I'm a typical grognard. I like my maps, cardboard counters and CRT's. So imagine my surprise and enormous delight when I was asked to take a look at “Spearpoint 1943”, a historical based card game that I immediately enjoyed. This is a game steeped in historical accuracy, research, playability and months and months of playtesting. What’s great to see is that all of this work has truly paid off to provide the gamer with a unique and extremely enjoyable experience with tremendous replay value.

 

 

 

The card game can be played in either of two ways. First there is the open game, where players choose their deck and play a game based on 100 points. Or there are pre-designed Scenarios that set up different historical or theoretical situations that are provided and can be played and you use the cards that are presented in the scenario.

 

First, there are four decks of cards that are used in the game. These decks are the Command deck, the Damage deck, the Allied unit deck and the Axis unit deck. First we will look at an Open or Standard game. The first thing players do is to choose a hand from their respective units deck totaling 100 points or as close to 100 points as they can get. Next, each player looks through the cards they just picked and chooses 4 units to put in play immediately. Now, the remaining cards that they choose are shuffled and are placed face down and this becomes their draw deck. Next, the Command deck is shuffled and each player is dealt 3 command cards each. These 7 cards for each player is their starting hand.

 

A turn consists of three unique phases that are simple to remember. They are Commitment, Combat and Draw. There is no set number of turns for a game to end and turns continue until one side or another achieves a win condition.

 

All units in each player’s hand represent units that are ready for battle but are uncommitted. Units in a player’s hand may be committed onto the game table in the Commitment Phase to one of two lines which are front or rear or no line depending on unit type. Combat occurs among opposing committed units that have legal targets during the Combat Phase. Players draw new Units and Command Cards into their hands in the Draw Phase. All I can say is SIMPLE....

 

First, lets take a quick look at the Commitment Phase of the game. This is conducted simultaneously by both players so that one has no advantage over the other. Each player sets aside the card or cards they wish to commit and then reveal the cards simultaneously and they enter the battle area in either the front or rear line.

 

Now, a quick word about front or rear line before we continue. The terms “Frontline” or “Rear Line” are printed on each Unit Card to indicate where each unit is committed and from where each unit operates. Frontline units are generally tanks, anti-tank guns, infantry, and vehicles. They protect the Rear line which consists of long range artillery and some self-propelled guns. Also, there are crews for all the units, so you need to match a crew with a unit for that unit to be used.

 

We now move onto the next phase of the game which is Combat. Needless to say, this is where the carnage and fun takes place.   For each committed unit in the Battle Area, players may declare to attack a single “legal” target and choose the weapons used against that target to fire once until all of the attacks are resolved.

 

 

Players verbally declare to fire up to two (2) weapons of each attacking unit against a target vulnerable to those weapons and physically turn the attacking unit card so that the top of the card points toward the target. Players choose targets simultaneously. A target is “legal” if at least one of the attacking unit’s weapons may affect the target according to the Attack Icons. Frontline units may target other frontline units and aircraft. Rear line units (longrange artillery) may target frontline or opposing rear line units and aircraft. Aircraft may target any Unit regardless of line. If a player’s frontline is destroyed, that player’s rear line becomes the frontline. Any newly committed rear line units form a new rear line.

 

After target declaration, each player rolls Initiative using one D10 die (D10) and applies any modifiers, re-rolling ties. The highest roll determines who resolves the first attack. Players then alternate resolving attacks in the order of their choice until all attacks declared this phase are complete.

 

Attack resolution is a simple yet provides accurate results in Spearpoint. To resolve any attack, roll two D10 dice (2D10) and sum the result. A hit occurs if the sum equals or exceeds the weapon’s Attack value based on target unit type. A miss occurs if the sum is less than the weapon’s Attack Value. 

 

If an attack hits, the attacking player determines Damage as each hit occurs. For each hit, roll Intensity using 1D10 and add the Damage Index (DI) of the weapon. Higher Intensity rolls represent well-placed, more damaging hits. Raw Damage is the sum of Damage Index and Intensity. Subtract the target’s Defense (Gray Shield Icon) from Raw Damage to determine Net Damage. Net Damage is then subtracted from the target’s Full Endurance (Green Cross Icon) to determine actual damage inflicted on the target. Crews of Units are protected from Net Damage as long as the crewed Unit is not destroyed. Damage is instantaneous. If enough damage is applied to reach the half breakpoint (Red Cross Icon) or more as a result of any hit or cumulative hits in a single Combat Phase, draw a Damage Card from the face-down Damage Card Deck and apply the appropriate Damage Effect based on Unit Type. If a unit reached zero or less Endurance at any time, it is destroyed, scored, and removed from the game.

 

Finally there is the Draw Phase. The Draw Phase presents players with several choices for replenishment of Unit Cards and Command Cards up to the maximum hand size of each. Players may retain up to 7 Unit Cards and 5 Command Cards in their hand at the end of the Draw Phase. If a Unit Card must be discarded, it is placed under the Reserves Deck.

 

Each player draws (1) one Command Card and then chooses one of the following:

Draw (1) one Command Card and then (1) one Unit Card.

Draw (2) two Unit Cards.

Draw (2) two Command Cards.

 

A New Turn begins upon completion of the Draw Phase.

 

Winning the Game

 

In a Standard Game, the first player to reach 51 Victory Points wins.

 

 

 

While all of this may seem a bit complicated, believe me, you can learn this game in 30 minutes or less but mastering it will take a considerable longer time as the tactics are subtle and there are many fine nuances in the game that makes each game different and keeps you coming back for more. As I said beginning this review, I am a grognard plain and simple and never particularly liked card games. That's not to say there are not some good ones out there such as (dare I say it) Magic the Gathering. Yes, I have played MTG (the card, the computer, and the online version) and really think it is an excellent game that has brought new life and many new players into fantasy gaming. Well I feel that the impact of Spearpoint 1943 will be to historical card gaming what Magic the Gathering was to fantasy gaming. I feel it will breath new life into historical card gaming by introducing neophytes into a new world with a historical background based on sound historical research that is challenging yet most important of all, fun to play. Sometimes simple is better! Get Spearpoint 1943, I highly recommend it.