What’s in the Box: Pacific Victory 2nd Edition

Pictured: Pacific Victory (Second Edition) by Columbia Games

Earlier this year Columbia Games successfully Kickstarted the second edition of the very popular, but long unavailable, Pacific Victory. This month fans of this classic block game of the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War 2 began receiving their copies. 

As my copy has just arrived as well, now is a good time to unbox this great looking game and show everyone what’s inside. Since I’m a blogger and not a YouTube vlogger, this unboxing is presented via photographs. Nevertheless, it should be clear to see the quality of the components and design. A full review of the game will be given in a future post. 

Happy to see that Columbia kept the first edition cover art by Eric Hotz.

Nothing like a big bag of blocks to sticker! 132 blue, orange, brown and yellow blocks.  Pictured here are the 24mm blocks offered as an upgrade for Pacific Victory.

The optional mounted map board is an available option that is considerably thicker than the standard card stock 25.5 x 33  map pictured below but both are beautifully illustrated and significantly larger than the first edition. 

Second edition labels feature artwork by veteran illustrator Christopher Moeller. 

Rule book is consistent with Columbia’s normal quality: well organized, featuring  examples of game play and under 15 pages of actual rules. Several scenarios are also included for shorter campaigns or the full WW2 PTO scenario. Back cover also lists the Sequence of Play and Unit Data and order of combat battle.

All 132 blocks labeled!  From left to right: Japanese, Chinese, British, Indian, Anzac and U.S. forces.

Board set up for the  June 1942 scenario!

Plenty of room for 24mm blocks if those are your preference. 

Columbia Games even makes a cameo appearance up in Washington. 

Exclusive: Columbia’s Next Kickstarter is Another Victory for Fans

Pictured: Victory: The Blocks of War by Columbia Games

Fresh on the heels of their successful Kickstarter campaign for the second edition of Pacific Victory, Columbia Games is set to announce next week another big victory for their fans. Victory: The Blocks of War, a classic Columbia title which (in many ways) set the stage for both Pacific Victory and Wizard Kings (in its design and concept), is about to get even better.

While the base game for Victory is not changing, I’m hearing that it will be offered at a reduced price as part of the Kickstarter campaign. Even more exciting, however, is the news that this WW2 era strategic game will be seeing the re-release of the Elite Blocksets, with their array of torpedo bombers, engineers, supply units, and more. Additional forces will be a part of this Kickstarter as yellow and brown blocks are set to be added to the Victory line up as well.

For those not familiar with the game, Victory is a simple to learn and simple to teach World War 2 era game of coordinated combat featuring land, air and sea units played on geomorphic maps, 4 of which are included in the base game. Like Columbia’s Wizard Kings, Victory: The Blocks of War is a system as much as it is a game. It also serves as a great introduction to war gaming due to its fast pace and brief rules set.

More to come about this once the campaign launches...  

Look at all those blocks from the base set!

Review: Why Holdfast Tunisia is a Great War Game

Holdfast Tunisia 1942-43 from Worthington Games (2018)

It’s November 1942 and the Axis Powers have suffered several strategic setbacks starting with the Soviet encirclement at Stalingrad. This is followed by the long retreat west of Rommel’s vaunted Afrika Corps through Libya and into Tunisia. Coinciding with all of these events a new Allied Army lands along the western coast of North Africa, seeking to capture the vital Axis supply port at Tunis, a key to any future invasion of Sicily.  

This is Holdfast Tunisia by Worthington Games. As described by the publisher:

Fearing Rommel’s Panzer Army Africa would be cut off and trapped, the Axis reaction was swift and decisive. The German’s ferried and air deployed a staggering number of troops from Italy and France to Tunisia. General Von Arnim, an East Front veteran, was flown in to take command. The arriving units set up strong defenses around Bizerte and Tunis. It wasn’t long before the Axis could go on the offensive...

With Holdfast Tunisia, veteran war-gamer Matt Looby has teamed up with Worthington Games to produce the latest entry in this highly enjoyable series of block games. At the same time, Holdfast Tunisia introduces many wargamers to this under appreciated WW2 campaign from the legendary North African theatre of war.  As I was informed recently during a conversation with Mr. Looby, more Axis forces surrendered in the Tunisia campaign (275,000 total) than did at Stalingrad in ‘42.    

