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THE GENER Lcut in half as per the odds determination rules forindirect fire. In this manner, the wagon will be hit ata solemn 80: 1 while the fort is hit with a l iveable2:1 having a single chance of elimination. This isreally unrealistic, but no more so than the 2-3-6'sin STALINGRAD that hold an entire army at bay.We must learn to make the rules work for us .

The Empty Fort Ploy I t is always apleasure to see an enemy blast away a tan empty fort ress , wasting his ammunition as well as his patience. The s itua tion arises when artille ry isdeployed in a carrier beside the fort and out of theenemy line of sight. This way if the fort dies on thefirst turn, the carrier trucks the artillery of f to a newlocation. Be careful with this one In one game, myfort was only disrupted, and as my 88- loadedwagon slipped into the hex, it was annihilated bynaval opportunity fire. There seems to be a sneakycounter maneuver for every dirty trick.

1 Understanding the Options A goodplayer always examines the victory conditions of asituation with a hawk s eye. After much competition, new ideas will still continueto popup and say,Here I am. In Utah Beach the Allies get tochoose from three objectives. Since the Germanscannot effectively defend all three, they can elect togamble a b it by defending only two of the objectives, thereby giving themselves more of a defensivepunch. The only problem is that the undefendedhexes would be the enemy s objective, which couldbe a tad humbling. If the German commander likesto take a long shot, he can almost assure a win if hedefends a single objective and his guess turns out tobe correct. How lucky are you?

Channeling It is possible to force theenemy to move where it suits you best, to mold hisattack and lead him into traps as if you had a handin controlling his forces. There is always this factorin a solid defensive set up, but even a fluid engagement can be changed radically. In S t Lo for example, the All ies have a choice of victory conditions. Theymust either capture all of Grancelles, orthey must capture half of that city and all of theother cities on board A (Caverge , Kuhn, andSambleu). Caverge can be easily conquered, bu tKuhn and Sambleu lie well behind enemy lines.

FIGURE The artillery pocket can often minimize the threatof Allied aircraft. In this deployment, anti-aircraft weaponsare positioned so that bomber attacks on the larger guns mustbe within halfr ange , doub li ng the AA weapon s a tt ac k f ac to rs . Uni ts a re alsodeployed one to a hex so that multiple eliminations will not occur in asingle hex. Granted, some units are deployed unreal ist ica l ly, surrounded by green hexsides so that they arestuck unti l theend of time

Since the Allies needn t declare an objective, theycan change their minds at any point, according tothe opportunities which present themselves duringplay. is, therefore, in the best German interest tochoose his enemy e victory conditions for him bychanneling his attack and defending in force.By beginning the game with the Germanengineer deployed on the single bridge hex at Al2bridge demolition is almost guaranteed by turnfou r. A blocking act ion of any consequence willshield the engineer from a tt ack, and jus t prior toblowing the bridge, blocking units can race to safetyso they will not be snared in their own t rap. Theblock itselfgrows simpler as time passes because thechannel narrows considerably as it approaches thebridge. After the demolition, German units willreach Grancelles from t he rea r to bolster the citydefense.

The effect of all this is that the only way theAllies can gain access to Kuhn and Sambleu, therear area cities, is to blast through Grancelles. Byblowing the br idge , t he German has forced theAllies to satisfy one set of victory conditions beforethey have a chance to try for the alternative. Knowing the enemy s plans can make the defense muchstronger.A s imi la r rotten trick can be performed inTurning Point: Celles if all German unitsevacuate one city and dash of f to defend the secondin a ploy to win a tactical victory.

2 Increasing Defense Factors Many situations involve city control for victory. The rules tendto favor units defending in a city because all defensefactors are combined, and the units receive the plusone die roll bonus. Thus a s tack of rifle platoonscould defend at 24-32 rather than at the individualprinted f ac tor. Unless the enemy can amass atremendous armored offensive, the city is almostinvulnerable. Assuming three German r if le p latoons and an engineer occupy a hex, the Alliesmustmuster 136 armored attack factors to get a twothirds chance of a kil l. Somet imes the task is attempted with indi re ct fire. Using the s ame fourunits as before, 240 attack points are needed to produce a series of 4: Is. This is one of the few t imesthat high stacks can be dreadfully effective.

according to the rules, but this is necessaryto keep the artillery in aconcise group. There are two weaknesses to this setup: 1 Allied L5observation craft can spot the arti l le ry for indirec t fi re w it h a smallchance of disruption (one in s ix); 2 ) in such a congested area, enemyindirect fire can be subjec ted to scat ter and still do a great deal ofharm.

P GE 13 Minimizing th e Air Artil le

Threat Pesky fighter bombers can put a thornany German setup. Often the threat canneutralized for a time by carefully plotting artillepockets that are easily defended by n t i ~ i r rweaponry. Bastogne: Siege is a great situationgive this a t ry . Figure 11 presents a sample pocfrom this scenario. can be attacked, but it calso be defended.

14 hanging the Odds of Victory ThrouStacking Again this is a gambit of questionanature, depending on the course of play.Remagen Bridge German armored units cansacrificed so that the Allied close assaults and bloremoval threat can be better countermanded. Twrecks count for stacking purposes and can serioly limit the enemy attack threat within Artain. difficult for the Allies to mount a ser ious CAthreat when they can only muster two units insingle hex. Before the situation card was correcto include onlytwo German halftracks, it was posble to frit ter away all three on the block on the Atain Bridge, thus making itimpossible for the Allto win because an engineer must enter the hexclear the block, and he couldn t do that since tstacking was already at max. At any rate, ttechnique is normally suited to a congested sitution.

5 Shortening the Game by One Turn Thisactually no t a tactic per se; it is more a perceptionthe definition of control as it works within a.quential movement system. Many scenarios, evthe macro-game, det ermine v ic tory by contrwhich is defined if at least one friendly unitcupies, or is the last to enter or pass through

is normally the burden of the offensive playercapture these hexes, whi le the defender sits awaits for the attack to come. I t should thereforeapparent after the first player s fire phase in the lt ur n, t ha t i f a hex in quest ion is sti ll occupiedenemy units, the game is over. Furthermore, on tturn prior to that , i f spotting units can be eliminator disrupted, t he game ends an entire turn in avance since no attack on the victory hex wouldpossible. Use of split-move will alter the finalof this somewhat in situations like The Encircment of Nancy, bu t in those like T hReichswald there can be no reprieve.

