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PAGE 2
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The A Y A L O I H I L L
Ine [ lame rlayers magazine
The Avalon Hil l GENERAL is dedicated to the presenta-
tion of authoritative articles on the strategy, tactics, and
variation of Avalon Hill games of strategy. Historical articles
are included on ly insomuch as they provide useful back.
ground information on current Avalon Hi ll titles. THE
GENERAL is published y the Avalon Hill Company solely
for the cultural edification of the seriousgame aficionado, in
the hopes of improving the game owner's proficiency of play
and providing services not otherwise available to the Avalon
Hill game buff.
Publ~cations bimon thl y with mailings madeclose to
the end of February. April, June, August, October, and
December. All editorial and general mail should besen t to
the Avalon Hill Game Company. 4517 Harford Rd..
Baltimore. MD 21 214. One year
subscriptions
are $7.50.
Trial subscriptions of 4 Issues for $5.00are
available.
A
two year subscrlptlon is only
$12.00.
Send checks or
money orders only. Not responsible or cash lost in translt.
All subscript~ons ent vla bulk permit. Alrmail and 1st
class delivery mus t be prearranged wlth the subscription
department at add~ti onal ost. Address chanqes must be
submttted to n
advance to gu Y
type IS accepl e
wargamlng cc
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sollclted.
Articles from subscribers are considered for publication at
the discretion of our edi toria l staff. Articles should be
typewritten, double-spaced. and embrace the tenets of good
English usage. There is no l imit to word length. Accompany-
ing examples and diagrams should e neatly done in black or
red ink. Photographs should have caption and credit line
written on bacl r
po~aible.
EDITOR: Oonal
GRAPHICS: n.llllnull I
Moores, Steve Oliff, Charles
.-...
I.. -.
EDITO RIAL STAFF: J. Angiolillo. R. Beyma,
w.
uucnan-
an. D. Burdick, S. Carus, R. Chiang, J. Connolly. J. Davis.
R. Easton. A. Gruen, R. Harnblen. R. Harm0n.T. Haz1ett.T.
Hilton. J. Jarvinen. R. Livermore. R. Medrow.
0.
Miller. T.
Oleson. G. Phi llies. L. Pinsky, R. Plock. J. Pournel le. R.
Reed. M. Saha, 0.Turnbull, M. Uhl, C. Vasey, L.Zocchi.
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THEGENERA
I
I
Avalon Hill Philoso~hvPart 6
VAUDEVILLE REVISITED
At the risk of sounding like a 2nd rate
burlesque comic, this time around we've got
both good news and bad news. The good news is
that you can stop worrying-we didn't forget to
insert your VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC mapsheet
and counters i n his issue. The bad news is that
there isn't any insert I'm afraid we've reneged
on our pledge of 4 months ago to bring you
VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC as a WAR AT SEA
game variant in the Ju ly issue. After con-
siderable thought and much work, we decided
the best course was to issue VICTORY IN THE
PACIFIC
as it s own separate game. This decision
came about because VITP became far more than
a game variant-it required a 22" x 28" map,
several hundred two-sided counters, and a
game system which evolved into something only
faintly resembling WAS. This hardly left it in the
"variant" classification. We are determined not
to add to the game glut with a game in every
issue and therefore steered away from inferior
production of wha t is, for all intents &purposes,
a brand new game. The
GENERAL S
primary
purpose is to analyze games-not publish them.
And besides, VITP turned out to be too damn
good to use in a magazine formatwh ere i two uld
have suffered from inferior paper maps and
counters. The game itself has evolved into such
a sophisticated and fine-tuned effort that it is
almost difficult to remember that it sprang from
WAS. The basicsimplicity and playabilty of W A S
remains, but
VITP
is a far better simulation-
albeit a longer one.
VITP
isadvertized elsewhere
in his issue and once you've given it a try, you'll
be glad we hit you up for $9.00ra therthan afre e
paper variant that wo uld have been ravaged in a
couple of plays. If the reception the game
received at ORIGINS 77 is any indication, you'll
be playing this one many times.
So much for the perhaps bad news. The real
good news is that from now on you can expect
the GENERAL to arrive in four color splendor
wi th separate inserts for the previous tear away
departments such as counters, RBG, Opponents
Wanted and contest forms. No more defacing
your magazine to take advantage of any
magazine feature. Wi th this change, we become
a true 3 6 pp. magazine at last, and end our most
consistent complaint from you . . . the reader-
ship. It just goes to show-if you complain long
enough, eventually you'll get action.
ORIGINS
77
ORIGINS Il l in NYC was another in the series
of outstanding milestone successes for the
hobby. The con drew 2,200 to the Big Apple to
enjoy yet another well run national showpiece
for the wargaming fraternity. Over 50 tour-
naments and seminars as well as 30 exhibitors
were on hand to entertain the hobby faithful.
The Charles Roberts Awards were once again
decided by convention attendees' votes and saw
Avalon Hill walk off wit h two of the five
honors in he form of Tom Shaw's election to the
Hall of Fame where he joins Don Turnbull and
James Dunnigan as inductees. THE RUSSIAN
CAMPAIGN
was Best Strategic Game of the
Year to round out the AH awards. S.P.I. likewise
took home two Charlies for Best Tactical Game
(TERRIBLE SWIFT SWORD) and Best Magazine
(S
& T)forthe thirdstraigh t year. GDW broke in
the winner's circle with a Charlie for Be
Graphics
(AVALANCHE).
The Awards Ceremo
was followed by a spirited auction which sa
Richard Berg extracting heretofore unse
sums for used games-both collectors' item
and stil l availablegames. Among the bids: $9.
for a used KINGMAKER, $6.00 for AFRIK
KORPS, $15.00 for a n autographed copy of t
original Charles Roberts TACTICS rules, a
$60.00 for the inevitable prized copy
TRAFALGAR.
