Strategy & Tactics A JOURNAL OF AMERICAN WARGAMING Volume 1 Nea Box 65, Adelphia, N.J., 710 May 1967 S&T GAME REVIEW GAMESCIENCE VIETNAM AH BLITZKRIEG PART FOUR: FIGHTERS The rules for employment of BLITZKRIEG fighters are fairly clear-cut except in the following ease. Let's say Blue has 4 infantry factors and 12 FTR factors in city X27. Red stages a massive para-drop in the area and attacks this fighter base at 3-1 with the intent of eliminating the garrison and the aircfaft. May Blue simply move the fighters in question to another base during Red's turn? Obviously, if the aitack were made with TAC or SAC bombers, Blue could intercept them and land his fighters at a different hase after resolving combat But let us assume that Red is not entirely inept and has not provided Blue with an intercept target within range of the fighters at X27. The first time ‘we asked Avalon Hill about this situation they ruled that the fighters are eliminated if Red captures the base, However, when we submitted exactly the same question a few months later in order to check their position, the company not only ruled that the fighters could change bases without intercepting, but that this could be done, during the opponent's tum, whether the fighters were being attacked on the ground or not The latter ruling is more on the order of an addition to the rules than an interpretation of those in the Battle Manual, Use of this rule makes it impossible to catch fighters on the ground. How. ever, using the first interpretation leads to the rather unrealistic withholding of air attacks in order to keep enemy fighters on the ground. As a com- promise, we suggest fighters be allowed to intercept unoccupied squares. By limiting their freedom of movement (24 squares) during the opponents turn, the enemy should be able to occasionally trap fight ers on the ground. By allowing them to move without intercepting, we eliminate the deliberate withholding of air attacks. (Cont d on age 4) ‘The Gamescience Corporation of New Jersey has published something new and almost entirely differ- ent from the wargames currently on the market: VIETNAM; The Adult Action Guerrilla Warfare Game ‘The company has gone to great lengths to include every important factor involved in the current con- flict, and has succeeded in recreating the highly complex, “‘no-front’” type of Contest existing in the real situation. In addition, the system upon which the game is based enables it to be modified to re main up-to-date with the current state of the war The game itself is simple to play’ in the same man- ner that Chess is a simple’ game to play. Like Chess or AH games, the amount of thought involved in making a move is considerable ; there are a large number of variables’? to consider and it would be nearly impossible to play exactly the same game twice (unless, of course, it was done deliberately). The rules are lengthy and quite explicit. They must be read several times to become familiar with the unique methods of movement and battle. Once play starts, the action is constant and lasts approxi- mately one hour, Much to the credit of the designers, not one question was raised during the many S&T test games that was not covered in the rules. Quite a feat in a game of this nature! ‘The object of VIETNAM is to obtain either a “diplomatic” or a military vietory. ‘These two aspects of play effect one another and neither can be totally ignored. A diplomatic-victory is furthered by the skillfull manipulation of factors including propaganda, world opinion, government stability, etc. This gould have been an area involving @ good deal of “luckmanship” but Gamescience has handled it in a very realistic manner. A. military victory can be won by controlling 2 given number of provinces and bases with friendly forces. ‘The Government Forces have the advantage of air- mobility, strategic and tactical air power (including the bombing of NVN and the Lacs. infiltration routes) while the Viet Cong have an advantage in movement, infiltration, and tacties (including terror and ambush) (Conta on page 4)STRATEGY AND TACTICS Vol LNe 4 — EDITORIAL — Tam very pleased to announce that Ken Norris has consented to represent S&T in Great Britain. It is quite a problem to send funds outside GB at present, and Ken will be accepting subscriptions and advertisements for S&’} in pounds, ounces, etc., as a convenience for British wargamers. Mr. Norris, as you may have noticed, objects to almost everything printed here. However, he has several redeeming virtues and we are very happy to have him with us. One of Ken's redeeming virtues is that he subscribes to just about every historical and military publication worth its salt. One of the most valuable and interesting of these is a weekly periodical ‘entitled ““ History of the Second World War’*. The bulk of the material is written by people who were involved in the various campaigns of WWII and the photographs alone are worth the very reasonable ‘cost of the magazine (about 50¢ a copy). When complete, the 100 or so issues that are planned will form @ complete history of the war in six volumes. Special volume binders are also available for about $2.80 each. The Publisher?, Purnell & Sons Ltd., Gulf House, 2 Portman St., London, W1, England. The Editor-in-Chief ?, Sir Basil Liddell Hart—recommendation enough. We heartily recommend you drop the publisher a note immediately. If you have any difficulty, please feel free to call on Mr, Norris for assistance; his address is listed below. ? 