Eisenhower by Sam Mustafa

[fred]

What are people’s initial thoughts about Eisenhower by Sam Mustafa?

I’ve not bought it yet, but do intend to, just been a bit busy the last couple of days.

From a look at the sample materials looks a lot like Rommel - which is no bad thing, I enjoyed Rommel games. But not quite sure where the differences are in game play - other than the obvious change in representational scale.

Seems pretty big forces involved, 4 Divisions per side, each of 9 stands of infantry plus supporting armour - seems common on the example scenarios.

[carlos marighela]

I didn't know Sam had a new game out, so zero knowledge here. His stuff is always interesting so thanks for the heads up.

On a superficial level, invoking the name of 'The Great Golfer' seems an odd choice unless the game's mechanics deal with massaging the egos of competing Army commanders and getting everyone to rub along and pull together. Four Divisions on the table suggests either a large Corps or Army Group, so calling it Patton, Bradley or Dempsey might have been closer to the mark. I look forward to his take on the SW Pacific: Eichelberger. 

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

I suppose the chances he might bring out a set for Burma are probably rather slim.

[fred]

I suppose the chances he might bring out a set for Burma are probably rather slim.

Ba dum!


Link to the web page https://sammustafa.com/eisenhower

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

I really Mustafa look at this.

[robh]

Hopefully this one gets some decent play through videos (unlike the dreadful counter-productive ones for Rommel).

I like the idea of this scale of game and have used both Megablitz and Assault Gun in the past but it comes very close to something better as a hex&counter game rather than miniatures.
The necessary abstraction of terrain would seem to take away unique aspects of a particular operation (see the Epsom scenario in the downloads as an example).

I want to give this a go but need to see some convincing sample games first.

[jon_1066]

It looks interesting.  It’s got me thinking - would it be possible to do the whole of Market Garden as s multi player?  Scale looks about right and terrain should fit.

[Cholmondely Percival IV]

For anyone who hasn’t already got the POD edition in their Amazon basket, the price has just gone down from £35 to £26.95. Amazon prices can fluctuate a lot, so this may not be permanent.

[robh]

It looks interesting.  It’s got me thinking - would it be possible to do the whole of Market Garden as s multi player?  Scale looks about right and terrain should fit.

As XXX Corps had 64 miles to get to Arnhem Bridge at the commencement of the operation you would need a table minimum 32 squares in length so 16 feet, (assuming 6" squares as per Rommel).
You would probably want to go slightly longer to get the Rhine on table rather than just nominate it as table edge. Plus manipulate the distances between bridges slightly as the Rivers and Canals must run on the boundaries between squares not within them.

Certainly feasible and probably the sort of operation the rules are designed for.

[jon_1066]

I’ve bought the rules and plotted a possible table.  15 ft by 6 ft would do it missing xxx corps first day (so coming on as reinforcements on day 2.)

It will need a couple of rule tweaks otherwise XXX corps can’t travel quick enough to match history if it rains. 

My big task is figuring out the German OOB.

[fred]

I’ve bought the rules and plotted a possible table.  15 ft by 6 ft would do it missing xxx corps first day (so coming on as reinforcements on day 2.)

It will need a couple of rule tweaks otherwise XXX corps can’t travel quick enough to match history if it rains. 

My big task is figuring out the German OOB.

This is an interesting idea. For many years I’ve wanted to do table-top OMG.

Fitting all the ad hoc German units in the Eisenhower command system might be tricky - it might be a case of allocating ‘divisions’ to certain geographical areas and the various units that come along to attack the corridor from that location become part of that ‘division’. There is also such a mish-mash of kit on the German side, knowing what should be of a certain quality could be quite tricky.

Certainly interested to see how you progress this - I would be happy to contribute - but seem to be stupidly busy with work atm

[jon_1066]

This is an interesting idea. For many years I’ve wanted to do table-top OMG.

Fitting all the ad hoc German units in the Eisenhower command system might be tricky - it might be a case of allocating ‘divisions’ to certain geographical areas and the various units that come along to attack the corridor from that location become part of that ‘division’. There is also such a mish-mash of kit on the German side, knowing what should be of a certain quality could be quite tricky.

Certainly interested to see how you progress this - I would be happy to contribute - but seem to be stupidly busy with work atm

Yes - I’ll try to have the divisions with the various smaller kampfgrupe as battalions.

[robh]

A lot of the work on the German ad hoc formations has already been done by Colin Rumford for the original Rapid Fire Market Garden Campaign Guide (The maroon coloured one NOT the Battlegroups re-write which is not nearly as good). The pdf is very cheap on the Rapid Fire site.

Helpfully the units are broken down at Battalion level and allocated where and when they were committed/formed/reformed.  It is a very useful reference and usable for many sets of rules.

[fred]

Good shout on the RF book - as I’ve already got it. Did take me a couple of hours to find it though, as it had slipped into a gap between another book!

But in looking for it I did find quite a few other OMG resources I collected over the years. Including the old SPI hex and counter game which goes for Eindhoven to Arnhem as the game area. But the RF book is much more accessible

[SteveBurt]

Having read through the rules, they look very promising. I like Rommel, but they do play quite slowly; these rules, being at a higher level, are more streamlined. No unit labels needed, and simpler mechanisms; I love the ability of airstrikes to hit not just frontline troops, but the opponent’s rear support, eliminating artillery dice or possible airfields if you roll well enough. With one day per move, and rules for airborne and amphibious invasions, the scope is huge