempting to
work out which one of the three indicated agendas their op-
ponent is pursuing, narrowing down the range of possibilities,
while simultaneously trying to inject as much misdirection into
their own play as they can.
Once the agendas have been selected players are dealt five Strat-
egy cards each, and it is through the play of these for influence
or events that the similarities with Twilight Struggle are most ap-
parent. Some of these cards belong to the player sides at each
other’s throats, the US and USSR, while others are neutral and
bear the UN designation. Any card may be played as a Command
to add or remove influence cubes from a single battleground,
but if the card bears your opponent’s affiliation then they have
the option to trigger the event on the card before you can move
any cubes. Players may also play neutral cards or those of their
own affiliation as Events rather than Commands. It needs to be
mentioned that a small number of cards went to print with in-
Yaah! Magazine | 21
from the very start, escalated at the ever-present start of ev- If players manage to make it to the end of round three without
ery round of the game, even the first, so players will be skirting nuking themselves or each other, then it is time for the final
around the edge of apocalyptic disaster from the start. If any reckoning. The cards that have been tucked underneath the
player marker is in Zone 1 at the end of a round or if all three of board are revealed and their US and USSR cubes counted up, the
a player’s markers are in Zone 2 then a nuclear war is triggered player with the higher total gaining two Prestige points, after
and that player immediately loses the game, and it is encourag- which the winner is declared. Ties go to the player with the Per-
ing (in a sense) to know that it is possible for both players to sonal Letter card, which swings back and forth during the game
lose if they are reckless enough to trigger mutual destruction. as players use it to increase their influence.
Having the DEFCON track sitting there in the background does
just enough to place severe restrictions on what players can do I’ll come clean and say straight out that I enjoy 13 Days very
with their cards, so they need to be balancing multiple and of- much indeed. It is tricky for me to get longer games and war
ten conflicting demands every turn, and every attempted leap games to the table, and it is unlikely that Twilight Struggle will
ahead means that the other ever be played in our house,
“
side’s trigger finger gets just let alone receive the mul-
that little bit twitchier. Once tiple plays it deserves really
each player has had four ac- to shine. 13 Days is a different
tions, the remaining two THE GAME FEELS LIKE A proposition, however. The
cards, one per player, are game feels like a balancing
tucked face down underneath BALANCING ACT FROM act from the very start, and,
the board and will have an ef-
fect on the final scoring if the THE VERY START “ as I have mentioned earlier,
every decision brings with it
game is not ended by nuclear some kind of trade off. The
war before then. trick for players is to try to
ensure that they trade off
However, it is not all about advancing your own agenda for the slightly less than their opponent does. Those six markers on
round. Players will also be vying to secure the most influence in the board (three for each player) will indicate where each side
three battlegrounds of world opinion – television, alliances and might be focusing their efforts, but working out what your op-
the United Nations. After each round the player who is ahead in ponent’s ultimate aim is for the round takes skill, a little luck,
each of these three areas secures a bonus, after which players and some magical mind reading as well. It is all about feint and
check to see if they have managed to resolve their own personal counter-feint, leaning this way and that, and rolling with the
agendas that will give them specific advantages. These will in- inevitable punches.
fluence the DEFCON track as well as Prestige (which is effec-
tively the score tracker for the game), but the simple fact that a Being a card game it is inevitable that players are sometimes
player can never be most than 5 Prestige points ahead of their going to find themselves on the receiving end of an unhealthy
opponent after scoring means that there is always the possibil- dose of bad luck, but the trick is a well-designed game is to al-
ity, however slight, of being able to turn things around. low players at least the chance to be able to mitigate the worst
of it. In 13 Days if you end up with a hand full of your oppo-
nent’s cards then you are going to need to hunker down and
enter damage limitation mode, but skilful play can still mini-
mise the damage such a draw can do. At other rare times you
will be able to go on the offensive and it will be your oppo-
nent’s turn to try to evade your nuclear kisses – enjoy these
moments when they come.
22 | Yaah! Magazine
Yaah! Magazine | 23
THE OTHERS
SEVEN DEADLY SINS NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD
It’s been a long, long time since gaming with miniatures was supporting graphics, and imaginative miniatures are all con-
the exclusive province of history buffs and assorted fans of spiring to breathe new life - and new money - into the minis
wargaming. The number of popular medium -and large- run gaming genre. It’s a good thing, I suppose, that a majority of
games nowadays that feature miniatures is nothing short of contemporary minis gamers are likely handier at spelling “Ta-
amazing to many of us grognards who cut our gaming teeth tooine” than “Austerlitz”. As long as it keeps the spice flowing,
with painstakingly recreated ranks of French voltigeurs or Ro- it doesn’t matter that most of the current crop of minis games
man legionaries. aren’t even remotely connected to anything historical. Uncork
enough creativity and some good games are going to result.
For confirmed addicts to the plastic crack (like me), these are
heady days. Varied themes, innovative game systems, vivid The Others, published by CoolMiniOrNot (CMON), checks off
24 | Yaah! Magazine
I call it an “action game” because the work of designer Eric Each Sin has a different set of gameplay effects and powers, and
Lang produces gameplay that’s not quite a skirmish game, but its own set of special monstrosities (in order of nastiness): six
not exactly an abstract tactical game, either. There’s plenty of Abominatons, a Controller, and an Avatar. The Sin player also
shootin’ and stabbin’ and burnin’ going on, but the area-based selects six of the more generic Acolytes (the lowest level evil
system avoids a lot of the minions), which are typically
“
minutiae commonly found city-folk of some sort - po-
in games that dig down into lice, firemen, doctors - with
man-to-man (or man-to- their guts hanging out and/or
thing, in this case) combat. FOR CONFIRMED ADDICTS tentacles waving around.
When a hero activates for a turn, the Sin player can play a single
Sin card, usually causing something unpleasant to happen. Af-
ter a hero has finished a turn, the Sin player can then play one
of their limited number of Reactions, which allow a monster to
move and fight. Note carefully: the various Sins critters in play
don’t get turns of their own; they only get Reactions.
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28 | Yaah! Magazine
THE
GREAT
WAR ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY
DR. ROBERT G. SMITH “SMITTY”, LTC (RET)
For America, this is the centenary of our entry into World War
One. On 6 April 1917, America stepped out of the security of the
New World and into the trenches and the antagonisms of the
Yaah! Magazine | 29
regime was the most obvious. Sadly, the peace that was ham- COMPONENTS
mered out by the victors at Versailles helped set the stage for a TGW’s components are a very strong aspect and one bound to
rematch, as this harsh treaty only served to fuel antagonisms disappoint and vex the player. You have the standard nice big
and unrequited desires in the states that lost—or the victor playing map, with BIG hexes. The map is actually two-sided.
states that perceived that the Treaty of Versailles treated their To make up different battlefields, you have the interchange-
“rightful” claims with disdain. able tiles. I recommend this to make future set-up easier with
the tiles- the tiles that only have trench lines on them go in
While at the World Board Game Championship in August one baggie. The tiles that have other terrain go into a differ-
2016, we saw the game The Great War (TGW) by the Plastic ent zip-lock bag. This prevents you from getting to the end of
Soldier Company (PSC). I knew of PSC, but thought they constructing your battlefield and needing to start flipping tiles
were a miniatures company. Although the game was fund- over to find say the missing mine crater (as I had to do). The
ed via Kickstarter and released in 2015, at the time we saw tiles’ artwork is first-rate and all the trench lines connect. The
TGW it was the 100th anniversary of two key battles for the interior packaging and storage is non-existent. They could take
British Empire in World War One. Within a month’s time, a lesson from how Academy Games packages their games with
the British fought both Jutland and began the Battle of the that great new interior storage lid. You also have Wire markers
Somme. I read the box, saw that TGW was patterned after that upon destruction by artillery flip over to show a crater side.
Richard Borg’s Command and Colors system, and took a gam- You have one nice artillery marker and HQ tokens that operate
ble. The game is attractively packaged, but perhaps is a little as the game currency. The card decks for both Command and
misleading as it shows tanks on the cover. If you are like Battle are sturdy, and will hold up to repeated playing.
many gamers, you buy it and say, “Wait a second... There
are no tanks in this game”. However, the tanks are avail- Then we come to the game’s biggest weakness—trying to re-
able for separate purchase in an expansion kit, and every- move the soldiers from the HARD plastic sprue. Unless you
one needs tanks. have sprue cutters, removal is a real pain and you will dam-
30 | Yaah! Magazine
“
very painful experience. If I cial abilities. The detailed de-
had been a mother who pur- scription tells you what spe-
chased this game for my son cial conditions are attached
and discovered that it was THEN WE COME TO to the card while the graphic
so user-unfriendly, I would tells you what section(s)
have been livid. Poor ergo- THE GAME’S BIGGEST the card pertains to for your
nomics, a first-class failure. forces. For example, you
WEAKNESS—TRYING TO choose a card that reads 2-2-
RULES
The rule book is long and
REMOVE THE SOLDIERS 2, meaning you can conduct
two actions per section with
decently illustrated. How-
ever, it suffers from a lack
FROM THE HARD PLASTIC troops. You can move up to
two hexes, but doing so for-
of good organization
overall structure. I’m always
and
SPRUE “ feits your ability to conduct
combat. You can move one
less than thrilled when I get hex and fight. You can then
a rulebook that has no In- play a Combat card. There are
dex. Yeah, it’s a Command two types of combat, Ranged
and Colors type game, which means it’s simpler. I get that, but and Close Assault. After combat is over you collect end of turn
that’s no reason not to have a useable rule booklet. For ex- HQ token or in lieu of that take a new Combat card. Retreats
ample, the game dice are illustrated early on, but their impact and bonus combat are conducted if someone played a Combat
and functionality is left for you to find scattered throughout the card that allows for a tactical response. Movement is straight
rules. Maybe you will find it. Instead, you need to go to Board- ahead as you can’t slide off or do lateral movement here.
