Recently out of boredom with my current small collection of games, I decided what the heck. For $20 I will try something new.
What is NUTS ?
Well, first of all, the game can be played solo, cooperatively or face to face. The rules are very easy to understand and individual missions can be stitched together into campaigns with opportunities for improvement or decrease in unit stats.
NUTS is a game system modeling skirmish level combat in WWII. The base game covers ETO with complete set of rules including tables for selecting troops, individual soldier attributes, a huge variety of weapons and vehicles (armored and unarmored) . The tables include data for US, English, German, and Russian armies. There are several expansions covering the other theaters. There are many charts to reference during game play, but mostly you use one or two of them
What is not included in the game ?
no counters or miniatures or terrain or maps- however, there are websites where " flat="" paper="" miniatures'="" can="" be="" downloaded="" for="" free.="">
I use the plastic figures that came with Memoir 44, my first 'war-game', and made rudimentary terrain with 1' x1' felt squares, construction paper for roads and rivers and the terrain tiles from Memoir.
Players are encouraged to use whatever they want. Just yesterday I saw a bag of 100 plastic army men plus huge tanks for $4 at my local pharmacy.
You can get as crazy as you want depending on your level of craftsmanship or the depth of your pockets.
There is no MAP. The troops and vehicles move in straight lines or multiple line segments according to their movement stats, distance being measured in inches. This can be modified depending on the scale of minis used.
So, since what you are buying is a set of rules,tables and charts, what are they about ? There is no IGOUGO and no rules prohibiting firing if you have already fired once (what real soldier only has the ability to shoot once per unit time ? No OPS COMPLETE markers and no limit to how many units can act each turn. You are always EXPOSED unless you move into decent cover and you are always spotted if there is nothing between you and the other guy. If someone shoots at you, they had better assume you are going to shoot back and then they shoot at you again and you shoot back again until someone runs out of ammo, dies or is otherwise unable to continue that moment.But, unless dead, he will be back again soon enough.
The game play is really amazing actually. Because of the Chain Reaction System which can be downloaded for free from Two Hour Games website, there is a constant back and forth between rival units with no downtime or time for analysis paralysis. The action is fast and furious. Yes, there are loads of tables to reference, but there are really no exceptions to the rules and everything flows smoothly, except for ordinance flying in every direction. Once you take care of one problem, another one shows up from a different direction and here we go again.
The game designer, Ed Texeira (?sp) seems like he is watching the Yahoo Group forum 24/7 as every question is answered almost immediately.
His philosophy is play the game, have fun and make the minis and rules work for you, rather than the other way around.
I think the quote 'More Game, Less Guff' is extremely applicable
The few tactical WWII games I have in my collection are Fields of Fire, DDay Omaha Beach, Lock N Load Band of Heroes. I also just purchased Fighting Formations, but have just read the rules.
Strangely, I think NUTS is most like Fields of Fire in that you really feel you are there, ducking behind cover, smoke filling the air and bodies flying everywhere. You never know what is going to happen next.
The game is totally unscripted and there are no gamey artifices. Once you press the 'start button', hang on.
So far, I prefer NUTS to any of my other games as the rules yield a very authentic feeling result.
In prep for this game, I read Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose which the game designer said is the inspiration for the game.
The game plays out just like the battles in the book. There is no orderliness or programmed down time. You are in the mud taking flak from all sides. there is no administrative or clean up phase where all the status markers are reset.
It is wild, lots of fun, and like the name says, playable in two hours or less. AND, I have just gotten into it, using only infantry. Have yet to introduce vehicles.
In conclusion, I think you can guess I like this system. It is so different , easy and fun, yet highly immersive and feels real.