The General - Volume 18, Issue 2

8/20/2019 The General - Volume 18, Issue 2

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-general-volume-18-issue-2 1/50

The

V LON

ILL

t 1981

2.50

Volume 18 Number 2



GE Jco

8-1-2

A LJ;l.

4-2-3

BRIDGE

~ ~

~ ~

6

10 4

5

This revision

of

a classic game you ve long awaited

is

the culmination

of five years of intensive research and playtest.

The

resuit. we

believe, will

provide

you pleasure for

many

years

to come.

For you historical buffs,

BATTLE

OF T

BULGE

is the lastword in

accuracy. Official

American

and

German

documents, maps and

actual batt le reports

(many

very difficult to obtain) were

consuited

to ensure that

both

the order of battle and mapboard

are correct

to the last detail. Every fact was checked and

double-checked.

The reSUlt-you move the actual units over the same terrain that

their historical counterparts di d in 1944.

For the rest of you who

are

looking

for a good, playable game,

don't look any further. BULGE was designed

to

be FUN This

means a simple, streamlined playing system that gives you time to

make decisions instead of shuffling

paper.

The rules are short and

clear-cut so you can

ge t

into

play

quickly and easily. Because

important

locations are

clearly

marked on the mapboard, set-up is

a snap. The Player

Aid Cards are

designed to

handle

all the detai l

work, so you have more

time

for play.

Just because the game mechanics

are

easy to learn and

remember,

doesn't

mean

that

BULGE

is

a simple

game.

Many

special

game

features provide the color and that feel of reality

that

makes this

an

exciting recreation of the actual battle.

Fortunately, these have been carefully incorporated

so

as to

enhance the flow

of p lay

instead of bogging it

down

in

detail.

Some of the

ny

Special Features:

Tactical Air Strikes

Strategic Bombing Effects

German Airborne Drop

II

German Infiltration

Launching the Fifteenth Army

Bridge Demolition

Artillery

Bombardment

II

Special

German Rocket (Nebelwerfer) units

British Participation

Several

What

It s

Triggered

by

Battlefield Conditions

Fuel Dumps

What s Inside . .

22

x

28 Fuli-colorMapboard of Ardennes Battlefield

Countersheet with 260 American,

British

and

German

Units

countersheet of 117 Utility Markers

Time Record Card

German Order of Appearance Card

Allied

Order

of Appearance

Card

Rules Manual

One Die

BATTLE OF T BULGE is an operational

recreation

of the famou

Ardennes battle

of

December,

1944-January,

1945.

Each unit represents one o f

the regiments

that actually

participated

(or might have part icipated) in the battle.

n

Each hex

is approximately

2 miles across.

f l Each turn covers twelve hours of real time.

n

Playing time averages between 3 and 9 hours,

depending upon the scenario being played.

Recommended

fOr

anyone

12

years

and

up.

Two Scenarios

t The Tournament Scenario covers the

period

of the

. German advance.

Average playing

time is

two

to four

hours. Designed to be played at all official Avaion

Hili tournaments.

The CampGign Scenario extends the Tournament

Scenario to include the Allied counterattacks. This is the

ENTIRE battle. Average playing time four to nine hours.

TTLEO TH ULGE

is availablenow for 16.00 plus 10 postage

andliandlingcnarges

(20

for Canadians; 30 for overseas) from Avalon

Hill, 4517 Harford Rd, Baltimore, MD 21214. Maryland residents please

add

5

state sales tax.



BL CK SPY

is

an i n ~ r i g u i n g

card

game

fo r the whole

family. The object

is

to

b e t he player with the lowest score

w h en o n e p la ye r

goes

out by getting 200

Points.

The

BL CK

SPY

card deck

is

composed o f five suits, instead

of th e

regular

four.

Four

the

suits

h v e o ~ l y

one

spy.

B u t t he

black

suit

has sf}{.spys.

Those

are

the guys you have to look out

for.

The

rest o f t he c ar ds are other types

o f sneaky and

sha dy c hara cter s:

the

Informer,

the Interrogator, the

Infiltrator,

the

Sabotepr,

the AssasSin,

the Agent,

the Double Agent,

the Code

Breaker, the Deputy DirectQ: ,and ute

Director. As

with t h e s p y s , the black

suited guys a re th e

ones

to look out for.

All

the

o th e rs a re

on your side.

L CK Y includes a scorepad. card deck, and discard

tray and is available from Avalon Hill,

5 7

Harford Rd.,

Baltimore,MD 21214 for 6.00 plUs 1 postage and hand-

ling (20 for Canadians, 30 overseas). MD. residents

please add 5 state sales tax.

You

never

know what will happen

when

yo u

lead

a

t ri ck i n BL CK SPY

It s not

like

regular

c ar d g am es

where

everyone

jus t follows suit. Yo u ma y find

a

sp y

in

your midst. Or

yo u

m ay w in d

up

taking the, trick and leading againl

The

rules

to

the game are

less

than

one p ag e. Y ou

ca n

be playing the

game

within

five

minutes. E ac h g am e

should

last

no more

than

an

hour.

Several

variations

are

p ro vi de d f or those

wh o

waQ,t a

l it tl e more strategy.

SP l

lackSPll

~ r d m e

R

SNE KY

PL YERS



IR FOR E N LYSIS

b y D av id B ot tg er

n Evaluation

the Planes

the New IR FOR E

IR

FORCE

is

Avalon

Hill s

tactical simula

of aerial combat in th e

European theater

dur

ng World

War

I I. I n i ts r ev is io n,

Avalon

Hill has

served the best features of the original Battleline

esign w hi le c le an in g up

the

rules

and add ing

v er al s ig ni fi ca nt n ew o ne s. T hi s a rt ic le will ex

ne these changes

and then

analyze the

game

and

aircraft portrayed

with

an

eye

toward

t he f or

of

successful tactics.

E NEW AIR

FORCE

For

those

unfamiliar

with the game, Dr.

sza s article

T he

View

from

th e

Cockpit

in

ume 17, number 3 of the GENER L describes

IR

FORCE system,

Avalon

Hill has retained

is basic system with

modifications that contribute

realism

or

ease of play.

Th e m os t

common

criticism of the Battleline

rsion centered, ironically, on the

game s

greatest

ngth, the

simultaneous movement

system. Since

ment for

an

entire

turn

m u st b e

plotted

in

ad

n ce , n ei th er p la ye r c an r ea ct

to

his opponent s

neuvers until the following

turn. The

result has

en analogized

to

a pilot flying with his eyes clos ed

r ten s econds

at

a t im e.

Players

soon

discovered

that

there was virtually

advantage to

b ei ng o n t he

enemy s

tail, s ince it

as a lm os t i mp os si bl e

to

stay there. This was

rceived as unrealistic,

although

m y r ea di ng s ug

that

t he t ai l p os it io n w as less

important than

believed,

particularly

l at e in t he w ar .

Sequential

movement

pres ents the

same

prob

m t o t he p la ye r m ov in g f ir st .

The

second player,

n t he other hand, k no ws t he f in al p os it io n of his

before

performing

a ny movement

m self. As a result, the first player keeps his blind

old while the second receives an

unwarranted

To

resolve this

dilemma Avalon

Hill

apparently

th e

advantage

rule from SPI s IR

R T hi s r ul e p ro vi de s that

an aircraf t

at 2

lock to

its

opponent

i.e., directly in

front) and

more than

six hexes away

and

2,500 feet higher

s t e xec ut e its

movement

b ef or e it s

opponent

o ts h is , u nl es s t he

opposing

aircraft

is itself

at

a

disadvantage. In essence this rule interjects sequen

tial

movement

into the

simultaneous movement

system but it

awards

th e

advantage of

moving

second

to

the player

who

has

earned

it,

rather than

arbitrarily.

Two

p ro bl em s arise. Fi rs t, as in

standard

se

quential

movement

g am es , t he

advantaged

player

knows his opponent s final

position

before

performing any movement

himself.

He

als o knows

t he f in al p o si ti on of all

other

disadvantaged air

craft,

i nc lu di ng t ho se o ve r w hi ch h e d oe s

not

hold

an

advantage.

Avalon. Hill has elegantly s olved

both of

these

p ro bl em s by a s in gl e r ul e r eq ui ri ng t he

advantaged

aircraft

t o f ol low as cl osely as p oss ib le t he m ov e

ment

of th e

disadvantaged

p lane. Th is ru le ex

cellently recreates the historical

situation

of a p il ot

purs uing theenemy as he m oves,

rather than

simply

flying

toward

his final position.

also prevents the

advantaged

player from using his knowledge of the

movement

of

other disadvantaged aircraf t.

He

may,

of course,

choose

t o p ur su e a

different

enemy

aircraft but must

first waive his

advantage.

I n t hi s

regan\,

the Sequence of

Play

states

that

aircraft

which

are

neither

advantaged

nor

disadvan

taged

plot and

execute their

movement

at t he

same

time as disadvantaged

aircraft and

aircraft which

do not t ake

their

advantage option

of following the

disadvantaged aircraft.

The

next m ost s ignificant rule change

from

th e

Battleline version im poses a 100-foot

altitude

loss

on aircraft

which

end

movement

in a non-level

bank

without having performed a non-banking

maneuver

that

t ur n. The

a ct ual p en al ty m ay b e

several

hundred

feet,

counting

t he 2 00- 300 f eet

which

most

fighters can clim b

without

t he l oss of

s peed points. T his rule discourages the

common bu t

unrealistic tactic

of

flying

about

in a

perpetual

right

or

left

bank

in

anticipation

of

future maneuvers.

The

combat s ys tem has

undergone

significant

c ha ng es as well. As f ig ur e I s ho ws , t he n ew

aircraft

gunnery

table reduces

armament

effectiveness

at

all

levels e xc ep t 16-22 g un ne ry f ac to rs . T hi s is

offset

somewhat at

l ow er g un ne ry f ac to rs b y t he f ac t

that

hit table m odifiers have a greater effect now.

For

example,

under

the

o ld s ys te m a p la ne w

five

gunnery

factors and a f ir e m od if ie r of t wo

t he tail of

an enemy a ir cr af t

with a si lh ou

modifier

of

two

g ai ned o nl y t hr ee hi t ta bl es a

result.

Under

the new s ys tem , the benefit is a ful

hit tables.

However,

at

a r an ge

of

four

hexes

attacker

in this hypothetical

situation starts

wi

bas ic before application of m odifiers) hit tabl

one, while

under

th.

old

s ys te m h e w ou ld

start

table three.

The

net res ult is a g ai n of only

one

table with the revis ed rules .

Air Gunnery

Total

Gun

R an ge i n H ex es

Factors

1

2

3

4

5

6

1-2

2 2 2 I

I 0

3-4

4 3

3 2 1 1

5-6

5 5

4

3 2

I

7-8

7

6 5 4 2 1

9-10

9 7 6 4

3

11-12

9 7

5 3 1

13-15

2

8 6

4

2

16-18

5 2 9 7 4 2

19-22

6

3

10 7

5

2

23-26

7

14

8 5 2

27+ 9

5 2

8 6 3

2a Aircraft Gunnery

Effectiveness

Total

Gun R an ge i n H ex es

Factors

1

2

3

4

5 6

1-2 -1 -1

-2 -2 -3 -3

3-4 1

0 0

-1 -2 -2

5-6 2 2 1

1 0

-1

7-8

5

4

3 2 0

-1

9-10

8 5 5 2

2

-1

11-12

8 6 4 2

0

13-15

9

7

6 3 1

16-18

5

2

9

7 4

2

19-22

6

3

7

5 2

23-26

8

4

8 5 3

27 + 20

6

3 9

7 4

Figure

:

Old top) a nd New Aircraft Gunnery Tables



6

Figure 3:

BASIC

TACTICS

Key: E

=

Experience (roll again to determine ace), T

=

Training,

R

=

Reflex, V

=

Vision, •

=

no characteristics.

Predictably, expected hits in each catego

crease with the higherhit tables. Each categor

not

increase proportionally, however.

From

two to 20, expected fuselage hits increase fro

to 1.50,

or about

three and one-halftimes, wh

pected engine hi ts r ise from .25 to 1.17,

or

a

five times.

gaining a positional advantage may find himse

damaged

t o use it. Conversely, the player

thinks two, three

or

more turns ahead will b

cessful . In short , IR FORCE rewards th

sighted.

As a corollary, players should endeavor t

each

turn

with

a

few hexes

of

straight move

These hexes i n the bank can pay dividends

next

turn

by making a maneuver possible

sooner

than

would otherwise be the case. Gra

this tactic takes advantage

of

the fact

that

g

divide time into separate turns,

bu t

it noneth

works.

Beyond these

broad

principles, it

is

diffic

generalize

on

tactics other than to advise

players know their own and their enemy s air

so

that

they can maximize their plane s advan

while minimizing those

of

their

opponent. Th

of a P-47D can

afford

to

trade

shots with a

anyone; the pilot of an Me-109F cannot

maneuverability advantageenjoyed by a Spitf

against an Me-109G disappears when it me

Me-109F.

-

Nor is

performance an absolute. Up to 1

feet the FW-I90A

is

slightly more maneuv

than the P-5ID,

bu t

from 20,000 to 24,900 fe

Mustang has the advantage.

From

25,000 to 2

feet they are equal while the P-51D regains th

from 30,000 feet up.

The

bulk

of

this article

is

devoted to such

parisons. First, however, it

is

necessary to t

closer look

at

the hit tables, where superior t

are rewarded.

Table

I represents such

an

analysis.

Th

tables from one to 20 are grouped according

number

of hits possible, followed by a

representing all 20 tables.

The

columns h

Proportion of Hit Types

show the

proport

each type of hit in each

group

of tables. Thus

hits comprise 230/0 of the hits in tables

through

12, while the percentage falls to

2

tables 13-16. Thecolumns headed

Expected

show the average

number

of hits of each typ

each hit table. On tables four-six, for example

half

of

an

engine hit can be expected per die

Table 1

Hit Table Analysis

Proportion of

Hit

Types (pet.)

Expected Hits

Hit

Tables

F W E

C

L G

F W

E

C

L

G

To

I

17

17

0 a 0 0 .17 .17

0

0

0 0

.3

2-3

29

18

18

12

12

6 .42

.25

f

.17

.08 1.3

4-6

27

24

20

13

9 7 .67 .61

.50

.33 .22 .17 2.5

7-12

25 23

18 14

12 .89 .80 .64 .50 .42 .25 3.5

13-16 24 22

21

12

12

7 1.08 1.00 .96 .54 .54 .33 4.4

17-19 24

23

9

12

12

9

1.3

.28 i.05 67 .67 .50 5.5

20 24 24

19 14

11

8

1.50 1.50 1.17 .83 .67 .50 6.1

2iJ

25 23

19

13 11

8

Central to this proposItion

is

the deceptively

simple rule

that

the number

of

speed factors

availableto an

aircraft

each

turn

depends

on

whatit

did the previous turn. This rule makes each

turn

less

a discrete unit

than

part

of

a continuum.

Thus

climbing

and

every maneuver except banking

reduces next turn s speed, while diving increases it.

These principles may be illustrated by consider

ing the

common

situation where enemy fighters

ap

proach each

other

head-on. At this

point

the

players goals are the same-maneuver into good

firing position while avoiding enemy fire. Once they

become familiar with the game players tend to

employ the slip-turn maneuver in attempting to

reach this goal. This maneuver permits a plane to

perform a slip fol lowed immediately by a

turn of

two hexsides.

The

result

is

a 120 degree

turn

which

may

pu t

the enemy directly in your line

or

fire.

The/ costs

of

this tactic are high, however.

The

slip costs two speed factors

and

each

turn another

factor, for a total loss

of

four speed factors. Since

most

fighters have only

one o r

two power factors

available to counteract this loss, next

turn s

speed

is

reduced by two

or

three factors . This loss can be

made

up by diving,

bu t

then it

is

valuable altitude

which is lost.

I f serious damage can be inflicted

on

the enemy,

the result will be wor th the pr ice.

I f not,

several

turns will be required to regain the lost speed or

altitude. Meanwhile the enemy has the

opportunity

to climb

and/or

maneuver into an advantageous

position.

The

addition of the

advantage

rule

compounds

the problem, since theloss of speed

and

altitudewhich the slip-turn entails may allow the

enemy to get

on your

ta il , a pos it ion he may be un

willing to surrender.

In

short, this tactic resembles

t he two-to-one at tack on

Tobruk

in

FRIK

KORPS a gamble sometimes worth the risk,

bu t

not to be

taken

lightly

or

used indiscriminately.

The ins ightful player will conclude that the

proper

tactic under these circumstances

is

to makea

head-on pass and then climb.

And,

as students of

World

War

aerial

combat

know, this is the same

conclusion reached by the actual

combatants,

par

t icularly when up against

an aircraft

superior in

maneuverability.

The

larger lesson

is that

every choice in

IR

FORCE has its long-range consequences.

The

deci

sion to maneuver, climb

or

dive dictates the range

of

options available in future turns.

The

player who

risks exposing his plane to enemy fire in the hope

of

R

RV

ETR

T

ETRV

ie: I

ETTRV ETTRV

.-=2.-=ETRV ETRV

3 ETTR TR

Players may discover for themselves the few

o the r changes inco rpo rated into the new IR

FOR E

As might be expected, the graphics

are

better, although it is

not

clear

that

the new aircraft

data

cards are more functional

than

the old. Given

the overall quality

of

the game, we may not see a

new game

on

thesubject for some time, and certainly

not a bet ter one.

Without

calculating every possibility, it appears

that

generally the new

combat

system diminishes

the firepower

of

aircraft in the

1-15

gunnery factor

range

at

lower modifiers

but

increases it

at

higher

modifiers; has no effect in the 16-18 gunnery factor

range;

and

slightly increases firepower at all

modifiers for 23

gunnery factors.

The

firepower effectiveness

of

bombers has

been reduced by a rule providing

that

their gunnery

factors must be applied in increments

of

no more

than

four, whose fire must be resolved separately.

This rule dramatically affects well -armed heavy

bombers like the B-17

and

B-24,

but not

without

good reason. With a minimum

of

eight gunnery fac

tors in every clock sector, the B-17G was more than

a match for any fighter under the old rules. This

revision more accurately portrays the lack

of

coor

dination

among

gunners.

Of the new rules, my personal favorite involves

the opt ional

Pilot

Characteristics section. First,

players roll

one

die

on

the

Pilot

Characteristics

Determination Table (figure 2)

and

read the results

under the

column

corresponding to the year

and

the

nationality

of

their pilot.

Then

they consult the

Pilot Characteristics

Table

of effects (figure 3) to

discover

what

benefits they enjoy from their pilot s

superior vision, reflexes, training

or

experience. A

pilot with exceptional reflexes, for example, who

finds himself disadvantaged need only reveal one

half of

his movement plot to his pursuer. This rule

adds a needed human touch t o a game which

otherwise emphasizes machinery.

Figure 2:

PILOT CHARACTERISTICS

DETERMINATION TABLE (OPT)

Find Year on Line corresponding to Nationality

Nationality

German

1939-42

early 43 late 43· 44

1945

American

late 43· 45 late 42- 43 early 42

British

39

late

1940-early

42- 45

42

IR

FORCE

is

a game

of

resource manage

ment.

The

resources are altitude, speed, power

and

ammunition. Maneuverability

is

the ability to con

sume the first three of these effectively. Victorywill

go to the player who can get the greatest

output

from his resources.

r

; ; ~ T T

ET·

5 RV RV

6 R

Vision

I

Modif Shift

I col.

R e t l e x - - n ~ o = n = e - - - i n c . ammo

by 2

On the other hand, the

proportion of

h

each category remains virtually the

throughout

the hit tables. Above table one

percentage of gun hits varies between six

and

and

cockpit hits from 12-14.

At most

levels, fuselage hits are most l

followed by wing, engine, cockpit, fuel

tan

gun hits.

Thus,

the fact

that

three fuel

tank

hi

down a Hurricane may be less significant th

fact that five fuselage hits will accomplish the

result.

none none

none none none none none

arne- niae

naTfco:r- niro;;;n:Oe--- nno ne.------n;o;n ;e;.-

...

Turn lot

none

PILOT CHARACTERISTICS TABLE

OF EFFECTS

(OPT)

Effects of Characteristics on

Maneuverability Advantage Damage Quality

Bombing

negate none

I

one hit modif

moffiT

- ; ; n ; ; o n ~ e ; ; - - - - n ; : : o : : ; n : ; - ; e : - - - - - - y h i c d ; - e f c a s - ; ~ ; t - . . . . n : ; ; o ; : n ; . ; e = - - ..

c-o-n- si -er- - ::n:: :o:: :ne:: : -

2MP of average

I lot

none

Spotting

Firing

Training

Experlei1ce



EVALUATION

AIR FORCE

includes

15 pure

fighters con

of

14 single-engine aircraft

and

the twin

ngine Me-262A. Although players will develop

vorites, they should be familiar with the strengths

weaknesses of all potential

opponents

in five

ortant areas: durability, firepower, maneuver

lity, power

and

speed.

Tables 2-6 rate the

15

f ig ht er s in th ese five

tegories. Each table is organized in thesame way:

ircraft desi gn ati on on t he left, followed by th e

w score

in each ca teg or y, t he n p er ce nta ge

core, with the best fighter in each category rated

at

percent.

Durability An aircraft s

d ur ab il it y c ou ld be

e pr ese nte d si mp ly by t he t ot al d am ag e it c an a b

o rb. H ow ev er , as d isc uss ed a bo ve , e ac h h it t yp e

oes n ot o cc ur with eq ual fre quen cy

on

the hit

ables a nd t hu s in t he g am e. F or tu na te ly t he p ro

of

eac h h it remains fairly constant

ughout the hit tables, so

that

wing hits are twice

common as fuel tan k hits regardless of the

power employed.

D ur ab il it y c an be e xp re sse d m or e p rec isel y,

efore, by multiplying the

number

of hits

an

air

raf t can t ak e in each a rea by th e fr eq uenc y with

hich t ha t h it t yp e o cc ur s

on

t he h it t ab le s, t he n

talling these products.

The

r es ul t, ca lle d t he

ability Index

(D.l.), is

computed as follows,

ing the Me-109G as an example:

6

x .23)

5

x .25)

3

x .19)

3 x .13)

4

x

.11)

4.05

Gun hits are not included in the D.l. f or t wo

easons:

(I ) elimination

of

all guns does not destroy

e aircraft

but

m er ely r es ul ts in excess g un hi ts

ecoming fuselage hits, which are already included

n the f or mul a, a nd 2) g un hits a re so i nf re qu en t

that in most cases an air cra ft will be

shot

down

before losing all

of

its guns.

T ab le 2 p re se nt s t he

D.l.

f or all

AIR FORCE

fighters. Not surprisingly, the P-47D heads the list.

More surprisingly, two

German

mainstays, the Me

109E

and F,

b ri ng u p t he r ea r, wi th th e Me- 26 2A

not far ahead. Allthree are weak in the fuselage and

wings, which, as Table

I

shows, are the most com

mon hits.

T ab le 2

Durability Index

Raw

Score

5.28

5.03

5.03

4.30

4.30

4.30

4.17

4.05

4.05

3.92

3.88

3 6 9 ~ · · ~ ~

3.69

3.44

3.44

TEN IR FORCE SCEN RIOS

The following historical

or

quasi-historical scenarios are offered for those who have exhausted th

few historically-based scenarios accompanying these games and who have tired

of

throwing randoml

selected aircraft into battle. Scenarios 1, 2

and

9 employ aircraft from

AIR

FORCE scenarios

5, 8

and

10 aircraft from DA

UNTLESS and

scenarios 3

and

4 a ir cr af t f ro m STURMOVIK formerly

AIR

FORCEIDA UNTLESS Expansion Kit). Scenario 6 requires planes from DA UNTLESS

and STUR

MOVIK and scenario 7 requires planes from all three.

All

of

these scenarios were designed for two players. Scenarios 4

and

8 are well suited for solitair

play, however, and scenarios 5

and

10 would make good multi-player games.

These scenarios were selected not because they are perfectly balanced, although they should b

reasonably even. Rather, in accord with the comments under

Creating

Your Own

Scenarios

in th

AIR FORCE

rulebook, they were picked in the hope

that

they will be interesting to the players.

All

standard

and at the players option) optional rules apply unless stated otherwise. All scenario

are twenty turns long.

Scenario Meeting Over Metz

British 3 Hurricane I

at

12,000 feet enter along

board

edge I

on turn

I

German 2 ME-109E at 12,000 feet enter along

board

edge 4

on turn

I

Victory Conditions

British

Destroy

at

least one more enemy aircraft

than

own losses

German

Avoid British victory

Special Rules

Any aircraft not in the original six

board

sections

at

the end of

turn

twenty

is

considered destroye

for the purpose

of

determining victory.

Commentary

Thisscenario depicts the first

combat

between the

Hawker

Hurricane and the Messerschmitt Bf-109

O n M ar ch 29, 1940, t hr ee H ur ri ca ne s of No. I

Squadron

encountered two ME-109 s of

JG

53 nea

Metz. Flying Officer Ritchey scored the only kill, downing one German. These two aircraft would mee

many more times before the issue was decided.

Scenario

The attle

of

ritain

British

4 S pi tf ir e I a t 1 4, 00 0 feet e nt er a lo ng b oa rd e dg e

2 3

or

5-6

on turn

I

all must enter alon

same edge)

German

3 loaded Ju-88A

at


board

edge

I on

turn

I

Victory Conditions

German

Exit

at

least one loaded Ju-88A from

board

edge 4

British

Avoid

German

victory

Special Rules

Neither Ju-88A may bedowned by ramming. Opposing aircraft which end movement

in

the samehe

at

the same altitude are assumed to have missed each other.

Commentary

Before being

shot

down

on

January

28, 1942, outside Boulogne, Dick

Tuck,

D.S.O.,

D.F.C.,

tallie

30 kills officially, 36 by his own count.

He

survived

German POW

camps until

January

1945 when h

escaped to Russia, then escaped from the Russians to the British Embassy in Moscow.

In August 1940 a section of 92

Squadron

led by

Tuck

intercepted three Ju-88 s eight miles

north o

Cardiff. Although one Spitfire was quickly

put out

of

action by a bullet in the radiator, the remaining

three destroyed the invaders, Tuck personally flaming ~ w o



Scenario The efense of Greece

British:

3 Gladiators

at

14,000 feet begin

turn

I anywhere

Italian:

2 C R- 42 , I SM- 79 l oa de d)

at


board

ed ge I

o n t ur n

I

Victory Conditions

Italian: Exit loaded SM-79 from

board

edge 4

British: Avoid Italian victory

Special Rules

Th e

SM-79 may

no t

be downed by ramming. See special rules for scenario 2.

Firepower-Firepower is

a f un cti on

of

t

number of fire factors, the range at which they m

be applied,

an d

ammunition supply. Table 3 li

the Firepower Index F.I.), computed as t

product

of t he se t hr ee f ac to rs , f or t he 15 fighte

The

earlier fighters are predictably concentrated

the lower

half

of the table, while the later mod

appear primarily in the upper half. Once again t

Me- 109 se ri es r at es p oo rl y.

Th e

Me-262A o

distances the field by a substantial margin.

Commentary

No o ne k no ws h ow m an y v ict or ie s

Marmaduke

St.

John Pattie of

the

RA F

scored during World

War

II. Estimates range from

28

to o ve r 40.

I n 1940 P at ti e was a m em be r

of

80

Squadron

stationed

at

Sidi Barrani, Libya. In November the

squadron

was sent to

Paramythia

in northwest Greece near the Albanian frontier to oppose the Italian

invasion

of

Greece. This hypothetical scenario depicts a typical encounter between 80

Squadron and an

Italian bombing mission.

100

62

62

55

55

52

39

33

31

29

27

26

24

17

17

F.1.

768

480

480

420

420

400

3

256

4

220

210

204

184

128

128

Table

3

Firepower Index

Raw

Scoreircraft

Me-262A

Tempest V

P-47D

P-51D

FW-190A

P-47B

Spit. IX

Hurri.

P-51B

Me-109G

Me-109E

Me-109F

Spit.

Hurri.

I

S pi t. I

Scenario Attack on Taranto

British: 6 Swordfish armed with torpedoes enter anywhere along

board

edge 5-6

on turn

I

at

altitude

of British player s choice

Italian: I B B- I e ac h in hex I V- K4 , f ac in g d ir ec ti on 6 Caio Duilio , hex IV-MI5, facing 4 Andrea

Doria , hex

IV

-M7, facing 6 Giulio Cesare a nd hex VI -E I facing I Conte di Cavour I

BB-2 e ac h in hex IV- I7, f aci ng 6 Littorio

an d

hex IV-II3, facing 6 Vittorio Veneto

1 C A- 2 e ac h in h ex I I- G1 3, f ac in g 4 Zara , hex IV-AI facing 4 Fiume ,

an d

hex IV-D1,

facing 4 Gorizia

I barrage balloon each in following hexes:

I-MI4

I1I-M5, V-M1, V-M3, V-M5, V-M7, I1I

N9, I1I-Nl5., V-N8, II-A13,

II-BIl

II-DIO and II-E9.

Victory Conditions

British: Sink Italian ships worth

at

least 2000 points

Italian: Avoid British victory

Special Rules

All Italian ships are

a t a nc ho r a nd c an no t

move.

Fo r

this reason, a

DR M of

a applies to all torpedo

a tt ac ks f ro m f or e a nd

a ft a nd

2 to

torpedo

attacks from all other directions.

Torpedoes

cannot

be

d ro pp ed m or e t ha n

six hexes from their target.

Each

turn

before thefire phase, a die

is

rolled for each Italianship.

On

a roll

of

on e

or

two,

that

ship

may

no t

fire its antiaircraft

that turn.

100

95

89

85

85

84

81

81

80

80

78

78

78

67

43

M.1.

2.44

2.56

2.75

2.86

2.88

2.89

3.00

3.00

3.06

3.06

3.12

3.12

3.14

3.62

5.62

Table 4

Maneuverability Index

Raw

Scoreircraft

P-47B

P-47D

FW-I90A

H ur ri . I

P-5IB

P-51D

Me-109E

Spit.

IX

Me-109F

S pi t. V

Tempest V

Hurri.

S pi t. I

Me-109G

Me-262A

Maneuverability-Maneuverability is harde

quantify objectively

than

durability

or

firepow

Th e airplane

data

cards list the number of hexes

straight movement required before each of the f

maneuvers at each altitude,

bu t

they

cannot

pred

how many maneuvers

of

each kind

will

be perform

i n a g am e.

As a rough approximation, theManeuverabi

Index M.I.) is the total average costs of two ban

one

turn

an d one slip. Experiencesuggests

that

ha

loops

an d

half-rolls occur relatively rarely in

game. Until AH

added

the rule requiringa 1 f

a lt it ud e loss f or e ac h

turn

of

banked

movem

without maneuvering, banking was a less frequ

an d

therefore less

important

maneuver. This re

sion guarantees that banks will occur

at

least tw

as o ft en as an y

other

maneuver under normal

c um st an ce s, g ivi ng t he a dv an ta ge to p lan es w

low banking requirements

e.g. FW-l90A

P-47

an d

disadvantaging otherwise maneuverable pla

like the Spitfire I

an d

V

Commentary

On November 11, 1940,21 Swordfish from the carrier Illustrious struck a telling blow to the Italian

fleet anchored

a t T ar an to . T he

first wave,

commanded

by Lieutenant

Commander

Williamson, con

sisted

of

six Swordfish with torpedoes

an d

six with bombs

an d

flares. While the bombers

made

a diver

sionary attack

on

shore installations

an d

smaller ships, torpedoes struck the battleships

Conte di

Cavour

an d

Littorio.

The

second wave hit Littorio again

an d

Caio Duilio. As a r es ul t

of

this attack,

Conte di Cavour

was put

ou t of

action for the war s duration and

Littorio

and

Caio Duilio

were disabled

for six months.

Of

the

21

attacking aircraft, only two were

shot

down with the loss

of

only one crew member. Less

than 13 months

later, the Japanese naval air

ar m

would again demonstrate the vulnerability

of

a fleet

at

anchor.

Commentary

Accounts of the Battle of Midway rightly dwell

on

the successes of American carrier-based aircraft,

b ut t o a l ar ge e xt en t t he se successes wer e

made

possible by Marine Air

Group 22

based

on

Eastern

Island, the smaller of the two islands comprising Midway. Equipped with seven

F4F s 19

SBD s, 21

F2A s

an d 17

Vindicators, Air

Group

22 was ordered by Nimitz

no t

only to defend its airstrip

bu t

t

attack the Japanese carriers.

On

June

4, 1942,

12

fighters of

A.G.

22 intercepted

13

Japanese carrier-based bombers west of Mid

way

bu t

were bounced by escorting Zeros, suffering the loss of nine fighters with two

more

badly

damaged.

Despite these losses, the tenacious defense of Midway convinced the Japanese

that

a second strike

was necessary. This in

turn

led to the now-famous indecision by the Japanese which allowed U.S. naval

dive bombers to catch their Japanese counterparts

on

the deck.

Th e

rest, as they say,

is

history.

Scenario

5

The attle of Midway

Japanese: 4 D 3A Val l oa de d) at 3,000 feet enter along

board

edge 1

o n t ur n

I

2 A 6M 2 Z er o at 4,000 feet enter along

board

edge 2-3

or

5-6 see special rules)

U.S.:

3 F2A Buffaloes, 1

F4 F

Wildcat

at

3,500feet enter along

board

edge 2-3

or

5-6 all need not

enter along same edge) on

turn

I

Victory Conditions

U.S.: Destroy

at

l ea st 2 D 3A Val and exit

at

l ea st 2 U .S . f ig ht er s f ro m ed ge 4

Japanese: Exit

at

l ea st 3 D 3A Val l oa de d f ro m

board

edge 4 or destroy all U.S. fighters

An y

other result

is

a d ra w

Special Rules

Each

turn

beginning with

turn

two the Japanese playerrolls onedie.

On

a roll of one, theZerosenter

that turn.

Subtract o ne f ro m t he roll for ea ch

t u rn a ft er t u rn

two.

On

the

turn

of entry, the Japanese player rolls

another

die.

A n o dd

number means the Zeros enter

along

board

edge 5-6, while

an

even

number

means they enter along edge 2-3.



Power Later

fighters emphasized power, as

shown

on

Table

5 s

l isting by Power Index P.I.).

The Power Index is the

product

of the total

number

of

power factors available up to 29,900 feet

an d

the

amo,unt

of

altitude gained per speed factor.

As Table 4 indicates, many

of

the more

maneuverable fighters saw action early in the war.

This reflects a shift in emphasis

r at he r t ha n

a

decline in technology. As Allied pilots in the Pacific

discovered, maneuverability

is

an advantage only if

the enemy agrees to dogfight, while speed,

firepower

an d

durability

cannot

be negated.

An d the Winner Is Table 7 s um ma ri ze s t he

results

of

Tables 2-6.

Th e

percentage ratings

of

each

f igh ter in e ac h c at eg or y a re t ot al le d, p ro vi di ng a

measure

of

the relative worth

of

these fighters.

By

this admittedly subjective

method

the top fighter

is

the P-47D

Thunderbolt.

Of t he t op t en f ig ht er s,

only three are German

an d

only threeentered action

b ef or e 1943, su rel y a t ri bu te t o t he q ua li ty

of

this

Commentary

On

March 5, 1944three P-47s of 348th Fighter

Group

5th Fighter

Command

conducted a sweep

the Wewark area

of

New Guinea. Colonel Neel Keady, who finished the war with 22 victories, acco

panied by captain William D.

Dunham

16) and

Captain

Samuel

V

Blair 7), flying

at

22,000 feet, sp

ted three Neils near Dagua Strip

at

500 feet. In the process of downing the bombers, Colonel Keady w

bounced by an Oscar.

Th e

Japanese fighter was destroyed, but not before inflicting fatal damage on

target.

Commentary

On April 26, 1944,

Major

Charles

H.

Hansen, piloting his B-29 over the Indo-Burmese frontier w

a cargo

of

fuel, spotted

12

Oscars 2,000 feet below.

After

the Japanese pilots studied their new adversa

for 15 minutes,

half

of their number attacked. Twenty-five minutes later, the first

combat

for the Sup

fortress was over, the giant bomber taking eight hits

an d

damaging one Oscar. Notice was served th

t he B-29 wo ul d b e a f or mi da bl e

opponent.

Commentary

On Jul y 30, 1942,

Major

John R. Alison

a nd C ap ta in

A lb er t T . B au mb er of the 75th Figh

Squadron

stationed at Hengyang attempted a night interception of Japanese bombers attacking th

airfield. Flying P-40 s not equipped for night

combat

they nontheless succeeded in downing four

of

t

six intruders.

Fo r

their exploit, Alison was awarded the

D.S.O.

and Baumber the D.S.C. Alison finish

the war with ten kills in the China-Burma-India theater, making him the fifth-ranking American a

there.

Scenario 8-Debut

of

the Superfort

u S

I B-29 loaded)

at

16,000 feet enters from

board

edge I

o n t ur n

I

Japanese 6 KiA3

at

15,000 feet begin anywhere

on

boards III and/or IV on

turn

I

Victory Conditions

U S

Exit B-29 loaded from

board

edge 4

Japanese Avoid U.S. victory

Special Rules

Th e

Japanese player may

no t

ram the B-29 see scenario 2 special rules).

Scenario

7 -N ew

Guinea Sweep

u s 3 P-47B at 1,000 feet enter from

board

e dg e 2-3 o n turn I

Japanese

3 G 3M Nell

at

500 feet enter from

board

edge I

on

turn

I

I KiA3 O sc ar

at

1,000 feet enters from

board

edge 5-6

on turn

2-7 see special rules)

Victory Conditions

U S

Destroy all three Japanese bombers before they exit

board

edge 4

Japanese Destroy

at

l eas t I U .S . a ir cr af t.

neither

or

both players achieve their victory conditions, the result is a draw.

Special Rules

Th e

turn of entry of the KiA3 is determined bya die roll made

after

the movement plotting phase.

O

turn

two, a roll

of

one

is

required for entry;

on turn

three, a roll

of

one

t wo , et c. O n t he

turn of

ent

t he J ap an es e p la ye r m ay t he n p lo t t he m ov em en t

of

the KiA3 for execution during the immediate

following movement execution phase.

Scenario

9-Escape

Over Falaise

British I S pi tf ir e I X

at

4,700 feet

German 6

ME-I09G

at 5,000 feet begin anywhere within 4 hexes of hex IV-A8, all facing same dir

tion

Victory Conditions

British

Survive for

duration of

scenario

German

Destroy British aircraft

Special Rules

After the

German

player has plotted his movement for

turn

one, the starting position

of

the Spitf

is

determined by rolling three dice.

Th e

first roll indicates the direction from hex IV -A8, the second r

the number of hexes in

that

direction,

an d

the third roll the Spitfire s facing.

The

British player th

plots his movement and play proceeds.

Th e

fire phase

is

omitted from

turn

one.

Th e

British player

is an

ace and uses the concentrated fire column

of

the hit tables optional r

XIX).

Scenario 6-Night Mission Over Hengyang

u s 2 P-40C

at

14,000 feet enter anywhere along

board

edge 2 3 on

turn

I

Japanese 3 Ki.27 Sally loaded)

at


board

edge 4 o n

turn

I

Victory Conditions

U

S

Destroy all Japanese aircraft

Japanese Score at least 2 points of damage on U.S. airfield

Any other result

is

a d ra w

Special Rules

This scenario occurs

at

night, so optional rule XII visibility options)

is

in e ff ec t. No a ir cr af t a

equipped with

radar.

Th e

U.S. airfield consists of hexes IV-A7-AIO.

Th e

J ap an es e b om be rs m us t m ak e o ne p ass o v

these hexes before dropping their bombs. Both the practice run and the bombing run must pass over

four airfield hexes from the same direction at the same altitude.

100

92

92

92

92

85

85

85

77

77

54

51

46

46

41

P.1.

3.9

3.6

3.6

3.6

3.6

3.3

3.3

3.3

3.0

3.0

2 1

2.0

1.8

1.8

1.6

Table 5

Power Index

Raw

Score

ircraft

Tempest V

Me-109G

Spit.

IX

P-47D

Me-262A

Sp it . V

P-51D

Me-109F

Hurd.

II

P-5IB

Me-109E

FW-190A

Spit.

Hurd.

I

P-47B

Table 6

Speed Index

Raw

Aircraft Score S.1.

Me-262A 10.50 100

P-5IB

8.11 77

P-51D 8.00 76

Tempest V 7.75 74

P-47B 7.56 72

P-47D 7.50

71

FW-190A 7.12 68

Me-109G 7.00 67

Me-109F 6.87

65

Spit. IX 6.78 64

Spit. V 6.37 61

Spit. I 6.28 60

Me-109E 6.25 59

Hurd.

5.62

53

Hurd. I 5.57

53

Speed Finally

Table

6 provides an indication

of

the ability to get there,

an d

more importantly, to

get b ack . Since mo st m ov em en t oc cu rs in e it he r

maneuver

or

level speed, the Speed Index S.I.) is

the a ve ra ge t op level sp eed in e ac h a lt it ud e

band

which roughly reflects

both

maneuver

an d

level

speeds. As e xp ec te d, th e Me -2 62 A l it er al ly

an d

figuratively runs away from the competition.



Commentary

August 14, 1945,

marked

thelast combatand the last aerialvictories for the 5th Fighter Command in

World

War

II.

On that

date, five P-38 s

of

the 35th Fighter

Squadron

providing cover for two rescue

planes over the Inland Sea between Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu were jumped b y six F ra nk s. F in al

score: four Franks downed, one P-38 lost.

Commentary

Johnnie Johnson was officially the top-scoring RAF pilot

of

World

War

II with 38 kills. A master

tactician and leader, this scenario represents the only occasion

on

which his aircraft was hit by enemy

fire.

In June 1944, Johnson and his companions had engaged the

German

fighters providing air cover for

Axis troops in the Falaise Gap. His wingman had headed back to base with engine trouble, so Johnson

found himself alone. Spotting six aircraft above him, one waggling its wings, Johnson assumed they

were f ri en dl y. O nl y wh en he h ad c li mb ed t o w it hi n 3 00 feet of t he m d id h e d is co ve r his e rr or .

At

the

same time the Germans recognized his nationality and gave chase. Johnson finally escaped by climbing

to 12,000 feet, where the supercharger

of

his Spitfire allowed him to outrun his pursuers.

Scenario

to ast

Blood for the Fifth

u s 5 P-38G

at

12,500 feet begin anywhere

on

board III or IV all

on

same

board)

Japanese

6 Ki.84 Frank

at


board

edge 2-3

and/or

5-6

on

turn I

Victory Conditions

U S Destroy

at

least three more enemy fighters than own losses

Japanese Avoid U.S. victory

Special Rules

Japanese pilots are considered novices optional rule XIX).

Any Japanese aircraft not

on

one of the six original board sections

at

the conclusion of turn 20 or

which spends more than three consecutive turns not

on

the original six board sections

is

considered

destroyed for victory purposes.

Four-engine Bombers

Durability and firepower are the mainstay

t he h ea vy b om be r. S pe ed and power occupy p

tions of lesser importance while maneuverabili

virtually irrelevant.

For

this r ea so n, T ab le

which ranks

the

heavy bombers, ign

maneuverability.

The

B-17G scores first in three of t he

categories, second only to the Lancaster in po

The

B-17G reflects improvements over the F m

in all categories but principally in firepower,

the addition of a n os e t ur re t. S im il ar ly t he B

shows upgrading in firepower

but

also a marked

p ro ve me nt in s pe ed o ve r t he D m od el .

Single-engine Bombers

IR FOR E

includes only two single-en

b om be rs , t he J u- 87 B and D. T ab le 9 p ro vi de

analysis of t he ir p er fo rm an ce d at a. T he data

th ese t wo a ir cr af t as well as t he twi n- en gine

four-engine aircraft to follow are computed as

were for the fighters, with the exception

firepower. Since flexible

armament

has unlim

ammunition for game purposes, the Firepowe

dex

is

simply the product

of

fire factors and ra

And since flexible guns have varying firepowe

different clock sectors, the fire factor used for t

guns is their average fire factor.

As with th e Me-109, the D mo del

of the Ju

sacrificed maneuverability less

important

fo

dive bomber anyway) for durability, firepower,

speed.

Twin-Engine Aircraft

T wi n- en gi ne a ir cr af t in IR FOR E ra

from the Me-262A, included above as a fighte

the

He-III H,

a heavy bomber by Luftwaffe sta

a rd s. I n b et we en a re f ig ht er -b om be rs s uc h as

Me-110 and Mosquito F.B.VL

The

performa

data for these planes reflect their diver

purposes.

Table

10

contains data for the twin-engine

craft.

The

bombers dominate in durability while

fighter-bombers excel in the other categories.

exception

is

the Mosquito B.IV, designed to a

rather than absorb punishment. Table 10 does

of

course, consider payload, a prime considera

in evaluating a bomber.

Sin ce t he M e- I

10

was o ri gi na ll y i nt en de d

fighter, reviewing its data may provide some

i nt o th e r easo ns f or its f ail ur e in that role. C

pared to the pure fighters, the Me-IIOC would r

13th overall with

313

index points. Although hig

durability 89 D.L), i t falls s ho rt in f ir ep ow er

F.L, giving th e flexible g un 20

ammo

poin

maneuverability

61

M.L), sp eed 58

S.L)

power

41

P.L).

Its successor, the Me-IIOG, fares consider

b et te r as a f ig ht er , t ot al li ng 362 p oi nt s, p la ci n

just

behind the

P-5ID.

With a Firepower Inde

1306 for a new high, it rates like this in the o

categories:D.L

=

94;M.L

=

62;P.L

= 51;S.

55.

Ignoring maneuverability for the reasons st

above, the Me-llOG and C r an k f ou rt h a nd t e

r es pe ct iv el y. B as ed on their game rati

therefore, the failure

of

the Me-IIOC in partic

may be attributed to the way it was used rather

any inherent weaknesses in design.

Me-262A

365

Tempest V 331

P-47D

325

P-51D 297

Spit.

IX

272

P-5IB 266

Me-109G 265

P-47B 260

FW-190A 255

Hurri. II 242

Me-109F 241

Spit. V 240

Me-109E 205

S pit . I 193

Hurri. I 190

T ab le 8

Composite Ratings

Excluding M.I.

Aircraft Total

AH's advan tage r ule wea ke ns this a rg um en t

somewhat by placing a premium

on

maneuverability

as th e way to get

and stay

on

the enemy s tail. Still,

if the enemy can outrun you, the advantage is lost.

T ab le s 7

and

8 p ro vi de som e in sig ht in to t he

evolution of the Me-I09. The earliest model included

in the game, the Me-109E, was roughly equivalent

in durability and firepower to its successor, the Me

I09F, marginally inferior in speed and marginally

superior in maneuverability.

The

F model showed a

marked improvement only in speed.

The

Me-109G

sacrificed some maneuverability for durability and

power

and

to a lesser extent firepower and speed.

On

the whole, the Me-109 series proves a mediocre

fighter.

Table 7

Composite Ratings

Aircraft Total

P-47D 420

Tempest V 409

Me-262A 408

P-51D

381

P-47B 360

Spit.

IX

353

P-5IB 351

FW-190A 344

Me-109G 332

Me-109F 321

Spit. V 320

Hurri. II 320

Me-109E 286

H ur ri . I 275

S pi t. I 271

As the war progressed, maneuverability became

and less a consideration in aircraft design.

To

lect the effect

of

t hi s s hi ft in e mp ha si s. T ab le 8

es the 15 IR FOR E fighters without consider

g the Maneuverability Index. Significantly, the

st advanced fighter

of

t he wa r, t he Me- 262 A,

ultsto the top

of

the list, followed by theTempest

, P-47D and P-5ID, all advanced designs. A con

ncing argument may be

made

that Table 8 rather

T ab le 7 v al id ly r at es t hese f ig ht er s b ec au se

neuverability yielded no advantage against

an

p on en t w ho w ou ld n ot s ta nd o r t ur n) and fight.

, the Spitfire IX, FW-I90A

and

Me-109F. Con

ry to conventional wisdom, the Hurricane I rates

ghtly a bo ve t he S pi tf ir e I a nd th e H ur ri ca ne II

en with the Spitfire V

Ju-87B

Ju-870

Durability

0.1.)

4.17

94)

4.42

100)

T ab le 9

Single-engine Bombers

Firepower Maneuver Power

(F.I.) (M.I.)

(P.I.)

9.75 3.46 1.0

85) 100) 100)

11.50 3.60 1.0

100) ) 100)

Speed

S.I.)

4.17

74)

5.60

100)

Total

453

4

CONCLUSION

None of this myriad of numbers will guara

y ou success in y ou r next game

of IR

FOR

R at he r, t he y a re i nt en de d t o h ig hl ig ht t he rel a

strengths and weaknesses of the aircraft as an a

developing tactics. As in the war itself, the airc

was only one component of t he a er ia l fi gh

machine. It was and

is

the pilot s

job

to get the m

imum from his aircraft.



Table

10

Table

Twin-engine Aircraft

Four-engine Bombers

Durability

F;repower

Maneuver

Power

Speed

Total

Durabil i ty Firepower

Power

Speed

Total

(D.I.)

(F.I.) (M.I.)

(p.I.)

(S. .)

Aircraft

(D. .) (F.I.)

(P.I.)

(S.I.)

Me-1I0G

4.97

165.5 3.92

2.00

5.83

B-17G

7.51

61.8

1 1

6.43

(82) (100)

(93)

(100)

(78)

453

(100)

(100)

(85)

(100)

385

Mosquito

4.99

116.0 3.78

1.70

7.43

B-24J

6.92

60.0

1 1

6.33

F.B.VI (82)

(70)

(96)

(85)

(100)

433

(92)

(97)

(85)

(98)

372

Ju-88C 5.95

87.0

4.64

1.80

5.57

B-I7F

7.28

53.4

1.0

6.00

(98)

(52)

(78)

(90)

(75)

393

(97)

(86)

(77)

(93)

353

Me-IIOC

4.72

45.75

4.00

1.60

6.14

B-24D

6.69 52.8

1.1

5.50

(78) (28)

(93)

(80)

(83)

362

(89)

(85) (85)

(85)

344

Mosquito 4.74

0

3.64

1.60

7.43

Lancaster

6.44 20.0

1.3

6.40

B.IV (78)

(0)

(100) (80)

(100)

358

(86)

(32)

(100)

(99)

317

He-l l lH

5.81

17.75

5.00

.80 4.83

(96)

(11)

(73) (40)

(65)

285

Ju-88A

5.83

7.25

5.11 .70

5.43

(96) (4)

(71)

(35)

(73)

279

Wellington

6.06

12.0 5.08

.50

5.50

(100)

(7)

(72)

(25)

(74)

278

7 9

RB

Merely write the winning move in the

propriate space of the contest form in this iss

insert. Ten winning entries will receive

tificates redeemable for free

AH

merchand

ONT ST

NO. 102

0

'

. ::.

