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7/27/2019 Vol19i6


Avalon Hill Philosophy Part 96

VITP PLAY BY MAILWITH SIMULTANEOUS MOVEMENTA System forExpanding Enjoyment By James L

By Jim Burn

By Jo nMishc

ByRo d Walk

BySethOwe

ByTerry Dots

ByMark Shann

ByMichaelMer

ByMichaelAnch

By J. Lutz D. Sinay S. Resm

ByLarry Bucher Steve Simmo

furious, silent combat. Other wargame t

naments that have been scheduled include thos

STORM OVER ARNHEM VICTORY IN

PACIFIC WOODEN SHIPS IRONMEN WARSEA MIDWA Yand PANZER LEADER.

Not to be outdone by the efforts o f MD

volunteer gamemasters, the staff of Avalon

will be in attendance to run such perennial favoras WIN PLACE SHOW SPEED CIRCUITGLADIA TOR all gamemastered by Jim Burn

Although we will finally-lay the AH Classics 50

rest, vestiges of it wil l remain in the form o

AFRIKA KORPS tournament hosted by D

Sheaffer. Rex Martin will organize a belated D

Derby for RICHTHOFEN S WAR. And, of cou

the favori te CIRCUS M XIMUS wil l return w

four independent qualifying heats for entrance

the Sunday finals where previous race winners

do batt le with hand-painted miniature char

under the direction of dventure Gaming s

ontinued on Page31 olum

The annual madness known s ORIGINS is

soon to be upon us once again, and the time

seemed propitious to glance ahead to what the

convention holds in store for Avalon Hill .

ORIGINS 83 will be hosted this year by the

Metro Detroit Gamers. The convention site will be

Cobo Hall, Detroit s stunning new downtown con

vention center. Events will span a warm Jul yweekend (July 14-17).

Avalon Hill games will be, s usual, wel l

represented inthe tournament arena. Already plans

are being finalized by the Metro Detroit Gamers for

competition in ACQUIRE and RAIL BARON SLAPSHOT hi t at lastyear s ORIGINS) and FOOTBALLSTRA TEGY KINGMAKER and CIVILIZA TION

Fantasy games are here too - TITAN WIZARD SQUESTand FREEDOM IN THE GALAXY. For the SLfanatics, there wil l be two competitions (at least),

CROSS OF IRON and G.I.: ANVIL OF VICTORY.And, of course, there wil l be many of t he best

players of our RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN locked in

UP-SCOPEIncreased Realismin SUBMARINE

NAVALWA RA Change of Pace from AH

SQUADLEADERCLINICRubble Roadblocks

FLATTOP GAMEMASTEREDThe Reality Factor

VITP SERIES RE PLAYVITP PBM SM

DIPLOMACY IN THIRD REICHAnother Facet of the StrategicGame

PLAYING BISMARCKWITH DUDSVariant Rules for RealisticNaval Fire

A HISTORIAN S GUIDE TO AH WARGAMES

On e Man s Views

THE COMPLEATDIPLOMATItaly: ThinkingBeyond Lepanto

SOVIET SUBMARINEScenarios for the Forgotten Counters

2

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A unique game system enables players torealistically cover great stretches of time insingle turns. Acting as Monarch for their countries England France, Spain, or Portugal-

players must make discoveries, colonize andprotect the laJlds they discover, and obtainriches t h r o u g ~ ' i g , O l d t r a Q x , ' ~ n , d the aC quisition ofresources.,

Each country has a different financial capability, asshown by the level of their National Treasury, depending on the political situation at home as well as theongoing success or fai lure of their conquests in theNew World. Within the l imits of their finances, countries must continual ly send forth expedit ions to explore and maintain existing colonies.

O ~ l y h i s t O ~ i 9 ~ , h i ~ , ~ p . l o r e ~ ~ ~ : : § ~ ' ~ l i S h . P r i y f i t , e ~ r $ , 'Spanish C O A q U i ~ t ? d o r s are , ?vcl.ilable,to itne I,playe fS. . . explorers,like Co tumbus, Verra Z zano, Drake,Pizarro, de Soto, da Gama, Maggellan, and de Leon.With these, players must try to be the first to makevoyages of disc-overy to find the Pacific Ocean orHudson Bay or to follow the Amazon or MississippiRivers. Some will also be dr iven to attempt mythicalquests like the search for the Seven Cities of Gibola orEI Dorado. But· danger is a large part of exploration,and some explorers will never be seen a g ~ i n .

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4

N V W R is available for 6 00 f rom the Avalon HillGame Company, 4517 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD

21214 Please add 1 for postage and handling 200 0 forCanadian orders, 300 0 for overseas orders). Marylandresidents please add 5 state sales tax.

N ~ V W R is a card game of strategy, skill and luck that is based on World War 1l

naval combat. Each player controls a fleet of warships, and attempts to sink theother player's ships.

The battleships, aircraft carriers, and battlecruisers of WWII roam the seas again Inthis unique card game, three to six players command a fleet of the world's most

feared ships. Drawn from a deck of 54 cards, you might get the Bismark Gneisenau,Prince of Wales, Hood, Ark Royal Roma, New Jersey Enterprise, Shokaku, or even thegigantic Vamato, largest battleship ever used in battle Using another 108 carddeck, you can attack the enemy with salvos from your guns, make carrier strikesdestroyer torpedo attacks, raids by submarines or torpedo boats, or set upminefields.N V W R is based on historical data, but is a quick play beer and R r e t z e l s ~ t

game rated 1 on the Avalon Hill complexity scale (1-easy to 1a-hard). . l

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A System for Expanding Enjoyment y James M. Lutz

Given the recent dramatic increase interest this fine game its own right long considered a classic a system fo r playing VITPby mailseemsespecially appropriate at this moment. Simulta-neous movement easily incorporated pbm playadds a dimension guaranteed to stretch themind ofany master of this deceptively simple game. Mr.Lutz one of the preeminent players the hobby

spent many hours

devising just such a system.The following describes detail his effort. Im-mediately after to present a graphic example of theunique techniques and tactics of the pbm system s

a Series Replay between two experienced players.

VI TORY IN THE P IFI s an excellentface-to-face game, and one apparently growing inpopularity; but it s also a game that can become

even more intriguing and suspenseful when playedby mail with the simultaneous placement of

patrollers and raiders. The following system for

play-by-mail of a nine-turn game was designed to

capture the flavor of the Pacific campaigns andret ai n the fine play ba lance, as well as limit the

number of mailings necessary. With weekly mail

ings, the game can normally be completed over thecourse of a year or less, a time span similar tomany

other games played by mail.

First, the general sequence for the game will bepresented. Then the steps will be presented in somedetai l with commentary and explanation. The

special sequence for Turn and the raids on Pearl

Harbor and in Indonesia will be discussed (more or

less in keeping with th e designer s practice) in

dep th . Some opt iona l rules will be presented forthose who like to experiment. Finally, an illustra

tion of the use of a Random Number Table presentsa convenient method of dealing with the multitude

of die rolls that are necessary in VICTORY IN THE

PACIFIC.

Basic Sequence of Moves

There are five basic steps in the move sequence

for Turn 2 through Turn 9. These act ivit ies are

undertaken simultaneously by both players and are

mailed at specified dates. Probably the best meansof determining the dates for mailings s to agree to

either a specific day of the week (Monday or Thursday for example) or to a standard time interval (say,

every five days discounting Sundays and nationalholidays).

1. Dispatch patroll ing ships and place all l and

based air units.

2. Dispatch raiders and marine units.

3 . Ini tiate combat in all contested areas for the first

round of combat. Submarines are also placed and

can fire at this point.

4. Initiate subsequent rounds of combat until con

trol of all areas s resolved.

5. Return all surviving ships at sea to ports or basessimultaneously and determine POC gains or losses.

1. 2. Placement of Patrollersand Raiders

The first step s for both players to send out their

patrollers, including the land-based air. Speed rollswill have to be indicated for ships moving beyond

their automatic ranges. Any repairs that are beingundertaken in port ar e also no ted at this time.

Marine units that were used or sunk in previousturns and are returning to act ion are indicated asraiders inthe ports at which they appear. The place

ment of the land-based air units at the same time as

patrolling ships are sent to sea has the advantage ofsaving one mailing and thus speeding up the game.

also proves an advantage for the weaker side-

the Americans early in the game and, presumably,the Japanese toward the end . Both sides have toguard against the appearance of land-based air in

their respective backyards. Thus, forces are eitherdiverted to protect key areas (perhaps needlessly) or

the loss of important POCs s risked. Japanesedeci-

sions on Turn 2 for the defense of Indonesia and

Marianas a re great ly compl icated since it s

longer possible to simply react to All

placements. Decisions on the utilization of labased air later in the game by the All ied player

similarly complicated.Once the patrollers have been placed, each s

simultaneously dispatches raiders, with speed r

if applicable, to sea. Marine units are also sensea at this time. Thus, the stage s set for the com

rounds. Sending the marines to sea at the same t

that the raiders depart again eliminates the need

a separate mailing. also provides an advantagethe American player since marine landings areessential means for driving the Japanese back fr

their conques ts . In face-to-face competi tion,American often must telegraph his intentionsmany cases by the placement of marine units, p

mit ting the Japanese to respond with substannumbers of raiders. Often the mar ines a re le ftheir devices (sinking) while th e sur face sh

occupy themselves in safer locales. With the plament of the marines with the raiders, the Amerihas the opportunity of initiating early assaultsbases. Since theAmerican playerhas lost theadv

tage of moving second, the sequence for marplacement helps to redress the balance for

American side. In add it ion, in the actua l islahopping campaigns of World War II, the Japan

often knew t ha t an American invasion forcegoing to strike, but they were not always sure of

specific target. Of course, in the face-to-face gathe placement of raiders may reflect more Japan

reactions to invasions than other considerationAfter all the patrollers and raiders have b

placed, the combat situation will usually be q

different from that which occurs in face-to-fplay. Rather than massive battles between c

bined fleets or the descen t of the combiAmerican fleet on the weakest link of the Japan

perimeter or isola ted units , there often willnumerous actions in many areas usually betw

small forces on both sides. Both commanders m

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Illustration Battle Orders

Japanese Player

Preference-

South Pacific: SurfaceIndian Ocean: Air

Attacks (One Round of Combat)-

South Pacific 22AF vs. RAAF 3

23AF vs. l lAF

Sasebo Marines land at Guada1canal

Indian Ocean Hiryu vs. Australia 3Hosho vs. Exeter 1

Maya, Takao vs. Australia 2Kongo vs. Exeter 4

North Pacific I-Boat vs. 1st Marines 1

No Japanese surface craft or land based air are present n the NorthPacific; and Guadalcanal s n American base

American Player

Preference-

South Pacific: AirIndian Ocean: Surface

Attacks (One Round of Combat)-

South Pacific RAAF, l lAF vs. Sasebo 4

Indian Ocean Australia vs. Kongo 1

Exeter vs. Maya 1

North Pacific 1st Marines land at Dutch Harbor

Dutch Harbor is a Japanese base having been invaded on a previousturn

6

be tempted to send out a few raiding units to

attempt t o negate con tro l by a small pat roll ing

force. Separate task forces may become advisablethus duplicating major campaigns that historically

occurred nearly simultaneously in various parts of

the PacificTheater. Traps may be baited with small

patrolling forces that will be reinforced by raiders,although an opponent s move may force a lastminute change in plans. On the other hand, rather

than a trap, the bai t may simply be a bluff in that

raiders will not reinforce the patrolling force. Thus,

not only does that possibility of combat in many

different areas exist, but thegame takes on a certainpsychological aspect as one player tries to predict orsecond-guess his counterpart commander. The

result not only a more real is tic deployment of

forces, but a more exciting and nerve-wrackinggame. Defini te anxiety a ttacks can occur as you

wait for the letter detailing your opponent s

disposition of his raiders (or even his patrollers in

some cases). Has he struck at your weak link? Didhe call your bluff? Will he overwhelm a small , butvital , task force? Did he take your bai t? Have yourraiders caught a small portion of his fleet?

3 4 Combat

As opposed to the face- to-face game, combat

takes place s imultaneously in all sea areas wherethere are enemy forces. After the orders for raiding

units are received, each commander prepares battleorders specifying targets for his forces. He also in

dicates his preferences for day or night actions.Such preferences will receive the appropriate

modifiers for control on the previous turn or for the

preference for an ai r act ion. Each commander

must, of necessity, prepare orders and targets for

both types of actions where there a possibility of

e ithe r a day or a night action. The necessary d ie

rolls can result from any normal method such asthe use of stocks-although the use of a random

number table (see Page 10) perhaps the best and

easiest method since it e liminates reli ance on

newspaper reports and the numerous divide-by

six efforts. Battleorders will also include the land

ing of marines, provided they survive the preceding

air or surface action. If marine units for each sideland at the same base simultaneously-that is, after

the same combat round-the base does not change

hands and land-based air present can continue to

use the base. Henderson Field, after all, continuedto operate even with Japanese landings on Guadal

canal since the Japanese landings were offset by thearrival of American reinforcements. If one sideloses its only pre-existing base in one combatround

(Lae, for instance), but secures another at the endof the same round (the Philippines, for example),

the land-based air units of that side are considered

to have lost the ir base facilities and cannot participate in any further combat. At the conclusion of

the first round of combat, a new set of orders areprepared by each commander. These new orders, as

well as subsequent ones, will also detail the returnsof ships that were disabled in the preceding round

of combat. Discussed below are some specific issuesrelated to the combat rounds.

Submarines The I-Boat and the F-Boat, sincethey represent the submarine fleets in abstract, areplaced on the first round of combat. The opposing

players need not know their placement prior to thistime since there no defense against their modified

shots. The owning player will list his modified shot

on the battleorders along with his other attacks (seethe accompanying illus trat ion for an example).

Since the submarines take the ir sho ts after theinitial air or sur face act ion in a given sea area, the

owning player should provide priority list of

targets , as some may have been sunk or disabled in

the previous action.

Air Surface Actions If there a tie in th e dierolls in thepreferencelisting fora combat round, an

air-then surface-action results. Only the air

act ion takes place in the round in quest ion with a

surface action occurring automatically in the nextround. On those occasions when there are no air

craft present and the request simply an effort topermi t speedy cra ft to escape, such as the Tone

class cruisers, then the attacks listed on the battleorders for a sur face act ion can take place as if the

preference were s imply a sur face act ion (playersshould agree beforehand). If a submarine present, however, its shot occurs after the non-existant

air action and constitutes the only action in the first

r ound; the nex t round of combat in that area

automatically a surface action since retreats cannot

occur between a combined air/surface sequence.Retreats Primarily in order to speed up the

game, a different retreat rule used with the mailsystem. When one player breaks of f action, he in

forms his opponent in his bat tle orders that he

withdrawing in an area and no combat takes placein that sea a rea dur ing the presen t turn. He can

retreat his ships in as many groups as he desires at

the speed of the slowest ship in each group. The

opposing player maythen take one round of free

sho ts (no r eturn fire) wi th all ships that are fas t

enough to pursue the targeted group(s). Carriersmay only use their air factors or surface factors, notboth. Pursuing surface craft maynot attack carriers

until all screening craft in that group with the carriers have been engaged. Pur su ing ca rriers canlaunch aircraft at any craft they can match or sur

pass in speed. Any of the retreating ships that survive the withdrawal and ships disabled by the pur

sui t then r eturn to an eligible por t o r base of the

owning player s choice. At t imes the oppos ingplayer will be able to predict the possibi li ty of a

retreat and can include a set of battle ordersfor pur

sui t as well as air and surface actions. If, however,the retreat insome way different soas to make thepursuit inoperative, thepursuitwill takeplacein the

next combat round in an appropriate fo rm. In theunlikely event that both sides decide to withdraw at

the same time, there

no pursuit by either side.

Air Raids Unlike the face- to-face game,raids will not be a frequent occurrence in the plaby-mail system. Carrier aircraft may immediate

attack units in adjoining por ts and bases for traids if the enemy forces in a sea area retreat. Shdisabled in action elsewhere at the time of the fi

raid that return to that por t or base are subjectthe second raid. As in face- to-face play, theseraids can occur in place of ( no t in addit ion to)

tacks on the retreating ships. When carriers are

an uncontested sea area, they make their two raat any time during the courseof the turn prior to t

return of all surviving ships at sea. In effect, the

air raids may be the las t two rounds of combat. A

raids cannot occur when all enemy ships and lanbased air units in an area are sunk or disabled.essence, a fight to the de at h will effectiv

eliminate the chance of ai r raids in most casWhile thi s ru le somewhat unrealist ic , i t dospeed up the game. also necessary in terms

play balance. The weaker side (American early

and presumably Japanese later) would be at

tremendous disadvantage and would run the riskhaving major fleet components sunk in port sin

all action simultaneous. Since the Allied side

the weaker at the start, the limitations on air raultimately help this player more. Too, disastero

raids on Ceylon are no longer as likely-againaid to the American player who has now lost his avantage of moving after his opponent. T

Japanese al so gain, fo r without this l im itat io

Truk could easily become untenable, and the avantage of its central l ocat ion as a major ba

would be los t (or at least reduced).Conditional Orders Conditional orders ha

already been mentioned in the discussion on su

marines. They are also possible and legal for tmarine units since they land after combat, but

listed as part of the combat sequence. For examp

American marine units may choose not t o l and ipatrolli ng Japanese land-based air un it in tMarshalls has not been eliminated and no Americ

carriers remain (control of the base would rever

the Japanese cont ro lled the Marshall s on

previous game turn). Landings can be conditio

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on whether an air or surface action occurs since the

chances of control might vary significantly. In some

circumstances it might be advisable to gamble onbeing able to at least negate enemy control s incecontinued waiting in the open sea would increase

the chances of being disabled or sunk.

Rules To A void Controversies If a randornnumber table is used similar to the example

presented , some rules a re necessary. Fi rst , if a

preference for action in a sea area is requested, even

if there is agreement between both players, a

number or roll is assigned. Should a preference be

requested by accident -automatic surfaceact ion occurring, a retreat , or no forces in contact-a number is still assigned, although the results

of the preference are ignored. Second, once the preferences have been determined, eliminate all rolls

for inoperative attacks such as surface shots if an

air action has been the result of the preference. Thisprocedure not only saves work, it also lim its thechances of missing a number from the table and get

ting the results out of synch. Third, if a disagree

ment over results in the previous round is obvious inthe cur rent combat o rder s, ignore the presentorders. Recheck your results and assume your op

ponent is doing likewise. One of you should find the

error, permitting you both to mail a corrected move

on the next scheduled date. [Actually phone calls

inevitably work much better ] If there is a

discrepancy in the move mailed and the copy kept,the move that was mailed is the authoritative one.Finally, if a mailing is missed or the Postal Service

loses a let ter (unlikely as that is), a phone call is

usual ly essential , a lthough a query can be sent bymail.

5 Returns After Combat

After combat is finished in all areas, the surviv

ing sh ips have the ir returns specif ied . Since the

return voyages are s imultaneous, none of theseships will be sub ject to air raids. Thus, a major

Japanese advantage in the face-to-face game dis

appears. Often the returns can be pre-specified during earlier combat rounds and a separate mailing

need not be necessary. If, however, either player re

quests such a mailing, i t must be included.

The First Turn

As in face- to -face p lay , the f ir st turn of the

game is handled a l it tl e differently-particularly

since the Allied player only has four cruisersavailable t o move. Both players send out their

patrollers; the Japanese player specifies the shipsincluded in the Pearl Harbor raiding force. He canalso conduct his f ir st raid on Pearl Harbor , and

even Indonesia if he has no carriers on raidings ta tus (making the assumpt ion that the All iedplayer will be wise enough not to send any of the

cruisers to a watery grave in Indonesia), thus savingadditional time-consuming mailings. Raiders are

then sent out, including the I-Boat. The Japanese

player may also now conduct his second raid. Onwhichever mailing the second raid is conducted, hemust also state his intention to stay in or depart the

Hawaiian Islands. Also, on this mailing, provision

mus t be made for the appearance of the Location

Uncertain carrier forces. Either stocks can be listed

or the random number table used for this purpose.

After the second raid and the appearanceof Groups

Yand Z, any remaining combat is conductedas in other turns-including specifications of pre

ferences for air or surface action. If the American

decides to fight in the Hawaiian Islands on Turn 1

and the combat lasts for more than two rounds, the

normal retreat/pursuit option is no t in effect since

the Japanese forces mus t withdraw. Ins tead , the

normal retreat rules are relevant as in the face-toface game; if the Americans pursue, they must also

fight.

Nine Turn Game

Given that the Allies have lost the advantage of

moving second, the nine-turn game is definitely

necessary for play-balance. Do not give theJapanese four POC for con trol of the Home

Islands, but rather only three . In compensat ion,

permi t the Japane se player t o gain more than a29-POC total lead. Otherwise , All ied fleets maysimply hide in theearly turns, defending key areas if

they must, generally waiting until Turn 6 to launcha massive counteroffensive. With the chance of the

Japanese total POC exceeding twenty-nine, theJapanese player will have an incentive for dispatch

ing raiders to attempt to negate Allied control and

POC gains in some areas each turn; and theAmerican p laye r will have a s trong incen tive to

undertake an occasional aggressive, if considered,offensive operation. Given the fact that the placement of land-based air units occurs with the place

ment of patrolling ships, the Kamikaze rule is difficult to use-so it is dispensed with. Kamikazeswere a desperation measure in any event , and the

flow of the game may not dictate such an action on

the part of the Japanese commander.

Optional Rules

Various options suggested in the game rules or

previous GENERAL articles can, of course, be

used by mutual agreement. Giving Singapore onerepai r point , for example , would be reasonab le

given the nature of the base and its facilities. Use ofkamakazes might even be left open to the Japanese

player, but such an option will require extra mail

ings or phone cal ls before bat tle orders could bewritten. Two other opt ions are avail able for the

simultaneous movement game for those who desireto recreate the fog ofwar . The submarines could

always be placed with other raiding forces, not justduring Turn I- thus leading to the loss of the

guaranteed shot by submar ines. Also, the first

preference for combat in the various sea areas couldbe made and sent with the mailing of the raiding

forces. This option, of course, requires each player

to specify or guess a preference for all areas wherehe has or will have forces and which can be reached

by the forces of his opponent. Such an option

favors the strongerside, since one playercan alwaysguarantee a preponderance of air or surface units in

at least some areas, leaving the weaker side at some

disadvantage. If one feels that the retreat rule is too

lenient on the defeated side, an attack bonus (in addit ion to exis ting bonuses) can be given to the pursuing ships. The ret reat rule for the face- to -face

game could also be used, but its inclusion willlengthen the game considerably. Finally, the use of

air raids per the game rules is an option that can be

uti lized by mutual agreement , a lthough it willdefinitely affect play balance.

ConclusionThe system above should supply an exciting and

quite different version of the classic VICTOR Y INTHE PACIFIC Where no mention of existing rules

has been made, these are assumed to bethe sameasin the original game rules. Simultaneous movement

and guesswork will open up numerous strategic and

tactical possibilities that are not present in the faceto-face game. The play is particularly tricky against

an opponent never played before since onewill have

no idea of his level of caution or aggressiveness or

his strategic planning-and relatively little time to

learn. For more pointers on play of this version,

turn to the Series Replay in this issue; these expertplayers can provide the reader with more hints and

insights than I could hope to.

One final related comment seems appropriate.For those who believe in the TKO-in-3 strategy

advanced by Alan R. Moon (Vol. 17, No.4) or a

major Japanese offensive to capture Pearl Harbor

on .Tur ns 2 and 3, the s imultaneous movem

system would appear to make these proposi ti

even easier to realize. For alternative flexresponses rather than predictable behavior Pearl Harbor Defended (Vol. 18, No.

O Connor s The Maniacal Approach (Vol.No.6) and Another Country Heard From (V17, No.6) by Grady Hendrix give some via

options for the Americans that are also relevantuse with s imultaneous movement. With the n

turn game, the American commander may even

able to risk his carriers in defense of key areas

still win the game.I believe that this play-by-mail, simultane

movement approach is the way to play this

game. For those with quest ions on the systplease write (including a SASE of course) JamesLutz, 24 1 West Broadway, Apt. 311, Colum

MO 65201.

The following list provides a handy checkthe numbers that players will need in the pbm

sion of VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC rememing that both players must provide the number

Turn 1

1 Placement of Patrollers: Japanese speed r

(Japanese attack and Japanese damage for first

if undertaken at this time)

2. P lacement of Raiders: J apanese speed r

(Japanese attack and Japanese damage for secraid if undertaken at this time and location Untain Groups with Group W receiving the first r

Group X the next, and so forth)

3. Raids: as above i f not undertaken earlier

4. Ensuing Rounds of Combat: Allied Preferen

Japanese Preference; Allied attack and damaJapanese attack and damage

Subsequent Turns

1 Placement of Patrollers: Speed rol ls for b

sides (Should you dispatch no ships needing sprolls, you can eliminate your own number but m

provide a number for your opponent.)

2. Placement of Raide rs : As in the above Step

3. Combat Rounds: Allied Preference; Japan

Preference; Allied attack and damage; Japanattack and damage

The above sys tem for use with random num

t ab les suppl ies a quick and reliable method

determining die rolls with no chance of error.those suspicious of their opponents, it elimin

the chance of skullduggery. Thus, barring matebeing lost in the mail, the system workssmoothly. In conclusion, it might be added that

system would also be effective for other gamemail requiring numerous die rolls, including th

with simultaneous movement or simultaneous(such as WOODENSHIPS IRON MEN or S

MARINE those with certain die rolls depen

upon earlier die rolls (such as THIRD REICH

simply as a convenient means of dealing wtedious activities (such as the scattering of the G

man paratroops in their landings inAIR ASSAU

ON CRETE .

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7/27/2019 Vol19i6


VICTORY IN THE PACIFICAllies: David SinayJapan: Steve Resman

Commentary: James Lutz

This Series Replay uti li zes the PBM systemdescribedin theprecedingarticle. Al lstandardrulesmentioned were n force throughout the game, and

n o o pt io na l rules were included. The Random

Number Table was used to resolve speed rolls, attacks and damage although the mechanics of thederivations will not be presented only the results).

The present replay should be n interesting one.Both Mr. Sinay and Mr. Resman know the systembeing used having helped iron out many of the initial problems) and have at least two pbm VITPgames undertheir belts. They haveplayedone gameagainst each other, but with opposing sides. Thus,they hqve §ome idea of thestrategies that the other

may employ l imited intelligence reports on thestrategicand tacticaldoctrines employed by the opposing CIC, i fyou will), although there are distinctdifferences n playing each side, even fo r the sameplayer. Dave has a preference fo r the Allies, andSteve prefers commanding Imperial Japanforces so both have the s ide they feel most com-fortable with fo r this replay. Both players havedemonstrated at least n occasional willingness tobe aggressive n previous games, and both are willing to g amble at times. This active st yl e of playshouldlead to a more fluid andeventfulgame, wellsuited to play-by-mail methods.

TURNl

JAPAN AFTER MOVEMENT: Nothing fancy

this turn. All fleet units are committed to either thepatrolling forces or the raid on Pearl Harbor. My

main objectives are the destruction of Allied air

power in the Hawaiian Islands and Indonesia, thecontrol of the Central Pacific, and the sinking of as

many heavy US fleet units as possible-in that

order. In Indonesia , the firs t s tr ike will take placeagainst Allied seapower. The second strike will beaga inst the ai r uni t. In the Hawai ian Is lands, the

first strike will hit the air units along with thevaluable cruisers. Results from this strike willdetermine the targets for the second strike. The 5AF and

the 7AF mus t be des tr oyed to prevent them f rompar ticipating in the defense of Midway o r o th er

areas come Turn 2.

The Central Pacific is probably more important

to theJapanese than the destruction of the air units.

must be control led by the Japanese on Turn

Besides being the only corridor t o th e Japanese

homeland the scheduled capture of Midway by en

circlement could be delayed if control is lost on

Turn 1 Failure to control the Central Pacif ic in

Turn 1 would al so delay Japanese expansion in

other areas. Hence the stripping away of one attack

carrier and one light car rier f rom the Pearl s tr ike

force is jus ti fi ed . These forces a re added to theHosho and her consorts and suppor ted by theI-Boat. The IJN should be able to fend of f all butthe largest of US forces that could show themselves.

The Yokosuka marines could almost insurethe capture of Midway on Turn 1 but they will be morevaluable and threatening by being based at Truk on

Turn 2. An early invasion of Johnston Island, the

New Herbides, Port Moresby, or Guadalcanal will

all be possibi li ties , something that will not be

overlooked by the Allied command. Because of this

series of threats , he will not be able to adequatelydefend Midway and the Central Pacific come Turn

2.

Nothing else to do now except to wait for newsfrom Pearl Harbor and Indonesia.

ALLIES, AFTER MOVEMENT: Very strangeopening I do not understand the massive force inthe Cent ral Pacific. I sent my raiders t o safe

areas rather than risk the cruisers.

NEUTRAL COMMENTS AFTER MOVE

MENT: Turn 1 is not greatly different with thepbm

system. As a result my comments are rather conventional. The Japanese opening is a rather cautiousone. I think that Steve overcommitted to the CentralPacific. I agree that it s a key area to control onTurn and that the Hosho s bestplaced there, evensupported by the Zuiho or Ryujo. The Kaga,

however, could well sink a battleship or two, or atleast keep them out of action for a couple of turnspending repairs. Those extra battleships will makeJapanese patrolling and raiding decisions more difficult, and they may ultimatelycomeback to haunthim. The absence of surface craft n Indonesia willpermit the Prince of Wales and Repulse, i f stillafloat, a chance to escape after the air raids if asurface action occurs. One or two ships from the Central Pacific, Marianas, and Japanese Islands couldmake a big difference.

The A ll ie d player has nothing to do except

watch. Dave did not use the Australian cruisers toensure control of the Coral Sea andthe US Mandateagainst n I-Boat s hot, but fo r the Japanese thepotentialshot at a scare carrier may be more tempting than the possible loss of 2 POCs to the All iedplayer. Onecruiser, however, shouldhavebeensentto the Indian Ocean to ensureAlliedcontrol. A 1to the die rollfo r preferences couldbe important onTurn 2. An assault on Port Moresby by theJapanese on Turn 2 would also be more difficultsince Allied control of the Coral Sea and IndianOcean on that turn could negate a successful landing or moreprobably require a largercommitmentof Japanese forces since the Japanese player canusually accomplish anyone goal on Turn 2).

THE BATTLES: In Indonesia, the 5AF and

Repulse are sunk and the Prince of Wales is

damaged. manages to escape when Dave wins thepreference and gets a night action. In the Hawaiian

Islands, only one cruiser is sunk in the first two

raids. Three battleships are damaged and bottomed.The TAF survives untouched. The battleships

resting on the bottom are finished off in the final

two raids when the American fleet withdraws rather

than risk an air act ion with the Japanese raiding

force. In the Central Pacif ic an air action resultswith both the Kaga and Saratoga being sunk.

JAPAN AFTER COMBAT: Whenever t he

Japanese player loses a fleet unit, he cringes When

that fleet unit is a big car rier , he shudders. Afterlooking at the results in the Central Pacifc, I have

done the l atter. I h ad hoped that the Kaga wouldsurvivea one-on-one combat with an American car

rier because of its high defense factor, but the

shooting on both sides was too good. There is so

compensation with the sinking of the Saratoga a

securing control of the area, but the Kaga willmissed. My eight bonus attack factors in this a

may come under fire as being a bitmuch. TheZuicould have taken the Kaga s place with the saresults (except that I would still have the Kaga) , bI played the Central Pacific for two carriers arrivf rom the uncer ta in groups. I was half right

In the Hawaiian Islands my shooting waverage. I have done worse with all eight carriers

the line. My only regret is that the TAF escaped.Indonesia my mission was accomplished.All in a

an average turn. I can understand Dave's decis

to retire in the Hawaiian Islands rather than riskair action. He has a good portion of his fleet int

and Turn 2 will tell if he will use it aggressively.

ALLIES, AFTER COMBAT: The American flis sti ll re la tively intact. A 7 POC lead for Jap

is about average. I sent the 2 CVs and some cruisto Australia to aid the British in threaten

Indonesia.

NEUTRAL COMMENT, AFTER COMBATagree that it w s an about average Turn 1. The oway the Japanese could have increased their lw s to use the I-Boat n the Coral Sea or the Madate. The Kaga w s missed at Pearl Harb although I also have done worse with all the criers on the line). The Prince of Wales did manato escape, although it will sit and repair n Cey

for quitesome time. I agree with Dave s decisionretreat n the Hawaiian Islands. Since the Saratowas virtually a sure loss, he could not gamble wthe Enterprise and the Lexington. The return oftwo carriers to Australia is good placement as tdo constitute a threat to Indonesia.

TURN 2

JAPAN AFTER PATROLLERS: This turn mJapanese players go straight for the thr

-Hawaii. I believe that the IJN can win the p

game wi thou t cont es ti ng th e Hawaii

Islands-and may try to prove my point here. Sithere is no limit to the number of POCs that can

accumulated, a strong, constant attack across

board may be a better and safer strategy than

seek combat as in the ft f game. I hope that the Alwill attack so-called weak areas held by one

two a ir un it s only to be surpri sed by reinforcfleet units and that l ight car riers can be traded

Allied fleet carriers in battle.In Indonesia, I place the 5AF and 6AF

hopes of drawing an attack from his CVsAust rali a. I could have used the 24AF, but

much strength might have scared him into a defsiveposture. I plan to reinforce the area witha Cduring the raid portion. The more combat betw

his CVs and my CVLs supported by land-basedthe better . Because the Japanese are supposed toaggressive during the early part of the game, he w

more than likely take a defensive posturethis tur

expect his forces t o show up in the North Pac

and the Aleutians. The bulk of his fleet could a

show up in the Hawaiian Islands. I am looking a

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Group Z appearedon the West Coast and will appear as Turn 2 reinforcements at Pearl Harbor Each unit listeq by name factor strength ats tart of turn and disposition at the end of the turn Raiders are printed

it li type. Raiders which attained that status by virtue of failing a patrol speed rol l are further differentiated by an asterisk before their name Ships underrepair have an R before their name The symbols for fina

dispositionsare as fol lows: • Control t Sunk X Disabled MarineLanding and numbers equal the amount of damage sustained All other lettersrefer to port returned t o: T Truk C Ceylon S Samoa

Y Yokosuka Naval Yard N New Herbides D Dutch Harbor A Australia P Pearl Harbor M Midway Pp Philippines G Guadakanal t Attu 0 Okinawa K Kwajalein Mp Maloelap

L Lae P Port Moresby Sn Singapore Sg Saigon Sa Saipan JI Johnston Island and AI Andaman Islands.

