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8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


PAGE THE GENERAL

valon Hill Philosophg Part 5

PUBLISHERS OR DESIG NERS

Games, games and more games every-

where we look we see more games being made

available to the wargame fanatic profes-

sional games, amateur games and all theshadesfrom chocolate to vanilla in between. The up-to-

date collector could easily list several hundred

with hardly a second thought. The days of the

annual Avalon Hill release being all the eager

wargamer could look forward to are gone

perhaps forever. A veritable flood of new games

is released every year from a seemingly ever

increasing host of publishers. Even we have

added to the deluge with our mail order line and

increased product output made possible by a

growing R & D staff. And a lthough the era of the

games explosion has dealt many a "dog" to the

avid collector it has also brought forth some

excellent efforts which might never have seen

the light of day with a major producer were it not

for the exposure gained through a "th ird world"

publisher. Itw as hisexposurewhich brought usWOODEN SHIPS & IRON MEN and CAESAR SLEGIONS this fall and will be bringing you even

bigger surprises this spring.

One ingredient that goes into every Avalon

Hill game In abundance is development time.

The old adage of at least 'a year per game' still

holds true at Harford Rd. Even with a rapidly

expanding R & D staff, we have been hard-

pressed to maintain our standards of quality and

an increased pub lishing schedule. This, in part,

explains our increasing reliance on outside

designers to supply you with the games you

crave. The natural by-product of the games

explosion has been a corresponding increase in

the number of good xperienced game design-

ers. In working wi th these designers through a

royalty arrangement we can continue to guar-

antee that each Avalon Hill game is the product

of years of research and playtesting by a

qual ified expert. Witness Harold Hock, creator of

TOBRUK, a man who makes his living by

analyzing armament systems for the U.S.

government. It is ha rd to fault those credentials.

Indeed those games published previously in

amateur (for lack of a better word) format

(advance apologies to designers everywhere

with a negative connotation of 'amateur') have

the added bonus of an extremely widespread

consumer testing period. Such was the case

with our fall releases. We took over the

development chores for these games at an

extremely advanced stage with the benefit of

considerable consumer feedback even before

we started. Six months of polishing, expanding

and playtesting topped off by quality compo-nents has enabled us to make super games out

of products deemed winne rs before we started

All of which is not to say AH no longer

designs it s own games. Far from i t Randall C.

Reed is, in our opinion, oneof, if not the, premie r

wargame designers alive today. However, the

same qualities which make him great-an

almost inf inite patience and attention to detail,

preclude him from producing more than one title

per year. His designs will continue to be the

"cadillac" of the AH line, and other AH

personnel will continue to work on long term

projects. But more tried and tested free lance

designers will have the fruits of their labor

collection of the best games available under t

AH banner. We are not so vain that we feel w

know a ll there is to know about game design. W

do eel w e recognize a good game when w e sit however. There exists today a relatively gre

number of free lance designers with fresh ide

and viewpoints; new outlooks that we hope

bring you after screening and adding refin

ments. Do not m isconstrue this as a solicitati

for game designs. We already receive dozens

offers every week. Most go unanswered-there

simply aren't enough hours in the day

investigate even a fraction of them. Our stable

free lance designers is both near capacity a

exclusive. To gain admittance, one must ha

pretty impressive credentials. Hopefully, o

begins to get the message that AvalonHiIlis n

just another designer of adul t games-but

publisher. Simon & Schuster doesn't write th

own books-they publish the works of leadi

authors. The analogy holds true in the gambusiness.

N E W G M E S FO R 976

The preceding is by way of introduction

Andrew McNeil and our spring release: KIN

MAKER. Originally the product of Philmar, L

(an English version of Avalon Hill) KINGMAKE

took Great Britain by storm and became

overnight sensation. Its reception in he U.S. h

been just as enthusiastic if not as widesprea

Due to the expense and difficulty inherent

importing, the game sold for $12.00 throu

U.S. distributors. By licensing (selling gam

rights in exchange for royalties) the game

Avalon Hill, Philmar stands to benefit far mo

from our retail distribution than would be t

case if they continued to sell direct to Americimporters. U.S. and Canadian game enthusia

will benefit by increased availability and les

ened cost of the produc t. Avalon Hill, for its pa

gets to add another quality game to its line a

build on its reputation of fine games-a ve

important factor in his day of high competiti

in the game industry.

KINGMAKER is a multi-player diploma

game of the English Civil War. Andrew McN

parlayed his vast knowledge of the War of t

Roses into an entirely new game system o

remotely resembling the combat factor/hexa

on pattern of standard wargames. The res

was a delightful game of cut-throat diploma

capturing the glamour of the periodand with t

potential to enamor thousands not norma

attracted to the conventional wargame. M

Uhl, the developer of WS & l M and the origi

KINGMAKER enthusiast among our staff,

handling the development. Besides 'America

izing' the mapboard by labelling geograp

regions readily assumed by English players,

AH version will feature a city index for ra

point location and greatly cleaned-up rules. W

know that KINGMAKER will be an inst

success-it already is. All we have to do

improve on a fine product. S T, a gam

magazine of some considerable repute h

favored it with the most gratifying review in h

journal's history. The AH version will be ev

better. Look for it this spring.

screened and adopted by the AH development

team. The result, we feel, will be a great P ILOSOP Y ontinued on Page

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THE GENER L P GE

The attle of the Mydaspes

The rmy of lexander The GreatBy Tom Hazlett

Alexander must unquestionably rank at, orclose to, the top on anybody's list of all time greatmilitary leaders, but we should not forget that inachie\iing his victories he had a little help from thefinest army, with the possible exception of theRoman legion, in the history of the ancient world.This army was organized, trained, and led to its firstvictories not by Alexander, but by his father, Philip.It was Philip who established Macedonian suprem-acy over Greece in the battle of Chaeronea, and hadhe not been assassinated it would have been Philipand not Alexander who would have led the invasionof Persia. It is interesting to speculatejust how muchthat assassin's blade affected history. Most histori-ans are of the opinion that Philip's ambitions wouldnot have driven him as far as Alexander went, and

that he would have accepted the offer Alexanderrefused after the battle of Issus, one of 10,000 alentsand all land west of the Euphrates River. This ofcourse is mere speculation, for who knows whatambitions a man has? Certainly no one looking atAlexander just prior to the invasion would haveanticipated the extent of his conquests.

The country ruled by Philip differed greatlyfrom the Greek city-states to the south. It was

organized along feudal lines, and its army, prior toPhilip had a distinctly feudal characteristic. Thearmy was divided into three forces. The Compan-ions were mounted nobles armed with a shortthrusting spear which they used to great effect and asword as secondary armament. The foot guards(agema) were a professional infantry force ofapproximately 1000. Finally there were the un-trained, and virtually worthless, peasant leviesarmed with sword or spear and a wicker shield.From these elements Philip forged a new profes-sional force.

He reorganized the Companions into 8 squa-drons and expanded their strength to about 8,000.One of these, called the Royal Squadron, (300 men)acted as the king's bodyguard and is oftencalled theagema of the Companions. (Alexander subsequent-

ly reorgani~edhe Companions several times. At thebattle of the Hydaspes the Royal Squadronremained separate while the other seven were

brigaded with Iranian cavalry of approximately1000 men each.)

The peasants were organized into at least 14t xis of 1500 men each. They were armed with asarissa, or pike, several feet longer than the spearused by the Greek hoplites. Estimates of its lengthvary from 13 to 18 feet, compared with the 9 footGreek model. The increased length gave them atremendous advantage in combat. The sarissas ofthe front five ranks projected in front of the firstman, while those of the rear ranks pointed upwardproviding protection against enemy missiles. Theincreased length also made maneuver more difficult;untrained levies would have found it prohibitive.Philip solved this problem by making them apermanent standing force and calling them FootCompanions to reflect this status. Fighting in a 16man deep formation instead of the traditional Greek8 deep, they were practically invulnerable to frontalattack, and their high degree of training made themmore maneuverable than the typical Greek phalanx.As the sarissa took two hands their small wicker

shield was strapped to their left arm. Secondaryarmament consisted of a short sword. Additionalprotection was provided by helmet, greaves, and abreastplate.

The foot guards, or hypaspists, were expandedinto 3 battalions of 1000men each. We are uncertainas to how they were armed. As they were used to

protect the flanks of the phalanx they were probablynot armed with thesarissa, but perhaps the standard9 foot spear. They were used in the line, but alsoperformed many functions of light troops. Theirmultiple uses indicate their superb training and theirstatus as the elite infantry.

These three forces formed the core of the army ofPhilip and Alexander. Despite the improvement ofthe infantry the emphasis remained on the cavalry,

and the Companions were still the principal strforce. The phalanx was stationed in the centerthreaten the enemy while the Companions delivethe decisive charge from their position on the rigflank. The hypaspists were stationed betweentwo and covered the gap in the line created byadvance of the cavalry. The Macedonian army win short, a balanced, highly trained national forvastly superior to the mercenary and citizen hoplarmies that had dominated Greek warfareseveral hundred years.

These forces actually comprised less tha n halfthe army with which Alexander conquered PersThe invasion was officially conducted underaegis of the League of Corinth, an organizationall the Greek states except Sparta, brought togetat sword point after Athens and Thebes wcrushed at Chaeronea. None of the members hany love for the Macedonians and had revolted afPhilip's assassination. Alexander, then onlyyears of age, moved quickly, and all thoughtsresistence ended when Thebes was destroyed andfew survivors sold into slavery. Persia, of courwas the hereditary enemy of the Greeks. They wmore than willing to assist in an invasion of t

country, no doubt secretly hoping that their tenemies would destroy each other. The Leagsupplied 9,000 troops, mostly hoplites with socavalry. One suspects that they were taken alomore as hostages to ensure the loyalty of their citthan for their fighting value. Alexander obvioudid not trust them. He made little use of themcombat and sent them homeafter Gaugamela, whhis position was secure. Additionally, he lefsubstantial Macedonian force in Greece, includ6-8 battalions of phalanx.

His distrust of the Greeks did not extendThessaly. This area was a member of the Leaguealso friendly to Macedon. It furnished a body2000 cavalry, armed like the Companions, whwas of high fighting quality and playedimportant role throughout the campaign.

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PAGE THEGENERA

To fill his needs for light troops Alexander reliedextensively on mercenaries, although he did have abody of about 900 native light cavalry variouslyreferred to as Lancers or Scouts, and about 1000native archers. The vast majority of the mercenariescame from the Balkan countries surroundingMacedon. Thrace supplied 700 light cavalry armedwith the sarissa and about 5000 peltasts (mediuminfantry) armed with a murderous curved sword(rhomphaia) in addit ion to avelins. Also worthy of

particular note were 1000 Agrianian javelin-men.These outstanding light infantry served well in allsituations, particularly in the guerilla warfare ofeastern Persia.

Alexander also hired 1000 Cretan archers, themost highly regarded bowmen of the day, andseveral thousand Greek peltasts and hoplites.

While this was the army with which Alexanderlaunched his invasion its composition changedduring the course of his 11 year campaign. AfterGaugamela he felt he no longer needed Greekhostages, and he sent his allies home, replacingthem on occasion with troops from the PersianEmpire, making particular use of excellent Iraniancavalry. He also received reinforcements fromMacedon on several occasions.

One of the most interesting units never got into

battle. Sometime after Gaugamela Alexanderordered that 30,000 sons of Persian nobles beorganized and trained in the Macedonian fashion.By the time Alexander returned from India thetraining of these Epigoni (successors) had beencompleted, although they were never organized intocombat units. Their presence may have hadsomething to do with the collapse of the Macedoni-an army's brief mutiny in 324 B.C. It certainly hadsomething to do with the start of the mutiny. TheEpigoni were a manifestation of Alexander's policyof treating Persians as equal to Macedonians andadopting many of their customs in an attempt tofuse the two cultures. There was a constantlygrowing fear among the Macedonian troops,especially the senior officers who had served withPhilip, that Alexander would establish a permanent

capital in Asia, abandoning his Macedonianheritage and reducing his homeland to provincialstatus. (300 years later Rome had a similar fear

concerning Mark Antony and Egypt). Over 2000years it is difficult to separate fact from fiction, but itwould seem that several senior officers, includingParmenio, were fearful enough to plot againstAlexander, and were executed as a result.

Unfortunately space does not permit a detaileddiscussion of Alexander's political maneuveringswhich in their way are as intricate and fascinating ashis military ones. Likewise, we could not begin toadequately describe all the major battles, smallbattles, and sieges in less than a book. As AvalonHill is not in competition with Ballantine, we willcontent ourselves with a brief look at Alexander'slast, and many historians feel his greatest , battle; theHydaspes.

THE FI N L B TTLEALEXANDER S INVASION

O F I N D IA A N D

THE BATTLE OF THE

HYDA SPES RIVER

By Gary Gygax with Tom Hazlett

With the defeat of Darius at the Battle ofGaugamela, Alexander secured the whole of thewestern part of the Persian Empire. The eastern halfof the realm, however did not passively submit to

the new ruler, and a long campaign in the Far Eastwas necessary before Alexander was able to subduethe whole of the lands formerly in subjection to thePersian Great King. The years between 331 B.C.(Gaugamela) and 327 B.C. were spent marchingover a great stretch of land, from Arbela toBokhara, from the Aral Sea to the Indian Ocean, anarea over 1,500 miles long and 1,000 broad. Buteventually the rebellious and treacherous satrapswere finally dealt with, and Alexander's Empire wassecure, but it wasn't as large as the Persia of Cyrus,and this Alexander knew.

While the young conqueror knew very little ofthe world beyond the borders or his own domain, hewas aware that the Persians had (supposedly) ruledthe whole of India. Alexander likely believed Indiato be little more than a moderate-sized peninsula

beyond the Indus River, and he thought to includethis territory in his Empire as well, thus restoring itto a glory greater than even that of Cyrus' reign. So

Approach to the Battle of Hydaspes

sland mistaken by Alexander for opposite bank

Dahriaia

Bahauddin.

MalakwalPorus' Base Camp Miles

L2

Miani I

in the early summer of 327 B.C. he took his recenreformed army and proceeded from Bactsoutheastward. Passing into the Hindu KuAlexander received the submission of the mopowerful local ruler, Omphis (more properAmbhi), officially known as Taxiles after the namof his royal city, Taxilia. Taxiles swore fealty Alexander and furnished a large body of infantand pack elephants for Alexander's use. ThereafAlexander began a series of marches, and afternumber of small battles and skirmishes managedsubdue the tribes of the northern sector of tPunjab. There existed, however, several kingdomto the south and east which were not subdued.

The region which is modern Kashmir was rulby one Abisares. The southern part of the Punjwas under the sway of Porus . Both of these princwere aligned against the one-time King Ambhi, noa Satrap of Alexander's Empire and a very willone at that. In order to bring India under this swaywould be necessary to defeat these two ruleAlexander then decided to make Taxilia advanced base and begin operations as soon possible. Before a major campaign could be beguhowever, he decided it would be necessary to furthreorganize his army in order to fully integrate tAsian horse troops into his cavalry arm.

The reorganization of the cavalry consisted o

brigading of the Asian horsemen except hoarchers with the Campanion cavalry. The RoySquadron of 300 (Agema) remained separate, others formed five mixed hipparchies each 1,0strong, all but the fifth having approximately 3Macedonians and 700 Asian troopers. The fihzpparchy consisted of only a handful of Macedoans, the whole being nearly all Asian horsemPrior to this Alexander had expanded the phalaby adding another taxis of 1,500 men. Tbreakdown of strength by unit was now:

Cavalry:

Agema1st through 5th HipparchiesMercenariesHorse Archers

Infantry:Phalanx of 7 taxesHypaspistsMercenariesTaxiles' IndiansMissile Infant ry

With this force Alexander set forth to conquthe independent princes already mentioned, bwhen he arrived at the northern bank of tHydaspes River he was confronted by King Porand the whole of his army. Porus chose to defethis river line as it was swollen by heavy rains at ttime and thus passable only by boat or raFurthermore, Porus expected to be reinforced his ally Abisares before the flood subsided. TIndian believed that by a strong guarding of t

water barrier he could prevent any crossing unsuch time as such an invasion of his territory wouspell certain defeat for Alexander. He reckonwithout Alexander's ability and energy.

Nightly the army of Alexander made sorties araised alarms in the Indian camp with their feinThe Indians eventually were lulled into a belief tAlexander was going to play into their hands aawait lower water when the fords could be usAlexander did his best to encourage this belief ordering the collection of large quantities provisions at his camp, as though he were preparfor a long wait.

Eventually Porus stopped reacting to Macedonian maneuvering and Alexander dividhis forces in preparation for a crossing. H

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


THE GENER L P GE

lieutenant Craterus was left at the camp with orders

to create an impression of the entire army remaining

in camp. He had the following forces: 2 taxis, 1

hipparchy, 5000 lndians and some mercenary

cavalry, totaling about 8000 infantry and 3000

cavalry.

Once battle had been joined, Crateru s was to

cross the river and join in, unless Porus opposed the

crossing with elephants, in which case he was to

remain in camp. Alexander knew that his cavalry

would not cross in the face of elephants, leaving the

lndian cavalry free to cut down any infantryattempting to cross.

Leaving about 5000 infantry and 500 cavalry

scattered along the river bank with orders to oin the

main force as it marched down the opposite bank,

Alexander marched his remaining troops several

miles upstream and began to cross under cover of

d2rkness (see diagram). The island shielded the

crossing from Porus until Alexander landed in good

order on what he thought was the opposite shore,

only to discover that it was another small island.

There was no time to bring the boats around, and

Alexander had a bad few minutes until he found a

spot in the narrow channel that was barely fordable.

Porus, learning of the crossing, had a difficult

decision as to division of his army. Gambling that

the crossing was a diversion he sent a force of 2000

cavalry and 100 chario ts under his son Prince Porusto drive the invaders into the river. By the time this

force arrived the Macedonians had already com-

pleted their crossing, an d when Alexander realized

that the Indian force was not the advance guard of

the entire lndian army he charged with his cavalry.

The Indian chariots became mired in the mud along

the river bank. Prince Porus was killed and the force

routed with heavy losses.

Upon hear ing of this disaster Porus left several

thousand troops and some elephants to oppose

Craterus and advanced with his main force to meet

Alexander. We do not know the exact size of this

force. The accuracy of ancient historians is often

questionable, and their counting ability is particu-

larly suspect, considering that most of the accounts

of a battle came from the victor's side and the more

numerous the enemy the more glorious the triump h.The following figures, those of J.F.C. Fuller, seem

more reasonable than most: 30,000 infantry, 3600

cavalry, 180 chariots, and 200 elephants.

The Indians had no heavy infantry comparable

to the Greek hoplite. Their best foot troops were

archers, while the bu lk of the infantry was ill-trained

peasant spearmen. The Indians did not give their

cavalry any special status; its training and arma-

ment was no better than the infantry. A great deal of

reliance was placed on their heavy chariots and their

elephant corps.

Porus made no attempt to disrupt the crossing of

the reserves scattered along the river bank. Instead

he waited for Alexander's advance, having chosen a

strong defensive position with the river on his left

and a low ridge on his right.

The Indians presented a unique set of problems

to Alexander. In his previous battles the cavalry had

always delivered the decisive blow. That tactic

would not work here, as the horses would not

approach the elephants. The task of winning the

battle thus fell upon the phalanx, but in order to

protect its flanks the Indian cavalry would have to

be neutralized. Accordingly Alexander sent forward

two hipparchies, a force he hoped would be

sufficiently inferior to the total strength of the

lndian cavalry to tempt Porus into combining his

cavalry wings and attacking. When Porus reacted as

hoped, two more hipparchies, which had been

concealed by rolling ground, charged the Indian

cavalry in the flank. After a short fight the Indians

retreated behind an elephant screen. As the

elephants moved toward the Macedonian cavalry

they were met by the advancing phalanx and a

\

ALEXANDER

A Horse Archers0-E Hlpparchles of Companion CavalryF Hypasplsts

G-K 5 Battalions of the Phalanx

L Mtsstle unlts spread out ~nsklrmlsh posltlon front of matn battle llne xxxxx)

F G H

,/

o o o o o o o A A A A A A o o o o o o o

l ? E a m rr .jll----

PORUS

InfantryFlanklng lnfantryCavalryCharlotsElephants

Battle of the Hydaspes

general melee began. The lnd ian cavalry rallied and

made an attempt to engage the phalanx but wereHOW TO PL Y

THE B TTLE OF THE HYD SPESonce again met by the Macedonian cavalry and

forced to retreat behind the elephants. Those huge he "les

beasts had meanwhile managed to do considerablestated.

damage to the phalanx. ~ h ;ight infantry, which

had preceded the phalanx into battle, countered by

killing many of the mahouts and the elephants

began to rush abo ut wildly in an effort to escape the

constant harassment of these troops. The Macedo-

nians were able to avoid their mad charges, but the

lndians had been compressed into a narrow area

during the fighting and were less fortunate; the

remainingcavalry was slaughtered. As the elephants

left the field the phalanx advanced on the remaining

lndian troops, while the cavalry attacked both

flanks. The Indian army disintegrated as Craterus

crossed the river and joined the pursuit, and Poruswas persuaded to surrender. Casualty figures from

ancient historians mean little, but it is safe to say

that casualties were heavy on the Macedonian-

Persian side while the lndian army practically

ceased to exist. Alexander was so impressed by

Porus' courage that he not only made him an ally

but added to his territory.

The above can serve as no more than an

introduction to the campaigns of this most

significant individual. For those interested in

further reading, J.F.C. Fuller's The Generalship ofAlexander the Great is highly reccomended. There

also exists a great number of excellent biographies,

almost all of them with the obvious title of

Alexander the Great. Those by Tarn and Wilcken

are particularly recommended.

Mapboard

Ignore historical placement designations and

baggage camps. The Macedonian-Persian pla

sits on the side of the mapboard next to row

which is now the east side. The lndian pla

sits on the other side

level grou nd: green hexes

muddy ground: brown hexes next to the ri

bank (2 hexes wide) river bank: The slope l

(the spotted line running the length of the boa

by the Macedonian baggage camp)

ridge: the hexes in rows- to T, 22 to 28 incluswhich contain hill contour lines with pink

crests.

Start of Play

I The lndian player sets up his army on or

hind row 0 .

2. The M-P player sets up on or behind row E

3. The M-P player moves first.

How to Win

1. The M-P player wins by reducing the Ind

morale to 0.

2. The Indian player wins by killing Alexan

or reducing M-P morale to 0

Continued on Page 26 Colum

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P GE 6

Star ingj Stdingrad in 942 BycOnnO ly

Variant of the Middle

Game of ST LINGR D

Since its release, STALINGRAD has been oneof the simulationgames most frequently analyzed inprint. This analysis has generally centered aroundthe opening moves by both sides.

But the opening set-up has always been thefactor that kept opponents from reacting as did theHistorical German General Staff or the RussianStavka. In the game, the Russians are prepared forOPERATION BARBAROSSA. They fight aretreating defensive battle using the vast lands ofRussia and the several Europeanmajorriverlines astheir strategic defensive plan. The Nemunas,Divina, and Dnestr rivers obtain far more import-ance than in actual fact. It is a rare German playerwho sees the spires of the Kremlin in the winter 41-42 nor holds the west bank of the Volga at any time.Indeed, the battle of Stalingrad is infrequentlyfought, for the Germans don't often get that far intoRussia.

This variant is developed starting with the front

as of May 1942. It was during the following sevenmonths that the German Army reached its farthestadvance in the East. It was these same months thatsaw the Russian Army pass its cirsis and emerge asthe dominant force on the Eastern Front. Both theseactions were accompanied by miscalculations on thepart of the combatants, but the consequences fellmost heavily on the Germans, who lost World WarI1 as a direct result.

HISTORICAL SETTING

By the time the campaign against Russia wasconsidered in late summer '40, Hitler and hisGenerals had three brilliant victories behind them-Poland, Norway, and France-and even to skeptics,

Hitler had begun to look like a military genius.The problems associated with operations in

Russia appeared to be primarily geographic for theRussian Army had recently shown poorly againstthe Finns. Although the climate was recognized, themain difficulty was how to accomplish a militaryvictory in the vastness of Russia. Aside from someof the larger European rivers and the PripyatMarshes, the terrain did not offer notable difficultyto movement of modern military forces. Butmaintaining concentration of force and supplyingthe armies as they penetrated into the Soviet Unionpresented staggering if not crippling obstacles.There were less than 5 1,000 miles of railroads in thecountry. Of the some 850,000 miles of so-calledroads, only 40,000 miles were hard surfaced.

Both Hitler had his Generals agreed that the

solution was in part to trap and destroy the mainSoviet forces on or near the frontier. But theGenerals disagreed with Hitler on the next stage-the final defeat of the Soviet Union. Hadler andBrauchitsch proposed to concentrate on theadvance toward Moscow, believing the Sovietscould then be forced to commit the bulk of their laststrength to defend the capital. Hitler, however, hadhis way and OPERATION BARBAROSSAprovided for simultaneous advances toward Le-ningrad, Moscow, and Kiev. Even so, Staff studiespredicted the Soviet Union would be finished ineight to ten weeks.

