Page 49 - spielbox 03/21 - English

and goals of your
opponents differ. The
same scenario can be
played in different
ways. You can play
primarily to win or to
prevent a win. Perhaps a quick advance will lead to success because the enemy doesn’t have the chance to get going. Or perhaps the patient approach will pay off, bringing up the heavy artil­ lery first and showering the enemy with grenades from a distance. Then the ugly term “Bleed­out battle” becomes ap­ propriate to describe the events on the board.
The luck in the battle is decided by ten­sided dice. Depending on the fire­ power of my active unit, I roll up to four and, in order to score a hit, I must reach a minimum number on one of the dice which in turn depends on the range, cov­ er bonus, and base defense value of the enemy. This might sound more like mil­ itary academy than it actually is in the field: a slight tilting motion of the hand and the adding of three values, that’s it. Of course, it is very annoying when you can’t even roll a five with four dice or when the opponent lands one random hit after another from an absurd distance. These emotions are part of the drama of Undaunted.
Until now, one was used to finding a large amount of materials in game boxes for Second World War battles. Here, Un- daunted: Normandy surprises with its compactness. The game manual provides a successful and clear introduction to the not too exuberant rules of the game. The card and board graphics support the game play in the best way possible. And above all, everything is based on easy and always recurring principles.
Whether my units are entrenched on a hill or charging across an open field makes a difference, of course. But every­
thing you need to know can be found on the game boards themselves. The up to four uses of a card are defined with only one term on each of them. In some cases, the designations could be more meaning­ ful. “Command”, for example, is supposed to mean that you draw cards from your deck. Up, up into the hand!
More annoying, however, are errors in the German campaign book, where the terms ”Zugtruppführer“ (platoon ser­ geant) and “Feldwebel“ (platoon guide) are consistently interchanged, which leads to none of the scenarios being played as the designers intended – ma­ jor or mayonnaise, the main thing is in­ fantry! Apparently, the publisher finds military ranks so unimportant that the errors go unmentioned on their product page on the web. The download link for the revised campaign booklet can only be found on the store page.
The book itself is very well made. Each scenario is given a clearly designed spread. Step by step the terrains become larger, new units and rules are introduced, and the duration and complexity of the game increases. As much as you can do things right in a war, Undaunted: Nor- mandy does a lot right. If you want to enter the genre of war games without fear, this is a good start. (dm)
Title: Designer:
Illustration: Publisher: Players: Age: Duration: Price:
Undaunted: Normandy Trevor Benjamin, David Thompson
Roland MacDonald Giant Roc
2
about 10+ years
about 45 – 60 minutes about 35 Euros
Reviewer
Udo Bartsch
Andreas Becker
Playing appeal
7
7
Generally not my type of game. But the deck building gives Undaunted an unexpected appeal. It also does not feel like a typical war-game.
Guido Heinecke 8
spielbox 47