I recently had the chance to look at the new GREAT WAR SPEARHEAD and look over the various cards and ToEs. It looks VERY good everything I had hoped for, until you realise (and a really big setback for these rules ), is that you need to have a copy of the World War Two Spearhead set to play them. The data cards may be a bit generic looking. Almost everything has the same DEF value, and a similar AI value. Of course, this makes sense if you think about it. Also, there is no AT value's due to the poor armour AFV's had at this time. The front and back covers make it quite clear this is a SH supplement. Although the pre sales propaganda was misleading on this one - I personally feel they should have made it a one off game. The thing that just shines about GWSH is the "set up" rules. They are plain enough for a complete novice to be able to use easily, while the experienced gamers won't feel that he's wasting his time reading. There are guidelines for how far apart the trenches need to be. And for how many of your troops to be in each trench line. But the genius is the "prebombardment" phase, and the allocation of defensive works. There is a die roll for how long the pre-attack bombardment will last. The attack can alter this somewhat. But, the defender may get more troops. Also, the defender gets to have pillboxes/bunkers, based on the size of the attacking force. The attacker must divide the defender's board into six parts. He then gets to choose which part gets pounded with a given ARTY regiment. It can change from day to day. He can target troops, wire, or defensive works. The interesting bit is this: the defender gets to choose what rolls are a "hit" (in advance!). If you smash a bunker on 2/6, the defender must choose which two die pips are a "hit". After the bombardment, he assesses damage, but it's only visible on table if the attackers trenches have LOS to it. Else you get to find out the hard way. Excessive bombardment will also create muddy ground, which will slow the troops. And we know what that means. After all the pre attack bombardments are done, you then begin play. I think the pre-game stuff can be done quickly enough with proper pre-game planning. It adds so much to the attacker uncertainty that I find it extremely valuable, and I have not seen anything like this before. The ToE's seem fairly accurate, similar to those in GDW's 'Over The Top.' The scenarios are quite well done, with the Somme being the ultimate in challenge. Great War Spearhead Quick Review (F v2n2) Back to Frontline Vol. 2 Iss. 3 Table of Contents Back to Frontline List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Rolfe Hedges 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