INTRODUCTION

Designer: John Desch Publisher: XTR Corp.

Wave of Terror (hereafter WoT) is a full campaign Battle of the Bulge game (in Command magazine #41), this time from designer John Desch and XTR. It's a mini-monster, with two 34"x22" maps, 720 1/2" counters and the usual 16 pages of rules. Scale is 1.5 miles across each hex, units are mostly battalion level in size, and the game roughly covers the first two weeks of the campaign in 17 daily turns with possibilities of early Automatic Victories for both sides.

If you know all about the Bulge and have played every other game on the subject, (think you have, tough guy? Check out my comprehensive list of Battle of the Bulge games available on the Internet at http://www.grognard.com/subject/bobulge.txt) then you'll want to skip down to the 'Why Another Bulge Game' section below, otherwise read on!

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Rulebook: 16 pages of rules in the standard Command style. Clear and straightforward.

Maps: 2 full-size maps. Most of the play will be on the east map. The Beth Queman computer-generated map is a veritable riot of colour and symbols and with the plethora of towns, the map does appear cluttered.

Counters: The counters are 1/2" in size and functional but nothing special. Battalions are not individually identified. One obvious counter errata is a German 5-6-6 L Tank destroyer unit with a misprinted setup hex of 5530-3 (good luck finding that!), this should be 3530-3. Five counters were reprinted in Command 442, the aforementioned setup hex error, an incorrect movement allowance and some incorrect combat factors.

Play-aids: All play-aids are on the west map (Terrain Effects Chart, Combat Results Table and Turn Record Track) which means you'll probably have to allot space for both maps right from the start.

SYSTEM ANALYSIS

This is a magazine game so certain assumptions and expectations are automatically made such as relatively low complexity rules and WoT does not deviate from the XTR norm in this regard. However, Desch has made some astute design decisions on which features to leave in and which to exclude in order to make WoT playable yet provide flavour.

There's a number of reinforcement options available to both players at the cost of giving your opponent free Victory Points. This is nice as it gives the game some depth and replayability and forces the players to make some tough Army level decisions. These reinforcements can, for the most part, be taken at any time, so if the battle is going against you, perhaps close to an Automatic Victory, you may want to exercise one or more of these options as a stopgap measure.

The POL markers (representing supply & fuel depots) are an excellent idea providing a German incentive to drive to the Malmedy area, probably with the Kampfgruppe Peiper group as happened historically. Capture of one of the two POL counters and removal of the German supply constraints for the rest of the game is a powerful motivator! But it must be done before Turn 6 or not at all.

The choice of the order of Movement and Combat in both couplets in the game turn gives the player yet another chance to exercise some operational decision-making. When to use a Combat/Move sequence to gain a one column CRT shift often proves pivotal.

PLAY ANALYSIS

Since the game only covers the first two weeks of the battle, there is only one full 17 turn game. Set-up is a relatively involved process because of the sheer number of units on both sides and the semirestricted free set-up. The tendency is to rush this process and get on with the game but this is a recipe for a disaster of the first magnitude. Spending some time on a thoughtful setup pays big dividends later on. If one area of the game encourages a perfect plan approach, this is it. Experiment with different setups for both sides. This is something that can be done solitaire.

As the German player, watch for possible exploitation points during the American set-up. There are no zones of control (ZOC) so in the words of that great philosopher Red Green, "Any gap might be the right gap." Also, judicious use of combat/move couplets can clear the way for later reinforcements to reach the front line (where they will be sorely needed in the last third of the game!).

As the American player, for greatest longevity of your starting units, and in order to hold up the initial German assault as long as possible, set-up all American units that are not required to be on the front line at least one hex away. The German player must take a Combat/Move order in the first couplet of Turn 1 so they are unassailable. No use losing them right off the bat. Also, be aware of the same ZOC issues as the German player. Particularly later in the game, when cutting off any supplied German units will prevent them from falling back as well as possibly providing a one column shift for a Concentric Assault.

For both players, most games will be decided on points so be aware of the various VP sources; city hexes on the opponent's side of the front line only, enemy step losses (double VPs for artillery step losses), a German drive past the Meuse (unlikely but highly rewarding) and use of the reinforcement options. Historically, the campaign was an Allied Operational Victory meaning the ratio of Allied VPs to Gen-nan VPs was between 2.00 & 2.99 : 1.

WHY ANOTHER BULGE GAME?

The range of previously-published Bulge games already runs the gamut from Steve Jackson Games "One Page Bulge" to SPI's massive "Wacht Am Rhein", so the obvious question is: Why another Bulge game?

If I were cynical I might suggest XTR's shrewd business sense in sticking to the tried and true 'Big Two' format of World War II and the American Civil War prompted them to encourage one of their more popular returning designers to try his hand at a Bulge game. Demographics after all don't lie and to paraphrase Gilbert & Sullivan, Ty and Chris are slaves to demographics. Add to this the fact that it seems to be a rite of passage for all WWII game designers that they must try their hand at attempting the ultimate Battle of the Bulge game and one might be inclined to dismiss another attempt without giving it a fair chance. But WoT is a "big boy" and can fall or stand on its own merits.

So why another Bulge game and what's new with this one? Well, there's nothing too new but designer Desch has deftly streamlined the rules sections eliminating much chrome to allow this physically large game to play quickly while preserving the main game flavour elements. This is a good thing as one of the knocks against some of the larger Bulge games is the sheer number of special rules required for relative minor features. It also ensures that WoT has carved its own niche in the Bulge game market.

SUMMARY

The game mechanics are smooth and unobtrusive but tactically WoT is an uphill fight for the German player primarily because of the historical hindsight available to the American player. This starts in the Set-up and escalates throughout the game. Traditionally in game terms, this is dealt with by having the American forces immovable through the first two days or so. In this case, the negative effect can be ameliorated by a good American setup resulting in an ahistorical immediate blockage instead of a quick breakthrough, establishment of a new line and then a counterattack to close the Bulge.

It will be frustrating at first for the German side but there's enough interesting things happening that you will want to come back and give it one more try as the Germans.

Using Danny Holte's Historical Setup goes a long way towards re-establishing game balance from the first play at the expense of replayability. Both a historical setup and a free set-up (the method actually used in the game) is the optimal solution to providing a hook to get players to want to play again. A poor set-up too greatly endangers a side's chances, possibly poisoning the player against the game which would be a real shame.

So all in all, an interesting addition to the stable of Bulge games. Because of its larger size and smooth system, it is worth a few plays and promises more replayability than most magazine games. More importantly, Desch has handed the tactical reins to the player through the reinforcement options, order of movement & combat in each couplet, lack of ZOCs and the semi-restricted set-up. These elements avoid the strait-jacket feel to many of the Bulge games on the market and promise wide-open hell-bent-for-leather mayhem.

Eric Pass (epass@nyx.net) lives on Prince Edward Island, which explains a few things.