Two consecutive wargame posts about Operation Market Garden… never fear, I will be back to €urogames soon enough.
A couple of months ago, one of my friends at work mentioned that he had seen A Bridge Too Far and really enjoyed it. He was born in Eindhoven, so Operation Market Garden resonates with him. I told him I had a wargame on the subject, Monty’s Gamble, and he was interested until I sent him a copy of the rules. He was astonished games could be so complicated.
About a month ago, I read about Target Arnhem, a new freebie from Multiman Publishing, and realised it would be the perfect game for him. Last night, we sat down together, played it and had a good time. He is keen to play next week.
Target Arnhem is a simple 90-minute wargame about Operation Market Garden. It reminds me strongly of Ogre, because of the simplicity, duration, components and because both games involve heavy armour trying to punch its way through more numerous, weak defenders.
The situation is TA is slightly more elaborate and I prefer it because:
- There seems to be no perfect strategy. (In Ogre, the defender just bought masses of hovercraft and harried the Ogre to death.)
- Supply is a factor and is simply and elegantly handled.
- There are forward units, the paras, to rescue.
- The defenders start weak, but are heavily reinforced later.
My friend struggled a little with the rules, never having used a CRT before, but he was basically OK.
It was strange to play TA so soon after playing Monty’s Gamble, a serious wargame about the same battle. Both are good, but I prefer Target Arnhem simply because it is more playable and because it captures the essence of Market Garden almost as well. The 80/20 rule is definitely in evidence here.
This is a Japanese game. Apparently the wargame scene is very strong there. I would like to try more of Multiman’s International Game Series, if they are as elegant. Fire in the Sky is an option, but I am not particularly interested in the subject matter. A Victory Lost, about the Eastern front of WWII is more my sort of topic.
I have long been of the opinion that less is more when it comes to wargames; I find the more complex ones take simulation a bridge too far and apart from the obvious bogging-down with mechanics this often results in a less realistic game – simulatively speaking. It’s a little like calculating to six decimal places when you only need three.
> this often results in a less realistic game – simulatively speaking
This is quite an extreme position, but I know where you are coming from.
I am looking through some highly rated geeklists now, looking for consensus as to the best, short, low-complexity wargames.
Any ideas about what sets Japanese wargames apart from the “regular” ones? I am not a wargame fan or expert but just out of curiosity…
I don’t know enough about it to make any generalisations. I have been poking around Consimworld today reading about this. Adam Starkweather develops games for Multiman Publishing and he is going to develop a series of games from Games Journal magazine, which was printed between 1998 and 2001. Fire in the Sky and Target: Arnhem are the tip of the iceberg.
http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?14@216.TJ6rbONwxpc.898471@.1dd06bde/3004