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to find patrollers in the Coral Sea and U.S. Mandate. My mission this turn is to secure Midway and

destroy inferior Allied forces either in the north or

the south. An invasion of Johnston Island is apossibility.

ALLIES AFTER PATROLLERS: I did not de

fend the Hawaiian Islands on this turn since I am

sure the Japanese will go for control and any ships

or air uni ts would be sacrificed. I am sure that my

three air uni ts at Midway surprised him. His nottaking Midway with the Yokosuka marines on the

first turn means he has other plans for them, surelyGuadalcanal. My attempted control of the Marshals was s imply a n effort to l im it access to theHawaiian Islands. I plan to keep the British on the

defensive this turn so that they might r emain athreat for a while longer.

NEUTRALCOMMENT, AFTER PATROLLERS:My initial impression of the Japanese placement isthat it is not aggressive enough. Some ships shouldhave been sent to the Hawaiian Islands to patrol inan attempt to gain control. Even it one does notplan to capture Pearl Harbor by isolation, the IJNcan control easily on Turn 2. Such control wouldalso have the advantage o f bot tling up the twomarine units on Turn 3. Japanese patrolling shipsshould at least have been sent somewhere The

21AF in theMarianas is wasted. The Turn 2 carrierreinforcements and the carriers at Truk could re-

spond to unexpectedplacement ofAllied air units,whereverthey might be. While Steve is tryingto baita trap in Indonesia, the 21AF would have donemore good in the South Pacific or the Marshalls,particularly given Dave s move. Steve s holdingback of the fleet, though overdone, does keep Davein the dark as to where the major strike will be.

Dave spatrollingmove workedfairly well He is

obviously trying to safeguard Pearl Harbor. At

least a token garrison should have been pu t in theNorth Pacific. Two cruisers might be sufficient tohold the area since the Japanese would have to becareful of reinforcements arriving. One shouldalways stealaPOC when possible. Steve is obviouslyconcerned with the Central Pacific from his Turn 1

opening. The threeland-basedair units willserveasa lightning rod fo r much of the Japanese fleet.

JAPAN AFTER RAIDERS: A double surprise-

he was expecting my patrollers in Hawaii and I ex

pected to find the Central Pacific lightly defended.

His defense of Midway forced me to use the Sasebomarines in the Central Pacific. The twelve surfaceships match the number he can send, and the two

CVs and two CVLs provideair support. The Sasebomarines are assured of landing with a surface action. I could use the Yokosuka marines to take

Johnston Island bu t this strategy has itsdrawbacks. I wouldbe showing my hand and hewill have five or six air units available for defendingthe area. Anymajor fleet action that is even approximately equal will ultimately hurt the Japanese. The

IJN must whitt le down the All ied fleet and a t thesame time gain a large and steady POC flow every

t ur n. For this r eason, I am looking towards the

POC rich areas of the Coral Sea and the IndianOcean. The Yokosuka marines have been ordered

to secure Port Moresby. Bypassing Guadalcanal is abit risky the Sasebo marines wereto take itonTurn

3), but a base at Port Moresby outweighs the risk. Iwas going to send a two-carrier raiding force into

the Marshalls but changed my mind. Those fourunits are tempting, but who knows what will show

up for the Allies in that a rea. Indones ia has me alittle concerned If Dave throws his Austral ianbased forces along with the Bri tish into the area, I

may be in for a rough time. The Ryujo adds somesupport but ALLIES AFTER RAIDERS: is always

somewhat risky to split the US fleet this early, but I

do not think he is too concerned with the Marshalls.

My first choice was to combine the British and

Australian-based US fleet for a raid into Indonesia,

but I feel certain he will protect against thispossibi li ty s ince his fai lure to isola te Singapore ,

Lae, and the Philippines would be a diaster for him.

is likely hewill be attempting an invasion of Mid

way with Sasebo marines, thus causing an ea rlyretirement of my land-based air. However, I do not

think he will send a sufficient supporting force. The

British are guarding against any uncontested raidinto the Indian Ocean which could limit my returns

to Austral ia . They should be a serious threat nextturn when they are at full strength.

NEUTRAL COMMENTS, AFTER RAIDERS:Both sides were guessing. Steve covered himselfwell fo r mostpossibilities. I would not have riskedtheA merican fleet in the Central Pacific. A surfaceaction would be a disaster with Midway falling andthe cruiser force being decimated. The only consolation is that theAllies couldrun with limitedpursuit by surviving Japanese cruisers (sacrificing thetwo battleships, ifneed be). On thepositive side, theJapanese wereforced to use themarinesat Midwayrather than elsewhere. A small force could havebeen sent to the Aleutians, preserving Attu as an

Allied base, and the remainder could have supported the Marshalls in style. The British units in

the Indian Ocean werenecessaryto prevent raids onA ustralia, since afight to the death makesairraidsimpossible with the pbm rules. I know that Stevelikes to capture PortMoresby. I am curious to see ifit willbe an effective strategy. Leaving Guadalcanalfo r Allied land-based air however, could be a ma-jo r mistake, particularly since there will be noJapanese marines in the vicinity on Turn 3. Neitherside appeared willing, at this stage at least, tofeintor bluff. Dave could have left the three air units in

the Central Pacific on their own to either attritionthe Japanese carriersor run, while using the bulkofhis fleet in maneuvers elsewhere.

The two moves in combination well illustratethe uncertainty that occurs with simultaneousmovement. While I probably would not havemadeeither move, the two turned out to balance each

other rather nicely. Thus, both workedfairly wellThe unconcern of both sides with the HawaiianIslands was surprising. Both Steve andDaveclearlyexpectedsomething elsefrom each other. It remainsto be seen if one gains a psychological edge fromthis move.

THE BATTLES: An air action came up in the CoralSea, and the DeRuyterwas sunk with multiple hits.

An air act ion also resul ted in the Marshal ls . The

22AF was destroyed at no cos t to the Americans .Although the I-Boat disabled the Enterprise, it was

too late to affect the outcome of the bat tle. In theCentral Pacific, the Japanese won the preference,getting a night action, but the American fleet more

than held its own in the ensuing gunnery exchange.

The Kongo and Furataka were sunk in exchange for

the Idaho and Houston. In addition, five Japaneseships were d is ab led, as were four Amer ican including the other slow battleship). The Japanese

also suffered more damage to various ships than the

Americans. The Sasebo marines, however, landedat Midway at theend of theaction. Lacking thesup

port of land-based air, the American fleet retired.Only two Japanese cruisers were able to pursue, the

damaged A tago lacking sufficient speed, and theirshots missed.

JAPAN AFTER COMBAT: This turn goes to the

IJN. All missions were accomplished My losses inthe Central Paci fi c were offse t by the American

losses and the securing of Midway and Port

Moresby. The Allies got of f easy in the Central

Paci fi c where the shoot ing by the Japanese was

unusual ly bad. But again, I must say that this turn

was all Japanese. BANZAI

ALLIES, AFTER COMBAT: At first I was furio

over my poor preference roll in the Central Pacift hen elated over t he out come. Consideri ngmassive surface firepower, I was quite fortunate

get away with only theloss of two ships. His lack

speed certainly did not hur t my getaway. My cotrol of the Marshalls will pretty much eliminate a

Japanese attempt to pat ro l the Hawai ian Islannext turn giving me flexibility. Down POC w

relatively minor losses, I feel, is a good position f

the Allies at this point. Mycontrol of the Marshaltaking the heat of f the Hawaiian Islands, gives m

in my opinion, the overall advantage. -

NEUTRAL COMMENT AFTER COMBAT:terestingly enough, both sides think they haveadvantage at this stage. Turn could have beendisaster fo r Dave, but he got out of it. Just onethe Japanese fast carriers would have presenDave with a dilemma in the Central Pacific givthe pursuit rules. He could either have stayed afought and lost halfof his carriers (probably in

changes), or retired and lost one to pursuing acraft. Fortunately for him, he did nothave to mathat choice, but the situation in the Central Pacdemonstrates the danger of early gambles forAmerican since withdrawals in the face of eneforces are often difficult or costly procedures.

The Japanese POC lead is about average f

Turn 2. The Japanese have the advantage of PMoresby offset by American control

Guadalcanal, area control in the Marshalls, afreedom fo r the marine units appearing on TurnUnder these circumstances, I prefer theAlliedpotion by a slight margin, but the game is still veven. The American advantage would have beenhanced if the carriers from theMarshalls andCentral Pacific hadbeen returned to Samoa insteof Pearl Harbor. From Samoa they could stillthe North Pacific or threaten the Central Pacand, at the same time, threaten areas to the wmore effectively. The Japanese returns could siga major offensive toward the Indian Ocean and

the Bay ofBengal.

TURN 3

JAPAN AFTER PATROLLERS: This turn wsee the IJN start Operation DOWN UNDER,securing of Austral ia by the end of Turn 4. To

complish this task, the IJN has withdrawn air un

scheduled for the Marshal ls and Marianas are

and based themin thesouthwest Pacific. Indones

the Indian Ocean, the Coral Sea, South Pacific a

Central Pacific each get an air unit. The Marsha

and Marianas are left vulnerable to Alliedattacksingle cruiser patrols the Marianas, while the M

shalls are left undefended. This turn is a risky ofor the Japanese. The Allies have two marine unalong with a large fleet at Pearl Harbor. The C

tral Pacific and Marshalls are both likely invasisites, but the IJN will do little to stop the predicinvasions, except the Central Pacific will get a C

to reinforce the 25AF.I will concentrate most of the major fleet un

in the southwest. I hope for a major fleet act

with all Allied units in the area. is hoped that

British fleet can be annihilated by Turn 5; coupwith the capture of Australia, this would give co

trol of the entire western half of the board toJ apanes e along with its rich POC bonus . TJapanese can then go on the defensive, knowi

that its flanks are secure and forcing the US fleetthe confines of the northeast section of the boar

As usual , a lmos t all of the surface units habeen kept on raid s ta tus. The Allies must be k

guessing as to t he IJN int enti ons for as longpossible. Along with the Central Pacif ic and

Marshalls, I believe that the Allies will s tr ike

donesia with the units based in Australia, proba

reinforced with most of the strong British fleet

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Ceylon. The Japanese are looking forward to thepredicted battle.

A sta tement issued by Combined Fleet Headquarters at Saipan assures the Japanese people that

Operation DOWN UNDER will have top priorityas long as success feasible.

ALLIES, AFTER PATROLLERS: His returnsseem quite unusual . They do, however, seem to goalong with his Port Moresby invasion. would ap

pear that he intends to patrol the Indian Ocean and

Coral Sea with land-based air and possibly battle

ships. I sent two Br it ish bat tl esh ips to the Ind ianOcean just to be sure they make it there for anypoten ti al bat tl e. I really only hope to con trol the

South Pacific and Coral Seasince it in those areaswhere my raiders can be massed in support of

patrolling units. The ships sent to the North Pacificwilleitherget a cheap POC or draw fire, thus relieving pressure elsewhere. In any event , they are ex

pendable.

NEUTRALCOMMENTS, AFTERPATROLLERS:Steve s move was a very interesting one. I am notsure if an effort to capture A ustralia will ultimatelywork since Allied land-based air can be massed in

either the Coral Sea or the Indian Ocean on Turn 4

While the return of the units to Port Moresby didnot necessarily indicate a major effort around

Australia, Steve telegraphed his move with thereturns to Saigon. Not surprisingly, the Allied airunits in the Coral Sea and the South Pacific are wellplaced to help counter theJapanese move. Al lDave .has to do is knock down the 4AFin the Coral Seaand Australia is s af e unti l at least Turn 5. TheBritish carriers could accomplish the same result inthe Indian Ocean since the 3AF is the onlypatroller. Since Steve did return surface units toSaigon, he should haveplacedsome patrolling shipsin the Indian Ocean and the Coral Sea to increasehis chances of control.

The Allies are simply waiting to react. A feint toIndonesia by a coupleofBritish cruisers might havebeen useful, particularly since Indonesia may havebeen ungarrisoned. There are finally at least tokenAllied forces placed in the North Pacif ic and the

Hawaiian Islands. The Kako in the Marianas maylook like bait fo r a trap to Dave, so Steve m ay beable to steal 2 POCs there.

JAPAN AFTER RAIDERS: I will st ick wi th my

plan to isolate Australia, despite the strong patrolling forces he has p laced the re . I will al so raid theHawaiian Islands. I cannot let Dave think that he

canget away with using light patrolling forces in hiskey POC areas while the rest of his fleet interfereswith Japanese operations. His strong patrols in the

South Pacific and Coral Sea have left his home

areas weak, and for this he will pay. Hopeful ly his

cost will be three BBs and three POCs. Now the

Kaga really missed With her I could have raided

both the Mandate and the Hawaiian Islands.My fleet units will support the operations in the

Indian Ocean and the Coral Sea. They should be

able to deal with any challenges from Allied forces.I doubt that Dave will reinforce theCoral Sea, and Ihave sufficient forces to deal with the combinedforces based at Ceylon and Australia should theyven ture into the Indian Ocean. Dave s fai lure to

place patrollers in the Marshalls has convinced me

that he will invade Midway. I was tempted to rein

force the Central Pacif ic . Ins tead, I have sent justthe Hiyo to support the air uni t. The I-Boat will bep laced in the Central Pacific if that where the

marine units appear. Hopefully, they can combineto stop the almost certain invasion of Midway.

ALLIES, AFTERRAIDERS: The placement of his

land-based air has made it very difficult for me.

looks too easy to negate control in Indones ia and

the Marines. Attempts at these objectives could

lead to suicide missions. I have decided to maintain

my strategy of conserving my fleet. I believe his intentions are to support his air units in Indonesia and

the Coral Sea massively. it unlikely that he willsupport the 3AFin the Ind ian Ocean , so that

where I willconcentrate. I do not think hewill beexpecting me in force in the Central Pacific. There

no need to support my already superior strength inthe South Pacific or Coral Sea.

NEUTRAL COMMENTS, AFTER RAIDERS:Steve miscounted the number of possible Alliedships in the Indian Ocean. Hisforces may be at a

slight disadvantage as a result. The Yamato shouldhave attempted the speed roll from Japan in anyevent. Its gunnery would have been valuable, eveni f Steve had counted correctly. The problems Stevewill face are a result of his Turn 2 returns and hisplacement of patrollers or non-placement). Heclearly had the betterof the raiding move. Dave didnot challenge the Kako or the force in Indonesia,andthe POCsfo r the Hawaiian Islands will be lost.The invasion ofMidway may alsofail, although theodds are with the Allies. From the comments, it is

obvious that Dave is in the dark as to the Japanesegoals. Steve, on the other hand, has predicted theAllied moves rather well

THE BATTLES: In the Central Pac if ic , a day ac

t ion occur red in the f irst round. The Hiyo and 2

Marines were sunk and the 1 Marines heavilydamaged. The I-Boat failed to sink or disable the re

maining marine and Midway was taken. In theHawaiian Islands, an air action also resulted. Two

American bat tleships were sunk, and the o therreceived maximum damage. was finished of f in

the second round in a sur face act ion. In the South

Pacific, the 6AFwas destroyed in the third round

of combat but not before it e liminated the 7AF inthe first round and badly damaged the RNZAF in

the second. In two air act ions in the Coral Sea, the

lOAFand 5AFwere eliminated after inflicting only

slight damage on the 24AF.The Indian Ocean witnessed a series of actions.

The Japanese won the first preference roll and got

an air act ion. The Allies had the bet ter of the

resulting melee. The Ryujo, Shoho, and 23AFwere

destroyed. The Enterprise only got one h it on the23AF, but scored a 6 for damage. The Enterprisewas t he only Allied ship sunk with the Chicagodisabled. In the second round both sides wanted asurface act ion. The Astoria and Australia were

sunk on the Allied side, and the Hosho was los t tothe IJN. In addition, two Japanesecruisers and twobattleships, one of which was damaged, weredisabled. The Allies also had one cruiser and twobattleships disabled. The Mutsu and Warspite alsosuffered maximum damage in the round; the Tennessee and Mikuma were also damaged. The fourth

round was an air action, resulting in thedisabling of

the Zuiho, thelast of the Japaneseair cover, and theinfliction of maximum damage to the Illustrious.Three ensuing rounds of combat two of them air

and the other surface, resulted in no damage to the

Alli ed fleet. The Allied shoot ing was general lybad-sinking only the Mogami and disabling therest of the Japanese ships present , including the

Mutsu, which retired for repairs to fight again.

JAPAN AFTER COMBAT: This turn has to gothe Allies. He has stopped my thrust into the IndianOcean, secured Midway, and inflicted heavy carrier

losses to the IJN. makes little difference that thecarriers los t were CVLs; they are still the most im

portant units next to the fleet carriers. The lost light

carriers this turn along with the previous loss of the

Kaga has crippled the fleet air arm. Theair units hehas los t this turn will return to fight another day.

His excellent shooting against my land-based airwas an added bonus for h im . I had hoped that myai r uni t in the Ind ian Ocean would gain con trol .

But , he scored one hit and the damage roll was a

6 . He did the same in the South Pacific. Mbright spot was the successful raid intoHawaiian Islands which bagged his three patroll

battlewagons.

ALLIES, AFTER COMBAT: Control lingSouth Pacific and negating IJN con trol in the

dian Ocean has to make this turn an Allied victo

And Allied fleet still intact. His carrier losses wbe difficult to overcome. My only regret that Id

not raid Indones ia as I first p lanned . The com

turn should be interesting, his interior areas all

ing open to Allied raids.NEUTRAL COMMENT AFTER COMBAOperation DOWN UNDER has failed fo r the mment, although Steve might st il l be able to puloff If so, the tactical implementation of the plwillhave to besounder. Dave displayed both souandfaulty tacticaljudgement in the various battlIn thefirstairaction in theIndian Ocean he usedEnterprise against the land-based air giving upbonusso that the British carriers couldengage moof the Japanese light carriers. This decision provto be the right one given the results. On the minside, he threw away the 5AF in the Coral Sea in

second air action. Once the Indian Ocean was sfrom Japanese control, it was almost pointlessstay anotherroundfor two shots since the5AFfaccertain destruction. On the whole, a badgamble

The Japanese have some points in their favfo r the beginning of Turn 4. Control of the CoSea effectively limits Alliedfleet concentration.that regard, Dave s returning ships to Australimited their potential use. Also, the battles teporarily) decimated Allied air forces. Threegone and one is badly damaged. Since the Allhave no secure areas, IJN raiders can appanywhere. However, Allied advantages are monumerous. The trained Japanese flight crewsbeginning to disappear. The loss of the twoflotillas limits Japanese defensive options, pticularly since the Americans can use the carrimore freely with reinforcements on the horizoGuadalcanal remains in Allied hands, althouJapanese marines will be reappearing. The ImperFleet has been weakened. Finally, the JapanPOC lead is a little small and the initiative is begning to swing to Dave.

TURN 4

The Indomitable and damaged Illustrious are withdrawn, andKure and Sasebo marines reappear at Truk.

JAPAN AFTER PATROLLERS: Turn 4 will sme sti ll t rying to isola te Austral ia . One air uni t

the Indian Ocean and Coral Sea will hopefully a

complish this task. The Japanese Islands and tSouth Pacific will receive the other two air uniIndones ia will have to be lef t unpro tected . F

cruisers will patrol the Marshalls and the Mariana

The placement of his patrollers will dictate the IJ

course of act ion this turn. While the isola tionAustralia still a top priority, the capture of Mway to secure the perimeter also a top priorit

But most of all, the IJN needs a major victory ovthe Allies; and by that I mean sinking a larnumber of ships.

ALLIES, AFTER PATROLLERS: I sent tBr iti sh bat tl eships to pat ro l in the Ind ian Oceagain so that I can be assured of their availabil

should he attempt to control again. The most i

portant area to me the South Pac if ic, thus tthree air forces. I am trying to get a couple of che

POCs in the Aleutians and the North Pacific. T

combination of his land-based air shortage a

highly-accessible interior should leave numero

raiding poss ibil it ies. I will thus keep a maximu

number of ships back to raid.

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NEUTRALCOMMENTS, AFTER PATROLLERS:Given his position in the game, S te ve s m ov e is

probably not aggressive enough. He has tochallenge Dave in a key area with hisfleet. Japanesecontrol of the CoralSea gives him an advantage andhe must use it. The Hawaiian Islands with its fivePOC swing and Dave s tendency towards a weakdefense might have been an extremely good choice.C ou ntin g the Zu ih o in Japan, th e Japanese h adseven carriers available and 5 surface craft counting only the Har una in Yokosuka) able to reachpositions in the Hawaiian Islands. The Allies had

o nl y three carriers a nd 20 surface c ra ft thosereturns to Australia limiting Allied concentration).A group o f patrollers, perhaps four in numbercould have been sent to the Hawaiian Islands. I fDave had used strong land based air in the area, thepatrollers become expendable. I f not, Japanesecontrol is a real threat. Dave would either have tochance risking hisfleet in an unequal battle or giveup the POCs. Steve could either support hispatrollers in hopes o f smashing the American fleetor go elsewhere, letting the patrollers serve as afeint potentially a successful one i f Dave decidesto preservehisfleet, asthe POC situation might dictate. In effect, Steve could have madehis weakness

workforhim. It would bea tough decision fo r Steveto s upport or not and something of a gamble, but

hisposition called fo r such amove1

On the move as made, Steve again fails to suppor t his patrollers. The single air f loti lla in the

Coral Sea is unlikely to be enough. Dave concentrates hisairforces in the South Pacific where a successful marine landing could send them allpacking as in the Central Pacific in Turn 2). He might havebeen better off using at least one in the HawaiianIslands to threaten the loss o f one of the remainingfleet carriers. Again, Dave might have senta Britishcruiseror two into Indonesia asa safetyplayagainsta Japanese pullback.

JAPAN AFTER RAIDERS: Again he patrols the

Hawaiian Isles with BBs and masses his land-basedair in the South Pacific instead of the CentralPacific. Unexpected, but all the better for me. I

have sent the Sasebo and Kure marines to take

Guadalcanal. The three CVs and surface shipswould welcome his Pearl Harbor raiders; these can

number only three CVs and nine surface craft. Thisbattle is the type I am hoping for. Let him concen

trate on my marines while I concentrate on his car

r iers . I need to s ink ships . The other portion of my

fleet is in th e Cen tr al Pacifi c with th e Yokoskamarines , dest ined for Midway. Aga in , I can out

number all the surface craft that he can send. I have

to admit that Dave has guts by patrolling his homewaters with the two elderly BBs, especially after last

turn. Give me two of my los t l ight carriers and I

would go in again.

Looking over the disposi tion of forces, thereseems to be a good chance of a major IJN victory

this turn although the securing of Australia is

becoming remote. I expecthim to contestthe Indian

Ocean and/or the Coral Sea with carriers. Raidsinto the Marianas or the Marshalls would almost

assure me of taking Midway and Guadalcanal. Anystrategy the Allies might try this turn should benefit

the IJN unless he strikes the Coral Sea with all

his carrier force to break control and/or does thesame with the British and Australia based forces inthe Indian Ocean.

A comment on the absence of IJN patrollers inIndonesia is in order. The isolation of Australiawasthe long-term Japanese goal, and I have to adhere

to this s trategy as long as it is feasible. If I can con

t ro l the Ind ian Ocean , I will have lost only 1 PO C

and will have gained a s trategic vic tory. So, I willsacrifice the tactical for the chance of the strategic;

I, for one, think it is worth the t ry . The re fore ,

the air f loti lla is bet te r in the Ind ian Ocean than

Indonesia.

ALLIES, AFTER RAIDERS: His failure to patrolIndonesia is a complete mystery to me makesthings a l it tle more difficult this turn but should

open up more opt ions next t urn. With my many

land-based air replacements next turn my first

priority is to hold as many bases as possible againsthis marines. Dutch Harbor is not worth sparing my

limited resources. Guadalcanal is by far the most

important base since its fall would mean the

premature departure of my patroll ing air forces.

Any chance I have of holding it would take my en

tire Pacific Fleet with no guarantee of surface or

air superiority. I will thuscontinuewith thestrategyof preserving my fleet for future offensive actions

where my superiority can be assured. His failure to

form anycontiguous perimeter defense or amass an

overwhelming PO C total dictates this strategy.

In detai l, I will attempt to s teal some POCs inthe Marianas and Marshalls with expendable batt leships; send superior a ir power to the Coral Sea

where he cannot reinforce wi th sur face c ra ft tohopefully regain control (at least negate hiscon trol ); send the Bri ti sh to the Ind ian Ocean to

meet what I believe to be a diversion; and preventthe capture of Midway with forces larger than hewould surely commit to this sideshow To say this

turn will be an interesting one is the understatement

of the year.

NEUTRAL COMMENTS: AFTER RAIDERS: Anumber o f interesting actions are shaping up. The

movementportion of the turn asa whole hasclearlydemonstrated thepotentialformultiple actions in

six of the thirteen areas in this case. Allied retention

o f Guadalcanal is somewhat doubtful. When theHermesfailed itsspeedroll again), Steve s chances

of controlling the Indian Ocean improved. Thus,Steve may survive leaving Indonesia unpatrolled.His stated logic is very s ound, and Dave may not

gain the advantages he expects since Japanese control of the Indian Ocean would block any move

ment out ofAustralia. Steve did catch some of theAllied forces in the Central Pacific at an extremedisadvantage. He might also have risked a singlecruiser in the Aleut ians or Nor th Paci fic to l imitAllied POCs. Al l in all however, Steve willdo well

to hold his own this turn, andhe needs to do betterthan that. Dave s cautious use ofhisfleetisjustified

by his position in the game.

THE BATTLES: The first round of act ion was

decisive . In the Indian Ocean the Formidable wassunk in an airaction with the 21AFbeing untouched.In the Coral Sea, however, Dave wonthe preferenceas Steve wanted a sur face act ion to let the I-Boat

shoot first. The 22AF was destroyed, but sunk theYorktown in return. In the South Pacific, Steve gotthe desired surface action with the marine landing

ending further action. An air act ion in the Mar shalls permi tt ed the Suzuya to escape. In theMarianas, a surface action resulted, but all the Colorado could manage was a disable result against thecruiser. In the Central Pacific, Steve finally decided

to opt for a surface action, notwithstanding his air

super io ri ty , to ensure the mar ine landing . Davewanted an air action to prevent the marine landing

and won the preference roll.Theairstrikes from theWasp did disable the marines. The Japanese strikessank the Wasp and Indiana, and a badly-damagedSouth Dakota was disabled. With no a ir support

and minus the two big battleships, the Americanswithdrew, los ing the North Carolina and three

cruisers to the pursuit fire.

JAPAN AFTER COMBAT: A great turn for the

IJN. I got wha t I wanted He did show up in theCentral Pacific, and with the inferior surface force

that I was hoping to catch. TheAllieslost three car

riers, two new battleships, and three cruisers. TheJapanese gained control of the Indian Ocean, clos

ing of f Indonesia to Australian-based forces, and

since the Br it ish based at Ceylon const itute no

threat, the IJN will be able to patrol Indonesia wminimal forces. There is one drawback to t

turn the failure of the IJN to capture Midway.is very dangerous to have Midway in All ied hanthis late in the game. You can be sure that Midw

will be a priority come Turn 5.

ALLIES, AFTER COMBAT: In light of my bastrategy of preserving my fleet, this turn has t o

considered a disaster. is, however, late enough

the game for me to be able to overcome it. M

imum land-based a ir s trength this coming tu

should be able to hold until the mass ive fleet reforcements ar rive . My severe losses to his ovwhelming raider strength was primarily due to

failure to support any of his patrolling units. He hpaid for this gamble in POCs. A 3 Allied sw

this early in the game is unheard of.

NEUTRAL COMMENT, AFTER COMBASteve won the victories but he is losing the war. TAll ies s hould never be gaining POCs on TurnDave s evaluation of the turn is probably closerreality than Steve s opt imis m. The All ied loshurt but the Japanese POC lead is small enoughthat those losses can be overcome. Dave s decisto withdraw in the Central Pacific may besubjeccriticism by some, but I agree with it. He s uf fersome losses but saved part of his cruiser forAnother air action would have been a disaster f

his f leet ; even in a surface fi gh t he was baoutgunned without the Indiana and South DakoFor Turn 5, Da ve will h ol d his ow n if he simhangs on to control in tho se areas th at canpatrolled by his land-based air, an ideal situatioThe game may be drawing to an early close.

Thisfine, tense Series Replay will be conclud

in the next issue o f The GENERAL

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


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7/27/2019 Vol19i6


DIPLOMACY IN THIRD REICHAnother Facet o the Strategic Game

By Larry Bucher and Steve Simmons

Back in 1976, Steve Simmonssubmittedan article based on the original THIRD REICH game

dealing with variant rules fo r playing thegame withthe variable entry of the minorcountries heavily influenced by the combined diplomatic and militaryactions of the major powers as opposed to thepurely historical entry t imes and reaction to invasions. At the time, Don Greenwood thought thearticle quite innovative but lacking in organizationand it was returned to the author fo r a rewrite. As

luck wouldhave it, hefadedfrom the gaming sceneonly to resurface at ORIGINS, article in hand. Hestilllackedthe time to issue anotherdraft, but asked a co-author could not be found to take on thetask. The obvious choice was Larry Bucher, whoco-authored the 3rd Edition rules. He promptlyproceeded to bring the article into agreement withthe '81 rules edition. Ace playetesters MarcusWatney and Bill Nightingale then critiqued it. The

final form you are about to read is due in large partto the efforts of these three men, now laboring on aWargamer s Guide to this fine game. This article,thanks to the expertise brought to bear upon it,represents one of the finest variants to ever gracethe pages of The GENERAL

Germany

Receives Additional DPs for Axis control of:

Grozny, Leningrad, Moscow, Stalingrad ,

Warsaw or London: 1 DP each

Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir: + 1 DP for group

Athens, Belgrade, Bucharest , Budapes t and

Sofia: 1 DP for groupBrussels, Copenhagen, Luxembourg and theHague: + 1 DP for group

Any hex on the Island of Britain (Scapa Flow is

included, Ireland is not): 1DP (This is in addition to the allotment for London; butno addi

tional DPs accrue for control of more than oneBritish hex.)

Paris: + 2 DPs

Deducts DPs for Allied control of:

Any hex of Germany: -1 DP, plus an additional

-1 DP f or each object ive hex cont ro ll ed byAllied forces within Germany.

All hexes of Britain: -1 DP (This is applied onlyif Axis forces have controlled at least one hex of

Britain at a n earlier point in the current game.)Any hex of France by supplied Americanarmor/infantry unit: -1 DP

Italy

Receives Additional DPs for Axis control of:

All cities in Egypt: 1 DP

Gibraltar, Malta or Madrid: + 1 DP each

Deducts DPs for Allied control of:

All cities in North Africa: -1 DP

Any hex of Sicily, Sardinia or mainland Italy:-1 DP

It has long been a favorite game of historians tospeculate on the effects of diplomatic maneuvers by

the major combatants in any war . This is certainlynowhere more true than with regard to the act ionsby the Axis and Allied powers during the SecondWorld War. Suppose Belgium had granted Germany free passage through its t er ri to ry? What

would have been the diplomatic repercuss ions if

London or Moscow had fallen? What ifTurkey hadjoined the Allies? These questions, and a hundred

others, have tickled the fancies of many gamers andfostered endless discussions in scholarly circles.With the introduction of Diplomacy Points to our

favorite strategic game, we are in a position to add

even more fuel to the fires of intellectualgamesmanship.

When using this variant , dis regard rules 33.6

and 33.7 (the sections on Foreign Aid and Turkey).

Change the tenth resul t on the Intelligence Table

(33.5) to apply to Diplomacy Points. Rules 33-33.4(Variant Counters) are probably best disregardedalso, since many of the effects therein areduplicated through the actions of this variant. Notall are duplicated however, and players may continue·, if agreeable to all to draw, but treat certa in

Soviet Russia

Receives Additional DPs for Russian control of:

Helsinki, Riga, Stockholm, Warsaw or

Copenhagen: + 1 DP each

Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir: + 2 DPs for group

Bucharest, Budapest, Sofia, Belgrade and/or

Athens: 1 DP for any group of threeAny objective hex in Germany: + 1 DP each

Deducts DPs for Axis control of:

Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad or Vologda: -1

DP each

Great Britain

Receives Additional DPs for Western Allied con

trolof:

Antwerp, Brussels, Luxembourg and theHague*: + 1 DP for group

Any objective hex in Germany*: 1 DP each

Genoa, Milan, Trieste and Venice*: DP forgroup

All cities in North Africa: 1DP

Oslo, Paris see Note), Madrid or Rome see

Note): + DP each

Athens and Belgrade: 2 DPs for the pai r

Deducts DPs for Axis control of:

Any ci ty in Egypt: -1 DP

Gibraltar or Malta: -1 DP each

Any hex on the Island of Britain by a suppliedGerman armor/infantry unit: -1 DP

selectionsas void: Axis 1 through 5 and 7; All 3, 5 and 6. If using the addit ional varia

presented by Mr. Bucher in Y et MoPossibilities (Vol. 18, No.5), we would suggignoring: Axis 16, 19 and 20; Allied 11,

and 20. Note that play balance shifts toward

Allies if this is done, since the Axis playe r hagreater chanceof drawing a voided variant count

Each major power receives a basic allotmentDiplomacy Points (henceforth, DPs) during eYSS. These are received and committed just af

BRP calculation, but before SW construction. Tbasic allotments are: U S and Britain and Gmany 3 each; France and Italy and Russia

each. The U.S. player receives no DPs until the 1YSS. These bas ic allotments may be increaseddecreased by certain game developments, detaiin . t he accompanying box. These increas

decreases are applied only at a YSS, never dur

the play of a year.A nation may also increase its available DPs

spending for foreign aid during the YSS. Unlthe 33.6 Foreign Aid rule, this is a generalizedpenditure, assigned to no particular minor co

tries and more akin to SW expenditure. Each f

France

Receives Additional DPs for Western All iedcontrol of:

Brussels, Madrid or Rome see Note): 1 DP

each

Any objective hex in Germany*: + 1 DP each

Any objective hex in Italy: 1 DP eachDeducts DPs for Axis control of:

Any hex in European France: -1 DP

Any hex adjacent to Paris: an additional -1 DP

United States

Receives Additional DPs for Western Allied controlof:

Antwerp, Brussels, Luxembourg and the

Hague*: 1 DP for group

Any objective hex in Germany*: + 1 DP each

Genoa, Milan, Trieste and Venice*:+

1DP forgroup

Rome or Paris see Notes): + 1 DP each

Notes:

DP gains so marked may go e ithe r to the Uni ted States or to

Great Britain, but not bot h. British and American players are

unable to agree, neither gets the additional DPs. In t he ra re game

where France and the United States are simultaneously active and

the Western Powers control an objective hex in Germany, the

French player would receive a DPand the British or the American

player would also receive one.