8 We note that the Avalon Hill Company was kind enough to give S&T an excellent review, along with a completely garbled account of the AHIKS KOMMANDEUR and a nice outline of KAMPF, in the March issue of their house organ, THE GENERAL. In that same issue, we found an excellent article on the carly North African WWII campaigns by James Tribolet, and a light but competent review of AH MIDWAY tactics by Richard Shagrin particularly noteworthy. Of course, the AH PHILOSOPHY series has always intrigued us since it commenced, by coincidence, with the first issue of S&T. Roger R. Cormier, whose ad appears elsewhere in this issue, is about to go into limited production of a wargame dealing with the Battle of Trafalgar, Mr. Cormier has promised to pass an early copy to us for review and has gone to great lengths to produce what looks to be a very realistic game of exception= ally high physical quality. — Christopher Wagner — Strategy aud’ Tactics IN THIS ISSUE... A Journal of Americus Wargaming ol Ne 4—May 1967 SeT GAMP REVIEW Copyright © 1967 by Christopher R. Wagner GAMESCIENCE VIETNAM sewrvereeerenpage 1 nCemytit 18 yeas ey Neos || AM BLITZKRIEG-PART FOUR so-e--~puge 1 andes he lavmatione Cony et Ceitens | | WARFARE WITH MINIATURES pees Seer ners copage 3 Museabing, Fossa mae, Nibicama pu, AH STALINGRAD: THE NORTHERN OFFENSIVE JReatT ie ent er Bax BS Adetpha, NT OFTD, | | by raed Kroger non on USA Information is also. available fo J. K. Custom House, Wick, Caithness, Great Br Subscriptions_are available at either address for $500 a year, Single copy price is 0 Back isues | | RED ARMY OB. corre, | | MIDWAY PROBABILITY—SURFACE COMBAT by Jared Johnson page 6 Gop. Overseas, add 10¢ an sue for postage ULY 1941 through OCTOBER 1942 Headers are invited to contrite arices, Authors || 2ULY aa > of published. articles ‘will receive a. free one-year | | by John Videtto and Scott Berschig ------~-page 7 subscription oF cash at our current rates, REMAGEN BRIDGE-PART FOUR (COMBAT) CHRISTOPHER WAGNER by H. H, Bodenstedt Eaitor/Publishee HENRY H. BODENSTED’ POST BOX Representative. JK. NOR EATURE: TENCE, VIETNAM Editor and U.S. Representative for | | FUTURE Orrc. CHIG, Vat ADS itor; MYRON R. BRUNDAGE, C ae itor, JOHN VIDETTO, Research; CYL HERS, Graphic Arts and Copy. Great : Design ty KAMPF TRAFALGAR GA ME,Voll Ne 4 STRATEGY AND TACTICS Page 3 WARFARE MINIATURES WARGAME TERRAIN ‘The construction of wargame ter- rain, an often neglected subject, can be as much fun as creating an army. Many wargamers spend hundreds of hours molding, assembling and paint- ing their miniatures only to have their artistic masterpieces fight for wooden blocks, cardboard strips, and paper boxes, This doesn't seem to make sense and (again) I wonder if it wouldn't be just as well to stick to mapboard games, : ‘This is not to say that I feel wargame terrain should look like a diorama of a battle scene, as displayed in museums or at exhibitions. But 1 do feel that a little effort in building scenery “props” will greatly enhance the appearance of the table- top battlefield The most realistic battlegrounds can be created ina sand box. ‘There are no limits on your imagina- tion and changes can easily be made (you could even bury your casualties). Another excellent setting for a grand-scale wargame is the outdoors; nothing ‘man-made can compete with nature’s scenery. Ex: cellent plastic figures in 84mm scale, as produced by Britains and Marx, are ideal for use in ouidoor battles. Even a sudden downpour will not do them much harm. I have seen games that were left set up overnight (except for artillery pieces and me- chanical equipment) and continued the next day verse effects. Just _make sure to keep the dogs away... Sandbox and outdoor set-ups however, are a subject in themselves. For now, let us look at the Regulation Wargames Table (S&T Vol 1 Nr 1) and the possibilities of covering it with realistic and useful scenery. From the diagram, you will notice that the table is divided into 4inch-square sectors, each of which represents a definite area of terrain. ‘The seven basic forms of terrain, as they are usually dis tinguished in wargame rules are? (1) Open (Fields) ; (2) Hills, Mountains ; (3) Woods; (4) Roads, Trans- portation Lines; (6) Rivers, Lakes; (6) Swamps; (2) Buildings, “Structures. ‘(Hedge rows, fences, stone walls, eic, used