8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

1/33

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

2/33

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

3/33

PAGE THE GENERA

Variation layby Robert W. Garbischwith Brian Libby

The sinister storm clouds foreshadowed a nominous stage setting. Occasional drizzles felllike gentle tears upon the silent earth. While abrillant moo n intermittently cast an aur a o f 'mystery.A Germa n sentry glanced up a t the sky, whichseemed to portend bad weather. It was veryreassuring. Anoth er quiet night and a chance torelax a little. Certainly no sensible man woulddare r isk an enemy landing today or eventomorrow.As the winds continued to whip up a roughsea, plans were formulated to hold a comman-ding officers' conference and subsequent mapexercise in Rennes. Every divisional com-mander, along with two regimental com-manders, were expected to be at th e SeventhArmy m eeting a t 1000 hours, the 6th of June ,1944.At th e time, a lo t remained to be d one beforethat 600-mile-wide coastal gate to Europewould be securely barred. Preparations for thereceipt of the Allied invasion were far fromcomplete. Field Marshal von Rundstedt,Commander-in-Chief West, had repeatedlycomplained of the steady drain of the WesternArmy's able-bodied manpower and supplies.Two ingredients that were essential to build astrong, mobile reserve force. The continuedmilitary reversals on the Eastern Fr on t and laterthose i n Sicily an d Italy, were gristmills of theWestern strength.On paper, the 58 German Divisions oc-cupying France, Holland, and Belgium at thebeginning of June 1944, did look quite im-pressive. Yet a closer examination of these socalled divisions would reveal that over half thisnumber consisted of weak coastal defense ortraining divisions. Of the ten Panzer a nd seven-teen Infantry divisions listed, not a single onewas really up to full strength in either men ormod ern equipment. I t had become a standardpolicy of the OKW (Oberkommando derWehrmacht-Supreme Co mm and of theArmed Forces) to withdraw battle worndivisions from the Eastern Front to this areafor rest a nd rehabilitation. As soon a s they werebrough t up to full fighting efficiency they werereturned to Russia.Thus, on th e eve of the Allied Invasion, theGerm ans were basically positioned a s shown onmap no. 1.As can be observed, Army Grou p B, underthe comm and of Field Marshal Rommel, wasexpected t o be the main recipient of the Alliedfirepow er. Rommel's defensive policy for hisresponsible sectors was simply to make the&aches th front line of battle. The invadingtroops were t o be engaged a t once, on the verycoast, at their beachheads. Above all, long andcostly movements to the battlefield were to beavoided. Rommel was quite aware of thestrength of the Allied superiority in the air andhe respected their con trolling power.

Thus Romm el emphasized the fact that, "Theenemy is at his weakest just after landing. Thetroops are unsure, and possibly even seasick.They are unfamiliar with the terrain. Heavyweapons are not yet available in sufficientquantity. Tha t is the moment t o str ike at theman d defeat them." (Invasion- They re Coming ,by Paul Carell, p. 15).Across the English C hanne l, an entirelydifferent tempo was being drummed. Here,duri ng extremely tense hours, a crucial decisionhad t o be m ade. The original scheduled date forthe Allied invasion was set to be the 5th of June.However, an unexpected storm had thwartedthe initial vanguard of troops heading forFrance and all operations had t o be immediatelyreversed. Several days of bad weather werepredicted b ut all signs indicated tha t the 6th ofJu ne would be a relatively calm day. If placedashore o n the 6th, there was a good chance thatadequ ate supplies and reinforcements may notbe able to land in order to sustain thebeachhead. The success or failure of the entireOperation now rested with one man.General Dwight D . Eisenhower, the SupremeCommander of Allied Expeditionary Forces,decided to take the gamble. The attack wasdelayed for 24 hours, D-DAY was now to beJun e 6, 1944. The place: Norm andy.It was h ere, that all the strategic requirementsindicated that a surprise attack on the lightlydefended Norman coast between Caen andCherb ourg would yield the best fruits of victory.Removed from large concentrations of Germantroops and airfields a nd with good terrain forairborne landings, a beachhead could be con-solidated rapidly and greatly expan ded with theproper influx of troops and supplies. Further-more, the large port of Cherbourg lay close athand and thus offered ideal handling facilitiesfor those additional men and material so vitalfor the life of the Allied drive.Defensively, the Germans were situated asshown on m ap no. 2. A co mmo n military rule-of-thumb practice was that a division could noteffectively control a fron tal sector much over sixmiles in length. Yet, here, each coastal defenderwas responsible for an average length o abouttwenty-five miles The only immediate forceavailable in this sector was the 21st PanzerDivision stationed east of th e O rne river.Around midnight, 1,688 bombers andtran spo rt aircraft, with 512 gliders, were carry-ing the officers and men of the U.S. 82nd andlOlst Airborne Divisions to their jump targets.The 82nd Airborne Division went down in thenorthern part of the landing zone. The lOlstAirborne Division landed between Carentanan d St. Mere Eglise. Casualties were higher than

expected. Meanwhile the 6th British AirborDivision succeeded in lan ding their men on tOrne Bay, north of Caen.Alarm Para troo ps are landing Confusireigned in the rear areas of the 84th GermArmy Corps . At first it was undecided if thedrops were possibly a reconnaissance or commando raid. However, once additionreports continued to flow in from the landisites it left no d oub t th at this was a large scaoperation. The invasion had finally arrivedAt tha t momen t, there were 6,480 transporand landing ships crossing the Channel in lanes. S ix battleships, 22 cruisers, 2 monito119 destroyers, 133 frigates, 80 patrol boats, 3MTB's and 25 flotillas of minesweepers surounded the largest and strongest arm ada evto be assembled. The German rada r operatowhen first picking up this vast array of navshipping on their scopes, simply could nbelieve their eyes. Nothing like this had evbeen seen before. At first it was thought that tequipment had malfunctioned or that some nefor m of Allied jamming device was being useNot true. Each blip did represent an individuship, and they were steadily drawing closerthe coastThe invasion site was divided in to five beasections. (see map no. 2). The first elements the 1st U.S. Army, com posed of the lst,4th, a29th Infan try Divisions, were to lan d on4'Utaan d "Omaha" beaches The 2nd British Armwas directed as follows: British 50th InfantDivision would land on "Gold" beach, tCan adia n 3rd Infantry Division on "Juno", athe British 3rd Infantry Division disembarkion "Sword" beach.Many landing craft were destroyed in twater through artillery action and Rommelunderwater obstacles. Men abandoning damaged or sinking landing boat had to tatheir chances with the numerous minefieldmetal spikes and steel-girders scattert hro ug ho ut t he la nd in g zones: ~ u eo Rom medevilish masterv in the a rt of erecting destructiobstacles, onl; 80%of the t r 0o ~s ,~ 50 %f tvehicles, and 25% of the equipment which tAllies had planned to put ashore that daactually arrived.The rest is now military history. The Germahad failed to grasp the impo rtance of this Alliinvasion in time to con duct a proper counterT k k att&s. As evening came to th coast Normandy, American forces had establishedbeachhead some 9 miles wide and 2% mildeep. British forces were located between tOrn e River and nort h of Ryes, 15 miles wide a6 m iles deep.This was only th e beginning

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

4/33

THEGENERALTHE VARIATION

The state of the art (game design to theuninitiated among you) hasprogressed steadilyand rapidly in the 13 years since D D A Y madeits appearance on the wargame scene. Assuch itis rather clear that the game lacks many of thefiner niceties which the hard core has come to

relish in recent years. As the art progressesmany people tend toput down the achievementsof the past for supposedly bigger and betterthings. Such a change came about in 1965whenD D A Y was revised in favor of a I squaresupply rule, SAC attacks, and no landings inSouthern France. This writer is one of many

who thinks the improver overstepped hisbounds and turned an excellent game intomerely a good one in search of additionalrealism.

Who really is to say what constitutes realismin a game? Can the designer who authored the'65 D D A Y version reallyprove that the supplysituation and Allied air superiority weren'tactually accounted for in the original design interms of built-in combat andmovement actors?Design is largely a matter of scope andperspec-tive and the would-be innovator whoplays withanother man's creation without absoluteknowledge of the original designer's rationale isonly kidding himself in thinking that he is

Paratroop lvlslonsPanzer lvlslons

PAGEbuilding a more realistic simulation. Mlikely, he is just topping off the originalfudfactors with his own. Who is to say that commandos listedseparately in the variant tfollows were noi accounted for withindivisiopal scale of the game as it now stands, athat to include same in a game of this scale dnot do grave injustice to the integritydivisional units? -All of which is not to downgrade the variawhichfollows but merely to put it in its properspective. D D A Y is a simple game-easy learn and easier to play. Robert Garbisvariant is neither-yet it provides the hard cwith a complex situation with many additiodecision points and a lot of paperwork. Thare those among you who will laudit andothwho will dismiss it as unplayable. We mehope you find it enjoyable and that it servegive youpause to think back to that stormy Jday 30 years ago when the largest amphibiinvasion in the history of man took place.

For many months vast stockpiles supplies-guns, tanks, mortars, trucks, motains of ammunition, fuel, and food-have bgathered for this historic moment of truth. Amany assessments of the German strenincluding the coastal defenses and the disption of enemy troops, the Allied commanselected the Invasion beaches that wochallenge the mythical walls of "Festungropa."Hundreds of thousands of soldiers had bespecially trained in landing techniqThousands of landing craft were assemblebe ready at a moment's notice. The timenow come for the liberation of the Nazi pressed European continent.The date for the big push was set for Jun1944.History was to record this "longest" daD-DAYThe stage is now set and the act awaitsplayers. What follows is a set of variant rthat shall challenge the player oriented towathe ultimate in realism.ORDER OF BATTLEAllied Units: Additional units have been inced in ''AiTied Units Available n Britain." Chthe "Readers Response" page for theseunits.German Units: Revised time scheduleavailable new units. During the "PreparePlay" set-up, the following units must start fany of the red star hexes: Infantry-30SS,363; Parachute-2; Panzer-3, 9SS, IOSSParis-325 Static Division (in any one city hSix additional Static Divisions may be plainland as "Training" Divisions. CheckReaders Response page for additionalGerman units.STACKING LIMITS:

Every Division has a Stack Point Valuepoints. Every HQ unit, Brigade, Regimand/or a Division that has been reduced toor less than its original assigned Attack Fachas a Stack Point Value of 1 point. MaximStacking Points allowed per hex: Alliedpoints; German-6 points.COMBAT RESULT TABLE:The Avalon Hill Tournament CRTof eiBlitzkrieg or Guadalcanal shall be used.maximum advance or retreat is dictated byunits normal Movement Factor.