GameGeek (BGG) and look under the files to find something
useful there. That’s not what we expect is it? Moreover, at this Before playing the Somme Hawthorn Ridge Mine Explosion
juncture, the company should have proactively gone up and ad- scenario, I read up on it in Prior and Wilson’s book The Somme.
profes-
dressed these themselves by putting out an amended profes I personally think it is the go-to book on the Somme. My goal
sional product. One can hope that PSC will post a set of new was to get some sense of the historical aspects of that section
living rules, as clarity and some organization is needed in areas. of the battlefield on that hot July day in 1916. How did it play
There is simply no real excuse for somebody in this digital age out? What were the forces like? Did it feel close enough? Not
when it is so easy to do things the right way. (It’s not quite as easy only did TGW pass, but in my historian’s mind, it
as you might think. -Mark) got a solid A.
Yaah! Magazine | 31
the initiative against the Germans. In England, the shell short- the game has it right without much of a tradeoff to the histori-
age ended the real power of Lord Kitchner and brought David cal truths.
Lloyd George to the Prime Ministership. I like the passing nod
to logistics that TGW continues with in terms of game play. The As a variant once you’ve played a few times, try allowing side-
real impact of logistics is handled by the HQ chits. Think of HQ ways movement. I had no trouble using this, as you often read
chits as the game’s currency that are spent for certain types of in small unit actions how leaders would try to move to the flank
actions. To use certain cards, you must pay an activation fee. or use the terrain to give them the best chance of achieving their
To use artillery and expand its base of fire, you spend HQ chits. mission. Doing so gives the British a bit more flexibility when
To maximize the HQ card in the deck, a bounty of HQ chits can I have used it. I don’t allow it for retreats as that didn’t seem
“
be the difference in one turn right. I have also experiment-
between victory and defeat. ed with the British getting a
With that card and enough free artillery barrage prior to
chits, you can devastate in an WHAT YOU DISCOVER IS opening movement with four
assault. That card will allow dice, with the option of add-
you to replicate the first day THAT TANKS WEREN’T A ing one additional barrage for
of the Battle of the Somme two HQ tokens. I also have ex-
where the British Army suf-
fered 60,000 casualties in
WAR-WINNING WEAPON “ perimented with allowing the
British to count their Victory
one day. medals for making and taking
a trench as so far (like in WWI
Artillery at first glance seems undervalued in TGW. We know actual) they often don’t get that far. For the Somme scenario as
of the weeklong softening up barrages and the hurricane artil- well, I give the British as their opening move card the one that
lery firestorms. So why not add more artillery to make it more allows two actions per section. I have also experimented with al-
realistic? The problem with that is until latish (sic) 1918, planes lowing them to do this for the first two turns with the stipula-
weren’t equipped with radios to adjust artillery fire based upon tion that a unit that moved with the first card can’t move again.
spotted movement from the air. That type of coordination But just when you think this is a Command and Colors-light game
wasn’t simply available to the artillery in 1918. Moreover, al- that is sort of like the First World War, you draw the Bugles and
though artillery did cause a lot of casualties, it often failed due Whistles card that allows you so much tactical latitude when you
to faulty fuses or simply by the shells burying themselves in choose to play the card, allowing you order a general advance
the mud (it’s why every year we read of some poor French or like the one at Amiens on the 8th of August, 1918. That one card
Belgian Farmer getting killed by unexploded ordnance that has alone should sell the jaded player that the game has more depth
resurfaced). Therefore, the sense, in terms of playability, is that than is first apparent.
32 | Yaah! Magazine
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Conan is a miniatures board game that lets you play as heroes One of the great things about the Conan game is the adherence
from Robert E. Howard’s books. It allows 2 – 5 players to par- to Robert E. Howard’s works. The team at Monolith worked
ticipate in scenarios that recreate some of Conan’s most famous with Patrice Louinet, who is regarded as a Conanian (Is that a
battles and adventures. One player will take on the role of the word?) expert, to make sure that everything evokes the atmo-
Overlord who will be in control of the creatures that are trying sphere of Robert E. Howard’s world. This ensures that fans of
to prevent the players from the novels will be able to rec-
“
succeeding in the scenario’s ognize characters, creatures,
objectives. The players must and even locations from the
work together, communi- game that Conan will have
cate, and ultimately find a ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS encountered on his journeys.
way to balance their energy
to keep their characters alive ABOUT THE CONAN GAME The game includes great art-
and win each scenario.
IS THE ADHERENCE TO work from many artists. What
I want to do is talk about the
Each player will control one
character, represented by a
ROBERT E. HOWARD’S WORKS. “ various components and the
deep immersion they create,
light gray plastic miniature from the character sheets
and a character sheet used to the equipment cards. The
to track their movement and miniatures themselves are
actions on the game board. One player will act as the Overlord. also lovingly sculpted, exemplifying thought that went into
The Overlord uses a plastic tablet, called the Book of Skelos, to getting everything right.
track the creatures under their command. They will also maneu-
ver minis on the game board to thwart the heroes. The game can Let’s start with the box art for the cover. This is a powerful
be played with just two people with one taking the Overlord and piece of art that shows Conan doing what he does best, jumping
the other running several good guys. For those that really en- into battle and laying waste to a horde of undead skeletons. The
joy managing a lot of moving parts, a person can play solo, they necromancer in the background bringing his army to life and
would just need to run each character and manage the Book of Conan swinging his sword and axe to bring them down. It fits
Skelos. It can be done! Although, not very well by me. the theme of the game very well and gets you excited to open
36 | Yaah! Magazine
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Spell cards are given the same treatment Sixteen spell cards are The dice are also very well made and include symbols indicat-
included in the game and scenario setup will determine which ing damage done. There are three colors used to indicate how
spells will be used. Even the Overlord might have spells at his dis- much possible damage can be done. Yellow dice will inflict the
posal. The spell cards make it easy to quickly look and understand least amount of damage, orange dice are the next tier up, and
how the spell will work in the game. They may not be as visually finally red dice indicate a high chance to doing damage. A nice
appealing as the other assets in the game, but their functionality touch on the dice are little symbols indicating which tier of dice
once again does away with the you are rolling for colorblind
“
need for books and charts to players.
track spell information.
The scenarios will be played
The game includes 75 gems CONAN NOT ONLY out on two, gorgeous double-
that are used to track energy sided maps. These maps rep-
for the heroes and the Over- BRINGS GREAT LOOKING resent the battlefields that
lord. Each character sheet Conan and his allies must
will state in a space called COMPONENTS TO THE traverse to complete each
the Reserve Zone how many
energy gems that character
TABLE, BUT ALSO BRINGS scenario, and each map is di-
vided up into areas in which
starts with. As characters
perform actions, they move
A WONDERFUL the characters will move and
fight. Each scenario will indi-
this energy to the action
icons on the sheet and at the
ADVENTURE AS WELL “ cate which map to use.
end of the turn move those There are also many other
gems to the Fatigue Zone. If counters and miniature bases
a character is wounded, gems that are used to track infor-
are moved to the Wound Zone. At the start of every turn, char- mation during the game. Again, all the pieces are of a great
acters can recover some fatigued energy to be spent on their quality, very durable, and have great artwork as well. There are
current turn. However, only certain items, abilities, or spells tokens that represent things like broken walls, tables, trea-
will recover wounds. The more a character is wounded or fa- sures, stairs, chairs, and even a well. The scenario being played
tigued, the fewer gems the character may spend on actions. will indicate how each of these tokens will be used. It also gives
38 | Yaah! Magazine
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or greater number of creatures than there are characters, there Once all the characters have finished their turn, the Overlord
will be penalties for performing certain actions. For example, then takes their turn. Since the Overlord oversees so many
if Conan were in a location with two Pict warriors, it would cost creatures, the game provides a plastic tablet called the Book
him two extra energy gems to move from that location. If there of Skelos. The Book of Skelos is where the Overlord will track
were two characters and one Pict warrior, then one character which creatures can act, what benefits they can use, and how
could move away with no penalty, but the remaining charac- many energy gems they can spend each turn. Every single crea-
ter would need to pay an extra energy gem to leave. Part of the ture or group of creatures has a corresponding creature tile.
party strategy is to put enough characters in a location so no The tile is like a mini character sheet and has the information
one character is overwhelmed. needed to play that creature. Each scenario will tell the Over-
lord which creatures to use and where to put their tile on the
Another concept that is handled well is the interaction be- Book of Skelos. There are eight positions on the Book of Skelos,
tween encumbrance and skills. Certain assets have weight. which is called the river, and each tile will take one location ac-
As you carry more objects and your weight increases, there cording to scenario setup in the river. Once the battlefield board
are skills listed on your character sheet that you will not be is laid out according to the scenario and the Book of Skelos is
able to perform. For example, if you have a swimming skill set, the game will begin.
