First Afghan War

S&T # 179

by Joe Miranda

Reviewed by Richard Berg

Here we are, right in the heart of Custer-Rorke Syndrome Land. Why anyone would want to play a game on this far-too-linear, pre-determined set of campaigns is beyond virtually everyone except for designer Joe Miranda. The two scenarios, while they do provide a hefty dose of historical insight into the war's whys and wherefores, provide far less reason to ever "play" them. And there's no Flashman counter.

I note, off the top, the totally inappropriate map. Not that it isn't well done, but it's all wrong for the period. The more obscure the situation, the more "atmosphere" one needs to provide even the patina of interest. Dave McEllhenon's map fails miserably here. While it is easy to read, it looks like it was pasted together from one of those cut-and-paste kindergarten kits with all those little triangles and similar icons. It's about as far from a faux Victorian look as one can get. (Depressingly, those triangle mountain icons show up again in Reinforce the Right, where they simply serve to reinforce how wrong they look.) Obviously, we weren't the only ones to feel this unhappy; Decision has announced they will be re-running all the maps for the Sun Always Rises boxed game that uses this system, delaying its release until spring/summer.

Joe actually has a fairly good, evocative system going here. Problem is, that while that, per se, is a plus, especially to the "What Happened Here?" crowd, it turns out to be the game's albatross. Because of supply problems, few units - except for a handful of guerrilla-esque locals - will ever venture away from the few roads. This means all play occurs on, or within, 1 or 2 hexes of those roads. And that, in turn, means that 80% of the map is a waste of space.

Add to that a combat system which is truly depressing if you're an Afghan, even if it does reflect reality. Then seal the casket with some unfortunately Damocletian Random Events, several of which will end the game right then and there. To wit, we were playing the opening scenario, wherein the Brits do the Kabul Cakewalk. I wasn't doing too badly as the Jew with the Jezail (run and hide is just my style), cutting a line here, retreating there, but, eventually, forced to put 2/3 of my army inside Kabul. That's when I rolled the Afghan Attrition event. The Brit quickly pointed at Kabul, and the end result was that the die had so whittled down my army that Kabul - and the game - fell at the end of the turn. Cardinal Design Rule: No Random Event should act as a deus ex machina.

1FA sports an interesting set of mechanics pasted onto a situation with little or no inherent gaming interest, saddled with a map that looks like 4th prize in The Hell with Cubism art contest. Unless you're a Victorian Little Wars fanatic, you can skip this one.

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© Copyright 1996 by Richard Berg
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