How do you turn a very grognard wargame into a gateway game? Specifically, how does one take the late Dean Essig’s very grognard Battalion Combat Series (BCS) and make an introductory game? That is the challenge taken up by Multi-Man Publishing (MMP) with their new magazine Battalion S3 – Operations and Training. The short answer is, “See Issue #1 which contains the wargame Danger Forward: The Battle of Gela, July 1943” for a start.
While I own nearly a dozen Multi-Man Publishing titles most are in the Standard Combat Series. Before acquiring Issue #1 of Battalion S3 I owned and played only one Battalion Combat Series title, Inflection Point: Battle for Kalach, July 1942 and Battle of Chir, December 1942 (Multi-Man Publishing, 2025). After playing Inflection Point in October 2025, I commented:
After my clunky start it was nice to see that by the third or fourth Activation of the first turn I felt like I was starting to grok the core game mechanisms behind Inflection Point. Doug Fitch writes in the article, “BCS Primer: Tips for Playing the Battalion Combat Series” in the v2.0 Series Support Book that, “While the game mechanics are quite elegant, previous gaming experience can hinder, rather than help, your attempt to learn the system” (v2.0 Series Support Book, p. 11). I am forced to agree. Playing Inflection Point in the Battalion Combat Series is not as hard as the many rules seemingly indicate but they do require grognards to “play by the rules” and not “assume” that they know how a rule works based on past experience with other wargames. Strictly sticking to the Sequence of Play and the steps of a Normal Activation feels cumbersome at first but the process quickly becomes second-nature in part because the sequence of events feels natural, not directive. Inflection Point conveys the elegance of the Battalion Combat Series in a very playable game that requires some intellectual investment up front but the payoff from that investment is a tactical/strategic challenge delivered in a highly enjoyable play experience.
Wargame SITREP 25-49 ~ Chir-ful thoughts on Inflection Point…
Seemingly hearing my concern regarding “intellectual investment”, in 2026 Multi-Man Publishing released Issue #1 of Battalion S3 – Operations and Training. As the Editor’s Notes and Credits states, “Our goal was to publish a magazine that could help new players enjoy our Battalion Combat Series games as well as a magazine that might help existing players learn a thing or two” (p. 2). I am pleased to see that MMP fulfilled their goal.
S3 coverage
Issue #1 of Battalion S3 is 40 glossy pages in a magazine format. This issue has seven feature articles that help players learn the background to the Battalion Combat Series as well as understand key game systems/mechanisms in a learn-by-play example manner.
“The Battalion Combat Series Journey: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going”, written by Carl Fung who is the lead honcho for BCS and MMP, is a one-page history of BCS. The sad loss of the original series designer, Dean Essig, is only mentioned once. While I personally miss Dean, I am happy to see MMP respectfully putting the loss behind them and moving into the future.
The next four articles in Battalion S3 Issue #1 are written by Robert “Dickie” van Tol. These are the “teaching” articles in Issue #1.
- “Activating Formations” explores the core game concepts of activating groups of units.
- “Assessing the Baland of the Force” gives players six heuristics to use when looking at a Formation and determining its strength (Spoiler Alert: It’s not just a matter of adding up Attack or Defense strengths).
- “Understanding Combat in BCS” takes a detailed look at the Combat system and associated game mechanisms.
- “BCS Supply Cheat Sheet” reduces the rules for Main Supply Routes (3.1) into tabular/graphical format to ease understanding.
The last two article in Issue #1 of Battalion S3 were contributed by Carl Fung. “Son of Blob That Ate Sheboygan – The Sequel” discusses one of the more technically-named BCS game mechanisms, “Blobs.” The last article, “You Can’t Have Too Many Charts” is not really an article but a collection of play aids to help players understand key BCS rules and game systems.
From a physical production perspective, the content of Battalion S3 is visually beautiful. The pages are full of full-color illustrations. There is also no ad content between the covers thus making Battalion S3 more of a wargame expansion than any sort of wargame publishing house organ. Notable too is the wargame Danger Forward. While the footprint of the game is small it is all-the-more impressive given the game uses larger counters and a map hexes larger than MMP usually delivers.
Forward play into Danger
Battalion S3 Issue #1 comes with the one-map BCS wargame Danger Forward: The Battle of Gela, July 1943. The Battle of Gela was part of the invasion of Sicily. This one-map wargame has several scenarios, none of which are longer than three turns.
The rules for Danger Forward are not included in the magazine. For that one needs to visit the MMP website and download the BCS Series Rules and the Series Support Book. While you are at it—and especially if you truly are a new player to BCS—I recommend also downloading the BCS Primer.
I played scenario 5.2 “Cent Beach (Intro)” as the commentary states, “This scenario is a good starter scenario to ease players into BCS and Danger Forward” (Danger Forward Series Rules, p. 4). I played my game while on the road for a business trip. The small footprint needed for play was very helpful; I set my game up on the desk/dresser arrangement and still had room to spare to set up the laptop.
In my first playthru of Danger Forward, I found myself referencing the articles in Battalion S3, in particular the Combat and Supply Cheat Sheet articles. After my playthru with the magazine open, I reset the scenario and played a complete game using only the downloaded rules and several charts found in Fung’s last article in Battalion S3.
After “learning” to play the Battalion Combat Series wargame using Battalion S3 Issue #1, my game was very enjoyable. A great part of that enjoyment came from a feeling that my play was informed; after reading Battalion S3 it felt like I was efficiently—though not necessarily more “smartly”—manipulating the game model. The “smart” manipulation of the game almost certainly will come as I learn how to play the game with a better strategy and with tactics implemented through my manipulation of the BCS rules.
Understanding danger
After I read through the articles in Battalion S3 and played my “introductory” game I must admit that I was a bit confused. Were the magazine and wargame not supposed to be an “introduction” to the Battalion Combat Series? I mean, this is certainly not a starter kit as you needed to download the series rules. While the wargame has a smaller footprint and shorter scenarios there were not, as far as I can tell, “dumbed down” or simplified in any manner. It was not until I reread the back cover of the magazine that it became clear: “The magazine is full of articles centered around Danger Forward to help players better understand aspects like activations, combat, and logistics.”
“Understand”…not teach.
Well, not teach new players. Yes, a new player could pick up Battalion S3, download the series rules, and teach themselves to play the game. The package, however, is not really optimized in that manner. This is certainly no Advanced Squad Leader Starter Kit. Nor does it need to be.
While Battalion S3 is not Battalion Starter Kit, the magazine and wargame certainly promotes better understanding of the Battalion Combat Series for new players and grognards alike. That leads to the inevitable question: It it worth the price of purchase?
Absolutely!
Feature image courtesy RMN
The opinions and views expressed in this blog are those of the author alone and are presented in a personal capacity. They do not necessarily represent the views of U.S. Navy or any other U.S. government Department, Service, Agency, Office, or employer.
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Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
Played that game twice, this is such a great intro into the system, Glad they created this magazine!