block wargame Archives - Columbia Games Mon, 20 Mar 2017 21:17:50 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 https://columbiagames.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/cropped-columbia-logo-2-32x32.png block wargame Archives - Columbia Games 32 32 Combat Infantry Update – Label Sheet Preview https://columbiagames.com/combat-infantry-update-label-sheet-preview/ https://columbiagames.com/combat-infantry-update-label-sheet-preview/#respond Sat, 18 Mar 2017 06:18:28 +0000 http://columbiagames.com/?p=4521 The post Combat Infantry Update – Label Sheet Preview appeared first on Columbia Games.

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Combat Infantry Update – Label Sheet Preview


Tom Dalgliesh

Label Sheet Preview

We have posted the current label sheet for Combat Infantry.  It shows the 60 American and 60 German units included with the game. Each nation has units for one battalion, specifically three companies and 12 extra battalion assets, including five tanks.  Units with a red triangle are anti-tank.  Infantry can only target enemy armor in close assault when fighting in the same hex.

As always, everything is subject to change at this point.  If you have suggestions and comments, please do send them to me: tom@columbiagames.com.  I will read and acknowledge all suggestions.

Next week, I will post the first draft of rules for the game.  Just 12 pages of rules, and we do that without dozens and dozens of gibberish acronyms to save space.


A preview of our labels for Combat Infantry.

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]]> https://columbiagames.com/combat-infantry-update-label-sheet-preview/feed/ 0 4521 HârnWorld LARP at “Guild of Uncast Die” in Finland https://columbiagames.com/harnworld-larp/ https://columbiagames.com/harnworld-larp/#respond Wed, 21 Sep 2016 05:00:49 +0000 http://columbiagames.info/?p=841 The post HârnWorld LARP at “Guild of Uncast Die” in Finland appeared first on Columbia Games.

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Jupe Rantalainen

Jupe Rantalainen

Guest Writer

HârnWorld LARP at Guild of Uncast Die in Finland

The campaign followed the civil war in Rethem, ending in the triumph of Earl Tormau. The focus was on Earl’s vassal knight, sir Jourdan Lourney, his allies , adventures and so forth. Games were more intrigue and cloak & dagger, with action being provided by few duels and one surprise raid on a wedding party in Ithiko region. Around 120 unique players participated (most of them new to Hârn). Size of the events varied from 40 to 70. Youngest player was 8, oldest in late 40s, about 55-60% of the players were female. Campaign was slow paced in real time, starting 2008 and ending 2014, with smaller one-shot game coming this year.

All credit to photography by Teemu Salminen


Squire Nicholas of Lynnaeus, son of Nefin Lynnaeus and squire to sir Jourdan.
Sir Martin Olandau, knight from Techen, leader of mercenaries, political backstabber extraordinaire.
Sir Jourdan Lourney, rich landowner and vassal to Earl Lynnaeus, veteran of Ezar's War, famous swordsman and warlord.
Sir Gontier of Uldseth, Herald in service of Earl Lynnaeus, distant relative to Baron of Quste.
Lady Evana of Had and her mother Lady Evelyn of Had, hostages from Ithiko.
Leaders of ivinian allies and mercenaries of Tormau, from left to right - Haagon Daasel from Pillar of Fire, jarl Bjaal Ruindael from Orbaal, "prince" Haavor Turensyn from Rogna and recently knighted mercenary sir Harald Uthersen.
Lady Cecilia Lourney, heiress to sir Jourdan, and her husband, Sir Amathin of Klady, a turncoat from Zaza, now in service of Tormau.

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]]> https://columbiagames.com/harnworld-larp/feed/ 0 841 Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Economics https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-economics/ https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-economics/#respond Mon, 12 Sep 2016 11:00:18 +0000 http://columbiagames.info/?p=838 The post Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Economics appeared first on Columbia Games.

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Seth Owen

Seth Owen

Guest Writer

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Economics

Most of the block games involve some rudimentary economic considerations as damaged units are repaired and new units formed. Often control of territory directly affects the resources available to the player to build and repair units. This is another subtlety of the system, because players typically underestimate the snowballing effect of a small advantage.

For example, a map in Wizard Kings or Victory typically has 10 resource point producing sites. So long as both sides maintain their territorial integrity a stalemate is likely.

Many players complain about this, but it’s simply a manifestation of the failure of your plan. Craft a better strategy. There are asymmetric aspects available with hidden force construction and disparate maps that provide one with potential. If you manage to capture just one enemy City worth 2 production points you should be well on your way to victory and your opponent should be desperately trying to get it back. Because until he does, you enjoy a 12-8 production edge — that is 50% more! Assuming you spend it well, that is very hard to overcome. Given enough time it is deadly. Grab another and now you are outbuilding him 14-6, better than 2 to 1. This is almost an insurmountable edge most of the time. Many block games are, at heart, economically based.

(to be continued)


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]]> https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-economics/feed/ 0 838 Block Wargame Strategic Principles: “Being Kenny” https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-kenny/ https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-kenny/#respond Mon, 05 Sep 2016 11:00:21 +0000 http://columbiagames.info/?p=835 The post Block Wargame Strategic Principles: “Being Kenny” appeared first on Columbia Games.

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Seth Owen

Seth Owen

Guest Writer

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: “Being Kenny”

No, not South Park’s Kenny, but the Knowing-When-to-Fold-Them guy of the Kenny Rogers song “The Gambler.” The single most common tactical error I see made by players in block games is fighting too long in a losing battle. This tendency is encouraged by the occasional exceptional run of luck or fistful of hits that can dramatically turn a battle around. Hey, it’s fun. It happens sometimes . And when it does it can be a game changer. But it’s not a strategy.

