Platoon Leader FAQ 1.0 and Advanced Optional AI 1.0

Just posted a FAQ for Platoon Leader on BoardGameGeek.  The Advanced Optional AI should be up as soon as the BGG Admin. can get to it (i had to re-up it.)

The Second Expansion, Red Devils is slated for release in mid to late January.

Happy New Year and LGB!

-H&S GAMES

Happy Birthday Mark Simonitch

Happy birthday to Mark Simonitch. Mark has been gaming since 1967.  In 1991 he founded Rhino Game Company and published three games: The Legend Begins, Campaign to Stalingrad and Decision in France.  From 1995 to 1997 Mark worked at Avalon Hill and designed Hannibal as well as co-designing Successors.  He has since made his home at GMT.

His handy work can be seen in a number of games including but not limited to:

Thanks for the games Mark!

And the main attraction this Christmas was an ASL module.  The Tommies got a long needed update with balanced and updated/corrected scenarios plus cardstock maps,  etc.  Already had W.O.A. but am continuing to flesh out my ASL stock.  So hey MMP, bring on Hakkaa Paalle!

This Christmas has proven mostly idle by way of game related operations save hipping the Bro to some Platoon Leader.    Scenario 1 from the base game proved too much for the chap.  After drawing 2 German platoons in the very first sector (poor fella :) and effectively clogging things up, the Americans, after getting chewed up pretty badly, were able to open up a lane on either flank and begin shootn' and scootn'.  He made it to Sector B which was clear meaning one final German platoon was waiting somewhere in the final sector but alas, a roll of the die effectively ended the game before the victory conditions could be met.  So close, yet so far...

The final scene:

All in all a great Christmas.  No snow but I'll get to see the St. Louis Blues play the Dallas Stars tonight and then back to New Orleans tomorrow afternoon but more importantly, back to the Red Devils drawing board!  More on that in the week to come.

Finally, i should be able to post the long awaited Platoon Leader FAQ and the enhanced German AI this week as well so keep an eye on the Platoon Leader link @ BGG and H&S GAMES on Facebook.

That's it for now, cheerio!

Merry Christmas from H&S GAMES!

Merry Christmas From H&S GAMES!

A special thanks to all of you who have shown your support and interest in H&S GAMES and helped its first game system Platoon Leader get off the ground.  Cheers and have a great new year!

Jason-

Happy Birthday Hall of Fame Designer Frank Chadwick!

Frank Chadwick is a game designer who co-founded the company GDW Games in 1973. He has said that, "All historical-based games are role-playing games."  He has more than 60 published games to his credit.

1973, A legend is born.

1979 Great game.  I still have it.

1984 I have fond memories of this.

1984

Also: 

A House Divided and countless others.

Thanks Mr. Chadwick and Happy Birthday!

H&S GAMES ADVERT

Note: The base game Platoon Leader is required to play Cold Combat and Red Devils.  Check us out on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/HEXESANDSOLDIERSGAMES?fref=nf
and BoardGameGeek at:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/165753/platoon-leader

Companion Guide to Hexes & Soldiers Wargame Podcast Episode 39.0

With 2015 right around the corner, what wargame releases are you anticipating?  Here's a few to get you going.



The long awaited ASL release. (Preordered mine)



This will allegedly make a great game even greater.


Solitaire scrumptiousness


Another Bulge game?  But of course!



Nappys unite!



D-day.  SCS.  Nuff said.  (another i have preordered :)




Remember his Battle for Normandy game?  Here's another.



It may be a banner year for MMP...

Also worth looking for in 2015:
Fields of Fire Vol. 2-GMT
Band of Brothers: Texas Arrows-Worthington games
Beyond The Rhine-MMP
Bear's Claw 1941-Consim Press
Great War Commander
Operation Dauntless-GMT

Looking for a stocking stuffer for your wife or girlfriend? How about this.
(hint: you can read it when she's done :)


Also mentioned (briefly) on the show:


Thanks for looking!

LGB!

Red Devils Expansion Progress Report 12-13-14

It may not seem like it, but work on the Red Devils expansion has been moving along at a terrifying pace.  Major chunks of the to-do-list are getting crossed off and its full steam ahead.  That said, here are a few pics of the upcoming Red Devils expansion pack for Platoon Leader! 

An overview of the components.  That which you see here are playtest components only and subject to change, nothing is final. Note the change in strength markers. Suppression and Reaction markers are also now labeled as such.  

A couple scenario cards.  The style introduced in Cold Combat is continued in Red Devils. 

A section of the map.  The fighting that is portrayed within this expansion centers on the bridge proper and its immediate vicinity. 

Zee Germans. 

The Brits, Ta ta!

The troops in action. 

The Stugs (Yay!)