«U

.000

No:

Moves

Type:FW-I90

START: IJS

-0

1l

DIRECTION: 1

C > .:;; c:

a

c c c

0::

::::>

Type:P.47

No:

. l-

•• • 000

0000

F

.0000

J:-

eooo

I-£.

000

·o·m

E

W

G

START: IKIO

Z

-0

0::

-0

DIRECTION: 1

. ::

-0

::::>

....

c

.; f

a.

n

CO

....

. :

c:

C

c

-

-

-

Moves

6

9•• L

1

You are in the midst of a dogfight

IRFORe£

Both your P-47 and the oppos

FW-190 have suffered damaging hits. Using o

the information provided on the log sheet be

determine the best move for your P-47. Assu

you are using a completely simultaneous mo

ment system instead

of

the advantage rules. N

that both planes have taken damage

as

indica

by the filled-in circles on the respective logs.

Assume tha t both a irc ra ft have execu

enough forward movement in previous turn

perform any maneuver. The actual version

the ai rc raft concerned are the FWl90A

P47D.

STARSHIP TROOPERS

A second ed ition rulebook is finally in the

works . Whi le I am coordinat ing this pro jec t, t he

work is being done by Jim Stahler and Chester E.

Hendricks, both enthus iast experts. Should be

done by January

1982.

CONQUISTADOR

I have also been given the AH deve lopment

chores on this SPI game,

which

sits fine with me

as it

has long been one

of

my favorite games. The

revision should be extremely minor, dealing

mostly

with

an

expansion of the counter mix. Should be

done in late 1981.

NEW GAMES

I have f inal ly been turned loose to design my

own games. The f irst one out of the chute should

be afantasy board game,

tentatively

entitled L ND

ontinuedon

Pg 35 ,

olumn

FORTRESS EUROPA

A PBM Kit

for

the game should be out

in

August. Eventually we will publish a revised second

edition rulebook

which

will contain

many

clarifica

tions, corrections, and additions. In addition, there

will be more Optional Rules and OB Charts for the

Battle Of

The

Bulge

and On To Berlin

scenarios. Although this project will be wrapped up

shortly,

it

may not see print

for

quite a while.

We

will notify you when it becomes available.

FURY IN THE WEST

The revision of this game will be

mostly

artistic.

The rules wil l be un touched exc ep t for several

clarifications. The big changes will be a new, more

pleasing mapboard , bookcase packaging, and

beautiful

new

boxcover art

by

Rodger MacGowan.

many

enemies though, because opponents are

never completely

out of

the game. A player

who is

killed

just

misses a turn and then re turns as the

former player's heir, usually

with

revenge in mind.

This is not a game where everyone sits around

wh il e one player takes a turn. Players can play

cards,

modify

die rolls, and take par t in many of

the act ions dur ing their opponents ' turns. There

wil l be

constant

player interaction. A player can go

from rags to riches and back again several times in

the game. The

winner

will never be certain t il l the

game

is

over.

I f int rigue and t reachery are what you know

best,

DOWN

WITH THE KING is

for

you. The

beloved King wil l

not

be strong enough

to

sup

press the evi l insur rect ions you wil l bring into his

k ingdom. You are the bad guys in this game, but

then maybe

that's why

it's so

much

fun.

After

all,

we are all pretenders

to

some throne or other.

To be released at GENCON EAST 81.

PHILOSOPHY Continued from Page

WITH THE KING

DOWN WITH TH KING is a game of intrigue

nd treachery in which players compete against

King and each other. Each player takes the role

f a Fandonian noble. The objec t is

to

build a

werful, polit ical fact ion and eventually place a

of the Royal Family, loyal only to you, on

e throne.

DOWN WITH THE KING

is

a game

for

two

to

players that has everything that makes a game

n. Assassina tions. Duels. Scandals. Travel.

iding. Romance galore, inc luding seductions,

oposals, weddings and

court

balls. A detai led

tice system

to

deal with wrongdoers, including

hearings, t rials, informers ,

dence, alibis, banishments, imprisonments, and

cutions. Wars between Fandonia and foreign

tries. Natural disasters. Famines. Plagues. All

of

polit ical problems. And more.

Basically, players must gain prest ige and in

uence so

they

can recruit characters

to

their

use. However, the

ways

in which they can do

are practically unlimited. At the same t ime they

also attempt

to

gain the suppor t of the

urch, the trade guild, the merchants, the army,

e navy, the peasants, the townsmen, and

reign countries. But even after

they

have

ablished a strong faction, they

must

wait t ill the

litical climate is right. Only then will

they be

able

usurp the King. The penalty

for

failure is death.

No tw o games wil l ever be the same. There

just

too

many

different things

that

can happen.

must cooperate to some extent against

King, but must a lways be wary o f the stab

in

e back. A player cannot afford

to

make too

Adorned with one of Rodger MacGowan's

est, the game gets even bet te r once inside the

ox. There is a redone mounted

44

x

28

map

oard. There are 1300 counters including every

that saw act ion in the Pacif ic in

1942.

There

two

log sheet pads that together form a 45

of the mapboard

for

easy plotting of

i ts. There are seven playing aid cards

for

easy

The rules, though only slight ly changed in con

nt, have changed dramatically in style and

to

allow a complex game

to

be

esented as easily as possible. The hidden move

nt system has been modified to allow planes as

as ships

to move

on the log sheets, thus

eating a game with total secrecy. The observa

on procedures have been simplified to streamline

lay. More opt ional rules have been added. The

sult is the ultimate game on carrier warfare, and

ybe even the ultimate gaming experience.

To be released

at

GENCON EAST 81.



2

23

Fake

llC

3 3 7

Fake

ll IZ

DESERT DECEPTION byR.J.Gutenkunst

ING THE TRUE ROLE OF RECONN ISS NCE TO FRIK KORPS

Back in the days when A valon Hill was the only

argame company in existence and non-Avalon

die-cut counters were scarcer than hen s teeth,

hard Gutenkunst was the only source of decent

riant counters

existence at

least to

my

wledge. I still rememberthe thrillofopening the

rst set of STALINGRAD variant counters from

chard with their upgunned panzer corps and

erman airpower in the form of stuka counters

us explaining

my

deja vu feelings upon seeing

IAN CAMPAIGN for the first time). Well,

en years later Richard

is

still at it producing

for A valon Hill games with quality com

at ridiculous prices. Not onlyhas heshared

of them with ushere, he

is

also going to provide

u with the die-cut counters necessary to play it if

u are interested. You ll find ordering informa

on at the end of the article.

Let

us know

if

this

tion to buy aspect variant article appeals to

u as Richard

is

just full of good ideas.

Wargamers are blessed with perfect intelligence

t the point where they re uncomfortable with

e fact. We all have to besmart to play these games

t I t hi nk you know w ha t

I m

talking about: you

ow exactly where your opponent

is

and exactly

h at his s tr en gt h is. I t m ay be n o c on so la ti on , b ut

ur opponent knows the same about you.

If

you re playing a historical game, that is, one

ich attempts to recreate a historical campaign or

t tl e, t ry in g to r ec re at e t he s it ua ti on where t he

didn t

know w hat each o th er had an d

ere they had it

is

verydifficult. TheWorld War II

rth African campaign is an exception in this

gard. Both sides knew pretty much what forma

ons were available to the other. However, exactly

they were was s omet hi ng else. Both t oo k

at pains to mislead each other.

It s

h ar d t o hi de a

it in the desert,

but

you can do all kinds

of

things

o m ak e a u ni t l oo k like s om et hi ng else disguise

your tanks as trucks and your trucks

as

tanks) and

make the enemy think it s someplace else. AFRIKA

KORPS can easily be converted to a game with the

emphasis on deception and reconnaissance-with

the addition

of

a few rules and counters

of

course.

THE DECEPTION COUNTERS

N ot e t he Al lied a nd Axis Dec ep ti on Cou nt er

Cards. Each consists

of

six pairs

of fakes ,

A a nd

B fo r t he Axis, Yand Z for theAllies. Each fake has

a co rr es po ndi ng b oa rd c ou nt er . T o use a fake, a

counter or counter stack

is

removed from the board

and replaced with a fake counter pair. Put the real

unit or units on the upper or lower fake on the

Deception Counter Card. You can now move each

fake counter subject to the limitations

of

the real

unit or units.

Note that movement factors and unit types are

printed on the fake counters. These are for conven

ience only. It

is

easier to use a fake counter with the

same movement factor and type as the real counter,

but the characteristics

of

the fake are governed by

the real counters they represent. You can have all

twelve

of

your counters represent infantry with a

movement factor

of

six, for instance.

As so on as t he fakes get int o c om ba t, th e on e

r ep res en ti ng t he real u ni t has to be rev ealed . O ne

way to do this

is

to write the designation

of

the fake

c ou nt er t ha t r ep res en ts t he rea l u ni t on a slip

of

paper,

put

it f nfo rm at ion side d ow n, and t ur n it

over when one

of

the fake pairs gets into combat.

However, there is another way, which I think is

more fun. A commander rarely has the full control

over his units that the wargamer enjoys. You can

simulate this lack of control by using these decep

tion counters. What you do

is

roll the die when it s

time to reveal a fake.

If

the fake represents a

German unit or a mixed German-Italian unit stack,

the Axis player chooses which counter represents

t he re al u ni t o r u ni ts , rem ov es t he fakes f ro m t he

board and replaces them with the real unit or units.

That

is,

if

he rolls anything but a

In that case

Allied player chooses which fake

is

real.

the f

represent pure Italian forces, the Axis pl

chooses which fake

is

real unless he rolls a I o r

the fakes are Allied units, the Allied player cho

which fake

is

real unless he rolls a I or a 2. For t

of

you who want to be historical, you can vary

Allied die roll with the respective commander

charge. For instance, Montgomery was so car

of

his unit assignments that you might wan

eliminate the die roll altogether when he arrive

The foregoing assumes you are using fake p

If

y ou d esi re, yo u c an use y ou r fake c ou nt er

r ep re sen t a u ni t o r un it s. Wi th f ou r fa ke cou n

standing

in

for your real units you put the real u

at

the juncture

of

the four fakes you aregoing to

on your Deception Counter Card). You roll th

to decide

if

the fake going into combat

is

real or

it is an actual fake it is removed from the bo

When you are reduced to two fakes representin

unit or units, go back to pair rules.

With four piece fakes, the odds have to

changed in favor of the owner

of

the fakes. Th

because his opponent can declare the piece in c

bat real, thereby eliminating the other three fa

C on se qu ent ly, when using a three o r f ou r p

fake,

if

the owner

of

the fake loses the roll

o pp on en t m us t ro ll an o dd n um be r b ef or e he

declare the fake in question real or not. Other

the choice reverts to the owner.

One point needs emphasizing. A fake mu

resolved as soon as an enemy unit comes in con

with it.

If

a fake

is

attacked, the attacker can b

up reinforcements if it s real.

If

i t s a t ru e fake

attacking piece can keep on going to the limit

o

movement factor. So plan your moves careful

W hen a s ta ck

of

units

is

represented by fa

you can split the units between paired fakes w

revealed, b ut when there are three o r four

pieces, one piece must represent all the units

in



XIS DE EPTION OUNTER RD

LLIED DE EPTION OUNTER RD

f§

~ W

V

al e

y

2 Y

Y

~ Y

7

7

6 6

2

If rz

i ftZ

t>

5W

Z

Z

Z 6 Z

7

6

6

1

2

time. That is, w he n it b es t su it s g am e p la ya b

The II Hussars were available at the beginni

t he g am e, b u t t he y w er e n ot c om pl et el y e qu i

T he y w er e e qu ip pe d b y June however, with S

African

Marmon-Harrington

armored

H ow ev er , t he y we re c om pl et el y r ef it te d w it

superior

Humber armored

c ar s f or t he N ov e

Crusader offensive. yo u opt for the latest ar

you can consider the Hussars as part

of

the S

African armored c ar f orm at io ns to which

Marmon-Harringtons reverted upon their co

s io n t o

Humbers.

1/12

Lancers 1-1-12 This unit is

broughto

board the first Allied move in November, 194

l/Royal Dragoons 1-1-12 T hi s u ni t is p

on the board t he f ir st A ll ie d m ov e in D ec em

1941.

I012DY 1-1-12 The 2nd Derby

Y eo ma nr y. T hi s u ni t is

brought on

the boar

first Allied move in August, 1942.

IO/HeR

1-1-12 The Household Cavalry

m en t. T hi s u ni t is brought

on

the board the

Allied move in October, 1942. .

LRDG 1-0-14 The

Long Raqge Desert G

Use this in the main like an ordinary reconnais

unit.

The

zero defense factor means it ca

destroyed by anyenemy unit with a non-zero a

factor, and t he e ne my u ni t doesn t have to

su pp ly u ni t t o d o so. The LRDG cannot b e u s

screen a friendly unit. is independent

of

sup

except for attacks. c an n ot t ra ve l b y s ea .

w ish , y ou c an a ll ow t he LRDG to destroy Rom

if

he is not stacked with an Axis unit. Thefull m

ment factor

of

this unit is 28, d on e in t wo p ha

4each. This is so it c an use o ne p ha se t o g et o v

escarpment. This unit starts

at

the Allied home

at

initial placement.

ADDITIONAL ALLIED UNITS

2/KDG 1-1-12 The King s Dragoon Guards

Also facetiously kno wn as the King s Dan cing

Girls). This unit is stacked with

2/3

4-4-7)

at

initial

placement.

7/II Hussars

-1-12

This unit can be started

at

t he Al li ed h om e b as e

at

initial placement,

brought

on

the board with the

June

94 reinforcements or

brought on with the

November

94 rein

forcements. Why the choice

of

arrival times? The

idea is to put it on t he b oa rd at its effective arrival

armored car units

on

reconnaissance. Therefore,

if

we consider all the Allied recon units supported by

Jock

c ol um ns , t he y h av e e no ug h

combat

value to

s ho w u p as a c ou nt er .

Perhaps

the seemingly non-historical weakness

of the Allied 1-1-6 infantry brigades bothers you.

One reason they re so weak

is

to relieve you

of

con

t in uo us ly p ul li ng t he m in and out of t he g am e.

Also, some

of

the divisions represent almost com

plete national armies. Historically the Britishhad to

be v er y c ar ef ul

about t he se . Sin ce a

nation s

war

effort

was g ea re d t o t he se u ni ts , l et ti ng t he m

take

crippling casualties could

knock

t he p a re nt n at io n

out

of

t he wa r f or p rac ti cal p ur po se s. S tr en gt h

could be assigned to these units by counting

rifles , but a ll ow in g f or t he h in dr an ce to t he ir use

and p ul ling t he m in and out

of

the battle in a

historical fashion would be a nightmare. However,

now that y o u ve g ot t he b es t part

of

some

of

the in

f an tr y b rig ad es s up po rt in g t he r ec on na iss an ce

units, the 1-1-6 sshould be easier to live with. I find

it so anyway.

A

deception-reconnaissance version

of

AFRIKA

KORPS is a new g am e and consequently

needs new counters to

make

i t work. The following

are descriptions and arrival data for these counters.

is quite possibleto play the game with the fake

ounters alone, with the victory going to the

akiest personality,

but

r ec on na is sa nc e a dd s a

ole new skill.

Reconnaissance ability is limited to RECCE

e counters. Recon counters are moved first

on

a

n. They

perform

reconnaissance by entering the

of control

of

a f ak e. a f ak e is not screened

ou go through the steps to reveal a fake. If its

v emen t f ac to r a llo ws, th e r ec on u ni t c an th en

ave the zone

of

control it entered,

but

it

must

leave

the same hexagon it entered the

zone

of control

Right. Can t h av e t he se f as t c ha ra ct er s g oi ng

hind the lines destroying supply units and cutting

lines of retreat. A recon unit is only allowed one

connaissance mission per move, but i t c an m ove

combat

afterwards if it has enough

of

a move

nt factor left. This

of

course could also reveal a

To simplify this rule, consider a recon unit to

ve only one back-out or disengagement privilege

r move.

If

the fakes get reduced to two pieces by fake

l im in at io n, p ai re d f ak e r ul es h ol d and you ca n

en divide the units. However, the player who sets

p the fakes may declare them non-splittable when

ma kes t he i ni ti al s ub st it ut io n. I n t hi s ca se, o ne

ake must represent all the units in the stack. To in

cate this put your bottom-most counter on the

Counter Card upside down. Your

owest counter should be

on

top.

y ou p la n t o a tt ac k w it h t he u ni ts r ep re se nt ed

a set of your fake counters you roll the die for the

unters in question before you move.

you lose

e roll for a three or f ou r fake, y ou r opponent

moves thecounter he mostdesires to be false. You

rolling until your real position has been decided.

a fake has a friendly recon naissance u nit

thin two hexagons one hexagon between the two

its) it is considered screened.

You will note that a reconnaissance unit can be

position to screen more than o ne fak e. W he n a n

nemy r ec on u ni t tries to r ec on no it er a f ake , t he

ke s owner then declares which units are screen

g t he f ak e i n q ue st io n. A ft er t he r ec on na is sa nc e

t em pt ha s b een r es ol ve d, t he s cr ee ni ng u ni ts a re

p or ar ily t ur ne d u psid e d ow n t o i nd ic at e t ha t

ey c an no t be used t o screen o th er u ni ts f or that

To assure a successful reconnaissance against

screened unit, you must have

at

l ea st t hr ee t o o ne

ds against the screening unit s). At two to one

ds, the reconnaissance is successful if an

odd

is r ol le d o n t he d ie. At o ne to o ne o dd s or

the reconnaissance fails.

To have fun with reconnaissance, it can be seen

you re g oin g t o n eed a l ot m or e Allied r eco n

i ss an ce u ni ts . F or tu na te ly t he y had scads

of

e m. T he r ea so n t he y wer e l ef t

out

of

the original

me was t ha t t he y w er e p u re a rm or e d c ar f or ma

ons, with plenty of snoop ability but very little

t value. The corresponding

German

unit was

m uc h m or e b al an ce d f or ce that included motor

cle infantry, engineers and anti-tank guns with

e a rm or ed cars. Ligh t AA guns

mount ed on

ftracks murderous against infantry) and 88 s

murderous against tanks) were normally attached.

However, enter the

Jock

columns.

Jock

Columns

The Jock

columns were originated by Major

Jock Campbell, the

commander

of the

tish Seventh

Armored

Division. They were fast

v in g a d h oc u ni ts u su al ly c on si st in g

of

a fu lly

ile battalion

of

infantry

and

a b at te ry

of

25

field guns supported by anti-tank and anti

craft guns. The material and m an po we r was

ually o bt ai ne d by c he rr y p ick in g th e i nf an tr y



XIS ORDER OF PPE R N E

MARCH

I t ~ ~

1941

2 1 ~ 5

218

3

I t t e J · ~

I t ~ ~

I t ~ ~

I t ~ 5

c=J1

AGHEILA

Q

<

II>

0 0 12

7 7 10 .

2 2 12

4-5-6

2-3-4

2-3-4

2-2-4

2-2-4

0-0-10

2 1 ~ 1 0 4 ~ 2 0 0

I t rXr

I t ~ ~

I t ~ ~

HOME

ltD :

OR

1 -

1-1-6'

BASE

0 1 3

-3-10

OR

2 2 10

2-3-4

OR

2-2-4

AGHEILA

MAY

SEPTEMBER

NOVEMBER

1941

1 5 ~ 8

1941

1941

I t ~ ~

1 5 ~ 3 3

~ 3 0 0

I t ~ . ~

c :JArko

~ T i i

104

It

3-4-61-

2-0-6

1 1 9

7-7-10

2 2 12

1-1-4

2-3-4

...

1 5 ~ 1 1 5

9 0 ~ 1 5 5

9 0 ~ 5 5

9 0 ~ 3 8 1

OR

2 1 ~ 1 0 4

I t ~ ;

t l X l i

3-3-10

3-3-10

2 2 10

2-2-7

3 3 7

1.1-6

2 2 4 ~

FEBRUARY

JUNE

AUGUST

1942

9 0 ~ 2 0 0

90tEt 580

1942

Cl

1942

Cl

I t ~ ~

~ 5 1

I t lQl ;

2 2 12

u

2-2-4

a

4-5-6

::;

2 7

2-2-4

4-4-7

I t Q J

~ ~ 1 2 5

~ ~ 3 8 2

SUBSTITUTEs v

~ ~ 4 3 3

~ B 2 2 0

I t ~ ~

88

5 COUNTER

2 2 10

0 3 ~

2-2-7 2-2-7 2-2-7

1 1 12

1 1 7

4-4-10

LLIED

ORDER OF

PPE R N E

MARCH

ELALAMEIN

HOME BASE

MATRUH

TOBRUCH

1941

on

I ~ ISUBSTITUTE

~ .

; ~ 5

~ ~ 7

~ ~ 1 1

~ ~ C I H

7 ~ ~

~ L R D G

~ ~ 1 ~ 1 2 5 l 2

l M

A.

=

·0 1 COUNTER

1 1 6 =

1 1 6 1 1 6

1-1-6

1 1 8

1 1 1 2 ~

1-0-14

1 1 6 1 1 6

4-4-6

u

~ ~ 2 0 c=J1

2 2 6

0-0-10

TOBRUCH

ALUM

kSJGds

2 2 6

BENGASI

~ ~

JULY

1941·r---.--.-----.----

50c8J69 5 0 ~ 5 1

5012:1150 5 ~ : OR ~ S : A C

1 1 6

1 1 6

1 1 6 1 1 6

1 1 12

7 ~ ; G .

2 2 7

..-J ? 31

Idl lIMotor

1 1 8

2 ~ K O G 2@3 7 ~ ~ t o r

OR

l

i

l-12

4-4-7

2-2-6

MECHILI

JUNE

1941 i - - - - . - - ~ - -

7J2]4 7 ~ 7

7 ~ S ~ G .

OR

4-4-7

3-3-7

1 1 7

on

7 ~ ~

1 1 1 2 ~

~ ~ 2 3 7 ~ o ~ ~ r

1 1 6 1 1 6

7 ~ s t A c

1 1 12

~ ~ 6

1 1 6

~ ~ 7

1 1 12

~ ~ 4

1 1 6

~ ~ 1 8

7 0 ~ 1 6

2-2-6

1-1-6

1 1 6

i i i ~ 1 0

1 1 6 1 1 6

on

1 ~ - g

1 1 1 2 l ~

DECEMBER

1941

1 ~ ~

co

1 1 1 2 ~

lQ]32

2 2 7

1 ~ 2 0 1 7,.. J..1 .

a

l SJGds

2-2-6 1 1 12

1[§]22

4-4-7

1-1-12

-1-6

:2 r : :: .tOiv. 1 <5 2

N ~ C a v .

a

1 1 10

4-4-7

1-1-6-1-6

1-1-6

1 1 6

NOVEMBER

1941

i i i ~ 2 9

7 0 ~ 2 3

1-1-6

1 1 6

AUGUST

1941 r r

i i i ~ 9

1 1 6

AUGUST

1942

r r r

10@23 1 0 ~ Y

MAY

1942

1 1 6

JULY

1942

3 3 7

3-3-7

1 1 12

OCTOBER

1942

5 1 ~ 1 511812

1 1 6 1 1 6

i i i ~ 1 8

212121

~ ~ 2 5

1-1-6 1 1 6

1 1 6

< 4bI in

i

v

O l ~ C a v .

1 1 10

col2J161

~ ~ 2 4

4 4 ~ 6 1

4 4 ~ 1 3 2

1 1 6

2 2 6

1 1 6 1 1 6

1 1 12

1 1 6



7/4

SAAC

1-1-12)

and

6

SAAC

1-1-12) The

th and 6th South African Armored Car regiments.

ese are the correct designations of7/4 SA Motor

an d 50/6 SA Motor 1-1-6). These were

bablyused as 1-1-6 s to get a reasonable strength

r the S ou th A fr ic an Infantry divisions without

ving them 2-2-6 counters. However, since the em

is now on reconnaissance substitute the

1-12 s as needed.

7 7

S.C. 2-2-7) The 7th Armored Division s

pport group. It contained two infantry bat

lions, 2 RB

and

I KR RC , plus th e divisional

ant i- tank , ant i- ai rc ra ft , and field

tillery. T he 2 nd

Armored

Division s support

oup had exactly

half

this strength in Libya, which

why the 7 th support group is assigned a 2-2-7.

then, I KR RC was available at the Allied

me base) Mar ch 29, 1941, but 2 RB wasn t.

erefore, for the purposes

of

this variant

we

can

very flexible. 7/ 7 S.G. can be brought on in

1941

as a 1-1-7 or a 2-2-7. Another option

ouldbe to start itas a 1-1-7

at

the Allied home base

the b eg in ni ng

of

t he g am e.

it

is

not in an

olated surrounded) position change it to a 2-2-7

June, 1941. the 1-1-7 gets eliminated before

1941 bring 7/7 S.G. on a ga in as a 1-1-7.

70/16 1-1-6) you change your South African

tor regiments to 1-1-12 s you may need this unit.

arrives July, 1941. Only 70123 was included in the

ginal game because the division was pulled out

of

bya in December

of

1941. Right. One of those in

d-out units that give game designers royal pains.

2NZ Div Cav

1-1-10 The divisional cavalry

of

the 2nd New Zealand division. This was

light tank a nd B re n g un c ar ri er f or ma ti on . I t h as

a rm or ed c av al ry t yp e d es ig na ti on b ec au se y ou

not want to give it full reconnaissance powers

d allow it screening ability only. It arrives

mber, 1941.

9A Div

Cav. 1-1-10 The same type

of

unit as

/Div.Cav. 1-1-10). It arrives July, 1942.

9A 4-4-6) T he 9 th A us tr al ia n Infantry Divi

on. This is a substitution counter that can only exit

Tobruk.

I t c an c on si st

of

9A120 2-2-6), 7

A/I

and

7A12

1-1-6) o r 9A/18 2-2-6) and

2-2-6). The arrival

of

9A/18 and

9A124

can

accelerated to have them be in

Tobruk

on initial

acement. After November 1941 its use s ho ul d

ably be discontinued. Its use is strictlyo ptional

d depends on which additional units you add to

e game.

31

Motor

1-1-8)

and4I1CIH

1-1-8) These units

n be used instead of7/3I Motor 2-2-6). 31 motor

of three Indian Cavalry Regiments. As it

d no artillery or

support

units, attack and defense

of

one are probably more realistic.

4I/CIH

tral India Horse) was the divisional cavalry for

Fourth Indian Infantry D iv is io n. N o r ec on

ssance vehicles were available for these units so

ey h ad t o

make

do with trucks. Happily this gives

an excuse to use them as needed in the

reconnaissance units that a re c om

r ative ly slow. T he y c an keep y ou i nf or me d of

ha t th e Axis p lay er h as , but are not really fast

o ug h t o m ak e d an ge ro us e nd r un s. To counter

nce the use

of

these two units, the Italian Trenta

ivision 2-3-4) sho ul d be replaced by T re nt o

-2-4) and 7 Bers. 1-1-6).

DITIONAL AXIS UNITS

300 OASIS 1-2-6) The 300th Oasis battalion.

is u ni t o pe ra te d as s ep ar at e c om pa ni es t o g ar

s on s tr on g p oi nt s. T he re wer e at least five com

ies 2,6,10,12,13) and possibly a maximum

of

irteen. Well supported by 88 s and heavy

eap on s they were t ou gh n ut s to c ra ck . Arriv es

y, 1941.

255 1-1-4) This was one of five separate in

ntry ba ttali on s sent t o Afr ica. Most of them

ticular battalion combined with sv 288 t o b ec om e

Panzergrenadier Regiment Afr ika at the end

of

October, 1942. Until then it guarded the rear areas.

With all the Allied 1-1-12 s running around this

is

what

y ou l l h av e it d oi ng . A rr iv es M ay , 1941.

Arko 104 2-0-6 All of the G er man heavy

artillery was lumped under this unit. t f ou gh t as a

separate entity, perhaps more familiarly known as

Group Boettcher or Group Mickl. German combat

u ni ts c an be s ta ck ed f ou r high i f this u ni t is on e

of

t he m. I t h as

an

attack

and

defense factor

of

2 when

stacked with another combat unit, 0 when it

is

alone

or with only Rommel or a supply unit. The presence

of

this unit was historically critical to a successful

attack

on

Tobruk. T he re fo re , since m uc h

of

an

a rm o re d u n it s s tr en gt h d ep en ds on its mobility,

y ou c an h av e Arko 104 cancel the defensive doubl

ing of anyone armored unit it attacks. i t wer e t o

attack two 4-4-7s in Tobruk, the combined defense

f ac to r w ou ld b e 12. I n t hi s c as e y ou w ou ld w an t t o

use th e 9 A 4-4-6) s ub st it ut io n c ou nt er . Ar rives

November, 1941.

sv 288 2-2-10 S on de rv er ba nd 288. T hi s was a

special completely self-sufficient motorized unit

all arms that was originally scheduled to be sent to

I ra q. I t u su ally f ou gh t u nd er th e command

of

the

90th Ligh t Division. Since it ha d str ong reco n

naissance elements it can be used as a recon

naissance unit. Arrives February 1942.

90/155 2-2-10 This regiment

of

the 90th Light

Division was completely motorized in February of

1942. If you need its speed, you can substitute it for

90/55 2-2-7) in February, 1942. Actually, this unit

wavavailable in it s i nc om pl et el y m ot or iz ed f or m

f or t he C ru sa de r o ff en si ve . For p la y b al an ce y ou

c an b ri ng 9 0/ 55 2 -2-7) and 90/361 3-3-7) on the

board i n S ep te mb er

of 1941-al so

th e I ta li an

Trieste division

if

you have to. Trade 90/155

2-2-10) for 90/55 2-2-7) in February

of

1942

if

it

survives.

164/220 1-1-12) The reconnaissance unitof the

164th Light Division. It is doubtful i f it ever was

ad equ ately equ ip pe d. It c an be

brought on

the

board June 1942 if t he Axis p la ye r uses o n e of his

replacement points.

It CaF

0-1-3 This unit represents about three

battalions

of

I ta li an f ro nt ie r g ua rd s s up po rt ed b y

the Genova machine gun battalion. They even

tually wound up as the Bardia Garrison in

November

of

1941. Starts

at

Axis h om e b ase

at

initial placement.

It CC

FF 1-1-6 The Giovani Fascisti or Young

Fascist division. This was an Italian armored divi

sion that was never supplied with tanks. It did have

three battalions

of

m ot or iz ed i nf an tr y, o ne

of

which was a heavy weapo ns u ni t as in a

standard

Italian armored division. However, the battalions

were independent

and not

formed into a bersaglieri

regiment as in the o th er armored divisions. The

Young Fascists did have their divisional artillery,

although it wasn t up to the material given to Ariete

and Trieste. The original game It/Fascist 2-3-4)

division actually represents this unit plus quite a few

odds and ends

of

reinforcements that the Italians

received. You can use the new unit instead

of

the old

one or include them both and use the old one as a

replacement draft. That is, when an Italian infantry

division is destroyed you can bring it back by

trading the It/Fascist 2-3-4) unit for it.

nothing

else you get a little m or e realism. A ft er all, you

don t plan to use any

of

your replacement points for

I ta li an i nf an tr y d o y ou ? B ot h t he o ld and the new

unit arrive November 1941.

It RECAM

1-1-9) The reconnaissance unit for the

Italian Armored C o rp s C AM ). I t is brought on the

board by bein g p lac ed on t he Ar ie te d iv isio n in

It San Marco 0-1-3 One

of

t he n um

Italian San Marco Marine battalions. This on

assigned to garrison Benghazi and h ad q ui te a

h ea vy w ea po nr y t o

support

i t. Arrives Febr

1942.

200 2-2-10 Both of the German armored

sions 15 a nd 21) a re in t he ir 1942 c on fi gu ra t

This is n o t h ow t he y a rr iv ed . y ou wish , y ou

use this counter to get an arrival variation. Bri

t he 2 1st P an ze r o r 5 th L ig ht as it was k no wn

as 2 1/ 5 7-7-10), 2 1/ 3 2-2-12) and 200 2-2

Br in g t he 15th P an ze r

on

as 1 5 /8 7 -7-10 ), 1

2 -2 -1 2) , 2 1/ 10 4 3-3-10) and 90/155 2-2

90/155

is

s ta nd in g in f or 1 5/1 15 2-2 -10) . 2 1

was originally a two b at ta li on unit

of

t he

Panzer. The division s motorcycle battalion is a

t o it h er e t o m ak e it a 3-3-10. I n F eb ru ar y of

200 2-2-10) b ec om es 901200 2 -2 -7) , 9

becomes 15/115 3-3-10) and 90/55 bec

90/155 2-2-10)

if

you wish.

4-4-10 Originally this was the brigade

mand for the 15th Panzer D iv isi on s

Pan zer gr en ad ier regiments. It was used by

Germans for numerous command duties. You

give the Germans yet more clout by using it

s ub st it ut io n c ou nt er . T he

combat

factors o

substituted units must add up to 4 and the m

m en t f ac to rs m us t b e 10

or

more. Alternately

can pu t t he s ub st it ut ed f ou r c ou nt er s aside

g ov er n th e 15th B ri ga de counter s speed by

slowest unit substituted for.

It Trento

2-2-4)

and It 7

Bers. 1-1-6) T

u ni ts c an r ep lac e

It/Trent

a 2-3-4). The I

Trento d iv is io n was s up po se d t o b e a fully m

ized division like Trieste. Like Trieste, it had

regiments instead of the n or ma l t wo in a stan

I ta li an i nf an tr y d iv isio n. H ow ev er , o nl y the

Bersaglieri was motorized. The 7th Bersaglier

e ve nt ua ll y d et ac he d f or use as a c or ps u ni t l e

the rest

of

Trento the composition

of

a n or m

fantry division. The substitution

of

these two

for It/Trenta 2-3-4)

is

n or ma ll y p er fo rm e

counter-balance the Allied use

of

31 Motor

and

4I/CIH

1-1-8).

GETTING GOING

y ou n ow h av e t he i mp re ss io n y ou h av e

extra counters than y ou l l e ve r n ee d you re

These counters are cut easiest in sets of 12 and

why give you blanks?

If

y ou t ry t o use all t he c ou nt er s i mm ed

y ou l l bog d own in a welter

of

c on fu si on . A

gested start

is

a maximum of four fake counte

player. Substitute

the4and

6 SAAC 1-1-12uni

th e t wo S A

Motor

1-1-6 u ni ts a nd y ou h av e a

beginning. Once you have experience you can t

in u ni ts as y ou d es ir e. y ou b al an ce a u ni t b

on t he o th er s id e brought on at approximatel

s am e t im e, t hi ng s s ho ul d s ta y p re tt y e ven . I n

t io n t o b al an ci ng th e u ni ts , fo r every e xt ra A

unit added, the Axis player gets

an

extra supply

to eliminate it. This

is

done bygiving the Axis p

a can cel f or a bad supply roll for every extra A

unit a dd ed . T hu s, if th e Allied player takes

e xt ra u ni ts , t he Axis p la yer gets su ppl ies f or

t ur ns he n or ma ll y w ou ld n ot .

As m or e and more Allied reconaissance

get added to the game, the more the Axis playe

h av e t o c on te nd with end runs in t he s ou

part

of

the board.

this gets out

of

hand, can

reconnaissance unit s defensive doubling if it

w it hi n five s qu ar es

of

a supply unit or a

s qu ar e. D ue t o its i ni ti al p os it io n 2/KDG 1-

c an be p ar ti cu la rl y p es ky in t hi s r eg ar d. I n a

fact, historically it had its hands full screening

4-4-7). Therefore, until 2/3 reaches Tobruk

can require

2/KDG

t o e nd its m ov em en t in sc

ing position

of

2 /3 o r on e

of

the fakes represe

it if used.

If

the Allied player neglects to do thi

A xis p la ye r c an m ov e

2/KDG

b ac k t o its s ta



By

Larry

Bucher

The Third THIRD REICH

YS S

5 A

56

EffRng

PEN

4 9

HPWt

A Tour

of

the Mapboard

It

doesn't look

all

that different at

first glan

You have to

look

closely to

spot

the s ignifica

changes,

but

they

are

there. AJI coastlines have be

redrawn and

sharpened

so that there

should

longer be

doubt

as

to

whether land (or sea) mov

ment

between hex A

and

hex B is legal. In perhap

dozen

cases the coastline was

drawn

exactly

to

co

cide with

the

intersection of three hexes, these sp

are

specified in the

rulebook.

Hexes with two

more

fragments

of

unconnected

land-wheth

mainland and

island, or bits

of mainland-ha

been eliminated.

Troublesome

islands (such as

stage I felt, N ow

they're

surely

perfect-or

nea

so no

one could

find

any

moreerrors

or omissio

of

much consequence.

I've been

wrong

five times. And as will be se

below,

there

areat least two things (concerning su

ply and Spain) that should have been clarified in t

final

product.

I will

take

r efuge in t he

quotati

taped to

my typewriter: Nothingwould be done

all

if

a

man

waited till he

could do

it so well

that

one could

f ind fau lt with

it. (That's

ascribed

one John Henry

Newman; I confess

to

never havi

heard

of

him.)

An

imperfect

THIRD REICH

1981 beats a perfect RISING SUN in 19-whenev

There

seemed to be a

majority

opinion-thoug

a

shaky one, and without

eloquent dissenters-th

the

Axis

had somewhat the

better of play balance

number

of changes

do

a ffec t p lay balance ; a

many, but not

all, are pro-Allied. Only time will t

whether

the

shifts go

too

far,

not

far

enough, or

a

just

right.

The new edition

contains

only one

body

standard rules. There

is

no

advanced game

there

are no

optionals .

This reflects a prejud

of my

own,

for which I advance two arguments

th tendency of recent games to include ba

and

advanced

(and

sometimes intermediate) v

sions,each perhaps

with it s

own

set of option

rules, does have it s rat iona le . P laye rs

are

f ree

pick

and choose among

rules

that

s tr ike them

good, bad , t oo

complex,

too

simple,

or

whatev

and

tailor

the

rules they use exactly

to

their tas te

think

the

trend

is

inevitable, but its accompanyi

drawbacks should

be recognized:

no

two playersa

likely

to

agree right down

the

line,

and

each new o

ponent

playedentailsa new

round

of discussion a

compromise

over the rules

to

be used. It th

becomes all

but

impossible

to

play the

same

ga

against

more than oneopponent. The

acquisition

expertise is

hampered, and

the les sons lea rn

against

one opponen t may

have

to

be painfu

unlearned when using a

different

rule mix agai

another

foe.

in

a

broad

sense,

all

rules

are optional and

not

need

to

be labeled as such. Whenever play

can agree

to

ignore a rule,

to modify

it, or

to

ins

one

of their

own

inspiration, they

are

perfectly f

to

do

so

without

seeking

advance sanction

fro

Baltimore.

The

key

word

is

agree .

It is wh

players do

not

agree

that

the official rules shou

be

treated

as gospel.

SIGN

Larry Bucher w s both the main instigator

behind the THIRD

REICH

revisions and the chief

contributor thereto. Not only has he been the in

spiration and main guiding light

of

the third edi

tion but he has also handled the THIRD

REICH

nutmail chores eversince theproject got underway

over ayear ago. I f anyone has a beller understand

ing than myself

of

how

badly those rules needed

revision it

is

Larry. And while

we

both share a great

feeling

of

accomplishment

in

the house cleaning we

did on those oldrules I m not altogether sure that I

believe him when he says his recent overseas

reassignment with thestatedepartment

in

Haiti w s

purely coincidental.

a pol l were ever

to

be

taken

in t he

category

Most

Mystifying Rules

of an

Avalon

Hill Game

THIRD REICH would surely be on the bal lo t, in

the company

of

the

original ANZIO, 1914, and

Uudging solely

from

RBG ratings) GETTYSBURG

'77and

MA

GIC

REALM. I would no t want to call

a winner.

That THIRD

REICHshould have attained

its

populari ty, and

won it s awards, despi te those

rules, speaks volumes for

the other

qualities

of

the

game. I certainly

found

it intriguing

that

the

game,

now

seven years

old,

fared

no

less

than third

in

the

first

WhatAre You Playing?

survey.

I would take mild issue with a

phrase

of a few

GENERALS

ago

that

described

THIRD REICH

'81 as

completely

new . I

do

no t feel that the

change

is that great.

There

are

perhaps

four

brand

new rules,

half

a dozen rule areas

that

are drastically

different, and

a myr iad of differences

that some

will see as changes

and some

as clarifications-with

no

two playe rs able fully

to

agree

on

which

are

which.

Until 1978 I

harbored

misconceptions

that

Leningrad

s tood on an

equal footing with Moscow

as a Russian supply source, and that fleets of less

than nine fac to rs cou ld

not perform

the supply

function.

In

1979 I

encountered

players-good

players-who

played

that

Italy

and Germany

did

not take

their

turn

in unison until they were allied.

Such examples

could

continue.

The point

is

that

many third

edition rules

that

s tr ike me as

no more

than a formalization of the way it alwayswas are

sure

to

strike

others

somewhere as changes, rever

sals of

tradition.

And vice versa.

What began as s imply

an effort

to rewrite

the

existing rules and their

interpretations

for c lari ty

and

completeness generated a fascinating give

and

take deba te on the

possibilities for

improvement

and innovat ion, and

far

more

changes were in the

end incorporated than

I

had

originally envisioned.

To describe it in

terms

which will be more familiar

to

many,

I

think the

degree of change

to

THIRD

REICH

approximately

equals the changes to the

current

editions of

D-DAYand BLITZKRIEG. For

argument's

sake, assume

that

first edition rules

=

60, second edition rules

=

65,

and

perfection

=

100.

granted

my

assumptions,

I believe

8

will score

at about

95.

Why

can't I c la im 100

after

all

the effort?

Ex

perience The new rules have

gone

through at least

five stages of rewrite

(I've

lost

count)

and at each

Listed:

170

Total Responses:

934

Rank Times

Last on

Freq.

k Title

Pub

Time

List

Ratio

1. Leader AH

3

7.3

2.

Third Reich

AH

4

3

4.1

3.

TRC

AH

3 3

3.8

4. COl

AH

6 3

3.3

5.

D D TSR

8 3

2.5

6. FE

AH 5

3

2.5

7.

Stalingrad

AH 15

3

2.3

8.

l'anzer Leader

AH

II

3

2.2

9. COD AH

10

3

2.2

VITP

AH

9

3

2.1

I. Afrika Korps

AH 12

3

1.7

War At Sea

AH 4

3

1.6

Panzerblitz

AH 13

3

1.4

War Peace AH

3 3

5.

Air

Force AH I

1.2

6. WS IM

AH 17

3

1.2

Diplomacy

AH

I 1.1

D-Day

H I

LO

9.

Midway

AH 16

3 1.0

0. CM

AH 2 2 1.0

Until

you

think you can

handle

it,

do not

allow

kes in the fortresses

of

Benghazi

and Tobruk.

I' d also like

to soapbox about AFRIKA KORPS

l it tl e b it . I feel

that

luck is

too much of

a

factor.

supp ly rolls f or i nst ance c an

make

the d if

rence between a win or a los s. I would like to sug

st the following alternate: The German gets only

e

supply

unit

per month (every

other turn) from

1941

to

November 1941. From April 1941

to

1941,

the

Allied Player

can

p reven t a new

supply

uni t f rom appearing

three times,

the

German

can cancel

one

of these.

From

1941

to

the

end

of the

game the

Allied

can

declare

an arbitrary sunk

5 times, two of

the German

can cance l. Thi s gives you the

age result

of the

die rol l a ll the t ime. Also, sup

are

most likely

to

be

sunk

when the Allies

put

aximum eff or t i nt o

it.

If

the

German

is in

perate need

of

supplies he will

put maximum

for t i nto

convoy

protection.

Note that this

can be

adjusted

for perfect

game

balance.

The Frequency Ratio

is

derived

by

dividing the

of votes received by

the number

of votes

for the

place entry.

Ties in

rank are resolved

in

favor of the

er title. The Times on List category

is

based on on-

preceding times on the list; not total

The startling turn-around in the ranking

of

CIRCUS

seems to indicate the very heavy influence

of

GENERAL s

content on

what

you're playing. Last

a feature presentation on CM that game

to second place from

all

the way off

the

chart. Only

issue later it

has

slid all the way to the bottom rung.

on the other hand, posted the biggest

by

climbing eight

places

to 7th following

its

feature

le status

in

Vol.

17

No.6.

NG INSTRUCTIONS

You can order precut counters and deception

charts

fo r

this variant directlyfrom:

Richard Gutenkunst

Box 3301 Traffic Station

MPLS

MN

55403

Cost

is

1.00 plus a sturdy stamped self

dressed envelope bearing

18¢

postage. The

self-addressed envelope

is

vital

fo r

same

y service.

If

you have quest ions that can be

swered in a few words or a simpleyes or no the

swers can be included with the counters.

SO THAT'S WHAT

BEEN

PLAYING



A l im it at io n h as be en p ut o n DAS . L ik e ground

s up po rt , it m ay n ot exce ed t hr ee t im es t he n um be r

of ground factors defending.

Moving on t o naval m at te rs, I st an bu l s two

f ro nt p or t s ta tu s now allows t he T ur ki sh Nav y to

o pe ra te in t he Black Se a. F or S ea -E sc or te d S R

or

sea supply lines to pass all the way th ro ug h the

Turkish straits, all four hexes adjacent to the cross

ing arrows must be controlled.

Fleets

at

t wo -f ro nt p or ts m ay es cap e t o e it he r

f ro nt i f t heir port is o ve rr un . Yo u, th e German

player, enter Gibraltar. Force H heads for

Pl ym ou th . You h op ef ul ly p oi nt

ou t

that Free

French Oran is much closer.

Sorry-you

lose.

The

owner

of

the fleets has his choice of

front within

the chosen

front he mu st then flee to the closest

friendly base.

At all straits containing crossing arrows, fleets

may n ot m ov e t hr ou gh unless b ot h l an d sides a re

u nd er friend ly c on tr ol . T he y m ay mov e

into

as

distinct from

through,

an uncontrolled strait to ex

ecute a mission.

Fle et s b ase d in t he U .S . b ox m ay :

-invade

and bombard

only if no friendly port

exists

on

the Western Front.

se

t ra ns po rt o nl y wh en Axis u ni ts a re

adja

cent to all friendly Atlantic ports thus making sea

escort impossible).

-carry su pp ly o nly if b ot h L on do n a nd P ar is

are Axis-controlled

or

isolated from Atlantic ports.

-intercept at

maximum range, after U.S.

entry.

A U. S. fleet m ay

initially

mo ve fr om th e U .S .

box to

Europe

only during SR, as an initially

d ep lo yi ng u ni t. O nc e h av in g d on e so , it a nd o th er

Allied fleets) may freely move to

and

from the U.S.

b ox d ur in g m ov em en t o r S R p ha se . It is not again

counted as

an

initially deploying unit if it returns to

th e U .S. bo x

and

subsequently leaves there by SR.

U .S . fleets wh ic h h av e n ot yet i nit ial ly d ep lo ye d

may nevertheless sail during

combat or

SR phase,

but

m ust r et ur n t o th e bo x at the end of

the

phase.

Shore

bombardment

has been sharply curtailed.

It may be used only against hexes being invaded by

sea, fortresses,

and

one-hex islands.

To

kill off a

misconception that has plagued rule decipherers:

fleets never

bombard

into an adjacent

hex-rather,

they enter the water portion of the same coastal hex

they are bombarding. French

and

British fleets can

not, as some previous articles have implied, bom

b ar d th e same hex befor e

1942

by r em ai ni ng in

separate, adjacent hexes.

B ot h p or ts involved in a sea

transport

mission

must have been friendly at the start of the player

turn. The

paradrop

followed by sea transport tac

tic is dead.) A given sea transport mission may load

units at m or e t ha n o ne

port,

bu t it may discharge

them

at

only one port. Attacker can

of

course move

more

than

one such mission.

Embarkation

costs

ground

u ni ts n o m ov em en t f ac to rs , d eb ar ka ti on

costs

one-but

enemy

armor

adjacent to the

port of

embarkation limits movement normally; embarka

t io n w ou ld c ost 2 MF in such circumstance, even if

b ot h na val u nit a nd t ra ns po rt ed unit begin th eir

turn

in the same

port

hex. Unsupplied units can't be

sea transported because of the debarkation cost.

Transported air units must have started their

turn

in

the

port

of e mb ar ka ti on ; th ey t re at th e p or t of

d eb ar ka ti on as th ei r new ai r b ase b ut

cannot

fly

counterair missions therefrom sequence

of

play

problems result otherwise),

and

a ny i nte nd ed

ground support mission

or

a tt ac k o n n av al u ni ts in

port must be announced when attacker announces

his other air missions.

Invading fleets may use any surplus factors not

required to carry their

ground

units) for bombard

ment. Invading units muststart their

turn

in a

port,

and the fleet that c ar ri es t he m m us t be b as ed in t he

same port. It could change base during movement

phase to get there.)

EX MPLE Two

9

w

factor fleets carry a 4 5 armorunit and a

3

n t y unit. Only 5 naval facotrs are required to carry the ground

units the other three may provide one factor of Shore Bombard-

ment.

Moving fleets may be intercepted,

or

attacked

by air, at their base hex since they enter the water

portion of that hex as soon asthey leave port),

or

at

their target hex,

or at

any intervening hex. Their

ta rge t hex is their new base in the case

of

mo vem en t- ph as e base changes), th e

port

of

debarkation sea transport), the invaded hex, or the

hex being

bombarded.

EX MPLE

An

lIalian fleet attempts Sea Transport from

Taranlo

lO Tripoli One British fleet from Gibraltarandtwo from Alexandria

attempt to intercept

in

theTripoli hex.