AN AFTERWORDIn trying to cap tu re the f lavor of PANZE

LEADER the qualities that will make it stand ttest of time and continue to permit its system toenjoyed by all of us, I ve come to the realizatithat as a person settles into a favor ite game,becomes more to him than a simple simulation. Iuse terms like empathy , understandingparticipating with , and vicarious to descrithe course of play. And now I add still anothcatharsis Though t he t erm is usually appliedGreek theater, it can also be applied to thedramaaction of wargaming interplay when opposiforces meet in simulated battle. f;OR ER Y PHONEWe will now accept game orders by phonfrom those individuals with currently vali

MASTERCHARGE, BANKAMERICAR(VISA), or AMERICAN EXPRESS credit cardThe number to call is 301-254-5300. Ask for ClNewton or ext.34 and state that you wish to placan order for a game. You must give the ordertakthe number, expiration date, and name of yocredit card along with your order and shippinaddress. Phone orders are available every Moday-Friday from 8:30 AM to 5 PM. Absolutely ncollect phone calls can be accepted.

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P G 30_ TH G N R ADVANCED LEVEL MIDWAY by Mark Dumde i

Continued on Page 34, Column

Midway Is land itself had a formidable a rr ayheavy AA weaponry. To reflect this fact, Midwgets a screening value of 20 or equal to th e relatifortification strength, whichever is the lesser. Tscreening value is never less than When Japaneplanes bom b Midway to reduce its fortificatis t rength , they must roll for AA losses using tAircraft vs. Ship combat results table.

During t he war , it was fairly common fo r bosides to launch search-air a tt acks into locat iowhere enemy ships were su spe cte d, but nconfirmed. Therefore, anytime a player wishesconduct an ai r attack against a square in whichenemy t ar ge t has no t been spotted by re co(Midway Is land i tsel f is always considered to spotted ) the attack constitutes a SEARCH-AATTACK which is subject to the following rule At least four squadrons of D & T plancombined must comprise the mission.2. If the mission destination is within 5 squares, ts ea rch a lso a tt empt s t o loca te ships in adjaces qu ar es . Beg in ni ng w it h the target square, tsearching player calls ou t zones one at a time. Onan enemy force or CAP is contacted, he must s tcalling ou t zones and engage in combat withavailable planes.3. If the mission destination is 6 or more squarthe search only flies and searches the target zonFurthermore, the attacker must roll t he d ie befosearching in the same manner s ta ted previously fair at tacks at a range in excess of 6 hexes.

The use of t hi s rul e will prevent players frosending out a single squadron each into many zonin a desperate attempt to find an elusive enemy taforce; furthermore, this procedure requires fewplanes to do the same thing, bu t they operatelarger groups.

Badly damaged heavy ships o ft en t oo k mamonths t o r ep ai r, d enyi ng t he ir use to the fleConsequently, inf lict ing ser ious d amag e u penemy carrie'rs or batt leships part icular ly wouhave some value towards victory. At t he e nd o f tgame, each BB or CY (not CYL) which is within ohi t of sinking results in 3 victory points.

Mar in e a nd Army aircraft were not t ra inedoperate from carriers. As a resul t, p lanes basedMidway at the start of the game cannot l and on Ucar ri er s. These counters should be markedsepar at e t hem f rom US carrier planes. Techninote: the Hosho had a capacity of 5 groups, so it ccarry two more in addit ion to the 3 groups it stat he game with.

Up to now, only exi st ing rules have bemodified. At this time, we'll get into socompletely new rules. Themost significant changethe addi tion of an Invas ion Force counter whirepresents six t roopships. Each unchecked boxworth one screening value factor and one (defensonly) surface combat factor. Screening values conly be used in self defense. Fo r each hit against tI.F. counter, Midway gains 4 fortification poiand t he US gets one victory point ; i f the I .F . counloses five or more ships, then Midway cannotinvaded. Reduce the Atago to 3 hit boxFurthermore, during the four consecutive turns thMidway is being invaded, two battleships mustlocated at Midway concurrently fo r four consective turns.

Attached to the Yamato group ar e six suppships which are r ep re sent ed by the Supply Fo(S.F .) counter . Each unchecked box is worth oscreening value factor and one surface comb

Step 10: When aircraf t conduct at tacks againstthe arbitrary screening value of 1 , they a re n otsubject to losses. Keep in mind that the arbitraryscreening value does no t represent a ny AA fire, bu trather a factor for battle odds computation only.

FIGHTERS: change to rule 7-Stripping of ffighters can be used to a tt ack enemy bomber andtorpedo plane sq uadrons. When engaging D and Tplane squadrons in fighter combat, the fightersdouble their strength fo r determining combat odds.D and T's which survive the combat proceed toconduct a ir a tt acks aga in st enemy ships. Deletereferences to t he u se of fighters as extra screeningvalue.a. The interceptors decide how many enemy D& T planes, and of which type, they will attack.b. Combat against D & T planes is foughtseparately from fighter vs. fighter combat.

With regard to fighter combat resolution, theresults table was designed primarily to reflect lossesin large scale f ight er bat tl es . I n sma ll bat tl es , t helosses are disproportionately high. To correct thisproblem, use the following rule: if the lesser side hasfewer than 12 squadrons involved in fighter combat,reduce all losses by hat{ In case offractions, roll thedie again: 1-3: round losses down; 4-6: roundlosses up.

Even when spotted by recon planes, air at tacksoften did no t arrive on target, especially thoselaunched from great distances. The Hornet s planesfailed to locate the Japanese fleet at Midway; twoyears later, a large wave of Japanese aircraft wentof f course in the Marianas. Furthermore, the rangeof attacking aircraft would seem to be too short. Tocorrect these problems use these rules: If the target is more than 6 squares distant, rol l adie: i f the die roll is less than or equal t o t he numberof hexes flown to target greater than six there is noattack. Rol l for each carr ier and f or each mission.Fo r this purpose, p lanes based on Midway areconsidered as carrier planes.2. The range of all planes is changed to 20 squares.Planes a re not permi tt ed to attack targets at anyr ange which wou ld p revent the ir return to base.

