My journey with Wargames started with typical Hex & Counters titles. And while my hobby grew across the years, and I started to experience many more types of conflict simulations, I was always very fond and keen to play that type of games. The moving lines of the front, the initiative struggle, the friction of command, the chaos of war – I loved and love it all. Different designs try to depict this in different ways – I-Go, You-Go, chit pull, card driven, activation-based – each has its merits and each its blind spots.

Today I would like to return to one of my favorite systems – the Battalion Combat Series (BCS) by the late Dean Essig, together with Carl Fung, published by Multi-Man Publishing. And I would like to focus on the newest, and in many ways most accessible, entry in the series: Danger Forward: The Battle of Gela, July 1943. Let us start!

Other BCS Materials:
– First Impressions for Panzers Last Stand: Battles for Budapest, 1945

The System

The Battalion Combat Series (BCS) is a simulation of grand tactical warfare from the advent of mechanized armies in the late portion of World War I to the present. It was created to show that there is a level of warfare that has its own distinct nature and behaviors between the tactical and operational levels of war. It is neither a large-scale version of one, nor a small-scale version of the other. BCS attempts to find the best balance between simulation accuracy and playability and not compromise either unduly. Ground Scale is from 500m to 2 km per hex, depending on the terrain being shown. Combat Units are generally Battalions, with some Companies.

Compared to MMP’s Operational Combat Series (OCS), BCS is less complex while still offering the challenge of executing well-planned and prepared operations. Enhanced logistics, streamlined artillery mechanics, simplified air support, diverse unit modes, and integrated combined operations are among notable features of this series. In general, BCS has fewer components in motion, reduces sub-systems, and uses significantly fewer charts and tables. It occupies a favorable middle ground that caters well to the preferences of most wargamers.

Danger Forward is particularly interesting because it was designed specifically as a lighter entry point to the series. It comes packaged with Battalion S3: Operations and Training, a new MMP magazine dedicated to BCS – Issue #1 contains the game itself, along with articles that help both new players and veterans get more out of the system.

The Game & Historical Background

Danger Forward: The Battle of Gela, July 1943 takes its title from the motto of the 1st US Infantry Division – the famed Big Red One – which was the main American force fighting at Gela. The game depicts the Italian and German counterattacks against the American landings during Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, between 10 and 12 July 1943.

All the game components presented in short video. Enjoy!

Historically, Gela was one of the toughest days of Operation Husky. The US 1st Infantry Division and the 82nd Airborne Division – supported by Rangers who took Gela town itself – were confronted first by Italian forces under General Guzzoni, and then by the elite Hermann Goring Panzer Division, which pressed a determined counterattack aimed at driving the Americans back into the sea.

For a few hours on 11 July the situation looked dire enough that the Axis commanders prematurely reported the Americans as re-embarking on their landing craft. Only a combination of tenacious infantry resistance, timely naval gunfire support from cruisers and destroyers offshore as well as Ranger defense of Gela itself turned the situation around.

The game reflects all of this beautifully. On a single map with 1 km hexes, we get the American beachhead area, the town of Gela, the Acate river line, Ponte Dirillo and Biscari Station in the interior, and the assembly areas from which the Hermann Goring counterattack developed. Units are battalions with some companies – Panzer IIIs and IVs on the German side & Italian mobile forces including the Livorno Division. Several scenarios are provided – none longer than three turns – covering the beach assault, the counterattack, and the fight for Gela town itself.

Session Report

For my first play I decided to go directly for the full game rather than one of the shorter introductory scenarios. Three turns, all Victory Point hexes in play, both American landing sectors active, the whole Italian and German Order of Battle available – the complete Battle of Gela in miniature. Solo play, both sides, as is often my habit with hex & counter titles when I want to really understand a design.

Before diving into the action, let me set the scene with an overview of the game and the map.