The Avalon Hill booth did a boomi
business-beating our ORIGINS II sales by
considerable margin. VICTORY IN THE PACIF
got off to a sl ow start due to the lack of pre-c
publicity, but sales picked up briskly on Saturd
and Sunday after gamers spotted the easy
learn game in play all over the student unio
But the real surprise of the convention for
was the acceptance of
RAIL
BARON-alia
BOXCARS. A few were sold Friday and play
that evening. Word spread fast and by Sund
we had sold out of a non-wargame at a wargam
convention Believe us, if you'rea t all inclined
take our advertising seriously, give
RAIL BARO
a try. We heard nary a discouraging word re: th
title and doubtless sold more of it than th
majority of the exhibitors sold of their respecti
wargames. SQUAD LEADER led our sal
parade, followed by
GETTYSBURG, VITP, RA
BARON, CAESAR-ALESIA, SPEED CIRCU
ARAB ISRAELI WARS, THE RUSSIAN CA
PAIGN,
and
KINGMA KER. ASSAULT ON CRE
was highly sought after, but wasn't ready a
wil l not be released until the fall when it wi ll o
SQUA D LEADER
i n he MAILORDER ONLY lin
Detailed information on the new releases
available elsewhere in this issue.
ORIGINS itself also took several gian tstrid
toward growing up when the 9 largest exhibito
agreed to unite to incorporate the ORIGIN
name, and form a steering committee to deci
the site of future cons. Detroit won the bid f
ORIGINS IV i n a close vote over a Chica
company. The actual host for ORIGINS 78 wil l
the Detroit Metro Gamers' Association who w
be bonded to the ORIGINS committee
guarantee their performance. The actual da
and time for next year's National convention h
been tentatively set for July 14-16 at th
University of Michigan inAnnArbor.The Detr
group has successfully sponsored a number
smaller regional cons in he past and should do
fine job. We hope to see many Midwest game
next year who couldn't make it to the East Coa
cons.
WHAT'S COOKING?
We didn't blow our whole wad at ORIGINS-
we have plans for several more new game
before the year is out.
Expansion kits for SQUAD LEADER a
already in the works. By spring we hope to hav
a revised 2nd edition rulebook available
correct any gliches which may have crept in
the firs t edition. I n particular we discovered tha
the red "plate" printed off center in a fe
Continued on
Pg 32.
Col.
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TH
GENER L
P GE
PLAYING YOUR H A N D
IN KINGMAKER B y R i c h a r d B e r g
THE PLAY'S THE THING WHEREIN TO CATCH TH E KING
If Andr ew McNeil as the designer is the ather of
K I N G M A K E R , Richard Berg is n o less than its
American Godfather . It was Richard w h o dis -
covered the English sensat ion and arranged its irst
sale o n these shores b.vencouraging SPl's impor t ing
of the Philmar, L td . English edi t ion. .Just as
important l. , it was Richard's glowing reviews in
numerous h o b b y journals that w o n the game its'
initial American audience. Berg can 1a.v claim t o
mor e than just converting
fellow^
Yanks t o the
novelties o f K I N G M A K E R however . He's never
been bes ted in a game yet and considering his
fondness f or treachery and the fact that
K I N G M A K E R IS a mult i -player game where the
losers can gang u p o n the seeming leader that's a
considerable boas t . M a y b e that's w h y it's s o hard t o
get h im into a game these days w h y risk such a
record once the w o r d is out o n y o u .
Of the 3 o r so historical simulations that have
appeared in the last decade undoubted ly one of the
most unusual is K I N G M A K E R , Andrew MacNeil's
politically-oriented game o n the Wars of the Roses.
It never ceases t o amaze me tha t a game which
covers so esoteric a period in history (at least for
Americans) as the baronial conflicts in the English
15th century has caught o n with such rapid facility.
T h e reasons for this a r e interesting because they
cast light on the thought processes of the gamer , a n
area into which publishers and designers have tread
with great trepidation. Until the arrival of
K I N G M A K E R
(it first appeared in the US in its
first edition in the early spring of 1975 but had been
circulating throughout England for a t least a year
prior t o that) only one game of similar design had
ever held the public's interest more t h a n briefly:
D I P L O M A C Y . This simulation of power politics
a n d abstracted military aggrandizement had been a
cult ever since its introduction in the early 1960's. It
was immensely popula r a n d , now tha t we can look
back a t it, quite simple in its intent. It made its
players assume roles s o much so that they were
forced t o play the game with a psychological insight
never before used in even the most complex
simulations. The player was not only playing the
game. he was playing the other players And this
does not mean he was playing against the o ther
players; ra ther he was using them to further
h isown
aims. Luck was eliminated; the player survived on
his own wits entirely. He controlled destiny. a n d he
controlled it absolutely.
T h e formula worked, and D I P L O M A C Y was a
raging success-at least within the finite bu t
growing circle of simulation enthusiasts. Now, what
usually happens with success is that it gets copied.
(Witness this year's Box Office thrill,
Airpor t 77,
the
third in a series of movies designed with the dua l
intent of keeping one away from both airports a n d
theatres). But a decade passed without
D I P L O M A C Y
receiving a serious challenge. T o be
sure, o ther games of similar ilk appeared : O R I G I N S
O F W W l l is a sort of poor cousin of
D I P L O M A C Y ,
but it has neither the interest o r
elan of its more successful relative. DYNASTY was
a short-lived, "local" effort to translate role-playing
t o the Far East. It had all the elements t o produce
success, but it never got off the ground, which is too
bad a s it con ta ins some truly intriguing ideas.
Thus the Role-Playing, Power-Polit ics field was
left entirely t o
D I P L O M A C Y , a vacuum that I , fo r
one, never quite understood. T h e game was so
obviously successful; and it certainly was no brain-
twister in the Design depar tment . T h a t it ruled the
field as sole occupant for so many years is still a
mystery. Yet, Nature a b h o r s a vacuum and into this
drought of design stepped Andrew McNeil. Work-
ing for a long period of time testingdesigns, shaping
ideas and molding theories he came u p with the first
new Power Politics game t o seriously challenge-
and intrigue-the Dippy buffs. But
K I N G M A K E R
was different, for
K I N G M A K E R
did not rely solely
on the players' wit t o produce a result. MacNeil was
too familiar with the history of the period to keep
the play in the hands of the players, for the "play" of
the Wars of the Roses was never really totally in the
hands of even its best practitioners. There was t o o
much fate, t o o many uncertainties, too much out-
and-out luck-both bad as well as good. And this is
what provides the t remendous drawing power of
K I N G M A K E R ,
fo r not only does the player have t o
play the other players but now he has to battle the
Hand of Fate. T h e players are easy t o watch; it is
Fa te that often deals the cruelest blow.
