Gamer's Guide to Diplomacy

by Rod Walker

Avalon Hill publishes this 8" x 11", 36-page booklet about the game, Diplomacy, which they bought from Research Games a few years ago. Unlike their Wargamers Guide to PANZERBLITZ this is not reprinted material, but all new. All but the most experienced and knowledgeable Diplomacy players will learn a great deal about the game from these pages. Rod Walker is one of the acknowledged masters of the game. He used to write a regular Diplomacy column for Strategy & Tactics in that magazine's early days. The last I heard he was co-editor of Diplomacy World magazine.

The booklet Introduction is divided into sections on The Development of Diplomacy, The Nature of Diplomaey, Objectives in Diplomacy, When and How? (to play), Country Selection and "good" Diplomacy (why do we play?). This is followed by a section called Elements of the Game, which are: Communications, Alliance and Treachery, Aggression and Defense, Cheating, Stalemates, The Small Time (playing the minority position, the truncated power), The Convoyed Attack and Some Other Little Tricks of the Trade (The Unwanted Support, The Indirect Support, Rapid Retreat Home, The Offensive Retreat, and The Phoney Stab).

The third section is called Playing the Game and includes sections on the Strategy of Position, Stages of the Game, Basic Style, and the Great Powers. These are followed by sections on playing each of the countries, each of which includes subsections on negotiations with each of the other six countries, on openings, the midgame and the endgame. Then there is a little Guide to Terminology giving the full name, ruling house, capital and ruler in 1901 (with his picture) for each player country; Statistics on the Constellation of Powers (the win/elimination records of the seven countries) and the Geopolitics of Diplomacy.

The fourth section is a complete sample game. Section V covers Postal Diplomacy, how it started how it works. rating systems, etc. Section Vl covers Diplomacy Variants and describes 1958 Diplomacy (pre-publication version -- the map is on the back cover), Napoleonic (5-player) Diplomacy, Bid Diplomacy, "The Great War" (two players) and Twin-Earths Diplomacy. The seventh section covers clubs and toumaments, and the final section consists of questions and answers about the rules.

If you're really interested in learning to play Diplomacy well, this book ia a very worthwhile investment It sells for $3.00 and is available from Lowry Enterprises, P.O. Box 896, Fallbrook, CA. 92028.

Chasseurs a Cheval de La Garde Imperiale

Michael Head

Almark publishes this 8.25" x 7.75", 48-page, paperback volume. This is not a history of Napoleon's horse chasseurs (literally "hunters") of the Imperial Guard, but a study of their uniforms, with some information on their organization, as it evolved, and their equipment. Beginning as a company of Guides in the Italian And Egyptian campaigns, this unit eventually became a squadron and then a regiment of horse chasseurs (light cavalry) of the guard. It was from this regiment that a squadron was always detailed to act as the Emperor's escort.

There are 18 pages of black and white drawings and six pages of color prints. The text is divided into six part!s: Organization, uniforms of the men, dress of the officers, trumpeters and kettle-drummers, standards and the Velites and Young Guard.

I don't know the price of this volume -- probably around $4.50. It should be available at most hobby shops that carry books on uniforms.

Wehrmacht Markings

W.J.K. Davies

This is another Almark paperback. It also has 48 8.25" x 7.75" pages. Despite its title it is a brief overview of the camouflage and various marking on vehicles of the German Army and Waffen SS during WWII (the word Wehrmacht -- war machine -- referred to all the armed forces, including the navy and air force which aren't covered here, and did not include the Waffen SS, which were Nazi Party units.)

Most of the volume is devoted to black and white photographs. There are six pages of color plates. There is a fair amount of text, however. Camouflage is only covered by one of the book's four chapters, and that is the shortest. The other four are Organization and Formation Signs, AFV Tactical Insignia and Tactical Insignia for Other Vehicles. While this work does not begin to cover its subject with the detail and thoroughness of, say, the two Panzer Colors volumes from Squadron/Signal it doesn't cost as much either. It sells for $4.95.

Mig Alley

by Larry Davis

Squadron/Signal Publications publishes this 8.5" x 11", 80-page volume. It is a well written, thorough and very informative history of the U.S. Air Force's (and Navy's) war against the Russian built (and often Russian flown) MiG 15 jet fighters in the Korean Contlict, 1950-53 (affectionately known as World War 2 1/2). There are nine pages of color plates, counting the back cover. Most of the rest of the book consists of numerous excellent black and white photos and a few line drawings and maps. There is, however, also a fair amount of text. This includes numerous, well written accounts of encounters with MiCs by various American aces. In the back is a chart with photos of all the American jet aces of the Korean War and the number of their kills.

If you're interested in this subject, you couldn't ask for a better treatment of it. The price is $7.95.

Uniforms of the Warsaw Pact

by Friedrich Wiener

This 8.5" x 11", 64-page paperback volume is from Squadron/Signal Publications, with 16 pages of color plates. Almost all of the rest of the book is covered with B&W photos and a few line drawings--text is almost nonexistant.

There's quite a bit of info about USSR, Bulgaria, E. Germany, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia (?!), although presented in quite a boring manner. Maybe I'm biased by my own interested. Personally, I'd rather see a volume on the uniforms of the same countries during WWII. Also, the $7.95 price seems a bit high for the amount of information conveyed.