in certain games are usually considered ‘obstacles with limiting or protecting features) ‘On the map for Remagen Bridge, all terrain fea- tures closely follow the squares. This is to show, without leaving any room for argument, the exact outline for each section of terrain. ‘This doesnot mean, however, that the shape of the actual terrain must follow the schematic right down to the “letter”. As a tule of thumb, any sector which consists partly ‘of woods, hills, ete, is considered as being that type of terrain as far as the ules are concerned this means that the outline of the terrain section could be in almost any desired shape, Let us take a closer look now at the construction of a mountain. ‘The first illustration shows the northern mountain section as it appears in the schematic set-up for Torauanon | 31 Jone 11] 11's | Pefore it withdraws from ghe battle, or at least cripple it before 1 | 100% 100% it gets another crack at one of your damaged carries. You need 2 | 100%, 9506 five hits to sink the enemy cruiser or four hits to cripple i 3 | 67% | 676 Would you fight one 1 battle, thee 1-1 battles, or @ 2-1 and a | a7% | 33 a I-1 battle? Perhaps you think it doesn't make any difference, 5 | 0% 6 tut it does. The accompanying charts will help you make the 6 | om : correct decisions "Ty al ree the percentage Tone Tone Silene BA we Tor] sven is the probability of getting at least the pars. eile | oe |S umber of bits needed. The figures in these charts should enable you to plan your own surface combat strategy. ‘There is only one thing not taken into account here; when you fight several 1-1 battles in- stead of one big battle, you may sink the enemy ship before all, the attacks you had planned are resolved. ‘The remaining attacks may be used against another ship. Of course, if there is only one enemy ship within range, there is no problem. a8 MINIATURES (Contd from page 3) When completed, set your masterpiece aside until all moisture has evaporated; this will take a day or so. Then soak in some yamish or shellac with @ paint brush to seal the pores and make the crust more durable. | Leftovers, even slightly thickened ‘ones, are ideal for this purpose. After this coat of sealer has dried, you can “grow” some vegetation and add some color. But, let’s talk about that in the next issue TRAFALGAR GAME Coming soon! blisoriclly acurte, naval wargame of sling shipe and cannon warfare. Played on mapborrd, about seventy ships, more t dred substitute counters in plastic trays with covers {o- keep them separated, plexiglas rangefinders, shielding chart to eliminate arguments about not Fring ‘through other ships, a cannon and_ boarding combat chart, two dice, complete rules for besic and tournament versions, mailing package and. postage, all for the reasonable price of eleven dollars, yes $11.00, "More than moat games cost, but that is HHB ‘what you are getting, more then most’ games offer. Send your order to (Check or money 219'S. Maple St. Apt 007 order; no cash)” Bloomington, Ind., 47401 ‘A play-by-mail kit is available for an extea $2.00, which uses the roster system, rather than a new sheet for each turn. This game is susceptible to play using the AHIKS combat system. Distribution to begin in May, firstcome, first: served. An early order is important; some items, the range finders, are hand produced. ORDER YOUR GAME NOW AND WATCH FOR THE S&T REVIEW! Roger R. Cormier LC.R.K. The Individual Combat Result Key is the system employed by AHIKS for resolving combat in all postal games played within the organization. It completely eliminates the necessity for saving news. papers and waiting for stock market quotations that is involved in the standard system. The ICRK system is a fool-proof method of resolving PBM combat with a series of actual die- rolls. Essentially, the ICRK Custodian rolls the die about two hundted times for each player. He then sends a list of the die rolls to be used for player A’s combat to player B and vice versa. He also keeps a record of the rolls on file. Player A simply informs his opponent of where in the series of rolls he should start when resolving his attacks for a particular tum, An easy-to-use system is em- ployed so that the aitacker may start anywhere in the series of rolls, may skip around from turn to turn, or whatever. When the defender returns the attacker's battle results, he includes the appropriate portion of the ICRK to varify the results OF course, some very ingenius arrangement of the ICRK jis involved so that, on one standard-sized sheet of paper, there are enough results to satisty the requirement for most games. The same sheet also acts as a record of the ‘set’? and lists the addresses of the participants. The ICRK is one of the major benefits a war- gamer enjoys by becoming a member of this out standing organization designed to. serve serious hobbyists around the world, We strongly suggest you drop a note to them for