Cost - 10 US Dollars Published by Chris Engle When this collection of three booklets and a set of Matrix Cards arrived in the post one Saturday morning two weeks ago, I was preparing to leave for SALUTE'92 with the Editor of NUGGET. After a cursory first glance, both of us put off leaving immediately for SALUTE whilst we read the whole lot through once. -Our joint opinion was that this was one of the best things we had seen in a long time. What Chris Engle has done is to produce a complete guide to matrix Games and combined it with a selection of "ready-to-play" campaigns and what appear to be - at first sight - a very simple set of wargames rules. Armed with these booklets, the set of Matrix Cards that come with the booklets, some model soldiers, a green cloth, and a set of dice, anybody can now set up and play a Matrix Game in a matter of minutes. What you get for your 10 Dollars is A set of 32 Matrix Cards (which need to be covered in clear sticky-backed plastic and cut out). A booklet entitled "CAMPAIGN IN A DAY" - A MATRIX GAME. This is a general introduction to Matrix Games A booklet entitled "CAMPAIGN IN A DAY" - READY TO PLAY SCENARIOS. A booklet entitled "STUPID SIMPLE RULES". The Matrix Game booklet covers the following topics : The Basic Rules of the Matrix Game (This includes sections which deal with What Is a Matrix Game, The Matrix, Preparing to Play, Making events happen, Arguments, Resolving a turn, Two Arguments for the same turn, Strong and Weak Arguments, and Stupid Arguments); An Example of Play (This is a blow-by-blow account of several moves in a re-fight of the 1808 Peninsular Campaign); How to Teach matrix Games to New Players (This includes sections which deal with Basic Principles, Preparing to Play, Starting Play, Elaborating the Rules, and The End Game); The Campaign Map Rules (This includes sections which deal with Scale, Movement, Battle, and Status : Advantages and Disadvantages); An Example of Play using the Campaign map Rules (This is an account of a game set in Ancient Sumeria); Some suggestions about Matrix Game Variants (such as Face- to-Face Games, Play-by-Mail Games, and Solo Matrix Games); The Philosophy of Matrix Games; and One Page Matrix Game Rules. The Scenario booklet includes all the information (e.g. a brief historical background, Orders of Battle, National and Personal Victory Conditions) required to play the following Matrix Game Campaigns : 1066 - A six-player (Harold Godwinson, Edwin of Mercia, Harald Hardrada, Tostig of Northumbria, William the Bastard, and Odo of Bayeux) and three-country (England, Norway, and Normandy) campaign. This Matrix Game Campaign recreates the events in England during one of the most turbulent and important periods of English history - a must for all of you who have Norman French surnames (like me!). BANNOCKBURN - A six-player (Robert the Bruce, the Earl of Moray, Sir James Douglas, Edward II, Lord Clifford, and Sir Phillip de Mowbray) and two-country (England and Scotland) campaign. This Matrix Game Campaign recreates the events of 1314 which lead up to the Battle of Bannockburn - definitely a game for Scots and all other English-haters! 1494 - A six-player (Charles VIII of France, the Duke of Milan, De Medici of Florence, The Doge of Venice, The Pope (Cesare Borgia), and the King of Naples) and sixcountry (France, Milan, Florence, Venice, Papal States, and Naples) campaign. This Matrix Game Campaign recreates the French invasion of Italy in 1494 - so don't drink the wine! BLENHEIM - A six-player (Duke of Marlborough, Duke of Savoy, Louis of Baden, Camille de Tallard, Francois de Villeroi, and Elector of Bavaria) and four-country (England, Holy Roman Empire, France, and Bavaria) campaign. This Matrix Game Campaign recreates the events in 1704 which led to the climatic battle at Blenheim in Bavaria - a great game for the linear-minded tacticians! BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE - A six-player (Charles Stuart, Lord George Murray, the Duke of Perth, the Duke of Cumberland, General Cope, and General Wade) and two-sided (Jacobite and British) campaign. This Matrix Game Campaign recreates the events of the '45 Jacobite Rebellion which culminated in the Battle of Culloden - a game that should definitely be played to the muted sound of the pipes! PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN - A six-player (Napoleon I, General Junot, General Murat, General Wellesley, General Moore, and El Incognito) and three-sided (French, British, and Spanish) campaign. This Matrix Game Campaign recreates the events of the 1808 Peninsular Campaign - a minicampaign for Arthur Harman to get his teeth into! THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN 1812 - A six-player (Napoleon I, General Murat, General MacDonald, General Bagration, General Barclay de Tolly, and General Kutuzov) and three/ f our-sided (French, Prussian, Russian, and [if things go well for the