Title: Norway!
Designer: Yasushi Nakaguro
Components: 1 map, 1 rulebook, 1 countersheet
You must prepare dice (hopefully 5)
Thema and Scale:
German invasion on Norway in 1940.
This is a self-published game in Game Market 2013 spring by Yasushi Nakaguro.
Victory condition :
The victory condition is somewhat complicated.
If German player lands on Norway, he must conquer at least 4 land points on Norway, and then the victory is determined by victory points.
On the other hand, German player can choose not to land on Norway. In this case, he must advance at least one of his trade raider ships into Atlantic sea. Then the victory is determined by victory points.
Game mechanics
This is really a small game. The 2-pages map is included inside the rulebook. It covers the coast line of Norway from Oslo to Narvik. Each of German and British players has only just 15 naval units.
Each player secretly divides his naval units into several groups. This is really important, since once organized there’s no chance of changing group. And in each turn, each player can move one of his groups by one space. There’re only 15 turns in this game. So, the actions each player can make are really limited.
In addition, German player has 3 air units. But, only 1 can be used at start. If he conquers any port on Norway, this limit can be raised one by one. But, as described above, once German player can land any port, he must then establish the first victory condition (i.e. at least 4 land points).
On the other hand, British player has 1 Norwegian garrisons in each land point on Norway. They have random strength from 1 to 3 and cannot move at all. If German player has larger strength in each point, that garrison is eliminated and the point is conquered.
The combat is conducted in each player turn where the active player advances his group into enemy occupied point. Combat is conducted 2 rounds. In each round, air units fire first, submarines fire second and regular ships fire last. For firing the player rolls a number of dice which equals the attacking strength. He gains one hit for each 6. In case of land combat, just compare the attacking strength with the defending strength.
The important point is that air units cannot be attacked by any units except air units including carriers. So, the German air units are really strong in this game. But, as described above, he can use only one at start. Though the German air units are strong, his victory condition is tough in either case. And he must decide which one he’d like to go in early game due to the rule of air units’ utilization.
On the other hand, British player also has options. He has 2 landing units. They can be used as land force once they land on Norway. If German player would like to go landing, they are important reinforcement for Norwegian garrisons. But, if German player would like to be trade-raider, they must reinforce British fleets to stop the raiders not to advance into Atlantic Ocean.
Conclusion
The game is really small and can be played within an hour. But, the game has important strategic decision and has tactical tension.
