One 25" x 30" map, 560 counters, charts, Basic Rules Book, Scenarios & Advanced Rules Book, boxed. Avalanche Press Ltd., POB 4775, Virginia Beach, VA23454, $38? Red Steel should have been the third game in Avalanche's "Decisive Battles" series, following Avalanche and Red Parachutes. However, at a certain point someone at Avalanche Press must have noticed that the battle featured in Red Steel really didn't decide anything, so they dropped any hint that this game belongs in that series. Red Steel simulates the Battle of Kishinev in early July 1941, when Romanian army units crossed the Prut River to recapture the lost province of Bessarabia. Haven't heard anything about this battle? Well, this package won't be much of a help. We do not find a historical background article or a recommended reading section. The rules include four (!) lines of background info, the box backcover another 12. While it can be assumed that most wargamers know about the Battle for Moscow or Stalingrad, this battle is so obscure that even East Front buffs will be hard pressed to tell you anything about it. The box graphics are rather lack-luster. However, inside things pick up. The map is nicely done in mostly light green tones and the counters are colorful and easy to read. They include formation symbols so it is simple to keep track which unit belongs to which formation. I found the rules to be too short and certainly not "user-friendly". Avalanche Press packs a pretty detailed game system into seven pages of basic rules plus three more for advanced and optional rules. This is achieved by using three dense columns per page and hardly an example of play in sight. Therefore you have to read these rules very carefully or you will miss important points. Red Steel uses battalions as the basic unit in 2km hexes. Apart from a few unassigned units, they belong to divisions and a corps (the 2nd Soviet Cavalry Corps). Although without any source info you cannot check how accurate the Order of Battle is, I trust the Geheimer Hofarchivrat Bennighof here. The OoB detail is certainly impressive. The game uses an "Igo-Hugo" system with four turns (plus an Initial Segment) per day. There is hardly anything new in this package, yet designer Bennighof has cooked a menu that tastes fresh. Movement and supply are basic stuff with the exception of Artillery Ammunition and Tank Maintenance. Artillery batteries and regiments use up artillery ammunition when firing. On Player Aid Cards you have to keep track of the amount of artillery ammunition available - there are four different types of arty ammo. In my opinion this is hardly necessary and does not increase the simulation value of the game very much. Each time a Soviet tank moves, you have to roll a die to see if some of the tanks break down. It is possible to kill whole tank units in this way, so lousy dierollers beware! Although the game box shows a tank, there aren't very many tank units in the game. The Soviets have a couple (which are gradually breaking down) and the Romanians employ a few in the Royal Armored Division. Infantry and artillery will decide the outcome of the game. The combat rules are long and detailed. Artillery may bombard or support other ground units from distant hexes. Combat is resolved via a standard odds-based table that has loss, retreat, disruption, and demoralization results. In addition, there are several modifiers, e.g. for armor quality, morale, leaders, surprise, envelopment etc. Moreover, there are even combat rules involving the use of a "Combat Matrix", with options for both the attacker and defender. Because of all the different checks, dierolls and modifiers, a single combat takes some time to resolve. To simulate the awkward and slow nature of Soviet command decisions and reactions to enemy actions at the start of the war, Red Steel comes with simple formation rules. During the Soviet movement phase you draw chits - one at a time - from a cup. These chits corresponded with the formations on the map. Only the sub-units of this formation may then move, and, at the completion of movement, you check if the Soviet Movement Phase suddenly has ended which is more likely the more formations already have moved. Neat. So how does Red Steel play? Because of the system detail and the scale (four turns per day), you won't see many lightning-like tank dashes across half the map. Instead, you have to plan your operations carefully and slowly gain the upper hand. I like the starting situation very much with most of the Romanian units on the west side of the Prut River. Because motorized, mechanized, and artillery units can cross the Prut only at bridges, it is important to capture them early or build new ones with bridge engineers. With a German division arriving as reinforcement, an Ukrainian exile battalion, a few river monitors and a couple of Axis airplanes, the unit mix is colorful. Five scenarios of varying degrees of length offer enough variety, too. I recommend Red Steel to any WWII gamer who wants to try a really obscure East Front battle or is a fan of the Romanian army and isn't put off by a little bit of complexity. And yes, I even recommend the game although it contains errata (not much) despite Mike Bennighof's claims on AOL that "Errata is theft" … more Petit Larceny here, a misdemeanor at best. CAPSULE COMMENTS Graphic Presentation: Good. Excellent counters, Playability: Very good but time-consuming. Replayability: High; different scenarios and a flexible set up. Creativity: Standard mechanics working nicely . Historicity: What do I know? Everything seems to be fine...would have been nice of Avalanche to let us in on what happened. Wristage: High. Comparisons: There is no other game on this battle (big surprise!) Overall: A very nice package missing some background information. Fans of Avalanche and Red Parachutes, as well as lovers of real Rumanian pastrami,will want this game as well. Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. 2 #27 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Richard Berg This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com