Tentatively the armor looks something like this.  You will have a base number within which you will roll to hit.  If successful, you will then roll 1d6 to determine the extent of the damage.  (As the Brits have no armor, the Stugs will be firing at infantry and buildings.)  When firing at infantry, the number rolled will equal the number of infantry strength points eliminated minus the number 6 the result of which is served up in suppression markers.  So let’s say a tank slams a shell into a hex of infantry within basic cover and gets a 4 on a 1d6.  This means four hits.   After soaking 1 hit for cover, this means a 3 point strength reduction.   As the original number rolled was 4 we subtract this from 6 which means whoever survived the strike will also end up with 2 suppression markers. 

The Brits do get Piats which when fired at a tank results in a fairly standard procedure which if a hit is successful, another die roll is compared to either the front, side, top or rear armor.  This can have varying results based on whether the roll is equal to the armor rating, 1 or 2 greater than the armor rating or 3 and up.    

As already mentioned, overruns as well as off board artillery and more will also be covered within Red Devils.

So there you go.  Hope this wets your appetite and remember, at this point all things are subject to change. Now grab a copy of Platoon Leader and sharpen your skills so you’ll be ready for Red Devils!

Scheduled release: January 2015.

H&S GAMES UPDATE 12-11-14

Here's the scoop for those of you keeping score:

GOT

Platoon Leader is in its third printing.

Red Devils is slowly taking shape.

And The St. Louis Blues are winning games.

Now then, in order:

Sometimes you need a break and sometimes you need to make a 180 degree turn to get there.  I feel i have effectively accomplished this by engaging in a recent session of Game Of Thrones The Board Game. But wait you say, this has nothing to do with WW2,  what gives? Easy, i'm a long time GOT fan and engaging in something completely unrelated to what you are used to can allow new ideas to breakthrough.  So if you're curious, give it a shot, but make sure you have a ton of people as this is when the game really shines.  (oh yea, i cracked that hermit shell a bit.)

But more importantly, as I fill orders and stuff envelopes it seems Platoon Leader is making a small but noticeable splash.  Sales have been such that i've been able to cover printing and shipping costs (free domestic shipping). Thanks guys for your interest!

 The latest edition of Platoon Leader boasts an improved cover and one minor change.  This change entails support weapons.  Originally, the stats listed on the MG counters had the firepower listed before the range.  This may have promoted an initial but brief bout of confusion and anger as the stats on the infantry counters have the range printed first.  To simplify things, i've switched the stats so that they now coincide with the infantry stats.  (I actually did this just prior to seeing your post Shawn :)  All else remains more or less the same.  

The first expansion Cold Combat has suffered no additional changes.

Red Devils, the second expansion is coming along nicely.  The rules for AFV's are proving a bit challenging and in retrospect, i'm glad i held off on introducing them in the base game as it seems like a game in and of itself.  I always admired the play- a- bit- learn- a- bit approach that the original Squad Leader game introduced and feel there is plenty to tackle in Platoon Leader without becoming mired in armor.  What is more, i had initially intended the Platoon Leader system to focus on infantry alone but finally gave in to that soft spot we all have for tanks.  Granted, the appearance of armor within this upcoming expansion is limited, but it sets the stage for much more interesting things to come. 

Another challenge that has yet again reared its head is that of originality or how to at least develop an AFV combat system that is familiar enough to learn yet unique enough to set it apart from other games.  I suppose its not unlike seeing a cat that looks similar to every other cat on the block and then finding out that it barks. Impossible task?  Not at all.

Perhaps one of the most exciting facets of Red Devils is the counters.  I know i've touched on this briefly in the past but honestly, I can't be happy enough.  The time spent on these things may have lasted longer than intended but in the end i feel its time well spent.  I'm still leaning towards printing them in a size that corresponds to that of the wooden pieces found in a common Scrabble game.  I have actually raided the Scrabble game in the closet and mounted them for playtesting.  Let me just say it looks and works great.  As stacking is minimal in the game, any fear of counter density/hex crowding with Scrabble counters is ill founded.  And don't worry, for those of you who dread mounting counters, or would prefer to leave the Scrabble game alone, the counters you've already mounted for Platoon Leader will still work with Red Devils.

So it goes without saying, the map will more than likely be over sized to facilitate the potential scrabble sized counters.  

Additional odds and ends are as such:

Piats, ammo shortages, stugs, vehicle overruns, offboard artillery, fires, and a special Keep Calm chit for the Brits :) all play their part in Red Devils.  

Finally, the supplementary rules which were included in Cold Combat will also be included in Red Devils allowing for a truly intense game.  And of course, upon release, there will be a specially priced bundle option that includes the base game and both expansions.

So what does the future hold for H&S GAMES?  That is wholly up to you. 

Keep gaming and Go Blues!!!

JMK

P.S. the sneak pics that were promised haven't been forgotten...stay tuned...