You know, I’ve really hardly played the new edition since it dropped a few months back. I was very excited–and still am–but we just have not found the time between other games, work, school, family, and whatever else life throws on the docket.

Well, I finally got a second game in. My impression? Unchanged. The game is great and I think the new systems work quite well.

I was the Germans, attacking two Russian owned objectives, which my opponent stationed on either side of the road to represent me seeking to control a path through. My main effort was to drop an infantry section late in the game and have it overrun the point after I spent most of the game shaping the objective with my remaining force.

I did a good job of holding off the sections correctly. I placed one in the only stone building on the map to apply pressure, and another in the woods to do the same. I kept a third section in reserve to reinforce either of those (it ended up in the woods) and a fourth section ready to charge forward.

Unfortunately, the fourth section found itself foolishly tied up in a house, which served me right for ignoring my plan. My opponent used an infantry section to throw grenades in the windows, met pretty massive success, and then bum-rushed the house, eliminating the squad.

I was, in theory, still in it–but my other solution was the section in the woods and I wasn’t making progress on the ongoing tank battle in the center. At a certain point, you accept that you’ve lost your center of gravity and call it. The real kicker is for the first half of the game things were really looking my way. He walked away very bloodied, and basically on the edge of a morale collapse.

That’s all to say it was a great game. I love Chain of Command and the new edition hasn’t changed that. If you enjoyed the first edition and have not made the plunge, I strongly advise you do. I can’t review the game yet due to lack of play but I’m real positive on it so far.

Plus, it gives me the excuse to make cool boards. What more do you need?

…great rules, verisimilitude, and a properly modeled world–but Chain of Command 2 has all that so we’re good.