The

Interceptiondie roll for

Gibraltar fails

bUI

the

one

for Alexandria

succeeds. haly

now

atlempts to Counter· Intercept the Ale xandri a f le et at 1124 with a

secondTaranto Oeel and succeeds. Italy now announces anair attack

by a unit from Tobruk on the Alexandria fleet in 1124. France then

tries to Counter· Intercept the second Italian fleet at

FF24

with

fleets from Marseilles and

succeeds.

Italian fleets from Naples

now

try t o an d do Counter Intercept the French at O DI 8. T wo British

fleets from Gibraltar try to and do Counter Intercept the Naples

fleets at CC19. Finally an Italian fleet from Livorno manages to in-

tercept the Gibraltar fleets at

CC 7

.

The combats

are resolved

in

reverse order of the listing

above;

beginning with the Livorna fleet vs the Gibraltar fleets and ending

with the surviving factors

of

the Alexandria fleets vs {heoriginal Sea

Transpon

mission.

The

British

although

they

have

one remaining

uncommilted

fleet

in

Gibraltar

cannot

attempr to intercept rhe

Livorno

fleet with

it

because of rule

29 54. The

earlier Interception failure by

some

of

the Gibraltar fleets however does not prevent theother Britishfleets

there from making their successful attempt against the Naples fleets.

The

airand naval attacks in

24

can be resolved in either order

the Italian player

chooses.

H ad the nee t bee n

allacked by

naval and

air in separate hexes the order would depend on which altack the

fleet encountered first along its course.

If the Alexandria Interception die roll or

any

later one had.

failed Counter Interception

opportunities

would

haveended.

A side

may

announce

an attempt roll the die then

announce another

against that same target.

The revision of interception naval

combat

is in

many

ways similar to revised air c omb at. The

s up er io r s ide gets + 1 i f i t h as 1 /3 m or e f ac to rs t ha n

t he o pp os it io n, + 2 f or

2/3,

+ 3 for a 2-1 edge, + 4

for

3-

I

and

+ 5 for

4-1 or

better.

The

nationality

modifiers are +2 Germany; + 1

U.S.,

Britain

and

Sweden; 0 France;

-I

Italy; -2 all others. Italy

drops

to

-2

inany battle north

of

the N row, reflecting the

fact that her ships were designed for Mediterranean

conditions rather

than

the North Sea.

The

intercepting fleet wins any tie, but neither

side takes any casualties. Otherwise the losing side s

losses a re mu lti pl ied by t he n um be r of 9-factor

fleets or equivalent) it had in c om ba t. L et s say t he

difference between the modified die rolls was three:

the loser eliminates three factors if hehad

17

factors

or

less p rese nt; six i f he h ad 18-26; n ine i f he h ad

27-35; etc. As in air combat, winner eliminates

half

ro un de d d own ) as m an y as d ef end er.

The

loser

must immediately return to port.

A fleet

on an

interception mission-only-can

choose, beforedie rolls are made, to break

of f

com

b at . Die r ol ls a re still m ad e; t he i nt er ce pt in g fleet

automatically loses the

combat

regardless

of

the

r esu lt, b ut its losses a re halved r ou nd ed d own )

f ro m w ha t t he y w ou ld o th er wi se h av e b ee n a nd in

no case can it lose more

than hal f of

its f ac to r

strength.

The

winner s losses a re reduced cor

respondingly.

Replacement counters are not counted in attri

tion factor totals. This

is

guaranteed

t

be the final

word on the conflicting rulings of the past.

An airborne u ni t t ha t h as d ro pp ed , and wishes

to

drop

again in the following

turn,

m us t be a bl e t o

t ra ce a n or ma l s up pl y li ne t o d o so . I t can't use the

hex it just dropped on to supply it for this purpose,

even if a capital.

Partisan

construction is allowed in Italy (I ) and

Britain 3 if they leave the war. Partisans may not

be constructed in

nor

move into Vichy France until

Vichy has been activated

or

deactivated.

When Allies disagree on w ho g ets t o c on st ru ct

p ar ti sa ns where, t he n at io n with

ground

forces

closest as the crow flies) to the

country

in question

m en t. Russia a nd B ri tai n b ot h want to build

t isa ns in Gr ee ce. B ri ta in h as ground units cl

Sh e g e ts t o b ui ld t wo and has first and third c

of placement; Russia gets one

and

second choi

partisan unit is controlled and moved by the n

that

constructed it. Russian and Western

tisans

can't

stack

or

attack together. A part

controlled hex is controlled by

no one

for vi

condition purposes.

So h ow d o y ou get rid

of

a partisan on an o

tive hex? Unless you constructed

it

and ther

can move it, you

don't

This allows

u nd er ha nd ed p la y in a cl ose m ul ti -p la ye r g

Russian

partisans sitting in Marseilles

or

L

to d eny it t o th e West er n Allies; Western

tisans in Belgrade to frustrate the Soviets. Thi

be regarded as simulating in a small way the s

gles within the liberation movements for pos

political control. The Axis may also

choices-given

the relative victory prospects

o

opponents, it may sometimes be better to pass

chance to attack a particular partisan.

Axis variant 2 Irish resistance) now has n

fect if a ny part of Ireland is under Axis co

when it

is

played.

In

order

for variant 4 Spain) to be played,

must be

at

war with a

major

power and France

have been conquered.

Variant 5 can now activate all four Axis m

early. It

is

no longer played

at

a specific time p

G er ma ny m ust hav e c on qu er ed Fr an ce a nd

war with Russia.

Variant 8 reduction of U.S. initial deploym

is

playable if submarines

outnumber

ASW by

r at io . This was lowered f rom 2-1 because

o

strategic warfare changes.

Variant

10

Uet fighters) has the additional e

of raising the German air combat roll modifi

+1 .

Allied variant 3 Free French)

is

void if Fr

falls b ef or e win ter 1940, a nd i f it is played,

French armor, air and naval units may no

reconstructed if lost in combat.

Al li ed 5

had

d ra wn s om e c rit ici sm : all o

v ar ia nt s r ep re se nt ed s om et hi ng t ha t m ig ht

happened-but

this one represented something

did happen, and Britain unfairly was being dep

of her 50 four-stackers.

On

the other hand, Br

normally can build only four rarely five) AS

1940.

The

ancient destroyers can hardly be sa

h av e t ri pl ed h er A SW c ap ac it y, as t he y u sed

the game. The outcome:

U.S. Navy makes full commitment to p

shipments to Britain from unrestricted submarine wa

Allies

lose

only two BRPs instead of three for ever

viving

submarine factor

in

Strategic Warfare

resolutio

the

remainder of

the

game.

Play only in

1941

YSS

fo

mediate

resolution.

Al li ed 6 U .S . Nav y in A tl an ti c) h as t he

tional effect

of

r ai si ng t he U .S . n av al c om ba

roll mo di fi er t o + 2.

I ll have mo re to say on the subject of va

counters when we publish our

THIR

RE

feature issue. Making the variant counters pa

t he game as o pp osed to an op tio nal rule has

viously increased their importance. To count

this increased role

we

feel t he re s ho ul d b e an

wider selection of v ar ia nt s which mi gh t o

- thus

decreasing the likelihood of any parti

one being drawn-and

we

h av e a n um be r of

o ne s t o a dd to t he c ur re nt list.

The

intelligence rule

is

completely new

and

its existance

at

least in

part

to a desire to give pl

a chance to overcome the increased role of fat

c om pa ss ed in t he n ow

mandatory

Variant Ev

O ne p lay er p er side m ay s pe nd five B RP s du

each c on str uctio n phase to roll two dice on



dice

r results

12+ The opponent's variant counter is nullified if not

yet played. It cannot be replaced.

The opponent's variant counter must be disclosed.

10 Anation of your choice loses an amount of foreign

aid equal to (but not exceeding the amount of aid

already given) the roll of a die in anyone Minor

Country of your choice.

9 You may draw one unused variant counter. This

variant counter must

be

returned to the unused

variant counter pile for a possible redraw by either

side. Thecounter has no effect beyond itsvalue as a

clue regarding the possible identity

of

the oppo

nent s variant

Opponent must reveal the contents of his SW box.

Opponent must reveal the contents of

his

Murmansk box.

6,5

No

Effect.

4 Your intelligence network has been compromised.

Your side may not

use

the Intelligence Table next

turn.

Same as dice roll 4 and the next Intelligence

effort by your side will cost

10

BRPs.

Same as dice roll

4

and the next two Intelligence

efforts

by

your side will cost 10 BRPs.

The U.S . can't

roll while

neutral,

Russia

and

can. When two or mor e players o n t he same

wan t to roll, they set tle it by die rol l.

the

die

ll ties, the

player

with mos t BRPs wins.

The opposition can spend

five

BRPs

on

they do, one is subtracted

the intelligence roll; if

they

don't, one is

The rolling

player

may select any

lower

result in

of

the

resul t he actual ly rolls. He may keep

information

gained

to himself, or may share it

th his allies. He may even choose

to

use

the

result

the roll

against

a fractious or untrustworthy ally

than

against the

enemy.

Also completely new is the ForeignAid rule,

which

BRPs may

be

granted

to

various minor

to reduce or enhance the chance of their

Both Germany and

Britain

may grant

s to the four

standard

Axis minor allies,

and

Turkey, Spain, Vichy, Ireland, and Iraq.

Italy

y grant to Spa in and I raq only; Russiamay

grant

Bulgaria, Hungary and Rumania .

(But Russia

is

to use

the

option with Rumania,

the

grants

e void if Russia occupies Bessarabia, which she

do

if

she wishes the

East

Europe

BRPs.)

The granted BRPs actually evaporate, since the

nor s h av e n o

independent BRP

levels

or

force

of their own. Grant s to minors a re limited to

10 of

the granting

power's year start

BRP total.

are transferred by

SR,

each destination count

one

against SR

total s, and requi re

sea

escort

applicable. Fo r this rule

only,

neutral hexes

e

treated

as i

controlled,

even in

garrisoned,

minor allies. Thus

Britain could send

BRPs

Hungary via sea

escor t-Athens-Bulgaria

and could do

so even if a German gar

unit was in Budapes t. Germany can send

to Ireland

via

Dublin, and

Britain

or

rmany can send to Finland via Helsinki, but us

these

non-ports

costs double

SR.

Whenever

a minor ally is due t o activate-be it

of the

four

that normally

activate in

summer

or

one that is to be

act ivated by

variant

activating

player

must roll one or

with one die.

Each BRP

mor that

the

minor

s received f rom the oppos it ion s ub tr ac ts one

om the

die roll. (Germany has given

two

BRPs to

Bri tain has given four-there is a net

of

-2.) Thus

there

is no need f or th e

die rol l unl ss the opposi t ion has granted

e BRPs than has the would-be act ivator .

In

the

case of Vichy,

the modifications are

done

above if theAxis holdvariant 3

Otherwise,

they

e inc luded in

the modifica tions

to

the

Vichy

die rolls. Excess Allied aid

Ireland

can in

the same

way

affect the

play

of

variant 2 When a

player

tries

to

activate a

minor by variant counter and fails,

he

can keep

try

ing. Although

the Spain variant

is

normally

played

only in Spring'41, i t can be retained

and

tried again

if

Allied foreign aid prevents its

play

that turn.

Through much of the war both sides devoted a

good

deal

of diplomatic effort

to

courting Turkey.

Turkey finally did enter the war in February 1945,

when

Axis forces were no

longer

on her

border

and

no o ne b ut

Hitler doubted

the outcome. Turkey

may now become a Bri ti sh minor ally under the

right circumstances:

-All ied ground factors in the Mediterranean

Front

exceed Axis

ground, and

Allied

naval factors

based on the Med exceed Axis

naval.

(Italy counts

as Axis,

whether neutral or

not.)

-Allies control a t least seven of the

Mediterra

nean Front

objective hexes.

- Turkey is still neutral.

(As mentioned earlier, Turkey, i f a tt ac ked,

automatically

becomes

a minor ally of y interven

ing power.)

35.5

A sea supply route through one or more of the follow

ing ports: Antioch, Beirut, Haifa, and Port Said, would

also

be

limited to a maximum of

18

factors and this limit

would include Italian and Spanish units

as

well.

The

18 fac

tor limits do not apply to factors which can trace an

overland supply route to any non-Libyan port source (i.e.

through Turkey or Persia to some source of supply). The

Allies can decrease this maximum limit in a similar manner

to which Malta acts on Libyan supply sources if they have

an air unit on Cyprus, Crete or Rhodes or more naval

fac

tors stationed

in

the Mediterranean east of the Suez Canal

than the Axis. Should the above situation arise the amount

of supply the German could draw through one or more of

the above ports is limited to the

18

factor limit minus one

factor for each Allied air factor onCyprus, Creteor Rhodes

or within four hexes of the Axis port, and minus one factor

for each Allied naval factor stationed east of the Suez

Canal. Note that ifthe Allies stationed two 9-factor fleets in

the Mediterranean east I the Suez Canal no Axis units

could be supplied through the port.NOT Axis units

are never automatically in supply solely because they are

within the limits of this rule. Supply must still

be

provided

by Axis fleets to the respective ports.

Loss of Gibraltar

or of Suez/Alexandria now

costs Britain 25 BRPs each-if she loses both, she

loses 50 BRPs altogether . If Gibraltar is lost,

Egypt 's por ts may suppor t only

four

ground

units

and four air/naval counters. These limits wouldn't

apply

to units in

the

Mediterranean

that

were able

to trace supply to some other

source,

for example a

controlled Ankara o r Madrid, or

a sea

supply

line

from Britain to a north Spanish

port

and across

Spain.

But

the

limits

do app ly

to units at

Malta,

even though Malta is a for tress.

Uni ts may SR through the s trai t if

Gibraltar is

controlled, regardless of

enemy

forces on

any

hex

near Gibra ltar. This

is

unchanged. They may also

SR into Gibraltar

(remaining

there) regardless of

adjacent units. The converse is no t

true;

enemy

units

may not SR

into

hex Z8. Gibraltar may be

bombarded or invaded f rom e ithe r f ront and sea

transport

missions

from

either

front may land

there.

At Suez city, displaced fleets

must

escape t o t he

Mediterranean if thecanal is

usable

and Gibraltar is

no t hostile.

If

either

condition does

no t

apply, they

may escape to the

Western Front,

but they don't

reappear

until their

side's

next

SR phase ,

and

then

at SR cost.

Whenever a hostile unit enters a

canal-side

hex,

the

canal

becomes inoperable

and canno t

be used

again

until one side or the other has controlled

canal-side hexes

for two

ompl t game

turns.

(This

rule also

applies

to the canal a t

Kiel- the

two ports

are

usable,

bu t

only as one-front ports until

the

damage is repaired.) Either side may use th e Suez

Western Front

Sea

Escort

SR

route

(throughout

the

game) at double SR cost, bu t

the

Allies

may

prevent

the Axis from using it by

removing

one 9-factor

fleet from play. (This simulates a

Red

Sea blockade

force.)

Iraq

has

been

labeled

a British

col

Technically it was independent (from 1932)

technically so was Egypt (from 1922). World

W

e ra maps

generally

showed

Iraq in

the

pink o

British Empire; British bases and forces

present

much

as in

Egypt. The

Iraqi revolt

varia

still

quite

playable; if British forces are in Mo

the rebels have

one turn

to

capture

it for their sup

BRPs cannot be SR'd through I raq. The

pro

tion

became

necessa ry to

prevent

cost-free

cumvention of the

Lend-Lease

route.

Even

t hough Per si a

is l ocat ed within

Mediterranean Front,

a

player who pays

the

L

Lease activation costs

does

not thereby

gain

a

fensive

option throughout that entire front.

In

the o ld declarationof war and offensive opt

phrasing

has been

abandoned

entirely in favor

flat 25 BRP

charge.

Lend-Lease BRPs

have been

reduced

to a m

imum of 20 per turn. They

require

sea escort

f or t he first turn of the two-turn transfer pro

They a re cha rged

against

SRs dur ing both tu

bu t

are charged against American in

deployments (if coming from

the

U.S.)

only

o

first of the two turns.

BRPs in

the Lend-Lease box can

be

moved

to

the

West instead

of on

to

Russia if surrend

Russia,

cutting

of

the

Lend-Lease

route, un

Bolshevik

commentary on Western shortcom

or some other development

causes the

grant

change his mind. Or they can remain in the L

Lease

box

for

additional

turns

(to

await a

hoped

reopening

of a closed route

or

a

diplom

apology, perhaps).

an

eastern

Mediterranean port-plus-l

and

route

through

Turkey

is friendly,

it may

be

use

Lend-Lease

without

paying

any

activation

cost

is subject

to

t he s ame two -t urn de lay a s is

Pers ian route . Th e

BRPs

are considered

to

reached the

port

a t t he end of the first turn an

Axis may

des troy them the re if

they ar e ab

occupy the

port

before the BRPs move on.

Extensive changes have been

made

to

Murm

convoy rules. All (vice 90 of) unopposed co

BRPs reach

Russia.

Submarines may oppose

voys even if Germany does not control Norway

eliminate one less BRP per factor than

they

o

wise

would.

And:

42.42

Axis

fleet strength opposing the convoy is com

to Allied

fleet

strength. (The latter includes the unit

Escorting the BRPs as well as any extra convoy prote

fleets.) the Axis-to-Allied naval ratio is less than

nothing happens. For 1-3 and higher ratios a die

made; results are

as

follows:

1-3: On

die

roll of 1 ,

Axis

fleets feint sortie-co

scatters and loses an extra BRP for each factor

of

marine and air attacks.

1-2: On die rolls I , or 2 Axis fleets sortie, dr

Allied reaction. Convoy scatters and automatically

I0 7. of

its

BRPs (fractions rounded down) plus an

BRP for each factor of submarine and air attacks.

I -I : On die rolls

1 ,

2

and

3

Axis fleets sortie.

voy scatters and loses 20 7. of its BRPs plus an extra

for each factor of submarine and air attacks.

3-2: On die rolls of 1 through 4 Axis fleets s

Convoyscatters and loses 30 7.1 its BRPs plusan extra

for each factor of submarine and air attacks.

Any ratio greater than 3-2 is treated as 3-2. These

from surface naval opposition are determined first b

any further BRP deductions are made for successful

submarine opposition. If the Axis fleets sortie, both

roll a die to determine ifa naval battlewill occur. Thep

rolling the higher numbermay decide whether to join

or not (Axis player wins ties). If battle is joined, naval

are extracted in the normal manner. Regardless of

losses suffered (if any), the percentage convoy BRP

not affected.

42.43 For each air factor in the Murmansk box a die i

ed with

the resulting number indicating the BRPs lost

the convoy. (There

is

a

1die roll modifier if the co

scatters and a

-I die

roll modifier for every excess 9-f

fleet

beyond those needed to transport the BRPs if the

voy does not scatter. After each air factor attacks an



is

rolled

to

see if the air factor survives. The air factor

on any die

roll

less

than 6 .There is a + I die roll

for every accompanying 9-fastor fleet providing

ction (i.e. not needed for transport of

BRPs)

if the

does

not scatter.

For each submarine factor in excess of escorting

factors, 3 BRPs are

lost from

the convoy 4 if convoy

atters). Submarine and ASW counters are mutually

as

in

SW resolution in whatever ratio

was in

during the

YSS

of the current year.

Germany's required 25-factor commitment to

e

Eastern

Front has been reduced to 20, but

must

composed

of

ground andair

only.

t

must

be

met

the

end

of each

German movement phase

and

turn.

(The

same

principle has been applied

to

10 factors in

Ireland

when the IRA variant

played,

and

to the 45-factor Axis

post-conquest

in Russia.)

This

pretty well ends the Ger

n

tactic of basingair in

the

east, staging it west to

ce and

then

SRing back; although it

is

still per

for

Germany to

move or SR units

into the

in

order to

allow

other units to

exit

during the

phase. The penalty for a German

shortfall

is

of the

prohibition on

Russian

declarations

of

Germany falls short of the

45-factor

require

the penalty is

more elaborate: Germany must

one Eas te rn Front objective hex

of

her

and

return

it t o the Russian player,

must

lose

BRPs

as

penalty,

a nd may not

use

SR

for

any

other than

to correct the shortage

until

the

factors have been

reinstated.

Russia may not cross the partition line in Poland

til at

war

with

Germany. Germanymay, but must

to

her own

side as soon as Poland falls.

If a reckless Nazi declares

war on

Russia

before

ssia declares war on East Europe, Russia may

any part

of Poland

without further ceremony.

er Russia

nor Germany may enter the

Baltic

es until one of them spends 10 BRPs to declare

on

that

area.

Bessarabia remains a

permanent

of

Rumania.

neither Russia

nor Germany

deigns

to

declare

ar on

East Europe by the

end

of

spring 1940,

Poland

belongs

to

whoever

controls War

The

Baltic States

become

a

separate area

25

BRPs, and

Bessarabia again

remains part

Rumania.

Previously

Germany could

evade

much

or all of

e

effect of

the

Russian

Winter

rule by

arranging

to

war

on a fall or winter turn and having few

no uni ts across the original Russian frontier

at

onset

of

winter.

This

rule is now applied to the

rst winter

following German declaration

of

war

Russia,

and

Russia

may

even then be able

to

the f irst winter effec ts . Four dice are

at

the beginning of the first winter following

of war.

the d ice sum exceeds the

of

non-Finnish Axis units east of

the

border, Russia may

choose

to postpone

rst winter effects until

the

following winter.

All pre-1942 res tr ic tions

on

France-British

apply

equally to cooperation between

and the Western Allies, throughout the

The

prohibition on combining

to attack the

hex is retained. Neither

may

give the

otherany

of ai r or naval support, neither may dr aw

from

a

source controlled

by

the o ther , and

may

use

air/naval

bases

controlled by t he

her . No

more than ten factors of Western Allied

may

ever be in Russia,

and

even these would

to be able to trace the ir own supply from a

source.

the Axis declare

war on

their fellow fascists in

their

good

will with

other authoritarian

ed regimes

plummets.

Axis variants 1,3,5 and

are

cancelled

i f not

yet played,

and

the Axis

must

ll six

or

higher with

one

die (as

opposed

to

to

ivate a

minor

ally.

Corsica becomes Vichy upon the fall of

France.

Free

French

colonies yield

BRPs to

tain, Vichy colonies do

not

yield BRPs to the

BRP CALCULATIONS

The BRP calculations necessary

in

a year

start sequence are one of the more difficult

portions o f the rules-both old and new

rules-for

a new player to grasp. They have not

been changed, and are summarized here:

Previous Base

ADD previous year's leftover BRPs

multiplied by the nation's growth rate (omit this

in 1 94 0 Y SS )

SUBTRACT any

BR P

deficit resulting

from

SW

losses

N EW B AS E

ADD

BRPvalue

of

appropriateminor coun

tries,

conquests, etc. Germany only:

add

Moscow/

Leningrad

BRPs

if controlled.

AD D

in 1940 only)

1939 s

leftover

BRPs

multiplied by growth rate.

SUBTRACT any BRP deficit not caused

by

SW losses.

Russia only: SUBTRACT

Moscow/

Leningrad

BRPs

if not controlled.

YEAR START TOTAL

SUBTRACT any

BRPs

spent for SW con

stru t on

Divide by

two, dropping

any

fraction. (This

gives the spending limit

r rn

for the coming

year.)

Axis upon Vichy activation.

a French colony had

been

conquered

by the Axis

before France

fell,

or if

a Vichy

colony

was los t

to

the Allies and recon

quered

by the Axis,

t hen the

Axis

could

receive

BRPs.

Vichy ceases

to

exist,

and her

units

are removed,

when

the Allies

enter

Vichy city, or when Germany

fails

to r ecap tu re an

Allied-controlled Paris. Par

tisans in

either

city

don't

result in the

deactivation

of Vichy.

A few

changes have

been

made

to

the

Vichy ac

tivation

table. The I f or all co lon ies Vichy has

been

dropped. The

2 for

Gibraltar

or Suez/Alex

andria has been clarified; there

can

be a

total

4

addition if

the Axis

control both

areas.

There

is a-2

i f t he Axis declare

war

on

Spain.

Several -I

's a re

clarified:

i all French colonies

are

under Allied

con

trol.

i Axis forces

have

violated Vichy

territory,

except

during

the first Axis player turn

after the

fall

of

France, and

except when intervening

against an

Allied

attack

on Vichy.

i no

Axis units

are

in

Africa.

Gibraltar,

Norway,

Sicily

(and

all other islands)

don't count

as a bridgehead or

port on the

European

continent.

No por t or bridgehead

counts

if

held solely by

airborne.

In the 1942 scenario, Axis units

may

not set up

in Vichy

territory.

(This eases

Britain's

defensive

problems a bit by making

Gibraltar

less

vulnerable.) Britain

controls

Tobruk and the desert

to

the south and

east

a t the s ta rt

of this

scenario.

In multi-playergames, a player

may

never

move

his

ground

units

over

hexes

controlled

by

an

ally

without

consenl,

nor may

he base his air/naval

units

at a base

controlled by an

ally

without con

s en t. A p laye r

may

not however, refuse to let

an

ally

trace

supply

from

a

source

the player

controls.

51.5

Whenever on the same turn two allies

wish

to attack

the same minor country or colony, or to intervene

in

the

same

minor country, and cannot reach agreement on

how

to

proceed, a coin is flipped. Winner of the flip

may

move

one unit into, or adjacent to the forces of, the territory

in

question. The loser then moves one unit, and

they

continue

to alternate until one or the other does not desire to m ov e

any

more units

in

that vicinity.

This

procedure

m ay b e

used

either during Movement, Combat, Exploitation, or SR;

and may be adapted for theother instances

where

allies can

not

reach

agreement on how to proceed. Since such

disagreements indicate a strain on the alliance, units

of

the

alliesconcerned

may

not stack togetheron that front for the

remainder

of

that player

turn-though

units already stack

ed

together could remain

so

if they did not move.

Those

who playtested the new edition have be

credited in the

rulebook and

praised in these pag

and

rightly so. I wish also to credit some

unknowi

participants-those who sent in questions about

rules. If

during

the

past

year or so you receive

reply with a star next to some

of

your questions, y

may

have

had

a

hand

in the new

game.

Such

starr

questions

often, although not

always, resul ted i

change

or

an addition

to the new rules; at the v

least they sent me

back to

the

manuscript to pond

and review

what

had been done. I will concludew

my favorite:

Q:

Berlin falls,

can

I SR to

Argentina?

A: Yes,

if

the Russian player doesn't

SR

you

Siberia first.

THIRD REICH 8

Few wargames have

maintained

th

popularity

over the years as well as THIR

REICH

the winner

of

various

hobby Be

awards, and

to this day the holder of M

P IGN magazine's

Best

Game of

all

Tim

honors.

This

popularity

is even

more

remarkab

in light of the game's

admittedly

poorly develop

rules. In recognition of

the

special qualitiesof th

title, Avalon Hill has

put

THIRD

REI H

throu

the development process

again.

A team

THIRD REI H

enthusiasts

from all around t

globe was assembled

to

test the revised editio

Years of experience with the earlier edition help

formulate

the revision

during

a b lind play te

session. The results have been more than gratif

ing with ou r most enthusiastic testing respon

ever.

THIRD REI H 8

is

much mor e than

cleaned

up

version

of

the old

game, although

t

rules

presentation

itself

is

much improved

ov

the first edition. Among the changes is a com

pletely revised

mapboard

with

terrain

chang

that

have profound effects

on

the

game,

wh

being

both more

functional

(no ambiguous

hexe

and attractive. The scenario

cards

have been

vised to

provide more

useful

information

at t

player's

fingertips and also provide the U.S. a

French players with their own

separate

cards.

However, the biggest

change

is in th e rul

themselves.

Not

only

are

they

more complete

a

better

organized, but they

contain many

desi

changes which drastically

improve

play of t

game. Paramount

among

these changes

are

visions to the Strategic Warfare rules which bri

the

U-boats under control

by 1944

and

accou

for

the

Luftwaffe's

absence

f rom the

battlefie

as they

are withdrawn

t o p ro tect the Reich fro

Allied strategic

bombing.

A free Russian Replac

ment rule

portrays

the influx of Siberian forces

the crucial

point of

the

Eastern Front, and maj

changes t o the Murmansk Convoy rules

make

th

aspect of the

game almost

a

game

in its

own

righ

A completely new

innovation

is provided in t

form

of

Intelligence

and

Foreign Aid rules whi

allow more political maneuvering outside t

purely military

sphere

of the

game.

THIRD

REI H

8

is available now in a r

vised

3rd edition box

for 16.00 plus 10 200

Canadian; 30

overseas)

postage

charges fro

Avalon Hill. Those wishing

only

to update the

old

g ame may o rd er

the

parts separately

(ma

board

8.00, rules 2.00,

scenario

cards 2.(

Maryland residents please add 5

state

sales ta



ST TE OF THE RT TO RUK

By

Lorrin

Bird

guns, suffered one of the rudest awakenings of the

war equal to the T34's introduction to Barbarossa)

when 88's first opened up on them in 94 Africa.

The German Flak

8

not only stopped the vaunted

Matilda,

bu t

p ro ce ed ed t o d is ma nt le t he ir turrets

and

terrorize British

armor

crews. tappeared

that

even the 80mm t hi ck hide of the Matilda was no

match

f or t he panzer wonderweapon, which must

have made the cruisercrews protected by 15-40mm

of plate) a bit nervous.

To

our way

of

thinking, the tendency

of rounds

to bounce

of f

armor due to angle of hit is a function

of shell penetration to armor relationships, and the

general procedure of havi ng hit s ricochet without

distinction was

too

simple.

This, of course, requires an adjustment to the

hit determination

and

shell damage charts,

bu t

for

tunately i t was rel at ivel y simpl e. Instead of a di f

ferent hit

chart

for every tank, our

group

decided

on

a

common chart

for everyone. The issue of

ricochets, since it

is

very particular

and is

a function

of

tank armor,

w ou ld be i nc lu de d in

the damage

resolution procedure.

We de cided to use the following for hit

determination:

In our system, front, side

and

rear hits would all use

the same chart, whi ch is a gross si mpli ficati on bu t

speeds things up considerably.

The

simplified handling

of turret mantlet and

frontal face hits will be handled as part of the

damage determination, whe re a l ot of the separate

s te ps p re vi ou sl y r eq ui re d will b e wrapped into a

number of very basic assumptions.

Having

done

away with the automatic ricochets,

the

n ex t s te p

is

to work them into the

damage

system. As previ ousl y not ed, t he t endency

of

shells

to

bounce

should b e a f un ct io n of how

much

their

penetration

exceeded the

armor

they hit.

More

par

t ic ul ar ly , c on si de r t he f ol lo wi ng d ata th at was

If a shell c an

penetrate an armor

plate

out

given range when hitting head

on, towards

the

o

limits

of that range

there will be a tendenc

bounce

of f

d ue t o a ng le hi ts .

In game t erms, we just assumed thatat the o

six hexes where penetration is possible, one thi

all h it s will

bounce

of f

besi des angl e effects

dividual rounds a lwa ys de vi at e a little from

average penetration f ig ur e) . T hi s m ea ns

that

50mmL/42

shell can damage a tank

out

to

2

he

from 7-12 hexes one third of the hits will ricoc

Six hexes was c hos en since it represe nts

met ers, a dist ance wit hi n whi ch shell s usual ly l

good share of

their

penetration, and

the one-

ricochet factor was p ic ke d so that a fair sh ar

non-bouncing hit s woul d accrue.

So, if our 50mmL/42 did hit at II hexes a p

of

armor

it wa s o nl y capable of damaging out t

hexes, after the hit one die would be rolled.

On

a

of five

or

six, t he shot fai led t o damage this

provides for penetrations

that

got into the

tank

did nothing).

The

end result is

that

th e fav ore d 88,

hi tti ng a

Stuart front at any

r an ge , will

n

ricochet a change my British opponents will n

forget

or

forgive). Besides being a bit more log

things like this will help speed up play, s

ricochets helped build the number of rolls neede

knockout a t arget vehicle.

3

0

25 1

45

0

7 1

6

0

16 1

A 40mm plat e, when hit at

an

angle of 30 deg

from t he p er pe nd ic ul ar see f igur e o ne ), re

penetration

as

if

it were 25 7 thicker,

or

50m

t hi ckness. Whi le a shell capable of wasting 13

of

armor wouldn't

feel

too

much more resistan

a 30 de gr ee a ngl e, a

round

with

45mm penetra

would p robabl y ricochet since the

effec

armor

exceeds t he shell penetration. So ricoc

should be a f un ct io n of penetra tion to armor,

how do we pop t hi s i nt o our game system

playable manner?

Resorting to t he o ld g ro ss assumption too

for a quick

and d ir ty

method, the follo

policy was formulated:

~

igure

A s ang le

of

shell incidence increases, the

armor

penetrated also increases

Increase in

Angle

of

Hit

Armor

Resistance

Target Aspect Definition

As defi ned in TOBRUK where the vehicles

t he f la t

part

of a hex f ig ur e 2), t he a ngl e of f

hits is limited

to

30 degrees either side of t he t a

direction. While this selection simplifies the fro

angles

that

might conceivably

come

u p, it m ak

too simple to s co re a f la nk h it , and dist orts t he

mor rating system.

Aspect Hit

Turret

Upper Hull

Lower Hull

Suspension

or Track

2-5

6-7

8-9

10-12

Die Roll

After reading

about

t he 88 s t ot al

domination

of

many

battles,

and

how

nothing

could really

turn

away its shells, we were

taken

by

storm

when 88mm

hits

of Stuarts

in TOBR UK failed

to

damage. Doing

a little math,

we

discovered that almost 60 of the

88

hits on the front of a Stuart do nothing at all.

Gett i ng i nt o t he

armor

mechanics of t he t hi ng,

one finds further proof

that

something is amiss.

At

525 meters,

or about

seven hexes i n TOBRUK an

88 can

penetrate

130mm

of

armor

hit h ea d

on.

Stuarts, according to

our

data, have

about

40mm of

frontal

armor,

so

the

88 c an bla st through three

times the

Stuart armor at

seven hexes. E ve n

accounting f or a ng le d h it s, t he re is v er y l it tl e l o gi c

that suggests that 88 h it s will bounce a wa y t hr ee

t imes i n every five hit s.

Of course, one could always assume

that

the

rounds blew through t he t arget tank,

bu t

without

hitting anything?

An

88mm shell is

about

3.5 inches

across, and even if it didn't hit anyt hi ng, t hemet al i t

would throw

around

the

tank

interior would cer

tainly make t hi ng s a li tt le

uncomfortable, i f not

totally chaotic wo uld you s ta y in a t ank t hat had

been porth ole d b y a gun, and woul d cert ai nl y be i n

store for more rounds if you didn't give some sign

t ha t the tank

was

out

of

action-like bailing

out).

When TOBRUK first came out in 1975, manyof

e ideas included in the game were among the most

vanced concept s i n

armor

miniatures gaming.

ver t he l ast fi ve years, however, innovations

and

p ro ve me nt s i n t he w or ld of

armor

simulation

ve rendered many

of

TOBRUK s rules relatively

t-of-date. This article investigates several of the

or rules where

current

thinking has evolved

to

e p oi nt w he re a r ev is io n m ig ht h el p,

and offers

ional solutions.

When our group first played TOBRUKback in

977, t here was no

doubt

in a ny of our minds

that

e game represented t he ul ti mat e i n

armor

gaming

n the I: I scale one tank equals one

tank,

unlike

LEADER

wh er e a

tank counter

was a

From

t he rel at ive rate

of

f ir e w hi ch

many a sore wri st the next day for the British

to the different armor thicknesses over the

of a tank u pp er hull, lower hull, turret

tlet, etc.), this game had it all, and in a s im pl er

than

many of the fancy miniatures rules.

As t ime went on,

and

we experimented with the

rious mi ni atures rul es

that

started to be com e

ailable, problems with TOBRUK came

to

light.

les for miniature tank

batt les wit h scale model s

many shortcuts which served

t

shorten

aying time, although t hey did overl y general ize

of the combat steps. We occasionally found

e forty

turn

TOBRUK

scenario a little unwieldy,

felt

that

we were actually sitting out t here i n t he

elt ering desert as t he hours t ic ke d b y w ith dice

predominating. We all agreed

that

the game

ld use some streamlining.

Combat

resul ts also hel d a few rel at ive misgi v

gs, as some of the determinations conflicted with

or miniatures rules and what thinking we could

um up regarding the issue. In particular, the large

of automatic ricochets on f ronta l hits

metimes left one feeling odd, as the ferocious

8 rounds trickled of f of t he t inni est

armor

Whyfore, we brazenly asked?

Since TOBRUK will always remain dear to our

and

really detailed games

or

rules covering

e 1942 North African conflict

are

in short supply,

decided to take all of the most recent design in

and

see

if

t he old game)

warhorse could

instilled with new blood. To our satisfaction, we

that

TOBRUK s

system was lively enough to

ept a number of revisions without crumbling

or

coming a monsterof

unplayability ,

and the

lowing represents our findings

and

suggested

le updates.

88 Phenomena

Based on

our

readings on

North African

battles,

ere was no doubt tha t the German 88 millimeter

n was t he most feared and productive part of the

ika Korps battle plan. Whether on the defense,

here t he y we re use d to cut

apart

British

armor

r theywere lured into a

t rap, or

used offensively

bl ow a wa y a ny e ne my tanks at l ong range

that

r ed t o

counterattack,

8 8 s we re

the most

lethal

pon i n Afri ca.

The e qu al ly f ea re d (for a while, anyway)

i lda, whose armor was beyond the m ea ns of

It is hard to believe that anyone wouldchallenge

realism of TOBRUK Playability or excitement

sure but the historicity? Designer Hal Hoch

ought more impressive credentials to his design

anyone else before or since. We re not saying

Bird is correct; we l l let you decide

his

hanges give the game a beller feel .



Figure S: Movement mechanics

re4: Alternativetarget aspect system(movement

intoone of

two

rontal hexes)

4 hexes

YS.

TU R

4

hexes

YS.

LH

3 hexes

YS.

LH

20 hexes

YS.

LH

4 hexes

YS.

UH

16

vs. LH

II

hexes YS.

UH

LH,

10

YS.

T

3

YS.

UH, 7

YS. TUR

Treat LH UH the same

7 hexes

YS.

LH,

9 YS. TUR

9

hexes

YS.

UH

LH

3

YS.

LH

UH, 12 YS. TUR

3

YS.

LH

UH, YS. TUR

7

hexes YS.

UH

LH

7 hexes YS. TUR

7 YS. UH, II YS. LH, 9 vs. TUR

16 YS.

LH UH, 3 vs.

TUR

Maximum Effective Range

no

KG YS.

turret any range

Use TUR for

LH

3

hexes against

LH

No KG vs. TUR at

any

range

16 hexes

vs.

LH

UH

12

hexes vs. TUR

17

hexes vs. LH UH

12 hexes YS. TUR

AutOmatic K/C3

YS.

LH

All

50mm Short

(APCR)

50mm Long

50mm Short

(APCR)

50mm Long

ide

Matilda

Front

Front

Front

Side

Rate Of Fire

This, as far as we could tell, was on e

of

the w

causes

of

the W R T SE atmosphere t

permeated most

of

the dice throwing

TO R

games. Throwing for 3-11 shots per weapon, tar

section hits

an d then damage

was

justtoo

much.

a long comes

another

one of those beaut

simplifications that will make the game m

playable.

Front 50mm

Short

(APCR)

50mm

Long

50mm

Long

(APCR)

These changes are basically major prob

areas that were discovered while pouring over ev

armor statistic an d gun capability. Given the en

mous amounts of research

that

were required to

the

game together, we assume

that

somewh

along the line a few mis takes were input into

machinery.

Fo r

instance, the Valentine

60-65mm

of

frontal armor, with 65mm

on

the tu

front. T he G er ma n 50mm long cou ld penet

78mm at 500 meters, so

should

be able to destro

Valentine frontally beyond the 225 meter range

TOBRUK

now allows.

Th e PzKw IIIh changes are somewhat more s

tle, since they ar e based on the relative mix of

various Mark I II models in the deser t.

Th e Af ri ka Korps could never claim st

adherence to a firm mix

of

tank models, since at

time

of

Gazala the

pz

III s were made up

of

III

an d

h models, each with differing armor. And e

the IIIH s could dif fer, s ince a sol id 75mm hit

the frontal spaced armor

would probably blow

plate to bits (most of the IIIj s t h atare shown

in

tures don t retain

the turret

spaced armor, the lik

victim of a 6 pd r. or 75mm hit).

What

is include

ou r optional changes is a fair commonground u

which to determine likely damage results, and

claim to strict purity is advanced.

We did no t try to get into the different level

t an k d am a ge that TOBRUK does with ou r r

sions,

bu t

would suggest

that

players treat dam

ing hit s as KO s for simplicity sake.

PzKw

IIIh

Aspect

Gun

Front

2 pdr.

Front

37mm

Front

6 pdr.

Front

75mm

Front 25 pdr.

PzKw IIIj

Front 2 pdr.

Front 37mm

Front 6 pdr.

Front

75mm

Valentine

Front 50mm Short

(APCR)

Front 50mm Long

Side 50mm Short

APCR)

Side 50mm Long

Notes

2-4

Roll

to

Immobilize

ATR s

Weapon

Type

20mm

Breda,

PzKw gun

Up

to

41mm 2-5 2pdr., Bofors

Up to 57mm 2-8 6pdr.

Up to 90mm 2-10 Included

here

is 25 pdr.

Th e

added lethality

oflarger

shells is d ue t o their

size, weight (75mm rounds scale o ut at a bo ut 15

pounds, while 40mm

rounds

ar e under 2

pounds),

an d explosive charge (they have more chance of

blowing of f a wheel, or bending

an

axle).

Armor

an d Shell Revisions

While the various sources commonly used fo r

armor gaming almost always dif fer in their

armor

thicknesses an d shell

penetration,

we prefer sources

that

give different results from

TO RUK

Using Von Senger an d Etterlin an d the T NK

CH RTS

set of armor minia ture s rules, we

modified the following damage ranges:

Suspension Hits

If TOBRUK were taken literally, the answer to

the King Tiger would ha d to have been the Bofors

anti-aircraft gun.

What

bet te r t ac tic cou ld one

think

of

than attacking the most heavily armored

beast

on

th e battlefield, on e which could defeat hits

by an y gun, with a weapon that almost always

wou ld blow the t racks

of f th e

Tiger II.

Once

the

g iant were immobi li zed, t he assaul t wou ld pe ter

o ut , a nd artil lery could bury the enemy panzer.

As it s tands now, t rack hit s always immobilize,

which

is

a very simplified version

of

the

truth, if

ever there were one.

Logic wou ld tell us, ri ght of f the b at , t ha t a

track capable of carting

around

a seventy t on t an k

would sometimes be able to ward of f hits by Y inch

anti-tank rifle shells, letalone shells with practically

no penetrating capabil ity at all. While nothing in

North Africa

approached

a King Tiger (or even half

of one), the assumption that Bofors, anti-tank rifle

an d 20mm hits would always tear apart tracks an d

bust wheels is just to o general an d weak.

Without getting into considerations

of

relative

track strengths, one ca n pu t together a reasonably

detailed an d realistic model by assuming the follow

ing:

High Explosive

Tank

Fire

While the Grant is on e of the most inaccurate

long distance

tanks

when it comes

to

firing its 75mm

gun, the rules indicate

that

the 75mm

HE

factors

will

always

l and in the t arge t hex. A

75

meter wide

hex may be a big area about 250 feet across), bu t

hav ing a gun incapab le of hitting a

tank

at 1300

meters landing an HE shell inside a 75 meter circle

at

that range boggles the mind. An d this is more

than a moot point, since the Grant can immobilize

trucks, halftracks an d

infantry

in the open with

those unusually accurate HE blasts.

If

a tank gun can t land a direct hit inside that 75

meter hex, we don t see how

th e

fragmentation fac

tors will ever hurt anybody. While on e can always

pu t for th the fac t that

HE

shots don t have to h it

directly, bu t only l and nearby, we ca n reply with

two facts;

I. HE shell lethal areas ar e usually less than 30

meters, meaning they have to be accurate inside

of

the hex.

2. HE shells are fired

at

slower velocities than

armor

piercing rounds and therefore are more inac

curate.

With quite a bit of logic on our side, we can

safely say that HE f ragmentation factors from

direc t fire weapons should have

to undergo the

same hit/miss procedure as ant i- tank f ire but no

target size modifiers in deference

t o t h e lethalradius

of HE rounds).

REAR

SIDE SHOT

FRONT

SHOTS

What this all suggests is that the arc of flank

be

reduced, both to more realistically reflect

at const itutes a side hit (at 60 degrees f ro m t he

de perpendicular,

many

hits would land on the

rontal

armor,

a problem we would l ike

to

glance

er for playabili ty purposes), an d to resolve the

gle effects issue with the least offensive assump

tions possible.

FRONT

Th e solution appears

to

be, at its simplest level,

to ape

the

SQU D

LE DER system a nd p oi nt

tanks towards the corners of the hex. This greatly

reduces the ease with which on e previously scored a

flank hit, an d while avoiding a direct confrontation

with angle effects (which would really fill ou t the

playing hours with die rolls

an d

mathematical gyra

t ions), gives us a more reasonable model

of

target

aspect problems. While things ar e still too simplistic

for the purity freaks,

TOBRUK s

primary

concern

should be a playable game a nd n ot something

that

Einstein would have trouble finding fault with (let

alone playing a game inside of a light year).

ure3: The TO RUK nank sho definition allowsside hils at

60°

What

compounds the large flank arc is the effect

a rm or resistance of allowing hits at 60 degrees

om head on

to

be treated as perpendicular flank

ots . Figure 3 shows a target PzKw IIIh being hit

just inside the flank arc , a

round

that will

KO the t an k d ue to the flimsy side armor.

reality, at that angle

of

shot, the flank armor will

sist penetration as if it were 2. 6 times its basic

kness (due to the effects of angled hits that were

iously described).

Instead of being a chintzy 30mm thick, the side

the panzer III will react

to

armor piercing shot as

it were 78mm thick, th e equivalent of a Matilda

s front.

To get into it a little deeper, the a rc in which

ank shots are def ined extends for a range of 120

ees, twice that

of th e

frontal arc. Sincegetting a

ank hit often spells doom for the poor target, the

atively liberal range

of

flank hits makes careless

acement a deadly game.



Instead of rol ling for every shot, why

not

roll

but allow for multiple hits?

For example, a weapon with one shot rolls once

a hit, but if two shots are cal led for, rol ling the

score obtains one hit, but rolling two above the

score results in two hits. Three above the hit

reallows three hits (given a

ROF

of 3, of course),

Say a PzKw

IIIh is

firing

on

an acquired

usader, and needs a hit score of 6 for a successful

ot. Then here is how the dice rolls would be inter

Roll

Number

of

Hits

2 5

None

6 7 One

Hit

8 Two Hits

9 Three Hits

1O l2

Four

Hits

the ROF had gone up to six, then the

chart

have been extended.

Note

that

while this

chart

does not strictlyrelate

probabilities of throwing individual rolls to the

centages presented

on

the table, it has enough

graces

to excuse the differences. For one

ing, a weapon with

35

shots will never score more

n six or seven hits (depending

on

the hit score),

not only saves your wrist from future

hritis pains,

but

assumes multiple hits

on

one

rget section will

not

createthe additional mayhem

at more rolls would require. Cutting down

on

the

of hits has

got

to liven things up.

On the negative side,

an

awful lot of

shot

throws

result in

hits , which may be a wild assump

on considering that six shots may be involved.

in mind, however, that this will really speed

ings up and will even bring a little suspense into

game (it 's now a totally h it or miss affair. t

intuitively brings into play the duel concept,

if all six shots miss with one roll, one can

that

the enemy hit the tank befo re the ma

of rounds could be fired of f (ifit

is

done in).

tank

combat is

a wild and wooly affair, and

is

ot easily simulated (a few Churchill tanks once

erran a horde

of

firing 8 8 s , PzKw Ill s and

's and 75mm anti-tank guns, a feat none

of

my

mes ever duplicated), assumptions really can t be

oved or disproved with any degree of certainty.

In fact, carrying this a bit f ur the r, the use of

tank fire in TOBRUK

is

an assumption

at aids in the play but has no relat ionsh ip to

ality. No tank is going to wait untilthe

other

tanks

fired

of f

all

of

their rounds before opening up.

he use of one roll to simula te many sho ts

is

no

i n the

wrong

than alternate tank shots, and

is upon this gross assumption that the use of

y shots rol led into one systems are based.

is a game, and assumes things for

or should have that

are

not

technically

rrect. So there, nitpickers

While

on

the subject of alternating fire, here's

additional rule to consider.

Instead of alternating fire, tank by t ank, why

ot use a priority system that bases who fires first

ROF, crew morale,

and

a

random

roll. Before

mbat starts (but after movement), each side rolls

six-sided dice, with the higher score giving the

rower the first shot based

on

the following

Higher ROF always goes first if they've ac

ired a target.

2.

Higher roll fires all his units first,

i fno

tanks

ve acquired a target,

or

many have (higher roll

eaks acquisition tie).

3.

Anti-tank guns

always

fire first.

Modifiers:

- I to roll

if

British and defending.

two PzKw

IIIh

are firing

on

a Matilda, and

pz III

and

the Matilda are fir ing

on

acquired

and

the roll

is

higher for the panzers (or

is

a

, which goes to the DAK), the firing order is:

IIIh with acquisi tion, Matilda, remaining

Instead

of

playing these sort

of

games,

we

usually

l imit tanks to their ini tial rate of fire (battlefields

are confused, dusty and panic stricken, and proving

ground ROF may be too high), and whoever rolls

higher fires

of f

all their weapons first. Allowing for

no hits helps to reduce the overwhelming advantage

first fire might otherwise allow. Players can experi

ment with this further,

and

assume their own con

ventions, but anything that quickens play will be a

big plus.

Visibility

While the good old 88 s

quite capable of hitting

targets

out

to 1600 meters

and

beyond, many

British tankers commented

on

the fact

that

glare,

dust and whatever often limited visibility to 1000

meters. In addition, some targets, like infantry

on

foot, justcan t be seen beyond 500 meters, especially

if

they re

stationary.

Add

on

to this the fact

that

hedgehogs, weapon pits and other defensive posi

t ions were often camouflaged,

and

one can ap

preciate the fact that Rommel did not look

on

his

TOBRUK board and

count

hexes to see where his

troops were to go.

