Brave But Futile

[Matt W]

I am remiss in posting the conclusion of our campaign. It ended, I am afraid, on Turn 6 as a large Allied assault to Carpiquet ran into three German battalions, reinforced with a company of SS Tigers. The Allies attacked heavily and did manage to cause some losses but suffered heavily and ultimately had to retire from the field. The carnage and lack of progress as well as the knowledge that the one German battalion that had taken substantial losses was being rebuilt in reserve cause Eisenhower to pull that letter out of his pocket and deliver it to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In the end, the Germans held 13 locations at the end of turn 6 and the Allies held six. With a need to capture 4 more locations and a low stockpiles of CPs it was apparent that the German line would not buckle to the extent needed to permit an Allied victory.

I enjoyed the play with Daniel quite a bit. I find the campaigns provide the opportunity to have some operational feel to the game. It is HIGHLY abstratcted so there could be a lot of debate about the process and the CP (campaign point) stockpiles and costs for various activities, however that is all about refinement of what is basically a sound mechanic.

Be aware that the scenario construction process provides a strong benefit to the defender while the activation process can result in a very powerful weapon to the attacker that will feel artificial to those used to a well developed PG scenario. Indeed there is a potential for a massive imbalance in the scenarios. Typically Daniel and I knew who would "win" a scenario before it started but the campaign was in flux throughout.

I have not looked too closely at the solitaire version of the campaign and might try that to see how I fare and how the mechanic for solo play works. In any event, I am glad that we played this through and will look for other applications of the campaign structure.

I apologize for not having the writeup and map available - my computer had a hiccup and we are currently working on a backup.