While all die rolls are not created equal, the number and nature of die rolls in nearly all block games is going to hew to the mean over the course of the game. The tactical implication is clear, if you are at a significant disadvantage in fire power and/or steps, seriously consider bugging out. Replacing lost blocks is never easy and often impossible in every block game. Even a 1CV unit provides you some options for the future. A vanished unit does not. As tempting as it may be to ask the dice to save you when you are in trouble, they probably won’t.

I usually try to arrange my battles so the true advantage for my force is not obvious to my opponent at first, so as to let the opponent indulge in his hope that the dice will save him. This may be the hardest thing to learn in block games and it really has no counterpart in hex-and-counter games, which typically don’t have multi-round combat systems where each side is constantly faced with deciding whether to retreat or fight on.

(to be continued)


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]]> https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-kenny/feed/ 0 835 Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Equanimity https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-equanimity/ https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-equanimity/#respond Mon, 29 Aug 2016 11:00:42 +0000 http://columbiagames.info/?p=831 The post Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Equanimity appeared first on Columbia Games.

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Seth Owen

Seth Owen

Guest Writer

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Equanimity

The Fog of War in block wargames inherently flusters many. It’s not uncommon for hex-and-counter Pattons to turn into block wargame Montgomerys. The key here is psychological. US Grant had an epiphany early in his career when it dawned on him that his enemy was just as afraid of him as he was of them. Understanding this unlocked Grant’s boldness.

Block heads need a similar epiphany. This doesn’t mean being heedless of the enemy. It merely means executing proper security to avoid very bad surprises and conducting your operations so the enemy commander is more worried about what you are going to do to him than vice versa. This worked well for leaders as diverse as Caesar, Rommel, Napoleon, Lee, Jackson and Grant. It’s not a coincidence that so many block wargames feature those kinds of leaders. Keep your cool.

(to be continued)


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]]> https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-equanimity/feed/ 0 831 Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Patience https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-patience/ https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-patience/#respond Mon, 22 Aug 2016 11:00:24 +0000 http://columbiagames.info/?p=814 The post Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Patience appeared first on Columbia Games.

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Seth Owen

Seth Owen

Guest Writer

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: Patience

A common player mistake in block wargames is expecting quick results. In a hex-and-counter game you often can use high movement allowance to cleverly gather forces from far afield to launch an unexpected attack. You roll on the CRT and get a result, hopefully a decisive one, if you planned correctly. Immediate feedback results either way.

Block wargame offensives typically require considerable preparation. Movement rates are comparatively slow. You can’t be certain of the opposing force’s strength. And it may very well take several rounds of fighting, possibly spread over more than one turn (bringing the possibility of outside interventions) to get a result. Like a real general, careful planning is key. You can’t just throw something at the wall and see what sticks. You may get stuck yourself.

This need to understand the unusual pacing of operations in block wargames often throws players off and contributes to the common perception that these games favor the defender and tend to bog down into stalemates. Generally this is due to the offensive player making inadequate preparations for his offensive, so in this way the game does favor the defender. This is appropriate, as Von Clausewitz noted the defense is the stronger form of warfare. But block game attackers still have the inherent advantage of all attackers of the initiative and being able to choose the place and time of battle. Patience allows you to exploit those advantages.

(to be continued)


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]]> https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-patience/feed/ 0 814 Block Wargame Strategic Principles: A Primer https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-primer/ https://columbiagames.com/block-wargame-strategic-principles-primer/#respond Mon, 15 Aug 2016 11:00:59 +0000 http://columbiagames.info/?p=824 The post Block Wargame Strategic Principles: A Primer appeared first on Columbia Games.

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Seth Owen

Seth Owen

Guest Writer

Block Wargame Strategic Principles: A Primer

It had been my experience that people either really like block wargames, becoming ‘block heads’ and often accumulating a substantial collection of them, or they can’t stand them. Often those that hate them rationalize their dislike on historical or simulation grounds, but I think they just can’t wrap their heads around the system. After all, every wargame system can have legitimate critiques made on grounds of history or simulation. In fact, any model has its limits. In their favor, block wargames, with step reduction and hidden strengths, can address issues that often arise is real war such as fog of war and attrition. As with many things, it comes down to taste. One thing that may help foster a better appreciation of block wargames is an improved grasp of their unusual characteristics.

Most of what I have to say primarily applies to Columbia’s line of block wargames, although elements also apply to similar games by GMT, Simmons, Mercury, VentoNuovo and, especially, Worthington. For many years block games were pretty much a Columbia exclusive, but the last decade or so has seen an explosion in the genre. To be a block wargame, for purposes of this discussion, the blocks must be used to hide unit strength and implement step reduction. So the blocks used in, say Commands & Colors are better thought of as figure substitutes as mechanically they operate just as the figures do in Memoir’44 and Battle Cry, so Commands & Colors is not a “block game’ for purposes of this discussion.


It has been a flexible game system applied to battles from the Peloponnesian War to World War II. It has been applied from level of battalions to entire army groups. And it has successfully been applied to land, sea and air environments.

Despite the myriad adjustments needed to account for terrain, scale, historical circumstances and the like, there are subtle commonalities to these games that tend to trip up many players, especially the factor-counting hex-and-counter expert. This provides an ‘in’ for players not so inclined to have a little fun at their expense.

I think there are five rules of thumb that guide the successful block game player, in contrast to typical hex-and-counter Wargames. These are not hard and fast rules, of course, block games are not suited to ‘perfect plans,’ but winning typically involves exploiting several of them.

In no particular order of importance I call them Patience, Equanimity, Being Kenny, Economics, and the Principles of War.

(to be continued)

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