#consim

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Breaking in Combat Infantry: East Front from Columbia. I like Combat Infantry, but wow, Columbia’s design discipline seems to have broken down significantly in recent years, between this and Victory in Europe. The scenario we played (E3) had several critical errors on the scenario card - including a German unit that doesn’t exist, contradictions about how many turns to play (victory conditions say 6, turn track says 5), and unclear German setup rules. The rules are also *still* maddeningly terse and oblique. When they sent solicited suggestions for ways to improve the rules late in the Kickstarter I sent them about a page of ways to clarify them; it appears none of my advice was taken. There is still so much good stuff in the game though. The maps are great bits of design that present all kinds of interesting little tactical problems, the system is clean and plays quickly (once you’ve worked out the rules), the command and control systems are great. The US, Germans, and Soviets all play quite differently with few to no special rules. I’ve actually quite enjoyed almost all of my plays of this (just one scenario I played from West Front wasn’t great) and hope it can still have some legs. But wow, it is *not* well-served by either the rules or the scenario format - for a comparatively simple game it’s more work to get settled with than it should be. #columbiagames #boardgamegeek #bgg #consim #boardwargame #boardwargaming https://www.instagram.com/p/B6NNKziBiTA/?igshid=1f9cc6c006t7r