Back in, oh when was it, the early ‘80’s? Jack Radey burst upon the wargame scene like one of Uncle Joe Stalin’s Siberian corps, publishing a bunch of Eastfront wargames under the flag of Peoples’ Wargames. Now, for those who weren’t following any of this, the company name, and the subject concentration, should clue you in that Jack is the Jubal Early of communism, unrepentant to the end, still sending his tithe to the Heroes of Afghanistan Telethon. Unfortunately, the only thing “collective” about his PWG games was the dust they accumulated on many shelves. Couldn’t blame it on Jack’s creativity, which was as high as his belief in the eventual victory of Marxism. Unfortunately, his rules were as organized as a Soviet distribution pipeline and as readable as a 10 Year Plan pamphlet. More admired than played, PWG eventually sank, and Jack disappeared from the design scene, which was not A Good Thing as he was a good man to have around, regardless of his leanings. Well, Americans love to revive old stuff, regardless of its worth - just watch any sitcom on TV - so it wasn’t long before someone underwrote a Radey comeback. The first appearance of the Red Radey Road Show was last year’s disconcertingly dismal Borodino ‘41, from Clash of Arms. Clash’s problem was they relied too heavily on Jack’s design reputation, and forgot, all too soon, his concomitant inability to string together two coherent rules sentences. Then the Robert Vesco of wargaming, Keith Poulter, sucked some unsuspecting German folks into reissuing a few of Jack’s old games, purportedly cleaned up and modernized. Alas, they weren’t, and it wasn’t long before the Germans - and KP - weren’t either. Jack, though, was not amused - neither by the reviews nor the sales results. Feeling that he simply needed the right medium to breath life into his gasping muse, he hooked up with John Vanore’s brand new Spearhead Games, which was having its own problems convincing more than a half dozen people to invest in its first event, the remarkably bland Kevin Zucker take on D-Day, Bodyguard/Overlord. Evidently, John V. felt that, with the right developer and some good production, he could provide CPR for the “almost corpse” of Jack’s career. Hiring the ebulliently effervescent Young Turk of wargaming, Joe “LoYo” Youst, to handle not only the graphics but, also, the development, Spearhead has gone and pulled yet another Mother Russia special out of Jack’s backpack, this time his version of the events in Kiev, 1943, A Bold Stroke. Well, the body is now sitting up and taking some nourishment, although it will be some time before it resumes normal activity, if the work at hand is any indication. Bold Stroke has an inherent problem right from the start, one that is best expressed in it’s Stavka optional rule, which, if you do not use, will, in the words of the rules, “…easily cause the game to collapse in the early scenarios.” Knowing that game balance depends on implementing a rather opaque optional rule - the rule is succinct only in stating it’s not sure how to use it - is not something that kindles those competitive fires, so Bold Stroke will most likely live or die on its ability light the Eastfronters’ fires, or to portray history, as opposed to giving two players a fun evening. If it were up to graphics alone, BS would be a sure-fire pleaser. Visually, JoYo has more than just done his job, as the game is a topnotch package. And, as developer, he has held down, if not entirely, most of Jack’s compulsive desire to ramble on incoherently. One only wishes he had applied such Spartan outlook to a most unhappy method of setting up the various scenarios. Spearhead has chosen to use a set-up map for deploying units. Each map has a series of letters on it, which refer you to a chart, which, in turn, lists the unit(s) corresponding to the letter. It also, but far too loosely for me, notes the areas supposedly commanded by the various HQ. It then throws in another system entirely for placing HQ assets (more units), simply listing them in boxes. This means you have to check three different sources to find what goes where. All this would be fine, if there were hosts of counters deployed in fairly general areas. But that’s not the case here; the game has relatively few counters in play, and they all start in specific hexes. It would have been far more felicitous to simply do as everyone else does: list ‘em by hex. This type of fussiness is of the “game-within-a-game” variety, one that could very well put off the players. At best, it is frustratingly opaque. Those annoyances having been duly noted, I think this is a game that will be highly enjoyed by Eastfront buffs. I’m somewhat more reserved when it comes to those not deeply interested in this area, as, despite the nice mechanics Jack uses, it is, yet again, another one of those Russian Scrimmage games, with both sides lining up like football teams. When