OKH assigned 149 divisions, including 19panzer divisions, to the operation. Their nominalstrength was 3,050,000 men. To this were added500,000 Finns and 150,000 Rumanians.

In June 41 the Russian western frontier defensewas assigned to some 60 armies. While it is difficultto accept that these armies were in as austere acondition as the post-war Russian assessmentwould have them appear, they were certainly notprepared for the test to which they were about to be

subjected. They were established along a line that,for the most par t, had been deep in Poland less thantwo years before. Communications and defensivepoints were in the construction stages.

Because of the Russian reluctance to releasehard statistics, nearly all Soviet troop strengthsremain estimates. The best available figures giveabout 70 percent of the Soviet forces as actually onthe front lines-3,000,000 men.

Under the initial shock of BARBAROSSA,surprise soon turned t o confusion and then panic inthe Russian ranks. By the second week, it appearedthe first objective, destruction of the Soviet Armyclose to the frontier, had been accomplished. Bymid-July, Army Groups North and Center hadcrossed the Divina and Dnepr rivers while ArmyGroup South was making an easternly sweep

through the Ukraine.As the collapse on the frontier occurred, and

during the retreat into the interior, the RussianArmy underwent a reorganization from the topdown. Incompetence in leadership, due primarily tothe purges of the 30's, was removed and fieldcommands were scaled down to the capabilities ofthe Officer Corps. An Army was reduced to five orsix divisions, and the Corps-sized unit was abol-ished. Divisions were trimmed from the pre-war12,000 men to a more manageable 6000-9000.

Still, by mid-July when Army Group Centerforced the encirclement around Smolensk, theSoviet Command was doing exactly what theGermans had hoped; standing and fighting insteadof voluntarily retreating into the country. It had,moreover, made the decision that Hadler and

Brauchisch had predicted, namely, to put its maineffort in the center in front of Moscow.

On July 19 Hitler confirmed hisconvictions thatMoscow was not the primary strategic objective.Army Group Center was shorn of its armor, andtold to push on toward Moscow with only Infantry.

By September, this was revised and the armorwas returned for a final try at Moscow. The frontsbefore Moscow now held 40 percent of the RussianArmy manpower, but the Soviet strategy was thesame; meet the enemy head-on, wear him down,stop him, and then counterattack. Again thesetactics failed, for within the first week of October,Army Group Center broke the Russian lines andvictory appeared so near that OKW cancelled plansfor an expedition out of Finland t o cut theMurmansk-Moscow railroad.

But as the offensive continued, slowed first bythe mud and then the cold of November, it becameapparent that Army Group Center was worn down.Five months of fighting had taken 750,000 Germar.casualties with only about half replaced. Despite theRussian losses, the Germans claimed 3,000,000prisoners alone, the Soviets were still able to raiseand d e~ lo v ine new armies in November.

At ;he beginning of December, Army GroupCenter put its last man and gun into the attack. TheGerman hope was that th e~ us si an s ad done thesame.

That they hadn't was suddenly apparent. In themorning fog, at 4 0 degrees, the Russians attackedArmy Group Center just as its patrols were able tosee the spires of Moscow. The 3 year string ofGerman victories came to an end.

Although this Russian winter offensive 41-failed to accomplish a clear-cut military victobefore grinding to a halt in Feb., it dealt tGermans a damaging blow. Most important,destroyed the myth of German invincibility araised Soviet prestige at home and abroad.

With the halt of the Russian winter offensiveFebruary, the front stabilized.

The Russians did not know what sacrifices coming campaign would entail. To their certain6,000,000, and possibly 8,000,000 military losseskilled or captured could be added millions civilians. The Soviet Union had lost 47 of inhabited area, a territory in which 80,000,0people had lived. Moreover, the territory hproduced 7 1 of the pig-iron, 58 of the steel, a63 of Russian coal.

But the price was not more than the Stavka wwilling to pay. As the Soviet Command nobelatedly recognized, territory and lives were Russian Strategic Assets.

The Germans had also suffered casualties, ov1,000,000 men thus far. But their problem hbecome logistics-it was 850 miles through hostterritory to Berlin, but only 150 miles to Mosco

The STAVKA s mistake in reading German intentions.

Both the Germans and the Russians made plafor summer offensives. The German campaigOPERATION BLAU, provided for a full-scaoffensive only in the south to be directed down t

Don toward Stalingrad and the Caucasus oil fielThe decision to limit the campaign was not a frone. After the strains and drains of the 19campaign, austerity was present. Of the 67 divisioallocated for BLAU, two-thirds had to be rebuiltthe front. Only one-third came from reserves.

In the BLAU directive, Hitler's main objectiwas south-east Russia. His plan was to possehimself of the Don basin and, above all, tCaucasian oilfields. He would thus deprive Russof her vital fuel supplies and, on the way to tCaucasus, would destroy Russia's remaining rserves of military manpower. To accomplish all thArmy Group South-divided now into ArmGroups A and B-would first conquer the Crimand eliminate those Russian forces still in possesion of quite a large area west of the Donets riv

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and just south of Kharkov. After that there was tobe a three-pronged attack on Voronezh by the twoforces of assaulting troops moving east from nearKursk. Having occupied the Crimea, the Germanswere to advance eastward, cross the Straits ofKerch, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea ofAzov, and invade the northwest Caucasus. Havingcaptured Voronezh, the German Armies were toconverge from there on the river Volga at Staling-rad. By this time, Hitler calculated, the way would

be open to the Caucasus. Once established in theCaucasus Hitler would have the Russian oil forhimself. And beyond the Caucasus lay the MiddleEast and more oil still, and an overland route to theSuez canal as well. To Hitler, peering south-eastward in the spring of 42, the horizon seemedboundless and every prize obtainable.

As the Germans planned BLAU, the Stavkabuild up the center sector expecting the Germans toconcentrate on a continuation toward Moscow.While a German attack in the south was considereda likely possibility, it was expected the Germanswould bear north toward Moscow rather than southas the Germans were actually planning. By this falseestimate of German intentions, the Stavka placeditself in only slightly less dangerous a strategic

position than that of the previous year.The chain of events did not conform, however,to Hitler s plans. The Russians upset the timetablein two ways. Their first intervention, the abortiveattempt to capture Kharkov, worked to hisadvantage. The other Russian surprise was moreserious. It took the Germans eight months instead ofsix to capture Sebastopol in the Crimea.

In 1942 as in 1941, the Germans were late instarting, and lived to regret their tardiness. TheRussians opened the spring with an attempt to takeKharkov on 12 May. Unfortunately for GeneralTimoshenko, the ~ e t m a n s ere even then prepar-ing to eliminate the Russian bridgehead over theDonets in accord with Hitler s first phase of BLAU.The forces prepared to d o this had already taken uppositions when Timoshenko struck out from the

bridgehead. As a consequence, the Russians lost250,000 prisoners, and weakened the SouthernFront just at the time the Germans were preparingto strike.

The German offensive, BLAU, began a monthlater on 28 June. The Germans took Voronezh on 6-July, and then moved south-east along the bank ofthe Don. Rostov fell on 23 July, but few Russianprisoners were taken. The Russians were learningthe vital strategic lesson that land was worth lessthan men when you have a large semi-emptycountry.

At this time, nevertheless, the Russian positioncould scarcely have been worse. The Caucasus, andwith it Russia s oil, appeared to be at the mercy ofArmy Group A. Group A, reinforced by the IVPanzer Army, occupied Rostov. The Caucasus

Mountains lay ahead of them and separated themfrom the oilfields, and were formidable indeed. Buttheir chances of capturing Baku and Tiflis byautumn still seemed good.

But July 1942 turned out t o be another of thosebaffling moments in the war when Hitler made thewrong decision by not being decisive. In 42 hepossibly changed the course of history by deciding,in effect, to postpone the attack on the Caucasus byweakening the forces which were due to mount it.

After Army Group A captured Rostov, Hitlerordered IV-Panzer Army to proceed north-east tohelp the V1 Army capture Stalingrad, nearly 300miles away. Simultaneously, he ordered ArmyGroup A to send a substantial par t of irs artillery aswell as other units to Leningrad to reinforce ArmyGroup North.

In the light of Hitler s ownplan for the summeroffensive, these were extraordinary decisions. Theireffect was to disperse the overwhelming strengthwhich the Germans then possessed in Rostov, andwhich, probably would have enabled them toachieve Hitler s prime objective for 1942-theCaucasus and its oilfields. In the end the Germanthrust toward the oilfields was, comparatively, nomore than a feeble shove. Army Group A capturedthe nearest oilfield at Maikop to find it destroyed.

An armored thrust toward Grozny stopped before itgot there for lack of fuel and ammunition.So the German summer offensive and the

Russian summer defensive were based on differentprojections. While the Russians expected theGerman attack on Moscow, the Germans consid-ered the oilfields more important. The essentialaspect of the whole summer campaign was that,while both sides now fought with different objec-tives, the permanently damaging cbnsequences fellon the Germans.

Moscow remained in Russian hands, and themishandling of the Caucasus offensive left theoilfields in Russian hands as well. Germany gotnothing but casualties, Russia became the dominantmilitary power on the front.

In retrospect, we can see that the German lack ofa determined application of a strategic plan for thedefeat of Russia was a fatal flaw. In 1941 they hadaccomplished their first objective, the destruction ofthe Russian main force near the frontier, only tofind the Soviets were able to raise more manpowerand material. Despite this surprise, and the Russianwinter offensive, and the winter weather, and thelogistics problems, the German Army was still wellestablished in Russia in May 1942. That BLAU wasa failure cannot be traced to the field commands..The Army was still quite capable of fighting.

But was BLAU misdirected? Could the captureof the Caucasus oil have sufficiently weakenedRussia to force her to withdraw from the war? Whatabout Stalingrad, and the cutting of the Volga river

traffic into Russia? Could this have been decisive inthe outcome of the war?

In part from the secrecy of the Soviet Govern-ment, facts and figures on Russia 1942 are eitherunknown or somewhat distorted. It would appearthat the strategic objectives left to the German armyin 1942 were the destruction of the Russian Army inthe field and the destruction of Russian warproduction through capture of important industrialand transportation targets.

The following variant of S T AL I NGRAD isbased on the strategic concept that destruction ofwar production and strangulation of transportationnets is quantifiable in terms of reductions in troopreplacements or reinforcements.

THE V RI NT

The variant starts with the situation as of May1942. The Russian order of battle is drawn fromrecent Russian and U.S. publications. The Germanorder from OKW historical records and publica-tions. No attempt was made to place the game unitmarkers in specific locations on the board. Instead,German Field Army strengths and Russian FrontForce strengths are indicated by the number ofdefense factors assigned as shown on the picture ofthe gameboard. The front lines as of May 1942 areillustrated by the shaded areas. These are a best-fitdictated by the hex grid system. However, in thewinter of 41 obvious defensive lines such as riverswere frequently ignored by field commanders inobedience to OKW or Stavka orders to hold inplace.

The number in the lower right hand corner of tGerman Army/Russian Front marker designathe DFs allowed to that particular force. The actucorps make-up of the force is left to the playerconstruct from the available units pile.

The number in the lower left hand corndesignates the number of Panzer Corps (German)Shock Armies (Russian) assigned to that forThese may be ignored, but may not be exceede

vailable Unit Pool

The corps markers that came with STALI

G R A D are modified before the game as follow

1. all but one German 8-8-6 Panzer Corps removed. This reflects the reduction of armordivisions by one battalion of armor that occurredearly 42. Only the SS unitsescaped this, so only o8-8-6 is left.2. the number of German armored corps remathe same, so all the discarded 8-8-6s are replaced6-6-6s in the available unit p;je.3. three Mountain Corps of German troops created for assignment in Finland. These are 3-3and differ from normal in that during winter tmovement factor is not reduced.4. the Russians created the Shock army in t

winter of 41-42. These were provided with addit ioal armor and artillery, resulting in an increasdefensive or offensive strength. These are represeed by the 6-9-6s, and since four are called for in initial deployment, three new 6-9-6 markers mustmade.

Once these new units have been added to the unpiles, the opponents may now build their respectiArmies/ Fronts as they choose. No Army/ Frostrength may exceed the listed DFs. If the exact Dstrength cannot be met, a surplus of not more thanDFs per Army/ Front may be formed into a reserwith the restriction that such reserve forces must located not more than six hexes from the initial Hlocation of the Army/Front from which they adeveloped.

PL Y

Step 1.-The German deploys his forces within tfollowing restrictions:

1. All corps of individual Armies must at leamaintain overlapping zones of control wianother corps of the same Army.

2. There can be no uncontrolled hexes immediateon the German side of the front lines except Finland.

3. All German forces, with the exception of OKW1st Hung., 2nd Ital., and XI Rum. must

adjacent to the shaded front lines.

Step 2.-The Russian deploys subject to:

I All units of a Front must have touching (nnecessarily over1apping)zones of control.

2. The Russian units are only required to be withtwo hexes of the front lines.

3. The Russians are required to put at least one4-4 in the Crimea.

Step 3.-Play now commences with the Germmove of May 1942.

The German can now position the HungariaItalian, and OKW reserves at any spot at leathree hexes from the front prior to his initimovement. This compensates for the Russilack of intelligence efforts in early 42. TGerman may also take his 4 DFs replacemenbut they must start as per the rules of STALING

RA D.

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RUSSI N R M Y

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Play now follows thegameSTALING RAD. Allrules remain the same with the above notedexceptions, and the below developed replacementand victory conditions.

Replacements

German replacements remain at 4 DF's per turn.Russian replacements a re 24 DF's per turn with thereductions for loss of targets as shown in the Victory

conditions. No more than 12 DF's of Russianreplacements may enter any one town or city behindthe Russian lines in any one turn. All Russianreplacements must enter the game f rom such a cityor town. Control is determined by the city or townbeing behind Russian lines or by the last combatantto have positioned a unit within.

Victory

Any time victory conditions are selected in agame, the play of the game is also affected to someextent. To leave the strategy as free as possible forboth the German and Russian player, DFva lues areassigned to targets inside Russian lines as of May1942. In this manner, each side may plan a strategy,although the Russian is still somewhat tied to the

German actions for his reactions.However, this approach makes the two possiblemeans of German victory in Russia a possibility. (1)The Germans may defeat the Russian Army andwin, or (2) The Germans can capture sufficientindustrial and transportation targets to render theRussian war capability ineffective. The target list isas follows:

loss ofDFs to

Location Russian

MoscowLeningradStalixlgradCut Volga other than atStalingrad

Gorki-note that it is nowa city

GroznyBatumKuibishevControl of XX31, XX32, XX33the Caucasus oil fields

Cut trans-siberian RR betweenhex X41 and W46

Cut Murmansk-Moscow RRRostovFor every three hexes in zoneof control of Armor or Infantryunit on East edge of board

It is possible for the Germans to reduce theRussian replacement level to zero. When this is done

for two consecutive Russian turns by or throughMay '43, the German wins. Otherwise, the Russianwins.

B CKGROUND ON VICTORY CONDITIONSThe actual value of targets in Russia in '42 will

never be known as the Soviet Government has keptquiet about the location of their productionfacilities, road networks, oil production areas, andpopulation centers.

From a study of the available records of theGerman Army, and from publications by theSoviets since World War 11, the target list waschosen and D F values were assigned. This wasfurther restricted by the STALINGRA D game-board, since the Urals and the Middle East are offthe range.

The D F values are based on the worth of a targetin terms of population, production, transportationeffect, an d/ or morale loss. Thus Moscow, which theStavka prepared to abandon in '41 and '42 assumesa value larger than its production loss. It alsorepresented 10,000,000 people from which troopstrength increases would not be available. Gorki, anindustrial and transpor tation center, assumes heavyvalue.

Finally, such obvious transportat ion nets as the

Siberian RR, the Volga, and the Murmansk-Moscow RR would certainly reflect a drop in armyefficiency due to difficulty incurred in logisticsshould they be lost.

'43 is still used as the end of the game, because itis assumed that the Allied pressure in both the Med.and Europe would absorb German replacementsand weaken the German Army in Russia.

The main hope in developing a Variant to asuccessful game is to not disturb the basic variablesthat make the game a success. STALINGRAD isfun, but the German loses constantly when facedwith a competent Russian opponent (at least underthe '63 rules). This variant was developed t o reflectthe historical opportunities available to both sidesin May '42. Although it doesn't remove the stupidityof the German General Saff and Hitler in theirplanning and execution of the first year ofBARBAROSSA, neither does it cancel the ignor-ance of the Russian Field Commanders throughJan. '42.iWhat it is meant to d o s allow the players tomake their owndecisions, mistakes, and/ or brilliantcampaigns starting from the May '42 positions ofthe belligerents.

The game has been playtested, but should youfeel the value of targets is not to your liking, it is asimple matter to change them. The secret towargaming is enthusiasm, and this variant ispresented in that vein.

R E F E R E N C E S

Ziemke, E.F., Arm y Historical Series: Stalingrad to Berlin: The

German Defeat m th e East. Office of the Chief of Miliary History,U.S. Army, Washington, D.C., 1968

Halbband, Z. , KriegstagebuchdesOberkom mandos der Wehrmacht.

Band 1. Jan uar 1942-31. Dezember 1942, Bernard Graefe Verlagfur Wehrwessen, Frankfort am Main, 1963

Halhband, Z., Kriegstagebuchdes Oberkom mandos der Wehrmacht.

Band 11 I. Januar-31. De zember 1942, Bernard Graefe Verlag furWehrwessen, F rankfort am Main, 1963

Eremenko, A,, The Arduous Beginning. Transla ted from Russian

by Soviet Government, Printed in U.S.S.R., 1966

T. The Ukrainian Peoples Republic in the Second World

War. Jan 41-Dec 42, Col-o3y, 1967 printed in the Ukraine in

Ukrainian)

Higgins, T. Hirlera nd Russia: nte Th ird Reich in a Tw o-Front W ar

1937-43. McM aillan Co., N.Y., 1966

Werth, A., Russia at War, E.P. Dutto n Co., N.Y., 1964

Zhukov, G.K., Marshal Zhukov s Greatest Barrles, Harper Row,

N.Y.. 1969

Design Analysis Continued from Page 181 feel that the above changes make the game

more realistic while not compromising its excellentplayability. They compromise British aggressive-ness and mobility not by artific ial idiocy rules butby slowing their supplies and allowing the Ameri-cans to avoid the British more easily. Theyintroduce tactical variability without second-guessing, give the British a substantial tacticaladvantage which they had and whichi slacking fromthe game, and allow solitaire play with the advancedCRT. They introduce the element of destroying theenemy's fighting force rather than just occupyingterritory for victory. If you find just one of thesechanges useful, and if they enhance your enjoymentof 1776even a little bit, then I have succeeded ipurpose with this article.

France 40 . Continued from Page 19

surrounded are cut off from supply and have thecombat factors and movement allowances halve

Use air primarily in ground support aninterdiction roles.. Later in the game you will making air superiority attacks against the Frencair units. Air units should be moved to the front quickly as possible, so any units,you don't need fly that turn should be advanced into Belgium

order to keep up with the retreating Allied forcand in order to get into position to support thassault on the Seine.

What's wrong with the plan? The retreat takplace too soon. This allows the German to exit unoff the south edge. prefer to send in my forcalong the line Antwerp-Namur, fight the battle attrition early, star t the retreat with aNmy forces oabout the sixth turn, and watch my southern flanShould the German foul up the retreat, thenusually have sufficient forces for a counter-offensiin the area. The German cannot then exit sufficieforces to make any decisive change in the Frencstrength. As the plan now stands, it allows tGermans t o walk all over France.

*****

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PBM THE A WAYSPECIAL PLAY-BY-MAIL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THI RD REICH BLITZKRIEG PANZE R LEADER

PBM enthusiasts have fallen on hard times inrecent years due to the increasing complexity andsophistication of new games. The simple pbmprocedure for the classic games can rapidly becomea maze of multiple letters and side notes with the

addition of phases to the standard player turn.However, enthusiastic or masochistic pbm ers(we re not sure which) continue to challenge theintricacies of todays games with their pbm moves.The article below is a collection of methods fordealing with the problem for three of our mostrecent games.

PBM BLITZKRIEGBy Earl Thomas

The game designers at AH have outdonethemselves. With no change in the Mapboard orCounters they have created a completely new game.It is not necessarily either a better o r worse game, nomore t han an appl e i s be t t e r o r worse t han anorange; it is a m atter of taste. I fo r one would suggesta slight increase in price an d inclusion of both sets of

rules stamped "Mod 1" and "Mod 2."One of the novel features introduced in to the

"New BLITZKREIG i s the numb er an d complexi-ty of missions assigned to fighter aviation. Thesefeatures are bound to accentuate the advantag e ofthe more skillful player which is as it should be.After creating this intricate web of fighter missionswith all kinds of strategic and tactical subtleties, thedesigners must have stood back, smiled and pattedeach other o n the back. But when some bewilderednovice asked how on e could implemen t these in playby mail, thev vrom vtlv fainted Once thev rec-

.

oiered, they weakly suggested th at pbm d onot employ fighters. Shame This is a cop out. Itisn't at all tha t difficult; the germs of the solutio n arein the "Old Blitzkreig."

Fighters engage only in two missions, Interce p-

tion and Escort:1. Interception takes place only over the hex

being attacked .

2. The maximum range of the intercept ingaircraft to the intercepted hex is 12 movementfactors.

3 . Unescorted Bombers. Every 2 Interceptors(rounded down) at tacking unescorted bombersdestroys bomber factor. Defender chooses thefactors lost. The loss occurs before the bombingattack.

4 . Escort. The at tacker may choose to escorthis bombers if he has fighters within range of the hex

being attacked.

5 . Interception of Escorted Bombers. T h edefender must at least match 1 to the number of

escorting fighters before the surplus interceptorscan be assigned to at ta ck the bom bers as in 3 above.

6 At pbm for 1 to I fighter com bat , both thedefender and attacker lose I fighter factor. Nostock, dice roll or additional letters required.

7. If the defender wishes to a t tack the escort atodds of 2 to 1 or greater, he then sends the at tacker apostcard wi th stock and date and the resul ts areobtained o n the AC T table.

8. lnterceptors may be scrambled against avacant square to avoid air to ground attack. If theat tacker conducts no ai r operat ions that turn,lnterceptors canno t be scrambled to avoid grou ndattack.

9. Air Transport or Staging between friendlycit ies cannot be intercepted. P arad rops more than 6

hexes from friendly ground un its can be intercepted.

10. Air Interdiction is defined as in the old rules.Interdicting bombers may be escorted and inter-cepted.

The above rules will very rarely require anyadditio nal commun ications in a play by mail game.At the same time, it will permit play by mailopponents to employ fighters to rest rain unl imitedair operat ions.

The rule abo ut ai r t ranspo rt i s to correct what Ibelieve to be an error in the "New Rules."Interceptors o n ground alert would never be able torespond fast enough to interfere with air operationsbehind enemy lines. It would require a patrol orfighter sweep to accidentally be at the right place atthe right t ime. O n the other hand, a para drop deep(more than six hexes) behind your own lines mightprovide sufficient warning to be intercepted. Sincelnterdiction is combined with ground attack, it isassumed tha t the defender has sufficient warning tointercept if he so desires and has fighters available.

This writer feels that both fighters and bombersar e desirable t o create the desired level of strategiccomplexi ty. It is hoped that th eabo ve modificationswill facilitate their em ployment a t play by mail andperhaps some wil l prefer them acro ss the board. Ifthe o pt ional fighter rules are not employed in thetournament game, the offensive capability ofbombers is exaggerated. The above simplifiedfighter rules are a playable alternative to omittingfighters in the tournament version of BLITZ-KREIG.

P BM P ANZER LEADERBy Richard E. Fo os Charles R. Wood fall

PANZER LEADER is fast becoming a verypopular game, and no wonder, i t is much improved

over its "Sister Game" PANZERBLITZ. We havefound tha t PANZER LEA DER is playable by mailwi th some very minor rule changes, and using theexisting charts and tables. The ideal pbm systemshould com e as close to ft f play a s possible. Webelieve we have accomplished that.

T o begin wi th, a 6 digit system is required. T omOleson presented su ch a system in the GENERAL,Vol. I I, No. 4, called the Hexago nal p bm C hart.Though this sytem is usuable, i t may not beconvenient for everyone. In this article, Tom alsoreferred to a die roll sheet pioneered by AHIKS.

Although both systems have their uses, theyseem to go a bout a very simple problem in a veryinvolved manner. Getting a base 6 number f rom astandard base 10 number is a matter of simpledivision. Merely divide the sales-in-hundreds

colum n of the stock in question by6

using theremainder as your base 6 result. A remainder of 0would be equal to 6 . You can then play the gameusing its original charts without the nuisance offooling with new tables which may change thepercentages of the game as designed.

We suggest the following sequence of play:

1. W ri te Indirect fi re at tacks for next turn.2. List Opportunity fire attacks.3. List Minefield attacks.4 List I.F. attacks.5 List D. F. attacks.6 List Engineer functions (Bridge demolition,

create block).7. List Air attac ks (Allied only).

8. List Overrun attacks.9 List C.A.T. attacks.

10. List unit(s) wishing to enter stream hex an

which hex.