Rome: controlled after American entry, Britain and the U.S.

each receive one addit ional DP. I f prior, Britain receives 1 DP

and France , i f sti ll act ive in the game, also receives 1 DP.

Paris: DPs aregained by the Western Allies only if Paris has been

recaptured after the fal l of France (i.e., France is no longer an

active player). The American player and the British player each

receive 1 DP.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


18

BRPs spent in this manner produce one additionalDP for the player. There are but two limitations:

1 No nat ion may spend more than 7 of itsYSS BRPs on foreign aid.

2. No nation may acquire more DPs by foreignaid spending than its basic DP allotment as above(two or three as the case may be).

As with SW spending , if BRP total s are closeenough that expenditures could have an effect onthe order of play, players must write their spendingdecisions secretly and reveal them simultaneouslv.

The next step is commitment of DPs to countries that a power may wish to influence during thecoming year. Eligible recipients are listed in detaillater in this article. Each player records his decisions on paper in as much secrecyas he wishes-he

may, but need not , consult with other playersand/or reveal to them his choices. There is but onelimitation: no player may commit more than half(rounded up) of his DPs to one country. Playersmay not loan nor give DPsto other players. TheRussian player operates under two addi tionalrestrictions:

1 He may allocate DPs only to Bulgaria,Finland, Greece, Hungary, Japan, Persia,

Rumania, Spain (only if Communist), Sweden,Turkey and Yugoslavia.

2. He may not allocate DPs to any Balkan

country unless Russia controls a supplied hex adjacent to nyone of them. (Balkan countries aredefined as-Rumania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece,Yugoslavia.)

DPs, wherever they may have been allocated,are wiped clean each year end. They never accumulate , nei ther in a recipient nor for a major

power, so there is absolutely no point in leavinganyuncommitted during a YSS. When a major power is

conquered during a year, its committed DPs do remain valid for the remainder of the current year. Ifa nation has a negative amount ofDPs at YSS thereis no penalty, nor does it carry forward a deficit . Itmerely cannot allocate any DPs , placing it a t asevere disadvantage in the diplomatic struggle. Allsteps thus far described occur during a YSS; thesearealso performed prior to the start of any scenario

or the campaign game.During the ensuing game year, a player may at

tempt to capitalize on the DPs he has farmed out .The mechanics of this follow.

At the start of each game turn (before Activation of Minor Allies on the Sequence of PlayChart), up to three attemp ts may be made to influence the various recipients of the DP grants. TheGerman player has the first chance. If he shouldpass, the Italian playermay take his place. Britain is

second. If she should pass, the U.S. (if active) or

France, in that order, inherit the chance to influence world events. Russia has the third chance,and faces an additional obstacle: the Russian playermust roll one die and may exercise the option onlyon a result of 5 or 6 on the roll.

Any major power whose capital is controlled by

the enemy must pass. Italy, the U.S. and France donot get the option except as a result of a pass by themajor diplomatic power they are allied with.Russian action ends activity for the turn; no nationever gets a second chance even though less thanthree attempts may have been made.

A player exercising his option names any country to which he, or n ally committed DPs in thepreceding YSS. All players reveal how many DPsthey have committed to that particular minor country. A die roll is then made by the player exercisingthe option, modified according to DPs granted byall players, and then applied to that country. Thespecific results for each potential choiceare detailedlater in this article. The results must be enforced.

The basic die modification is determined by subtracting the total number of Allied DPs committed

to the country inquestion from the total numberof

x is DPs so committed. The result may be apositive or a negative number, or zero. The Alliedtotal is defined as: (a) if Russia is at war, all AlliedDPs; or (b) if Russia is not at war, all Russian DPsor all Allied DPs, whichever is greater . In manycases, additional die modifications are specifiedunder the individual minor countries.

A given country may never be named for such adie roll more than once during anyone game year.

When the four historical Minor German Alliesactivate, Germany receives their BRPs immediately,as is customary. Whenever either side acquires any

other minor country as an ally, it does not receiveBRPs thereafter until the next YSS. Certain countries, under certa in circumstances, need not benamed for a die roll, al though DPs may be committed to them. Instead, the status of these countries are resolved only when other game

developments warrant, as explained below.

Note: In all HResults hereinafter adie roll lowerthan thefirst number listed s treated thesame asthefirst number.

Bulgaria/Hungary Rumania Inactive

While inactive these three aretreated asa unit; DPsassigned to them are assigned to all three collectively.Resolve when Germany attempts to activate them.The German player may choose to do this at anytime, even if he has committed no DPs to them.

Additional Modifications:

Double all Axis DPs before subtracting AlliedDPs.

Subtract two DPs for every turn prior to Spring1941 (Winter 40, -2; Fall 40, -4; Summer 40,-6; etc.).

Add one for every turn after Spring 1941

(Summer 41, + 1; Fall 41, +2 ; etc.).

Add two if Allies (this includes a still-neutralRussia) have declared war on any of the three.

Results: The three countries assume the same status as

any other minor neutral for the remainder of

the game. Germany may not again attempt toactivate them nor may either side again namethem for a DP die roll. AnyAxisgarrison unitsmust be SRed out or destroyed by the end of

the current Axis player turn.

The three countries will activate in two gameturns.

2 The three countries will activate in one gameturn.

3 + The three countries activate immediately.

Note that if theAllies attack an inactiveminor ally,German intervention would no t cause the

automatic activation normally dictated (by rule

25.2).

Finland Inactive

Resolve when Germany attempts to activate, whichthe German player may choose to do at any timeeven if he has committed no DPs to Finland.


Double all Axis DPs before subtractingAlliedDPs.

Subtract oneDP for every turn prior toWinter1940 (Fall 40, -1; Summer 40, -2 ; etc.).

Add one for every t urn after Spring 1941

(Summer 41, + 1; Fall 41, +2; etc.).

Subtract three if Russia is not at war.

Add two if Allies (this includes a still-neutral

Russia) have declared war on Finland.

Results:

Finland assumes the same status as any othminor neutral for the remainder of the gamGermany may not again attempt to activthem nor may either sideagain name them fa DP die roll. AnyAxis garrison units mustSRed out o r destroyed by the end of the crent Axis player turn.

1 Finland will act ivate in two game turns .

2 Finland will activate in one game turn.

3 + Finland activates immediately.

France

Resolve upon the fall of France.

Results:

All French colonies become Free Frenalong with the forces in them. TheFrench flturns Free French, is not halved, and movimmediately to the nearest friendly port on

same front. Vichy France is established nmally; Corsica remains Vichy-controlled.

1 7 Vichy France is established normally (per r49.) except for the die rolls for the individcolonies. The colony rolls are modifiedthe same modification just used for Franand the results become: 3 or less, Free Fren4 or more, Vichy French.

8+ All colonies remain loyal to Vichy andVichy forces arenot halved. No partisansmbe built in France.

Italy

Resolve upon the conquest or surrender of Italythe Allies.

Regardless of the die result, the Folgore Airborcomposed of politically-reliable Fascists, if currenin play on themapboard remains there and becoma German uni t. I t loses the abi lity to airdrop a

cannot be rebuilt if lost, but it retains the abilityoverstack and may be used anywhere on the boaAll other Italian units are removed, but some mreturn to Allied or German force pools. Rule 26is observed for all following results.

Additional Modifications:Add one for everyyearbefore 1943 (1942, +1941, + 2; etc.).

Subtract one for every year after 1943 (19-1; 1945,-2;etc.

Results:

Strong anti-German feeling. U.S. force pgets six 1-3s, two 2-3s and a 2-5. These mayrebuilt in any Allied-controlled hex of It(including Sicily) that can trace supply twestern source. These may leave Italy foranywhere on the board. One-fourth (rouup) of the remaining Italian naval factors pto U.S. control; but if the Italian fleet has breduced to a remnant, any German clai(under rule 26.72) take precedence. Alliesm

build two partisans.2 5 A war-weary Italy. Add two 1-3s and one

to the U.S. force pool. These may not leItaly. Allies may build one partisan.

6 + Pro-fascist loyalties persist. Add two 3-3s aa 2-5 to the German force pool; these mayrebuilt in any Axis-controlled, supplied hexItaly. U.S. force pool receives three 1-Rebuilt unitsof either sidemay not leave ItaNo partisans are created in Italy.

Substitute UK for U.S. if Italy should fall befAmerican entry into the war. None of the rebItalian units may be rebuilt againafter combat loby either side.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


The following countries are resolved only whennamed f or a Dip lomatic d ie rol l at the start of agame turn, as explained earlier. Note that a specialroll to determine the status of Spain s politicalgovernment is required before the start of anyscenario.

Note Whenever a result ispreceded y n asterisk(*), thatcountrym y not benamedagainfo r the r -

mainder of the game

Belgium/Luxembourg

May be named only if Belgium is still neutral.

Results:

o *Agree to defens ive coopera tion with the

Western Allies. Allied units may enter; Alliedunits may ignore rule 22.3 and may give DAS.Allied units may not move across nor attack

across the German frontier from either country, and Allied air units may not cross Belgianair space to reach Germany until a stateof waris declared on Belgium.

7 *Belgium/Luxembourg refuse any cooperation with either side.

8 + *German forces granted free passage. The

German playermay treat Belgium and Luxem

bourg as control led ter ri tory, for two gameturns only-beginning with the current turn.

Any German units remaining in either country

at the end of th e second game turn areeliminated (interned). Neither side may

declare war on either country for the duration

of the period of free passage. When it expires,these countries resume their minor neutralstatus.

Bulgaria Active

Bulgaria may not be named as a choice unlessAllied ground/air factors in the Balkans out

number Axis factors. The Balkansare definedas Rumania (including Bessarabia), Hungary,

Yugos lavi a, Alban ia , Greece (excluding

islands), Bulgaria and European Turkey. Russian factors are not considered Allied untilRussia is at war with the Axis.

Additional Modifiers

Subtract one if less than six German ground

factors are in Bulgaria.

Addone if morethan thirteen German ground

factors are in Bulgaria.

Subtract two if a supplied Russian armor or

infantry unit is in or adj acent t o any hex inBulgaria.

Results:

-1 *Bulgar ia switches s ides , becoming a minorally of the All ied p layer wi th ground unitsclosest to her capital . If a tie in distanceresults, use the greatest number of DPs committed (and t hen a random die roll) to breakthe deadlock. All Bulgarian units stacked withotherAxis units or currently of f the mapboard

are eliminated permanently. Other Bulgarianunits pass t o command of the new Alliedpatron, remain on the board in play and

become part of its permanent force pool. Germany loses immediately the Bulgarian BRPs.

On the following YSS, BRPsare awarded normally to whoever controls thecapital; this may

not necessarily be the power that controls theBulgarian units.

0-2 *Bulgariasurrenders. All Bulgarian forces are

permanently removed from play. Germany

immediately loses the Bulgarian BRPs; these

will be awarded normally the next YSS.

3 + No effect.

Egypt

Additional Modifications

Add two if a supplied Axis armor or infantryunit is in Egypt.

Subtract two if no Axis (German or Italian)unit is in any hex of North Africa.

Results:

*Political compromises satisfactory to

Wafdist l eaders a re reached . Any Wafdistcounters on the mapboard are immmediately

and permanently removed.2-6 No effect.

7 Wafdi st uprisings. German player may build

two partisan counters in Egypt. If destroyed,these may be rebuilt only if a supplied Axis armor or infantry unit is in Egypt. The Wafdistpartisans may not close the Suez canal nor costBritain 25 BRPs for loss of Suez/Alexandria.

8 Extensive Wafdist upr is ing. Same as aboveexcept that three par ti san counter s may bebuilt.

Finland Active

Finland may not be named unless Russian combat

factors in Finland outnumberAxis factors there, or

(1943 or later) a supplied Russian armor or infantryunit is in Warsaw or Konigsberg.


Add one if Finnish combat factors in Finlandare outnumbered by other Axis combat factorstherein.

Results:

2 *Fin land surrenders. All Finnish forces ar epermanently removed from play. Germanyimmediately loses the Finnish BRPs; these willbe awarded normally the next YSS.

3 + No effect.

Greece

May be named only if still neutral, except followinga result of 8 + on the die roll.


Subtract one for eachAllied-controlled objectivein theMediterranean Front in excessof sixhexes.

Add one for each Axis-controlled objective inthe Mediterranean Front in excess of sevenhexes.

Subtract one if the Allies will move first in the

current game turn.

Add one i f the Axis will move first in the current game turn.

Results:

o *Greece grant s free passage and limitedcooperation to the Allies. Whichever powergets a supplied ground unit into Athens first,

controls it for victory condition purposes and

will get the Greek BRPs next YSS. All ies canmove into and/or through all Greek hexesthey desire. Axis units must be a t war (Le.,a DoW on Greece). Greek units are not placed

on the mapboard unless the Axis so declare;Greece becomes a minor allyof the power controlling Athens if/when Axis declare.

2 *Greece rejects diplomatic advances of both

sides and remains pe rmanentl y in mino r

neutral status.

3-6 No effect.

7 *Greece grants free passage and limitedcoopera tion to the Axis. Whichever powergets a supplied ground unit into Athens first,controls it for victory condition purposes and

will get the Greek BRPs next YSS. Axis can

1

move into and/or through al l Greek hex

they desire. Al lied uni ts mus t be a t wa

(Le., a DoW on Greece). Greek units are n

placed on the mapboard unless the All iesdeclare; Greece becomes a minor ally of

power contro ll ing Athens if/when All

declare.

8 + Greece becomes a minorally of theAxis powhaving ground units nearest Athens by lan

Greek units may not be used outsideMediterranean Front , nor in French No

Africa nor Spain. Greek units may not atta

British units during offensive options. Oone partisan may be built in Greece, and oby Russia. Greece may be named for

Diplomatic die roll in a future year-in whcase the conditions, modifications and resuareexactly the same as those for Hungary (Ative) as described below.

Hungary Active

Hungary may not be named as a choice unlAllied ground/air factors in the Balkans onumber Axis factors. The Balkans are definedRumania ( including Bessarabia) , Hunga

Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece (excluding islandBulgaria and EuropeanTurkey. Russian factors

not considered Allied until Russia is at war wthe Axis.


Subtract one if less than six German grou

factors are in Hungary.

Add one i fmore than thirteen German grou

factors are in Hungary.

Results:

-1 *Hungary switches sides, becoming a mially of the All ied player with ground unclosest to her capital . If a tie in distan

results, use the greatest number of DPs comi tted ( and then a random die roll) to bre

the deadlock. All Hungarian units stackwith other Axis units or currently of f them

board are eliminated permanently. Ot

Hungarian units pass to command of the n

Allied patron, remain on the board in play abecome part of its permanent force pool. G

many loses immediately the Hungarian BR

On the following YSS, BRPsare awarded nmally to whoever controlsthe capital; this mnot necessarily be the power that controls

Hungarian units.

0-2 *Hungary surrenders. All Hungarian fora re permanently removed f rom play . Gmany immediately loses theHungarian BRthese will be awarded normally the next Y

3 + No effect.

Rumania Active

Rumania may not be named as a choice unAllied ground/air factors in the Balkans o

number Axis factors . The Balkans are def inedRumania (including Bessarabia), Hunga

Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece (excluding islan

Bulgaria and EuropeanTurkey. Russian factorsnot considered Allied until Russia is at war w

the Axis.


Subtract one if less than six German gro

factors are in Rumania.

Add one if more than thirteen German grou

factors are in Rumania.

Results:

1 *Rumania switches sides, becoming a mi

ally of the All ied player with ground u

closest to her cap ital . If a tie in dista

results, use the greatest number of DPs co

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


mitted (and then a random die roll) to breakthe deadlock. All Rumanian uni ts s tackedwith other Axis units or currently off themapboard are eliminated permanently . OtherRumanian units pass to command of the newAllied patron, remain on the board inplayandbecomepart of its permanent force pool. Germany loses immediately the Rumanian BRPs.On the following YSS, BRPs areawarded normally to whoever controlsthe capital; this maynot necessarily be the power that controls theRumanian units.

0-2 *Rumania surrenders. All Rumanian forcesa re permanently removed from play. Germany immediately loses the Rumanian BRPs;these will be awarded normally the next YSS.

3+ No effect.

Iraq


Add one if coup has al ready occurred inPersia.

Results:

*Poli tical compromises pacify Iraq for remainder of the game. Any Iraqi rebel countersare removed immediately and permanentlyfrom play.

1 5 No effect.

6 + Pro-Axis coup ·occurs. The results are identical to those for Axis Variant Counter 1.

Japan

May be named only during 1941.


Add three is Axis forces control any hex of

Persia.

Subtract one if France is still unconquered.

Results:

*Japan remains neutral and unmenacing. Useprovisions of Allied Variant Counter 6.

1 7 No effect.

8 + *Japan launchs an immediate attack onRussia. Free Siberian Transfer not allowed;five 3-3s permanently removed from Russian1942 force pool.

Persia


Subtract one if Lend-Lease route has been activated.

Subtract one if any Allied ground uni t is inPersia.

Add one if Axis forces control Rostov ,Sevastopol, Ankara, or Port Said.

Add one if Axis forces control any hex in oradjacent to Persia.

Add one if coup has already occurred in Iraq.

Results:

o *Political compromises pacify Persia for remainder of the game. Any Persian rebelcounters are removed immediately and permanently from play.

1 5 No effect.

6 Pro-Axis coup occurs. The results are identical to those for Axis Varian t Counter 1;

substitute Tabriz for Mosul in application.Substitute Tabriz and Sarab for Mosul andMunawir in applying Rule 25.46; force levelsand geographical restrictions of 25.46 are thesame.

Portugal

May be named only if both Portugal and Spain arestill neutral.

Results:

*Portugal becomes a British minor ally.

1 4 No effect.

5 *Portugal remains permanently in minorneutral status.

Spain

Roll onedie before the game begins. On a die rollof1-5, Franco has won the civil war; on a 6, theLoyalists have won. Roll again if the Loyalists won;on a die roll of 6, the government is communistdominated. The form of government will determinewhich of the following may be used.

Franco s Spain

May be named only if France has been conqueredand Spain is still neutral, except following a resultof 7+ on the die roll.


Add one if Axis forces control an·y hex of

Great Britain.

Add three if Grea t Britain has been conquered.

Results:

*Spain rejects all advances and remains permanently in minor neutral status.

1-6 No effect.

7 + Spain becomes a minor ally of theAxis powerthat committed the most DPs to Spain (a dieroll i f tied) . America may bui ld and operatefour partisans in Spain. Spain may be namedfor a Diplomatic die rol l in a future year in

which case the conditions, modifications andresults are exactly the same as those forHungary (Active).

Loyalist Spain

May not be named until 1940, and only if still

neutral.Additional Modifications

Add one if Italy is at war.

Add one if France has been conquered.

Subtract one if Axis forces control no hexes of

France.

Subtract two if Italy has been conquered.

Subtract three if Allies control Paris (appliedonly after France has fallen).

Results:

*Spain becomes a minor ally of the Alliedpower that committed the most DPs to Spain(a die roll if tied). Germany may bui ld andoperate two partisans in Spain.

1 6 No effect.

7 *Spain rejects all advances and remainspermanently in minor neutral status.

Communistic Spain

May be named only if Russia is at war and Spain isstill neutral.


Double Russian DPs.

Subtract two if Italy has been conquered.

Subtract three if Allies control Paris (appliedonly after France has fallen).

Results:

*Spain becomes a Russian minor ally. Germany may build and operate two partisans inSpain.

1 6 No effect.

7+ *Spain rejects all advances and remapermanently in minor neutral status.

Sweden

May be named only if neutral.


Add one if Axis forces control Oslo.

Subtract one if Allied forces control Oslo.

Results:

Sweden denies i ron ore shipments to Gmany. Subtract 10 BRPs from German toeach YSS (prior to SW construct ion). Gmanycan avoid this penaltyby eithercontroing Stockholm, or reversing the diplomaoutcome with a Diplomatic die roll of 2 ifuture year.

2-4 No effect.

5-6 *Sweden signs a long-term pact for contintion of ore shipments to Germany.

7 *In addition to the iron ore pact, Swedagrees to limited transit of Axis troops. OAxis unit per turn may SR through SwedThis uni t may SR to or from Finland vianorth edge of the mapboard.

TurkeyMay be named only if still neutral, exceptfollowing a result of 8 + on the die roll.


Russian/Western Powers DPs are combineven if Russia is not at war.

Add one if Axis forces control all citiesEgypt. Add an additional one if Axis forccontrol any city in Palestine or Transjorda

Subtract one if Allied forces control twomore cities in Libya.

Add two if Axis forces control SevastopRostov and either Moscow or Leningrad.

Subtract one if Axis forces control neitSevastopol, Rostov, Moscow nor Leningra

Subtract one for each All ied-controlMediterranean Front objective in excessseven.

Subtract three if Axis forces control no hbordering Turkey. (Note: inactive Bulgariconsidered Axis-controlled , as is Viccontrolled Syria until conquest or deactition.)

Results:

2 *Turkeybecomes a minor ally of Allied powthatcommitted most DPs to Turkey(a die rif tied).

1 7 Noeffect.

8 + Turkey becomes a minor ally of Axis powthat committedmost DPs to Turkey(a die rif tied). Turkey may be named for

Diplomatic die roll in a future year in whcase the conditions, modifications and resuareexactlythe sameas those forHungary (Ative).

Ulster

May be named only if Ireland is still neutral.

Results:

3 *Ulster remains tranqui l throughout the w

4-6 No effect.

7 IRA active. Use provisions of Axis VariCounter 2, except t ha t only five Britfactors need be diverted to Ulster. CreGermany with one extra SS factor during nSW resolution reflecting covert Ir

assistance to U-boats.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


By Rod Walker

ITALY: THINKING BEYOND LEPANTO

means picking up a noticeable number of centethe wes t. T his creates a problem of timing.

Getting a significant number of western cenusually means getting through the StraitsGibraltar. T he exit from the Mediterranean cablockaded with almost ridiculous ease using F Po

Mid, and a F leet in the North Atlantic or Irish SeEnglish Channel. This means that Italy needs ton av al p ow er w es tw ar d as f ast as po ss ib le . Thunlikely while the battle to eliminate Turkey is

ing. I t is further delayed if Italy is obliged toAustria eliminate Russia-or help Russia elimiAus tria. Italy com pens ates for the delay by gaiadditional strength, but no amount of strenggoing to get through the western blockade just m

tioned. It is true that a Russian alliance couldresunaval help from the rear of the blockade line. Hever, by the time Russia is able to give that help,likely to be pretty close to eighteen centers himand, consequently, less given to listening to yplans.

Italy s best bet is to find some way of keeping

w es ter n p ow er s in t ur mo il u nt il his fleets c anthrough Gibraltar. One tactic is to use the Army

started inVenice asa sort of equalizer . A com

patternamong the western powers England, Fra

Germany) is t wo- agai nst- one. Italy c an usenorthern army to support the one, or harass thewith a littlehelp from Russia, hecan keepthe wespot boiling for quite some time. His aim should bkeep things that way until he has tidied up affaithe east to the extent that he can send naval strewestward.

G et ti ng a fleet i nt o t he M id -A tl an ti c d oe sguarantee victory, of cours e. But the Italian plwho does not achieve that goal is not likely to

unless he undertakes to conquer the entire E asthere is considerableturmoil in the west after Tuis g on e in t he e as t, I ta ly m ay b e ab le to s lip into

Mid-Atlantic on the pretext of helping out, sayFrench. And once cammelo has his nose in

Strait . . . .The Lepanto Opening must, thus, always be

only as a beginning for which there is to be a def

end. Even as he convoys his ar my to T unis ,Italian player m ust be looking eas t, or west, o

defeat.

Ro d Walker s the editor of DIPLOMA

WORLD an d au thor o f Avalon Hill s T

GAMER S GUIDE TO DIPLOMAC

DIPLOMACY WORLD sa quarterly publicatfeaturing articles on the game h ob by neratings a demonstration game and numerous otidbits. It has been the central DIPLOMA

hobby publication since its founding 19

lCbe ( Compleat lliplqmat . . . \ ~ > .

I.- -

The Lepanto Opening for Italy is wonderful,bu t it only goes s o far. It is only an opening; it givesItaly a certain tactical advantage i n t he e as t, bu t it

guarantees neither successthen nor victory later. Tomake anything of it, Italy has to be thinking ahead

all the time.

The Lepanto is described in the Gamer s Guideto Diplomacy but l et us r ec ap i t h er e. It is, simply,the standard opening attack on Turkey for Italy.Ignoring Army Venice which can .do a variety of

constructive things), the Lepanto goes:

Spring 1901: A Rom-Apu, F Nap-Ion.

Fall 1901: A Apu-Tun, F Ion C A Apu-Tun.

Build F Nap.

Spring 1902: A Tun H , F lon-Eas, F Nap-Ion.

Fall 1902: A Tun is convoyed to Smyrna or Syria.

A common variant of the Lepanto is to order F o -

Aeg instead of to the Eastern Mediterranean with asubsequent convoy to Smyrna, Constantinople or

even Bulgaria). Alternately, the 1901 Lepanto moves

can beus ed as a s creen for a m as sive s tab of Austria.

Such a stab canhavethree advantages: 1 it may yieldmore and quicker gains; 2) it surprises Austria morethan the Lepanto would have surprised Turkey nowthat the Lepanto is so widely used); and 3 it results ina more compact positionon the mapboard. Its prime

disadvantage is that it is likely to leave a fairly powerful T urkey in Italy s rear.

I n a ny g am e I tal y is forced to m ake all s orts of

difficult strategic choices. The 1901 m ov es f or t heLepanto mean that I ta ly h as m ad e a c ho ic e to con

centrate on t he ea st r at he r than the wes t. Havingmade that choice, I taly mu st n ow m ak e severalo the rs. Will he p ur sue t he L ep an to and seek t oeliminate Turkey or will he stab Austria? If Turkey is

eliminated, will he then go after Russia, stab Austria,or turn west? Will he t ry f or t he eas ter n Grand

Slam of eliminating Turkey, Austria and Russia?

The Grand Slam could give Italy a victory 3Italian centers, 3 Austrian, 3 Turkish, 4 Balkan, plusTunis, Sevastopol, Moscow, Warsaw and one other)

w it ho ut a s ig ni fi can t a tt ac k on the west. It presupposes no difficulties with France, good luck, fantastic timing, and probably some help from Germanyand/or England. Not likely, but possible. If Italy intends to pursue this eastern strategy, he will have to

p la n his d ip lo ma ti c mo ve s f ro m t he very s ta rt . He

will need to know in what order hehopes to dis patchhis victims. Above all, he will need to beable to keep

the western powers off his back until he has enoughstrength to put defensive units in his westernapproaches.

If Italy s plans do not include an eastern Grand

Slam, then an Italian victory m eans taking at leastsomecenters directly from the western powers. Shar

ing the east with Austria, or even Russia, or with both

8 + *Identical to a bo ve exc ept I ri sh R ep ubl ic

actively assists IRA. F ul l t en B ri ti sh f ac to rsmust be diverted to any part of the island.Britain must declare war on Ireland at the start

of her next player turn; the British player may

e ve n i nc ur a BRP deficit to do so if necessary Le., if less than 10 BRPs remain).

United States of America

May only be named in 1940 or 1941.


Subtract one if Axis forces control any hex of

Great Britain.

Results:

-2 *U.S.A. enters war immediately, but only if

Axis forces control three or more hexes of

Great Britain. Otherwise, U.S.A. enters one

game turn earlier than u su al i .e ., i n W in te r

1941). U.S.A. gets no BRP growth before1943 YSS i n any e ve nt . A ll r es ul ts of a -1Diplomatic die roll below) are also implemented.

1 *U.S.A. commits n av al f orces to trans

Atlantic convoy escort and institutes a shoot

on-sight ASW p ol ic y. R ol l t wo di ce and in

crease British ASW factors by the resultingnumber.

o *U .S.A. offers limited ASW assistance. Rollone die and increase British ASW factors bythe resulting number.

1-4 No effect.

5 U.S.A. observes strict neutrality until drawn

into war by Japanese attack.

Vichy France


Identical with those of Rule 49.42.

Results:

1 *Any Vichy colonies switch sides and becomeFree French, along with all forces therein. Ad

ditionally, if Allied forces control a s upplied

hex i n continental Europe adjacent to Vichy

France, u ni ts i n France follow s uit and all

Vichy hexes become Allied-controlled. Otherwis e, Vichy forces in Europe deactivate.

o *Implement Vichy deactivation as describedin Rule 49. 41).

1-6 No effect.

7 Vichy France becomes a minor ally of the Axispower that committed the mos t DPs to VichyFrance a d ie r ol l if tied).

Yugoslavia

May benamed only if still neutral, except following

a res ult of 8 on the die roll.


Add one if Allied forces control no hexes in

the Balkans excluding Bessarabia).

Results:

3 * Yu go sl av ia r ej ec ts al l a dv an ce s and remains

permanently in minor neutral status.

4-7 No effect.

8 Anti-Nazi coup does not occur. Yugoslavia

will becom e a German minor ally at the s ametime as Hungary/Rumania/Bulgaria and

therefore immediately should t he se t hr ee b e

active allies), and is treated as an inactive allyuntil then. Only two partisans may b e b ui lt i nYugoslavia, and these only by Russia.

Yugoslavia forces may operate in Yugoslavia,Greece, Rumania , Eas t Europe and Russia

o nl y. Y ug os la vi a may be naflled for a

Diplomatic die roll in a future year-in whichcase the conditions, modifications and resultsare exactly the same as those for Hungary

Active).

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


22

A HISTORIAN S GUIDE TO

AVALON HILL WARGAMESOne an s Views

By Seth Owens

t seems that every book about wargamers seeksto explain our various interests and motivations by

labeling each of us as a part of one or more sub

groups in the hobby. t would appear that authors

-even those within the hobby-cannot simply ac

cept the phenomena, but must understand it by plac

ing us in comfort able , distinct niches . Some

people are Competitors , others are Collectors ,

and so forth. Jon Freemen in he omplete Book o fWargames app li es seven labe ls which can be a

useful shorthand in discussions about garners

motivations. For those unfamiliar with thi s fine

work, the seven groups are:

The H is to ri an He who considers realism and

fidelity to historical fact the most critical

elements in a wargame. He alsothe most likely

t o p re fe r the term simulation .The Military Enthusias t He f inds tactics ,

technology and regalia fascinating. Contem

porary and futuristic wars are of particular in

terest. He also prefers the term simulation .

The Assassin Winning the only thing.

The Compet itor A challenging contest the

prime attribute of an excellent game in his view.

Balance a must in his games.

The Hobbyist The collector, analyser and

philosopher of the hobby itself.

The Gamer T he gamer just likes games.

Playability and social i nt erac tion a re his

criteria.

The Specialist Games are but a facet of his in

terest in some historical subject.

Avalon Hil l s t it les have traditionally empha

siszed those elements impor tant to the Com

petitor and the Gamer . There are some excep

tions to b e sur e, but the Historian and the

Military Enthusiast have gone elsewhere to find

their simulations . Now, tha t e lsewhere has

closed up shop; we may now witness many of these

homeless souls taking a peek over the Hill to see

what lies beyond.

To help them out in their t ime of distress, I ve

compiled a rating of many of Ava lon Hil l s

wargame line as seen from the Historian s

perspective. A few have been left out due tomy un

familiarity with them. The days when someone

could easily say that he knew the entire line well are

several years past. Those that I do l ist, I have played

and examined extensively. I ve l imi ted my con

sideration to wargames-and only t ho se in print

and available to the orphans . Fantasy and

science-fiction games are deleted due to their ob

vious disinterest to the Historian . A final caveat,

this rating scheme does not address their quality as

GAMES in any way the RBG for tha t) but only

their utility and interest as HISTORY.

The Rating Scheme

ORDER OF BATTLE: This rates the accuracy and

usefulness of the OB, taking into consideration the

levels of abstraction sought by the designer. This

category includes such things as correct unit iden

tifications, correct unit types, unit strengths and

capabilities. If machines are present (ships, AFVs,

aircraft), the realistic portrayal of their capabilities

and limitations are rated here.

I A rating of 1 indicates that the OB work

borders on fantasy. Any serious student of military

history will gain no information, only misinforma

tion from a game with this rating.

This indicates that the player gets the rough feel

for the forces involved, but tha t there are serious

errors or omissions.

3 The rating of three describesOBwork that not

totally inaccurate, but adequate only for game pur

poses. The OB no t so bad that it will detract from

good ratings elsewhere.

4 A rating for good solid OB work tha t provides

satisfactory data for the amateur with an interest in

the period.

5 The highest rating is reserved for professional

qualityOB work, better than most books published

on the subject.

MAP: This categoryobviouslyrates the accuracy of

the map, both in physical dimensions and in terrain

effects. The effects of weather are also taken into

account by this rating.

I -Such a rating indicates a useless map. Theremay

be ficticious terrain features, mislocated cities andmountain ranges, or totally crazy terrain effects.

The result that the historical situation no t even

approximated.

This shows that there are serious errors, tending

towards directing strategy down ahistorical paths.

3-Decent work i nd icat ed by this r at ing ; no

errors are present that distort history, though one

doesn t get a powerful insight into how the terra in

really determined the course of thebattle, campaign

or war.

4 A 4 map gives you that insight into how the

terrain affected or l imited military operations.

