by Brant Guillory, 15 June 2023 ~ #UnboxingDay
I missed it the first time around. Wasn’t missing it this time. “CWGH” game? One of the most well-respected design teams out there right now? Jumping on this like a hero on a grenade…
The box!
click images to enlarge
Pretty standard box, nothing fancy. And the usual standard stuff on th… huh, lookee here.
There nothing on the back? I mean, I guess since this isn’t one you’ll find on retail shelves, it makes sense that you don’t need that info on the back, huh?
There’s a lot of countersheets, a woefully inadequate number of baggies, a couple of books & charts, a small deck of cards, and a big-ass map.
rulebook and scenario book
There’s a lot of detail in these books, from scenario specifics to definite chrome in the rules. What’s not there are a lot of illustrations, or an index.
For those of us of a certain vintage, this is hilarious, I promise
The “Battlefield Operations” book, however, gives you a lot of well-illustrated examples of mechanics.
The player aid cards are all one-sided, and have tracking charts for each player, plus a well-diagrammed order of battle.
The 2 books of charts are identical, and have a variety of useful graphics, including a key to the vehicle silhouettes on the counters.
Speaking of…
There’s a LOT of detail on the counters, which include US, West German, Soviet, and Ossie. There are a bunch of player-specific mission chits, too.
Ah yes, the admin counters. Lots and lots of admin counters. So many admin counters you need an admin to count them for you.
It’s a big map. BIG
Map detail, including Bad Hersfeld, where some close family friends still live, and the Lahn-Dill Kreis, with the star on top of Herborn-Seelbach, where I lived in the mid-80s for a bit.
Some small decks of event cards.
Looking forward to cranking this one up some time soon!
Thanks for joining this month’s #UnboxingDay with the Armchair Dragoons and we hope you enjoyed a look under our hoods! You can always leave us your feedback in our #UnboxingDay thread, or in the comment area on this article, below.
You can find our regiment’s social media on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. (We have an Instagram page and we never use it.) We also have our Patreon, where you can support The Armchair Dragoons activities.
Feel free to talk back to us either in our discussion forum, or in the comments below.
Want to contribute to next month’s #UnboxingDay? Drop us a line in the #UnboxingDay thread in the forum and let us know
With trembling hands and eager zeal,
I unbox a wargame with great appeal.
Countless components I behold,
Strategies yet to unfold,
In this box, a battlefield surreal!
Brant, interesting map (what ARE the dimensions anyway?). We see some games with maps printed out on small sheets of paper that you tape together, then see this, and wonder why are companies still printing out tiny maps that have to be assembled? The technology exists…
Official specs say:
“98×55 cm matte plasticized map, covering US V Corps area of responsibility”
OK, 39 x 22 inches, which is close to the 36 x 24 standard.