OHHH YES.

Out of the box.

Ohhh yes indeed. At long last the deluxe version of  "Triumph and Tragedy" has become available and Mr Postman left it with me this weekend. Triumph and Tragedy now sits at number five in board game geeks wargame list, having had a rapid rise through the ranks. I sold my first edition copy a while ago because I wanted the upgraded version. The upgrade includes a mounted map, improved chits, a larger box and updated rules with minor changes and errata update. All I need to do now is round up the usual suspects and roll a few dice.

Mounted map.

 Chits, old above new below.

NEVER TRUST A VODKA BUYING GERMAN.

Post game map.

"Never trust a German especially if they are giving you free vodka."

                                                                                                            Joe Stalin

Recently I had the pleasure of playing a wonderful game of  "Triumph and Tragedy" with Steve (the betrayer) and Arthur. Steve has written an after action report, see below, which details the nights events.

                                                                                                   

At present there is a great deal of soul searching and wringing of hands as Britain considers ‘Brexit’. But ‘Brexit’ is just small beer in comparison to what faced Europe in the 1930’s. The build up to war is the topic covered by ‘Triumph and Tragedy’ – GMT games, and this was the game on the table chez Declan.

Some fellas have a ‘man cave’ – our Deccie has a ‘man attic’ above his garage. It was here that I joined himself and Arthur in an attempt to rewrite history. Just as we settled in, the unthinkable happened – a WOMAN! climbed the rickety ladder and entered the inner sanctum, the holy of holies! All went quiet and Arthur nearly choked on a wine gum he had just pilfered from my sweetie bag (needs watching that boy). The woman was none other than Deccie’s wife – the delightful Sheila (we assume she kindly took him on as some sort of charity project).

‘Declan, who was looking after the children while you were up here?’ We all shuffled uneasily. ‘I thought I heard a child crying earlier’, I helpfully chimed in. Sheila cast her eye over the table. ‘What is all this then?’ ‘We are deciding the fate of Europe’, replied Declan. ‘What, with little wooden blocks???’

Declan had to remind Sheila that we were busy men – she left the sanctum with a final rueful glance.

Crisis over – Declan gave an intro to the rules and concepts, and off we went. I was to play the Axis powers/Arthur, the West/Declan, USSR. The finer points of the game can be read up online – suffice to say that it can be won by achieving economic primacy/military conquest/developing the atomic bomb. Players need to balance resources/population/industry with diplomacy and open warfare *military conflict is not inevitable, but likely. I can only account for my own actions, so the following tale is inevitably seen from the viewpoint of the Axis (particularly Germany).

As a ‘newbie’ to the game I decided that my best chance lay with a quick military victory – the simplest solution when not yet familiar with the game strategies. My plan was to defend in the West, and attack in the East. Germany is relatively strong in the early stages; this seemed the best time to hit the USSR before it could build up. Bluffing a possible invasion of France - I made a Nazi/Soviet pact of non-aggression with Declan. Much vodka was downed in celebration as we swapped tales of torture and oppression – oh, how we laughed! Arthur, meanwhile, was obliged to stiffen the backbone of the shaky French (no change there then), and played with his little boats in the Royal Navy. They splashed about the seas as if they thought they still owned the place – not.

Declan, thinking, his borders secure, went in to diplomatic overdrive. In no time he had political influence over much of central Europe; the Reds were truly under the bed. He even managed to turn Austria in to a permanent Soviet satellite. This affront to the German speaking peoples of the Reich could not, and would not, be tolerated. Arthur correctly pointed out that Declan now had me hemmed in on all sides. This forced my hand, and I had to go to war a year earlier than I would have liked. My panzers charged out of East Prussia and invaded neutral Poland. Lucky dice caused an immediate Polish collapse, and I was free to cross in to northern Russia. Declan spilt his vodka and protested that we had a pact. I apologised for the accidental breach of his borders, and assured him in song that it was a simple ‘mistake’.

‘All I want is a little peace.

A little piece of Poland,

A little piece of France,

A little piece of Austria

And Hungary perchance!

Thank you Mel Brooks.