The rule prohibiting Kamikaze attacks ha sbeen added because at this s tage in the war, theretention of veteran combat experienced pilots wascrucia l to both sides.

N

N.D

00M

MARYLAND 8 I TAKAO 3 ITENNESSEE 8 I MAYA 3 I I I IJ.F. 6 I JUNYO 8 ]S.F. 6 I RYUJO 6 ITJ

Though an early generation wargame, MID-WAY h as s ome fine characteristics which make itone of the better Avalon Hill games: playing time isshort, rules are fairly simple, and there's plenty ofaction. Yet, there are a few rules which seriouslydetrac t f rom the potential realism o f t he game. Adiscussion of each fol lows along with proposedchanges t o cor re ct and enhance this otherwise finegame.

BATTLEBOARD PROCEDURE : Step Under the present rules, if a ship is attacked whilealone by two groups of 5 squadrons each, it will besunk-even the mighty Yamato succumbs to attackby no t more th an 30 aircraft More t han once aclever American commander has waited to a t tackthe last J apanes e r ei nf or cement g roup alone,thereby sinking the Hosho, Sendai a nd a t least on ebattleship at a marginal cost in planes. Two newrules correct this si tuation and give the screeningplayer more flexibility:

A ship can conduct consolidated screeningif a) no o ther ships are screening it; and b) theship appl ies its screening value to defend itself; c)When using consolidated screening, total thenumber of planes which are attacking the target shipinto a combined attack value. Compare this figureto thedefending ship's screening value and reduce tobasic odds; d) Each group of attacking planes nowconducts its attack using t he s ame odds col umn.Fo r example, the MUTSU is under attack by twogroups of five T planes and one g roup of six Dplanes. Under the present rules, one group wouldattack at 1-2 and two groups at 5-1 (sinkingM UTSU The consolidated screening rule combines all the attacking groups into a combinedattack value: 5 5 6 = 6vs. 8 Mutsu = 2 to Nowthe US player conducts three 2 to 1 attacks againstthe MUTSU. With average luck, he'll score 5 hit s.

2. Ships with a screening value offour or greatercan split their AA fire equal ly into two p ar ts .Screening value of 5 divides into values of 3 and 2factors. When dividing screening value, the firingship is no t permitted to use its arbitrary screeningvalue of 1 against enemy a ir cr af t. Example : t heYamato wants to scr een two other ships with 5factors each, bu t if the Yamato itselfis under attackother ships must screen it against all t t k i n ~planes-otherwise split screening is no t allowed.

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TH G N R L

Fi fty- five years ago , when Vlad imi r I. Leninwas at his peak as one of th e mos t successfulrevolutionaries of all time, he said, History isalways richer in content, more varied, more manysided, more lively, and more subtle than even thebest parties. The hardcore wargamer, whosefavorite board game is a slice of the past he is reliving, would be quick to agree with the old Bolshevikbecause the mo re historical information that isavailable about the game the more exciting andengrossing he finds it. (Whether or not it is betterthan a good party is open to question.)

The primary objective of this column, whichwill appear in THE GENERAL at irregular intervals, is to help make wargaming more enjoyablefor our readers by identifying sources of the latestbackground information in concise , t imely andcritical reviews of books that feature militaryhistory topics. Special attention will be given t otitles that are of particular interest to Avalon Hillwargamers.A secondary objective of the column is to p ro vide the design staff members at AH with aresearch library of current military titles at thelowest possible cost. This objective is already inthe bag because review copies are sent to us free ofcharge.Publishers of military books have beensolicited to send review copies of their most recentreleases that cover all eras of warfare, famous unithistor ies , bat tl ef ie ld tact ics, overal l s trategy,biographies of noted military personalities, equipment and armaments. Not all of the books that arereceived will be reviewed but each one wil be listedin a section of t he co lumn entitled: BooksReceived .U-Boat. By Lothar-Gunther Buchheim translatedby Gudie Lawaetz 666 Fifth A venue N. Y. N. Y.10019 Bantam Books Inc. 1979. 284 pages200 photos drawings soft cover 9.95.

Buchheim shot over 5000 photographs aboardtwo of Hitler s submarines in an attempt to capture the reality of war before i t was irretrievablylost. He has been successful in cul ling 200-plusblack and white pictorial documents to give thereader a feel ing of the claustrophobia, the constriction and the oppression that goes along withfighting aboard a 220-foot VII-C class V-boat inWWII. The collection of photos inc lude thesighting, signaling and maneuvering together oftwo subs dur ing a rare meet ing in mid-Atlan ti c.Action episodes include the periscope-level attackand shelling of the hapless tanker, Clea and thesurface torpedo assault and subsequent burning ofthe tanker, Arthur F Corvin which brought on athorough depth charging by an American-made,four-stacker destroyer. The violence of the nea r

OFFTHESHELF

WATERLOO =~ i _ f r i k a o r p s WW]]DpseTt CampaIgn

fatal attack is attes ted to by the blurred photos ofthe crewmen. Buchheim captues the exhaust ionand fear in the faces of the crew from a s tr ickenV-boat that has been pulled out of the sea by hisboat but who must stay on the deck during the raceto safety in the submarine pens along the coast ofFrance. The narrative, which is written in chronicle form, is adequa te t o s uppo rt the excellentphotography. The student of submarine warfarewill be fr ust ra te d to see the pages are no tnumbered nor is there an index. I t took 83 roundsf rom the deck gun to sink the halves of the Cleabut the caliber of the weapon could not be foundanywhere in the book. For the wargamer, who hasan interest in the war at sea and especially in submarine warfare, this book is a mus t to read. Forthe reader who is interes ted in the courage andbravery that men can show under the mostdemanding conditions, do not miss reading thisone.

. George O NeillBoarding Party- The Last Action of the CalcuttaLight Horse. By James Leasor . Wayside RoadBurlington Massachusetts 01803 HoughtonMifflin Company 1978. 204 pages 8.95.

