The Moderator: Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, to this week's installment of "Pointless Counterpoint", wherein our two experts get to show the audience - and each other - how superior in both intellect and philosophy they are to everyone else. You all know how we - and they - work, here, so let's begin. The topic for tonight's dialogue will be Ben Knight's new game from XTR, Victory in Normandy. By way of introduction, ViN covers the two-plus months immediately succeeding the Allied landings in France on June 6, 1944. Representing the Pro faction we have the reliable and delightful Andrew Maly. Good evening, Andy. AM: Thank you, and a nice evening to you. And, as usual, our King of Cons, ever for the opposition, and ever willing to deal out those "Three I's" - Invective, Irritation and Irascibility - Richard Berg. RB: Let's get this dismal show on the road. The Moderator: Ah. Right off the mark, as usual … looks like a rough evening for the home town fans. Well, as he said, let's get going. The first thing the viewers out there usually do is look at the package. So what have we got in the box? Andy? AM: No, box … this is your modern-day Folio game, designed to be almost instantly playable, without a lot of flash and trash to serve as needless filler. The counters use standard Nato-symbology, with anti-armor and anti-infantry ratings along with movement. There are one or two minor counter errors, but nothing that will halt play. The map, while not Mark Simonitch's best, provides a definite feel for the campaign. It follows the XTR maxim of leaving anything off that was not an important factor. For example, because roads were everywhere, there is no road network. Whatever could have caused needless confusion - or overwrought glitz - was omitted. And everything is clean and crisp, including the rules, which are a well-written seven pages of easily digested information. RB: Forget all that blather: ViN is as bland and vapid-looking as they come. The counters are quintessential "modern" XTR: big print, readable … AM: With your squintessential eyesight, Richard, one would think you'd find that helpful. RB: Perhaps, but all I could see was a morass of drab. Larry Hoffman seems to be much more inspired when he can work with subjects like Cortés or Kadesh; WWII seems to put him on creative hold. Simonitch's half-map manages to be multi-colored and colorless at the same time. It's almost Third World in its absence of any interesting detail. Never underestimate "detail"; it's often the unseen, the insignificant that creates the overall picture. Reminds me of the (probably) apocryphal stage story … AM: Everything reminds you of some story. You wanna stay with the facts, RB? RB: You finished, Andy? … and you may well be if that sort of thing continues. As I was saying, this story is about an actress who wanted to know, when playing some period role, why she had to wear seven layers of petticoats; no one would ever see them, so who would know, she whined. "You will, my dear," was the succinct reply from the director. XTR and Mark S. ought to start applying that to some of their maps. AM: You already mentioned that when discussing Cortés. The Moderator: OK, OK. Let's continue with the facts at hand. Both of you know XTR has been doing some heavy advertising on Victory in Normandy. They think that it's going to be a "breakthrough" design. Look at what they say, here, in a recent ad for the game: "… makes us rethink what we know about simulation theory and technique …." Anything to say about that, Mr Berg? RB: XTR has been pumping verbal helium into this game for about six months now. If ViN is a breakthrough design, then neither Knight or anybody at XTR has played a wargame since 1978. There isn't a single mechanic in this game that has not seen extensive use elsewhere… and in the same context. The only true breakthrough the game produces is when you finally wake up and realize that you're playing a game in which nothing happens for such a long period of time that you might as well be a bunch of Jainists, each seeing how long the both of you can stand still without ever moving. AM: Jainists? What the hell are Jainists? RB: Hindu sect that practised, among other things, self-torture … which is what playing this game is acutely akin to. AM: Now that's not fair, I … RB: Fair, my son, has nothing to do with it. AM: I beg to differ. I didn't see it that way at all. This game is a pretty good portrayal of the period from June 7th, 1944 to the capture of Paris. It plays wells, and it plays quickly … so quickly that some turns take less than 30 seconds, or the amount of time you expended on 1862. RB: How'd you like me to give Terry Shrum your phone number, huh?! AM: No, thank you. Anyway, although this is your basic, Igo-Hugo system, most of the time you get to move one or two units a turn. And that's what keeps the game moving along. Each player gets a number of Command points per turn: for the Germans, it's always '3'; the Allies start with '2' but can build up to '5' by capturing certain objectives. As it costs 1 CP to move a stack and 2 CP's to attack (and a unit cannot move and attack), you can see that each turn moves along right smartly. RB: As far as I'm concerned, "right smartly" refers to those who avoid this exercise in micro-management.. AM: You may think so, but this quick, back-and-forth dictates the rapid tempo that forces players to make difficult choices about what to do. RB: The only difficult choice I had was what drug to use to stay awake through this massive non-event. For the first 20+ turns of the game the German player played tour guide, sending his men north, while the Allied player shuffled one unit to the left, than one unit to the right. It was gaming's version of Dada. AM: Dada? RB: Yes, Dada. A WWI, artistic movement, designed to replace logic with deliberate nuttiness, as well as… oh, never mind. Just another obscure reference I use to make sure the readers aren't getting too complacent. AM: Complacency is not a word