I purchased Heights of Courage: The Battle for the Golan Heights, October 1973 (Multi-Man Publishing, 2013) in a “Back from COVID” sale in mid-2020. It was one of three MMP titles I purchased and I recently got it to the table for an in-depth play. When doing so, I discovered a very interesting gimmick, gained a deeper understanding of the rules, and reached a better understanding of my gaming tastes.
Tempo
Every SCS game has what I call a “gimmick;” a special rule that sets it apart and tries to recreate some unique characteristic of the battle or campaign. In Heights of Courage that special rule is 1.9 Operational Tempo. Starting on Turn 11, each player choses a “Fast Tempo” or “Slow Tempo” for the turn. In a “Fast Tempo” turn all the phases of the Sequence of Play are executed but the player receives NO replacement points. Conversely, in a “Slow Tempo” turn the Combat and Exploitation Phases of the turn are skipped but the player receives four replacement points.
I like this rule as it naturally “paces” the battle. Indeed, in the rule book at the end of the rule there is a Design Note that states much the same:
This rule’s purpose is to keep operations and losses at a rate consistent with actual events. Each player has an opportunity to rest and refit while slowing down his operational tempo. If a player chooses to continue offensive operations, his army will quickly melt away, especially if his opponent decides to refit. During this period, the Israelis chose to stop offensive operations–having achieved their goal of bringing Damascus into artillery range. The Syrians suffered so heavily that they were reduced to covering the road to Damascus while prodding their allies into futile uncoordinated attacks.
Design Note, Rule 1.9 Operational Tempo
Exploiting the System
I’m still a relative newbie to the Standard Combat Series so I discover something new with every play. This time the lesson that really hit home while playing Heights of Courage was the striking power of Exploitation-capable units. The key rule is 6.0 Overrun Combat which allows units that start in a hex that is not in an Enemy Zone of Control (EZOC) to move AND attack by paying extra movement points. This is the only time units may conduct combat outside of the Movement Phase. As the rules point out, “Properly managed, a unit can attack up to three times in a turn” (6.1b). Yeah…a unit can overrun during the Movement Phase, fight in the Combat Phase, and if positioned correctly overrun again in the Exploitation Phase. Wow! I had caught part of that before while playing Iron Curtain: Central Europe, 1945-1989 (MMP, 2020) but the real impact of the rule didn’t set in until this play.
Standardized War Engine
At the end of the day, I find the Standard Combat Series is very suited to my current wargaming style. Heights of Courage, like other SCS titles, are games that are relatively easy to learn because they leverage the SCS “war engine;” that common set of rules applicable across the series. Game rules tend to be few and often have that interesting gimmick which adds just enough chrome to build the “narrative” of the specific battle or campaign while avoiding rules bloat. Add in the fact the games tend to be smaller footprint (22″x34″ is perfect for my gaming table) and with lower counter density I find a combination of interesting-yet-playable titles I can set up and play to completion in a long evening or over a weekend of play.
Feature image courtesy Multi Man Publishing