of four and you’re carrying five encumbrance points, you will
not be able to swim. If you dropped the armor with three en- On the Overlord’s turn, they will decide which creature to acti-
cumbrance points, then you would be down to two encum- vate. The cost of each creature is based on their position in the
brance points. That is less than four needed to swim, so your river. The Overlord may activate up to two creatures. If a crea-
character could swim again if needed. Balancing carried en- ture is in location 8, it will cost eight energy gems to activate.
cumbrance vs. skills is another simple mechanic that brings Most scenarios only give the Overlord ten gems for the game,
more depth to your characters, and it certainly gives reason so the Overlord needs balance activating creatures with using
for characters to give gear they find to the player that can benefits located on the book of Skelos. Every time the Over-
both use and wear it well. lord activates a creature tile, they will pick it up, and move it to
40 | Yaah! Magazine
“
fect game balance. So, if you
One expenditure of energy make any changes because
gems comes in the form of you have played the included
Dredging the River. When COMBAT IS NOT OVERLY scenarios many times, just be
all the creatures of a tile are prepared to continue making
slain, that tile takes up a slot
on the river. The Overlord
COMPLICATED “ changes until you find the
game balance you like. The
can pay the cost of the tile Monolith website does in-
to move it to the back of the clude more adventures that
river, moving it out of the way, or they can pay two energy for you can download, and they have some adventures that can
every dead tile to dredge it out. When you dredge a tile from take advantage of creatures and characters that came as Kick-
the river, you permanently lose two energy gems and remove starter exclusives not in the base box.
the creature tile from the game. Since some scenarios have
the chance of returning creature tiles to play, sometimes this Overall, I feel this is a great adventure game and gives you a
is only used to remove creatures from the river that cannot be lot of content for the price. Once you get used to the mechan-
returned to play, such as unique creatures per scenario rules. ics of managing your energy gems, you’ll find a lot of strategy
and tactics waiting for you to explore. And even if you have to
Once the Overlord has completed their actions for the turn, play the same scenarios over again, the games tend to play out
the turn tracker is advanced and play returns to the characters. differently each time. If you have been on the fence about this
Once the number of turns for the scenario has expired, victory one, I say go for it. If you have never heard of this game before,
conditions are checked and a winner can be decided. Will it be I still recommend it and encourage you to visit the Monolith
Conan and his brave companions, or the Overlord and hordes of website for more information. http://www.monolithedition.
creatures? com/Conan-en/
Although I enjoy the game very much, I did want to share a cou-
ple of concerns. The rulebooks are very nice looking and contain
great art. There is one rulebook for the Heroes and one rulebook
for the Overlord. Both books are printed on nice glossy paper
and are very easy to read. Some concerns have been brought up
about how well the rules are written and have been translated,
leaving some players confused with some rulings in the game.
However, the folks at Monolith have already posted to their
website Version 2.0 of both books with better written rules and
better examples that really help clarify concerns of how the
game should be played. I think the game is still very playable
out of the box, but the updated rules are certainly welcome. I’m
not bothered that there are two books of rules, one for the He-
roes and one for the Overlord. This allows the Overlord to read
up on how to play their part, and it contains the scenarios so
Yaah! Magazine | 41
HANDS IN
THE SEA
DECK BUILDING THE
FIRST PUNIC WAR ARTICLE & PHOTOS BY ROGER LEROUX
What made that game different was not its subject, which had
been covered by other games such as Columbia’s Quebec 1759
and GMT’s Wilderness War, but rather that it took the deck
building approach most famously seen in Dominion to a board
wargame.
Each player began the game with a small core deck, and then
took alternating turns taking two actions per turn to gain su-
premacy in North America. Players could build locations, raid
settlements, trade to generate cash, and set sieges to their foe.
As settlements spread across the board, your deck would get
larger. There were also so-called Empire cards consisting of
military units and special cards that could be drafted into your
deck as well. The game could end by building your final town or
city token, successfully raiding 12 points of enemy settlements,
or by successfully winning a siege in Quebec City (for the Brit-
ish) or New York/Boston (for the French).
42 | Yaah! Magazine
Hands in the Sea is a wargame about the first Punic War between
Rome and Carthage. It uses a deck building engine to simulate
the logistical challenges both sides faced.
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“
of Hands in the Sea. conquer. Furthermore, some
places on the map have vic-
ACTION! tory points associated with
Hands in the Sea is a deck THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE them, so they are obvious
building game, and each places to go if you can get
player has a starting deck OF YOUR EMPIRE WILL there.
which includes the location
cards for their starting towns HINGE ON YOUR DECK “ You will need to develop
and cities, an empire deck of your towns into cities be-
cards that can be drafted into cause cities generate money
your hand, and then there are in the end of turn sequence,
location cards for spaces that begin the game unsettled by ei- and you need money to buy some empire cards, especially the
ther player and some neutral (grey) mercenary cards that can troops and navies you’re going to need to build to conquer ene-
be bought by either player. Each player has a hand of five cards, my locations. You can also earn money with mercantile actions,
and has a menu of twenty-four different actions they can take. or better yet, steal money from your opponent by pillaging his
coastline with your fleets.
The success or failure of your empire will hinge on your deck as
well as maximizing the benefits of your actions. You will need Speaking of fleets, the naval game is abstracted into a simple
Yaah! Magazine | 45
system of counting ships. If two fleets meet in the ocean and British Player in A Few Acres of Snow, but it’s not something that
fight, you roll dice to determine a winner of that combat. The will work in this game.
designer notes show that a lot of development went into the
naval aspect of the game, and that despite numerous efforts to TWELVE TURNS
include them in the cards themselves, it was a laborious and The reason a Halifax Hammer solution won’t work in Hand in
“
clunky outcome, so the sim- the Sea is that there are sim-
plification of the naval com- ply too many variables to
bat came with a profound trigger a game end. Rome and
interest in keeping the game IS HANDS IN THE SEA ANY Carthage are both well pro-
flow smooth and engaging tected spaces with very dif-
throughout. GOOD? YES, IT IS “ ficult approach patterns, and
the cost of setting up a simi-
Combat takes many forms, lar kind of lean deck ignores
from field battles in towns, the importance of the other
cavalry raids to capture towns or city tokens, and the all-im- game end triggers, including getting to 8 prestige for winning
portant sieges to conquer a space. Where Hands in the Sea dif- a land, sea, or siege engagement. Furthermore, you only have
fers significantly from A Few Acres of Snow is that sieges have a two actions per turn, and the clock is ticking.
finite duration and if you’re not successful in the time allotted,
you automatically lose. This gives a strong incentive to having The ingenious addition to the deck building core of this game is
a good plan in place, and also mimics the difficulties of supply that the Carthaginian player has some say over the length and
lines at the era. tempo of the game, because at the bottom of their deck is a turn
ending Campaign Card that
One interesting innovation Hands in the Sea provides is the addi- causes an interrupt.
tion of a strategy deck, which is a card that represents a special
bonus or enhancement to your side. Some of the strategy cards Each time the campaign card
are only available to one side, but many are usable by both. is triggered, a random event
Three cards are available for purchase at any given time, and it card is drawn that is almost
takes an action to both acquire one and to get rid of one, and you always bad for one player.
cannot have more than one in play at a time. One of these events can even
end the game early. Money
Of course, this being a deck building game you need to man- is collected for cities. Victory
age your deck. You can draft cards from your empire deck to points are accrued for cit-
build up your military capacity and obtain cards to improve your ies in supply. A new strategy
ability to manage your turn. For example, you can place cards card is drawn for the consid-
into a reserve for later, which is the ideal place to store troops eration of the players. The
for a planned siege. You can pull cards out of your deck to burn turn marker is advanced, and
the cards you don’t need or want to increase the frequency of the campaign card is put back
the useful cards. This is the crux of the Halifax Hammer for the to the bottom of the Carthag-
inian player’s draw deck.
46 | Yaah! Magazine
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TET OFFENSIVE
A Fictional Scenario for ‘ 65
BY JOSH HARRIS
It was the morning of January 31st, 1968 and the platoon commander • RPDs will always use suppressive Fire.
had been briefed that there would be a cease fire. Even though it was • Activated Sapper units that are adjacent to U.S. units will use
a holiday, the platoon was given orders to stay on guard but not to fire their Satchel Charge power if directed to fire.
unless fired upon. The morning intel brief seemed on point until about • At the end of any turn in which the US loses two or more
16:00. Fireworks began to fire into the air and during the lightshow, the units they get an Artillery Strike. The Artillery Strike will
NVA made their assault on the unexpecting Americans. – Josh Harris take place after the Reserve Phase but before the beginning
of the next turn.
Turns: 10 Turns. Turn ends when fourth End Turn is drawn.
Event Markers:
Set Up • There are no event markers in this scenario, however, when
U.S. the third NVA unit is eliminated, read Paragraph 1.
Set up in or adjacent to building M5. 8 x Rifle, 4 x M60, Black, • At the beginning of Turn 5, read Paragraph 2.
Dixon.