In late 1942, German V-boats began to wreakhavoc on Allied shipping in the Ind ian Ocean.These German submarines were being guided totheir targets by a secret transmitter aboard a Naziship, which had taken refuge in the neutral harborof Portuguese Goa, 400 miles south of Bombay,India. The dilemma faced by the Bri tish was howwere they going to remove this thorn in their sidewithout violating Portuguese neutrality. Theanswer was found in The Calcutta Light Horse, apart-time military territorial unit, which in realitywas 95 7 a socia l and sporting club and 7 anauxil iary mil itary organizat ion. Brit ish leadersrecruited 8 middle aged merchan ts , banke rs ,lawyers and accountants f rom the ranks of theLight Horse and sent them on a r ai d of the ship,that if i t fai led would have been disavowed by theBritish government as nothing more than a wildescapade of a few drunken civilians. The finalproduct of Leasor s research is the true story ofone of the strangest and funniest events of WWII.The quality of the writing is excellent with the excitement and frustration of the operationpermeating the ent ire book, which makes it interesting general reading but nothing specia l forthe wargamer who wants detailed historical data. Arnold BlumbergHerman Goring -From Regiment to Fa schirmpanzerkorps. By Roger J Bender andGeorge A. Petersen. P.O. Box 23456, San Jose

P G

California 95123, R. James Bender Publishin1975. 208 pages 13.95.This book is billed as an organization and co

ba t history of the Herman Goring military fmation from its beginning as a Prussian police uin 1933 to its demise as a corps in the fields of Sony in 1945. Every reorganization is presentedgreat detail by citing official orders and tablesorganizat ion. Readers who are interes ted in torder of battle for companies and battalions wfind the book useful. But beware. Most of theformation is in German. That portion of the bothat treats the unit history and which is potentiaof the greatest value to a wargamer is very sketchThere a re some specifi c and interesting storabout the unit, such as how it saved thetreasures of Monte Cassino Abbey before Allbombers blasted i t, bu t there are not enoughthem to make the book useful to the reade r wwants more details of the life of the unit. Tauthors also have included details about tuniforms, insignia (color plates) s tandards avehicle markings. The book is liberally illustratwith excellent black and white photos of the mand equipment of the Hermann Goring .hardcore wargamer might f ind th is book useand interesting bu t not the novice. Arnold BlumbeBattle fo r Antwerp. By J .L . Moul ton. 1Madison Avenue New York NY 10016 Hpocrene Books 1978. 208 pages 7 photnumerous maps hard cover 14.95.

While the eyes of Europe and the world wriveted on the dramatic events transpiring inBelgian town of Antwerp, another equally imptant campaignwas being waged behind the fronclear the port of Antwerp and the ScheIdt estuaEven had Montgomery s daring airborne strokeArnhem succeeded it is doubtful that the wwould have been significantly shortened givenAllied supply quandary. Moulton goes to csiderable lengths to back the prevailing theory tMonty e rr ed badl y in no t first securing theproaches to Antwerp.

The book details the relatively easy advancethe th Armoured Division from the Seine to taAntwerp virtual ly without a fight . But hereBri tish fai led to press their advantage aalthough the port was theirs virtually undamagseaborne access to it was not, for the Germans scon trol led the ScheIdt with mines and coasguns. Thus began a long s truggle for masterytween the Canadian First Army and the Germ75th Infantry Divis ion in the f looded poldastr ide the ScheIdt to the final assaults

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Letters to the Editor

THE GENER LDear fellow classics player,

I address this letter to thethirty or so playerswho have competed year-in and year-out in t heAH500 a t Origins. I p hi lo so ph iz e a t g re atl engths , I wi ll was te paper a nd not get to thereason for writ ing. Here t hen in b rief , is why Icompete in the classics :

1 I l ike to compete.2. I l ik e the c lass ic games bes t.3. Origins hasbecome part of my summer. I

renew a fellowship with the rest of you eachyear.4. S inc e we a ll attend i t, we fulfi ll our ownprophesy that Origins will be where the action is.

Yet, something is awry. Attendance fell offin t he 500 t hi s y ea r whi le t he RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN was oversubscribed in an expandedtourney. I would love to winthe 500, but let's faceit. We a re now mostly middle-aged men. WhenBruno s ay s h e u sed to play in 3-minute-moveSparta tourneys he was much younger. Time hasmellowed us all . Winning is no l onger the onlything and I have seen the AH500 become a gentileaffair with Britishreminding the German to bringin the 15th panzers . We are p laying games andOrigins is entertainment. As suc h, I feel we t heplayers should have some input i n to the runningof the 500. The game companies a re not againstthisconcept, but sofar no concerted effort suchasthis one hasdeveloped. I askyou to consider whatmodification, if any , y ou wou ld l ike to see infuture years . I ask that you give this careful consideration and send your reply in writing to me. Iwill collate and forward your responses to the AHstaff who will be planning next year'sconvention.Asa p reface, l et me state that I do not believe weshould be discussing any revisions to the rules ofthe games themselves. The question here is how toorganize the tournament, not whether a 2-3-6 canhol d up the entire German Army. you don'tthink it can, t he re a re other games and tournaments where it doesn't Also, I firmly believethat the enjoyment I have found at past tourney'shas beenlargely due to the affable and able direction of Doug Burke, Dale Garbutt, and RichardHamblen. Our first order of business is to insurethat they continue to run the 500.In order t o help you think about this issue,and not in an effort to foist my own opinions, letme suggest some areas of possible change whichwere voiced informally at the Frog Pond thisyear late Saturday night.1 The RUSSIAN C AM PAIGN tourney as wellas the 500 , BLUE & GREY Pre-Napoleonic alls ta rt a t about t he s ame t ime and this precludesdouble e nt ry t o s ome extent. Cou ld o r shouldt hese tou rneys in which so many of us are interested be staggered or scheduled to encouragemultiple entry?2. Should t he f ie ld in the 500 be dropped to 64?3. Should the tourney requi re p laying a f ixednumber of gameswitha final round or twofor thetop winning players?4. In lieu of a plaque, how about a permanenttrophy of somesort with the names of all winners?5. Should chess clocks be used?6. Should starting t imes be moved to earlier Friday?7. Should a junior tourney be estab li shed forthose under 16 (this one is my own idea and I pushfor this)? t has become the standardprocedure to seed the tourney. Thus, younger players areblown away by us in a perfunctory fashion inround 1 We have all done this to some youngsterand it is not a good feeling. This cannot be goodfor the hobby as i t d is courages young playersfrom playing the classic games. Naturally, thejunior tourney would be more informally organized and adjudicated. My wife has suggested thatthe junior winner wou ld p lay the winner of thesen io r d iv is ion for a small p ri ze (wh ich only thejunior could c laim) the c ha nc e for t he you ngplayer to take on the' 'master Sunday afternoonmight produce amusing results.Please do not l imit yourself to the issuesrai sed here. I await your rep ly . I trust that fromthe dialogue between players and AH s ta ff willemerge even greate r en joyment at futuremeetings.