further information. Write: Fred A. Webster (President), 844 Ashcomb Drive, Valinda, Calif., 91744, or Alan E. Mandell (Secretary), 899 Kenwick Road, Columbus, Ohio.Vol Nea WARTS) RED ARMY ORDER OF BATTLE ‘Translator’s Comments There seems to be much controversy over the validity of source information used in the design of wargames, Accordingly, we have prevailed upon John Videtto, who did the translation work for the S&T Red Army OB, to give us his thoughts on the subject. Mr. Videtto, by the way, thas recently become permanently embroiled in SET —it was cheaper than paying him... SCB The Red Army Order-of-Battle for the Eastern Front was compiled from three main sources. THE SOVIET MILITARY HISTORY OF THE SEC- OND WORLD WAR (1946 edition) was the primary source. Also used were Marshal of the Soviet’ Union Gregori Zhukov's DEFENSE OF MOSKVA, and a history of Soviet armor develop- ment, ARMORED WARFARE. These three works have never been translated into English. The Office of Military History of the U.S. Army has been working on the Soviet Military Histroy but has ‘yet to finish the translation. The sooner after the war a Soviet work was published, the more accurate it is usually found to be. The Soviets change the official version of cer- tain key battles or strategic decisions every time they publish a new text. An especially good ex- ample of this tendency is the belittling of the part played by the Far Eastern Army's Siberian Rifle Divisions in the defense of Moscow in 1941. Mar- shal Zhukov and other Soviet military writers tend to gloss over the Siberians’ contributions to the overall defense, claiming that the Eastern troops were only a very small percentage of the forces involved. This is true, providing you add to the total the four to five million city residents who served in the untrained civilian defense units As far as the trained forces (of which the Siberian units were probably the best), the Eastern troops made up about 45% of the total Another problem that arose in the preparation of this OB was that of unit designators. ‘The only place you could possibly find all of the unit desig- nators would be the Soviet Military Archives, w are not open to even Soviet citizens. No Wester publication, including the Wehrmacht Intelligence reports, has more than 50% of the units listed by actual name, Still more confusion occurs due to the fact that many Soviet units were known by several different designations. The Soviet First Moskva Motorized Rifle Division, for example, was also known as the 35th or 36th Motorized Division, ‘as well as the 3rd Guards Motorized Division. The STRATEGY AND TACTICS Page 7 T designation listed in S&T uses the Russian system with which I was able to identify the maximum number of units, With these limitations in mind, ‘The Red Army Order-of-Battle presented here is, in my opini at least 90% accurate as to total number of units, type, place/date of arrival, and relative strength, The unit designations, when recovered, are less accurate; I would say about 60-70%... . John Videtta RED ARMY ORDER OF BATTLE: JULY 1941--OCTOBER 1942 In the following, the first item indicates the unit size (XX-division, XXX-corps, ete), the second ele- ment is the number of units, the third gives the relative combat/movement value, the fourth shows the type of arm, and the last indicates the unit designator(s) when known. JULY 1941 MOSCOW: XX two 46 Inf 177-178 X one 2-8 Arm rat two Eng 305,307 LENINGRAD: X three Tat X one Arm rat one Eng 201 KIEV: X four 2-6 Inf X one 2-8 Cav AUGUST 1941 MOSCOW: XX one 4-6 Inf 179 X one 2-8 Arm ret LENINGRAD; X x ret KIEV: x x LENIN Five Xone 1-8 Arm rat one 1-6 Eng 315 KIEV: X sik 2-6 Int X one FB Cay OCTOBER 194i MOSCOW XX int 180 x 8 Arm rat 6_Eng 319-322 LENINGRAD: X two 3-6 Tal X two 248 Arm rat__one 1-6 Eng 32% KIEV: X three 2-6 Inf XK two 2-8 Cay NOVEMBER i9at MOSCOW: Xone 3-6 Inf X one 2-8 Arm rat two 2-6 Eng 316-317Page 8 STRATEGY AND TACTICS Vol Ne Red Army OB contined—Novenber 1941 MOSCOW: = X four 2-6 Inf = See X four 28 Arm LENINGRAD: X eight 2-6 Inf LENINGRAD; X thre 26 Inf X thee 1-8 Arm rt one 2-6 Eng 327 BOSTON: ODESSA Xone 1-8 Cay — eo KUBISHEV: DECEMBER i941 MOSCOW: XX three 4-6 Inf 181-183 X five 3-6 Inf | X five 2-8 Arm - rat_two 2-6 Eng 329-330 | moscow: XX one 46 LENINGRAD: X six Inf X four tat one 2-6 Eng 331 X two ROSTOV: —-Xwo 8 Cav at _‘og = STALINGRAD: X two 2-6 Inf JANUARY 1942 X two 28 Arm MOSCOW: XX 184 AUGUST 1942 x - - xx on KUBISHEV: XX six 46 Inf 906-311 ae X two 36 Inf XX three 4-8 Arm 226-230 LENINGRAD: X oF eet ae tom x | XX one 5-6 Eng i 7 vi OX f moore: sagt MOSCOW: two Hi Inf . - STALINGRAD: X six 2-6. Inf FEBRUARY 1942 X three 28 Arm MOSCOW: XX two 46 Inf 185-185 | BATUM: XX two 4-8 Cay 4 X four 3-6 Inf _ _ Geese XX two 4-8 Arm 225-226 SEPTEMBER 1942 Xone 3-6 Eng KUBISHEV: XX two 46 Inf 312-313 LENINGRAD: X four 26 Inf X three 3-6 Inf X four 3-8 Arm XX two 4-10 Arm 