GAMES RECEIVED The War of 1812 is available from Gamma Two Games Ltd., P.O. Box 6347 Vancouver 8, B.C. Canada priced at $10. This is a boxed strategic simulation of the Canadian front in the War of 1812. One receives wooden counters (like Quebec 1759), four dice, a mounted colorful board, a set of rules and a set of historical notes. Professional format. This simulation is fun and is interesting, better than Quebec 1759. Fairly simple mechanics. Decline and Fall is a four player game available from T. Donnelly, & R.E.G.games (Sussex) Ltd., 75, Ardingly Drive, Goring-by-Sea, Sussex, England and is priced at $9.50. This is a game of the Barbarian invasions of the late Roman empire on a strategic level. It includes a colorful mounted board, set of rules, time/score chart, Terrain Effects Chart, die, pencil, f our sets of large mounted counters representing command, infantry, cavalry, and fleets units. The box is not the best. Otherwise it has a professional look to it and is a fairly enjoyable simulation, especially for the Diplomacy fan. This game has fairly simple mechanics of play. The Major Battles and Campaigns of General George S. Patton is available from Research Games, Inc. 200 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10010 priced at $8.00. This boxed simulation includes a mounted board that you can play on both sides, die-cut and mounted pieces, 10 dice, rules, and Movement point/cards. This is one for your little brother. You get your money's worth in physical product, but it will receive a poor reception from the professional wargamer, though it is good to turn-on a ten year old to wargames. Designed by Sid Sackson. Drang Nach Osten and Untenschieden are both available from Game Designers Workshop, P.O. Box 582, Bloomington, Ill. 61701. The former is $14.76 while the latter is $13.85, though you must have DNO to play Untenschieden. You receive one hell of a lot for this division-level strategic campaign simulation of the Russian front in World War II (to 1944): a comprehensive set of rules (including some very advanced air rules sections), over 12 sheets of professional die-cut and mounted pieces (SS are white on black), 12 sheets of Russian reinforcement charts, a total of 9 hexagon maps, plus much much more. This simulation is overwhelming on the face of it, but has one turn for each two weeks of real time so it moves fast, turn-wise. It even includes a Rudel Stuka counter. The map of Finland is larger than the map of Finland in SPI's Winter War. This is for the advanced wargamer. Fairly quick service. Also available from the same people are 8~/~" by 11" pads of reduced hex sheets for the game designer. These are priced at $2.00. Good for early sketches of a game design idea. Warplan 5/5 is available from Games Innovations, 1884 So. Leyden St., Denver, Colo. 80222 priced at $15.00. This is not a simulation. It is a complete campaign game for miniatures, either naval or land. You receive three sets of either Version 1 (hose-musket period) or Version 2 (rail-industrial period) which consists of a 30 segment geomorphic map kit. Therefore, there is a kit for the umpire and both players. It includes an atlas, population figures, industrial source material, 300 unit markers, plus operation charts. This is an original and unusual item. Cavaliers and Roundheads is available from Tactical Studies Rules, 542 Sage Street, Lake Geneva, Wis. 53147 priced at $3.00. This is a set of tactical rules for English Civil War miniatures and is by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. Includes a good bibliography drawn from English sources. Fairly standard approach. Professional format. Syria, 1941 is available from Abwehr Publications Box 191, Rt. No. 1, Strasburg, Colo. 80136 priced at $2.50. This deals with Vichy Syria and the invasion of it by the British in 1941. You receive a small paper board, rulebook, Terrain Effects Chart, two set-up sheets, and mounted counters. It is an amateur publication designed by Vance von Borries. A fun little game that is quick to play and has several optional set-ups that include German parachute units. Battleplan is an unusual game which only costs you postage after obtaining the rules to it. It is a computer game played on a map of Europe somewhat similar to Diplomacy in action. You have a Gross National Product, ABM's, navies, spies, transportation centers and many other features. By alliances and double-crosses you attempt to conquer the entire continent of Europe. This well-run game is handled by the computer moderator, Richard Loomis, c/o Flying Buffalo, Inc., P.O. Box 1467, Scottsdale, Arizona, 85252. For something different and fun this could be the answer. In the last issue of Conflict there were two deletions. The "State of the Art" was first published in Xenogogic, add we failed to credit two independent playtest groups under Vance von Borries and Jack Greene for the Battle for Hue. BOOKS & MAGAZINES Tank Battles in Miniature: A Wargamers' Guide to the Western Desert Campaign 1940-1942. By Donald Featherstone. Patuck Stephens Ltd., Cambndge, 1973. 156 pages, 17 black and white photographs, 11 maps, and 22 diagrams. £ 2.80. This is an interesting little book for the wargamer. Not only does it have some very interesting and useful appendices dealing with gun/armor penetration and the like, but it goes into some depth in explaining what desert warfare was really like. Mr. Featherstone does give an even-handed and fair historical view of the conflict. Errors do creep into the work, however. For example, when listing the casualties for O'Conner's sweep of the Italians in 1940, only the British are listed. The implication being that those were the total casualties involved. Another example is the lack of mention of the Free French divisions in the Tunisian campaign. Probably one of the best chapters in the work (and it must be recalled that Mr. Featherstone served in this campaign) is his Tactics of the Western Desert Campaign. Here the author deals quickly and effectively with a lot of wargamer myths. Having witnessed several "realistic" tank wargames that were in reality a farce, the need for this book is obvious. For many miniaturists this book could be an eye opener. Victorious German Arms: An Alternate Military History of World War Two. by Gary Gygax and Terry Stafford. TK graphics Baltimore, Md., 1973. 76 pages. This small paperback had sections appear in the IFW Journal in the past. It is a hypothetical accaunt of what might have happened to bring about a German victory in World War II. For the historian it has virtually no value. The book becomes wildly hypothetical in sections and certainly improbable in others. One can only say that it is light and entertaining. Signal is a small mimeo biweekly magazine that reports on the wargaming world. All mail should be sent to Signal, P.O. Box 830, CFPO 5056, Belleville, Ontario, Canada Subscriptions are 6/$1.00 but no checks are accepted as John Mansfield, the editor, lives in Europe at present. If you want to keep up on what is happening in the hobby you might try this magazine. Back to Conflict Number 7 Table of Contents Back to Conflict List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1974 by Dana Lombardy 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