Review: Against The Odds

Against The Odds Magazine is a glossy, quarterly wargaming magazine published by LPS, Inc.

Contents

Against the Odds magazine investigates military history from a broad perspective. The economic, political, religious and social aspects of warfare are examined in concert with events on the battlefield.

Each issue of ATO features:Informative and insightful articles showcasing the history behind events, plus regular columns by noted game designers providing insight on the latest trends and events.

A challenging, fun wargame that drops the players into truly desperate situations but gives them multiple options to alter history.

Professionally printed graphics, complete with large playing map and 200 to 360 die cut playing pieces.

Issues Reviewed

Against The Odds #s 3, 13, and 21.

Against The Odds #3:

Kesselschlacht (literally, “cauldron battle”) is a simulation depicting the encirclement and escape of the German First Panzer Army from the Ukraine in the Spring of 1944.

The German forces were very low on fuel and ammunition and had been caught flat-footed by yet another overwhelming Soviet offensive. First Panzer Army had been cut-off by a total of nine Soviet armies. Its breakout began on March 25, 1944, and continued into early April. In these two weeks, the Germans continuously conducted a mobile defense as their pocket drove westward in an effort to meet a relief force (which was spearheaded by the II SS Panzer Corps) attacking eastward. Supplied by air much of the time, First Panzer Army deceived the Soviet forces by moving west, instead of south as the Soviet generals had anticipated. The pocket crossed several swollen rivers, and struggled through thick mud and deep snow, yet somehow remained intact. Unlike the Korsun Pocket disaster the month before, this time the Germans avoided yet another debacle. The commander of the First Panzer Army, Generaloberst Hans Hube, through his skillful leadership, proved to be a master of mobile defensive warfare.

Complexity – Medium
Solitaire Suitability – Medium

Contents:

• Full color 22″x34″ map
• 360 full color die cut counters

Against The Odds #13:

Bittereinder is a two-player simulation of the entire 2nd Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to 1902. It depicts the events arising from President (of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek – ZAR) Paul Kruger’s ultimatum to the British Empire on October 9, 1899, demanding the following:

• The withdrawal of British troops on the borders of the ZAR,

• Discontinuing the British military build-up in South Africa, and

• Settling all differences between Britain and the ZAR through arbitration.

The Republic of the Orange Free State threw its lot in with their Boer (literal translation: farmers) brethren in the ZAR. At 17:00 on 11 October 1899 the ultimatum expired. The British Empire was at war with the Boers, the white tribe of Africa. The war would straddle the centuries, ending on May 31, 1902. It was a bitter defeat for the Boers and a victory bereft of glory for the world’s mightiest empire.

Full color 22″x34″ map
264 full color 5/8″ die cut counters
Rulebook length – 14 pages
Charts and tables – 2 pages
Complexity – Medium
Solitaire suitability – Medium
Playing time – 8 hours

Design – Hjalmar Gerber
Development – Paul Rohrbaugh
Graphic Design – Craig Grando

Bittereinder was a nominee in the Charles S. Roberts awards for Best Magazine-Published Boardgame (Charles S. Roberts Awards) for 2005.

Against The Odds #21:

Miniature armies – carefully painted and labeled with unit names, strengths, and abilities – have been found in Egyptian tombs, suggesting that “wargaming” goes back a long time.

Of those miniature armies, no units take more precedence than the chariots – the “panzers” of their day. Keep in mind that horses of this period were too small to “ride” with a man on their back in a “cavalry” way. Only chariots offered a battle platform faster than sandals, and provided the “shock troops” of their day and a platform to designate the aristocracy and elite peoples. Alexander and the Roman legions might sneeze at chariot power… but not for another 900 years!

Kadesh must be the chariot battle of all time. Sources conflict and disagree, but there may have been as many as 5000 chariots in this twisted, confused, and bloody battle, fought to determine the borders between Egypt and the Hittite confederacy…

As an early example of “spin,” Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II claimed a tremendous victory and the total vanquishing of the Hittite army… although he also signed a peace treaty that left the disputed city of Kadesh in the hands of the Hittites and never returned. Hmm. (A later and more formal treaty between Ramses and the next Hittite king is reproduced on the walls of the United Nations, as one of the first recorded international peace treaties. Ramses did not get Kadesh with that one either.)

Now you can take the reins and lead your lines/lions into battle. Day of the Chariot: Kadesh offers a classic design by Gene Dickens fully updated into a tactical view of one of the most-discussed battles of middle eastern history, with 320 double-sided counters, 30 minute turns, and everything you need to play a system emphasizing command control and flexibility (or the lack thereof). Three distinct scenarios provide the battle that did happen (according to Ramses), the battle that both sides had “prearranged” to happen, and the smaller, more confused battle that historians think actually did happen. (You may be surprised how different the “same” battle can be!)

The second game included in this issue was Desert Duel – First Alamein, a two-player game that simulates the fighting around El Alamein station from 1 July to 27 July 1942. Each turn represents three days of combat, and each hex is about four miles across. This game was included as a bonus game for subscribers with Against the Odds magazine #21 (the Kadesh issue). Low density counter mix, ratio combat results table, supply, leaders, weather, air support, recon screening units, minefields and a special 88 Flak unit make for an interesting mix of mechanics.

The Good

The components are rather nice. I think the maps are top-notch, and the counters are generally quite good. Overall the games are quite challenging and fun to play.

The Bad

$35 for a single magazine is certainly enough to scare off a lot of people. While it is a reasonable price for a wargame, when you are purchasing a subscription you may end up getting games that have no interest to you whatsoever.

The Ugly

None.

Product Summary
Name: Against The Odds
Publisher: LPS, Inc.
Category: Magazine
Cost: $34.95
SKU: N/A
ISSN: N/A

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