Most naval games are arbitrarily given a 4 ; after

all, how can a designer mess up open ocean?

5 0ne could motor around the battlefield using a

map of this quality.

TACTICS: This category rates the how of fighting

the battle. How well the game recreates the

mechanics of battlefield events. The forte of tac

tical games, but a strategic game can also prove to

be informative in this area.

I Any resemblance to the actual event purely

coincidental.

2 A rating of 2 indicates t ha t one can get thehistorical results, bu t for the wrong reasons.

3 An adequate treatment, for a game, is in

dicated.

4 A good study which gives one some insight into

how the event unfolded.

5-Accurate enough for military instructional pur

poses. A rating of 5 shows that the game

recreates how the battle (war, campaign, etc.) was

fought and highlights the tactics of the period.

STRATEGY: The f inal category, this covers the

why of the historical event. Does the game present

one with the same problems as the his torical per

sonages, with the strategic solutions available? Do

events happen only because the rules force them to;

or

one guided down historically possible paths?

With this rating, the bes t adv ice is to avreading anything about the event covered-it

only mess up one s chances of winning. Ahistor

or impossible strategies are the norm, and give

best chances of victory.

2 0ne gets the historical outcomes, but f or

wrong reasons or only because the rules requir

explicitly.

3 A rating of 3 gives one a feel for why thi

happened as they d id , but little insight into ot

possible courses of action.

4 This indicates that the game gives one that

sight.

5 l f you can do well in this game, you may

qualified to criticize the historical command

freely. This is as close to being a general or adm

as you can get without being shot a t.

The final rating for each title a lettergrade

unlike that a teacher might assign. This is der i

simply by multiplying the raw arithmetical score

five and assigning theappropriate letter gradeto

percentile found:

90-100 = A; Excellent military history.80-89 B; Good historical treatment.

70-79 C; Fair history.

60-69 D; Passable history.

50-59 E; Poor treatment.

less than 50 F; Truly terrible.

A grade of D , E or F will inform

Historian gamer that there is little or nothin

interest for him here. Even if the game scores hig

in one category, it will be so of f the mark otherw

as to no t be worth his time. A c -graded gamight interest the historically-minded, if he ha

special concern with the topic; look at the spec

raw scores to determine its suitability.With a B

we have a game that will probably interest

amateur historian; check the raw scores for the

scoring category to highlight the weaknesses.

A , of course, will interest the historian an

unlikely to have any serious flaws standing in

way of the historical lessons. If one very luck

may even be fun to play.In the ratings which follow, the most advan

rules-with all historically-based optional and

perimental rules-of the game is the version rat

To the Historian , playabilitytakes a back sea

historicity. This article confines itself to ratings

traditional AH wargames, because that is the f

with which the author

most familiar. HowevAvalon Hilldoes have a number of fine historica

based non-military games that the Historia

may also wish to explore. CIRCUS M XIMU

GL DI TOR CIVILIZ TION and GU

SLINGER are highly recommended.

I have li sted the games considered in chro

logical order. This will give the reader some ov

view of the development, or lack of, of the state

the art as it pertains to historical accura

However, any conclusions drawn from such

purely those of the readers.

Finally, I repeat, this NOT an attempt to r

any game as a whole-and certainly does not p

tend to consider whether it isfun to play. That is

s ubje ct for another article-and cer tain ly

another author.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


he atings

D DAY

OB-2 Map-3 Tactics-2 Strategy-2 Grade F

One of the bet te r of the classics for his torica laccuracy, but not good enough to sat is fy the Historian . Representative of the accuracy problems is the s ta te of t he OB. The Allied army is

homogenous in the extreme. The US 2nd and 3rd

armored divisions are 5-5-4s just like every other

tank division; yet they were larger and more power

ful in actual fact. Likewise the elite US 1stInfantry

rates the same 4-4-4 strength as the green l06th In

fantry. As far as Tactics go, since the earliest issuesof The GENERAL writers have commented on thelimitations and extreme results of the combat

system. There is no conceivable real lifecounterpartto this situation: picture the 158th static isolated

in Cherbourg and attacked bytheUS2ndArmored,

4 th and 9th and 79th Infantry. A 6 is rolled, AEUm Try the same battle in TH E LONGEST

DA Y-even giveyour grandmother theAmericans

and see if any Germans survive the week. The

his torically-minded gamer is bet ter directed to

FORTRESS EUROPA f or a game of this scale.

WATERLOO

OB-3 Map-2 Tactics-l Strategy-2 Grade F

Napoleon and his opponents had many formationsavailable for their use in maneuvering troops, lines,columns, Ordre Mixte, etc. Among them one will

not find the stack . This peculiar formation con

sists of 15 points of combat value, in any combination of cavalry and infantry and artillery. Onemore

example of fanciful tactics: what is the proper use

of 1-4 artillery batteries? Why, to be thrown in the

path of the French Army to slow it down, of course.I challenge anyone to find an account of Waterloo

which refers to either stacks or suicide artillerybatteries, not simply because they didn t happen

but because they simply couldn t. Skirmishers

would have cleared away any lone artillery battery

in minutes; and, while many games have stackinglimits, such are normally based on historical logistic

constraints or tactical doctrines of t he time por

t rayed. The re is a ser ious gap in the Ava lon Hillgame line yawning here, though the recently re

leased STRUGGLE OF NATIONS may fill i t.

STALINGRAD

OB-l Map-2 Tactics-2 Strategy-2 Grade F

It has been well established in The GENERAL and

other hobby publications that STALINGRAD s

Soviet OB is fanciful, and the German OB only

slightly better. The game has all the familiar

weaknesses of the classic CRT, extreme retreats

and casualties, and simply fails to show the flow of

the actual campaign. There is no great en

circlements following deep penetrations, no Rus

sian winter offensives, no partisans, workers and

the o ther d ramatic and impor tant facets of the

Great Patriotic War. Those interested in theEastern Front should look down the article to THE

RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN.

AFRIKA KORPS

OB-2 Map-3 Tactics-3 Strategy-3 Grade E

Actually, not too bad a treatment of the desert

war-but see PANZERARMEE AFRIKA for

more and better. Research since AK appeared hasshown many arrivals and departures to be in error

( fo r examp le, th e New Zealander s and SouthAfricans were in act ion well before November of

1941) but these have not been corrected by latereditions. The classic combat system does seem to

work best here, of the games in which it was used,

probably because smaller uni ts l ike brigades and

regiments often are des troyed by combat, par

t icularly over such a long period as a fortnight .

MIDWAY

OB-2 Map-4 Tactics-3 Strategy-2 Grade D

A word about the OB rating. Whilethe arrivaltimes

and ship names are nearly right, the ratings of shipcapabilities are seriously off. But one glaring example is theUSN-IJN CA match-up. MIDWA Yis vir

tually the only game to show the US treaty cruiserssuperior to the Japanese cruisers. The action of f

Savo Island rather conclusively demonstrated the

contrary. The air strikesare too instantaneous, withspotting, take off, bombing, return and landing all

occurring within two hours. Those interested incarrier warfare need to continue on to FL A T TOP.

JUTLAND

OB-5 Map-4 Tactics-4 Strategy-5 Grade A

The first title from AH that could justly claim to bea simulation as t he Historian would under

stand it. The weaknessin Tactics refers primarily to

the impotence of torpedoes. While certainly not asdeadly as the Long Lance which sank theCanberra or Tigerfish which took the Belgrano

down, nei ther were the dreadnoughts equ ippedwith the extensive torpedo protection of later warships. Because one is unlikely to lose any battleshipsto torpedo attack, one is not likely to appreciatewhy Jellico turned away when threa tened by the

German torpedo boats.

A NZIO


Constant revisions have not only improved the playof the game, but kept it abreast of current state of

the art in game design techniques for historicity.

PANZERBLITZ

OB-4 Map-3 Tactics-l Strategy-2 Grade E

The panzerbush syndrome ruins the rather good

OB work in this game. If, however, one has

PANZER LEADER and uses those rules, one canraise PB to an overall Grade of C. This is an example of a good game that was innovat ive for its

t ime-one of the major developments of the hobby.

But now i t shows its age. See PANZER LEADER

and ARAB ISRAELI WARS for further developments of the system.

LUFTWAFFE


Bombing missions were sent to strike one or twotargets at a t ime, not ten or twelve. It took severalraids to destroy a city; sometimes dozens;sometimes the factories never were destroyed. Thevaria tions in casualt ies caused by the die rol ls aregrotesque. Considering the large numbers of planesinvolved, one should see moderation in the CRT,

not extremity. And the time scale is beyond com

prehension.

FRANCE 194


In the historical campaign, DeGaulle 's 4 th DCR

was s trong (it had extra tank battalions attached)and usually effective, yet in the game it is a 3-4 likethe other three DCRs which col lapsed on firstmeeting the German panzers in battle. The hope

lessness of the French cause in the game has led to

some novel s trategems Is Defense ReallyNecessary? , Vol. 9, No.5). In act ual fact, th eFrench could have won given a more enl ightenedstrategy. In FRANCE 194 only gamesmanship

will save Paris.

RICHTHOFEN S WAROB-5 Map-5 Tactics-2 Strategy-3 Grade-C

Father Time has taken his toll on this game system,and the limitationsofthe sequential movement pro

cedure in a ir games have become apparent. And

yet, is the re a Tom Oleson out there, ready

save RW from premature obsolescence? A cplete rules rewrite, some simultaneous movem

and the maneuver cards included as a standard

and a grade of A is assured.

1776

OB-3 Map-2 Tactics-4 Strategy-3 Grad

The map is the major weakness here, and it adver

affects the strategy rating too. This is ra

unusual, in that designers seem to have an ea

time with maps than with any other componentgame design. However, in 1776, it is too easmarch around the wilderness areas of the

palachians and upstate New York (to name but

example). At one point inthe Saratoga campaig

took Burgoyne one mon th [turn] to moveequivalent of one hex This mobility is a m

factor in the ahistorical development of a typgame. The British player can always chase down

Colonial armies if played correctly; whereas inactual war, the Americans could easily declinfight-and often did.

THIRD REICH


A good study of Strategy in the European theaThere are a considerable number of artificial

structs tactically-such as the various optionsfive-factor a ir uni ts , nine-factor fleets. Yetwork, and work well. The game is primarily on

grand strategy, and is quite instructive on that le

ALEXANDER THE GREA TOB-4? Map-4 Tactics-4 Strategy-4 Grad

The question mark for OB reflects the fact that

is reliably known about the Persian order of ba

most of it being a levy of poor quality troops. W

that caveat, a good solid study of the battle.

main reason it does not score bet ter in Tactic

Strategy is because of the virtual ignoring of c

mand control by the designer/developer. Thisdifficult aspect to simulate, it s t rue. Yet the p

lems of control areso central in understanding

ancient warfare was conducted that leaving it

cannot but lessen the impact of an otherwisegame as a teaching device.

PANZER LEADER


The major deficiency of this system is the conof dispersal as it pertains to vehicular units.years I ve tried to rationalize what, exactly, th

supposed to represent-to no avail. Essentially,a design abs traction, meant to give one the res

of a battle though not for real istic reas

Armored units simply do not react to losses insame manner as infantry units. This is for a var

of physical and psychological reasons having towi th such d ispa ra te fac to rs as rad ios, the ar

protect ion i tself, the s imple fact that a tank

crew-served weapon that provides a measure

security as long as it is functioning, and so for thgraphic example of this is to consider the effec

7 casualties to an infantry platoon and to a t

platoon. In the case of the infantry, there is a g

chance that theunit will beshaken up by theeighten dead and wounded that 7 would represe

shaken to an extent that the unit wou ld ceas

funct ion. This would be particularly true if sNCOs or the platoon leader were hit . With a t

platoon, the reaction is more likely to be to c

on. The crews of the surviving tanks feel relatisafe and secure as long as their vehicles havebeen penetra ted. A further sys tem problem,

one I notice (being an artilleryman), is the effeccrowding more troops into a hex. Contrary to w

one might expect, everyone is less vulnerable. T

is because the attacking factors are divided up

shared between all the defenders.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


WOODENSHIPS & IRONMEN

OB-4 Map-4 Tactics-4 Strategy-4 Grade-B

The finer points of maneuvering under sail areglossed over, and since in mastery of these elementslay the real superiority of Eli te and Crack

crews (and the American and British navies), I donot feel WS IM should get the highest ratings. is,nevertheless, the best Age of Sail boardgame onthe market, and has been for over a halfa decade.Perhapsdesign techniques arejust not up to reflecting the advantages of a well-crewed sailing ship.The difficulties of signalling and controlling fleetmaneuvers are also not well represented.

TOBRUK

OB-5 Map-4 Tactics-5 Strategy-4 Grade-A

Mr. Hock is always quick to leap to the defense of

his design, and has always been very convincing inhis arguments . But , there is a weakness in themorale rules in that the troops seem to hang in therepast the reasonable breaking point as long as otherunits are nearby. The problem stems from theobservation that the state of the other units is neverconsidered. The result-a single squad that has sixmen left in it is in a more precarious morale situation than three squads, each with but two men left.TOBRUK is a t its strongest when dealing withphysical phenomena, with a quantifiable data base

(armor penetration, effect ive ranges , and othersuch mundanematters). I personally think SQUAD

LEADER does a better job with that very difficultto quantify element of battle-the men themselves.The map rates a 4 , because only a salt flat is thisfeature free; I would havegivenit a three, except forthe optional rule allowing a small protective bonusfor those vehicles who search for it. This mitigates,somewhat, the sand sea effect.

KINGMAKER

OB-3 Map-3 Tactics-2 Strategy-4 Grade-D

The major tactical failing is the siege rules. Only inKINGMAKER can a force of 210 factors alwaysbeat a force of 200 in a castle; yet, if the troops leftthe castle to fight in the open (even leaving behindthe l00-man garrison), half the t ime the smaller

force will escape Somehow, it makes all the effortmedieval monarchs spend on castles rather pointless. In the designer 's notes will be found amplejustification for the map and OB scores as Mr.McNeil honestly specifies the liberties taken withhistory for the sake of playability.

DIPLOMACY

OB-l Map-2 Tactics-l Strategy-3 Grade-F

A great game; lousy history.

WAR A TSEA

OB-2 Map-3 Tactics-2 Strategy-2 Grade-F

WAS is not really a serious attempt at simulatinghistory. is, first and foremost, a game. Why, theFrench Navy is left out; GrafZepp/in is put in; theBismarck and Tirpitz are virtually unsinkable; and

more. That s justthe OB. Thereare no naval tacticsin thebattle procedure(maythe best die roller win);and strategically one learns nothing of the problemsfacing the Admiralty or the Kreigsmarine.

CAESAR ALESIA


The best that can be said for the tact ical system is

t ha t it plays well, and it doesn t detract from thestrategic aspects of the game-which is what it's allabout . The map, consider ing the difficulties inresearching the subject, is superb.

THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN

OB-4 Map-3 Tactics-4 Strategy-4 Grade-C

In this game we get the great encirclements, deep

penetrations and massive battles of the Eastern

Front. Sometimes the rules allow rather peculiarthings to happen. (I remember one game in whichHQ Army GroupSouthcapturedRostov and Stalinoahead of the panzer corps in the mechanized movement phase ) But, overall , some historical pointsare made in an entert aining manner. It is worthrepeating, at this point, thata gameshould bejudgedat the level of abstraction chosen by thedesigner/developer. If a game is set at corps level, itwill reflect events of significance at that level-andnot lower. In a corps-level game, the exact unitcomposition and strengths of a particular corps are

not significant, especially in the context of a fouryear campaign. Corps are , by their very nature,flexible in composition. was not unheard of for a panzer corps to contain no tanks at times. Divisionswere reassigned from corps to corps accordingto battlefield requirements. The Russianswere (andare) more rigid in the composition of Tank and

non-tank armies, but exceptions were not uncommon even for them.

ARAB ISRAELI WARS


The concept of dispersal still seems artificial forAGVs, but it is put to good use in this design to

reflect the difference in troop quality in a simpleand playableway. TheOBwork suffers from theinadequate sources available so soon after the

October War of 1973. Only now, a decade later, isbetter information becoming available.

VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC


Although clearly not aimed at the Historian , thegame does surprisingly well in highlighting certainaspects of the Pacific War. As one can see from themany variants and additions to this game and itssister WARATSEA there is much to quibbleaboutas far as specific factors and arrival dates are concerned. In the larger context of strategy, and effectthe game is at least as close to a simulation as mostgames promoted by other companies-and asplayable.

SQUAD LEADER


Here I tread lightly; there aresome real fanatics out

there. Yet, in truth, the basic game is certainly notthe total simulation; otherwise, why would there bethree more gamettes? The order of battle for SL is

stylized, especially the rules and counters coveringAFVs Probably the more significant unreality of

the system, and one that is not really solved in thelater gamettes either, is the twin problems of limitedintelligenceand of command and control. I actuallycannot seehow any tactical gamecan playably solvethese problems in their current format. This doesnot invalidate them; but the gamer looking forhistorical simulation must keep this limitation inmind.

SUBMARINE


This game has so much promise, yet certain rules(particularly advanced surface combat and the collision rules) rob itof the right effect. For example, ifthe Yamato runs down an old US S class boat,she will be half sunk and 01 S-26 may escapewithout a scratch The basic game surface gunnerytable is more accurate in its depictionof the dangersto submarines operating on the surface faced whenfired on by escorts. The underwater rules are quitenice however, and the escort and submarine commanders will both sweat a bit during the c at andmouse game that is the trademark of ASW. Thisgame is one of the few cases where a basic game ruleis recommended for the Historian ; playersshould always use the basic game gunnery table

(multiply by ten to get the number of hit points in-

flicted) and agree on a more reasonable hous

rule for collisions involving submarines.

AIR ASSAULT ON CRETE/MALTA

OB-4 Map-3 Tactics-4 Strategy-4 Grade

The map and terrain effects analysis does not seequite as sophisticated as the rest of the design, athe role of headquarters is rather slighted whcompared to other games (such as THE LONGE

DA with battalion counters.

CROSS OF IRONOB-4 Map-5 Tactics-5 Strategy-4 Grade

While COI still rates a B it is a '%igher B thanthgiven to SL. This is due to the more detailed trement of armor and ordnance. Command, contrand communications ( C3 to those in the defencommunity) is still only passingly dealt with. Bthe SL system is improved by COl.

NAPOLEON


For a simple game, this title does very well at coveying the flavor of the historical situation. Tstrategic situation is very well modeled. The OBrather suspect, there not being any direct corretion between numbers of troops and the numbersCF. All in all, it is proof that simplicity does n

necessarily imply total lack of historical veracity

TRIREME


This game appears to be more historically accurathan it actually proves to be upon closer examintion. While the ship classifications are logicenough, they are basically educated guesswork. Nenough is known about the ancient ships to supposuch a detailed and explicit breakdown. As fStrategy the critical problem facing an ancieadmiral was command and control or, rather, ttotal absence of it. Once batt le was joined, tadmiral had no control whatsoever over-its coursEven in the age of sail, there was at least a systemsignal flags to transmit simple orders. In 400 B

there was nothing. The lack of any restrictionsupothe players control of individual ships ensures ththe players learn little about how the victoriesread of really came about.

FURY IN THE WEST


A good, solid treatment of a Civil War battle. Tconfusion of the historical engagement is not reapresent though, and because this confusion wasdominant characteristic of the battle, it s absendetracts from the historical lessons. In fairness,must be repeated that limited intelligence is tmost difficult facet of warfare for two-playwargames to simulate. When one has a situatiosuch as at Shiloh, where the commanders were nalways certain of the location of their own uni

not to mention the enemy, an accurate simulatimay be impossible.

GETTYSBURG

OB-5 Map-5 Tactic-s-4 Strategy-5 Grade-

Playing it is the challenge.

AIR FORCE/DAUNTLESS


There are a few problems with this game. Perhathe most glaring is the not uncommon occurancea head-on pass with neither player firing any shoLet us say we have two fighters, at the samalt itude, level bank, facing each other at twelhexes. If both fly dead ahead a t a speed of sevethey will fly right through each other w

nothing happening except maybe a friendly wav

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


WAR PEACE


There are some serious problems with the map (inanother hobby publication the developer addressedthat criticism less than satisfactorily). Perhaps themost glaring error is the major river running southwest of Kiev. A look at any good atlas will revealthat no such river exists. This is not nitpicking, for agross error such as this calls into quest ion the accuracy of the rest of the map as well. How much canwe trust the designer's (or developer's) decisions inother areas requi ring a judgement call when this

kind of error is made? Despite this, the game doesseem to reflect the historical course of events ratherwell on the plane of pure strategy.

CRESCENDO OFDOOM


A word about tactical games is in o rder here. I du

not see how a tactical game can reasonably rate a 5 inthe section Strategy particularly land combat games. A wargamer is sitting securely at home,with an excellent overview of the developing situation and perfect information about the state of hisown troops. This is qui te dif ferent f rom the experience of the tactical field commander. While agame cannot, of course, simulate the element of

personal and professional fear, unt il a game cancapture the confusion of the battlefield in the mind

of the player/commander (as opposed to some scatter rule or other artificial construct whichmerelymesses up the pieces), it can never show onewhy firefights happen as they do. At this stage of

development of the hobby, miniatures play has abetter handle on this aspect.

FORTRESS EUROPA


This is an opportune time to remind the readers,particularlythose who love FE that such a ratingisvery good, and a game rated is certainly a decentsimulation. The s tacking rules in FORTRESS

EUROPA are really poor, and distort the usefulness of such units as theTiger battalions and Britisharmored brigades. Many players adopt a house rule

of some sort to compensate and this, if thoughtfullydone, improves the simulation effect. I like to borrow from ANZIO and count the battal ions free,and the brigades as half a division but other compromises are certainly reasonable.

THELONGESTDA YOB-5 Map-5 Tactics-5 Strategy-5 Grade-A

I think themost impressiveaspect of this design hasnothing to do directly with the play of the game. Iam most taken by the bibliography and annotated

design notes. For the f irst t ime, a designer laid itright on the line, in specifics, about how and why hedesigned each facet of the game in the manner hedid . This is Randall Reed's f inal and definitiverebuttal to the would-be game reviewer. One canalmos t hear him say, I dare you to nitpick this

one If more designers and publishers backed uptheir questionable decisions with sources and data,

they would not be facing the many (such as I)panning the design for inaccuracy. I think TLD is notjust a game, but the first work to come out of thehobby that is truly better than a major book on thetopic. Just as a book, it is chock full of data, fullysubstantiated and integrated; but, better than abook, it explores the dynamic potential of the eventand its possible outcomes. In this way, THE

LONGEST DA Y is a landmark game-as important as TACTICS 1914, PANZERBLITZ and

SQUAD LEADER. Due to its great size and longplaying time, only now is the game beginning to getthe attention it deserves from the hobby as seriousplayers discover the full depth of the game and thesimulation. It truly is Ava lon Hill's opus . Any

player terming himself a Historian will want to

own a copy of this greatest of simulations.

BISMARCK


The high ratings for this game are based primarilyon the rules presented in the last fourteen pages of

the rulebook-the Advanced Tactical game. This is

not to say that the rest of the game is poor, on thecontrary, the basic and intermediategames are verygood. But the advanced game is thebestrepresentation of the naval gunnery problem to ever see printin any naval wargame by any publisher. The reader

will note that I do not qualify this statement. Myparticular interest in wargaming is the naval sphere,and I have played virtually every naval wargame

published to date (a somewhat easiertask than playing every Eastern Front wargame, I grant you) including miniature rules. My sole concern with therules of this best of naval games'the lack of anyprovision for collisions; as this was an important consideration in maneuvering formations under fire, itshould have been included. For the first time inwargaming, the player can actually salvo chase

just as we've been reading about for years. Theserules also give destroyers a fighting chance of notbeing smashed by 15 guns, and highlight why allt ~ s 5 and 6 guns were carried by battleships.Truly, this is the stateof the art in tactical navalgames.

THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE


A good effort; but the map still seems a bit

simplistic considering the terrain of the Ardennes.

THE GUNS OF AUGUST

OB-3 Map-4 Tactics-2 Strategy-2 Grade-E

If the reader has been following along, he will havenoticed that it has been qui te a while since an AH

gamerateda bad grade. The state of the art ingamedesign has been advanced much by AH in recentyears, and even the game as opposed to simula

tion designers have managed to avoid manglinghistory. THE GUNS OF AUGUST reverses thetrend; it fails utterlyas history. Zones of control are

all wrong for a game of this scale in this period. In1914 (out of print), army corpsoccupyinga fractionof the territory represented by one GOA hex didn't

have a ZOC, yet in this game they can extend theirinfluence scores of miles. Even a modern US Armycorps, with a mechanized division and an armoreddivision would have trouble covering the groundcontrolled by a GOA conscript infantry corps. Aperfect exampleof howthis distortshistory is foundon the Italian Front. There, each side has a salientwhich lasted a couple of years (note the 1916, '17and '18 Sta rt Lines); yet in the game, these areuntenable and will l ikely be abandoned becausethey are out of supply. Trenches were a dominant(to put it mildly) feature of WWI combat, yet theyare of minor importance in GOA with small effecton combat. This game is certainly a step backwardfrom the excellent 1914for the Historian .

STORM OVER ARNHEM


The sum is greater than the parts. This game doesgive a remarkably good account of the fighting forthe Arnhem Bridge-better than any SQUAD

LEADER style treatment would. However, a recentarticle in another hobby journal called the accuracyof t he OB into question, citing several sourceswhich indicate some shoddy research; if thedesigner can justify his OB work, then that ratingwould go up a point, improving the overall grade.

FLATTOP


The definitive gameon carrier warfare. Add an um

pire to give 7

hidden movement (and hidden

2

searchers), and one would come as close to pfection as possible with cardboard and dice. Thinot to say that there aren't nits to be picked (forample: the P-38 is no better than the P-40 in air-air combat, and dawn should break an hour earlover Espiritu Santu than it does over Port Moresover 5 degrees longitude further west). Nits are nhowever, and such minor points do nothingdetract from any of the above ratings.

PANZERARMEE AFRIKA


An improvement in every way over AFRI

KORPS. The OB Alternatives are a nice touch,there is not enough informationon how these alnatives could have come about. I have read t

there was indeed a plan afoot to send the US 1stAmored to the Eighth Army front; a brief paragraor two about why it wasn't would change a mingame variation into an interesting historical tidfor the players. Avalon Hill should add to

development of outside-designed games just sumaterial to increase the players', both old and neenjoyment. The company's release of previoupublished games should always seek to providsuperior product to the original-both in termsplay and in terms of history.

Conclusion

Doubtless, at this point, a number of the readare thinking, So who is this guy, who proclai

himself capable of passing judgement on thgames? Basically, I am one of you . I have beplaying wargames for over a decade and am an

tive member of AHIKS. Besides having not a liof Jon Freeman's Historian aspects, I also am

MilitaryEnthusiast , Hobbyist and Game

to various degrees. As noted, I do have a specialterest in naval subjects, dat ing back to my fwargame MIDWA Y. I do not have an advancdegree in history, nor have I written on the subjeI don't feel it would be helpful in any case. As thowho are professional historians know, thknowledge is extremely specialized and, unless thare reviewing a game on the ir topic , they arebetter qualified than any amateur historian such

myself. Indeed, my interests range over the entmilitary history of mankind. Over the years I hlearned what is good history, and what is slopwork. If I can highlight a p robl em, think wha

professional could do.This rat ing scheme is designed to guide

historically-minded gamer in his considerationswhich AH titles best match his interests in mdetail that themuch-maligned RBG. I will be pleato hear from those who have cons truc ti ve coments on the historicalaccuracy of the various titabove . Perhaps in the future we can updat eratings based on these responses. Write to m

enclosing a SASE, Seth Owens, 5 Pierce StreNew Bedford, MA 02740.

Recapitulation

Let ter RawGrade ScoreGame Title

A 20 FT,TLD

9 BIS, COD, GE

8 AZ, COl, JU, TB

7 AF/DL, CAE, BB, FE

6 AL, FITW, SL, 3R, WS IM, PAA

C 5 AOC, AIW, SOA, RW, TRC, W 4 NP, PL, SUB, TR

3 VITP 2 KM, MD, 1776

E GOA, LW AK, FR, PB

F 9 DD, WAS

8 WAT 7 DIP, STAL

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


26

FLATTOPGAMEMASTERED

By Jim Burnett

2.0 The GameMaster

3.0 Orders

3.1 All moves and actions du ri ng the game are

sen t f rom players to the GM in the form of orders

2.1 The gamemastered game is played by three or

more people. The number on each side may bedetermined as in an ordinary game, but one par

ticipant will act as GM and will not play for eitherside.

2.2 It is the job of the GM to receive orders from

each side each turn, interpret and process the information, and report the resul ts to each player.

2.3 The GM is in charge of all facets of the gameand is the final arbiter in all rules quest ions .

2.3.1 The GM will make all die rol ls.

2.3.2 All communications between opposing sidesgo thr ough the GM. If play ing a full command

control multiplayer game, all communications between all players should go through the GM.

2.4 The GM will follow all rules of the game (both

as presented here and in the regular rules book)and interpret all orders impartially.

One of the greatest anomalies in wargaming is

the seemingly vast amount of information

available to each player. This is not too disconcerting in a large scale strategic land game-most

general s taffs tend to know about how many corpsthe enemy have and a fair idea of where they are.Where this does drastically a ff ect play is in a

tactically-oriented naval game like FLA TTOP-

even with its new rules for search and hidden

movement . The sight of t ask forces dodging

observation planes can be quite odd. The obvioussolution is to get a third person involved to handlethe fog-of-war type bookkeeping. Despite the

fact that this seems like work rather than play, thejob has i ts rewards . It is truly fascinating just to

observe the p layers map strategies and makemoves based on limited information. While all of

this can be handled eas ily by mail, a multi -playerface-to-face o r phone game with all players inseparate rooms presents real gaming excitement.

Wi th this in m ind, t he following sub-set of

rules is presented for the gamemastered version of

FLA TT P Those rules numbered less than twenty

are considered to be the bas ic gamemastered ver

s ion; those twenty and above are advanced command control rules and should be used only by

players wanting even fur ther rea li sm . These a reespecia lly effective in the multi -player environment. With care and att en ti ve play, t he rules

should not bring any s i ~ n i f i n t increase in playingtime.

1.0 Introduction

This version of FLATTOP is for game

mastered games. The games may be face-to-face,play-by-mail, or play-by-phone. If used FTF, it is

suggested that three different rooms be available

for play. The following abbreviations are used:

GM

AF P

GP

BUT

TF

RT

W

P

ASW

GamesmasterAir Formation

Combat Air Patrol

General Purpose (AMMO)Basic Hit Table

Task ForceRadio Transmission

Coastwatcher

Armor Piercing (AMMO)Anti-Submarine Warfare

for each TF, AF, base or other unit. All plann

moves and combat for a turn must be included

that turn s orders.

3.2 Orders may be wri tten provisional ly and mconta in as many cases and s ub-cases as a pla

deems necessary.

3.3 It is the duty of the player to make certain t

he says what he means. Uncl ear and ambiguorders will be interpreted by the GM as best

can. Self-contradict ing orders may be treated n o move . This will be even more crucial if usthe command control system described below (Stion 20).

3.4 AF orders will cover the complete flight a

combat of the unit. Desired decision points for

unit must be spelled out in advance and e

desired branch action spelled out.

3.5 EXAMPLES:

3.5.1 T F 2 at B/M23 shell Henderson Field

This order is clear, assuming that all sh ips in

TF were to be used in the shell ing.

3.5.2 A F 3 attack enemy TF at B/P33 Torder has too little information. It makes

assignment of planes to types of ships and no mtion of altitude or bombing mode. It also doessay wha t to do if the TF is no longer at P33.

3.5.3 A F 7 move N4, NW2-do not divertreport all sightings-high altitude. This orde

eminently clear and concise.

3.5.4 All planes AF 6 bomb Buna low if aircrare on the ground. This order is provisional

clear.

3.5.5 A F 3 fly N unt il hex DD03 is reached o

a TF is spotted. Shadow TF as long as fuel p

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


Altitude

LOHI

mits. Return to base by fastest route. Report backevery turn of shadowing. If DD03 is reached and

no TF is spotted , fly S back to base. While verydetailed these orders may sti ll have some holes inthem in a command control game.

3.6 A player will s tate in orders for each AF, TF,

base, and independent ship the report numbers forconditions 1 and 2 (as in regular rules Section 7.).

4.0 Reports

4.1 The OM will return reports to each player afterhe resolves all actions for a turn.

4.2 The report will give all observations made bythe player s units, weather conditions, and all combatand results (but not the opponent s exact losses)as well as any other pertinent information.

4.3 During night turns, the OM may wish to run

two turns at once, saving t ime-especially if thegame is played bymail. This would simulatethe useof less personnel during night hours.

5.0 Sequence of Play

5.1 The sequence of play is the same as the regularrules except for the deletion of the Initiative Phase.

5.2 The Plane Movement Phase is changed to

read-the OM moves all planes (simultaneously)

per their orders.

6.0 Weather

6.1 All weather rol ls and cloud movements arehandled by the OM.

6.2 Each player is only told the cloud positions thathe can see. Cloud cover may be seen by any uni t inany hex in or adjacent to the cloud pattern.

6.3 Wind direction for an area is reported if and

only if a player has any observing units in that area.

7.0 Observation

7.1 The OM will report to each player what eachunit sees during its movement.

7.2 Observation conditions and use of the Searchand ShadowTables are perthe regular game (except

in the command control rules presented below).

8.0 TF Move and Shadow

8.1 TFs move as in the regul ar game. Movemen tnotation on order s should be writt en s ta rt hex,move, and end hex.

8.1.1 Moves should be listed as direction

(N ,NE,SE,S,SW,NW) and the number of the hexesmoved from and to.

8.1.2 EXAMPLE: T F 3: AA25 - NEl,Nl BB 3

8.2 If both TFs are o rdered to shadow, neithermoves.

8.3 A TF with radar can shadow with one subtracted from the die roll. can be ordered to moveinto the shadowed unit s hex if possible.

