For The People (Avalon Hill): We The People joins the Civil War. As befits a game that covers a good slice of modern America it is a two map job but it still uses the Political/Event cards and box movement. Players of A House Divided will not feel out of place with the map. Sadly the units and leaders are now very boring and very small, so much that in solitaire play I regularly mislay armies. The Cards are now as in Hannibal either Event or Operations cards, this can mean hardly anything political ever happens - which is wrong. A lot of thought has gone into the game. Despite the temptation to use Armies (each of which can have commanders, cavalry commanders and other leaders) the military side is in some stages of the game (as with We The People) less important than political activity and activities against the Confederate periphery. The rules are more complex than We The People and the Go sub-game has gone. Likely to be very popular, and taking some time to grasp the lineaments of it. The odd effect of a theatre where a Level 2 leader opposes a Level 3 (the former will be multiples more active) can have a severe effect. This puts reorganising armies at a premium. The combat system no longer those ghastly cards but its odd too. Numbers matter little, instead luck and skill increase the other side's losses leaving the Army of the Potomac to outbreed the Rebs. Many of the things which you take for granted in a game are not certain in For The People I suggest you play it solitaire for sometime. The rules editing is spotty and you will need to access Mark Herman's Internet site (http://members.tripod.com/~MarkHerman/index.html) for the errata/clarifications.
Rivoli 1797 (Simtac): This is a stunning piece of artwork. The map looks like a period print with its little towns, orchards and hills. Although this style of artwork often results in confusing hexes I did not find this game too bad. The counters shown (at figure-game levels of accuracy) the uniforms of the units. This is quite staggering, and leaves Clash of Arms with a stern chase. There are also some brilliant flags. It feels very revolutionary and not at all Imperial, which is an important concept. However, on the map the result can be a clash of colours and something not that easy to grasp. However Rivoli is not a big battle and the problem is not major.
The game comes complete with two sets of rules. The Complex version which is much as in the series on the Peninsular War battles is a variety (let us not get into causa causans here) of the La Bataille system. I have never read or played it and do not ever intend to do so. Such games are the province of the young, the unemployed and the single not old farts like myself. However, there is also an eight page set of Basic rules for what is in reality a different game. These rules are written without much in the way of embellishment and are different from the usual game in many ways. The designer has hidden tons of clever stuff in here and every sentence needs consideration. Fire consists of adding a 1d10 to your strength and check against a simple model of Morale throws, and Cohesion loss. There are no step losses in the Basic game instead your unit remain big but battered. And the Cohesion loss marker (disorganisation and rout) are very jolly indeed (infantry and cavalry which are different for each army).
The effect is very similar to the Vae Victis Rivoli game (Bey and Brandsma out of Berg) but at a battalion level. The command rules seem to work but I reckon need another half page of explanation. I frankly cannot understand the logic behind not letting the columns marching along the Adige (either side) not enter the map until contact is established with the flanking columns. Surely all were marching independently of each other. Once this is cleared up one will have an attractive game, but it will never be a short one even at Basic level.
A very attractive game indeed.
Montcalm & Wolfe (Markham Designs) A DTP game with die cut counters. The production values are basic with not much on the counters which cover the usual range of foot, light, militia, Rangers and "Native Americans". They move over a very small map, but rather neatly the movement rates and supply rules mean that you move no more than a few hexes a turn. Distance is all on the map and just marching from Albany into the woods can take a month. Movement by bateaux is faster, but you need one of the river lines for that. Supply away from settlements is murderous and, for example, any French attack in the west of the map (where Braddock came a pearler) is going to face short commons.
Combat involves a dicey method of lining up troops on a strength chart and shooting away to reduce them through two steps. Where militia are hit they stand a chance of decamping (which they often do in the Winter) forcing you to use your regulars to take losses. Although the system can be time-consuming there were few big battles.
A key mechanism is the Command Chart. You can activate one Leader a turn OR try the Command Chart. The Command Chart gives an average of two Leader's activated BUT at the cost of an occasional enemy Leader getting activated. This gives much the same effect at the old number of marches die roll in Mohawk.
Collecting armies, positioning them and moving against enemy settlements all require lots of activations, troops and time. Early on in the game the British really are too weak to do much and must use the Albany central position to shift a large enough force to deal with the biggest French attack (five regiments of regulars coming down Champlain under Dieskau takes some stopping). As ever you must discipline yourself in this game. Although time and numbers favour the British the French have both in the early years.
I still prefer the "feel" of Mohawk over Montcalm & Wolfe but the latter has tighter rules. This game despite its DTP finish ($16 a pop from Rob Markham, Markham Designs, 30 Erickson Road, New Milford, CT 06776, USA) deserves to have achieved the sales it has (over 1,000).
Messines 1917 (Markham Designs) Not really enough work on this game yet, its a big package for a DTP with a price of $28. Two maps cover the area to the south of Ypres and you get the full range of World War One fun with, in this case, big mines to explode. The game covers only the first eight days of Plumer's offensive (with three turns a day). Lots of artillery to count, fire and record. In addition, as the shells go in the ground water increases which in turn reduces the supply-lines. A battle between exhaustion and drowning.
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© Copyright 1998 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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