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

5/33

PAGE 5 THEGENERAGeRM N ORDER OF B TTLE

~ n a a O O O O;[[[;3-34 5-5-4 5-5-4 5-548 . s &IS &ss 12th turn: Q l 6 m 1 9 a 3 6 5 9 7 0 @ 176 @z26 Q p Q 5 5 3 Q 5 5 9 7 a111 e l 0

1-2-3 1-2-2 1-2-3 3 4 3 3d-3 3 4 3 1-14 1-2-2 -2-3 1-2-3 1-2-3 44.3 2-24 2-2-

a e o a ~ ~ ~ s d ~16th turn: FE @ FG2-24 3.3-4 3-3-4 Partial Fortresses:

vailable TAC factors: Turn 1-21urn 35-60 Complete Fortresses:

FORTRESSES:German Supply Storage of each Fortress is tobe secretly determined and recorded as follows:1. ThreeComp lete Fortresses: Com plete Supp lyReserve; Defending Units are not affected byth e Isolation rules.2 Four Partial Fortresses: Sup ply Reserve of 12consecutive turns before Isolation elimina-tion.3 Remaining Fortresses: Supply Reserve of 3consecutive turns before Isolation elimina-tion.

If any Fortress becomes Allied controlled,then the same pre-determined Germ an Sup plyStorage, for that Fortress, s till applies but nowfo r the controlling A llied units.

If units in a Fortress decide to atta cko ut thenit can select any one or m ore adjacent hexes toattack, a nd with any one or all of his units fromthe Fortress. I t does not have toeng age all of theadjacent enemy units. However, if thebreakout attack results in an Attacker Retreatthen the attacking Fortress units areautomatically eliminated.MOUNTAINS:Costs each unit 2 M F to en ter a M ounta inhex.GARRISON UNITS:All Beach hexes or Inland Ports used t odisem bark Allied units must be garrisohed by at

least one Combat or H Q unit of p minimum oDefense Factor.A L LIE D C OM M kN D O C ) A N D R A N GER ) UNITS:

These Special Units are not limited to tInvasion turns and can land on any Coastal ho n any turn and move 3 M F in the same turThese units require no supply line or SuppUnits to maintain their Combat effectiveneTheir blocking effect on Enemy Units duriretreats is the sam e as applied for AB Units. (ADrop) In order to be reused the unit must ontinued on page

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

6/33

THE GENERAL PAGE

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

7/33

PAGE THEGENERALmoved out-to-sea for at least 4 CompleteTurns. If eliminated by the CR T, the unitrequires a t least 12 Complete Turns before it canbe reactivated through normal replacementfactors.

TACTICAL AIR SUPPORTTo be used only in providing additional

Attack Factors to Com bat Units. TAC factorsare nontransferable from one Time Period toanother Time Period. The maximum limit ofTA C factors per tur n is: German-3 TAC , 2TAC per Battle; Allied- 6 TAC, 3 TAC perBattle.

Available TAC factors: Time Period (1st to21st turns)-Germans: 9 TAC; Allied: 4 T A CTime Period (35th toend of game) German: 6 TAC ; Allied: 30 TACNORMANDYILE HAVREThe two beaches are considered as oneInvasion Beach area, use the allowable unittable of the N ormandy are a only.ALLIED H Q UNITSAt least one HQ unit must be brought ashorefor every 4 Unit Stack Points

ATLANTIC WALL DEFENSEThe G ermans will be allowed t o indicate a6Coasta l hexes, during the Prepare for Platurn , as Atlantic Wall Defense Fortificatiareas. If attacked from an y Sea Coastal hex thwill receive an a dded 2 Defense factors, as loas they are attacked from the indicated Coasdirection only and if occupied by at least oGerm an unit of equal Defense factor value.attacked from a com bination of Se a& Land hdirection s then the Defense bonus will not applied to the defending German units.ALLIED NAVAL FIREPOWERNaval Firepower can provide additional Atack Factors to any Allied unit within 2 -la

A U L D ORDIR OF E A T I L L

h h a L I h l h l k 4 h ? h I4 rr Il b h t SAC2 - 24 5- 54 0-14 d d d d U 4 d d d d d d d d 5-54 5-54 5-54 Attacks:

Available TAC Factors:Turn 1 21 24

Turn 35-503

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

8/33

THEGENERAL PAGEhexes from a Sea Coastal hex. Such support islimited to 2 factors per battle and it is non-accumulative. Naval Firepower is not availableduring any Sea Storm turn.

Available Factors for the First Invasion: 1stturn-5 factors; 2nd turn-4 factors; Balance ofGame-2 factors per turn.Available Factors for the Second Invasion:1st turn-3 factors; 2nd turn-2 factors; theseare additional factors which are in additionto those granted for the balance of the game.REFORMING OF UNITSA player can combine several understrengthunits to reform one stronger unit at anytimeduring the game. The procedure is as follows:1 During the Movement Phase of the player'sturn, move the unit to be rebuilt to any ity hexnot in enemy ZOC.2. Subject to Stacking Limits, move the rem-nants of other units that are to be combined withthe understrength unit to the same City hex.They can not be moved for the balance of theplayer's turn, nor can they engage in Combat.They can defend themselves, if need be.3. The Combat Factors of the remnant units areadded to the unit that is being rebuilt, and theremnant units are eliminated andautomaticallyplaced in the Dead Pile.4 At the beginning of the following friendlyturn, the rebuilt unit can be moved in the normalmanner and engage in Combat at its newstrength.5. Armor, Panzer, Recon, and/or Panzer-Grenadier units can reform one another andInfantry units. Infantry can only reform intoanother Infantry unit.LANDING INVASION COMBATAllied units that are attacking from a SeaCoastal hex and suffer a Defender Retreatresult shall incur the normal Combat Factorlosses, plus the Defender Retreat factors shallcount as additional Combat Factor losses. Theremaining Allied units are then allowed toremain in the Sea Coastal hex. Adjacent Ger-man units are not required to counterattack theremaining Allied units in the Sea Coastal hexand may choose to remain on the defensive.However, if new German units are added to thesquare they must attack.ALLIED REINFORCEMENTS

Allied Units arriving on any garrisoned beachhex or Inland Port can move their full MFdistance in the same turn and engage in attacks,if supplied.SUPPLY UNITS

Supply Units are required to support anyattacks being made in a turn. The Germanshave a limit of 8 Supply Units; the Allies cannothave more than 2 Supply Units.One Supply Unit can support one or twoattacks for one turn. It can supply any numberof at tacking Combat Units within 5 hexes(unobstructed by enemy ZOC). It is not re-quired for at tacks of 1-3 odds or worse, or forCombat Units attacking from a Fortress. Theattacker is not allowed to place his CombatUnits under an enemy ZOC if such movementwould place it more than 5 hexes away from a

Supply Unit at the end of the movement phaseof his turn. Supply Units can arrive, move theirfull MF distance, and support an attack all inthe same turn. Supply Units have n o CombatFactors and no ZOC. They are removed oncethey have supported an attack. Supply Unitscannot be air-lifted.U SE OF PARACHUTE UNITS (additionalvariants to the AH rules.)

All Airborne (hereafter referred to as AB)must be air dropped within 5-hexes of aFriendly Unit and direct contact must be madewithin one complete Game Turn and/or have anunobstructed Supply Line to an Inland Port or afriendly beach hex, in order to insure Supply.Otherwise, the Unit is immediately eliminated.AB units can effectively block all types ofGerman units in retreat, from an Attack only,except for Panzer and/or Panzer-Grenadierunits of at least equal (1-1) ratio to the blockingAB units; i.e., a retreating Panzer unit of 5factors could effectively by-pass an AB unit of 4factors, without attacking or losing any factors.This applies only during the initial Air Dropturn.

AB units Movement Factor is reduced to 2MF and no Supply Unit is required for at-tacking only during the Air Drop turn.AB units must spend at least 4 turns in reserveor out of enemy ZOC before it can be reused forany new Air Drop assignments.Supply Units may be moved adjacent to anyenemy Combat or Supply Unit, but only in theturn they are to be used to support attacks.Supply Units can be captured by any enemyCombat Unit (moving over or adjacent to it)and the captured Supply Unit can be used tosupport attacks in the same turn. Only bycapturing Supply Units can a player have moreSupply Units than the above limit. UnavailableSupply Units are non-accumulative. Note thatthe normal Avalon Hill Allied Supply capacityand range limit rules are voided when this rule isused.

GERMAN SPECIAL RULES1. Prepare for Play turn: Supply Units canbe placed anywhere on the mapboard.2. Turns 4 to 12: Supply Unit arrives per turnfrom any starred hex.3. Turns 13 to end of game: Supply Unitarrives every odd-numbered turn, except forduring the Snow period.4. Snow Period: Supply Unit arrives onturns 25 and 29 only.ALLIED SPECIAL RULES1 First and Second Invasions: the initial 3turns are self-sufficient and no Supply Units arerequired for the attackingcombatUnits used inthe Invasion landings..Thereafter, from the 4th succeeding urn on: 2Supply Units arrive per turn.2 Sea Storm: No Supply Units are allowed toarrive.3. Snow Period: Supply Units arrive everyeven numbered turn.

