Whiz Bang surprises with its play

I recently posed a question with the Abstract Nation on Facebook asking what were three games players preferred on an 8x8 checkerboard.

Not surprisingly there was a lot of commonality in answers and IMHO a few gems missed.

So over the coming weeks I’ll offer a few short reviews of what I see as the best games to be played on an 8x8 checkerboard with the added constraint you have only two sets of 24 pieces – basically you buy two matching common checker sets.

This is #20

I mentioned when writing about Gorgon a couple of games ago that Chris Huntoon games would feature again terms of ‘Project 8x8 &48’ and here we go again with his 2009 design Whiz Bang.

Now I will admit I much prefer one word names for abstract strategy games; Dameo, Yinsh, Hive, and while there is actually a reason behind the name Whiz Bang it does not exactly catch attention as a serious game.

A bit of the story behind the name is taken from Board Game Geek; “rapid advancements in artillery during the late 19th and early 20th century meant that when Word War I broke out, the nature of war would be changed forever. That war marked a shift from the infantry charge of old to the modern artillery barrage. Pieces ranged from small mortars to powerful Howitzers. The larger, more complex the ordnance the more soldiers it required in the gun crews to properly fire it. These pieces usually shot exploding shells - called 'Whiz-Bangs' by the troops.”

Once you know that the name starts to take on some interest, as Whiz Bang tries to recreate the trench warfare of the first World War.

The game is played on an 8x8 board, with each player having 16 pieces aligned on the two rows closest to them.

The centre two rows in Whiz Bang are designated as 'No Man's Land' – which the BGG page notes was “the deadly wasteland that existed between the two sides trenches.” Since the two centre rows are obvious there is no real need to specially mark them.

In Whiz Bang the first player to safely get a ‘soldier’ (a piece) across No Man's Land and into enemy territory wins.

That sounds like a simple goal even though a ‘Soldier’ can move only one step in any direction. A line of Soldiers can also be shifted one space in the direction of their line – which reminds quite a bit of David E. Whitcher’s well-respected game Cannon.

But as in the ‘Great War’ soldiers face a barrage in attempting to cross ‘No Man’s Land’.

In Whiz Bang Soldiers attack by firing shells. The direction and range is determined by how many Soldiers are working together. Two Soldiers connected in a line can attack up to two spaces away in the direction that their line is aimed at. Three Soldiers in a line can attack up to three spaces away, and so on. A lone Soldier can attack any neighbouring space. When an attack is made, none of the attacking Soldiers are moved. The opponent's captured Soldier is removed from the board. Again, reminiscent of Cannon.

Whiz Bang is very much a game of attrition. You must occasionally send a soldier forward into the fray, knowing it will not make it.

You need also to keep defensive structures which as flexible – able to alter direction – to be effective.

It’s all about balance, and ultimately survival.

Whiz Bang accomplishes a ‘sort’ or feel of trench warfare reasonably well, while offering up a solid board game challenge too.