Clash of the Ardennes Review

Rock, paper, scissors, mortars, spies...

Clash of the Ardennes is a 2 player only game that has each player attempting to gain control of Belgian streets. One player controls the Axis and the other the Allies. Each side has identical player pieces and each piece is vulnerable to another type. On your turn, you'll have 4 action points to spend. You can place any piece down on a street for 1 point, 2 to move the first unit to your supply or last to first, or 3 to move a blocked unit to your supply. A unit is blocked if there is not another that can be added in front of it that is stronger. When both sides meet, they can attack. Attacking consists of checking which units are fighting and determining the stronger one. Infantry loses to tanks, tanks lose to anti-tank mines, anti-tank mines lose to infantry. However, infantry has ranks and can lose to each other if they're lower ranked. There's also special units that can attack in different directions and spies that can't be killed at all unless it's to another spy. Each player has an objective card for victory but they can also be the first to capture 3 roads. A road is captured when your pieces reach the other end.

The Good: The first thing most people will notice when opening the box is all of the wooden, printed components. They're very nice and colorful and really bring another element to the game. The overall gameplay is an excellent head to head clash. You need to be careful not to play your hand too early but also not to burn all of your strongest units. If they get caught in the middle you can struggle to get them back out. I loved the rock, paper, scissors aspect. It makes the game feel very approachable and easy to teach/learn.

The Okay: I do wish that there was a more complete player reference. There's a sheet but it only really covers the pieces counts and not the actions or action point costs of any of them. It's simple enough to find in the rulebook but having it nearby and easy to access would have been so much better.

The Not So Good: There was nothing I really disliked about Clash of the Ardennes. If I'm going to be picky, I'd say that while the wooden components are great, I did notice some warping on a few.

Final Thoughts: Clash of the Ardennes does everything I love in a 2 player game. It's fast, it's tense, and it's easy to teach. This is a game that I want to play over and over again. While there's some minor rules issues here and there, the core of the game is very simple and approachable for new players. Whenever you show someone new a game that's war-like in nature, it can scare some people away but this does an excellent job of being easily accessible.

Thanks to Elwin Klappe for providing a review copy.