The Last Hurrah is a World War II board war game published by Avalon Hill in 1988 as an expansion of their popular Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) wargame.
The Last Hurrah is a World War II board war game published by Avalon Hill in 1988 as an expansion of their popular Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) wargame.
The Last Hurrah is an expansion to ASL that simulates military combat during the German invasions of smaller European countries during the first years of World War II. [1]
The game box includes two hex grid maps and 260 counters representing forces of small countries such as Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Greece and Norway. [2] This is not a standalone game; components from two other previously published expansions, Beyond Valor and Yanks , are needed in order to play. [2]
The game outlines eight scenarios: [1]
Avalon Hill published Squad Leader in 1977, and it proved popular enough that the company published a revised edition called Advanced Squad Leader in 1985, and followed this up with a number of expansions. The sixth of these expansions, The Last Hurrah, was designed by Don Greenwood, Rex Martin and Brian Martuzas, and was published by Avalon Hill in 1988.
In Issue 5 of the UK games magazine Games International Ellis Simpson was impressed that Avalon Hill would published such minor military encounters, commenting, "Few games attract enough of a following to make a module based entirely on the Allied minor nations of the Second World War even a possibility; with ASL it is not only thought of, it's fashioned, honed and produced to the highest industry standards with more care and attention than many competitors. The Last Hurrah is, if nothing else, an exquisite (if modest) addition to the ASL universe." Simpson didn't like the high price, noting "The only criticism is that at £15.95 it's damn expensive; not so much in play value (in pence per game ASL is cheap) but more by comparison with the dollar price. Nevertheless, a welcome module for ASL and one which proves Avalon Hill's dedication to the completion of the project." Simpson concluded by giving it a rating of 3 out of 5. [1]
In Issue 50 of the French games magazine Casus Belli , Pierre Stutin wrote, "Eight scenarios isn't a lot of course, but none of them should be thrown away. We note an improvement in the team that develops them." Stutin concluded, "The Last Hurrah is therefore a more interesting expansion than it seems." [2]
Ambush! is a man-to-man wargame developed by Avalon Hill. It was released under Avalon's Victory Games label and was developed by Eric Lee Smith and John Butterfield. It has been out of print since Avalon Hill was disbanded in 1998.
Up Front is a World War II card-based wargame. It was designed by Courtney F. Allen and published by Avalon Hill in 1983. Hasbro now owns the franchise, and at one time licensed it to Multi-Man Publishing, a license that has since expired without republication of the game. There was an attempt to reprint Up Front through Kickstarter in 2013. The project raised over $300,000, but no updates to status has been posted since March 21, 2014.
Multi-Man Publishing, LLC ("MMP"), founded in 1994, is a Maryland based game company that publishes many wargame titles, including Advanced Squad Leader and Operational Combat Series.
Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) is a tactical-level board wargame, originally marketed by Avalon Hill Games, that simulates actions of squad sized units in World War II. It is a detailed game system for two or more players. Components include the ASL Rulebook and various games called modules. ASL modules provide the standard equipment for playing ASL, including geomorphic mapboards and counters. The mapboards are divided into hexagons to regulate fire and movement, and depict generic terrain that can represent different historical locations. The counters are cardboard pieces that depict squads of soldiers, crews, individual leaders, support weapons, heavy weapons, and vehicles.
PanzerBlitz is a tactical-scale board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1970 that simulates armored combat set on the Eastern Front of World War II. The game, which was the most popular board wargame of the 1970s, is notable for being the first true board-based tactical-level, commercially available conflict simulation wargame. It also pioneered several concepts that would become industry standards.
The Longest Day is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1979 that simulates the Allied D-Day invasion of June 1944 and the subsequent Normandy campaign during World War II until August 31st, 1944.
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, Squad Leader is the natural extension of the trend towards greater realism initiated by several earlier games, including Avalon Hill's own PanzerBlitz and Panzer Leader. Those two earlier games were slightly larger in scope, with counters representing platoons and map hexes measuring 250 metres across, compared to Squad Leader's 40 meter hexes and squad sized units.
Carrier is a solitaire wargame published in 1990 by Victory Games, a subsidiary of Avalon Hill.
Modules for the game Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) contains all the equipment needed to actually play the game. There are 14 official so-called "core" modules that contain the essential components for a complete order of battle of all major nationalities to participate in the Second World War. Ownership of all core modules is not a prerequisite to playing the game, and as few as one module can be used. In addition to core modules, other products are also available and may be loosely referred to as "modules", or in the more specific terms as Deluxe ASL Modules and Historical ASL Modules. These required previous ownership of some of the core modules in varying combinations, or at least the components of them.
Squad Leader Scenarios (SL) is a tactical board wargame created by Avalon Hill (Hasbro Gaming) that focuses on infantry combat during the Second World War. Players use map boards and counters to control small units of soldiers, vehicles, and weapons.
Tactical wargames are a type of wargame that models military conflict at a tactical level, i.e. units range from individual vehicles and squads to platoons or companies. These units are rated based on types and ranges of individual weaponry. The first tactical wargames were played as miniatures, extended to board games, and they are now also enjoyed as video games.
Crescendo of Doom is a supplement published in 1980 by Avalon Hill for use with the World War II board wargame Squad Leader. This expansion concentrates on the early part of the war (1939–1941) in Western and Central Europe.
Turning Point: Stalingrad is a board game published in 1989 by Avalon Hill.
Tac Air is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1987 that is based on a wargame originally developed for the US Navy.
West of Alamein is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1988 that simulates combat in North Africa during World War II.
Gulf Strike, subtitled "Land, Air and Sea Combat in the Persian Gulf", is a board wargame published by Victory Games in 1983. The first and second editions were hypothetical games focussed on American responses to Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf. The third edition, published in 1990, was updated to reflect the reality of Operation Desert Shield during the Gulf War.
MBT is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1989 that simulates hypothetical World War Three tank combat between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces in Western Europe. A second edition was published by GMT Games in 2016.
Red Barricades: ASL Historical Module 1 is a board game published in 1990 by Avalon Hill.
Waterloo is a Napoleonic board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1963 that simulates the Battle of Waterloo. It was one of the first board wargames produced and despite its lack of historicity and complexity, it still received positive comments more than twenty years later as a fun and playable game, and remained in Avalon Hill's catalogue until 1990.