PBM-INDIRECT FIRE

This is one of the best features of PANZELEADER. It works quite well using "coin envlopes." (Small envelopes available in any stationestore). Wri te your I.F. ord ers for the next turn onsmall sheet of pape r listing the firing unit(s), hex(fired at, and t he sp otting unit(s). Enclose in "coinenvelope and seal . Mark on the outside of thenvelope the playing side, turn #, situation , curredate, and your name. Mai l with your current turAt this point your first question will be:

1. What's to keep th e other guy from "peeking"?

A. Sen d an 1.F. envelope every turn, even if you dnot plan to use it .

B. Y our oppo nen t must send you back the I.envelope unopened i f you do not cal l for I .F. oyour next turn.

C. Player receiving 1.F. envelope should initialandate it .

2. What's to keep you from using a gun for Dire

Fire on the turn you intended t o use i t as I .F.?

A. Envelopes returned to you unopene d, becausyou elected not to use 1.F. should be mailed back tyour opponent several turns later. (When thcontents would not give away your strategy). Mai t void. Each side can check up o n the other to insuI.F. guns were not used illegally. If they were, thethe one who broke the rules should concede thgame, o r arrive a t som e other solution agreed to bboth players.

If o n your next tur n yo ud o li st I .F. at tacks, theyour op ponent need only ope n the envelope for thturn to verify it . If the spotting unit is no long

operational when 1.F. is executed, then a subsquen t stock from a list of "emergency"stocks will bused to determine the effect, as per rule VII-C-(scatter chart). If fire is scattered,the next numbwill give the direction. If you're lucky enough "hit" anything, the next n umb er will give the resulAdmittedly, it is not a fool-proof system. Itpossible for an opponent t o open an envelope anthen reseal it . We're sure that with a lit t le ingenuianyo ne could devise his own safeguards against thiThe ul t imate aim is to t ry to play the game a s closeftf play as possible, and use the rules as written.

OPPORTUNITY FIRE

This is the best yet, the end of "Panzerbush.

Though this is an opt ional rule, i t i s not as ha rd tuse as one might think. Let 's look a t this problemwith a lit t le logic. First, set up a board and takseveral units of varying movement factors (M.F.)Put a gun o n a hi l l top (t ry a Germ an 88). Note thunits that have a sm all M.F. will have a difficult t immoving their ma ximum distance wi thout being t he LO S/L OF of enemy guns t he required 1 4 M.FA unit with 7 M.F.'s /4 rounded down is only M.FWe consider two road hexes equal 1 M.F. and usopportuni ty fi re as follows:

1. Th e Opponen t moving his units always gets thbenefit of any doubt. If i t looks like he could havmoved from departure hex to dest inat ion hex viany route that would have kept him out of youLOS / LO F the required M.F.'s, then no opportunty fire should be called.

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THE GENER L P GE

2. If it isclear that his move could not have kept himout of your LOS/ LOF, then ifyou wish, blast away.In this case use the most direct route from departureto destination, and fire at the first hex that the unitbecame legal, or any hex thereafter, within yourLOS/ LOF.

It makes little differencewhat route the defenderactually used to reach his destination, as long asthere were no routes available that would have kepthim out of your LOS/LOF. Surprisingly, there is

usually little doubt about the route that was reallyused. In order to play this system by mail, it is asmall concession to let the attacker choose the firedupon hex. You can be sure that both players will usea lot more caution. (See examples)

AIR ATTACKS

Air attacks are very easy to pbm. The onlyrequirement is breaking up the Allied turn intophases, Do all the steps in your Order of Attacksheet, including moving aircraft adjacent to targets,list the type of air attack, and mail your turn. (Noneed at this time to mail stocks). Germanplayer cannow make his anti-aircraft attacks. When the resultsare known by the Allied player, he cancomplete therest of his turn, and at this time send in the necessarystocks to resolve his complete turn. The onlydrawback is the turns will take longer to play, and itwill use up a lot more stamps. Using the L-5 forspotting should be no problem at all.

AMPHIBIOUS LANDINGS

In order to pbm the two situations depictingAllied landings in Normandy, we propose thefollowing changes to the ftf rules.

1. Rule XI-A-2: Allied player must make a landingon first turn of game, and can then make subsequentlandings at any time he choses.

1. Rule XI-D-4: The survival of the DD tanks to bedetermined in the initial set-up. The Allied playerthen can use the remaining units in any landing(s) hechoses.

The above changes will make pbm moremanageable. The changes seem to favor the Allies,but there is some compensation for the Germans.Thefirst turn N.A.S.P. fire directed at his fort@)willnot know what units are in them, if any.

The following format explains how toplay thesesituations by mail. The key is a letter exchange date(L.E.D.), a common date for both players to mailtheir letters.

1 GERMAN PLAYER

A. Sets up and sends location of Blocks, Mines,and Forts.

B. List two stocks to determine outcome of AlliedDD Tanks. (Closing date a fewdays before Item C).

C. Sets up first L.E.D. (Letter Exchange Date).

2. ON FIRST L.E.D.

ALLIED PLAYER

A Sends co-ordinate of the initial hex for each ofhis units. (Do not identify units at this time)..

B. Send two coin envelopes containing N.A.S.P.I.F. for turns 2 and 3

C. List NASP D.F. for this turn.

D. List stocks to resolve outcome. (Date a fewdaysafter mailed).

GERMAN PLAYER

A. List location of the rest of his units.

B. Set up next L.E.D.

Note I-This is Allied player's first turn. He hasfired at German fort(s), using his first turn NASPand has sent his I.F. for the next two.turns. Whenletters cross in the mail, he will know the location of

the rest of the German units. German player willknow which sea hexes are occupied, and the nextLED will be set up.

3 ON SECOND LED

ALLIED PLAYER

A. List Indentification of units in sea hexes.

B. If Allied player intends to make a secondlanding at this time, he will set up the next LED, andadvise which sea hexes will be occupied. Send IF

envelope.GERMAN PLAYER

A. List DF at sea hexes.

B. Send his I.F. envelope for turn #2.

C. After making his moves (if any), list theirlocation.

D. Send stocks and closing date to resolve attacks.

Note 2-This is German player's first turn. He hasnow fired at seahexes, not knowing identification ofunits until letters cross in the mail. He will know ifasecond landing is planned if he gets a LED fromtheAllied player. If Allied player not planning anotherlanding at this time, he will send his next turn moves

after this LED. If Allied player is making anothlanding then the third L-ill be the same assecond. Both sides will now exchange normalenvelopesfor the next turn. Allied player will alwsend his NASP envelope for two turns in advan

We have started using these rules, and so far thare working out quite well. Doubtless they couldimproved upon. We welcome any better solutioP N Z E R L E D E R is too good not to have a psystem.

EXAMPLES OF OPPORTUNITY FIRE

EXAMPLE A: German 88 on hilltop hex D-Y

Allied halftrack on hex D-N-8.

Halftrack moves to hex D-S-7.

The halftrack cannot move to that hex withbeing in the 88's LOSILOF the required 2 M.FAssume the halftrack took the direct route and fat any of the following hexes: P-8, 4-7, R-7, R

What if a halftrack dropped off a passengehex S-7, then moves into Nece?It could still be fiat in any of the above listed hexes while carryingpassenger.

Suppose units are stacked in hex D-N-8, aeach one moves to a different hex, or that seveunits in the woods near hex N-8 joined together a

stack at hex D-S-7? In either case, only one ofunits could be firedat, as it would be considered teach unit moved independently. If units start aend stacked, then the whole stack could be fiupon. If units start as a large stack, and split up itwo small stacks, then either small stack couldfired upon.

EXAMPLE B: The same halftrack this timmoves to Nece (D-S-3). There is little doubt abthe route taken. The unit would have been in yLOS/LOF at 4 3 or R-4.

EXAMPLE C: German 88 on hilltop hex D-1-

Allied halftrack in Merden D-C-7.

Halftrack moves to D-N-3.

The unit could have made .this move outLOSILOF. But if it went to Nece, it would haveuse the road out of Merden, thus entering yLOSILOF twice, once at H-6, and again at R-

If it were a truck, it could have used the roadNece, and never been in LOSILOF the requinumber of Movement Factors (M.F.'s).

EXAMPLE D: German 88 on hilltop hex Y-7

Allied halftrack in Nece.

If Allied unit moves down road to Artain, thecannot fire because hex Y-6 would blockLOS/LOF. If the Allied unit in the town of Nhad only 7 M.F.'s, then the 88could fire at it at V

PBM THIRD REICH

By Dean Miller

For those of us who believe that pbmis the o

way to wargame, the arrival ofa new title isalwaytime of anxiety, and challenge. Can it be playedmail? Since nearly every game can, the secondquestions are really the ones asked at this point:In how much time; and (2) how complex a systis required. As games have become more comcated, particularly as they have come to invomultiple step turns, the difficulty of playing thby mail has increased. Correspondingly,desirability of actually beginning such a gamediminished. For one thing, you must be vcareful in selecting opponents-frankly, a goopercentage of the persons who place or answOpponent Wanted ads in this magazine

either incapable or unwilling to cope with a coplicated system. For another, the paperwork cbe enormous-ask about my pbm Jutland syst

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


PAGE 2 THEGENERAL

sometime. In these circumstances, a game must

have a high degree of appeal in order to make it

worth the effort for me. A notable example of

such a game, in my opinion, is THIRD REICH.This game has two things going for it. First, it

covers an era, and is on such a scale, as to be of great

appeal to most garners. The popularity of this game

and World War I1 show this. Second, T HI R DREICH followed another game on this subject,

WO R L D W A R 11 which had built up the

expectations of the gaming public and then proved

to be subject to serious flaws. At this poin t T HI R DREICH came along, showed itself to be better

designed and thought through, and looked very

good in comparison. This advantage, coupled with

the Avalon Hill practice of supporting its games

with a continuing source of interpretations, articles

and opponents over the years, rather th anaban don-

ing them to a s quick an obsolescence as the market

will tolerate, has helped to make T HI R D R E I C Havery welcome addition to the field, and in the

process, a game which is well worth the effort t o play

by mail.

The system which I have devised and playtested

does not permit play in precisely an identical fashion

as a face to face game. T o do s o would string out a

game over a prohibitively long time period.

However, I believe tha t the corrections necessary to

permit a game by mail do not change the essentialnature of the game, and most of them make for

better realism. Primarily, they have the effect of

forcing the defender to decide in advance which

hexes he will allocate his air factors to defend

(anticipating also the possibility of exploitation

attacks). In addition, the defender must similarly

decide how many of his naval units he will use to

attempt to intercept Transport or Sea Bombard-

ment missions which his opponent might make. If

he guesses wrong, he is stuck with his decision, and

cannot change these allocations if it develops that

his opponent attacks other hexes or performs naval

missions not anticipated by him. Neither can he

send additional air units to a hex under attack. The

severity of this system is mitigated somewhat by the

companion feature of this system which permits a

player to use air or sea units which had beendesignated by him to provide defense or intercep-

tions, but which did not come into play because his

opponent did not attack o r attempt the anticipated

move, on his own offensive turn.

Here's how my system works, step by step:

1. Allied player deploys his units, and mails to

opponent, indicating:

a. which of his units will have defensive air

support, how much, and from which air units:

b. which fleet units will attempt to conduct

interceptions of Transport Missions, and of Shore

Bombardments;

c. which counters are to be removed in the

event of attrit ion (listing in order desired up to the

maximum possible.)

2. Axis player indicates deployment, and lists

options chosen for each front, noting BRP's used.

3. Axis player lists moves. If intercept ion of

naval missions is possible, he lists two stock sfor the

necessary die rolls. Interception will always be

attempted at the hex closest to the base of the

nearest naval unit so attempting, unless the Allied

player has otherwise specified; the path of naval

missions must always be direct between the ports

involved.

4. Axis player lists attriti on factors for fronts

on which he has elected this option , and a stock for

each such front.

5. Axis player lists attacks, setting forth

attackers, defenders, air interceptions, air support,

odds and a stock for each attack. If participating

units are contingent upon outcome of interception

attempts by opponent, he lists odds in the

alternative. He also indicates units to be exchanged

and advanced after combat.

6. Axis player selects stock date and 10 extra

stocks. The extra s are for use in resolution of battles

involving counterattacks. Axis player then mails

steps 2 through 6 to opponent before stock date.

7. xis player resolves interceptions, attritio n

and attacks.

8. Axis player selects hexes to be occupied

under attrition results. (Allied player may pick hexto retreat to at start of his turn.)

9. Axis player moves mechanized units under

exploitation, and lists exploitation attacks with

stocks and date as in steps 5 and 6 above.

10. Axis player indicates for opponent's phase

which units will have defensive air support ; which

fleet units will attempt interceptions; and which

counters are to be removed in case of attrition, as

did Allied player in step 1 above.

11. Axis player creates new units, not ing BRP's

spent, lists his Strategic Redeployment moves, and

mails to his opponent prior to stock date.

12. Allied player resolves exploi tation attacks,

and repeats steps 2 through 11.

13. Allied player computes BRP's by both sides

at end of turn. If he is to be first phasing player onnext turn, he requests opponent to indicate step 1

information along with- results of exploitation

combat: otherwise. he includes this information

with his mailing.

14. Axis player resolves Allied exploitation

attacks; and either performs step 1 or steps 2

through I, depending upon BRP count.

15. The forgoing process is repeated until the

game is concluded.

Conversion of stock results to 6 Jigits can be

accomplished through Hexagonal pbm CRT set

forth by Tom Oleson in the Nov-Dec 1974 General.

However, I prefer the much simpler and equally

random divide by 6 method, which I find is used

by a large number of wargamers. Under this method

you find the sales in hundreds figure for the

designated stock, divide it by 6, and use the

remainder a s the die roll. If the remainder is 0, the

result is a 6. Thus if the sales in hundreds figure is

742, the die roll is 4; if it is 666, the die roll is a 6. You

can also use Oleson's grid system for identifying

hexes as it was set forth in the Mar-Apr 1975

General on page 20. Personally, I prefer an all

numerical system, and use the following: Hexes are

numbered from right to left by row, starting from

the top. Thus, the top row is numbered from the

right hand corner 0101, 0102, 0103, etc. The even

numbered rows begin with the first full hex. Thus,

0201 includes the east half of the compass. Under

this system, Moscow is in hex 0816; Berlin, 1230;

Paris, 1538. Numbering continues under ch arts and

tables as if they weren't there; Ca iro is in hex 3919;

Damascus, 3414; Tripoli, 3533.Deployment of minor count ry forces is handled

as follows. The player who is contemplating

attacking any minor country requests his opponent

to deploy the forces of that country. This does not

commit the requesting player to declare war and

attack-it merely facilitates a smooth continuance

of the game if he chooses to do so. During

subsequent turns in which no attack has been made,

the opponent may change the deployment (always

keeping the required unit in the capital, of course),

to adjust t o changed circumstances. It is possible

where both players are contemplating attacking a

particular country, such as Turkey, for there to be

tw deployments for that country, each set up in

response to the opponent's request. Of course the

deployment of the opponent of the player who does

declare war and attack is the one which is activate

and used in such a case. I usually request

deployment of Yugoslavia, Belgium, Denmark an

Netherlands along with my first communication to

potential Allied opponent.

Murmansk convoys require a different proc

dure. The Axis player must indicate with step 3 o

his move any naval, a ir and U-boat counters whic

are moved into the Murmansk box. This designa

tion only affects Allied moves which occurafter th

point , and lasts until the Axis player's next mov

For example, if he moves first on the turn in whic

he moves units into the Murmansk box, and secon

on the following turn, the units so transferred wi

apply to convoy attr ition for both turns, if the Allie

player attempts Murmansk convoys. The Allie

player indicates the number of BRP's attempted

be transferred, the escorting forces, and 2 stock

with his tu rn 11. If the first stock result is a 1 or a

the Allied escorting strength is cut in half; otherwis

it is full strength. The second stock result is used

resolve convoy attrition then. This alleviate

somewhat the fact that the Allied player will alway

know the number of Axis units in the Murmans

box. It can be rationalized as reflecting th

uncertainties caused by weather, leadership, etc.

also serves to mitigate the lack of realism of th

equal factor exchange system-one of the fe

undersirable elements of the game as designed.

Strategic Warfare is handled in a simi

manner, once again reflecting the difficulty

concealment of strengths in a two player form

Each player creates his strategic warfare un

during the unit construction phase of his spring tu

for a given year. Then the player performingstep

for the winter turn of tha t year includes a stock f

resolution of strategic warfare. The oppone

resolves this die roll in step 14 in the followi

manner: If the result is a 1 or a 2, Allied strateg

warfare factors are cut in half; if the result is a o

6, they are doubled; otherwise, they are not affecte

Based upon the results of this die roll, strateg

warfare is resolved as set forth in the instruction

Once again, this method can be rationalized, w

much force, on the same basis as the oneestablish

for Murmansk convoys.

An alternative procedure, one which I ha

come to prefer, is also available for handli

Murmansk convoys and strategic warfare. This

for each player to indicate to his opponent, at t

times called for or permitted by the rules, his un

builds of strategic warfare units and moves into t

Murmansk convoy box in code. At the time t

inverted counters must be revealed, the playe

supply their opponents with the keys to their code

and convoy attriti on or strategic warfare is decid

in the usual manner. For example, the Allied play

wishing to SR BRP's to Russia via convoy

indicates with his step 11 of his move, including

stock and date. The German then resolves conv

attrition, and includes the results with his ne

move, including the key to his code so the Alli

player can verify the number and type of units hopponent had in the Murmansk convoy box.

For strategic warfare, the player having the l

move for a year would indicate his own, and requ

his opponent's strategic warfare counters, includi

the keys to the appropriate codes with his step 1

The player moving first in the following year wou

resolve strategic warfare in the Year/Start seq

ence, noting the result with his step 6.

This process requires that keys to codes used

changed frequently, a not unrealistic necessity. It

also desirable to use different ones for strateg

warfare and Murmansk convoy designations, as o

may need to be revealed before the other is.

encourage my opponent s to endeavor to figure o

Continued on Page 26 Colum

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


THEGENER L

A Boardgame for MiniaturistsBy Richard L Borczak

From the t ime a friend of mine int roduced me tothe jewel-like q uality of G H Q Micro-a rmour asdesigned and produced by Greg Sco tt of Minneapo -

lis, Minne sota, 1 wanted to build a miniaturewargame table that would be smal l enough t o be setup in a minute and would store away when not inuse. I wanted to use i t in the same way boardgam esare used by wargamer s. Avalon Hill 's P A N Z E R

BLITZ seems l ike a ready mad e game th at could beused wi th Micro-armour to replace the counters.But this had serious shortcomings as the AFV'slooked out of place on the flat two-dimensionalterrain of the board. Yet, the P A N Z E R B L I T Z

game offered ready made scenerios, a map, andrules that would keep a wargamer quite active.

I decided to build a three-dimensional, doublesize version of the game board. T he fi rst step was todouble the dimensions of eac h board to 16 inches by44 inches. Assembled a s in one of the situatio nsgiven in the gam e rules, the table top size is only 8

inches by inches which does not take up too muchroom and fi t s easi ly into apartment l iving. Theindividual bo ards can be stored behind a doo r, in acloset, or under a bed.

There was a question in the beginning of

selecting a material which was easy to work with,would be light enough to handle easily, and wouldbe cheap. 1chose one-half inch styrofoam insulationmaterial which is available in two by four footsections and can be purchased in most stores thathandle building materials. got mine at K-Mart. Itis easily cut and sanded. It can be glued together toform hills and can be painted.

Th e styrofoam was glued to inch hardboard(or 1 4 inch plywood or even two of the '/2 inchstyrofoam sheets can be glued together) with whiteglue such as Elmer's Glue. Each 16 inch by inchboard was then laid out with gullies and hills bytaking measurements fro m tw o adjacent sides of theP A N Z E R B L I T Z board t o a po in t on t he map,mul tiplying the dimension obtained by two and thentransferring the point on the styrofoam board.When enough points were located on thestyrofoam board, 1 connected them with a markerthus giving a double size copy of each board exceptfor the roads which will be plotted later after theboards are painted. 1had to m ake certain that wheregul lies came to the edges of the board s, they matchal l boards when they are oined together in differentsituations.

With an X-act0 knife, I cut out the gulliesmaking them about a half inch wide. I tapered thebanks an other half inch on e ach side. This was qui teeasy as 1 did not have to worry abo ut any bad cuts atthis t ime since the banks had to be smoothed and

rounded off at the edges by sanding and using acommercial patching plaster fro m a can o r powdermix. I needed the plaster m ix to fill in the bottom ofthe gullies and to shape the sides of the hills. Anal ternate m ethod to form gul l ies would be to w rap

sandpaper around a hal f inch dowel and thensanding the gul l ies into the styrofoam.

I then located the hills and ridges on thestyrofoam bo ards in the same man ner 1 used tolocate the gullies. I measured across the lengths an d

widths of each hill and ridge, doubled thedimension obtained, and then drew the m on a sheetof half inch styrofoam. then cut them out to the

shape shown, including the slopes. The edges weretapered by cut t ing and sanding, leaving a flatsurface to the hi l ls that show a flat surface on theP A N Z E R B L I T Z boards. O ne o r two of the larger

Here is an overall view of the 3-D Panzerblitz three board setup German re l~ef f K ~ev . ou can see the.hills woods and villaas assembled for situat~ on a meeting engagement during the that give the same terrain features as on the Avalon Hill boa

hills were made by using two thicknesses ofstyrofoam glued together to give height.

Here again 1 used the plaster mix t o ease theslopes so that the Micro-armour AFV's can t raversethem. A lthough I don't believe it is necessary to beexact in making up the hills and ridges, I did st rive toduplicate all the salient features of the P A N Z E R

BLITZ gameboa rds so that the feel of theP A N Z E R B L I T Z game would be carried over intothe Micro-armour battles.

After I was satisfied that the gullies and hillswere sm ooth enou gh after using the plaster mix, Ipainted the three boards with a green latex interiorwall paint using a fairly large paint brush. Theslopes can be painted a brown color to match theP A N Z E R B L I T Z gamebo ards o r left green which

would be more realistic.

The next step was to locate the roads. Onceagain 1 had to take measurements from eachP A N Z E R B L I T Z board to locate roa d junct ions,turns, bends, and roa d terminat ions. Measurementshad to be taken in the same ma nner as describedearlier for the gully locations. As before, thesedimensions were doubled and then located on the

board edges. Using the green and tan paint , 1 couhave made corrections had they been needed.

At this time 1 had t o decide on whether the t rand forests would have t o be removable for storaIf the woods were to be removab le, the trees couhave been mounted on cardboar d, plastic sheet ,

balsa wood stands that were cut to the area ashape of the forests on the P A N Z E R B L I T Z boarRemember tha t the dimensions for the forest arare doubled fo r length and width.

painted Styrofoam boards, 1 used a half inch wide Photo 2. This is a close-upof Russian column. Separate rec

brush to paint in the roads using a light earth color.were kept of units being transported by tank and in trucks

Any err& that 1 made were quickly corrected byHowever, 1 had decided to make the t ree

overpainting again in green.permanent instal lat ion. vlannine on a stor- cabinet to protect them when set aside. I wdescribe this later. The trees were pressed into styrofoam in the areas that had been located on boards. 1 daubbed in a d arke r green paint in thareas to match the forests on the PANZERBLI

boards. Because the trees had to be spaced enough a part fro m each other to al low placAFV's and s t ands i n t he woods ( ra ther t han on of them as in the Avalon Hi l l game), the darkpainted areas more accurately indicated woods. Eno ugh trees placed in these area s ga

the three dimensional effect 1 wanted, a s cbe seen in the pictures.

Different m aterials can be used for treesPhoto 1. German second turn. Photo shows Russian unitsreaching hill 135 German units are behind the hill and strung

bought a coup1e of yards of different

out along the roads. fringe material that looks like half inch baat tached by thread to a ribbon which 1 found i

With the roads painted on, the doub le sized fabric store. After cut t ing them from the ribbonPA NZERBLITZ boards began to look l ike a drove a brow n wall panelling finish nail throu gh wargame table. The b oards were then placed against ball and then inserted the tree into the styrofoeach other in al l the different combinat ions to make forming woods or forests. Other t rees were madecertain that the roads were cont inuous across the purchasing plastic flowers and g reens from a plas

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


P GE 14 THEGENER

flower department of a store and then removingcertain approp riate leaves from the stems. I inserted

the same type b rown na i ls th rough th ree to t ~ v e fthese leaves to form tree sand then pressed them intothe styrofoam boards.

Some model railroad scenic supplies especiallyin N gauge can be used such a s KIBR I #7920 treeswhich are abo ut to two inches tall. Lichen can bepurchased in a hobby store, cut and shaped intotrees, and glued to these sam e brown nails. It comes

in various colors and this should enhance theappearance of the forests

Photo 3 This shows German defens~ve rea showing Wespeand Hummel on hill just above town of Adski in lower right

With the gullies, hills, roads, and wo ods located,the rest was easy. PANZERBLITZ towns becomevillages made up from Mono poly houses and hotels.These were painted various colors. Additionalbuildings could be made from a variety of balsawood sizes that a re available in all hobby stores.Triangular shaped balsa lengths could be cut toform roof sections with other rectangular sizesforming the buildings themselves. I also understa nd

that the re will be some 11285 scale vacu um formedbuildings available soon from Bellona who hasmade terrain sections in the larger scales.

