1. My thanks to Fred Haub. Last month's cover was in color, all due to Fred's hard work. I admit the cover was quite good-looking, but I'm not sure it was worth the additional effort in terms of extra reproduction and stapling required. I'm not complaining, mind you, since it was Fred who contributed all the additional effort... I just thought I'd mention it. 2. This month's lead article is authored by Don Bailey, with whom I correspond quite a bit on things concerning WW II games. Don wrote a set of rules called COMBAT TEAM, which employed a card system for its sequencing, and which was described in the REVIEW. Being a devotee of card systems myself, I looked forward to Don's next effort, which he describes in this issue... a set of WW II rules called STURM. Way back when (at least 15 years ago), I authored an article for THE COURIER in which I described a concept called 'reaction'. At that time, I focused on a single-figure skirmish game, in which, when a man was fired on, he reacted by tossing his dice and seeing if he would return fire, or advance, or simply ignore it. Normally, in most wargames, the target figure, being shot at by the active side, would simply have to stand and take it, and wait for his own half of the turn to reply. Using a reaction system provides an out-of-sequence opportunity for the nonactive side to 'do something'. I remember that we then tried the reaction ploy in a set of Seven Years War rules... a unit that had been fired upon could attempt to return fire. I think that's as far as we took the concept. Don's STURM takes the reaction sequence one step further, into the WW II era. As Don's article indicates, the employment of a reaction system helps immeasurably in running a solo game. It takes a lot of the decision making out of the gamer's hands, for, in effect, it lets the units run themselves. For the most part, the gamer can stand by and observe the interaction of the forces on the table. 3. And my thanks to Otto Schmidt, who sent in his ideas on the procedures for rating rules and games. Otto's thoughts focus, not just on the rules themselves, but on the entire package presented by the gaming host... the package consisting of the rules, the charts, the scenario, the figures, even the players themselves... all these serve to influence the effect on the gamers at tableside, and each factor is a basic element in the gaming potpouri which must be evaluated by every participant. Back to PW Review August 1999 Table of Contents Back to PW Review List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 Wally Simon 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