U.S. Reinforcements: Set up on or adjacent to Hex L10. 4 x Rifle, Paragraph 1:
Riggs (See SSR) “These bastards should have stayed home, nothing can stop the
US Army!” screams a boot. He continues to fire at the retreat-
North Vietnamese (NVA) ing NVA. A stream of his bullets cuts down a fleeing Vietnamese
Set up on Hue City Map: 1 MM, 1 Rifle, 1 RPD on Hex H7 & M10. woman. Enraged by the murder, the Vietcong Militia attack.
1MM, 2 Rifle on Hex H8 & L10. 1 MM, 3 Rifle on Hex J7, L9, M9. All Vietcong units stance changes to Skirmish and will remain
VC: Set up on Hue City Map: 1 MM, 1 Rifle, 2 Sappers on Hex F5, that way for the remainder of the scenario. The Vietcong may also
G6, F6. 1 MM, 1 Rifle, 2 RPD on Hex O9. move one hex closer to the objective during the Reserve phase.
48 | Yaah! Magazine
West Hill Outpost, Ben Het Special Forces Camp. Scenario Special Rules
For days, patrols and listening posts heard tracked vehicles pass- • Dug In: US tanks may start the game in prepared firing po-
ing nearby, but the intelligence experts discounted their reports. sitions. These are represented by the Foxhole markers. As
On the night of March 3rd, 1969, the experts were proven wrong long as a tank remains in the Foxhole hex, any hits on the
when an exploding landmine illuminated a company of PT-76 tank automatically become Turret Hits. Once the tank moves
tanks approaching the hill. The tankers of B Company, 1/69 Ar- (including pivoting in place), it loses this protection. (The
mor, were ready for them. This would be the only engagement tank may re-enter its original hex but it no longer receives
between US and enemy armor during the war. the bonus.) The normal Foxhole rules still apply to any leg
units in Foxhole hexes.
Length • Friends in High Places: the West Hill outpost was supported
10 turns. Each turn ends when the second ‘End Turn’ marker is by a battery of 175mm guns at the main Ben Het compound
drawn, or when both players pass consecutively. nearby. US forces may play any POWER card as if it were an
Artillery card.
Setup • Night Fighting: Any unit conducting AP fire at a target that
On Map 2, place a Bunker in each of hexes E4, G4, F4. Place Fox- is currently under a FIRED marker receives a +1 bonus to its
holes in E3, F2, F3, G3. Place Wire in each of: D2, D3, D4, E5, F5, Targeting Modifier.
G5, H4, H3, H2, G2, F1, E2. The Wire demarcates the perimeter of • Superior Numbers: Once PER GAME, the NVA player may
the West Hill Outpost. play a Reinforcement action to flip over any or all PT-76
Wreck markers to their good order sides and mark them Ops
US: Set up first on Map 2, in any hex numbered 2 or higher. 3 x Complete. This applies ONLY to PT-76 Wrecks that are out-
M48, 3 x M60, 3 x LAW, 1 x M40, Black, Dixon. side of the Wire perimeter. NOTE: the destroyed PT-76s still
count toward the VP total, so we suggest you use a pencil,
NVA: Set up last on Map 3, in any hex numbered 1. 5 x PT-76. a pile of unused markers, or a billion-dollar quantum su-
percomputer to keep track of them. (My favorite always re-
Victory mains a beer-stained napkin. -Mark)
• The NVA receive Victory Points for each American unit
destroyed: Maps
• 3 VP per tank Maps 2 and 3, laid out as shown.
• 1 VP per leg unit
• Deduct -1 VP for each PT-76 destroyed.
• If the NVA control any or all of the Kunai hexes (E4, F3, F4,
G4) on Map 2 at the end of Turn 10, add 5 VP.
Yaah! Magazine | 49
50 | Yaah! Magazine
General Nathaniel Banks’ isolated corps is deployed in front of the bulk of the tivation chit
rest of the Union Army of Virginia and is very much “ripe for the picking” by Turn 4 (4:00) – Garnett’s Brigade; Hardy and Peagram Artillery
the approaching Confederate corps, lead by the legendary Stonewall Jackson. units at 2218
This scenario depicts the “march to battle” for both sides and is a longer and Turn 6 (4:40) – Ronald’s Brigade at 2218
more open-ended scenario than those included in the game. Players are free Turn 7 (5:00) – Thomas’s Brigade at 2218 + Hill Division Activation chit
to develop the battle as they see fit, within basic historical constraints. Turn 9 (5:40) – Branch’s Brigade at 2218
Turn 10 (6:00) – Archer’s Brigade at 2218
Place the “Game Turn” marker in the Turn 1 (3:00) space of the Turn 11 (6:20) – Jackson CIC chit (unless using Stonewall’s Bad
Game Turn Track. If using the Stonewall’s Bad Day optional rule, Day optional rule) and Pender’s Brigade at 2218
place the Jackson CIC chit in the “Start” space of the Where Is
Jackson? Track. If using the General Pope’s Reinforcement Special Scenario Rules
optional rule, place the Ricketts Division Activation chit in the 1. The scenario starts with Game Turn 1 and ends at the conclu-
“Start” space of the Where Is Ricketts? Track as well. Only the sion of Game Turn 16.
Ewell Division Activation chit is available at the start of the game.
2. The Confederate Brigades Forno and Trimble must only move
Union Army Setup to and remain upon hexes on Cedar Mountain (hex rows 3300
Artillery to 3700 (inclusive) that are of Level “4” or greater. They cannot
Knap – 1607 McGilvery – 1705 Best – 1806 Reynolds – 1905 move from Cedar Mountain until the Jackson CIC chit enters the
Cothran – 2005 Robinson – 2205 Roemer – 2304 game or until any one of their units is engaged in Close Combat
by a Union unit.
Reinforcements
Turn 3 (3:40) – Greene’s Brigade at 2400; Prince’s Brigade anywhere 3. There are no chit pulls of any kind during Game Turns 1 & 2. In-
between 2000 and 2300 (inclusive) – the 8th US and 12th US units must stead, the Confederate player will choose one of Ewell’s Brigades
be in Skirmish Order; Geary’s Brigade anywhere between 1500 and to activate. After completion of that Brigade’s activation, he
1900 (inclusive) + Auger Division Activation chit + Banks CIC chit. must then still make the necessary die roll against Ewell’s Com-
Turn 4 (4:00) – Crawford’s Brigade anywhere between 1003 and mand Rating to keep the Division Activation chit in the game and
1006 (inclusive) + Williams Division Activation chit be able to move the other brigades.
Turn 5 (4:20) – Gordon’s Brigade and 1st PA cavalry at 1300
4. On Game Turn 3, conduct normal chit pulls but during the Com-
Confederate Army Setup mand Decision Phase both players must instead randomly remove
Ewell’s Division – Trimble’s Brigade four Event chits from the pool (rather than the normal two).
15th AL – 3416 21st GA – 3417 21st NC – 3418
Ewell’s Division – Early’s Brigade 5. Beginning with Game Turn 4, all normal rules are played.
13th VA – 2016 52nd VA & 58th VA – 2017 31st VA – 2117 12th
GA – 2218 25th VA - 2217 6. Free-For-All Option: If you’d like to try a “wild and crazy” op-
Artillery tion, deploy only the Union and Confederate artillery at start. Al-
Terry & Latimer – 3415 d’Aquin & Dement (A) – 2913 low the Confederate Brigade’s of Early and Trimble to march onto
Brown & Dement (B) – 2612 the map from anywhere on the western map edge on Game Turn
1. All reinforcements thereafter enter on the turn prescribed, but
Reinforcements may do so from anywhere on the western map edge (for the Con-
Turn 2 (3:20) – Forno’s Brigade at 3418; Poague, Caskie and Car- federates) or the eastern map edge (for the Union). All restric-
penter Artillery units at 2218 tions to Forno’s and Trimble’s Brigades are removed – they can
Turn 3 (3:40) – Taliaferro’s Brigade at 2218 + Winder Division Ac- move where they want to when they wish to.
Yaah! Magazine | 51
QUARANTINED!
A Dead Reckoning Scenario
BY MICK SULLIVAN
General Setup Optional rules, which can be used in this scenario or others:
The turn marker starts on the Turn 3 space. There are four turns NOM NOM NOM - When a non-refugee human is killed, return
in this scenario. Remove a “3” card from each initiative deck. The a unit from the Zombie Dead(?) pile to the reinforcements cup.
decks will only be 8 cards in the game, with 5 used each turn.
A Little Less Swing - When reshuffling the initiative decks at the
Human Setup start of a turn, ensure that the cards removed from the previous
The human player sets up first. Place human units in the turn are included in the new decks.
Hoozenfirst Forest and town buildings per standard scenario rules.
52 | Yaah! Magazine
The Raging Tiger Militia Battalion has learned of a group of civilians being any guarding Killer MECA. There are none, but neither are there in-
held captive by a Killer strike force. Now would be a good time to strike nocent civilians. The men and woman in the house all wear vests,
back against the invaders and free innocent civilians. The helicopters in- and they all wear a blank, unseeing expression. The vests remind
sert the Tigers just outside the village where the civilians are being held. you of the life jacket that you daughter wore when learning to swim,
The mission is to get in, get the civilians, and get back to the choppers. the one with a series of pockets in which you slid Styrofoam tubes
to keep her afloat. But there is no Styrofoam here. Wires link each
Turns: 6 Turns. Turn ends when second End Turn is drawn. Use tube on each vest on each body. To your right, a beautiful woman
the Hue (City) Map from ’65 Squad-level Combat in the Jungles pumps a ball in her hand. Your world ends in a flash of light.
of Vietnam.
