Week #1 with West Front! Now that TalonSofts WEST FRONT has mastered and is on the store shelves (or soon to be), what are you going to do with it first? Where are you going to start? There is so much to chose from, with 56 Scenarios, 5 Linked Campaigns (that add another 116 Scenarios) and 7 Dynamic Campaigns that take you from 'The Fall of France' to 'The Road to Germany'. The play value and possible combinations of approach to this game are endless.At first I was going to write and tell about ... Read More

With the recent changes to the optional Command and Controls rule, in West Front keeping platoons of the same company together takes on a whole new importance. The Company Command Post (CP) is deemed to travel with the 1st Platoon of each company. The CP has a Command Range, and units outside this range will suffer a -1 penalty when they are resolving a die roll to recover from Disruption or attempting to recover a lost morale point. The penalty does not affect other morale checks. The net effec... Read More

My initial perceptions of this light tank when I started PBEM in February was that it was a worthless piece of junk.  In one of my first games, 'Checking the Blitzkrieg', there were swarms of BT-7s, and as the German I loved to shoot them full of holes.  An easy victim,  I thought.  I was glad I didn't have them in my arsenal.  This thought turned to frustration the first time I commanded them in battle.  Roll them up blast away and wait to be destroyed the next tur... Read More

IntroductionWhen TalonSoft's East Front was released last year, I became very interested in all the different unit types and finding a best purpose for each. From the lowly Russian ATR (anti-tank rifle) platoon all they way up to the speedy armored cars, I felt each unit had a time and a place where it could function and contribute to the game. This led me to an interest in reconnaissance aspects of the game system.Battlefield reconnaissance in TalonSoft's Campaign Series is an art that has take... Read More

Greetings Gents,

This is a short little article on something I have found of great value in saving lives in East Front - Smoke.

So far I have played Fortress in the Snow (IE Velikye Luke) twice as the Russians. In the first game I advanced a WHOLE bunch of infantry over open ground and got slaughtered by artillery fire and bunkered machine gun platoons. It was not pretty…only the use of my Tanks where going to be able to save the day.
... Read More

This is a little article I thought I would put together about using Artillery during set piece battles. I have come up against quite a few opponents who could have toasted me if they used their artillery better, or I toasted them through effective use of artillery so I thought I would share my thoughts. I have divided these thoughts into various subsections for ease of getting them on paper.PLACEMENTWhenever possible if I have an artillery unit that is low on ammo during a turn, I will hitch it ... Read More

It is necessary, especially early in the war to identify and split your panzers by type (although in some scenarios you might need to group them together for tactical reasons such as high infantry concentration from the enemy). 1. Anti-armour elements. It is preferable to use the PzIII's (any type up to the N variant) in group of two's. In that way your panzer elements will have additional firepower when dealing with enemy armour and take away some of the micro-management issues (especially if y... Read More

During WWII night attacks were used with increasing frequency - certainly more than in any other major conflict prior to it. This is especially true in the Pacific theater, where the Japanese frequently favored the effects of darkness for masking both infiltration and mass assaults.A set-piece scenario that takes place at night will be so noted in the introduction to that battle, just prior to the recommended side. The "Visibility" window of Scenario Information display (hot key 1) also states i... Read More

Japanese Strategy by Yossarian/Michael WetherholtWow, a strategy guide....what a great idea. I'm flattered that you would like some imput from me about Rising Sun. I'm no expert, so don't take what I have to say as Gospel or the final word...these tips that I'll relate are my understanding of the rules and the beneifits and detriments of playing as the Japanese. And yes, I would spend $20 for it. I'm a horrible armor commander and could use all of the help that I can get, especially in East Fron... Read More

The following list of strategies and tactics comes from my personal experience playing Talonsoft's East Front and other similar wargames (Talonsoft's Bulge/Ardennes game), and represents lessons learned (usually the hard way) from my many worthy opponents on the PBEM battlefields. Most of this is common sense and basic, but still not obvious to the casual observer (at least it was not obvious to me when I started playing these wargames). I broke up this list into two major categories of tips: th... Read More

As the commander, you must orchestrate a combination of offensive and defensive operations to defeat the enemy and gain the initiative. For success on the East Front battlefield, you should plan for an extended battle utilizing all available forces at your disposal. Audacity, aggressiveness and good planning are keys to a victorious fight. You must attempt to shape the battlefield by diversion, delay, destruction, and/or attrition of enemy forces. Also, you will need to anticipate, create, and e... Read More