The

following rules are very basic,

and

simple,

but

help to bring the problems of visibility into the

game;

I. No fire may be directed

at

weapons in

hedgehogs, weapon pits or

other

depressed cover

until the turn after they open fire.

2. Camouflaged weapons

that

are in depressed

cover will not be detected until the enemy

is

in the

same hex.

3.

Towed weapons in the open cannot be fired

upon unti l the nearest radio equipped unit

is

ten

hexes away ( 88s and other large guns are treated

as vehicles in the open, and guns in the open when

they're in depressed cover).

4.

Infantry on

foot are invis ible if more

than

eight hexes from

an

enemy unit.

Range Measuring Ruler

Counting hexes can sometimes be a real drag,

and

range determinations are really speeded

up

by

using a ruler.

Just take

a piece of cardboard,

about

16

inches long and I-liz inches wide, and using one

of the maps

layout

the one-hex intervals (basing the

lengths on center-to-center dis tances). When

measuring, anything more than a full hex

is

rounded

upwards.

This

is

a relatively simple thing, but when all of

the end runs mentioned in this art icle are used, the

end result is a streamlined game

of

TOBRUK that

becomes c onsidera bly more playable and

enjoyable.

Machine Guns On

Tanks

TOBRUK

is

presently one of the few

WWII

systems

that

state

that

the turret

MG

was more

lethal than the hull version. This is open to

discussion.

Turret

MGs depend on the

rotation

of the turret

for sweep

and

accuracy, which

is

more constraining

than a bal l mounted hull machine gun. There also

appears to be better visibility from the hull. On the

other hand, turret models

won t

vibrate as much, so

the fire will be more accurate.

Our

final arbiter, in this issue, was

CROSS OF

IRON where hull

MG s

generally get twice as

many

factors as turret models . So be it.

Therefore, we quartered the turret MG factors,

and halved the hull MG effects, since

our

play in

dicated tha t tank machine guns were having too

lethal an impact

at

long range

and

while groups of

vehicles were firing

on

the move. Once again,

players are urged to experiment with this

on

their

own, since these things are subjective to a grea t

Conclusion

As this article has stated several times, these

gested revisions are put fort h primar ily to

players into

an

experimenting mode, and are no

tended to be the final word

on

the subjects. W

time, any system will naturally grow old, stale

behind the times, and by occasionally reviewin

cent accomplishments and concepts the old ca

revived, and

brought

into a competitive pos

with the best

of

the new.

MICROCOMPUTER GAME

UP TE

The

Microcomputer Game Division of Ava

Hill has expanded its line to provide cass

programs

for the

AT

ARI 800 as well as diske

for the TRS-80 II , APPLE II, and

ATARI

computers.

All fou r cassette versions come in the s

package; unless specified otherwise below; th

TRS-80 II, APPLE II, PET, and ATARI 800

sions are spaced at intervals

on

the same t

Diskette versions come with only one version

package so it

is

important

that

you specify

comput er you intend to use the program fo

well as noting the varying memory requirem

of the different programs. A complete listin

Microcomputer offerings follows.

B-1 NUCLE R

BOMBER

is

available in

cassettes for all four computers for $15.00. A

diskette is available for the TRS-80 and

APP

and a 24K version for the AT

ARI

for $20.

MIDW Y

C MP IGN

is available in

cassettes for the TRS-80,

APPLE, and PET

32K for the

AT

ARI

for $15. 32K diskette vers

are available for the TRS-80

and APPLE,

a

40K version for the ATARI for $20.

NORTH A T L N Tl C C ON VOY R ID

and

NUKEW R

are available in

16K

cassette

all four computers for 15 each. 32K Diskette

the TRS-80 and

APPLE,

and

a 24K version

the AT

ARI

are available for $20.

PL NETMINERS is available in 16K cass

for the TRS-80, APPLE,

and PET

and a 24K

sion for the

AT

ARI

for $15. 32K disket tes

available for the TRS-80,

APPLE,

and

AT

for $20.00 each.

LORDS

OF

K RM is

available in

cassette for the TRS-80, 32K for the APPLE

PET, and 40K for the ATARI for $20.00.

diskette versions are available for the TRS-80

APPLE only for $25.

COMPUTER CQUIREis

available in

cassettes for the TRS-80,

APPLE , and PET

$20. 32K disket tes are available for the TR

and APPLE

for $25.

CONFLICT

2500

is

available in

16K

cass

for the TRS-80, APPLE and

PET,

and a 32K

sion for the ATARI for $15.00. 32K diskettes

available for the TRS-80 and APPLE, and a

version for the ATARI for $20.

M JOR L E GUE B SEB LL is

avail

in a

16K

cassette version for the TRS-80,

an

32K version for the

APPLE

for $25.00. A

diskette for the TRS-80

and

a 48K diskette fo

APPLE are available for $30.00.

EMPIRE

OF

THE OVERMIND is

avail

in 48K cassettes for theTRS-80 andAPPLE a

40K version for the ATARI for $30.00.

diskettes for the TRS-80 and

APPLE

available for 35 each.

T NKTlCS is

available in 16K cassettes

the TRS-80,

APPLE , and PET and

24K for

ATARI for $24. 32K diskettes for theTRS-80

APPLE, and a 40K version for the ATARI

available for $29.00.



AIW POINT BY POINT

By James

C.

Gordon

OR LOOK WHAT YOU VE STARTED TOM OLESONI

In the

chart

below

are

li sted the modifying

and

the changes

that

they

enact.

If imitation is truly the sincerest

form

offlattery,

m Oleson has to be feeling prelly

good by

now.

e premise for his 97 article Situation

13

has

s tered more spin-of fs than Mary Tyler Moore

D D combined. The concept should begetting

bit tired by now, but on the off chance that

some

IW

enthusiast out there is frustrated because

meone hasn' t applied the formula to his game,

we go again .

Since tanks

and A

type

tank

destroyers

are

basic weapon

in

all three games,

that

is again the

art ing point for

summing

the

basic factors.

The

capability

of

the

tanks and TD's,

when

ir factors

are combined into

a single

total,

is the

del against which al l

other

AFVs will be com

and

modified.

Contrasting

the earlier articles, all

tanks,

plus

e

Arab

SU-lOO,

add

two

to

their

AF

and

MFfor

rruns. representing the

addition to

the die roll

d

the

movement

points required.

The RF

remains

same,

and

the

DF

is raised for Hull

Down

(two

the Israelis,

one

for the

Arabs), and

for

Smoke

f the unit

is

capable). All

Arab

uni ts, plus t he

TDs, are without

Split-Fire-and-Movement

d

Carrying

abilities.

both

lowering the

MF

by

-quarter. (The

base MF is lowered by one

twice,

before

the two

is added

for

The

light armor category

contains

a mixture of

n its, with t he

common

element being mobil ity

nd Hul l Down) .

The

light

tanks

are

totalled as

t anks , a lth ough th e

Israeli AMX-13 is

thout Car ry ; the

Arab

PT-76

is

missing

Carry,

In t he spi ri t of

Tom Oleson's Situat ion 13

E GENERAL

Vol. 8,

No.

I)

and Robert

Abstract

Panzer

Leader (Vol. 14, No.

, this is a

third

generation article.

The

objective is

re-es tabl ish the sys tem for

'free

unit

selection

ena rios us ing the

same

basic

concept

of 'unit

totals'.

A single

point

value is derived for al l

ts in th e

game, and

each player is allowed

to

oose whichever uni ts he desires as l ong as t he

number

of

points expended does

not

exceed

an

upon maximum.

Although

al l three games

are

s imilar , each has

own unique

pieces and

game

sys tem which

cessitate developing new

standards

for

ulating the

point

totals. In AIW there

are

new

capabilities

to

con si de r, a long with t he new

types

that

have arisen in

modern

armies,

and

a

of

changes in these

weapons'

effectiveness.

difference between

AIW and

the earlier

is the increased

participation of ai r

units, in

and

Advanced

capacities, allowing a

number

weapon types to be carried.

For most

units, the

four

basic factors

(AF,

RF,

,

MF)

are summed

with allowances

and

odifications for twelve capabilities (or in

some of

which

are

in

contrast

to

the

s tems devised in the earlier art ic les. A few units

ve specific modifiers

that app ly only to that

t ype , which will be exp la in ed with t he ir

ctive categories.

Minefields

are

total led by

adding

all relev

factors; specifically, the

odds

they

a tt ack a t,

number of

favorable results,

and

the fac to rs

volved in removing them: the

odds

that engine

attack

at

to

remove

them,

t he ir chance s fo

favorable result,

and

the

minimum number

of tu

for this activity. The three types of minefields,

2 1

and

3 1 have three , five

and

six chances fo

result of

some

kind, respectively. Engineers alw

attack

at2-1

odds

(giving

them

two chances f

result), and

must attack

at least twice to

disarm

entire field.

Neutr al count ers a re

also included in

calculations,

and

given

point

totals

appropriate

their

participation

in the game.

Fort

counters

s

with their DF

of

ten, and

add

two for the die rol l

dit ion, and four more

for the

improvement on

morale

table, for

infantry

types.

The

last two to

also

apply to Improved Position

counters.

Assessing th e t ota ls f or Basic A ir Str ik es

similar

to that

for

Off-board

art il lery. F irst ,

AFs

are taken

f rom the

game

scenarios; the

Ar

can

use

1

or

16, while the Israelis choose from

21 or

22. All

attacks are

class

A .

Next, thesta

ard

range for Bas ic s tr ikes is one,

but

there is

option

to

shift

the targe t hex by

one

on the

turn

attack,

making the

RF

two.

Combining

the c

A

weapon

and

the range

of

two on the

W

doubles theAF for all strikes.

There

is

no

DFor

involved in the Basic rules ,

and

each s tr ike can

used only once.

Advanced Air Strikes

differ

f rom the Basic

that

they use

jet

and helicopter

counters,

and

carry a varie ty of weapon types,

attack

strengt

and

corresponding

range factors . In

addition,

Israeli helicopters have organic weapons, and b

sides have units

capable

of

transporting

infan

types.

The

Israeli

Huey Cobra,

with an

A

c

weapon,

is totalled as

an anti-tank weapon,

reta

ing all

four

f act or s as they

appear . The UH

mounts

an

I weapon, but retains its total

against (st rict ly)

non-armored

tar ge ts. B

transport

unit s, t he

UH-I and

the

Arab

M

double

their

MF

for their

Carry 31

ability.

uni ts have a

DF,

but

not

any

MF

because of th

unlimited

movement.

They can be placed o n

hex

on any

turn.

The AF and

RF

for a ir s tr ikes carried by th

units varies

according

to the weapon type

and

WECo Indiv idua l point total s for

the A ,

and H/(H)

class AFs

are

restricted to those u

in the

game

scenarios.

Class A

s tr ikes use

same

AFs as the Basic

game

(doubled), plus

an

of three.

The

Israeli G strikes have

an

AF of

whi le the

Arabs

use 30, with a range factor

twelve. With

H/(H) attacks,

the Israelis use

the

Arabs

20,

and

the range

is

zero. The AF

G

strikes is total led at face value , while the

type is halved;

jet

units

add

their

DF,

helicopters also add their MF. Like Basic s tr ik

Advanced s tr ikes can only be used once (al thou

the hel icopters can use their organic weapons

number of

times).

Block

and Trench counters

each cost five po

for their relative effect on movement, and

engineering requirements to remove them. Ass

Boats,

though

not included as

counters,

have co

for the ir

DF (I),

their singular usage

( I) , and

costs (x3) in

transporting

units across the canal

Art il le ry comes in

four

varie ties : towed (in

cluding

mortars),

self-propelled,

off-board, and

anti-aircraft.

Beyond the standard DF

and

MF

modifications (disregarding SMF and

Carry).

regular art il lery is factored mainly for indirect f ire

ability,

counting

RF- (the usable percentage)

and

AF Y

(strength against

armored

targets);

AA

units

use

Y AF

if the

RF

is over six.

Off-board AFscome

from

the

game

scenarios,

and

is

combined

with

3AF

f or t he RF.

Eng inee r vehicles p re sent a uni que p robl em

because their

standard

factors do

not

include any

allowance for special engineering abi li ties .

The

basic factors

are

totalled like

other

units, except

that

no

points

are

los t for lacking

an

ability,

and

then

an

individual modifier is applied to each

unit

to cover its engineering specialty. The flail tanks

add

V2MF for fla il ing abi li ty; the AVLB bridgers

add 3MF I, to

include the single

turn expenditure

in laying a br idge

and

the

maximum

of three per

game tha t

can be ins ta ll ed . Fer ry uni ts

a re Am

phibious,

and

must expend their entire

MF

twice to

transfer one

unit; their MF is total led as 2

(2MF-I).

Final ly, the

Arab

PMP bridgeplayer

and MLG

minelayer

are

total led exact ly the same, each mov

ing

at

the

Truck

rate,

and

doubling

their

MF

for

engineering abilities.

SMF and Smoke, but

it is

Amphibious. The

recoilless rifle jeeps have a modification for

Cross

Country movement

only.

The

Israeli

armored

in

fantry

and scout j eep mount

I

class weapons,

counting

their

RF

asone, with the

armored infantry

also possessing

Smoke

and Amphibious

movement.

Regular

infantry

units raise their AF by two for

Close Assault Tactics, while

combat

engineers

add

three,

accounting

for die roll modifications (as with,

Overrun).

The RF is

one,

since that's the only effec

tive range for CAT

attacks.

All

i nfan try and

engineer units have Hull

Down and Smoke, and

the

regular

infantry

types also have Special

Infantry

capabilities.

Only the

Arabs are

equipped with

infantry

anti

tank

weapons

of an A

class,

and

against

armored

targets

the spl it in effectiveness is at a

range

of

six hexes,

rather than the

V2RF cut-offs

in

the

earlier games.

If

the

RF

is greater

than

six,

the

AF

is

halved, otherwise the total

AF

is

used.

The

only

other modifier

is Hull

Down,

raising the

DF.

The major

new weapon type included in

AIW

is

the G class missile, including

infantry anti-tank

weapons and

mobile

tank

des troyers, which can

only

attack armored

targets. All units use their total

AF, and subtract

two from the ir RF, excep t for

the

Israeli TOW MI13AI ( the only uni ts which can be

used

at

ranges

of one or

two hexes). Wireguided fire

direction

and

Hull

Down alter

the

DF. and

various

units move with Cross

Country

or

Amphibious

abilities,

or at

the

Truck

rate.

Transportation

is provided by trucks

and

several types of

armored

personnel carriers, carry

ing I

and

A class weapons , and moving

at

various rates .

The BMP and

OT62, with A

weapons,

are treated

as mobile

TDs,

retaining the

total

AF

because their

RF

is

under

six. All

other

units total these factors as

infantry

(AF,

RF or

one).

None of these units have

Smoke, but

all have

Hull

Down and Overrun

(except the trucks).

Movement

rate

mod if ier s i ncl ude C ro ss

Coun tr y, Am

phibious, and

lack of

SMF,

plus the

truck rate

for

the

BTR

152 and 60, and the trucks (surprise?),

which also

double

their MF

for

towing artillery.

Cross Country

MF

-

Truck MF - Y

Amphibious 2MF-I

Carry T MF

X

2

Special Infantry MF x 2

Wire Guidance DF - Y

DF

lo r

2

DF

1

AF MF

2

MF-V<

MF-V<

AF +

or 3

ll Down

hout SMF

out Carry



configuration can

r ea ll y be t ri vi al , excep t

hen the Suez

Canal

edge is being used,

but

if a die

ll index

is appreciated,

it

exists:

first

die

second die roll

roll 1 2 3

4 5 6

1

500

1100 1700 2300 2900 3500

2 600

t200 1800 2400 3000 3600

3

700

t300 1900 2500 3100

3700

4 800

1400 2000

2600 3200 3800

5

900

1500 2100 2700 3300 3900

6

1000 1600

2200 2800 3400 4000

Point totals

for

both

sides

can

also

be

set

ran

omly by the players , 500

or

1000

is

the total sug

sted in earlier articles,

although

the

pieces

in IW

end to be

priced somewhat

higher

on

the

than

those in P IP a

systematic

is

d es ir ed for

setting

the

point

total

at s tar t ,

the idea

of

a di e rol l i ndex

can

be

plied using

two

die rolls,

instead

of one,

to

in

ease the possible

spread

of results:

Bridges have

totals

equal

to

their

DF

(24), ifthey

in

place

a t the

start

of the

game. Otherwise,

their

is

according to

their

construction time. Normal

taking 60 turns,

Infantry

Bridges 5,

and

uts taking 40

turns

to

place

in

the

same manner.

With t he

individual uni t

point

to ta ls estab

shed, there are still several aspects of any potential

remaining to

be

quali fied . These can

be

i nto three

sections.

Fir st , t he re

are the

prior

to the ini tial setup, including

rale levels,

number

of

turns to

be p layed,

Of boards to

be used

and

their

configura

and , mos t

importantly,

the

total

number

of

nts available

to

each side

to

use in selecting units.

e second

group

involves initial deployment,

and

y factors

that take

place

during

play,

such as late

air

strikes, etc.

Las tly, there are

the

objec

conditions,

and

levels of victory that each side

striving

for.

19

37.5

28

31.5

35

50/52.5

22/44/46

47/69171

128

84

M3

Half

track

Sherman Flail

M-60 AVLB

Twin 20mm on

M3

251br How. OBA

t05mm How.

OBA

155mm How.

OBA

Basic Air

Jet A

Huey Cobra

G

UH-I Transportation

There

are

many alternate

methods for set

up , beyond th e r equir ements for

specific u

noted above, that apply

to

the

general

situation

the scenario.

The

basic

method

is for each s ide

deploy

all of their

units on-board

from the

ginning, each

with a

board to consider

as their

ritory,

and

all units face up. Build ing from

setup, one or

both

sides

can turn some

of their u

upside down

(except

static

counters, like bridg

forts , etc.), even to the extent

that

all units begi

a

hidden state. t

is

quite

easy for

an attacke

be

in the

dark

as

to

the deployment

and strength

his

opponent before

he

joins

battle, just

a

defender may not

always

know what

type of forc

approaching

him.

I

am a firm believer in

hid

movement

for t ac ti ca l games , not

just

unt il

point

of sighting

or con tact , but

also

at any

t

that a unit has

broken contact

to the point whe

cannot

be seen by

any enemy

units.)

The

next step in deployment variation is

reserve

some

units

off-board

at

start,

determi

either

by a

percentage of

the

total

number

of

points, or

simply a

percentage

of the total units

either side

is

allowed

more than one board

setting up,

a set

percentage can

be

determined

each

board tha t

they

occupy,

plus

an

additio

total for off-board.

The

most logical division he

to

halve

the total

in

question,

allowing

one gr

on-board and

the

other off.

While

one

side sets

in this

manner,

the

other

can be allowed to deplo

a

hidden state,

g iving each s ide

an

advantage

some

kind.

In addition

to

l imiting each side to

one

or

boards

for

deployment, there can

be

further

res

tions

according

to area

or Battlegroup desig

tions.

The

first

is

derived

from

examples

fo

once again

in

the game scenarios and

serves a

general restriction for

deployment,

while the

ond point is an

extension

of

the first (also sugge

Infantry 23

Machinegun

19

Combat Eng.

17

Pontoon Eng. t

SSII Missile on M3 54.5

TOWMI13AI 74

COBRA

40

COBRA reload 3

81mm Mortar 23.75

120mm

Mortar

33.75

Truck 8

MI13AI

28

Israeli Unit Point Totals

45

48

55

66

67

64

66

30.5

46.25

36

15.5

32.5

1 -34/85 30

BRDM-I Rocket 62

MTU-2 AVLB 32

1 -55 37

SAGGER

44

GSP

Minelayer

25

T-IOM 39.5

SAGGER

reload 3

PMP

Carrier

15

1 -62

40

82mm Mortar

18

Shilka SPAA 32.5

Centurion III 50.5

120mm

Mortar

28.75 ZPU-414.7mm

22

1 -34/100 39

251br How. 34.75

S-60 57mm 60

SU-lOO

48.5

122mm How. 46.5

122mm

OBA

42

PT-76

28

140mm MRL

43.5 130mm OBA

45.5

106mm RR on jeep 32.5

Truck 8

152mm OBA 49

Infantry

22 MIl3

21

180mm OBA 73.5

Commando 19

BTR

152

16.25 240mm

OBA

43.5

Combat

Eng.

23

BTR 5 2

Basic Air

22/34

Const. Eng. 12

BTR60

21

Jet A 41/53

107mm RG

24

BMP

31

MI-8

G 118

l7tbr

ATG

20 01 62

23.5

MI-8 (H)

86

85mm ATG 22

PT-54 Flail

36

Sherman 5

Sherman 51

Sherman 5I Hv

M-48A5

M-60AI

Centurion

Vlli

Patturion

90mm A

TG

on

M3

AMX-13

Armored

In fantry

Scout Jeep

106mm RR on jeep

rab Unit Point Totals

evenly

among each separa te group, fo r

selecting

units; alternately,

one main g roup

can be allot ted

half of the point to ta l,

with

the remainder

divided

among the remaining, smaller, support groups.

As described in the

methods

a bove , e ac h

element

in s ett in g

up the game is determined

separately, independent

of the

other elements.

These point s can a ls o be

made interdependent

so

that

one

die roll

determines

all

of the

aspects

covered

in th e pre-deployment

segment. The

die

is

rolled

once,

and

indexed with

each

item

to

specify

the number of boards,

their

configuration,

the

number

of t urns , and then rol led a

second

t ime for

t he point tot al

index.

(In

t hi s case, t he

horizontal

line is used with the fi rs t di e rol l, so

that the

longer

games, with

more boards,

will also involve

more

units.)

The second majo r g roup ,

involving Initial

Setup

and

In-Progress factors, dea ls with three

main

point s. F ir st , t he re a re

specific

deployment

restrictions

for the static

unit

types

deployed at

start.

Bridges over the Suez

Canal

must be placed at

least twelve hexes

apart , and Cuts must

be

at

least

three hexes away

from each

pair

(Cuts

are

deployed

in pairs on either side of the

Canal,

with the posi

tioning

signified by

the location

of a

Trench counter

in t he

canal). Another

such

restriction, that can

be

more optional,

comes from another

game

scenario,

in which th e

Fort counters

placed

a t s ta rt

must

be

within

two

hexes of each

other

Fort

counter.

This

is

in tended to

be used with

three

For ts , but

can

be

modified accordingly i f more

are used.

Another element

of

deployment

comes from the

association of areas to the

victory

conditions.

Often,

when a speci fi c hex ( such as a town

or road

junction) is

to f igure in determining victory,

one

side will be

required to

place specific

uni ts on that

hex.

This

usual ly ent ai ls a

fort counter and

in

fantry,

or perhaps

artillery, unit inside it.

3-6

length

1-2

width

456

456

4

1 12 12

15

20

die roll

connected sides

of

turns

roll

of boards

roll

The Morale levels

to

be used can

also

be

corded a

point

total , requiring each p laye r to

them

as they

would regular units . The

raeli player picks first,

and

can choose eitherA

or

the

Arab

player can

select B,

Cor

D.

The

costs

of

ese levels are

equal to the number

of

chances for

at side s

uni ts to

become undispersed, using the

available

t o them

(9, 7, 5, 3,),

multiplied

by

wo, for the

two

different types of

units (infantry,

on the Morale

chart . An a lterna te

is

to

multiply

the

total number

of

units that

side selects by

the percentage

of

favorable

rolls

and

use

that

as the

Morale

an opposite approach to

this item

is

t o app ly

he cost of the

morale

level

chosen, not

as a total

from

those used

to obtain

units, bu t as

he starting victory

point total

for

the opponent.

The

number

of

boards, their configuration, and

number

of

turns

are

probably

the

most

arbitrary

ems. This

can

easily be

left up to

the

whim

of the

depending on

how

l ar ge a scenario they

to play. I n lieu of this

option,

all

three parts

be determined

by a roll of

the

die:

Neutral ounters

An additional variation to

this

total is

derived

om a

battlegroup delineation,

suggested by

the

me scenarios.

When

using this idea

to

help deter

ne the

point

total, ten

percent is added to

the

total

or each spl it within

the players

forces. In

effect,

means that

ten

percent is added i f two

groups

to be used, twenty percent

is added i f

three

oups, etc.

This

new

poi nt t ot al c an

be div ided

Fort

J.P.

Trench

Block

16

6

5

5

Assault Boats

Minefields

Bridge (At Start)

5

10/13/15

24

Normal Bridge

Infantry Bridge

Cut

60

5

40



Aside from

counting

just the

initial unit

point

in determining the respective totals, the role of

e

static

units, or specific hexes o n th e

board,

can

emphasized by awarding

more

points fo r

nation, occupation or location.

1 pts for assaulting

IOwn held

by enemy

15

pts for occupying town held by enemy

1

pts for assaulting enemy fort

pts for occupying enemy fort

I pt for occupying road junction

2

pts for eliminating bridge

3 pts

for

eliminating bridge

with

enemy unit

on

it

the

situations

given).

An area restriction can

be

within a

certain distance from

a point , or out

of the same; the most

common

usage of this is

r a player to deploy within

x

hexes of the

board

nearest his

side, or to be at least hexes

y from

the

nearest enemy unit. Areas surround

or

one

side

of ,

static

units

or

terrain features

also be used as reference points for this type of

ment restriction.

With s eparate

groups bei ng u sed,

each o ne

begiven a

different

area

to deploy

in,

or

else

different

turn of entry.

Obviously,

the mor e

being used, t he more

units

being used,

and

e

more bat tl eg roups, s ta ti c

units,

and terrain

being

included

in

the

initial

deployment,

e more confus ing it a ll g et s. But

if

that

weren't

there

is still t he thi rd

major

set of alter

late entry.

The easiest method to use

for

determining which

the reinforcements

will

arr ive on

is

to

leave

it

up

to

the players;

units

starting

off-board

enter when ready. This can be used with either

both teams having units off-board, and with fur

divison

into battlegroups.

A di e roll can determine the turn of entry,

cor

spond ing to the results for

number

of boards,

e turns , e tc .:

expressed

tums

of entry can be used as the

turn for deployment, or they can be a

point, allowing entry

either no

earlier or

later

than

indicated. With more

than

one group

late,

each

should

deploy on

a

different

consecutively,

beginning

with

the

turn rolled

r on the

chart

above.

The method of entry concerns the area along

the

uni ts deploy, usual ly

a specified

map

bu t

at

times restricted

to

a

road

hex.

Another

to

consider is

to

vary the turn of entry for

within a

group,

which would otherwise be

ering together. Two die rol ls are used

for

this

though the best results

are obtained

by

the die only

once, and then

using t he s ame

twice.

The number

obtained determines two

ct or s, t he t ur n on which t he uni ts will begin to

and the number

of

units that can deploy per

rn. For example,

a roll of five (being used for

h parts )

would

allow five

uni ts to a rr ive

each

for five turns; any uni ts in excess of this total

u ld enter e ithe r on turn five or six.

The

grand

finale

to

all of this is

the victory deter

just

as in

an

actual

g ame. As

with the

aspects

mentioned previously in this

article,

can be bui lt around several alternate, often

ideas.

Victory

at

the base level revolves

around

the

of

unit points, and the differential

be

the total

elimination

by

either

side

determines

e level

of

victory, as in the game scenarios. With

scenario, the spread

of

points look

like this:

W W NT

YOU

If your favorite game s tore does not

have

game you want

in

stock and

you have a va

American

Express,

Mas te r Cha rge, or VI

credit

card, call

ou r

Toll Free num

800-638-9292 from anywhere in

the

Continen

United

States except Maryland

to

place

y

order. Our p rompt

mail order service will

t

speed

your

order

t o you

with

our

usual

lightn

dispatch. You must give

the

order taker

number, expiration date, and name

of

your cre

card

along with your

order

and shipping addre

We

ship

UPS

wherever possible.

you

Ne

Parcel Post, be sure to specify this.

The Toll Free

number

is good only

fo r

ord

ing

games

or

other merchandise from Avalon

H

by

credit

card payment . No C.O.D. orders can

accepted. The

operator

will be unable to ans

game questions or switch calls t o someone w

can.

Maryland residents must call 301-254-5

and ask for

extension

34. Absolutely no col

phone calls can be accepted. The Toll F

number

is

not

valid in

Maryland.

OR R

BY

P ON

TOLL FREE

to

write for th e

GENER L

If

you

can

stri

words t oget he r into an i nt er es ti ng arti

format

on any Avalon Hill wargame, there'

good

chance

you're just the person

we

looking for. You can supplement

our liter

s ta ff w ith art ic les

of

strategy,

game analys

Series

Replays,

commentaries. new scenari

or variants.

All

articles

should

be type-written, doub

spaced and accompanied by a self-address

envelope bearing first class postage.

Oth

w is e. r ej ec ted a rt ic le s will

not

be return

Articles should be supplemented with

illust

tions and/or

charts

whenever possible.

Commencing with

the January,

1977 iss

th e

GENER L

will pay 6

pe r

running

1

column

of

edited text.

Letters

to th e Editor

no t subject to remuneration. Alternative

authors mayelect to

take

their remuneration

th e

form

of

Avalon

Hill

products, paid at

rate of 150 of th e cash remuneration. N

that

illustrations and decorative type faces

not

subject

to

remuneration

except

by pr

agreement with

th e

editor.

It is

genera

expected that articles will

be

accompanied

sufficient

illustrations as a requirement

acceptance.

At th e

end

of each calendar

year

EDITOR'S CHOICE

article

will

be selected.

T

author of

this article

will

receive

a

100 bon

an d a

lifetime subscription

to th e

GENER

Defensive

Preserving units

by-

passed on

exit

board

Retaining possession

of

specific

hex;

preserving unit

Retain a majority

on a speci fic board

Opponent's Air

Strikes

used

Offense's units not

across Canal

Exiting units off

board edge

Offensive

Attacking/capturing

specific hex or unit

Move a majority

of

units onto specific

board

r wriu n i r

Strikes not used

Moving units across

Canal

Using these activities in the victory conditions

can give the players a much harde r p robl em to

solve;

one

side

can

be given

points for

exiting

the

map and not

using

Air

Strikes, while the

opponent

aims

to

keep a

majority

of the forces (more

than

the

first player( on on e

board and retain

possession of

towns or forts on another. The combinations can go

o n a n d on

with each side

having any

number of

op

t ions to obtain points; another

idea is

to

give

each

side a Defensive goal and an Offensiveone,

with

the

opponent taking the respective opposites.

Offensive

Exiting units off board edge

Attacking/capturing specific hex

or unit

Move a majority

of

units

Onto

specific board

Prewritten Air Strikes not used

Moving units across Canal

Defensive

Preserving units bypassed on exit board

Retaining possession of specific hex; preserving unit

Retain a majority on a specific board

Opponent's Air Strikes used

Offense's units not across Canal

15

pts for occupying bridge

5 pts for placing bridge across canal

3

pts

for ferry in position

In addition

to , or i ns te ad of,

counting

victory

points solely from the elimination of the opposing

forces, there can be points awarded

for

activities,

both offensively and defensively. In most cases,

for

each act ivity of

one k ind

(offensive)

there

is

an

opposite (defensive) activity

that

the

other

player

can be conc ern ed with, so that in a particular

scenario

each

side can have its own objectives.

The uni t point tot al s can be used to evaluate the

level

of

victory, just as when total ing the point s

eliminated by either

side,

the difference

being that

only those units which

are

successful in their activity

are

counted (unless unit

point

elimination is also in

cluded in a combination).

One

last

variation on

determination of victory is

the

chance for

an

early victory,

based

on a

ratio

of

the victory points obtained

a t any

given time.

The

players keep a running tota l of the victory points

that

each

has

received

from whatever source (unit

elimination

or activity),

and at any time one

side

can

claim

a

victory based

on the rat io with the levels

awarded as follows: less

than

2 1 rat io equals a

draw, 2 1 equals marginal, 3-1 equals

minor,

etc.,

continuing

up to 6 1

or

more equalling

a decisive

victory.

The players might

agree on a starting point

for this quick

victory, such

as

any

time

after

turn

five, or decide to

count

points

af ter both

players

have moved and attacked on a particular turn.

This article has covered

a

great

deal of

ground,

some of it useless perhaps , but I trust

that

most is

not . The possible variations of my own variat ions

are limited only by desire; the point I

have tried

to

make

is

that

these

might make some interesting

starting places.

Contained

within this

article

ismore

than

enough

information and

suggestion to

keep

even the most dedicated

players

occupied for a

while, but they

probably

already are.

6

1

5

7

3

Level

raw

Marginal

Minor

Substantial

Major

ecisive

2

0-30

31 6

61-90

91 12

121 15

151

+

Differential

of entry

roll



PE RL H R OR DEFENDED

FLEXffiLE RESPONSE TO IDE L J P NESE STR TEGY

By James M.

VI TORY IN THE P IFI is on e of the

better releases

p ut o ut

by

Avalon

Hil l in

terms

of

playability an d

balance. It combines

broad

strategic

considerations

a nd s om e

interesting

and enjoyable

tactical components. It

provides an opportunity for

many

varying

approaches by

individual players

in

efforts to

defeat

a particular

opponent by attempt

ing

to

take advantage of perceived weaknesses or

a

fondness for specific types o f a ct i on . F o r face-to

face play it is relatively fast-moving, even if a

somewhat t oo l on g

game.

t

ha s

in

effect

captured

much

of

th e flavor of

t he w ar

in th e Pacific. It

ca n

be argued that

it

is a

balanced

g am e o nc e

the

fun

damentals

h ave b een l earn ed .

It

h as b een su gg est ed,

however

t ha t t he re is an

ideal

strategy,

with

varia

tions

depending upon the p r op o n en t , t h at

will en-

sure v ic to ry for t he Japanese player. Th e conclu

sion

drawn

from the

v ario u s su bscri b ers

to this

general

strategy

is that the game is unbalanced and

even in need o f modification. In

a c tu al it y, t he

strategy put

forward

in its

various

versions

is

flawed.

t

is

flawed in

that

some

of

th e

as s umptions that

ar e

made

a re e it he r o ve rl y o pt im is ti c

or result

from

slight misreadings of th e rules. T h ese p o in t s, while

important, do not really negate th e strategy. More

importantly, as is th e case with most other

games,

there

ar e

effective countermeasures

that the

American

player

ca n take

to

c ou nt er t he ideal

Japanese

s tr at eg y. A s

a

r es ul t, t he q ue s ti on

is

not

one of a

need

fo r

reb al an ci n g an al read y

balanced

game

or

introducing new ru le s

b ut r at he r

for-

mulating

an

American

response that

will

i f n ot

in-

validate the ideal s tr a te gy , a t least make it

much

more hazardous f or t he Japanese p la ye r t o p ur s ue .

Whether the Japanese

strategy

even

remains

the

best

al ternat iv e may v ary

depending on opponents ,

but

it is

hardly

likely

to

be

an

optimum

strategy

in

all circumstances,

an d

ma y

even be a very

weak

course to

pursue on certain occasions.

The Ideal Strategy-A Q u ic k K n oc k ou t P u n ch

T he s tr a te gy

that

has been put

forth

as

an

answer

to the

Japanese

p la y er s p ra y er s

has a

number

of variations,

but in essence follows on e

of

the following two patterns. In Turn I, the American

fleet at

Pearl

Harbor

is destroyed.

During

Turns

2

and 3 th e land b as ed a ir h ol d t he perimeter and the

bulk of the Japanese fleet patrols in the Hawaiian

Islands.

A ny A me ri ca n

opposition is

destroyed,

Pearl Harbor

converts

to a Japanese base, an d the

American forces

t ry in g t o

defend

their

major

port

are

destroyed

or

badly

damaged in

an

unequal ac-

tion. Th e

gains

to

the Japanese include

a

shortened

perimeter

I

ndonesia-South

Pacific-Marshalls

Hawaiian

Islands

versus

Indonesia-South Pacific

Marshalls-Central

Pacific-North

Pacific or

Aleu-

tians the forcing of American fleet reinforcements

to S amoa wh ere raid s cannot penetrate to the Home

Islands an d t he d en ia l o f the

repair

facil it ies at

Pearl Harbor to

the

Americans

for at

least

tw o

turns a n d p r ob ab l y

longer. On e

adjunct

t ha t ha s

been

suggested

for this

s tr a te g y r eq ui re s

the

Yokosuka Marines

to

m o ve t o T ru k o n T ur n 1

per-

mitting

th e J ap an es e c om ma nd er to invade

Jo hn son Islan d o n T ur n 2. Some o f t he J ap a ne s e

land-based air units

ca n

then participate in an y bat

tles for

the

Hawaiian Islands o n T ur n 3.

The

second

version

of

this

strategy

is somewhat

more risky for

the

Japanese

player,

but

ap

p ro pr ia te ly c ar ri es m u ch

greater

rewards

if

suc-

cessful. On

Turns

2 an d 3

the Japanese player

tries

to control both t he H aw ai ia n I sl an ds an d the US

Mandate. I f he succeeds in controlling both areas,

M or e i mp or ta nt ly , the major

American rein-

f or c em e nt s a rr iv in g o n l at er

turns

ar e

held

of f th e

board u nt i l ei t her S am o a o r Pearl

Harbor

is recap

t ur ed . T he J ap an es e

perimeter

will be s tr on g a nd

the PO C lead will be so large that the American

player cannot win, even if land based ai r units

manage

to

recapture Samoa by basing in th e New

H eb ri de s p ro vi de d t ha t p or t r em ai ns

American).

Th e American

fleet will

b e f or ce d t o c o nt e st

at least

one of t he a r ea s , an d

it will

b e b ad ly damaged.

this

s ce na ri o h ol ds u p, t he Japanese

will in effect

have won the game by th e en d o f Turn 3. Th e

strategy

is more r is ky f or t he Japanese

player

in this

version since

the

American fleet might

emerge

vic-

torious

if it

concentrates in on e

of

th e

t wo a re as .

Such

a concentration

m ig ht p er m it

the American

p l ay er t o approach parity

in

terms

of

ai r

power in a

given

area. If

the

Japanese

keep

t h eir carri ers

as

r ai de rs , t he

American

placement of all l an d b as e d

ai r in Samoa to be joined by the American fleet car

riers

ca n be

countered

by

sending

all

th e

carri ers t o

the US M a nd a te ) . T h e inevitable

carri er ex chan ge

that

results

wo ul d d estro y

th e

striking

power o f

the

American fleet

particularly

since the fewer

American

carri ers are

at a

distinct

disadvantage fac-

ing a

larger number of Japanese CY s

a nd C YL s

with

t he s a me number of shots,

given th e

n ee d f or

a

carrier s airstrikes to attack only on e ship.

Ameri can su rface

c ra f t m ig ht p os si bl y outnumber

th e Japanese surface u ni ts , b ut t he a t ta c k b o nu s o f

th e

Japanese cruisers

offsets

this a dv an ta ge i f it

should exist.

T he a bo ve

tw o

strategies

ar e

very

compelling

ones

for

the

J apanes e commander. A cautiouscom

mander will

go for the

Hawaiian

Islands

counting

on the

loss

of

Pearl

Harbor

with its

POCs an d

repair

fac il it ies to give him

t he n ee de d e dg e

t o win

the

game.

A

more aggressive J apanes e commander

will try fo r both the Hawaiian Islands an d the

Mandate. Both of these strategies have s ome minor

problems in some cases as

p re s en te d , b ut m os t

im

portantly,

they

ar e

based on the

American

player

responding

in a

predictable fashion. Th e

American

commander, h owever, h as more options then

these

strategies would

seem

to

permit.

Turn I Possibilities or

the

Chance Factor

O ne m in or f law in on e

of the

versions

of the

strategy

as

it h as b ee n p re s en te d

is

that

it

assumes

that

all th e American forces

at Pea rl

Harbor

ar e

destroyed

in

four air raids. Even

a

maximum

J a pa n es e e f f or t is unlikely

to

bottom all th e ships

an d

destroy

the 7t h Ai r

Force

in the first two

ai r

raids. An y surviving c ra ft a nd the land-based

ai r

can, of

co urse, retreat

before the final

tw o

rounds

finish

of f

the

bottomed ships.

Their

escape

will in-

crease t h e

forces

t ha t t he

American

commander

has

available

to use in

Turns

2

and/or

3. A

good raid

will manage to

sink

five or six

of

the

battleships an d

o ne o r b ot h of the cruisers. Bad luck

could

net fewer

ships, leaving even larger American forces available

for deployment.

Occurrences

in the Central

Pacific

on

Turn

I

c a n a ls o

be

important.

sufficient Location

Uncer

tain g r ou p s a p pe a r there

in

strength an d h ol d t he

a re a, t he J ap an es e player has to be aware of the

possibility of American ships at Pearl

Harbor

and/or Midway

raiding

into

the Japanese Islands or

the

Marianas.

the

M a ri a na s a re

not

held by th e

Japanese,

t h e P h il i pp i nes mu st

be

taken

by Marine

assault

or else

control of

Indonesia

is

threatened.

Thus,

t he r esul ts in

the

Central

P aci fic can

be im-

sure

of controlling the

Central

Pacific, he

w ea ke n t he r ai di ng f or ce

on

Pearl Harbor.

Japanese p l ay er co u ld

also

trust

t o l uck

har

preferred

strategy)

an d

s im pl y s e nd w ea k

forc

th e Central Pacific. Most of the presentations

ideal st rat eg y reco gn i ze t h e importance of t he

t ra l P ac if ic a nd a rg ue for holding it in suff

force,

bu t

lucky fo r

t h e American )

die rolls

n eg a te t he

ideal

st rat egy o n

Turn I.

T he American Response

Neither of the above

t wo p oi nt s a re

critic

the

sense that

t he y n eg at e t he

ideal

strategy

fo

Japanese

commander,

although they

m ig ht

t he H aw ai ia n

I sl a nd s- M an da t e d o ub le o p ti

little

riskier.

But even

if the Japanese p l ay er

the Central Pacific through luck or p o wer o n T

an d does extensive damage in the Pearl Harbor

the American

player

retains some very real

op

to

counter

the

proposed

strategy. These

option

i nt o t wo

categories-first,

judicious

allocati

the

L ocation Uncertain groups combined wit

mounting of serious

threats

t o t he Japanese

areas, an d second, th e de la ye d de fe ns e o

Hawaiian Islands an d the US M an da te . T he

options are related an d c an g o a long way

to

di

the

ideal

s t ra t eg y. A t t he

very least they shoul

vent a ny J ap an es e a tt em pt

to

c on tr ol b ot

M a nd a te a n d the

Hawaiian

Islands

excep t a t a

probability

of failure.

The

first key d eci sio n reg ard s t h e p l aceme

t he L oc a ti on Uncertain carriers an d requisite

porting s hi ps w he n t he y return

t o p or t

at the

e

Turn I. I these

c raft are mispla ced, the

s t ra t eg y m a y

in fact

b e co m e t ha t

for

the

Jap

p l ay er. W h en

retreating

f ro m t he H a wa i ia n I s

in

the

face

of

t he P ea rl

Harbor

raid i ng force,

o ft he carri ers, t wo or t hr ee i f possible should

to Australia with the remainder either appear

Pearl

Harbor at th e

beginning

o f Turn 2

sent to Samoa in th e

r e tu rn p ha s e of

Turn I.

Australia

the

American

carriers

in conjunction

the

British fleet

c an p os e

a

s e ri ou s r a id in g t hr

I nd on e si a . T he y c a n a ls o combine

with forces

Samoa or Pearl

Harbor to

t hr ea te n t he S

Pacific or t he M ar sh al ls us ua ll y a poor

choice). the J a pa n es e c o m ma n de r pursue

ideal

strategy,

he

ma y

lose control

of In do n es

so ,

Lae, Singapore, and

t h e P h il i pp i nes

cann

converted to

Japanese

use until

Turn

4 a

earliest

except

by

marine

assault

in

t he c as e o

an d t he P hi li pp in es . Th e

British fleet

bas

Singapore, becomes more useful an d a much

potent

t hr e at t ha n

on e based at Ceyl o n. Rai

the Allies

into

the J ap an e se H o m e Islands an

Marianas

will be

p o ssi bl e. Ob vi o usl y, t h e Jap

player may beef up defenses

in

I nd on es i a

this

move

ca n only come at t he e xp en se o

tempts to control the Hawaiian Islands an d th

Mandate.

Negation

of control in the South P

h as si mil ar advantages. Access

to

Indonesia an

Marianas is

again

enhanced

f or r ai de rs . La

mains

an

Allied base,

an d

a fleet

negating

cont

the South

Pacific could retire to La

Guadalcanal

an d

be

even

more

threatening

th

Australia. the Japanese player opted to s en

YOkosuka

Marines

to Johnson Islands, he w

have

m a ri ne s a va il ab le t o a s sa ul t

these bases

Turn 2 for L ae t he

S a se b o M ar in es o ut of

J

moving

into

Indonesia)

an d Turn

4 for

Guadal

Kure s taging from

Japan

an d

Yokosuka

Sasebo

reappearing

at

Truk). Again,

the forc

defend the South P acifi c mu st

come

from

the f



Th e ships based in Australia, Lae or

Guadalcanal will remai n av ai l ab l e for t h e d efen se

of the

Hawaiian

Islands

an d

the

Mandate

on Turn

3. Of course, if t he J ap an e se player is

moving

on

b ot h a re a s, t he y will probably be

unable

to give aid

in t he H a wa i ia n I sl an ds unless Japanese

control

in

t he M ar sh al ls h as a ls o

been

negated

by

raiders

on

Turn 2. Some

o f

the

o l der b att l esh ip s

might fail

their speed rolls if

th e

decisive action is t o t ak e p la ce

in

t he H aw ai ia n

Islands.

T he ir n um b er s

will be

limited in an y event since

mo st av ai l ab l e Ameri can

ships

will be

cruisers

an d

carriers

which

do

not have

an y speed roll disabilities. I the Japanese forego at

tempts

to

c o nt ro l t he M a nd a te , the

ballieships can

always be ret urned to Samoa

so

as to be available

for

Hawaiian

Island

action.

If t h e d ang ers of key raids by the

American and

Bri ti sh f leet s in the s outhern areas is not enough,

ships

appearing

at Pearl

Harbor on

Turn 2 can pose

yet another

threat.

These ships, including

some

car

riers

c an m ov e

as raiders on the northern flank. A

raid t o t he A le ut ia ns saves Allu as an American

p or t a nd

as a base for l and -based ai r

f or f ut ur e

turns.

By returning

to

Dutch Harbor, the American

ships ar e av ai l ab l e t o come t o t he de fe ns e of the

Hawaiian

Islands in Turn 3 or to move

on

the

Japanese

Islands,

alone or

in

conjunction

with a

move

from the

direction o f I nd on es ia . T he ir

ultimate use will depend

on

Japanese dispositions in

Turn 3 b ut t he ir

options

cannot help

bu t

create

problems for the Japanese player. Th e

raiding

threats to both fl an ks mi gh t be uti lized to

destroy

isolated

Japanese

u ni ts , t hu s w ea ke ni ng t he forces

available for th e climactic

battles

the Japanese

com

mander is seeking to force. If the Japanese player is

serious about

controlling

the

Hawaiian

Islands

an d

perhaps

the

Mandate,

the

lost POCs in

various

other areas m ay o ff set the disabilities that the

Ameri can p l ay er will

suffer

from the lack of his

major repair facilities.

T he J apanese player

wh o

is

committed

to

on e

o f

the

variations

of

th e

ideal s tr a te g y m a y i gn or e t he

raiding

possibilities presented by the above disposi

tions

o f

the

existing

American

forces.

He

may

decide

that if he

controls

both Samoa

an d

Pearl

Harbor an d

prevents

the major

American

fleet rein

fo rcemen ts from arri v in g , he ca n deal with the fleet

forces an d the few

American land-based

ai r units

that will keep reappearing, even if these

land-based

ai r units have a multitude

o f

a re a s t ha t t he y can con

test.

Th e

arrival of limited

reinforcments

for the

American

late in th e

g am e i f Samoa

is

reconverted)

ma y give the Japanese p l ay er t i me t o gai n enough

POCs in the other areas

an d

whittle down

th e

Allied

forces.

Depending

on ship losses in t he b at tl es f or t he

Hawaiian Islands

and

the Mandate, a relat ively

small

Japanese PO C

lead

ma y

not

prove

to be

enough

to

win the game,

particularly

if the

Americans have a raiding lane open to key Japanese

held

a re as . W it h t he

American

p lay er al way s mo v

ing

second,

it is no t clear that a

decimated

Imperial

Japanese Navy will be a bl e t o h ol d o ff weak Allied

units.

Th e

key battle

ma y

b ecome t h eco n t est for the

US Mandate in

Turns

5 an d 6 by the

Ameri can l and

based air u ni ts t ha t will have reappeared. T hus,

Turns 5

an d

6 ca n be crit ical, as mu ch s o as Turns 2

an d 3 at least if the New

Hebrides

is no t lost

to

in

vading Japanese marines. T he a pp ea ra nc e

o f

American rein f or ce me nt s a s l at e as Turn 7 could

still

turn

the t ide a ga in st t he

Japanese

player

wh o

has only a relat ively small lead. a

mutually

destructive

battle

has

occurred,

t h e Ameri can rein

forcements will t ip t he b al an ce even

more

than

if

they join a largely unhurt fleet.

Th e net effect of the dispositions

outlined

above

is

that

the

Japanese

player

ma y

still try

to

follow

the

ideal strategy an d it might still work, but if it fails

t he g am e is likely to be los t on the spot. F ail u re t o

ne ga te t he a rri va l o f American

reinforcements

w ou ld m e an t ha t a decimated Japanese fleet would

h av e t o face the

remnants

of the American forces

plus the

substantial

reinforcements

du e

t o a rr iv e.

With a diminished PO C lead du e to Allied raids, the

possibilities of a Japanese ~ t o r y will all b u t d i sap

pear. T hus,

the ideal st rat egy may

t ur n o ut

pitting

the outcome

o f

the gam e on m ajo r

battles

in the

Hawaiian Islands an d the Mandate in which t he a d

vantages to the Japanese pl ay er a re m uc h fewer

than s upposed.

I

the

Japanese

player simply

opts

to

try to control the Hawaiian Islands, the

American reinforcements

will

arrive,

an d

the

PO C

ga in s t ha t t he Japanese expec t will be fewer

than

specified in the ideal

strategy,

permitting the

American p l ay er t o compensate f or t he loss of Pearl

Harbor

repair facilities an d the

Hawaiian

Island

POCs.

