The decisions that would launch a series of offensives designed to win the Great War for Germany were made in November 1917. Erich Ludendorff, the de facto commander of the German Army, knew then that the ever-increasing numbers of Americans entering the fray on the side of the Allies would inevitably tip the scales forever against Germany, unless those forces released by the defeat of Russia were unleashed in a crushing battle of annihilation before the Americans could make their numbers felt. By March 1918 Ludendorff was ready to launch the first of his war-winning offensives. Code named "Michael," the attack called for three full-strength German armies to strike with maximum violence at the two southernmost British armies in Flanders, the 3rd and the 5th. Over the next sixteen days, the Allies would find themselves tested as never before on the Western Front, and the Germans would come within an ace of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in World War I.

Operation Michael is an SCS game covering this cataclysmic campaign at the operational level. The single mapsheet represents anarea of Flanders stretching from below St. Quentin in the south to near Arras in the north at a scale of 1.25 miles per hex, and it shows the extensive trench systems of both sides in detail. The 420 counters depict British infantry and cavalry brigades and tank battalions. The Germans are shown at the divisional level (but with an important twist that I'll discuss a little later). Artillery for all belligerents is grouped into divisional or corps level assets; units range from the relatively plentiful but short-ranged field guns to the awesome divisionbusting power of the precious few "superheavies." Each turn represents one day. To the best of my knowledge, Operation Michael represents the first time the entire battle has been presented at this level of detail in a wargame.

One of the great features of the SCS is the clarity and power of the basic design, which has enabled each designer in the series to the take the system in a slightly different direction. Operation Michael is no exception. I did the basic design work back in 1993. My objective was to show that the basic game mechanics in the SCS, specifically the overrun mechanic, could simulate the infiltration tactics used by the Germans in World War I. After completing the basic design, and getting some feedback, I felt the game made the point that I wanted, and I turned to other projects. Basically, the design lay fallow for over 5 years until the fall of 1998, at which point I became intrigued about the possibilities of desktop publishing. I approached Dean concerning the possibility of making the game as a DTP "module" for the SCS system. When we took a new look at the basic design, we both quickly agreed that the fit between situation and system was so loaded with possibilities that a full-blown game was warranted. We got to work and basically spent all of 1999 and 2000 in a process of evolutionary development of a number of particular subsystems.

Although the finished product that you'll see now seems to bear only a superficial resemblance to my initial design, I think that, really, our work has had the effect of bringing up, or heightening all the contrasts in the story of the battle as it is seen in the game. In my opinion, we've improved the clarity and vision of the design, even as we've improved playability and the historicity. Let me describe some of the most important features that you'll see in the game.

As everybody knows, the Germans pioneered the use of infiltration tactics, called "Hutier tactics" by the Allied press. But this tactical revolution wrought by the Germans was actually more like an inversion of the same principles of defensive warfare at which the Germans had become the undisputed masters in four years on the Western Front. Based in part a lack of concern for flank security, in part on a unique concept of the term "infantry" and in part on the creation of a few special units, "stosstruppen" present a challenge for the World War I West Front designer to model. How are they shown in Operation Michael? Basically, each German assault division (and most of the German divisions are of this type) can break down its current strength into any number of "sturmblock" counters that represent regimental-sized assault groups.

Generally speaking, games that permit units to break down usually specify only one way for the breakdown to occur. Operation Michael is not like this. Each strumblock counter is two sided, with various strengths on the full- and reduced-strength sides. As long as the strumblock counters generated do not exceed the strength of the assault division, the German player may come up with any combination of numbers of breakdown counters. The total number of breakdown counters in play is limited by the countermix. One of the "games within the game" in Operation Michael is the German player's attempt to keep the British player guessing about where, and how many assault divisions he is going to break down. At the end of the German player turn, the sturmblocks may reassemble into their divisional structure, which also functions to keep the Allied player off balance. The sturmblock units themselves are very "slippery" and fun to use. Although they have relatively low combat strengths and movement allowances, sturmblock units do not pay the EZOC cost, or the cost of overrun in the SCS system.

Moreover, they are exploit capable, unlike most of the infantry units on the map. These factors permit them to move rather freely on the battlefield, perhaps teaming up for an assault, then dispersing for separate missions in the Exploitation Phase. During playtesting, we experimented with different numbers of sturrablock units in the countermix and different combat, movement, and step values. I think we've arrived at a balanced but still historically accurate solution.

Each of the historical corps headquarters also appears, and these counters have several important functions. Each HQ functions sort of like a supply head; to attack, each attacking unit must trace for attack supply. To get attack supply, the unit must be within the throw range of a replenished HQ. Each HQ can provide attack supply to as many units in range as wish to attack on that turn. But at the end of the turn, the HQ is flipped to its depleted side, and depleted HQs cannot provide attack supply. Units that attack without attack supply have their attack strengths halved. Historically, as the offensive progressed, the Germans found that they had an increasingly difficult time providing ammunition to forward units; in fact, nearly all accounts of the campaign describe this as one of the cardinal reasons for the ultimate failure the Germans endured. In the game, each depleted HQ rolls on a replenishment table to flip back to its replenished side.

