Anyone who has done even O level History at school will be familiar with this games topic. It's the Schlieffen Plan, envisaged as a wide swing through Belgium, with a reinforced right wing enveloping the left flank of the French Army. Having to then fight and win a decisive battle in the west, before transferring East to settle the score with the Russians, it was always a plan high on optimism. Add to this that it made no provision for neutralising the Paris garrison and that after Schliffen's death in 1913, rather than 'reinforcing the right', as per Schlieffen's alleged dying request, his successor Von Moltke proceeded to reduce its strength.

Finally, when the big day finally arrived, the plan was launched with an inadequate system of signal communications and a defective logistic plan. Little wonder it all ended in tears. The French, meanwhile, did their bit with Plan 17, an attempt to overcome barbed wire and machine guns with sheer elan. Little wonder that that ended in tears also.

Two previous magazine games spring to mind on this subject. XTR's / Ted Raicer's 1914: Glory's End, which I am sure needs no introduction to regular PA readers, and 3W's Clash Of Empires, which I remember as a cross between A House Divided and Risk. I think it fair to say that this game need not be to concerned about being overshadowed by the esteem of its predecessors.

Aesthetically the game is nothing to write home about, but neither does it disgrace itself. The unit counters, game markers and map are all fairly standard but acceptable. The rules are short and clear, well laid out, and include designer notes which I generally find of interest. Errata seems confined to the incorrect hex numbers being given for the location of some cities on the map. These can easily be found anyway. There are one or two rules I'd suggest need changing but I'll come to those later.

A game turn commences with a random events phase, a trade mark of almost any Joe Miranda design, of which this is one. Two die are rolled with the resulting number being checked on the random events table. All manner of results are possible including bad weather, more or less reinforcements for either player, German withdraws to the Russian front & players being able to start entrenching.

Reinforcement and Reorganisation

Once this has been resolved the phasing player takes his reinforcement and reorganisation phases. Reinforcements can be placed at any of several friendly depot hexes on the map or at the map's edge. Reorganisation allows Corps sized units to be broken down into Division sized units and vice versa. The German army comprises of German and Bavarian units. If and when the random events table calls for units to be sent to the Eastern front only German units can be withdrawn. This is because King Ludwig the Third of Bavaria had extracted a promise that his troops would only fight on the Western front. However, the reorganisation rules allow German and Bavarian units to be interchangerable. Consequently, two Bavarian Divisions can be reorganised into a German Corps, then sent East.

I suggest players treat German and Bavarian units separately with regards to reorganisation. Provided entrenching is allowed via a random event, then units can be flipped to their rear 'entrenched' side during this phase. Entrenched units have no attack or movement factors but higher defence factors. Units can return to their mobile side either in a later reorganisation phase or by retreating as a result of combat.

Movement follows and is based on the usual movement points & cost of terrain formula. In addition both players can use rail lines to move a limited number of units per turn, but only within their home country. This rule seems ill conceived as historically some German units withdrawn to the Russian front from Belgium went by rail. This rule prohibits them from doing so.

Some rules concerning movement are treated as optional but come highly recommended. These give light Infantry a more favourable movement rate in certain terrain types and allow Allied Marine Divisions an amphibious capability. More importantly, they also prohibit units from both exiting and entering enemy zones of control during the same movement phase. These are after all Infantry armies. The Allied player can also transfer units between two friendly ports during this phase.

Combat

Combat is then resolved using odds based on combat strength modified by terrain. However, once the odds have been calculated the attacker has a choice of one of three CRT's, probe, assault or manoeuvre. Combat results are eliminations, exchanges and retreats. The different CRT's allow the attacker to vary the intensity of the attack. If Cavalry are defending alone against enemy Infantry only then the defender can insist on the probe CRT being used.

Whilst the manoeuvre CRT is the most potentially damaging to the defender, it can only be used if the defender is surrounded by enemy units or their zones of control, and is not in an intact fort. The most common results are losses to both sides with higher odds often leading to higher losses rather than more chance of success. A higher number of attacks on the probe CRT can be more effective than one big attack on the assault CRT. Siege artillery units are also used in this phase to eliminate adjacent enemy forts. This is resolved by die roll with weaker forts been guaranteed of destruction. The Allied player has a Naval unit that can provide a favourable odds shift to a combat in a coastal hex.

The phasing player closes his first impulse with a Command Control phase. All units within range of a friendly HQ are able to now have a second reorganisation, movement and combat phase. Units that are not within range have effectively ended their game turn. Also, as there is no advance after combat, units that have earlier fought a successful combat will be unable to exploit it unless within range of an HQ. The rub is that HQs move somewhat slower than the units that require command control from them.

End Result

The end result is that as the Germans advance across Belgium and Northern France they move out of HQ range and get to use only one impulse per turn, not both. This rather neatly simulates the communication and logistic problems mentioned earlier. Headquarters themselves need to be within range of a rail line leading to a friendly depot hex in order to give command control. Once this second impulse is completed the Allied player repeats the same sequence to complete a game turn.

Prior to commencing a game players have a choice of various secret options to choose from. This is rather like SPI's old France 1940 game. Readers may recall for example, that the Allied player could have some armoured divisions but the German player would then be compensated with victory points. This game gives the Allies a fifty point victory lead for German violation of Belgian and Luxembourg neutrality. Both players have various options to choose from through the options that occurred historically are given. Indeed, without them, this game can result in a campaign much different to that which took place in 1914. Victory points are also earned for eliminating enemy units and capturing enemy cities. At games end each player totals his victory points but the game can end in a draw.

Reinforce the Right is a very simple and solid game that I have found enjoyable to play. It can be played solo by ignoring a fog of war rule that prohibits you from examining your opponent's stacks, and can be played in a reasonable time as the standard scenario lasts only seven turns. That said, whilst it is a better game than earlier magazine games on this subject, it is one of those games I shall sell on after a few playings. For me it lacks that spark that makes a game a classic. This is a good game, but not a great one.