8.4 A unit shadowing at night has two added to thedie roll (one for a submarine).

8.5 A unit with an observation level of three hasone subtracted from the shadow die roll.

8.6 Cloud modifiers to the Shadowing Table areonly applicable to AFs.

9.0 PlaneMovement

9.1 All plane movement is considered to besimultaneous.

9.2 Plane movement is ordered just like TF movement (8 .1). Planes may also be given a var iety of

orders such as altitude changes, shadowing, divert

to observe, shadow from- one hex away, etc. Theplayer must stil l obey all rules and is again at themercy of the ability of theOM to interpretmeaning.

9.3 Special Interception only occurs when planesare ordered to remain in the hex (for one or moreMP) in which they engaged in combat the previousturn. Such movement is designated by 0 (thiscounts as one·MP used) and results in observationbeing made in the subject hex. The special interceptors must also start their turn in the hex(EXAMPLE: Player A bombarded AA25 in the

previous turn. this turn he moves AA25 - O,N4 AA21. He has used five MP and may be attackedin AA25 if the opposing player retains a CAP forcethere and the player will be told anything that couldhave been observed in AA25 for the turn.)

9.4 Altitude. Ooing from LO to HI anytime during

a turn costs one MP. Alt itude changes must benoted on the order sheet. If players wish they may

use an overscore for HI altitude and underscore forLO.

9.5 Ready CAP. Ready CAP represents planeswhich are on the ground or CV in alert condition.These planes may take-off to intercept only in thehex inwhich they are located. The number of planeswhich may be launched and the altitude which theymay attain is dependent upon the amount of warn

ing available from the incoming strike. Orders forready CAP shouldgivethe OM an ideaof the sizeofattacking formation needed to trigger a reaction. Aplayer might be willing to take his lumps from twoincoming planes but would want to throw up allavailable planes to react to a force of ten.

9.5.1 Ready CAP may consist only of regular interceptors.

9.5.2 Table 9.5 gives launch capacity as a factor ofwarning versus desired launch altitude.

Hexes of Warning Given

1 2 3 4 5+

MIN NOR NOR MAX

MIN NOR

TABLE 9.5

9.5.3 The OM will form the ready CAP aircraftwhich are able to launch in to an AF and resolvecombat as normal interception.

9.5.4 To prevent overuse, ready CAP may only beused during daylight hours.

9.5.5 Players should realize that ready CAP is twofaced. If a small strike triggers interceptors, a largestrike th ree turns la te r may find those same interceptors on the ground readying and unable to

answer the call.

10.0 Surface Combat

10.1 For PBM games, each player should includethe die number (regular rules 19.4) and any other

attack/defense instructions with the TF orders.This inc ludes screens, torpedo attacks, and

breakthrough instructions.

10.2 DDs may bombard, butwith onlya BHT of 4.

11.0 Combat Resolution and Damage

11.1 The OM is in charge of all combat resolution.The repor t to each player will be in the formATT ACKER/DEFENDER/HT /FACTORS/

RESULT. The OM will report the results of

friendly action as if a die roll of 3 or 4 hadoccurred (Le. the expected result) . A player s ownlosses are reported precisely.

11.2 The entry under FACTORS should not beused to inadvertently report losses (EXAMPLE: Inan a ir ra id on a base, AA fire would normally

destroy two planes out of eight attackers. If a 6

is actua lly rolled and four are lost, the OMreports to the base defender that he destroyedplanes and is under attack by six. If the attacstay in the hex to assess damage next turn (9then the actual number of planes overhead wilrepor ted (assuming normal observation cotions).

12.0 Submarines

12.1 Submarines may operate at three lev

surface, periscope, and deep. The deep level

not be used in par tial land hexes.12.2 A submarine may move one hex per turnthe surface, one hex per even hou r a t periscdepth, and may not move if deep.

12.2.1 A submarine is moved based on its deptthe beginning of the movement phase.

12.2.2 A submarine may change to any depthing movement.

12.3 A sub may observe up to condition three oin its own hex if it is on the surface (air unitsbe observed at condition one if one hex awayHI and any sub with radar may observe normaup to condition two in its own hex only i

periscope depth; and only condition one if de

12.4 A sub may send/receive RT at ei

periscope depth or on the surface.

12.5 A sub on the surface is subject to nordetection.

12.5.1 A sub at periscope depth is only observit attacks a ship or is in a hex with a TF containDDs which did not move that turn.,

12.5.2 A deep sub is oij)y observed by a TF witleast four DDs which did not move that turn;the sub is told only that there are ships overh

12.6 If a sub is on the surface and is involve

combat, the attack against the sub is resolved f

12.6.1 If a sub is at periscope depth, the sub s

tack is resolved first.

12.6.2 Deep subs may only receive attacks.

12.6.3 During nightturns, the sub s attack is alwresolved first.

12.6.4 A sub may be ordered to dive upon recing an attack (e.g. from surface to periscope defor an air or surface attack and from ,surfacperiscope to deep for an ASW attack) . Thishappen during the combat phase and will haveeffect on the movement capabili ties for the nmovement phase.

12.6.5 A sub which dives under an air attack cnot make an attack itself that turn.

12.6.6 A sub which dives under a surface or Aatt ack before mak ing its own att ack has theface or ASW attack resolved at i ts new depth.

12.6.7 A sub which dives after making an att

has the surface attack resolved at surface levelthe ASW attack resolved at periscope depth.

12.6.8 A sub which begins and ends its movthe same hex with ASW uni ts has the ASW attresolved at the most favorable depth to the Acombat (surface or periscope) which the sub waduring movement.

12.6.9 Per the above, it would be possible fosub on the surface to dive to periscope debefo re combat, t hus escaping shelling, firetorpedoes at periscope depth, then suffer an Aattack at that depth, and then dive deep. If

ASW units remained overhead dur ing the nturn and the sub elected not to rise, it would osuffer a deep ASW attack that turn.

13.0 Ammunition (Optional)

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TABLE 23A (Islands)

ISLAND CORAL SEA EAST. SOLOM. SANTA CRUZ GUADALCANA

USN IJN USN IJN USN INJ USN INJ

Malaita C C 2C 2C

Russell Islands C

Rendova T T T T

Kolombangara T T T T

Vella Lavella T C T C T

Bougainville 2C 2T 2C 3T 2C 3T 2C 3T

New Britain 2C 4T 2C 4T 2C 4T 2C 4T

New Guinea (N) 2C 2T* 2C 4T 2C 4T 2C 4T

C = Coastwatcher T = Troops = must be west of star

TABLE 23B (Bases)

BASE CORAL SEA EAST. SOLOM. SANTA CRUZ GUADALCANA

USN IJN USN IJN USN INJ USN INJ

Ndenl T R R R

Henderson R R R

Buka T B B B

Lae T R R R

Gasmata B R R

Port Moresby R R R R

T = Troops B = Base R = Radar

13.1 Ships must declare whether their ammo is GP

or AP.

13.1.1 GP ammo is used only against bases and

small ships.

13.1.2 AP ammo is used against all ships.

13.2 If ammo is used against the wrong type of

target, four is subtracted from the BHT.

13.3 Ammo may be spl it up among the total factors available in any amounts desired, but the GM

and players must be careful to note which type has

been used.

14.0 Launch Under Attack (Optional)

14.1 If a base or CV is attacked in a turn in whichit used maximum launch, i t is considered to haveplanes on the ground (CV) for purposes of computing losses during that a ttack. Losses will besubtracted from that AF before its combat is computed. Note that this will be slightly difficult if thelaunched AF is intercepting the attacking format ion. In this case, the GM should pre-figure fornormal losses and then resolve combat normally.

14.2 The same thing will occur if the attacker hasthe attacking planes overhead at the beginning of aturn s movement phase and the other player makesany type of launch.

15.0 Forms

15.1 Several Xerox copy forms fo r use wi th theabove rules a re ava ilable f rom J im Burne tt , 606Timbercrest Dr., Clinton, TN 37716. They includeforms for the players and GMs and have space forthe orders, moves, conditions, and make-ups of

AFs, TFs, and bases. Please enclose 1.00 and aSASE with two st amps when orderi ng. Orderswithout either cannot be processed.

[The following rules compose a section o f in-creasedcomplexity and realism fo r theplayer. They

are especially designed fo r the gamemastered gameand are equally useful when used in FTF or P Mgames. The rules are to a large extent inter relatedso players are encouraged to use all or none. For

play balancers the W rules willgive the Japaneseplayer a slight break.]

20.0 Command Control

20.1 In any game, the player is assumed to be controlling his forces at some command level. LTOP players are base or TF commanders. For increased realism, the operaton of units at lowerlevels is subjec t more to the orders of command

rather than the actions of command. In a simulations of this type, communication is a problem between units if command levels are realistically considered.

20.2 These rules are also applicable to multi-playergames , with the only change being that the GMshould allow direct communication only between

players who occupy the same hex.

21.0 Control Levels

21.1 Each player may only control TFs which con- :tain either BBs or CVs and bases.

21.2 All other units are considered non-controlledand are subject to orders issued by higher commands.

21.3 Orders must be prepared in advance for submarines, non-controlled TFs, and independentships.

21.4 Any changes in the above orders must bemade by RT (22) unless the non-controlled units arein the same hex as a controlled unit.

21.5 AF orders are given upon launch and may be

changed only by RT.

21.6 Orde rs may be as complex and detailed asdesired but are still subject to the interpretation of

the GM.

22.0 Radio Transmission

22.1 All enemy RT is assumed locatable by radiodirection finding.

22.2 RT may only come from player controlloca-tions (21.1).

22.3 RT is assumed to have two forms: coded and

uncoded.

22.3.1 Coded messages may be sent f rom and to

ships, bases, subs, and TFs. These messages aresubject only to the disclosure to the enemy of thesending location. Note that these orders do not ac

tually have to be incode but are merely interpretedby the GM as if they were. As such, content is not

given to the enemy; only the fact that a message(coded) was sent from the particular hex.

22.3.2 Uncoded messages must be used fortransmission to and from AFs. These messages aresubject to both content and sending locationdisclosure to the enemy.

22.4 A player may send a message and not requestan acknowledgement of receipt, in which case thesending hex only (plus thecontent if sent toor by an

AF) is revelaed to the enemy. If such a message is

sent, the GM will roll a die and a result of 6

means that the message is not received. The act of

acknowledging receipt of a message means that themessage was received (we will assume that the send

ing unit will continue transmission until acknowl-

edgement is made) but that also that the receivlocation is also revealed (and the acknowledgcontent is told to the enemy if the receiver is an A

22.5 Reports of combat results from no

controlled units will be withheld from the plauntil they make RT or join a controlled locatiThus the losses to an AF in an attack will not bevealed until that unit lands, unless the player wisto risk RT.

22.6 Orders must state when RT is to be made

non-controlled units. This is importantif playersnot wish to give away TF locations bycalling forf rom AFs in the a ir .

22.7 The originator of RT is assumed to bethe bor TF which is controlling the receiving unit.

22.7.1 An AF receives f rom either i ts launchlanding point only.

22.7.2 Ships and subs receive from the TFor bassumed to be most concerned with their missunless another has been specified bythe player. TGM should use discret ion in allowing playerschange these locations indiscriminately.

22.7.3 Each player should designate a main H

base (usually Espiritu Santo for the USN an Rabfor the IJN). Messages otherwise unassignedassumed to pass through these HQ.

22.7.4 Ready CAP automatically has orders totercept attackers the turn of launch. All fur torders must be sent to these units by RT.

22.7.5 If a shadow plane is to vector an atta

ing AFto its target (not a normal practice), RT m

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


CONTEST NO.

In the spirit of si move VITP the above are the positions before the turn commences. n yplayer worth his salt should be able to project Allieddispatch ofpatrollers and air units. Howeverfo r those now daunted by thisfine puzzle to be found on Page of this issue a listing of theAllied positions following this phase. Look to this when ready to admit defeat.

The answer to this contest must beentered on the official entry form (ora facsimile) found in theinsert of this issue. Ten winning entries will receiveAH merchandisecredit vouchers. To bevalid, anentry must be received prior to the mailing of the next issue and include a rating for this issue as awhole, as well as listing the three best articles. The solution to Contest 112 will appear in Vol. 20No.1 and the winners will be announced in the Infiltrator s Report of Vol. 20, No.2.

You, as the Japanese player, face the final t urn in a vicious si-move 9-turn pbm game of

VICTOR YIN TH PACIFIC. As you survey themapboard youshould be wellcontent; at the conclusion of the last turn, Japanese control stil l existed in the Japanese Islands and Indonesia. And

Japanese ports in theHome Islands, in the Philippines and at Truk still hold out. TheKureMarinesreturn to you after their bri ll iant last stand at Lae. While the 22AF is available at the YokosukaNaval Yard and the 25AF and 26AF are available in the Philippines countered by several Allied airunits that return to the fray on Turn 9-RNZAF 1 AF, 11 AF, MarineAF, 7AF, Naval , 5AFand

RAAF. To put your euphoria in proper perspective however, the Allied player holds control in the

Bay of Bengal, IndianOcean, Coral Sea, USMandate, South PacificOcean, Marshall Islands, Cen

tral Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean with his massive fleets. Only the Hawaiian Islands (due to aclever raid byyour carriers) and the Marianas are uncontrolled. And you still holda + 14 POC leadgoing into this last turn. You need but insure that the Allied player gains no more than 14 points toassure yourselfa draw; of course, you would prefer a win. Contest 112 is straightforward: given thefollowing ship locations at the beginning of the ninth game turn, where would you place theJapanese ships to give the Japanese player the best chance to win?

MissouriChesterVicennesCanberra

EssexBunker HillPrincetonMarylandBaltimoreSan FranciscoQuincySouth Dakota

1Marines4 Marines

In Australia-

In the New Hebrides-Wichita

Hyuga

IseHieiKirishimaAshigaraChokaiHagure

Akagi

ToneKinugasa

Takao

Under Repair at Pearl Harbor-New York

IowaWashingtonCVI0

CV16

CabotBataan2 Marines

CV12IntrepidTiconderogaLangley IINorthampton

Canberra IISalt Lake CityNew JerseyMassachusetts

At Saipan-

At Lae-

BostonWest VirginiaCalifornia

MinneapolisSan Jacinto5 Marines

In the Philippines-

ShokakuNachiSuzuyaChikuma

At Midway-

Allied Positions:

Japanese Positions:

At the Yokosuka Naval Yard

HiryuFusoRyuhoChitoseMusashiYamatoMutsu

Nagato

tt

it

23.0 Coastwatchers and Troops

23.1 In the game, coastwatchers and t roops areentirely too powerful in their capacity to observe.These observers are everywhere at once on whatare often very large islands. The following rulesare designed to restore them to their properperspective.

23.2 The Allied and J apane se players haveobservers on the listed islands and bases per TablesA and B These tables list the troop and CW concentrations for each historical scenario. Note that

these are major changes from the map listings. In

most of the central islands, CWs were not assignedand did not appear unt il ear ly 1943. They may beplaced there if designing your own post 42scenarios.

23.3 Blank counters of d if fe rent co lors may beused to represent CWs and troops.

23.3.1 The counters represent an individual CW

organization or troop concentration.

23.3.2 At the beginning of a scenario each countermay be placed on any hex on its particular islandexcept that CW s may not be placed on enemybases and New Guinea island halves must berespected.

23.3.3 Each count er may move one hex on each

subsequent 0100 turn of the scenario.

23.3.4 The GM will roll two dice for each hexwhich contains counters of both sides during the1200 turn. A result of 2 will eliminate the CW

and 3 will eliminate the troops. If both sideshave troops, a result of 2 will eliminate theAllies, 3 will eliminate both and 4 willdes troy the Japanese. The players will learn of

elimination only upon regular RT checks.

22.3.5 Elimina ted CWs cannot be replaced.Eliminated troops are re-created only on islandswith bases. These replacements are placed on thebase on the 2400 turn and may be moved on thenext 0100 turn.

23.3.6 CWs and troops cannot be moved from

their starting islands.

*

be established for every turn (including the first) for

both units and the TF until the target is reached.This definitely warns the enemy that an attack is on

the way and meets the warning requirements of9.5.

22.8 Optional. Since larger aircraft carried

radiomen, all four engine planes may use code also.Escorted bombing missions may sti ll not use codesince the escorts would still have to have RT.

22.9 EXAMPLES:

22.9.1 l ~ y r A wishes for an unattached DD to

join TF3. TF3 would send a message to the DD keying the GM to alter the pre-written orders for theDD. Assuming theDD acknowledges, the enemy is

told the locations of both the DD and TF.

22.9.2 Player A wishes to notify his AF4 that the

CV landing point has been changed. Acknowledgement is not requested. The enemy player is

given the message and sending hex but not thereceiving hex. If the GM rol ls a 6 AF4 continues to the previously arranged landing hex and

finds no CV. Obviously the player could give locations keyed off of previous locat ions, such as new hex SW2 or other misguidance he thinksthe GM will understand.

22.9.3 A submarine sights a TF and the playerwishes to redirect an AF to shadow. The sub, baseor CV, and plane locations are given as well as thecontents of the message to the plane.

22.9.4 A shadow plane informing his base or CVof a TF location would have his own message and

location revealed.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


PLAYING BISMARCK WITH DUDSVariant Rules for Realistic Naval Fire

By Mark L. Shannon

DUD HIT TABLE

NOTE: Rule 73.41 is thegeneral statement of the damage done

shell that strikes thetarget . Rule 73.4 is the specific statement o

damage done by a she ll that does not explode at all.In mathematical terms, i f DT is used to stand for the da

listed in the game t ab le for a speci fi c h it , FDL is the Fractio

Detonation Lost (as defined above) a nd ToO is used for the

damage resulting; then DT - (0.75 X FDL)DT = ToO.

Thus for a ful ly detonated shell, FDL = 0.00 and ToO =In the case of a fully dud shell, FDL = 1.00; ToO = DT - 0.7

= 0.25DT (or the amount of damage stated for this type of

rule 73.4).

However, a partially detonated shell (or partial dud, depen

on your outlook) will have a FDL value between 0.00 and 1.00

procedure outl ined in 73.41 will result in damage between the l

of DT and .025DT.

Obviously the place where this would make the difference

shell hits the turret. the shell does not penetrate the turret ar

the maximum damage would be one box. The table below give

results for a shell penetrating the armor on one of the Rodney

rets 5 boxes) in terms of FDL, fraction of DTand the actual b

marked out: Number o f BoxesFDL To D Fraction of DT) R ou nd ed t o n ea rest q ua rt e

0.00 I.00DT 5.00 = 5 boxes

0.10 .93DT 4.65 = 43;4

0.20 .85DT 4.25 = 4

0.30 .78DT 3.90 = 4 boxes

0.40 .70DT 3.50 = 3 0.50 .63DT 3.15 =0.60 .55DT 2.75 = 23;4

0.70 .48DT 2.40 = 0.80 .40DT 2.00 = 2 boxes

0.90 .33DT 1.65 = 13;4

1.00 .25DT 1.25 = 1

73.2 Mult ip ly thi s fac to r by the number of

shells f ired 73.0 above). Do not round

number to an integer. A fraction of a dud hitbe used as a partially detonating shell, the fract

being called th e Fraction of Detonation L

(FDL).

73.3 Dud hits ar e not additional hits to thfound by rule 62.0; rather, they are a penal ty stracted from the success of the attack. ExamThe Hood fires on the Bismarck and scores thhits. Following the p roc edur e out li ned abresults in the figure 1.20. This means, quite simthat of t he t hree hits scored, one was a dud,

detonated partially, and one detonated normal

73.4 Damage from a Dud Damage is resolvedusual on the Advanced Damage Table, rollingdud shell hits first. A dud shell will do one-qua

as much damage as is stated in the table (see 7

for exceptions).73.41 Partially detonated shel ls are determisecondly. For a partially detonated shellmultiply the FDL value (73.2) by 0.75. A parti

detonated shel l does this amount of damagethan that which is shown in t he ta ble for that

( rounded to the nearest quarter box). Th islikewise subject to the exceptions below (73.42

Dice Roll Extreme and Medium, Short, and

Long Ranges Point Blank Ranges

0 .10

5 0 .30

7 .10 .50

9 .50 .70

11 .90 .90

73.0 Dud Shells (Optional)

To f ind the number of dud shells fired per fire

resolution, figure the ammunition expenditure forthe combat resolution 65.0 and multiply thisnumber by 0.20 for the British and 0.30 for t he

German ships firing. For American ships, multiplyby 0 .20 only when firing at long ranges; for all

other ranges, assume no duds. For French ships,the value is identical to that of the controlling side.

Round this result to the nearest whole integer.

This is the total number of possible duds fired. Thenumber of total hits is then found in the usual

manner 62.0 .

73.1 The dice are now rolled and reference is madeto the Dud Hit Table. This gives the factor used in

finding the number of duds actually fired.

though one travelled through the Bismarck sbows-damaging the fuel t anks and contributingto later events which would eventually bring on herdemise. is easy for the imaginative to speculate

on the course of the next few days if anyone of thehits discussed here had been otherwise.

Unfortunately, other battles have not had suchs ta tist ics as completely recorded, and so thepercentages of dud shells on either side can only beestimated. is known from the Battle of the River

Plata, as well as from other encounters betweenthe two navies, that the Kriegsmarine had someserious problems with their armor piercing shells,and tha t the Royal Navy ammunit ion supply wasof uneven quality.

As to the other two navies represented in thegame, little can be said with certainty. The

American shel l supply was fairly high in quali ty ,

but had problems with shells breaking up at oblique angles of impact. The French supply presents aproblem; historically, as a defeated nation s navy,French ships were not called upon much and littledata is available. However, for game purposes, itcan be assumed that the French shells would havecome from the con trol ling nation s stores, and

would share that nation s qualitative weaknesses.We must therefore estimate the proportions of

bad shells for each navy. Aside from this assumpt ion (or presumption), the problem of dud shellscan be inserted eas ily into the rules of Advanced

BISMARCK and will at the same time give us aforum for representing diving shells also.

... .

In the rules for BISMARCK one aspec t hasalways disappointed me within the otherwise excellent and comprehensive simulation. Even in thehighly detailed advanced game, no provision at allhas been made for the simple fact that not everyshell was perfect. The use of dud shells and div

ing shells would go far toward simulating one of

the quirks of naval tactics tha t o ften decide theoutcome of an engagement on the high seas.

Besides the realism evoked, you could now say that

you would have won the battle and sunk youropponent-if the shell had only gone of f (which is

not a bad excuse).While the concept of shells tha t do not explode

(or which do so imperfectly) is not new to anyoneconversant with naval warfare , the term diving

shells may require a l it tle c lari fica tion. A shel ls tr iking the water will do one of several things.Some break up without exploding; others glanceof f the surface of the sea in another direction;many simply sink or explode. However, a few willcontinue in roughly the original line of fire underwater, usually striking the target below the

waterline, quite often below the belt of side armor.

This type of hit would, of course, lack some of itspotential power; but, by striking below the armor

belt and deck armor, i t will usual ly penetra te thehull, causing severe flooding. In many cases, thefuse of an armor piercing shell would activate byst riking the wa te r; the de lay fac to r in these fuseswould then detonate the shell after about 30 feet ofsubsequent travel through the water. Often,

concussion alone brought on f looding as seamsopened below the water l ine.

The British Admiral ty undertook severalstudies of the effects of such hits, and added

special protection against them to their post-WWI

designs. Such hits were not common, but many instances are recorded-perhaps because they wereso notab le . In the Ba tt le of the Dogger Bank, thebattlecruiser Lion received five such hits; thebattleship Malaya received two at Jutland. I n t hescope of t he game involved here, t he Prince of

Wales received one diving shell hit that allowed600 tons of water to flood the middle deck aft, and

herself scored one on the Bismarck that floodedthis ship s 2 boiler ro om and slowed her temporarily by about five knots.

Dud hits can have a marked influence on abat tl e too . For example, in the Battle of the

Denmark Straits , the Hood was s truck by e ithe rthree or five shells. Two of these were common

shells that exploded on contact and caused the

fires seen on the boat deck. Of the other threepossible hits, no more than one detonated fully. Asan aside , this one apparently hit on the side, nearthe mainmast, and set of f the torpedo store or 4

AA magazine-which in turn set of f t he mainmagazine aft-which broke the ship s back.

On the other hand, the Prince of Wales was hitby a total of seven shells of both 8 and 15calibre. Not one of these hits detonated fully One

shell passed through the bridge s tructure (whichwas lightly armored), killing or wounding all of thepersonnel there except the captain and thehelmsman, w it hout exploding. One 8 shellapparently bounced of f the after superstructure

and was thrown overboard without casualties.The Prince of Wales herself scored three hits

on Bismarck, one of the diving shell variety

mentioned above. The other two did not explode,

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


Notice that a dud she ll does l it tle more to the tur re t than a shellwhich does not penetra te . I hope that this brief explanation helpscl ar if y t he logic behind the calculations for the non

mathematicians.

73.42 The Main Gun Damage Table, MFC DirectorTable, P lot( ting) Table, and the Conning Tower

Table are used as shown for all hits on these (evena dud s kinetic energy cou ld cause th e resultsshown).

73.5 If a du d o r partially detonated shell scores ahi t that is resolved on Special Damage A table, this

will be scored as a diving shell hit in the following manner:

73.51 Where the results of this table are different

for the various types of ships (die roll of 1, 2 or 3):

A. Use the small er amount of damage in allcases.

B. If th e ta rg et ship is American, German,

King George Vo r Prince o f Wales, roll onedie,

a. If the die rol l is odd, the she ll is a dud and

all damage is one-quarter of that determined

by 73.51A ( this includes partially detonated

shells also).

b. If the r es ul t is eve n, the shell explodesbelow the surface of th e wa te r and the

damage is resolved as per 73.51A.73.52 Where the results of this table are t he same

for a ll ships , a die is rol led as in 73.51B above. The

damage results are used as in 73.51Ba and

73.51Bb.

73.6 EXAMPLE Using the example of play givenin the rules folde r, nothing would change in the

first round of f ire, s ince neither the Prince of

Wales no r the Hood have any chance of scoring

any hits.In the second segment , conside ra ti ons of the

potential for dud hits are calculated (73.0).

MG AMMO OF DUD

SHIP FACTORS SHELLS

Hood 6 X 0.20 1.20 1

PoW 8 X 0.20 3.60 = 4

Bismarck 12 X 0.30 3.60 = 4 r Eugen 12 X 0.30 3.60 = 4

The fire from the Hood need no t be considered

further since other factors resul t in an automatic

miss. For the Prince of Wales, one hit is scored

aga inst t he Bismarck on a turret. This is now

resolved on the Dud H it Table and a 7 results(0.10). When this is multiplied against the 4 dud

shells fired, the resul t is 0.40. This value is then

multiplied by 0.75 (.4 X .75 = .30), so th e shelldoes this amount of damage less than shown.

Thus, in the example, three-quarters (since the

resul t is rounded to the nearest quarter)of a box ismarked out of the Bismarck s Main Gun A.

Fo r fire from the Bismarck, one hit is obtained

on the Hood On the Dud H it Table, an 8 isrol led (0.30) giv ing a resul t of 4 X 0.30 = 1.20.

Since the result on the Advanced Hi t Table wasone hit, the fraction is dropped and that hi t was adud. When damage is rolled for , the result is foundto be Special Damage Table A . Thus the hit wasa d iv ing shell and, when a 1 is rol led on the

table, instead of the Hood s demise, the hit causesthe Hood to suffer the loss of three hull boxes, oneturret (determined at random) and slows her by 2m.f. Notice that this is t he type of damage that

could be caused by a near miss which weakened the

hull and caused severe flooding below the armor

belt.Now the Prinz Eugen can fire. Such fire would

be resolved in a manner similar to that of the

Bismarck, keeping in mind that four dud shellswere in the salvo just fired.

These rules do add to the complexity of an

already detailed game. But, I feel that, for t he t rue

naval gamer, the dud rules add realism and varietyto a classic confrontation. In these days where one

missile can sink one ship, it might b e well to

remember that t he weapons of war are as imperfect as t he men who wage it.

References

Kennedy, Ludovic, Pursuit, The Sinking o f theBismarck; Wm Collins, 1974.

Raven, Alan, ENSIGN 1: King George the FifthClass Battleships; Bivouac Books Lyd., 1972.

Raven, Alan and John Roberts, British Battleshipso f World War Two, Naval Insti tute Press, 1976.

Silverstone, Paul, U.S. Warships ofWorld War II,Ian Allen Ltd., 1965.

Smi th , Pet er , British Battle Cruisers, Almark

Publishing Co. Ltd., 1972. *....................AU Philosophy Cont dfrom Page 2

Kask. The DIPLOMACY honors will once again be

handled by the DIPCON society as part of DIPCON

XVI, which isagain taking the role of a Convention

within a Convention seriously.

Perhaps the biggest news on the ORIGINS tourn am en t scene t hi s year wi ll be our new entries.Bruce Shelley will host a single eliminationevent for

ROBIN HOOD the first of the Avalon Hillminigames released at the 1982 ORIGINS. But thereal excitement may be gene rat ed b y o ur B- 17QUEEN OF THESKIES tournament. This game will

be released in Detroit when the trade show opens

for business Friday morning. By Friday evening we

expect to see it be ing p la ye d all o ve r Cob o Ha ll,with cries of a ng uish and d elig ht f il ling the air as

Messerschmidts and Fortresses disintegrate andp arac hu te s fil l the s kies o ve r Detro it. Bas ic ally , aquick-play solitaire game, B 17 is n on ethe le ss a

superb effort which must be experienced to be appreciated. You might well won de r why anyone

would want to e nter a tou rn amen t in a bran d new

game, but B 17 is quickly learned and t he AH

gamemasters will have you flying in notime. If youcare not to play, come to watch t he f un. Y ou l l be

soon playing.We feel e ve n more s tron gly a bo ut a no th er of

our ORIGINS 83 releases: UP FRONT. This cardgame replica of the famou s SQUAD LEADER is

a mo ng the most innovative game systems of re-

cent years and captures a great deal of the flavor of

AH s best-selling WW2 t ac ti ca l c om ba t g ame

while b urde ning the p la ye r with a fra ction of itscomplexity. If you liked SQUAD LEADER before it

evolved, or if you like challenging card play, you will

be thrilled with UP FRONT. Developer Don Green

wood swears he has never seen a game so blessedwith gamesmanship, nor so beset with critical decisions for the players. This is especially noteworthy

as the game is intrinsically simple and easy to learn

with an average playing time for most scenarios of

an h ou r. But most important, it is extremely com

petitive; that makes it a natural for atournament offerin g. So, a fter you ve bought it on F rida y, andplayed it on Saturda y, y ou c an win your airfare to

ORIGINS 84 Dallas, Texas) with it on Sunday. We

think UP FRONT wil l be as big a h it with the gamingworld as SQUAD LEADER was eight years ago.

This tournament will show you why.For t hose who prefer a cold, calculating

mac hine as an o pp on en t to a warm, error-pronehuman being, Avalon Hill offerstw o computer tournaments. For those who delve into the fringes of

fantasy, TELENGARD; for those who p re fe r theterror of tanks, TAC. Ind eed , a c ornu co pia of

new computer games will be unveiled at ORIGINS.

To mention but a few - BREAK-THRU 3D racquetball), PARIS IN DANGER Napoleon s 1814 campaign), UNDERSOUTHERN SKIES thehunt for the

Graf Spee), of course TAC ( Tactical Armored

Combat , tank to grimy tank), and tw o new fatasy releases, FORTRESS OF THE WITCH KIN

and PANTHEON KINGS. Chris Crawford, designof LEGIONNAIREand TANKTICS will be aroundfield questions and present the endless panoram

computer gaming offers.For tho se not competitively-inclined, Ava

Hill s staff will be h os ti ng an a ss or tm en tseminars. Tom Shaw will have them rolling in t

aisles with an Ava lo n Hil l T rivia s emin ar, in c omemoration of the 25th anniversary of the foun

ing of A va lo n Hill and t he b ir th of modern boa

wargaming. It s a must for all who fancy theyknsomething about the history of our hobby. And h

be bestowing free copies of the newly-publish

commemorative version of TACTICS the origi

wargame) to those who know all sorts of worthlestuff about good 1 Ava lo n Hill . In a more se rio

vein, Richard Snyder will discuss his POWERS

PERILS- AH s lon g-awaite d initial release in t

realm of fantasy role-playing systems. Don Grewood will once again host a question-and-answ

session on t he f ut ur e of the SQUAD LEAD

series. I will repeat last year s GENER

subscribers meeting so I can wax rhetorical on

coming features and seek imput on the magazin

progress.And , Ava lo n Hill has its us ua l c omplemen t

exciting new titles which will be released

ORIGINS. Besides B-17 UPFRONT and POWE PERILS AH wil l release s ev eral o th er fin e n

games. PANZERKRIEG simulates the exploits

von Manstein inthe Ukraine, 1941 -1944, in a serof fas t-play in g a nd c ha llen ging s ce na rios . S

another card game, VENTURE is a re-issue of

elder 3M t it le. Those looking for traditio

wargames, need not look far. Richard Hamblelong-awaited BULL RUN is a fine simulation of

first clash of the Civil War in the elegant style of

early classics . TACTICS is the re-release of

first commercial board wargame, in its original aunpublished version; included with e ac h c op y

this game is the Avalon Hill 25th AnniversBooklet- sure to be a c ollec to r s ite m. And for

sports fans, PRO TENNIS.