Delayed Defense

Th e s ec ond m ea su re t o u ti li ze in f ac ing the

Japanese

ideal strategy

is

designed to

enhance

the

prospects of the

American

p la ye r w in ni ng th e

critical battle by choosing the t ime in which t o p ar

t i ci p at e. T h is tactic requ ires t h e d elay ed d efen se o f

the

Hawaiian

Islands

a nd t he

US

Mandate. Rather

t ha n d ef en di ng t he t hr ea te ne d a re a o n T ur n 2 the

American pl ay er c onc ede s t he m t o t he Japanese,

saving strength for

th e

crucial battle

on

Turn 3.

Th e

American

flee t f or ce s

an d

land-based

a ir will

probably be insufficient on Turn 2 t hu s s im pl y

being defeated in detail by the

J apanese. Rather,

th e

sh ip u n it s

threaten the Japanese

perimeter areas

an d t he l an d- ba s ed ai r units ar e placed ou t

o f

harm s

way. S in ce t he

J apanese effort

calls for a

maximum concentration

in the key

areas , any

fleet

moves to

knock

ou t

l and -based ai r

in the Coral Sea

or elsewhere wil l be at

odds more advantageous

to

t h e Ameri can p l ay er

an d

will p ermi t fav orab le at tri

tion. It should be

n ot ed t ha t

to o wide a dispersion

o f

the Japanese carrier forces to damage land-based

a ir m ig ht even permit a Turn 2 challenge in a key

area.

Of

course, this situation would only result

from a

major

deviation by the Japanese player from

th e

ideal strategy, so in effec t the

countermoves

by

the A me rica n

commander

will

already

have

defeated the ideal

strategy

as presented.

O n T ur n 3 the Japanese challenge can be me t in

earnest

with all available

American

forces. Six land

b as ed a ir

units should

b e av ai l ab l e,

a formidable

force versus carriers

s ub je c t t o

disabled results.

At

least three an d maybe four of

th e

five

American car

riers also will be available.

Th e

Japanese will have,

assuming

no

losses I I carriers with 32 b on us a ir

factors plus one additional carrier with 3 strikes if a

speed roll

is

passed.

Th e

Americans will h ave t he six

a ir f ac to rs

with 2

shots

an d 2

to

6 bonus s hots

f ro m t he ir t hr ee

or

four carriers. Thus, the lineup is

9-10

American

units versus 11-12 Japanese ones.

It

is by

n o m e an s c le ar

that

the

edge in thi s case is with

the Japanese given the greater staying power

o f

th e

American

land-based

air. Th e

American

surface

fleet will be

roughly

equal to t he J ap a ne se t o ta l ,

although again t he a tt ac k b on us

o f

the Japanese

cruisers gives the Japanese p la ye r a n edge in a sur

face action. By c om pa ri so n, o n

Turn

2 the

American p la ye r w ou ld h av e only two

or

three ai r

forces an d four

or

five carriers with a

maximum

of

six

regular

an d 6

to

20 bonus s hots .

Th e

Japanese

w ou ld h av e n in e c a rr ie rs f or s ur e with 27 airstrikes

an d possibly two more with five strikes ifspeed rolls

ar e

passed.

More importantly,

t he re w ou ld b e

up

to

eight Ameri can u ni t s versus u p t o Japanese ones.

G iv en t he number of

land-based

a ir a va il ab le , t he

American

chances

ar e

better

on Turn 3. Th e

Americans gain ten

armor

factors three land-based

air an d

assuming

on e 0-2-7

c ar ri er s un k o n

Turn 2

while

the

Japanese

gain

only three

armor

factors.

T h er e a r e a number

o f

possible s ituations that

ca n

o cc ur o n

Turn 3. the J apanes e commander

opts

si mp l y t o

capture

Pearl

Harbor, the American

player will h av e t o d ec id e w he th er or not t o d

th e

Hawaiian Islands. his raids elsewhere

been successful,

the PO C

situation might lea

to

continue his assaults in other

areas

an d

co

th e

loss

o f

Pearl

Harbor.

H e m ig ht d ec id e t o u

land-based

ai r in H aw ai i t o

attrition the J ap

carrier force trading the replaceable

land-bas

for

irreplaceable

in many senses

o f

the

Japanese c a rr ie rs . H e m a y a ls o a cc ep t the cha

in

the Hawaiian

Islands if circumstances so di

but his fleet units

at

S am oa , G ua da lc

Australia,

Midway,

and/or

Dutch

Harbor

w

av ai l ab l e i f n eed ed.

the Japanese player allempts to lan

Yokosuka M arin es at Johnson Island

on

Tur

d i fferen t respo n se

ma y be appropriate. T he

tion

o f

up to six Japanese Ai r flotillas to th e

on

Turn 3 changes

the

bailie

odds

significan

favor

of the Japanese.

On Turn

2 the

Ame

p la ye r m ig ht

consider

placing on e

land-base

unit in the

Hawaiian

Islands in the hope

o f

disa

or

sinking

t he m ar i ne

unit. A lucky s h ot c o

effect n egat e this portion

o f

the Japanese stra

If the Japanese player opts for a n ight actio

succeeds, t h e ai r unit

ca n

simply retreat saving

for Turn 3

action.

Even i f J oh ns on Island

h ow ev er , t he

American

still ha s s om e o p

available. Th e 1st an d 2 n d M ari n es appear at

Harbor on Turn

3.

Lacking

a ny o th er

cour

action

i f t he H aw ai ia n Islands were controll

the Japanese

on

Turn 2 they c an p ut t o s e a in

f or t t o

recapture

Johnson

Island.

Even i f t he

in th e first round of combat the Japanese w

fo rced t o ex pen d ai rst ri k es ag ai n st t h em in or

preserve

the

port

as an airbase. Th e Ame

player will

also

have three

battleships

at se a

Hawaiian

Islands, so the

Japanese

player wil

to

counter

at least these units as well.

Japanese player is concentrating solely on

trolling

t he H aw ai ia n

Islands,

th e

presence

ai r flotillas will

probably

assure victory fo r h i m

he must at least be

c ar ef ul t o

guard a ga in

possibility of

American

raiders rein forcin

Hawaiian

Islands. Reinforcements

combined

a successful

American

invasion could

doom

whole

strategy o f

controlling t h e Hawaii an I

an d

capturing Pearl Harbor.

the Japanese.player is trying

to

contro

the Hawaiian Islands an d the Mandate, t h e

tion is much

different. If

Johnson Island

A m er i ca n, t he

l a nd b as e d

a ir c an

d ef e nd H

an d

th e fleet u n it s co ul d co nt est th e US Man

fo rci ng t wo b att l es, o n ly on e

o f

which

th e

Am

p la ye r n ee ds t o

win.

Th e

fleet uni ts will in

cases be forced to fight in the M a nd a te a r ea

J ap a ne se c o nt r ol o n T u rn 2 would prevent su

ing

Hawai i from Au stral ia. Ameri can raid ers

Pearl Harbor o n T ur n 2

that

succeed in holdi

Central Pacific could a ls o r et ur n t o M id wa y.

forces from

the southern

areas negate Japanes

trol of th e

Marshalls,

then t he se for ce s a s r

could

threaten

t o i n terven e

in

either

th e

Haw

Islands

or the US Mandate. A Japanese

forced

to

deal with both possibilities

could

di

his forces

to o

widely. Since the American

wo ul d mo v e secon d , he wo ul d k n ow wh et h er

t he J ap a ne se player were committed

to

t he

strategy o n T ur n 2

an d

use his raiding forces

appropriate

fashion. Alternately, particularly

J apanes e control J ohnson Island, th e

America

throw his

land-based

ai r u ni ts i nt o

th e

batt

Samoa.

T he J apanes e player,

ifhe

holds his ca

back as raiders, will

know

t ha t t he America

c ho se n t o d ef en d o nl y

th e

Mandate, but at

some o f his other

s urface craft

will already

been committed

to

the

Hawaiian

Islands unl

t ru st s t o luck t o p re ve nt a n A me ri ca n i nv as

Johnson

Island.

Thecombined

American

flee

ai r forces will have a slight superiority o

surface in n um be rs i f not quality an d a s lig

feriority in airstrikes,

although

again

th e



Table I

Hypothetical Decisive Action

US Mandate

Japanese Strategy Variation and the American Flexible Response

Forces

with

ai r

capability

available:

J apanese: I I CYs

and

CYLs with 32 airstrikes American: 3 CYs with 2 airstrikes

6 ai r forces with 12 airstrikes

sunk . Th e American without overlap

or

over

can expect

to disable

two

ships and

score two h

Th e expected 7

damage

points should sink

or

inn

maximum damage

on two

Japanese carriers. Th

in theexchange, four

Japanese

carriersare remo

f rom the next

round

of action. Th e surviving f

carriers will

have approximately nine

shots

ver

the remaining land-based

ai r

units with e ight .

this

s tage , t he advantage shifts

to

the

land-ba

air.

The

ultimate

outcome

is likely to bea t least

l and based ai r

unit

surviving

to

control

the

area

a

significant

number

of

the

Japanese

carriers su

or damaged . Thus,

while

the

American car

forces ar e

virtually

gone, t he

Japanese

neet wil

virtually impotent from Turn 6 onward to

deal w

the threat of t he Ameri can car ri er s t ha t begin

pearing

in large numbers. Of course, i f the

open

ai r

round goes

poorly,

the Japanese player

wi thdraw from the area , accepting the fai lure of

strategy bu t preserving his carr iers for later acti

Conclusions

From

th e

above comments, it is

obvious

that

Japanese

player can

force

a key battle as

early

Turn 3 in

th e

game if

he so des ires

by

following

Hawaiian

Island-US Mandate variation of

strategy. Th e g amble involved, h owev er,

not iceably l arge r

than

assumed.

Th e dela

defense

approach combined

with

the

losses

valuable POCs

to Ameri can and British

raid

elsewhere may well prove

that

a double assault

the Mandate and the

Hawaiian

Islands will succ

less

often than it

fails. Even the

Japanese

conc

tration

on

the

Hawaiian

Islands

combined wit

dispersal of the forces slated for t he US Mandat

perimeter defense is less likely

to

achieve ult im

victory. Th e

American could very well survive

loss

of

Pearl

Harbor

if

he

has had

successful

r

elsewhere.

Th e

counterstrategy

of an Ame ri can nex

response to the varia tions of the

ideal Japan

attempt to win an ear ly v ic to ry a re

summarized

Table 2. Forces available

to

both sides will

v

depending on previous actions and speed rolls

the

outline

is thesame,

with

the key action proba

occurring in Turn 3, perhaps in t he Hawa

Islands and

perhaps

as a result

of

raids

elsewh

Th e

chances of

victory

ar e a t worst equal

f rom

American point

of

view. t he game is decide

Turn

3 under

these circumstances,

then

so

be i t.

the ideal Japanese strategy will have accomplis

is to

br ing the

game to

a major

decision

early rat

than

late. Balance is still present, given the fact

a few

rolls

of the

dice may determine

victory

defeat. If a veteran

Japanese

player

has

determi

that t he l at er phase

of

V T favors the Americ

or tha t

his

particular opponent

will win i f t he

ga

is not dec ided ear ly , t hen

he

would quite logic

force

an

early

conclus ion to

the

g ame. H e co

not,

however, expect t o emerge v ic to ri ous

m

than half the t ime, and perhaps less.

He

will

deny h imse lf t he

opportunity

of

taking

advant

of potential mistakes by his opponent later in

game.

The foregoing discussion of the ideal Japan

s t ra tegy would indicate that

it

fails t o t ake

into

count all

facets of

V TP lt rests on a tot

predictable response fo r the American

command

Allied raiders threaten no vital a rea, and , in f

the

American

player will obligingly commit

forces piecemeal on Turns 2 an d 3. It must

be

mit te d t ha t

if

t he Amer ican

p laye r does

act

p re dic ta bly , then the s tra te gy will work. F

gamers, however,

ar e

willing

to assume

tha t t

opponents will be so

kind.

A

more

though

American

response provides a greater element

chance

and

largely dest roys the advantages gai

by

the Japanese capture

of

Pearl Harbor and ma

the Hawaiian Island-Mandate

strategy

a

risky

o

this

new

eventuality

or

lessen t he ir l and bas ed a ir

defenses

in

Indonesia.

Aggressive

patrols on

turn

2

with expendable ships can cause a lot of problems

for a Japanese player

unwilling to change his

goals

an d determined to t ake Pearl Harbor.

Table

I

includes an

example

as to

how theact ion

in the Mandate might occur. Th e table assumes

that

only a ir

action occurs since the

number

of

surface

craft

available in a given

game

is variable

and hard

to predict. Similarly, expected losses

froma surface

action

involving many

ships

has

too

many

possibilities.

Th e table also assumes that only three

of t he Ameri can car ri er s a re left

to

participate

as

well as

the

six

air forces.

The Japanese have II

car

riers with 32 airst rikes . On the first

round

of

action,

the three American carr iers

ar e

disabled, sunk,

or

receive maximum damage ,

as do

three of

the

Japanese 4 strike carriers a

typical

occurrence in a

straight carrier

fight

with

bonus

shots).

The

remain

ing car ri er s a ssau lt t he l and-based a ir with

an

ex-

pected

3.3 hits and

11.5

damage.

Thus,

with

average luck and no lost hits

or

overkill on a par

t icul ar a ir uni t, two

of

t he Ameri can uni ts will

be

3 CYs sink

or disable

3

Japanese

four strike CYs

6 AFs

attack

six CYs

and CYLs with

2 disables

and two hits with 7.0 expected damage 2

sunk)

2 AFs at tack 2 CYs and CYLs with .67 disabled

and .67 hits

fo r 2.4

damage

sun

k

and

I disabled)

4

AFs a tt ack 4CYs

and CYLs

with

1.3 expected

disables and 1.3 expected h it s w ith 4 .5

damage

sunk and I disabled)

I AF remaining ensuring American

control

Total expected disables by

American

AF 4 .0

Total expected damage by Ameri can AFs 13.9

American Counter

Raid

north f rom Pearl Harbor

Threaten

Indonesia an d

South

Pacific from

Australia

Continue raids on Turn 3

Possibly contes t Hawai ian Islands with land-

b as ed a ir on Turn

3

Threaten Control

of

the Marshal Islands

Raid as above on Turn 2

Land-based air unit to

attempt

t o s ink

or disable

marines on Turn 2

Continue raids

on

Turn 3

Possible

counterassault

on Johnson Is land with

Is t and 2nd Marines on Turn 3 combined

with

land-based air defense of Hawaiian

Islands

Raids

as above on Turn 2

Land-based a ir def end Hawai ian I sl ands on

Turn 3

with

neet in Mandate,

or

combined

neet

and

land-based air defense of Mandate

Raids as

above

on Turn 2

One land-based

air

attempts to

sink

or

disable

marines on

Turn

2

Maximum

effort

in

Mandate

in

Turn

3

if

Johnson

Island

has fallen

with

marine

counterassault

in

Hawaiian Islands

la

Yokosuka Marines assault Johnson Island

on

Turn2

Japanese Variation

[

Control Hawaiian

Islands

on

Turns 2 and

3

with

major port ion of neet

II

Control Hawaiian

Islands and US Mandate

on Turns

i

and 3 by dividing Japanese

neet

on bot h

Turns

lIa Yokosuka Marines assault Johnson Island

on Turn 2

ROUND 4

Table

2

Total

expected

Japanese

damage

versus

American AFs 21.3

ROUND I

3 CYs

sink

or disable 3 American CYS

8 CYs and CYLs attack ai r forces with 3 .3

expected hits

and 11.5 expected damage

2

AFs sunk)

ROUND 2

4 CYs with 1I strikes attack the 4

AFs

with 1.8

expected

hits and 6.3 expected damage 2 AF

sunk,

including previously damaged

one)

ROUND 3

2

CYs and CYLs

attack 2

AFs with

I

expected

hit for 3 .5 damage

AF sunk a t b es t)

ai r

have

superior

s ta yi ng power . The

anese will

have at

best

II carriers

since

the

cannot

speed roll from the Japanese

The American could

have four carriers and

air forces hardly an

inadequate

force.

In

effect,

delayed defense

of

the key areas will permi t the

player

to

challenge

th e

Japanese

thrust

rom a position

of

much g re ate r s tren gth th an

ha ve b een

the case

during

Turn 2. The

of

the knockou t punch suc ce ed ing a re

Iy red

uced.

Of cou rs e, t he

s impl es t b ut most effective

to any

Japanese

designs on t he Hawai ia n

is to duck

the heavy Japanese

patrols

on

twO and threaten to

control

t he Mar shal l

yourself. the Japanese have ove r

com

their offensive-minded

patrols

they may

t roub le knock ing out a strong

American

t ro l in

the Marshal ls

which

wou ld deny Truk

patrollers

access

to

the

Hawaiian Islands

on

n 3.

Some

players

won t recognize

this unt il it s

o late; others will

be

forced into spreading their

more sparsely than

they

would

ke to cover



32

AVALON HILL

ST S LL R

LIST

As is our custom, we once a ga in p re se nt t he

sales rankings for the Avalon Hill game line based

on

t ot al s f or

our

1980 F is ca l Y ea r w hi ch b eg an

May

80 and

ended

A pr il 8 1. F ig ur es f or t he All

Time

list include all versions of a t it le s ol d t o date

provided

the

game

system has not

changed

over

the years. D D Y and FOOTB LL STR TEG Y

for instance have collectively gone through eight

different

editions, bu t

are

considered to be

basically the same game. GETTYSBURG on the

other hand,

changed

drastically in each

of

its four

versions and is t herefo re omi tt ed f rom the list

even though the collective totals of its many ver

s io ns w ou ld ordinarily q ua li fy f or 10t h p la ce .

Note

that

the

current

edition of

B

TTLE

0

THE

BULGE

will soon disappear

from

t he l is t

w he n i t is r ep la ce d b y the new versi on whi ch con

stitutes

an

entirely new game. Titles are placed

on

the All Time list only after having soldin excess of

100,000 copies while under Avalon Hill owner

ship. Sales rankings do

no t

include sales made by

a

different

publisher.

1980 AH BEST SELLERS

E N SOUP ND OTHER RECIPES

6. The Expert. Talk l ik e y o u h av e a reput

Use selffulfillment with chatter suchas, I b

last thirty-seven opponents with this strategy

not too worried about

your

defense .

7. Cohorts. B ri ng a lo ng a fr ie nd or t wo

them to stop by and look the game over ever

in a while. T he y should say things like, Isn

the same s tra te gy the last guy you were p

tried?

.

8. S mo ke sc re en . L ig ht up a

cheap

c ig ar

middle of a tight contest and direct the s

towards the board. You should then be a

move some counters around u si ng t he smo

cover, especially since your opponent will pro

be coughing

and

feeli ng il l. However, mak

y ou p os it io n y ou rs el f on

the correct

side

board,

upwind, or

the

smoke

will backfire.

rooms with variable winds.

9. The Lucky Me

Syndrome.

A few g

claim to b e a bl e to control t he die by t he p ow

thought. Of course, they

don t

come

ou t

and

They intimate it through hints

and

subtle ac

It s

amazing how gullible people are

and

how

they are taken i n by such phoni es. You ll neve

anyone

accuse

another of

h av in g this

though, as this

is

an open admission that

power d oe s i nd ee d e xis t, w it h a ll its f ri gh

ramifications. You

too

can have

t he

power

by announcing that y ou ha ve a lw ays be en

with the die. This works best when playi

opponent for the first time.) When you

favorable result, say

you re

sorry you are so b

When

your

opponent th ro ws a bad r es ul

you re sorry; you didn t know you

could cont

rolls so well.

If

y ou l os e, s ig h d ee pl y a s if rel

and say

you re

glad you don t win a ll t he t i

y ou wi n, act matter-of-factly. The word w

around that

you are a

lucky guy ,

and yo

well

on your

way to becoming the Kresk

Kriegspieling.

1 Cry. Preferably real tears.

Of course, after using t he se t ac ti cs , y ou

find that no one will play wit h you anymore.

a ll , a gamer without opponents isn t wort h t h

his beans are in. I know , I know, I should jus

up.

by Alan R. Moon

Throughout

h is tor y a

major

weapon at the

disposal

of

any a rmy

has

been

overlooked.

Bean

soup. Garbonzo beans being especially effective.

But b ean soup is o nl y one of many physically

harmless, bu t psychologically deadly tactics gamers

can u se i n t he ir q ue st f or v ic to ry . S o, t hi s should be

seen as a recipe

book

f or g am er s. M y t en b es t.

I.

Operant conditioning. From

the

moment

you sit

down

at t he ta ble , hum constantly,

preferably

in a l ow t on e. W he ne ve r

your

opponent

makes a good move, rai se t he t one of your humming

slightly.

He

will begin to hesitate and listen for the

higher hum at crucial moments in th e g ame as

reassurance he is m ak in g t he r ig ht m ov e.

That s

whe n you have him.

He s

conditioned. You ca n

now

use your new

found

power in one

of

two ways.

One,

don t hum w he n he is about to

make

a good

move. He ll wait, and think about it, but he ll in

evitably make another move i nstead. Two, hum

higher whe n he m ake s a bad move to confuse his

conditioning. This negative feedback will turn him

i nto a mess of mixed responses

and

f rom then

on

you can hum

or

not hum at random.

2. Consu lt ing The

Oracle.

At impo rtant

moments during your

opponent s turn,

pick

up

the

rulebook.

Ask

him if he s sure his

move

is legal.

Ask

h im r ep ea te dl y h ow many times he s p la ye d t he

game.

Mumble

aha

or

hmmm

a lot when

looking through the rulebook.

3. The Prim Rose

Path.

Study

and

k no w t he

historical situation

and

tell your

opponent

the

mist akes he can

make

by following an historical

pattern. Keep trying to te ll h im h ow h is s tr at eg y is

l eading him to a disast rous histori cal conclusion.

Make parall el s bet ween his play and t he mist akes

made b y t he a ct ua l commanders. your opponent

doesn t

know anything

about

t he actual hi st ory of

the g ame , try to c on vi nc e h im to follo w t he

historical path

oran

ahistorical

path,

depending

on

which will lead to disaster.

4.

Time

In Your Pocket. Play quickly and com

plain i f your opponent t akes l onger than you do.

Look at your watch a lot.

If

he s drinking beer,

complain about t he del ay everyti me he goes to the

bathroom.

5.

Jiggling Jugs. Bring your girlfriend along as

a distraction. Have h er w ea r a h al te r

top and

lean

2

3

4

5

6

8

7

9

11

1979

Rank

ALL-

TIME

BEST SELLERS

1 PANZERBLITZ

2. OUTDOOR SURVIVAL

3. FACTS IN FIVE

4. LUFTWAFFE

5. BLITZKRIEG

6.

PANZER LEADER

7. TACTICS

8. THIRD REICH

9. FOOTBALL STRATEGY

10. MIDWAY

II .

SQUAD LEADER

12. STARSHIP TROOPERS

13. BATTLE OFTHE BULGE

14. AFRIKA KORPS

15. ACQUIRE

Iii D-DAY

17.

RICHTHOFEN S

WAR

18. 1776

19. TWIXT

20. PAY

DIRT

Rank

Title

Rank Title

I. SQUAD LEADER

2. FACTS IN FIVE

3.

WIZARD S QUEST

4. MAJOR

LEAGUE

BASEBALL

5. PAYDIRT

6.

PANZER

LEADER

7. OUTDOOR SURVIVAL

8.

TACTICS

9. FORTRESS

EUROPA

10.

ACQUIRE

II .

CRESCENDO

OF

DOOM

p.

WAR

PEACE

13.

DIPLOMACY

14.

PANZERBLITZ

IS. BOOK OF LISTS

FOOTBALL S T R t \ ~ Y r n _ . , . ~ _

17. FEUDAL

18. CROSS

OF

IRON

INTERN

THIRD

REICH



Strategy in iplomacy

y

Lewis Pulsipher

Part II o a Three Part Series on the Game With o ice

While negotiation is a means of convincing

players to act as you desire, the art of strategy

choosing the combinations of countries, and

direction of movements (thrust east instead

west, by land instead

of

by sea) which, if

as p lanned , will result in a win. It

is

the

neglected

of

the

th re e a spe ct s of

play, the one in which the average

is most likely deficient, and the one which

arates most experts from merely good players.

average player

is

content to let his negotiations

ermine his strategy rather than vice versa. Con

quently he seldom looks beyond the next game

the immediate identification

of

enemy and

to what he ought to do later in the game.

I assume in the following

that

the player s objec

is to win, or failing that, to draw. Those who

draws in favor

of

survival as someone else

will approach some points of strategy dif

but until late in the game there

is

virtually

difference between the two approaches.

Strategy in

DIPLOM Y is

strongly influenced

the shape

of

the board. Spaces near the edge are

t han central spaces, so

that

movement

is

as fast as movement through the middle.

important , the board is divided into two

rategic areas or spheres . The eastern sphere

cludes Austria , Russia, and Turkey, while the

is

England, France, and Germany. Italy sits

tride one of three avenues between the two

heres. The northern route through Scandinavia

and the Barents Sea enables Russia to have some in

fluence in the western sphere. The central route,

between Germany on one hand and Aus tr ia and

Russia on the other, looks short but

is

rarely used

early in the game.

Normally the game revolves

around

efforts to

dominate the two spheres. Earlyin the game a coun

try rarely moves out

of

its own sphere-it

can t

afford the diversion of effort until the conflict in its

own sphere

is

resolved. However, the country or

alliance which gains control of its own sphere first,

enabling it to invade the other sphere, usually gains

the upper hand in the game as a whole. A con

t inuous tension exists between the need to com

pletely control one s own sphere and the need to

beat the other sphere to the punch. Commonly, two

countries in a sphere will attack the third, attempt

ing at thesame time to arrange a longindecisive war

in the other sphere so

that

i t will be easy to invade

later . Sometimes the two countries will f ight for

supremacy before the winner goes on to the other

sphere; more often, the players

of

the other sphere,

becoming aware

of

the threat from the other side

of

the board, will intervene and perhaps patch up their

own differences. Poor Italy is t rapped in the mid

dle. Naturally an alliance which endeavors to

dominate a sphere wants Italy to move into the

other sphere, probably to establ ish a two vs. two

stalemate. And the odd man out in a sphere turns

first to Ita ly to redress the balance

of

power. In

either case Italy

is

stuck in a long war. An Itali

win

is

usually a long game.

This discuss ion shows us the most importa

principle

of

strategy:

everything th t h ppe

nywhereon the bo rd ffectseverycountry If

yo

concern yourself onlywith two or three neighborin

powers you ll never become an

expeh

playe

though glib negotiation skill can go far to compe

sate for strategic deficiency. If you as Turkey c

influence the move of one French or English unit

may make the difference between a win anda draw

game years hence. If you can strongly affect the e

t ire country s movements , even at that d is tanc

you should go far along the road to victory. The e

pert s trategic player knows where many foreig

uni ts will be ordered each season, and he tries

do so subtly, by misdirection and throug

intermediaries; it

doesn t

do to

att ract too

muc

attention.)

One of the most important considerations

strategy is the attainment of a stalemate line b

your country or alliance. Your long-range goal is

win, but unless you are a quite romantic player wh

prefers instability, your immediate objective is to b

sure you

can t

lose-then worry about going on

win. A stalemate line

is

a posi tion which cann

possibly be breached or pushed back by the enem

The area within

or

protected by the line include

supply centers sufficient to support all the uni

needed to form the line. There are many stalema

lines, but these have been discussed at length



books and fanzines about DIPLOM CY I will

describe the two major lines, which roughly coin

cide with the two spheres (and not by accident ) ,

and you can find variations ar.d other lines by

studying the board. (U unit, that is, either army or

fleet)

Eastern Line A Vienna, A Budapest S Vienna,

A Trieste S Vienna, U Venice, U Rome, U Naples S

Rome, F Adria tic S Venice, U Apulia S Venice, F

Ionian, F Eastern Med. S Ionian, U Sevastopol, U

Rumania, U Bulgaria S Rumania, U Armenia S

Sevastopol.

Western Line U St. Petersburg, U Norway SSt.

Petersburg, U Kiel, A Ruhr S U Kiel, A Burgundy,

U Marseilles, A Gascony S Marseilles, U Spain, U

Portugal S Spain, F Mid-Atlantic, F English S Mid

Atlantic, (Can be expanded to hold Berlin and

Munich. Alternative:

nothing

in Spain and

Marseilles, F Portugal S Mid-Atlantic, A Brest S

Gascony, A Paris S Burgundy.)

With 3 to 5 centers, or

as

many as 17, within a

ne, a player

is

almost certain

of

a draw. If he

eaches the line soon enough, and alone, he can

ove on to prevent any other player from conquer

ng the rest of the board, and a draw or win is

A drawback

of

reaching a stalemateline is thatit

put other players on their guard against you.

hey know they can t knock you down to size,

ey l l be reluctant to fight one another . This is a

nger any strong country faces, however, and it

be noted that a perfectly played

game will end in a draw, not a win.

This depends par tly on the players styles,

of

game among seven extreme

placers

see last issue) will never be a draw.)

You can win only

if

other players make

stakes. The better the players, the more likely a

w will be.

So far we ve been discussing the fundamental

gic structure of the game. Next we ll consider

at to think about as you devise a strategy, and

stly we ll talk about individual differences be

en countries.

When you devise a strategy you plan thegeneral

of

your movement, expected allies, ex

cted enemies, and what you want countries not

jacen t to yours to do. At each step you should

ve several alternatives, for barring great good

ck something will go wrong. Often the styles and

of

the players will strongly affect the

t rategy you choose. But let s assume that one

is

as suitable (or unsuitable) to your purposes

another. First, consider the nature

of

your coun

Is it a natural land power, a sea power, or both?

it on an outer edge of a sphere, an inner edge

or Austria), or in between (Italy)? Think

out this, look at the board, and decide where

going to get

8

supply centers to win the

me. You must take several centers in one sphere,

r in Italy, even

if

you control the other sphere

tirely. Your plan must include I) a means

of

gain

g control

of

your sphere without hostile incursion

om outside it,

2

attainment of a stalemate line in

least one part of the board, and 3 penetration

to the other sphere (or Italy) to reach

8

centers.

ote that Italy is within the eastern stalemate line,

that the western line is anchored in the eastern

here (St. Petersburg). These seemingly minor

ints may have a strongeffect on your plans.) You

plan to jointly control your sphere with an ally,

then the penetration must amount to eventual

of the o ther sphere as well. You must in

ude a means

of

reacting to any attempt to disrupt

ur plan from outside your sphere. You must pro

ide for other contingencies; for example

if

meone dominates the other sphere before you

minate yours you must be prepared to stop him.

ou must be flexible, though you ll try to imple

Italy is left out in the cold. I taly must e ither be

sure that neither sphere is dominated by any coun

try or alliance early in the game, allowing Italy time

to grow, or i t must quickly dominate one sphere.

From the strategic point of view Italy is definitely

the hardest country to play.

Here

is

a brief example

of

a strategic plan for

England. Let s say you

don t

like the Anglo

German alliance, or the German player is

notoriously unreliable, so you plan to offer a

limited duration alliance to France for

ajoint

attack

on Germany. You ll offer Belgium, Munich, and

Holland to France while you take Denmark, Kiel,

and Berlin. You don t mind

if

Russia and Germany

get into a fight over Sweden, but you want Russia to

concentrate, with Austria, on attacking Turkey.

This will leave Italy free to peck away, initially at

Germany, later

at

France. When your alliance with

France expires you will attack France with Italian

help, and at the same time pick of f Russia s

northern centers (Germany should fall sooner than

Turkey-if

necessary you ll giveTurkey tactical ad

vice). You want Aust ri a to at tack Russia after

Turkey falls. This is important, because Austria

Russia would be a formidable alliance against you.

It is possible but not likely that you could reach a

stalemate line as Italy collapsed to an attack from

Austria,

but

it

is

much better to have most

of

the

eastern units f ighting one another . In the end you

should be grinding down an outnumbered Italy

(England will gain more from attacks on Germany

and France than Italy will, by nature

of

the posi

tions) while Austria keeps Russia busy. For supply

centers you want England, France, Germany, the

Low Countries, Scandinavia, Iberia-a total

of

16-plus two from St. Petersburg, Warsaw,

Moscow, Tunis, and Italy s three. To gointo all the

alternatives would require pages. But as one exam

ple, if necessary you could extend your alliance with

a France who will be worried about Italy, and hope

to march into Russia and the Balkans.

Now we come to individual countries. Reams

of

statistics are available about the success

of

each

country in postal play,

but

the percentages have

varied as years passed, and statistics

of

American

and British postal games show some differences.

Generally, each country has a good chance

of

suc

cess except for Italy, which is handicapped by its

between-spheres posi tion. (The pi rated South

American versions

of DIPLOM CY

give I ta ly a

fleet instead

of

an army in Rome, and add a supply

center in North Africa. These changes strengthen

I taly and probably make

DIPLOM CY

a better

game.) Russia tends to be an all-or-nothing country

because of i ts extra unit, its long borders, and its

connection with the western sphere and stalemate

line. Russia wins outright far more than any other

country. The inner countries, Germany, Austria,

and Italy, are harder to play well.

The next seven sections brief ly sta te what to

look for when you play each count ry .

Natural

neutrals are neutra l supply centers which are

usually captured by the Great Power during 1901.

The most common opening move is also mentioned,

but remember that tactics are subordinat e to

strategy, and even the most common opening is used

no more than half the time. One general point re

mains to be made. Western countries can wait

longer than eastern countries before committing

themselves to agreements. The easterners are too

close, with too many centers at stake, to wait.

Austria Land power, natural neutrals Serbia and

Greece. Turkey and Austria are almost always

enemies, for Austria is at a great disadvantagewhen

the two ally. Turkey usually owns terri tories on

three sides (Mediterranean, Balkans, Russia) if the

alliance

is

successful, and Austria

is

just too easy to

s tab. Russia and Italy are the best alliance pros

pects, especially the former. Russia and Turkey

order to avoid becoming the next victim o

eastern juggernaut. Germany virtually a

agrees to a non-aggression pact, nor shouldA

waste units in the western sphere. The early ga

often a desperate struggle for survival, but a

player can hang on until events elsewhere an

own diplomacy improve his position. Unfortun

normally Austri a must eliminate Italy to

because the seas and crowded German plain

expansion northward; this landpower must be

a sea power in order to grab the last few ce

needed.

Commonly Austria opens with F Tr

Albania and A Budapest-Serbia followed in F

Serbia S Albania-Greece. A Vienna

is

used to

whichever neighbor, Russia or Italy, seems ho

by Vienna-Galicia or Vienna-Trieste or Tyrol

England Seapower, natural neu tral Nor

England has an excellent defensive position

poor expansion prospects. An Anglo-Ge

alliance is not as hard to main ta in as the Au

Turkish, but neither is it easy. England mu

south when allied with Germany, but it can h

avoid a presence in the north, facing Russia, w

puts itall around the German rear. England-F

is a fine alliance but it may favor Francein the

run. Whichever is the ally, England may be ab

acquire Belgium if he works a t it. Pat ience

necessity, however, unless Italy or Russia com

to the western sphere.

either does, one to a

France (or even Germany), the other to attack

many, England must gain centers rapidly

squeezed to death between its former ally an

interloper.

England can win by sweeping through Ger

and Russia, but all too often the eastern stale

line stops this advance short of victory. Simila

southern Mediterranean drive can founder in

but this par t

of

the defenders stalemate l

harder to establish. If England can get up to a

six or seven units it has many alternative

consider.

Usually England opens with F London-No

Edinburgh-Norwegian, A Liverpool-Edinb

The army can be convoyed by either fleet whi

other can intervene on the continent.

France Balanced land and sea, natural ne

Spain and Portugal. France may be the

restricted

of

all the countries, vying with Russ

that distinction. There are many options in a

defensive and offensive posit ion. Alliance

Germany or England are equallypossible, thou

is

easier to coopera te with England . An a

French player can usually

obtain

Bel

regardless

of

which country he allies with. I

movements are important to France, since

penetra tion into the Mediterranean

is

us

necessary late in the game if not sooner. Russi

be helpful against England or Germany. In f

French-Russian-(Italian)

alliance

against

Anglo-Germans

is

possible.

At

any rate, if Fra

attacked there are several players to ask for h

A common French opening is F Brest

Atlantic (heading for Iberia), A Paris-Burgun

Marseilles-Spain.

Germany Land power, natural neutrals Hol

Denmark. Like Austria, Germany must scra

early in the game. But the defensive posit i

better, alliance options are broader-and Italy

quite at one s rear.

Alliance with England is difficult be

England usually sits in the German rear as the

goes on. (As England I have been stabbed (in

tively) several times by Germans who

cou

s tand the s tr ain, though I had

no

plans to a

them.) Germany-France is a better alliance, th

France may gain more from it, and you can b

dangerously extended between France and R



Fortunately, Austria rarely interferes early

game (nor shouldGermany waste

effort

inthe

sphere) and conflicts with Russia are rare

if

concedes Sweden.

A common opening is F Kiel-Denmark, A

unich-Ruhr, A Berlin-Kiel. Kiel-Holland or

nich-Burgundy are also

common.

Balanced, natural neutral Tunis. Italy needs

and luck to win. Fortunately the defensive

is

good, but

immediate

expansion

ssibilities are very

poor.

Don t be hypnotized by

those Austrian centers so near. f Russia and

ally Italy s lifespan

isn t

much longer

than

-full support of

Austria is required. Italy

to become involved in the eastern sphere more

the western. Unless England

and Germany

are

cking France, Italy stands to gain little in that

ection. Although Turkey seems far away Italy

attack her using the Lapanto

Opening .

1901

A Venice

H,

A Rome-Apulia, F

les-Ionian (which is also the most

common

opening) followed in Fall by A Apulia

F Ionian C Apulia-Tunis, build F Naples.

1902 F Ionian-Eastern Mediterranean (or

F Naples-Ionian. Then in Fall 1902 Italy

convoy A Tunis to Syria. This attack requires

strian cooperation,

of

course.

Balanced,

natural neu trals

Sweden,

mania. With a foot in the western sphere owing

its long border, Russia has

an

advantage in ex

nsion but its defensive position

is

weak despite

extra unit. Russia often feels like two separate

untries, northwest and south, and it may prosper

one area while fai ling in the other. The eastern

is

more important and usually gets three of

ssia s starting four units.

Russia has no obvious enemy. Because the

tro-Turkish alliance

is

so rare Russia can usually

its

ally-but don t

become complacent. In

north Germany can usually be persuaded not to

rfere with Sweden.

An

Anglo-German attack

certainly take Sweden and threa ten St.

tersburg, but Russia can lose its

northern

center

still remain a major power. A Franco-Russian

can be very successful provided Germany

England start the game fighting one another.

A common Russian opening

is

F St. Petersburg

)-Bothnia, F Sevastopol-Black, A Warsaw

raine, A Moscow-Sevastopol . Moscow-St .

is rarely seen (and very anti-English).

is

anti-Austrian (with Moscow

raine). Sevastopol-Rumania

is

very trusting

of

Balanced, natural

neutral

Bulgaria.

rkey has the best defensive pos it ion

on

the

ard. Its immediate expansion prospects are not

, and at one time it was notor ious in postal

for spreading like wildfire once it reached

or seven units. Now players realize th at an

stro-Russian all iance, or the Italian Lepanto

ing, can keep Turkey under control.

Austria

is

an unlikely ally-see Austrian notes

why. Russia-Turkey can be an excellent

ce, but if Russia does well in the north Turkey

find it se lf sl ipping behind . None theless,

can t be choosers.

The

Italo-Turkish

is

seldom seen, perhaps because all too

n Italy becomes the next victim for Russia and

ey. A fight between Italy and Turkey

on

one

and Russia and Austria

on

the other

is

rare, for

y prefers to go west and hope Austria will attack

ssia after fin ishing with Turkey.

Turkey

has

of t ime to look for helpfrom the

other

side of

board while fighting a dour defensive, but help

A commonTurkish opening

is

A Constantinople

Bulgaria, A Smyrna-Constantinople (or Armenia,

to

attack Russia) , F Ankara-Black. The favored

alternative if Russia is definitely friendly

is Ankara

Constantinople, Smyrna

H.

Next time we ll

turn

to an examination

of

tactics

in DIPLOM CY

H

Philosophy Continued from

Pg

OF

THE GIANTS

It

will

contain

many different

types of s ce na rios inc lu ding wars between

k in gd om s, q ue st s, t re as ur e h un ts , e sc ap es , an d

pursuits. In

most

s ce na rios p la ye rs will be a ble to

select their own forces and objectives. Characters

will inc lu de

most

of

the

familiar fantasy a nd h ero

types like

dwarfs,

goblins, ogres, and magicians.

And, of course, giants. Designed

for

two to eight

players.

Three

of the

o the rs are c ard g ames ; o ne

about

gangsters, one about the M id dl e East, and one

about

senatorial politics.

. A la n

R

Moon

S MUR I

Work

has

just

begun on

the

S MUR I update,

so t her e is

not

really

that much to

r ep or t. A

new

game

map

is now in preparation

which

is both at

tractive a nd fu nc tio na l. Eac h p ro vin ce wil l be a d if

ferent

color

f rom its

adjacent provinces; thus per

mitting

immediate recognition. This gives

the map

an appearance similar

to

th os e U.S. map s

you

see

in schools. You

know- the

kind

with

each

state

in a

different

color. The

mountainous

provinces

will

be

d is ting uish ed b y terrain

symbols

rather

than the

s olid o ra ng e c olor u se d on

the current

mapboard.

We re

planning

to

add two additional noble

families,

thereby

increasing

the number

of players

to

six. This will necessitate

slight

alterations

to the

victory

conditions

to

reflect

the

increased

number

of

players. S MUR I is most enjoyable when

diplomacy takes

an

active

rol l; a nd th is inc re as e in

the number

of

players will definitely increase the

diplomatic

infighting.

Several new game mec ha nics are b eing c on

sidered with a v iew towa rd adding new play

options to the game

system.

The most ambitious

of

the se is

the

use of cards instead of dice to deter

mine the sequence of pl ay. Each p la ye r would

choose one card from a hand

of

six. Theplayer with

the lowest

valued card would take his turn

first

and

s o o n. Each c ard c on tain s c ertain a dv an ta ge s a nd

disadvantages; so a player want ing to go first can

also find himself severely penalized in another area.

Thats about

where Ia m righ t now. There ll certainly

be m or e l at er as

the game

progresses.

Mick Uhl

STRUGGLE OF

N TIONS

A

first

phase play

test k it was

sent

out

in

March,

with printed prototype

components.

However, the

rules were in v ery rou gh s ha pe , a nd the playtesters

h av e h ad difficulty

gett ing into

play with what s

been provided t o them so f ar. Ou r weekly testing

sessions here are pr oceeding fine, and a f i rst

draft

of the rules is in p ro gres s. T his wil l g o out to

the

Second Phase p la yt es te rs t hi s s um me r.

Right now

the

g ame is s la te d

fo r

a winter release.

Work is also underway correcting the provisional

components

for

a fin al p rod uc tio n p re ss run .

T he u nu su al step of sending out a design

sketch

with

rules ind ic ated but not always

specified, was tried in an attempt to hurr y up

development toward

an Origins release.

STRUGGLE OF NA TlONS

will

not hurry up.

D UNTLESS G METIE

T his p roje ct h as b ee n ta kin g u p more t ime than

it

was

su pposed t o. A number

of

production in

money

ended u p c os ti ng m or e

of

b ot h, and

th

result is

that

an estimated March release

was

pushe

back

to

late summer.

Sturmovik

has been likewi

affected;

because of production difficulties on th

data cards,

the

old

Expansion

Kit

will

be split

in

two parts if it s done

at

all). STURMOVIK

will

ha

32

aircraft

from the Russian/AsianlPacif

T he atre s, a nd SPITFIRE

will

include

28

aircra

mostly

from

the

period 1939-41 .

. . . Kevin Zuck

OBJECTIVE

TL NT

Progress on

the Avalon

Hill revision of OBJE

TIVE: A TLANTA h as u nd erstan da bly b ee n

slo

due

to the

great number

of

other projects I

am

volved

with.

However,

the

rul es are c ur re n

u nd er go in g a m as si ve r ev is ion

which

I feel

necessary to eliminate

out-of-date

and obscure te

minology. The rules will also be presented in a mo

clearly defined format. After this has been a

complished

to my

s atisfa ction I wil l b eg in work

redesigning

the

charts and organization display

The counters and mapboard I also intend to disca

as I want to

introduce

standard period

symbolis

onto both i tems. As

far

as graphics are concerne

my

p la ns inc lu de c olor-co ding

the

counters

distinguish

the

u ni ts a nd t he ir v ar io us f un ct io n

T he map bo ard I

would

like to airbrush and, if it go

well, should be a

vast

improvement over

th

original.

A.

Sheaf

GUNSLINGER

GUNSLINGER is in final pl ay

test

at last. P

duction

d elay s a nd an

unexpectedly

large

numb

of suggestions and

comments

from enthusias

playtesters have led

to

our missing

the

early su

mer

ORIGINS deadline,

but the

f in al g ame

will

out

later thi s summer .

Actually, the

fulsom

response

might

h av e been e xp ec te d,

for

GU

SLINGER is a completely

new tactic

system-and nothing

generates enthusiasm a

discussion like

novelty

and

tactical

s ys tems. T

b as ic g ame is a

straightforward system that

e

plains

combat

in split-second

showdowns.

Ad

tional rules add stalking

for

longer periods of tim

campaigns that combine

showdowns into

long

games

and role-playing rules that

allow the

playe

to

develop

their

characters

from

game

to

gam

T he res ult

is

a simple,

fast

game

that

can be e

tended

into

a longer,

more

serious game

for

ro

playing enthusiasts and gaming clubs.

M GIC

RE LM

The initial

rewrite

of

the M GI REALM

rul

has travelled strange paths.

Many

people have o

fered some intriguing suggestions

for

improving

th

g ame, s o rathe r

than simply rewri ting the

rules

we

planned last

summer,

we

are reorganizing a

adding

to the

presentation.

With the

gunfighte

fading

i nto t he sunse t at

last, we should

start

playtest of

the new

M

GICREALM

rules

sometim

this

summer

yes,

we

wil l p la y

test

the second e

tion

rules). Players who are familiar

with the

e

i st in g r ules w il l f in d the overall game unchange

with

s ome v ery n ic e c ha ng es

t o the

details of pl

here and there. The delay

comes from the

changes and

the

reorganization in

the

presentatio

ALPHA OMEGA

T he b ig ge st p ro blem with ALPHA OMEGA

restructuring

the game

to fi t

the

Avalon Hill form

have you seen the size

ofthose

maps?). It is agoo

de al l ike fitting a q uar t of water in a pint bott

without

losing anything.

We re working

on this,

b

progress is problematic with o the r pr oj ect s

truding. Fortunately, the game system is qu



- - - - - - - - ~ ; . . . . . - - - - ~ ~ - - - - - - - . . c - - - - - - -

But What Happens When The Beach Hits Back?

HIT THE BEACH

by

li m

Stahle

Even if he wins one

or

two of these attacks, he

h om e free. I16 an d 117 a re e as il y b ot tl ed u p b

surrounding r iv er s, a nd t he other t hree hex

subje ct to

counterattack

by the four

major

sions, 3 an d 5 Parachute and 77 an d

271

Infa

with 15 attack factors, supported by plentiful

divisions. Even if the Allies do succeed

in

get

toehold on the coast an d s ur vi ve t he e n

counterattack their supply situation will be c

until they

capture

a

port.

Th e only available

are Amst erdam and Rott erdam and Antwe

neighboring Belgium. Holding the fortress of

terdam with its tripled defense, prevents the

from usi ng eit her Amst erdam or Rott erdam

Panzer di vi si on s s tr ea mi ng f ro m t he W es t,

wit h th e r iv er b ar ri er s, will ke ep A nt we rp o

Allied hands.

About t he best that t he Allie s c an e xpe ct

against t he Nort h Sea is to m ak e a 2 1 with thre

borne divisions against Amsterdam, coupled

successful i nvasion against one

of

the two

hexes a dj ac en t t o A ms te rd am . T he G er ma ns

o nl y r etr ea t a c ou ple s ta ti c divisions a cr os

dyke, beef up Rotterdam an d use the Emden a

t o h ol d t he R hi ne . Th e Allies will be bottled u

t iny beachhead wit h suppl y for t wo divisions

hordes of Panzers on t he march See Figure 2)

this is what the Allies get after risking their va

airborne divisions in a

2 1

attack. The Allied

can write of f most of t he Nort h Seaas a viabl e

sion area.

There is o ne m or e be ac h hex

in

t he Nort h

K19. l ooks l ike an easy, unopposed l andi n

look closer. Units invading KI 9 must at tack t

jacent 2SS in O st en d, with r et re at b lo ck ed

HQ.

Since 2SS is

doubled

even

paratroopers

quir ed to m ak e a

I-I.

Wit h t he masses

of

Ge

armor and i nfantry stationed to t he West, t he

that t he All ied player can hope for is a beac

bot tl ed by Dunkirk t he Schei dt River, an d

w erp see F ig ur e 3). N ot m uc h ga in for riski

airborne

division

an d

the first invasion.

N ot e a c ou pl e m or e f eat ure s about t he

Sea defense. Th e hexes most li kely t o be at ta

116 an d 117, are defended by static divisions

m or e v al ua bl e u ni ts ar e positioned on hexe

l ikel y t o be i nvaded, maki ng t hese uni ts safer

also ar e f ar the r west, allowing them to q

a ss is t t he ir c om ra de s d ef en di ng P as de C al a

Havre, Normandy an d Brittany.

Continuing al ong t he coast we e nt er F ra

the

Pa s

de Calais. This is theclosest invasion a

Bri tai n, t he beach t hat Hit ler expected t he A

i nvade. It is the scene of t he Bri ti sh evacuat

Dunkirk and t he debacle at Dieppe. Shou

enemy choose Pas de Calaisas their invasion a

will be t hree in a row.

