Backward is the New Forward
Designer: Jerry White
Player count: 1
Publisher: GMT Games
PARTING
SHOTS
This
second entry into the Enemy Coast Ahead
series (there’s going to be more, right?) seriously raises the bar when it
comes to narrative solo wargaming. The 19-page debriefing manual alone tells a
completely different story each time you reach the end of the campaign game—and
that’s not taking into account every little detail that’ll pepper your way to
that yoke-gripping conclusion.
Naturally,
the detailed research baked into the game mechanics means that you’ll learn a
boatload of historical facts about that incredible endeavor every time you
climb into that B-25 cockpit for another spin. (And keep an eye out for those
historical green boxes scattered throughout the rulebook.)
I
do lament the lack of an index—and that was also true of the original Enemy Coast Ahead. It will not always be
a problem, but once in a while you’ll find yourself cursing under your breath
when, in the thick of things, with bullets flying every which way, you try to
remember the consequences of switching from high to low altitude…
Still,
you can rely on the astounding player aids. Not only do they painlessly teach
you the game, but they also vaporize the solo gamer’s main headache: coming
back to a solo game after letting it stew on its shelf for an extended period
of time. Will you remember how to play that thing? In the case of The Doolittle Raid, it doesn’t matter. All
you need to do is just sit down and start playing.
So
what’s left to say? That Operation Chariot
would make a great volume III?
(Pretty
please…)
FUN
FACTOR
The Doolittle Raid is an
absolute blast (pun intended).
Don’t
be fooled by the early scenarios: they are intentionally facile to ease players
into the system and make it possible for them to assimilate basic game
mechanics without feeling overwhelmed by chaotic happenstances erupting left
and right. After all, you’re just performing the Attack segment, which happens
at the very end of the raid. So everything is set up just right for you to
enjoy the ride. (By the way, unless you want to take in an extra dose of
historical goodness, don’t bother with all
of the Attack scenarios: just one or two of them will be enough for you to grok
what’s going on.)
However,
once you back up and start with the Flight segment, your performance there will
affect the subsequent Attack segment: suddenly, you’re not in that perfect,
hypothetical shape when you reach Tokyo. Not so easy now, is it?
Then
you back up one more step, to play the Naval segment that will bring your
bombers into takeoff range—if your aircraft carrier makes it that far. Of
course, by then not all of your planes might be fit to fly anymore, which will
affect your Flight segment, which will then generate consequences for your
Attack segment…
Eventually
you’ll tackle the complete, campaign game, moving through Planning, Naval,
Flight and Attack segments, even tacking on a Denouement segment at the end to
cap the adventure. Only then will you start to fully grasp the repercussions of
even the earliest of your decisions, as they cascade out of your control down
the game structure.
It
is a thing a beauty.
RULES
OF ENGAGEMENT
We
are indeed talking about a 64-page rulebook, here. At first glance, not the
faint of heart. But the amazing thing is that you don’t need to read a single
page of it.
Just
like its sister game, The Doolittle Raid
is presented with programmed instructions in a reverse sequence of connected segments (or modules, if you wish).
This means that you start by learning the rules to the last chunk of the game:
the Attack segment.
“A-ha!
So there’s rules reading involved!!” Well, no, not really. Because the Attack
segment is summarized in a glorious player aid folder that contains everything
you need to get underway. Right now. So you open the box, punch out the
components, set up scenario 1 and get going, performing whatever the player aid
tells you to do.
I
am not using hyperbole to make a cute point—this is exactly how your first game
will unfold.
Of
course, you can sit down in your favorite armchair, armed with a nice single
malt, and plow through the rulebook from cover to cover. But you don’t need to.
Know that the book will be there, like a trusty wingman, for when something
doesn’t quite make sense to you and you need confirmation.
Other
than that, keep your eyes on the target.
Once
you’ve learned how to play the Attack segment, the scenario book takes you one
step back to the Flight segment, i.e. getting your planes to where they need to
attack. Again, the relevant player aid folder takes you through the entire
procedure with nary a page of rules to read.
So
you fly your way to Japan, trying to make it there in one piece. Then the end
of the Flight segment connects to the start of the Attack segment—but you
already know how to play that, don’t you?
When
you’re comfortable with the Flight and Attack segments, the game takes you back
one step earlier, to the Naval segment. This involves navigating treacherous
waters with your task force until you bring your carrier far enough into the
Pacific for your B-25s to take off. You guessed it—there’s a handy Naval
segment player aid folder to guide you, so that you need not touch the
rulebook.
And
what happens once the aircraft take to the skies? The Naval segment blends
seamlessly into the now-familiar Flight segment, which will culminate in the
by-now-quite-comfortable Attack segment.
Finally,
when you’ve paid your dues and then some, the game takes you back one last
step, to the Planning segment. There you are tasked with making the most
crucial decisions of the entire game, from negotiating with foreign powers
(where do you want your planes to land once they’ve released their ordnance?)
to making actual modifications on your aircraft (heavier and better equipped,
or lighter but more vulnerable?), setting secrecy levels (provide more
information to the troops, enhancing their readiness, but at the price of a
heightened security risk…), organizing training, managing transportation, and
so on. Again, a jewel of a player aid folder guides you through the entire process
and makes sure you don’t forget a single rivet on those B-25s.
And
then? You embark on the Naval segment, segue right into the Flight segment,
follow up with the Attack segment—and top everything with a Denouement segment
that evaluates your entire performance and provides an array of results that
mesh together to form an enthralling narrative.
Congratulations!
You’ve just played the campaign game, enjoyed one of the best rides of your
wargaming life, and can’t wait to just experience it all over again.
Now,
while the Attack segment might appear as if its provides few decision points,
the more you step back, the more you come to understand how each of your
selections blooms into consequences you’ll have to deal with later on. By the
time you reach the Planning segment and can envision the entire breadth of the
campaign, it becomes absolutely clear (if somehow you still had doubts) that
you’re not spending time on some half-baked, harebrained contraption.
WAR
PRODUCTION
With
a box almost too small to hold all of its gaming goodness, The Doolittle Raid hides behind a cool cover—courtesy of the US
Navy Department of Defense!
So
you’re armed with a 64-page rulebook (which you don’t have to read, it bears repeating), a 40-page scenario book, a
20-page debriefing manual, and enough player aids to cover a fair-sized table.
If you still have some surface left, deploy the immense map sheet and plug
whatever hole might remain with the three smaller attack maps.
Errata
here was kept to a minimum, and while I ran into a few nomenclature woes (for
instance, page 44 calls “Reaction Value” what the map labels “Anti-Sub Value”),
there’s really nothing to prevent you from accomplishing your mission.
Oh,
and don’t forget your opaque containers: you’ll need ten of them to house the multitude of chits you’ll need to pull as
your aircraft make their long, dangerous way to Japan. (To be fair, you’re not
expected to use all of them at once, although I did have to resort to seven
simultaneous mugs on more than one occasion.)
The
components are the usual GMT high quality, and all illustrations (including the
main map!) are provided by the designer himself. Talk about a one-man army.
Five
six-sided dice round out the package. Will you need them all? Yes. Ooooh yes.
Have
fun running out of fuel over Tokyo.
INTRODUCTION
Three
quarters of a century after the fact, most people know about the infamous air
attack on Japan that brought World War II to an end. But there was another raid
on Tokyo, earlier in the war, which did not leave quite the same mark on the
public’s psyche. It was the Doolittle Raid.
And
now it’s your turn to make it all the way to the Empire of the Sun—and
survive to tell the tale.
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