Up Front (game)
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''Up Front'' is a
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
card-based
wargame A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...
. It was designed by Courtney F. Allen and published by
Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company' ...
in 1983.
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
now owns the franchise, and at one time licensed it to
Multi-Man Publishing Multi-Man Publishing, LLC ("MMP"), founded in 1994, is a Maryland based game company that publishes many Wargaming, wargame titles, including ''Advanced Squad Leader'' and Operational Combat Series. History Multi-Man Publishing (MMP) was founded ...
, a license that has since expired without republication of the game. There was an attempt to reprint ''Up Front'' through
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
in 2013. The project raised over $300,000, but no updates to status has been posted since March 21, 2014. In 2016 Hasbro licensed Wargame Vault to sell ''Up Front'' as a
print on demand Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which book copies (or other documents, packaging or materials) are not printed until the company receives an order, allowing prints of single or small quantities. While oth ...
product; and the game is now available through on-line ordering. The official rules are currently available to order either as a printed book or as a portable document format electronic file. The components (cards) are produced on high quality card-stock with all known official errata incorporated in the reprints.


Description

Subtitled ''The Squad Leader Card Game'', ''Up Front'' was intended as a card version of their successful ''
Squad Leader ''Squad Leader'' is a tactical level board war game originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by John Hill and simulates on infantry combat in Europe during World War II. One of the most complex war games of its time, ''Squa ...
'' series of games, but it represented a radical change in approach. Traditional wargames are based on maps representing terrain and game pieces representing units, which attack on their players' turns. ''Up Front'' has terrain, attack opportunities, and other factors determined by cards dealt to the players. Fans of the game claim this type of play gives the player a more realistic feel for man-to-man
combat Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...
where most terrain will be unfamiliar. With traditional map-based wargames, players have an overhead view of the entire battlefield. In ''Up Front'', locations are revealed as the game is played, emulating how real soldiers might encounter and explore terrain. The game contains two different kinds of cards, Personality and Action. A Personality card depicts a single soldier and several statistics about him including his name, rank, and the weapon he is carrying. These are assigned by the scenario selected (scenarios lettered A-L were included in the base game) and arranged in groups by the players. The Action Deck contains different types of cards including terrain, movement, heroes, and many other game factors. These are shuffled and dealt to the players. The original game included
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
,
U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, and
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n units along with their equipment. Expansions added to the nationalities available for play. Each nationality was given different capabilities including variations in hand size and discard ability which imposes different tactics for the players by limiting the options available to them.


Expansions

Two official expansions were released for ''Up Front'': * ''Banzai'' (1984), which included
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese,
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
, and
USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...
forces along with rules for Jungle Terrain, Random Reinforcements, and Scenarios M-X. * ''Desert War'' (1985), which included French, and
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
forces as well as rules for Desert Terrain. Both expansions are now available as print to order products from Wargame Vault.


Reception

Sandy Petersen Carl Sanford Joslyn "Sandy" Petersen (born September 16, 1955) is an American game designer. He worked at Chaosium, contributing to the development of ''RuneQuest'' and later creating the acclaimed and influential horror role-playing game ''Call ...
comments: "If you can find a copy of ''Up Front'', and you like tactical combat at all, check it out. Or even if you just like card games. In either case, you won't be disappointed. This is a game that surpasses its flaws, and turns some of them into strengths."


Legacy

Like many Avalon Hill games, ''Up Front'' continues to be popular among loyal fans. There are active groups dedicated to the game on the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. There is also a
VASSAL Engine The Vassal Engine is a game engine for building and playing online adaptations of board games, tabletop games and card games. It allows users to play in real time over a live Internet connection, and also by email ( PbeM). It runs on all platform ...
module for this game. Wargame Vault now sells licensed copies of the original game and both expansions as print to order products.


References


External links

*
''Up Front'' Online Rulebook
* Halis
''Up Front'' mailing list

''Up Front'' Yahoo! group

Robo's ''Up Front'' Card Game Page

''Up Front!'' Official Rulebook from Wargame Vault
{{Avalon Hill Avalon Hill games Card games introduced in 1983 Dedicated deck card games Man-to-man wargames World War II games