20th Century Fox movie mogul Daryl F. Zanuck, who along with legendary film director John Ford, shot hours of footage in Tunisia, once said, “The funny thing about a modern battle- is there actually are no front lines.” This reality is very much captured in the game by both block deployments and the layout of the board itself.                                   

    

Regarding the board for Tunisia, once again Worthington has outdone themselves. The beautifully mounted mapboard effectively captures the logistical difficulties and challenging terrain inherent to North Africa. In fact, both of these are as much a part of the game as the block combat itself. But that doesn’t bog the game down at all. Much like another outstanding entry in the series (HoldFast Eastfront), Tunisia simulates both of these realities with minimal difficulty to players. In fact, Worthington only rates the game a 3 of 10 for complexity. 

As with other HoldFast games, charts for Terrain effects, Resource Points (the engine of the system which drives movement, combat, and supply capability), and Turn tracks are all displayed on the board. This prevents frequent trips back to the rules book, helping to keep the game moving along.                

And let’s talk about the rules book for a moment. While just 8 pages total, actual rules only make up half of that, the remainder dedicated to charts, scenario set-up, designer notes,    and front & back covers. For even the newest war gamer, these brief rules mean that the game is on the table and being played in less than 20 minutes. 

The Sequence of Play for Tunisia is simple and intuitive enough to provide for a fast playing game. As with other games of this type, the blocks themselves provide data such as Dice Rolled in Combat (DRC), Target Hit Number (TH), Current SP, Movement (MPs), and Unit Name.    
         

For the game, the  Axis player must holdfast at Bizerte and Tunis and establish a supply link to the Panzer Army Africa units which enter from the southeast corner of the board on turns 5-7. But this is not solely a defensive struggle; the Axis must stay aggressive. As Worthington notes, the Axis players other objective is to “attack Allied Supply Bases and win the war before the 8th Army, 1st Army, the French and U.S. forces unite.”  In fact, in my first solo game of Holdfast Tunisia, this was exactly how the Axis won a sudden death victory, when they captured the Allied supply city of Tebessa on turn 10. For the Allied player, victory requires you to capture both Bizerte and Tunis before the end of turn 16.        

It is this back and forth play of Tunisia, with both players switching from defense to offense and back to defense, that designer Matt Looby found so compelling:  

As I read more on the campaign, I felt “whoa”, this is more interesting than the Battle of the Bulge- the battle for Sicily and Italy; because both players must attack and defend to make it to the end game. It's not a game where one player defends and the other has all the fun.

Played with less than 60 blocks total, 5 dice, and on a beautifully mounted map board, a full 16 turn game of Holdfast Tunisia can be completed in less than 2.5 hours. A veteran of the system could in theory get a full game completed in 90 minutes or less.
  

It is the lower block count and shorter playing time which will help to get this game on the table regularly. The elegance of the design means that the game plays quickly without foregoing strategic depth. The overall balance of play and strong theme, captured brilliantly by the very nature of its design, makes this a great addition to a war gamers collection.

Photo credit: Brian Williams 

How Block Games Get the Balance Right

Pictured: Hammer of the Scots by Columbia Games

The English Oxford Dictionary defines a game as “an activity that one engages in for amusement or fun; a form of competitive activity or sport played according to rules.”

While often depicting epic battles and legendary military campaigns, block wargames do so without foregoing this basic tenet of gaming: it should be fun. But since block games are also great representations of historic conflicts, there is still a necessary level of complexity inherent in any simulation of war. 

From the challenge of maintaining supply lines, to the unpredictability of combat and unit cohesion, to the difficulty of terrain factors upon troop movement, realism is a key component of any solid war game design. However, a good block war game effectively incorporates these various challenges without foregoing ease of play. After all, it is still a game first and foremost. As Columbia Games notes at their website:

Columbia block games are fast-playing, easy to learn, and designed to be played and played and played, with mounting interest every time...elegant designs provides fog of war and step-reduction with no muss or fuss.

Simply put, block wargames get the balance right.

There are some who have historically sought to differentiate between combat simulations and war games. Providing a solid rebuttal to this argument within a BoardGameGeek forum ten years ago, veteran game designer Richard Berg explained:    

ALL games that purport to show history are simulations. Simulations - which are a common and key tool in many industries - allow the players to recreate what happened by providing as many of the factors that were present as possible (or as the designers desire) and, even more important, what COULD have happened, given different uses of those factors. 