The houses were cemented directly to the boardsafter I located the sites of the villages. The areas

were doubled, of course, and the houses werearranged along the intersections of roads allowingenough spaces between them to allow AFV's to

dr ive th rough them or to ho ld up in them for addedprotection as in the PANZERBLITZ game.

Photo 4. Thls is a close-up of the indirect fire Hummel andWespe. The 88 MM anti tank gun IS in woods to right.

T h e M onopoly houses could have been cement-ed to cardboard or plastic bases that could be cut tothe size and area of each town so th at they could beremovable for storage or even fo r replacement of awar damaged town with ruins.

The b otto m of the gullies were painted with a /4

inch line of blue paint to represent water. A fewbridges were needed and 1 vacuum formed them sothat they were removable. Damage d ones were alsoformed and they ar e used t o replace bridges that aredestroyed.

I now have a double size, three dimensional

PAN ZER BLlT Zga me with the same roads, gullies,hills, woods, and villages' as on th e Avalon Hillgamebo ard. 1 then used my Micro-armour to fightbattles using the PA NZE RBL ITZ rules, just

Photo 5 . German 7th turn. ThisshowstheGerman retreatto hi ll12 9 on board 2. with some unlts reaching hill 132.

doubling all the movement a nd fire ranges. A rangestick was' made o ut of q uarte r inch dowel bymarking on it 1.6 inch segments. Each segment isequa l to each hex in the game. A movement r ange ofeight hexes will equal a move ment of eight 1.6 inchsegments on the range stick. The GH Q Germaninfantry was mounted on stan ds, three figures for aGerman platoon an d six figures for a Russiancompany . The Russian figures were painted Khakiand th e Germ ans were painted gray. If someo ne didnot want to bother with the effort of mountingfigures in / 285 scale. they could use the PA NZER-

BLITZ counters for infantry and heavy weaponsunits. The excellent C in C Soft Metal Castings

C o m p a n j ~ ow has a 75M M anti-tank gu n availablewhich can be used for Russian 76MM anti-tankguns. There are two G H Q trucks that can be usedfor transport. Most all of the AFV's needed aremade by both companies. I am told that many newitems including 2% ton transp ort truck s will beavailable soon.

Photo 6 This shows the German defensive units in town ofGolod. Sho wn a re a Panther, Stug Ill, a rifle platoon, and a mortarcrew. Also a Panzer IV. Russian T-34 s are just entering board 2.

After awhile 1 found th at I could use otherWorld W ar 11 rules with the PANZ ERB LlTZ gam esituations a s given in the game. In my opinion, thebest set of World W ar 11 rules published ar e thosewritten by Arnold Hendricks of the New EnglandWargames Association and they are titled 1944

They allow for a fast moving game and give one afeeling of tactical command as in the PANZER-

BLITZ rules.

Photo 7 Russ ~an nlts withT-34 scarry ing infantry, north of hill129 .

Regardless of whose rules you use, the PANZER BLI TZ situations can be used t o give a wivariety of actions. Now you can set up a thrdimension al wargam e table for use with thrdimensional armor as easily as opening up PANZERBLITZ game box and se t t ing up tgameboards. Every time The GENERAL has PA NZERBLITZ variant, youcan use it on the thrdimensional boards. Th e 44 by 48 area (or the 1by 132 area ) will give more gam ing area usinMicro-armour than a 9 foot by 12 foot table usi1/76 or 1/87 scale armour. I t is easier to accept th10 inches equals 1,000 meters in 11285 scale than inches equals 1.000 meters in 1/7 6 or 1/8 7 scaThere is an impression of space between vehiclwhich allows for more tactical movement. Trv it an

Photo 8 Overall view of Russ~anorces heading for board

How do you store the three dimensionPANZERBLITZ boards? If the trees are nmounted permanently to the boards, but amounted on removable bases as mentioned earlithe boards can be stored vertically in a closeHowever. built a storage cabinet out of a four eight sheet of inch plywood. Four shelves inches long by 18 inches deep were cut and nailbetween t wo sides 15 inches high by 18 inches deeallowing just over fou r inches clearance betweshelves. A thin sheet of hard boar d 49 inches long 15 inches high was nailed to the back to give tcabinet rigidity. The four inches clearance betweshelves is just enough to allow the threegamebo arto be slid into the cabinet without damaging t

trees.And that 's how was able to give anoth

dimension to one of the most popular boardgamever designed. PAN ZER BLIT Z is so close to beia miniature w argame, it did not take t oo much effoto m ake it one.

Photo 9 The Russians and German un its meet head-on on

slopes of h~ ll 32. A number of T-34 s. guns, the Panther. Panzer IV s are eltm~nated.

T o show the possibilities of using Micro-armoon the threed imens iona l PANZERB LITZ boardshave set up some of the situatio ns pictured in tSERlES REPLAY-PANZERBLITZ descr ibeand commented upon by the participants, RichaPlock and Robert Livermore. This replay appearin the M ay-June 1974. Vol. l l No. issue of t

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


THEGENERAL PAGE

GENERAL. The diagrams showing the different

game turns from first through ninth and tenth turns

appeared on pages 21 through 27. The game

situation No. 6 required that the double size

gameboards be set up lengthwise measuring 16

inches by 132 inches. Each of the units identified in

the game i s representedby a Micro-armour AFV or

stand with figures except where it s atransport unit

with another unit inside or on top of it such as

infantry carrying tanks. A separate notation s kept

as to whichunitsare being ransported. I n he futurea number of Russian tanks will have some figures

attached to them and they will be used when the

situation calls for their use. Someartillery and anti-

tank guns will be mounted on stands with a towing

unit as well as beingmountedseparately with acrew

in firing position. Halftracks and APC vehicleswill

have figures cemented inside them so that they canbe substituted when they are used as a carrier.

Enclosed trucks do causeavroblem at this time, and

Flg. II Road bends, Intersections, and junct~ons re plotted by

measuring the gameboard The road intersect~on n town IS

obtatned by tak~ng easurements A and A'. The Y of the gully

measurement 1s obtained by tak~ng istances B and B'. Thls 1s

a separate recordmustbekeptwhen they are usedto done for many polnts. where the gullies or roads change

transport unitss in thisame situation~~~~~~direction. The dimensjon thus obtalned, is doubled and plotted

on the new double slze styrofoam boards.

GHO artillerv and AFV's usuallycome packedfive

to abox, yo; will find that yo; will have enough

pieces to mount some in a towing position and

others set up in a firing position. A few guns can be

mounted in a fortified or entrenched position and

then placed on the board when called for. The

reasonablecost of 11285 Micro-armour allows one

to use this approach so that each three

dimensional piece becomes a game counter.

Fig Ill The d~mens~onsbtalned to locate pints on the

Panzerbl~tzmapboard are doubled and then plotted on the

styrofoam boards Dlmens~ons and A' are located to flnd road

tntersectlon In own Thegully Yo IS located In he same manner

by uslng d~mens~onsand B'obtainedfrom mapboardand then

Photo 10 Thls 1s a close-up of the carnage. Russian companies plotted on board. M~~~ ther ..points,. areobtainedbyof Infantry have dismounted. Note the colored tufts of cotton

measuring from adjacent mapboardsides and transferring themused to dep~ct moke and fire from burnlng tanks. to styrofoam boards after doubllng these dimensions. For

example, the uppermost bendofthe leftgullywould be plottedas

well as the extreme left terminus of the gully would be plotted.

These two points and the Y junct~on point would giveyou

enough points to draw in the gully. The more polnts you can

plot, the more exact will be your gameboardand thus preserve

the flavor of the PANZERBLITZgame.

base-% or h inch

Flg I Thls 1s the baslc layout of board construction The h Inch rounded off Plaster mlx can be added to bottom of gullies

styrofoam IS w h~t e lued to '/s or A Inch hardboard The h~ l l sre Vlllages are Monopoly houses cemented to board Trees arc

glued to the board and edges are rounded off Plaster mlx IS pushed Into styrofoam board

added to lower slope The gullles are cut out, edgessloped, and

A H Philosophy Continued rom Page

Another acquisition.,of almost equal sign

cance is that of ALESIA. First published

amateur' form in 1970 by Dr. Robert Brad

ALESIA is a wargamer's wargame. Only 2

copies of this classic game were ever produc

before the designer lost himself in docto

studies but it was enough to earn it

reputation as the best 'amateur' game of

time. It too received unprecedented kudos frS & T and all othergaming journals fortun

enough to gain access to its mimeograph

rules, cut-out counters, and blue print,

mounted playing board. Set in 51 B.C., thega

pits Julius Caesar and 12 Roman legionsvers

the Gallic leader Vercingetorix and 350,0

Gauls. That, in itself, would not be all t

impressive were it not for the unique situat

these forces found themselves in. Vercingeto

and 100,000 Gaulswere besieged in he tow

Alesia. Caesar, realizing that Gallic reinfor

ments would arrive before he could take

town, invested it, erecting an amazing string

fortifications around the town-facing in b

directions. When the relieving Gauls arrivCaesar found himself outnumbered 6-1 m

ning the rings of a giant tactical donut. It

game of siege and assault which is not tobelieved and not to be missed by anyone-be

an admirer or detractor of the ancient period.

Bradley is an archeologist who helped excav

the actual battlefield. The historical accur

and realism of this game is topped only by

excitement generated by its play. Don Gre

wood is in charge of the Avalon Hill developm

and wil l upgrade the game system slightly

injecting design innovations created since

Bradley's original efforts. Like KINGMAKALESIA wil l be an instant success-it is alre

a fine game.

These are not the only designers be

cultivated. You'll be seeing the work of other

the near future but we'll delay their debut on

AH stage for a more suitable time. Suffice

say that we are endeavoring to bring youhighest quality games possible without

assembly line drawbacks of an increasedrat

production.

QMIDWAY . . . Continued from Page 17too bad-but definitely obvious. Plan

questionable, for it all depends upon sinking

Atago. Yet it seems to havesome promise, giv

a certain amount of work. But that's material

another article. Finally, his plan C is downri

dumb if you ask me. Attacking the Main Bodya strategic option is risky for three reaso

Attacking those big battlewagons Yarnatoet

is difficult and risky, but the CVL Hosho is

easy target. But wi l l hey be enough pointwise

compensate for the fall of Midway? Asecondly, this assumes light or no Americ

casualties.NormalAmerican casualtieswill b

lost game. Third, it saves up the American eff

til l late in the game. What happens when y

can't find the Main Body in ime?You lose, tha

what happens. Especially if you get caught

Lloyd Berger's 6-9-6, for between the loss

Midway and at least one CV, the American

hard pressed to make points(moreso in he li

of lost aircraft on the sunk CV).

What is needed, generally speaking, is

strategic balance which weighseach elemen

the game carefully and considers them from

pragmatic point of view, in which they

interact. Hopefully, this article has helped

that: but the test is all i n the playing.

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


P GE 6 THE GENER

ack to Nuts and olts

No article on a game like Midway can ever do

the game the ustice it deserves. So please allow

me to be bold enough to place a demand on the

reader: be creative. Playing the game of Midway

almost demands you sh rug off t he shackles of

ordinary moves, and play like a wil d man. I can

honestly say that t his is what fascinates me sgmuch about the game. It's never dull, and Igenerally love-to see how much I can get away

with.

So why writ e an art icle at all, especially after

the rather thorough Midway Thesis (Vol. 9,

No. 4) and a couple replay games? To be both

paradoxical and apologetic: i t helps creativity to

get the nuts and bolts down. It frees up your

game, makes it less of a mechanical exercise

There are no pat answers to thi s game. Even

on the tactical end it is dangerous to wax

dogmatic: so take what you like and use it, take

what you don't and thro w it out

OPENING JAPANESE MOVEMENT STRATEGY

In my earlier article, I tried to indicate the

importance of joining the CruDiv 7 (Mogami et

all w ith the CVSF (the four carriers). Of course,

that raises some questions. Where should the

Japanese fleet start to evade detection? Should

the CVSF hang on the edgeor move out and then

back to rendezvous wit h the CruDiv 7? What

search patterns are available to the American?

And how does the suicide strategy I've harped

on in the past fit in to the whole picture? And

finally, exactly how risky is the suicide strategy?

The American will usually steam down the

middle of the board (row 4), and west as quickly

as possible. His other option is to hang back and

wait for the Atago, but this has certainprob lems

that I'llaet into later. Riaht nowwe' ll assume the

~ m er ic a n ants bloodand wants itquickly.This

middle of the board course will allow the

American to quickly switc h to either the north orthe south, depending upon where he finds the

Japanese.

The American initial search patterns w ill give

us the answer as to where to start the

Japanese CVSF fleet, in as m uch as an answer

can be found. The American has six basic search

options: north (AI-4). south (A4-7), extremes

(A1 2.6-7). center-north (A2-5). cente r-south

(A3-6), and random (any not included above).

The random option is the only obviously foolish

option-for if you don't find heCVSFon thef irst

try, you will be extremely lucky if you find him

later.

Out of the five remain ing options, ro w 4

appears four times, and both ro w 1 and row 7

appear only twice. So, le t us just say that it

would not be wise to place the CVSF in ro w 4,and that the Japanese player will commit

himself either to the north of the board or to the

south, with row 4 being the divider.

The north or south search patterns are

obvious American approaches, and when han-

dled correctly also yield the best odds of finding

the CVSF. To elaborate, say the American uses a

southern search and the CVSF is really i n the

north (or vice versa, but th is discussion wi ll stil l

be applicable). The Japanese player should have

his fleet on zones E or if he is in areas A2-A 3

just i n case he is found so that he'll have the

ability to escape into any of sixadjacent areason

the next turn. Anywhere else lets the American

find you at 070 0 if he finds you at 0500. If you

choose A l , placethefleet at A1 f you arefou nd

at 0500 you will be found at 0700 no matter

where you run (this is true of A1 and A7).

However, o n the 07 00 tu rn the CVSF can move

to a sea zone which allows escape by the 0 90 0

turn.

For optimum results if the American does not

find the CVSF on the 05 00 turn, h e should hencal lA3-4 and B3-4 on the 0700 turn (assuming

the init ialsouthern search ofA4-7). This gives a

50% chance o f findin g the CVSF (as there are

eight possible areas for it t o hide). If no luck, you

have narrowed the Japanese down to at least

the northern approach, and you will be able to

send your fleet in that general direction. You

also have a 44% chance of finding t he CVSFon

the 09 00 turn.

The extreme search (A1 2, 6 -7) is extremely

risky in terms of finding the Japanese. It's

almost necessary to fin d the CVSF on the 050 0

turn. Assuming the Japanese player will stay

out of A4( it's a very good bet), if he starts i nA 3 or

A5 he will be very difficult to find on the 0700

turn. If the American thinks perhapsthe CVSF s

in A3, he can search either A2-5 (assumirlg hestays close to the edge) or 82-5 (assuming he

moves out). Likewise, for suspected A5, the

American options are A3-6 or 83-6 . In terms of

likelihood in finding h im on the 070 0 turn, it's a

40% chance: hope you can guess well. But the

search is always good to keep in mind against

opponents who repeatedly hide in the corners.

The center search (north or south) is a rather

unique concept, and not often seen. For

example, you suspect the CVSF is in the south,

so you search A3-6. This covers the middle and

A3 in he 050 0tur n. If you don't find anything on

0500, then you search A6-7 and B6-7. Thus, if

the CVSF started i n A7 you w il l be assured of

finding him on the 07 00 search. The same type

of pa ttern is used in the northern search. I

personally feel thi s type of search to be a goodalternative for the American.

0500 0700 0900 1100

NorthlS outh 57% 50% 44% 36%

Center 57% 40% 33% 33%

Extremes 57% 40% 25% 19%

Percentages for each turn represent the assumption that the

CVSFwas not found in the preceding urn and thatthe American

searches limit the possible hiding areas as much as is

m them tic lly feasible.

SEARCH TACTICS

The essence of strategic maneuver in

Midway lies in setting up search patterns and

escaping the search. Hopefully my wordswil l be

somewhat obvious, but for those who have not

yet mastered the game, they bear repeating.

As was pointed out in the Midway Thesis(Vol. 9, No. 4), for the Japanese player to get

caught i n a corner zone of a sea area is

disasterous, for the Amertcan, wit h his four

searches, is assured of flnding you on the next

turn (assuming night does not fall). This gives

him the option to attack now or next turn,

meaning the Japanese player will have some

rather rough decisions as to whether or not tof ly

CAP and whether or not to fly off readied planes

(if he cannot attack the Americans). So try and

keep away from those corners. It makes his

search more difficult.

How should you follow up search in a turn

after you have found an enemy formation? This

depends upon the general expected drrection of

enemy movement (see diagram 1 and 2)

Midway: Strategic Perspectives

by Harold Totten

Diagram 1 shows a lateral expected direction o

movement. The four areas shown are areas

an American search, the three shaded show

Japanese search in he same situation. Diagra

2 shows a diagonal direction of movement, an

the searches shown are as in diagram 1 (shade

Japanese).

You find a player by searching along h

expected path of movement. This is difficult

terms of finding the American, whomay have n

path of movement, but we may general

assume the Japanese player to be headed fo

Midway, so his general direction isdelineated b

the victory cond~tions.

You lose yourself in the mists by movin

where not expected. This can be in the form o

delaying your movement for a turn so yo

opponent searches the area ahead of yo

Losing a single turn is better than losing

number of ships. However, you can get extrem

in tradin g off time for stealth, as in the Berge

strategy (which I will discuss shortly). Anothe

search avo iding tactic is to move into an are

already searched in the previous turn, whic

usually works unless your opponent use

overlapping searches, It would be well wo rt

your time to consider the patterns which you

opponent seems to use in order to avoid them

NOTES ON THE SUICIDE TACTIC

The suicide tactic, w hich engenders a certa

amount of risk, consists in he American findin

the CVSF sometime before CruDiv 7 joins it, an

attacking at extreme range, sacrificing h

alrcraft in order to strike a decisive blow. It ca

fail with bad luck, but it gives the American

strategic threat early i n the game.

Assuming the American steams west wit

out delay, and the 0700 Japanese move is n h

B column, then the attack is feasible. At 090 0,

is feasible anywhere but the wo rows in colum

A that are closest to the west edge of the boar

On the 1 100 urn the Americancan hit anyplac

on the board, and it's important tha t the CVS

loses itself on this turn. Assuming the CV

and CruDiv 7 join on 1500(earliest possible), inot worth it on 1500 and after. But if t he atta

comes off the American used to steam off th

board, unharmed.

Only AH has changed that. The new rul ing

leaving the board forces the American to wa

around unt il his fleet is attacked.This makes h

suicide strategy more risky than in the pa

(almost untenable, in fact) because the Ame

can has to gain enough points to offset dama

to his fleet as well as offset the fall of Midwa

itself.

But how should we define fleet ? Is leavi

the Atlanta behind on Midway Island sufficien

or must i t consis t of a ll the ~m e r ic a n s h i ~

if it must be more, does this not put a strateg

crimp on the American player who must no

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


THE GENER L P GE

k e e p all h i s s h i p s t o g e t h e r a s a f l e e t untila t tacked? a l s o t h i nk t h e ruling h a s n o historicalvalidity, a n d s e r i o u s l y d i s t u r b s t h e A m e r i c a n ' sc h a n c e s for a c l e a n , qu ick victory. W h i c h m e a n sit m e s s e s u p play b a l a n c e .

Is t h e r e a n A m e r i c a n aIternative?ThankfuIly,think t h e r e is. T h e A m e r i c a n n e e d not e x it t h e

board ( a s d e m o n s t r a t e d in bo th S e r i e s Replayg a m e s ) (Vol. 1 0 , No. 2 Vol. 1 1 , No. 3) , b u tr a t h e r h e c a n g e t a w a y jus t a s c lean ly by moving

off t o s o m e r e m o t e a r e a of t h e board , o u t of t h eMidway r a d i u s of o p e r a t i o n s , w h e r e it w o u l d b eunlikely t h a t h e could b e a t t a c k e d . It e n t a i l s a ne l e m e n t of risk, y e s , b u t s o d o e s t h e w h o l esu ic ide tac t ic itself .

THE I N V A S I O N O F M I D W A Y :T h e B e r g e r S t r a t e g y

Lloyd Berger ' s a r t ic le in t h e M a y 72 General(Vol. 1 0 , No. 1 h a s b r o u g h t u p s o m e poin ts t h a tfeel s h o u l d b e d i s c u s s e d , espec ia l ly in t h e lightof t h e S e r i e s Replay g a m e in t h e J u l y i s s u e .

His first point, t h a t t h e p r i m e objec t ive is t h ecar r ie rs , is essen t ia l ly cor rec t , b u t t h e o b v i o u sdistortion o f s o u n d s t r a t e g i c p lay lies in ignor ingMidway Island. T h e t o u r n a m e n t g a m e is m o r eb a l a n c e d t h a n t h e b a s i c g a m e by r e a s o n of

Midway reduc t ion . It m a k e s it m o r e difficult fort h e J a p a n e s e player, a l t h o u g h t h e J a p a n e s e s t i l lre ta in t h e a d v a n t a g e . It s u n w i s e t o s a c r i f i c e t o om u c h t i m e c h a s i n g t h e A m e r i c a n f lee t a n dtotally ignor ing Midway-for you lose p o i n t s jus t

a s s u r e l y by ignor ing Midway.a l s o a g r e e w i t h h i s s e c o n d point-avoid

be ing found-that 's o b v i o u s e n o u g h t o b e amaxim for t h e g a m e . H o w e v e r , t h e w a y in w h i c hh e g o e s a b o u t it is s u s p e c t . T h e s e a r c h s t r a t e gyof d e t a c h i n g s h i p s l e a v e s e a s y poin ts fo r t h eA m e r i c a n p layer a n d m a k e s t h e s u i c i d e tactical1t h e m o r e e a s y . In t h e S e r i e s Replay c i ted , DonG r e e n w o o d took t h e s t r a t e g i c s t a n c e of pickingoff t h e s e a r c h i n g s h i p s o n e by o n e . I t ' s a v iab leop t ion a l s o o s u i c i d e a t tack , a s po in ted o u t , a n d

th ink my predilection for t h e s p e c t a c u l a r

s h o w e d u p in m y c o m m e n t s t h e r e . Uon took t h el e s s risky, a lbe i t l e s s s p e c t u l a r , c o u r s e .

O n e c o m m e n t t a k e excep t ion w i t h is: "Onlyw h e n t h e Atago g r o u p u n i t e s w i t h y o u r c a r r i e r sa r e you defens ive ly s t r o n g e n o u g h t o t r a d ep u n c h e s a n d live t o tell a b o u t it." T h i s is

definitely no t t r u e . T h e c o m b i n a t i o n of CruDiv 7

with CVSF is sufficient, a n d I've s e e n t h i s b o r n eo u t in g a m e af te r g a m e . W a i t i n g until t h eSecond Fleet Atago e t a l ) joins t h e CVSF is

viab le if conserva t ive s t r a t e g y , t o b e s u r e , b u t n o ta t all n e c e s s a r y . Uni t ing t h e s e t w o g r o u p s a l s oinvites d i s c o v e r y a n d it d e l a y s M i d w a y r e d u c -tion. It a l s o g a i n s in d e f e n s i v e f i repower , s o will

leave it u p t o you to d e c i d e w h i c h is bet te r .Personally, p re fe r no t t o h o r s e a r o u n d in tak ingMidway.

His third point, t h e " 6 - 9 - 6 " tac t ic , is really ag r e a t dev ice , a n d th ink you s h o u l d k e e p it inmind , a s it s e e m s t o w o r k equa l ly wel l a g a i n s tt h e b e s t A m e r i c a n f o r m a t i o n s . P u t simply, inc a s e you m i s s e d t h e ar t ic le , w h e n a t tack ing t h eA m e r i c a n p u t D 9 ' s o n all t h r e e CV's, p u t a D l o nt h e Atlanta, a n d t h e n h a v e T 6 ' s f lank ing t w o oft h e CV's, T 3 ' s f lank ing t h e r e m a i n i n g CV, a n d aTI a t tack ing t h e Atlanta. You ' re a l m o s t a s s u r e da kill o f o n e CV, a n d probab ly t h e Atlanta,a l t h o u g h us ing t h e A m e r i c a n "box" format ion(fleet f o r m a t i o n A in t h e "Midway Thes is"article) you c a n s a v e t h e Atlanta.

probab ly s h o u l d a l s o c o m m e n t o n t h e ar t ic let h a t p r o m p t e d I\hr. B e r g e r t o wri te : M o n t e G r a y ' s" M a s s or M a n e u v e r " (Vol. 9 , No. 3 ) . P l a n A is not

Continued on Page 15 Column 3

ommand Control in 1776 Reasons and Alternatives

by Leonard H. Kanterman

With the Bicentennial upon us, 1776is a topicalgame. It may be a n anticipation of a new era ofmanic preoccupation, resembling the Civil Warboom of the early 1960's. Besides this, it is a ninteresting reflection o n the t rends of wargamingand game design. 1776 is a prime example of a na t tempt a t compromise between the two schools ofRealism a n d Playability.

