Based on the premise that good ACW generals were "better poker players than chessmasters", REBEL YELL is a set of rules that recreates the fog of war without the fog of gaming. Game mechanics are simple; you need a referee. Anyone familiar with the omnipotence of a DM in FRP will know the exact role of "referee" in REBEL YELL. Players command brigades, divisions, or corps (a handy zoom scale is included) thru the placement of order chits. Units then perform movement, resolve combat, and check morale all with the aid of a referee. This constant flow of information between players and referee suggests an ideal of 1 referee per 2 or 4 players, especially NOVICE players. With proper training and discipline, more players could be added - but it is easier to train more referees! In several play tests, new players of varying skill grasped the sequence of play and began to play within 10-15 minutes. This was great considering the referee's preparation was as much as two hours! Usually after the first turn, command control problems began to face the commanders, Decisions about advancing, formation changes and whether to order one regiment of the whole brigade quickly submerse one in the dilemmas faced by the average brigadier. A descriptive result of combat, rather than a numeric calculation, adds to "poker playing" feeling of command, resulting in several "all or bust" decisions that don't happen on the chessboard of many game formats. For those of you looking for something different, for those who enjoy a well researched game, even for those who thought one set of ACW rules was like another, I recommend you try REBEL YELL by Robert W. Jones. Copies can be obtained by contacting Game Innovations, 611 Havencrest, Coppell, TX 75019. For $21 retail, you get rules, 2 referee screens, and 2 players cards all printed on appropriate Blue and Grey. More Reviews Bicorne Miniatures 25mm Napoleonic and ACW Eagle Miniatures 25mm 7YW, Napoleonic, and ACW Wargames Foundry 25mm War of 1812 Wargames Foundry 25mm French Napoleonics Frontier 15mm Napoleonics Thistle and Rose 15mm Sassanid Persians Combat Miniatures 20mm WWII Battle Honors 15mm Napoleonics Wargames Foundry 20mm WWII Partisans Platoon 20 20mm WWII Soviet Naval Troops Essex 15mm Seven Years War Thoroughbred Figures 1/72 Scale US WWII Vehicles Vac-U-Cast 1/76 Scale WWII Wargame Accessories Signifer 15mm Franco-Prussian War Flags How-To Books Building Terrain Terrain Specialties Terrain Pieces GHQ 1/285th WWII and Modern Soviet Equipment Pass of the North 25mm Mexican Peasants Panzerschiffe 1/2400 Sino-Japanese War of 1894 Warfare in the Age of Reason 18th C. Miniature Rules Rebel Yell ACW Rules Forlorn Hope ECW Rules Chariot Warfare Army Lists of 3000 BC to 343 BC Review Rebuttal: Grande Bataille, Grande Victoire Wargaming in History Romans, Goths and Huns Iron Duke and Rally Once More Computer Assited Wargame Rules The Barrett Scale for Reviews Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #58 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1992 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com