Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. -- James Madison
It would be fair I think to say that I am a war gamer without placing that term in caps or the need to accompany it with exclamation points. While I have an appreciation for them I have not played much recently. However I like them because to learn about history, and possible changes with different results we better understand that life is not inevitable, we are not fatally attached to some predestiny, and that life would be far different if different parties won various wars. Imagine a Hitler defeated Soviet Union, becoming a fascist state! Imagine Persia defeating the Greeks and taking over all of the known world! The world is not set in stone, except in history, we have a duty to do our best in the present or the history we create will lead the world to a less bright future. Honestly speaking, as a person holding degrees in history I am certainly bound to a viewpoint that is less disattached about the past than others. Life is good but if people had not sacrificed as they did, it might be much less good.
AVALANCHE PRESS sent me two games for me to consider.
RED VENGEANCE
“By the summer of 1944, the peoples of the Soviet Union had suffered incredible hardships. Three years of war had wrecked the economy, destroyed countless cities, and brought the murders of at least 10 million civilians. “
With a large map covering the entire Eastern front of Germany’s war players are well able to see the desperate straits the Axis powers faced in summer 1944. A unit lost to an Axis power is mostly lost, with few reserves, while the Soviet Red army is less mechanized at the beginning but has little problem rising up in the face of casualties. The game flow is easily the most clean and efficient I have ever experienced, and I’ve played a good share of games, however not so many recently. The quality of work, the map, counters, rules, charts and box is wonderful. In 90 minutes two players get a feel of and experience the actual inevitable tide of Soviet vengeance towards the Axis. My son and I played this in a very short time from reading directions, and set up. Ultimately that is a very important aspect of present day game playing, for video games and television are highly accessible, and to keep my son (who has ADHD) focused, I give this game a WHOA! as I am impressed, and for the cost of about 20 bucks, I think it is a very good exchange of money for time spent, and repeated play.
“In early 1916, the German and French armies faced each other in what appeared to be a stalemate. The German commander-in-chief, Erich von Falkenhayn, conceived one of the most cold-hearted plans in military history. Fall Gericht, which translates as “Place of Execution,” would bleed France white by a simple battle of attrition, without regard to the suffering of his own soldiers.”
Verdun is the perfect place to start to get a feel for the horrible futility of war, and World War I in particular. Verdun was a focal point of German strategy and French resistance, two premiere armies fighting over a place that was more a place that people wanted to think was important than actually was. The game designer here has made some wise decisions about what is important versus detailed accuracy. Player ability to utilize artillery and elite units is vital to succeed and understanding when to move forward or retreat remain important. In close to 2 hours my son and I played this game, understood how so many could die, and felt exhausted when finished, but not due to problems with the game. The directions were clean, and easy to understand, the game pieces were well labeled and understood,
