"Forward Together" by Art of Wargames: Review, AAR

Going solo has never been more enjoyable!

BLUF: Highly recommended - buy it!  

* Whether alone as $20 as a perfect-bound game book, or $40 with two additional games in the omnibus edition, you will get many hours of gaming with the original 12 scenarios [+20 with the two additional games].

* The rules are straightforward and enable nuanced tactical choices.

* The mechanics work and are familiar ones. Periodically the Bot opponent will roll an aggressive and successful attack - this keeps each mission [or replay] a tense challenge that often comes down to the last couple of die rolls.

* Game is well supported at Boardgame Geek.  

 

Format. Module 1 of the "Men of War" Solitaire Tactical Book Wargame System takes the player to Rhodesia with “Forward Together: Rhodesian Bush War”, and it’s a bush war worth reading about. For most Americans, it is likely new ground and an opportunity to learn interesting history. As a solitaire game, you can play against the Bot Mechanics that guide the guerillas, or include a friend in one of the larger scenarios – this will help you fail to coordinate and lose to the Bot with elan! 😊 It should be noted that you will - at least - have to cut the counters apart and cut the maps and play sheets from the book.  I chose to laminate mine.

Historical "Feel". Good tactical feel at the level of a platoon leader [PL]. No excessive detail or demanding mechanics; think Squad Leader nuance with simpler rules. As a PL, you manage about 2-5 Rhodesian squads, plus a few support weapons, grenades, maybe a claymore mine. Emphasis is on infantry tactical problems and how to solve them.

Nuanced...  The Action Point system gives you lots of tactical options, and forces you to stage an attack carefully; you want as many units on hand to initiate the series of attacks before the bot can start reacting. Usually you’ll stage your platoon just out of Guerilla LoS / Range, then spend Action Points moving into Range and conducting a series of attacks.  As they are sequential, you can advance units that have AP left if the defenders are eliminated, just like a supported attack in real life. A grenade attack doesn't count as a Fire attack - it's a different capability, not just an enhancement to Firepower. So when to Fire and when to use Grenades – or set off claymore mines - are player decisions that depends on circumstances. Grenade attacks are expended and limited to 2-3 per scenario, so you have to consider it carefully.

I feel like DerTroof's comments on the mechanics at BoardGameGeek is *largely* correct. The rules could be explained a bit more simply with less words and some more clarifications. Still, I haven't run into anything that breaks them or inhibits enjoyable play, and usually one interpretation over another doesn't matter as long as one applies it consistently.  Mostly, I've been clarifying the rules to make sure I'm not messing them up! Designer / Publisher Joe Fernandez has been responsive with answers and supports his games.

Regarding bot Units, I think DerTroof misses a key rule in the "Posture" section: "Bot behavior should follow general scenario settings. When in doubt, use a common-sense approach and play the bot to the best of your abilities, following enemy posture procedures."  

SO, if you find that your bot units are sitting ducks, or that you are winning too easily, you aren't playing them “to the best of your ability.” The Bot system uses dice rolls but executing the Posture should be pretty clear – you can roll-off between two equal courses of action.

For example, if you roll "Offensive" for a unit's Posture, it *could* advance out of cover against a Rhodesian unit nearby.  But if it is defending a village and getting a Cover bonus from enemy Fire, that would be stupid. So, in Mission #5 "Village Vacation", I judged that they would stay in Cover and Fire. If I moved a unit adjacent, I might advance the bot unit a hex into melee if it rolled an Offensive Posture.

Later - same scenario - I dared to approach the far side of the village after whittling down the defense. There was a unit that had "Disengaged" and moved out of the village, but I had to finish driving it off. I failed to kill it with Fire. On its turn the unit rolled "Offensive" for its posture, advanced into my hex, melee'd my unit, and won, wiping out my best unit, only leader and capturing my LMG. Needless to say, I lost!

Missions. All the scenarios sound interesting and there’s a variety of bush-war problems, not just typical "attack and take the hill" stuff. They include: clearing a road / bridge / village or infiltration route; attacking a guerilla staging area [across the border!]; killing a high-value target [with SAS!]; protecting a farm compound; rescuing hostages; rescuing an encircled patrol; and a larger multi-column attack on a major guerilla center near the border [including a paradrop].

Replay value. The dice mechanics mean that - generally - you know what is likely to happen, but of course sometimes it doesn't.  They permit you to completely miss with no effect, so theoretically you could have a lot of misses with a base 30-40% chance of a Hit with most units, dropping to 10-20% when reduced. Also, the bots have three possible actions in response to sighting Rhodesians: Defensive, Offensive, and Disengage. "Offensive" requires some sensible interpretation in the Mission's context, and can produce challenges - but obvious - results for the player! 

This is a really enjoyable game that has already proven to me that it has tons of replay value. I'm a very experienced gamer with 45 years of tabletop experience, started with Panzer Leader and Squad Leader in the 1980s. This game is like playing a small, interesting SL scenario with only a fraction of the rules overhead [and page flipping]. There are usually 2-3 obvious options for the player [as Rhodesians] to tackle the mission, and you’ll want to try them all. I've played four of the scenarios 3 times each, and every play was interesting and produced a great narrative, also. 