T h e heart of
K I N G M A K E R
is the marvelous
series of cards which direct the play of the game.
C a r d s had never before been used t o such a n extent,
and with such amazing effect, in a confl
simulation. Perhaps other designers felt constrain
to avoid the "Monopoly" influence, o r the seemi
utter randomness of such a system. But
K I N G M A K E R
it worked. T h e two series of cards
Event and Crown-are the game. The recent, a
excellent, article in The General(Vo1. 13, No. I)
Rober t Harmon is well-worth referring to as
reminder of what each card in the game can do, a
how often it can d o it.
And knowing what the cards can d o s the key
the game.
Strategy in
K I N G M A K E R
is like going ov
Niagara Falls in a barrel: you know what you wa
t o do, but once you start do ing it you are no long
in control. And the player who usually sticks to
strict plan in
K I N G M A K E R
will usually fi
himself suffering the same fate that befalls the o
Barrel-Driver.
The best players in K I N G M A K E R follow
age-old adage: Hope for the Best, bu t Expect t
Worst. T h e former may be fleeting, but the latte
sure t o arrive somewhere a long the line. Moreov
d o not despair
K I N G M A K E R
is so cunnin
contrived that even total elimination means lit
unless it occurs dur ing the latter portion of
Middle Game o r in the End Game itself. If suc
fate befalls you , you will have t o be content w
being some major Baron's pawn. You might also
breathing in people's faces: Plague always makes
quick changes in power hierarchy and spreadin
little disease doesn't hurt.
Generalities aside, the best strategy
K I N G M A K E R is preparedness a n d knowledg
T h e player who knows the board, knows what
going on and what h a s g o n e before, and then has t
flexibility to handle all of this knowledge is
successful baron , a veritable Neville amongst t
Scropes. (A bit of historical byplay: Alas, po
Scrope, your time has passed. No longer m
players launch the once infamous Scrope Attack
made infamous in the 1st two e d i t i o q w h e r e i n t
hapless Scrope went a r o u n d like a Kamikaze in ki
and buckler, sacrificing himself in attacks the od
of which staggered the imagination, just t o kill
some nobles. T h e A H edition of the rules h
removed this bit of dastardly-and oft
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PAGE
THEGENERA
infuriating-byplay. P o o r Scrope has now been
relegated to the scrapheap of nobles-a place he
fittingly deserves.)
The first cardinal rule for success in
K I N G M A K E R is knowledge of the game-board.
The board has undergone some fairly radical
changes since its initial design (changes which I greet
with mixed feelings), but the important locations
and passages are still the same. F o r example, the
most important town o n the map, in t e rms of
movement , is still Shrewsbury. (I have assumed-as
d o virtually all players-that Shrewsbury does
control t ha t fork in the road, a mat ter which should
officially be clarified sornewhere.9 (Ed. Note:
Shreu,sbur.v does conrrol rhe road.) Control of
Shrewsbury allows a player in York to whisk o n
down to London in one, fell swoop (providing he
gains Coni sboro Castle, a not-too-difficult feat).
This type of knowledge is what renders success f rom
opportuni ty and allows the wise Baron to always
remain within reach of some objective. (It is often
wise to hide control of Shrewsbury, revealing it only
when a major opportuni ty presents itself).
For a more cogent analysis of K I N G M A K E R
let us play a sample " h a n d and see what
opportunities present themselves a n d how best even
yer Three
Basic Strengtl
the worst hand may be managed. Let us assume a
four-player game (in my opinion the best configura-
tion for K I N G M A K E R ) . W e will also use the
Advanced Rules which give us a n eighth member of
the Royal Household-Edmund, Earl of Rutland-
as well a s the Dukes of Lancas t e rand York. Wewil l
be examining the different hands not s o much for
play examples a s for strategic possibilities,
weaknesses a n d opportunities.
T h e above random deal is somewhat unusual;
however, there is n o "normal" hand in
KINGMAKER. T h e beauty of the design is tha t
each play is different, each game a new situation.
initial situation inherent in D I P L O M A C Y . T h e
latter produces what a r e known a s "Standard
Gambits", somewhat in the vein of Chess.
K I N G M A K E R has none of that , s o to speak (the
merits of which will not be debated a t this time);
however, there are definite things tha t each player
must accomplish in his initial maneuvers. Basically,
his intent is to solidify his position a n d gain himself
a Contender-any Contender. Without a Con-
tender your play tends to be aimless a n d , worse,
useless. You will find yourself a t the mercy of the
stronger factions, who will use you a s a pawn and
then d r o p you like a hot Yorkshire Pudding. Get
that "prince", even if you have to steal the packet
boat to Ireland to d o it
as
LANCASTER
r I
Each player must decide what his best depl
ment is (some of the nobles being given varia
locations). Thi s is where knowledge of
gameboard comes in. T h e Lancastrian pieces
located in the center of England, with Margaret a
Edward right next d o o r to each other, while
Yorkist Household is spread around the fringes
the country. If you have a faction that is powerfu
the center by all means take advantage of suc
situation. Otherwise, t ry to base your power in o
of the fringe areas where you can grab-and
maintain in relative safety-one of the Yorkists
Further use of game knowledge can be made
assigning the offices and titles. F o r example, unl
you want t o c r e a t e a Power Base in the North (wh
is foolish unless Percy, Earl of Northumberland
one of your barons), the Warden of the Northe
Marches can prove a n extreme annoyance. He h
a n irritating habit of heighing o f f t o Scot landjust
you a r e hopping down to London, Embarrassing
best. But if you are s o lucky as to comb
Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, with the Chamberl
o f the County Palatine of Chester you have crea
qui te a formidable Baron, with a n exceptiona
powerful stronghold in Wales-a difficult a rea
the board to approach without notice.
