What was once known as Gamefix is now in the hands of a new publisher and retitled Competitive edge. It has also been given something of a face lift and its appearance is not unlike that of France's Vae Victis. This is certainly a big improvement and is doubtless commercially sound too. This likeness to Vae Victis extends to the issue game also, superb graphics and counters you mount & cut out yourself. Edsons Ridge is a simulation of the first counter offensive by the Japanese during the Guadalcanal campaign. Historically it was quite a fight with the U. S. having to direct artillery fire onto there own positions as they were being overrun by Japs. A game turn commences with the phasing player designating some units as reserves. These will be able to move after the combat phase or during the opponents movement phase. A unit may not be put into reserve if in an enemy zone of control. Movement follows with the non phasing player being able to call a halt at any time in order to move any of his reserves. Combat is then resolved, odds based with shifts for air support & armour, whilst artillery in range can add their combat factors. Die modifiers apply for improved positions, leaders, engineers and unit proficiency. Unit proficiency is a figure reflecting a units morale and training. AII of these shifts and modifiers are cumulative so some pretty effective attacks, or solid defences, can be set up. Combat results are step losses and retreats. After combat the phasing player may move any or all of his reserve units to exploit any breakthroughs. This makes the game quite fast moving and fluid. One or two more wrinkles exist to give the game more of a feel for the battle it simulates. The Japanese player may declare any assault a banzai attack. The result is a doubling of the participating units combat factors but at a cost in step losses. Each unit may only make one banzai attack per game so they should only be used when the situation calls for it. Six out of the eleven game turns are night turns. Only the Japanese can attack at night but units wishing to do must pass a proficiency check first. The effect is that the Japanese player has the initiative on night turns whilst the U. S. player has to weather the storm. Finally the Japanese player also has a limited ability to infiltrate enemy zones of control. Edsons Ridge is a small quick playing game that is an ideal choice for filling a couple of spare hours in an evening. It is certainly preferable to some old S. P. I quad type game that traditionally fills such a role. The level of decision making is much higher and the intelligent use of reserves paramount. l certainly found it very enjoyable to play either side and a well balanced contest. It is also playable solo. Back to Perfidious Albion #93 Table of Contents Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1996 by Charles and Teresa Vasey. 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