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

9/33

PAGE THEGENERALORBeach y Beach A WO R R I E D A ME R I C A N L o O K s A T T w o ATLANTIC WALLS

By Donald Greenwood With Dave Roberts and Bruno SinigaglioThe D - D AY DEFENDED article pennedb y G A R Y G Y G A X in Volume 10, No. 1 drewconsiderable criticism from American playerswh o said it just t'weren't so; i.e., that theGerman stood an even chance of victory. Theyclaimed that the combination of American

replacements and airpower was just t oo muchfor the German to handle in the'65 edit ion. Wegrudgingly agreed with their hypothesis o n onecondition-that the Germanplayers they'd beenmanhandling didn't have t oo much o n the ball.To prove our point we elicited the aid of t wostaSf members, Dave Roberts and BrunoSinigaglio, who gave us their openingdefenses-the sameset-ups they used in coppingt op East Con tournament honors in 1972 and'73 respectively. Although the methods they useare as different as night and day, the end result isthe same: a lot of German wins.Let's explore their defenses beach b y beach,compare the relative strengths and weaknesses,and see i we can't open another chapter in thenever ending play balance debate.For clarity's sake we will code name theRoberts defense Up Tight and the Sinigaglioset-up Hard Smash. The former will bedealt with first.

UP TIGHT N OR T H SEA: As is the case with all goodGerman defenses the North Sea is loaded for bear. 30defense factors man the beaches and are backed up by aparatroop screen of 26 more. The presence of theNorthern reinforcements adds additional bulk to theGerman defense. Note the positioning of the Germanreinforcements. The three 5's and solo 3 are seemingly aperfect force for dealing with any airborne operations tothe north, while allowing the remainder of Germanreinforcements to deploy to the South. The paratroopscreen prohibits any airborne unit t o enter the main battleon the beaches leaving the Allied player with his choice ofthree 1-1's on any of the 5 defended beach squares.Although K19 is unmanned, any units moving inland willface a 1-2 versus the 2SS in Ostend. Not a very appealingprospect, but after inspecting the rest of the defense youmay wellagreethat three I-l'son F13, G14, and H15offeras good a chance as any.Coupled with SAC attacks on he275th and 517, and airborne operationsagainst the 47th, avery lucky first turn could end the game quickly.Realistically speaking, such an attack will end the gamesoon, but more often than not, with a German win. Evenwith perfect results the Allied player will be hardpressedto clear Amsterdam for supply and without it thisinvasion can go nowhere.U P TIGHT P A S D E CALAIS: As in real life Pas De

susceptible to German counterattacks. Barring lucky 1-2's on the fortresses, Calais holds little opportunities forexploitation.U P TIGHT LE HAVRE: LE HAVRE is such arestrictedinvasion area that it is seldom selected as an Alliedinvasion site. Note the sacrifice of the 338 Static whichcan be attacked at 6 1. However, placement here insteadof in R30 takes away the 4-1 on the 77th Inf. and the 1-1on the 12SS which are possible otherwise. Le Havre stillmust be attacked at 1-2. Any invasion which must rely onsuccessful 1-2's is extremely risky though, and may as wellbe forgotten.U P TIGHT N OR MA N D Y : Normandy is a traditionallyeasy area to bottle up and usually doesn't require too

Calais is the most heavily defended invasion site. heavy a defensive commitment.Dave Roberts apparentlyAlthough supply is not that big a problem here, getting agrees with the theory, as he allows an uncontestedashore is. Only four 1-1's are possible against Ostend, landing in Cherbourg and 433. With Cherbourg freelyL21, 0 2 5 and P26, and even if successful they are taken, supply is no problem. Breaking out of theNormandy pocket is another story however. The strongparatroop screen ruins any chances for effective airbornetactics. Even with a successful 1-1 on the 3rd ParatroopDivision in Carentan the German is strongly entrenchedin Bayeaux, St. Lo. and Avranches. A Normandyinvasion is a-lost cause against this defense.

U P TIGHT BRITTANY: Although definitely the bestinvasion site in this defense, it is still well-handled. Thebest course of attack seems to be to drop a sacrificeparatroop in Y40 and land two 4-4's at V40with theother3 Allied units (including the Airborne) landing at U41 andUU42. SAC attacks should be carried out against the 2ndPanzer and Brest.

If successful, the Allies will be safely ashore with plenof supplies and can take Lorient at their leisure. It wthen be a case of playing the attrition game in the RenneSt. Nazaire gap until the German decides to withdraHowever, the German forces in the West are so mobthat an orderly withdrawal to a strong position on tSeine can be carried out with little trouble either beforeafter the 2nd invasion. Should the SAC attack on Brefail, the Allies will have a tough time of it and will haveexpend another one immediately to gain the suppneeded for quick build-up. Even so, Brittany remains tbest invasion site-offering an almost guarantebeachhead and the type of attrition game which the Alliexcel in. Unfortunately, it will also result in a very logame in which the Allies will have to break a myriad doubled positions manned by the cream of the GermarmvU P TIGHT BAY O F BISCAY: The Allied chances heseem to be best with landings of all units on HH42 ausing SAC against ISS and 9PZ in Bordeaux. Howevif they don't kill the unit in Bordeaux they are in seriotrouble, because they are already at their maximusupply capacity. The German will have made La Roche3-1 proof, and the only way the Allies will go anywhereall is with massive expenditure of their SAC attacks.This should eventually enable them to move out froHH42 and 1142, but after that it is a dim prospect. TGermans should hold them south of the Loire until tsecond invasion, and then with their beach defensreleased, the German should be able to form an incredibline on the Seine.H A R D S M A S H NORTH SEA: This defense is vasdifferent from Roberts handling of thesame situation bis every bit as effective. The beaches themselves are n

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

10/33

THEGENER L P GE 1defended, enabling the Allies to land unopposed at H15.116. and 17. ~ e t , t h i s enerosity is not as free of avariceas it looks. On the second turn the invaders are faced bydoubled positions and although a 3-1 on the 275th can beachieved in co-operation with an earlier airborne opera-tion against OBWest not much will be gained for theAllies will still only have supplies for 6 divisions. A moreviable solution is to attempt a 1-1 surrounded on the 2nd, . Panzer with a 1 1 surrounded on the 271st and a 1-2 onthe 272nd w ~ t h n alrborne delay unlt at D8 and SACattacks on the 2SS and 25SS With great luck thls couldconceivably galn enough supply to result Ina qulck Allledvlctory, but the law of averages decrees that more oftenthe Germans will come out on top, and very qulckly tooSupply 1s just too hard to secure in the North SeaH A R D S M A S H P A S D E CALAIS: Agaln, the twodefenses differ drastically. In order to make his southernbeaches impregnable the German has left the bareminimum in Calais. Invasion here is a 50-50 propositionand undoubtedly the best Allied option against HARDSMASH. Taking the four northernmost of the fiveavailable 1-1's on the beaches and a6-1 on the G HQ unit,the Allied player can be firmly established ashore and wellon his way to victory with low die rolls. Failure means thegame is over for all practical purposes, but there can be noholding back. The German has made your choice for you.Calais must be attacked The 12SSand 9th Panzer appearthe most likely SAC targets.H A R D S M A S H LE HAVRE: HARD SMASH allowsthe 1-1 on Dieppe and Le Havre which UP TIGHT didnot. As such, it is a much weaker defense, although theaddition of the 6th Airborne regiment makes exploitationof the Allied airborne potential more difficult. Selectionof Le Havre is a possibility but does not offer the sameadvantages of an attack at similar odds on PAS DECALAIS.Opportunities for SAC attack are particularly poor.H A R D S M A S H N OR MA N D Y : Again, the Sinigagliodefense is inferior to the UP-TIGHT placement, althoughstill imposing. Not only are 1-1's possible against Caenand Bayeaux, but the paratroop screen is weaker andCarentan is ripe for a SACattack. Cherbourgisagainleftopen so supply presents little problem. The best Alliedinvasion would probably consist of landings at Cber-bourg and Q33 with a 1-1 on Caen. Coupled with a SACattack on Carentan and Argentan, a 6-1 on the 1st HQand a 1-3 on the 353rd in Avranches with the airborneunits to maximize the delay of reinforcements fromBrittany, the Allies could be firmly ashore providingtheywin the 1-1. It would then be a case of wait-and-seeattrition until the 9th week and the 2nd invasion.H A R D S M A S H BRITTANY: H e r e b e r e he set-upbenefits from the sacrifices made to the Northeast. Anadditional 13factors arem ade availablefor the defense ofBrittany. The result is that every beach square is contestedwith 1-1 attacks. It is possible to land here with lucky dierolls on I- 1attacks on Brest and Lorient and SAC attackson V40 and U42. The point is why bother taking the samerisks here in the West that you can get in Calais? Even if100%successful the invasion can be bottled up at the neckof the peninsula long enough to withdraw the bulk ofGerman forces. An invasion in Brittany against thisdefense is out of the question.H A R D S MA S H B A Y OF BISCAY: Once again, the'German concedes nothing. To get on the board you mustmake a 1-1 attack. However, if successful his chances inthis area are much better than against the Robertsdefense. To begin with, a 1-1 surrounded is allowedagainst the stack at 1142. If it, and the SAC attacks onBordeaux and EE42 are successful, there will be little tooppose an Allied buildup for at least 3 turns . If the SAC'aitack fails to gain ~ordeaux's upply or the 1-1 fails theinvasion will be over. However, the large number of slowmovine units olaced on the Western beaches makes the

lost only 4 units rather than the 12+of an effort at Ca(including valuable armor and parachute units). Wpre-invasion SAC attacks to soften up the now reinfor2nd invasion sites, the game will still be far from oveOVERVIEW

Heavy armor belongs on the beaches, eithadjacent to where the Allies want to attack,right in their way in the most desirable squarThey thus are invulnerable to SAC and provithe strongest defense with the best chancesurvive and be able to launch an immedicounter-attack. Especially note the 6-6-4'sDieppe. Besides being maximum economyforce (12 defense factors against a possibattack of 10from Pas De Calais and 8 fromHavre), with 42 8 vacant three 6-6-4's are bodoing double duty in tying themselves into t,defense network of adjacent beaches. The 54's in Normandy in the Roberts defense aremaximum economy of force, equalingdefense factors defending against possibletacks of 8 and 16factors. Placing the 7 7 4St. Malo with 3 units of 4 attack factors in ranguarantees that the German can get 3-1 andsoak-off against two 4-4-4's if they land on Vbarring a SAC attack in this direction.