As the campaign wears on, the probability of depleted German HQs "coming back to life" again diminishes, and so the German player is faced with important decisions every turn about how many, and which, HQs to use for attack. Use too many on one turn and you may not be able to sustain your offensive with enough force; by doing so, you may also signal the British player that it will be safe for him to shift his reserves out of that sector, since your attack possibilities are exhausted for the time being. But for the British player, it's just the opposite: his counterattack possibilities tend to increase as the campaign goes on.

One of the most potent killers on the World War I battlefield was poisonous gas, and no World War I operational level game is complete without this element. In Operation Michael, the German player is entitled to make a number of gas attacks each turn. Gas can be fired by any artillery counter, and the effects are similar to being DG'd. For example, units that are gassed are halved for defense-but there's a difference too. Unlike normal artillery fire (which each side may use), multiple gas attacks can be fired into the same hex, with cumulative effects. Like the sturmblocks, gas can create some breakthrough possibilities for the German player, but the correct use of both is also very situational and requires coordination.

More generally, each player must determine how to run his artillery program successfully. For the British, with their relatively few artillery counters, the decision making will focus on the number of counters from perhaps different corps or even armies to bring together. A few massed formations will enable the counterattack to move forward with authority, but spreading the guns out to produce a harassing effect that can possibly disrupt attackers may be a solution with merit too. For the Germans, it's probably going to be important to use all the gas points each turn (even though the DG effects from normal fire actually last longer than the gas effects). But perhaps it's even more important to treat each attack as a problem that requires an artillery solution in addition to an infantry allocation.

Remember, combined arms is just as important in World War I as it was in World War 2, but it is infantry and artillery whose effects must be coordinated. Here's one more point: Are you sick of having your artillery units overrun by weak infantry forces? Well, an optional rule permits field artillery units (not the heavy guns) to defend themselves with their barrage strength. This simulates the British practice of using artillery in the line, firing over open sights in a last ditch effort to break up an attack. Use that rule and watch the German player think twice and breaking through to your "soft" targets!

just as the Germans have their sturmblocks and gas attacks to play with, the British have tanks: a full seven battalions of them that were present historically. The British player must keep in mind that this is World War 1. Tanks that attack boost the attack strength of any infantry who attack with them. But, once launched in an attack, most of the tanks are probably not going to be coming back again. One of the "cuter" rules in the game is the tank breakdown rule. Each turn that the British player has any operational tanks in the game, he rolls a die.

If he fails the die roll, then the British player must pick one of his tank units to suffer a mechanical breakdown, and the German player gets to pick out a British tank unit to suffer a breakdown. Talk about Murphy's law!

The number and structure of the scenarios also represent something of a departure from the standard SCS game. First, there are a number of "campaign scenarios" that show the straight historical situation as well as a number of alternative plausible assumptions that may have produced a change in the outcome. For example, players may explore the effects of an accelerated French reinforcement schedule, and (one of my favorite options) a campaign scenario showing what might have happened if the British had learned a little more from the Germans about how to wage a mobile defense.

The campaign scenarios are each 16 turns, and the first turn in particular may take new players a fairly long time to play. With that in mind, we've also included a set of "battle scenarios" that show the action on only a portion of the front, or for a shorter period of time than the whole campaign. I believe that one of the hallmarks of The Garners products is excellent value for your money, and so isn't it just like The Garners to give you a little something extra in the game? In the manner of a rock'n' roll band that puts a "hidden" track on a CD, we've also included a "bonus" scenario in Operation Michael. I'm not going to say anything more about it here, except that it's not about something that occurred during the historical Operation Michael!

But regardless of the scenario you play, a certain amount of tension is bound to arise during the turn as each player must constantly shift his point of view between the needs of a particular corps and the needs of the whole campaign. Thus, the British player must have a certain amount of sangfroid to deal with the fact that his dead pile is going to increase alarmingly in the first few turns. But the Germans can't afford to ignore their own "loss meter" either. If they are too profligate in ordering the divisional units to attack without first breaking down, they probably won't be able to recover their strength, given their meager replacement rate. And that means that the Germans will be "out of gas" (figuratively) long before the end of the game.

As I hope I've made clear, I think the game has a number of strengths, the chief one being that it will give players at least a taste of everything they might want. Are you interested in planning the details of an assault that will result in desperate and bitter hex by hex trench fighting? The assault against the British 3rd Army will provide that. Do you want to see the sturmblocks fighting their own chaotic slashing and weaving battle far behind enemy lines? The initial attack against the British 5th army will give you some ideas about what that may have been like. Or maybe you're the kind of player who thinks that the appropriate use of reinforcements is the key to most battles? Then I think you'll want to check out the arrival of the French scenarios to see if the depleted, but surprisingly still game, French divisions can stem the tide of the sturmblocks.

To sum up: Operation Michael is a game of dramatic contrasts that will call upon all of a wargamer's skills in problem solving, allocation of forces, and plain old tactical skill. I think it is a worthy addition to the proud SCS line, and I hope it is a title that you will want to add to your collection and lose yourself in for hours on your game table.