For those of you whose Napoleonic appetite might be feeling a little jaded or who fancy something a little bit different, then may I suggest you sample one of the above magazine games.

Both are similar in that each contains a game and a long ( 1/3 - 1/2 of total page count) article about one specific topic - whether it is a campaign, battle or an entire war! This format has several advantages; the games themselves tend to be smaller and with easier rules than boxed games; this makes them rather more accessible to all levels of player, and enables them to be finished in an afternoon or evening session. The accompanying article usually gives lots of detail - at a level associated with the game - allowing you to ``follow the action''. These games are also relatively cheap, which means that you needn't feel too guilty if you only play it once or twice and then put it away on the shelf.

COMMAND No.12 Chaco - War For The Hell Of It

For lovers of the esoteric this has to be the ultimate. Chaco is a game covering the war between Bolivia and Paraguay 1932 -1935, fought in the desolate Chaco region of central South America. Few people in the world knew or cared about this bitter conflict, even whilst it was happening, and yet over 100,000 people died.

The game itself is relatively simple, with easy mechanics and few tables. Much of the focus is on leadership, supply and the terrain/weather of the Chaco. Historically supply (and even the availability of water!) dictated the tempo of each sides operations and this is emphasised in the game - get your logistics in order + winning the combats becomes much easier!

Players must also ensure that their leaders and GHQ are correctly positioned as only they can initiate combats.

This is an accessible game, with clearly written and laid out rules and well designed counters and map. The accompanying article goes into more detail about the war than I imagined could exist! Much of which is directly related to the game. As a useful bonus there is a page of player notes giving suggestions for strategies, tactics and hints on running supply and logistics.

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