Certain units have squares that soon shoubecome obvious as the optimum place for theThus the 5-5's in Normandy defending againcombinations of 4-4-4's, the 6-6-4's in the Pdefending against the possible 5-5-4's, the 3-3in K18 defending against 4-4-4's (instead of, sin a paratroop screen in the rear where it wouhave no special merit against 3-3-3's), the 3-4-3in paratroop screen positions on the northepositions which are hopefully so strong thatcan't attack, and thus since he won't be theryou save the extra attack factor of the 4-4-3'suse in the south where you probably willwantattack. The choice of whether to place a 4-4-44 4 3 in the various Normandy-Biscay areasfar from random, but based on their abilityattack or occupy key squares after the molikely initial invasion positions are reached.

AN U N H A P P Y C O MPA R I SO NWhich defense is better? I suppose thdepends on what you want out of your defenThe Sinigaglio set-up is designed to meet adefeat the Allies on the beaches. Any prolongstruggle, due to the heavy commitment on tWestern beaches will increase the chances ofAllied win. Yet, the Allies have no better than50% chance of a successful landing any placethe board. It is a gambler's dream and shouresult in an even number of Allied and Germwins given players of equal ability.The Roberts defense adheres to the "fight'eon the beaches" principle while utilizing t

containment theory for the westernmobeaches. An invasion at Brittany can not reabe stopped, nor can one in Bay of Biscay barriunlucky SAC attacks. This results in a londrawnout game in which the Allies must breone strong doubled position after anothbefore he reaches Germany and victory.But any attempt at invasion further northextremely risky. The strategic balance is bettthan in the Hard Smash defense, makingpolicy of containment more viable.In short, the Roberts defense holds a bettchance for a German win, but will requiremuch longer game, regardless of the winnBoth defenses hold at least a 50-50 chance ofGerman win.

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

11/33

PAGE THEGENERA

A Compendium of Playing ides by the Avalon Hill Staff*Cast of Characters including: George Brad-ford, Don Greenwood, Richard Guida, DanHoffbauer, Richard Plock, J a m e s Pyle, Ran-dall Reed, Tom Oleson, and Mark Saha

Wargaming is a time-consuming pursuit;especially i one exercises his involvement in itt o the hilt. It's one thing to play a 3 hourMidway game once a month and quite adifferent matter to be involved in a dozen play-by-mail games while playing regularly a gamutof games that may include as many as 2 titles.Taking 20 minutes t o set up that Midway gamemay have been annoying for our once-a-monthjock but it's downright torture or the wargamejunkie.The GENERAL will try to solve this andother less pressing problems of the wargamerwithin the b o d y of what follows. Not a regularfeature, this article encomp asses all that we haveto offer o n the subject of playing aides.THE BO ARD:The bane of any PBM'er is the constantsetting up and putting away of games after justone move. If you play-by-mail or lack a placeto store games overnight that you can't finish inone sitting then a game cabinet is a must for you.A game cabinet allows you to leave up to adozen games set-up permanently in the samespace usually taken by one gameboard. Inaddition, the drawers on which the game is setup can be removed and used to carry thegameboard from room to room without distur-bing a single piece. And when returned andsecured in your game chest, the set-up isprotected from the vicious raids of one'schildren, pets or wife.

only the standard 28 X 22 mapboards. Thispresents difficulties when playing games such asAfrika Korps or Blitzkrieg which utilize thelonger board. The problem is not insolublehowever, and if you're willing to cut the boardsin half along the center fold, even they can belaid into a standard sized cabinet with littledifficulty. Of course, if you play more than onePBM contest of the same game at the same timeor are inclined to play both face-to-face and by-mail the utility of a game cabinet might belessened. The answer to this problem is, ofcourse, the purchase of extra boards andcounters for secondary games.

An example of a drawer game chest which leaves 4%between drawers so that thegame box may also be stored inside.

A game cabinet lends a new outlook to yourplaying. Instead of forgetting all about a par-ticular move after writing it up, you are temptedto pull it out and look over your move for freshapproaches every day. Such contemplation hasmade more than a few players see the light in aparticular game and made better players ofthem. And of course, there are the obviousadvantages. You no longer have to painstaking-ly reposition each unit every time you receive amove. You already have his last set-up beforeyou. Moving units to their new location andchecking the legality of the move becomes one inthe same. The only drawback of the gamecabinet is that most of them aredesigned to hold

rTOP I BOTTOM

II

SIDE T s b f - -

I ~ ; ~ ; ~ - - -

I-32~ z K - - - - -

Game cabinets can be constructed in a varietyof ways but generally speaking plywood is the

II

least expensive material. The cabinet itself canbe constructed from one 4 by 8 foot sheet of 1/2plywood. Shelves can then be constructed from1/4 sheets in the quantity required by theindividual. The number of shelves usuallyranges from to 12. A project of this natureusually costs from $15.00 to $20.00 dependingon the amount of shelves used and one'swoodworking skills. It is a good idea to varnishthe whole thing and to soap the strips of woodwhich provide the support for the drawers toprevent sticking.G AME TRAYS:A less expensive, albeit less refined, solution tothe same problem is Tom Oleson's game tray .Although less picturesque, a set of game trayscan be made for about $4.00 and are not assubject to abnormal shaped boards as is the case

The primary advantage of a game tray system is the ws t andadaptability to irregular shaped boards; witness the STALINGRPANZERBLITZ, and ANZlO games in progress above.

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

12/33

THEGENER L P GEwith a game chest. Making a set of gametraysimplicity itself. Merely cut a flat rectangle

plywood, of a thickness suitable to prevflexing (1/4 - % ) to the size of the boardquestion with an extra 1/2 allotted aroundperimeter. Then you take 4strips of plywoodwide by 1 high, and nail or glue them to the barea. Their length depends on the lengthlwiof the game boardplus the margin (1/2 % =These raised strips around the sides makepossible to stack a number of games withdisturbingthe counters (nor will any but the tone get dusty). Not only is this handy to stgames, but to move them as well, in case yneed to change tables, etc. Although game trawon't tend to stick as they can in a pooconstructed game cabinet they are more subjto accidental ravages by passers-by.

The maln drawback to the game tray system S that a secluplace away from other da~lyactlvltys needed to store them ~fare not to be upset

UNIT DIVIDERS:One of the biggest drawbacks of Avalon Hgames is their lack of compartmentsseparate and store different types of ucounters to facilitate easy set-up. The plastray of the bookcase line and the cardboacontainers in the flatbox variety just don't cuin any way, shape or form. There are maviable solutions to the compartmentalizatioproblem which vary sufficiently in expense aaccessibility to meet every garners' whim.

The solutions vary from empty egg cartocandy boxes, plastic ice-cube trays resealaplastic bags, and see thru fishing tackle boxesthe ultimate carpenter's chest of drawers. Tproblem with the first mentioned items is nonly their untidy appearance, but the fact thcounters are subject to loss during transit froone location to another. Their obvious advatage is that they're free and if the form

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

13/33

PAGE 3 THEGENERAobjections don't stand high on your list ofpriorities they can be a useful alternative. Theplastic bag idea has merit except that even thesehigh quality products have a finite number ofopenings and closings before the inevitable wearand tear takes its toll. It is also a bulky systemwhich is convenient to store and label. Probablythe best solution for most is the fishing tacklebox. Available in different sizes and pricesranging from under a dollar to several bucks,these tack1e boxes are both pleasing to the eye,easily labeled, and secure against leakage.

The main disadvantage is that these boxescontain, on the average, only 16 separatecompartments. This means that for a game likePanzerblitz two boxes would be needed. Thistoo can become a bulky storage problem if youwant to compartmentalize more than a fewgames. We've found the ideal solution to belarge parts storage chests used by carpenters tostore various size nails, nuts, and bolts andwhich are available in almost any departmentstore. The one pictured on these pages retailedfor $13.00 at Montgomery Wards. They alsohave 37 drawer units for $12.00,30drawer unitsfor $9.00and 23 drawer setsfor $7.W. It wouldappear obvious that the 60 drawer unit is thebest buy. Each drawer is subdivided into com-partments which are formed by dropping clearplastic dividers into precut slots. Depending onthe counters to be sorted, each drawer can besubdivided into I, 2,3 or 4compartments. Each5%'' 2 1%'' drawer offers a multitude ofstorage compartment sizes depending on thenumber of departments to be used and the sizesdesired. The really industrious can fashioncardboard separators which will easily wedgeinto position to further subdivide a drawer intoas many as 12compartments. When utilized inthis fashion, a Unit Divider of this size can beused to store the counters of your entire gamecollection. Ours holds the units for 12 games,weighs 13 Ibs., stands 22 kill, afoot across and5% deep. When doctored up like this one hasbeen it not only becomes agreat aid to play, butthe perfect bookend for your bookcase gamesor centerpiece for your mantel.

deluxe 6 drawer chest contalnlng 24 separate compartments Thlsone ut~llzed ann~ballzed ame 06 charts to glve atruly profess~onal ppearance Such extravagance 1s not necessaryof course but does lend a very lmpresslve appearance to thegameroom of a ded~catedwargamer

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

14/33

THEGENERAL PAGE

Lead designat~ons n all

n two sections; thls unit uses both by connecting the output QAto Input B. The result is a binary-codeddecimal output at the fourerminals QA. QB. CIC, and QD. When the 4PDT sw~tch 3 is tn posit~on, all of the outputs of I 2 are connected directlytothe:orresponding inputs of 1C 3 (SN 7448 BCD-to-7-segment decoder/driver). giv~ng truedecimalcount, whileatthesametimeiectlonSAand B of the switch ground the reset termlnals of I 2 (Special note: If all thatisdesiredisthisdecimalcount. switchS3%nd 4 are unnecessary: slmply makedirect connections between the outputs of I 2 and the inputs of IC 3, and permanently)round he resettermlnalsof IC2.)The SN7448 1sspec1f1callydesignedforthepurposeofdriving7-segmentdisplaysoftheMAN-4ype-there are sevenoutput termlnals, one for each segment. Notethat thisIC has 16p1ns: henurnberingsystemisanalagoustohat for a 14 pln unlt While the SN 7448 IS capable of drlvlng the display by Itself (in hls instance, when the outputsare high), a)righter light and greater contrast can be obtained with the use of the resistors R3-R9 connected to the power source. DoNOT:hange the~r alues: as before, they are used to limtt current and prevent the display from be~ng verloaded.

