Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)First, a disclaimer. I helped develop this game. Mainly I proofread the rules and components, and gave occasional rules suggestions here or there. The design of the game is still Uwe's, and I did not design any of the firefights. I'm mainly going to attempt in this review to compare Storms of Steel (SoS) to Awakening the Bear (AtB), so that people who have played Awakening the Bear can know what to expect from this fabulous game, that I believe is a step up in every way from Awakening the Bear.
Components
Awakening the Bear was hailed by many for its beautiful, euro-quality components. In this regard, Storms of Steel will not disappoint.
Map Boards:
SoS comes with 4 map boards, rather than 5 that came with AtB. The SoS boards are slightly thinner than the AtB boards, but are still thick and sturdy, and much, much thicker than you will get from most wargame companies these days. Where I found my AtB boards would warp slightly, I have had no such issues with the SoS boards. Uwe has also cranked up the vivid scale on these boards. They are brighter and more colourful, and make the AtB boards seem dark and drab in comparison. The finish has been changed slightly. AtB boards had a heavy linen texture feel to them, which felt great but muddied the details a bit. SoS has a slightly smoother, glossier finish that makes the details stand out much better. On top of that, there simply are a lot more details on the boards. You can see things like little tractors in farm yards, and the details of the wheat, and the end result is that the boards are gorgeous. The maps are not as feature-dense as the AtB maps, but that is easily remedied with the included overlays.
Overlays:
While SoS comes with 1 less map board, it also comes with a sheet of double-sided thick cardboard overlays. These multi-hex overlays are a combination of hills, rivers, balkas, tank ditches, and a village, that can be placed anywhere on the map boards. This creates near-infinite variety in the maps, and the 3-D nature of the overlays sitting on the maps is actually quite nice with the hills in particular. The finish is practically the same as the boards, and they are just as beautiful as the map boards. They can slip and slide a little bit though, so you have to be extra careful not to knock the board or else you might have a village spinning in the middle of your map! Overall though, the overlays work quite well, and are a welcome addition to Conflict of Heroes.
Counters:
I think the counters are possibly where people will see the biggest improvement in the components. The counters have the same slightly smoother finish as the board, meaning the details of the unit pictures do not get muddied and are very clear to see. The unit graphics are also bigger and take up more counter space, making the details easier to see, and making it easier to distinguish between the various units. New information is seamlessly added to the counters, to account for new rules, and also to make the rules easier to remember. For instance, you no longer need to remember which units get a bonus in close combat, and which get a penalty. If the fire power has a white box around it, this means you get a penalty; otherwise, you get a bonus. This makes it easier to keep track of, and also means that they can do more complex units that say, get a close combat bonus vs soft targets but get a penalty vs hard targets. Also, new rules revolving around open topped vehicles and air / anti-air units get seamlessly integrated into the new units. You also get many more counters than in Awakening the Bear. There are more units and more unit variety.
Cards:
The cards are of similar stock to AtB. The graphics on them are improved, however. They look much more refined and professional. There are some new action cards, and also a new type of card, Veteran cards, which can add special abilities to your platoon or specific units.
The rulebook and firefight book:
Both the rulebook and firefight book are in 8.5" by 11" size, much easier to handle than the 12"x12" in AtB. They are also in thick 100 pound stock with a glossy finish, and look and feel great. They are probably the sturdiest rule books I've seen in a board game.
Player Aids and Tracking Sheets:
The summary sheet and tracking sheets are very similar to AtB, but updated of course for the new SoS rules and features.Gameplay:
Storms of Steel changes a few rules, while also adding in some new units, fortifications, and terrain features.