This question first came u p with the publicationof Jutland and 1914, and it has still never beenadequately resolved. Simply stated, the problem ishow realistic can a wargame be without damaging

the ease of play a n d the competitive aspects of thegame. In a t tempt ing toS'set he stage" for the playerst o take over, should just the terrain and forces beprovided (as in Waterloo a n d D Day '61), shou ldthere be limits on the employment of these forces (asin Bulge and D Day '65), o r should "idiocy factors"be included (as in many games published by SPI).Which brings us to Command C o n t r o l a n d 1776.

Recent issues of The G E N E R A L have beenmarked by a furious deba te in the Letters columna b o u t the applicability of a "Command Control"rule in 1776. Such a rule would limit Britishoffensive operations by making them dependentupon a luck element, as in S&T's AmericanRevolution game. The rationale behind such a rule

is tha t in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries(and t o some degree even the twentieth), comman-

ders did not always co-ordinate their operations,and great opportunities were allowed t o slip awaythrough a combina t ion of lethargy, lack offoresight, and misconceptions a b o u t strategic andtactical goals. Intimately related t o this a re thepersonal factors of command-subordinates tha ta re Incompetent, disobedient, o r uncooperative forIwhatever reason. The net result is that what looksgood o n paper often does not get carried o u t asplanned.

The American Revolution was ripe with suchinstances; the British were plagued by them o n astrategic level. After the smashing victory o n LongIsland in 1776, British lethargy allowed Washingtonto catch his brea th and re-organize his a rmy. In theSara toga campaign of 1777, Howe did not cooper-ate with "Gentleman Johnny" and move up theHudson towards Albany, but went after Philadel-phia instead. Burgoyne himself wasted a monthfollowing the fall of Ticonderoga going overlandfrom Skenesboro t o the Hudson ra ther t h a n usingthe water route over Lake George. Most impor tan t -ly, the British strategic thinking was domina ted by abelief tha t holding terrain, ra ther t h a n destroyingthe Cont inen ta l Army as a n effective fighting force,would win them the war. This type of thinking doesnot apply in a war of revolution, a s the U.S. Armylearned the hard way in Vietnam. In the Revolution,Howe took Philadelphia, bu t Washington escapedt o Valley Forge; Cornwallis took the Carolinas, butGreene persisted.

The "Realism" people feel tha t the Britishshould be handicapped for this lack of coopera t ionby a n "idiocy rule." After all, the player knows thevictory conditions; he can't make a mistake in what

to try for. He doesn't have t o pu t u p with problepersonalities o r incompetent subordinates. Hesitting in his comfor tab le livingroom with beer apretzels, not slogging through mud or exposedfreezing winds. This is the limit to realism wargames, a n d it is doubtfu l whether people woueven play them if they were too much like real wThe "Realism" people see "idiocy rules" ascompensation for this limit.

The "Playability" people reject these ideas fseveral reasons. First, they feel that since they a"in command," they could keep subord ina tesin li

replace incompetents, etc. Secondly, t o enhance tcompetitive aspects of t h e g a m e , they d o not wanthave elements of the game beyond their contrThey d o not want success to become dependentgood luck, a s A F R I K A K O R P S can become wGerman supplies o r a low-odds a t tack on TobruT h e third reason Playability people dislike Comand Contro l o r o ther idiocy rules is not stated,least by them. It is a n accusation by the Realipeople that such rules are disliked because it maka game harder to win and interferes with a playe"grand scheme."

Each side of the question has its own validia n d will not go further in to it. However, I woulike to propose some rule changes for 1776 tha t I fwould enhance realism and place limitationseach side without hur t ing playability o r compe

tion.One of the big problems in 1776, a s I see it,excessive British mobility. T h e British armies amoving with their cumbersome supply traith rough unfriendly territory (made more s o by ththoughtless policies of occupation), yet they arecompared to 8's fo r the Americans. As a result, tAmericans have run off in to the wildernessand hif rom the British. T h e Americans a lso suffer fromoving second in the latter three Scenar(Saratoga, Greene's Southern, a n d YorktowThus the British can move out o n the first tu rn anail the Americans, who supposedly are ust waitifor this oblivious to the British offensive designs.actuality, the Americans could not be brought battle unless they desired it; their spy system ainformat ion network allowed them t o get ou t of t

way if they didn't want to fight.

1 have the following suggestions t o offer. Fireduce the movement factors of the British supwagons to 5. It is ridiculous to maintain tha t thsupply trains move as fast a s a column of trooand move faster t h a n artillery trains. How ecstaClinton would have been dur ing his 1778 retrf rom Philadelphia t o New York across New Jerhad this been true Secondly, allow the America n "initial move" in the latter three scenarios. Fexample, in the Sara toga situation, the Britishno t get a May, 1777 move. T h e game begins withAmerican May, 1777 move, followed by a normJ u n e turn (British move first). This allowsAmericans t o evacuate Ft. Cons t i tu t ion o r reinfoit-not just lose the garrison t o overwhelmBritish force f rom New York. Thirdly, experim

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


PAGE 8 THE GENERAL

with a retreat before combat optio n for theAmericans. Let the A mericans decline combat, butthen let the British retreat them say 2 hexes.

A second major problem I see is the way that theMatrix system is handled in co mbat. There are nointrinsic advantages to using any card exceptWithdrawal. The M atrix cards then just become amatter of outguessing your opponent on a non-military basis. Also, the British have no advan tagetactically unless they attack a force of pur e R M

units. In reality, the British were able to executecomplex tactical plans with ease (the flankingmovements of Long Island and Brandywine) whilethe Americans bungled such simple attacks asGermantown and Monmouth ( thanks to Char lesLee).

I would penalize R M units as follows. Theyattack normally (cannon fodd er is cannon fodder),but they are c ut in half on defense, as they ar e l ike])to break and run at the first shot (Long Island,Camden, Guilford Courtho use, Cowpens). Second-ly, I would introduce Leader units as follows toreplace the Tactical Matrix. This also allowssolitaire play a t the advanced level, which can't bedone with a Matrix . Leader units are rated A, B, andC. A player may have 2 leaders on any stack. W henin combat, players roll the dice fo r each leader uniton the following table. The leader ratings are

combined and each side 's total is compared. Forevery 1 difference in leader rating, chan ge the dieroll I (If th e attacker 's ratin g is higher, add to thedie roll; if the defender's ra ting is higher, subtract

from the die roll).

L E A D E R R A T I N G

Die Roll A B C

Example: A British force with 2 A leaders attacksan American force with a Bn an d a C. Th e British

roll a 1 and a 4, for a t otal of 7 points. Th eAmericans roll a 5 and 2, for a total of 6 points. TheBritish may a dd 1 to th e die.

The leader rating is determined at the start of thecombat, an d is used for ea ch successive round ofcom bat. If the British have less than 2 A leaders ona hex, consider them to have enough 9 leaders tobring the tota l of leaders t o 2. (i.e., a British forcewith 1 A i s cons idered to have ano ther B with itautomatically; a British force without any A s has2 Bs) . F or the Americans, consider forces without2 B s to have enough C s t o b ring the to ta l to 2.However, a forc e can't att ack unless it has a leaderun (any rating) with it.

L E A D E R U N I T S B Y S C E N A R I O :

Canada 1775:American-Ticonderoga (At Start) , 2 9 s (Montg omery,Schuyler); Ft. Weste rn (Oct. 1775); 1 9 (Arnold);British-St. John's (At Start); 1 A (Carleton).

Saratoga 1777:American-Morristown (At Start) , B , 1 C Washington,Charles Lee); Albany (At Start) 1 9 Schuyler);Albany (Aug 1777)-2 B s (Arnold, Gates)

British-St. John's (A t Start)-l A (Burgoyne); New York(At Sta rt- 3 A s; (Howe, Clinton, Cornwallis);

Ft. Oswego (July 1777)-1 B St. Leger).

Greene's So uth ern 1780:American-Cheraw (At Start) 2 B s (Greene, Morgan); Within2 hexes of Georgetown (At Start) I B M a r io n );

British-Winnsb oro (At Start) 2 A s (Tarleton, Cornwal-lis).

Yorktown 1781:American-Baltimore (At Start)-] A , 1 9 (Lafayette,Wayne); Baltimor e (Sept. 1781)-1 B Washing -ton); With 15 F R (Sept. 1781)-1 A (Rocham-beau).

British-Por tsmouth (A t S ta r t - l B Arnold); Ports-mouth (Apr. 1781)-1 A (Cornwallis).

The Leader units can be made from blank units .American leaders ar e 0-8, British leaders 0-7, ToryLeaders (Tarleton, ST. Leger) 0-8. Leader units arenever eliminated in com bat.

The last rule changes I have to offer arealternative victory con ditions, t o reflect the necessi-ty of destroying the Continental Army rather than

just occupying territory. There are also some OBcorrections I would like to include for the Saratogasituation.

British:St. John's: 14 BR, 1 T, 1 I, 1 S, 2 A; Ft. Oswego: 1BR, 1 F;New York: 34 BR, 6 T, 2 S, 1 A; June1777-1 S, Mo ntre al; Ju ly 1777-2 I, 1 S, Oswego;Oct. 1777-1 BR, 1 S, New York;

Americans:Ticonderoga: 4 CA , 1 A, 1 S, 1 F; M t. Indepen-dence: 2 RM , Ft. Stanwix: 1 CA, 1 F; Albany: 2 CA,1 S; Philadelphia: 2 RM ; Morristown: 18 CA, 4RM, 1 A , 1 S ; ,We s t Po in t : 1 CA, 1 F; .Ft.Constitution: 1 CA, 1 RM, 1 F; July 1777-2 Rm ,Albany; August 1777-6 CA, RM , Albany;Octo ber 1777-4 R M , Albany.

Victory Cond itions for SaratogaBritish win if they: occupy 3 of the 6 towns and

eliminate 20 CA (not R M ) occupy 4 of the6 towns and e l im inate 15 CA (no t R M)occupy 5 of the 6 to wns and eliminate 10CA (no t R M) occupy a l l 6 towns

Americans win if they: avoid British conditionsND eliminate 20 BR

Gam e is a dra w if the British fail but the Americanseliminate less than 20 BR. (T, I don'tcount)

These victory conditions force the Americans t oinflict substantial losses on the British whileavoiding excessive casualties and loss of territory.All of these were necessary t o entice the French in to

an alliance.

Victory Conditions for Greene's Sou thern Cam-paign:

British win if they: occupy 4 of the 6 towns andeliminate 10 CA or RM , occupy 5 of the 6towns and e l im ina te 5 CA or RM, occupyall 6 towns

Americans win if they: avoid British conditionsND e l imina te 5 BR or T M

Ga me is a dra w if the British fail but the American:e l im ina te less than 5 BR or TM. RMd and TMdcount.


TheOne German difficulty in France '40 is copin

with French tactical withdrawals. One very radic

(and im practical) strategy using this tactic appearein Vol. 9, No. 6 of the General by Larry WesselAlthough this tactic is mentioned in the DesignerNotes. it is applied in a rathe r unique way. Basicallthe Fr ench player sets up his forces behind the Sein

River, using his armor in the Maginot and thcombined Belgian/Dutch forces to effect a delayThe Germans get to Paris around turn 6 or latedon't have enough time to attri t ion the French, ancan't t ake Paris. According to its auth or: It shoulbe impossible for the G ermans to take Paris or pusthe Allied forces into an untenable position, if thAllied player stacks the right kind of units in thright locations.

1 would have to agree w ith this positio n if all thGerman units ,were infantry, but they are noThrough proper handling of German armor thGerman player can throw a spanner into the workwhen the French player tr ies to retreat. Anotheproblem that is totally ignored is the presence oGerman airpower, which is unopposed because thFrench a ir units a re all too far west. Can the Belgia

Army be outflanked? Can the Maginot armo r be cuoff? And most importantly, what does the Allieplayer d o when the Ge rma n begins exiting units othe south edge of the board?

My first objec tion to the plan is tha t it gives thentirety of Belgium and the Netherlands to thGerman on the first turn. In no way is the Germ aslowed up-letting him move across abo ut 113 othe boa rd witho ut slowing him at all. A few Belgiaunits could be placed somewh at closer to Germa nin order t o gain perhaps another turn (if not twoand insuring the escape of units from the Magino

Th e Germ an divides his forces into five groupsthree of infantry and two of armor. The heaviesGerman armor will go across the Belgian centraplain a nd strike the Belgian Army o n the northerf lank o n about tu rn 3. The lighter armor will hea

through the Ardennes and attac k and destroy ththree 1-6 screening units. Th e first infantry grouwill consist of three infantry a nd tw o artillery unitsand will attack the Maginot. The second infantrgroup will contain the bulk of the German infantrand first turn reinforcements, and will advancthrough the Ardennes and outflank the MaginoTh e third grou p will travel thro ugh th e Belgian plaiand will eventually end u p o n the Seine River nortof Paris.

If the Fren ch player does not have 5-6 units, thMaginot line will be assaultable on the first turnAlthough there will be no chance of actualldestroying a Magin ot hex, it is possible to destroFrench units forced to counter-attack. Once th

French armor leaves (necessarily on the first turnthe German will force the Maginot w itha4-1 attacwith air support. He will then send his infantrreinforcements through this gap in order to get themnear the southern edge of the board.

P U R S U I T T A C T I CSAs illustrated in the article, the 1-6 units ca

easily slow up Germ an 7-6 infantry units. Howevethese un i ts cannot do the same to German a rmore

units in close pursuit. This will produce the firdecisive battles in th e center, where the 1-6's will killed by the weaker German armor. In order keep the French units out of German armored rangthey must back-pedal rapidly. This puts tretreating French arm or in a rather bad positioThe G erman a rmo r is closing the gap and Germinfantry is coming up from behind without mu

Allied resistance. Unless the French player wishes

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THE GENER L P GE

FR NCE 0 That ight Have k n

throw away his delaying units hecannot prevent theGerman infantry from coming around the west endof the Maginot. The German player also uses his airunits (which aren't moving that turn) to interdict theAllied movements and prevent sound retreating.

Delaying Tactics. The use of the 1 6 units or any unit with

a movement allowance of SIX, or that matter) 1s U ~ S U C C ~ S S ~ U ~

wh e n attempttng to delay Ge rma n armored untts O n the first

turn theGerman w~llsurroundtheun~ts andonheensuingturnthe unlts wil l be unable toretreat enough toavoid being attackedby the Ge rma n units. T h ~ s ~ l l lso be true of the Belgian rmv

during its retreat

Several things now happen. The French armor

will usually get away. The infantry; however, willusually get trapped between fast stepping Germanarmor comingfrom their breakthrough in the centerand infantry coming from the Maginot. Usually thiswill result in the envelopment of anywhere from 2-5units and their eventual destruction.

The problem that prevents the French player

from mounting a counter-offensive is the lack ofunits. If he stands and fights he will be attacked bythe German infantry on the next turn. The resulting

mobile battles usually are to the German player'sadvantage. The French player may have enough ifhe has 5-6 armor units. These units can attack andthen retreat, giving them a certain amount oftactical flexibility.

The other problems arise with the Belgian Army.

Let's face it, the German armor has little trouble

catching the Belgians and attacking them. Add

aerial interdiction to the Allied player's headachesand we should see a decisive battle or two to destroythe Dutch Army on the extreme flank and a fewBelgian units which will be outflanked when theGermans drive through the hole they have created.

TT CKING T H E S E I N E RIVER

Around turn 6 or so the withdrawal will havebeen finished and the German will settle down to thebattle for Paris, which should fallabout turn 9 at thelatest if the German plays correctly. Should theFrench player have the 5-6 units (the presence of

these units seen to be almost crucial to the defense)then the fight for Paris will be rather rough.However, we will get to Paris through an indirect

approach by attacking both flanks.The attack diagram shown actually occurred ina

test game which I used in experimenting with the

proposed defense, and the situation is as shown.About 70 factors have already been eliminated, astwo 3-4's, two 6-6's and the British 8-8 were allenveloped and destroyed, along with a number ofBelgian and Dutch units. Both historical OoB's are

being used and it is turn 6. Granted the Seine Riveris a coherent defensive line, it isn't all Mr. Wessels

claims it to be. The contortions in the river leaveexposed areas which can easily be attacked,especially hexes 1195, 1124, and 1101. Both attacksshown in the diagram are 5-1, both have air support.The attack on the 6-6 in hex 1124 is resolved first,and the destruction of the 6-6 is ensured. The two 6-8's and 4-8 armored units are thenadvanced into thehex, breaking the river line. The second attack has a47% chance of killing the 6-6 in hex 101 and a 53%chance of retreating it. The 7-8, 6-8, and 5-8

armored unils will advance into the hex, breakingthe line In a second place. A third attack at hex 1001

with three 4-8 units and a 7-6 infantry unit willprobably break the line in a third place. So now theFrench player starts the counter-offensive to holdthe line, right? Wrong

T H E S O U T H E R N BLITZ

What stopped the French from counterattack-

ing was thelack of about halfthe French Army. Dueto the retreating tactics involved, the southern edgeof the board is exposed to the exit of German units.On turn 6 the German player moves seven 7-6

infantry units off the board, forcing the Frenchplayer to remove eight 6-6 units and a 2-2 at thebeginning of his turn. The effect on the FrenchArmy was telling. The entire southern flank has

dissolved into thin air In order to keep from beingsurrounded the French player must spread hisforces out, and cannot really mount a strongoffensive. On the next turn another seven corps exitand the French Army disappears from the board-eliminated or withdrawn.

A few points concerning this rule. Firstly, the,only units which may be withdrawn are French sothe weak Belgians and the valuable British units are

exposed toaneasy destruction once no more Frenchunits are on the board. Secondly, French units aretaken off the board from a south to north direction.This means units are taken off the board ot in theorder the French player wishes, but in the order they

are placed on the board. Thus, if the French playerhas his armor on the extreme southern flank it willgo first

by Harold Totten

The Belgian and British Armies, even at f

strength, cannot possibly hold Paris until turnGerman air units will have advanced enough tthey can attack any French air units, andGerman ground units could attempt to destroy thunits also. Use a point priority-destroy units big

points in order to make up for the five or so turnwhich you were busy pursuing and did not destmany units. The BEF is worth 84 points, Paris isthe Dutch and Belgian Armies are 48, andairforce is 20-172 points which cannot exitboard and which will probably be destroyed. In oexperimental game I found the finalscoreto be 15, a rather decisive German victory.

Why did the French only kill five factors? Tfirst five-six turns of the game merely involretreat, and the French player cannot really affo

to do battle. When the German reaches the Seineattacks. Then the French Army must withdraw ano longer has sufficient force. He never really gany chance to attack-he never gets many poin

S U M M R Y

The German player uses several factors toadvantage. He uses the superior mobility ofarmor units to force delaying units to retreat fart

and can still eventually catch then. Once he opensthe front, he then flanks or cuts off units.

German infantry is used to keep up the pressand to break the Maginot. It then is used insupport role with armor attacks and is moved offsouthern edge of the board. Remember that un

ontinued on Page 9 olumn

upper attack IS resolved first. Next turn a 7 6 will move Into hex l~ k e lyarget.

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PAGE 2 TH GENERAL

SERIES REPL Y

FRIK KORPSAllies: Tom HazlettAxis: Brian Libby

Commentator: Don Burdick

The SERIES REPLAY was first initiated toillustrate the moves of expert players. However, inmany cases more can be learned by takinginstructive advantage of mistakes made. Such is thecase here where the German player is thoroughlyoutplayed. Donald Burdick, an AFRIKA KORPSveteran of many years, handles the neutralcommen-tary which is found in italics below.

GERMAN APRIL :

This is my usual opening move. It's alwaysinteresting to see how the enemy reacts to it.

ALLIED APRIL I:

The Germans seem committed to a southernattack. 7/31Mtr has effectively sealed off a northern

threat this turn, allowing 2 / 3 to move out to blockthe Italians. This makes the 1-5 against Arieteworthwhile, as the Italians aren't going anywherewhether he lives or dies. 22 Gds is poised to block acontinuation of the southern threat.

APR: .The German player has committed all units of

the 2Ist Division to an eastward thrust through theSouthern desert. This is a mistake as the Alliedplayer convincingly demonstrates. The move q f 213to G4 could have beenprevented by sending21/ 104northeast to MIS, or example. Thenortheast move,of 2113 to Q21 did no good at all. It might as well

Another drawback to the Axis,first move is theheavy commitment of the Italians to the CoastRoad. Rommel wouldbe better off ifhe hadorderedtwo Italian divisions to L7.

It's hard to indfault with the Allied move, but Iwould probably have sent 22 Gds to P28 or P29instead of L23 so that it could move to either side ofthe Row 29 escarpment.

GERMAN APRIL :

My opponent obviously is quite skillful (andlucky). Well, we'll see how long it takes todrive himinto Tobruch. It seems unlikely that he will make a

tactical blunder allowing me to break through thisturn.

ALLIED APRIL :

The move to S29 was not unexpected. 22 Gdsblocks any thrust to the west, while an infantryscreen will slow downany move northwest. The 2Istcan of course kill 2 factors but it will cost them theirsupply, a trade 1 would welcome at this point. 4117holds the heights above the key 534 pass. 212 S.G.moved back slightly to avoid being surrounded butstill blocks the Italians. Other units withdraw toprepare to form the Tobruch defense, which will

become necessary when the 15th division arrives.Pol/ Carp is in a position to eitherjoin in the defensenext turn or move to threaten the German supply

Allied April I Move: The All~es react strongly to the German into the posltlon shown. Allied combat unlts not shown are at

southern advance; bringing up the 2 3 to block the coast road sea.

2 2SG attacks out of Bengas~s. Artete at 1-5, and is retreated

APRIL :

BJ'placing the whole 21st Division on S29,Germans have made it easy for the Britdefenders. If 21/104 had moved to S25 or Q22,Allies would have been under more pressure.

It is questionable whether Rommelshould hagone all the way with the 21st Division. It's true this presence is needed if the units with a movem,factor of10 are to threaten the Allied Home BaseJune I, but that threat is easily met. Rommel's boncould be put to good use in the west next tuespecially if Ariete had moved to L9 this time.

At least one other Italian division besiBologna and Ariete should be starting to ,fla

Gebel El Achdar. lf the Italians continue to hugCoast Road, they will be orced to expend a suppto attack 212 S. G. ThatS an expense the Axis canajyord if their luck in landing supplies should tusour.

Once again, I have only one small improvemin the Alliedmove tosuggest. 4I/5shouldhavegoto M20 to be readr' to move southwest on a raidmission next turn.

GERMAN MAY I:

The escape of that 2 S.G. unit is a terri

nuisance.Let's see how he reacts to this threat to his ho

base. At least he'll have to send some stuff to s

ALLIED M A Y I:

1expect the move toward my home base to bdiversion and that the 21st will head back towaTobruch. In case it doesn't, three 1-1-6"shead ousea. 4115 is safe from automatic victory.

111 make him fight for K35. I don't expect himtake the 3-1 but he might outflank me at L37.1cacover everything.

Without the Italians the 15th lacks the powercrack the escarpment unless it takes a 3-1. TGermans usually don't do very well if they make lodds (less than 5-1) attacks without infantry. Tescape of 212 S.G. continues to be a big factor. Brapparently expected me to withdraw it this turn,I'd rather delay the Italians, giving my Jureinforcements time to arrive.

MAY I:

Since the Axis now have three supplies andsinthey have no prospect of isolating 212 S.G. befMa), 11, thqv should attack 212 S.G. this time.traveling along Row 6, 15/33can reach G5enablthe Axis to achieve an automatic victory against 2S. G. Unfortunately, there are no units left to mothrough the automatic victor.)',so the Allies core-establish a hlocking position by sending 4115C9. Nevertheless, the attack should be made.

The Allied move is once again u,ell doespeciallr. the move q f a supply unit to THowever, that niove would be more effectiveconjunction ~ . i t h raiding mission by a 1-1-6.7Acould havegone to I27 instead of K35, enabIing4to go to N25.

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THE GENERAL PAGE 2

Allied April Move: 22 Gds effectively seals theGerman armor approaches from the desert. 2/2SG continues to thwart the

force against the escarpments with 1 1 -6 scovering theeastern Italian advance along the coast road.