s WIII descrlbe how to busld a unit essent~allydentical tomyprototype; however, let meurge nowthat you makeonechange.f you value your sanlty, and unlessyou arevery adept at work~ngn small spaces,donot usethesame sizebox(4 x 1% )that Iused;he components just barely squeeze lns~de fter some special cuts have been made. Unless you are as stubborn as I am. Iecommend a mbnlmum slze of 4% x 2% x 2 , preferably w ~ t h phenollc cover; learn by my headaches1All of the construction warnlngs and recommendationsglven for randomlzer # l apply hereexceptforthoseassociatedwlththend~v~dualEWs and pattern on both sides of the board The printed circuit board is 33/a' x 1% ,copper cladon one s~de. igure9jhows the etchlng and dr~ l l~ngpat te rn bot tomv~ew) .Theather oddshape~snecessarytoprovideclearancefortheboxreinforc~ng.jwltches, etc (see preceedlng paragraph) The two large holes are mountlng holes-all holesizesarethe sameasfor unit 1. Flgure1 shows the locatsonand orlentatton of the varlous components, all mounted on the top of the board.The positive lead of eachi~odes towards the center of the board (by 2).The MAN-4display S not mounteddirectly on the board; a 14pinsocket is used.r h ~ slevates the dtsplay A nch, enabling 11o be clearly vls~ble hlle allow~nglearance for wiresandIC sbetweentheboardand:ase. Notethe orlentation of the lnsertlon of the MAN-4 n he socket-p~ns #3. 5. l o , and #11 are misslng (but thelocationare

We're not urging tha t everyone go out abuy a Unit Divider Chest , but if you d o hmost of o u r games, d o play th e m a lot, desi reattractive sorting system, and are willinginvest several hours in setting it u p you chard ly g o wrong with a purchase like this.However, d o not pitch blindly intoproject. Each d ra w e r a n d every compartmshould b e labeled as t o its contents. If you taklittle t ime in p lann ing your Unit Chest aexercise so m e artistic ability you'll fa re betth a n had you plunged in to it immediately.C o m e u p with a c o lo r scheme th a t will tell yimmediately which drawers be long t o whgames. F o r example , we colored all o u r Origlabels black, Mi dway red, Bulge white, etc.

Panzerbl~tzS probably the game In most needof a compartmtal storage system Sort~nghould be done by type to facll~tatup for the game's many scen rios Note that the drawersbroken Into flve categories transport, armor, spec~allzedarm~nfantry,and art~llery Each Interlor compartment S l~kelabeled as to ~ t sxact contentsBe selective as t o which games you wincluded in y o u r Unit Chest. S o m e gamsuch as Gettysburg, D-Day, StalingrKriegspiel and the peace games d o not rearequire compartmentalization. In fact, it actuly increases set-up t ime of games such as D-D

Remember, units which are taken f ro mc o m p a r tm e n t have to be returned eventuallymost games, this is merely a m a t t e r of droppthe eliminated units in to the proper copartments each tu rn . In D - D a y where there isset O B historical un i t designations, returnthe right a m o u n t of units t o the right compament can be a real p ro b le m because therenothing to cross reference each unit with as yreturn it to the b o x unless you sort it by tyrather th a n time, which is little help t o the Allplayer.

Not all counters should be classlfled by type In many gasuch as MIDWAY. grouplng of counters by the tlmes whenappear on the board IS preferable In th~sexample, oth battlesearch board counters are grouped In the same compartmeclass~f~edy the tomes they appear In the game Note thatouts~deabel descr~bes hat 1sto be found In the compartmenthat drawer. wh~ le ach compartment IS also labeled as tcontentsGames such a s 1914, Jutland, PanzerblLuftw,affe, Origins, a n d Richthofen s W

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

15/33

P GE 5 THEGENER should be sorted entirely by type. Componentsfor Gettysburg, Guadalcanal, Anz io , Waterloo,Afrika Korps , and Bulge should be divided by ton mounting hole ~scenter ed t one end as near the edgeasposs~ble, arelycl earingthepc board.Attheotherend,the times and areas in which they enter play. and.3 ide iscuttoaccommodatethe MAN-4display. Thisslot 1s~n ~n ew ~t ht heushbutton mount~n g oleandcoStalingrad, Midway and France 40 require a 125 of the end. On each slde. .625 from thl s end and as near the side of the box as posstble. 12 5 holes ared rilIna the PC board. Now comes the trtckv D ~R -mo st of these boxes have thelr corners blocked bv molded reinforcblending of the two Systems. to recebvethe cover screws Th ~ s ust have a cutout made about 2 from the bottom of the box at the end by the MANThe drawback of this system is of course the s S neededtoallow room for thecornersof the PC board Theentbremold~ngannot beremoved itlsneededtobracethend to mount the Ild All I can say 1s that ~t1s a cut andf~tapproachThey must becutoutenoughtoallowthetopofthesockinitial expense, in terms of both time and money ach thelnnersurfaceof the bottom of the boxlor top of the un~t ) henthe P board~smountedNoneof t h ~ s~ s re q u ~ re dplus the fact that it is not convenient for r box wlth a phenollc Ild mount everyth~ng n the Ild leavlng clearance for these retnforcementster f ln lsh~no ll the wlrlno and cuttino of the box the works are mounted In mv unlt vou cannot mountoneth~na ttraveling. Wry t n l n g must be worrea Inlo posntionslmullaneous

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

16/33

THEGENERAL PAGEquite nicely onjust one paper per opponent. Thetrick is to anchor the CTD being used bygiving 4 stocks and their sales-in-hundredsresults to your opponent while he does the samefor you with a paper of his choosing. As a stockis used it is underlined on both player's paper sothat the attacker can not use the stock again. Atthe end of the game both players exchange theCTD listings they used to verify the results theylisted for their opponents attacks. This system isnot foolproof-an unscrupulous person couldfind the CTD list you're using if he tried hardenough, but it is doubtful whether anyonewould sink that low in a friendly game.

PBM HINTSPBM gamers often go cross-eyed recordingthe grid-co-ordinates of all their units for everymove. This problem has been rectifiedsomewhat by games such as France 40 whichprint the co-ordinates on every square on thathex. You can do this in the older style games bywriting in the co-ordinates for every game.Granted , unless you are very artistically inclinedit tends to mess up your board.An alternative is to use colored pencils tolightly shade alternate diagonal rows. Mosterrors in grid recording are made on thediagonal rows and distinguishing them fromtheir neighbors in this manner-usually cutsIn large metropolitan areas (or anyplace down mistakes of this nature 90%.where opponents live within local calling dis-tance) where many wargamers live within close Give your opponent a break when it comes toproximity to each other, PBM can be o ~ t r ~ ~ o d e d electing stocks for CTD's. Choose them fromby PBP (Play by Phone). The procedure is the one section of the paper close to the date so thatsame for PBM with the exception of deter- he doesn't have to clip out the whole paper andmining results. Here, the attacker calls out a stuff it in an envelope. Don't use preferredPage in the local phone directory for every stocks or those which regularly sell under 20attack. shares daily. And surprising as it may seem tomany-you may use Saturday CTD's by

The defender then immediately responds with'pecifying that your Opponent look the

a number f r om 1 to 20 and the words top or stock results which appear inbottom. The defender then refers to the proper Sunday papers. Howeverl when using thispage in the p hone book and looks up or down 'ption your letter must be postmarked by thethe right hand column the proper number of previous Thursday.entries. The last digit in the phone number thus And for those of you to whom the stocklocated is used to resolve the attack . That name exchange is all that's evil in the world, there isis now checked off and can not be used for always the ICRK system. This is a computerfuture attacks. The process is repeated for printout of random numbers. Both players aresubsequent attacks. provided with a different one an d a copy of each

is kept by a neutral third party to verify results after the fact. For further info on promising system we suggest you write SICL, 5820 Joh n Avenue, Long Beach, Calinia 90805.TIMEMethinks he dot h take th too long is a lfrom an old English play which fits well into ohobby. Everyone has had the misfortune playing someone who takes longer to makmove than Grant did to fight the WildernCampaign. Quick response moves such Football Stra tegy and Richthofen's War caneasily controlled with a stop watch or any clowith a second hand. This is not the answer more sophisticated games with a greanumber of variables each turn however.

A USCF clock Push~n ghe button o n your s ~d e tops your cand starts your opponents Chess clocks are expenswe, ranfrom 513-935 but are usually hlgh quallty and guaranInqulrles can be d~rectedo the US F at 47 9 Broadway, NewbuNY 1255Chess clocks are used to measure the tieach side separately takes for his moves.chess, a typical procedure is to allow 2 ho(per person) to make a grand total of 40 movIf your flag falls before the 40 are made, ylose. You thus allocate your time as you pleFor wargamers, two ways are feasible: for sh

games (e.g., Panzerblitz) decide how much tis to be spent, divide it (allowing for differnumbers of units if necessary) and set the cloappropriately. Say one hour on each. If yflag falls before the last move is made, you lo(Note the flag will fall each hour-for longames merely reset the clock accordingly).THE DICE

Dice (speckled cubes, messengers of fateany of a dozen less fitting names) have bdamned and praised by gamers ever since mmade his first wager. Yet no matter how muwe condemn them game designers always resto them almost without exception.Whatever your feelings on the relative meof luck versus skill in wargames, dice unavoidable if you follow the wargaming psuasion. However, substitutes can be foundOne of the simplest and least expensive isAutomatic Comput-A-Dice device carried Radio Shack and sellingfor $2.95. By pressinplastic lever, two wheels start to roll. They sautomatically and light up a pair of dice facesthe TV-type window. The device operates oAA penlight cells.A host of other die-rolling gadgets canfound in gift and stationery shops. They rafrom a miniature revolving gambling cage

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

17/33

PAGE 7 THEGENERAsmall catapult which shakes miniature dice and"throws" them on to a felt playing surface. Bothare competitively priced in the 4- 7 range.

