Ardennes Appreciation

You could have bowled me over with a Gruba Berta round. Walked down the stairs to my mailbox to find a parcel from The Gamers. Just five days prior had I sent you folks the RSVP appraisal you enclose in our games. Figured that the box I had checked on the form would merely supply me with "buy me" flyers to games you had in release along with a sales-pitch to purchase a subscription to Operations. Imagine my surprize when out popped three enclosed countersheets!

Had your envelope been unlabeled, I would have immediately known the contents (countersheets) were not from the "we're only in it for the money" Avalon Hill Game Company.

What's this? Two sheets of "errata" counters and "improved" counters.... and for games that I haven't even purchased (yet). And the third sheet: I had simply stated that my Ardennes Allied countersheet had been diecut such that I could not clearly decipher the units' stacking/step values. Another company might have at best offered an apology. But now, lying in front of me, was a full countersheet, squarely punched, of those previously unknown-step units. And with no "if you'd be so kind" billing attached. Are you guys for real?

I know you'd like me to continue purchasing your product, but your response could have simply been apologetic. Or.... could it possibly be....maybe this Gamers company really values me as one of its 3000+ [Ed. note: now 4000+] Ardennes purchasers? Another company would have led me to believe the first, leaving me to feel simply like a name in a computer. But you fellows have left me feeling like family. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

As for your specific project (Ardennes), I have thoroughly enjoyed playing the two introductory scenarios (yeah, solitaire) and can't wait to challenge my gaming-buddy in the dual-map campaign game. My playing-partner's real interest is the Civil War era, but we share by alternately playing each other's "game of choice." I know we will embark on Ardennes because its rule simplicity can be thoroughly explained and comprehended in less than half an hour, and without overwhelming the inductee. The game seems also to be a very good simulation (a must-be to catch my interest), and the weather/Allied air point procedure (although deviating from the actual conditions) helps add replay value and makes the German player (and the Allies) reevaluate movement and attacks each new day as the weather changes.

I also like the "fog of war" rule and the must-choose-among-three rule for German victory conditions, with the ability, when apparently thwarted from such, of still being able to prevail (although less dramatically) by capturing victory-point cities. And Greif teams.... always a thorn in the Allies' side, but overlooked in any other WW2 game I have ever played. As with Ragœ: "they're in there," and quite menacing too. [Ed note: Well, if you play against an Allied player who finds these units menacing, they can serve to be distracting.]

In the past thirty years I have only strayed once from the purchase of "hard-back" map games, when I purchased one by VG. Result: counters popping all over the board due to the creases, plus the game was a dud. Unfortunately it left me feeling like, "If it doesn't come in a shiny box and if the map(s) isn't (aren't) hard-backed, then it's put out by a second-rate company and not worth purchasing. 'Cause the big companies (AH) have the big bucks to pay the best designers to put out the best products." So for thirty years I stayed loyal to "Big Brother AH."

Once I was desperately forced to look elsewhere, your game packaging and mapsheet looked relatively like every other "underdog's" product. It was Ardennes' topic along with the medium complexity level and less than 700 counter number that made me give you a try. Those integrity-colored and artillery-use counters alone caused me to purchase two 22"x34" Plexiglas sheets to avoid the popping-counter syndrome. Everything now within the box has surpassed AH's usual hyped output. What's a box for anyway, other than a storage tray and a die/dice arena!

I will be checking out Hube's Pocket and Baltic Gap, both purchases depending on their counter numbers. For frequent solitaire purposes, having not too many counters (e.g. Army Group North/South) and no more than two maps are prerequisites, although EatG is mighty tempting, especially after the favorable review in Zone of Control gave it (Simulation: Excellent). So far ZOC's Game: Average is the biggest drawback for me, and I feel the counter number (2,240), time consumed, and replay value are all interwoven in that assessment.

But for now (and maybe another thirty years if my eyes hold out and my hands stay steady, and if you remain "ego-free" and continue caring about each individual customer, as you have proven to me) I pledge not to even pick up another wargame box unless "The Gamers" is printed on it.

Once again I thank you for your dedication to your customers and for putting the best of products in your boxes. I sincerely feel that on the day you endeavor to make your rule book more concise (the only drawback in Ardennes) , you will be #1 in the industry. Despite this, you're already #1 in my book! Keep on giving me a good reason to empty my wallet. Gary Trott

[Mr. Trott is definitely the sort of person who should have a pre-pub subscription. He's more of a Gamers purist than your journeyman editor, who owns three soft-map AH titles. By the way, readers' opinions of Avalon Hill or anything else do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Gamers, Inc. or its employees.]

E-mail from Perry Andrus, 7/26:

Bas's doc is great. All the errata for both the series rules and each game have been combined with all the clarifications from this list and my old genie notes.

Please go get a copy.

Perry Andrus

Forwarded message:

Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 09:26:41 +0200
From: "Bas V. de Bakker" bas@astro.uva.nl
To: gamers-l@www.ee.washington.edu
Subject: OCS clarifications

As I've been doing irregularly since the first edition, I've just added a few more items to my list of OCS clarifications, mainly on Hube's Pocket. To quote the intro:

You can get this file:

1) by email by sending me email which includes in the Subject: field the string "ocs-q&a-request". The list will then be sent to you automatically. If you don't trust your From: field, include in the header a valid Reply-To: field. The body of the message will fall into the bottomless bit bucket.

2) by WWW at:

http://www.astro.uva.nl/bas/games/ocs_qa.txt

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