Bruce Maston, M.D.1404 Union St.Schenectady, New York 12308

I don t supposethe discussion wouldbe comp le t e w it h ou t a response of some type fromA valon Hillso I llround ou t thepresentation witha fe w o f my conclusions. First, I th ink i t s a bitpremature to downgrade the 500. 1979 was thef irst t ime in 5 years that theevent didnot sell ou t

and there were stUlonly a handful o events thatattracted more competitors. While it may be expecting too muc h fo r the even t to con tinue to a ttract a maximumfield o f 8given thefar greaternumber o events with which it must compete inpresent dayORIGINS the500may havebeen unduly hampered thisyear by the poor tournamentfacilities and the extremely late appearance oftournament information inthe GENERAL. I full yexpect i t to s tage a comeback to the 100+ participantlevelin 1979. Asfor theprizelist, wehavea policy for tournaments in which wetryto return100 o f the entry fees in the form of prizes.We re willing to foot the billfor employee salariesan d expensesto runthe events, bu t l iketo have thepopularity o the event determine the prize list.T ha t is w hy some events which don t draw asmany entrants due to lesserpopularity or excessplaying time cost more than others. Whatever wetake in however we return in prizes-a fact thatisn t widely publicized. fo r example, an eventattracts morepeople than weexpected, weusuallyad d additional prizes to cover the excess.

An d to encourage more of yo u to join thisdiscourse here is one such responsefrom a veteranClassics participant .

Dear Dr. Maston:I was surprised to see the decline in registrat ion for the Classics tournament this year, but Ith ink there area number of very good reasons forit. t is AH's most prestigious tourney, and thetheory behind itis, I suppose, that those whocompete (or at least those who compete and do well)mus t b e the creme de la creme of competitiongarners. The theory is wrong . I o nc e d id an examination of the GENERAL (articles and Op ponents Wanted ads) to see what the Top 45garners were playing. My surveywas extremely inc ompl et e be ca use I was u na bl e t o establishpreferences for more than about a third of thepeople on t he li st. Neve rt he le ss , it may be ind icat ive. I was able to identify a total of 26 individual game choices. Of these, there were 11votes for Classic games, but 15 votes fornon-Classics. To cit e a few e xample s, KevinCombs, t he n l eadi ng t he p ack, likes D-DA YRUSSIAN CAMPAIGN and PANZERBLITZ.Robert Chiang, a f orme r l ea der , is big onPANZERBLITZ PANZER LEADER andARAB-ISRAELI WARS. Tom Oleson, alwayshighly ranked, is widely known as an ANZIO nut,while Frank Freemon is a RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN specialist. So it is definitely not true thatthe best garners are the Classics players.A second point that needs to be made is that,precisely be ca use they a re ol de r games, t heClassics have fallen way behind the current stateof the art. For all i ts shortcomings, RUSSIANCAMPAIGN is a quantum leap ahead of STALINGRAD in terms of authenticity. I play to compete, but I play wargames b ec au se t hey a resimulations. All other things being equal, I wouldprefer t o p lay the game that is the better simulation.

Third, the Classics tournament is perhaps going to have to have more support from AH i fi t isto prosper. t used to be the richest tournament atOrigins, and in terms of the total purse, i t probably sti ll is. However, the competition is comingon strong. The f i rs t -p lace prize in th ePANZ ERGRUPPE GUDERIAN tournamentthis yearwas considerablyhigher thanthat fortheClassics. This fact alone was enough to persuademe to go outand buy a copy of PGG. I have fantasies of someday winning enough to b e ab le t opay for the trip to the convention, you see.

Theother reasons for thedecline in popularity of the Classics were touched upon in your letter. The tournament overlapswith too many otherdesirableactivities, primarily because it takes toolong. The number of rounds needs to be reduced,but the idea of cutting the field back from 128 to64 may be self-defeating if the idea is to preservethe prestige of the tournament. t may simply bean acknowledgment that we can't scrape together128 players any more.My own suggestions for improving thesituat ion arethese.Firs t, themix of permitted games inthe tourney needs to be altered drast ically, to

ref lect wha t people a re actua lly p laying thesedays. Almos t by def in it ion the Class ics wou lddropout, sothe tournament would probably haveto be renamed . How about t he Ava lo n H il lMasters Tournament? As an alternative, theClassics tournament might be retained for tho sewho r ea ll y l ike t he o ld g ames , but it m igh t bedowngraded instatus , with the big money movedo ve r i nt o t he Masters ' . What g ames cou ld b ep layed in the Masters'? I would suggest RussianCampaign and Panzerblitz. Bot h a re popular,and, provided the proper scenarios are chosen,both can beplayed quitequickly . A good tournamen t might have fou r rounds, with each playerhaving t o t ake each sideonce in both games. Theoverallwinner would be the onewho turned in thebest overall performance i n t erms of objectivestaken and/or casualties sustained or inflicted.Both games adapt themselves readily to thismethod of determining a winner.

With proper scheduling and restructuring, itshould be possible to arrange things so that aplayercould participatein both the Masters' and ascaled-down Classics.Gary CharbonneauBloomington, IN 47401

Dear Mr. Greenwood,I hope that upon reading myletterconcerningnew PBM kits you don't groan aloud and wing ittoward the closest waste basket. Although I'vebeen a subscriber to The General for onlya shortwhile, I've a lr ea dy seen sever al l ett er s wi thsubsequent editorial reply concerning this soresubject. I understand completely that risingcosts,l it tl e i f any p ro fi t, e tc ., considera tion s prohibitnew PBM kit ventures. that's theway it is , thenthat ' s that .

I felt compelled, however, to express why Iand perhaps others, would like to see these newkits. I l iveina small town inTennesseewith no oneinthe local area to the best of my knowledge, otherthan myselfinvolved in wargaming. Thus, to PBMis the only way I have of enjoying your games, i.e.,t he ones with PBM kits available. Many of yourlatest game titles sound great and I know I'd loveto p lay them, only not by myself.

