June 2026 meetup - Up Front AAR

As Nick said, Up Front! really is a golden oldie – especially considering it was published by Avalon Hill back in 1983 and was as innovative as they come, and holds up really well even after 40++ years (though admittedly, my box is a tad tattered by now). The game is well suited for these meetups as one scenario takes about an hour for the easier ones to maybe two for the elaborate ones – so Martijn and me were able to play four games in this afternoon. The following writeup is written from the perspective of my cardboard soldiers and I apologise in advance for butchering the Russian language. I blame Google translate!

For the first three scenarios my Russian squad was taking on his German squad. In the first two bouts I managed to outflank his forces, making good use of the larger Soviet squad size (15 men to his 10); I split the squad up in four sections whereas Martijn used three, which was a good idea from a firepower perspective but made it harder to stop one section from advancing. The firepower from the Germans was used to good effect, but even while my Krasnoarmeyets suffered quite a few casualties, manpower was never something the Krasnaya Armiya was short of and so, with comrade Stalin’s order no. 227 ‘Not one step back!’ very much in our mind, we managed to press on and the German squad had to yield in both games.

In the third game, Martijn tried splitting his squad in four sections which diminished his firepower options but allowed him to block all four of my sections. Still, once my sections had closed in on his Landser, again the numerical advantage was used to good effect in close combat.

All in all it would appear that both sides strengths and weaknesses were made clear during these three scenarios.

For the last one, I switched to playing an American squad. Now, a U.S. infantry squad consist of 12 men which is still a numerical advantage, but the real issue I found was that the Browning Automatic Rifle – or BAR – is no substitute for a real light machinegun and as such, the Amis had a real issue with firepower. The BAR, even though it was not designed as a light machinegun, was pressed into this role as the U.S. army clung on to the outdated ‘Walking fire’ doctrine. And this showed! The superior German MG34 gave Martijn’s troops a real advantage and my GIs never really got into the fight. In the end, my squad broke and fled the field! Curses! Cardbord cowards! Time to install an American commissar and shoot a few of the fleeing Yankees. But, I digress.

Me for one was once again reminded that Up Front! really models small infantry unit tactics quite well, modelling the differences between the different nationalities and teaching the player to really learn to play into each nation’s strengths. The whole engine gives you a real – at times frustrating – sense of what it meant to have a squad of troops under your command and seeing your best plans come to naught because those damn cardboard soldiers have a will of their own. Will you shoot at those advancing Germans already?! Sorry, I ain’t sticking my head out of this ditch.

Up Front! in the Avalon Hill edition is hard to find, but if you (and you really should be) are interested in getting this brilliant design out on your table, check out the Wargame Vault – you can get everything (and some components are actually improved too) here except the box.

Up Front! on Wargame Vault

And no, I do not get any commission from that plug - I just really want more people to enjoy one of the defining wargames of our lifetimes.

Yes, I really forgot to make a few photo's of our games so sorry for the wall of text - I'll do better next time.