Other, much more sophisticated systems, aredescribed at length in module form on thesepages. Why bother you ask? Only to point outthe unusual and innovative in most cases.However, there are exceptions. Most dice,unless they are specially made for gamblingcasinos, are "loaded" in a sense. Adjustmentsusually are not made for "carving" the pips ineach die face. Thus, the "1" die face is heavierthan the 6 with the result that when the otherdemandsof physics are paid, the 1 die face ismore likely to be on the bottom than the 6, thusexposing a 6 result. Taking such minutevariations a step further we find individuals whocan actually control the roll of a die. In mostcases this is the result of not giving the die a true"roll"-but rather dropping or spinning it froma set height with a certain number facing up.Someone who does this consistently should bemade to throw the die against the box so that itrebounds freely. The numerous mechanicalgadgets described elsewhere in this article arefree of any such underhanded possibilities.FAVORITE GAME FETISHESEverybody has their favorite game which theyplay more than any other and take pride inhaving "the best set" available whether it be ahand-carved ivory chess set or a solid mahoganyMonopoly game with real money This desire tohave the ultimate in physical quality is notstrange to wargames either and there are manythings the gamer can do to improve on hisfavorite game-if only to mount the CRT orframe it.

. , . . . . .It i r . .

. . b-*--' I - 2 ., .- ..i=;r-..-. -:ti

The pegboard plctured above tsjust one example of how a gamerwlth lmaglnatlon and a llttle resourcefulness can add to theenjoyment of h~ sfav or~ teame The above dev~c esa record~ng ~ dfor playlng the Campa~gnGame of Rtchthofen's War

Like unit divider schemes these special trickscan run the gamut from the very expensiveelectronic gadgetry to hand made knick-knacks.It would be impossible to list all the possibilitiesthat exist but we'll cite a few of the exampleswe've seen in recent weeks.Owners of Vol. 9, No. 3 of the G E N E R A L(now out of print) will remember Mr. RickMiller of Mansfield, Ohio who made a set ofglass enclosed Blitzkrieg coffee tables withdrawers especially tooled to hold the unitcounters which he mounted on wooden cubestopped by miniature figurines. A much lessexpensive proposition is Mark Saha's "carrierdeck screens" which can be made from indexcards and serve to keep the enemy fromknowing your plane dispositions. Randy Reed'sPeg Board Recorder for all the planes and pilotsavailable in the Campaign Game of

The BLITZKRIEG coffee table above IS just one way In whlch awargamer w ~ t h worklng knowledge of carpentry can make ahandsome collector's Item for hlmself Notlce the carefullyetcheddrawers whlch allow places for each lndlv~d ual nlt used In thegame

Richthofen s War is not such a matter expense as it is of availability. The peg boaand pegs were cannibalized from old Choice s(an Avalon Hill title better forgotten), and trest was merely a matter of judicious cuttingspare R W pieces and a bit of press type.Perhaps the most practical extravaganwe've yet to see is the 3 dimensional Panzerblboard which does away with many of the LO

difficulties at a glance. Such a board shouhave 4 different levels (although the one ptured here has only 3-slopes being treated normal terrain); one each for gullies, normterrain, slopes and hilltops. To make suchboard one needs the normal Panzerblitz boaplus three unmounted mapsheets. The originmapboard makes up the gully level. Over th

he objen is to replace the doe wlthout losinturdcker and 6 for the Defender to a set of 6 ~ n d ~ c saredeterminthe large d ~ a ls urned u n t ~ l tpo~ntstotheprope ossthe resultsy jldlng~talong 2 rods by means of a pulley? Ihls point the Defender throws any swltch of h ~ shoosing on the back of the set. Now the Attacker throws one o

; W h e s whlch completes the cfrcult and any one of the 6 llghts could light up. There are 36 posslblllties bull1 nto he setcorres~onds lth the common d~e.~ n eank of I ghtsrdes cluse benlna the glassscreen on w t ~ l c l ~ ~ sounted a negatlve pneceof f l lm wtthall tne Avalon Hlll resultsI prlnleo on 11,plus a column of 1-6forspec1alpurposes ~keGermans-POI s ~ nfrlka Kuros Th ~s o ~e c e o f f ~ l m l ~ t c o u l deoaoer)can3 3 be removed and replaced wlth the approprtate one for any game When one of the 6 Ilghts on 11 llghts up only the combat resu&

a d~rectlyn front of lt, because ~t S sh~elded o as not to allow light to escape elsewhereI The accompanv~nq a ~ r a mhows the comolete wl r~nqThe use of colored wires for each c~rcultS recommended &tWrlh tnls system the defender also IS alluwed to lake part In true o~t 'ome of the results however he must notal,owtheattacrerI tu see w h ~c h w~rcn e nas trurown Tne necessary alementsvvould be 6 ma I Ights wnth sockets 6toggleswltches and sufflclenl

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

18/33

THE GENERAL PAGE

P NZERBLITZ buffs would love a 3-dlmens~onal oard sut h ~ s hich all but ellmlnates at a glance most L~ne-ofproblemsyou paste a layer of sandwich board orstyrofoam, using a razor to cut out the guhexes. The process is repeated over the 2layer-this time removing the non-slope ahilltop hexes, and one more time forhilltops, removing the slope hexes.

Mtn~aturetanks old~ers guns tc of the GHQvar~ety anebe substltutedfor unlt counters Inthtssystem ~f ou resolnclln

The result is a dimensional board owhich you can continue to employ unit countas usual or substitute miniature figures suchHQ micro-armor. The cost of the styrofousually runs about 2.00 for a 3 4 0 she

A trtck to promote reallsm In MIDW Y 1sthls battle boarddtwhlch keeps your carrler decks hldden untll the enemy 1s actoverhead

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

19/33

PAGE 9 THEGENERAThe unm ounted mapsheets are almo st impossi-ble to come by. However, if we've whetted yourappetite unfairly in this article we'll provide theanswer. For the next month only, we'll honorrequests for u nmounted Panzerblitz mapsheetsfo r $300 a set ae mem ber,, it wit1 tak e at least 2sets, an d preferably 3 to con struct your b oard. Ifinterested, make your check payab le to AvalonHill Comp any an d mark it to the attention ofDonald Greenwood.MOOD MUSIC:Yes, even music com es under th e heading ofplaying aids. Altho ugh this isn't exactly th etype of thing that turns us on, we've metindividuals who claim they just do n't feel rightplaying a wargame without ap propria te martialmusic in the background. Far be it from us toknoc k oth ers so we thoug ht we'd tell you abo uttwo such records avai lable from OAKLEAFVENT URES at the ir Box 286 East Orange, NJ07019 address. Their tw o offerings in the fieldare , qui tepredic tably t i tled, L UFT WA FFE andWE HR MA CHT . Both sell for $5.95 postpaidand are quali ty 33 1 3 RP M albums conta iningnum erous war songs, victory marches, speeches,and radio com mentary on the Third Reich. Ofcourse this com pany is not alone in the field butmerely one organization whose product we'veheard an d can recommend. Each to their own.MORE:Naval nuts will love the electronic searchboard s of Kurt Nordquest (Jutland) andRicha rd Plock (Midway) which enables playersto search for their adversaries without givingaway their own position. Such devices areexpensive and require a great am ount of skill toconstru ct. F or lack of space we fail to com mentfurther o n them here but if sufficient interest isshown by the readership we will present themextensively in later editions.MISCELLANEOUS:Simple adjustments to unit countersthemselves can also be an aid to play. Colo rcoding the sides of units in games such asBIitzkrieg and Waterloo does much t o avoid theconstant sorting through stacks of units todetermine their make-up and strength. Forexample: in Waterloo a red side could deno te a 4fact or unit; blue-a 3 fac tor unit; green-twofactors. Thus, the PAA player could tell at aglance that a stack showing 2 green sides, blueside, and one red side consists of factors withouthaving to actually handle the stack and riskknocking over its neighbor.

The Competition Viewpointby Dan HoffbauerIn the typical Avalon Hill battle game, thetime required to play a complete match is 2-5hours. Mo st AH gamers will scoff at this,claiming that it is not possible to play afu ll gameof Bulge, say, in four hours. There is a verylegitimate basis for this complaint upon ex-amination of the normal AH player's gaminghabits.

The average move in the middle of a Bulgegam e will take between 15 and 45 minu tes perside. This time is take n u p in making a decisionon where each unit should move, on retracingthe moves some units have taken when theplayer changes his mind, on rules arguments,and on combat resolution.

There is a way to beat this snail's pace. Pla ceatime limit on each move. This can be very simplydon e with th e additio ns of a few simple rules ofconduct.First, place a limit on movement time. Thiscan be bone, either with a limit on eachindividual move, o r a limit on the entire game.In the first instance, the normal procedure is touse a stop watch or a watch with a second handon it. The player not m oving keeps the time andgives the o ther player a 30-second warning whentime is running out. In the latter method, achessclock must be used, with the moving playertaking u p as much o r as little time per move ashe desires. However, once the total time runsout, that player cannot move again.For either m ethod, the time limits do notinclude resolution of comb at. However, a playercannot take m ore tha n 15 seconds to declare theunits an d the odds for each particular battle.Once th e die is rolled, the defender is given onlythree seconds per square to retreat o r advanceany units, as is the attacker.The most important stipulation in m ovementby time limit is the touch movem ent system.Simply put, you cannot move a unit again onceyou have touched it an d then touched anotherunit. If you want to remove a unit, it must bedone before moving any other unit and it mustbe within that unit's movement capability toretrace its step. You canno t call a move backunder this system. This requirement aloneforces each player into snap decisions underpressure. Incredible blunders are mad e possiblewhich are not possible under so-called normalplaying conditions.

The time element is an important cons~deration n competitivegaming especially as conducted by the SICL. Note the tlme lo kbeing used by the neutral judge.