Rules Changes:
The biggest rule change in SoS is that both players can have an activated unit at the same time. This creates a few different effects to the game, all of which are positive, in my opinion. For one, the game is now simpler and easier to learn. It is now much more of a "You Go I Go" game, which new players are more familiar with. The "You go until I want to interrupt you or until you pass and then I go until you want to interrupt me or I pass" method of AtB worked well but was different than many games and confused some people. Also, the game feels much more like it's running in real time. I'm not waiting for my opponent's unit to run across the map before I do the same with mine - they now move an act near-simultaneously. Defense machine fire is now more realistic as well. Where before, a defending HMG would have to use an expensive opportunity action to fire at an oncoming attacker, now it can activate and fire several times, making it much harder to charge at a machine gun.
New Units:
There are 3 types of new units: snipers, airplanes, open-topped vehicles.
* Snipers are hidden units that can fire while hidden and have a high probability of remaining hidden. They are very fun to use, and it's great to be picking off and harassing units with your opponent not quite sure where the fire is coming from.
* Airplanes are the biggest unit addition to the game. Personally, I do not like how many other games abstractly bring in air units and enjoy that I actually get to control the plane on the board. The planes can change elevation and can attack with machine guns as well as drop bombs and mines. They are very deadly but usually can only be brought in once or twice in a firefight. They are a lot of fun, and do not add many rules to the game.
* Open-topped vehicles are easier to hit by artillery and close combating infantry. I haven't gotten a chance to use them yet, but they do provide another step in realism, and the rules for them are pretty straight forward.
New fortifications and terrain features:
SoS adds new fortifications and terrain features. There are gun pits that add defense to your large guns, rivers that are difficult to cross, balkas that you can take refuge in, and fields that have varying covering effects depending on the time of year. All are great additions that add more detail and make you feel like you're fighting on a different landscape than AtB. A couple features are missing in SoS, such as light woods and walls, keeping the number of different terrain features to keep track of in one game a bit more manageable.
Feel of the game:
Despite being another eastern front WWII game with the Russians vs the Germans, the game actually plays quite different. The units in SoS are more lethal than in AtB - attack values on infantry are usually 4s and 5s, rather than the 2s and 3s in AtB. This means there's more firing from a distance, and less charging at your enemy knowing that they won't be very effective until you're close. In my games I've played so far, I would also say SoS is less forgiving than AtB. A mistake or two can cost you the game very quickly. I highly recommend that if there's any significant gap in experience, you give the player with less experience a CAP or two to compensate. Overally I very much like that the SoS gameplay feels very different than AtB. You won't feel like you're getting "more of the same", or that once you have SoS, there will be no reason to back and play AtB.Firefights:
After playing through several of the firefights, I believe the included firefights in SoS are actually the biggest step up from AtB for several reaons:
Solo-specific firefights:
Out of the box, SoS comes with solo-specific firefghts, with "A.I." around how the enemy reacts. There will still be times when you have to make a choice about what the enemy does, but for playing solo, you will now feel like you are playing one side, rather than both. I tried out the first solo firefight and found it infinitely more fun than trying to play the game solitaire the old way.
More Variety:
Out of the box, SoS comes with 15 firefights, geared towards 1, 2, 3, or 4 players. This is an improvement over AtB, which initially came with 10 firefights, geared only towards 2 or 4 players. Also, there is far more variety in how the firefights are played. In AtB, the vast majority of firefights were simple setups where one side held a control hex and the other side was trying to take it. In SoS, things get mixed up a lot more, with firefights involving control markers that are being carried by units that you're trying to steal away (kind of like Capture the Flag), and a king of the hill firefight, where taking the control hex on a hill in the middle grants you the ability to call in off-board artillery on the next round. There's also a firefight where you have to try to drag an immobilized tank off of the map. Furthermore, several firefights have optional units that you can add or take out to change up how it feels. There is just so much variety this time around, and every firefight feels very different.
Faster-playing:
The firefights in SoS are significantly...Read more›
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Conflict Of Heroes: Storms Of SteelStorms of Steel witnesses the epic retreat and eventual defeat of the Wehrmacht on the eastern front.• All new units including Tiger tanks, Soviet rockets,strafing airplanes, and much more!• New map boards, including bombed out cities maps!• All new firefights, including detailed historicalbackgrounds.
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