Basic Combat Patrol Review

[manchesterreg]

I've had this ruleset by Buck Surdu for a while, purchased via Sally4th, for various reasons ive not got around to using them, but this weekend gave me the chance, firstly it comes with  the Rulebook, and three sets of cards, one pack for activations etc, and the other two packs for the players.

So to the rulebook, if i was a teacher i would have to say, Could do better. Pictures are not really good enough for the explanations provided, and the rulebook could do with being clearer. Also a better run through of the game mechanics. Buck does have an active Yahoo forum and also videos on youtube are available, which does help.

So after reading and much flipping about the book, and looking at the tube, i gave the game a go. Pitting two German Paratrooper sections against two Home Guard units. You have to work out out what numbers to give to the GAMER acronym, this means a unit can be Elite, but Regular in shooting and have the stamina of a flaked out mouse, its up to you to decide how you want a unit, so Dad's Army could be Elite and high Endurance if you so wish, One thing to do before starting is SHUFFLE, shuffle and shuffle again, otherwise you get the same results, which in my first 4 turns of using an unshuffled pack meant my first four firers were out of ammo!

You will also need tokens or markers, i am using tiddlywink counters, to simulate things such as Out of Ammo, Pinned, Morale and wounded.

As i said this is a basic review at the moment, but i have to say, and this is as a solo gamer, i love it! Yes the Rulebook could be clearer, yes you make mistakes, but after a few turns it's like a lightbulb moment and i thoroughly enjoyed it.

One Home Guard Squad, in one turn lost a man and was pinned and had to take a morale check, their number never came up for another four turns, due to re-roll shuffle card, so they didnt do a thing, yet it gave me the impression of these slightly old men, unused to combat cowering behind the hedges, very cinematic and never gave the feeling of oh this is silly they should have done A or B.

I've not started using things such as grenades, vehicles or medics, or even Machine Guns, there's scope for Artillery, Mortars and im working on Home Guard vehicles for Sea Lion  So as i said this is a basic (very) review of this game, which i feel is not getting the attention it deserves, a sleeper of a game so to speak.

Rulebook 7/10
Cards 10/10
Fun 10+