Fo r instance, if a player does not allocate histime carefully during a move, many units willremain where they are. I have seen spectacularbreakthroughs remain unexploited because theplayer did not allow enough time to move hismost im portant units . Gaps open in the front,through which a quick player will be able topenetrate and turn a game completely around.It is not possible to be a computer gamerwhen using a time limit. Those players who,given enough time, can m ake the perfect move,with each facto r used to ma ximu m extent, willbe unable to exist in an atmosphere of fly-by-your-pants and snap decisions based uponquickly grasping th e essentials of the situation.The superior tactician can usually prevail in apressure situation. The so-called idiot factorcan be broug ht into games without the use of anartificial rule. Th e better player will be abl e tomake less mistakes. It s often the opinion ofwargam ers tha t not hing less tha n perfection willdo in a move. Under a time-limit system,perfec tion is well-nigh impossible. The side with

the few er a nd the less seriou s mistakes will wThis requires conce ntration , perception, and order ing of priorities to ma ke sure that tessential moves are made. Planning in advanis also a necessity, since you just d o not have ttime to think abou t your moves when it is yoturn . You mu st already know where you wantgo and what you want to do before you doOthe rwise you'll end u p with half your piectouched.In tournament play, as run by SpartInternational, time limits under either methare used. Tournam ent umpires are present, provide rules in terpreta tion services in the caof very large tournam ents, o r to actively supvise, keep time, figure odds, roll the die, ahandle all functions which d o not require tdecision of one of the players. This formaapproach is very effective in keeping gammoving an d in equalizing players who d o nknow each other and are unfamiliar with eaother's meth ods of play. A comm on set of facto-face procedures under which people cgame a re a necessity as the competition in thfield expands a nd as money prizes become mocom mon and more significant.It's not h ard t o get used to time-limit plaan d once they're used to it , some find tha t thprefer a fast-moving, hard-hitting co ntest toslow, dragging social gathering.Sparta n International has full details on timlimit tournament play through its Box 101Bellflower, California 90706 address, Face-tface tou rna me nt regulation booklets cost $1.0

Playability Practicality-A Starter s GuidBy Mark SahaWhat's the fastest set-up time game in tentire Avalon-Hill catalogue? Think about Well? The an swer m ay surprise you, but in mbook the full tournament version AN ZIO is

top contender. There are so few pieces on tboard at game opening-and in preordainepositions-that you can plunk them down second s an d get on with it, especially if you'willing to spend a pleasant hou r o r so on a raiafternoon putting the game in maximuplayability condition. M uch of what I havesay about AN ZIO applies to the other gamesyour co llection too , so that's what this litpiece is about-simple, practic al steps t o improving physical playability. But I mentionAN ZI O first, so let's sta rt with that.The next time you're around a stationerstore, or the a rt depar tmen t of your local collebook store, stop and pick up a large piece poster board. You'll also need a ruler, pencand razor blade but probably already hathese. Of course , you knew th ere must be a catwhen I nom inated ANZIO-but really it's ona small catch. What you d o s mounteachof yoGam e I1 Orde r of Appearance card s on separapieces of poster board; cut the poster board allow ample margin an d you won't even have use paste to mount the O / A cards-cellophanetape, especially library tape, will do just finNow you can pick up the O / A cards and carthem around with pieces on them; more impotantly, you can leave them set up-they can easily stored under your bed, on the top ofbookcase, in a carefully prepared back space a closet, etc. When you d o feel like a game, thecan be taken out and the board set up seconds.

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

20/33

THEGENERAL PAGE 2Now, I realize a lot of you nit-pickers outthere are going to start yelling "foul" Onceyou've agreed to leave the0 /A cards set up, youwant t o argue, G E T T Y S B U R G orG U A D A L C A N A L become the fastest set-uptime games. Well, you've missed my secondpoint, which is practicality. Since those twogames don't have many pieces in the first place,set-up isn't really a problem-not even O/ A set-up. So here's really not much point to keeping alot of mounted O / A cards for various gamesstacked around your room. Just ANZ IO and, ifyou happen to be a nut on it, 1914.But I'm not finished with ANZ IO yet. Whileyou're at the stationery store, pick up a set ofoversized 4 x 6 index cards. These can be usedto make an O/A card each for the Republicanand Monarchist armies, and these O/As can bemounted on the same poster board as theirparent allies. The remaining Italian units (thatstart on the game board) are simply stored in thegame box with your forts and fortifications.First, however, let's make sure you'll never getyour Italian units confused: write R on theback of every Republican, M on the back of aMonarchist, and G on the 185th Germansympathizer. Write the set-up hex number on

the back of the remaining Italians . . and nowyou can always tell which side an Italian is on bysimply flipping it over. (While you're at this, youmay as well write "S" on the back of the Germansubstitute counters.)There is one final use for the remainder ofyour oversized index cards, and you'll find themuseful in this regard in play of many other A-Hgames. Any highly specialized or "out of theway" rules that you have trouble with can beneatly typed out on separate cards, and keepingthese handy in a stack will do away with the needto go constantly flipping through the rulesbook. For instance, if you use the optional"Retreat Through ZOC" rule ( A N Z I O BattleManual, page 11) you really should type out therule and chart on a separate card. The sameholds for many of the Order of Appearancerules on pages eight and nine (unless you preferto Xerox these two facing pages and cut themout for handy reference).If you're one of the (apparently) fortunate fewwho happen to own a copy of ANZ IO but reallyhaven't gotten into the game, you owe it toyourself to give these suggestions a try. Youhave to play the tournament version at least acouple of times to appreciate how good andplayable it actually is (the mini-games are quitesatisfactory, if your time is limited. Also, GameI11 "openings" make for excellent solitary;invade different areas to test Italian reactionand see whether the Germans can stabilize thesituation)-but most people seem to be put offby the sheer mass and apparent complexity ofset-up and clerical duties. Try these suggestions,and you'll find you can play the gameas often asyou like with little or no such effort. And, sincemost of the pieces remain on the O / A cards atall times, putting the set away after a game is nobother either.

G U A D A L C A N A L is another game whereplayability can be improved immensely, andwith even less effort. First, write the range ofeach artillery unit on the back of the piece-andyou need never refer to that chart on page 10ofthe Battle Manual again. Next, take the manualto your local Xerox operator and have copiesmade of the Artillery Firing Table,Units of Fire

Replenishment Table, and PsychologicalEffects Table. Cut these copies out, mount themon pieces of poster board (again, cellophanetape is fine), and keep them handy on the tableat gametime. Also, you may find it convenientto write P next to every turn on the TimeRecord Card in which Psychological Effectsarerolled. Finally, you should write "1st" on theback of each unit of the 1st Marine Division,forthe withdrawal rule on them-but write it in thecorner and circle it, to distinguish this fromartillery range.Keeping track of hidden units inG U A D A L C A N A L is rarely a problem, andmost Jap players prefer their own systems. Buthere, again, I find the oversized index cardsquite handy. A ruler is a handy tool in deter-mining correct grid-hex numbers; then, writethis number on an index card and place the uniton the card just above that rqumber. When allhidden units are in place (and there usuallyaren't many, except before the one big Japoffensive) simply cover the index card with asecond one. This way you can glance under thecard and recheck your positions even duringyour opponent's move. When you change yourown positions, simply mark out one grid-number and write in the new one; and changecards when things start getting cluttered.By now you should start getting the idea of"playability & practicality"; basically, all itmeans is that you don't have to accept theplayability value of the game-as-published andyou don't have to be willing to put in theconsiderable time and effort that professional"game nuts" devote to construction of elaboratephysical game storage and play systems. Just alittle common sense and improvisation and apleasant rainy afternoon can streamline yourgame collection according to your own specificneeds and problems. For a closer look, here area few final items:

W A T E R L O O ; write G on the back ofFrench forces that start at Gosselies, and Mon those at Marchienne. Write Q and N onthe Anglo forces starting at Quatre Bras andNivelles; number the arrival times of otherforces "1" through 8 on the O / A card, andwrite the corresponding number on the back ofthe appropriate units. You may wish to use 8and "8A" for June 18th arrivals to distinguishAnglo and Prussian units. Leave the rest of thecounters of both sides blank. Now, it is asimplematter at the start of a game to invert yourcounters as you dump them from the game trayand sort them for arrival and deployment, orbetter yet-divide your gametray into theproper compartments.M I D W A Y ; although the Midway ReductionTable is used only once or twice in a game, it'susually used. And the U.S.A. player may get thehint if you start scrambling for the BattleManual to study the odds. Simply Xerox twocopies of the table, cut them out, and tape themto the Search Board Screen with the rest of thecharts.P ANZ ERBL IT Z ; if you're just learning thegame, it's almost mandatory to type out on threeseparate cards the rules for the three differenttypes of attack; also, on separate cards,whatever other factoring or terrain rules that area particular problem with you. After a fewgames these rules become second nature andyou can throw the cards away (or help startanother new player with them), but until thenthey'll accelerate your first few games con-

siderably by placing at your fingertips informtion you'd otherwise be scrambling throughrules for during every move.Obviously, this article is intended mostlythose just getting started in gaming-or whave been "put off' by a game that seemedjtoo much trouble to play. However, even if ydon't happen to own any of the games discushere, the basic principles I've offered can be uin making the games you do have mplayable. If you own a game that you likedon't play as often a s you'd really want, mosbecause it seems to take so long to set upbecause play for some reason seems sluggand too much work, something can probablydone. It doesn't mean the game was badesigned; more often, as with ANZ IO aG U A D A L C A N A L , it's a matter of packagand economics . information has to be copressed into the most efficient form for printand distribution purposes. But that doesmean you have to live with these realities onyou sit down at the gameboard-especiallyyou like the game and plan to keep it afew yeaD-DAY: Designate the late arriving Germunits with a s t m on the backso youdon't havelook up which units start on the replacemestars every time. While you're at it-numberbacks of the Allied units according to the tuthey're available.AFRIKA K O R P S , BULGE MIDWABLITZKRIEG: As was the case with Waterlyou can decrease your set-up time greatlynoting on the back of the unit when it becomavailable and where. A simple 7 onBlitzkrieg unit suffices to say that this unit is navailable until the 7th turn. A red I onbacks of the 15th Panzer units serves to let yknow that it is part of the Germansreinforcement levy in May. Similar numberisystems for the other games d o much to reduplaying times. Q

