Tag Archives: Heroes of Normandie

Even More Heroes

Boardgames, Miniatures, Sessions, Skirmish, World War II

Set up another DIY scenario for Heroes of Normandie (HoN).

A meeting engagement between two reconnaissance forces attempting to secure a crossroads.

Both sides had a mix of reconnaissance sections, along with infantry support in two halftracks.  The Germans had a motorcycle/sidecar/machine gun , and panzerschreck section.  The US had a Greyhound armored car and Jeep with .50 caliber machine gun.

The scenario length was 8 turns, with turn initiative alternating between sides.  Each side entered on opposite sides (east and west) of the map.  I used event cards, but did not remove any inappropriate ones from the draw decks.  This was a conscious attempt to incorporate them in gameplay, but reduce their possible impact.

It was quite the slugfest both times I played.

If I had set this scenario up in Advanced Squad Leader, my play would be far more constrained, with concerns about doctrine and realism.  Not with HoN.  The cartoonishness that is off-putting for some, seems liberating to me.  I feel encouraged to take more chances; that is within tactical reason.  Maybe it’s the straightforward vehicle rules…….

Here’s a photo of what was left after eight turns.  Most of the vehicles are wrecks, with units huddled in the hedgerows, or in the house at the crossroads.  North at top of photo.

More Heroes

Boardgames, Miniatures, Sessions, Skirmish, World War II

Still having lots of fun with Heroes of Normandie (HoN).

Set up a quick scenario the other night.  Simple objective for the Americans; Get your armor across two boards.  Six turns, but Germans already in  ambush positions.  Same basic forces for both sides, except each now has a tank.

Played it through a few times.  It all boiled down to the last turn or two.  That’s when the German Pz IV and panzerschreck each get a shot  at the US M4 Sherman.  However, the US advance sequence during the preceding turns is critical in order to get infantry in position to support.  To make things even more difficult, I ran a scenario where the US had to also get an infantry unit off-board.

Did not use cards.  Drew them, though.  What wild outcomes they could have produced!  Need to reconcile my need for order with even more possible fun and confusion.  I’m not in a hurry to resolve this psychological conundrum.  I think a reading of the solitaire rules published on Boardgamegeek may be in order.

Simple, but interesting and fun.  Here’s a bad pic taken before the final game turn, with the Germans having initiative and Americans hoping to get to their turn with the tank still operational.  Cell phone is holding down a non-compliant map corner.

Not Bad

Boardgames, Miniatures, Skirmish, World War II

Back from a fun 2+ week trip to (and recovery from) Joshua Tree NP and Organ Pipe NM.  Weather could have been better.

Have started playing Heroes of Normandie (HON)again.  I like this game, and I stress the word “game”.  Not a simulation, but still a challenge.  Beautiful components.  Just follow the Tag for my earlier impressions.

I realized during this latest play iteration that understanding the game’s rules and flow was all about the symbols.  In a typical hex and counter game, counter symbols are sparse, and aside from attack/defense/movement, provide little information concerning the  connection with the rules.  In HON, the unit counter is loaded with symbols involving literally every action that unit can take.  Understand the symbols, and you just play.  Very similar to Kriegsspiel, and makes for a far different  learning curve.

I’m using the updated, and cleaned up, rules found in the HON Compendium, as well as the Action Cards.  Need to read up on the solitaire guidance concerning the cards as how to handle them has been a little problematic.

Going to enjoy this for another week and then probably shift over to WW2 coastal naval combat.

Heroes of Normandie – Gazettes 4 & 5

Boardgames, Review

Picked these up the other day.  Looking forward to incorporating them into my HON collection.  But, these gazettes also show why this game is not loved in the (USA) Grognard Community.

The caricatures of historical figures, creation of personalities & inclusion of (caricatures, again) Hollywood war movie actors, combined with typographical errors and, what I assume are flights of Gallic fantasy (yes the publisher, Devil Pig Games, is in France), can make a serious gamer have real reservations about the product.

Despite this sometimes colloquial and sophomoric perspective on World War II,  the issues (and the base game) are well worth the relatively low cost.

Issue #4 includes counters and scenarios for Brandenburgers.  How fun is that!  Issue #5 focuses on the Arnhem Bridge, and while it requires the use of counters from the Pegasus Bridge Expansion, includes two large unmounted maps of the (now John Frost) bridge.  Plus, there are counters and scenarios to include the Poles.  Even more fun!

I haven’t played the scenarios, but the additions to the inventory create even more options for the gamer with the imagination to DIY any number of small unit actions.

As always, the components are fantastic and a real option for the miniature wargamer lacking the time or patience to start painting up Bolt Action platoons.

As I’ve posted up before, the game system is fast moving, intuitive and a source of enjoyment.  Hardcore simulation?  No.  Fun option to the drudgery of other tactical systems?  Yes!

 

 

 

Heroes of Normandie

Boardgames, Review

Note:  Had to change the original title since the Spam Bots were on it.

Focus for the weekend was supposedly on Red Actions! and Wilson’s Creek. But I was sidetracked by Heroes of Normandie (HoN). Before I editorialize, here’s a couple of quality descriptions and positive reviews (Review #1, Review #2) of the components and system.

I really like this game.

First and foremost, it’s quick and fun. This is always a good combination for a game. A simulation it is not.

This is not Squad Leader (SL), much less Advanced Squad Leader (ASL). I’ve played both, the former more than the latter. I own all the SL games -after selling my first set many years ago – and many ASL games and expansions. I really enjoy reading Mark Pitcavage’s Desperation Morale ASL site. I love the variety of troop types and hundreds of scenarios that are out there. But playing the damn thing can be just too much. I’m reminded of an old quote about SPI’s Air War (and I will paraphrase)….”a decision that takes less than a second in an aircraft takes ten minutes in the game.” That’s not my idea of fun.

Second, the components are absolutely wonderful. Thick card, great graphics, high quality geomorphic boards and quality event cards. I’ll get back to this later, but this is really a miniatures game using cardboard.

Third, plenty of variations and DIY scenario possibilities. A number of realitively inexpensive expansions, along with supplemental games and terrain can be picked on Amazon or even E-Bay. Here’s a link to the publisher’s website.

Fourth, it has a good “feel” to it, which is an extremely important component for a wargame, with emphasis on “game”.

Everyone acknowledges this is not a game for hard core Grognards. I don’t particularly care for the heroes and some of the off-handed tongue-in-cheek scenario and rules narrative. But there is no reason to let this get in the way of a game with an excellent feel for the decisions making, ebb and flow, and uncertainity of small unit actions. And the units are small. Fireteams, individual tanks and guns, with the ability to equip troops with hand grenades, panzerfausts and other items.

Fifth, it’s realitively easy to learn. The rules have some gaps and ambiguities, but any gamer with a modicum of experience can work through that. Another reason for using “realitively” is that so much information is printed on the counters, maps and terrain overlays. Learning these symbols is the key to getting into this game. I spent a lot of time just working through the symbol summary page on the back of the rule book. The upside is there’s no need for charts. All you need is right in front of you on the game board.

I’ve never played Bolt Action or Chain of Command. I’ve never read a negative review about either of these miniatures rule sets. But, if I had to recommend an entry-level WW2 miniatures game, I’d recommend HoN. It’s inexpensive compared to starting out in WW2 miniatures, and you can start playing right away, with a gaming environment that is evocative of the best of minatures figures and terrain.

Highly recommended.