Sometimes good, old fashioned hex and counter wargames are the best! You line up your counters in long continuous lines and attack, pushing the enemy back, having your own forces fall back after an attack, waiting for your opportunity to pounce. Once a line is broken, scrambling to bring up units in reserve to try and plug those holes. Maintaining supply and trying to cut the supply of your opponent. Good stuff! And these kind of games on the East Front are always interesting for various reasons. Earlier this year, we acquired a copy of a new game from VUCA Simulations called Traces of War which is a two-player game that simulates the intense fighting between Axis and Soviet forces just after the battle of Kursk during August 1943 to March 1944. A major Soviet offensive is launched against a German mobile defense. 

The game uses a modified version of the Victory Lost Series game system (sometimes referred to as the Red Box Series) but is now being called the Fierce Fight! Series designed by Tetsuya Nakamura. We played and gained some experience with the series last year with A Victory Awaits: Operation Barbarossa 1941 from Multi-Man Publishing and really liked what we saw. The system was very approachable and the rules were well written so we were able to get up and running very quickly. The system uses a chit-pull to activate different formations and plays very quickly with some hot and heavy action.

If you are interested, here is a link to a First Impressions post on the blog: https://theplayersaid.com/2023/10/17/first-impressions-traces-of-war-from-vuca-simulations/

-Grant