Introducing Eisenhower

No, not that Eisenhower! I'm talking about the latest set of wargaming rules from Sam Mustafa - 'Eisenhower' - which following tradition is named after a inspirational leader from the period being gamed. 'Eisenhower' - hereafter 'Ike' - is due for release October (2024) after a exhaustive period of playtesting. 

Don't worry - we got to use minis after the early days!

The Wollongong Wargamers had the honour of assisting with this process, hence my take on Ike may be of interest, although of course I do not speak for Sam. Details of Ike and the plethora of supporting material will soon be found on Sam's Honour site. There is already a YouTube video of how to play.

A test game set in Normandy using Victrix 1:144 minis

Since General Eisenhower was Supreme Allied Commander Europe, you can already surmise that these rules are pitched at a very high command level.

15mm Battlefront minis

For example looking above, nearest the camera and still on the beach, those two Shermans and Infantry squad each represent a Battalion of tanks or infantry, and that grid square they are in represents two miles of terrain. Similarly the grid square in front of them with the three infantry stands represents a US Infantry Regiment/Brigade of three battalions of infantry (although Ike doesn't get too hung up on the nomenclature of the level between battalion and division). Together with their mates on their right flank across the river, these eight stands represent the survivors of the US  36th Infantry Division at Salerno. 

Looking above again, we can see that combat has been joined - the 16th Panzer Division's mechanised elements of two tank battalions and a Pz. Grenadier bn are counterattacking. 

The two blue dice represent the 16th's organic artillery support and the small black dice heavier Army level arty. The yellow spiked marker reminds us that the Pz Grenadiers occupying Battipaglia are 'Prepared' - they get to shoot first if they get attacked, whereas most combats are worked out simultaneously. The green counters are Ops markers, representing the focus of action for that formation. The fact there are two suggest that this is the second time I activated these chaps - this gap between the town and the marshes is clearly vital terrain! As the yanks have just come off the beach they have no artillery netted in yet but worry not, they have ample Naval Gunfire Support from the Allied Navies - as I learnt to my cost!

Each side would usually command up to 6 Divisions, each of 6-9 such battalion sized units. Looking below at the figures on the right of the battle mat, you can see five divisions - the three clusters at top right represent the first wave of landing forces, the remaining two groups nearest the camera the reinforcements that may follow on the next day or thereafter. A typical table 6x4 will have 96 squares, each representing two miles of terrain. 

15mm minis on a 6inch grid battle mat from Cigar Box

A typical game lasts for six days of battle time, so each turn is a day, with several 'admin' periods and alternating bounds of combat dependent on the intensity of the action that day/turn. 

Peter's most excellent Sicily game using Rommel rules - great fun!

I want to clarify that Ike is not Rommel Version 2! If you have been reading my spiel this far you will have probably realised that the two games operate at different command levels. In Rommel each stand typically represents a company or squadron, and each side a Division, compared to Ike's battalions and Corps/Army - the game is the campaign! 

In Rommel there are a plethora of tactical options and traits that can be played to provide unit and campaign flavour. But  with Ike, designed for fast play, the range of tactical options and traits are fewer but broader ranging, as befits your role as an Army Commander. 

Despite being Army HQ, the paperwork and bumpf are kept to a minimum

This leaves you free to concentrate on the higher level command questions:

Where is the schwerpunkt? 

Do you fight the invader on the beaches and risk getting pulverised by his naval guns, or do you hang back and wait for your reserves to come up after running the gamut of enemy air superiority? 

Do you expend one of your precious stockpiles to rally all exhausted units, or is it better saved to resupply isolated units? Or do you use it to rush in reinforcements, or perhaps activate just one formation to a last desperate effort!

Victory comes from recognising - and closing - key strategic gaps. Easy to say!

Ike is unashamedly designed for the ETO (Eastern and Western fronts) and the Western Desert. Now the game does not incorporate the ego massaging, back-stabbing and politics that can be found at this rarefied command level - so I recommend team games to build that aspect in! 

Just kidding - but there are ample mechanisms built in the advanced game to allow for both multi-player and club games.

In Bocage country sometimes you just have to embrace the suck!

Now its my experience that after exhaustive playtesting of one of Sam's rules, our club tends to not play it on our Thursday evening for some time, instead catching up on other favourites. And despite the hall-mark elegance and simplicity of Sam's rules, Ike still requires some planning and preparation, particularly if a specific historical battle is to be refought, for which ample guidance is given. (There are also a dozen fictional scenarios as well as the introductory historical 'Counter attack on the Mius' scenario.) 

A large slice of Normandy '44 - Let battle commence!

So my prediction is that Ike in our neck of the woods will be used to stage occasional large multi-player games of historical big ticket items - the Meuse 1940, Smolensk '41, Stalingrad, Alamein and of course invasions - Crete, Salerno and D-Day. (And given the open architecture approach, I see no reason why it couldn't be used for large Cold War Gone Hot scenarios...but that's probably just me!)

Interested?   - keep checking Sam Mustafa's site for details from October:

https://sammustafa.com/all-historical-games