My View of SB:First World War

[Compass Rose]

Have you ever wondered what it was like to be in a mud-filled trench peering through a fogged up gas mask, watching enemy tanks with supporting infantry advancing on your position, and you have nothing but your peashooter and a few grenades to throw at them?....Well now you can!

November 2012 marked a milestone in the long and successful John Tiller Squad Battles Series with the release of arguably one of the most highly sough after and anticipated titles, Squad Battles:First World War.

SB:FWW covers the whole First World War, from 1914 to 1918, and offers 67 scenarios which covers major battles such as Gallipoli, Somme, Verdun, Cambrai, Vimy Ridge, Argonne, Belleau Wood, and Cantigny. If that doesn't impress you enough, you also get 51 pages of game notes which is full of background information about The Great War. The game notes also include scenario notes which offers suggestions to help you in your game play strategy.

If you have played any other SB games in the past, you will have no problem playing SB:FWW and will very quickly “feel at home”.

One of the most noticeable differences I found in FWW, when compared to other SB titles, is the number of men found in each “squad”. In FWW, many of the units sizes I came across were around 35 men. The second and most enjoyable difference I came across was the way in which chemical gas can be used.



If your opponent fires gas on any of your units that carry gas masks, your units will automatically put theirs on.



A bad situation: Being forced to advance across open ground with no cover. Talk about being "dead ducks"!

If you are a fan of the Squad Battles series or of WWI, this is a must have title for you.

So grab your gas mask and see you on the battlefield!

[Richie61]

If your opponent fires gas on any of your units that carry gas masks, your units will automatically put theirs on.

[jomni]

Actually platoon sized units during the start of the war. (Old style mass maneuver tactics)
By late war, the unit composition changes to smaller squads and their fire power increases with portable automatic weapons. (Infiltration tactics).

Squad battles is a good lesson in the evolution of small unit tactics where more and more autonomy is given to squads as firepower increases.

In the modern times, Squads are even split into Fire Teams (Falkland, Modern War).

[TheBigRedOne]

The real challenge with going down to smaller units than a squad is, of course, the way the game engine determines attrition. When the numbers get below 5/hex, it gets noticeably harder to eliminate them. We've all dealt with the 'straggler' unit of one solider that you just can't kill to save your life. This is where the optional rule Alternate Fire Density comes into play and treats anything under 5 men as 5 men, making it easier to eliminate smaller sub-units.

Strategy without AFD was to typically keep your officer behind the active units to keep him from getting whacked. AFD changed that....

[Richie61]

The real challenge with going down to smaller units than a squad is, of course, the way the game engine determines attrition. When the numbers get below 5/hex, it gets noticeably harder to eliminate them. We've all dealt with the 'straggler' unit of one solider that you just can't kill to save your life. This is where the optional rule Alternate Fire Density comes into play and treats anything under 5 men as 5 men, making it easier to eliminate smaller sub-units.

Strategy without AFD was to typically keep your officer behind the active units to keep him from getting whacked. AFD changed that....

Isn't this why Ed added this to his note pdf?

RECOMMENDED OPTIONAL RULES
In SB:FWW, the Quality Loss Modifier and Alternate Fire Density rules have been disabled, due to the unique size of the units present in this title as opposed to other Squad Battles titles. In SB:FWW, the unit sizes can be quite large and this resulted in a wide range of unintended imbalances in scenarios (too many casualties, and too many leaders lost) if played with either of those optional rules on, as opposed to playing with them off. Disabling both of these rules was the safest way to ensure the intended results in these scenarios since the use of one or both rules usually meant the attacker taking too many casualties, and an impossible scenario. Beyond that, users are encouraged to turn on "Vehicle Fire Over" optional rule, and can use whatever rules beyond that that they prefer.

[Compass Rose]

We've all dealt with the 'straggler' unit of one solider that you just can't kill to save your life.

I've seen that before.

I never knew that Audie Murphy could show up on any side, at any time!

[Richie61]

We've all dealt with the 'straggler' unit of one solider that you just can't kill to save your life.

I've seen that before.

I never knew that Audie Murphy could show up on any side, at any time!

Wrong war. It was Sergeant York & his Colt 1911 capturing 132 Germans

Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading 7 men, he charged with great daring a machine gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machine gun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several guns.

[kolc]

Certainly unique among the SB titles...well worth the learning curve