It is also very easy to make the mission more difficult once you feel like you’ve got it figured out – adding guerilla units or changing their start position are the most obvious ones. The game also has a “?” Marker that represents a likely but not known enemy force that varies from nothing to a full squad and a leader. Adding a “?” or two on the board is a fun challenge. 

Good Support for all the "Men of War" games is available at the publisher's BoardGameGeek.com page [click]. This includes additional files for printing. Great "unboxing" video here [click]. Great play-thru video, only 20 minutes [click]. I have found Joe to be quite responsive answering questions. 

This is a no-brainer to purchase if you want what it does - tactical infantry combat, solo against a bot, with play time around 30 minutes, low rules overhead.

How to get it

The game is available from Amazon in two formats:

1) alone in perfect binding for $20 [CLICK] or,

2) in an omnibus with "Indochina 1946-54" and "Nicaragua 1979-1990" the other two games in the series for $40 [CLICK]. 

The omnibus saves you $20 over buying any two of the games. "Indochina: the French Foreign Legion" doesn't seem to be available presently, so the omnibus may be the only way to get that game.  None of these three are available at WargameVault.com [click] another place where Art of Wargames is a seller. 

I'd recommend spending the $20 more to get the omnibus edition instead of just the one game for $20. You can use the additional maps and counters for your own missions, as well borrow scenario ideas from the other games: 12 maps and 30 scenarios is a lot of gaming for $40!

 

FINAL RATING

Historical Milieu - 10/10 for interesting trip to Rhodesia, a lesser-known conflict.

Presentation - 8/10 for book format, maps, counters, organization, graphics. 

- counters are a bit crowded with data, perfect binding requires a bunch of page flipping, spiral binding would make it easier to handle.

Mechanics - 7/10. Could use some trimming and clarifying in the wordage. However, the occasional error doesn’t detract from play enjoyment.

Historical "Feel" -  9/10. The units and mechanics make you feel like you're a platoon leader making the necessary decisions: who has which weapons, avenue of approach, order of attack, adjusting to the enemy, etc.  The sergeants [game mechanics] "make it so". The Action Point system allows you to "manage" resources but the dice prevent predictable results.

Resource Demands – 10/10. This game needs no more than a 3’x2’ space, a typical kitchen table. Typical scenario is about 15-30 minutes. There are larger scenarios.

Value - 10/10 for amount of play v. price. There's 20+ hours of tactical interest in this one game easily, playing each scenario 2-4 times. 

Aggregate: 9 / 10

 *     *     *     *     BREAK     *     *     *     *

But what's it like to play the game?  

There's a few options on how to lay it out, use marker counters, use a Mission Sheet, etc.  I chose to use the Sheet and not many marker counters since the game is so manageable.  I usually tilt the counters after I activate a unit in a hex game, this is more than enough for me to remember [usually...!].

I picked Mission #4 "To the Bridge" as it is a typical size and had already played it a couple times.  Basically, the Rhodesian force is rushing to clear what is likely a "toll booth" being run by the Guerillas at a bridge. They occupy both sides and must be driven away.  You have the choice of avenue of attack, just has to be from the North board edge. Below is what you look at in the book:

I put the Rhodesian Light Infantry on the Mission Sheet, you can see how I organized and equipped my squads. A = Fire Support, B [my unlucky unit...get wasted every mission it seems] = Maneuver Support, C = Main Assault Element, so they got two Grenades and the Leader.

Guerillas get two Teams, 6-7 [6-7!!] one has Grenades, one has Leader. They also have a "?" Marker which could be anything from nothing to a Squad + Leader. Teams are smaller than the squads, and have 3 Hits [the +] not 4, so I shade one out on each ID line. 

note: the "RC" means "Rally Check", to remind you that with 2 Hits remaining all Units must roll the bottom right white number or lower on the counter to Activate at all - otherwise they are "pinned" and don't act. For the G-Teams it's a 3 or less.

The first 3 Turns the Rhoadies are too far away to cause a Posture roll, i.e. reaction, from the Gs, so their avenue of approach was down row K, marked -->

As it is night, LoS / LoF is two hexes, not three, so I've staged the RLI best I can and am now ready to scout the "?" on Turn 4...

RLI got Initiative, so they have first Player Turn. I move C Squad forward a hex [1 Activation Point] and roll a '4' to scout it [1 AP], and one Guerilla Team was lurking in the woods! We are now comparable in strength and I'm attacking, so not good odds - we need a few Manly Men now!

A Squad finishes its 4AP by Firing twice and missing [2 AP]. RLI advance [keeping some standoff distance from the other G-Teams] with A Squad then Fire twice and also missing, not to be shown up by C Squad, I guess [3 AP]. 4 shots, 4 misses needing 4s & 5s! Finally, B Squad moves up [1AP] and throws Grenades [1AP] needing a '5'...