In designing games that are simulations, the key is the FOCUS . . .what the Designer wants the players to concentrate on and use. If that designer wants the players to focus on how to "win" without giving him a great deal of detail, then you tend to have what...folks call "games"... 

From playing cards used for move and supply points, to dice rolls for combat resolution, block games (both by their components and design) give players the basic feel of a classic boardgame. Add to this the wood blocks themselves, particularly the larger 24mm wooden blocks found in games such as Julius Caesar and Hammer of the Scots by Columbia Games, and you have a solid game with popular appeal, often even crossover appeal.  

Pictured: Julius Caesar by Columbia Games

    

Pictured: Cards from Hammer of the Scots by Columbia Games

While some games may be asymmetrical in how they play, a good balanced game should still provide both opponents an opportunity to win, even when the odds are stacked against one because of the actual historical limitations. However, this nod to realism by no means sacrifices enjoyment. Rather, the disadvantaged player must simply rely upon strategy and tactics, and some good dice rolls hopefully, in order to achieve victory! 

Wooden blocks. Dice and cards. Low complexity rules explained in less than ten pages. Games which clock in at only 2-3 hours total. It is this emphasis on fast-play and fun components which best illustrates how block games get the balance right. After all, these combat simulations are ultimately games meant to be played and enjoyed.

Photo credit: Brian Williams 

Wizard Kings: When Block War Game Meets Fantasy RPG

Photo: Wizard Kings 2nd Edition by Columbia Games

What happens when you combine the theme and diversity of a fantasy RPG with the game mechanics and elegance of a block war game? You get Wizard Kings, Columbia Games unique fantasy-based block game (1st Ed. published in 2000, 2nd Ed. in 2006). From Columbia’s website:

Wizard Kings is an exciting fantasy battle game with armies of elves, dwarves, orcs, undead, and three human armies (feudal, barbarian, amazon). Players customize their armies and fight for control of strategic cities and terrain on geomorphic maps. 

The base set for the game includes:

• 4 geomorphic maps which connect in hundreds of different ways. 
• 7 Armies: Elves, Orcs, Dwarves, Undead, Barbarians, Feudals, Amazons. Base game comes with an assortment of all armies.
• Wizard Kings Rules     
• 4 dice     

 

            

 

Game turns are standard fare for those already familiar with other block games. They are made up of the following four phases: 

• Initiative Phase 
• Move Phase
• Combat Phase
• Build Phase

The game itself is fast-paced, with shorter scenarios often lasting only 10 turns and requiring about an hour to complete. There is also a solitaire scenario included in the base set, though the game is designed for 2-7 players.        

      

Wizard Kings should appeal to both fantasy RPG fans as well as block war gamers. With its armies of orcs, elves, and dwarves (to name just three), the game captures the spirit of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, or possibly even Chainmail, Gary Gygax’s miniatures & fantasy precursor to Dungeons & Dragons. 

However, Wizard Kings still employs the tried and true Columbia block system for combat with its step losses, combat ratings, fog of war, and dice rolls for resolving battles. Additionally, each army is equipped with their own unique Wizard, capable of spellcasting in either the Move or Combat phase. 

Wizard Kings introduces players to an entertaining game system, but one which also has great versatility and replayability thanks in part to expansion sets containing 21 additional blocks each. While the base set contains 4 geomorphic maps which allow for mixing and matching and customizing scenarios, Columbia Games also sells three additional map packs with 4 maps each to further increase versatility.  

  

At this point I have only tried a few basic two player scenarios, both of which are available in the 8 page rule book. Each one has been outstanding so far. There are real strategic decisions to be made: coordinating movement and attacks; use of build points to either strengthen existing blocks or to introduce new ones onto the board; when (and how best) to use your wizard, as each spell cast also results in at least one step loss; and how to maneuver across the geomorphic map(s) with all of their terrain effects, stacking limits and hexside limitations.  

After only a few games in and this has already become my son’s favorite block war game. The theme is perfect to capture his young imagination, aided by the quality of the components, particularly the outstanding block label art and detailed maps. Wizard Kings is a game that will no doubt get a great deal of table time in our house.  

Photo credit: Brian Williams