Overview of the map – we get the entire Gela beachhead area, the town of Gela itself, the Gela Plain, the Acate river line, and inland objectives all the way to Comiso Airfield in the southeast. Red Xs mark the Axis-held Victory Point hexes at the start – eight of them in total, which will decide the game.

The victory conditions are the heart of the game. There are eight VP hexes distributed across the map: Mt. Del Zai, Gela, Gela-Farello Landing Ground, Ponte Olivo Airfield, Niscemi, Biscari Station, Acate and Comiso Airfield. The Allies must control 6 or 7 of them for a Minor Victory, or all 8 for a Major Victory. Exactly 5 is a Draw, while 4 or fewer Allied-controlled hexes means an Axis victory (Minor at 3-4, Major at 2 or less). There is also a Sudden Death rule if the Axis occupies any two Beach hexes – a nice solution that keeps the American player from over-committing inland too early.

The American landings come ashore in two sectors, DIME Force in the west and CENT Force in the east. Let us take a closer look at each of them.

DIME Force sector, west of Gela. The 1st US Infantry Division – the famed “Big Red One”, from which the game takes its title – comes ashore here. Force X (the Rangers) lands at Capo Soprano and immediately targets Gela town itself. Naval gunfire support from USS Savannah, USS Boise and DesRon 17 stands offshore.
CENT Force sector, east of Gela. The 45th Infantry Division lands here. Additional 82nd Airborne elements are already inland near Biscari Station, Naval gunfire from USS Philadelphia and the monitor HMS Abercrombie backs this sector.
Overview of the whole setup. Both landing sectors are boxed in red on the map, the Axis Order of Battle occupies the inland hexes, and the Turn Record Track on the left tracks the three turns of the game (10, 11 and 12 July 1943).

With everything in place, we roll for initiative and dive into Turn 1.

Turn 1, CENT Force sector. The 45th Infantry Division moves aggressively off the beach and by the end of the turn Biscari Station (29.12) has fallen – a blue X on the map marks it as Allied-controlled. But over on the right, the Hermann Goring Panzergrenadier battalion has already appeared near Acate, and there is no way the Americans hold that objective any time soon.
Turn 1, DIME Force sector. Around Gela things are much more chaotic. The Rangers (Force X and the 5th Ranger battalion) fight their way into Gela town while the 1st Infantry Division pushes off the beach onto the Gela Plain. The Italian Livorno Division deploys from the north, and the Hermann Goring Panzer kampfgruppe is already counter-attacking the beaches. The Gela-Farello Landing Ground (18.18) is captured (blue X) but Mt. Del Zai and Olivo remain firmly in Axis hands.

Turn 2 and Turn 3 blurred together as the battle reached its climax. The Hermann Goring counterattack came in hard, exactly as the history books describe. Rather than break down each Impulse and formation activation, let me show the two snapshots of the situation.

Turns 2-3, eastern sector. The 45th Infantry Division continues its push east and by the end of Turn 3 has reached Comiso Airfield (47.11) – another blue X on the board! Vittoria is held, and 45 Inf HQ has moved forward. However, Acate (36.14) remains Axis – the Hermann Goring Panzergrenadiers held it against everything the Americans and 82nd Airborne could throw at them. A hard fight for very small ground.
Turns 2-3, Gela sector. This is where the Battle of Gela really came alive. The Rangers hold Gela town itself (blue X at 12.18), the 1st Infantry Division has pushed inland, and 82nd Airborne elements reinforce the position around the Gela-Farello Landing Ground. But the Axis counterattack came in with everything from the north and stopped further progress! Ponte Olivo airfield (18.25) stayed Axis; Mt. Del Zai stayed Axis; and the Americans had to fight desperately just to hold what they already had.

By the end of Turn 3, the situation looked like this:

Final state of the board at end of Turn 3. Blue Xs mark Allied-held Victory Point hexes: Gela (12.18), Gela-Farello Landing Ground (18.18), Biscari Station (29.12) and Comiso Airfield (47.11). Red Xs remain at Mt. Del Zai, Ponte Olivo Airfield, Niscemi and Acate – four Axis-held Victory Point hexes. Four to four. That gives us the final tally.