Let us look at the Sample Hand to see how t
principles of the Gambi t may be applied.
First, no t e the imbalance between the hand
Player one has a basic total of 330 Strength Poin
while Player F o u r has, a t best, 130. Player Two h
a seemingly miniscule strength of but 100 Howev
he possesses the Constable of the Tower of Londo
and Talbot , Earl of Shrewsbury (The Constab
should have little t rouble claiming the extra 200 m
that g o with this office (See below). That would gi
him 300 rather quickly and pull him u p to par wi
the other major factions. (It also makes him King,
Henry is his a s soon a s he enters London). Howev
a s we will see from the example of Player Tw
initial strength is misleading. It is position which
important-and it is position which will rema
important throughout the game. You must alwa
be ready t o g r a b an opportuni ty, and being rea
means being in a location from which you can stri
quickly. Sequesteringyourself in the Cheviots mig
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THE GENER L
be great fo r your health(espec ial1y if you like
oatm eal); but you'll be a petty baro n all you r life if
that 's your idea of preparedness.
Player One's hand initially appears quite
strong-after all , he has two of the great Barons in
the game (Norfolk Northumb erland) and an
initial strength of 330, with the possibility of an
extra 100. However, this strength is il lusory, for
while his ba ronial strength is in the North , his Office
st rength (Dover Cast le, Canterbury, and
Chancel lor of Cornwal l ) are far to the South . Thus
much of his strength is diffuse and dissipated,
useless to him as a Power Base. Yet his position is
enviable: he has the 300 points necessary to take
York, and he has the Archbisho p to crown Richard
of York King. This move, which cannot be
accomplished until at least the second turn of the
game, i s a very st rong one and one which should be
accomplished at all costs. It gives Player one the
leading Yorkist contende r and it nullifies Hen ry as
King, should he be grab bed (and he will , as we will
see below).
Th e three nobles of One's faction are thu s placed
as closely as possible for quick consolidation. As
they are all oriented to the No rth this positioning is
easily attainable. Norfolk is placed at Wressle,
adjacent to York, whi le Northumberland is
deployed in Cockerm outh for no other reason than
i t i s an interest ing sounding place. Northum berland
can be quite a pain-a sort of Ju nio r League
Warden of the Northern Marches. He has power,
but it 's too far away from the center of things to
really do any good. Here he has been assigned
Cornwall, giving him a second Power Base, albeit
far to the South. Norfolk, in the meant ime, has
been given the two "sister" cities of Dover and
Canterbury. T his seeming di ffusion of power (noted
above) may now work to Player One's interests, for
he now has a base of operat ions close to London-a
base he may find useful when ope rating in that area
against the Lancast rians. There could be some
argument for assigning one of the Offices to Audley,
now Earl of Sal isbury. However, N orthumberland
is too strong to waste and Norfolk is too well
situated. Furthermore, the faction will consolidate
rather quickly and Audley, b eing the weakest of the
barons, will prove somewhat of a liability in this
area.
The o ne major thing to note here is that Player
One has had the luck to go
before
Player Two (who
controls the Tower, and wi th i t , London). Player
Thre e will move first (he is the Chan cel1or)and th us
On e will move before T wo. T his will enable One to
crown Richard King before Two can cal l a
Parliaament a foolish move at this stage of thega me
anyway).
Thus, One has go od st rength and good posi t ion.
He will soo n, ba rring unforeseen complications
(Plague, etc.) have a rival Contender an d become
the leading faction in the North.
Player Two has had the unfortunate
happenstance of having to discard three nice
Offices. Things like that happen all too often. His
strength a s well as his position is also basically weak,
and his bases of power are divided between North
and West. Clifford and
Scrope are of li t t le help to
Talbot , and furthermore, they are ingre at danger in
the center of Player One's Po wer.
Bur
Player Tw o is
the Constable of the Tower of London, and that
means Henry is his-if he can get there without
mishap. And t hat is why Bristol has beenassigned to
Talbot (among other reasons). Talbot can use
Bristol as a refuge (praying that th e Black De ath
doesn't catch him there) and ajumping-off point for
a quick one-turn t rip to Lon don. By the second turn
of the game he will have Henry. Unfortunately,
Player One will probably also have Richard (York)
by this time. so the effect of this will be nullified.
Once having gained H enry, Play er Two will have to
rely upon a goo d dra w from the Crown Pack to give
him aid. His baron s are weak, and he is stron g only
in London and its environs. His opportunities to
garner other Lancast rians (and thus st rengthen his
position vis
a
vis that House) are minimal,
considering Player Three's strength in Central
England. He thus seems to be t ied to London, and
only som e shrewd politicking will get him o ut of tha t
hole. Players who hang aro und Lo ndon usually end
up hanging, li terally.
Player Three's situation is enviable. He has
strength-290 points-and exce ptiona l position.
Furth erm ore, he is Chancellor of England. Not only
will he go first, but, in the obvious stalemate that
will quickly occu r, he will, under certain cir-
cumstances, be able to call Parliament (if he lives
that long). Warwick is placed in Warwick, right
nextdoor t o Margare t and Edward , where he ,
Roos , andPole can grab M argare t and t hen Edward
right off the bat. Furthermore, Herbert can waltz
right into Cardigan (an open town) and pick up
George, a Yorkist contender, on the first turn.
Player Three's position in terms of bargaining
power and alliance is thus quite enviable. He will
hold three contenders in short order, and his power
base in the center will make him quite capable of
unloading on Player Two in London , should he get
some reinforcements in the draw.