that occurs to anyone reading this rag. Combat is, though, and ViN's breakthrough combat system is rather nice. (Like that bridge?) There is no CRT; rather, units are rated for their abilities versus armor and infantry, which abilities can suffer severely when the unit is in the wrong terrain. If you roll a number equal to or less than that adjusted rating your targeted enemy takes a hit. RB: That's the breakthrough? Rob Markham used that in Give Me Liberty - and it wasn't original there! The only time Rob approaches "breakthrough" is when he breaks through Keith's door to get his check. AM: I won't argue that one. As I was saying, if you are stacked with artillery, the guns get to fire first, which can be very effective. What helps the Germans is that, instead of taking a hit, they can retreat. As they have a good supply of units at the start, and the front line is fairly short, this helps them to hold out for a fairly long time. It takes about 40 turns for a breakthrough to occur, although inept German play can reduce that by, maybe, 5 or 10. RB: That's 40 turns - half the game - of almost hypnotic boredom. There's almost no movement, and virtually nothing happening. The German player, if he wants to survive to the end - which he may not, after 40 turns of Zen gaming - attacks maybe once every 10 turns, just to keep the Good Guys honest. In the meantime, the Allies are stockpiling units like cans of Spam before Armageddon. AM: Yeah, but when the breakthrough does occur, all hell breaks loose. The Allies have to decide where to head, and they cannot just go for the Rhine, as many of the VP's are in the western French ports. They also have to destroy all those German divisions now running for cover all over the place. It's actually a pretty tough task for the Allied Player, but those victory requirements do make the player adopt realistic and historical strategies. RB: So, where's the fun for the German player, hmmm? After sitting, transfixed, for the first 40 turns, he now gets to play wargame's version of Cover Your Ass. Yes, there is a sense of reality and simulation to all of this, but to what end? Is this fun? AM: Well, yes, those 80 turns are a drawback. If you get stuck with one of those Anal Retentives who can't make up his mind about what to do without official, Papal sanction, you can be in for a long evening. RB: Not me, brother. I'm outa there faster than a Bill Clinton nominee. AM: There are, though, several shorter scenarios which are pretty good. And I didn't come up with one play question during my run-throughs. RB: You're right there. To give XTR its devilish due, this is a game that is remarkably glitch-free. Whatever they do to their games - and one often wonders whether the Crack XTR Development Staff moonlights by homogenizing milk - they do produce little, if any, errata. And they are instantly playable, mostly because they're all the same… although that's not an issue here. For many of you, this is pretty much all you require … and if that's what you demand for your money, you'll get it, in spades, with ViN. A spade, though, is an instrument you might want to have handy after playing, because whether you put ViN on the back shelf or bury it under the magnolia tree out back, I have sincere doubts as to whether you'll ever subject yourself to a repeat performance. … Speaking of the acronymical ViN, you know what a "VIN" number, is Maly? AM: Hmmm, let me think … RB: Well, that would be a change of pace. AM: Hey, Berg, why don't you shut up for a change. Now THAT would be a change of pace! The Moderator: Let's get back to the point at hand, whatever it is. Mr Berg, what exactly is a VIN number? RB: It's your car's Vehicle Identification Number, that series of digits used to identify your car from another, similar one. I bring all this up because our ViN is about as interesting as your car's VIN. AM: Well, Richard, I think this ViN is attached to a rather sporty, little Mazda Miata. It's not the biggest, flashiest number on the block, but it's fun to play around with. RB: A Mazda Miata … sure. For me, it was a '58 DeSoto … on blocks. You would pick a Miata, you sanctimonious, bourgeois little … The Moderator: Weelllll, I see our time is up! (Thank God!). Next week our two guests for Pointless-Counterpoint will be Pat Buchanan and Dr. Jack Kervorkian. They'll discuss "Which Way, Decision?". Until then … CAPSULE COMMENTS Graphic Presentation: Crisp, clean but uninspired. Maly says that's a plus. Playability: Simplicity and ease of access make this very playable, although the tedium of the first 30-40 turns make it somewhat of a chore (sayeth the editor). Little, if any errata, though, and a similar lack of rules re-reading render this highly accessible Replayability: For me, not on a dare. Maly seem to like the puzzle-solving aspect. The only puzzle is, why bother? Historicity: No argument here. For the level intended, quite good. Not incisive, but a good surface overview. Creativity: Although not the breakthrough XTR trumpets, given the level of simulation, some new approaches to old mechanics takes this a bit out of the ordinary. Comparisons: In many ways, better than the newly revised, AH D-Day, although the latter is far faster moving. Atlantic Wall it ain't, but that was no barrel of monkeys either. The old SPI Breakout & Pursuit eliminates the first 40 turns of this game, but is still rather "old hat" (if you can find it). Victory's "died aborning" France '44 never went anywhere … with reason. Didn't GDW have a game on this subject? Oh well, probably best forgotten. Overall: One Thumb Up, the other down. The Maly-feasor liked it; BROG's official position is that ViN is like a stripper who only learned half her trade: all grind, no bump. from XTR Games One 17" x 22" map, 128 counters, Rules Booklet, ziplocked; from XTR, POB 4017, San Luis Obispo CA 93403. $15 Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. II # 8 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1992 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