Of course, available at Avalon Hill s boothin

Dealers Area will be all t he o th er 1983 releasTh ere y ou l l f in d the fan ta sy of acclaimed gamlike WIZARDS and MYSTIC WOOD. T he lat

t it le s in Ava lo n Hil l s g amette s, HUNDRED DA

BA TTLES and BATTLE FOR ITALY wil l be av

able. The new Sports Illustrated Game, PENNA

RACE and our fine family game, DILEMMA

There one can delve i nto the complexitiesNAPOLEONA T BAY o r the e njoy me nt of NA V

WAR. For the traditional minded, AH will have pl

t i fu l s to ck s of the recent redevelopments of

ever-popular FREDERICK THE GREAT and CO

QUISTADOR. And our many, many otherfine tit

will be available until stocks are depleted. With

this, Ava lo n Hil l s b oo th wil l s urely be one of

first stopping places for many conventioneers.ORIGINS 83. We ll be loo king for y ou the re

*ULGE PBM KIT

A Play-By-Mai l k it for the new '81 versionBA TTLE OF THE BULGE including comple

instructions is now available for 8.00 plus

postage and handling charges 20<tfo to Canad

3 <tfo overseas). When ordering be sure to spec

whether you want a PBM kit for t he new '81 edtion of the game or the old '65 edit ion. Each

contains sheet s f or both German and Alli

players. PBM kits are available only f rom T

Avalon Hill Game Co., 4517 Harford R

Baltimore, MD 21214. MD residents please ad

5<tfo state sales tax.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


Badgered by my lovely wife to share some timewith my young son, I turned to my firstlove-wargaming-for inspiration. Shopping for

something sui table, I purchased a copy of AvalonHill's newest Bookshelf Gamette for my boy;

NA VAL WAR was obviously too simple for aveteran gamer like I, being an expert , prefercomplexgames that take forever to play (if finished

at all). Then, slightly ashamed to acknowledge thislapse, I avoided opening the box until my son s im

patience broke down my defenses. In a dark corner,on a dark day in Helena, feel ing unspeakablyfoolish, I condescended to play one hand. Was Isurprised at how much FUN it was Now, I p layNA VAL WAR whenever I face the necessity of tak

ing a break from the pressures of playing THIRD

REICH WAR PEACE and the hydra-headed

SQUAD LEADER

NA VAL WAR is a truly unique wargame . t

is a card game, using abs tract naval gunnery and

armor characteristics, with no board o r countersdepicting a clash bythe great shipsof World War II.The components are simple and elegant. These consist of two different decks of cards: 54 ship cardsand 8 playing cards. Each ship card representsone major combat vessel (usually a battleship, but afew carriers spice the deck) from the period of theSecond World War. Many of the well-known shipsare included, a lthough by no means are all seen. ee the accompanying page fo r more ships of theclasses seen in NA VAL WAR.] Carrier representat ion, for example , is very sparse. Each ship card

bears the appropriate silhouette, gun-caliber, and

h it number (defense st reng th). When, in the

course of play, a ship takes the required number ofaccumulated hits, it is sunk.

The playing card deck contains Regular and

Special cards. Themost numerous of the regular

cards (printed in black) are the Salvo -surface

gunnery-cards. Salvo cards indicate the caliber ofgun that must be present in one s fleet to utilize that

card and a h it strength (ranging from 1 through4). There are also Repair cards, used to remove

hits on ships of the player. Smoke cards protectone s fleet from most types of attack for one game

turn. The Destroyer Squadron is a deadly killerforce. The Minesweeper eliminates those peskyminefields that plague players. Each card bears an

eye-catching illustration that graphically keys oneto its function(the Repaircard, for example, carriesa large band-aid).

The special cards (printedin red) are the real keyto victory, their play always crucial. Minefields

claim victims (scoring two hits on each ship that

blunders in); Torpedo Boats claim others (a dieroll of 6 sinks anyone ship); Submarines , still

more (a die roll of 5 or 6 sinks anyone ship).The Additional Ship cards bring in more vessels

- to the free- for -al l. Additional Damage cardspresume secondary explosions with additional hitswracking the crippled enemy ship. This all becomesvery important when one realizes that one is

eliminated from play when all one s ships are sunk.The object is to s ink the enemy's ships fas ter

than he can sink yours (always a sound strategy foradmirals) . Each player (from two to nine) beginsplay with five ship cards and five playing cards, alldealt randomly. He may never have more than fiveplaying cards (excluding the one drawn each turn)

but may accumulate more than five ships by drawing the Additional Ship cards and bringing oneinto the act ion from the Harbor Pile . As a play

ing card is taken from the mutual Draw Pile, it or

onein theplayer'shand must be playedor discarded.Regular cards may be retained in the player's hand,

but special cards must be played on the turn drawn

or discarded. A hand ends when only one playermains with ships a floa t or the Draw Pile is ehausted . A game ends following t he h and

which one player reaches 100 points (defense fators of sunken enemy ships in addit ion to certabonuses for survival or penalties for elimination

Any game using drawn cards has an immen

luck factor. [As though dice ridden gamdon t?] But, happily for us wargamers, there is smuch room for s trategy in NAVAL WAR T

strategic hints which follow are especially usefulplaying with two or three players, but serve as

guide to any of the versions.For all p layers, the u lt imate fear is that t

enemy will unleash one of the mad-dog Destroy

Squadrons. These pose a threat to everyone at ttable. t never hurts to lob a salvo their way if yhave reason to believe that a subsequent player wfinish them off. If, however, you have doubts abo

this, or simply wish to put the screws to the othe

lay smoke to protect the fleet. Thus, your ships aimmune to the Destroyer card, and it is the oth

players' problem now. Theymust deal with the litdevils. For this reason, among others, you shoucontrive to always hold a smoke card in reserve.advised, though, you will have few friends leftyou make a habit of avoiding DDs with smoke.course, if you have a Salvo 4 card (suitable onfor 16 or 18 guns) and feel obl iged to s ink tpesky little ships, you can be a momentary heamong the players.

Because a player can only use a Salvo card if

has the appropriate caliber of guns, always seekdestroy-as the primary target-the sole represe

tativebearing a particular calibre. This is valid, toif the enemy has two ships of one type but mo

than any other category. Go for those two The fi

of these should be the eas iest to s ink. Needless

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


ORDER OF BATTLE CHART

r± t iilh r

Main Guns

Tons inches)

ermany

5

7

6

5

7

5

6

5

9

5

5

5

8

3

3

5

Game

Defense

33

21

28

21

23

21

22

30

27

27

21

24

30

33

28

28

27

31

25

25

30

30

31

29

26

Speed

(knots)

z:tiiI IM _II

9X16

8X16

9X16

9X16

9X16

8X15

8X15

6X15

9X15

8X16

8X14

9X18

8X14

8X15

9Xl1

6Xll

12X14

12X14

10X14

10X14

10X14

12X14

90 planes

10XI2.6

10XI2.6

Italy

46000

32000

46000

33000

32000

37000

27000

38000

29000

34000

32000

38000

31000

Japan

24000

41000

24000

36500

38000

65000

36000

32000

32000

32000

42000

12000

reat ritain

United States

1944

1916

1921

1943

1941

1914

1923

1916

1927

1940

1941

1917

1916

1940

1916

1915

1941

1920

1927

1917

1915

1914

1940

1938

1934

Year

Completed

REPULSE

RAMILLIES

DUKE OF YORK

TEXAS

PENNSYLVANIA

CALIFORNIA

WEST VIRGINIA

NELSON

IOWA

VALIANT

MISSOURI

WASHINGTON

KING GEORGE V

LITTORIO

ANDREA DORIA

YAMATO

ISE

CONTE DI CAVOUR

NAGATO

AKAGI

HIEI

BISMARCK

KIRISHIMA

GNEISENAU

SCHEER

Ship

~say, attacking the player with the highest score adds

flavor to this. As a general point of strategy, i t is no t

usually a good idea to spread hits around against

many ships a nd many players; it is much mor e

preferable to concentrate on one enemy at a time (i f

the Fates of War allow), going af ter one or two of

his ships, sinking them before targeting others.

Don't attack those big ships heedlessly unless

more sinkable targets ar e unavailable. is much

bet te r t o pick of f the small ones and hope f or a

special card that allows a chance to t ake down the

monsters. If a Submarine or Torpedo Boat card is

drawn, play it against the enemy's finest unless thatship is already a floating wreck from multiple salvo

hits and barely afloat. On the other hand, when you

don't wish t o make it easier for the competit ion in a

free-for-all game to sink a ship and are unable t odo

so on your t urn, l ob a one or two point salvo at the

l arge st s hip in play with a hit number of 7 or

more. That way, no single salvo cantake it out, an d

it is softened up for a later kill. Finally, discarding

on your turn is preferable to giving someone else a

cheap score.

Save r ep ai r c ar ds f or t he big or more crucial

hits; don't waste them on small dents unless it

becomes vital to keep a particular ship afloat. A

repair card allows removal o f anyone salvo card

and any add it iona l damage cards played thereon.

Remember that a player will lose ships; it is in-

evitable. Butthe key is to keep a fleet in being and tosink the enemy. So it is often necessary to accept

those losses of fine ships.

The strategy necessary to counteract the

Repair CardStrategy is th e proper sequencing of

hi t cards on a target. Try to use only the number re-

quired for sinking a ship a nd do no t waste any hi t

points . More impor tantly , sequence them so that

the smaller one(s) ar e played first. If your opponent

happens to playa repair card, i t will no t hurt your

chances much. Save the big guns and big salvos for

last, when your opponent cando nothing to save his

ship from immediate destruction.

If your opponent wisely follows th e same tips

and goes a ft er your only ship of a particular gun

size, playas many salvo cards of that caliber as fast

as possible, starting with the largest. Don't get

stuck with four or five points of salvo cards fo r aship just sunk. Now, if you no longer have a ship of

a particular caliber, don't automat ically s tar t

discarding all of the salvo cards of that type. Ifit is a

caliber of which t he re a re qui te a few ships in the

Harbor Pile (usually 14 and 15 ones), consider re-

taining the better cards of that type. A ship may

come your way f rom the harbor, it is a distinct ad

vantage to have it able to o pe n fire immediately

upon entering play.

Aircraft carriers, though numerically few,

deserve special mention. If you have one or more,

you may for fe it a draw to conduct an airstrike .

A must be rolled to sink any enemy ship that

has been designated by you as the target-slim odds

at best. But, if youhold two or three carriers in your

force, launch a series of strikes against the enemy's

bes t ship . It is a quick way to score. Carriers mayno t be attacked by salvo fire unless all other surface

vessels in the fleet have been sunk. While the car

riers ar e well screened, don't worry about them.

Their l ow v al ue d oes n ot m ak e them worthwhile

t arge ts for subs or torpedo boats , or airstrikes.

When t he screening forces are seriously reduced,

use t hem before you lose them. You must decide

between drawing a card, hoping for something that

will save th e fleet, or cal ling for desperation

airstrikes. In this si tuation, there is really no good

choice, and very little hope

In essence, to play N V W R well, you

must think a number of moves ahead, balancing the

cards to be played or discarded against chance and

luck-both good and bad . Con sid er th e conse

quences of every play, including the discards you

will be forced to make. Of course, any strategy can

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


34

5

5

3

6

6

3

2

2

28

34

28

s

9x 16

9 x 16

2 x 14

12 x 14

80 planes

32600

38000

38000

20000

United States

COLORADO

United States

Aircraft Carrier

AIR STRIKE

Ro ll a 1 Sink a ship

1940

1941

1919

1942

3

s

INDIANA

16 Guns

5 5

Year Main Guns Speed Game

Shi Completed Tons (inches) (knots) Defense

OKLAHOMA 1914 29000 lOx 14 20 5

HORNET

TENNESSEE

ALABAMA

HORNET

, , • 1 , , , ,1 _ .. ,

At the outbreak of the Second World War in Europe, t he U.S . Navy ranked equally with the

Royal Navy in overall strength. By the t ime the United States was drawn into the war in December

1941, there had been enacted the Two-Ocean Navy bill which authorized the construction of over

one and a half million tons of major warships. Once construction programs were completed and the

war won, this had raised t he U.S . Navy to a pre-eminent position among the navies of the world.

In 1941 the main strength of the U.S. fleet lay in its battle line, composed of fifteen old and two

modern battleships. The old battleships were uniformly well armed and protected, could maintain

2 knots, and were a tactically homogenous fighting unit. The United States government never com

promised armament nor protection for speed. The fast speed was only attained by greater size aided

by technical advances and superior streamlining. Except for t he California and Colorado

classes, all the elder battleships were modernized during the war. The new battleships were equal toany of their enemy contemporaries, a l it tl e s lower bu t better protected and wit h a he avy main

armament.

Occupying a unique position in December 1941 was the still untried carrier fleet. United States

admirals counted heavily on these vessels fulfilling a promise shown in peace-time games, and had

evolved t he car ri er t ask force concept as det ached f rom the main fleet. Thei r fai th was amply

justified by the ensuing conflict; as early as 1942, the carrier had replaced the battleship as the capital

unit of the f leet in the Pacific. The Navy ent ered t he war with eight car riers (discounting the

Langley : two large conversions from battleship hulls, the smaller Ranger three Yorktown class

carriers, the diminutive Wasp and the mercantile conversion Long Island. With the exceptionof the

latter, all were considered ful l f leet carriers, meant for offensive operations and capable of fast

steaming.

Fo r those players who so des ire, here a re the other ships of t he U.S . Navy, r eady for use with

N V WAR. Merely substitute the name above the appropriate ship class silhouette on additional

ship cards, as follows: New York for Texas; Oklahoma for Nevada; Arizona for Pennsylvania;Idaho and New Mexico for Mississippi; Tennessee for California; Colorado for Maryland; IndianaMassachusetts and Alabama for South Dakota; Wisconsin for Missouri; and finally, Hornet and

Yorktown for Enterprise. So, if your favorite state wasn t in the Ship Deck before, mate, perhaps

you can add it now.

THE REST OF THE FLEET

. , , , ~ . - -. ' , - , . , . ,

: \ \ . . \ • . \ \ \ \ . \ , ... < 1 .. .. r I .

l \ : \, , , , , \ . , , , :, . , _

, : : , , \ .

be ruined by the bet te r one of an opponent or the

luck of -the draw . Special c ard s a re usually

desirable. Sometimes, however, t he draw of such

ruins your carefully sequenced plan of smashing

play since you must play (or discard i f not usuable)

all special cards immediately and cannot play that

card from your hand with which you were going to

win the game

N V WAR is, of course, a highly abstracted

wargame and may not appeal to the hard-core

naval enthusiast who is expert a t t he technical trivia

and specifications of every ship that saw action dur

ing the war. But, for an o ld paratroop infantrymanwho knows little of the salt water, this game will do

just fine. In thi s, i t succeeds and, moreover, it is

really fun . Now, if I can just get i t away f rom my

kid 1;{

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


SOVIET SU M RINEScenarios for the Forgotten Counters

By Michael Lee Merritt

The Soviet submariner has few scenarios to en

joy in SUBMARINE So few, indeed, that I ve yet

to find one. With four articles of scenarios in The

GENERAL it seems odd to this old salt that

Mother Russia has been so often overlooked. But,perhaps it is with good reason; there is little known

in the West about the Russian submarine arm and

its actions during the Second World War areshrouded in mystery and confusion.

The First World War left two classes of submarine to the Red government. The Barsclass boats

would soon number five, and would sitout thecom

ing war serving as battery-chargers. The Amerikanski Golland class was an American-built Hollandtype that would see five boats serving in the war

also-although only two would survive. These simple boats, along with the British L55 would be thestarting point for the Soviet submarine fleet in the

Second World War. On 4 June 1919, the L55 had

been s unk in th e Gulf of Finland by a Bolshevikdestroyer. Salvaged by the Soviets in 1928, she was

recommiss ioned by them in 1931. The boat wasemployed in various experiments and served as abattery-charger during the war.

In 1925, at the direction of the Kremlin, plan

ning began for a new fleet. Fearsof the Japanese ledto projections for a large and deadly submarine arm.

All the boats were to be of Soviet design, based on

previously-buil t submarines by various Westernmanufacturers. The f irst such was inspired by theBars class boats. The Soviet answer, the Dekabrist

class, was given more torpedo tubes and made morestreamlined and maneuverable underwater. The

first boats of the class were launched in 1927. Sixwere built, bu t one was lost during naval exercisesina pre-war accident. The remaining five served inthe Baltic; four were sunk within months of the invasion.

The comparison of the recently raised L55 and

the Dekabrist boats led to the construction of theLeninets class. These boats had six torpedo tubes,

partial doublehulls, and twin minelaying tubes withstorage for 4 mines. Eventually, 24of these were tobe commissioned. Stationed in the Far East, Baltic

and Black Seas, only six were lost during the war.Meanwhile, the Red Navy had decided that,

with the extensive coastline of Soviet Russia and theexpense in building ocean-going submar in es,

coastal defense boats should be given priority. Twoclasses were laid down. The smallest was those of

the Malyutka class. This class was mass produced infour to seven prefabricated sections which were

then transported by rail to Leningrad, Vladivostok

or Nikolayev for assembly and fitting out. These

boats were used extensively in the Black and BalticSeas, and were quite effective. (Of 99 built, 34were

lost to hostile action.The second class of coastal defense boat was the

Shchuka class. The 84 boats of this class functionedquite well and were popular among the Soviet submariners. Two of the largest kills by the Soviets

are credited to boats of this class- 144 by Shch307 and the tanker Peles by Shch 211. Some 32boats of this c lass were sunk by th enemy.

Turning back to developments in the deep-water

submarines, the Soviet program continued with the

Pravda class. Three boats were built, but they werestructurally weak and had inefficient machinery;further commissionings were suspended. All three

completed boats were lost by mid-1942. Produc

tion turned to the Katyusha class; thi rt een werecommissioned from 1940 to 1942. These were well

designed and sturdy craft, and quite successful.Employed in the Arctic primarily, Katyusha-class

boats also took s ta tion in the North Sea and along

the Norwegian coast . Five were sunk by the Germans. Finally, the last of the Russian-built boatswere those of the Sta linets c lass . These medium

boats were commissioned between 1936and 1948

and are considered by many the best medium boats

of the war. (Of the 43 built, 5 were lost during the

war.Adding to the Soviet submarine fleet , in 1940,

the Eston ian boa ts Kalev and Lembit and the

Latvian Ronis and Spidola were captured and incorporated into the Soviet navy. Three of these

boats would not survive the war.With this briefreview of the boats available, it is

time to survey the Soviet theory of their use. The

Soviet submarine commander was given a con

s tr ic ted area to patrol and was under strict orders

not to leave that area unless authorized to do so bythe highest naval command. So, if ten unescorted

battleships went by on the horizon, the Soviet submariner could do nothing. In the first years of

Soviet involvment, all boat s were considered

limited to defensive roles. Not being a defensiveweapon, the boats experienced little success and

high losses. With the halt of the German advance,the Soviet submarine arm finally came into its own.

On June 1941, the Soviets had su

marines in commiss ion: 76 in the Baltic, 45 in t

Arctic, 68 in the Black Sea and 22 in the Far East.was the biggest submarine fleet in the world, but tmen that manned the boats were s imply not o

class with the other major combatants.The Baltic Sea fleet had a few Katyusha,

three Pravda, some Stalinets, Shchuka, Malyutk

Leninets and Dekabr is t boats. In addi ti on , t

Kalev and the Lembit had been commissioneAbout 50 boats were fit ting ou t or were obsol

the L55 and the Bars class boats , leaving onlyoperational submarines on the outbreak of wThese were based in the 1st Flotilla at Libau and

2nd Flotilla at Hanko, with Riga, Reval, Kronsta

and Leningrad ab le to handle some few boats

necessary. The German advance was so rapid th

as soon as the 1st F lo ti ll a had been evacuatedRiga, it was forced to pack for Reval. With tentry of Finland into the war, the 2nd Floti lla wforced to withdraw from Hanko. By August 19

all able submarines had withdrawn to Leningr

and Kronstadt-now under siege.The shallow waters of the Baltic a re a killi

ground for submarines. The Germans were laymines as fas t as they could, and the loss of Sov

submarines was terrific. German dominance of

air cost still more boats. The Soviet submarinersreturn, had few successes. The first major Germ

loss was the U144, sunk by the Shch 307 After

withdrawal to the besieged fortress, very few bowent out on patrol. During the fall of 1941, seveof the la rge r boa ts were used to ferry supp lies

Kronstadt and the isolated Balticislands; three wconsequently lost. By the beginning of winter,

Russian subs had been los t for the s inking of o

German V-boat and four German cargo ships. TSoviet winter halted all further operations.

In 1942, the extensive minefields and compl

control of the air the Germans enjoyed allowedSoviet boa ts only sporad ic forays close to th

isolated bases, with little chance of success. Tboa ts rarely gained the sea throughout 1943 a

early 1944. Several boats moved to operate alo

the Finnish coast after Finland s armistice. Thboats met weakly escorted shipping, but achiev

only modest results. wasn t until 945 that

Soviet submariners got their chance for glory.

1945, the Red Army liberated the bes ieged basgiving the submarines free rein. Soviet submar

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


36

III. Starting Locations

1. 125 L19 BdA, D ir . 2

SCENARIO S2

DAS CAPITAL SHIP

V. Game Length

20 Turns, Day Scenario

VI . Special Rules

The latest German values must be used for the surface

ships.

IV. Victory Conditions

The Soviet player must a ttain 25 victory points more t

the German player to win. Conversely, the German player m

sink the A 3 . Any other resul t isa draw.

III. Starting Location

1. S 13-as per rule 20.4

L 3-as per rule 20.4

V. Game Length


2. L 15-025, Bd A, Dir. 6

L 16-032, Bd A, Dir. 6

II. O rd er of Battle

1 . Russian Player-S 13, Class S

L 3, Class Leninets

2 . Ger ma n Player- Wilhelm Gustlov C3 Merchantman

General Steuben C3 Merchantman

Goya C2 Merchantman

R 201 Class R 5

VI. Special Rules

For the Amerikanski Golland Class boat, use the Sh

Class data, and modify the information as follows: Reduce

Sinking Damage to 2 and the Surface Damage to 1 ; de

the stern torpedo tubes and all stern torpedo reloads.

VI. Special Rules

Both Soviet submarines commence the scenario on

surface.

Each Soviet submarine is to be considered an independ

slow convoy.

No submarine, Russian nor Japanese, may dive below

feet.

For the Leninets Class boats, use the S Class data,

modify the information as follows: Reduce the maximum sp

to 5 ; add two stern torpedo tubes and two stern torp

reloads.

I 25 has but two torpedoes left ; both are loaded in the b

tubes. 12 5 is also heavily damaged; the Japanese boat has o

4.1 damage points left before it is sunk.

I. Introduction

The Soviet submariners had no happyt ime . For them

war was long and bitter, filled with disappointmentsand def

death and disasters. In the Black Sea only, did they enjoy e

parity with the enemy surface forces; not surprisingly, in

Black Sea were recorded the majority of the sinkings of ene

merchant shipping. Typical of this l i t tle known warfare, o

November 1943 of f the coastof the Crimea, A 3 attacked as

convoy. After sinking one merchantman and damaging anot

the Soviet sub was located and sunk by the escort ships.

SCENARIO S5

REFUGEES ARE THE ENEMY TOO.

I. Introduction

In front of the victorious advancing Soviet armies in

Baltic, hundreds of thousands of German civi l ians and sold

fled. Many hoped to take passage on anything that would f

and make their wayto nor th German ports, thence westwar

A ll ie d l in es. The Soviet submariners positioned their b

athwart the entry to German-held ports to extract revenge

January 1945, Soviet subs sank the large steamers WilhGustlov General Steuben and Goya each packed with civ

refugees and military wounded. An est imated 15000 pe

were lost. This scenario condenses the tragic situation.


1 . Russian Player-A 3, Class Amerikanski Golland

2. German Player-6-C2 Merchantmen

F 4, Class F

F 9, Class F


1. A 3-within five hexes inClusive of 1

2. C2 Merchantman-H31, Bd B D ir. 5

C2 Merchantman-K26, B d B D ir . 5

C2 Merchantman-034, Bd B D ir . 5

C2 Merchantman-R39, Bd B D ir . 5

C2 Merchantman- V38, Bd B D ir . 5

C2 Merchantman- Y33, Bd B D ir . 5

F 4-D26, Bd B Di r. 5

F Y26, Bd B D ir . 5

All merchantmen a re i n a slow convoy.

SCENARIOS4

SINK THOSE SHIPS, COMRADE

I V. V ic to ry Conditions

The Japanese player wins by sinking either of t he So

submarines. Any other resul t is a Soviet victory.

FWD

3

SPEED DMGE

9 63

DEF

4

AVAIL

F 4

TYPE CLASS

BB Tirpitz

AFT VP

3 63

ID

C14

BDE

63

SCENARIO S3

ACCIDENTS DO HAPPEN


The Soviet player must apply at least 30 points of damage to

the Tirpitz to win. Any other result is a German victory.


1. Japanese Player-I 25, Class 115

2. Russian Player-L 15, Class Leninets

L 16, Class Leninets


1 . Russian Player-K 21, Class Katyusha

2 . Ger ma n Player- Tirpitz Class Tirpitz

Z 39, Class Z

F Class F

F 2 , Class F


1 . Russian Player-K 23 (or K 3 f or 1 94 3 scenario), Class

Katyusha

2 . Ger ma n Player-Z 39, Class Z

R 18,C lass R 17

R 20 Class R 17

I. Introduction

On 5 July 1942, the Tirpitz departed Altenfjord on her last

sortie of the war. Tirpitz was making course in the direction of

the i nfamous Convoy PO17 wh ich, u nkn own to the

Kriegsmarine, had scattered the day before. Hercourse crossed

the patrol of the Soviet submarine K 21, which had beenlaying inwait for j ust such a chance. Tirpitz was f ired on by the Soviet

sub, but none of her crew seems to have noticed the attack.

After 12 hours, Tirpitz returned to her anchorage.


1 K 21-as per rule 20.4

2 Tirpitz M25 Bd B Dir . 6

Z 39-M18, Bd B Dir . 6

F 1-M39, Bd B Dir . 6

F 2-M32 Bd B Dir . 6


1 K 23 (or K 3)-J34, Bd C, D ir. 6

2 Z 39-R29, Bd C Di r. 5

R 18-R42, Bd C, Dir. 5

R 20-U37, Bd C, Dir. 5

VI . Special Rules

Consider the Tirpitz a fast convoy unless and until hit by

torpedo attack.

Use the Torpedo Att itudeof the Gneisenau but subtract one

f rom the white die, as the Tirpitz was a broader target.

Ship Data Chart for Tirpitz will read as follows:

V. Game Length

15 turns (for K 23), Day Scenario

10 turns (for K 3), Day Scenario


The German player must sink the Soviet submarinein either

scenario to win . Any other resul t isa Soviet victory.

I. Introduction

The Soviet submarines L 15and L 16 were on their passage

to England via the Panama Canal; they were to be refitted there

with the latest Brit ish advance in electronic detection devices.

On October 1942, these submarines, proceeding on the sur

face in American coastal waters of f California, were attacked by

the Japanese I 25 whose crew had mistaken them for American

boats. L 16 was s tr uc k a ft o f t he control t ower by a s ingle

torpedo and sank in minutes. The result ingexplosionalso sprang

all of the I 25 s rivets and it too sank. The diplomatic repercus

sions were dampened by the two governments since neither

desired an unfortunate outbreak of hostilities at the time.

I. Introduction

On 12 May 1942, German escorts caught and sank the

Soviet K 23 in the Gulf of Finland. Nearly a yearlater, the refitted

k i l ler group found the K 3 on the surface on 21 March 1943.

Following its dive, the German ships executed a n ea r perfect

pattern, claiming another Sov ie t submarine. This scenario

utilizes the same pieces during different years to i l lustrate the

developments in sonar by the German Kriegsmarine.

doctrine had altered, allowing the commanders to

roam in search for targets. The slow and overloadedGerman shipping evacuating troops and refugeesf rom the east ern holdings gave the Soviet commanders excellent targets.

The Black Sea force includedall the AmerikanskiGolland boats and some of the L en inet s

Malyutka Shchuka and Stalinets class. Nikolayev

and Sevas topol were the main submarine bases.The entrance to Sevastopol was mined on the firstday of the war, bu t four boats did manage to slip

out.These

took upstations

offthe

Bosphorous

and outside the major Rumanian and Bulgarianports. Shch 4 was soon lost, bu t Shch 211 did s ink

the unwary tanker Peles The Germans were considerably weaker in the Black Sea region than intheBaltic, but Soviet resul ts were s ti ll moderately

disappointing due to the truly bad tactics. The base

at Nikolayev fell, and Sevastopol was besieged. The

boats were now pulled ba ck t o Ba tu m and Poti

neither of which had adequate facilities for submarine operations. In 1942, several of the boats

were lost in a vain at tempt to maintain supply to

Sevastopol. Due to heavy losses, the coastal boats

were confined to the northwest area of the BlackSea, and the larger boats operated of f Crimea and

in the waters of Rumania.

The year 1943 was the year of offense, almost. S

33 sank the Rumanian transport Suceava By thispoint the magnetic fuse for torpedoes had beenadopted bu t success with it was limited. By 1944,

the submarine offensive in the Black Sea was in

tense. With the help of recon aircraft from Odessa

and Shadowsk the boats sank seven targets. Losses

were still higher than sinkings as was true of all

Soviet naval operations. With the occupation of theBulgarian and Rumanian coastlines, naval activity

in the Black Sea came to an end.

The Arctic Ocean fleet was given the Stalinets

and Katyusha class boats since it was assumed that

here actual deep-water operations would dominate.

These were based at Murmansk. Successes wereproportionally higher in the Arctic theater than any

other. From 1942, these boats actively stalked the

coast of Norway forcing the Germans to provide

adequate escorts. S 101 sank a submarine and S 104sank an escort vessel. Given these victories, in 1944

the British loaned the Soviets Sunfish UnbrokenUnison and Ursula The Soviets renamed these V

to V 4 respectively. V 4 managed to sink a mer

chantman but V was accidently sunk by British

coastal defense aircraft in the North Sea. The remaining boats were returned in 1949. Offsettingthese successes, losses were high in this region due

to the advances in German ASW methods.

The Far East had some Malyutka Stalinets and

Leninets submarines stationed there. On 8 August

1945, the Soviets declared war on Imperial Japan

but not a single submarine s inking was scoredagainst the devastated Japanese merchant fleet

before the conclusion of hostilities.The Soviet Union had begun World War II with

the largest submarine fleet in the world. For the lossof 110 submarines 8 enemy ships were sunk

292,000 tons . During the war i tself, only 65 newboats were completed to replace losses. The SovietUnion was the only major combatant to emergef ro m W WI I with less submarines commissioned

than it had begun the war with. Let usnow see if youcould have used the submarines any moreeffectively

than did her commanders.

SCENARIO S1

TWO SUBS

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Contest 112

V . GameLeng th


Having digested the information on Page

of this issue, the intrepid reader now turns herefor the last piece of the puzzle. As a final a id,well in keeping with the spiri t of si-move play,the following are the Allied commi tment of

patrollers and air units. Your problem is wherethe rest of the Allied fleet will appear

- ~rlelns

GAMES AT ORIGINS:

Charles S Roberts, founder and first Presidof The Avalon Hill Game Company, has agreto auction his Private Collectionof over one hdred early Avalon Hill titles.

Mr. Roberts will attend the ORIGINS 83 a

tion. Almost all games are ci rca 1963, coplete, unused and inmint condition. A certific

will be issued with each game. Mr. Roberts w

autograph games if desired by successful b

ders. Satisfaction will be guaranteed to scessful by-mail bidders.

COMPLETE LIST OF ITEMS FOR AUCTION

Approximately half of these games will be

fered at a public auction at ORIGINS 83

Saturday afternoon (16 July 1983) at Cobo Hin Detroit. The other half of the collection will

offered via a mail auction with a closing date1 September 1983.

ANNOUNCING

AN AUCTION OF NOTE

In Hawaiian Islands:New York

In Indonesia:RNZAF

Marine AFMarylandMissouriVicennesChester

In Bay of Bengal:lOAF

VI. Special Rules

Each. player, prior to placing their boat on boa rd and com

mencing play, must secretly indicate the starting location of his

submarine. Both submarines must commence play on the surface.

No submarine, Russian nor German,maydivebelow 25 feet .

For the 110 Class boat, use the VI IB Class data, and modify

the informat ion as follows: Reduce maximum speed to 4 ;

reduce Surface Damage to 1 and Sinking Damage to 2 ;

ignore all surface guns; reduce bow tubes to three and bow

reloads to three; delete all stern tubes and stern reloads. .

I . Special Rules

BothSoviet submarines are bereft of reloads. These mayf ire

on ly the torpedoes in the tubes at the s tar t of play.Soviet submarines may not vo luntari ly sur face due to

German control of the air.

For the Leninets Class boat, use the S Class data, and

modify the information as follows: Reduce the maximum speed

to 5 ; add tw o stern torpedo tubes.


The Soviet player wins by s inking at least tw o of the three

steamers. Any other result is a German victory.

I. Introduction

Throughout the Great Patriotic War, the Axis shipping was

prey to daring Soviet commanders. In exchange, losses were

heavy among t he Russian submariners also. Shortly after the

opening of Barbarossa, the Soviet Black Sea Fleet served notice

that it would operate vigorously against the i nvaders. On 15

August 1941 , Shch 211 attacked an escorted tanker convoy of f

t he coas t of Bulgaria. It managed to s ink the tanker Peles and

withdraw undetected. A few days later, Shch 211 was lost with

all hands to German aircraft. The sinking of the Peles was one ofthe major Soviet naval coups of the early months of the conflict

and alerted the German command to the potential of the Soviet

submarines. Thereafter, they were pr ior i ty targets for German

surface vessels and German aircraft.

2. Wilhelm Gustlov C23 Bd B Dir . 5

General Steuben J27 Bd B, D ir. 5

Goya X34 Bd B Dir . 5

R 201-030 Bd B, Dir. 5

All merchantmen are in a slow convoy.

V. Game Length

20 Turns, Night Scenario

II. O rder of Battle

1 . Russi an Player-Shch 211, Class Shch

2 . German Player-3-T2 Tankers

F 4, Class F

SCENARIO S6

BLACK SEA TANKER

CIRCUS MAXIMUS

2nd EditionThe rules of CIRCUS MAXIMUS adjudged by the readership of The GENERAL oneof Avalon Hill's best games (seethe RBG of thisissue), have recently undergone a beneficialfacelift. A number of rule changes some merelycosmetic, others quite important make thisclassic game of chariot racing even more exciting and complete than before. Henceforth, thesecond edition rules will be included with current press runs of CIRCUS MAXIMUS and willbe considered the offic ial rules for all tour nament play. For owners of the game who desirethe latest edition, copies are available for 3.00plus normal shipping and handling costs.Maryland residents pleaseadd 5 7 statesales taxto their remittance.