GERMAN MAY : the 21st headed back toward Tobruch . 1didn't leave MAY :

I had t o destroy the 2 S.G., a n d waste a supply out any delaying units because the Italians a re ou t o f The Axis did well to attack 212 S G. and pu

unit. Rommel probably could not have held the range and they stop the a rmor , 1 prefer t o back the 21st division, but it s likely to be a case o

enemy base even if he took it, so I 'm returning t o a conserve strength. too little too late. Theonly improvement in the Axi

conventional me thod of pushing the enemy in to move I can suggest is to send2113 to S29 instead o

Tobruch. If he attacks P o l /Carp , which is heading t o raid Q28. That wouldforce the Alliedsupply unit on T2

supplies, he will have t o d o so with a rmor , leaving to return to Tobruch or be destroyed to avw

insufficient strength t o a t tack Tobruch . capture.4 ; : J

ALLIED MAY 11: The Allies move, however, was not up to the

T h e Tobruch defense is established was mildly T h e idea of Tobruch defense is t o keep the usualstandard. Thepullback to G24, H25and H2

surprised by Brian's a t tack o n 212 S.G. It came t o o Germans f rom placing all squares in their zone of was too conservative. It presents the Axis withlate t o get the Italians t o T o b r u c h by J u n e and it control , leaving m e with a retreat route fo r one unit golden opportunity to get back in thegame. Iwoulwould have been easy to kill by isolation. O n t h e and a square fo r a delay unit next turn. Hopefully, recommend stationing 3 or 4 factors on G23,other hand he had supplies t o burn, a n d he has he'll a t tack f rom the west, leaving the road t o S a lum factors on I25,4 actors on 127 and 1 actor each o

Allied May I Move: The Germans have violated one of the of their next supply opportunity, and 2/2SG continues to counter the eastern feint bythe2lsteasilyby sending hree 1

primary axioms in AFRIKA KORPS; always attack when at embarrass the Italian advance along the coast road.The British 6 s out to sea.

maximum supply.Bynotattackingthey haveguaranteed he loss

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PAGE THEGENERAL

Allied MayIMOM TheGermansf~nal ly se their excesssupply

eastward coastal road. The 4th Allied Supply unlt lnot shown atto ellmlnate 2/2SG In a 5 -1 surroundedA.V. whichallows Pavla X211 further comollcates things for the German-posing aand Brescia to advance up the coast road. The Allies react by potential supply source for thk Carpathian unit should ?hewithdrawing to the outskirts of Tobruch while screening the

The move t o M20 b y Poll Carp wasgood . If that ALLIED JUNE I

unit could slip behind Axis lines, it would be a n was mildly surprised by Brian's failure toeffective annoyance t o the Axis forces, especially i attack. The supply table changes July 1 so this wassupplied b y the Allied Supply #4. his last opportunity to use a supply with a 67%

There is a technical illegality in the Allied move. chance of getting it back. He must have felt that he7 / 3 1 Motor could not get t o G24 from K18. had insufficient strength to mount an assault.However, it could g o t o H26 instead, and either o f My defense of Tobruch is designed to causethe 2-2-6's now o n H26 could have gone t o G24. soak-off casualties. Unless he attacks both flanksThus, the error is completely harmless ro theplay o f will still have a retreat route. tried to make it costlythe game. to attack the 4-4-7's. hope to save these heavy units

for defense of the fortress itself, so I'm willingto givehim a shot at a couple of 2-2-6's now. I'd considered

GERMAN J U N E I attacking out at 1-3 with Pol/Carp but would

This is going to be a long war. hope he doesn't rather be certain of tying down the forces another

counterattack I see I'm going to have a lot of turn. There's always the chance he'll leave him-trouble with "recce" missions. self open to an escape attack the next turn too.

What happens next will be interesting This The eastern defenses are out of reach this turn.

game may prove to be the least 'orthodox' I've ever debated sending a 2-2-6 to that area but feel it is

had. more usefully deployed in the Tobruch area.

Allied June IMove:TheGermanagainfailstotakeadvantageof are 7 /4SAM at sea. 41/23 at L39 and British supply units athis full supply situation choosing to isolate the Poles instead. M 4 1 and the HE The Allied 4th Supply was self eliminated afterThe arrival of the Allied June reinforcements now makes drawing 15 /33 to the chase.Tobruch a very tough nut to crack. Not shown in the illustration

German allow it to move reely into the desert. Like he Alliedsupply which self-destructed last turn thisone isin nodangecapture.

JUNE I

The Axis player missed his golden opportuniHe also missedon hisprediction that this would blong war. I don't think he realizes the seriousnesshis predicament. It is impossible for the Axismount a successful drive against the Allied HoBase while the Allies occupy a perimeter outsTobruch. The Axis orces must drive the Allies bainto Tobruch and that task will besignijicantly modifficult after the Allies' June reinforcements arri

By using the Rommel bonus the A x i s can putfactors o n I25 and I26 for a 3-1 against 213 witPavia going to 127 or the 1-4 soak-off against H

One unit, either 15 /33 or Brescia, shouldgo ro Hbut not H23. That way 213 can be retreated to G2rhe 3-1 results in D back 2. The advance afcombat to H2.5 in combination with the Axis unitHZ2 would then leave 213 isolated. Of course,exchange would be troublesomefor the Axis,

they have a 7W0 chance of eliminating 213combat or isolation wirhout suffering the losseight factors in an exchange. Besides, they haved o something about the Tobruch situation. Othe British are driven back into Tobruch, the thr

f rom Poll Carp can be dealt with.If rhe Axis d o not arrack the Tobruch defens

then they should take an ~ u r o m a t i c ictory agaPoll Carp rather than isolate it. They would hav70% chance o f recovering the supply in one tuand the participating combat units would be re

for other duty o n June II.

I f 1 were the Allies, I would be tempted to tak3-1 surrounded against 1518, even though it coresult in the loss o f Tobruch. The Allies havefactors available: 21 are needed for the 3-1, 2 osoak off against 2113 and I t o stdtion o n S33 or Kto protect the Allied H o m e Base. That would leone factor to put o n G24. The Axis could thcapture Tobruch by: I ) using 14 actors on G23aH24 to achieve an automatic victory against the uon G24; 2) sending one other unit to H25 whertoo wouldparricipate in the automatic victory, a3 ) using other units ro soak-off against Alliedforco n 126. Because o f thispossib~li ty don' t blameAllied player for choosing the more conservatcourse of action.

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THE GENERAL PAGE 3

GERMAN JUNE :

If the Poles don't get away in their 1-6.1 guess I'llpush him into Tobruch , next turn. I don't yet knowif I'll attack Tobruch or try t o push east.ALLIED JUNE :

Once again Brian has failed t o attack. He's go t t odo something eventually. I didn't adjust my defensemuch this turn. 714 S .A .Mtr . remained off theboard so I'll have a delay unit available in theTobruch area if a n a t tack comes a n d a retreat insidethe fort is necessary.

I feel I'm in pretty good shape , bar r ing someunexpected move by Brian. He can drive me off theescarpment in the K36 area if he wishes, b u t he willhave trouble moving much farther east withoutsecuring his supply line a r o u n d Tobruch . T h e longerhe delays the harder it will be. My J u l y reinforce-ments come on next turn.

JUNE :

Whenever the Axis fail to attack with threesupply units on board, it's equivalent to giving theBritish a sunk for free. Such gifts should beavoided if the Axis can make a useful attack. Myrecommendation would be to begin the assault onthe Tobruch defenses with a 6-1against 7/31Motorfrom H24 and I25 and two 1-4 soak-offs.

There is not much to say about the Allied

pla.wr's move. From this point on his gamepracticallv plays itself:

GERMAN JULY I:

I a m loathe t o a t t a c k T o b r u c h directly. I'll trypushing east. That should force him back in toTobruch, as he'll have to take t roops ou t of theperimeter to reinforce Egypt.

ALLIED JULY I:

T h e Germans finally a t tacked But the res'ults

were not what they had hoped . My defense this turnleaves a minimum of cheap targets. 4117 ispositioned t o prevent a n attack o n 41/23 , T osurround 7 A / he will have t o soak-off against

M41. He could conceivably get a n a u t o victoryagainst 4117 a n d 7A but tha t will require 9 factors,leaving only 2 units, no t enough t o cover Tobruch ,must less exploit the au tomat ic victory.

Sooner o r later he has t o hit Tobruch . T h eguarding force necessary now leaves inadequa teforces to move o n Alexandria without low o d d sattacks with a r m o r . The longer he waits the morecasualties he will take.

Allied July Move: The Germans eliminate 41/5 at 7-1 but lose21 I 0 4 in a 1-2.The Alliesfall backgr~dgingly~gainingtrength

as their Julv reinforcements arrive. The aooearance of 9A/1 EatTobruch would appear to make that posl t;on Impregnable.

JULY I:

Whatever objective the Axis player decides topursue, he must try to minimize his chance ofincurring casualties. It would be much better to sendthe 7-7-10'sto M39for an automatic victory against41/23, whileputting21/104 on N38, Ariete on W 5 ,and Brescia on J34. That should drive the 4Iand 7 Abrigades back without costing the Axis anycasualties. Even so, it would still be better to attackthe Tobruch defenses.

Allied June II Move: The German continues to sit tight, hoping to free Trenta for combat duty. Trenta is pulled out of the H

towln by maneuveragameheislosingduetoearliermaneuvers with a full complement of supplies it has nothing to gainand which cries out for combat to right thesituation. An unusual staying.The British losethe Poles~n 1-6 attempttoescape fromove is that of the Rommel unit-apparently returningtoTripoli isolation.

The Axis player's hope to solve the Tobruchproblem by pushing east is doomed to disappoint-ment. His masking orce can beprotectedfrom a3-1attack by the Tobruchgarrison ifheputsa 7-7-loonJ26 and 2-3-4's on H23 and 128, but that leaves only25factors availablefor the drive toward Alexandria

(or 27 once Trenta arrives on the scene). That orcemust fight its way through 19 British units with astrength ,factor of I, including a Recce unit, andcapture the Allied Home Base by October If at the

latest. Any delay be.vond that would permit theAllies to use their November reinforcements tobreak out from Tobruch at 3-1. Capturing J62 byOctober I f is an almost impossible taskfor the Axis.

two factors instead of a 70% chance of eliminatinthe 7A brigades and a 30% chance of losing foufactors.

The comments made last turn about thnecessity of attacking the Tobruch defenses sti

Q P P ~

GERMAN AUGUST I:

Drat that Exchange M y losses are more thahis I a m very demoralized. But a t least he retreatedOf course, he hopes t o d r a w me o n and a t tack outTobruch when my large units a r e near Matruh .

1 have no idea what to do. I guess I'lljust sit tighfor now.

ALLIED JULY :

Brian had some bad luck with the exchange, bu t AUGUST I:

that's the chance the Germans take when they attack san k Brian is going have

t less t h a n 5-1, He continues to d o well on the make some kind of move eventually. I'm content

supplies. He has to make a decision this tu rn , l f h e wait fo r November. 2 S A / 7 is threatening his f lan

attacks the eastern forces he'll move'out of range of "OW. he has about .Tobruch and 111 attack out and threaten his supply decided t o hold the 5 t h Ind ian off. 1don't really nee

line. them a t Matruh this tu rn and I want them availab

for a possible break out of Tobruch .

JULY :The Alliedplayerpositioned his orces well, but AUGUST I:

the Axis attack could clearly have been better The Allies could have placed delay units on Iexecuted. By sending Ariete to M40 to oin 1518 in a and 545 whilestationing three units on L46, but th5-1 surrounded against 7AI while 15/33 soaks-off can afford ogive up space to save unitsat thisstagfrom M40 at 1-3 against 7A2 and the two units on The only drawback of the withdrawal to JSO, anM41, the Axis would h ve gu r nteedelimin tion Row 51 is the act that it seems to have started tof the two 7A brigades and a 30% chance of losing Axis player thinking about an attack on Tobruc

Allted July Move: The Germans have ellmlnated 41/7 at 7-1 Matruh hoplng to lure the Germans away from Tobruch aand 7A1 and 7A2 In an exchange at 3 1 wh~ch osts them the lengthen thelr supply llnesArlete dlvlsion The rest of the Allled force withdraws beh~nd

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


PAGE 4 THE GENERs

Allied August Move: The Germaneastwarddrive isstalledby

heavy opposition lack of supply and a flanking attempt by the

However, if a Tobruch attack is on the Axis

player's mind, he has moved the 7-7-10's too far

East. The only hex in the Tobruch region they can

attack next turn is H26.

GERMAN A U G U S T 11:

There comes a time when you've been sooutplayed or outrolled that your only recourse isanappeal to fate to redress the balance of forces..Failure to attempt to even the situation now with alucky attack, no matter how small the probabilityofsuccess, condemns me to an ever worsening dilem-ma.

ALLIED A U G U S T 11:

Brian finally made his move, and the attackproved to be a disaster for the German armor. Hedid force me back into Tobruch, giving him a crackat the fortress. He now has two options, a 3-1 on7/31Mtr. followed by a 1-1 on Tobruch, barring anexchange on the first attack; or a 1-2 on Tobruchnow. The percentage of successisabout the same: .7

(non-exchange)x .3 d back or e1im)- .21for the firstattack and .2 (d back) for the second attack. expectthe 1-2, as the 3-1, 1-1 takes two turns, giving myflanking force more time to maneuver. In anticipa-tion the supply moves out to sea. 5th Indian comes

2SA/7. Barring successful gambles the German player is in

deep trouble.

on the board now, as there is no longer thepossibility of attack from Tobruch.

A U G U S T 11:

The Axisplayer's 1-1wasan act of desperation. I

must agree that his situation calls for desperatemeasures, but the 1-1 against H26 does not make

good sense. It would be much better to drive the

Allies back into Tobruch at the cost ofseveralsoak-

offs and then take the 1-1 against Tobruch itself: A

D back 2 in an attack against Tobruch is asgood

as a Delim, but a D back 2 against H26 is only

slightly helpful to the Axis cause. Also, an

exchange, which is a bad result for the Axis in

either case, would at least leave them inpossession

of Tobruch after a 1-1against Tobruch itself: In the

present situation the Axis are faced with the

unhappy prospect of making another low odds

attack in an effort to capture Tobruch.

Since the German 7-7-10'sare too ar east to hit

anything but H26 this turn, the Axis player should

be content to pull back his 7-7-10'swhile using oneof his three supplies to sustain a 5-1 surrounded

against the Allied Recce. There isplenty of time to

drive the Allied defenders back into Tobruch and

take the 1-1 before November.

Allied August Move: The curtainringsdown on the Axis act. Allies wtthdraw into Tobruch sending supplies and 9A/18 toDesperately seeking to change the momentumof the game the sea. The defanged German about to beenveloped rom all sidesGerman risks a 1-1 assault v 2/3 and 7/4 which costs him will immolate the remainderof h ~ sorces ina 1-2vsTobruch in21/5. 15/8 and Savena in an exchange. Although Pavia September. DAK has been decisively beaten with virtually noadvances next to Tobruch after combat it isaforlorn gesture.The chance of recovery.

ALLIED SEPTEMBER I:

What can I say. Brian doesn't seem to be ableroll anything but an exchange. No one can wdoing that. In retrospect, I would have to sayescape of 212 S.G. was the decisive Factor.delayed the Italians several turns, setting the Atimetable for attack back sufficiently to enableAllies to construct much more formidabledefenthan normal. There also comes a time whmaneuver fails and the Germans have to wade

and slug it out. 1think Brain waited too long tothis, and then went after non-essential desert targinstead of Tobruch.

SEPTEMBER I:

Thefinal turn was a bit sloppy on both sides,

that is understandable because thegame isessent

ly over. The Allies should have put the 51 Divis

on G24 instead of 7/3IMotor. That way they hav

50% chance of causing casualties ifthe Axis atta

that hex. Another improvement would be to se

2SA/7 to W35.

The Axis player does not have to be in a rush

take the 1-2 against Tobruch. It would be better

take a 5-1 surrounded against the pesky All

Reccefirst. Ifhe must take the 1-2now, then Bres

should be on I26 instead of 125in case of an Aba

2.Also, an Axis unit should be sent to J33

prevent the Allied 1-1-6's rom movingup the Co

Road to relieve Tobruch.

SUMMARY:

Iagree with Tom that theescape of212 S. G. w

important, but it was not the decisive actor. T

real key to thisgame was the April I move of 213

G4. Without that move the escape of 212 S.G.

only a minor nuisance to the Axis.

With it 212 S.G. could be eliminated in the

and the Allies could still delay the Italians

sending a 1-1-6 to the GebelEl Achdar escarpme

Of course, Tom is 100% correct about

necessity or the Axis to be aggressiveabout drivi

the Allies into Tobruch. This game illustrates th

fact very well.

Two other overall observations are womaking about this game. First, Tom was mu

better than Brian at anticipating his opponen

actions. This is an important aspect of success

play. Second, although his combat results left mu

to be desired, Brian's luck in getting supplies w

fabulous.

PANZER LEADER Continuedfrom Page

the fighter-bombers. The P-47's are better thanTyphoons in machine gun attacks since 2 of thcan get a 6-1 against artillery using the machguns.

The fighter-bombers attack after the comphase is over and all direct and indirect fire attachave been resolved. They thus are able to attack aGerman units that were disrupted in the comphase and therefore have a chance to finish themat relatively low odds and also have 1 subtracfrom the die roll. This type of attack is especiauseful against German armored and artillery unin covering terrain that might have escapedearlier 4-1 if a 5 or 6 were rolled. The useairpower in these situations is very effective forAllies.

ARTILLERY FIELD OF FIRE LIMITATIO

The German 88mm guns and U.S. 90mm gwere anti-aircraft weapons mounted on pedestaturntable mounts and should not need acarrieruin the same hex to change facing.

Q

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


TH GENER L P GE 5

n mateur Socio logist Studies the Wargaming Subculture

Ask a wargamer's wife to do a Sociologypaper

on the wargaming subgroup and you're liable to be

asking for trouble. f that lady just happens to be

married to Tom Oleson (he of the 9 simultaneous

A NZIO pbm games ame) you're really asking or it.

It is to Manuela's credit as a future sociologist that

she maintained her objectivity in spite of everyday

personal experiences.

Football widow and golfing widow are common

expressions. Soon they may be joined by the

wargaming widow. Probably there is no chess

widow because chess fanatics are too busy even to

marry, thus saving their would-be wives from years

of neglect. Bobby Fischer is only the most recent

example of a chess grandmaster so wedded to his

game that admiration for his genius is tempered by

the recognition that it is equalled by his anti-social

introversion.

Wargaming seems to rival chess in the hypnotic

hold it exerts over its devotees. The writer of this

report is married to a wargaming zealot, andtherefore has had the opportunity to observe scores

of these rare creatures at close range, probably a

good part of the reason the use of valium is soaring.

Many of them appear to be gravely infected with the

Fischer syndrome, some symptoms of which are

blindness and deafness to visual and aural stimuli

not directly related to the wargame at hand.

Of course, we are all tyro sociologists, admitted

or not. We have all heard nonsensical generaliza-

tions such as "Those blacks all drive big Caddys.",

based on a 5-minute vehicular observation while

rushing through a certain part of town. Perhaps my

subjective impressions belong in that category, and

would not be supported by an objective survey. The

scope of this study permits no definitive answer to

the question. Presuming over 100,000 wargamers, a

representative sample would have to number a t least

a few hundred, not just the 52 recorded here, out of

more than 75 solicited. There is also the problem of

measuring aberration by questioning the supposed

aberrant: "Hey, is it true you wargamers are all

weird?" A better, but more difficult procedure

would be to question not thegamers, but their long-

suffering wives and friends. Another problem is that

my sample is not random, since it is drawn from

gamers who have segregated themselves into a

"buff" category by joininga club, or subscribing to a

magazine, as opposed to the more casual gamer. But

perhaps it is ust this wargaming6'freak" who is most

interesting.

The survey-a review of the responses

Only one of the 52 respondents was female,

wargaming being nearly exclusively a white, male

pastime. The range of ages was 16 to 49; average 29.

Deleting the top and bottom 10% o avoid extremes,

the distribution is 21-39. The survey was peppered

with extremes, for example the gamer already

playing 80 hours weekly and therefore unable to

increase his playing time So to reduce distortion I

have sometimes deleted the top and bottom 10%

and will so indicate.

Wargamers are studious. Deleting the four stillin high school, average years of schooling is 17, with

36% having done graduate work.Thirty-two different occupations were listed,

including four game designers, seven teachers, and

seven students. There was great variety, including

blue collar workers, mechanics, unemployed, as

well as various professions.

Sixty percent listed themselves as married, a few

also replying that they were divorced. From one to

three children were listed by twenty of the thirty-one

married respondents. In a group of 52 people with

an average age of 29, for only 38% to have children

would seem on the low side.

Over $20,000 yearly income was listed by 19%,

$10-20,000 by 30%, with the rest under $10,000. For

over half of a group of mostly adult well-educated

males to earn under $10,000 would imply more

dedication to gaming than working

Nearly all respondents answered nearly all

questions, but the few omissions have been deleted

in calculating percentages.

Ninety percent have a hobby besides wargam-

ing.

The average respondent has been wargaming a

decade, with a range of 1-25 years. Deleting the

extremes, it is 3-15.Seventy percent would like to increase their

weekly gaming time in a range of 3 hours to infinity

Dropping extremes, the weekly time spent war-gaming is 8 % hours, while on the same basis the

desired time is 14 hours.

All but one in ten regard wargaming as both

educational and intellectual. Only half regard

wargaming as therapeutic ("harmless outlet for

feelings of aggression").

One third consider themselves part of an elite.

In response to a question about how others see

their hobby, 215 believe that it's seenabout thesame

as any hobby, but 113 believe that others see

wargaming as a "silly waste of time."

The majority of those questioned do not feel

guilty over time spent wargaming, but a large

minority (36%) does. Discarding the extremes, the

average hours spent weekly by the "guilty" group

exceeds 10, while the "innocents" spend under 8

hardly surprising. A bit less predictable is a uniformdesire to increase wargaming time.

Fully 213 report friction with others over

wargaming. Of the entire sample, 36% feel guilty

about their wargaming time; of those reporting

friction with others, 52% also report feelings of

guilt. As we will examine in detail later, this survey

seems to reveal two distinct groups, and this

question gives the first hint: one group reporting

little guilt or friction, the other group-

considerable.

Three-quarters of those asked say the wargamer

is about the same as anyone, while 115th feel that he

or she has superior intelligence. Only a few chose the

answer "an introverted book-worm who uses

wargames to escape reality."

A third claim to win half their games. Nearly 31 5

claim victories in the 40-60% range. The completespread was 1 to 95%. Maybe the latter plays the

former.

Twenty-four admit to frustration or resentment

over a loss; 28 deny it.

"Is wargaming skill as valid an index of general

intelligence as a standard 1Q test?" Nearly 4 of

those queried took the trouble to deprecate the

validity of IQ tests, an opinion high in fashion these

days. Only '/4 agreed that wargaming prowess is as

valid a measure of intelligence as IQ.

Nearly half those asked like dancing; 415 enjoy

camping or hiking.

Very few kelong to a service club such as

Kiwanis, while a third had military experience. This

is a result rather contrary to the intuitive perception

of the typical wargamer's background. Another

subjective observation of wargamersis that theyar

more doves than hawks, but that could be a surve

all by itself

Just over half agreed that wargaming an

mathematical ability are related.

To digress, it is difficult to express surve

questions with precision satisfactory to all. Som

took me to task for that. Terms such as guil

friction, left-wing, etc., might each require a pagjust to define.

Equal numbers labelled themselves left-winand moderate: 27%, while 23%each answered righ

wing, and apolitical. Recent surveys show that morthan twice as many Americans consider themselve

to the right as to the left, but it should be noted tha

nearly 29% of the sample either were born, or live

outside the USA.

"Women's Liberation" has made it gauche t

make too much of the physiological difference

between the sexes. Give Betty a toy gun (o

wargame?) and Billy a toy stove, and she woul

grow up a soldier, he a homemaker, or so it ifashionable to believe. Our wargaming sampl

shares this view, as over 415 ascribe the lack o

female gamers t o different interests/cultural cond

tioning, not any basic lack of whatever ability it i

that makes a wargamer

Nearly 213 felt chess is inferior to wargames.

Less than a third prefer fellow gamers as friend

While correlating the survey data, it becamapparent that the key question was: "Do you eve

become so immersed in wargaming that you neglec

to be courteous and/or responsive to non

wargamers present?" The subjective opinion of th

author of this survey is YES , but let the data tel

their own story.

Analysis of the Key Question

When this survey was conceived, the idea of control group of non-wargamers was considered

then abandoned. As it turned out, the survey itse

generated a control group.

All but one respondent answered the ke

question: 27 confessed to discourtesy, 24 denied

(53147). Of course, asking a person if he or she i

impolite is not an infallible method of discoverin

the truth, since we are not all either aware of, o

willing to admit, our shortcomings, even anony

mously, but the scope of this survey forces us t

ignore that factor. The data do reveal such

difference between the two groups that it would b

hard to attribute it to chance.

I will refer to the two groups as C (courteousand D (discourteous).

Most of the questions were re-analyzed to sehow the two groups differed in their answers.

1. Two-thirds of the entire sample reported frictiowith others. Among Ds this figure rose to nearly

while among Cs it was just over half.

2. Just over a third reported feelings of guilt ov

their gaming time. Half the Ds felt guilty, only '/4

the Cs.

3. Ignoring extremes, the average D wargames 1

hours weekly, C only 7. "Honey, take out t

garbage Sure, just as soon as 1 finish this solitai

campaign game of 1776 "-lot of resentment mig

boil up over that sort of thing

4. Just under half the total survey felt resentment

frustration over a loss, but among Ds this rises

315, dropping to 113 among Cs.