My tanks quickly captured a weakly defended Leningrad; if I could take nearby Moscow it was game over. But now the friction and inertia of war took their toll. Declan had just time enough to reinforce Moscow, and terrain restrictions prevented me from making an all out assault. Also, my force was panzer heavy, but light on troops. Tanks get you rapidly to an objective, but they are poor in combat without the poor bloody infantry to back them up. To unnecessary gibes from my opponents, I was forced to retreat back to Prussia declaring that it had all been a ‘terrible misunderstanding…’

It was such a misunderstanding that I quickly reinvaded, and again captured Leningrad. But the problem with Moscow was now as bad, if not worse; with a change of tack I abandoned Leningrad, and sent my panzers on a widespread city/population grab. The hope was that I could end the turn with enough population control to steal immediate victory, Once again though it was a case of close but no cigar – the German bolt was shot.

At this stage the hour was getting late, and we decided to call it a day. Some seven hours had flown by, and credit to Declan for his patience in explaining the game in the face of time consuming picking at the rules (Mea culpa).

The game was played as a ‘learner’, and it is not possible to give a proper assessment without further play. Certainly the game is not trapped in any historical straitjacket. It is easy to see how it could play out very differently every time. Thanks to me there was an early war, but it would be interesting to see how alliances etc play out with an extended period of peace. Again, war is not quite inevitable. My only quibble is that the game would have benefited from a more abstract handling of movement/battle. A lot of time is taken up with sorting out the details, and I felt that that could be much simplified, so allowing more focus on diplomacy/economics. On the other hand, greater familiarity with the rules could well lead to a very different impression.

Triumph and Tragedy on first viewing: very much a ‘thumbs up! 
                                                                                                            Steve aka Adolf

TRIUMPH AND TRAGEDY.

I have finally managed to get "Triumph and Tragedy" to the table with a couple of the regular grognards, Dave and Arthur. We stumbled through the rules and after six hours had reached 1940, almost half way if the game goes its full length. We had to finish the game early as midnight had come and the club was closing.

This game creates a wonderful sense of paranoia. Each of the three player's ever watchful for rival factions troop build ups on the boarders, threatening movement of navies or enemy military innovations. Previous encounters with fellow wargames in ones gaming back catalog also provide fuel to light fires and trigger the dreaded war which you may not be fully prepared for. There is so much going on in this game with the action and investment  cards being multi functional. The cards are able to be used for a number of different options including diplomacy, factory production, movement/combat, tech, intelligence and atomic research. The diplomacy mechanism reminds me of the coup, alignment and influence options from Twilight Struggle. The diplomatic back and forth is a large part of the early game and provides an interesting tug of war for neutral countries allegiances and there much needs resources and population. When war is triggered the game takes on your traditional block wargame feel with hidden movement and dice rolling.

This gem will definitely hit the table again. There is much more to explore in this game to try and identify the best strategy to play as each of the rivals, the West, the Axis or the Russians. Arthur took a copy of the rules home to peruse and he never does this unless he likes a game and is willing to invest time in it. A sign for me that a game is a keeper is when there is a lot of post game discussion on the what ifs, the whys and the if only. This game has this in spades.

I would highly recommend checking out Stuka Joe's excellent two part introductory video's on Triumph and Tragedy if you are at all interested in the game.

        

           

NEW ADDITIONS.

Triumph and Tragedy.

Recently I have been selling a number of games from my collection, with the aim of raising money to purchase others. Two in particular "Triumph and Tragedy" and "Bitter Woods- Designer Edition". 

Triumph and Tragedy is a geopolitical strategy game for 3 players by GMT. It can best be described as alternative WW II. It details the competition for European supremacy during the period 1936-45 between the West, Communism and Fascism. It has diplomatic, economic, technological and military components and can be won by gaining economic domination or technological supremacy (A-bomb), or by defeating a rival militarily. The game has been getting very positive reviews on the geek. Surprisingly for a game produced by the normally excellent GMT the components are a little disappointing with a light card game board and small card tokens. Hopefully the game play will make up for this disappointment.

Bitter Woods.

I have also acquired "Bitter Woods - Designer Edition". Bitter Woods first published in 1998 depicts the battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes in 1994. The rules are only ten pages with another eight or so for the advanced rules which you can pick and choose from. The game is old school hex and counters is very approachable, balanced and replayable. 

In preparing to play the game I have also started reading Antony Beevor excellent "Ardennes 1944". This is a compelling and beautifully written book on a battle which finally broke the back of the Wehrmacht in the west.