Three has not had much say in how to divide his
hand . Chancellor obviously goes to Warwick, a very
powerful noble (and the namesake of the game's
title). Admiral of England provides some interesting
sea maneuvera bility, but Three hasn't th e coastal
Nobi li ty to take advantage of i t . Note that Pole and
Roos havebee n placed within striking distance of the
Lancasters by deploying Roos at Belvoir. Player
Three has some very interesting times ahead
Player Fo ur has problem s. He has lit t le inherent
strength, and his positioning is med iocrea t best. But
he still has possibilit ies, an d this is what the players
should be aware of. From the way he sees things
developing on the board in the initial deployment,
and from the lack of strength in his hand, it should
occur t o Fou r tha t he will have to act boldly if he is
to succeed. T he key t o his success is the ship Swan.
The ship is in Berwick, but fortunately no one
contr ols Berwick by the time of Four's initial move.
This m eans the Swa n will be free to move. W ith the
intent of using this ship as a Catalyst, F itzalan has
been placed in his Southern holding, Arundel, but
given c ards w hich essentially give him pow er furth er
north, near his Welsh holding in Chirk. The reason
for this is that Four's best move is to get to Ireland as
quickly as possible, grab Edmund , and bring him
back to the Northwest (thus Fi tzalangets the Bishop
of Carlisle and the City of Lancaster). Grey,
Cromwell and Bourchier should be able tojoin wi th
him quite easily (there is usually little interference
an d/ or com bat in the init ial moves as players are
too busy get ting organized), and F our should be at
least able to set up some sort of Power Base in the
West. It 's not much, but it is a start. And it also
places him near Edward of March should he attain
the st rength to take Harlech.
From studying the above disposi t ions and
tentat ive opening moves we can formulate some
basic precepts that players should keep in mind as
they begin play:
1 Stud y yo ur initial faction carefully, evaluating it
not s o much for what i t appears at face value bu t as
to what it means in terms of position. This means
knowing the game-board and the potent ial power
bases of the players.
2) Initial strength (in term s of mercen aries, Offices,
etc.) should be given to Nobles who can take Roy al
Pieces early in the gam e. This will discourage othe r
players from picking you off. If possible, co
sol idate your Barons before grabbing the Roy
Piece.
3 Try to get an early Pow er Base, a position fro
which you can oper ate and to which you can retre
in times of danger. Position is everything, and if
player can make himself overpowering in one ar
his chances of success are greatly improved. O
course this Po wer Base/ Position should not be
far from what 's h appening tha t you become
veritable hermit. Position means theability to stri
as wel l as to consol idate.
4 Get a Royal Piece as quickly as possible. Geor
and Edm und a re virtually freebies; others are mo
difficult. However there is usually always on
memb er of Roya lty who is attainable. S tudy th
initial dispositions vis a vis your strength and a
accordingly.
In essence, the object of yo ur initial deployme
and opening moves is Power. You must obta in som
sort of power, be i t a Royal Piece ora st ro ng Pow
Base/ Position. If you have neither you will soon
at th e mercy of the players who do , players who w
be seeking to destr oy the lesser factions before th
get on to bigger business. If you have Position in t
form of a Po wer Base you can at least maintain yo
dignity.
TH
M I D D L E
G A M E
The success of a given player in the importa
Middle Section of the game (the portion whe
power divisions and factions solidify, Royal Piec
are discarded l ike sacks of mouldy flour, and two,
perhaps three, major Baronial groups emerge)
ent irely dependen t on theposi t ioning he hasdevis
in the opening port ions. T he reason for this is n
that the game will depend o n who controls what , b
rather that the player who has good position-and
pow erin and from that position-will be able totak
advantage of those incredible and all-consumin
turns of fortune that st ride through the game l ik
horde of Huns.
As players' factions become bigger they w
become m ore and more susceptible to the annoyi
Raids and Revol ts that spring up abo ut once eve
two turns (at least). Remember, nobles called
other places may not take other members of th
factions with them, so a major faction can quick
become spl intered. The good player i s one who h
enough power and posi t ion to a overcome the
sudden changes of fortune when they occur to hi
a n d b take advan tage of them when they occur
others.
Now, the re is no way fo r a player to ignore the
events. N or is it possible to ignore Plague. Howeve
at least the latter is somewhat forecas table. And,
the words of the original edition, "The Player w
has his whole force wiped out by Plague real
deserves to lose." And that is the truth. Rememb
that Royal Cast les do not suffer plague an
furthe rmo re, tha t plague is cyclical-once it h
occurred in onecity it will not occur again in that c
until the Event Pack is finished and reshuffled. (Th
has been specifically designed into th e game, and
is somewhat unrealistic to shuffle the deck eve
once and a while as plague-which represents oth
misfortunes as well as actual disease-tended not
reap pear in cities it had hit in the recent past.) Thu
careful player can take ad vanta ge of cities that ha
been hit, using them a s havens knowing that they a
safe for a while.
As for the Revolts and Raids, the player mu
learn to anticipate, to realize that certain of h
nobles will be called to places undesired at t im
unwanted. These calls are unavoidable, but t
effect of such can be minimized by careful planni
(wi thin the parameters of the amo unt of planni
you can d o in KINGM AKER ). Establ ishing
Power Base in an are a to which you ar e likely to
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P GE
summoned is one way of handling these emergen-
cies; actually, it is probably the on ),way. Otherwise
you must trust to luck and theallegian ce of the other
players, which is usually feeble at best.
The Middle Portion of the game is thus best
played by players who minimize misfortune and
capitalize on tha t of others. T o this end alliance can
often be quite important. Now, be not mistaken
about alliances in
K I N G M A K E R :
they are in-
variably consummated in greed and dissipated in
mistrust. Moreover they are rife with irony and
hypocrisy for the simple reason that two factions
helping each other are usually after one goal, and
that goal can be attainable by only one of those
factions. This is not t o say that all alliances should
be avoided; just the opposite is true. You usually
cannot survive without the help of ano the r faction,
unless you control most of the major nobles in the
game. And if that happens you usually spend most
of your t ime running errands throughout the
countryside.
No, alliances are necessary and even helpful.
They can a ct as buffer zones to certain areas, and
they can often help lesser factions survive while
building or rebuilding their strength. However,
most alliances in K I N G M A K E R are short-lived.
