Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The immediate draw here is variety within a very small package. Instead of handing you a vague set of bonus missions, Scenarios Volume 1 drops you into four sharply defined conflicts: a Soviet column trying to break through Afghanistan’s mountain passes, fighting around Angolan coastal strong-points, an Egypt-versus-Israel clash in the Sinai, and a German invasion of Kent in an alternate 1940.

That range matters because the terrain and objective implied by each setup pull your attention in different directions. A forced passage through mountain country suggests a very different problem from defending a coast or contesting open desert. The Kent scenario is the odd one out, trading history for a plausible-feeling what-if, and that makes it the most immediately intriguing of the four.

This is not a place to begin with Confrontation. You need the original game, and the pack’s purpose is simply to extend it with more situations to solve. For an existing fan, that directness is a virtue: you get four new reasons to return without having to learn a separate game. For anyone who was lukewarm on the original, four scenarios will not change the fundamentals enough to be persuasive.

Graphics

The scenario roster gives the action a useful geographic spread, from Afghan mountain passes and the Sinai desert to Angolan coastal positions and a threatened Kent. Even before the fighting begins, those locations are more evocative than a set of interchangeable battle labels.

Story

There is no single campaign narrative tying these battles together; the storytelling comes from the setup of each confrontation. That is a sensible fit for an add-on of this size. You are given a conflict, a side, and a military problem, then left to make the situation mean something through your own decisions.

Three scenarios draw on twentieth-century conflicts, while Kent deliberately swerves into alternate history. That mix prevents the collection from feeling like a dry historical exercise. The Afghanistan, Angola, and Sinai material has the pull of recognizable geopolitical flashpoints, while the imagined German landing supplies a cleaner, more speculative hook.

The scenarios are strongest when you enjoy the question behind them: can a column force the pass, can defenders hold a coastline, and how does a different battlefield alter the pressure of a confrontation? If you want character drama or a lengthy plot, this is far too lean. Its stories are battlefield premises, not a novel between missions.

Overall Experience

Scenarios Volume 1 is a modest but sensible expansion. It does not overreach; it gives Confrontation four new theatres and trusts the original game to carry the moment-to-moment interest. The result is likely to feel like a welcome extra disc of challenges for someone already invested, rather than an essential purchase for everybody else.

The best scenario pack additions create a reason to revisit familiar rules, and this one has the right raw material: constrained mountain warfare, coastal defense, desert conflict, and a home-front invasion fantasy. The geographic and historical spread is broader than its four-scenario count first suggests.

Buy into it if the original Confrontation already has its hooks in you and you want concise new battles with distinct premises. Skip it if you need a self-contained game, a big campaign, or a major overhaul. It is a small expansion with a small but worthwhile ambition, and its payoff is exactly that extra stretch of tactical problem-solving.

Retro Replay Score

6.8/10