You've mentioned in former replies on thissubject that manywargamershave theirown PBMmethods for games without AH PBM kits. Wouldyou be willing to solicit and publish some of thesemethods or perhaps include a PBM k it sheet inyour pages that o ne cou ld cop y f rom or haveprinted at one's own expense? Or bar ring tha t,wou ld yo u con si de r p ol li ng your readers todetermine i f a PBM kit for a particular game isdesired enough to warrant manufacturing this kitwith a price that would return a profit? You mightfind out that many of us are willing to incur theexpense in order to continue our enjoyment of thishobby. Van W Stewart, IIIManchester, TN

One of the major reasons, besides expense,f or n ot activelyfurthering the pb m kit l ine is theincreased complexity of the newer games. Multiphase games which are so popular currently aremuch more diff icult to pbm an d often requireseveral mailings per turn. Postalplay in itself is adifficult enough experiencefor gamerstrying itforthe first t ime without weighting them down withthe added rules an d inherent complications o f amulti-phase system. Therefore, we hope to avoidgiving newcomers a wrong steerinto an unpleasant pb m exp er ience w it h a d if fi cu lt g ame byoffering kits only fo r those games which are easilyplayed by post. Once an individual is experiencedwith postal play of the classics he can, and will,readily co me u p with his own systems fo r postalplay o f the more compl icated games . For us toencourage postalplay o f the harder games wouldbea disservice to the novicean dprobably result indiminishing the actual numbers o f postal enthusiasts. We will, however, continue to publish themore interesting tips fo r postalplay o f the multiph as e game s in the GEN ER A L as they comeavailable to us.

P GE Dear Mr. Greenwood,

Many thanks for your excellent AHPhilosophy Part 73. The letter you received iquite typical of the sour grapes I l is ten to in thehobby-usually while playing an AH game-owhat r ip-off artis ts you guys are. I've gotten tothe point of nauseam pointing out whose nameare on t he des ign credi ts for PANZERBLITZYou r d is ti nc ti on be tween a p ub li sh er anddesigner should help to alleviate some of thid rive l. Persona lly, I wou ld rather buy a gamand pay a few dol la rs m ore j ust to get thmounted mapboard that will last me than have tobuy the same game two years l at er because I'vworn out the components. You didn't mentiothis aspect of complaints against AH (i.e. coswhich is starting to diminish because of the risincosts of lesser physical quality games that sompeople insis t on dumping on publ ic .thoroughly enjoyed #16.1 and was pleasantlsurprised with the new scenarios for ANZIOHowever , I think Tom missed a golden opportunity to publish a series of lists of those begun ithe appendix of the third ed. rulebook (Nonplayable Coastal Hexes, etc.). Perhaps he can bpersuaded to do this soon. One last i tem-I thinmany subscribers are missing the fact that theDO get a game in most every issue of thGENERAL. The only difference is that yousually already know the basic rules and donhave to stop playing old favorites t o en jos omet hi ng new. Dur in g the p resent energcrunch (real or imagi ned) t hi s f re e ExtrMileage is muchly appreciated Keep up thgood workChester HendrixMarysville, CA

Dear Sir:

One of thethingsI've oftenwondered about iwhether it is permissible to photocopy pages of thGENERAL for persona l u se . I o ft en make copieof variant art icles (such as the scenario sheets fothe recent Coral Sea var iant s) to keep with mg ames . Wou ld I be i ncor re ct in p ro vi di ng s ucphotocopies to others?

William O. RutherfordFairfax, VA

A materialin the GEN ERA L is copyrightean d reproduct ion with inten t to sel l is strictlforbidden. However, we don t mind if yo u makphotocopies f or y ou r personal use. In fa ct , woften omit color overlaysto aid readers in makincopies of charts they may want to use more thanonce. Neither would we mind y our prov idinphotocopies of particular articles or issues fromS OL D O U T back issues NO LONGER in stockprovidedyou charge no morefor this service thayour own expenses. Anyone sellingsuch copiesfoa profit or distributing copies o f still availablback issues would be in violation o f the copyrighlaws.

Dear Editor,As a devoted follower of Avalon Hil l f or

number of years , I feel compelled to write anvoice my opinions and concerns on Avalon Hillrecent progress.I h ave p le as an t memor ie s of the halcyodays not so long a go, w hen The Avalon Hi

Game Company publishedonly one game a yeaOne of the reasons that I looked forward to thChristmas Sea so n wa s b ec au se I k new I wousee the unveiling of another AH masterpiece.have always admired Avalon Hill for their reluctance to publish an unperfected game, and fotheir resistance to the urge to mass-producsloppily-done wargames which your competitohave succumbed to.

However, one cannot help but wonder witthe increase in newtitles, if thesame high quali tof previous releases can be upheld in the newegames . I rea li ze that these fears are probablgroundless, but I cannot help but worry abouAvalon Hill becoming like Th e Other gamcompany turning out countless unfinishedgameby a certain deadline.

In other words , I am saying that here is onsubscriber who does not mind delays in the newreleases because of the extra c ar e I know is beinput into them. So do not rush thingsMark ChallioorWilmette, IL 60091

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PAGE 34 THE GENERAREADER BUYER S GUIDE

TITLE BISMARCK 12.00SUBJECT Naval Battle of the Denmark Straits plushypothetical surface actions 1940-43.

BISMARCK was t he 4 4t h g ame t o u nd er goanalysis in the RBG and fared exceedingly well.Thi s may be explained in part by the relativelysmall response whi ch b ar el y provided astatistically valid samp le . We have observed thatgames with a smaller numerical following t end tohave a more en thusi as t ic r esponse per averageown er b ecau se t he r at er is more likely t o r ea ctfavorably solely on the basis of t he s ub je ctmat ter alone. Regardless of the number of navalenthusiasts, the sixth place rating of BISMARCKa t 2 .3 7 is both commendable and surprising.

The game showed fine balance throughoutthe ratings, bowing ou t of the t opha l f only in theEase of Understanding category where severaltypos, and t he complex charts and optional rulesof t he Adv an ced Game doub tl ess caused arat ings letdown.

