It’s rather amazing how this crazy hobby operates. Two years ago, the west-coast Wizards emerged, gecko-like, with what appeared to be a harmless D&D-like card game, Magic. Today they’re the Komodo dragons of the industry, chewing legs of distributors and retailers alike. Even last year’s Gencon, the hallowed Camelrot of RPG, was one big card-playing feast. Needless to say, the gaming industry mavens, never one to sit on their own merits, followed like lemmings on uppers, and now it is hard to go into a store and not see a new card game. Very few of these card games, though, deal in historical subjects, the exception that proves the rule being Columbia’s Dixie series. The folks at Medallion Simulations are now on the scene to fill this void with Echelons of Fury and Echelons of Fire, two separate card games that share the same mechanics and are both sold as “collectibles”, which, in today’s market means anything from Brady Bunch dinner plates to Brad Pitt’s underwear. Here, “collectable” refers to a card game wherein the customer purchases a “starter” deck, which contains most of the basic cards needed to play. Then, if he wants all those neato, special (i.e., “killer”) cards, he has to go out and by the somewhat financially inflated booster packs, in the vain hope of getting one or two of those little goodies. Such games are definitely ones you get out exactly in proportion to what you put it. Of course, not having all the cards tends to give one a feeling of social inferiority, so you can see where this easily leads. It’s much like what Hunter Thompson said in his “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” … “ of course we didn’t need all that stuff, but when you’re on a collecting binge, you want to push it as far as you can.” Granted, Hunter was referring to something slightly less legal than card games, but you get the idea. The decks of Echelons cards comprise three groups: the two player sides and the generic cards. In Fury you have Yanks vs Krauts (Ed. His term, Blennemen, not mine) in WWII France. In Fire it’s the modern day Willy’s Boys against unnamed rebellious Russians, probably the same group giving Gene Hackman such heartburn in “Crimson Tide”. Keeping the Red Bogeyman alive seems to be somewhat of a cottage industry. Generic cards - movement, supply, terrain, events, etc.) can be used by either side, but each side must have their own deck to play, which deals heavily into the “My Toys, My Toys!!” factor collectibles seem to engender. Several of our more rabid card critics see this all as a subtle form of class warfare, with the rich, bourgeois players, those who have bought all those rare, killer cards, as having a significant advantage over their single starter-deck prole competitors. (Ed. Where do you come up with this stuff, Scott. You been playing too many Radey games?) One component that Echelons is missing completely is counters to record HQ and terrain damage, as well as ordnance and damage done by air. Granted, we all have tons of stickers, pennies and other similar do-dads around, but it was a bit cheesy of them to short sheet us so. The game begins with the players placing three random terrain cards between them. Players may now “customize” their decks, although you can always play with a pre-set bunch. Depends on how much you’re into micro-managing. Actual play begins with the players dealing seven cards to themselves and then deciding who goes first. (I recommend either arm-wrestling or distance spitting as appropriate methods.) Having so decided, the players each draw a card from their deck and place it in front of them. These may be combat cards (troops, leaders, vehicles, aircraft, weapons, etc.), emplacements (such as foxholes), or Supply. Supply cards are the Echelons version of Magic’s Manna, activating the combatants, each of which have different supply requirements. Combat takes place in the form of raids across the terrain cards - a sort of no-man’s land - to inflict damage to an opponent’s HQ. These raids are risky undertakings, because the attackers cannot attack en masse, especially without a leader. Unless you have some heavy weapons, your combatant card is pretty much going to get wiped. This is so because the defender may use all of his combatant cards on defense if he has a leader anywhere around. Combining cards stops the attacker from blowing away a weak defender and using the point overage to hit the HQ. Be aware, though, that Killer attack groups used to attack cannot be used to defend the next turn. Echelons combat does have its strange moments. Infantry supported by light weapons can easily chew up tanks, and anti-tank weapons also work just as well against infantry. There are also some rather banal phrases on some cards, such as “Boom! That’s gotta hurt!” One only wonders what you’d find on a card representing the German Castration Mines. (Ed. Is that a real weapon, Scott?) The Waffen SS card reads, “Highly motivated, these soldiers wage war as only professionals can.” Professional psychotics, one assumes. All of this turns out to be rather slam-bang, simple stuff. But that’s what most card games are … as designers are fast finding out their limitations. But if you ignore the pull of reality, and revel in some good graphics, this could provide some fun, if little insight. CAPSULE COMMENTS Graphic Presentation: Magnificent. The game’s selling point. Playability: High, with simple rules and good development. Replayability: Only one scenario, each, but cards add randomness. Creativity: The logical corners cut by the system leads one to use such words as “puerile” and “Ludicrous”. But these folks were designing a game, not a simulation. Historicity: Depends on your perspective, but not a strong point, at best. Wristage: None. No dierolling. Comparisons: Not as much fun, nor as incisive, as Up Front, although it’s far more accessible. Overall: A fun little game on small-unit infantry combat, wherein realism is sacrificed for playability. from MEDALLION SIMULATIONS Starter Decks contain 65 cards and a 45 page rules book for $9. Booster packs contain 15 cards at $3 a pop. Medallion, 9439 N. Saybrook #257, Fresno (uh oh) CA 93720 Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. II # 18 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Richard Berg This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com