2015 · Bonsai Games
Winter Thunder is a substantial revision of Autumn Mist, an earlier design Brian Train's. Among the many changes are: a newly researched order of battle, with revised counter values and reinforcement schedule; cleaned-up rules including a solitaire play system; and a drastically revised map with a different ground scale and treatment of terrain. Nicely die-cut, two-sided counters and a 17 x 22″ map with nice art by John Cooper!
The system has two main “hooks” to it: an interactive Operations Phase where formation HQs are randomly activated one by one by chit pulls, and take nearby combat units under command to move and fight; and a near-diceless combat resolution system (a d10 is used to check if a particular unit takes casualties, but whether a check is required arises only after comparing attack and defense missions chosen by the players). Brief rules for solitaire play are included.
Released in folio format by Tiny Battles Publishing.