MAIL AUCTION:

Title

TACTICS (1952 original)

GETTYSBURG (hex)

TACTICS II

DISPATCHER

VERDICT

U-BOAT (metal ships)

MANAGEMENT

D-DAY

CHANCELLORSVILLE

NEUCHESS

VERDICT II

AIR EMPIRE

LE MANS

CIVIL WAR

BASEBALL STRATEGY

FOOTBALL STRATEGY

WATERLOO (large box)

BISMARCK (large box)

STALINGRAD (large box)

DOLL HOUSE GAME

TRUCKS, TRAINS, BOATS PLANES

WHAT TIME IS IT?

IMAGINATION

WORD POWER

TACTICS counterslrules

TACTICS boxes

TitleGETTYSBURG (hex

TACTICS II

DISPATCHER

MANAGEMENT

CHANCELLORSVILLE

D-DAY

NEUCHESS

VERDICT II

AIR EMPIRE

LE MANS

CIVIL WAR

BASEBALL STRATEGY

FOOTBALL STRATEGY

WA TERLOO (large box)

BISMARCK (large box)

STALINGRAD (large box)

DOLL HOUSE GAME

TRUCKS, TRAINS, BOATS PLANES

WORD POWER

TACTICS counters/rules

TACTICS boxes

Copies1

2

1

71

7

1

1

11

13772522213

Copies

1

231

114

41

1

1

111

244

242211

213

In North Pacific:Minneapolis

In Aleutians:RAAF

In South Pacific:11 AF

In Coral Sea:Canberra

In Marshalls:5 AF

In Marianas:7 AF

Naval AF

In US Mandate:Wichita

V. Game Length



The Soviet player wins by sinking one tanker and surviving,

or by sinking tw o tankers i f i t does no t survive. Any otherresult isa German victory.

VI. Special Rules

Rules 61. and 62. must be observed.


Shch 211-as per rule 20.4; may no t beplaced in Zone III nor

Zone IV

2. T2 Tanker-M28, Bd B D ir . 3

T2 Tanker-M21 , Bd B, Dir. 3

T2 Tanker-M14, Bd B D ir . 3

F 4-G17, Bd B D ir . 3

All tankers are in a slow convoy.

SCENARIO 57

CAT AND MOUSE

. Order of Battle

1. Russian Player-Shch 307 Class Shch

2 . German Player-U 144, Class 110

I. Introduction

In the narrow waters of the Baltic, the opposing submarine

f leets played a deadly game of c at and mouse . German

U-boats sought to destroy the Red Banner Fleet, confused and

harried by cont inual aircraf t at tacks. Meanwhile, the surviving

Soviet submarines took every opportunity to sink German shipping, often at foolhardy ri sk s. On 9 Augus t 1941, t he Sov ie t

lookouts on Shch 30 7 sighted a German submarine running east

on the surface. In the deadly game of submarine versus sub

marine, the victor is the one that f i res f irst . The Russian crew,

even as the Germans becameaware of their presence, launched

a full spread of torpedoes. U 144 was lost with all hands. I t was

the sole unqualif ied success in the Baltic, the only major enemy

warsh ip sunk there by the Russians.

III. Starting locations

Shch 307-as per ru le 20.4

U 144-as per rule 20.4


The player to score the most victory points is the winner.

Any other result is a draw.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


RUBBLE AND ROADBLOCKSBy Jon Mishcon

The same story. Retold time after timethroughout World War II. The cityis defended byarelatively small number of relatively immobile

troops. The powerful mechanised attacker lungesforward to the ci ty por ta l. Before a tt empt ing to

:apture the city itself, the attacker uses his powerfulair and art il lery to reduce the defender s will toresist . Sometimes it works. More often the blasteffect s sha tt er any fixed posi tion defenses but

leaves the majority of defenders huddling in cellars,unscathed. The resulting destruction leavesmassivepiles of masonry, difficult to assault around, impassable to vehicles, easy to defend. In many ways,the attack is slowed rather than sped by the extensive destruction.

Rubb le by its very nature is a form of roadb lock . Roadblocks a re wha teve r impedes road

movement. Most often roadblocks are a couple of

good heavy trees felled acrossthe width of the road.Preferably right behind a curve, out of sight untilthe last moment. Rarely a roadblock will be a complex structure of steel girders and heavy timberposts. The time it takes to remove a man-maderoadblock is direct ly related to the care taken inplacing the block, its relative size and, as with all

other obstacles, the active protectionit is given. Thehugh roadblocks caused by rubble piles are usuallyremovable only by specially-equipped troops.

Since rubble and roadblocks seem to go handin-hand, let s look at them both. First, how the system handles rubble:

31.1 Passengers may not r ide an AFV reducing awooden building to rubble.

58.1 KIAs by ar ti ll ery, m ines or demo charges

reduce all levels of a building to single story rubble.

58.2 Stone rubblecosts 2MF to enter and still yields+ 3 DRM on the 1FT.

58.3 Rubble is a Levell obstacle.

58.4 Wooden buildings rubbled by having a trackedAFV pass through permit, if the AFV isn t immobilized, other tracked vehicles to pass through

the hex.

63.46 Any AA gun may fire f rom a rubble hex.

63.6 Mortars may be fired from rubble.

101.7 Bombs may create rubble as any o ther HE

attack.

106.1 Rubble may not be bypassed by infantry.

112.3 Rubble may not be bypassed by vehicles.

112.71 AFVs in bypass around a building that is

subsequentl y rubbled must leave the hex in theAFV s next movement phase.

114.52 Units on skis may not enter rubble hexs.

123.41 Motorcycles may not enter rubble hexes.

125.41 Demolition attacks which do not result inrubble affect only the target hex.

126.4 Bridges destroyed over shallow water cause

water level rubble.

136.2 Boobytraps may besetin rubble, but i f set ina bu ilding hex that is subsequently rubbled, the

booby traps are destroyed.

136.6 Units may not deliberately detonate a friendlybooby trap unless they pass some form of moralecheck.

142.4 Uni ts in rubble allow enemy unit s moving

next to them (ad jacent to a wal l/hedge) to retainfull wall/hedge benefits.

144.91 Passengers may not use mounted assault

through rubble.145.1 TEMs do apply to the 1FTDR inany a

to rubble buildings.

148.44 Cannister cannot rubble buildings.

149.11 Rubble, once cleared, can turn a whe

or brush hex into clear terrain.

155.3 Rubbling allows adjacent fire between

level rowhouses.

164.21 Rubble is 1 on Equipment Poss

Acquisition drm.

169.1 Rubble is t reated as the building type

which it is made.

170.1 HE attacks on ground level building hachieve KIA rubble the whole building. KIAupper levels mayor may not level the entirebu

but will turn that, and all levels above, to ru

170.2 Ground level rubble is a Levell obsta

170.3 Infantry movement into rubble costs 3Vehicles may enter wooden rubble at 4 MPs (

ing a breakdown) but cannot enter stone rub

170.5 Rubble may fall f rom 2nd or 3rd to

new rubbled buildings or rubble hexes.

170.6 Rubble may be cleared by inf antr

bulldozers.

SQU LE ER rubbl e t hus provesobs tac le for advancing t roops. A city bo

mostly rubbled buildings would be almost iable.

Roadblocks are treated as one uniform

the system. A brief review of how the

treats roadblocks:

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


3

MEET THE 50

AREA TOP 50 LIST

Mr. John Anderson is 18, single and a studeof the University of Arkansas majoring in coputer science.

Previo

Rank

12

34

5

Times

On List Rating

31 2626YOU

6 2392RJQ

16 2150GHI

30 2134GFM

29 2126FHM

Name

K. Combs

B. Dobson

B. Sinigag1io

D. Burdick

D. Garbutt

Rank

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Favorite Game: SL seriesAREA Rated Games: SL, TRC, 3RAREA W-L Record: 13-1-1 Time PBM: 15%Gaming Time/Week: 18 hrs. Play Preference: FTF

Hobbies: Golf, ChessPet Peeve: Getting KIAed 25 hexes away from an Americanwith a 50cal. while moving in the open.

The play balance of the Russian ampai

in terms of AREA rating are laughable. Againany good Russian player, the best you could ho

for as the German would be a draw unless-

course-you had clear weather in Sept., Dec. aMarch. Not even the best Russian player woustand a chance. The luck of the weather die roearly plays too great a role and the extremes of tvictory conditions make play aga in st a lowrated opponent a disaster. I feel that the scenarvictory conditions should be used at all tim(preferably the July/Aug 1943 conditions as thoffer a short game with some aspects of offenand defense for both sides). Also, the historiweather rules should be used in conjunction wthe above because it rules out the extremes a

makes tactical skill more impor tant than juplain luck.

THE AVALON HILL

GENERAL COMPANY INDEX

After dozens of request f or it, we've f inallycompiled an index for T HE G EN ER L Butwhat an index Vir tual ly everyth ing tha t has appeared in the fir t 16 volumes of THE GENER L

is referenced and eros referenced ad inf ini tum.The main subject matter is, of course, a

chronological listing of gaming articles by subject

matter with specific author, volume, and pagereferences. There is, however , much more in

cluding indice. for contests , RBGs, philosophies,covers, letters, and miscellaneou articles.

The index al 0 includes a running commentary

on the development of the Avalon Hil l Game Co.

f rom 1952 to the p re sent . Thi Time Line is awealth of information for the trivia buff or

serious AH devotee and i ncl udes a complete

listing of Avalon Hill t itl e in the order of theirpublication, complete with de ign/development

credit and miscellaneous information.

Thi s 20 page, 81/ x III/booklet is yours for

$4.00 plus the usual postage charges direct fromAvalon Hil l at 4517 Harford Rd., Baltimore, MD

21214. Maryland residents please add O o state

sales tax.

a trifle unrealist ic , consider it an improved position.

A new scenario has been provided in this issue'sinsert to allow readers to experiment with the rulesherein explored.

After Action Report-Dead of Winter

This note continues the series of commentaries

in the Clinic pertaining to the scenario published ina previous GENER L (Vol. 18, No.5). The intentof these reports is to provide the player with one of

numerous possibilities: defensive setup, attackerinitial position, and basic tactical approach. Having had several months to examine your own approaches to our Clinic scenario, the reader can nowcompare his findings with our summation.

GERMAN: Place trenches in Y4, Y5, Z3, Z4 and

AA4. Place the Panzer IV in Y4. Boresight guns onU1. Place crew and ATG in Z3 boresighted on V9.Place one squad with LMG and 8 1 leader in Y5,one squad in Z4, 9-2 leader with squad, MMG and

DC in AA4. Boresight the MMG on YI.

RUSSIAN: I recommend you enter tanks with in

fantry on hexes RO-R3.ATTACKER S TACTICS: Initially use your tanksto move up infantry. On turn 2 all three tanks moveout t o engage the panzer as the infant ry movesthrough the woods. With reasonable luck you 'l llose two tanks for the panzer's destruction. The remaining T34 can then obstruct fire lanes into Yl ,

allowing the infantry to move over AAI and exit.Try to av'oid infantry duels with the Germans.

DEFENDER S TACTICS: If the Soviet p layersweeps across the board a t you, fas ten down thetrigger and pray. Once in the trenches the Russianwill cut you to pieces but may lose too many troopsto win. If the Russian player is conservative, you'llfind out why the 37L was called the door

knocker by the German t roops. You should beable to trade 2-for-l in tanks but may have to move

infantry out of the trenches to fire at the Soviet infant ry . Keep the Demo Charge for the last di tchdefense of the ATG if necessary.

62.2 A roadblock is treated as a stonewall acrossthe hexside to which it points; however, no vehiclemay cross such a hexside.

62.3 Roadblocks may be removed by a tank, SPgun or squad afoot that spends an entire turn adjacent to the roadblock hexside without moving or

firing.

62.4 Roadblocks maybe eliminated bya KIA froma demo charge placedin the roadblock counterhex.

62.5 Roadblocks may be placed using Hidden

Initial Placement.

107.21 Guns with vehicle target classification canclaim hulldown status behind a roadblock.

112.3 Vehicular bypass is not allowed across anyhexside connected directly to a roadblock hexside.

144.14 CE AFVs behind a roadblock cannot claimboth the roadblock s TEM and the CE TEM.

155.54 Roadblocks may be placed in the

marketplace.

Understandably, roadblocks pose little impediment to infantry. Most importantly, roadblocks act as a form of rubble in the hexsides they connect, b permit weapons to be hulldown behindthe roadb lock . Now, how can rubb le and roadblocks be profitably used in the scenarios.

Scenario : Note that ifhex 3M2 is rubbled, theAmericans will be hardpressed to attain 2nd level

fire positions. Run the crew into the build ing hexwith 36mine factors. If not KIAed but broken, routout again and try again. If unbroken, break voluntarily and rout out.

Scenario 12: Try spreading the initial

roadblocks andattempt to build at least threemore.Consider placing the initial roadblocks in 2Rl facing 2S2, and 3AA6 facing 3BB6. Build blocks in3E6 facing 3F6, lEE5 facing IFF4, and IFF5 facinglEE5.

Scenario 13: The Russian roadblock is probablybest used as a stonewall and firegroup builder. If

you favor the upfront defense, then putting theroadblock in 3M6 facing 3L6 allows good placement of the 57LL ATG or squad with LMG.

Scenario 22: Usually place both roadblocks on

Board 5. The first in 5M3 facing 5N2 Uust beyond

the maximum reach of Russian first turn move).The second may be placed in 5F2 facing 5G3. Thismay leave vehicles in the open exposed to ATR firefrom the heights.

Scenario 25: Recommend that the roadblocksbe placed in 5Z9 facing 5AA9 and 5Y8 facing 5Z7.These allow stonewall firing positions for your upfront infantry and, if combined with wire from 5Y4through 5Y7, will at least slow the attacker s

motorized thrust.Scenario 31: The trenches give your artillery

hulldown status, so you re free to use the roadblocks to impede motion. Consider placing one in5R6 facing 5S6, then using squads to kindle any of

the woods-road hexes around 5J3 . A roadblock in5R9 facing 5S9 not only blocks the road but allowsclear lanes of fire for a gun in 5R8. Roadblocks in

. 4F3 facing 4G4 and in 411 facing 6110 may helpchannel the deep German armor thrust.

Scenario 34: The roadblock is fixed. Stay awayfrom it. may divert British armor, ifyou re lucky.

Scenario 39: By placing the three roadblocks in6N2 facing 602 , 602 facing 6Nl, and 601 facing6N 1 the German armor can be channeled west of3M6. Note that this creates a three hex pinch at6M7-6M9.

Little discourse on the possibilities of rubble is

made in reference to the scenarios simply becausethe potential value of the rubble is outweighed bythe risk of having some heavy weapon malfunction.Doubtless, players have found that rubble occurswhere it will in the heat of battle.

Lastly, I must make mention of one of our

favorite tactics in DYO scenarios. Soviet AFVs maybe placed on heights in hulldown firing positionsbehind a conveniently placed roadblock. If it seems

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


4

UP-SCOPEncreased ealism in SUBMARINE

By Michael Anchors

SU M RINE is a challenge to play with theOptional or Advanced Rules for hidden submarinemovement. Except in rare instances when sonarsucceeds in tracking the movement of a submarine

for several consecutive turns, the escort player isforced to rely on his powers of intuition and logic to

parry the thrusts of his unseen opponent. Unfortunately, the game system does not confront thesubmarine player with a similar challenge. He cansee everything on the surface-even when his submarine is forty fathoms under the waves

Historically, a U-boat captain below periscopedepth was blind. He had only his ears and his imagination to reconstruct events on the surface. Thehydrophone could give him a general bearing to the

convoy, which it detected as the summated roar of ahundred propellers, but never the detailed information needed to aim torpedoes accurately. Individualships could not be distinguished until they cameclose indeed, and then the capta in might hear thecharacteristic syndrome of danger: the high pitched

drone of a destroyer engine at speed, the turbulence

around its swiftly moving hull, the nerve-wracking ping of the sonar on the U-boat hull and,penultimately, the splash of depth charges overhead. Count ing on proximity, the submariner

might loose a desperate torpedo on a hydrophonebearing, but its chance of hitting the destroyerwould be slim. The final seconds were better spentdiving deep or sit ting still and silent, hoping thepursuer would lose the scent.

Of course, the captain could settle his doubtsabout the precise location of convoy and escorts byraising his periscope, but that carried the risk of

detection by radar or lookouts. Cautious captains,the kind who survived, used their periscopes sparingly and relied on calculation and educated guesswork to plot the movement of surface ships andposit ion their subs for attack or escape. Thus, useof the periscope was essential, but the situation required that it be used sparingly and efficiently.

For the spice of reali sm, try the followingvariant rules:

VARIANT RULES FOR THE BASI

OPTIONAL GAME

The original rules apply except as amended or s

plemented below.

A. Thesubmarine player is not permitted to seegameboard unless one of his submarines is on

surface or at a depth not greater than 5 ' .

B. Rule A applies even if escorts locate a smarine. A submarinecounter is placed on the bo

and moved by the escort player according to

written moves of the submarine player, so longcontact is maintained; but, the submarine plamay not see the board himself unless eligible.

C. Submarines at a depth of 25 areautomatically sighted in daylight, but maydetected by radar or visual search. Escort ships wradar may not use visual search, but may use radEscort ships without radar may use the Ba

Visual Search Table.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


German and Japanese escorts ad d 1 to the colored die. Italian escorts subtract 1 f rom the colored die until a subor a torpedo is

detected.

C7R7

K. The game length is no longer set at 20 turns.

s tead, the game continues for 20 turns after a s

marine or a torpedo is detected. Thus escortshave a full 1 minutes to hunt for the sub. (Woudestroyer give up the chase after one minute sim

because a submarine fired its first torpedo on T

18?)

All orders written on turn 5.

ADVANTAGE:Attacking destroyers will not beabletoassume

because a torpedo appeared on turn 7, that the firing submarin

at 0 or 25 I on turn 7.

DISADVANTAGE: Submarine player is hoping the target ship

hold course for three turns.

FRILLSDEPARTMENT A torpedo canbe aimedwhilethe sub

o I or 15 I and fired later when the sub is below 25 I if the move

orders for both submarine and torpedo are writ ten in advance

instance, a submarine player with his boat at 25 I could prerecor

movement for three turns in advance, submerge to 100 I and fi

aimed torpedo by writing the following orders in the log:

Move Location Depth Torpedo S ection

Turn 5 Rl X38d5 25 1 2

6 LIL X39d3 75

7 1 Y39d3 100

5. in the first Movement Plott ing Phase aftesubmarine or a torpedo is detected, the escplayer must begin writing convoy moves 3 tu

in advance as usual. Rule Iabove is th

cancelled, and H 2 is modified so that merchconvoys can turn once in 5 turns. Warships mchange course each turn.

I. Recommended is the use of Optional Rule 59

Torpedo Reload Rate, for the sake of realism a

play balance. Likewise, rule 60 0 Cargo too.

J. If a submarine at a dep th of 0 or 25 ' firetorpedo, the torpedo is considered aimed . I

submarine at 50 or deeper fires a torpedo,

torpedo is unaimed. There is a + 1 modifier to ro

on the Torpedo DetonationTable for that torped lternatively this rule can be modif ied so tha

deep-running torpedo is considered aimed owhen it contacts the first merchantship. If it failsdetonate (misses), it becomes unaimed

future contacts. A shallow-running torpedo is csidered aimed only when it cont ac ts t he fescort vessel. Thereafter, it is unaimed. If using

color coded torpedo counters recommended abouse one color for aimed torps and another

unaimed.

DV NCED VISU L SE RCH T LE

Die Roll Modifiers

Jap/German Italian +

-1 + 1-1 + 1

-1 + 1

+ 1

Submarine

Depth Range Modifiers

Sub

Day Night Weather Speed

0 25 0 25 Storm Rough Clear 3 2 0

UT 28 28 9

20 20 816 16 7

14 14 612 12 5 10 10 4

9 9 4

8 8 4

7 7 4

6 6 45 5 4

4 4 4 4 4 44 4 44 4 4

4 4 4 \ 4 4

4 4 4

course prior to discovery of a submarine. A convoydoes, after al l, haveto get from point A to point B. Ican t imagine much time was spent milling about in

the middle of the Atlantic in the absence of a submarine sighting, and such absurdly frequent turning makes aiming a torpedo a t a convoy likeshooting an a rrow through a flock of birds-you

don t improve your chance of hitting a bird byaim

ing at a par ti cu la r b ird. The re fore , unt il a sub

marine is located by search or a torpedo appears ,the ships of a convoy, including warships:

1. may not move on a course differing fromtheir original facing by more than 60 0 (Le. onehexside);

2. may not turn more often than once in 1

turns 5 minutes);

3. Section 2 2 7 is still used to set the initial

formation of a convoy, but the escort player

may choose any initial direction prior to seeing

the location of any submarine. The submarineplayer won t know the facing of the convoyuntil his submarine is at a depth of 25 ' or surfaces;

4. in the Convoy Move section of the log,the escort player need only record the first twoturns by th e convoy to specify the pattern of

movement that will be followed prior to

discovery of a submarine. The time between thestart of thegame and the first turn bythe convoy

cannot be longer than that between subsequent

turns. (For example, R2 on Turn 5, L2 onTurn 15 is permissable but, R2 on Turn 10, L2 on Turn 15 is not.) The intent of this rule is

t o restrict convoys t o a str aigh t course or asimple (historical) zig-zag pattern;

31

3

Range

in hexes)

10-30

4

SIC VISU L SE RCH T LE

0-15

5

Sub

Speed

3

* Escort player must roll equal to or less than the modified sighting number to sight a subat a depth o f25 Subs on the surface

in daytime are automatically sighted.

+The Italian + 1 modifier applies only unti l an enemy sub is detected or a torpedo appears.

D. In all search or fire procedures, the range from

one ship t o another is counted as the dis tance between bow hexes (not closest hex occupied by part

of a ship as in the original rules). Each ship counter

occupies two 100 yard hexes, but a submarine is not

200 yards long

E. If the submarine player is ineligible to see the

gameboard, search procedure is as fol lows. As theescort player calls out the bow hex and type of

search(es) being conduct ed by each searchingvessel, the submarine player secretly and silently

refers to an unmounted mapboard (obtainablef rom Ava lon Hil l) to calcu la te the range f rom thesearching ship to the nearest unsighted submarine.

The escort player rolls a die for each search and announcesthe result. (A convenientmethod is toroll a

red and a white d ie, app ly ing the red die to sonar

search and the white die to radar or visual search.)If there is a con tact , the submarine p layer so in

forms the escort player and a submarine counter is

placed on the board.

F. Italian escorts had poo r sona r and indifferent

lookouts. They must use the same adverse modifierto their sonar search rolls as the Japanese. In addi

tion, there is a + 1 modifier to their visual search

rolls until a submarine sighting or a torpedo drawstheir attention.

G. Torpedoes appear on the mapboard at the endof their first turn of movement. If the submarineplayer cannot see the board . . .

1. The submarineplayermust inform the escort

player of the location, course, depth and speedof the appearing torpedoes.

2. The torpedoes are moved by the escortplayer.

3. If a torpedo contactsa ship, the escort playerrolls a die to determine whether the torpedo

detonates . The sub player is informed of the

contact only if the torpedo explodes, and eventhen he is not told the damage inflicted.

Indeed, the sub player does not find out the damageinf li cted unt il the game is over; although, if hepeeks through the periscope, he may see one of his

targets missing or dead in the water . Th is is a nice

balance since the escort player does not find out the

damageinflicted by his ASW attacks eitheruntil theend of the game

(A few incidental ideas before proceeding withthe variant rules. If honesty or trust is a problem inyour gaming circles, you can alleviate the problem

by using numbered chits instead of dice. The chitsdrawn, after being examined by the escort player,

must be placed face down and left in the subplayer's view for his examination at the end of thegame. Too, s ince torpedoes in the game can be of

different types, but all the torpedo counters are the

same, it is a good idea to color code the counterswith colored dots or numbers on the back to avoidconfusion. Now, back to the variant )

H. The original rules for convoy movement, Section 7.6, are unrealistic. Convoys can turn in unisonevery 30 seconds ? ?) and there is no requirement

for a convoy to maintain any particular average

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


42

TORPEDO M LFUNCTION T LE

DieRois

CONVENTION CALENDAR

JUNE 24-25-26POLYCON, San Luis Obispo, California

Contact: Della Smith, Registration Secretar

P.O. Box 168, Julian A. McPhee Universi

Union, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA 9340

(805) 543-3509.

JUNE 24-25-26SEAGA '83, Norcross, Georgia

Contact: W.M. Souminen, Director, P.O. B

930031, Norcross, GA 30093.

JULY 2-3-4TEXCON 1983, Austin, Texas

Contact: Martha Ladyman, 8028 Gessn

1805, Austin, Texas 78753.

JULY 14-15-16-17ORIGINS '83, Detroit, Michigan

Contact: MetroDetroitGarners, 083 Info, P.O

Box 787, Troy, MI 48099.

JULY 29-30-31PEERICON III, San Diego, California

Contact: Larry Peery, The Ins ti tu te f

Diplomatic Studies, P.O. Box 8416, San Dieg

CA 92102. (714) 238-0893.

NOTE: An exclusively DIPLOMACY event.

JUNE 17-18-19GENGHIS CON V, Denver, Colorado

Contact: Denver Garners Association, P.O. B2945, Littleton, CO 80161. (303) 798-1404.

NOTE: Tournaments includeBB '81, CM CI

GI GSL KM PBIPL TRC SL SOA 3

VITP WASand WS IMamong many others

the largest convention in the Rocky Mounta

region.

JUNE 10-11-12MICROCON III, River Forest, Illinois

Contact: T.J. Ivinjack, Convention Directo

Forest Garners Club, River Forest Communi

Center, 414 Jackson, River Forest, IL 60305.

NOTE: Tournaments in SL COl COD GI an

VITP

THE GENERAL will list any gaming convention in this spafree of charge on a space available basis provided that we anotified at least four months in advance of the convention da

Each lis ting must i nc lude the name, date, site, and cont

address of the convention. Additional information of interesAvalon Hill garners such as tournaments or events utilizing A

games is solicited and will be printed if made available.

APRIL 29-30, MAY 1

TRI-STATE CON '83, Cincinnati, Ohio

Contact: Cincinnati Adventure Garners, 110Reading Road, Sui te 175, Sharonville, O

45241. (513) 984-8011.

APRIL 29-30, MAY 1NIAGARA GAMEFEST COMPUTE

SHOW, St. Catherines, Ontario

Contact: Doug M ann, Niagara Garne

Association, 223 St. Paul Street, St. Catherine

Ontario, CANADA L2R 6V9. (416) 682-1438

MAY 20-21-22CHICAGO WAR GAMING, Chicago, Illino

Contact: Gregory Princ ipa to , Treasure

Chicago War Gaming, Inc., P.O. Box 21

Tinley Park, IL 60477.

MAY 29M.I.G.S. GAMEFEST IV, Cambridge, Ontar

Contact: Les Scanlon, President M.I.G.S. 4Upper Wentworth Street, Hamilton, Ontar

CANADA L9A 4T6.

JUNE 4-5-6

DALLCON 83, Dallas, Texas

Contact: Dallcon 83, P.O. Box 345125, Dalla

TX 75230.

Effect

No effect

PREMATURE 'Thetorpedo explodes at theend o f its first turn move.

Sub player must inform

escort player of location of

the explosion.

Torpedo sinks immediately

after being fired.

Torpedo sticks in the tube,

permanently jamming its

tube.

At the end of i ts f irst turn

move, torpedo makes 3 0

turn to the right.

Ditto, to the left.

At end of first turn move, \

torPedomakesa 80 turn.

Watch out

7. (cf. Sec ti on G above )

The original Advanced Game Rule 40 0 Torpedo

Hidden Movement, applies. Moreover, a hidden

torpedo cannot detonate against a shi p while the

submarine captain is away from the board unless it

is in a hex or entersa hex known to contain part of a

surface ship. This can occur , for instance, when the

target ship is dead-in-the-water or when the torpedo

enters a hex called ou t in t he p receding Sea rch

phase. If a deep-running torpedo passes within one

hex of a sea rchi ng escor t or a shallow, torpedo

within two, the torpedo must be p laced on the

board.

8. (cf. Sec ti on H above )

Convoys may not turn more often than once in 5

turns until a submarine or torpedo is detected.

Afterwards, the l imit is 3 turns.

9. The original Rule 35 0 Launching Torpedoes,

may be used, instead of Section J above. Many

prefer Section J; but i f you use Rule 35.0 instead,

modify 35.2.2 as follows:

Novice crew 1 ship

Experienced crew 2 ships

Professional crew 3 ships

The ori gi na l r ul e was too generous by historical

standards andwas

unbalancedin

favor of the sub

marine.

10. Torpedoes were ornery varmits and nobody s

torpedo worked perfect ly all the time. The sub

marine player must roll on the Torpedo Malfunc

tion Ta ble for each torpedo fired dur ing t he

Torpedo Launch Phase.

11 In Section 9.7of the original rules, delete the

jive is successful penalty and substitute the

ini tial dive is successful. Thereafter, in t he Sub

marine Movement Phase of each turn in which the

submarine is below the maximum safe depth (in

cluding the turn of the initial dive), the submarine

sustains a number of hit points equal to the roll of

one die up to a maximum of four hit points per turn.

If a 5 or 6 is rolled, there is no additional

damage that turn and no further damage rolls untilthe submarine dives deeper. There is a -1 modifier

to the die roll if the depth of the submarine exceeds

the maximum safe depth by 25 7 Although the

greatest danger of structural collapse d id occur

when a submarine f irst dived below maximum safe

depth, some structural damage would continue to

accrue due to the steady pressure. *Storm

Gale

All

RoughShallow

31-66

25-26

RoughDeep

15 23-24 SINKS

14 21-22 STUCK

15-16 OFF RIGHT

13-14 OFF LEFT

11 12 ROGUE

Clear

All

21-66

16

WeatherTorpedo depth

VARIANT RULES FOR THE

ADVANCED GAME

The original Advanced Game rules and all the

above variant rules apply except as amended or sup

plemented below.

1. (cf . Section A above)

The submarine player is no t permitted to see the

gameboard unless one of his submarines:

a. is on the surface; or

b . has S-gea r; orc. is at a depth of 25 ' a n d . (scope up) is

written in the Operation section of the log. The

scope up order written in the Movement

Notation Phase does not take effect unti l the

Submarine Movement Phase. The periscope

may be lowered by writing or by divingbelow 25 .

2. If a submarine a t a depth of 25 wit h its

periscope or snorkel up is rammed by a surface

ship, the periscope or snorkel is permanently lost.

3. Submarines at 25 ' are subject t o r ad ar o r visual

search only if the periscope or schnorke1 is up.

4. (cf . Section C above)

Substitute the Advanced Visual Search Table

above for t he Basic Table . Note the range modifier

for sub speed. A periscope cutt ing through the

water at 5 knots throws up a more visible wake than

one moving at 2 knots.

5. If the bow hex of an escort vessel conducting a

sonar sweep lies in a broadside quadrant of the

closest submarine, as defined by Sections 17.6 and

17.7 of the original rules, there is a + 2 modifier to

the sonar search range.

The reason? A submarine broadside-on is a more

echogenic objec t than a sub end-on because it

subtends a larger arc. Submarine captains tried to

present their bow or stern to searching escorts to

escape detection. To counter this tactic, destroyers

preferred t o approach suspected submarines on

perpendicular courses similar to an Anvil attack

of MIDWAY.

6. Escorts are allowed 360 0 sweep as well as home.

Why should sweeps be l im it ed to 120 0 (Section

44.3) if home isn t? Nevertheless, if players prefer

t he 120 0 sweep rul e, it can be used-provided the

escort player tells the submarine player not only the

bow hex of each searching escort bu t the facing as

well.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


BUILDINGS 0-3

No outgoing mortar fire

Overrun (29.4); OT: 5 1M, 6 Elim

Others: 6 Immobilize

Oripins

1 SGTALLEN

Carbine

Rangeo

2

3

4

5

Firepower:oo

23

4

HILL ± 1

*if target/firing group not on hill

IG: Two Moves to enter

AFV: Hul l Down (black To Hit )

2

1 2b 3 4c 50 6 7w 8 9 Or

1 1 1 1

UP FRONT

1 2b 3 4c 50 6 7w 8 9 Or 2 2 2 2 2 2 222

Do You Like Card Games?Do You Like SQUAD LEADER?

Do You Like Games Packed With Decision Points Gamesmanship?Do You Want to Fly to ORIGINS '84 in Dallas, TX as Our Guest?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you'll want to be at ORIGINS 83 when we unveil UP FRONT our newest entry in th

SQU DLE DER series. UPFRONT takes SQU D LE DER a step further in both detail and playability. Each man is represented by a car

which contains his ratings for morale, firepower at six different ranges, close combat ability, and survivability. Each player commands a singlsquad of Russian, German, or American troops which maneuver over a variety of terrain beautifully depicted on actual playing cards in a

attempt to fulfill victory conditions for any of a variety of scenarios. AFV's, snipers, minefields, AT Guns, mortars, wire, smoke and muc

more come into play in fact just about everything you'll find in SQU D LE DER and its gamettes you'll find depicted in UP FRONT inmore playable format. Nationality differences and command control are intrinsically handled by the varying hand capacities of each player

You'll be amazed at howmuch detail has beenportrayed ina gamewhich is so simpleto play, yet impossibleto master. UPFRONTwill be 1983

most innovative release. You simply must play it to believe it, and as only the basic game scenarios will be used in the tournament you can bprimed for competitionbySaturdayeveningwhenthe first patrols setout inearnest. Buy it Friday, learn it that evening, andbySaturdayyou ca

command your first patrol in pursuit of that free trip to ORIGINS '84.

*First Prize: ORIGINS PLAQUE and Round-Trip airfare between any point in Continental U.S. and Dallas, TX for ORIGINS '84.

Second Prize: 50Merchandise Credit Third Prize: 25 Merchandise Credit Fourth Prize: Two Year subscription to the GENERA

NOT AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE PRIOR TO JULY 15,1983.

Don t miss these other great Avalon Hill ORIGINS '83 releases:

B 17: QUEENOF THE SKIES POWERS PERILS BULL RU N P NZERKRIEG PRO TENNIS T CTICS

Make plans to register for the following tournaments at ORIGINS '83 by sending a SASE for a Pre-Registration form to: Metro Detroit Garners, P.O. Box 787, Troy, MI 48099.

