The Little Land

 

February 4-9, 1943

Stalin had been unhappy with the progress of North Caucasus Front on Krasnodor and impatient to see more success, he ordered General Ivan Petrov, commander of the Black Sea Group of Forces, to break the stalemate by a surprise invasion from the Black Sea.  This would unhinge the German defense and quicken the offensive.

Almost immediately, things went wrong – with a bombardment from the Black Sea Fleet that merely alerted the defense – and the invasion itself was running far behind schedule.  So began the battle of Novorossiysk.

Some game play notes and overview & impressions.

From the Site:

CSS: Novorossiysk is the first game in the Nemesis series covering company level battles on the Eastern Front.  With added special rules to cover the unique type of warfare on the Eastern Front, players will battle over the fate of the Kuban with tanks, amphibious invasions, paratroopers, naval ships and artillery.

Details:

  • Complexity: 7 (out of 10)
  • Solitaire Suitability : 8 (out of 10)
  • Time Scale: 2 hours per game turn
  • Map Scale: 500 meters per hex
  • Unit Scale: Company/platoon
  • Players: 1-2
  • Playing time: 2-35 hours
  • Designer: Adam Starkweather
  • Artist: Antonio Pinar

Scenarios:

  • 4 scenarios included

Components:

  • 2 22×34 maps
  • 8 countersheets
  • 1 rules booklet
  • 1 scenario booklet
  • 9 player aids
  • 2 D10 dice
  • Box and lid *Note Dan Pancaldi!!!

 

5 thoughts on “The Little Land”

  1. Good vid. Glad we got a chance to play again – and looking forward to keep digging into it. Fulda is next!

    1. I did not recall seeing anything of that nature in the two times I’ve played (including letting Kev beat up some Germans this past weekend). There are some oddities (maybe errors?) in the setup for scenario 3 that we played as some units seem to have multiple SWs attached which is not possible under the rules, for example.

      1. Well it sounds better than the reported mess with CSS for the PTO titles. It still sounds like some games suffer from minimal playtesting and proofing though. I will never buy an OSS title again. Ever.

        1. I read somewhere (CSW?) about the issues with the Pacific games as the series evolved, but not being a Pacific fan, I can’t comment as I don’t have any of those series games. This one and and Monti seem to have similar rules and appear solid without any growing pains beyond the standard FAQ and errata.

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