50 Meters Distant
Set Up
Raging Tigers: Enter on Row A on Turn One: Iskara, Jack, Larkin, The Sergeant watches the building explode, pieces of wood, glass,
T’Qual, Doc, 6 x Infantry, 1 x M60. and flesh falling from the sky like thick rain. A figure stumbles
Aliens: Place a random MM in each of the following squares: H3, out. One of the militia. The Sergeant rushes to his side. The man,
F5, F6, D1, G9. Place the Warper and a random MM (revealed) in L4. bleeding from numerous lacerations, looks at the Sergeant. “They
2 x Civilian Units. Set up on I4. Will not move, except when di- wouldn’t have done that, Sarge. They were just people, but their
rected. eyes…” The man shakes his head. “You should have seen their
eyes. Someone was controlling them.”
Draw Cup: 6 x MECA, 1 x 2X, 1 x RE. 1. Remove the two Civilian units in I4. They have detonated the
Initial Stance: Defensive. explosive packs that they are wearing, killing themselves and
Change: Never. the unit that discovered them.
Scenario Designated Event: Spooked. 2. Place a Civilian unit in K5, M5, L5, and two Civilian units in N4.
Use the following rules:
Victory a. Civilian units activate in the Reserve Phase, moving their
To win the Militia player must accumulate 6 Victory Points (VPs) by entire movement allowance toward the nearest Militia unit.
scenario end. VPs are awarded as follows: Resolve ties randomly.
• Each Civilian Rescued: 3 VPs. b. After all Civilian units have finished moving. Resolve Melee
• Each MECA unit destroyed: 1 VPs. combat for hexes containing Militia and Civilian units. Civil-
• Each Raging Tiger unit lost: -1 VPs. ians have a HEF of 3 due to the explosive vests that they are
• Scenario defined. wearing.
c. Civilians may be fired on normally. Eligible Units may Op Fire
Special Scenario Rules: on Civilians in the Reserve Phase.
• Reserve Phase. Killer units cannot move in the Reserve Phase. d. Civilians do not Shake. They are 2-step units. When they
Militia units move normally, as per Reserve Phase movement suffer a Hit, flip the counter to the Fanatics side. A second hit
rules. destroys them. Disregard all values on both sides of the Civilian
• To rescue a Civilian unit, the Militia unit need only move into counters except for the MF.
its hex. Remove the Civilian from the board and credit the Mi- e. The Militia player gets 1 VP for every Civilian units destroyed.
litia player 3 points. f. If the Militia player eliminates the Warper, read Paragraph
Two.
Event Markers Paragraph Two
Event Marker A Occupation. Place in hex I4. Militia activation only. Bullets shred the cloaked Killer. With a terrible scream, he falls to
When activated remove the marker and read Paragraph One. the floor. Dead. The bond with the Warper broken, all Civilian units
Paragraph One cease moving in the reserve phase. If a Militia unit enters their hex
You burst into the house, gun at the ready, prepared to mow down they do not attack, they are considered rescued.
Yaah! Magazine | 53
THE TWELVE
BATTLES OF
ARTHUR
BY CHUCK TURNITSA
54 | Yaah! Magazine
The idea of wargaming the battles of King Arthur is certainly a the tactical rules for these battles. Richard Borg and the folks
compelling one, especially if one judges by the number of min- at GMT are working on the upcoming C&C: Medieval (C&C:M)
iature wargaming products that have come out in recent years variant of the system, but as I understand the press about the
to support that activity. But this is also a great topic for tactical game, it is not being based on early dark ages Britain, at least
board gaming. Here, when I discuss King Arthur, I am talking not initially.
about a likely “Arthur-like figure” that was the charismatic,
and skilled, leader of a military force in Post-Roman Britain, The Army of Arthur
but drawing heavily on the military customs and training that The army of an Arthur-like figure would include three main
they would have inherited from the late Empire. There are groups of troops. The first would be the cavalry, which would
many, many competing theories about Arthur, his existence, be effective against the enemies of the British people at the
the epistemology of everything about him, his legends, if he time especially because many of those enemies lacked their
existed, and the sources that mention him. That is not the con- own cavalry. These would be armored, but relying heavily on
cern here – this is about wargaming some of Arthur’s battles. a large (for cavalry) shield, and a spear for their main weapon.
It is quite likely that a war leader like Arthur would have a co-
A topic even as narrow as wargaming Arthur’s battles quick- mitatus, or core group of heavier, better-trained cavalry (some
ly gets us into deep water– what are the sources for Arthur’s interpretations have these in the Sarmatian heavy cavalry tra-
battles? For that, I am going to make a leap and base it on the dition). These would be interpreted by later sources as Arthur’s
writings of Nennius, who writing in the 9th century, described Knights. The British cavalry, or Combrogi, in C&C:A might be
twelve great battles of Arthur. Some of those have more de- best represented as Medium Cavalry. The comitatus might be
scription and detail than others, and all would be later de- best represented as Heavy Cavalry if you are using units from
scribed by sources such as Geoffrey of Monmouth. the base game, but the additional edge of using Heavy Cata-
phract Cavalry (from Expansion 4) might be a better represen-
The next immediate question is, what about Arthur’s army? For tation.
that, I am going to base this on the idea that Arthur represented
a cavalry-heavy Post-Roman British army. The troops in this The second element in Arthur’s army would be the basic infan-
army are not quite medieval in nature or battlefield behavior, try. These would be in the tradition of late Roman pedites. They
so I feel justified in using Commands & Colors: Ancients (C&C:A) as would be spear armed, rely on a very heavy shield, and fight in a
56 | Yaah! Magazine
Yaah! Magazine | 57
the fifth and beginning of the sixth centuries (the period of the unit disbands, granting a victory banner to the opposing
Arthur, here assumed to be from about A.D. 475 to about A.D. player). If Arthur joins a new, eligible unit, that new unit gains
539). Later they would come back, and conquer almost all of an extra block. This represents the bodyguard of Arthur- his
Briton, making it into England, and lasting as a number of in- “knights of the round table”, if you fancy using the term.
dependent kingdoms until the Viking incursions. In Arthur’s
time, however, the Saxons are represented by an army almost The Battles of Arthur
entirely composed of Warriors, with a small component of The 12 battles of Arthur we will discuss here are the battles that
Light Infantry (bows). It is possible that rogue Welsh cavalry were described by the Welsh Monk, Nennius. He wrote the His-
elements might have joined with a Saxon war leader in some of tory of the Britons, in the year A.D. 828. His work does not spend
the later battles. If so, these might be represented as a small a lot of time on Arthur, but it does have some specificity in list-
force of cavalry (like British Combrogi) fighting alongside the ing his battles. They are as follows:
Saxon warriors.
Arthur’s First Battle was fought at the River Glein. This first
Special Rules battle may very well have been Arthur responding to a fresh land-
Shieldburg – Medium Infantry and Warriors in these scenarios ing of Saxons coming into Briton. This battle is between Arthur
are adept at fighting using the Shield Wall tactic. This was re- (the attacker) and a Saxon horde, defending their boats (a fortified
ferred to as “forming the shieldburg”. If such a unit is eligible camp) on the banks of the Glein River.
to ignore a Flag Result (i.e. by being supported by two adjacent
friendly units), it is also able to ignore one Hit sustained in • Arthur’s Army – 1 Heavy Cavalry, 3 Medium Cavalry, 6 Medium
close combat. Infantry, 2 Light Bow Infantry, 1 Leader, and 1 Arthur Leader.
Deploy second, within two hexes of Arthur’s base edge.
Special Leader – Arthur – If Arthur is located with any Mounted
British unit (either Medium Cavalry, Heavy Cavalry, or Heavy • Saxon Army – 8 Warrior Infantry, 2 Auxilia Infantry, 2
Cataphract Cavalry), that unit receives an extra block. If Arthur Light Bow Infantry, and 2 Leaders. Deploy first, all units
leaves the unit, the extra block also leaves (if it is the last block, within five hexes of the Camp.
58 | Yaah! Magazine
Yaah! Magazine | 59
• Arthur’s Army – 1 Heavy Infantry, 9 Medium Infantry, 2 unfamiliarity with the Marshy region around the river
Light Bow Infantry, 1 Leader, 1 Arthur Leader. Deploy sec- Dubglas, he only receives 4 cards for this scenario. Victory
ond, within two hexes of Arthur’s base edge. is set at 6 banners.
• Colgren’s Survivors – 8 Warrior Infantry, 2 Light Bow In- Arthur’s Fourth Battle is the defense of Lindum. Arthur, after
fantry, 2 Light Sling Infantry, and 2 Leaders. Deploy first, the battle in the Marsh, has temporarily withdrawn his men
anywhere on the map, at least four hexes from Arthur’s to behind the walls at Lindum. While there, Colgren, with his
base edge. forces renewed, attempts an attack on the city. For this battle,
Arthur’s men are once again fighting on foot, but they are de-
• Terrain – Saxon player will set up terrain before deploying. fending the walls. Colgren has received additional troops from
The terrain consists of a fordable river starting on the Sax- a kinsman who has brought his own warband to join in the as-
on Left edge, and extending to the Right edge, somewhere sault.
around the middle of the board. There are two bridges.