On the positive side, however, the 1.69rat ing for Components s et a new reco rd for thatc at eg or y b ea ti ng t he p re vi ou s b es t, SQUADLEADER by .13. Almost as impressive was theRealism score of 1.84 which took second honorsonly to C RO SS O F I RO N. Undoubtedly the

game benefi tted from a comparison to its simplepredecessor of the same name. The highlysophisticated and innovative search proceduresof t he n ew v er si on ad d a g rea t dea l of realismwhile not s ub tr ac ti ng excessively from theplayability of the original. It is onlywhen leavingthe Basic Game for a venture into the plethora ofoptions that the game bogs do wn in a sea ofcharts and compl icat ions. Natural ly , the playingtime is variable depending on the range of extrasbeing utilized to increase realism and the a t tendant playing time.

1 Physical Quality 2.162. Mapboard 3.003. Components 1.694. Ease of Understanding 2.975. Completeness of Rules 2.636. Play Balance 2.727. Reali sm 1.848. Excitement Level 2.099. Overall Value 2.3110. Game Length 3 hours, 8 min

Advanced Level Midway-continuedfrom page 30factor. Screening values c an onl y be used in se lfdefense. Each S.F. box checked-offgivesthe US onevictory point.

Provided that the Japanese have los t at leastthree of their four main carriers before Night, June5 th , the fol lowing optional forces appear on theNight Turn, June 6th: Heavy Cruisers : Takao Maya (Chokai class) and Light Carriers: Junyo Ryujo. These carriers have surface and screeningvalues of 2. Aircraft capacities: Junl o: 15 Rl ujo: 3Aircraft compliments: Junyo:6 F 5 D; Rl Ujo:4 F 6T. Ifthe Japanese bring theseships on the board, theUS player gets two points for each turn he has heldand continues t o hold Midway.

To reflect the presence of destroyers assigned toe ac h fl eet , t he f ol lowi ng r ul e is added: When aJapanese battleship uses its own screening value tode fen d itself: + I to screening value. When aJapanese CY or CYL uses itsown screeningvalue todefend itself: 2 to screening value. When a UScarrier uses its own screening value to defend itself:3 to screening value. When a ship uses DD screenvalue, it cannot split its AA value, but it can still useconsolidated AA.

US long range bombers on Midway included 6squadrons of B 1 Ts and I squadron of B-26 s. Whenthese planes make a high level bombing attack, thescreening AA value equals the average AA value ofthe target fleet. Subtract one f rom the number ofhits scored and two f rom the number of attackingplanes shot down. Include destroyer screeningvaluewhen the target is a carrier or BB. These 710ng rangebomber squadrons are subject to CA . P. intercept ion; they have unl imit ed range . The US can only

use each squadron once p er d ay . I f t h e long raplanes at tack on thesame turn as other planes, tare considered a separate wave and must attfirst.

The US also held the battleships Tennessee aMaryland in res erve to the eas t. These ships woonly have been committed i f the Japanese air losmade thei r use safe while a t t he s am e time recindicated that enemy surface forces would attemto take Midway. To reflect these conditioimplement the following rule: if the Japanese hlost at least 30 attacksquadrons (D and T) and onafter Night, June 5th, the Japanese I.F. is east ofE area row inclusive, then the US battleships appon the wes t edge of the map three turns after thconditions are met, but no sooner than 0500 Ju5th. When US ships app ea r o n the board,v ic to ry poi nt s f or h ol di ng M idway a re halvedrop fractions. Therefore, i f the Japanese br ingthe Junyo force and the US uses t he battleshipoint values for Midway remain normal.

The use of all of these rules will accomplishcorrection of earlier, unforeseen, design errors, geach side additional flexibility, and eliminate mof the stereotype tactical and strategic procedunow practiced. The screening rules and addi t iondestroyer s screening value g ives Nagumoopportunity to advance towards Midway wconsiderably less hazard from air attack.

ttl: ~ V A L O N trlLGAME CO.

COMING UP NEXT TIME

1 1 r _ o o _ ~ _ @ _ ) _ ] _ ~ ~ _ ~ _ i l _ _ ~ _ O O _ ~ _ _ ~ _ ____ AVALON HILL RBG RATING CHARTrmct

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THE GENERAL PAGE

n f i l t r t o r ~ s port

Some people might claim it risky to sendof the air units up at the same time. Theresome good reasons to do so. The best chathe Bri t ish have to find the Bismarck is infirst few turns before the range of possible lot ions becomes overwhelming. Secondly, thesearch as se t up keeps the German ships mthan tw o zones away f rom the ship patrolbetween Ice land and the Faeroes. This gthese ships a second chance to hold the linbad weather occurs. I f t he visibility appearsit is going to stay bad you can give upgressive air search and keep enough units inair to keep your ship search going and sendrest home to ref it . When the LR Recon unitsready to return to base you ll have the tw o labased bombers ready to fly as temporary ss ti tu tes. I f you are lucky and good visibi l itycurs, the air units can remain away fo r a couof turns without risking the integrity of the l

fourth moves respect ively forcing the Norfoand Suffolk to use h igh speed shadow to kein t ouch . I f by the end of the start of the fimove th e Bismarck has no t been discoverethe Suffolk should be moved to B7 with tNorfolk tw o hexes behind.

A good airtight patrol line gives the Britp layer some luxury in the placement of his twmobile battleships. They need no t be placdirectly in the center of the patrol line. By plaing them in G 16 they can aid in search afavorably react to any possible German mofor the f ir st tw o turns. The advantage in placthem here is t ha t t hey free air units normaslated to guard the Faeroe- Britain gap fo r moaggressive search operations.

The Arethusa Manchester and Birminghashould be moved to D 1 2, D 1 3 and E14 to foa patrol line between Ice land and the FaerIslands. They change to patrol mode in the neturn. I f bad weather occurs the Birmingham aManchester can retreat to E1 3 and F 14 respetively without fear of German penetration.