231-232 X one 3-6 Eng X three 3-10 Arm ROSTOV: Xone: 3-8 Cav xX pee es Bae - a Moscow: two Inf MARCH 1942 | X four Inf XX three 4-6 Inf 187-189 X two Arm X four 3-6 Inf X two Eng x ge be Ai | STALINGRAD: XX two Inf 314-315 X two 3-6 Eng X three Inf MOSCOW: =X sik -2-6. Inf X two Arm x me Se Eee OCTOBER 1942 ‘APRIL 1342 KUBISHEV; XX five 5-6 Inf 76-80 KUBISHEV: XX seven 4-6 Inf 190-196 XX five 4-6 Inf 316-320. X seven 2-8 Arm XX three 4-10 Arm 233-235, MoscOW: —-X_— eight 3-6 Inf 36 _ Suen orm X one 3-3 Eng MOSCOW: —-X seven 2-6 Inf ay 3 X three 3-8 Arm ae STALINGRAD: X five 3-6 Inf KUBISHEV: XX four 46 Inf 197-200 XX three 4-8 Arm 236-238 X one 346 Inf . ea “Gee “Copurcames % Tee | paTUM XX one 4-8 Cav § CossackVol Ned STRATEGY AND TACTICS Page 9 by Henry H. Bodenstedt PART FOUR— (COMBAT) After the attacker has completed firing, the ‘* morale’’ of all units, still adjacent to hostile units, must be checked (this is important since it often determines the outcome of the battle). BASIC ODDS Basic odds are computed first, The attacker divides the battle front into individual battles by indicat ing which of his sectors are in combat with which enemy-held sectors. He must attack every host sector to which he is adjacent, but he is allowed to “ soak-off ” weaker sectors against stronger ones to improve odds in other battles.” Soak-offs at odds worse than 1—6 are not permitted. Tt is not permissible to split up the attacking or defending forces within a single sector. Odds are computed by adding the Combat Values of the attacking and defending units and dividing the higher total Combat Value by the lower one. The defender’s Combat Value must be increased, if necessary, to get an even division. Example: 29-10 is 2-1, 6-7 is 1-2, ete. ‘After the odds of a battle have been computed, the attacker rolls a die and refers to the Combat Morale Chart for the results. The battle must then be resolved immediately, following the instructions ‘on that chart, The attacker may resolve his battles in any sequence he wishes, until every battle has been fought. THIS ENDS THE ATTACKER’S TURN. AUTOMATIC VICTORY ‘As soon as certain attacking units outnumber defending units at odds of 7-1 or better, the zone of control of these defending units is disregarded. Units not yet moved by the attacker may then pass through squares adjacent to the defeated units, but not through the enemy held sector -itself. All units involved in the Automatic Vietory—attacking, and defending—eannot be moved until Combat has been COMBAT MORALE/RESULTS TABLE EXPLANATION OF COM- i BAT MORALE CHART FIRE-CONTACT:: Sectors engaged in bate simul- taneously exchange ie once . lar j DD After removing casualties, ENG. ENG.| DW ' Dw | DRI | DRA |ecing/etiM |etim| 1 | Morale is rolled again, con: AW ENG. ENG. ENG. DW | DRS | DRE) .DA/ Dla | cluding the battle for this ie Fie | IEE. pe a Bg] turn. The defender, in his an? Ger cron crer, £NS. | DR? | DES | ORE leriy turn, must either counter-at- ji FIRE. FIRE, FIRE) py | pra ck’ or withdraw. asi | aw [eter] creri ener De [Oe [oni [ome | «HE ot oe exchange, ari ake ENG. EIR. EIREV FIRE! pw paz | pea | 5 | one side is completely elimi f Tee nated, survivors of the win- ning ide may move into the ORE =a a rE vacated. sector(s) ‘ODDS WORSE THAN 1—6=A ELIM - ODDS BETTER THAN 6—1=D ELIM ENGAGED. ‘tiie defend> er, in his turn, may not move any units out of the engaged sectors. He has the option to counter-attack. He may also bring up reinforcements, in which case he MUST counter-attack During the firing portion of the following turn, it is not permissible to fire out of, into, or within the engaged sectors ‘The original attacker, in his next tum, must counterattack. He may not move any of his engaged units but has the option to reinforce DW OR AW: The loser must withdraw from his position(s) ONE sector in any direction. Winner does not advance. It is not permissible to withdraw into a hostile zone of control or onto terrain that is off-limits" to the withdrawing unit(s). H-no other way is open, withdrawing units are eliminated. DR OR AR: The loser will be routed (set-back) by the winner as many sectors as indicated. The winner cannot force the routed units into his zone of control, into a river, or off the board, if other routes are open. If all retreat routes are cut, the loser’s units are eliminated.” “ Zig-za,"" moves (those back and forth on the same squares) are illegal _ Restricting terrain, except for rivers or in the case of units which cannot enter woods or hills, will not eect a rout. Disabled vehicles are abandoned (eli BASIC ODDS ] me | fe fs fet | oa | an | sa | oa . ele eel ae wii AR | Aw _ENG | ENG,[ENG.|ENG.