Unlike
D I P L O M A C Y ,
where alliances can be
mutually advantageous as the players involved
divide the spoils of new areas conquered, in
K I N G M A K E R
there is little gain in controlling
areas for the sheer sake of control. You are after
Royal Pieces. And, a s at least 50% of those
personnages will most likely have had their
proverbial throa ts slit after just several rounds, th e
prize may be difficult to attain. In this fashion
wheeling and dea ling is infinitely more difficult and
requires an even more devious personality in
K I N G M A K E R , for there is usually little to bind
two factions together. It is the superior player who
can use his fellow playersto accomplish his aims
without giving them anything worthwhile.
As the Middle Game progresses the factions
begin to solidify, if they can avoid Plague and other
disasters. The Faction controlling the King usually
has a great advantage-whether you are using the
optional Parliament rules or not. This advantage
may be offset by having a rival faction-crowned
King, creating a temp orary stalem ate, or, as is more
likely, by the annoying arrival of Embassies. The
key thing to remember with embassies is that the
player who controls the King must keep a strong
faction of nobles around him at all times. Quite
simply, an unprotected King dragged off to
Weymouth o r some other such tank-town to meet
the Scots o r French ambassado r will be devoured
before he can move an inch. However, unlike R aids
and Revolts, when the King is summoned to
embassy he may take an y nobles in the same area
with him. Thu s it behooves the player to protect his
King in this fashion.
Of course, such strong factions are usually
dissipated by the very Ra idsan d Revolts mentioned
above. Sometime s this can be avoided-aside from
the ways we spok e of before-in an unusua l and
daring fashion. Certain nobles are called by Raids
and Revolts more than others-theseare usually the
powerful barons E.g., Mowbray (Norfolk) hasfive
such calls in the Event Deck: s uch Offices as W arden
of the Cinque Ports (with five calls) and the "globe-
trotting" Marshal of England (with ten ) calls are
likewise embarrassing. Obviously, if you want to
make key use of Norfolk you can never make him
Marshall of England. (However, doing soa s King in
a Pa rliament, if the opportu nity arises, isa sure way
of sabotaging your worst enemy ). But if you want
to cre ate a powerful nob le who is relatively free to
d o as he wishes it might be worth your while, if the
opportunity arises, to take a minor baron such as
Grey (with 20 po ints and no calls), assign him a Title
to build his strength and a n Office with good power
and little Raid IRev olt interference such as Con-
stable of the Tower (the richest prize in offices,
especially at the beginning of the game) or
Chamberlain of County Palatinate, and then give
him a m ultitude of mercenaries. cities, bishops and
other accoutrements. You now have a formidable
baron who is free to move almost anywhere.
T o hisen d, players should note that Neville,Earl
of W arwick, is far and aw ay the best noble to hold.
He has good initial strength (50). he controls four
well-placed castles (Richmond and Raby are in
excellent position just t o the north of York;
Warwick gives a Power Base in the important
Central counties; and Ogmore is well located
between Wales and Cornwall with excellent coastal
opportunities), and he has only one call-card He
also has the largest vote faction in Parliament of any
one noble. Thus, the player who controls Neville
should use him to his fullest. Through Neville the
player can m aintain several Power Bases (given the
location of Neville's castles) and he can move with
relative freedom from call, especially if Neville can
be assigned a n im porta nt Office. Unless it is totally
unavoidable, never waste a lesser Office on Neville.
To d o so is to diffuse your major weapon. Because
of his position and freedom Neville is the single-
most imp ort ant noble-or piece-in the game.
Neville is, of course, only one of three "major"
nobles. However, the other two-Mowbray, Duk e
of Norfolk, and Percy, Earl of
Northumberland-
have almost as many drawbacks as they have
advantages. Percy has the largest household, and as
such, his strength is formidable. But his base of
power is far to the North-too far to be of any use as
a true Power Base. His westernmost castle,
Cockermouth, is in the unusual position of being a
coastal castle w ith virtually n o access to the sea
Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, has g ood strength (50)
and some excellent castles (five of them) spread
around the country. However, Mowbray is a one-
man travelling circus a nd he is so susceptible to calls
for Raid/Revolt that he cannot be trusted. As for
Stanley, who also has a basic strength of 50, his
draw back s are self-evident (lack of power base and
constant calls to Douglas). T o give Stanley any
power other than he has or cannot be avoided is to
waste such Offices, etc. Of course, if you have
several ships at your disposal Stanley can become
more useful. But he is a question-mark a t best, and
players should be ultra-cautious ab out using him or
relying upon him to any great extent.
An important point to remember during the
Middle Game is that cards drawn from The Crown
Pack may be concealed. This is a powerful weapon,
as the players may not know that y ou are holding
Neville, who is Chancellor of Cornwall with several
group s of mercenaries and some bishops. To spring
such a surprise on the other players is usually to
carry the day, a t least locally. Knowing just when to
spring that surprise is the essence of good timing,
which is a very impor tant sense to have. The obviou s
faults of "too soon" o r "too late" are magnified in a
game such as
K I N G M A K E R
where the other
players are equally as capable of taking advantage
of presented opportunities. Actually, it is almost
impossible to act too soon in this game; players
should strike when they can and then not wait
around to see what develops later. But you can
reveal hidden cards too soon, wasting them on
trivial conquests. If you a re lucky enough t o have a
pocket baron with the power of a Neville, as above,
make sure you use him on a worthwhile mission.
There are other mechanisms in the game that
players should be awa re of, particularly Free Moves
and Writ cards. They, along with the new King's
Pard on card s, are virtually self-explanatory in the
worth , and players should be careful they make th
best use of them. Free M ove cards can be ve
valuable in plannin g a quick, decisive raid from a
area which seems far removed from the center o
play. And thec ombi natio n of a surprise noble plus
few Free Move card s can be incredibly devastating
T H E E N D - G AM E
Time was, in the early editions, when the play
with the most power would simply take h
pretender and sail for Calais, the healthiest city o
the block (no Plague ). Now we have a Plague
Calais card, as well as other French sidelights, s
that scheme is no longer valid. The end-gam
however, can bog dow n when there ar e two playe
with equal strength possessing the only tw
pretenders. By this time all the cards ar e in play an
there are few surprises left. Play tends to becom
somewhat static as neither side is willing to take
chance.
