Conflict of Heroes

Conflict of Heroes

Designer(s)	Uwe Eickert
Publisher(s)	Academy Games Elfinwerks
Years active	2008-present
Players	2-4
Age range	10+
Playing time	30-180 minutes
Website	conflictofheroes.com

Conflict of Heroes (CoH) is a tactical-level board wargame series that simulates firefights at the platoon or company level. Currently, only one game has been released in the series, Awakening the Bear!, set in the World War II Eastern Front between the years 1941 and 1942. A second game, Storms of Steel, will be set in Kursk, in 1943. The game is played on one or more interchangeable map boards which are divided into hexagons for movement and firing regulation.

The first game in the Conflict of Heroes series, Awakening the Bear!, is a 2009 Origins Silver Award Winner for the Best Historical Board Games category. A jury of experts drawn from the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design and the Game Manufacturers Association’s (GAMA) three divisions select the top ten of the submitted games and present them to game store retailers in attendance at the GAMA Trade Show in April each year.

Introduction

Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! - Russia 1941-42 was published by Academy Games in 2008 and is the first and only game so far published in the Conflict of Heroes series. A second game, Storms of Steel - Kursk 1943 is scheduled to be released sometime in 2009^[1]. While both games so far announced by the publisher are set in World War II Soviet Union, the front page of the publisher's website describes the game as following the development of modern day squad and platoon level tactics starting with World War II through modern day Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan^[2], and goes on to list Korea, Vietnam and Africa as further examples. Therefore possible future game expansions might be set in any war scenario of the last 60 years or more.

The game has been hailed as an excellent edition to the available wargame lineup in that Conflict of Heroes uses simplified rules compared to other wargames such as Advanced Squad Leader. It is easy for beginners to learn and games can be quite short if all players are experienced. The game can accommodate up to four players, but many of the included firefight scenarios are only designed for two players.

Game Components

Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! includes 192 1" square cardboard counters, depicting either a military unit or a game related token. Units include infantry squads, assault squads, machine gun teams, mortar teams, tanks, and heavy weapons, all pieces either Soviet or German. Events such as artillery strikes and extra weapons, as well as game features are included on the 55 included action cards. Also included are 5 map boards with terrain features such as lakes, buildings, hills, forests and roads.

Gameplay

Conflict of Heroes differs from many board wargames in that it allows players to instantly react to almost any action by the opponent. On the active player's turn, he/she activates one unit. That unit is given seven action points (APs) (although there are rule variants on the number of APs given per unit) which it can use to move, pivot, fire or build defenses if it has that capability. Each unit, upon activation, receives their APs, but each unit can only be activated once per turn, and each player can only activate one unit during his/her active period. Because of this, play is passed quickly back and forth between players. After any given unit has used all its APs, it is marked at 'used' and cannot be activated again that turn.

In addition to the APs that each unit receives, each player receives an amount of Command Action Points (CAPs) that can be used at any time to move/fire units that are not active, supplement an active unit's APs, or modify a dice roll. After each action by the active player, the inactive player is given a chance to respond one time with one unit. He may use his CAPs in the same manner as APs to fire with or move a unit, or he may choose to use an 'opportunity action', whereby he is allowed to give a unit any single action, but that unit is marked as used after completing the action. After the inactive player is given the chance to respond, the active player continues with his/her turn as normal. The active player is not bound to using strictly APs either, he/she may use CAPs and opportunity actions in between, before, or after using APs, as long as the inactive player is given a chance to respond to every action.

This rule set allows for a very involved gameplay that leaves little downtime for either player. Many of the other rules in the game are similar to other board wargames, but they are often simplified for ease of teaching and for making the game more fun.

Future Games

In an interview posted on January 16, 2009, Uwe Eickert shed some light on the future expansions to the Conflict of Heroes series^[3]. The second game of the series, Storms of Steel, is due in July 2009. In addition to Storms of Steel, which will now be set in Kursk in 1943, instead of the previously announced Eastern Front 1943-1945, several more games are planned, as follows:

• Allied Airborne Battles: D-Day 1944 (2009)
• Under Burning Skies: Afrika 1942 (2010)
• Operation Mercury: Island of Doom (2010)

Additionally, Nationality Packs have been promised by Uwe Eickert, which will allow players to play as certain countries included in the packs. The two examples that have been given are Poland and Finland.

Notes

1. ^ "conflictofheroes.com/news". http://www.conflictofheroes.com/index.html. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
2. ^ "conflictofheroes.com". http://www.conflictofheroes.com/index.html. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
3. ^ "Interview with Uwe Eickert (in German)". http://phalanxgames.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/angriff-interview-mit-uwe-eickert/#more-319. Retrieved 2009-01-18. 

External links

• conflictofheroes.com
• Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! - Russia 1941-42 at Boardgamegeek
• Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel - Eastern Front 1943-45 at Boargamegeek