Pa s

de C al ai s is a ve ry d if fe re nt

sort o

from North Sea. Supply is general ly not a pr

at

Pa s de Cal ai s, whereas i t made an offensive

ly impossible from North Sea. Thereare five c

p or ts t o c h oo se f ro m, w hic h a re t he key t o t he

They are

hard t o t ake, because t hey doubl e o

t he d ef en de r; h ow ev er , t hi s m ak es t he m e a

hold once taken. Pa s de Calais has betterexits

interior t ha n N or th Sea, maki ng an invasion

diffi cult t o bot tl e up. Since Pas de Cal ai s is f

from t he Rhi ne

than

t he N or th S ea , a b ea ch h

no t qui te as dangerous; a l ine can sti ll be form

the Meuse.

Th e

biggest danger comes from iso

t he b ul k of the G er ma n a rm y We st of the

should

t he All ies successfuly i nvade an d q

break out.

Th e German beach defense is cruc ial to the

game. Thi s is one aspect of D D w hic h h as r e

mained constant throughout the game s long

h is to ry . A

poor

d ef ens e c an give t he g am e a wa y

right from t he beginni ng; whi le a good defense can

give the Allied player certain defeat if he invades the

wrong beach. Thi s is as t ru e in

D D

77 as

in

its

predecessors.

On e

approach

to

formi ng a good defense is try

ing to hold everywhere, not allowing the Allies a

3 1

attack

on

an un def end ed bea ch hex anywhere. I

ha ve seen a d efe ns e that all ows t he All ies ashore

fr ee o nl y in one hex in Normandy; e ven t he m os t

re mote beaches in S outh F ra nc e a nd the Bay of

Biscay are 3 1

proof.

However, a good die roll at I-I

or 2 1

in Pas de Cal ai s can pu t the Allies on the

beach with little between them an d t he Rhi ne. I cal l

this ty pe of defense an iron ring with a marsh

mallow center.

the

outer

ring is pierced,

the

rest

fal ls. A defense of this type is useful

if

you believe

that t he Alli es will i nevi tabl y win shoul d t hey get a

be ac hhe ad. It gives the German player a good

chance of winning on Turn 1 a ls o gives him a

good chance

of

losing on Turn I.

I p re fe r a more conservative defense that makes

North Sea,

Pa s

de Calais,

an d

Le Havre impossible,

invasions

at

Normandy Brittany, an d South

France subject to being tightly bottled up and Bay

of Bis cay a very l on g, s lo w m ar ch t o t he R hi ne . A n

example

of

such a defense is s ho wn in F ig ur e I . Let

us t ak e a

tour of

t hi s defense, hex by hex an d beach

by beach, to see how effecti ve it is, an d h ow it c an

react to an invasion of any of the seven beaches.

We will

start

ou r tour at the

G er m an p or t of

Emden. This is s af e f ro m a ny All ie d attack even

a ir bo rn e . W ha t is interesting about Emden is the

masses

of

tanks

an d

panzer grenadiers right outside

the city. From here t he 3SS, 15SS, 25SS,

an d

9SS

d iv is io ns c an q ui ck ly c ov er a N or th S ea i nv as io n

wit hi n a t urn

or

two. Their high mobility can enable

them to reach as far as Lyons or Rennes

in

four

t urn s to help bottle up a South France or Bri tt any

invasion.

A more cent ral posit ion for t hese uni ts would be

t he st arred hexes near Frankfurt

b ut it w ou ld t ak e

t he m t oo long t o b ac ks to p a N or th S ea i nv as io n.

T he y c ou ld a ls o be h al te d by a n as ty r iv er i nt er di c

t io n o n hex 010.

Continuing along the coast we come t o Holl and

an d the North S ea i nv as io n a re a. H er e we do not

want t o gi ve t he All ies an y easy opportunity t o ge t

ashore, since it is so close to Germany. The first five

he xe s a re all d ef en de d by five

or

six defensive fac

t ors, wit h a t ight screen

of

static divisions

and

head

quarters to t he r ea r to keep a way a ny on e falling

from the sky. Th e most that the Allies c an get

against anyone

of

these hexes is two infantry divi

s io ns i nv ad in g f ro m t he s ea , p lu s o ne f ac to r

of

air

support f or a t ot al

of

nine factors. Thus t he best

attack

that

t he enemy can make is a I-Ion any hex.

Figure 1:

6



including

HQ s)

The defenses of

North

Sea, Pas de Calais,

Le Havre all fol low the same strategy. Depend

strong forces

to

hold the beaches

or counteratta

lucky beachhead , with bot tl ing up of the ene

onlya last resort. In Normandy, Brittany, and So

igur

5: Counterattack VS. R29; welcome ashore.

The third hex, Le Havre, is a fortress garriso

by two static divis ions.

is worth

12

factors

defense. Using four infantry divis ions, two

borne divisions on S30, and a factor of air supp

the Allies can attack with

23 factors-not

quite

The 352nd Infantry division discourages airbo

units from landing across the Seine.

Note that

if

352nd Infantry were on S30, it cou ld be a tt ac

fr om R29 in conjunction with airborne divisio

leading to a bridgehead across the Seine on Tur

However, in T30 it can only be attac ked by

borne, a 2 1 at best, requiring three airborne d

sions. Le Havre falls, but there is no bridgeh

across the Seine, the invasion can be hal ted al

the lower Seine.

airborne seize a bridgehead

Le Havre holds, a counterattack can wipe out

invasion and isolate the paratroopers. Should

Havre fall and the paratroopers be successful,

should be able to eljminate a few airborne divisi

and fall back to the

Seine-if

you sti ll hold Rou

the few that they do, they normally won t surv

turn one.

If

your opponent chooses

Pas

de Cal

sleep well; you have the game in your pocket.

Lit tle Le Havre is only three hexes wide, bu

can be dangerous

if

the Allies get a fi rm footho

The key to Le Havre is Rouen.

the Germans

hold on to Rouen, they can bot tle up the invas

on a line Dieppe -Rouen-Le Hav re , o r at wo

Somme-Amiens-Rouen-Lower Seine, as in Fig

4. Should the Allies secure Rouen early, they

break

out

towards

Paris and

trap

the

troops in N

mandy, Brittany, Bay of Biscay, and South Fran

Rouen can only be attacked by airborne

on

invasion turn. With the two s ta ti c divis ions ,

Allies best odds are I-I, risking all three airbo

divisions.

he loses 2 3 chance), hehas lost mos

his airborne strength. Even if he wins, the Germ

can still counterattack with five infantry divisio

ISS, and Lehr panzer divisions. You can consi

Rouen pretty safe on turn one.

There is also the beach to worry

about.

ISS

Dieppe contributes its strength to the defense of

first beach hex, Q28. The best attack from

beach is 8-14, or 1-2. Using two airborne, the Al

can get a I-I, but this is very risky, and requires

third airborne divi si on to make a

soakoff

agai

Rouen.

Most

Allied commanders won t t ake

risk.

The next hex is undefended The Allies can

ashore free

at

R29,

but

we have quite a welcom

party waiting behind the beaches. See Figure 5

one counterattack possibility.

lYRE

We have seen that Pas de Calais is a very tough

beach.

There

are no free hexes,

and

lots

of

counterattack s tr ength. In mos t games the Allies

won t even consider a

Pas

de Calais invasion, and in

F NTRY P R HUTE

6

5

Dunkirk, Calais, and Boulogne are next. They

are all fortresses defended by two static divisions,

worth 12 factors. The best attack without

paratroopers

consists of two

armored

divisions

with air support , or II factors; again one factor

short of a I-I. Dunkirk can be attacked at I -I with

paratroopers

dropping

on

N22,

bu t

a

soakoff

must

be made against 6/ 2 Parachute Regiment.

Paratroopers landing at N23 can up the odds to I -I

against any two of the fortresses,

but

the 84 Infan

try must be attacked also. Since a I- I only has a .33

chance of succeeding against the coast, it is not too

likely

that

the Allied player will

take

the chance,

nor

succeed if he does. In the unl ikely event of one of

the fortresses falling, you should crush the airborne

divis ion exposed in the open, hold onto the other

fortresses, and build a wall

of

units directly outside

of the captured fortress.

worse comes to worse, it

is back t o t he Meuse, but this will happen only if

you are facing a very bold, very dar ing,

and

very

lucky opponent.

Come on

in

said the spider to the fly. Hexes

025 and

P26 look weak, but they are a

trap

for an

inexper ienced All ied player. They are airborne

proof, but they areeach defended by only two static

divisions.

The

allies can hit both hexes with a tempt

ing 2 1 (however they are one factor short of a 3-1).

The strength of these hexes comes not from the gar

ri sons in the hexes but t he la rge uni ts beh ind the

lines. They

can

be

counterattacked on

the first

turn

by 2SS, ISS, 84, 85, 91, and 352 Infantry, the 6/ 2

Parachute,

and

some static divisions, with at least

30 factors. This is enough to crush units ashore on

both hexes.

Don t

forget about an addit ional 20

factors from Normandy

that

will be available to at

tack on

turn

2. theAllies get ashore here, they will

soon wish that they had attacked elsewhere.

The last hex in Pas de Calais, Dieppe, is de

fended by the crack ISS Panzer Division. Being

doubled in the city, i t is worth 14 factors . Two ar

mored divisions, an airborne division,

and

air sup

port

are required to make a

I-I.

Note

that

retreat

cannot be cut

of f

without attacking the 91 st Infan

try. Attacking Dieppe is taking a bigrisk, with small

chance

of

success. Should the Allies be foolish

enough

to attack

Dieppe,

and

lucky enough

to

win,

tears are in order. When your eyes dry, try

counterattacking

the lonely

airborne

division,

soaking

of f

against the city.

you can t do that, all

is still not lost. Hold onto Amiens

and Rauen

for

dear life, and form a line including the Somme and

the lower Seine. Figure4 shows what can be done to

bottle up Dieppe. Beware: you will have quite a

fight

on

your hands; be sure to evacuate everything

to the west, so that it

won t

be trapped in case the

Allies do break out .

My strategy is to strongly defend the five ports,

being able to drive into the sea any uni ts that

ruggle ashore on any

of

the three clear beach

Ostend, defended by the 2SS Panzer Division, is

proof, and it requires two infantry divisions, an

rborne division, and air support to get a I-I.

hould it be t aken , the Germans are in the same

sition as if KI9 is successfully invaded. Because

Allies would be doubl ed in the c ity, count er

is

out of the question. Fall back to Dunkirk,

Schedlt, and Antwerp as in Figure 3

R CHUTE

3: A successful invasion of K19 bottled up bymassiveGerman

rces, rivers and fortresses after turn 2.

I

The next hex, 121, is a clear terrain hex.

is un

ubled, which makes it easy to

attack,

and easy to

nterattack. The 6/2 Parachute Regiment pro

cts the hex from airborne assault . The Allies can

tack it with

at

most two armored divisions and

rc raft, for a tot al of II factors. Since we have

ree static divisions defending it, the Allies are one

ctor short of a

2 1

attack. We will be seeing a lot

f this one factor shortage up and down the coast.

case the Allies do make a successful

1 1

and gain

toehold, they can be annihilated by 2SS, 6/2

achute, 5 Parachute, 84

and 85

Infantry, and a

of the omnipresent static divisions, with at least

factor s, enough for a

3 1

against an

armored

ivision supported by defensive air.

L21

is not a

althy place for the Allies in

June.



38

France,

ou r

primary goal is to bottle up theAlliesin

a small area, rather than hold all the beaches and re

lyon

counterattacks.

Normandy

is

the site

of

the actual invasion,

an d

for that reason you can expect some Allied players

t o invade No rman dy . Af ter all, if it work ed for

E is en ho we r, it s ho ul d w or k f or me. W e will m ak e

that a lovely trap t o fall i nt o.

Th e

key feature of Normandy

is that

it

is

a small

peninsula, with good defensive terrain

at

the base.

Ou r

strategy consists of strongly defending the base

of

the peninsula against the initial seaborne inva

sion, an d t hen t o ho ld it ag ain st l an d a tt ac k f ro m

a ny b ea ch he ad t ha t m ay be e st ab li sh ed .

The

key

hexes t o h old ag ai nst th e se ab or ne i nva sio n a re

Caen

an d

Bayeux. Five factors

on

each, doubled

because of the cities

an d

s ur ro un de d by a nt i

paratrooper

d ef en se , a re s uf fi ce nt t o p re ve nt I -I

o dd s. A t 1-2, t he Alli ed p la ye r w ou ld a lm os t ce r

tainly be tossing away two infantry divisions, an d

he usually

won t

take the risk.

Part

of the

paratroop

defense

is

the 12SS

on

Carentan

which serves a d ua l role of defending

R34

an d

S35.

Th e

Allies can land

at

these hexes, but

will have to fight

to

stay. Th e best that they can get

against the 12SS is four infantry divisions, two air

borne in T35,

a nd a n

air factor, totalling

23

factors,

on e short of2-1.

Cherbourg must be held by a static

division.

No t

only does

that

serve to slow down the

Allies, but it prevents them from landing a

paratrooper

in

Cherbourg

in c on ju nc ti on with a

landing in Brittany

or

Le H av re , g iv in g t he m t wo

beachheads for the price of one.

A likely a tt ac k

on

Normandy would involve

landing all

around

Cherbourg,

an d

using airborne

divisions a nd t actica l air t o g ai n 30-6 5-1) o dd s

against Cherbourg. Soaking

of f

against 12SS from

S35 an d

attacking Cherbourg from R34 will force

the Germans to evacuate Carentan

or

come

ou t

into

the open to fight for it. I advise retreating to

an

im

pregnable line along the

Vireo

The key cities are now Bayeux again,

an d

S t. L o

an d

Avranches.

Hold

these with y ou r

armored

strength nearby protect

them

a ga i ns t

paratroopers,

an d

worry mainly

about

the second

invasion.

Th e

Allies will have a tough time getting

even a

1 2

an ywh er e, to m ak e c ar pe t b om bi ng

u se ful . See F ig ur e 6 f or t he German

defense

at

the

end

of Turn

I,

an d

note thatthereare plenty

of

rein

forcements

on

t he way. A

Normandy

invasion will

be b ot tl ed u p wi th t he

cork

welded

on .

igur

6: Allied

beachhead

sealed in

Normandy

on

turn

Moving

around

the coast of France

we

come to

Brittany, which looks like a large Normandy.

Th e

method for holding Brittany is similar to that for

holding Normandy, but

on

a larger scale. Since it

is

farther from Britain, the Allies have fewer troops

landing and supply

is

less plentiful than in

Norman

dy.

On

the

other hand

since it

is

a larger peninsula,

it will require much more of a commitment of Ger

m an t ro op s t o h ol d a line at the base.

This latter fact requires the Brittany garrison to

slow up t he Allies for a few t ur ns t o en ab le rein

f or ce me nt s f ro m N or ma nd y, Bay

of

Biscay,

an d

P as De C al ai s to a rr iv e

to

man the trenches. Since

the Allies will have fewer troops

an d

supplies, the

task

is

easier.

We w an t to d en y t he Allies t he use

of

a

p or t o n

turn

I.

Th e

idea

is

t o f or ce t he m t o use a n e xt ra

turn

to acquire a

port

wi th its l ar ge s up pl y c ap ac it y

before they can attack the main line. Avranches

an d

St. Malo are well defended. Avranches

is

I-I

proof;

the best attack

that

the Allies can make against it

is

12-14. This is important since Avranches is also the

key to themain defense line. St. Malo

is

also needed

for the main line. t can be attacked

at I-I

b ut n ot

2-1. Would you believe

another

23-12?).

Brest

is of

double importance. Not only

is

it the

best port

in

Brittany, but its value as a sub base keeps

the Allies from getting one replacement factor per

turn. t is defended by a tripled 3-4-3. You can ex

pect the Allies to eventually capture B re st , b ut t he

highest odds

that

they can get on Brest

on

the initial

invasion

turn

is, of course, 23-12.

Lorient also has a high supplycapacity. It can be

attacked at 15-6

o n t ur n

one, which

is

a risky 2-1.

Th e

712th Static defending there

is important

for

delaying the Allies on

Turn

2.

Normally,

we

can expect an Allied invasion

of

Brittany to involve four infantry divisions landing

on the beach hexes from V39 to U42, with airborne

landing to seal

of f

Brest. t

is

tempting to counterat

tack this weak force with your nearby panzers,

bu t

t hi s s tr at eg y

could

easily lead to disaster.

Remember that the Allies have air power, airborne

divisions,

an d

six

combat

divisions landing every

turn

fuelling their attack.

The

Germans will take a

long time to concentrate, will be

outnumbered

in a

short time,

an d

the loss of a few key German units

can hurt b ad ly . I n t his c ase , d is cr et io n wins o ve r

valor. It

is

betterto avoid

combat

a nd t o fall b ac k t o

the St. Malo-St. Nazaire line. The712th StaticDivi

sion

is

used h ere t o delay t he Allies f or a t ur n, in

X40, while o th er units move into position. See

Figure 7 for the positions after

turn

I.

igur

7: Allied invasion

of

Brillany

and start of Germanwithdrawal

to

S Ma lo- St. N a za ire line a t the e nd

of turn

1

Figure 8 shows the St. Nazaire-St. Malo defense

line after Turn 2, ready for the first Allied assault.

St. Malo can fall; ifso merely retreat to Avranches.

Rennes is the key point

of

the defense, along with

St. Nazaire.

If

either city

is

taken by the Allies, the

Germans must retreat to the Seine

or

fight the Allies

in t he o pe n. He x A A4 0

is

undoubled. This

isn t

too

dangerous because theAllies canattack it from only

one hex,

an d

the powerful

German armor

nearby

can counterattack any Allied success against AA40.

igur

8: A llie sbottled up by the S t. N az air e- St. Ma lo de fe n

t h e e n d of turn

2.

Beware

of

paratroopers landing right b

f ro nt line t o

surround

your strongpoin

landing deep to the r ear to grab ports. Ga

C he rb ou rg , A vr an ch es , a nd Nan tes for c e

Keep units in La Rochelle, Bayeux, and Caen

to be safe. Having an enterprising airborne c

ing a

port

behind your back, followed by

armo

infantry landing unopposed, can be embarra

to say the least.

You should be moving everyone available

S ou th F ra nc e,

Pas

de Cal ais, a nd re pl ac

centers in Germany, to your critical line.

Pu t

t io na l u ni ts in W3 7, a nd Y38, t o f or ce t he Al

soakoff

additionally if theytry to attackSt. M

Rennes.

Counterattack

any

threat

from

doubled

an d

tripled positions. With any luc

Allies will require a second invasion at Norm

S ou th F ra nc e,

or

Biscay to spr in g th e B r

b ea ch he ad f ree , a nd y ou will b e a b le t o fall b

t he Se in e with no

threat of

a second invasion

your replacements not too far away.

Th e

Bay of Biscay

is

an enigma. On thesu

it looks likea

poor

choice for an invasion. t

f ar f ro m t he R hi ne .

Troops

landing there wil

ou t

s ho e l ea th er a nd t ru ck tir es b ef or e t he y

Germany. Since it is so far from England, the

shipping requirements severely limit the num

divisions

that

c an l an d

at

Biscay t o o nl y f o

turn. This

is

a m er e tr ic kl e c om pa re d to a ny

invasionarea. On

to p

of that, thesupplysitua

no t

very good.

Th e

Allies must secure a

port

e

even have a chance of staying ashore.

Th e

ope

rain behind the beaches makes

it

easy f or t he

m an s t o c ru sh a n in vasio n with a s tr on g a rm

counterattack. Th e Bay of Biscay can be igno

a feasible invasion area by the Germans.

But not safely ignored.

Th e

danger

of

a German counterattack

o

first couple of turns

is

negligible because th

mans

cannot afford

to commit much counter

strength to such

an

out-of-the-way part of F

Similarly, they cannot

pu t

much strength th

prevent a landing. Infantry and static divisi

Biscay will be st ran ded by an Allied b re

a ny wh er e else,

an d

Panzers are neede

discourage landings in more critical areas.

B ut t he wi de o pe n t er ra in t ha t ex po se s

troops

on

thebeach to a counterattack also pr

theGermans from forming a line to bottle up

vasion

short

of the Loire. Strategic moveme

allow a division to rush from La Rochelle to P

only two t urn s, so it

wasn t

as far remo ved

critical areas as it seems.

The

shortage

of

su

an d

l einforcementscan be overcome by captu

port

in n ea rb y B ri tt an y

or

marching overla

Marseilles. No, comrades, the Bay of Biscay c

be ignored.



The problem o f defending Bay of Biscay is; ho w

d ef en d a

long

stretch of beach

with

only

a few

bile units

that won t

be

trapped

if t he a ct io n is

M y s ol ut i on

is

to hold the

cities

o f

St.

Nantes, La

Rochelle,

an d Bordeux,

using

medium Panzer

formations 4-4-4 s)

an d

a

of

static

divisions.

St.

Nazaire can at bestonly

be

attacked at

2-1 b y

infantry

divisions,

the

airborne

division,

an d

support.

Since it is a

fortress, units

ca n

be

pinned

side it,

an d

there is a

lo t

of

counterattack

strength

door

in

Brittany. Nantes

ca n

o n ly b e

attacked

I-I,

an d

losing

Nantes is

meaningless

if

St .

aire holds,

because

the Allies

ca n

use

Nantes

as

only

if

they

ow n St.

Nazaire an d t he f ar bank

the lower

Loire.

La Rochelle

is

more

promising,

bu t

th e

Allies

only ge t a

I- I

attack

here also.

A

victory

here

pu t

th e Allies so lidly

ashore;

a

defeat

here

ld effectively eliminate the first

invasion.

th e

ar e

going

to

ri sk it all

on

on e

di e

roll,

they

uld be wiser

to

do

it in

th e

North

Se a

or

th e

Pa s

Calais,

no t

in

t he B ay of

Biscay.

Bordeaux is

the soft

spot of

th e German

Here

th e

Allies ca n

make

a 3-1

attack

see

9 without fear

of

counterattack

or of

being

bottled

up.

Note

that Bordeaux

is v er y, v er y

from

the Rhine. yo u

have

to

give

th e

Allies a

eebie, this is

t he b es t

place. Nevertheless,

if

I

ha d

more

d iv is io n, I would

pu t

it in Bordeaux or

to

help

hold the

l ef t f la nk of

th e

Bay

of

;

9: Allied 3-1

a ttac k on

Bordeaux requires

TA C suppor t. Ge r

ns retreat is shown in red.

I f t he

Allies

d o a tt ac k

in

t he B ay of

Biscay,

the

player

must

be careful to a v oi d t w o t em p t

traps.

D o n ot

g et i nv ol ve d i n a

mobile battle ou t

the

open.

y o u a re

not doubled,

yo u

ca n

expect

attrition,

which

yo u

cannot afford. Al though

Allies get

o nl y f o ur

divisions

per

turn,

they

get

four

divisions every

t ur n, a nd don t forget

airpower

an d

those

sneaky airborne

divi

ons, which ca n isolate

half

your attacking forces

if

are

no t

careful. An d if s ec on d i nv as io n t im e

mes with

your

best

troops

slug gin g it

ou t near

you ar e

in

trouble; the

flower of

th e

ca n

be

cu t

of f

by a

dash across

France.

attack

if yo u

a re gu ar an te ed t o

c ru sh t he

i nv as io n i mm ed ia te ly . O th er wi se

slowly

The

second trap

is to

at t empt t o b ot tl e u p t he

in

io n with a line along the

Loire,

from

St. Nazaire

Vichy.

What

works

in

Brittany

will

no t

work

in

because the

line

is to o l on g t o h ol d. is

24

xes long, as

compared

with

21

hexes

of the

Seine

Bes ancon to

Le Havre),

an d you

still

have to

Normandy and

Brittany. A

breakthrough at

leans will

trap everything

west

o f there,

an d

a

ccessful invasion

a t N or ma nd y

will be e qu al ly

With

s uc h a

long

line

garrisoned, there

will be

enough

troops available to

hold

North

Se a

P as d e

Calais.

The

best

move

to

handle

an

invasion of

Bay

of

scay is a s low

retreat

all

th e

way

to th e

Seine

ver, using

your panzers

a s a s cr ee n

to

prevent

th e

from utilizing

strategic

movement.

yo u

ar e

th e

Allies will

arrive

at

th e

Sein e in

strength

a r ou n d T u rn

9.

Our tour

of

the French coast

ends

at the

Mediterranean

beaches

of

South

F r an ce . L on g

a

favorite

resort

area

it was also a

favorite invasion

area, until th e 1965 rules

made

an

invasion

of

South

France

futile

because supply

lines

could

no t

reach

all

th e

wa y

f r om t he p or t s to t he R hi ne . N ow ,

in

th e

1977

edition,

Marseilles

ca n support

up

to

22 divi

sions

up

to

2 4 h ex es

a wa y, f ar e no ug h t o include

St rasbourg and

9 h ex es

acros s the

Rhine.

An

inva

sion of

S o ut h F ra nc e m us t

b e r e ck o ne d w it h.

Since

South

France

is

s o f a r f ro m

th e

other inva

s io n a re as , a ny troops

committed there

wi ll b e

on

their

o wn f or

quite

a w hi le , u nt il

they ca n be

rein

f or ce d f r om a cr os s F r an ce .

Similarly,

they

cannot

b e u se d a ga in st

an

invasion at an y o th e r a r ea fo r

quite

a w hi le .

Fo r

this

reason,

I

d o n ot d ef e nd t he

beaches a t S ou th

France,

n or d o

I plan a

counterat

tack.

Rather

I u se the s ames trategy as I use

at

Brit

tany: bottle up the

invasion.

Th e

Rhone

valley

makes an

excellent

bottle, an d L yons makes

a v er y

good c o rk . H ow ev er , b ew a re of

a ve ry

dangerous

leak

at

Sete.

Initially,

th e

Allies ca n walk as hore anywhere

bu t

Sete;

they

will b e

u n op p os ed . A t

Sete

t he y c an

only

ge t a I-I, which

they

will

frequently

pass

up

in

favor of

easier pickings

to t he E as t. H o we ve r ,

Sete

is th e key

to

th e

whole

area.

igure

to First

German

resistance

to

a n A llied inva sion

of South

France is

established on

turn

2.

Withdraw to

Valence

an d th e mountain

hex

MM31.

This denies

the

Allies

Strategic

Movement

on

t he i r s ec on d t ur n ;

th e

farthes t they

ca n

get is

Mo nt eli mar . Meanwhile, move u p th e

infantry

f ro m L yo n t o

the

Valence-Grenoble area, an d rush

everything that moves

from

th e

Atlantic

to Lyons.

On

Turn

2, y ou c an

build

a formidable l in e w it h

units

in

Grenoble an d

V al en ce , w it h a

delaying unit

in

MM30

see figure 10). Be

wary of putting

anything

in he x MM31

o n T ur n

2 if

MM30

is va

cant; if Valence is successfully

attacked

from

MM30, everyone

i n M M3 1

is cu t

off.

O n turn

3

th e

Allies will

normally

attack

th e

sacrifice unit;

they c a nn ot m o un t

effective attacks

against

Valence

an d

G r en ob l e. N o w

you

ca n

pu t

strength

on

hexes

LL29 an d

LL30, continuing

to

hold

Valence.

Congratulate

th e

Allied

player

if

he

takes

Valence

o n t ur n

4;

your

delaying

troops have

done their jo b

with light losses.

You should be able

to

squeeze

a n ot he r t ur n o r

tw o

ou t of

this

delaying

action, allowing th e Allies

to hit y ou r o ut po st s

h ex es J1 2 4

an d

KK30)

o n t ur n

6

or

7. By t hi s

time

th e

Allied

player

w ill b e

w on de ri ng h ow y ou c on -

igure

Main

line

of

defense

on

the L yons line, w ith

outpost

JJ24 and

KK30.

E st ab li s he d o n t u rn

5 or 6, wi th p le nt y

of

r

forcements on the way.

jured

such

an

impressive line

ou t of nothing

figure II).

With

four

or

five

turns, yo u

ar e

able

build

an unbreakabl e

line

a lo ng t he u pp er R ho

wh ich will

require

a

second invasion

to

crack.

Should

th e

Allies

at tack at

Sete

an d

su cceed ,

above defense is outfl anked and

it s

back to

Seine.

He

simply

marches to th e south and

west,

Toulouse

an d

Vichy,

an d

he ll be

comin round

mountain

in

no

t im e. Y ou c an m an ag e

to

slow

advance with

a screen of

Panzers

and headquarte

bu t

there is

no

stopping it.

is possible

to cont

the advance

w it h a l in e

along the Loire-Eure-Sei

bu t

there

is

no

wa y

that

th e

German Army

c an h

that,

hold

th e

Lyons

line,

an d

still

prepare

f or

second invasion.

Fortunately, defending

Sete is

no t

all

t hat ha

If

the

Allies

attack

it

on t urn

I,

the

best

that they

get

is

a

I-I. they

fail

to

take

it

then,

you

hav

chance to rush s ome reinforcements up there.

T

can t

attack

Sete

overland

until

turn

3

at

earliest,

an d

that gives

you

a chance

t o p ut

a

ba

up position

on

th e

mountain

hex TT40, which eff

tively

blocks the

exit

from

Sete,

an d ca n

lnly

b e

tacked from on e

hex.

Two

4-4-4 s in

TT40can

be

tacked

at 1-2

at

best.

In

fact,

if

Sete gets

threaten

by an enemy on

GG35 its g ar r is on s ho u ld

mediately

pull

b ac k t o

TT40

to

make

their

stan

W e have co mplet ed the tour

of

my Germ

defense.

It is

not an opti mal

defense-I

doubt t h

perfect defense

exists-but it is a ve ry good

one

makes

North

Sea,

Pa s

de

Calais,

an d

Le

Ha

totally unappetizing.

Normandy,

Brittany, a

South Fr an ce pr esent the

A ll ie s w it h

an

e

beachhead

b u t n ot hi ng more,

l ea vi ng t he B ay

Biscay as

th e b es t b et

of a sorry

lot.

Wherever

Allies

hit

t he b ea ch , t he

beach

will h it

back.

Comments and or criticisms may be directed

Jim at his 6617 Mayfair Dr.

Apt

T I F

Church 22042 address. Rule lawyers are ur

to exercise caution however as Jim happens to

the author of the

77

edition rules.



qu d

le der l n

4

BUNKERS

Mention bunker to a wargamer. Images

course through his mind. Casemented guns at Pas

de Calais. Serried rows

of Dragon s

Teeth

entwined with squat concrete s trongpoints in the

West Wall. Perhaps a concealed log and rock com

mand post within a reverse slope of Okinawa s

Shuri line. Massive structures outside; inside Errol

Flynn brushes of f falling dust as the light bulb

swings to the tune

of

a direct hit by a 12 shell.

These are t the bunkers of SQUAD LEADER

Most field bunkers were dugouts with a roof.

Pits or t renches l ined with whatever was close to

hand. Coconut logs shared honors with c rushed

pumice on many a Pacif ic island. House founda

tions and simple wood patchwork were used

routinely by the Germans. Relatively small, cheap,

and easywereconstruction standards. Sure ittook a

lot of time to throw together but Organization Todt

was busy elsewhere and a good squad leader used

whatever was available.

Why bothe r to cheapen the SL bunker image?

The value

of

a fortification is measured against its

intended use. Avalon

Hill

did

not

provide you with

a portion of theMaginot Line inits original counter

mix. Understand the structure to get the best

tactical use from it. Now that we ve agreed on

exactly what we re talking about let s review the

SQUAD

LEADER bunker s strengths and weak

nesses.

Bunker s Strengths:

53.2-Ifin a wire hex cannot be entered directly

from an adjacent hex in oneAdvance Phase.

may

enter the bunker in the nextMovementPhase unless

occupied by enemy units in which case it may enter

during the next Advance Phase.

55.-Minefields

(but not booby t raps ) may be

placed in a bunker hex (i.e. on top of a bunker) to

By Jon Mishcon

protect against closing infantry without hurting

friendly infantry within the bunker.

56. I

-Strong

fire modifiers, especially from

rear. Note the effect on firegroups listed in the

A section

of

page 34.

56.21-Units inside do NOT count against

exterior hex stacking limits.

56.5-Indirect fire uses rear fire modifiers.

56.51-AP ammunition is t reated as Area Fire

and the most effective result which can begained

is

a normal (M) Morale Check. This

is

a planned, but

yet unpublished, modification of 134.12.

56.52-Flamethrowers outside the covered arc,

add rear modifiers.

56.54-Overruns, use rear modifier.

56.6-Units may rout to a bunkeras

if

it were a

bui lding and broken uni ts within bunker may stay

adjacent to enemy.

56.8I-Units

outside a bunker protect units in

side from immediate Close Combat by advancing

enemy units.

101.9-Units within get bonus for preStuka at

tack Morale Check.

105.3-Units within may remain adjacent to

AFVs in pre-1942 scenarios even if they ll break.

106.I-May not be bypassed by infantry or

vehicles J

12 3

111.8-Cost of entering bunker not doubled in

Deep Snow.

111.93-Allows safer rally attempts in Extreme

Winter.

114.52-Ski troops

can t

enter while

on

skis.

is evident that being bunkered provides strong

fire protection and allows real morale/rally advan

tages. That s why you buil t the damn thing . Now

let s review the weaknesses.

A Bunker s Weaknesses:

25.3-Units

within may not grow conce

counters.

37.37 37.48-Bazookas, Panzer

Panzershrecks and the not yet released Rec

Rifles may not be used from within.

54.2-No entrenchments in same hex.

56.I-Only placed in non-bui lding or

woods hex.

56.22-Costs I

t o leave bunker and

outside receive no benefit from bunker.

36.3-Units

may only fire out along c

arc.

56.4-No vehicles, howitzers, or morta

use.

56.

52-Flamethrowers

firing through C

Arc, add no modifier.

56.81-Units within may never force

Combat on

units

atop

a bunker.

56.82-Units

may NEVER leave bunke

enemy

is

atop.

56.83-Units within may never fire a

bunker top (and vice versa).

56.9-Concealment

counters do not ha

coming fire.

75.9-Not

placable in marsh.

105.2-No morale bonus for being n

AFVs pre-1942.

107.6-Suppression fire effects units

bunker same as those outside.

9

. I-Subject to critical hit.

111.81-Snow smocks no advantage wit

Boil down the weaknesses. Bunkers are

. alluring trap s, but tr ap s nonetheles

essence

of

all-or-nothing defense. The only

covering terrain they may occupy is orchard

means the vast majority

of

the t ime your



be in open terrain .

And

that means you can't

out without moving in the open. Regardless of

difier are you sure you want adjacent units to be

to fire in when you can't fire back? Never

that one lousy scout sit ting atop can trap a

atoon within the strongest bunker. Most players

learn

that

bunkers are a nice p lace to avoid.

did so many nationalities spend so much time

ilding them?

The answer lies in balancing the various features

ker offers. 1will offer general usage ideas and

they may app ly

to

speci fic scenarios in the

paragraphs before answering the above

The BackwardLoner This

bunker

faces toward

l ines. Usually in front

of

your main line of

Perhaps

just

within small arms range. f

enemy moves past it without neutralizing it, its

an; may allowa rear A

TR

shot or may pre

a r ou t. At temp ts t o engage i t

through

its

Arc Defense Modifier places the attacker

your forces.

is most vulnerable to entry

the Advance

Phase

from

an adjacent

hex.

nsider this for covering the roads in Scenario 21.

The CommandPost This bunker is behind your

in

some covered

spot.

A reverse slope

is

ideal.

an 8-0 l eader within

and

you've creat ed a

ntral rally point for

an

extended f ir ing line.

cked with

an

additional three squads it makes a

counterattack jumpoff point. Hex

304

in

21 can be used for all the troops entrenched

hill 546.

The

Magic Cire e

Popularized by fighter pilots

a bygone era. Three bunkers may be pl aced in a

iangle such

that

the covered arc of each has a clear

to the top and rear

of

its neighbor. Better still,

bunkers can be grouped in a perfect circle

ound a cent ra l open hex. Any attempt to

proach the blind sideof one is met bya hai l of fire

the others. Review Scenario 9 in this l ight.

Why were so many bunkers buil t when their use

so

limited? 1believe there were two basic reasons.

SQUAD LEADER

p layers have yet to ex

erience a powerful preparatory bombardment.

roof of

a

bunker

allows defenders

to

suffer

rough a Field Marshal Monty style blasting with

imal casualti es. Further, if you don't trust your

oops to be able

to

survive the rigors of fire and

the plus modifiers of a bunker

do

stantially even the odds. Refer to Bob

Medrow's

cellent table on probability of uni t survival in

lume 17, Number 2. A 6 morale unit is 8 7 less

t han a 7 moral e uni t to survive a

l2FP

attack

0 DRM. Change the DRM to 3 for both and

the 6 morale uni t is only 7 less likely to sur

the same

attack.

Low moral e unit s benef it

ore from cover t han do crack troops.

Each of these ideas stresses the key points of

nker usage. A bunker

must

be protected; either

othe r bunke rs in a mutual protection plan of

ing fires

or

by outside troops. The fire

and

rale advantages aremost valuable when used for

ops with limited fire and morale abilities. Used

operly they may

add

substantially to

your

defen

capacity. A new scenario has been provided in

issue s inser t page to allow players to exper i

with the ideas contained herein.

One last no te

on

bunkers: the original rules

oklet showed a bunker incorrectly facing a hex

rather

than

a spine Bunkers, like AFVs, must

a hex spine

to

determine their Covered Arc.

H

Philosophy Continued from g 5

nice- apart

from

the

upgraded presentation, the

only

changes

we are contemplating

fall

into the

nature of chrome to jazz up play somewhat.

Richard Hamblen

R

SKY T MORNIN

With the exception of

ARAB ISRAELI WARS

up to now Avalon Hill hasn't produced a single con

temporary era wargame despite the fact

that

most

gamers

seem

highly interested

in the

present

military situation. Now we are taking a long over

due

step

to meet

the

demand for modern era

games.

Keeping

in

mind our stated policy in favor of

playable, competitive-oriented games, Ihave

come

up with a game that

sounds

too good to be t rue.

This game simulates

the

course of a wor ldwide

strategic naval contest between the Soviet Navy

and

the

NATO naval forces now deployed at

sea.

As you might expect the

game focuses

on

the

distinction between the Soviet submarine sea

denial

strategy

and

the

U.S.

strategy based

upon

carrier

task

forces. The order of bat tle includes

all

the major ships and weapons currently in operation

as well

as

ships and weapon sys tems being

developed during

the

current

decade.

Perhaps

the most

interesting aspect of the

game,

however, is the

fact

that

the design is based

on the immensely popular

VICTORY IN THE

PACIFIC. Thus

the

focus of

the

game is on act ion

and playability, notcomplexity. And yet,

we expect

R

SKY

A T MORNING

to be one of the mos t in-

teresting and innovative game systems

we've

ever

developed as the re are tremendous differences

in

contemporary naval weapons from the days of the

U-boat and the batt leship which dominated

the

Second World War; anti-surface and anti

submarine missiles, improved radarlsonar equip

ment, satellite and undersea detection, ballistic

missile submarines, etc.

Since this

game

is still in the design stage, I

in-

vite

any

interested

gamers to

write

to me

if

you are

interested in playtesting, or

if

you have any infor

mation which

will

be of help.

. Frank Davis

P NZERGRUPPE

The revision of

the

PANZER BLITZ PANZER

LEADER game

system is progressing very well.

The playtest kits should be in

the

mail

in

a

few

months. The interest

all

over the country

in

this

revision has been overwhelming. The general con

sensus of opinion is that it is a labor worthy of our

best efforts and long overdue. The only problem

with updating such a viable old system, is that

sometimes

I

am

reminded of

the

90 year old grand

pa who

wanted

to marry the 16 year old girl

But

Grandpa,

what

will

you do

in

ten years,

cried his

children? You ll be 100 and she ll be 26.

Well,

replied the old coot, I r ec on I ll have to

get

me

another 16 year old.

The nuts and bolts of our rewrite can be broken

down into several basic areas.

All

rules modifica

tions and changes are designed to fit in to

one

generic se t of rules, intended to cover the European

Theatre of operations for World War from

September

of '39 to May of '45 . The

new

rules pro

vide a more realistic game and clear up many prob

lems. The spirit of

t he game

remains unchanged.

The flow,

ease

of play and standard format remain

as

before.

Artillery

effects

have been modified to a

system similar to A.I.

W

This has been modified to

reflect W.W.II unit densit ies

and

artillery

tactics.

Movement rates for vehicles have

been

reduced

and a new terrain effects chart with some revised

costs and

effects

produced. These changes correct

two

of the most serious problemswith the

PANZ

BLITZ/PANZER LEADER

system.

A more drastic revision is the incorporation o

step reduction system with backprinted counte

The step reduction

adds

a

new

wrinkle to

C.R.T. and does away with

all

or nothing outcom

of the existing game

system.

The addition

morale rules increase the possible

outcomes

ofa

given combat.

The

Weapons

Effects Chart has been grea

expanded and the different

weapon

capabilities

more

accurately

portrayed. Long range

shots

now more of a hitor miss affair. Infantry u

have

been

brought into

the

Weapon Effects Ch

with their firepower and weapons types adjus

by nationality and year of the war.

It is

our hope with this revision to produc

simulation on the war in North Africa, as well as

pansion kits for PANZER BLITZ and PANZ

LEADER.

On the negat ive side most of y

counters with be obsole te , but on

the

plus si

all equ ipment , rules e tc . will be

100

in

changeable.

Kirk

Bram

STRUGGLE FOR RNHEM BRIDGE

The intense street fighting during the Mar

Garden Operation for control of

the famous

ro

bridge at Arnhem is depicted

in

graphic detail. T

game

is tactical in nature and deals with only th

portion of the city in the immediate vicinity of

bridge where elements of the British 1st Airbo

Division fought for i ts control and finally their v

survival.

The mapboard is 22 x

32

witha scale of

proximately 1 100', and units representing

dividual

squads

or two-three vehicles. To many t

may sound

like SQU

LEADER all over again,

it

has very little

in

common with

the SL

system

first glance at the mapboard which lacks a hex g

of any kind will tell you

that.

Instead, the

game

u

a map divided into various city block

areas-

ea

based on the actual street configuration at the ti

of

the

battle.

All

the famous

buildings

and

stre

have been noted for added color, but the re i

minimum of complexity associated with

the

t

rain-

such information having been factored i

the configuration of the areas themselves.

The

game

i tself revolves largely around

Movement/Fire phase of

each

game turn. Each o

of these phases is divided into a varillble numbe

alternating player impulses. During an impuls

player may either move or fire any number of un

currently occupying a

common

area. Once a u

moves

or fires it is considered

committed

and

turned over to show, in most cases , a reduc

defensive factor. This also symbolizes that

it

m

not move

or fire again during that phase. If a pla

should decide not to perform any act ion, he m

pass. Players must pass

if

they have no units el

ble

to move

or fire

and the phase ends if

b

players pass consecutively. The

strategy

a

timing that

must accompany

a pass option is

tremely important and keeps the excitement le

high throughout. The net result is a

game

turn w

a

simultaneous

feel, yet with the action-reaction

sequential movement games.

Combat

is resolved without a

Combat

Resu

Table of any kind and requires both players to

teract during each attack. The defender

will

usua

have

the

choice of retreating from an a re a t o c

serve casualties or remaining in place and tak

greater losses. Off-board artillery

effects

are a

included, as well as the ability

to

se t fire

to

buildi

within a block to flush units from their position

Victory is determined by control of

the

all

portant areas

surrounding

the

bridge ramp

and

bridge itself. How fast and how thoroughly the G

Continued on Page



42

e

ARM:

What

is your j ob a t Avalon Hill, Dale?

DAS: Well, I was hired on as a graphics person an d

generally I turn

ou t

most of the components inside

the game boxes.

ARM: Would you expla in how a

mapboard

is

pu t

together?

DAS: Usual ly there s a prototype ma p to work

from. To do the final map though, we start from

scra tch by first creat ing a base ar t which usually

consists

of

the areas and symbols which will

appear

in black. Then overlays are added in order to create

the other colors an d terrain features.

ARM: Is there any limit t o how many colors you

can use?

DAS: What

we

use here at Avalon Hill is a four-

color process which simply means

we

can only use

four colors, bu t since the four colors are usual ly

black and the three primary colors there is

technically no color that

we

cannot create.

ARM: You are a lso in charge of doing most of the

art for THE

GENERAL How

do you recreat e

game components for articles in the magazine?

DAS: We don t really. What we do is have a velox

shot, a kind of photocopy, of the base art an d then

we just build up the mapboard using overlays again

to recreate the origina l. We do the same thing for

the colors of the counters, beginning with the black

an d white ar t an d adding overlays for color.

ARM:

Some people are probably a lit tle confused

by a lot

of

these terms. What do you mean by an

overlay?

DAS: An overlay is a sheet of plastic acetate that is

pu t

down over the base

art.

The overlay itself is not

the co lo r you want it to be. I t is merely a device to

show thecamera department where you

do

wantthe

color. The material we use for overlays is called

amberlith. This is a clear plastic with a kind of

coating over it which can be

cu t

away in areas. So,

when we

ad d

colors to a black

an d

white illustration

we merely leave the amberlith in the areas where we

want color. The camera department makes a

negative f rom this which

is

the reverse

of

the

overlay, which means

that

the amberlith becomes a

clear area in the negative. Th e camera department

ST FF RIEFING

n Interview with Dale Sheaffer

t hen makes a p la te f rom the negative, with these

clear areas becoming holes theprinters run thecolor

through.

Dale A. Sheaffer

Born:

3/23/52

Started Wargaming: 1962

r Experience: None

First Wargame: Gettysburg

Favorite Wargame: Gellysburg 77) and Russian Campaign

Favorite Non-Wargame:

o

Outside Interests: Music, Art, Hisrory

Employed

by

AH: 979

AH Artwork: W P, FE, COD 3R, AW, SON, TLD AF, DL, FT,

BB GOA, FITW CM, GL

ARM: That sounds kind of technical. When I think

of

an

art is t I usually envision someone sit ting in

front of

an

easel with brush in hand, But the re s

rea llya lot moreto whatyoudo. How muchof your

jo b is technical vs. purely artistic?

DAS: The bulk

of

my work

is

technical. Before I

camehere I ha d a good groundingin commercial ar t

bu t I didn t know very much about photographic

procedures which is primarily what is used to create

the game components. I spend a good deal of time

with the camera depar tment an d the prin ter s to

learn their terminology an d the things they can an d

cannot

do.

ARM: Are the box covers

done

the same way as the

rest of the components?

By

Alan

R. Moon

DAS:

No. Since box covers are usually pain

there

is

no base ar t so we can t use the o

method. Instead,

we

shoot a color photogra

the actual painted artwork and then separa

photographically into four different colors;

red, blue, an d yellow. These four colors ar

made in to four negatives which reproduc

painting when printed. This process is called a

separation.

ARM: Which of the two methods mentione

duces the more vivid color?

DAS: There are advantages and disadvanta

both. Color separation eliminates the probl

constructing a base ar t an d overlays which is

ably its biggest plus.

ARM: Why

isn t

this method used for the dia

for

THE GENERAL?

DAS: Two reasons. It is much quicker an d

cheape r to do it t he other way. We have, on

sion, done full color illustrations in

GENERAL mostly map boards that were

painted originally.

ARM:Were you surprisedat what yourduties

ou t

to be

at

Avalon Hill, having been trained

school for something completely different

that

bother

you in any way? Do you ever fe

your artistic talent

is

being wasted?

DAS: Not really. First off I took commerc

which is exactly the kind of training you nee

jo b like this. I was a good pen and ink man

also helps. I haven t done much in the way

an d ink illustrations yet,

bu t

you never know

I ll

be doing in the fu ture. As for my tal en t

wasted,I would also have to say no.

It s

channeled into other directions. There is a

challenge in what I do now, especial ly in t ry

reproduce exactly what I want throug

photographic process.

ARM:

I get a great deal of satisfaction from

the finished product of a game I ve worked o

you get that same kind of satisfaction from w

on

the components?

DAS: I m

always glad when they finally com

righ t, but no real a rti st

is

ever truly satisfie



any of his finished products.

Th e

minute I see a

finished map, I immediately think

of

a new

or

a dif-

ferent way I should have done i t.

ARM: Of all the things

you ve

worked

on

what

is

the one thing you feel most satisfied with?

DAS:

To

date, the things I am most pleased with

ar e

the

GUNS

OF

A

UGUST ma p

and

FORTRESS

EUROPA counters.

ARM:

What

makes them bet ter

than

some

of

the

other things

you ve

worked

on ?

DAS: In the case

of

the counters for

FORTRESS

EUROPA they finally came

ou t

looking the way I

wanted them to look. Almost all the little problems

that

we

had with them weretaken care

of an d

we got

a finished

product

that sat is fied me. In the case of

theGUNS OFA UGUSTmap I was experimenting

with new techniques

an d

procedures

an d

the

end

product, while not exactly one of ou r flashier maps,

satisified me personally because it meant that what I

had attempted to do worked

an d

worked well.

ARM: How much timedid it t ake to do the GUNS

A UGUST map?

DAS: I could have

sat

down

an d

done it all

at

once, it might have taken a week

an d

a half or two

weeks. As i t was, the project extended over about

two

months due to the fact that we

weren t

sure

until the very end what information was actually

going to

a pp e ar o n

the finished product.

ARM:

Ho w

much time does it take you to

pu t

together all the

ar t

for an issue of THE

GENERAL?

DAS:

About

a

month

or so, depending

on

the dif-

ficulty

of

the illustrations

an d

the difficulty

of

getting the components themselves together.

ARM: Do you play games. Would you consider

yourself a wargamer?

DAS:

Yes. My fathe r

brought

home an original

GETTYSBURG one day,

an d

my

b ro th er a n d

I

literally played it to death. My sister even got into

the act. We were

hooked

from there

on .

ARM:

Ho w

do you think being a gamer effects you

as an art is t working

on

the components of the

games?

DAS: I know what I would like t o see in terms

of

graphics in games. I m responsible for the grey

Westwall symbols

on

thenew THIRD

REICHmap

because I always forgot

about

them when I played

it. I remember purchasing games when I was

younger

that

used to s tart le me with some of their

graphics so now I try not to s tart le myself.

RM: Do you think its more

important

for a

ma p

to

be functional or attractive?

AS: I

think

t he re s room to make component s

both functional

an d

attractive

at

t he same time.

When I do a

ma p

I m not

just

interested in including

the pertinent

information

although that s most

portant. I also

attempt

to create an appearance

for the players so the pieces

an d

the mapboard

art a suggestion

of

the per iod the game takes

ace in.

t sounds to me likeyou

ar e

also interested in

an d

games as simulations. Is

that

true?

