There are few planets drearier than Smyrna Prime. A permanent cloud layer means the surface light is always dusk. Then there are the fogs... so thick you can feel them as you walk. Still, both are better than the acid rain after one of the many volcanoes erupts. That happens far too often. You wouldn't think anyone would even want this place. For a long time nobody did, then some bright grad student figured out why the tectonic activity has persisted for half a billion years. This planet has ten times the normal percentage of radioactives. Half the volcanoes are bubbling with high grade uranium ore and rare earths aren't so rare here. Then everybody claimed it. Now, only two are left in the running. The Gedi Corp hired Carduski's Regiment. They're tough on hostile worlds like these. So the Tenamco Corp had to bring in the best... So now the Slammers are here. Wish we weren't. Last week, a hill we had hollowed into a bunker decided to become a volcano. Twelve dead to Smyrna Prime, none in combat. Helluva start. Set Up: Red (Carduski) sets up anywhere on board Defender: Red (Carduski) Morale: 8 4 X Hover Tanks 6 x Combat Cars 12 X Infantry 2 X Large Guns 6 x Small Guns 2 X Self-Propelled (SP) Calliope 2 X Howitzer Blue (Slammers) sets up on board 5. Attacker: Blue (Slammers) Morale: 7 8 X Hover Tanks 6 X Self-Propelled Artillery (SPA) 5 X Combat Cars 6 X Infantry No units have gas capacity. Electronic Counter Measure (ECM) is not used. Special Rules: Fog: At the start of every turn, roll one D6. On a roll of 6, fog covers the entire battlefield. once fog is present it will remain on a roll of 5 or 6. Fog halves movement and limits all weapons to a maximum range of 6 hexes. Eruptions: Smyrna is very unstable; every hill is a potential volcano. Roll one D6 at the beginning of each turn for every occupied hill or hilltop hex. if a 6 is rolled, the hilltop erupts destroying the unit. Nothing occurs on roll of 1-5. Victory Conditions: Game continues until one side has less than 6 nonartillery counters left (including SPA). Maps: 2-3-4-5, edges A and F on board 3, B and E on board 4. Special: Ignore all city and road hexes, this is an unpopulated planet. William Fawcett has written and designed several products for Mayfair Games Inc. Permission to use Hammer's Slammers counters and map from Mayfair Games, Inc. Back to Table of Contents -- Game News #7 To Game News List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1985 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