Plague, of course, can loosen this up, as ca
Embassy cards, and players must be ready tojum
at the first opportunity. S trong factions should g
rid of as many p retenders as they can. While Roy
Pieces are a n asset in the beginning and , to som
extent, the middle of the game, they become a
increasing liability as the game progresses. The
slow down movement a nd make factions more of
target. ( And remember Beaufort ) Usually, a
embassy card here, a raid card there and a hug
battle oc curs with the w inner emerging with the so
royal piece. It can so metimes take a bit of waitin
for this t o oc cur, a s players have solidified the
positions and are unwilling to make deals.
have purposely om itted discussing Parliamen
and its uses until now. Briefly, each player tends
use Parliament-as King-according to his ow
personality. That to call Parliament is importa
goes without saying-if you have the power an
there a re stron g Offices and Titles to dispense. Th
strength of the King is nowhere morea ppar ent tha
in Parliament-if his faction is stron g enough t
overide the votes of the others. H ere is where dea
ar e made-and consumm ated. Never underestima
the power of Greed, and use it to your fulles
advantage. As King you should never hesitate
give yourself the choicest appointments, and th
player who is shy and unassuming or, even wors
generous, will not be King fo r long. To be Kin
means t o have power; and to win you have to kno
how to use that power. The best players i
K I N G M A S T E R are those who use a baronia
mentality to the fullest . Trust no one, and gra
grab, grab. K I N G M A K E R is
nor
subtle; yo
cannot finesse 300 pounds of armored illiteracy
You club him into submission-and Parliament
where you pick up your bludgeons.
K I N G M A K E R
is not a game which can b
discussed in specific strategic details. Succe
depends on a state of mind. It is a game whic
demands concentration from its players, a game
which trust is an anachronism. Speed of moveme
and ruthlessness are the two key ingredients f
success. And both of these ingredients use on
source: power. Throu ghou t the entire course of th
game you ar e playing for power. W hether it be loc
power or total control, no player can survive f
long in this atmosphere without some form o
power. And to that end you must always plan yo
strategy.
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THE GENERAL
PAGE
In Praise
of
Kingmaker
by Charles Vasey
Charles Vasey s apart rime Law student andself
confessed full time work dodger whose gaming
exploits trace their beginnings to 1968 when he first
obtained 1914; an acquisition which amazingly did
not change his natural leanings toward simulation
as opposed to playability. Vasey,a medieval French
name synonomous with wanton, lascivious, and
mischievous (or so he d have us be1ieve)fills his off
hours by publishing a fine gaming newsletter
entitled PERFIDIOUS ALBION which is notable
for its candid and fresh remarks on the wargame
scene. A true victim ofthe wargaming craze. Charles
hopes to make his debut in the Big Apple at
ORIGINS 77-a notable achievement for an
Englishman.
Kingmaker is a creeper of a game. When it first
appeared in England it was reviewed a s being 'fun'
but not especially accurate. It was easy to pick o n a
few 'obvious' errors (though often they were a great
deal less er roneous than the reviewer thought). T h e
basic opinion was it was for 'kids'. Yet beneath this
simple exterior was a great deal of cunning work,
work which few reviewers could spot because
Andrew
McNeil did not speak the standard
language of game design, he did not come from the
great A H I S P I tradition. Only as time passed, a n d
one tinkered with the game, did realization slowly
steal over you-one could not d o better
I have long been interested in the Medieval
period a n d tried to design games based upon this
period, using standard design procedure. They all
failed cohpletely. Militarily the W a r of The Roses is
'fai rly simple in mechanics. Armies stamped around ,
often missing each other, often engaging in private
wars with their neighbors, often running out of
food, a n d clashing in battles of frequently the same
form (three main bodies, t he side that wins is the one
tha t chases two of the enemy's off the field). Hut ton
in 1813 talking about Bosworth Field said "Battles
are singular periods; product ive of st range events.
Much may depend upon a trifle, the effects of a trifle
may be victory, a n d the effects of victory, everlast-
ing." If the actual fighting depended o n simply
marching forward a n d hacking until you won o r got
beat, t he raising of armies was much more difficult.
T h e W a r of the Roses was a very strange war
indeed. It was mainly a form of super-gang warfare
tha t was carried o n by the nobility while the
common people stayed out of it. There a r e
exceptions of course; Edward IV halted the old
practice of "Spare the Commons, a n d slay the
Lords" after he was deposed, a n d in 1461 Margare t
of Anjou let a n a r m y of pillaging northerners into
the south a n d burnt many of the "good towns" of the
Yorkists. Thi s escapade did little t o endear the
Lancastrian cause to the Londoners who could
always be trusted to s tump u p for a Yorkist
campaign, it also made the Yorkist cause synony-
mous with Law a n d Order . (Rather like the gamer
who goes a r o u n d at tacking everyone's castles, and
finds his land being dismantled in unison by players
who have forgotten their own animosities). Having
disposed of popular fervor a s a source of t roops one
must ask how the armies were raised. There seem to
be two methods.
I )
T h e personal retainers (priv
army) and vassals of the nobles. Knight-servic
which had been calculated as one knight per f
hides of land held, was n o longer a common practi
but often one's vassals would serve for pay tak
from their rents. Now the nobles would draw
contracts of service with important captains of w
(the English were remarkably willing to serve und
men of ability but little nobility) o r warlike vassa
In 1474 when Edward 1V was to invade France
issued a n indenture t o Richard Duke of Glouces
t o find, a t his own expense, 120 men at arms (i
wearing full a r m o u r ) 19 of which were to be knigh
a n d one thousand archers. (2) One could, w
varying shades of legality, issue commiss~ion
array. These called upon citizens t o muster
defense of the king. Of course the answer to "W
a r e the King's enemies?" depended o n whether y
were Yorkist o r Lancastrian. Wasi t t rai torous Yo
at tempt ing to steal t he crown from Henry, o r wa
scheming Suffolk a n d Somerset who were ensnari
the king into a form of vice-regal governme
Obviously if you were told to at tack York a
believed the latter you would deny thelegality of t
commission, o r find the first opportuni ty to van
from the army. Thus commissions, a t best, cou
only be effective when issued in one's own lands,
if the enemy t o o k t o using foreign aid. There is mu
overlapping between the two kinds of army, b
even so representing it in standard game terms cou
be a problem. O n e has t o know roughly how mu
money each magnate got f rom his estates, and wh
those estates were.