...and thankfully they get it!  G8 statistically should be wiped out with 3 Hits, but I have reduced it to 2 Hits which means it has to Rally successfully before Activating.

So, I mark a Hit on G8. It now has to RC successfully before Activating.

Guerilla Player Turn [Bot...]. G8 rolls a '5' and is pinned down. 6-7 do a 6-7 type thing and both roll an Offensive Posture. note that you roll posture and activate the unit, then repeat for the next unit, etc, you don't roll them all up front.

G7 rolled first and Activates, moving one hex forward and firing twice, getting 2 Hits needing 4s!  

G6 then also rolls "Offensive" advances a hex and Fires, getting another Hit! 

Typical, B Squad always gets hosed... 

Turn 4 ends, and I'm concerned about mission success already!   

Turn 5 RLI win Initiative, needing a 1-4; on a 5-6 the Gs act first. note that this means you could go second in one Game Turn, then win IN and go first the next GT, so effectively you can get two Player Turns in a row.

RLI need to make some progress, but the start with B Squad isn't good - fails to Activate needing a 3- [who can blame them??]. But C Squad gets 2 shots +1 shot bonus with the Leader [3AP], for 3 Hits wiping out G7! I removed the Guerilla Leader by accident [Leaders roll a d6 for every Hit their unit takes, on a '6' they get reduced, but I forgot that and killed him, he could have gone to G8...oops].

C Squad then advances into the hex with B Squad [1AP]. This way they can shoot G6 next Turn, hopefully.

A Squad advances one hex [1AP] then Fires twice [2AP] for one Hit, needing 4-.

B and C Squads Fire and miss. G6 and G8 need to roll 3- to Activate and both fail to do so, so are pinned down by RLI shooting, apparently - that's encouraging!

On to Turn 6. Ugh, Guerillas win IN!  So...they're getting a second PT in a row...

...and they again fail to activate with a '4' and '6'!

So, what are you thinking as you play this game... well, B is unlikely to do much with needing to Rally each Turn to Activate and then only having a '2' Firepower value. C Squad has two frag Grenades and 4 total Activation Points thanks to the Leader, so will have to bear the main burden. As they moved into J8 last Turn, they are in Range of G6 on the bridge. The strongest attack is a '5' with Grenades, as they have Firepower of '4'. A Squad is standing by ready to Fire at G6 or G8.

I advance A [1AP] and Fire twice at G6 [2AP] getting a Hit.

B Squad then Activates [!] and misses well enough that even if they weren't reduced they'd miss anyway... wah wah wah waaaaaah....

C Squad Fires three times [3AP] getting one Hit....

...then frags G8 [1AP] for a miss, to show those Guerillas who's the boss!

Turn 7, and I'm running out of time... I do win IN!

B Squad fails to Activate [reloading their weapons, perhaps?]...

 

...But A Squad Frags G6, and then all final Activation Points Fire at G8, wiping them out!

Whew! It was a hot night in Rhodesia.  There I was...

Damage to the Rhodesian Light Infantry:  A squad took a Hit somewhere along the line. B is my "hard-luck" squad... it somehow always ends up over 50%! They used their grenades. C squad finished with it's 1 grenade and a looted Grenade from G6, as well as their Leader, alive and well! Leader's can also go "half-strength".

I *really* like how the Mission Tracker shows you how you fared on your mission... Resources expended and casualties are all part of assessing military operations. That and achieving the objective, which they did!

The Guerillas were wiped out!  Team 6's grenades were looted by the Rhodesians, and Team 7 lost their Leader.  "Firing was heard, and we regret to report that we lost contact with Teams 6-7-8 at the bridge, Gen. Mahaffa..."

So, that's a pretty quick, straightforward scenario.  I did my INFIL on the East side of the river because I wanted to reveal the "?" first, and hopefully wipe it out with overwhelming firepower [which turned out to be underwhelming...but it was night, right??].

The G-Teams responded with some accurate Fire which trashed my B Squad.

Then, I got Hits on the remaining G-Teams and they had Activation troubles [i.e. pinned down], and I was able to sequentially wipe them out with one Turn remaining.  Had they been Squads, I may not have won [but it is worth playing again to see what that would be like!].

There's a lot more to it, with claymores, radios, supporting Fire [arty, planes], different Rhoadie units including Selous Scouts, Greys Cavalry, and SAS.  But you can see the decisions that need to be made and their sequence of events. Overall, I feel I played this well, just one error with the Guerilla Leader that wouldn't have mattered as they still would have failed to Rally on a '6' and the attack went smoothly.  And it should have - I got crushed the first time I played it, was overconfident and the "?" turned out to be a G-squad with a Leader!  So "lesson learned" and I went to the unknown factor first.

I also played this with a couple more "?" about halfway up the board, that was a very interesting scenario. I got engaged with a Team and a Squad [pickets?] and then the bridge force started to advance on me, and I wasn't able to get to the bridge at all. Lots more variations to try out...

I will post more on these games in the future, so stay tuned!