A First Look At Combat Commander: Pacific

Combat Commander: Pacific

I'm spoiling myself a little this month having bought my second new game, Combat Commander: Pacific, a GMT release.

World War II is one of my favourite periods in history to wargame and the Pacific is one theatre that I have yet to play in in any boardgame beyond Memoir '44.

I'd expected to get there with ASL, but didn't get past Starter Kit scenarios, which don't currently cover PTO. With Combat Commander: Pacific I hope to have struck a balance between rules accessibility (which full ASL for PTO doesn't have in my opinion) and an engaging PTO experience.

CC:P is a standalone product and the third volume in the series behind CC:Europe and CC:Mediterranean. It has been published with a refined and updated rule-set and on the whole received positive community reviews (gaming gang / bgg).

CC:P Big Box

The box is a big one when compared to my other GMT titles, probably to hold the three decks of cards included. The full contents list is as follows:

Six thick paper double-sided maps. (17" x 22")

352 large counters. (5/8")

280 small counters. (1/2")

220 cards - One U.S. fate deck, one Japanese fate deck and one Commonwealth fate deck.

CC:P Counters

A 32-page rule book.

A 32-page play book.

A display track.

3 double sided nationality cards.

2 player aid cards.

CC:P Box Contents

Commonwealth, Japanese and U.S. fate decks

Fate cards represent the heart and soul of CC:P as a card-driven wargame which uses no actual dice.

A Sample U.S. fate card

Actions/Orders can only be played via in-hand fate cards, whereas other required "events", "random hexes", "sighting marker movements" or "dice rolls" are covered by drawing a fate card from the required deck and taking the result directly from that card.

e.g. Here a dice roll request would be a 1:6 and the event would be Medic.

I'm looking forward to giving combat Commander: Pacific a run out, although for now it's probably behind FAB Sicily in terms of play order.

Battle Pack #4 - New Guinea

As with previous volumes in the Combat Commander series, CC:P has had an expansion released, Battle Pack #4 - New Guinea. I've ordered a copy from Boardgame Guru.

> Further scenarios for CC:P also appear in the latest C3i magazine.
> The GMT listing for CC:P, including living rules and the VASSAL module, can be found here.

> A full list of Combat Commander scenarios can be found here.


As always too many good games and not enough time to play them! Until next time good gaming!

Update 01/08/12

A quick update as the Battle Pack #4 - New Guinea arrived today. It includes six new maps and fourteen new scenarios themed on the contrasting coastal and highland fighting in New Guinea between January '42 and July'44.

New Guinea: Battle Pack #4

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A First Look At FAB - Sicily

FAB Sicily

Arrived this morning!

After much deliberation I finally took the plunge and bought the latest game in Rick Young's Fast Action Battle (FAB) series of games, FAB Sicily. Guess what? It arrived this morning! :)

FAB Sicily covers the Allied invasion of Sicily, known as Operation Husky, from July 1943. Let's take a quick look at what I got in the box...

Putting aside my new-game buzz for a few moments, FAB Sicily boasts a beautiful cover picture on it's reassuringly sturdy GMT box. You can pick up a desktop wallpaper version here on the geek.

Wallpaper - available on the geek

FAB Sicily Map

Inside and we are presented with a 22x34" thick cardboard map of Sicily. Nothing much wrong with the quality here, though I do prefer the mounted maps so this one will need to be played under some perspex to keep everything nice and flat. The finish and artwork on the map are extremely clear and well done, with good colouring throughout.

Also included are a 23 page rule book (with contents and index sections) and a 32 page play book. I'll go into more detail on the rules when I cover this fully for a first play test, but I'm loving the coloured pictures in the play book especially as this always makes the reading a much more pleasant experience.

Colourful graphics in the play book.

The player's notes for Axis and Allied players really whet your appetite to play. "...as Italian morale fades you will have no choice but to shorten your line and back up towards Messina..." and "...make use of your flanking invasions, they will interdict movement and cut retreat paths, forcing the Axis to deal with them rather than strengthen his front..."

Examples of play cover the various phases of the game and give a real feel for what action lies ahead. Beachhead Selection, Port Damage & Repair, Bridge Crossing, Airborne Assault, Flanking Invasions, Supply and Retreat name only a few of the examples included. 

Box Contents

Delving deeper the set includes 73 wooden blocks (with sticker sheet), 228 9/16" cardboard counters, 6 Player Aid Cards and 4 ten-sided dice.

Itching to try this one out soon and to see how the differing play styles (Axis controlled defensive retreat / Allied invasion) balance off against one another.

Keep an eye on the KoffeeKlub blog for the inevitable follow-up on our first plays of FAB Sicily.

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