| pw [oma | 6 ated) a rout, “ a ext page)46 Page 10 STRATEGY AND TACTICS Vol Nr 4 The winner may move up one sector less than the | North of the RR bridge (B8-BI1) is a good spot rout called for. ‘The fst sector entered must be | because i keeps the construction ste out of German ne of those vacated by the defender. Advancing | reach for a while. This is especially important, if re and stop the fret hostile zone of control | the RR bridge succumbs early in the game. To they encounter, Restricting tereain must be obered | build a pontoon bridge directly adjacent to the RR oy adtanna “ Yee" | bridge (J7-J10) is not advisable ; peegaineed Ga fae adteanes: , man attacks would soon destroy it. Another eee EM INATED: All ofthe loser's units | igcation would be the south end of the board ‘near are removed from the board. The winner may oc: | ©7-Q10, especially if the engineers are industrious eupy the sector(s) vacated by the loser, arranging | and the Ludendorit Bridge stands up for u while his units in them as he sees fit. Restricting terrain | "Ample protection must be provided to keep the must be obeyed. Germans away from the construction site. The Buf- OPNONAL NIGET MOVE falo, of course, must support this protective effort by ferrying armored cars and anti-tank guns. GERMAN : The Germans have very little choice atfirst. All they can do is to make a desperate ef fort to hold the forces: crossing the RRC bridge for a tum or two. ‘As soon as the German reserves come on the board, they should try to get at the pontoon bridge, Tums 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 are NIGHT MOVES during which the Fire portion of the turn is omitted Regular Combat will take place, however. The U.S. engineers receive only 50¢% of the points rolled for their bridge building or repairing efforts. (Fractions do not count), During the day moves, U.S. air superiority for- | especially if it is built a good distance away from ges the Germans to move with extreme caution. | the RR bridge. If they succeed in destroying the Therefore, all German Movement Factors are re- | first pontoon bridge and the forees that have crossed duced by one (a minimum move of one sector is | into that area, it is no great problem to decimate always assured), Also, German units do not receive | the US bridgehead opposite Remagen systematically. the Road Bonus during day-time moves. Movement | This is particularly true once the RR bridge has in mountains or woods is not effected. fallen into the Rhine. ‘ BOTH SIDES should remember to make full use ROUTES ON PLAY of their long-range artillery. The US should try oes cae Stmteay 10 Pe employed by the Ameri: | to ‘bring at least. one howitzer across in the carly cans depends a great deal on how soon the Luden- | part of th , disregarding the danger of losin dort Bridge collapses. “There is no question that | Ffgter on. “The Germans have to be t litle more during the first four moves, the US must push s | conservative, keeping their heavy guns well protected many armored units across as possible. It is not | from enemy tanke; once they’ are lost, there are advisable to clutter the Bridge with Infantry if there | no more... Remember to move guns by hight when- is motorized equipment within reach of ever possible; they cannot fire at night anyway. A pontoon bridge must be built at once (2nd turn). “THE END* EVERYTHING FOR REMAGEN BRIDGEHEAD! PARATROOPS LUDENDORFF BRIDGE (MHRKLIN) $4.50) PONTOON BRIDGE, KIT $3.95 CONTINENTAL HOBBY SUPPLIES Military Miniatures, War Game Accessories and Literature P.O. Box 116, Adelphia, New Jersey - 07710 © ny et 3: Arent pte [OSes punetnemecesen ona ncriow pepVol Uwe 4 to Strategy o7710. Address comments, suggestions, et and Tacties, Box 65, Adelphia, N. SCOTT DUNCAN T'm glad to see that you aren’t going to open up n “Opponents Wanted” section (even though my initial letter somewhat favored this). The 5¢/word rate will handle ths «afterall the USCF doesn’t advertise such requests an provides players, with as many games as they can handle To John Dotson; an admirable solution to a little used and even less admirable rule... there is n0 way to fit in a ‘‘reaonable” nuclear rule unless you begin to develop. a whole Cold-War strategy around it. Even McNamara and the Joint Chi can’t’ agree on how to handle ICBM, ete, problems Variants and J. K. Norris: Mr. Norris has stated it rather plainly, but is a bit overboard when he says that it is a’ “complete waste of, time printing amended rules to the published rules.”” I agree that there are limits, however, to what you can get away with in terms of variations, though. The E and STALINGRAD variants are certainly “improvements” over the basic AH pattern; but they go too far in changing the games and making ew parts (the same fault the GENERAL has with BLITZ’ rules for sea power and radar, etc.), People, in general, will not want such a big change in the game because they do get used to the basic one by AH. Even the unfsimess of the STALINGRAD rules is a challenge desired by everyone no matter what variants they may tum to every so often. For this reason, I would encourage the type of rule clarifieation which you are doing in BLITZ’ for ‘other games, with alight rule changes. The errors in many games and confusing interpretations MUST. tbe cleared up and made more amenable to playing conditions and one’s nerves. But the many variants that arise must be carefully weighed so that only the “best” get into print. In effect, the variants avoid the issue of the game itself by changing it into a completely new game altogether (rather than to revise what is there). Like Mr. Noms, I feel that, if you have such plans for realistic improve- ments, you should create a whole new game and make certain that the blunders are out of it, rather than attack a game which currently exists For example, the small variations and added rules to games like AK, ‘GRAD, or WATERLOO (which have no tournament games) could become tourna- ment and optional games rather than a change in the entire game, In ’GRAD, things like auto- victory can be added to the basic game, if one wishes, without serious repercussions; but rules, adding air counters and air bases seem to me to be creating a new game entirely. ‘They are excellent ideas, but they aren’t ‘GRAD or BLITZ” (the navies here, for example). If you really want to start STRATEGY AND TACTICS Page 11 hitting games for accuracies in rules and actual battle situations as in the war itself, you ean knock all sorts of things in 'GRAD just as in BLITZ’; but there’s a limit somewhere. ‘As usual, Mr. Duncan raises some valid points. His letter was written before he received our third issue outlining our position on variants. To wit: the variants are not intended to “run down” an existing game, or t change the rules for that master. We are attempting to provide an alternate game that utilizes most of the existing parts of the original J.K. NORRIS It is a_matter for some regret that a magazine such as Strategy & Tactics sets out to be should, in its very first article, miss the most important point of all in dealing’ with the game of BLITZ- KRIEG by Avalon Hill. ¥ refer of course to the fact that the game is first and foremost and AIR WAR GAME, and that the introduction of ground forces is incidental. (11! Ed) True, in the move- ment of ground forces, this is the first real AHL game in which strategic thought is required at all stages of the game; but even so, the first and most important task of the ground forces is the defense of Air Bases. In all this, I am of course talking about the game of BLITZKRIEG for the more serious player, using the optional rules of fighter aircraft and Nu: clear attacks. Without the use of these rules the game is suitable for only the twelve-year-olds, as indicated on the box. ‘Naturally, using all the optional rules makes far higher demands on the players, it is therefore quite understandable that the Strategy é& Tactics Staff, being unable to make use of the finer points of the game, have, of necessity, to look around for some other rules to change in order to give themselves a chance. It is a pity, a great pity, that a better example than the question of using a captured city in the same turn as it is captured, in order to bring in troops, bese aircraft, and supply the at- tackers, was not picked, Could it possibly be that, no-one has heard of the Port of Cherbourg, which, cleared of the enemy by the end of June 1944, was only just coming into full use as a supply port by the following January ? I do agree with S&T in one thing, however, and that is the degeneration of BLITZKRIEG into a game of attrition... without Nuclear weapons. An- ‘other way of putting it would be to call the game “Brute Strength and Ignorance”. You just pile all your artillery and strong armour into three squares and “Charge”. If BLITZKRIEG is to be consider: ced at all ‘realistic, the one lesson that it should teach is the virtue of dispersal. It can hardly claim any degree of realism when the more units stacked fon one square, means the safer those units are from air attack Did I hear someone say they didn’t agree? Dear me, Well, don’t ust sit there, write the Baltor about it. JAMES J. STEIN Last February first, 1 held an impromptu and highly enlightening interview with Mr. Thomas Shaw, the official Avalon Hill representative at the 47Page 12 STRATEGY AND TACTICS Vol Ned POST BOX (Cont'd from puge 11) recent Hobby Show in Chicago. I was invited to the show (which is generally restricted to hobby dealers and wholesalers) as a guest of the company, and I thought this to be a marvelous opportunity to clear up some of the fog-shrouded issues found in WATERLOO. The results of that interview would make Blucher and Wellington turn over in their respective crypts. The answers that I shakenly wrote down all but outlaw a PAA vietory! Twill deal with the more serious infringements on play balance, which, despite what anyone says, ia neces- sary for a financially successful game. 1, Can units entering the board come on in column, fone unit per square, or must they be stacked 