One LR Recon air unit must be placed wittw o zones of Bergen. On the second turn it cmove there on patrol to search. The bes t uf or t he j ob is one of the tw o based i n Eir e andplaced in F18. The tw o LR Recon a ir unitsPlymouth should be placed in 8. From hthey can support any pat ro l ship in line andreinforce the Eire air unit into Bergen. The otair units are placed as indicated to search thof the zones the German ships can reach a tmaximum first turn bonus. On the next tthey re in excellent posit ion to search fartnorth if visibi l ity improves or s tays t he saand to reinforce the ships and coastal regionthe v is ib il it y deter io ra tes. I f thi s s itua tioncurs, the P lymouth bomber un it should be snorth to increase the coastal search at H 17

The Prince of Wales and Hood should nevbe split within reach of the Bismarck The Gman batt leship could quickly sink either alowith little damage to herself. I f t hi s did occuthe Bismarck need no longer fear Britsurveil lance and would probably break shadobefore effective measures could be taken (i.intercept ing with at least tw othbattleships). The Prince of Wales and the Hoshould a lso always try to remain between tBismarck and the Atlan ti c. Th is k eeps t hetw o ships on interior lines and able to interce(rather than chase) the Bismarck once shediscovered.patrol or movement

movementreconnaissancemovementmovementmovementreconnaissance

patrolmovementmovementmovementmovementin task forcemovement

Mode at end off i rst move

B701 3E14C7012G16G16

Positionat endof firstmove

1 . Norfolk2. Birmingham3. Manchester4. Suffolk5. Arethusa6 . Hood7. Prince of Wales

1. Scapa LR R ec on A F162. Scapa LR R ec on B 0153. Scapa Bomber 1 54. Hva Ifiord LR Recon 01 55 . E ire LR R ec on A F186. Eire LR R ec on B F167. Eire Bomber G 168. Plymouth LR 8Recon A land) movement9. P lymouth LR 8Recon B land) movement

10 . P lymout h Bomber no movementThe Bri tis h p la ye r must always revert to

maximum German movement when set ting uphis positions and searches. I f t he German shipsare no t located after a few turns of search, atleast he is sure that they haven t passedthrough his patrol line.

The d iscuss ion so far has ignored the eff ec ts o f weather on search capability. Althoughno defense can prevent the German ships frombreaking out i f the visibi li ty is at level X, a gooddefense should and can effectively adapt to thegreatest possible changes in weather. Once theBri t ish player has ensured that his patrol l in e i sleakproof, he can use whatever is left over toactively look f or t he German ships.

The Norfolk and Suffolk are usually givent he j ob of guarding the s trai ts between Icelandand Green land if for no other reason thanthey re closest to it. It is best to leave bothships there even though onl y one is needed toguard the passage a t e it he r B8, B7 or C7 .

The second ship can t really help anywhereelse and it has a nice ploy it can tr y in conjunction with t he f ir st . The Norfolk and Suffolkshould never be placed adjacent to one another.If a German ship makes a tw o zone movethrough one ship i nto the other in bad weatheror fog, it can escape the search of both in thesame turn . It is best to keep them one zoneapart to prevent this and to allow one to moveto support the other in case of visibility level 5 .The Norfolk stays where it is on patrol. It is bestto leave her at B7 and no t place her in B8 or C7because a t max imum movemen t, bot h t he is-marck and Prinz Eugen can reach B7 at the endof the ir move. At maximum movement, theypass through B8 or C 7 during their f ifth and

Ai r Units

Ship

they can do damage? The l onger his ships remain on patr ol after a breakthrough, the moredi ff icu l t i t will be to organize a search once hediscovers the Germans have escaped. utevenwor se , if he prematurely abandons the patrolline, he is practically giving the German shipsfree passage i nt o t he A tl an ti c. I t is a situationwhich the British player must t ry to avoid at allcosts.

The previously stalled FORTRESS EUROPproject is once again proceeding full t i lt wi th theassignment of a new game developer here atAvalon Hill. Those interested in applying fo r aplaytesting position for this game shouldaddress their inquiries directly to new projecthead Alan Moon c/o Avalon Hill. Experience withRUS SI AN CAM PA IGN is a prerequisite.A lth ou gh b y-m ail te stin g is expected,preference will be given to those who can attendl ive sessions with the developer either during theweek or on Saturdays dur ing normal workinghours.

It was obvious that Contest No. 89 wasbased on a mail-order only game even withoutknowing the sub ject matter as the number ofent ries fel l of f dramati ca ll y f rom the previousissue s CROSS OF IRON contest . Hopeful ly therecent release of the 3rd edit ion of ANZIO to theretail trade wi ll get th is excel lent game into morecommon usage in the years ahead. In any case,Tom O leson s puzzle for the new Diademscenario stumped all but four entrants. Thosewinners were: Philip Rennert, Washington, D.C.;Claude Drong, Spring Grove, IL; Mark Simonitch,Concord , CA; and Carl Anderson of Peekskill,NY.

While exact prices have nd t been determinedyet, it seems a safe assumption that the NewYear will bring a new round of price increases aswe struggle to keep up with double digit inflation. The coming Xmas season may be your lastchance to make that game purchase you vebeen pondering fo r so long before the prices goup again.

The solut ion for Contest 90 is as follows:When d is tr ibut ing his f or ces, t he British

player must guard primarily against a quick German outbreak. He must make sure that a German ship moving at maximum speed does no tget i nt o t he Atlantic before he has a chance toclose the gaps between Britain and Greenland.The worst possible situation that could possiblybefall Britain is to know that a poor set-up couldhave given the German a chance to escape intothe Atlantic undetected. Does he continue tomaintain his Greenland to Britain patrol in thehope that the German ships are still east or doeshe give it up and send his ships out i nt o t heAtlantic in a futile hope of locating them before

Vol. 1 6, No.1 started the new publicationyear of f right with a fine 2.67 overall ratingmaking it the 6t h best issue ever. Tom Oleson sAnalyzing th e Gus ta v Line was the mostpopular article with 333 points on our 1 200point maximum scoring system. As might be expected, following close behind with 32 6 pointswas Tom s other article Hitting The BeachesAgain which proposed the fi ve new ANZIOscenarios on which his winning analyt ical articlewas based.Total voting fo r the issue was as follows:

Analyzing the Gustav Line 33 3Hitting the Beaches Again 32 6British Victory in Third Reich 23 3ANZIO Designer s Notes. . . . . . . . 87The 1776 Thesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . 81PANZER BLITZ Series Replay . . . . . 73The Aggressive Tightrope . . . . . . . 41The Asylum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

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