Yes,

both.

RM: Ho w does that relate to your work on a

game?

AS: In the case

of

a game from a particular period

in history, I will t ry to find samples of maps

that

were in use

at

the time.

Fo r

ins tance, for a World

War II game I ll try to use the actualsymbology

that

was in use then. This enhances the appearance of

the components

an d

increases the enjoyment

of

people who play the game.

RM: You have t o work p rett y closely with the

developers

at

Avalon Hill. Since everyone s artistic

taste differs, does this pose any problems?

DAS: Only

when I haven t been warned

beforehand. I m perfect ly willing to do a map for a

developer or des igner according to his complete

directions. Th e trouble

that

we sometimesget into

is

when the designer

doesn t

have a clear idea

o f

what

he wants. Usually, however, the finished product

is

the result

of input

from

both

the developer and the

artist.

ARM:

But

aren t

there t imes when you disagree

artistically with what the developer wants and you

just

know that i t would look better some other way.

What

happens in those cases?

DAS: You win some. You lose some.

ARM:

Does that

bother

you.

Or

is that

just

part

o f

the

job?

DAS: t bothers me sometimes, bu t I also get a

chance to tell the developer

I

told you

so

later on.

ARM:

Do you feel this restricts your artistic ability

in any way?

DAS: Sometimes the designer or the developer will

ask meto do something which I may feel

is

wrong or

won t

look right . The challenge then is to make

whatever it may be fit in with wha t I may a lready

have constructe\ . I m always glad

if

it turns

ou t

well, for the players sake anyway.

ARM:

There s always a lot of talk about innovation

in games and a lot o f it has to do with how the com-

ponents

an d

the

artwork are

presented.

Ho w

do you

feel

that

Avalon Hill rates along thelines of innova-

tion?

DAS:

That s

a tough question. All thecomponents

that

are created

at

Avalon Hill

ar e

done f rom

scratch. There

is

no

hard

and fast way

of

doing

things. There are no two maps

that

look alike. We

don t have any kind

of standard

symbology

that

we

use or anything like

that.

So, i t s very difficult to

say. On the other hand, it allows me to be creative

an d

experiment with new symbols for terrain, new

color schemes, etc.

ARM:

Are there restrictions

on

the format

an d

size

of the components?

DAS:

Yes. We always have to work within the

tolerances

that

have beencreated for the games. We

have

standard

sizes from map

board

panels, charts,

an d

counters. The main consideration here is the

box. Avalon Hill has two·

standard

boxes; the

bookcase style and the fla t box. These create their

own limits, bu t you can usual ly get

around

any

problems

that

might come up.

ARM:

What game components are you working on

at

the moment?

DAS:

Well, I ve

just

finished BA TTLE OF THE

BULGE Currently

I m

working

on

components

for GUNSLINGER I am also working

on

the re-

vised

FUR Y

IN THE

WEST

ARM:

Ca n you tell us a little bit about the com-

ponents for

GUNSLINGER?

DAS: There will be eight double sided

mapboards

which were

hand

painted by an outside artist which

have already been printed. The counters will becir-

cular as well as square. There will a lso be a myriad

of

charts and two decks

o f

cards.

ARM:

Along with everything else, you re also

doing the development

of

Battleline s OBJECTIVE

ATLANTA aren t you?

Ca n

you tell us a little bit

about

that?

DAS:

I have grandiose plans for OBJECTIVE

A

TLANTA

but due to the press of my other work

here i t s a very slow process. At this date I have a

revised set of rules in manuscript form, b ut t h at s

about all. My long term hopes for the game include

a

hand

painted

mapboard

an d

new counters.

ARM:

t seems like anyone who plays games winds

up trying to design them

too.

Do you design games

on your own time?

DAS: Yes,

bu t

between working

on

games and p

ing them I don t have much time anymore.

ARM:

We get a lot o f letters from people who w

to submit

ar t

for

THE

GENERAL Do you

any tips for these people.

DAS: They should wri te to Don Greenwood f

He

will send them a form with the guidelines,

letthem know ifwe are looking for anything sp

in the way

of artwork.

It helps to know

tolerances and size limitations so we don t hav

chop up

someone s

piece o f

ar t

because it isn

right size. Most illustrations

that

we use are pen

ink, done in black

an d

white.

ARM:

What do you think

of

the latest Avalon

boxcovers?

DAS: I think Avalon Hill boxcovers are consta

getting better. Rodger MacGowan and M

Wheat ley who we ve used a lot lately continu

impress me with the quality

an d

professionalis

their work.

ARM:

What do you think about the

standard

o

in the hobby?

DAS: As far as the indus try itsel f is concerne

has definitely been improving. Knowing what

been done in the pas t, all

of

us in the industry

constantly trying to do better.

R

TOP 5 LIST

Times Prev

Rank Name On

List

Rating

Ra

1

K

Combs

22 2533XOR

2. W. Dobson

24 2511RJP

3. D. Burdick 21

2179FDL

4. R.

Chiang

30

2178GHN

5.

D.

Garbutt

20

2161EGK

6. T. Oleson

31

2069TTZ

7. B. Sinigaglio

7

2037EGF

8.

P.

Kemp

15 2034EEI

9. R. Leach

24

2005HLQ

1

10.

J.

Zajicek 25

2004GJP

1

II .

J.

Kreuz

17

200IFFK

12. L. Kelly

15 1999VWZ 1

13.

P.

Siragusa

15

I999CEG

1

14.

D . Ba rk er

29 I

997GHM

I

15.

F. Freeman 15

1981EEF 1

16.

L . N e wb u ry 24

I964EGK

1

17.

M.

Sincavage

II

1964DOI

1

18. J. Beard 11 I954EFL

1

19.

F.

Reese

2 I886FDE 2

20.

D.

Giordano 2 I

854CEF

2

21.

LeBouef Jr.

10 1853HJR 2

22.

P. Ford

2

1853ECK 2

23. F. Preissle 19 1876JLV

2

24. B. Remsburg

5

I832EGL

3

25.

B.

Downing

11

1815EGJ 2

26. W.

Scott

18

1809HGP

2

27. K Blanch

24

1790GIM

1

28.

S.

Martin 15

I790EGI

2

29.

N.

Markevich 14 I

782CEF

3

30. G. Charbonneau

5 1775CEG 2

31. F.

Ornstein

5 I766EGK

3

32. D.R. Munsell 17 I760FOI

3

33.

F. Sebastian 17 1758FNN

3

34. D.

Greenwood

22 I756FFI

3

35.

E.

Miller

8 1739GJO

3

36. R.M.

Phelps

3

1738DFI 4

37. W.

Knapp

16

1723JLR 3

38.

J.D.

Mueller 1 I

723MJY

39.

R. Zajac

2

1719FGH

4

4 D.L. McCarty

8

1713DEI

41

41.

W.

Kolvick 7 1710DEH

4

42. W. Letzin 18

17IODEH 4

43.

C . B ra un

3 1706FIN 3

44. N.

Cromartie

7 1693FGM 4

45. G. Smith 2 1679CCI 4

46. R. Rowley

3

1666EGK

5

47. D. Tierney I

I660CEI

48.

P.

Carson

I I650FCE

49.

D. Stephens

I

1636HIP

50.

L.

Jerkich

I

I

627CCF



44

H Philosophy . .

Continued from

Page

man player can wrest control of these vital areas at

the

end of eight game

turns

determines

the

winner

and the level of victory attained.

STRUGGLEFORARNHEMBR DGEis above all

else, a simple

game

to

learn, but is f il led with

countless opportunities f or t he application of dif

ferent

tactics

and that

is

what

makes

it so

fascinating-the complexity

l ies in

the

play

of the

game- not the

reading of

the

rules. Players

must

concentrate

on

the actiontaking

place as

it

unfolds

on

the

mapboard, rather

than

in endless pages of

charts and rules. At

thi s t ime, the

rules are

quite

t ight with final blind

testing about

to begin to assure

proper play balance.

Courtney

Allen

G. .,

NVIL OF VICTORY

G.I. should be approaching the blind playtest

sta ge in about a month. The basic rules have

undergone about

ten

drafts in pre-playtest

scrim

mage with

a

few

hand-picked experts fromthe

play

test

c rew. Ac tua l testing of the

twelve

scenarios now remains

the

largest hurdle to

publication.

Aside

f rom the

press of

other

duties,

the

big

gest

delay in

getting G I onto the

presses has been

an extensive revision

of

the

game

system

itself.

The next project in store fo r

the game system

is

a

completely

rewritten

compendium

of the entire

system.

This

set

of Advanced Squad Leader rules

will be published in loose-leaf binder format inside a

bookcase sleeve. The

net

resul t should be a much

shorter se t of rules and a much cleaner

set

with no

leafing

through

page after page of rules

to

decipher

the differences

between the basic rules and

the

ad

vanced rules.

Along the

way, many design im

provements will

be made to

the

existing game

system

(some of

which

are unveiled in G. .)

to make

the game

more

playable

while

maintaining

the

rigid

attention

to detail that

players seem to crave so

much.

Plans to establish a

system

of CE reverse side

armor

counters

have been dropped, although a

set

of wreck

counters will

be provided to distinguish

burning

wrecks f rom the

more palatable variety.

Similarly, plans to expand the Covered Arc in order

to

improve the per formance

of non-turreted

vehicles ha ve been shelved in favor of a new

stream-lined

TO HIT

system which is

infinitely

cleaner than the old version.

G. .

will have much more of everything than

anything

in the preceding series (except perhaps

rules). The game will

include five mapboards, ter

rain overlays

to

alter existing mapboards,

12-14

scenarios, and more

unit counters than

Icare

to

ad

mit.

Consequently,

you

can

expec t the

highest

price

you ve yet

encountered

fo r

a

i tem-but it

should represent

the

best value of

the

series. Look

fo r

it next spring.

Many of

you

have written us requesting to be

allowed to

become

a

playtester. Usually, we ve

had to

turn

down such requests as

the

existing

playtest crew is a large and exper ienced group.

However,

we are constantly on the

lookout

fo r

people whose

actions back

up their boasts and are

happy

to expand our exist ing playtest crews for

people

who

demonstratethey have what it takes to

be a valuable

contributor.

An opportunity for such a

display occurred at the

seminars

at

both

ORIGINS and GEN CON EAST this year when

volunteers

were

given copies

of the

existing

G I

rules and asked to

submit

critiques. Those

who do

a

creditable job

will

be

rewarded with

an

invitation

to join

the

actual blind playtest that will

start

this

fall.

Hold on fel las it s

coming,

and it

will

be

worth

the wait .

.

. .

Don

Greenwood

NEWS FROM THE SPORTS DEPT

With

the

hiring of

Joe

Balkoski, we

expect

to be

able to speed up both

your production

of new

sports

games

and accessories, and to finally get

ASR onto

some

sort of a regular schedule. Of

course this last requires

the

magazine not being

given the bottom priority it has received forthe past

four years, when every

other

project was deemed

more important . The most recen t issue (the

March issue, which wasf i rs t delayed because of

the

Spring releases, and

then

later because

of the

Summer releases ), which with luck was mailed

out

before

the

end of June,

was the

last

quarterly

issue, and

from now

on ASR wil l be

bi-monthly.

Please

don t

laugh-

we

are serious.

Moving onto more

cheerful

matt ers , t he

STA TIS-PRO FOOTBALL game

is near

completion,

and we hope to have it printed and on sale in

August.

I t w il l inc lude indiv idual cards for every

member

of every NFL

team,

with even third-string

quarterbacks being rated. We believe that i t

will

be

the

best and most playable

statistical

football

game

on the market.

Other works in progress inc lude a tennis and

hockey game, both in their early stages, and some

discussion of

whether

or

not we would

like

statist ical gol f

and horse racing games.

Joe

Balkoski is in

the

process

of writing

a narrat ive

history

of

the 1961

baseball season,

which wil l

accompany

our

set

of player cards

for the

season

for MAJOR

LEAGUE BASEBALL

and if our

type

setters

are able to

get

to it, we also have a

set

of

great

teams of the

past

for SUPERSTAR

BASEBALL which have been provided

by

Bob

Biscontini.

. Bruce Mil ligan

SQUAD LEADER

T SHIRTS

Yes,

we

are following

up on

the success of the

P NZERBLITZ

T-shirts with

yet another offer

ing

on what has become our hottest game. Now

you

too

can become a SQU D

LE DER

whether you

play

the game or

not.

The back of

the

shirt

is adorned with the same Avalon Hil l

logo

you ve

seen before on the P NZERBLITZ

shirts. Be sure

to

specify size: small ,

medium,

large, or extra large.

5.00

plus

5 < :

fo r postage

and

handling.

Maryland residents please add 5 7

state sales tax.

T

WARGAMER S

GUIDE TO MIDWAY

Containing thirty-six

pages of the best

of

T

GENER L

art icles on the game plus previo

unpublished

material as

well, this guide is a m

for every fan of the game. Several official r

changes update the game and erase its few m

flaws. A

tribute to

one

of

the

hobby s

el

citizens

that

has never needed a major revision

game which has grown old

gracefully,

matu

by gett ing

better.

Almost

all

of the reprinted art icles are f

unavailable issues

of

TH E

GENER L m

from volume 9

or

earlier. Included is the

major

variant, Leyte Gulf , and the mos

depth article on the game

to

date T he

MIDW

Thesis by two of

the game's experts, Ha

Totten

and

Donald

Greenwood. T he

Pa

Theatre

Via MIDWAy ,

the

other

major var

that

spawned the

MIDWA

Y

Variant

Kit, has b

expanded include

many more optional

r

(some applicable

to

the

MIDWA

Y game

as

w

and an

additional

scenario.

T he

Battle

Australia , a previously unpublished article a

the

ultimate with

a

hypothetical

monster scen

using the components

of both

the game and

variant

kit.

Other

articles deal with strate

analysis, variants, and other

hypothetical

si

tions.

The

best of three Series Replays

that

h

appeared in THE GENER L is also reprin

usefu l in itself as a f ine examp le

of

the su

strategies

involved

when experienced pla

meet.

THE W ARGAMER S GU IDE

TO

MIDW

sells

for

4.50 plus

1 7

postage and hand

charges, and is available f rom ourmail order d

Maryland

residents please add

5 7 sales

tax.

MAGNETIC

GAMES

Now you can convert your favoJile game

vertical display or secure

in-play

storage

magnetic tape. unmounted boards and jus

hour of your time. Al l you ll need is a metal sur

and an unmounted gameboard. We supply

magnetic strips

with

selfsticking adhesive alre

applied. You

just

cut the Y2

x I

strips

into

inch squares and

apply

them to the

unit

coun

which came

with your

game. The result

is

a

thick

counter which

will

stack six high even w

the mapboard is mounted in a vertical position

display purposes. Never worry a bo ut t hat p

move being jostled again between turns.

Naturally this magnetic treatment will be

valuable fo r counters

with

two-sided printing.

that s ti ll leaves them with

a

multitude of u

NOTE:

it

will be

necessary to be sure that the

portion of

all

unit

counters are

uniformly

app

to the

top

half

of

the magnetic strips. Otherw

the

polarity

may

be

reversed and the counters

actually repel each othe r rat her than attr

Therefore. i t is wise to m ar k the back of

magnetic strips uniformly across the top so a

be sure to apply the top half of the counter to

top

half of the magnetic strip.

Magnetic strips areavailable

from Avalon

fo r

9 < :

a foot or

7.50

for ten feet. Unmoun

.mapboards are available upon request fo r

apiece. Usual postage charges apply.

as

does

5 state

sales

tax

for Maryland

residents.



Let ters

to the Editor

Have you ever purchased a rea lly nea t and

new game and then discover lhat you have

body to play with.

So

you play it solitaire a few

s, get bored, and

putthe

game upon

ashelfto

her dusl. I have several dust gatherers

on

my

Recently I took TOBRUK

or r

the shelr,

it of f and began experimenting with

enario I. Scenario I is fairly simple

and

readily

itself to computerized play. I decided to

a program thai would play the German

The computer playsa fast

hard-hiltinggame.

turn sequence will have to be modified, firsl

compuler plays, then you do. Thisis

one

game

rn. Limit

the

game

to 30 t ur ns. I f

any of

the

mputer' s panzers l eave the

board,

simply

Ihem, but don'l count t hem as v ic to ry

ints. You should a lso remove all tanks thai

been k-killed. Anyother instructions needed

found at th e begi nn ing of the computer

This program has specific beginning, mid,

end game rOlltines similar to a chess program.

amount of random

variation

is

built

into

progr am to keep a

human

opponell from

cond guessing the

computer

too

of

len.

Tobl uk

occupies

about

4500 bytes

or

memory.

If

instructions are left aLIt it mighl

fit

i nt o a 4k

chine. This

program

is written

in

Level

I h op e you hav e as much fun p layi ng this

ofTobruk's

Scenario I as I did creat ing

play testing the program. Ialsohope that this

ogram sparks interest in other possibilities for

computers in gaming. We have only begun

scralch thc surface.

Duthie, Ph.D.

hland, Washington

10 REM TOBRUK PANZERS

15 REM Bruce DUlhie, Ph.D.

October, 1980

Prill Tobruk Panzers

Print

Print This program is designed to play the

rman side in scenario

Print on e of Avalon Hill 's Tobruk Game.

domly place Panzer

Print III-H's on hexes B-R. The Panzer IV's

not be used.

To

Print

make

it more fai r for Ihe

computer,

all

rman Panzcrs are

Print

assumed to

be

shooting APCR

shells.

'K'

killed tanks

Print

should

betaken

of f

of

theboard

as

soon

they have been

Print

knocked oul.

The turn sequence has 10

somewhat simplified

Prinl The Germans move f irst t hen you do,

Illay

move or

shoal,

but

Prinl Ilot both. The computer will lell you

it is your turn.

Print Th e computer will ask you a quest ion

time 10 time, you

Print wil l answer with a number. Your

swer should follow the ques-

Print tion mark on the screen, then you press

ter. If a question

Print

mark appears

with no Quest ion, just

enter.

Input

CLS

Print Move all

PZJ's

10 J-2 9

Print move

Panzer-H, number

S 1-17 three

Print

Your Turn

A

=

RND(4)

Ir A I then B 8

Ir A

=

2 then B

=

10

Ir A

=

3 then B

=

12

Ir A 4then

B

14

Print type in th e number

of

hexes to Ihe

granl

Input C

Ir B = > C then 430 else 150

Print how many grants are within

10

hexes

some PZH?

Input A

Ir A>6 then GOSUB 5000 elsc

go to 150

I fA< 4 Ihen go to 6000

Print How Illany PZH's are

'M '

or 'K'

Input K

Print

all

'M '

killed Panzers

continue

to fire

acquired

targets,

Prinl or fire at the c10sesl grant if you have

target.

A

=

RND(6)

530 If A I then Print all Panzers move back

three

squares

540

If

A

=

2 or 3 then Print

fire

at the closest

non 'M ' killed

grant

550

If

A

=

4 th en

Prim

PZH 1-8 move right

front twohexesand pivot

to

facethe closest grant.

PZH

9-17 move left front two hexes

and

pivot 10

face Ihe closest

grant.

560 If A

=

5 then Print a ll Panzers move three

hexes

forward

570 If A

=

6 then Print PZH

1-8

move left from

IwO hexes and pivot to facethe closest grant . PZH

9-17 move right front two hexes and pivot to face

the closest grant.

580 Print

Your

Turn

590 Input

600 Print Type the number

of

grants 'M ' 'K '

killed

610 Input K

620 Print How mallY Panzers can still

move

630 Input M

640 IrK > 8 and M > 2 then 650

645 Go to 500

650 Print All movable Panzers move directly

toward the closest grant

660 Print that presents a flank or rear sho .

670 Print Your Turn

680 Input

690 Print

Fire

if within 7 hexes

of your

target, if

nOI

continued

10 move

700 Print

toward your

selected target, ifyou

'K '

kill

your

target,

pick

710 Print

thcclosest gran(and

move toward it.

720 Print

Your Turn

730 Input

740

Go

to 690

5000 Print PZH

1-2

fire

at

grant I , PZH 3-4 fire

at grant 2

PZH

5-6

rire

5002 Print at

grant

3, PZH 7-8 f ire a t g rant 4 ,

PZH

9-10 first at grant 5

5004 Print PZH 11-12

rir

at gr ant 6,

PZH

13-14 rire at grant 7, PZH 15-16

5006 Print fire at grant 8, PZH 17 fire at grant

9

5030 Print Your

Turn

5040 Input

5050 Print

continue

firing al acquired grants

5060 Print Your Turn

5070 Input

5080 Print type in number of grants

'M '

'K '

killed

5090 Input

B

5100 If B

>6lhen

Prinl pretty good shooting for

a

dumb

machine

huh.

5300

Ir B> 6

t hen Print

all 'M '

killed PZH's

keep firing al acquired grants. Each

PZJ

acquire

theclosest non M killed grant and fire at ilUlltil

it is 'M ' k ill ed. Move all PZH's back Ihree

hexes.

5305 Print

Your Turn

5308 Input

5310 Ir B<5 then 5000

5320 Ir B>6then 5300

5330 Return

6000 If A 3 then Print PZH

1-6

firesat closest

grant , PZH 7-12 firesal next closest gran t, PZH

13-17 fires at next closest grant.

6010 If A 2 then Prim

PZH

1-8 first at closest

gran l, PZH 9-17 fires at next c10sesl grant

6020IF A I then Print all PZH's fireat closest

grant

6022 Print Your Turn

6025 Input

6030 Print

How

many

grants are

now within 10

hexes

or

a PZH

6040 Input B

6050

Ir

B >6then GOSUB 5000

6060 Print

How

many g rant have been 'K '

killed

6070 Input C

6072 A

=

A-C

6080

If

C

>2then

150 else 6000

Mr. Greenwood:

Two hot -sho t repor te rs cover ing the New

York Yankees, were vociferously arguing, who

was the best Yankee right-fielder of all

time?

It

seems they

couldn't

decide between Torn Tresh

and Roger Mar is . Their argument went o n h ot

and heavy fora few innings when thehot-dogven

dor came along, overheard their discussion and

said, What about Babe Ruth. There was stunned

silence the rest

of

the game.

Moral: When trying to

prove how

smart

you

are, don't

ignore the obvious.

Wa rgame rs ha ve never been at a loss f or

words. Art icles

abound

on game variations,

analysis

of

play, strategy, tactics, as well as trick

play

and

rule exploiting. Lately, two writers have

emphasized in-depth analysis (Lockwood in 17.3,

Angiolillo in 17.6),

and

havetargetted chess as the

game to be emulated. They want to analyze

wargames the way chess is analyzed. They break

play down into openings, middle game, and end

game; use terms like posit ional player , l ines

of

p lay , g ambi t

declined , and combina

tions . Apparently they know their competi

tion , as i t were.

But l et' s not kid ourse:lves-WARGAMES

ARENOT CHESSI Lockwood and Angiolillo are

simply putt ing on irs Oh , aren't we erudite

and estimable because our games are like

chess

It reminds me

of

the TV commercial where the

Ford Granada is compared to

a Mercedes; the

reasoning is

t ha t i f

a

Ford

can

masquerade

as a

really

good

car,

it's

somehow elevated

in

stature.

The

situation is laughable at best.

Everybody wants to say they're an exper t a t

something , I suppose , and to many i t' s p laying

wargames. Initial reaction by. the non-wargamer

has usual ly been so what . And, despi te the

non-garner'salleged ignorance, his response is not

so far

out of

line.

To

mastera wargame, assuming

concerted study

and

tournament play over an un

broken t ime period, might require three years (if

that) depending on th e game. To attain master

level in chess has been known to require a lifetime

of dedicated, full-time studyand tournament par

ticipation. The point is that anyone wargame is

so, so shallowcomparedto chess, that youmay do

better trying to compare a birdbath to the Atlantic

Ocean.

Analogous arguments would apply to theidea

that

our

games have a s tate of the

art , or

that

there

should

be

an academy of a rt and

design.

Now rea ll y, wou ld you call t he de si gn er

of

a

miniatures figure a

sculptor?

(Oh yeah,

wasn't

Michaelangelo

one of them?) And

with rare ex

ception,

artwork,

particularly in the

famasy/s

f

f ie ld , has been

sophomoric and

unskilled.

The

only thing

an academy

will provide is a chancefor

certain people to feel elitist (while they

stand

in

their birdbath).

Why don't

we

face it? Wargaming is a hobby

forthe great majority

of

its participants. Wehave

fun,

we

enjoy ourselves

and

the camaraderie,

we

maybe learn something

about

history (definitely

about

dice probability), and

we

mayevencreate a

line of miniature figures. But then

we

go back 10

our regular jobs until next time. There's nothing

wrong with beingdevoted to gaming, but let's not

fool ourselves into making a bigger deal Oul of

it

than it is.

Robert Morss

Westerville, OH

Dear Sir:

The ideas developed by Craig Burke in his

Ai r

Power in VITP THE GENERAL, Vol.

17, No.3), and discussed in Return Fire by

Richard Hamblen, are tantalizing to any gamer

who enjoys playing the

WAS/VITPsystem.

They

offer further expansion and increased navor to a

game I personally enjoy very much, and I wa s

happy to

see them

appear.

In reading

Hamblen's Return

Fire,

in

which he rebuts most

of

the ideas

and comments

favorably

on one or

two, I was struck by the

thought that in a

game

of strategic

scope-as

VITP

mus t be considered-a slrict adherence

to

historical accuracy, while

commendable in

setting

combat

values and speed for individual ships, ef

fectively deprives lhe players.

of

historical options

available to Ihe respeclive supreme commanders

whose roles they play.

One

cou ld argue, for e xample , that the

development

of

a High Seas Supremacy policy

on the part

of

the Kriegsmarineat the

war's

begin

n in g would h av e s timu la ted i nc rea sed sh ip

building

in

Germany; the presence

of

the

Gral

Zeppelin in thegameof

WAS

implies thatthishad

been considered. Would

it

not have been almost

equally logical 10 infer Ihal an increase in naval

approprialions might have led 10 the successful

completion of Seydlitz (a Hipper-class CA hull),

Europa and Gneisenau (both passenger liners) as

aircraft carriers? Or t ha t t he Scharnhorsf and

Gneisenau

e s

might have had their main arma

ment upgraded

to

IS- inch cal iber , wi th cor

responding increase in gunnery factor value?

4

In VITP, assuming that the Japanese playe

manages to carry his power play on into the en

game,

it

might be logical 10 infer that America

naval pol icy might have changed 1O respond t

this (essentially ahistorical) situation. If the U

rights successful night actions in the early gam

battering even the fast bauleships built after th

Washington Treaty disappeared, the U.S. hig

command might well decide

10

go ahead, ful

speed, on the Alaska CB's, allocate priority in th

shipyards to the Iowa 8B's and rush them in

action,

even bui ld the

Montana Super-B8'

designed

to

meet

and

defeat the

Yamato s.

Moreover, changes in

Ihe strategic situatio

might alter entirely

the

times at which units ent

the

game. I f

a rule

could

be evolved, for exampl

g iv ing the U.S. p layer the abi li ty to choose b

tween expending repair points

and

pushing th

construction of new ships, or between providin

the shipping for a new Marine unil

and

speedin

up

the arrival of a capital ship, I bel ieve it wou

go far towards capturing lhe feel

of

occupying Ih

post or CN.O.

Paren thet ical ly , I might men tion Iha t th

jeep c r r i e r s ~ t h e CVE's tha t showed s

superbly off Samar-eQuid be figured into VIT

as carrier lask groups, and into WAS as hunte

killer and escort

groups. If Hermes

can show u

in

Ihe

counter

mix, why not

Card, Bogue

o

Guadalcanal

(even if only

in abstracted

form)?

I look forward 10 receiving the revised,

com

pleted

WAS

Expansion Kit and s trongly urg

t ha t, a ft er ano ther

year

or

two, you t urn you

talents towards the composition

of

a similar k

for

VITP

(with, possibly, addit ional fil lips f

WAS

as they evolve

and

present themselves); I'v

no

doubt thai

i t' ll f ind i ts market.

Rich

Banucci,

D.O.

Bridgeton, NJ

P

.5.:

Suggest ed Values for the O llana BB

might be (6) -9 -5 , inasmuch as they would ha

probably been as fast as the Washington s an

slower than the Iowa s.

One

could even argue f

a defense factor of 10 on the strength

of

vario

construction refinements planned for incorpor

t ion into the MOJllana s as well as on the increa

ing sophistication and efficacy of U.S. dama

control methods.

Gentlemen:

As

a

short

time but loyal

AH

fan, I would l i

to express my opinions on what I feel has been

inordinate

amount

of allention devoted to t

SLICO/ICOD

game

system in the pages

or TH

GENERAL.

Since I've never owned any of the

games I've beendisturbed to see no less than

11

a

ticles (includingscenario evaluations, scenario r

counting, game system design and analysis an

serie s r eplays ) in the l ast six issues of TH

GENERAL. This is far more attention than an

other game or games have received in these sam

issues (Volume

17

as a whole), and I wond

whether this trend will continue? At the risk

receiving

tons of hate

mail from the game syste

loyalists, I

hope

not.

To

be perfect ly honest , I think you have

do

an

excellent

job

with t he forma t

of TH

GENERAL

overal l. I especially

applaud yo

feature art icles recently on such oldies-bu

goodies

as STALiNGRAD and

AFR/K

KORPS. Nevertheless, my reaction upon seeing

new article

on

either SL, COD, or

COl

(or

mo

than

one) has been one

of

Oh no, nOt

anoth

one

I realize you can't please all the people

the

t ime, and Irealize the

enormous popularity

this still-developing game sys tem. I jus t wish

point ou t that such popularitywithtactical WW

infantry combat is far fromuniversal.And while

continue to look for far more art icles or varian

on my personal favorites A/W, AAOC, and

CL

I'm

instead accumulatingpage upon page of wh

to me is use less information on SL and i

variants.

To conclude then,

I'd

just like lO ask, o

behalf of

all

of

us

non-SL

fans

out

here

lO

co

s ider us in future pub li ca tions and not let TH

GENERAL

become SQUAD

LEADE

WORLD. Perhaps I 'l l even purchase SQUA

LEADER one

day,

just

to see what

I'm

missin

Who

knows, I

may

even like it.

Mark Cotter

Old

Town, ME

I try topresent as varieda format as possib

but

we

must weight the coverage to those game

which appeal to the bulk 01our readership. Base

on

What

Have You Been Playing surveys thu

far thatanswerhas been overwhelminglySQUAD

LEADER.



46

Inline Engine

Tahle

page 20)

Add the result on each die together.)

Scenarios page 2Sff)

Map

edge sides

are

referred

to

bythe

numbers

on the compass rose poiming toward that side.

Example

of

Loaded Modifiers page 17)

Maneuver, level

and

dive spee d incr e me nts

w ou ld b e 3 - 4 , 5 -6 , and 7-8 respec

tively.

Aircraft Identification, Procedure page 20)

ubtract one f rom I dentif ica tion die r oll

for

F

guns.

Q . Wha t happens when an aircraft a lre a dy a

maximum

dive spee d ma ke s a f urther dive?

A. The aircraft isde stroyed. I n orde r to dive

aircraft

w ould have

to

r educe its a ir spe ed f

probably by applying brake factors.

Q. Does the procedure f or s pO il in g t hr o

clouds lake different altitudes

of

the a irc r af t

account, similar to sighting over a hill?

A. No. You

cannot

sight

Over

a c loud.

Q. The optional

rules

state that

a

plane

must

i n t he

maneuver

speed until it

spots an

en

plane. The correspond ing alt it udes of

maneuver

spee ds see m tobe too low

I

thou

bombers

usually flew

the

highest

altitude

could.

A.

Y ou may

stan bombers

a t ma ne uve r

or

l

speed.

Q.

W ill a

plane

that spreads a

half·loop

over

or more turns have to climb or dive it s maxim

rate

every

lurn included?

A, Yes.

A.

No.

All

aircraft

are freed fr om th ei r

plotted movement.

Q. I f a p la ne b ec om es spotted because it f

can

enemy

planes fire

on that

plane

in

that

t

A.

Yes.

VICTORY

IN

THE

PACIFIC:

7 .7 2 D oe s a d am ag ed C Y l os e

ilS

airstrike

att

bonus?

A

No

QUESTIONS ANSWERS

Q. I n S ce na ri o 4 ,

are

t he f la k

guns

specified a

[otal amount divided among all the f la k counters

specified, or d oe s ea ch

counte r contain

the

specified amOunt of flak guns?

A.

The

amount is a t ot al d iv id ed

among

a ll t he

flak counters.

Q. Do

a1l

the

guns

in a flak

counter

f ir e a s

one

unit, or

may

they all fire separately?

A. They m us t a ll f ir e a s one unit.

Q. Does each flak coumer have

to spot

an

enemy

plane be for e the y c an f ir e on that plane ? I n other

w ords, must

16

flak

counters make spotting at

tempts on the sa me plane ?

A. On ce spoued,

an aircraf t

m ay be f ir ed upon

by a ny u ni t in t he g am e; an aircraf t need n ot b e

spotted

b y t he u ni t f ir in g

on

it.

Q.

Do ground

targets have

to

be spotted

to

be

attacked

or

bombed)?

A.

No;

bombardiers

were usually provided with

maps.

Q.

If

three planes on the same side

are

flying in

dividually

and

only

one

spOts

an

e ne my, does

movement have

to

be logged

in

a dv an ce f or t he

other two?

Altitude Loss

at

Non·Level

Bank

page 11)

A

number

of

conditions

have been applied

to

the

mandatory altitude

loss.

An aircraf t

which

ends

the

GameTurn in a non-Level Bank attitude

must lose 100 f ee t

of altitude

unless:

1 The

alc was p lo tt ed t o

perform

a Turn,

Slip, Half-loop

or

Half-RoB [as before].

2.

The

ale

spent

half

its

turn

rounding frac

tions down) in Level bank.

3. The alc ha s not e xpe nde d

enough

Move

ment Poin ts to conduct

a Ma ne uve r .

The

rule

a pplie s a t the e nd

of the

first

Game

Turn in which

the aircraft

is capable

of performing

a maneuver,

but has not·, and every

subsequent turn

after that,

until

1

or 2 a pply.

This

altitude

loss

is

determined

during

the

Status Determination Phase following thepial of

aircraft,

a nd a ff ec ts i ts n ex t turn s a ltitude . A s

this

is

an administrative adjustment , the

f ol lo wi ng r ul es a pp ly w he n u si ng t he

Optional

N ose A ltitude Rules f or combat:

I.

The 100 loss still leaves

the aircraft

in a

Nose-Level altitude.

2.

If

a playe r plotte d a c limb of 100

to

adjust

for the loss, the aircraft

is

still Nose-Level

attitude. I f

however,

more than

100 were plot

ted, th en t he No se -A ttit ude . R ule takes

precedence).

I

~ _ O O _ L ; _ @ _

_ i J _ l J : ~ _ ~ _ [ l _ © _ ~ _ L 3 _ ~ . . . . . I

-2

+1

-I

Inverted

Altitude: Towards

Away

Din

Glide

Bomb

Modifiers, correction

These modifiers

are

f or t he

s

die.

AIR FORCE ERRATA

Charls

Tables:.

A

number of

modifiers, though spe :ified cor

rectly in

the

text

of

t he r ul es , d o n ot appearor are

stated

incorrectly

on

the

Charts

pa ge 31) .

For

Players

convenience they

ought to

m ak e a

nOle

o n t he appropriate Charts.

NT

Ib

Optional Modifiers, add

Target

in Slip -1

Dive Speed Firing

-I

Slip,

Loop,

Roll

Firing each) -2

Spin Firing

-4

Spotting

Modifiers, add

READER U Y E R ~ S GUIDE

TITLE: AIRFORCE A.,.lon H ill r evision only

S UB JE CT : P la ne t o P la ne C om ba t in t he E ur op ea n T he at re of WWII

AVALON HILL RBG

RATING

CHART

The

games a re

ranked by their cumulative scores which is an average of th e 9 categories for

game.

While it may

be

fairly argued

thateach categoryshould

not

weigh equally against

th e

o

we

us e it only as a

generalization of

overall rank. By breaking down a

game s ratings

into

indi

ca tegories the gamer is able to discern for

himself

where t hegame is strong or weak in th e

qua

he va lues

th e most.

Readers ar e reminded that the Game

Length

category is

measured in multip

t en m inut es a nd t ha t a ra ting of

18 would

equal 3

hours.

o

1.82

1. 94

2.07

1.92

2.28

2.10

2.15

2.31

2.32

2.07

2.20

2.45

2.07

2.36

2.05

2.05

2.41

2.43

2.73

2.47

2.32

2.52

2.64

2.53

2.83

2.89

2.75

3.15

2.67

2.68

2.64

2.73

2.77

2.91

2.86

3. 40

3.21

3.05

3.21

2.44

3.05

2.96

3.01

3.15

2.95

3.38

3. 40

3.04

4.20

3.26

2.66

.5 6

1.69

1.78

1.82

2.14

1.88

2.09

2.09

2.29

1.93

2. 34

2.39

2.71

2.63

1.95

2.07

2.14

2.30

2.86

2.22

220

2.51

2.55

1.94

2.80

2.46

3. 40

2.80

2.61

2.76

2.82

2.37

2.91

2.09

2.43

3.11

3.42

2.76

3.02

2.94

2.81

3.00

3.21

2.93

2.81

3.58

2.77

3.28

4. 59

3.39

2. 57

1.36

1.60

2.41

2.02

2.26

1.85

2.00

1. 84

2.54

2.35

2.19

2.66

2.64

2.72

2.24

2.05

3.65

4.57

305

2.38

3.39

2.31

3.07

3.91

4. 20

4. 18

3.00

2.28

2.53

4.69

3.41

3.08

3.57

2.82

2.76

4.06

5.13

3.18

2.46

3.19

3.67

2.11

4.32

5.12

4.11

5.38

2.81

5.15

5.57

4. 06

3. 16

2.18

2.44

2.78

2.36

1.13

2.07

2.62

2.72

2.61

2.43

2.67

2.60

3.36

308

2.59

3.06

1. 86

2.09

3.73

2.55

3.57

3.57

3.43

3.38

2.75

3.25

4. 05

3.30

3.24

2.05

3.73

3.66

3.39

2.99

3.43

4.00

2.23

3.43

3.07

3. 00

2.25

306

3.27

3.73

3.53

2.12

2.42

4. 37

2.32

2. 80

2.93

2.31

2.52

3.07

2.94

2.33

2.39

2.88

2.63

2.56

2.64

2.60

2.94

1.85

2.62

3.22

3. 00

3.07

2.39

2.23

2.87

2.70

2. 70

2.52

2.79

2.43

2.86

3.25

3.53

3. 06

2.29

3.02

2.90

2.29

2.45

298

2.22

2.60

3.05

3.79

1. 94

2.89

2.77

3.11

2.35

3.40

2.33

3.29

2.52

2.18

4. 42

2. 75

o

()

:D 3

C 1;)

3. 20

3.37

2. 24

3.58

2.27

2.88

3.74

2.97

2.34

2.50

3.65

2.63

1.

3.27

4. 15

4. 03

2.83

1.87

2.14

2.90

2.43

3.31

2.26

2.21

1.98

2.25

3. 30

3.20

3.27

2.07

2.86

2.78

2.12

2. 55

2.55

2.00

2.62

3.03

432

2.19

3.14

4.32

2.01

1.74

3.08

2.28

3.69

2.07

1.45

5.29

2.81

em

o

w

0

-

0

2.33

1.88

2.02

1.82

2.93

2.38

1. 94

1.69

2.54

2.57

2.34

2.12

2.78

2.45

2.34

2. 03

2. 34

3.13

2.31

2.42

2.07

1. 86

2. 45

1.85

3. 00

2.03

1.85

2. 40

2.39

3.45

2.04

2.56

2.92

3.00

3. 19

2.80

3. 25

3. 00

2.50

3.69

3.30

2.13

3.11

2.74

3.31

2.64

3.79

3. 40

3.59

3.13

2. 59

o

3

1;)

i

1.64

2.04

1.85

1.85

2.13

3.07

1.74

3. 00

2.32

3.29

2.17

2.62

2.71

1.76

2.47

3. 00

2. 84

2.26

2.36

3.48

3.11

3.03

2.57

2.36

2. 40

2.96

2.05

2. 60

2.82

2.91

3.12

3. 10

4.01

3.21

2.58

2.21

3.10

2.48

4. 54

3.28

4. 68

3.27

3.96

2.80

4.33

4.94

3. 74

4. 30

2.81

2.86

1.93

2.09

1.98

1.97

2.53

2.40

2.11

2.16

2.37

2.21

2.41

2.28

2.92

2.16

2.12

2. 00

2.26

2.35

2.32

2.58

2.27

2. 34

2.62

2.47

2.45

2.04

1. 75

2.23

2.84

2.98

2.41

2.75

3. 04

3.36

2.99

2.69

2.63

2. 80

2.52

3.72

3.39

2.85

3.29

3.18

2.93

3. 18

3.77

3.43

3.43

2.74

2. 60

c

3

c

2. 04

2.17

2. 24

2.25

2.27

2.34

2.36

2.37

2.43

2.44

2.50

2.52

2.53

2.56

2.57

2.58

2. 60

2.60

2.64

2.65

2.67

2.68

2.68

2. 70

2.76

277

2.82

2.83

2.83

2.87

2.87

2.88

2.90

2.91

2.93

2.98

3.03

3.04

3. 04

3.07

3.09

3.10

3.18

3.21

3.21

3.25

3.43

3. 44

3.51

3.54

2.78

On

the

negative side,

the

game

garnered

poor

r at in gs f or Ph ys ic al Q ua li ty 3 .77 ) a nd C om

pone nts 3.79) . W hile these r atings a re

probably

a im ed at t he data cards,

it should

be pointed

out

that

the artwork, particulary on

the

boxcover and

counters,

is

top notc h.

The

w or st r at in g w as f or

Mapboard 4.94) which also seemssomewhat un

fair.

It isn t

easy

to make

a

mapboard

represent

ing

the

sky look very interesting.

e[her be low a ver a ge r a tings w er e f or E ase Of

Understanding

3.69), Completeness Of Rules

3.29), and Overall Value 3.40).

The

Average Playing

Time

9.6)

of

an hour

and

a

half

is

about

r ight f or a sma ll sc ena rio w ith

four to e ight planes.

The

majority of

disc onte nt w ith the A va lon

Hill revision as opposed to the original Battleline

version seems to h av e b ee n a im ed at

the

multi

colored graphic presentation of the data cards;

or igina l ow ne r s

of

the

game

c la im in g [ ha t t he

black

white linear chans w er e much e asier to

understand.

T his isir onic a s

it

w as this ver yc on

c ept w hich de la yed our publica[ion of the AH

version.

To ke ep the RBG list at 50title s, the long suf

fering

and

discontinued

KRIEGSPIEL

has finally

bee n dismissed f rom its r ightful plac e a t the bot

tom of

the chart.

The game

recei ved i ts be st r at in g f or P la y

Balance 2.42), which

is

not surprisingsince most

pla ye rs design their

own

scenarios

and

try

to

establish equal sides. The other twoabove average

r at in gs w er e f or E xc it em en t L ev el 2 .7 7)

and

Realism 2.81).

AIR

FORCE

was

the

53rd game to

undergo

a na ly si s in t he R BG . I ts

Cumulative

Rating

of

3.43 placed

it

a disappointing 46th.

W hile not the f ir st Ba ttleline ga me

to

be r a te d

(that honor going to CIRCUS MAXIMUS AIR

FORCE is

a

good

example

of

peoples

natural

resistance to c ha ng e. I nd ee d, t he a ct ua l r ul e

changes

to

AIR

FORCE

w er e f ar less

than

those

to

CIRCUS MAXIMU The only big

change

in

the

AH

version

of AIR FORCE

was in

the

presen

tation

of the

aircraft

data

cards,

but this change

seems

to

have irked

many

of

the

game s diehard

fans. AIR

FORCE

h as a lw ay s h ad a l ar ge , and

some w ha t f ana tic al, f ollowing w ho w er e a gainst

a nyc ha nge r ight f rom the be ginning. I t

is

not sur

prising

that

this feeling

is

r en ec te d in t he R BG .

H ow ev er , t hi s c as ts

some

serious doubt s on

whether the se r a tings a r e a tr ue r ef lec tion of the

game.

And

since

the

Ba ttleline ver sion w as not

rated,

the

ratings do not r ea lly tell us

how

the

twO

differ.

1.

CRESCENDO OF DOOM

2. CROSS OF IRON

3.

RUSSIAN

CAMPAIGN

4. SQUAD LEADER

5.

CIRCUS

MAXIMUS

6 . W .S . I.M.

7.

ANZIO

8.8ISMARCK

9 . W AR A ND

PEACE

10 . FORTRESS EUROPA

11 .

PANZER LEADER

12 .

RICHTHOFEN S

13. C AESAR ALESIA

1 4 . 1 7 7 6

15 . 3rd

REICH

16 .

PANZER8L1TZ

17 .

KINGMAKER

18 . DIPLOMACY

19 . CAESAR S

LEGIONS

20 . SUBMARINE

21 .

STARSHIP TROOPERS

22 .

ARAB ISRAELI WARS

23 . CHANCELLORSVILLE

24 . VICTORY- PACIFIC

25 .

DUNE

26 .

NAPOLEON

27 .

FRANCE

1940

2 B. T he LONGEST DAY

29 . JUTLAND

30 . RAIL BARON

31 .

LUFTWAFFE

32.

MIDWAY

33 .

AFRIKA KORPS

34 . FURY IN THE WEST

35 .

ALEXANDER

36 . ORIGINS OF WW II

37 . WIZARD S

QUEST

3 8 . C R E TE M A L T A

39 .

GETTYSBURG 7 7

40 . D DAY

7 7

41 .

BLITZKRIEG

42 . TOBRUK

43 .

WATERLOO

44 . WAR AT SEA

45 .

BULGE

46 . FEUDAL

47 .

AIR FORCE

48 .

STALINGRAD

49 . TACTICS

II

50 .

MAGIC REALM

AVERAGE



Manufacturing Association (GAMA) who indirec

tax the ir membership by levying a $50/booth f

for attending exhibitors. In any case, the H

reports that the

Adult

Fantasy and Strate

Games category grossed 36,000,000 in 198

This figure compares with

16,000,000

Military Miniatures, Dioramas, and

Structure

34,000,000 for Dol lhouses , 134,000,0

for Model

Railroads , and

298,000,000

Needlecrafts,

Macrame, and Yarns . Ne

fear-

the HIA reports that i f you adjust the def

tion

of

the category

to

include the sales

of

such

dustry giants

as

Parker Brothers, the Adult Ga

category tips the scales at

213,000,000.

Due to the difficulty of answering game que

tions correctly on two very different sets of rule

Avalon Hill will no longer answer questions perta

ing to out-of-date rulebook editions. Questio

must be based on the current rulebook edition,

they will be returned unanswered. This policy

aimed specifically at THIRDREICH, but also appl

to games such

as

D-DA

Y

AFRIKA KORP

BA TTLE OF THE BULGE GETTYSBURG a

BLITZKRIEG. Where rule changes in current e

tions are only of a minor nature this pol icy wil l n

apply, but where changes are extensive such

as

the above mentioned t it les

we

can only answ

questions based on play

of

the

most

curre

editions.

n f i l t r t o r ~ s

Report

·

.332

. 180

157

77

·

7

·

72

·

5

.

5

·

44

17

6

3

Russian

View

REICH Series Replay.

the Jolly Roger .

LEADER Clinic

the Lead

ut

ack to

the

Viipuri

Maniacal

pproach

.

Asylum

.

View

From

the

Other Side

of

theRhine

riefing

. . . . . . . . . . . .

nalysis

Hill Philosophy .

The Charles Roberts Awards were presented

ORIGINS VII on July 3rd. This marked the f irst

that the f inal vot ing was done by members of

Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design

already petitions are circulating to return the

to the public. Membership in the

Academy

wever is not all that exclusive and we urge in

ested parties

to

request membership informa

by sending a stamped, self-addressed

to Academy, POB 656, Wyandotte, MI

Vol. 17,

No.6

polled a

3.27

score

for

the issue

it

the fourth best issue

of

the preceding

As usual, the feature ar ti cle got the l ion's

of the votes in our 200 random sample

which awards three points

for

a first, two

a second, and one point for a third best selec

The complete results were as follows:

Avalon Hill was well represented among the

minees. Both CIRCUS

MAXIMUS

and WAR

were on the bal lo t for Best Pre-20th Cen

ry Boardgame but lost out to SPI's EMPIRES OF

MIDDLEAGES. CRESCENDO OF

DOOM

beat

FORTRESS EUROPA and three other

ominees in winning Best

20th

Century Board

The entire 1980 line ofAH

computer

games

nominated in the Computer category but lost

TEMPLE OF APSHAI by

Automated

Simula

THE GENERAL was a bride 's maid

for

the

time

in as

many

tries

as

FIRE

&

MOVEMENT

t ook top honors in the Professional Board

Magazine category. Gary Gygax gained

overdue admittance to the Hall of Fame as its

inductee. SQUAD LEADER added CAMPAIGN

gazine's Best Game of All T ime award

to

its

of

Kudos.

The second annual Northeast Gaming Associa

Playoffs will consist of a between-club single

mination wargame

tournament

based on popular

war

boardgames. The rules for TEAM·

wil l govern play. Teams wil l consist of

ur players competing in fourindependentsix-hour

hes. Each of the tw o

teams

in a

meet

will be

to

veto

one

of

the six eligible wargames,

leaving four games

to

actually compete in.

ggested (but

yet to be finalized) base games

e played in NGAP '81 are:

Squad Leader Victory

the

Pacific The Russian Campaign Chickamauga

Alexander An 8

team

tournament is planned.

are absolutely no player eligibility rules. Anyone

play including somebody who has already played

r team In this manner,

it

will specifically en-

the formation o f all-star teams and help to

the best possible play in the final stages of

tournament. The tournament

is

scheduled to begin

September A registration fee will be charged for the

10.00 per team). The registration fee will

for a copy of the 98 revised

rules for TE M

as well as a contribution toward the trophy

More details on the scheduling of the tourna

will be announced later.

Send

all directory re

and NGAP correspondence to Jeff Cornett, I I

Frost Drive, Shelton

CT

06484 203-929-6147).

