Up Front - The Squad Leader card game from Avalon Hill

[Badger73]

I still have a boxed game called Up Front on my shelf - a Squad Leader card game!

Yo, @Concord - did you ever get around to playing this?

I recently discovered this game almost 40 years after it's publication! It's not a board game but a true squad level man-to-man level card game. A friend of mine pulled it out recently as something to play together. I think it's a rather brilliant design, certainly far ahead of it's time. There's the original game with three WW2 combatants (Germany, Russia, and United States), the "Banzai" module which adds Imperial Japan and the United Kingdom, and the "Desert War" containing French and Italians.

There's a very good website which contains all the rules and other informative information available for download --> UpFront - The Squad Leader card game
And for those Steam users who own "Table Top Simulator", there is an excellent TTS Steam Workshop DLC by Haddock which you can subscribe.

In effect, once you download (and print) the Up Front / Banzai / Desert War PDF's for viewing, you have all that you need to play the game via Table Top Simulator, either solo or against another player.

I'm curious to know of any FGM members who play this game.

 

[jobu88]

I still have my original 1983 copy! Although sadly I lost my Banzai expansion, which added the Brits and Japanese. It's a great quick easy game once you learn the rules. I also got a replacement card deck recently through Wargame Vault, my cards were really showing wear and tear.

 

[Badger73]

My friend purchased that 1983 copy at a wargame convention auction years ago and recently pulled it out for us to try.
The Wargame Vault does a great job of providing Up Front modules and components --> Wargame Vault - Up Front searched items
The Large Deckbox is perfect for the 162 card deck in this game.

 

[Concord]

Yo, @Concord - did you ever get around to playing this?

I recently discovered this game almost 40 years after it's publication! It's not a board game but a true squad level man-to-man level card game. A friend of mine pulled it out recently as something to play together. I think it's a rather brilliant design, certainly far ahead of it's time. There's the original game with three WW2 combatants (Germany, Russia, and United States), the "Banzai" module which adds Imperial Japan and the United Kingdom, and the "Desert War" containing French and Italians.

There's a very good website which contains all the rules and other informative information available for download --> UpFront - The Squad Leader card game
And for those Steam users who own "Table Top Simulator", there is an excellent TTS Steam Workshop DLC by Haddock which you can subscribe.

In effect, once you download (and print) the Up Front / Banzai / Desert War PDF's for viewing, you have all that you need to play the game via Table Top Simulator, either solo or against another player.

I'm curious to know of any FGM members who play this game.

It's one of the few 'board' games I still have. I kept it because it was so unique, but haven't played it in ages.
When I did play it with friends, it was fun. Interesting mechanics and nice graphics/illustrations.
Would love to spend an afternoon playing UpFront matches with some FGM guys, along with some cold beers and some salty pretzels.

Speaking of other board game collectables I have held onto...I still have the entire set of Squad Leader plus addons in a crate.
Also Runebound and Dragonhunt. And a stack of ancient Lost Worlds combat book games by Nova Games. Another very unique game format.