The Saxon player should place 5 Marsh tiles anywhere ad- • Arthur’s Army - 1 Heavy Infantry, 9 Medium Infantry, 2
jacent to the River, along with 4 hill tiles, and 6 forest tiles. Light Bow Infantry, 1 Leader, 1 Arthur Leader. Deploy first,
along or behind the walls of Lindum.
• Special Rules – Shieldburg applies to all Medium Infan-
try, and to Saxon Warrior Infantry. The Arthur Leader rule • Colgren’s Assault – 9 Warrior Infantry, 4 Medium Infantry,
does not apply (since there are no mounted units in this 2 Light Bow Infantry, 2 Light Sling Infantry, and 3 Leaders.
scenario). After Arthur deploys, two Saxon units may re- Deploy second, anywhere on the map, at least three hexes
deploy. The Saxon player has 5 cards. Because of Arthur’s from the walls of Lindum.
60 | Yaah! Magazine
Yaah! Magazine | 61
GAME PREFACE
DONETSK: A STUDY IN TRAGEDY
ARTICLE BY RYAN KIRK
“
The catalyst for the War in the called Novorossiya with the
Donbass lay in the February smaller Luhansk People’s
2014 Euromaiden movement Republic to the north.
that culminated in massive
THIS UPRISING WAS AND CONTINUES
protests and street fight- TO BE SUPPORTED BY RUSSIAN The Ukrainian government
ing in Kiev and other urban responded quickly and many
centres and the ousting of
pro-Russian president Vik-
“
DIPLOMATIC AND MILITARY EFFORTS of the separatists’ initial
gains were quickly returned
tor Yanukovich in favour of a to government control. A
pro-European Union govern- fast-moving series of spring
ment. This revolution was framed as both a populist democrat- and summer offensives recaptured 23 of the 36 districts initially
ic movement by pro-Western voices and an unconstitutional seized by pro-Russian separatists in 2014, until the arrival of
coup by Russia and her allies. It led to the almost immediate Russian troops and material support in August created a stale-
annexation of Crimea by Moscow, and increased tensions and mate. Another surge of Russian support in January of 2015 re-
burgeoning support for separatist groups in the Donbass re- sulted in major separatist offensives in the vicinities of Donetsk,
gion. The Donbass comprises the Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts Horlivka, Debaltseve, and Mariupol. At the peak of the fighting
of Eastern Ukraine and the population is predominately Rus- in early 2015 there were estimated to be roughly 10000 Russian
sian speaking, the result of Soviet era settlement programs. troops and upwards of 500 AFVs deployed to Eastern Ukraine.
Following the fall of Crimea, many local government officials Today the frontlines remain relatively static and the breakaway
and police and military forces in this region defected, seizing states find themselves stuck in limbo, unrecognized by the in-
towns, villages, and government buildings. They quickly orga- ternational community and unable to break cleanly enough from
nized themselves into de facto local governments and militias, Ukraine to join Russia. In reality, this status may suit Russian
62 | Yaah! Magazine
“
AS THE LARGEST CITY IN THE REGION
AND AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRIAL
CENTER, DONETSK WAS A VALUABLE
“
SYMBOLIC AND STRATEGIC TARGET
After a summer standoff that involved almost daily shelling The fighting at the Donetsk Airport during those final months
of the airport and surrounding areas of the city, the separat- was brutal and non-stop. Repeated separatist attacks eventually
ist forces began to receive more reinforcements and high-end corralled the Ukrainian forces in the New Terminal and Control
equipment from Russia in July and August. This was in response Tower. Cut off from friendly lines in the nearby towns of Pisky,
to Ukrainian operational successes elsewhere and started with Avdiivka, and Opytne, the troops in the New Terminal lived un-
artillery attacks and surface to air missiles launched from across der siege conditions. Endless shelling had reduced the building
64 | Yaah! Magazine
Yaah! Magazine | 65
COMBATANTS
Forces on both sides of the conflict are a smorgasbord of regu-
lar military personnel and volunteer militias. On the separatist
side, the militias comprised of enthusiastic locals are supported
by foreign volunteers and mercenaries from Russia and abroad.
Many of these foreign fighters have prior military or police
training and combat experience in conflict zones like Chechnya,
Afghanistan, Ossetia, and the former Yugoslavia. The militias
are loosely organized into ‘volunteer battalions’ with colour-
ful and evocative names drawn from local geography and his-
tory such as the Svarog Battalion named for an ancient Slavic
deity, the Miner’s division comprised of local coal miners, and
the Vostok Battalion named after a GRU special forces group that
operated in Chechnya and South Ossetia in the past. These vari-
ous volunteer battalions have been reinforced by Russian regular
army units and their hardware that are regularly rotated into the the Ukrainian National Guard, such as the famous Azov Bat-
conflict zone from staging areas across the border. These units talion. The Ukrainian forces are mostly volunteer forces and
include elements of the 18th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, the are well motivated, but they have experienced various short-
9th Motorized Rifle Brigade, the 200th Motor Rifle Brigade, the comings in the field. Many of their troops are older and poorly
76th Airborne Division, 98th Airborne Division, 31st Airborne trained reservists with no prior combat experience. They have
Brigade, and Spetsnaz teams from the 22nd Spetsnaz Brigade also found themselves short on supplies on many occasions,
and 45th Guards Spetsnaz Regiment. While Russia does not of- using outdated and broken down equipment while waiting for
ficially recognize its participation in the conflict, the presence resupply and aid from allies. At the outset of the conflict, many
of these units has been confirmed by independent observation of their tanks and infantry carriers were mothballed in storage
and identification of vehicles, and it has been a continuous
“
captured combatants, the is- effort to keep reliable com-
suing of medals and awards bat vehicles in the field. The
by the Russian government, Ukrainian armed forces are
the transportation and burials THE FIGHTING AT THE DONETSK generally short on high tech
of casualties back in Russia, communications, UAVs, and
AIRPORT DURING THOSE FINAL
and social media posts and electronic warfare assets to
interviews given by members
of the units.
MONTHS WAS BRUTAL “ counter those supplied by
the Russians. Fortunately
for the Ukrainians, high
The regular Russian forces morale and national pride
have been important for the have kept their forces moti-
survival of the fledgling DPR. Following the initial seizures by vated and in the fight even during Russian led offensives that
local dissidents, most separatist offensive operations have in had them technologically outclassed. They have also received
fact been spearheaded by Russian forces. Successful offensives substantial training and material support from NATO allies
against Ukrainian forces have all coincided with spikes in the such as the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Lithuania.
deployment of Russia troops, their casualty rates, and the issu-
ance of medals and honorary awards. By many accounts, local Both sides use a variety of armoured vehicles and weapons of
insurgents- being more poorly organized- have been used as mostly Russian origin. These include BTR and BMP personnel
cannon fodder in assaults, for public relations appearances that carriers and fighting vehicles, BRDM armoured cars, and 2S1
attempt to portray the movement as a populist local effort, or and 2S3 self-propelled howitzers. In the early stages of the
as simple holding forces after the heavy fighting was finished. conflict, before Russian air defenses established a no-fly-zone,
the Ukrainian air force made effective use of Mi-24 Hinds and
On the Ukrainian side, the regular military forces have been SU-25 Frogfoot ground attack planes. The BM series of multiple
bolstered by large-scale mobilizations of reserves and their rocket launchers is ever present, with the mobile and versa-
own smattering of militias and volunteer battalions, many of tile Ural truck mounted BM-21 Grad platform seeing especially
which have since been officially recognized and supplied by heavy use on both sides. The T-64 tank has seen the heaviest
66 | Yaah! Magazine
1
Exact figures for insurgent losses are difficult to track. Russia refuses
to openly acknowledge the involvement of its troops in an attempt to
maintain plausible deniability and the local militia forces leave something
to be desired in their transparency. Estimates range from a low-end
figure of 2000 KIA provided by the Donetsk People’s Republic to the
likely inflated claims by Kiev that over 10000 enemy troops have been
killed. Independent observers and researchers estimate about 2000
local insurgents, 1500 foreign volunteers from Russia and abroad, and as
many 1000 active duty Russian personnel have been killed fighting for the
separatist cause.
Yaah! Magazine | 67
DON E T S K Credits
Design: Ryan Kirk
Development: Art Bennett, Mark Walker
Art: Ilya Kudriashov
1. Components and General Rules capacity is indicated by the number of gun symbols above the
front of the Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV)/Truck vehicle im-
1.1 Map and Scale age. In addition to Infantry SQUAD(s) the IFV/Truck can carry
The map covers the Donetsk Airport and adjacent town area. ONE Leader/Weapon Team.
The top of the map is North. Each hex represents approximate-
ly 150 meters and each turn represents 10 minutes. The coun- Leg Units
ters represent Infantry Squads (8-15 men), Heavy Weapons and Infantry/Militia
Leader Teams (3-5 men), and single AFVs/IFVs/Trucks.
1.2 Counters
There are two types of counters in the game. Unit counters rep-
resent the fighting troops, vehicles, and leader teams of each
side. Marker counters are used to keep track of information,
unit status, and for administrative purposes. Note: Blue and yellow tape around the magazines was a com-
mon practice of the Ukrainian troops, hence the ‘rainbow’ col-
Units are categorized as either hard or soft targets. Infantry ored magazines on the Ukrainian Infantry counters.
