We are now in the final stage of playtesting and development for FAB Dubno ’41, and I want to illustrate how the game flows with a turn-by-turn AAR from an old playtest session.
This was played more than a year ago between an Asturian old Grognard called Pedro García (Pedrote) and myself. Some rules have changed, but the gameplay is the same, and I will note any changes we have made since this version of the game. The Scenario Rules are fixed, and I think it gives nice results and enjoyable plays.
Line of Sight (LOS) is critical in tactical games. It must be realistic, meaning that the historical battle must be possible without any “this hex is special” rules. But LOS must also be quick to calculate – to paraphrase Einstein, “LOS has to as quick as possible, but no quicker.” A simple wedding cake model won’t recreate the historical situation at Anzac Cove. Performing rise-over-run calculations rapidly becomes tedious, and is also inaccurate around Anzac Cove and the salient in Mons. The Rifle and Spade LOS rules, combined with the Hiding and Us vs Them rules recreate the historical situations at Anzac and Helles. At Mons, the inaction of the British Royal Artillery cannot be explained without understanding the effect of giant slag heaps and the willow beds.
In Part 1 of this series of articles, we looked at the components of this GMT Edition of a game often referred to as “brilliant” in terms of its ability to capture the essence of the Vietnam War. In Part 2 of this series, we took a deep dive into the underlying structure of the mechanics of the game. To finish up, we’ll cover some of the aspects of the Campaign game which contribute to making this game experience so rich and fulfilling. Then you can decide if this is the Vietnam game you’re looking for.
Ashikaga Yoshimasa unexpectedly became shogun at a young age, after his older brother Yoshikatsu died under possibly suspicious circumstances, and it is clear that he never really wanted the responsibility that came with the position. He was more interested in artistic and spiritual pursuits, and is known today not only for his mismanagement of the Ōnin War, but also for his patronage of the artistic traditions that developed into (now) classical Higashiyama culture. These traditions draw on Zen Buddhism and the concept of wabi-sabi (imperfection and impermanence), and include the tea ceremony, flower arranging, Noh theatre, ink painting, and certain forms of poetry. Before the outbreak of the Ōnin War, Yoshimasa ordered the construction of a new villa that he planned to (and eventually did) retire to, now called the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-ji), in contrast with the older and more ornate Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji) commissioned by his grandfather Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The understated and sometimes sorrowful nature of Higashiyama culture gains an extra poignancy upon learning of its origins in the bloody, and ultimately futile, Ōnin War.
Beat to Quarters is an official expansion to Flying Colors by GMT Games and requires a copy of that game (preferably the latest deluxe edition) to play.
One of the most common criticisms of Flying Colors is the clutter of status markers on the map and that they may detract from game play. This concern can be minimized somewhat by using status sheets and a handy pencil to keep track of things on paper. This, however, adds a separate record-keeping aspect that the design of the game goes out of its way to avoid.
Beat to Quarters provides the ultimate way by which to keep track of the status of individual ships through the use of individual tracking cards that are kept conveniently near the map and that are laid out to conveniently hold a variety of status markers such as Broadsides Fired, Sail State, Rigging Damage, and Hull Damage. The cards are designed to be printed at a standard 3.5 by 2.5 inch size so that they can be slipped into card protectors for extended usage.
