Going to make this game my ***** this weekend. What's a good scenario for newbies? (from the core set)

4lterego said:

Of the base game scenarios, I liked Silence the Guns the best. It seemed more balanced than the rest (my co-worker and I have played through all of the scenarios backwards and forwards and most of the scenarios seem very one-sided). Silence the Guns, of the base scenarios, provided the most balance overall.

Avoid Stavelot Express!!! Man, that one is so unbalanced, it's not funny. Still haven't tweaked it enough to get it to be enjoyable.

Seigfried Assault isn't a bad one either. Not as balanced as Silence the Guns (in my opinion), but not bad.

Just my 2 cents!

I would avoid the scenarios in the base game which are either unbalanced or have elevation rules which can be quite challenging for beginners.

Instead I would download either "Breaking the Line" or "Chain of Command" from the ToI support site, which are both excellent (and fairly short) introductory scenarios which only require 4 boards each.

As teufelhund mentions, both are recommended in the scenario expansion book as the best for newcomers to learn the basics.

TeufelHund said:

Thanks for the advice....Trying to teach my 12yr old as well as myself and this may be the way to go.

I agree that the Early Bird scenarios are great (Chain of Command and Breaking the Line). Here are a few others to consider:

Rescue Mission (from Days of the Fox) and Tiger Hunt (from the scenario editor).

Tiger Hunt used to be my go-to scenario for teaching ToI to new players, but I've since found it lacks some of the tension and tactical options that make Rescue Mission so much fun. Still, it's a good way to learn the game and it includes several unit types without being overwhelming in complexity.

For truly basic intro scenarios, both "New Player Scenario 1 - Infantry" and "New Player Scenario 2 - Vehicles" work well, especially if everyone is starting from scratch. These can be found on the scenario editor.

I've yet to play Blood on the Mountain - winner of the ToI introductory scenario contest - but at four rounds, four boards and only one Strategy Deck each, it looks to be short and sweet. Perhaps that would be a good one?

This does look like a good one:

Blood on the Mountain:

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/tide-of-iron/Blood%20on%20the%20Mountain.pdf

I think the plan is to try this one and then break out DotF and give it a go with Armor.

Thanks!

We wound up going with "The Last Stand" from the website... it worked out really well! I wanted something with at least a few tanks so it was ideal.

4lterego said:

I just looked at that scenario again...it does look really good. I will have to give it a try soon.

My Brother has finally agreed to play ToI with me. Mybrother taught my the old school games Panzer Leader, Advanced Squad Leader, Advanced third Reich, etc. I have been itching to get him to play ToI and he has finally agreed.

Since he is seasoned and gets disappointed by easy games, we are gonna work through Seigfried assault as our first game. I have played the game numberous times, and I am thinking between my Brother being a season war gamer and myself knowing the rules, it should work out.

Yipe said:

I agree with this... The rescue mission secenario from DOTF we played three days ago two times and it is really good, but tricky for the british.

Siegfried

Actually going back for another play we realized the Last Stand scenario is broken as hell... it's virtually impossible for the Americans to win.

I know this post is a little late for the original post but I saw some recommendations for Blood on the mountain and nobody had played the scenario. I just played Blood on the Mountain this weekend. It was an excellent scenario very close ending with a lot of tension. It is quick and due to the short time span forces aggressive play. It also introduces many of the elements without being overwhelming. I had no problem teaching the game to a newbie and by the end the game was flowing well. After this one play my friend was able to play the twin village scenario with very little trouble although he wanted to be the Americans which are in a difficult situation and he was a tad over aggressive possibly due to the Blood on the Mountain scenario.

Sorry, but I must protest to these statements! I felt a bit insulted when I played the scenario "Chain of Command" actually. Being a game designer my self, I get anoid when I feel that the balance in a game is too odd. Not that I don't like unbalanced games, but a must for me is that both players are entertained. This is not the case with "Chain of Command", where it is impossible to even get close to a victory for the US, and so it is boring for the German side. Having studiet the scenario in detail with a fellow game designer, we see no point in bringing forward a scenario this out of balance.

Please, if anyone has actually won this game playing the US, against a moderate player or just a player that is not completely untalented in terms of strategy, we would be happy to hear some detailed reports from the battlefield.

I say it is impossible to win for the US, even if the Germans are sleeping half of the time.

Yours - HexMaster

Ok, I stand corrected. BUT (there is allways a BUT), I fell pray to the COMMON misunderstanding about "turns". The way we played it, each player only had 3 turns each ROUND.

I think that we made the mistake partly because FFG used the terms "Turns" and "Action turns" - two very similar words. A far better choice would have been "Action turns" and "Rounds".

Thats all.

Hex-master....I feel your pain, dude. Allot of these scenarios are lop-sided, but if you look at the AAR's, from WWII, you would read ,more than once that this American squad was pinned, by 2 panzer IV's and a full panzergrenadier battalion. Or maybe the british 8th was traversing across the desert and became ambushed by a superior # ,,,etc. I think alot of these "imbalanced scenarios", may be put in place to force the weaker force to out think the superior force.

Myself, i will play a certain scenario so many times and then make notes along the way. After so many games, i may change the #'s on the reinforcements, or add elite infantry and subtract regulars to balance it out alittle more. I am basically a "beer and pretzels" type of wargammer. I don't like to put alot of thought into each and every scenario, as to how i can win, but, just to play, but there are some of the scenarios, as i am sure you will all agree, that just don't fit your taste; to bland, to basic, to dull, and i tend to shy away from them. I do, however, like to come back to them from time to time and modify them to fit me. Or simply use the basics of a written scenario and totally rewrite it to a different scenario that, DOES FIT ME!

Thanks to my good friend Siegfried, i now have the scenario editor and hope to produce some scenarios, that i will find suitible to publish some day.

TOI, has provided the basics. the mechanics, i love, and i can alter the rest to suit me.

Just my 2 pfennig.