the dice yell “hike”, everyone then scatters all over the field, bodies strewn everywhere. There really isn’t that much Big Picture difference between what is happening here and the playout in XTR’s new SS:Kursk game (reviewed herein), or Panzergruppe Guderian, or any similar battle. If that’s what shakes your cubes, you’re in for some fun. If not, you may want to start getting picky. Systematically the game is vintage Radey, with heavy reliance on Reserve and Breakthrough mechanics, all of which provide a nice feel for this sort of battle. It is Igo-Hugo, but the interwoven Reserve phases help break up the all-seeing, all-knowing syndrome rather well. But here there is a bit of difference from previous Jackobytes, as the low counter crush means a fair amount of movement. The Germans start rather low in manpower, so the Ruskies have little problem stepping all over them like the super-rich at a hiring hall. It is here we run into two factors tugging in opposite directions. With the Soviets blowing huge holes in the German “line”, it isn’t long before they are closer to Germany than most of the Germans. Now, Jack (or was it Joe) wanted to show that unit size had very little to do with how easy (or hard) it was to totally eliminate a unit, so they have installed a unit reduction system that pretty much allows a unit to live forever, even if in depleted form, as long as it can move somewhere. The Russian reaction to this is, obviously, to make sure they can’t move anywhere when attacked, leading to the Soviet Player corralling small clumps of Germans and then using ye olde surround and destroy tactic to make sure the German unit cannot be revived later in the game. What then happens is that, because the Germans don't have enough counters to cover the Russian objectives, they’re like the proverbial five-fingered Dutch boy at the eight-holed dike. Which is where the Stavka rule comes in, recommending, with disturbing lack of clarity, that the Russian player follow Uncle Joe’s directives and limit his surround and destroy targets to “divisions” and concentrate on geographic objectives. However, it is only a suggestion, and the Russian player quickly sees that if he can destroy German units early, he’ll have a field day emptying the field later on. Not too many players I know are going to pay that much attention to the Stavka rule. Maybe if they included a Purge rule it would cause the Russian to sit up and take a bit more notice. To be sure, Adolph’s Anxious Aryans receive sufficient reinforcements from home to mount a counter-offensive, at least theoretically. But they still need the cadre from the early units to refit well enough to make any such counter-punch be more than a swan song. If anything, the well-integrated system mechanics should provide Eastfronters with a lot to chew on. Marshaling one’s resources is a key factor to doing well; simply throwing units in willy-nilly isn’t going to get you anywhere; combining their varied capabilities - always a trademark of a Radey design - is where A Bold Stroke is at. And this is where the Spearhead development team has done its best work, rendering Jack’s often intriguing ideas into something more comprehensible than the Dead Sea Scrolls. Although there is a bit much writing down of information - e.g., Russian artillery has to work through their assigned HQ, none of which, alas, are noted on the counter, so you have to bring out the pad and pencil - and lots of info markers sitting on those stacks of combat units, once you get used to life in the crowded lane, you’ll find the pay out rather rewarding. Too bad Jack didn’t come up with a battle as interesting as his ideas. CAPSULE COMMENTS Graphic Presentation: Excellent, although the counters provide too little unit ID info. Playability: Better than most Radey work, as development has brought clarity. Somewhat. Replayability: Mostly for Eastfronters with a problem-solving mentality. Historicity: Whaddo I know? My idea of an Eastfront battle is Antietam. Given Jack’s rep here, I assume fine. Creativity: Usual Jack mechanics, which means good insight into WWII warfare. Wristage: Acceptable, if you discount the silly weather rules. Comparisons: Oohmagosh. Lots of traffic here. I’m sure the Command Crowd would retreat from all the (unnecessary?) chrome, but few do Russian detail like Jack, and this has the added advantage of some good development. Up there with the best. Overall: Despite some false steps and an overwrought set-up system, manna for the Eastfronters. Jack’s career is off the critical list, but rehab is still in order. from SPEARHEAD GAMES One 22” x 33” game map; 280 counters; Rules Book, Play Aid Charts. $3? from Spearhead Games, POB 523263, Springfield VA 22152 Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. II # 21 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 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