Stake the Bunny,
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Ardennes 44:
Way Too Much Stuff

Reviewed by Charles Vasey

Ardennes ’44: Let’s clear one thing out of the way immediately; this is the wrong sort of game for me. It is multi-map (but only one and a half) over 500 counters (battalions of tanks and yanks), big rule book (but only 20-ish pages of real rules) and 22 turns (though it has 6 and 8 turn scenarios). It is however stylishly finished and executed. It takes a long time to play and has a retro feel to it. So it is pretty much a game for the Tweezers Tendency.

Simonitch is a tidy designer and his rules are well thought-out and carefully explained. Yes even I grasped them without too much difficulty. In some places he use very clever graphical restatements of a hex to allow you to see how it would be in strict game terms even if it is shown slightly differently. For example woods fill the entire hex, even if the artwork shows a bit of clear terrain. My only beef was that all the map names faced towards the Boches (rather than at 90 degrees to play) and that the set up showed all the counters of both sides facing the same way.

Let’s not go overboard here on ease of play however. There are lots of counters (regiments mostly for the infantry) and lots of bits and bobs to do. Combat is Jack Radey/Vae Victis style with lots of adding up (halving, adding terrain etc) to get base odds and then shifting these for artillery and armour. Having got the results there may be another roll for a firefight. Firefights are a measure of how much you are pushing. You can decide whether to push hard or to accept an engaged result. The Firefight CRT is in favour of the defender so you need to shift it with armour or elite bonuses, it is not therefore a preferred option for volksgrenadier attacks. If the defender is in an Improved Position then he can go for a Determined Defence CRT that can convert retreats into losses. Rather annoyingly the shifts are over the page from the CRTs, but that aside the system is long and tedious but not difficult. Because it seeks to reward getting tweaky bits in (“I’ll use the elite 3rd Brigade”) you correspondingly take longer to check whether you have the tweaky bits. What is the killer is the sheer number of attacks you have. Did I mention there are four kinds of advance? Too much pain for me, but it may be pure pleasure for you.

I mentioned the retro feel. This is not just in the tiny hexes. There is the overly ornate map into which the counters vanish, saved only by the horrid colour coding by Corps. This is very helpful in play but makes the game look like it was attacked by marker-pens. Then there is the only problem of where one defends. In this game (unlike the Vae Victis game) you move as far as you can, fight and then if you win move some more. So the defender should either rush up close to the enemy or stay well away. Something in the middle may actually speed up his opponents. (I cannot believe no-one spots this sort of thing).

With only a few turns play I cannot say that I am really clear about balance. It looked to me that the only thing between Bastogne and les Boches was the Traffic Markers and Road Blocks (these are very well handled). However, for the 101st to have time to get there one must remember that the US can suffer from Traffic as well. The movement rules are interesting (if I have grasped them properly). In tactical mode you move in terms of hexes (not MPs) only when you get your marching boots on (or mount up) do you really start counting. Given the difficulty of some back roads you really do not want to give the Germans a free two hex advance.

The game has two short scenarios (three and four days long) or the full 11 days. These have been described by Tom Kassel as two German walkovers and an American victory (respectively).

I must say that an area game or (even better) a Columbia block game seemed more obvious candidates to cover this topic.

I found this game far far too long and bum-numbingly boring (especially as the American) but its vices will be virtues to many. There are no silly cards or daft areas. It is simple home cooking, filling and well-prepared with the best of ingredients. This is a game for setting-up and putting to one side and doing a turn or two a session. The game demands time and attention so do not give it anything less than that. Like the puppy adage a game of Ardennes ’44 is not just for Christmas, it is for life.

1944 Ardennes: Vae Victis 48 Boardgame Review. WWII. [PA 103]

Open the Box, Stake the Bunny

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© Copyright 2004 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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