PBM EQUIPMENTTired of playing-solita~reor humiliatinthe same opponent day after day? You mabe good in your game room but what canyou do against a good player from anothepart of the country? There's only one wayto find out play them by mail PBM is aneasy-to-learnand convenient-to-usesystem oplaying fellow gamers across the nation. Aspecial CRT and combat resolution systemmakes it impossible to cheat1 PBM is aentirely different experience from face-toface play. It has made better gamers omany who have tried it, and all those whhave mastered it PBM is the only way toparticipate in the many national tournaments held regularly for Avalon i l l gamesEach k ~ t ells for $4.50 postpaid andincludes enough materials to play virtuallydozens of games, including addendum sheetwhich list official grid-coordinates for thosgames not already possessing them ands~ecial harts and CRT's for postal play.Kits are available for the following games

\FRIKA KORPS KRlEGSPlELBLITZKRIEG LUFTWAFFE* BULt 9 4

D DA r PANZERBLITZGETTYSE STALINGRAD* GUADALCANAL WATERLOO

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

21/33

PAGE 2 THEGENERA

(Situation No. 6 Revised)Russian-Richard PlockGerman-Robert LivermoreJudge: Roy Easton- . --mobile defense aid victory is most often achiev-ed by the player making the ewest mistakes. Inthis parti lar game, the Russian player lostbecause he refirsed to risk his units in situationswhere they might have broke the German lineordied, depending on the roll of the die. Thus we\P have the dire opposite to the AFRIKA URN NO. GERMAN COMMENTSKORP S game featured two issues ago in whichthe ~I ave rs et the die decide the name. R i s Since the Germ an moves first, the setup anf i r ~ t nvP xre taken tn ~e th er . nard numberse . ----- --- - - . - . . .commander demanded situations which he has better terrain for a mobile defen -was sure of the result-and asa result he didnot delaying action tha n board number 2, and thwin. The German player, for his Part, lost a one immediate objective is to hold the Russiavictory because he refused to sacr@ce blocking on this board s long as possible. ~h~ idea isunits on two key squares and did not use all of take as far forward a blocking positionhis available units in the final battle. possible while retainingmobility and preventinOptions and rule interpretations used: losses.

The indirect fire (regular version) and real- The German probably can not prevent thspace line ofsight determination were the only Russian ~1ave.rfrom getting a minimumlisted options used. In addition, while the gamewas played face-to-face, the play -by-mail rulesand combat results table were used (using abetween i5 io 25 piec on lboard 3 (Russiamarginal to tactical), if the Russian gets oBoard 2 before turn 5. On the other hand th~decimal randomizer). Thus. theeffectoffire was Russian player can not reasonably expect to gnot known until after:movement. R na l l~ ,he 10 or more vieces on board 3 bv the end againfollowing interpretations (not specified by A-H)were agreed upon: Initial setup- Russian: Tenhexes to be full hexes; Russian may set up ona reasonabfi intact ~ e r m a noice, ifhe gets oboard no.' 2 after move 6. Thus the Germaobiective for t he first five moves is to nrevent th- r --

If' hexes through row W inclusive. Indirectfire: ~ i s s i a n srom getting on board 2 before turnThe P may direct fire and load on the same while imposing on the Russian losses which amove. a t least twice his own. This condition must bThe neutral for e ch move is realized with a couple of restrictions in mind;provided after the Russian comments in the The losses ought to be very great and notshaded area. tanks and preferably not in vehicles a t all. ThisEach diaaram shows the current German h t i, .,,,,;,,A t ~- th r 6move and thYe Russian preceding move since it isthe German's withdrawals which control the. -.......-..,....-... .., .....U I.IIL...CL.OVnintact'. 2) The Russian player must not b

--.....: +-,I , my. two pieces behind th; otherwise he can great3 of a defensive line.

p c~ l l l l r r c u u gcr cvcrrtempo of the game. German's main force:Russian Comments Move: Setup hamper the setting ulI feel the German has a slight advantage in Slowing the Russians down does not juthis situation, but only a nX3rginal one. If I depend on blockingroads physically as has bee(Russian) can reach the end of board no. 1 by done with positions R9, Q9, P9 and 0 8 but althe end of move no. 5 without losing any on leaving him open to heavy gunfire which casignificant number of units OR I can reach there be executed by guns which can fire wion tu rn no. 6 AND h vesignific ntlywe kened immunity from counter fire points. We see ththe German (especially in mobility), I have a this holds for pieces 631,621 and 32. Of coursI good chance. I must actually be leaving the one could argue that both the Wespe (621) anr board (i.e., o n row A or B a t this time. Any the Hummel (631) ought to be fired direct

earlier, and I should win easily; later and I have from board no. 2, but just as they are outno chance. harms way, they are often too far out of the waI want my heavy tanks t o be free to expose to d o harm. The most questionable placementhemselves to enemy fire without giving my here are those of pieces 33, 102 and 91. 33opponent easy victories, hence they will not clearly out of action for a t least four turns. Butcarry passengers (which would have a defense of is well placed for armor attempts against th1). If I wish, I can reach the area south of hill 135 town and experience has shown that it is rathalmost as fast from hill 130 as from hill 127, difficult t o pull halftracks o r tanks offhence do not need many units on south edge. pressured defensive line in order to coverThe only units visiblefrom any part of board no. newly opened flank by dropping off a gun. N2 are the S u 152's; he can do no better than 1-1 91 is placed out of harms way and to be inon one of them. Doing so leaves the C P and long vrevared vosition when the Russians come ovrange guns in poor I dou bt if it is worthit to him. My truck s ar e almost useless; they will the hill, aAd to mak e sure tha t if by some fluke fate, o r blunder the Russians should get behinshould have been mounted on the farthest-forward tanks The have the primary function of picking up units 1 the Germans, a t least there is no free ride inGermanhalftracksarewell placed espec1ally446-but there IS noneedto keep the German armor so far ~n he rear have t o unload when I am in a hurry. the town. 201 is unloaded to spot for 91.

8/13/2019 Ah Gen v11n1

22/33

THE GENERAL PAGERussian Comments Move No.This is about as far as can get without givinghim any free shots (I.E., no targets for counter-fire) with those mobile guns. 1 think he wouldhave been better advised to spot something onC2 (e.g., 88 mm battery) to cover the valleybetween hills 109 and 135; it would also coverthe road through the forest and the areasouth ofhill 135. The units in the south could have gonefurther, but I want to have my guns cover as

much of the road as possible. I doubt if I will beable to move them their full movement factornext turn anyway-I must follow the samepolicy as this turn. (Hide behind ridges and inforests) I am going to try to dislodge the WespeHummel next turn if at all possible. At least Iam threatening any unit left east of hill 109,andthe 75 mm gun at L7 in the bargain (byunloading my infantry on M7)-although Idon't dare spend much time at such games.A point to think about: not only do I have toreach board 3 to win, but I must also destroy atleast German to avoid a loss' Therefore I there was no need o place theT-34 s in 1 R-10 s ~ n c ehe German a halftrack in 1 P 9 here it would have slowed the Russcannot sit still and be Content with no attack; had to fall back anyway, and as a result several movement factors advance cons8derably.completely aside from the fact that it would Russian Comments Turn No. (no. 118)where only the SU 152's can shootatmake for a dull game. I would lose. He has saved his' gun and blocked hex K4 Fortunately this means that at least one of the,which I wanted to use to get to 56. However, I will be subject to counter fire from the Wespdoesn3; have a can definitely dislodge the Wespe and Hummel The Wespe and Hummel have moved outwhy bother to this turn. They are worth far more than the (at harm's way and into a position where they ce covering Hill best) four units he could get in return (e.g., 933, pick up some of the units, viz., the CP and t446 is good but 934, 183, 184h-1 odds). The lone halftrack in gun. Shooting it out would have most likeser to the front the north is in deep trouble; I think I have it resulted in an equal exchange, but the less in fimounted on a trapped. power and the fact that these have the moto dismount The pieces in the north give him too many effective guns of any armed vehicle in the gamtargets to handle; he must evacuate. His half- makes it a bad trade at this early stage in ttrack is trapped. His 840, 931, and 953 are game. Losingthese twoeveninanuneventradTURN GERMAN COMMENTS threatened and will have to leave. (Unless he for say three Russian units, is not worth it. Whsimply picks off a passenger, his best shot is a 3-1 we could gu r ntee here at best is a Russia

I can can hold the positionlM 4-5 for this turn by the Panther. The return fire is 4-1. Likewise tank and a Russian infantry piece. At the veand will probably risk the loss of some pieces if I the JgdPz IV-its best is 1-1,return fire4-1). He minimum the exchange has to be tanks of equhold longer than that. This means, howeverthat has no overrun possibilities. I must still watch firepower and given the unfavorable ratiothe Wespe and Hummel still enjoy immunity out for that 88 mm gun, though. German to Russian firepower, even that nofrom attack. This is particularly important with I am on schedule,but can't seemto gain any. I has doubtful merits.respect to the Russian capture of positions 1-K, would like to be about 1hex further advanced to The halftrack (no. 441) must move out of7-9 and positions 1L10, 1MlO or the hilltop allow for possible dela position blocking the gully since the SU's cpositions 1M9 (hill 109) or 1L9. The Russians fire on it. Also the tank (931) is both spotted bcan occupy these positions on turn 2 if they and subject to CAT by the infantry in 1L2;thplease, but they will certainly lose something tank 963 must move, being subject to rathand can not get anything back. The Russians massive fire. Again each one of these is inwill probably take these positions on turn 3 position to stay and trade f i e with reasonabwhen they can get their Su 152's into 1M 5. This likelihood of getting casualties, but their loss omeans that if I keep my Wespe and Hummel the Russian turn is even more likely.where they are, I can no longer fire at those units Overall it doesn't look as if I can get 2-1with impunity. The Russian's occupation of even 1-1 casualties, but the Russian player canthese positions gives him a strong Northern get on board 2 before turn five either.flank on my positions around the main road andthreatens Adski. It is an extremely powerful Russian Comments Move No.move which must be delayed as long as possible. It looks as though his trapped halftrack hThe taking of position 1M4 also makes come untrapped, I can't stay on hill 109 to fiposition 112 untenable as a blocking position.

on it because of the Wespe CP. CanThus this position will probably have to be given surround it without exposingmyself t