As I’ve mentioned many times before, I’m a fan of nearly every squad-based tactical wargame that’s ever been published. There are few that I haven’t played, and many of those I have bought still inhabit a corner or shelf in my game closet.
But there’s always been one thing about them that’s really bugged me: They are all what I call Marker Farms.
If you play tactical wargames, you know what I’m talking about. As the game begins you can look down at your freshly set-up game and enjoy the aesthetic of well-designed counters placed against the crisp graphics of the game map. But by mid-way through the first turn, the entire scene is stacked and crowded with game markers indicating everything from artillery impacts to flat tires to guys wishing to hell they were back in Columbus, GA.
I can see my map and counters!
Maybe the map is a really nice rendering with evocative topographic details, and maybe the counters are laid-out clearly with cool icons that tell you exactly what you’re looking at – but once you start playing, the innovative graphic presentation that just reeks of historical heroism suddenly looks like a bulletin board at the corner deli that’s been overloaded with Post-It Notes, bad photocopies about lost dogs and business cards.
The more familiar I become with Conflict of Heroes, the more I appreciate some of the game’s simple little innovations. One of those innovations is that the design basically dumps a big ol’ bucket of herbicide on the Marker Farm. I can play an entire scenario without placing so much as a single marker on top of one of the Volkswagen-sized unit counters. If a unit takes a single ‘hit’ in combat, you draw a (single) marker that goes UNDER the unit counter. But that’s pretty much it beyond the two “Vehicle Immobile” markers in the countermix.
It’s an impressive accomplishment. I’ve always thought it was a shame that so many designers and publishers put so much effort into the aesthetics of their counters and maps, only to cover them up with a mind-boggling array of informational markers. I can accept the trade-off in order to experience the different design approaches and enjoy the games, but I know a few folks who won’t play ‘tactical’ games at all because they’re so put off by the Marker Farm effect.
In the interests of full disclosure, I will note that each player in Conflict of Heroes needs to use an off-board track to keep up with a few things. There is no log-keeping, note-taking or other fiddly stuff involved. Units that have finished their activation are flipped over to their ‘used’ side. Units carrying a single ‘hit’ from combat have a hit marker placed beneath them. A few markers are sometimes used as additional, man-made terrain (wire, bunkers, hasty fighting positions, etc.) – but that’s it.
Conflict of Heroes gets two thumbs-up for Anti-Fiddliness.