Squads, Heavy Weapons, and Leader Teams are soft targets. All
AFVs/IFVs are hard targets. Trucks are soft targets. Leader Teams/Heavy Weapons
68 | Yaah! Magazine
2.1 Initiative
• Remove all Smoke Markers
IFV/Infantry Fighting Vehicle • Remove all Pin Markers
• Resolve pending Fire Support from the previous Turn -
Ukrainian Player first/results applied simultaneously.
• Plot and check current turn Fire Support - Ukrainian Player
first/results applied simultaneously.
• Determine the Initiative Player for the Action Phase
Note: Trucks are vehicles like IFVs but can carry three Infantry 2.2 Action Phase
squads and one Leader/Weapon Team and are considered SOFT • Initiative Player activates unit(s)
targets. • Non-Initiative Player activates unit(s)
• Players continue alternating unit activations until no units
1.3 Dice on both sides are left to activate. Players cannot ‘pass’ to
The game uses three dice – one four-sided die (1D4) for initia- save activations, they must activate at least one unit even
tive determination and two six-sided dice (1D6/2D6) for Fire if the unit performs no actions.
combat and Fire Support resolution.
3. Initiative
1.4 Stacking Limits In each scenario, each side is rated for Initiative and Hesitation.
Each side may stack up to three Infantry Squads and two Ve- These values are used to determine the motivation and offen-
hicle units per hex. Infantry Squads loaded in transport vehi- sive capabilities of each side. During the Initiative Phase each
cles do not count towards the stacking limit. Heavy Weapons/ player rolls 1D4 and adds this to their current Initiative Level.
Leader Teams and Marker counters do not count towards the Then both sides’ combined Initiative + 1D4 value is compared,
stacking limit. and the side with the highest value is the Initiative Player for
the rest of the turn. If there is a tie grant the initiative for the
Stacking limits apply at the END of a movement activation, al- turn to the side that did not have the initiative the previous
lowing units to move freely through hexes ignoring the stack- turn.
ing limit but not ending movement in a hex in excess of the
stacking limit. Since enemy units may occupy the same hex 3.1 Initiative Reduction
these limits apply to each side for a single hex. For example, Each side’s Initiative Level may decrease during the game due
there could be three Infantry Squads and two Vehicle units from to casualties, causing a side to falter in its commitment to the
each side in the same hex. battle. Each time a unit is ELIMINATED (not just reduced), low-
er that side’s Initiative Rating by one. Use the Game Turn Track
1.5 Rounding on the map to record Initiative Levels with each side’s Initiative
When calculating movement and firing factors DROP all frac- Counter.
tions from the FINAL calculation.
3.2 Hesitation
2. Sequence of Play Each side is also assigned a Hesitation Level by the scenario.
Each turn is divided into two phases – the Initiative Phase and This number represents the point at which a side begins to lose
the Action Phase. During the Initiative phase players remove its will to fight due to mounting casualties and battlefield con-
Smoke and Pin Markers from their units, resolve pending Fire fusion.
Support from the previous turn and plot the current turn fire
support, and finally determine who has the initiative for the When a side’s Initiative Level is reduced to equal to or less than
current turn. its Hesitation Level, that side’s units will no longer willingly
perform offensive operations that place them in danger. In
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game terms, this means that units that are not activated by a • Fire at an enemy unit at full attack strength OR
Leader Team are no longer able to move towards enemy units • Move up to half its movement allowance AND Fire at an
within their line of sight. They may not move adjacent to or into enemy unit at half attack strength or vice versa OR
the same hex as any enemy unit. If an enemy unit moves adja- • Assume Overwatch Status
cent to or into their hex, they must use their next activation to
move away from that enemy. If they are unable to do so without 5. Movement
moving closer to another enemy unit in their line of sight, (e.g., When a unit is activated for movement the player moves it one
they are encircled) they surrender and are removed from the hex at a time, pausing briefly in each hex entered so that the
game and counted as a casualty, reducing that side’s Initiative other player may choose to perform Overwatch Fire if able, un-
Level. til the unit has expended all its movement allowance (or half of
its movement allowance if the move/fire action was chosen) or
3.3 Broken the player chooses to move the unit no further. Units may move
If a side’s Initiative Level is reduced to zero, that side’s will to into and out of half hexes on the edges of the playing map.
fight has been broken and the game ends in a victory for the
other side. 5.1 Terrain
Each type of terrain has a movement cost for leg and for vehicle
4. Activation units listed on the terrain effects chart. A unit must expend
When it is a player’s turn to activate units, the player may movement points equal to the cost of the terrain in each hex it
choose to activate either a Leader Team and multiple units, or enters. If a unit does not have enough movement points to en-
any single unit. ter a hex, it may not do so. There is no one hex minimum move
as with other games. Units may never occupy terrain which is
4.1 Leader Team Activation listed as Prohibited for its type (leg/vehicle) on the Terrain Ef-
If a player chooses to activate a Leader Team, the Leader Team fects Chart.
may also activate any friendly units that are stacked with or
adjacent to the Leader Team. This includes adjacent Leader In cases where a hex contains more than one type of terrain, the
Teams which may then activate other units stacked or adjacent unit must pay the cost for the terrain that gives it the best de-
to them – and this can continue in a chain of Leader Team/unit fensive modifier. A unit cannot enter a hex that has terrain that
activations. The player must declare all units that will be acti- is Prohibited to its type. Example: Vehicle units are prohibited
vated by the Leader Team(s) immediately after activating the from entering Terminal, Parkade, or Control Tower hexes.
Leader Team and before performing any actions with the units.
Pinned Leader Teams may not activate friendly units. Leader 5.2 Road Movement
Teams who are passengers in vehicles may still activate friend- Road movement occurs when a vehicle unit moves along a con-
ly units as normal. Only units activated by a Leader Team may tiguous path of hexes connected by a road. The unit must enter
move into an enemy hex. the new hex across a hexside crossed by a road to receive the
benefit of road movement. When this condition is met, the unit
Units activated together by a Leader Team must perform their pays only the road terrain cost. While using road movement the
actions one at a time. The player must finish all actions with unit still receives the best available terrain defensive modifier
one activated unit before moving to the next activated unit. The in the hex if attacked. Note that roads are the only way for ve-
exception to this rule is activated units that start the activa- hicle units to cross wooded stream hexes and other rough ter-
tion stacked with the Leader Team may combine their fire to- rain normally prohibited to them.
gether when attacking enemy SOFT Target units (see Fire rules).
Units activated by a Leader Team are not required to perform 5.3 Transport
the same actions. Units may only be activated once per game Certain vehicle units in the game are marked as transports.
turn. After a unit has been activated and has finished its ac- These represent Infantry Fighting Vehicles that can be used to
tions, mark it with a Spent marker or rotate the unit counter 90 transport infantry units. Infantry Fighting Vehicles may carry
degrees to indicate it is done for the turn. ONE infantry SQUAD (as indicated by the gun symbol on the
counter) plus ONE Leader/Weapon team. Trucks may carry
4.2 Unit Actions THREE Infantry SQUADS (as indicated by the gun symbols on
• When a unit is activated, it may perform ONE of the fol- the counter) plus ONE Leader/Weapon Team. During an infan-
lowing actions: try unit’s activation, it may mount a transport located in the
• Move up to its full movement allowance OR same hex by paying a cost of one movement point. Once loaded
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unit that is stacked with a unit that is reduced or eliminated the game in Overwatch status may NOT activate during the first
becomes pinned immediately. Infantry Units that are reduced turn of the scenario. It is important to weigh the pros and cons
for a second time are eliminated from the game as they either of prepared firing positions versus tactical flexibility during
have suffered too many casualties or have lost too much cohe- unit setup.
sion to continue as an effective fighting force. Heavy Weapons
Teams do not have a reduced side, and are eliminated from the 6.10 Reaction Fire
game the first time they are reduced. Vehicles that are reduced Any time a unit moves INTO or OUT OF a hex containing enemy
are eliminated and turned over to their wreck side. Whenever a units, it is subject to a single reaction fire attack by any ONE
unit is eliminated that side’s Initiative Level is reduced by one. enemy unit in that hex at half strength that has not previously
performed reaction fire that turn. Previously activated/spent
6.7 Reduced Leader Teams units are eligible to perform this reaction fire but not Pinned
Leader Teams are wounded if they are reduced. Wounded leader units. If multiple units are activated by a Leader Team together,
teams are no longer eligible to conduct fire groups and when they still move one unit at a time and each unit undergoes re-
they make group activations they may only activate units in action fire individually when moving into or out of an enemy
their same hex, not adjacent hexes. If a wounded Leader Team occupied hex.
is reduced again it is eliminated. Whenever a unit is eliminated
that side’s Initiative Level is reduced by one. Resolve the fire as if it occurs in the same hex containing the
enemy firing unit. Note that the half strength attack is then
6.8 Pinned Effects doubled again due to same hex fire. If the enemy reaction fire
A pinned unit’s ability to move and fight is severely limited. unit is in Overwatch status then its attack strength is not halved
It may only remain in its current hex, move away from enemy before doubling for same hex combat the first time it fires. The
units, or if it starts its move out of enemy LoS it may not enter unit then loses its Overwatch status. After an eligible unit re-
enemy LoS as detailed previously. It may not fire at all (Regular solves reaction fire mark it with a Reacted Marker to indicate it
or Reaction and Overwatch status is removed). During the Ini- cannot perform reaction fire again that turn. The firing enemy
tiative Phase, all Pin Markers are removed. An already pinned unit is still eligible for later activation in the turn if it has not
unit that becomes pinned again suffers no additional ill effects. already activated.
