Can I play a Breakthrough scenario without the Breakthrough expansion?

[pragueimp]

So, I have long wanted to try out a Breakthrough scenario, but I never wanted to pay for said expansion/kit.

This raised the question of, can it be done without the Breakthrough map? You could put two normal boards together, like in the first photo, but of course there is an unwieldly overlap.

I have always thought it would be possible somehow, but it was a bit on an accident which led to me trying it out – my original (ten-year-old) board split down the middle!

So, suddenly, I was able to make a ‘’Breakthrough board’’ of my own! Ok, there are two overlaps, which can be a bit awkward, and the medal trays are not the full 12, but so what?!

I’m not advocating buying a second copy of the game and ripping the board in half, but that is just how it turned out for me!

A connected question is, can I play desert scenarios without a desert board? / winter scenarios without a winter board? Of course you can!

I have used various online resources to print additional tiles, etc. (which I know many people do not agree with) but recently I got some cheap second-hand expansions, so I now have most of the resources I need.

So, I am ready to do Breakthrough scenarios, and I just wanted to say to everyone that all you need is a bit of imagination and you can do the same.

Please look at my scenario report for Tobruk to see how I got on with my Breakthrough breakthrough!

[Ben_Phillis]

Very interesting. The Breakthrough board set is pretty much the last thing I need to get hold of (other than duplicates of the Pacific and Mediterranean sets) and one day I will probably get it, but it’s so damn expensive and I have sort of promised myself I have plenty of scenarios to play with already! I think it’s a shame they didn’t plan for breakthrough and overlord scenarios being playable with the same board components. It would have been good, for example, to have split boards than can be rotated and used for either type from the onset, without the medal table on the board. It would also have been easier to print than the larger size, and separate pieces are better than folds.

[Meles]

Very interesting budget option. Another budget play is to actually buy the breakthrough boards and for winter/desert and extra boards just block off the extra rows.

Something I was toying with was actually setting up the extended-breakthrough D-Day Landings using actual terrain hexes. You’d have to have a lot of everything if you wanted to do lets say a 7 foot wide three board scenario like American Landings. But if you just want to extend your breakthrough boards well your overlap method would work.

Would be a game in itself finding and laying out the tiles for American Landings.