Eisenhower vs Rommel

I haven't had time to keep up this blog or to do any painting, but I am still gaming reasonably regularly. I may summarise my activities at the end of the year.

The reason for breaking radio silence now is that I've just purchased Sam Mustafa's Eisenhower, a high-level (1 base = 1 battalion) WW2 game. This looks like the game Rommel was supposed to be before it was (allegedly) hijacked by playtesters and pushed in a more tactical direction.

Notwithstanding my huge respect for Sam as an imaginative game-designer and eloquent rule-writer, I was hugely disappointed with Rommel. I've written enough about that, so I won't say anything more.

It may be a few months before I get to play Eisenhower, so I'm not going to review it. Sam's explanatory videos  capture the main character of the game. It's described as a miniatures game but that's abstract in the extreme. I quite like using models even at this very token level but I'm probably going to approach it as a boardgame so as not to raise any false expectations amongst potential fellow players.

Some will feel that this level of game lacks flavour. For me the flavour lies in historical scenarios. I wouldn't use it for pickup games, except as a learning exercise.

I've already expressed, in relation to Rommel, the reasons for favouring this sort of game. They still apply, so getting the game was a no brainer. 

 I might have had reservations about possible lack of scenarios and needing to write my own, but at this level it should be much easier than for Rommel.