Pins do not ‘stack.’ Pinned Leader Teams may not activate oth-
er units (per 5.0) but may still spot for Fire Support (per 8.0). If the reaction fire results in a pin or reduction, and the moving
Pinned Vehicles may also still spot for Fire Support. unit is attempting to ENTER an enemy hex it is ‘bounced’ – and
returns to its entry hex. If the moving unit is leaving an enemy
6.9 Overwatch hex then it continues to its destination hex.
A unit that spends its entire activation assuming Overwatch
status is marked with an Overwatch marker. It may then fire Note that it is possible to move into AND out of an enemy hex
during an enemy unit’s activation. It may fire at full strength in in the same turn, provided the moving unit has enough move-
reaction to any enemy movement or fire attack within its line ment points and is not adversely impacted by an enemy fire at-
of sight. It may fire at any point during an enemy unit’s move- tack.
ment in its LoS or immediately after an enemy’s fire attack is
resolved in its LoS. Leader Team combined fire is NOT allowed 7. Fire Support
for Overwatch fire – each unit must fire individually. Fire support is a catch-all term that encompasses all off-board
assets including mortars, field artillery, self-propelled howit-
Overwatch status is retained until the unit fires, suffers an zers, multi-rocket launchers, helicopters, and aircraft.
adverse combat result causing loss of Overwatch status, has
an enemy unit move into its hex, or is activated again on the 7.1 Fire Support Availability
following game turn. Following firing, the unit is marked as Each scenario will specify what, if any, fire support is avail-
SPENT. If a unit on Overwatch has an enemy unit move into its able for each side as part of their OOB. Available fire support
hex, it may fire at full strength rather than the normal half- modules are represented by markers that are used to plot and
strength reaction fire, which is then doubled due to the same resolve the attacks on the game map. Each fire support module
hex fire modifier. in the scenario will list the type of equipment, the number of
barrages available, attack strength, whether smoke is available,
Units may also be placed on Overwatch status during a scenar- and Reliability number. Place the corresponding fire support
io’s set-up. This reflects prepared defenses. Units that begin markers aside where they will be easily accessible during play.
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Leader Teams Self, may not activate Same as Leg Not Allowed (Regular, Can still spot for Fire
other units or form Reaction, or Overwatch) Support
same hex fire teams
Vehicles Self Same as Leg Not Allowed (Regular, Can still spot for Fire
Reaction, or Overwatch) Support
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the player needs to manage, is Initiative/Hesitation. Protecting If units are caught by enemy fire support in relatively uncov-
your Initiative Level is critical to keeping your tactical options ered hexes, it could have catastrophic effects. Also, if units are
and chances for victory open. Initially the player with the high- concentrated in preparation for an attack, one well-placed en-
est initiative normally gets to activate first - especially if in a emy Fire Support mission could break up the attack. The player
close quarters battle in the Terminals the ability to fire first or must wrestle with the tension between concentrating for more
withdraw from a bad situation before the other side can fire can attack power versus the risk of enemy Fire Support taking ad-
be critical. Later, if your initiative level drops to your Hesitation vantage of the concentration to inflict extensive damage. One
Level then your options become very limited. If on the Offen- of the safest places on the board from enemy Fire Support is
sive, the player is left with ranged fire hoping to attrition the adjacent to or in the same hex as enemy units since Fire Sup-
defender to victory. If on the Defensive, then the other player port attacks both sides. The safest place from a terrain point
can be more aggressive and it becomes very hard to hold impor- of view is the bottom floor of a Terminal/Parkade/Tower hex.
tant objectives in the face of a determined assault. Therefore, Fire Support attacks the top floor at full strength while the bot-
being sensitive to casualties is critical to winning. tom floor is considered an adjacent hex, which halves the Fire
Support. Combine that with the high defensive TEM and this
Initiative can only decrease during the scenario through elimi- makes units on the lower floors tough nuts to crack. Ukrainian
nated units. So, the obvious goal of a player is to minimize their troops survived in these locations for weeks against enemy as-
own casualties, inflict enemy casualties, while maneuvering saults. The main use for the top floor is Fire Support spotting,
and attacking/defending to meet the scenario victory condi- so normally a player will only put a Leader Team on the top
tions. Pulling this off in the time allotted for the scenario can floor. Should a player use up one of their precious Fire Support
be a tough balancing act. A few bad mistakes and good rolls by barrages to destroy the Leader Team and prevent its spotting is
the enemy could lead to the battle being over relatively quickly. another decision a player must make. Finally, Fire Support is
Or spending too much time doing ranged/prep fire of the enemy not unlimited. Once it is used up the deterrent effect of keeping
before assaulting the objectives could lead to time running out the enemy in cover and not concentrating for attacks is gone.
for the scenario.
As for actual unit use, the most powerful way to use units is
The Infantry based units (with reduced sides) are somewhat in Fire Teams with a Leader Team against soft targets. Espe-
resilient to losses, but after they have been reduced the player cially when attacking high Defensive TEM terrain, this may be
needs to make the decision whether to keep them in the thick the only way to generate enough firepower against defending
of the battle and risk their loss and drop in initiative or pull soft targets. Of course, then these stacks of units become mag-
them back from the main battle into a support role. Of course, nets for enemy Fire Support and risk Sniper Fire. We have had
the enemy player may purposely target these reduced units groups of these attacks immobilized for most of the scenario
to eliminate them and drive down their opponent’s initiative because they weren’t in the best defensive terrain and the en-
level. If the opponent has a spotter on the top floor of one of emy kept them pinned through judicious use of Fire Support.
the Terminals/Tower hexes then there is nowhere to hide on the As for vehicle/hard targets, their best use is either against other
board from their Fire Support. Heavy Weapons and Vehicles, hard targets - tank vs tank or APCs - or standing off from the
while powerful, do not have a reduced side so the player needs main battle in the terminals and providing soft/concentrated
to be careful when committing them to battle as one reduced fire support.
result eliminates them and decreases initiative.
The game is a balancing act of numerous items - minimizing
The most potent weapon a player has is their Fire Support (Ar- casualties while inflicting them on the enemy thru effective use
tillery/Air). High fire values combined with attacking ALL units of Fire Support and maneuver/fire to achieve the scenario vic-
in a hex and adjacent hexes give them a lot of bang for the buck. tory conditions - all in the time allotted. Good luck and enjoy.
78 | Yaah! Magazine
WATERLOO
REDUX
ARTICLE BY PETER P. PERLA
The core idea of the game is that the blocks take up physical This hybrid of miniatures and boardgames is a successful and
space on the battlefield equal to their actual size. “Half a mo’,” insightful one and well worth your time. But be warned, if you
you might say, “that sounds more like a miniatures game than reject the inherent measuring and fiddling, and the relative
a boardgame.” And you would be correct. This is, in fact a min- looseness of miniatures-style positioning and terrain interpre-
iatures game played on a board, with movement and fire ranges tation compared to the use of pristine hexes, you may find this a
determined using custom cardboard measuring tools. I don’t frustrating experience and give it a pass. That would be a shame,
have space or inclination to do a full review of the game here but though, because you will be missing out on a fresh and illuminat-
suffice it to say that, despite some rules issues, the game systems ing perspective on a battle we all think we know only too well.
do a creditable job of representing combat at these levels. And that, after all, is why we play these things, yes?
Yaah! Magazine | 79
TANK ON TANK
A Scenario for Old School Tactical
BY MARK H. WALKER
June 24th, 1941. Elements of the 6th Panzer Division meet a KV-1 at a German Forces
crossroads near Raseiniai. Allegedly, the single tank held up the Germans 1 x Wreck, 2 x Rifle, 1 x Lmg, and 1 x Sergeant in hex BB13.
for an entire day, only being overrun after depleting its ammunition. 1 x SdKfz 222, 2 x PzKpfw II F, and 1 x PzKpfw III J in AA13, Z14, Y14,
This is a variation of a solitaire scenario that I designed for backers of the Y15 (one per hex).
Old School Tactical Reprint. -Mark H. Walker Impulse Dice: 1D10 (0 = 10).
Gut Check: 7.
MAP 1
Control Hexes: None. Special Scenario Rules
Turns: 3. 1. If a German unit enters a hex that is 10 or more hexes from
the nearest Soviet unit, the German unit suffers an 0-col-
Victory umn attack on the appropriate Combat Table for each such
To win the Germans must destroy all Soviet tanks or damage all hex entered. This simulates the larger battlefield surround-
Soviet tanks’ main guns. ing this small encounter.
2. Don’t use Luck Cards.
Soviet Forces 3. Neither side has offboard assets.
1 x KV1 in hex EE8 4. All Soviet units automatically rally in the Free Rally Phase.
1 x T34 m1940 in hex FF8. 5. The Soviet tanks cannot leave the hill on which they set up.
Impulse Dice: 1d6 + 1 to the number rolled.
Gut Check: 6
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