Russians] Austrian) campaign. This Matrix Game Campaign recreates the events of the Russian Campaign of 1812 - this game is an object lesson on how to f ight a massive campaign with only a few model soldiersi MARCH TO THE SEA - A six-player (Generals William Tecumseh Sherman, John Scofield, George Thomas, Joseph E Johnston, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and John Hunt Morgan) and two-sides (Union and Confederate) campaign. This Matrix Game Campaign recreates the events of Sherman's "March to the Sea" Campaign of 1864 - a must for all lovers of GONE WITH THE WIND. ZULU - A six-player (Lord Chelmsford, Colonel Evelyn Wood, Colonel Charles Pearson, Cetshwayo, Tshingwayo, and Mbilini) and two-sided (British and Zulu) campaign. This Matrix Game Campaign recreates the events of the Zulu War from January to July 1879 - this should be played by people who can imitate Michael Caine imitating an Upper Class British Officer. SAVE GORDON - A six-player (General Gordon, Sir Evelyn Wood, Sir Garnet Wolseley, the Mahdi, the Khalifa, and Osman Digna) and two-sided (British and Mahdist) campaign. This Matrix Game Campaign recreates the belated attempt to save "Chinese" Gordon from the Mahdists - a great game for people who like lost causes who do not mind being "lost" in the first place! The booklet entitled "STUPID SIMPLE RULES" is, in some ways, the best bit of the "package". The title belies the fact that although the rules are simple and fast to use, they have a degree of sophistication which makes them stand out. movement is random in that it is controlled by dice score, and the Firing and melee rules are equally simple; it is in the area of Morale that the innovation and sophistication lie. Being a psychiatric social worker by training, Chris Engle has concentrated upon the area of human response as being of prime importance in the outcome of battles - a point of view with I totally agree. The rules insist that units take Morale Tests at pre-set distances from the enemy, before each round of a melee in which they are involved, and at other critical events which are determined by the umpire. This in itself does not appear to be unusual until one realises that a unit which is ambushed has to take five or six morale tests at one go, and may well run away broken without inflicting any damage on the enemy! The rules also allow for system shifts as a unit's morale state (MS) changes. In a nutshell, this means that as a unit becomes Excited (having previously been Calm), its Firing becomes less effective, but it will melee better; likewise a unit which has become Tired - and is thus Firing even worse than when it was Excited - will quickly become Finished and run away unless it is pulled out of the battle. As can be seen from the following example, this system of testing morale at pre-set distances and having system shifts works very effectively: A unit of Swiss Pikemen are ordered to attack an enemy unit. As the Pikemen march towards the enemy, they take morale tests at distances of 40" (MS=8), 20" (MS=9), 15" (MS=10), and 10" (MS=11) from the enemy. They then test so see if they remain Calm, but they fail the test and become Excited. The Pikemen then advance until they are 5" from the enemy, take a further morale test (MS=12), and come under Fire twice and suffer casualties (MS=10 and MS=8). Before they can melee with the enemy they have to take a further morale test (MS=9) and they test to see if they remain Excited or become Tired. The Swiss pass the test and remain Excited, and begin to Melee. The Melee lasts three turns (six rounds) and they suffer further casualties and pass several morale tests (MS-6, then MS 9, then MS-8, then MS=9, then MS=8, then MS=7, then MS=6, then MS-5 [at which point the unit automatically becomes Tired because it has had twelve morale state changes whilst Excited], then MS-3, then MS=4, and then MS=2 [at which point the unit becomes Finished and is routed] N.B. The unit was initially Calm and its morale state was 7. The idea of using system shifts is not one I have come across before in a set of wargame rules, but now that I have used it I will find it difficult to justify not using it in future. This is because I feel that it gives as realistic a representation of Human response in battle as I am likely to find anywhere. This idea alone is worth 100 Dollars of anyone's money - but you can get it here from Chris Engle only 10. RESPONSE TO BOB'S REVIEW Wow, what a review! There is not a whole lot more I can say than this. I think it Is a fun game. I made a hundred copies of it. I expect I can sell this many. I am glad that my ideas are being received so well. I don't quite know how to react to such praise. Thanks Bob for the wonderful review. --CE Back to Experimental Games Group # 19 Table of Contents Back to Experimental Games Group List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by Chris Engle 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