Introduction
All summer they drove us back through the Ukraine
Smolyensk and Viyasma soon fell
By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel
Closer and closer to Moscow they come - riding the wind like a bell
- <PERSON>, Roads to Moscow
Fighting Formations: Grossdeutschland Infantry Division is the first game in a new series from GMT Games. Much like the Series: Musket & Pike Battle (GMT/Vae Victis), each game in the series will share core rules and the playbook will have specific game exclusive rules.
This inaugural game covers action on the eastern front in WWII between the Germans and the Soviets between 1942 and 1943.
This is a two player game designed by <PERSON> of Combat Commander: Europe fame (among other titles). Scenarios run the gamut from approximately 2-3 hours for smaller scenarios to a large double map scenario that could fill an entire weekend.
Components
GMT has recently set some impressive standards in wargame publishing. Mounted map boards for single map games like Washington's War and high quality paper maps for multi-scenario games and expansions such as the recent Combat Commander expansion. Beautiful counters that are both functional and nice to look at.
In this respect GMT has delivered the goods again.
The box however is of the old school thin cardboard style that GMT has not used in a long time. A small quibble is that they used a standard 2" box rather than the thicker 3" box; this is a mild disappointment as there is a lot packed inside. Everything does fit into the 2" box even using two counter trays, but you'll need to split the card decks to make it even along the top. If and when expansions come to this module of the series, it might not fit.
The smaller box shouldn't be seen as a deterrent however. There will be more games in the series and those linear feet of shelf space fill up awfully quickly with the larger boxes. I should know, my closets overflow with games.
The maps are very attractive and functional, although I found the colour contrast to be muted when compared here with the Combat Commander maps; as you can in the photo here, the Combat Commander terrain features are more easily seen than with the Fighting Formations maps.
Comparing the maps in Fighting Formations (left) to Combat Commander
What's also abundantly clear here is that the Fighting Formations' maps are larger than your typical Combat Commander scenario. 993
The introductory scenario in Fighting Formations uses a half sheet map like Combat Commander, but the other scenarios are all on full and in some cases even double map sheets.
The maps are historical depictions of parts of the eastern front. The scenarios all come with a nice long historical background to give the sense of the events about to unfold on the board.
And... for those who felt they were missing from Combat Commander, yes folks, Fighting Formation comes with tanks!
Yes, it comes with tanks!
Rules
The rules span two volumes: the core rules and the playbook. The rules are not short, covering some 24 pages and the 64 page playbook adds about another dozen pages of game specific rules and some optional rules. The rest of the playbook is devoted to the 10 scenarios, designer and historical notes, orders of battle, and a detailed example of play.
The index is included at the back of the playbook, which can be a nuisance when you're looking for something that is actually in the rulebook, especially anything to do with the sequence of play, but a quick photocopy of the index page is a quick and easy remedy. What's important is clarity and ease of finding information, which are a hallmark of <PERSON> games.
Even newcomers to wargaming would have little trouble learning the game from the rules, and veteran Combat Commander players will find a lot of familiar terminology.
Victory is determined by victory points, which can be earned one of three ways:
- eliminating enemy units
- controlling certain objectives
- exiting friendly units off the map
The player with the most victory points when the scenario ends is the winner.
Game Play
Fighting Formations is a classic hex and counter game in many ways. We have the standard hexes, tanks and artillery pieces with facing and fire arcs, movement modified by terrain, and counters chock full of information. There are even rules for vehicles moving in reverse.
An interesting and deliberate omission are any stacking rules (except for vehicles moving in column). One could theoretically place every single unit in the same hex. It would be extremely foolish to do so, but you can if you really want to.
The lifeblood of Fighting Formations is the order matrix shown above. In order to do anything, you must select a cube from the order matrix, and the value of the cube limits which orders you can execute. 993