ACQUIRE

AFRIKA KORPS

B-17; QUEE N OF T HE SKIES

CIRCUS MAXIMUS

CIVILIZATION

CROSS OF IRON

DIPLOMACY

FREEDOM IN TH E GALAXY

FOOTBALL STRATEGY

G.I.: ANVIL OF VICTORY

GLADIATOR

SPEED CIRCUIT

MIDWAY

PANZER LEADER

RAIL BARON

RICHTHOFEN S WAR

ROBIN HOOD

SLAPSHOT

SPEED CIRCUIT

SQUAD LEADER

TH E RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN

TITAN

UP FRONT

VICTORY IN TH E PACIFIC

WAR AT SEA

WIN, PLACE SHOW

WIZARD'S QUEST

WOODEN SHIPS IRON MEN

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


7/27/2019 Vol19i6


Letters to the ditor

Dear Mr. Martin:

Volume 19, No.4 is the worst issue of The

GENERAL in recent memory. Of twelve articles,

only four dealt with wargames. I can understand

the hawking of CIVILIZA TION, but the pieceon

OH- WAH-REE is a tad misplaced. After all, The

GENERAL is primarily a wargamer's magazine.

Thi s is not to say that Vol. 19, No.4 was

totally without merit. There were some amusing

moments. The expla in ing away of the poor

r at ings f or CIVILIZA TION was one such

moment. seems that wargamers (thick-headed

fellows, those) didn't approve of the elegantly

simple combat system. Nor didtheyappreciate the

mapbo ar d o r components-an unjustified

malaise to saythe least. Youknow, I thinkmost of

us f ind i t rather difficult enough to be competent

generals, let alone theethos of a race.

Perhaps, you're asking too much of us.

Mark Geillard

Lowell, Michigan

You're right-perhaps I am. Somefew of the

readership do seemto havea rathernarrowdefini

tion o fwhat constitutesa wargame . Tome, it is

anygame of strategy which uses armedconflictas

themedium. Therefore, GLADIA TORisasmucha legitimate subjectfor thepages of thisperiodical

as SQUAD LEADER, CIVILIZATION as relevant as THIRD REICH, WIZARDS QUEST as

intriguing as TRIREME. PerhapsI amasking toomuch. Or . perhaps you re asking too little?

Dear Sirs:

Let me congratulate you on producing a very

fine edition of the GENERAL i n Vol . 19, No.4.

The artwork, the range of topics covered and the

quality of thearticles was superb. Moreover, there

are two qualities that distinguish this issue that I

hope will continue in future issues. First, theissue

has good THEMATIC COHESION. The cover

articles dealt with CIVILIZA TION, and five of

the following articles dealt with games of the an

cient period as well: Ramses II , Peloponne

sian War , Oh-Wah-Ree , Coloseum Cam

pa ign and Second Edition CIRCUS MAX

IMUS . I think that the first two-thirds of every

issue should containarticleswith some connecting

theme. Of course, I real ize that you can only do

tha t i f you have a p lent iful s tock of publishable

material. Most of the AH staf f is busy designing

new games-too many new games in my opinion.

I am sure that youhave immense trouble diverting

the staffers to write articles for The GENERAL

and so must rely on we outside folks. I s incerely

hope that you can find our material of a quality tobring more thematic issues our way.

The second feature that I like about this issue

is that t he art ic les on OH-WAH-REE and

WIZARDS QUEST demonstrate a long-overdue

willingness to deal with AH games that are not

true wargames in thepagesof The GENERAL.

Avalon Hill publishes numerous fine games of

strategy in this nebulous category: SOURCE OF

THE NILE, MAGIC REALM, DOWN WITH

THE KING, ACQUIRE, DIPLOMACY, and

many others.They aren't sports games, and they

aren't wargames-so there hasn't beena forum in

AvalonHill for theseintriguing and classicgames.

I think the classical wargamers have dominated

theindustry too long. Avalon Hill hasalways pub

lished great non-wargames for adults not taken by

mundane bloodshed. Now, at las t wesee a few of

them treated in thepages of The GENERAL. is

about t ime; please devote space t o t hem in the

future.

In short, I want to compliment your entire

staff on this issue. I sincerely hope it is a t as te ofthe future.

Michael Anchors

Durham, North Carolina

In case thereadership hadnot noticed by this

point, I have a thematic approach to selection of

materialto include in thesepages. Since assumingthe helm of The GENERAL, I have attemptedto

providea threadof continuity by devoting themajority of space in each issue to a specifictopic-which at timesmay escapethe noticeof the

readers. In Vol. 18, No.6, i t was the Pacif ic

Theater in WW2; in Vol. 19, No.1 and Vol. 19,

No.2, the European Theater, We,S t. Our GUNSLINGER issue included a number of articles in

volving the Americanexperience of war. And, of

course, Vol. 19, No.4 considered the ancientarts

of strategy; while in the last issue, concentrationwas on theNapoleonic Wars.

This is by no means a rigid system; wellwritten articles on other fine games will certainly

appear. Hopefully, these articles will include

manyof our lesser-known classics. It is my fervent

hopethat these pagesbe a forum for fine articleson allgames of strategyproducedby A valon Hill.

Realizing thatthe majority o four readershipmay

not beas broad-mindedasI interms of theirgam

ingpreferences, the editors willinsure thatarticles

on non-war titles which appearin thesepages willbe exceptional. But . such will certainly comethe way of the readers at infrequent intervals.

And, who knows; you may even glean a jewelfrom them for your trouble.

To the Editor:

I would like to make a few comments about

your new RBGsurvey. I agree that if there is to be

a rat ing chart (and why not ?) , a new one is cer

tainly needed. There is no way a game rated at the

beginning of the survey can be compared to the

most recent releases. And, a different sampling

population existed at t he t ime the survey was in

stituted than does now. Therefore, it mak es

perfect sense to rerate all thegames at once bythe

same group of people.

Howev er , I f ee l. t he re is room f or mor e

guidance and direction as to how t o r at e these

games than you provided. Three problems spring

to mind. Firstly, to rate thesegames, they must be

compared to other games. Are these other titles to

be exclusively Avalon Hill 's-or the products ofthe entire industry? I, personally , rated them by

the latter consideration such that my scores were,

in general , h igher t ha n i f I had ra ted the games

against the othe r AH releases. This indicates the

general quality of your line.

Secondly, whenI started inthe gaming hobby

in 9 with CHANCELLORSVILLE, I fel t that

games suchas that and TACTICS II were quite an

innovation and deserved high accolades. Now, in

1983, I am asked to rate games that, in their time,

were just as good as the best of recentgamesare. I am to rate them onan absolute basis, theirscores

have to beworse than if they are rated on a relative

basis.

Thirdly , I find itd ifficult to ratecomponents

of games (particularly mapboards) of games that

take p lace in a diffrent medium (i.e. land games

versus sea or air games). For example, I find itex

tremely hard t o r at e a sea mapboard a 1 on

aesthetic value whenall it can depict is water; but

on the other hand, I don't want to downgrade it.

Perhaps i t wou ld be of value to add direction onthe rating of mapboards such as, Rate the map

board as to Aesthetic Value plus Functional Value

considering themedium it is intended to portray .

With this in mind, I c an r at e t he map for SUBMARINE high since it portrays the ocean nicely

and can likewise rate the WS IM mapboard high

sinceit is a very functionalmap of the sea and land

areas necessary to play the scenarios-whereas the

TOBRUK mapboard (which looks rather l ik e a

squashed pumpkin pie rather than desert) can

draw my wrath .

Michael Metcalf

Urbana, Illinois

Mr. Metcalf'sletter is typical of the many insightful and intriguing comments our fledgling

RBG survey brought. To take hispointsin order:

In regard to t he f irs t, it s eems irre lvant as to

whether the games are rated against other AH

titles or the products of the hobby industry as a

whole. No respondent can divorce himselffrom

theimpressionsthat othertitleshave left. It wouldbe unfair to assumeotherwise. The best that canbe hoped is that the readership rated each with an

open mind based on hispersonal experience with

the titles-both AH and non-AH-he has often

played. Inevitably, there will be many who have

little experience with non-AH t it les. It would be

unfair to ask them to rush out and quicklyfamiliarize themselves with a broad sampling of

othergamesmerely to rate ours.

By the same token, I cannotassume that thereadership could possibly rate any game other

than on an absolutebasis. I, for one, cannot evenrecall my impressions of the f ir st games

although they must have been favorable to keep

me in the hobby. Too, there is another considera

tion that needsto be voiced. The responsesto thissurvey may well determine to no small degree

future development of these tit les. Should the

survey indicate i t ~ p r h p s t he rules need be

rewritten and i ssued in another edi tion . The

ratings for titles could just as easily sound the

death-knellfora title, theexpenseof bringingit up

topar beadjudgednot worth theeffort. Forthese,and other like considerations, a publicjudgment

by the readership demands that all titles be rated

given the current state-of-the-art in game design.

As to your last point , I can only wish I had

statedit so succinctly. Henceforth, all readerscan

take Mr. Metcalf's wording as axiomatic whenrating mapboards.

Dear Mr. Martin ;

Your revis ion of th e RBG chart in The

GENERAL is indeedlong overdue The proposed

format represents a real improvement over the old

one, but there are sti ll twocategories you did not

mention that I feel need to be added to the

chart-or at l east inc luded in the ini ti al rat ing

comments box-namely, Suitability for PBM and

Suitability for Solitaire.

Don Eisan pointed out very eloquently in his

letter in Vol. 19, No.4 that asweget older wefind

otherdemands increasinglyeating into the timewe

used to have for games. Work, family and com

munity obligations can't a lways be scheduled

neatly a round an evening, afternoon, day or

perhaps entire weekendof war with pieces . For

many of us, hobby time hasdwindled to that rare

moment when we suddenlyfind that the laundry is

done, t he c lub committee mee ti ng h as be encancelled, it's raining t oo har d to wo rk in th e

garden, and cleaning the basement can wai t for

another week. The only remaining obstacle is

locating an opponent who is experiencing the

same windfall of time and who l iv es within a

reasonable distance. By the t ime this miracle has

come to pass, a lot of our precious time has also

passed. Backgammon, anyone?

There are, however, ways to ful ly use these

unexpected moments of relaxation. One can work

out a PBM move, or write a DIP letter, or muse

over an exciting-yes, exciting -solitaire game

of SL or W Por some other game that lendsitself

to this sort of mental exercise.

For myself, and I t hi nk for many others as

well, participation in any game taking more than

anhour to complete is pretty much limited to PBM

and/or solitaire. No lectures, please, on how the

essence of your games is the competition between

players, each bringing a unique viewpoint to the

problems of the game at hand. Yes, Iget that from

PBM, but not every game can be p layed in thatmanner. (As a matter of fac t, r ight now family

pressures have so drastically reduced my free time

that I've had to even resign from all of my PBM

wargames. ) You mus t rea li ze t ha t FTF is not

realistic for everyone. Take a look at some of the

towns represented in the ads for PBM players on

t he back cover-where would these poor souls

find someone else to p lay aga in st? Anyway, I

. suspect that no one's motives for playing a game

are exactly l ike anyone e lse' s. Mine do not

generally include the thrill of victory or any

driving need to compete. More usually , I l ike to

play justto see what's going to happen nex t i f I do

such-and-such. (ask the folks who are in pos ta l

DIP games with me )

Add the problem of limited funds to that of

limited time, and then imagine someone l ike me

standing in front of the AH game display. I can't

afford to buy a game which might be total ly un

sui ted for the methods of play that b ring me the

most enjoyment. After carefully scrutinizing the

box, I s ti ll can't tell if 3R or CIVor whatever willsatisfymy requirements. Ishrug myshoulders and

pass on to the book store instead.

is a truism thatif you demonstrate to more'

people that theywillbe satisfiedwith yourproduct

(i.e., broaden your audience),you will sell more of

it. seemsonly logical to me that if PBM/solitaire

ratings were available, folks interested in that sort

of t hing wou ld be more inclined to spend their

money o nAH games. In Fire Movement (No.

25), there was an article on solo gamingby Terry

Baney in whichit was stated that perhaps 50010 of

wargamers playsolitaire. Solo playability maynot

be theonly criterionby which such playerschoose

games, but surely it does influence them to some

extent. Why not make i two rk for you?

R.E. Glaspey

Traverse City, Michigan

In all truth, I haddebated including both oj

these categories. However, fur ther thought

brought me to delete them from the survey. In

regard to the Suitabili ty for PBM , i t wo

seem to me that, if A valon Hill has issued p

components (i.e., the various pbm kits availab

this is sufficient indication that the gamemay

readily suitableforby-mailenjoyment. This is

to imply that any game may not be adapted

pbm; witness the lead article of this issue ormanyfine 'zines that regularlyrun pbm games

heretofore unplayed AH games. But the fact

mains that the percentage of hobbyists that athemselves of these is minimal when compare

the numbers that play the traditionalpbm tit

To my mind, a briefglanceat A valonHill's list

of pbm kits is sufficient to indicate Suitabifor PBM .

With respect to Suitability for Solitair

I've made my feelings known towardsuch inp

issues of the AH Philosophy. Notwithstanding

realize that many gamers doplayAH title

splendid isolation . However, every Ava

Hillgame is designed asa GAME as distinctin

mindfrom a PUZZLE) and is meant to bepla

competitively between two or more thinkingdividuals (with allthe connotationsyou may c

toapply). Toapplyany ratingfor Suitability

Solitaire to a game not designed fo r such is ato rating an automobile for i ts suitabili ty

habitation in periodicalsdevoted to the intercombustion engine-certainly it may be used

such, but that was neither the motivation nor

tention o f its designers. Realizing that there

many who, for various reasons, find itdifficul

find opponents, there is now an effort to cre

true games designed with solitaire play in miBruce Shelley is currently putting the finishtouches on B-17, QUEEN OF THE SKIES

solitaire re-creation of a bomber mission o

Europe in November 1942. This game (toreleased at ORIGINS '83) and others of sim

nature are the only ones that can leg it imaclaim to be suitable for solitaire .

Dear Sirs:

We represent the Youth's Centre of Ga

and Intellectual Amusements in Warsaw. Thi

losse federation of clubs converging peopl

terested in various types of games-particul

strategicones. Weencompass suchclubs as ViMilitari (WWII operations, campaigns and

tles of Polish soldiers) and Poniato

(Napoleonic Polish interests).

To enlarge activities of theseclubs, we in

to introduce a new form of playing the strat

games with the aim of bringing the players cl

to the historical background of t he games

p la y s o e age rl y. Namel y, we want to orga

meetings where relevantgames would beplay

places of their orig inal sett ing with people

took par t i n tho se bat tl es , with h is to ri an s

military specialists, and t he garners too, all

ticipating.

As the first such, we propose a mee

Polish Campaign 1939 . will be held01.0

and last until 12.09.83.Forty-five (45)Polish

ticipants and about six foreign persons will

part. We would like to invite the six foreign

sons through the mediation of your magazine.

those foreign persons we will provide full acc

modations during their s tay in Poland.

The first game of themeetingwillbe playe

01.09.83-the 44th anniversity of the outbrea

WWII- in Gdansk, where the war exactly be

Then, on 06.09.83 in the area of the River B

where one of thegreatest campaigns of the Po

Campaign of 1939 was fought, the participan

the meeting will play more games. The th ird

our design called Defense of Warsaw , wi

played in Warsaw on 12.09.83. Moreover, we

organizeexcursions to battlefields,war museuprojections of war documentaries, discussi

lectures, etc. on the 1939 Polish war.

Pleaseletus know if youare interested in

proposition of organizinga selection of abou

people (including representatives of y

magazine) to take part in our meeting. Ifso, pl

have them write and we can send more detaile

formation and then invitations.

Tad. Urbanowicz

Warsaw, Poland

Indeed, I haverespondedto Mr. Urbano

requesting more information. The above l

represents thescope, and hope, of ourhobby.those individualsamongthe readership whom

wishmore complete and rapidinformation, I u

you to write t o Mr. Urbanowi cz direct a tfollowing address-

Tad. Urbanowicz, Manager of the Centre

GROTEKA

Mlodziezowe Centrum Gieri Rozrywek ZSM

00-375 Warszawa, AI. lerozolimskie2

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


READER BUYER'S GUIDE

THIRD REICH

1 4. 23 I n an attack where the attacker is attacking

two or moreadjacent hexes, canallattachedhexes

betreatedas breakthrough hexes aslong as 15.3 is

adhered to?

A. Yes; however this cannot be stre tched to in

clude an attack on an occ upied hex and an

undefended hex 14.4).

1 4. 4 M ay m or e than the one r equir ed a tta c king

armor unit be move d into the non- c ontested hex

to f orm the Br ea kthr ough hex?

A. Yes.

16.75 29. 61 T he se r ules see m c ontr adictory.

D oe s t he US r eq ui re S ea E sc or t t o g iv e B RP s t oBritain?

A. N o. I ns er t other between any and

ally i n 1 6. 75 . N ot e; i n t he r ar e g am e in w hi ch

France is unconque re d w he n the U S e nte rs, r ule

16.71 would apply to S Rs to Britain and France

c ombine d. Rules 16. 74 and 16. 75 w ould a pply

e qu al ly t o F ra nc e. F re nc h f le et s c ou ld b e a dd i

tional Murmansk escort fleets 16.8).

18.31 In order f or units o fa defending major

power's active minor ally or of a minor in which

the defending major power has intervened to be

t ak en a s attrition losses to satisf y the major's

losses and viceversa, isn't it necessary thatat least

one ground unit of the country taking such losses

b e i n contact w it h a n e ne my ground unit on the

attritioned front?

A. Yes.

The editors had hoped to report

the results of the re-rating of the RBG

(Vol. 19, No.4) in this isslJe. How-

ever, at the t ime that this is being

written, survey sheets continue to

flow into our offices at the rate of a

dozen a day. Too, with over 500

thus far, assimilation of the numbers

simply has yet to be completed. The

response to the re-rating of the RBG

has been, to put i t in proper perspec

tive, overwhelming. Even a cursory

review of the responses, though,

brings not a few items of interest to

the eye. These w ill be reported in

detail when the final computations

are made.

As may be remembered from AH

Philosophy 94, to make the RBG a

truly effective comparative tool, a

minimum of fifty response to each

title was imposed for its inclusion in

the c ontin uing chart. Only a few

t i tles have yet t o attain this require

ment. The li st of these is certa in ly

s igni fi cant in determining reader/

buyer preferences- both in terms of

2 4. 2 Doe s t he i sl an d of S aa re F3 9) b ec om e

f riendly to the pre se nt c ontrolle r of the Baltic

States?

A. Yes, t o w ho me ve r f ir st c on tr ol s t he B al ti c

States. Thereafter, normal hex control rulesapply

7.1).

25.21 f Russia has tr oops in Bessar abia but not

in Rumania a t t he e nd of i ts turn, c an G er many

garrison Rumania?

A. Yes.

26. 92 D oe s combined Axis strength include

naval factors?

A.No.

26.921 f Russia surrenders, which side assumes

control of pa rtisa n occ upied objec tive hexes

which were previously controlled by the Axis?

A.Axis.

27.26 37.3 Can units in excess of Egyptian port

r es tr ic ti on s b e s up pl ie d b y f le et f ro m E ng la nd

around t he C ap e, as i n S R t o S ue z?

A . N o.

28.12 Could B ri ta in i ni ti al ly p la ce airbase

counters in France if Britain never had any other

units in France?

A. Yes; but only with French concurrence.

2 8. 24 A re a ir u ni ts i n f li gh t, u na bl e to r e tur n to

future development and in terms of

content o f this periodical. Those

titles which have notyet attained the

minimum fifty response include:

FURY IN THE WEST LITTLEROUND

T P THE LONGEST Y and

TRIREME For those which have

garnered the mos t responses, one

need not look far simply glance

over the top twenty l is ted in the

column S o Tha t s Wha t You ve

Been Playing . .

The readership will note that the

insert of this issue contains the rating

chart for the Adventure Game

category. I t is urged that all familiar

with thesegames respond. Hopefully,

this chart too will come to reflect the

readership s collective taste and

serve as aguide for those of uson the

Hil l .

their base of de pa r tur e displac ed to a new base

w ithin 4 or 8 h ex es f ro m t he o ld a ir ba se or the

target hex?

A . E ight hexes f r om the old a ir ba se .

28. 432 W he n mixed nationality a ir f or ce s a r e in

volve d in a ir combat, how are losses distributed

between nationalities of the sameside?

A . U se the 29.572 naval me thod.

28.452 f the Counter a ir attack f ai ls , d oe s t he

attempt by the other a ir units that w er e to a tta c kthe naval forces count a s a mission, e ve n though

the se a ir unitsc a nnot now a tta c k?

A. Yes.

28.453 Can t he a tt ac ke r el ect t o d es tr oy o ne

factoreach from twofleets rather than two factors

from one fleet?

A.No.

28. 513 May you a llot more a ir f ac tors than could

legallybe counted inthe combat odds, in anticipa-,

tion of intercepting aircraft reducing your DAS

strength?

A.No.

29.21 29. 573 A re f le ets w hich, ina n attempt to

c ha nge base during the Move ment P ha se, a r e in

tercepted and def e ated f or ce d to r e tur n to their

original base? Can they perform any other func

tions during that game turn?

A. Yes this is an exception to the last sentence of

29. 33); the y c an do a nythinga f le et c an norma lly

d o ex cept ch an ge b as e d ur in g t he M ov em en t

Phase.

29.25 42.2 Areadditional US fleets assigned to

protect a Murmansk convoy counted against the

overall SR limit of 10 or againstthe Initial Deploy

ment limit of 6?

A. Both if t he fleet h as n ot yet b een i ni ti al ly

deployed; otherwise onlyas the SR limit.

29.26 29.58 f a naval unit is displacedfrom its

base and then intercepted and defeated so that it

has to r e tur n to its original base, w hat happens?

A. It must change base to the next nearest

available friendly por t on tha t front-tracing its

path f rom the point of theinterception. It is again

subject to interception by another, as yet uncom

mitted, enemy fleet/air. f no such other friendly

port is available on the front, thedefeated fleet is

eliminated.

29.413 Ifthe coastalfortress is also a port wi t h a 9

f ac to r f lee t m ay t he attack s ti ll be m ad e u si ng

shore bombardment?

A. Yes; d ef en di ng f lee ts d o n ot p re ve nt s ho rebombardment.

29.413 Can shore bombardment be us ed wit h

non-exploiting units attacking across a Crossing

Arrow?

A.No.

29.422 29.573 Are units being Sea Transported

r e tur ne d to the por t of embarkation or the fleet s

b as e as su mi ng t he t wo a re d if fe re nt ) if the

mission is intercepted and defeated?

A . T he f le et s base.

29.424 29.573 Mayunitsbeing Sea Transported

which are intercepted, defeated, and returned to

port still a ble to move and/or perform combat?

A. Yes; e ve n t ho ug h t he Se a Transport mis

has bee n aborted i t s ti ll c ou nt s as a m is si on

therefore its units still have the samecapabi

even though they disembarked at a different

29.432 f an airborne drop drives a fleet out,

permitting an invasion, on an other

undefended beach, maya bridgehead counte

be placed?

A. No-the invasion hex w ould be c ontr olle

the attacker pr ior to the a c tua l invasion.

29.54 Can d if fe re nt f le et s in t he s am e h ex

d if fe rent por ts , i nt er cept d if fe rent en

missions?

A. Yes. Note that f le et s i n a hex w it h m or e

one port must declare which port t hey a res oo n as they enter it. Al so no te that flee

se pa ra te ports w ithin the same hex a tte mptin

i nt er ce pt t he s am e m is si on m us t r ol l t wi ce

interception-once for each port.

29.57 f a naval and air interception of a n

mission occ ur s in the same hex, w hich atta

resolved first?

A. The interceptor s choice.

29.57 Hav,e air/naval inte rc eptor s, w hose

te nde d naval ta rget w as destroye d or f or ce

abort due to pre vious inte rc eption a tta cks,

formed a mission?

A. Yes.

29.57 May fleets which fail their Interceptio

roll beintercepted by a eligibleenemy air or n

unit?

A.No.

31.1 Can an airborneunit takeof f froma city

instead of an airbase counter?A. Yes.

32.12 Could Italian partisans be created if

was conquered rather than having surrender

A. Yes.

32.3 f a ll u ni ts i nv ol ve d i n a C ro ss in g A

attack a re p ar ti sa n, t hen wo ul d a p ar ti sa

defender's side of Crossing Arrow untriple

defender?

A. Yes.

33.41 7 A re Ax is f lee ts i n Kiel c on si de re

b ei ng i n t he E as t er n Front f or t he p ur po s

determining a combat factor advantage on

Eastern Front?

A.No.

33.41 7 Ma ythe German playeractivate Tu

with variant 7 if Germany lac ks a f ull 35 B

f or a DoW?

A. No-Germany cannot use Turkey's 30BR

p ay for th e T urk is h DoW. See Sequenc

Play-II.D.l. 2.33.5 What happens on a modified dic e r oll o

A. Treat it as a 2

36.23 Otherthan during transfer when being

or re cl ai med ), a re SR in g l en t I ta li an fo

counted against German, or Italian, or either

limits?

A. German.

37.3 41. 3 D o a llie d units based in Maltaco

against Egyptian supply limitations?

A. Yes.

42. 41 Ma y nt I ta li an f or ce s b e p la ce d i n

Murmansk box?

A.No.

7/27/2019 Vol19i6


The overwhelming response to the re-rating of

the RBG brought, in i ts wake, a large sampling for

our evaluation of Vol. 19, No.4. Our curious mix of

articles and artwork piqued the fancy (or ire) of

many readers, bringing these editors a great deal of

controversy-and t he bes t overall rating (3.04)

since Vol. 18, No.5. The ratings for the individualarticles, basec t on random selection of 200

responses:

RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 26 6

LET'S GET CIVILIZED 20 2

SQUAD LEADERCLINIC 193RAMSES II 118

OH-WAH-REE 102

PELOPONNESIAN WAR. . . 93

WARS OF MARNON. . . . . . . . 57

COLOSSEUM CAMPAIGN. . . 48

THE COMPLEAT DIPLOMAT. .3 5AH PHILOSOPHY. . . . . . . . . 33

EXPANDING TRADE. . . . . . . 30

DESIGN ANALYSIS 17CIRCUS MAXIMUS II 6

It is said that a rolling stone gathers nomoss .

Nei ther do, it seems, old fr iends and talen teddesigners. Alan Moon has rolled on to Parker

Brothers. This means, of course, that release of

RENAISSANCE will be delayed until a final draft of

the rules can be completed; it will not be released atORIGINS '83. Nevertheless, we wish Alan wel l inall things.

The results of the 1st Atlanta SQUAD LEADEROpen, f irst in what may become an annual institution for the hundreds of expert players, are finalized. The names of the five top place finishers areeasily recognizable to aficionados of t he game: 1st

place- Rober t Munse ll , 2nd - Richard Kindel,3rd-Bil l Thomson, 4th Tim Deane, 5th-Allen

Womack. To them we offer our congratulations.Already they, and many others, are awaiting the2nd Atlanta SL Open, or are planning a similarevent for their region. Could it be that there will

soon be a tour for those skilled players of themost popular tactical game ever dev ised ,

culminating in a Masters ?

Mike s Mag, an amateur publication devoted to

long-running pbm versions of popular AH games. Arecent issue l is ted openings for GUNSLINGER,RAIL BARON, WS IM, KINGMAKER, MACHIA-VELLI and AH's most recent release, the updatedCONQUISTADOR. For a copy, or information on

games being played, contact Mr. Michael T. Scott,

1726 Cypress i r c l ~ La Verne, CA 91750.

From Down Under comes a fine 'zine,Austral View, an obvious labor of love by Richard

Williams (45 Barcelona Road, Noarlunga Downs,South Australia 5158). Given to reviews and pbmgames, this magazine offers openings for

gamemastered play of MACHIA VELLI ORIGINSOF WW2, CIRCUS MAXIMUS, DUNE, CIVILIZA-TION WIZARD S QUEST, ACQUIRE and SPEED

CIRCUIT- a rather mixed bag and sure to offer

something to any Australian gamer. Those such interested in any of these games are urged to contact

Mr. Williams.

The Citadel is once again chartering a bus for

ORIGINS '8 3 in July on a share-cost basis. The buswill depart from New London on Thursday morningand travel to Detroit by way o f U.S. Routes 84 and80 . I t wi ll arr ive at the hotel on Thursday evening.

Hotel arrangements have been confirmed forall

nfilfrafor·s eport

riders. Any organization wishing to arrange a pickuppointalong the route should contact The Citadel.Any individual wishing to reserve a seatmust senda SASE to or cal l The Citadel, New London Shopping Center, New London, CT 06320, (203)

444-7669.

Publication of The Blackand Blue Book, a listingof some 200 DIPLOMACY players, publishers,services and organizations for Californians, is announced by Larry Peery. A product of the CaliforniaDiplomacy Registry and Directory Service, thisforty-page issue contains background informationon the California game scene, arti cles on play,gossip and future events related to DIPLOMACY. Asubscription to the California Diplomacy Registry,which inc ludes the latest edit ion of the BBB

up-dating supplements, newsletter mailings andregistry is 6.00 annually for residents of

California. Individual copiesof the BBBare availableto others for 3.00. Send checks or money ordersto the Institute for Diplomatic Studies, P.O. Box8416, San Diego, CA 92102.

Sti ll another 'zine, one with a decided conservative tone, is The Modern Patriot. Primarilygiven over to news of the wargaming hobby in the

United States, it isa labor of loveby a few dedicatedgamers in Rochester, New York. Recently, it hasmerged with Hoof Mouth , aDIPLOMACY zinebased in Rochester and mentioned before in thesepages. For more informationor a sample issue, contact William S Highfield, 2012 Ridge Road East,Rochester NY 14622.

As expected, the AREA Postal Championships

Report was obsolete even before it was printed.The latest results at presstime had changed thingsas

follows.In AFRIKA KORPS Frank Preissle hasstrengthened his lead in Heat 1 with a 2-0 recordover Dale Garbutt at 1-1. In Heat 1 of STAL-INGARD David Kopp has been brought back intothe pack with a loss to drop him to 2-1. RussellHaines record in Heat 5 was incorrectly reported as

3-0; he actually is 2-0.

The final round of PANZERBLITZ is now completely underway as Richard Leach emerged victorious in Heat 1 by virtue of rating tie-breakerswith his 3-1 opponents Dan Munsell and RobertRowley. He now joins Bruce Remsburg and JohnSunde in the f inal round. In Heat 3 of RUSSIANCAMPAIGN, Pat Flory has overcome CraigClemens initial lead by beating him in head-to-headcompetition to raise his record to 2-0 against

Clemens 2-1 .Ed

Mineman has won Heat 2 with a4-0 record and is the f irst to quali fy for the TRC

finals. In W TERLOO Kevin McCarthy has handedtop seed Joseph Beard his first loss to take the leadin Heat 1 at 2-0 over Beard at 2-1 . In B TTLEOF

THE BULGE Jeff Power has emerged as the clearleader in Heat 2 with a 3-0 record overTom Olesonat 1-0. In ANZIO David Downing has won Heat 1with a 4-0 record and now awaits the winner of theTom Oleson-Paul Fletcher battle in Heat 2.

Gregory Smith of Wilton, NH, became the firstentrant to win his Heat in the STALINGRAD AREAPostal Championship tournament with wins overJoseph Beard, William Brumfield, John Rogers andRick Demovic. Smith, who won two games with

each side, must now await the final determinationof other winners before start ing the second,' and

final, round.

From England too comes Despatch, the Eu

pean Newsletter of AHIKS, a periodical of profsional quality devoted to reviews and art icless tr at egy (the recent issue Number 60 carrfascinating pieces on FLA T TOP and GUNSAUGUSn as well as topical news of the Europechapter of wargaming's proudest players' orgization. Of particular interest to this readerwas

listing of pbm requests by European gamers;most numerous, THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGclosely followed by SL and AZ Serious wargamin Western Europe on the prowl for superior co

petition would dowell to contact Mr. Dave SteedBlacksmith Common, Chalton, Beds. LU4 9UN)learn more about this honorable society.

It appears that computer gaming is truly herstay. The Microcomputer Division of Avalonhas brought forth the first issues of MICROCOPUTER GAMES, a periodical devoted to playprogress of the many fine computer games.keep abreast of t he developments, logiclogistics of this fascinating field, this is Tmagazine for the serious player and programmThe editors of Avalon Hill welcome Phyllis Suddto their ranks as Managing Editor of MICROCOPUTER GAMES, a beautiful lady well versed in

ways o f this branch of our hobby. A mere 4brings a year's worth; a two-year subscripcosts 7.50. A sample issuemay be had for 1fromthe Avalon HillGameCompany, 4517 HarfRoad, Baltimore, MD 21214.

Most of the entrants in Contest 110 fell ithe usual t rap in c lassic strategy games-that

playing for immediate results without consideratfor the long- term effects of their action. Of

more than two hundred entries, only twenty-n

indicated Pit 6 as the most logical play. Frthese, the following ten were randomly selectedwinners: Matt Brown, Wil ton, IA; Joe CastigWest Seneca, NY; James Crawley, Bonnyvi

Alberta; Denis Hines, Kenner, LA; Glenn LaVigAlbuquerque, NM; T im Moore , Westboro , M

Ronald Papandrea, Warren, MI; Brian Pearson,Joseph, MO; Duane Tenney, Herndon, IA; andVillanueva, Eugene, OR

As with all our contests, there is more to Ctest 111 than meets t he eye. In the opinionKevin Zucker and his playtesters, in the DresScenario, the Frenchmust face realities and acc

the defensive role. Less agreementwas reachedthe terri torial imperatives for such a defensstrategy. However, these must generally be aimat holding the line of the Elbe between DresdenMagdeburg and preventing the All ied Army fr

debouching over the Erz Gebirge. To accompthis, there are certain key positions to control:

Dresden2. Leipzig3. Luckau4. Bunzlauand 5. Bautzen.

The defense of Dresden, as anyone who hasrused Mr. McHenry's fine analysis of the scenain the last issue is aware, is imperative. The ottowns here listed are ranked as defensive positiin the above manner. For the purposes of judgthis contest, each answer is given the numer

rating above and these are then totaled (for exaple, if Dresden, Leipzig and Bunzlau were the smitted answer, a score of 7 results). The w

ners are those ten with the lowest score.

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