5. Another nearly even split concerned the correl

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


PAGE 6 THEGENERAL

t ion between wargaming an d math , but the split wasuneven between the two groups : over 315 of Ds sawsuch a correlation, but only 215 of Cs.6. Less than third of all those questioned regardwargamers as an elite. Abo ut half of D s seethemselves as members of an elite, only 1 4 of Cs.7. Twenty-seven pe rcent of th e survey regardthemseives as eft-wing. Amo ng Ds this rises to 42%,but it is only 23% among Cs.8. The Ds were a bit more likely to prefer otherwargamers as friends, b ut no t to a significant

degree.9. A marked disparity surfaces when examinin g thefamily status of each group. Alth ough the marriedproportion is abo ut th e same fo r each, the slightlysmaller C group has 50% more children. Howstriking a demonstration of inattention can youhave?10. Two-fifths of the survey felt that others sawwargaming as silly, or only fo r intellectuals. Amo ng

Cs this rises to over half; amo ng D s it drops t o abo ut113.I I . Nearly 315 of the sample claimed t o win abou thalf their games, bu t nearly twice as many D s claimto win more than half a s do Cs.

12. Nearly 213 of all those answering rankwargaming over chess. This rises to 70% amon g theDs, falling to 55% of the Cs.

13. Nearly 315 of the entire grou p regard wargamingas therapy, but this drops to ust over 11 3 among Cs,rising to 415 of th e D s.14. Only 5 of the Cs have been gam ing over a deca de,compared to 15 Ds.15. Although only a small nu mb er is involved, it isinteresting to note that of the six respondentslacking anothe r hobby, four were Ds.16. Ano ther inte resting result: 7 of the 10 dislikingcamping were Ds.17. The C average age is 28, Ds 31.

There is anot her way to demonstrate in numbersthe contrast between the two groups. For eachquestion lendin g itself to this analysis, a num ber isgenerated representing deviance from the norm. Forexample, if in th e survey as a whole 50% replied

positively to a que stion , while amo ng Ds it is 60%,Cs 40%, the deviance would be +10 and -10,respectively. This is obviously mo re indicative than

exact, but i t does paint a n interesting picture. Eachquestion is identified briefly by a key word:

D C5 -13 Friction

+14 -12 Guilt+I I -15 Frustration

9 -13 Math+16 4 Elite+I 5 4 Left+ 5 -10 Chess+21 -22 TherapyT

This shows a neatly symmetrical deviation fromthe norm.

This survey set out to test my assumptio n thatquite a few wargamers suffer from the "Fischersyndromev-a degree of absorption in their hobbywhich could be called at least mildly anti-social,because it is dysfunctional i n terms of relating to thebroader environment (to which the gamer inquestion might reply: "What broader environment?Hand me that die ").

Although the scope of this report is too narrowto conclusively prove anything, the results areprovocative. 1 believe they su ppo rt the thesis tha tthere are at least 3 subgroups of w argamers:

1. What I have labelled a s D. The Discourteousgamer sometimes clashes with others over his

hobby, a nd feels guilt over time spent on it, perhapsbecause it is a bit much. He often is frustrated orresentful about a loss. He feels wargaming andmathematical ability are related. He is likely toregard himself a s one of a n elite. His politics key tothe left. If married, he probably has nochildren. Notime His view of the impression othe rs have of hishobby is relatively positive. Chess comes secon d towargames. His victory record is good. Wa rgam ing istherapeutic to him. He is a bit older and moreexperienced than the average wargamer.

2. What I have called C. The Courteouswargamer is a bit younger than the average in hishobby, and no t in i t quite as long. He is more apt tobe to the right o r center. If married, more ap t to havechildren. Doesn't feel guilty abo ut gaming, perhapsbecause he sp ends less time on it. He doesn't m indtha t his ba tting average is a bit low. He is less quickto ran k w argames ahead of chess, nor does he seehimself as part of an elite . Wargames are neithertherapy, nor related to math abili ty, to him. He has amore negative view of others' opinion of wargam-ing.

3. The third group we have not canvassed, andcan only specualte about. I t represents the vastmajority of people who can be called wargamers,because they own o r play them. They are probablylittle represented here, because they are not so

interested th at they would bother t o belong to themore active group to which I had access. It isprobably fair toqr esum e that this group is more likeC than D.

It has been said that generalizations andcomparison s are odious, and I confess that C and Dare, to a n extent, caricatures. Nonetheless, I dobelieve that this survey gives full suppor t to theassumption s bringing it into being.

H Y D S P E S Continued from Page 5

Special Terrain

I. Chariots must sto p when entering a muhex. Thereafter they may m ove 1 square pturn. They receive no charge bonus when atacking into or out of a m ud hex.

2. The ridge is treated as a slope.

Elephants

I M-P cavalry may not move adjacent to el

phants. If the elephants move adjacent to tcavalry it must move away in i ts turn.

2. lndia n cavalry may not be in the same squaas elephants.

Elephants may attack phalanx units frontallWhen the elephant unit reaches the adjacesquare consult the following table:

roll result

1 2 Proceed wi th a t tack .

3,4 Halt. No attack possible on phalanx any other adjacent unit . May try aganext turn.

5 Unit routs immediately (see elepharule in battle manual).

6 Roll again.

3. If an el epha nt is attacked by missle unonly and the result is any D back the elepharouts immediately.

Better Training

This rule applies to Phalanx, hypaspists, Agemand the veteran mercenaries.

Combined Arms Attacks

The M-P army is permitted combined armattacks. The Indian army is not.

QP B M : Conrinued from Page 2

the code used, and attempt to do the sam e myseThis too, adds an othe r element of realism, for if yo

crack your opponents 's code you may obtain thsame advantages which actually accrued to th

Allies when they did s o in World W ar 11. A CaptaMidnight decoder badge becomes very helpful

As so described, I have found the game to bvery enjoya ble, an d very realistic, in my judgmenMore pre-planning is required, as to allocation defensive supporting forces, which I think monearly, represents the true state of affairs once battle is joined in a partic ular locality. The systedoes require tha t th e attacker resolve some of his drolls . This should not be objectionable as long as hselects stock dates which fall aft er his mailing datHis opponent can always check the accuracy othose results, and require verification through clipping, if he finds a discrepancy . Man y of us havused similar systems for years in our FR AN CE 4

and similarly oriented games. The system doepermit of mod ification, if you feel that a facet of th

game which I have removed is essential. Foexample, you can insist in the gam e preliminarietha t the Axis player deploy Italy first. Once again,usually send such a deployment with my fircommu nication to a potential Allied opponent. Ianother area, the information called for in step 1cabe stated in a nu mbe r of ways. Allocatio ns defensive air facto rs o r fleet intercepts can be statein the alternative, or be made contingent upovarious factors, such as the size of the attackinforce, the num ber of fleet units conduc ting a type mission which you wish to intercept, or wheth2ther more important missions are also beinundertaken by your op ponent. As long as youwishes are clearly stated so that your opponent caunderstand what you mean, it doesn't affect thworkability of the system.

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


THE GENERAL PAGE

( AL( uLATED I TORY by T ho ma s ~ i l t o n

Perhaps The GENERAL'sprimarypurpose is to

offer enlightened analyses of conflict simulations

showing us how to annihilate our opponent. But

much of what appears is somewhat redundant

because key concepts are not transient and need

only be applied to a different situation.At times various authors have offered advice on

strategic and tactical matters that are at best

obvious and at worst puerile, such as the object of

an attack is to defeat your enemy. Most such

articles may be of some value to obtuse novices,

however experiencedgamers need something more.

Thomas Hilton has attempted to compile a

compendium of the essence of strategic thought

along with his own original views especially relating

to board games.

Reference to wargames a s 'conflict simulations'is neither euphemistic nor the jargon of a specialgroup. The terminology is accurate because mostst rategic concepts ar e appl icable n ot only to massedarmies in the field or o n a table-top, but a re val id inalmost any conflict situation. Players may oftenunconsciously use such concepts to advan tage, butnovice or experien ced gam er alike will benefit fro ma thorough and reasoned knowledge of them.Victory of course can never be guaran teed, and thegamer who makes gross errors or forgets the rulescan only blame himself. But a n absolute knowledgeand comprehension of what i s required can vi rtual lyreduce victory to a ca lculation with luck minimizedand expert ise maximized.

In all conflicts we must react acco rding to a n all-pervasive principle; minimize the enemy's strength

while maximizing your own. Convers ely, exploit hisweakness while attempting to diminish your own.This includes all strategic aspects such as terrain,

unit characteristics, maneuvering, etc. One must atall t imes d o everything possible to achieve the mo st

advantageous situation. Obviously it follows thatthe initiative must be seized, on offense you al readyhave it , but defensively it can be obtained byutilizing positioning, local counterattacks, andterrain to threaten enemy supplies, retreat routes,

comm unications, etc. It cann ot be over-emphasizedthat anyone w ho just si t s back on defense orlaunches uninspired and obvious at tacks on offensewill certainly not have an y initiative, a nd is prob ablydoomed to defeat .

The above may be abst ract concepts to some.But the primar y strategic maxim is almo st insulting-ly obvious, the concentration of strength against

weakness. To be able to concentrate whi le preven-t ing the enemy from doing so concurrent ly i s thehard part . The opponent must be dislocated,unbalanced, and dispersed in order to have any

chance of success. Clearly, doing the expected andhaving the initiative are incompatible, and thismakes fruitful concentrations impossible.

The enemy must therefore be forced into aposition that becomes progressively inferior and isexploi table. Since al l are presumably at tempt ing todislocate and deceive each other we must beconstantly aware of a nd prepared f or any eventual i -ty. Having reserve forces is vital for this. Therefore ,we must begin studying any situation by consideringhow to m aximize your st rength as you seek tominimize that of the opposition. To exercise a

necessary degree of control over the simulation theinitiative must be obtained in which attempts aremade to concentrate st rength against weakness.After a basic knowledge has been realized, morespecific strategic concepts should be considered.

Strategic posi t ions are qual i tat ive, there areplainly some better than others. This seemsobvious, b ut often players fail to vigorously seek outthe best si tuat ion. O pponents can ope rate on ei thera n interior or exterior posit ion, and the best

position is an interior one. Its commu nicat ions areshortest and forces can concentrate on a chosensector easily. A well-conducted strategy from aninterior position can be of great value and success;witness Israel 's victories. However, over a longperiod of time the situation c an becom e pernicious ifnot brought t o a rapid and final conclusion. Whenforced on the defensive totally, as German y was by1944, the position becomes most deterimental.

It is noteworthy t hat as an offense advances itinvariably assumes ex terior l ines such a s the Unionarmies in 1863. The exte rior position has consider-able problems in coordinat ion, uni ty of force, andability to concentrate. The interior position isdamaging in that you may be surrounded and forcedto defend several areas at once, but then you'vealready lost the initiative (and probably the game).

Modes of comb at a re inter-related to the positions.

In offensives there a re ei ther frontal o r flankingat tacks. The former at tempts to penetrate theenemy's center while the latter seeks to envelope itsedges. A n example of the inter-relation ofposi t ions and modes is in Napoleon's Waterloocampaign which was brilliantly conceived butpoorly executed. The Emperor forced himselfbetween (and therefore interior to) the British and

Prussian forces, and this was done by a strategicfrontal at tack. Each enemy force could then be deal twith in turn. A flanking maneuver would actuallyhave brought the enemy closer together and putthem on interior lines.

Dogmat ism is to be smashed at al l times. S oal though i t is clear th at frontal at tacks an d interior

posi t ions ar e advised, one must react according tothe situation. At Chancellorsville Lee pu t his forceon exterior l ines and executed a flanking offenseand won his greatest victory. Flanking at tacks canthreaten supplies, cut off, surround, and usuallyface less resistance. When confronted with alethargic arm y which outnumbe rs you (as Leedid) i tis wise to flank.

Frontal a t tacks have thei r problems in that i f notdone quickly and correct ly io u wi l l suffer heavycasualties, fail to split the enemy, an d be left with aunited and probably counter-attacking foe. Flankat tacks are subject to enemy at tacks at tempt ing tocut in two the extended army making the maneuverat its weakest point. A flank atta ck will also leave afoe together, not divided, which will be able toret reat unless of course the flank came from both

sides (double envelopment).Rea r attacks ar e also possible, bu t no t realistical-

ly before the twentieth century. They consist ofparadrops, fi fth-columns, amphibious invasion, andso on. Obviously an at tack from the rear can bedevastating when able to d o i t in force and catch thecompet i tor unaware, which is not often.

Ther e are also strategic m odes of defense whichare determined by the type and am ount of forceseach side possesses. The linear defense is onlyadvised when behind st rong posi t ions and flanks aresecure. It differs from the area mode (which is themost flexible) in that flanks ar e covered mostly byterrain (coast , mountains, etc.) , and also in thatlinear reserves are minimal. The mobile defense isthe op posi te of the l inear in that front l ine troops ar e

sparse and a m obile reserve is maximized . It wou

be best against , for example, an armoremechanized assault.

In summary, take advantage of the situat ion a

be flexible. However, a n interior position, yieldigood com municat ions and quick m ovement aconcentration, leading to a frontal assault splitt ithe enemy into easily digested pieces is usually beOne must take care to realize that a st rategic fronat tack is not synonym ous wi th a tact ical fronassault.

When actual ly confronted by an enemy foruni ts should be coord ina t ed so as t o move again

the lines of least resistance. That is irregardless the strategic position. This is also known as twave principle in which, like water, you ta

the easiest route av oiding st rong posi t ions anshaping yo ur act ions t o the o pportuni t ies presenteThis concept may determine the mode of at tacThere is nothing m ore fut ile than an at tack onwell-positioned ene my, such as Burnside's Frede

icksburg fiasco. There is a difference thoubetween waves and boulders, and at tackers anopposi t ion. Boulders are fixed an d immovable, busually an attacker exercising that vital initiativshould at tempt to move the enemy's forcadvantageously. This is the essence of the waprinciple. Seek you r own routes and paths of at tacnot by t rying to bore throu gh the unpen etrable bby shifting the enemy's deployments by your owThe player who can master this is rare indeed. Itdone in a number of ways.

It was once said that t rue conc entrat ion is tproduct of calculated dispersion. A n enemy willconcentrated if you are, and conversely will distributed if you are. T his shows why interior linare of value because the army which can comtogether the quickest will be the one that has tadva ntage . It is best to a dvan ce dispersed wseveral objectives-aims allowing max imum flexibty. Having al ternat ives is always important . A ndmentioned before, the deceiving and dislocatingthe opponent is vital. By threatening one area ofront a force may be able to shi ft an enemat tent ion to that sector weakening another, modesi rous area of at tack. However, a t times omieht have onlv the flanks to exercise the wa~pr&ciple with. +hen diversionary attack s shouldmade o n the center wi th the aim of tying up t rooneeded t o beat off the main offensive on the flan

When condu ct ing operat ions comma nders mb e a s efficientas possible. Econom y of force isjone pa rt of general efficiency. It ca n be most simpdescribed as making the most of what you hav

When moving forces the quickest and most di rroute must be sought . Posi t ioning should not faul ty nor t roops located where they would belitt le future use. Terrain, especially on defense, mbe put t o good ad vantage and this includes bomovement an d combat . In combat , especial ly wfixed streng th units in boardgames, efficiency malways be considered. Never use too many uni tsd o a job tha t can be do ne with less. Efficiency canlost even when acting in an inflexible mannerwhich forces ma y be constrained in their activitiesthe si tuat ion shi fts through the cour seof batt le. Aat tack that wastes forces, at tacks st rong posi tiounnecessarily, o r fails to use the ter rain is inefficieUnits must a lso be coordin ated; there is no pointmaking diversionary at tacks, for example, ntimed (before or too late) with the main offensiv

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


PAGE 8 THEGENERAL

To summ arize basic strategy we must start withtaking the initiative s o that one can begin theprocedure of conce ntrating strength against weak-ness. This involves obtain ing the best positionleading to the most applicable type of attack(depending on enemy). The over-riding concept inthis relative to the op ponent is to mov e against himwhere he is weakest; and that means moving your

forces in a deceptive manner, feinting him intodisadvantageous positions. Always operatio ns mustbe done efficiently for maximum benefit. And ofcourse be prepared a t all t imes for any eventuality.

Secondary bu t valuable concepts follow. Theseare actually offshoots of previously elucidatedprecepts, but f or clarity are covered here. Whenmoving, it is beneficial to do so behind a curtain ofmaneuver hiding the units. This is often impossiblein boardgames but can be done partly by baiting anddeceiving an opponent. When attacking, theindirect route faces the least resistance, at least atfirst, and usually can be considered a flankmaneuver. BUT when combined with the moredecisive direct route which is also behind a curtainof maneuver it is devastating. The oint of a for ce isnot something that is smoked. It is where variouscombinations of units and forces meet. Th at is , forinstance, where one corps meets another. A n attack

at the joint ca n have the effect of paralyzing theopponent an d aids in splitt ing him. A n attac k at thejoint, behind t he curtain of maneuv er, which is both

direct and indirect conducted by a quickly movingforce is perfection itself, the perfect game . Hitler'sArdenne s offensive of 1940 is such an atta ck.

Tactics are difficult to discuss in general termsbecause tactics are the produ ct of the weapo nry ofthe period. T hey also are determined to a lesserextent by the expertise of training cadres, a nd bythe am ount o f replacements needed on the line.Professsional military men are, with but a fewnotable exceptions, authoritarian, dogmatic, andobedient; their's is not to reason why. Tacticsespecially, but even strategy, are based on pastteachings. Innovation should be common not ararity. Of course in boardgam es th e situatio n is

fixed, there are n o new instruments of destructionintroduced to the battlefield. A nd few wargamesinclude both tactics and strategy.

Once the strategy has been considered andplanned the actual comb at starts , and that 's wherethe tactics lie. But instead of simply conc entra tingforce, perhaps an abstract term, in tactics one mustbe concerned with concentrating firepower (mus-kets, cann on, etc.). In all cases troo ps should bedispersed not only as a deception b ut t o minimizecasualties. Forces bunched up shoulder-to-shoulderare easy meat for high explosives, f or example. Inthe Civil W ar era of rif led w eapons with good rangethe best type of ass ault minimized losses an dmaximized firepower. It was a well-spaced two-deepline. The examples are m yriad.

It was previously stated that a tactical frontal

assault is different from a strategic frontal assault .This is definitely true in th at the la tter concerns onearmy's position relative to the other's overall

placement. No force has sufficient troop s to cover indepth all areas of potential a ttack equally, so a wisecom man der distributes the forces judiciously. But

that always leaves spaces in the center that can bepenetrated centrally. The tactical frontal assault israrely wise, useful only in pursuing a re treating foe,and necessary only when faced with impassableterrain (such as a m ountain pass) on the sides.

In finality one must be awa re that the best tacticswill be useless when faced on t he field of battle byhuge enemy forces who were able t o get there withthose numbers throu gh fine strategy. And converse-


The Rest s

ARTILLERY IN P

If infantry is the queen of battle than artilllerymust certainly be the king. This is particularly truein Panzer Leader where the role of artillery is muchmore important than in Panzerblitz Not only is

more artillery present in the different scenarios butits indirect fire capabilities are vastly enhanced.

Artillery is capable of directing trem endo us concen-trations of attack strengths against asingle hex. ThePanzer Leader player wh o understands a nd utilizeshis artillery to its fullest capabilities will almostcertainly win while the player who makes mistakesin the employment of his artillery will frequentlylose.

This article will discuss the employment ofartillery in a general manner and then givesuggestions on its optimal use.

DIRECT FIRE ARTILLERY

The direct f ire capabili t ies of ( H) class arti l leryhave been considerably diminished by the rulechange that allows the use of full attack strengthagainst armore d targets only at ranges up to 6 hexes,

compared to half-range in Panzerblitz. Theserestrictions so limit the usefulness of direct fire (H)class arti l lery tha t players sh ould plan to use non-S P A ( H ) class artillery only for indirect fireattac ks.

The SP A units may often be called upon tofunction as assault guns, especially in the case of theAllies w ho have n o real assualt guns. The S PA unitsare to o valuable to be often used in this role andshould only be used to attack units in towns andforts when sufficient tanks are not available. Asingle SP A should be stacked with 3 tank o rarmored infantry units to give a stack with acombined defense strength of at least 30 and anattac k strength of abo ut 100 at a range of 4 hexes.

Stacks of this composition a re particularly impor-tant for dislodging Germans from Grancelles andother multi-hex cities. Remember to spread out the

SP A units or they will present a tempting target forenemy indirect fire.(H ) class arti l lery should only use opportun ity

fire when no other units can hit the target. Sinceunits destined for indirect fire may not useopportunity fire and units which use opportunityfire may not make direct f ire attacks in the nextcombat phase, arti l lery units are to o valuable to usein opp ortun ity fire unless the target is going to moveadjacent to or over-run the artillery.

ANTI TANK ARTILLERY

Th e oppo rtuni ty fire rules have greatly increasedthe usefulness of a-t guns in Panzer Leader It is nolonger possible for the enemy to ru n long convoyspast your guns without suffering a single casualty.The firing unit sho uld wait until the target comeswithin half-range to take advantag e of the doubled

attack strength against armore d targets.The new spotting rules that allow any unit to

sight an enemy unit th at fires within its LOS requirethat special care be taken in the sig hting of a-t guns.Since any gun m ay expect to fire twice before gettinghit by indirect fire, they should be placed o n woodedslope or hilltop hexes and should be stacked withothe r units if possible. Since Germ an 88's are primetargets for both Allied fighter-bombers and indirectfire, the Germ an player should take particular careto protect these units and s hould reveal them onlywhen their f ire will make a n important con tributionto the course of the battle .

INDIRECT FIRE ARTILLERY

The main modification found in the Panzer

Leader artillery rules concerns indirect fire. AnyAllied o r Germ an unit can sp ot for indirect f ire and

the attleANZER LEADER

by Roy Easton

an (H) class artillery unit can use indirect fire onagainst hexes that a re farther away than /4 of thartillery unit's range. Indirect fire attac ks must albe written down one turn prior to delivery.

These rules make artillery much more powerfin Panzer Leader All non-SPA (H) class artilleshould be sighted for indirect fire unless it can be pin forts, as in the beach-head scenarios. Firinarti l lery is vulnerable to a ir attack and to return fi

so care sho uld be tak en t o keep indirect fire artilleout of the LOS of any enem y units. The safest plafor artillery is in a fort with a defense factor of 4Th e next safest place is in a town, perferably stackewith several infantry units. The German playeshould try to stack at least 2 defense strength poinon a tow n hex since Allied fighter-bomber s have A-class at tack streng th of 20. Artillery which canngo in these places should be placed on wooded slohexes on the reverse slopes, slopes on the sidopposite to theen emy, where they cannot be spottwhen they fire. The artillery should be protected b

as much flak as possible if the enemy has fightebombers.

The main problem with indirect fire is that must be equally divided amon g all units in the targ

hex. This mean s that certain impor tant units may protected from indirect fire by stacking them wiunimporta nt units . In the beach-head scenarios, tGerman player can protect his most impor tant foby stacking a w agon o n each fort. Thus, if the Allifire 320 points of indirect fire against that hex, 1points must be used against the wa gon and only 1can be used against the fort. A more accurarepresentatio n of the power of artillery fire would bto use the entire am oun t of the indirect fire againevery unit in the hex. This, unfortunately, makes tarti l lery too powerful an d unbalances thescenario

T h e ranzer Leader spotting rules are vag

when they discuss the length of the LO S for certaunits. Th e following lengths of LOS should be usfor the indicated units .

All infantry-type units(inc. engineers) hexes

Halftracks, carriers,scou t ca rs 6

Armored cars 8

All othe r un i ts LOS=range

AIRCRAFT

Fighter-bom bers a re being discussed as artillesince they fun ction like artillery with infinite rangAlthough they only app ear in a few scenarios, thcorrect use is often crucial to chances of Allivictory. Since the b ombs o r rockets can only be usonce, the targets should be chosen carefully and tfollowing priorities ar e suggested.

I . German arti l lery and 88's2. German armored units dispersed on t

immediately preceeding combat phase.Since artillery units used for indirect fire a

usually placed on reverse slopes o r in forests, thare often impossible for combat units to spoFighter-bombers are then the only means that tAllied player has for destroying these units. mixture of rocket- and bomb-a rmed F-B's is goosince even the rocket-armed ones can get a 5against artille ry in wooded slope hexes and are alvery useful against SPA'S. Al l 20m m quad unshould be attacked by air o r indirect f ire as soonthey are sp otted since they are the main nemesis

Continued on Page 24 Column

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THEGENERAL

SURFACE RAIDERS REVISITED

The Blitzkrieg naval variant "Surface Raid-ers" (Vol. 12, No. 2)appealed t o me inconcep t, butthe methods described to implement it seemedmore like a separate game than just a part of thetheatre of combat. Decks of cards and reams ofnotepaper notwithstanding, a commander-in-chief may have some other considerations thanshuffling cards or papers.

Therefore, I have modified the "SurfaceRaiders" variant into a more streamlined model.Referring to the original article, I offer thefollowing changes:

PORT CAPACITY: No change, exceptmarking in some way the inland po rts and navalbases on the board (outlines or colors).