Avalon Hill, always on the lookout for new

product offerings, has recently released a line of

seven Puzzle Stick Games. Although not typical

fare for wargamers,

they

may make

an

interesting

gift idea

for

the non-wargamers in your life

who

are

nonetheless into puzzle solving. Puzzle sticks are

far removed from traditional table puzzles, and may

well

represent the only new puzzle idea to be

patented in several decades. To solve one of these

multi-solution puzzles calls for a keen sense of

percept ion. Your eye must single out related

shapes, color, shadings, and density of print . To

makea whole

outof

seeminglyunrelated parts con

taining minute bits

of

information

is

challenging

to

a

high degree. Each individual stick is almost exactly

alike. Since each puzzle has more than one solu

t ion, the Puzzle Sticks player

must

soon decide

which picture to attempt f irst. Often the puzzle is

almost finished before disclosing the beauty of its

complex subject

and oncecomplete the picture

on the other side might be hopelessly scrambled.

An interlocking frame is enclosed in each package.

Puzzle Sticks are playable either as solitaire devices

or in a variety of versions

with

opponents. Current

subject offer ings in the Stick Puzzle line include;

GIBSON GIRLS PRESIDENTIAL MUNCHIES

H N SCAPES UGUST FRUIT THE BUCK

ST RTS

HERE STICK

PUZZLE

POKER

and

WIND WHEELS and STEAM

Al l are priced at

6.00. For more information on the Puzzle Stick line

send

us

a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

The Hobby Industry Association

of

America in

cluded the Adventure Gaming category in their

Annual Hobby Industry Report for the first t ime this

year.

An

Adventure Gaming division was formed

within the Hobby Association for the f irst t ime in

1980 marking the coming of age of adultgames (be

they

wargames, simulations, fantasy, role playing,

or whatever) in the hobby indust ry . One of the

benefits

of

division status within the Hobby

Association is that the Association will

match

all

funds raised by the division for purposes of hobby

wide promotion of that category. With these funds

advertising making the public more aware of

adventure games

as

a ca tegory can become a

reality. Thus far, the division's only means of raising

funds for this purpose has been the sponsorship

of

the national ORIGINS convention by the Games

Ava lon Hill has been busy acqui ring gam

from other companies again. The latest acqu

tions are ex-OSG products PANZERKRIEG, ROB

HOOD, NAPOLEON AT BA Y AIR COBR

BONAPARTE

IN

ITAL

Y

BA TTLE OF THE

DA YS NAPOLEON A T LEIPZIG, and DEVI

DEN It is not

known

at this t ime when these tit

will be made available from Avalon Hill, or to wh

extent- if

any-they

wi ll be revised f rom th

original versions.

Anyone

interested in applying for a playte

position for the 2 nd Edition of STARSH

TROOPERS

should address their inquiries

to

Alan

Moon. Both expert STARSHIP TROOPERS play

and inexperienced players will be used. Please sta

which

category you qualify

for

in your letter.

A line of copy was erroneously omitted fro

the WAR & PEACE rulebook. Players may

want

make the following addition to their rulebook; Pa

29, Section F part 5: Non-French Player Re

forcements. Add

to

subsect ion f. Janua

1814-

All English, Portuguese, and Spanish forc

listed in Scenario VI. January-August,

1814

- Ea

turn

etc

The winners of Contest No. 100 who correc

surmised that the German's best chance of fi

victory lay ina low odds attack taking Rostov we

A. Battaglin, Chicago, IL; S. Packwood, Tuba C

AZ; R Bouvier, Portland,

OR ;

G Hendrix, Housto

TX; R Papandrea, Warren, MI; C Drong, Spr

Grove, IL; D Kaiser, Lawrenceville, NJ; G Philli

Ann Arbor, MI; F Preissle, State College, PA; a

P Siragusa of Houston, TX. Merchandise cred

were awarded to all of the above despi te th

resemblance to a list of semi- final is ts a t t

AH

500.

The solution to Contest No. 101 consisted

listing the

following

game titles in the correct ord

1. Blitzkrieg, 2. Alexander, 3.

Dune,

Chancellorsville, 5. Cross of Iron, 6. Caesar Ales

7. Anzio, 8. 1776, 9. Napoleon, 10. Stars

Troopers, 11. Air Assault On Crete, 12. Midwa

13. Origins, 14. Squad Leader, 15. D-Day, 1

UFO, 17. Arab-Israeli Wars, 18. Russian Campaig

19. Magic Realm, 20. Tactics II 21. Gettysbu

22. Bismarck, 23. Alpha Omega, 24. War a

Peace, 25. Panzerblitz.



OPPONENTS

WANTED

OPPONENTS WANTED

OPPONENTS WANTED

Classicist/Revisionist needs flf

STAL

opponenl

on

(heAlaska fronl. (NOll : New

Addresq.

louis

CO:llncy,

9706

Trappers Lane. JuncaLl,

AK

99801. 19(1)789·0046.

Expcricnccd player wanlS 0l3lurcgamcr f o r f lf .

ra led, unrated

laclical gameS,

Sl . COl,

COD,

WSIM.

others.

Also

mulli-playcrCM, MR.

raloo

ISOO+.

nt'xable

limes.

Joseph

A. PercI, 742 S.

PaNCU

Cif.,

AZ

835·7296.

AK, AIW,

AOC,

DO, GOA.

MO,

NP.PL. Ricky

Thompson,

J005

N. 86th Lane. Phoenix.

AZ

85037,849·2728.

Pbm

player desperalely

ncedOO

for

AL. I 'm

a

beginner but hard

10

bea . A system is needed.

Andy DcLaix. 7921 Tuscany Dr.. Tucson. AZ

85704, 297-6SI4.

Beginner needs players for 3R. AK,

FE, WAS .

Age 29 anyon e in

lillie

Rock a rea? D:wid

Burro ',

50-1

Green Ml.Cir.1i62.L.R.. AZ72211,

(501)225·7392

AREA rlllC'd 1600 scd:s ratedpbm gamesor PB,

STAL. Pn:rer ~ I i t m:J lch in PB. Will pia)' any

body

in

any scenar io. Also pbm. 1\1 : t-likc

Fr isk, 18H7Arrow Hg ·y. Apt G-I03 , Covina,

CA91722,(213)332-8825.

Regular DIP games. 1st 3rd Sat. la1;h month,

noon sharp .Jo in us. ~ i c l 1 ~ c e d 414

W.

Oak. £1

Segundo, CA90245,(213)322·0421.

Ftf ·anted. AZ. [1 10 W&P. NP. SI- , lB,

AK. VITI ' ,WAS. PB. PL,

STAL.GOA.

others.

Mike Bohannon.

1839

E. Washington

IBBO,

Escondido.CA 92027. (14)489-0311.

Adult gamer interested

in

r tfSL.

COl.

\\ISIM.

PL. VITP and lHhc:rs. Ha esome pbmkits. Will

lIns er lI11lr:tlers. Randy Worrell. 3110

E.

Palm

Dr.. 1116. Fullerlon,CA 92631.(714)524-9174.

Unfilted player sc.:king opponents for MD and

VITI'.

Ftf

preLLaltand Beacharea. Send a Iwer

o r c al l. Bret HUby.

11129

Grevillea 134

Inglewood, CA 90304, (213}674-3935.

Adult wallis opponelllsrated or

nOI

for f tf. SL,

COl. COD. FE, AZ. TRC, TLD, or pbrn AZ,

TRC AREA 1200

provo

Craig

'kans.

6$12

Cr( $Cen l S t .. Los Angel es . CA

900U.

(113)

258·5614.

Eltperienced

16

yr.old gamerse-eksopPOnentsror

3R. SUB , SL. Wil l l ea rn o the r wWll games.

AdamSheldon.9849Chicopee

Aw:

.. NOflhridge,

CA 91325. 993-8464.

Postal

KM

Gamesstarting throughout theyear.

Send for details. RussellBalgair. 4015 HoweSt..

/lA,

Oakland, CA 94611. (415) 547-0667.

Teellager with one year's

nperience.

Wants f lf

forSL.COI.

COD,3R.AF. W&P. VITP.Soonn

ill have FE. Brad Larkin, 1451 Onawa Ave..

San Leandro, CA 94579.

(4151

352-7141.

Nonrated III-argamer haspbm tils for AK. JRC,

Will playlhoseand IHherAH utles,::iLgametles,

FE.

AZ.ete.Thomas

Vallejos.14546MereedSt .•

San Leandro. CA 94529, (415)351-8011.

Is

therean)'one

in

myareawho wouldlike 10 form

a c lub to play, analyze. and design wargames?

James Gordon. 1221 S. EI Camino 304. San

M3IeO. CA94402, 574·2980.

The NWA needs represenlation from Ihe north

west plains.Garnersthereand everywherearc in·

i led to inquire concerning

our

activities.

You

may besurprised COnt:CI: Nation:.1 Wargaming

Alliance.9322KenwoodDr. 1218.Spring Valle),

CA92077.(714)697·320S.

AREA 1711 DEIchallengesany AREA

membeT

in tOp

SO

10 one or t o (simultaneous) gamesof

pbm TRC. Richard Phelps ,

1617

Que-en

Charlolle.Sunny ale.

CA

94087,(408)733·8)99.

W a n t ~ d : pbmopponentfor non·serioushighle el

play

in

Anzio

(bask

& optionals).

TRC.

AK

HOllorsystem for die rolls. Gord Ashaeker.1I4

202027

Ave . . S .W. , C alga ry . P r o . , \ Ib er t a,

T2T·IH5,244-9101.

Adult

ne

10 . argaming wantspbm opponenlS

for SL and

COl.

Sendsystemyouprefer:.Illtllers

ans '·ered. all gamcs pla)'ed to t he b il le r end .

J . C ame r on .

2075

Warden A '· e.. Uni t 3 7,

Scarborough, Ont. .

Canada

MITIRI.

(416)

292·8891.

I'm looking for ftf opponents in the Puebloarea

to pia>' C AE . KM, MR. SON , 3 R.

TRC.

FE,

W&P. WAT

or

anylhing

e1.\e

you have. SIeve

Sain . 2025Jerry MurphyApt. 202. Pueblo. CO

81001.545-4107.

Conn.game dub hasmonthlygeneral met'tingat

t he Wes tp or t communi t y ) 'o uth cen te r . Ne

recruiu

and

i si to rs wel come . We p lay SL.

WSIM. CM, SON. VITP Jeff Cornett. II

ROberl

Frost Dr.•Shelton. CT

06484.

929-6147.

Wargame club meets

we-ekly. pia)

all manufae.

LUrers games including CAE,

FE.

GE,

SL. SH.

AF.

DC

and others. Tournaments conducted

also. RoyceBrainard.

110

RobertDr .•

S.

\\Iindor,

CT06074.644-3190.

Adult gamer, avg. player. reliable opponcnts

of

anyaile .pbm.PB, AK. Also ftfStamfordvicinity

forAK.

CAE.GE,

~ \ O PB. PL. GE. SL.

John

Farewell.611\lid[andAve..Stamford, CT06906,

(203) 327--()919.

AREA player

se-eks

allopponents. AREAor lO1.

illplayonh pbm.I haveAK.STAL.WAT.BB.

Will

answer all rcquesls . Ke,in Cronin .

1626

Wilty St.• Holl)·wood.

FL

33020.

Adu lt o ppon ent s wan ted f or f tf . NOI AREA

rated . I ' ll p Ia)' an)' wargllme. Take either s ide.

John Besbekos. Callaway Garden Apts. 11534

Athens. GA 30606. S4S 6376.

Tel:1I

Sludent looking for dubs in Atlanta are3.

Alsolooking for pbmgame ofTRC

or

FR. Con

sider m)'sclfanaveragepla>·er. MarcSchuler. Ga.

Tech Bolt 36551. Atlanta, GA 30322.

(404)

872-2009.

Ntoed

f iropponenu in

south Atlanta.Alsopbm

AK,WAT, BB, andSTALwill pia} AREA l am

1200 p rO\ ) o r n on -AREA. Ge rr y Ge rmond.

1591-A Sheffield

Rd

. . C ol lege Pk . GA 30349 ,

991-8592.

Pbm

opponents wanted for

Sl , COl.

VITP.

WAS. Junior p layer of average ability. Steve

Munsell.

2327

Da,'ron Cir., r-.larielUt, GA 30062,

(404)973·6040.

SL.

COl,

COD fal l: lt ic . age 34. s eeks pbm

opponents . Fast game using

COO or

COl rules

prderrcd. D. G. Walters, Mossquoy. Dcerness,

Orkney, Great Brilain. KWI7209. 0856 74331.

Wanted:experiencedIllinoisopponentsfor TRC,

I . illtra'·el.Willconsider GOA. W&P. FE.Also

IAREAonly) pbmTRC

......AT.

MyAREAr:uing

is 1800+. EdMineman,424Anita Dr.•Belle,·ille.

IL 62221, (618) 233-6845.

MD. JU. STAL. 26 yr. o ld AREA gamer needs

local ftfopponents. Da idM. Seirn.643Gunder

s on Apt .

110,

Carol Stream. IL 60187.

312)

653·2135.

Ftf in

Springf ield area for SL,

COl.

3R.SST.

SUB and olhers. Gary Crolllell where arc you?

NOI

AREA membe r but eon side ri na . Denni s

Collins. 15 Chatham Villa. Chalham. IL 62629,

483-4019.

Mature pla)'erseeks AREA r:ued STAL, WAT.

AK. Prererpbm.

will

answer alllcuen. Richard

Domovic. 3623S. 57th Ave.. Cicero. IL 60650,

(312)863·3031.

Mature playcrs walllel. f tf. pbm. An) ' All Game

SI. Louis area. Craig Stephens . 4509 W3lter .

Granilecity, IL62040. 931-4606.

Membe rs wan ted f or t he Col lege of DuPage

Warsame club.Meetse er)'Sunday. noon, Cam

pusCenter.

'K'

building.

All

games. allgaOlers.

allages-III'dcome Paul S. DeVolp;' 603 Colum

bineA'·e.,

Lislc,IL60532.(312)964-1297.

Experienced gamer

ants ftf opponents for BL.

SL.

COl.

DO. TRC_ Manin Reed. 3930 Ken·

sington Dr.. Lafa)·elle. IN47905.(317)447·7737.

lndire need of moreexpcrience and

bcnercom

petition. NO ice

22

yr. old

sects

AREA

flfoppo

l le ll l{ s) f or 3R) , PB. PL . SL and o th er s. SCOIl

Tomasic, 5980 Roosc elt PI.. Merrillville. IN

46410,(219)980-4638.

Naval gamer seekins competi l ion in MD.

FT.

WAS.

IPT,

BIS . W5IM, SUB , a ll p bm . SL.

COl.COD. ftf. NIH rated. no opponents refused.

Paul Wor th in gton . t 026 Sal em St ., Michigan

CiIY. IN 46360,(219)879-6810.

Friendlyopposition wanted for flf

in

K.C. area.

Have:AK.

BB.

CAE. W&P,

TRC,

DO. FE.SST.

Will learn others. MikeMance, 1605

K i o w ~

Dr.,

Olalhe, KS66061, (9J3) 782 W70.

AREA 746nc.:dsratedpbmorftfgamesAK.SL.

STAL. Bill Smithhart. P.O. Bm187. Marion. KS

66861, (316)3g2-225j.

Wanted pbm opponent for

FE.

4 yrs. CXperiena

ith

PL,

AIWand SL syslems; but

ne

to divi

s ion unit games&pbm; alllcnerans

·ered. Felix

D'AIOOr. 1406Darb)' St.• Plaquemine. LA70764.

687·2642.

Wanted the address of Dan Binsackformerlyof

the)37thASA.andmorerecemlyofFieidStation

Bcriin. Dennis

E.

Mason, RFD

III Box

414.

Hul. son. ME 04449. (207)884-8171.

AREA 1200adult wargamer seeks

rtf in

W&P.

AOC. AIW . o r C L; Orono and B3ngor area.

Mark

Coner,

249 CemerSt., Apt. 2.Old To . n.

ME

04468, 827-6817.

Small group of enthusi:l$IS

in

thesouth Bos ton

area interested

in

opponents forSL,

COl, cOD,

3R.CM. DIP. Non-ratedbut eager to play . Will

learn pbm sySlems. Sean O'Connor.

15

Woodland Dr., Cohassel, MA 02025.383·9361.

Gamer.33.seeksgroupfOrnot·For·bloodevening

play, particularly mUlli·pla>·er SL,

COl.

COD,

MMR, WSIM,

RB.

Stcve McKnighl,

59

Norfolk

St., Needham, MA 02192, 4 4 9 ~ 5 3 7 1

SoutheasternMa:u.....argamers meet e eryTues·

daynight at theSMC LibrarySouth Lounge. We

generally play from se en to ten p.m. William

o....-en.

371 Rtoed St .•

New

Bedford. MA 02740,

999-4120.

Ame ri ca n War gami ng A ss oc . N at io na l

Dem(Xralic all·hobby wargaming fraternal

organization. Monthly

ne

s cller. tournaments,

con ent i on s ad i s o ry boa r d. s peci al ime re st

groups. affiliates, discoums. colleclor's guild,

and more S8/year George Phillies, 122 s Island

Dr .•

11204.

Ann Arbor.

MI

48105.

Pbm opponems

amed for 3R eitherside. your

S)·stcm. Shawn LitlCn,

P.O. Box

21804. GMF.

Guam,MI96921.

ARESA

1200

seekspbm

BL

ratedgames onlyand

unrated

TRC,

AlllettCf$ ans ered. Jack Kuehl,

IJOOOGlenvicwDr.. Bums\·ilte, MN 55337, (612)

890-16Ij.

Flf

pla)'ers aotedforany

AH

gameespecially

to

form teams for TLO campaign. Wish 10 form

mons ter game club. J im Bodine. )33) Harriet

Ave.

5..

Minneapolis.

MN

55408, 824-169j.

Need competition

16

years old, AREA raled .

Have FE. 1776. WS&IM. SL, COt. COD. AO,

FL. Own no pbm kits. Greg Miller. 519

Edgewood

A e

Still

a te r. MN 55082 . ( 612)

439-7253.

Adult rated games of \VAT wanted . Play each

sideonce.My AREA isapprox. 900. Use2nd edi

tionrules.

H.

MePherson,

j(l()9

COUmr) Valley.

Imperial. Mis.souri. 630j2. (314) 296--6645.

AREA 600 beginner looking for rated

or

non

ratedmalches in BL or PD. Either

flfor

pbm.ln·

expericnced.looking to learn. Don Dudenl1oef

fer, 27 Quamilo,

MexiCQ.

MD 6526j , ( 314)

581-4002.

Unrated player

se-eks

opponent s f or SL. COl.

COD, W&P. FE. GOA and manyothers. Ftfor

pbm. Anyone wam

to

t ry macro SL. PB. PL?

Frank Kump, 5147 Mild Dr. • S I. Lou is ,

MO

63129.894-2363.

Ne

in

Omaha,lookingfor flfinSL.

COl.

COD.

3R. TRC. SUB,FE. Anydubs in thearea?Rand)'

Beals.

10067

ArmSlrong. Omaha, NE 68134,

(402»)1-5200.

OMAHA BEACH wargamingclub. invites}'outo

ad emurl' DANGER. joy and accomplishment.

Thisclubisoneyearold;andwishesthesegamers

t o j oi n. J ur ge n C . O lk . 3305 Aug us ta Ave .,

Omaha,

NE 68144, 333-8099.

Bricktown gamer. 33 y rs. o ld . s ee ks l oc al

o ppon ent s. I h a e many g ames inc lu ding SL.

VITP. LW,

10.

KM

& 3R. Bob MaeCary.

19

Vanafll Dr.• Brickto n. NJ 08723. 920·9S67.

CAE, AZ,

TRC,

SST. Know mos tgames. Dave

Maguire. 316 Strawbr idge. Coll ingswood. NJ

08108,S54-5962.

Adult novice player necdsopponenlS. Will play

mostany

AH

game ftfor pbm,

STAL.

PD. Aduh

preferred. [play forfun andenjO}'melll only. Jim

Vroom, P.O. BollS039. Clinton, NJ08809,(201)

188-2603.

Wanted pbm

in

STAL. AK.BL. BB, DO.WAT.

AZ. LW. PB, PL ir )·ou ha e syslem. 16 yr. old

Non·AREA. Bob Pro encher Jr .. IS Rodney

Rd.. E. Bruns ick. NJ08816.(20l)254·6372.

Beginnerunratcd

13

yrs. oldseckspbmOf

ftffor

LW. SUB. SL,3R. TAc' Need pbmsystem. An)

clubs

i nmy

arca? Wanlbeginnersgame3R. Dave

Kcsser.

10

Woodfield Ave .. Lawrenceville, NJ

08040.

(609j896-955S.

Myapologiestoallthosc

hoans

ered byad in

16. I ass .

ampcd.I

couldae«ptonly on a first

comefirst

scr

ed· '

basis.Dan Sullivan. 113 Spear

St .• Oakland. NJ07436.

S. Jersey argamer Assoc. (SJWA)

is

stafling iu

n ew membe rs hip d ri e Mike Crane. 219

Bidge ood Dr .• Nor th fi el d, NJ 08225 .

(609)

646-S124.

Pbm players needed for growing zinc. Crucible

earriesDune, Sourc.:,and more.MikeCrane.

219

Ridgewood Dr.. Northfield . NJ 08225, (609)

646·8124.

Adultgamer,26seel.:srtfcombatinawide

v

ariely

of aames. 1810

3j

yr. olds preferred.

[I.-lust

be

local resident

or

li e nearby. John Barnes, 4)B

RivervaleCI. . ScQteh Plains, NJ07016. 232·5831.

Pbm opponent des ired ror INS, ftf desired for

most

AH

games. Mark E\'ans, Box

121.

Ossipee,

NH 03864. (603)539-2617.

AREA 1500+ oppOnentS desired

f t f o r

pbm

in

AK. WAT. VITP . WAS. Are the re any AREA

garners in l hc Sou th er n Germany a rea? I L t.

DennisCook. ACO, 249lh Engr.

Bn

.. APO.

NY

09360.

OppOnent antedror pbm

or

r tf rorFT.

PD.

PL,

TRC. 3R and

WAS.

Tom

Hastings. 442 W. 258

SI.. Bronx. NY 10471. (212)884-7)83.

Nc«l AREAratedWSIM. WAT,STAL. OfSL.

COl pbm. Will answer all cUCfS. Also f t f any

game.

All

AREA rat ed . J ames J . Pel ly . clo

Kuhns, Mary A,·e .• Lake Kalr ine.

NY

12449,

(914)3g2·2845.

Gamer

will

playSL.

COl.COD

andFE,

flfonly.

You should note that I 'm 10yrs. old. Anthony

Cooper. 48 E. HamillOll Ave..Massapequa. NY

11758.795-45lJ.

Untried AREA

1500

will pbmAF, SL.COI,

PD,

AIW. CL.

Needssystems. Please really ne-ed AF

syStem. MichaelR. Schwenk,41-3545thApI. 5C,

Sunnyside. NY 11104. (212)729.7629.

A\·I

. . r el iabl e, n on· f an a ti c adu lt ould l ik e

friendlynon-rated pbmW&P. TRC.CAE. Rexi

b le as to scenario. side. 1\-lature opponents onl) ,

p lease. Joseph Kolt .

5102

McCormick Rd..

Durham. NC27713.

Ftf in

Ft. Bragg·Fayellevilie area. Pbm 3R.

Chess . Non · ra t cd p lay. I own GOA, SL.

COl.

COD.TRC. BIS.SUB,3R, PL.A1W, FE. WIE.

Puz David Ste'·ens.

Beo

1/325 Airborne Inf Fl.

Bugg,

NC28307. 396·9920.

AREA 900seeks similarl)' raledopponent

in

SL.

WSIM.

Pbm

only. You r s ys tem. All l el le rs

answered . Da,' id Krause, 402 1\lonmouth Dr.•

Gretnsboro,NC27410.

(919)294-5675.

16yr. old

ould like to ftfor pbm,WAS. AIW,

PL. PB. SL. MR. Competent . Forming elub

at

Enl(X HighSchool. Mall Burdell,

RL

3

Box 152

Hodge Rd. , Knigh td al e. NC 27545. (919)

266-9426.

Need explorers for pbm son. I wil l GM with my

l im it ed int el li gence sySt em Some p laye rs

alreadysillnedup,needabout threemorelostall.

John Woodson. 4409 Greenbrier Rd .• Raleigh.

NC27603. {919j 772·7793.

Pbm. rtf TLD. TRC.I

lIIish

to

beGermans

in

all

the games . Also GE. I 'm AREA. J . Brammer,

Box

321. Bdlaire. OH 43906.

Will moderate TLD. operation typhoon. Cam·

paign llamcsonly. Will lakecare of CRT weather

charlJetc. Sendfor detailsand choose yoursidl'.

J. Br3mmer,

Box

321. Bellaire. OH 43906.

Alln. Northerngarners theNWA offersb igclub

services forsmallclubprices.SL fanstournamem

is

now forming for membersonly . For infoeon

tact:J.A.

Brag,g. I509N.8thSI.,MartinsFCff)'.

OH 43935.(614)63J·3ISO.

1200+ player

seeks

samefor ratedpbmgames

of

AK and TRC. Alsoseeks pbmS)stemror WSIM.

Ron Guyre, Star R t. 2

Box

16A, Blakeslc.:. PA

18610,(717) 64(j·8091.

COl. SL. SST . MD. VITP, COD, DL, FL. JU,

RB.

RW, SON, WSIM. LW. J. Bcreda. Jr.,

414

GroveSt..

Bridgeport. PA 19405,(2l5) 277·6656.

Adu lt p bm and f tf o ppon en ts

ant ed f or t he

follo

ingwargames: AF, AZ. BL. BB. DO. FE,

FR. GOA, PL . SST . SUB, TAC. W&:P. many

o the rs . Ha ro ld Rober lS .

S. Nice St ..

Frackvi1le,PA.11931.(717)874·17J6.

A'·g. 24 )·r.old ereran lIIllrgamer scc:ks people 10

playtCSI ne....

WSIM scenariospia)'moderaled

flf

AIW. PB, PL SIMOV. RW. I ha enumerous

olher games : i nf o on l (Xal c lu bs . J ack C,

Thomas . 409Cocoa Ave.. Hershey. PA 17033,

(717)533·2468.

Aduh

looting

forpbm opponents. Iam wiliinglO

playany of thefollowing: TRC. FITW.GOA. or

aoyothers l l lat we mayagree upon. SamuelP.

Gallo.

385

Hulton Rd.,

Oakmont, PA

IjU9,

(411)363-0&48.

AVI.

to

good 16 yr. o ld needs opponents . Pbm

PB, BL,

TRC.

AZ

o r f t r

above plus

COD,

FT.

FE.3R, GOA. GE and others.

Ben

usehncr,

20

Hamilton Cir.. Phila.• PA 19130(215)j68-5236.

3R

fan lookingfor SJopponents ,

rtf

only.Also

F l f opponen t s anted.

WarSamer s c lub

Shamokin. PA Public Library 12 noon to 4 p .m .

every Saturday. openmembership. Clubhas SL.

COl. COD.

Pl ,

TB,AOC. TRC. JOhn Orayit7..j

E.

MontgomerySt., Shamokin. PA 17872.

711)

648·9591.

Join

theonl)' 'zinedevoted

principall)'lo multi·

p layerpbm3R. No in

hs

fourth ) Car. Also

car·

riesW&P, SON. EN Garde. more. Samples

50.:

Mark

Matuschat,

Ij

Connor

SI .. Unionto n.

PA 15401, (412) 4)7-7901.

17 rf. oldbeginnerseekspbm forSI . , COl. 3R.

AOC, AZ needssystem and info. OlaS'·anercd.

Marschgatan42. Borlange, SW. S eden.

Opponcnts wanted

will

play local or pbm, 2yrs.

experience in TAC. BL. VITPunrated bUl cnjo)'s

p laying anyone. Jerry

D.

Forsha. 2570 Mur

fre-esooro Rd., Apt

D-I1,

Nashville.

TN

37217,

(6U)

361-6j72.

Attention Diplomats.

Ha e

you be-en fruslraled

in

) 'o ur PBM D ip Barnes .

B:ld G1>ling?

The

schemerspccializcs in well-run Dipgames. Send

Stamp 10: The Schmer clo Ste \' eo Duke. R I. 3

Fairfield Pike, Shelbyville, TN 31160, (615)

684-8265.

25yr.old needs

ftfopponents

for

CAE.

1776. SL.

TRC, and others in Huntsyille or Conroe area.

SteveWilson. 244SpanishGardensApts., Hunts

vilie. TX 77340. (713)291-1615.

Alln. I ry ing garners . Am interes ted

in

Slarting

club centered

in

S. I rv ing. Prefer ages 11.16 .

Alr eady p lay pB . SST . GL, SL&2. 3R, SUB.

TRC. AK. BL. Tony Lindman, 1305 SandyCir.,

lro·ing.

TX

75060. lj3·1991.

Opponents lII'anted for ftf competition.Will pia)'

a lmos t anyth ing . Prefer land based s tralegical

and

gradn s tralegical games. Any period. Will

p lay ) our games or mine. Oa,' id Smith . 4111

Ridgeway, Plainview.TX 79072. (806) 296·1157.

Adull pbm opponents wanted forTRC. I usc lhe

Viipuri

II

defense. General 17-6. Honor die roll

belie ersonly.Cl1arlesJehlen.2298Mimosa.Pt.

Arlhur. TX 77640.(713) 7J6-1020.

Noviceseeks

flf

for WAS, RW. PL.Anyclubs

in

tllis area? Jack Rogers. 23 N. Independence Dr..

Hampton. VA 23669. Work Phone: 122·9961

Ext. 671.

Adult opponems

an ted f or p bmCAE. CL, TR

andOlherRomangames. Jeff Alsdorf. 7510

Ave.. N.W. Seall c. WA98117, (206)784·21

Tacoma garners

wan

I opponents in teres te

othergames,

liketojoinadub,orjust

play?

have approx.

ten

garners so far . Mike Ma

2222 S . 96s1 n. Tacoma, WA 98444. (

584-8326.

Adult needsopponentfor JR Iha e pbmkitl.

acquirepbm forTRC Of SL. I am lired fpla

bymysclf. ob\iously prefer ftf.Mark AhCfn

l-tarbor St

..

Westport, WA 9g595. 268·4371

Wantcd:All GeneralsrromVol. 11-6toVol. 1

with insertS. Call

or

send

lisl

with prices as

Geo r ge McHugh. 8303 Roanoke A

Washington.

DC

20012. (301)587·0825.

AREA 1500(Prov)seeks flf/pbm TRC. 3R.

KM . DUNE. W &P , WAS, V IT P. N eed

s)·stems. Adultspreferred. Anyclubs

in DC

a

Geor ge McHugh. 8303 Roanoke

A

Washington.

D.c'

20012,(301)587-0825.

Beginnerneedsopponem for VITP. An)One

leresled

in

f orming a pbm lub ? An) ' c lu b

fdlowgamersinWhcelingarea?Willans

·c

letters. MichaelSpink.

53

PinOak Hills. W

ing.

WV

26003. (304) 242-8083.

Ftfopponents

wantedfor PL.BIS.

DDand

Wililearnothcrgames. Peter Klasinski.4S

A

v

c

..

Ste

v

ensPt .• WIS44SI.(718)344-6382

Selling:lll my games. nomoreroom. SendS

for l is l and prices . Roger Daggs . 644 Alva

A\·e..1239,Da,·is.CA95616.t916}753-018

For Sale: Bis '62530.TAC '58S15.others,s

SASE. Wanted: nf 3R. BL. WAS, olhers. T

Strong.

1027

E. 71h SI .. Apt.5 . LongBeach

90813.(213)591-0423.

Calirs lookingfor plarers? Pbmsystem? Ho

zincs? JUSt p la in f un ? COl ll ac r NWA C

Coord . Mike Steagall . 8837 ElIen ood C

Spring Valle}.CA 92077.(714)462·3439.

For s al e o r l rade . o ld Gl'ncralsor games. S

SASEfor list. Alsowanttobu)'1914

in

good

dilion. Brian

R.

Willard.

42

Russell

Dr

. .E . H

ford.Ct 06108.528-0228.

For sale:

C O/8 :O.

Gelly 58. Guadal . 1

Generals, other

games,

and magazines . S

SASE for l is t. pr ice no bidding). andeondi

Bill Lindow,

146

Springl;ide A e.. tB_14.

Ha'·en. CT06515, (203) 387-6049.

Wanted: Out of print AHgame. Civil W a r c o l

to rs i lem. Richard M. Locke. 1566 Oak A

Evanslon, IL 60201. (312) S69-227J.

Watllcd dl',peralcly

AH

games

(iE

(H

GUAD. Civil War.orig. Bismarck.

Wili

pay

for games

in good

condilion. Also wam s

partsto 1914.JamesMcCull,

255

E. Foster.L

Forest.IL60045.

For sale: Vintage games such as LeMans.

'GRAD.

andothers.SendSASE

Of

pho'e fo

and pria' quote.

All

games exc. rondo G

Cudna. 309 Langler Ct., Bel Air. MD 21

(301)879·1512.

Wantcd:Generals

1)·3.13·6.

14·I.I·lIpay

price. Will take

II xI7 lterox

copies.Sen

and price. A[so. f lf opponenlS For Illost

games. UarrySmilh. I CarhonSt.. Bingham

NY 13903, (607)723·3989.

SCl king pbmopponent for

1940

PzL and re

PzL Doc:s anyoneha e pbm sySlemfor AI

Bob Pas samonl i. ] )1 Bur den A '· e .. S . I. ,

10301.

Wanted photocopy

of

rules

to

GET

1958

hex

s ion . Will par reasonable pri(\ . Need b

Larr ) 'L. Bos t ,6106

Elg}

ood Ln.• Chafl

NC28213.

Wanled: General 8·1,8-3,8-6.9-1. 10·5.

11·6.13·2.

])·5

i n gOod

condilion.

Will

reasol1ableprke. Frceman.914W. Mark

A,·e.. Durham. NC 27701. (919) 688·6879.

For sale: GUAD. Complele, perfect condi

unpunchedcounters,look\ like itsrighl orf

shdf. Mike Hall . 2730ElmSt .. Harrisburg

17103.(717)233·2218.

For

sale: Old games . including Guadalc

1914. 1918. original

DDetc.Magazinesalso.S

SASE for l is t. N.E. Be er idge, Jr .. 212 Tea

Borger. TX 79007. (806)274_4966.

GENERAL

BACK

ISSUES

*

On ly I h e following

GENERAL

back

issues

ar e

slitl

ava i lable . p f ice is $2.50 pe r i s s ueplus 10070 poslage

an d

hand l ing

charges. r\'laryland residents please ad d 5OJo Slale sa les lax . GENERA L posrage COl/POliS may

nol be u se d f or I hi s

or

Olhe r pa r iS o rd er s . D u e 10 lo w quantilies o f some i s s ues we r e qu e sl I h a l y o u specify

alternalC

selections shou ld your first c h o ic e b e

no

longer a \ ' a i lab le .

Th e

index be low lislS Ihe con lcnlS

of

each

i s su e by

subject maile r ; feature

articles

a rc des igna ted

by

a n a s te r is k

(*) , s e r i e s replays ar e i la lic ized.

an d

lh e

numbef

fo l low ing each issue is t h e r e a de r r a l in g of I h al p a r t ic u l a r issue as

a

whole. Th e numbers

following

ind iv idua l sub jcc is re fe r to

Ih e

n umbe r o f

articles

abou l lha l game

i n I h al i s su e . I s su e s l i sl e d i n re d

ar e on e

color

reprinls

of

previously

oUI-of-Slock

issues.

*

Vol.

12, No .

2 - · T o b r u k , Pallzerbfirz Bulge , B l i l z kr i e g ,

Pan z er L e ade r . S l a li n g ra d

3.10

Vol. 14, No . 2 - *K i n gm ak e r - 7 , Alexander Squ ad L e a d e r. 3.27

Vol.

14, No .

3 - *A r ab Israeli War s - 3 , Sralingrad Russian Campa ign ,Th i rd Reich, Wa r Al

Sc a

3.17

Vol, 14, No . 4 - ·V i c t o ry in Ih e Pac i f i c - 2 , Slalingrad Third Reich, Rich lho fen s War , JUlland,

1776

2.53

Vol. 14 , No . S - · S q u a d Leade r -3 . WS IM . Ru s si a n Campaign,

Midway , Sla rsh ip

Troopers.

Third

Reich

•

2.7

Vol. 14 ,

No .

6 - ·D -Day , Victory in Ihe Pacific

Pan z er L e ade r .

Caesar s Legions, Tobruk . .3 .51

V ol . I S, N o.

1 - ·Ge l y sbu r g - 3 , Squad Leader

Sta rsh ip

Troopers. Ru ss i an C ampa ign

3.48

V ol . I S, N o.

2 - · P a n z e r

Leader , S ta i ingrad ,

Third

Re i ch , D -D ay,

Rail Bafon,

Victory

in

Th e Pacific

••

3.44

Vol. I S, N o . 3 - ·A s sau l J on

Cfe l e - 3 ,

Invasion o f Malia, Russian Campa ign ,Th i rd Reich, Squ ad L e ade r , Wa r a

Se a

3.44

Vol. 15, No .

5 - ·Midway .

WS & 1M , Origins-Third Reich,

Afr ika

Ko rp s, D -D ay ,

Squad

L e ade r , F e u da l , A l es i a

Wa r

a l S ea , S l ar s hi p

Troopcrs 3.13

V o l. 1 5, No .

6 - *C r o s s o f

l r o n - 3 , Victory

i l l ihe

Pacific,

War

31 Sea . Arab-Is rae l i

Wars ,

Sla rsh ipT roopers ,

Panze

Leadef

2.66

Vol. 16,

No .

1 - *A n z i o - 3 . PonurblilZ Third Reich,

Napo leon ,

1776.

Dip lomacy

2.67

Vol. 16. No .

2 - *B i sma r ck - 4 ,

Panzerblil1. A f r ik a Ko rp s ,

1776,

WS 1M . _ . 3.28

Vol.

16, No . 3 - * P a n z e r Leader,

Cross of Iron W a r a l

Sea, Tobruk .

1776.

Midway

3.33

Vol. 16, No . 4 - ·Mag i c Rea lm -3 , The Russian Campaign

Cross

o f

I ron ,

Third Reich • 3.23

V ol . 1 6, No . 5 - *Th e

Russian

Campa ign , Submar ine ,

Sla rsh ip

TfOOpefS, War at

Se a , P a n z er b l il z ,

Rail

Baron

Napoleon .

Blilzkrieg

3.27

Vol. 16,

No .

6 - ·D l I n e - 3 ,

AI/zio 4 player Diadem

Diplomacy, Outdoor Survival, A nz i o - 2 , Panzerbli lz .

.3 .8

V o l. 1 7.

No .

I ·War P e a c e - 3 , War ar Sea.

Third

Reich.

Cross

of

I r o n. C r c sc e n do

of Doom. Midway , Mag i

Realm,

Luf lwaffc

2.79

Vol. 17, No . 2 - · C re s c e n d o o f Doom-3 ,

Vic/Dry

In The Pacific

Microcompute r

Garnes,

Walc r loo

3.18

V o l. 1 7, No . 3 - ·A f r i ka Korps, Cross

OJ

Iroll Third Reich, Crescendo of Doom, A i r F o r ce . Russian Campaign

Victory in Ih e

Pac i f i c .

_ . 3.34

Vol. 17. No . 4 - · FO rl r e ss E u r o p a - 4 , Cross

of

Iron

Midway, V ITP ,

1776, Wizard s

Que s l, S l a rs h i p

Troopers

Napoleon

_ 3.73

V o l. 1 7,

No .

5- ·C i rc l l s

Maximus ,

Third

Reich 2 Rich lhofen ' s

War ,

Squ ad L c ade r , S l a li n g ra d , P a n ze r L e a de r

K in gmak e r, Mag ic R e a lm

3.07

Vol.

17, No .

6-*Slal ingrad, Third Reich

WS IM.

War Al

S e a, S q ua d L e ad e f,

Longe s l Day. Caesar s Legions

VITP , Russian

Campaign

3.27

Vol.

18. No

1 - · Fu r y In

Th e We st , B ism ar ck , S q ua d L e ad e r, D u ne , D ip l om a cy . A f ri k a K or ps , P a ll lc r bl i lz

Alexander.

Wa r Peace .



THE GENERA

. .......

·······r·············l······

. .

·

..··........

·

....··. .

READER

BUYER'S

GUIDE :

~ l i S J h : f f ~

i WHAT

HAVE YOU BEEN

• 0 ~ ~ ~ [ ~ l

g

PLAYING?

GLADIATOR 9.00 + ; g 3

Man to Man Game

of Gladiator ial :

i- i

~ t Top ten lIsts are seemingly always in vogue these days. Whether the sub-

Combat

+

2

:

f

Q • ject is books on the Best Seller List, television s Nielsen ratings, or even

t i . + games, the public never seems to tire

of

seeing how their individual favorites

':

;;. ~ ; l l s;:

a.

i • stack up numerically against the competition. Our preoccupation with this

:. s_·

i

S

= i a

ll • national pastime is almost akin to routing the home team

on

to victoryevery

INS.TRUCTIONS: Rate all categories by placing a C t : I : r 0 - W S

number ranging from t through 9

in the

ap. + ii i iii ;; i 1Ji.. iii ' ~ + Sunday. 0

to

further cater to your whims (and to satisfy our own curiosity)

propriate

spaces

to

the right

It

equating excel·

+

iii,.,

a.

: ;,

a.

+

we

unveil

THE

GENERAL s

version

of

the

gamer's TOP

TEN.

+

~ . > _ ~ »

~ o .

lent; 5·a ve ra ge; a nd

9·terrible). EXCEPTION: g g .. ~ ; ; l

g

3

.;

'

+

We won't ask you to objectively rate any game. That sort of thing is

Rate item No 10

in lerms

of minutes necessary +

oS oS

g g

Q

+ already done in these pages and elsewhere. Instead,

we

ask

that

you merely

to play game as recorded

in

1Q-minute incre- + g g ... c ....

C

. 't:I = + I th th ( I h h . . h .

<nents EXAMPLE: If you ve found that it takes .. 1l g 2

S; 110

1St e ree or ess games w IC you ve spen t t e mos t t ime Wit sin you

wo

and a half

hours

to

play

FRANCE

1940.

you + :: ::

:=

::

e,

;: :; • received your last issueof THE GENERAL. With this wecan generatea con-

would give it a GAME LENGTH rating of '5:' +

g

sensus list

of

what's being p l yed

. .

not

just

what is being bought. The

Participate in

these

reviews

only

if you are +

>=; K

;_

=

. degree of correlation between the Best Selling Lists and the Most Played List

familiar

with

t he game in quest ion.

. -- : :; :

: l Q

'

;;; should prove interesting.

1

Physical

Quality

_+ ;;; < J .

Feel free to list any game regardless

of manufacturer. There

will be a

2

Mapboard

-+

~ a g ~

•

built-inAvalon Hill bias to thesurveybecause you all playAvalon

Hillg

ames

3 Components

__+.. : : ;

l- :

to some extent but

it

shouldbe no more prevalent

than

similar projects under-

4 Ease of Understanding

__

•

1:

iii ;;::,

.. •

taken by other magazines with a special interest-based circulation. The

5

Completeness

of

Rules _ . S J l

f •

amount to which this bias affec ts the final outcome will be left to the in-

6 Play Balance _ _+

g ;

g: h e :

dividual s discretion.

7

Realism

_ _+ 'g

: : : ~

' The games

I've

spent the most time playing during the past two months

B

Excitement level = '

o

0

= ll

9

Overall Value = • are:

•

a.g. .

. : 3 ,

=

+

0

Game length

--+ 1: l

;:,;

3 ~

+

1.

_

The review sheet may be

cut ou t,

photocopied,

+

g g g j. t

o r merely drawn o n a sep arate sheet o f paper. t

i=;

So ; + 2. _

Mail it to

our

4517

Harford

Road address with

+ :3

c. :

your contest en try o r opponents wanted ad Mark i g

such correspondence to the

attentIon

of the R

+.

:3

So

3.

D

Department : 8

~ ~ ~

; ~ ; d

t

.................... ~ ~ ; ~

~

~ ~ g ~ ~ ~ ; ~ ~ ~ ; ~ ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ < ~ ~ : : ~ ~ ; ~ ~ . CONTEST NO. 102

2. For Sale,

Trade, or

Wanted To Buy ads will be accepted only when dealing with

collector s

+ Merely write the winning move in the

appropriate

space of the contest

items

out

of

print

AH games)

and

are

accompanied by

a

1.00 token

fee. No

refunds.

+

form

i n this i ssue s inser t.

Ten

winning entries will receive certificates

3. I ns er t c opy on l in es p rovide d 25 words maximum) and prior name, address,

and phone

+

number on

the

appropriale lines. redeemable for free AH merchandise. To be valid an entry must be received

4. Please PRINT. If

your ad

is illegible, II will not

be

printed. • prior to the mailing of Vol. 18,No. 3 and include a numerical rating of

5.

So

that as

many ads as

possible

can be

primed wilhin our limited space, we request Ihal you use + the i ssue as a whole , as well as l ist the bes t three art ic les. Remember that

official

Slate

and game

abbreviations.

Don t

list

your

entire colleclion,

list

only those

you

are

moSl

+

in

our

rating

system

the

lower the

number

the better

the rating,

and

vice

interested in locating opponents

For.

:

Afrika

Korps-AK,

Air Force-AF,

Alexander-AL,

Alpha

Omega-AO, Amoeba

Wars-AW, versa. The solution will be announced in Vol. 18, No.3, and the winners

Anzio-AZ, Arab-Israeli Wars-AIW, Armor Supremacy-AS, Assaull On

Crete/Invasion

Of in Vol. 18, No.4.

One

entry per subscriber.

Malta-AOC, Bismarck-BIS, Blitzkrieg-BL, Battle

Of

The Bulge-BB, Caesar Alesia-CAE,

i

Assume

t hat both

air

Caesar s Legions-CL. Chancellorsville-CH, Circus Maximum-eM, Cross Of

Iron-COl,

:ij: w

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r e ~ ~ m E : ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : = ~ s c ; ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ u ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ s ~ : : : ~ ~ ~ : ~ : ~ ~ y : ~ - : ; g ~ ~ I ~ ~ ~ 1l ~ ~ ~ ~ a r f ~ : ~ ~ e e ~ e ~ ~ ~ ~ e e : ~ u T ~

Gladiator-GL, Guns Of

August-GOA, Insurgency-INS.

JUlland-JU, Kingmaker-KM, The

:J

lii previous turns to perform

LongeSl Day-TLD, Luflwaffe-Lw, Machiavelli-MA, Magic

R ea lm -M R , M id w ay -

+ U) « CO :

.c:

«

U

any maneuver.

The

actua

MD, Napoleon-NP, Naval

War-NW,

Objective: Atlanta-OA, Origins -OR,

Outdoor

+ c:

C

Survival-OS,

Panzerblitz-PB,

Panzer

Leader-PL, Rail Baron-RB, Richlhofen s War-RW, • -

Moves

versions

of

the aircraft con

The

Russian Campaign-TRC, Samurai-SA, Squad Leader-SL, Shenandoah-SH,

~ ...

-+--+---------+---t cerned are the FWl90A an

Stalingrad-STAL,

Starship

Troopers-SST, Source

Of

The Nile-SON,

Submarine-SUB, • P47D.

Tactics

II-TAC,

Third Reich-3R, Tobruk-TB. Trireme-TR, Victo ry In The

Pacific-

+

VITP. Viva Espana-VE, War and

Peace-W&P.

WarAt Sea-WAS, Waterloo-WATt Wizard s •

Quest-WQ, Wooden Ships Iron Men-WSIM. +

+

---

:

Ten winning entries will receivecertificates redeemable for free AH merchandise. To be valid

an entry must be received prior to the mai ling of the nut GENERAL and include a nurr::erical

rating for the issue as a whole as well as l is t the bes t 3 a rt ic le s. The solution will be announced in

the next issue and the winners in the following issue.

I ssue as a w ~ o l e (Rate from 1 to 10, with 1 equal ing excel lent , 10 equating terrible)

Best 3 Articles

NAME PHONE _

_

ST

A

TE

__

ZIP

_

1 ._

2.

_

3. _

NAME

ADDRESS _

CITY

STATE ZIP

_



THE GENERAL

SEMPER PARATUS

OORDEREN, SOUTHERN HOLLAND, September 27th, 1944: Lieuten

C.P.J. Des Groseil lers urged his straining men to push again. D Company

found a

German

75mm

antitank

gun in the ruins of Oorderen.

The

breech

been hidden and the weapon had been left in the town cen ter with some

rounds of ammunition. Well it just so happened that an enterprising scroun

had found this curious metal block. Lt . Des Groseillers did a little work. Now

Company had its own artillery. Everyone knew that C Company was going

be attacking the

German bunker

line

north

of

the town. D

Company

wo

make

sure that Jerry got back his 75mm shells.

Perhaps

in a slightly used co

tion. The Rileys looked out for their own.

Board Configuration

N

VICTORY CONDITIONS

The Canadian player to win must control 3 bunkers at game s end.

TURN RECORD

CHART

*

German sets

up

first

1

2

3

4

END

0

Canadian moves first

d,I1;

8S7th Grenadier Regiment of 346th Infantry Division. Must set up within bunkers North of row 0 inclusive:

2 3 5

1 3 5

1 5 7

t t

f

Q

~

4

LM

?

Y

~ ~

6-16

2-8

4-6-7

4-3-6

:

812

812

.

•

•

2

6

2

2

2

Royal Hamilton Light Infantry Regiment (RHLI or Riley ). May set up in any building hex South

of

row Q inclusive and enter o

either (not both) East or West

board

edge any troops

and support

weapons

not

setup on

board:

®

75t

4-5-8

10

6-14

8

4

LMG

2-7

811+

Mlr

Q *1-8

51 S,

2

SPECIAL RULES

AFTERMATH:

Division

HQ

hadordered a brief

but

heavy barrage

that

would c

northward through the German lines . Lieutenant-Colonel W.D. Whitaker

di

believe the bombardment would affect the bunkers. Therefore, using covering

The General - Volume 18, Issue 2

Documents

Transcript of The General - Volume 18, Issue 2