Bommerz by Games Workshop Review by Russ Lockwood

Orks on the wing? Sure enough, Games Workshop is extending its Warhammer 40K universe to include Orky bommerz, er, bombers, with Bommerz. Bommerz is a board game pitting waves of Ork bombers against the defenses of the Imperium ("hummies" in Orky lingo, humans to us) to destroy a pair of bridges at Toko-Ri (well, not exactly Toko-Ri, but the similarities are amazing). The greenskins, er, orks, have four bombers per wave, and must put four hits per bridge to win. The Imperials offer 12 possible defensive weapons, including laser turrets, flak batteries, fighters, and "cliffs" (?!), of which a random selection of six are used. In addition, each bridge has an intrinsic 1 die flak battery. Flak batteries are rated as 1, 2, or 3 firing dice: 1 hit will end the ork move by pushing the bomber backwards, two hits will push and do a point of damage, and three hits will put two points of damage on the bomber--shooting it down in flames. Laser turrets do two points of damage, and cliffs do one point. A fighter will roll off versus the ork. If it rolls higher, the ork is pushed back, if it rolls higher by three or more, the ork is pushed back and takes a point of damage. The ork player rolls two six-sided dice and picks one for speed. This is the cleverest part about the game because all rolls result from this number. Flak batteries or laser turrets want to hit? The Imperial must roll this number or more. Orks have to roll this number or higher in order to miss slamming into cliffs. Bomb the bridge? Roll that number or higher. What this does is make you want to go fast over flak batteries and laser turrets, but slow over cliffs and bridges. In the end, the bombing runs come down to about a 50-50 roll. In the sample game, I picked the orks and GWer Tim Huckleberry (see photo of that cowering Imperial) took the Imperials. He drew six counters and placed them face down on the board. I brought the orks on and slithered around the laser turret, but was caught by some flak batteries. I took aim at the first bridge, one hit, and then proceeded on to the next bridge. In the 15 minutes of moving and firing, I managed to put four hits on the far bridge, but only three on the near bridge. I lost three bombers and circled around with the fourth, which already had a hit on it, for a last try. I rolled 2d6, and picked the "3" die as my speed. A 1-die flak battery and the 1-die intrinsic bridge flak battery needed 3s or higher on 2d6. Tim rolled a 1 and a 2! I was home free! Each bomber can drop two bombs per turn, so I had 2d6 to roll a single "3" or higher. Piece of cake! Argh! By the left tooth of some orky deity, I rolled a "1" and a "2" as well. Two misses! I circled again, and braved the flak units, again with a speed of "3." This time, Imperial gunners flamed my last ork bommer. Destroying one bridge with one wave results in a minor ork victory. I declined launching a second ork wave because even if I inflicted a hit on the bridge and destroyed it, because it took two waves, I could only get a minor victory. Since movement is from one circle to another on a board (even though we played on a superbly terrained canyon), there are natural choke points where flak batteries and laser turrets (if drawn) should be placed. I also learned about the "deadly cliff" combo. If you can place two cliffs side by side, you can force the ork bomber to roll against one cliff, and if he misses, he'll take one hit on the bommer and be forced back to the other cliff, where he must roll again. I lost one bommer to that nefarious defensive scheme. I was fortunate that Tim did not draw a fighter--since I could bypass some static defenses, but the fighters could go after me. In a solo game, you use all 12 defensive weapon counters. Bommerz costs $19.99 and includes a flat, three-section board, four metal ork bommerz, two metal Imperial fighters, counters, and dice. GW is working on additional races (elves, dwarves, etc) and presumably could sell additional boards if it catches on. GW products are typically pricey, and this one is no exception, but Bommerz is fast, furious, and can be played in under a half an hour. The system is clever, though I suspect as with most games of this nature, you'll find the defensive choke points for maximum effect, and it comes down to hot rolls of the dice. It sets out to be a quicky, quirky game and succeeds. Back to Other Game Review List Back to Master Game Review List Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Coalition Web, Inc. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com