MOVEMENT: Movement rules remain thesame. Instead of cards, ships are assigned taskforce numbers. (Use numbered counters or piecesof paper). Task force numbers are kept on t op ofeach stack (fleet) of ships. Players write downwhich Area, Zone, and Sector each fleet is in.Areas are the five marked on the hoard(A,B,C.D.E), Zones are the four mentioned in thearticle (A,B,C,D), and Sectors run from I to 10.EXAMPLE: 15:A-C-5 means task force 15 is inArea A, Zone C, Sector 5.

ENCOUNTER: Encounter rules still applyfor combat. However, when opposin gforces are nthe same area and zone, the searching player callsout as many sectors as allowed by the Encounterchart and modified by the Influences Table(Merely add the number indicated on the EIC). Hemust call out his own sector with the others hesearches. If the opposing forces are in any of thesectors searched, players proceed to battle.

EXAMPLE: Blue player has carrier force search-ing Zone B for submarines during rainy condi-tions. He then can search only 3 sectors(5+2-3-1.3).

SHIPS: Ship rules remain the same. A HitRecord Sheet simplifies the bookkeeping of hits,sinkings, and construction. Since a maximum of10 capital ships can he built by both sides, thennew numbers are provided (Since the ships areonly possibilities, they are numbers, not names). Ifships ai-e constructed, the players fill in the typeand number in the spaces provided. Blue WPS(War Production Series) arevariable; if more CV'sor CA's are needed, cross off the extra BB hitboxes. Red K (Kriegschiff) only need t o beclassedand numbered. Use a pencil to record hits.

BATTLE PROCEDURE: No change.WITHDRAWAL TABLES: Two die are

used for the Smoke Maneuver:

Die Roll Result

2.34.6 Successful5,7,8,9,10,11,12 Unsuccessful

and for the Cover and Turn Away:Torp. Factors Die Roll (Successful)

2.32 2.3.43 2,3,4,54 3,4,5,65 4,5,6,76 4,5,6.7,87 4,5,6,7,8,98 4.5,6,7,8,9,109+ 4-12

Surviving torpedo ships roll the dice instead ofdrawing cards.A roll of 2 or 12 gets a damage result on theene myships.

AIR ATTACKS: No change.SHORE BOMBARDMENT: No change.U-BOATS/ASW: No change.SITUATION: Replacements, repairs and

construction remain the same. For convoyinterception roll the dice and use the followingtable:

ZONEA B C D

Dice Roll 2,3,10,11, 4.7 5,6 8.912

Letters to the ditor

FOR ES T ST RT Great Blue Navy

BB Alberta B Incompar able

BB Avenger mnJ BB Prince Regal

BB Defender x i BB Thanatus

BB Leopard cm BB Victory

CV Aerie m CV Eastwind m CV Zephyr U I

CA Confiden t CA Cour ageo usm 1 4Defiant [ 7

cA Peerless m cA Relentless m cA Resolute C17

CA Righteou s CA Tena ciou s CA ValiantDDITION L FORCES

PS-O1 m WPS-02mPS-oJ

W P S - 0 7 m DD-41 factors W P S - 0 8 r tUB-4 factor s

W P S - 0 9 TX-50 factorsW P S - 1 0 I n I I

Imperial Red NavyFORCES T ST RT

BB Eisenkam per BB Geiss elau fsee

BB Riesig lIun BB Scalchtschiff x

CA Heldengedicht m CA Nordland CA Rots tadt mCA Vaterland m CA Wac ht er V Valkyrie

DD-5 factors UB-25 factors TX-40 factors DDITION L FORCES

K-81K-98 BB-K-RA a m m

Dear Sir:Having recently purchased 1776 1 found an

array of differ ent pieces Starting off play withthe basic game wasn't bad. There were onlyContinental and British pieces. After tiring some-what of the Basic Game I decided to moveonward. Oh brother What a mess. Using enve-lopes I guess isn' t bad for the Basic Game, but inthe Campaign Game you au ld end up losingyour mind. Having decided that wasn't the way, Ithought up a good idea. (With help from Vol. 11,

No. I of the GENERAL), I cannibalized thegame trays from my Gettysburg and DDayGames (they didn't need them because of thesmall number of playing pieces).

Using the 3 trays, I subdivided them by tapingin cardboard strips. The 3 trays fit into thebottom of the 1776 game box perfectly, andusing the subdivided trays to hold the differentpieces in, you have an overview of the lot ofthem. Doing this makes playing the scenarios andthe Campaign Game a lot less troublesome. Bythe way, after stacking the boards and otherplaying equipment on top of the trays you willfind you have just filled it to the brim and thetop fits perfectly, thus keeping the pieces intactin their orooer comoartments. You mav wish to

Gentlemen:I have been into wargaming for a few years

now, but have never enjoyed the hobby morethanat ORIGINS 1. Congratulations for a greatconvention.

1 would like tosuggest one more way in whichAH could help the gamer. It is frustrating to hearof good articles in long past "GENERALS" thatare no longer availahle. 1 therefo re propose a 10year hook of past G ENERALS (Vols. I through

10). Ifeach game was treated as a separatechapter,a typical chapter could contain a historical lead,strategy suggestions, variants, and questionsanswered of that game. Since the material isreadily available, I believe the book could bemarketed in magazine size for under $10. Thiswould he of special benefit to the new (and not sonew) gamer. Perhaps in I984 we could see Vol. #2.

Jim BurnettClinton, TN

PAGE

Dear Don:The latest General (Jul-Aug '75) promises

the new Blitzkreig rules a Hidden MovemOption. I have the new rules,and Ij ust cannot fthat option. The new rules are otherwexcellent-they revolutionize the game complely. Armor at last means something besides infantr y that can't enter woods.

I have a suggestion for the phantom HiddMovement Option, inspired by the hiddmovement of 1914 and 1776 1 offer it to you your evaluation and possible incorporation in

the game.

I) Color the backs of one set of coun(either the blue o r red).

2) Units may ente r the game inverted, aface up units may be inverted at the end of thmovement, unless adjacent to enemy unitsunfriendly cities.

3) Units may never be inverted in an enecountry, or in a hostile minorcountry withgueractivity.

4) Inverted units have infantry-type ZOOf course, armo r doesn't have to invert if it wisto keep its ZOC.

5) Mixed face-up and inverted units moccupy the same hex.

6) Ground recon: when ground units madjacent t o enemy inverted units, the enemy unare turned face-up after ground movement

before air movement and attacks are decided.7) Air recon: before any movement a pla

may turn face-up enemy units in one hex per base he controls. The target hex must be withinhexes of the base, and not in woods or mountai

8) Naval recon: each air factor at sea mrecon one coast hex (not containing mtnswoods) per turn bordering its sea zone. This isaddition to its other duties, and before movemas with air recon.

9) lnverted units move normally. A plamay not observe his opponent's move since twould restrict his movement and probably expsome of his units.

10) Units at sea are always inverted.

I I) Blank counters may he used invertedinflate existing stacks. They may be placed onlyhexes that already contain friendly inverted unEach player may place one blank counter forevthree full ground units.

12) Aircraft on the ground are invertedground units. Aircraft in the air are neverinvert

13) FTR or T AC flying interdiction, or aaircraft attacking a hex perform recon on it.

14) Artillery may not fire a barrage againsstackcontaininginverted units. It may be bombthough.

15) Rangers may make a recon attack announcing that it is making a recon, and durithe combat phase, after the reconned units turned face-up, the Ranger unit automaticaretreats two hexes, with no losses toanyoneand defender advance. This may only be do ne agaihexes containing inverted enemy units adjacent to other friendly units.

16) Rangers a t sc mav launch a recagainst inverted unit sona coas i hex of the rangesea zone. The enemv units are turned face-un. b=the Ranger unit remains at sea. with no lossesanyone.

You may want to add to these rules, example, you may include effects of weatherFTR patrols on ai r recon, etc. Perhaps they cansimplified, by removing recon attacks. I suggthat you give them a try-they create the fogwar without any new compone nts and withokeeping track of anything on paper.

James StahlerSilver Spring, M

nut all of he ~ r i t L h nd ~ontinentai e r n l l a ~. .~Zone resultant is location of convoy. into one tray. Then, when playing the BasicHopefully, these simplifications will induce Game, just yank out the one tray and set the box

Ed. Note: are r Ihe jirsr to make IhiS

more people to include "Surface Raiders" in their aside. Also, to anyone not presently owning 1776coming year willprobably see us Ed. Note: We cancelled the Hidden Movem

BLITZKRIEG strategy. "BUY IT " I really feel it is one of AH'S best print such a 'pecial which be a rules at the last minute (afier the ads were writtgames. articles old and new on a single subject. PAN- simply becaurethegameplayedso we~ ~wi tho

Alan Skinner Mike Thomas ZERBLITZ will probably be the subject of the Evenfually, print our intended HIDDE

Cicero, ILL. Sterling Heights, MI lrrst atrempr. MOVEMENT rule in the GENERAL.

8/12/2019 Ah Gen v12n4


PAGE 3 THE GENERA

ALEXANDER THE GREAT w a s t h e 1 9 t h t h e t e r r a in Identification problem, c lari f ies t h e

g a m e t o u n d e rg o a n a ly s i s in th e R B G , plac ing s e q u e n c e of play a n d m ~ s s i l e r u l e s , n d l i s t s a n

1 2 t h o n t h e c h a n w i th a c u m u la t i v e ra t ing of e n l a rg e d a p p e n d ix of playing a id s a n d q u e s -

2 . 9 3 . A poor s h o w i n g in physica l c o m p o n e n t s t i o n s perta ining t o play.

kept d o w n a n o th e rw i se im p re ss iv e sh o w in g . T h e m o s t misleading ra t ing is t h a t of Play

T h e g a m e w a s h a n d i c a p p e d f r o m t h e s t a r t by a B a la n c e w h ic h o b v ~ o u s l y eflec ts t h e B a s i c

battlefield w i th very little in t h e w a y of G a m e . T h e A d v a n c e d G a m e c o m e s c o m p le t e

d i s t i n g u i sh a b l e t e r r a in . In a n a t t e m p t t o g e t w l th e n o u g h optional ru l e s t o b a l a n c e t h ea w a y f ro m a m a p b o a rd devoid of color w e m a y g a m e perfec t ly w h e n u s e d in t h e c o r re c t

h a v e o u t s m a n e d o u r s e l v e s in t h a t o u r ' so u p e d c o m b in a t i o n . T h e f a s t playing t i m e of 2 h o u r sup' version t u r n e d o u t m o r e psychedel ic t h a n is a r a r e f e a t u r e f o r a t a n d b a t t l e g a m e a n d m a y

colorful. To c o m p o u n d t h e .problem, t h e ac tua l ly b e a bit e x a g g e ra t e d for v e t e ra nrulebook did not a d e q u a t e ly d e f in e t h e t e r r a in players.f e a t u r e s b e c a u s e it w a s printed b e fo re t h e ALEXANDER'S 2 n d edi t ion will m a k e a

m a p . Whentheartist srenderingprovedsorely su b s t a n t i a l Improvement o n t h e s e ra t ings.lacking in fulfilling t h e a l r e a d y printed t e r r a in T h o s e looking fo r a good, s h o r t in troductory

defini t ions w e w e r e left w i th a m a jo r problem. g a m e w i th t h e re f i n e m e n t s a n d m in i a tu re s

A s if t h i s w e re n ' t e n o u g h t h e s i n w a s ' fee l ' of a PANZERBLITZ could d o f a r w o r s ei n c r e a s e d w h e n o u r B u d g e t Control le r g a v e t h a n pick up a c o p y of ALEXANDER THE

' t h u m b s d o w n ' t o tw o -s id e d c o u n t e r s a t t h e GREAT.

l a s t minute . T h i s re su l t e d i n t h e u n p re c e d e n t -

e d r e l e a s e of a virtually ' incomple te ' AH g a m e

ALEXANDER w a s not w i th o u t i ts bright

s p o t s h o w e v e r . T h e ra t i n g s for Ea se of

Understanding. Exci tement Level, a n d Real ismw e r e excel lent , espec ia l ly in light of t h e

P A N Z E R LEA D ER : A. Yes-as long as % o f he Movement Factors of

Q Suppose an anti-tank g u n fires in turn 1 a n d is the target has been expended in the LO S of each

spotted. O n turn 2 it is loaded into a halftrack but firing unit at the point where the attack is made.

does not leave the hex. Are b o th the halftrack a n d B A SK ETB A LL STR A TEG Y :

gun now spotted?

A. Yes Q Isn't the word interceptor for result 7 F o n

Q During Opportuni ty Fire may m o re than I the Passing ~ a t r i x mistake?

unit fire combine attack factors) against the A. Yes. interceptor should be read as recipientsame moving enemy piece? of the pass in this case.

AVALON HILL RBG RATING CHART

The g a m e s a r e ranked bythe ir c u m u la t i v e sc o re s which i s a n a v e r a g e o f t h e 9

ca tegories for e a c h g a m e . Whlle it m a y b e fairly a rg u e d t h a t e a c h ca tegory

sh o u ld not weigh equal ly a g a in s t t h e others. w e u s e it only a s a

g d n e ra ~ i z a t i o n f overall rank. By breaking d o w n a g a m e ' s ra t ings into

individual c a t e g o r i e s h e g a m e r is a b l e to d i sc e rn fo r himself w h e r e t h e g a m e

is strong or w e a k in t h e qual i t ies h e v a lu e s t h e most . R e a d e r s a r e reminded

t h a t t h e G a m e Length ca tegory is m e a su re d in multiples of t e n m in u t e s a n d

th a t a rating of 1 8 would e q u a l hours. It sh o u ld a l so b e re m e m b e re d th a t

m a n y g a m e s have m o re t h a n o n e version a n d in e x t re m e c a s e s playing

t im e c a n vary drastically f ro m o n e sc e n a r io to t h e next.

CALCULATED VICTORY Cont dfrom Pg. 8 has differences. These must be known. Playersonly glance at rules or even fail to study

ly great str tegy s not enough when with simulation solitaire before any competition mig

poor tactics (the Waterloo Campaign). Only the well play craps. Victory is not a calculation.

combination of the two yields victories as brilliant luck.

as Austerlitz.When sitting down to a conflict simulation itself

acompetitor should beaware of theaforementione dconcepts. Obviously a totalgrasp ofthe rules of playand the victory conditions is necessary. Sufficientconcentration must be exercised so as to avoidmaking idiotic errors like allowing a G e rm a n a rm o rcorps to wind up in Moscow the first turn ofStolingrod by leaving open a key railroad on the

Finnish border. Keeping that much concentrationseems easy but in a complex, involved game by thetime the simulation is half over a certain fatigue setsin and one may fail to see the forests because of thetrees.

It is definite and indubious tha t one must seek asmuch intelligence as possible about the enemy andterrain, usually easy in wargames which fail toduplicate the fog of war. Only after all availableknowledge has been accumulated can evaluationcommence. The first evaluation should be of youropponent; is he easily fooled? complacent? insipid?foolhardy? etc. The latter type are easy pickings foran active defender to draw into a trap. Thecomplacent attacker o r defender has great faultstoo. A player with any amount of perspicacity canput to good use his opponents failings and even justcharacteristics. All this of course presumes a playerwith sufficient sagacity to see his own characteris-tics, and is calculating enough t o use them.

In the game itself the first item to be consideredIS the game system. One cannot sufficiently discussevery system in existence, but some items of valuecan be noted. The Combat Results Table has t o beabsolutely comprehended, especially in regards toadvances after combat. Invirtually every simulation

As in any conflict players have toavoid rashas epitomized by counterattacks made too soothe more oftenly committed error of advancingrapidly leaving only poor retreat routes easilyoff. Opponents should never hope that eachmake errors, they should consider his enemyvirtual computer capable of no mistakes. Wplaying as though he is that good you force youto greater levels of acumen. And avoid emoti

factors such as over-optimism.In the game, evaluation also applies to

units. Know which units are best for frontalassa(such as powerful infantry), expoitationspenetrations (cavalry-armor), firepower (artilair), diversions (weak units especially infantry)Consider their strength, range, and speed onterrain, roads, and s o on. Since it isa rareunit thboth very strong and very fast one hacompromise and act accordingly to hisadvantage. Coordination and efficiency are ecially applicable here.

A player that fails to evaluate the forcdoomed to failure because he cannot exploidqferences between them. Example: if smallerstronger (that is tactically stronger inunit strenseek local engagements and emphasize concention. That is the only viable Confederate strawith his limited forces in Avalon Hill's GETTBURG. In ALEXAN D ER the Persian'schance is an all-cavalry attack on theflanksassisby the elephants and chariots. That attempexploit the Greek lack of units and good cav

And of course in a game such asGETTYSBU

the Federals should exploit the terrain to defenadvantaee.

an attacked unit which is surrounded is doomed.This means that 'zones of control' and their Knowledge, evaluation, and exploitation; tinfluence on movement must be realized. Penetra- are the three key words t o any analyses of con

tion of enemy position is always advised and simulations. But without perspicacity on the paeverv lm ~ e d im e n t o this should be used bv. the the player. no victory is a true calculation.

defender i n d avoided by the attacker. Every game

GENER L B CK ISSUES

Th e n u m b e r in e a c h c o lu m n re p re se n t s t h e n u m b e r of art ic les dea l ing withtha t particular g a m e In tha t ossue Naturally. t h e fewer t h e art lc les t h = m o r e

comprehenslve you c a n expect t h e art lc les to be An asterlsk lndlca tes th efe a tu re article. A n ndica tes t h e a a m e utilized in t h e se r i e s r e ~ l a v . oecifva l t e rn a t e s for e a c h selection

p m THAT He s PO l NG

s ~ ~ E T ~ ~ \ N L ~RONG

old it I could still b~t \I io a d r a w

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THE GENER L P GE 3

ORIGINS

The first stage of planning for the second

national wargaming convention is nearing

completion. A mass mailing to potential exhibi-

tors has been completed with a near sell-out

result. Parties interested in exhibiting at the

show should contact us immediately. Once

available space is gone, there is nothing that can

be done for new exhibitors.

At this stage we openly solicit the aid of

wargaming groups around the country. If yourgroup would like to sponsor an event, now s he

time to let us know. Sponsorship involves

funding of $30.00 to cover the standardized 1st

prize wall plaque and a negotiated performance

bond to insure that the sponsoring organization

shows up with sufficient judges and materials.

The sponsoring organization, in turn, is remun-erated to the sum of all entry fees received for

the event. We are especially interested ngroups

with experience in running miniatures competi-

tions of all kinds.

A way in which any GENERAL reader can be

of help in promoting ORIGINS 11 is to take part inthe poster canvas. Our poster campaign last

year was limited to the Baltimorearea andwasa

major failure due to lack of volunteers to post

them. You can help by volunteering to post oneor more in your area. The posters wil l have a

place for you to list your name and phone

number for people to contact you, reference car

pools, etc. If you'll use them, just drop us a line

requesting same and we'll be glad to post them

to you approximately 2 months before the con.

The A.R.E.A. rating system is picking up

steam with well over 1,000 members already

enrolled. We have not answered complaints

about missing A.R.E.A. forms up until now

because the pool was deliberately held back for

6 weeks while the numbers mounted, and we

debated the advisability of issuing refunds or

going ahead with the service. By now, however,

everyone who paid for A.R.E.A. membership

should have their membership materials. If youdon't, send us your cancelled check and we'll

look into the matter. Include a stamped, self-

addressed envelope with each inquiry. Those

interested in oining A.R.E.A. should do so soon

as the price for this service wil l be increased

with the printing of our next catalog.

Old time FOOTBALL STRATEGY buffs who

remember the original timer with the movable

'wheels' for keeping score and time and who

prefer it to the present pad system may order

them from our remaining supply for $1.00

apiece (plus postage) while the supply lasts.

SECOND EDITION 1776 RULES

NOW AVAILABLE

The 2nd edition rules of 1776 are now

available from the parts dept. for $2.00plus50C

postage and handling. They contain 9 changes

in he bodyof the rules(sosignified by a blackdot

in the margin), plus appendix of questions and

answers gleaned from the pages of theGENERAL.

NEW PANZER LEADER SCENARIO CARDS

The revised PANZER LEADER scenariocards

are now available for $1.50 plus 50C postage

from the parts department. While it is not

necess ry to have the revised set, purists may

appreciate the subtle changes made therein.

The referendum on the wargaming t-shirts

receiveda 98%favorable reply.We have decided

on a circular PANZERBLlTZmotif for the front

with the AH logo silk screened on the back.

Probable cost wil l be $5.00. Don't order now.

We'll let you know when they becomeavailable.

Flying Buffalo's 3rd Annual Wargame Con-

vention was a small but enthusiastic success.

Thirty gamers from 5 states gathered at theRamada Inn in Scottsdale, AZ to compete for 5

trophies. Steve Packwood (above left) won the

AH tournament by topping Keith Gangidino

(right) n their final roundAFRIKA KORPSgame.

The lnterest Group concept continues to

grow. The founder of lnterest Group Milwaukee

is Roger Bober. Acting as an opponent pool for

area gamers, lnterest Group Milwaukee can be

contacted by writing Roger at his 3616 S. 54th

St., Milwaukee, WI 53220 address.

FOOTBALL STRATEGY buffs in the Mound,

MN area wil l be happy to hear of the establish-

ment of a league in that area. Those interested

should contact Patrick McNevin, 6030 Hillcrest

Rd., Mound, MN 55361. Those whose interests

lean more towards wargaming should alk to Pat

about their Minneapolis wargaming club; The

Old Guard.

One of our favorite groups, OOPS (Organiza-

tion of Pseudo Strategists), hasannounced heir

tournament schedule for 1976. Now in heir 7th

year of existance, OOPS has successfully

completed 21 FTF tournaments. This year's

competitions include their 2nd Annual Strategy

Olympics, BATTLE OF THE BULGE tournament

(new), Chess (4th year), RISK (5th year),BASKETBALL STRATEGY League (3rd year),THIRD REICH tournament (new), ORIGINS ofWWII Campaign (2ndyear), GRANDPRlX Circuit

(3rd year), and Football League (8th year). AH

playtests and intra-club competitions are alsoanticipated. Those interested should contact

Jim Reilly, 2609 West La Verne, Santa Ana, CA

92704.

Vol. 12, No. 3 apparently suffered from too

much JUTLAND material as we took it on the

chin with our worst rating ever-3.96. The

voting for individual articles, utilizing 200

random samples with 3 points awarded for 1st

choice, 2 for second, etc., looked like this:

PROBABLE POSSIBILITIES.. 389SERES REPLAY-WATERLOO 79AVALON HILLPHILOSOPHY 158WITHOUT AMERICA 30A ST LL CLOSER LOOK AT DOGGER BANKS 128DESIGN ANALYSIS 63MATHEMATICAL LOS DETERMINATION 53

Plans for Gen Con IX, oldest wargam

convention in the U.S., are already underwa

Scheduled for August 20, 21 and 22 in La

Geneva's Horticultural Hall, Gen Con IX w

highlight fantasy gaming with game semina

by noted fantasy designers. Those interested

further details should address their inquiries

Post Office Box 756, Lake Geneva, WI 5314

Tom Oleson, the creator of ANZIO 11 wou

like to hear from anyone with knowledge of tgeography-especial ly the beaches and ports

1943) of that part of Southern Italy exclud

from the ANZIO map, with a view towar

perfecting a variant including them.

Al Macintyre has organized no less than

different groups in the midwest with stagger

monthly meetings. If you live in he Cincinnan

Dayton, Gahanna, OH; or Detroit, Louisville

Indianapolis vicinities, you owe it to yourself

contact A1 for further information at his 27

Stratford Ave., Cincinnatti, OH 45220 addres

Contest #68 reliedon the inability of a unit

leave the zone of control of 1 unit to direc

enter the ZOC of another. The German is nstrong enough to guarantee elimination

either the 14 Cav or 106/423. By placing th

1SS Panzer and an infantry unit adjacent to th

fortress. the German can prevent the 14th C

from moving out of the fortress and countera

tacking in hopes of an attacker retreat along t

road to St. Vith, as the odds for anack would

4-26 or 1-7 which is not allowed. The Germ

has remaining three infantry unitswhich if us

to attack the 106/423 at 1-1 could possibly

retreated 2 hexes (a 17%chance). If this occur

the 106/423 is free to move in ts turn adjace

to the Panzer and nfantry unitswhich combin

with the 14 Cav would have a 8 to 26 or 1 to

attack. This gives the 14th Cav a 67% chance

retreating toward St. Vith. By placing o

infantry east of the fortress it not only guaratees that this attack can't occur but also th

the 14 Cav cannot escape behind German lin

toward Elsenborn ridge.

The 5-1 attack on 106/422 guarantees

elimination even if a contact is rolled. T

remaining armor and paratroop unit is placedo

the river for exploiting any weakness in th

American position next turn.

No one came up with exactly the sam

solution as our judge but Timothy Purdy

Ridgefield Park, NJ was the closest with but o

minor alteration. The remaining nine winne

with the closest solutions were: J Kreu

Chicago, IL; S. Schindhelm, Milwaukee, WI;

Shalvoy, Providence, RI; D. Cook, Birmingham

AL; D. James, Baltimore, MD; C. Drong, Spri

Grove, IL; D. Pyle, Freeville, NY; R Haas, Ter

Haute, IN; and R. Miller of Oxon Hill, MD.

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ah gen v12n4

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