Creativity takes many forms … although, in this hobby, one might change that to “wears many disguises.” While we usually think of creativity as the ability to come up with new and startling systems and mechanics that constantly extend the edge of the envelope, creativity can also mean taking what is available, what is familiar and turning it all into something exceptional. To that extent, old-timer Vance von Borries has the old muse right by the throat.
Remember 3W’s Blitzkrieg in the South, a game so glitch-free, fully developed and playable that one had to constantly to see if the 3W logo wasn’t actually taped over some other company’s? GMT and von Borries’ Typhoon is, essentially, a sequel-like add-on to BiS, complete with a publication saga of its own. Seems the original title was Spires of the Kremlin, and 3W was to publish it. Then 3W’s guru de grand guignol, Keith P., and designer Vance had the usual 3W-designer fall-out, and Vance took his game upstate to Hanford (while KP handed over the Spires to Joe Youst, who keeps promising … insisting … praying? … that his version will shortly appear.) GMT put Typhoon under the careful and caring aegis of the 2B’s Developers Billingsley (yes, he actually does some work every once in a while) and Boylan (yes, he doesn’t add overwrought procedures to every game), and the result is a delightfully grand and accurate game on the German offensive to take Moscow in 1941. (They obviously had never dined in a Moscow restaurant.)
The design of Typhoon is almost identical to that of BiS, with more detailed air and supply rules, as well as a key overrun rule, added by the development team. Like most Eastfront games at this scale - 1/2 mile per hex and infantry divisions, for the most part - Typhoon is a monster, best played by teams over several weekends. Then again, if your social life is as bad as mine, you can still play it solitaire. It is that flexible. There are included some smaller scenarios, spotlighting individual battles, playable in one sitting … but do you really buy a game like this to play those?
No sir. You’re looking for massive drama, best understood and enjoyed in the totality of colliding armies, mud, logistical headaches and distant Kremlin sightings. Some of you Gamers/OCS fans are now asking yourself, “Sure, but what does Typhoon have that I can’t from Guderian’s Blitzkrieg?” Well, where the most worthy PG covers only the offensive by the 2nd Panzer Army and 2nd Army, Typhoon covers the whole Moscow shmeer, extending the battle to also include the rest of Army Group Center north of Vyazma. Even better, Typhoon’s OoB is the best I’ve ever seen in a simulation game in this area. Van Borries did his research using the latest post-cold war Russian archival data, and there are no “generic” units. For the OoB alone, Typhoon is worth the cost!
The Typhoon system contains no surprises, and it will be familiar to anyone with a reasonable amount of gaming experience. There is a Sequence of Play innovation which Vance uses to highlight the operational differences between the German and Soviet war machines. The Germans move all their ground units; Soviet units capable of doing so react; the Germans attack… and then the Germans get a second move with their motorized and mech units. For the Soviets, it is a reverse-mirror image of the German sequence, with Russian non-motor and motorized units switching place, simulating the difficulty the Ruskies had coordinating motorized and infantry actions early in the war. As an additional albatross, Soviet HQs have a limited ability to activate infantry to cooperate with armor before combat, although judicious placement and use of HQs keeps the Russian army from becoming totally discombobulated.
Combat is undertaken by comparing attacker/defender strengths to produce odds and then modifying either the DR or units’ strength for terrain, artillery and/or close air support, supply, combined arms, weather, and Panzer integrity. Results are in step losses, which can be augmented when fortifications are present - and what Moscow ‘41 game would be worth its vodka without detailed fortification networks and rules, hmmm? - or when the Soviets are making a Stalin-mandated attack. In addition, the CRT includes asterisked results that require armor attrition. For such a relatively simple system, a wide range of interesting results occur. Add to this combat during movement, Overrun - an area which the Gamers’ two WW2 systems highlight so well - and you have the capability to not only displace an enemy unit but temporarily deprive it of its ZOC, thereby opening up those holes that the WW2 Panzer Potatoes so love.
Supply, of which the German player never has enough, is provided by dumps, or mobile supply units, to which players must trace finite LOCs. Both dumps and mobile supply units are consumed whenever used for combat, so, if a player is very aggressive, he’s going to run short right quickly. You can always attack with short supply, but you can get real chewed up using this method. And you can always get emergency supply to help defenders reach full strength for a one-shot stand.
The Long Hand of Boylan can be seen in the air rules, which are in some detail … many would say “too much” detail. Again, lots of stuff to do, lots of procedures with which to do them, complete with a lot of tendon-busting dierolling. There is nothing wrong or unrealistic with any of these procedures, but isn’t it about time someone found some way to simulate all of this other than rehashing “Europa”? It’s like a ballet in an opera: regardless how good it is, it kills off the main show.
Let’s not forget the Russianly omnipresent railroads and weather, because Vance didn’t. The German player is constantly, and achingly slowly, converting a very limited number of rail hexes each turn in a frustrating attempt to have his schnitzel and toilet paper catch up with the Wehrmacht. The slowness of these operations serves to keep the Germans choking on a short logistical leash. And is if that weren’t enough, there is always the Russian weather to contemplate. It’s all sun and sausage at game’s start, but everyone knows that, sooner or later, mud and snow arrives to close down air operations, restrict supply flow, decrease movement, halt overruns, and general turn the game into a morass of logistical problems. It won’t come as much of a surprise to learn that the German has to make BIG strides early on if he wants to have any fun later in the game.
We’ve saved the best for last. It is hard to find a company that does better graphics than GMT, mostly because of the uncanny influence of Rodger MacGowan, and Typhoon lives up to GMT’s reputation, perhaps even surpassing it. This is one great-looking game. It looked so good at Origins ‘95 that the multi-player game left overnight was stolen!! (Every milieu has its living sphincters.) It must have been the stunning grand visual of seeing the horde of German invaders advancing on Moscow that tempted our miscreant to fall by the wayside. The map and the counters are colorful, detailed, yet easy to read and use.
This is a game that truly underlies the visceral impact that keeps this hobby going. Great to look at, easy to learn, massive in detail and scope, Typhoon is what any and every Eastfronter has been looking for. For the rest of you, it is more than worth the try to see how well a combined arms design team can affect a game. Bravo!
CAPSULE COMMENTS
Graphics: First-rate, possibly spectacular.
Playability: Very high. Standard rules with enough innovation to keep everyone interested. Huge, but not unmanageable. Solitaire possible, but an undertaking.
Replayability: Maybe Moscow can’t be taken; but it’s fun to keep trying.
Historicity: The most accurate OoB on this subject readily available. The flow of operations feels right, and the detail is depressingly realistic.
Wristage: Time to go into tendon training.
Creativity: If the ability to adopt and adapt is creative, that Muse is very happy, indeed.
Comparisons: With an extended lineage of “Typhoon” games, this, along with Guderian’s Blitzkrieg are the ones to play. GB may be sexier and more detailed, but Typhoon covers more area, with more strategic options, in more accessible fashion.
Overall: Top-o-the-line work by all concerned. A Must Buy for anyone who likes wargames.
from GMT
Three 22” x 34” maps; 1080 counters; Rules Book; Scenario Book; Player Aid and Set-Up Charts; boxed. GMT Games, POB 1308, Hanford CA 93232. $45
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© Copyright 1994 by Richard Berg
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