I was taught that if you didn't have anything nice to say you shouldn't say anything at all. Unfortunately for Frank and the rest of the Xeno-ites, blank space makes for bad copy. For all intents and purposes, This Hallowed Ground was designed by Michael Gray of Milton Bradley, who gave us such popular hits as Axis & Allies, with a boost from Frank Chadwick. Now, there's nothing wrong with system-borrowing; it's a way of life in this "industry". Frank Zenau, however, has almost slavishly followed The Formula, with a few twists and turns to give it some period flavor. The overall graphic look for THG is nice, and the game seems to say "Play Me!", even while the rather steep price is screaming "Whoaa!". The disappointment will come when you follow that little voice to the gaming table. The little, blue/gray, plastic soldiers represent various infantry and cavalry formations, wherein the "stance" of Johnny Plastic determines his training status (recruit, veteran, elite) … and, hence, his combat ratings, in much the same fashion as appears in GDW's House Divided. Each turn is preceded by a series of "Pay Before You Play", where income is collected and new units bought. This time-honored mechanic, however, also produces the game's first play inhibitor. You roll a die and add six to get the number of new combat units you can purchase. Since there are no modifiers, each side will recruit the same number of units over the course of the game. Yes, the Union has more income than the Confederates, but the cost of new units, even if you get the full 12, is well within each side's budget. Hence, the North has no numerical advantage over the course of the war, certainly one of the stranger ACW design approaches one has seen over the decades. Let's face it, Frank Z. didn't intend this game to be the end-all simulation of the war. But a game in which neither side has the strength to attack is not one which is going to be very popular. This initial bookkeeping phase is followed by sequential Action phases whereby, like Axis & Allies, Combat movement precedes Non-combat movement. The rules, for the most part, are clear enough … except for the Command and Control, the instructions for which are obscure and confusing. Luckily, there is a long list of examples which allow you to ignore the rules and, finally, understand the basic intent of the designer. Effectively the amount of Command Control is based on (yet another) die roll, one which places a premium on massing units in one space to get any kind of movement. For the most part, this isn't unrealistic, but maneuver is sacrificed in the balance. The game quickly degenerates into a series of frontal assaults, as both players try to bludgeon their way forward. At this scale this is fairly accurate portrayal of the style of warfare, but, coupled with the relative equality of the opposing forces, it smacks more of WWII, Western Front, than anything else. Ultimately, what you find yourself doing every turn is taking a bunch of soldiers, moving one space forward, picking a few cards to represent the impact of historical leaders, and then rolling your arm off until one side calls Uncle. With all this in place, it is a tough go to win with the North. In fact, it was rare for the North even to penetrate more than one or two areas into the South for any length of time. In one game, bad initial die rolls had the South gaining numerical superiority and marching North. It's not that this was unimaginable, historically, but here it is a probability, not a possibility. The only hope for the Union is the blockade which is used to diminish CSA funds and, ultimately, gain numerical superiority and a shot at victory. The problem, here, is that each movement of a naval unit is one less ground force that will move, and the dispersed nature of the naval blockade makes this a dubious strategy at best. Also, the CSA, rather amazingly, can build a naval response that can make this strategy hard to implement. The naval game is one of the most detailed parts of the game, but there seems little pay off to such detail, given the limitations imposed by the Command and Control system. THG never seems to go anywhere. I never really expected a "simulation" of the ACW, just a good beer and pretzels experience. Unfortunately, some fundamental shortfalls in the design seem to keep this game from delivering. Grant (my son, not the General) did like playing with the little GI Joe's, so at least it was not a total write off. CAPSULE COMMENTS Graphic Presentation: The cover art says buy me. The map and the pieces say play me. The play aids are a little week, but overall a superior looking game. Playability: Slow, because of all of the record keeping decisions and omnipresent die rolls. Solitaire is OK. Replayability: Too few available strategies to make this a plus. Wristage: You will be able to crush a Volkswagen after playing this game twice. Creativity: Michael Gray should once again be congratulated for his creativity in designing this style of game. Historicity: Not much, but not expected. Comparison: Go with Frank C (House Divided), not Frank Z. Overall: A 19th century version of Axis & Allies, but not a very good one. For $50, it doesn't deliver much punch. from XENO GAMES One 22"x34" map, 104 plastic pieces, 140 Stand up counters, 119 die cut counters, 2 reference charts, 1 battle board, 70 mini pocker chips (sic), 10 six sided dice; boxed. $50!! Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. II # 14 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Richard Berg This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com