15 factors per square. AH ANSWER: Incoming units must be stacked 15 factors per square. Il, Are the following squares, which a river just barely touches, considered to be river squares AH ANSWER: NO. They are not considered river squares. ‘The squares in question are: Y14, Y15, X19, Nel, A32, $25, and V8. AHL further ex- plained that these were errors in the printing of the board TIL Can a unit move to a bridge square and then down the river its full remaining movement rate in the same tum? AH ANSWER: Yes. IV. Can @ unit move to 2 road-river square like BB38 and then move off that square to BB37 (thus in effect crossing an unbridged river without stop- ping) in the same tun? AH ANSWER: NO. You could not move from BB38 to BB37 in the same turn. V. Would the same apply to a road-forest square ? For instance could a unit move to square C44 and then to square C45 in the same tun? AH AN- SWER: ‘The same situation would apply. The unit could not move to C45 unless he started his tum in an immediately adjacent square. ‘These five judgements, with the first two being singularly odious, in all probability preclude the PAA from ever again entering the winner's circle. In former times there seemed to be two divided ‘camps concerning who should win in WATERLOO. Well, the above ‘clarifications’ should bring harmony to these camps. There now will be one monolithic consensus of opinion. Surprising as it may seem, Mr. Stein would have have gotten exactly the same answers from us as those he received from Tom Shaw. Further, a quick poll of the S&T staff indicated that, of the Six active wargamers here, only one has lost a single game as the PAA in the last year or so. We ‘advised Mr. Stein of this fact and received the following reply. It is the contention of our group (an all adult wargaming“ club" consisting of Jack Donovan, Jim McDonnell, Jim Patten, Terry ‘Ben, and my’ self) that the French cannot lose in WATERLOO, as it stands now, using our French attack plan. ‘Our experience in WATERLOO is a follows: the first 10 games the French won every time, Then we discovered an excellent PAA defense, resulting in a string of about 10 straight PAA wins. We then were informed of the AH judgements as stated in my (frst letter) and the PAA has yet to win since then. It is possible that we have overlooked some strategem useful to the PAA, but until some- ‘one shows us the error of our ways we will con- tinue to maintain our present position, The problem, of course, is quite an old one. Wargamers have long been violently split on the subject of who has the “edge” in WATERLOO. Literally everyone claims to have the game “ figured out” and the S&T staffers are no exception ‘This exchange of letters with Mr. Stein has generated a good deal of serious, objective discus- ston here (not to mention several games) and has led us to the opinion that WATERLOO is a very finely balanced game after all. It is most certainly ‘a game in which maneuver and time/distance rela- vionships play a very important role and. therefore. one in which the more competent, imaginative Player is likely. to win regardless of sides. The imbalance, if any, is definitely not as great as that in STALINGRAD. As much as we desire to avoid taking sides in issues of this nature, the consensus here is as fol- lows. Player skill being equal, we feel that the French player must resort to bold, ‘“chancy” tactics in order to win against a well planned and competently executed PAA defense. Readers are invited to submit detailed French attack plans or other comments either “ pro” or “con”, and SET. will open a forum beginning with our next issue for the purpose of discussing WATERLOO tactics IN OUR NEXT ISSUE. NAVAL WARGAME SPECIAL JUTLAND REVIEW? A look at Avalon Hill’s out ‘standing new naval game~a table top game in a box! PLUS a special feature on JUTLAND design, by James F. Dunnigan, whose KAMPF organization aided AH in the game's research and development. FLETCHER PRATT’S NAVAL GAMES A review by Conteibuting Editor Myron Brundage. MRB is responsible for a great increase of interest in these games around Chicago and we want t spread the HANS BRENNECKE, German wargamer of the “old school, brings us another of his interesting, articles on tactics for AH games—SURPRISE. LOUIS ZOCCHI, the only man named after a river in AH Blitzkrieg, turns his talents to table top with RECREATING THE “FOG OF BATTLE” PLUS RED ARMY OB, THE S&T WATERLOO FORUM, OUR REGULAR COLUMN BY HENRY H. BODENSTEDT, AND MUCH MORE ! FUTURE FEATURES SIEGE OF BODENBURGH « medeval Table Top kame by TT Editor Henry H. Bodenstede INTRODUCTION TO *GO" an exposure to one of the oldest and roost interesting games in the workl by JARED JOHNSON WAGON WHEEL CHESS « concise Chess variant by Robert Stillman that is so yood it will be printed fs an exception to our normal editorial poliey SCOTT DUNCAN presents A NEW COMBAT PHILOSOPHY of interest to AH and TT wargamers alike