Which means, per the victory table: 4 VP hexes controlled by the Allies = Axis Minor Victory. A very close-run thing – one more VP hex would have made it a draw, two more an Allied Minor Victory. Historically, of course, the Allies did eventually take Ponte Olivo (on the morning of 12 July, the final day) and pushed the Hermann Goring back, but in three turns of BCS-scale combat I could not quite get there. The Rangers held Gela heroically, the 45th Infantry Division did wonders on the right flank, but the elite Panzer counterattacks were simply too much to overcome in that time.

And the price of the battle was steep on both sides – see casualties:

Above the final losses on both sides (each row represents one turn). Significant casualties in 82 Airborne Division as well as static Italian garrisons. Also the Hermann Goring KG took some severe hits.

A tight, satisfying game that finished in a single long evening. Every activation mattered, every SNAFU roll shaped the tempo, and the Naval Gunfire assets from the American side made a real difference in keeping the Hermann Goring at arm’s length long enough for the CENT Force to reach Comiso. Historically accurate, mechanically clean, and dramatically compelling – exactly what I want from a BCS game.

First Impressions

Let me share my impressions, observations, things I liked after these first plays, and elements I found less impressive. Let us see:

  • I really like both the initiative & activation mechanisms. Your SNAFU roll decides how successful the activation will actually be – with fatigue having a major impact. Then you can push your luck trying second activation – but risking more fatigue! It is not as predictable as I-Go, You-Go, not as chaotic as chit pull, but it leaves plenty of uncertainty with meaningful influence from the commanding general. Simply love it – and this is the same feeling I had with Panzers Last Stand.
  • Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance – oh, how accurate those Sun Tzu words are in the BCS system. The focus is on breaking and routing the opponent rather than destroying him. You will rarely wipe out entire formations; after 30-40% losses they will be barely combat efficient. Here the system really nicely simulates actual battlefield dynamics – and Danger Forward’s short scenarios put you right at the moment when those mechanics start to bite.
  • Danger Forward was designed as an entry point to BCS. It comes with the new Battalion S3 magazine (Issue #1), which contains articles specifically aimed at both new and experienced players. That is a genuinely thoughtful move by MMP – the system has a well-earned reputation as being grognard-heavy, and having a small, well-scoped title as a “way in” is exactly what many wargamers have been asking for.
  • The small footprint matters. One map, big hexes, short scenarios – you can set this up on a modest table, play through in an evening, tear down, and repeat with a different scenario the next week. If, like me, you love BCS but do not always have the space or time for something like Panzers Last Stand, this is a wonderful complement.
  • The historical topic is fascinating and, in my view, under-served in wargaming. Gela was one of the largest amphibious operations of the war and the moment when the Hermann Goring Panzer Division came close of throwing the Americans back into the sea. The game captures the tension and the tempo of those three days really well, with all the flavor – Rangers, 82nd Airborne, Italian coastal defenders, elite German panzers, naval gunfire – that the battle deserves.
  • An important note for potential buyers: the game is not fully self-contained. The Series Rules, the Series Support Book and the BCS Primer are all downloadable from the MMP website and you will need at least the first two to play. That is normal for a series game published this way, but worth flagging for anyone new to MMP.
  • A small note on the human side: this is one of the last BCS designs from Dean Essig, who sadly passed away. It is bittersweet to see the series continuing, but also wonderful that his work reaches a new generation of players through such an accessible package.

So, do I recommend Danger Forward: The Battle of Gela? Absolutely. Whether you are already a BCS fan looking for something small and playable that still delivers the full system experience, or you are considering trying the series for the first time and want a manageable entry point – this is a superb package. Combined with the Battalion S3 magazine articles, it is one of the most thoughtful “gateway” wargame releases I have seen in a long time. Highly Recommended!