It is March 1918. German storm troopers have moved into the line to do an infiltration attack. They are fresh from Russia (and victory), they are well trained in the new tactics, they are well fed and have tactical surprise. The English have a well established trench line and good troops. They also have a lot of artillery and aircraft. GERMAN PLAYER: We launch our attack. Gas shells and HE neutralize British artillery and shock the front line. Then we come out of the trench. We get across the first trench barrier! REFEREE: Strong. Roll a 3,4,5,6 on a six-sided die and there will be a conflict to see if you make it. BRITISH PLAYER: They do launch their attack but we are ready for them. It's the Somme in reverse! REFEREE: Weak. Roll a 5,6 to succeed. Your arguments are logically inconsistent so we will do a dice rolling contest. One of your arguments will happen. Roll for you own argument. GERMAN BRITAIN 3 - succeed 5 - succeed 2 - fail 4 - fail 4 - succeed 4 - fail REFEREE: The Germans win. There will be a conflict. I think that the German has the advantage since his side does have surprise and did win the argument. So tell us Fritz, what happens? GERMAN: It is like I said above. We break through the first trench line. REFEREE: Strong. Roll a 3,4,5,6. I think you have ample preparation to get through the first trench. The German rolls a 5. His attack succeeds. He moves his figures across the first trench line. If the German had failed, then the referee would have asked the British player for an argument about "what really happened." Undoubtedly nothing the Germans would like! Pretty Figures, Killer Terrain, and Matrix Games Back to Table of Contents -- Matrix Gamer #8 To Matrix Gamer List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Chris Engle. 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