First off, this series is being done as a bit of a lark as wargaming has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas so if anyone is offended, please just stop reading now.

On the 5th day of Christmas War Gaming, my true love gave to me…

5 Dug-In German Soldiers

Gregory M. Smith has recently designed several more traditional 2-player wargames instead of his normal solitaire faire including Pacific Tide, Ostkrieg: WWII Eastern Front and most recently Imperial Tide. We played Imperial Tide a few years ago and had a fantastic experience. Imperial Tide: The Great War, 1914-1918 is a very unique Card Driven Game that uses cards in an interesting way where players use them as a sort of currency and are used to activate various stacks found on the board or used for events to bring additional units on the board, move units or gain specific benefits during combat. This strategic level game is very well put together and creates some interesting choices for players as to how they go about fighting the war, what cards they include in their decks by wisely spending their number of points to get the cards they need, and how they use those cards.

The combat system is also fairly simple and uses a CRT where you consult the column that includes the number of units you are attacking with and then roll 2d6 and see the number of losses. Really quick combat resolution that keeps the game moving but most importantly represents the attritive nature of WWI combat and the focus on trenches which always absorb the first hit. The game is just so solid and interesting and really was a surprise to both of us. In this picture, you can see that the buildup on the Western Front has begun and the Germans have moved in a good sized stack of 5 German Soldiers to Brussels to attack the defending British in Cambrai and Calais. You will notice that all of the units are considered to be Dug-In along the front, which is denoted by their unit counter being flipped to its Entrenched side showing the crossed spade and pickaxe. This situation will be a grind and you may also notice that the Germans have no supporting Artillery along the front while the defending Entente troops have 1 Heavy Artillery piece behind the lines which will give aid to the combats along the front.

Here is our video review of Imperial Tide:

If you are interested in Imperial Tide: The Great War, 1914-1918, you can order a copy for $45.00 from the Compass Games website at the following link: https://www.compassgames.com/product/imperial-tide-the-great-war-1914-1918/

You can catch up on the posts in this series to date at the following links:

A Patriot Militia Caught in the Open – Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection from GMT Games

2 Barrages Exploding – SCS Ardennes II from Multi-Man Publishing

3 Columns Shifting – The Russian Campaign Deluxe 5th Edition from GMT Games

4 Relief Convoys Incoming – The Mog: Mogadishu 1993 from White Dog Games

-Grant