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PAGE
THEGENERAL
Let me first point out that the office of Earl or
Duke did not hold great significance to the area in
question. Such a rank entit led one to the Third
Penny of all fines in the Shire Court. Th is institution
had been cut down to size by the use of Royal
Justices, and the Cou rts of Westminster Hall , and
its revenues were no t great (it could only try cases of
under 40 shillings). Also the title does not imply th e
whole county was owned by the holder, although he
may well have been enabled to interfere in the
internal power struggles. S ome border areas did
tend to be heavily in the hands of one family, but
otherwise most holdings were spread over the length
and breadth of England a nd Wales. Th e Black
Prince (Edward of Woodstock) had rents as
follows:-Chester 1,300, S. Wales 1,700, Co rn-
wall £2,350 (owned land in London), N. Wales
£3.000. but the other ma nors througho ut England
brought only £300 p.a. Th e first four are examples
of great fiefs (holdings) given en masse to one noble,
and exp lain the power of the Chancellor's of Wales
and Chester in the game. It isa useful comparison to
compare France and England. After the Conquest
most Normans received estates in many counties,
either deliberate ly or because they received land in
blocks from ejected Sax on thegns. The result was no
central block of support for a single family (except
on the borders where defense meant more than
internal security). In Franc e appa nage s were held as
blocks of land. Duke of Burgundy meant exactly
that an d on e gained all estates either as one'sow nor
as your vassals. Louis XI suffered from this during
the W ar of the Com mon Weal (1465) when whole
provinces of France rose against him, and Brittany
became practically an independent Duk edom. Thus
an accu rate map of England for the period would be
terribly complex.
KINGMAKER S
approach is
devastating ly simple. First locate castles in the areas
of great strength, these rep resent the 'loyal' regions
and the large groups of estates who would yield the
most mo neylmen. Second, give the noble family a
strength figure that represents their country-wide
wealth, resources and fame, this covers those tiny
manors hidden in far-flung counties as well as
investments. Th ird, give stren gths to various titles
and offices that represent the crown land s granted
with these posts, and the supp ort of the uncommit-
ted squir earchy wh o might follow a man with a legal
title. The result is very accurate, on e might quibble
against a certain family acquiring a certain area but
this is due to hindsight. Kent was always for
Warwick ever since he thrashed the French as
Captain of Calais (though this did not prevent their
desertion at Second St. Albans), Ulster was Yorkist
land, so was most of Wales (the Mortim er Earldom
of M arch). Even so the result is good . Especially
sensible is what, at f irst , appears t o be a rather odd
result when a n oble card joins the faction w ho have
just slain his father. This very rarely happened,
blood feuds being m ore fun. 1 prefer to look at i t as
representing the forfeiture and esche atage of estates.
One must examine the career of John Neville
Marquess of Montague. Joh n Neville had none of
his eldest broth er Warwick's skill in diplomac y, and
none of his younger brother George of Exeter's
disloyalty. He was a good soldier who won dramatic
victories at Hedgeley Moor and Hexham in 1464
removing various Percies as well as Henry Beaufort
and Lord Roos. He became Warden of the East
March es in 1463, and in 1464 was created E arl of
Northumberland and granted m any Percy estates.
So the way to rationalize the strange result is to say
that though the card may say Percy it really
represents the estates granted to someone like
Montag ue. Th e real Percy heir is hiding somewhe re
over the bord er. If he dies in battle hisestates may be
resumed by the King, the Plantagenets were an
irritatingly capable family.
So the game has good claims to accuracy in these
two very difficult areas. The final import ant feature
in this quest for accuracy is the Parliament. The
Parliament rules are what earned my inclusion in
the design credits . The rules in the game are
Andrew's re-writing of mine, with important
changes in favour of playability and accuracy. The
allocation of seats makes the definition of each
family's strength even mo re fine as it often conf orm s
to the centres of wealth and population. At one
stage the Nevilles held the Archbish opric of Yor k(5
Lords). the Earldom of Northumberland (3L/2c),
Earldom of Salisbury (Ic), Earldom of Kent (Ic),
Chancello r of England (20 possible), Warden of the
North (2c) and their own seats(4L13c)-a total with
the Ch ancellor, of 12 in the Lords and 29 in the
commons (about 15% and 20% of the possible
franchise). With othe r offices like Keeper of the S eas
and Captain of Calais their maximum army is
aro und 840 and they hold 13 castles. Not a bad
reflection of thei r real power-and all fro m a'Kid's'
game Just set up those positions and one can see
that the north is firmly held by the Nevilles and
almost every part of the country is near a Neville
town and they have ships available to keep their
empire together.
Certain noble houses (Hastings for example)
were distinctly second-rate. T heir power coming
from their own abili ty in administration or war.
Thus these gentry are practically useless
until
they
receive the pa tronage of the King or thegreat Lords
and get a title or an office. Mos t of the families
missed out (apart, perhaps, from de Vere and
Hungerford) are of this class. Their more famous
members, like John Tiptoft Earl of Worchester-
scholar and axe-murderer, were fine soldiers and
amazing characters but hardly powers in the land.
Thu s one often find s sections of the battle-front led
by very minor nobles, often clients of the great lords,
who do not appea r in the game. Remember that they
are leading the troops
r ised
by the grea t families so
the counter represents the armies rather than the
leadership of them.
Perhaps my main quibble might have centred
upon the simulation of the battles and sieges. Of
course Andrew McNeil has had to represent the
battlelsiege
nd
the preliminary skirmishing in the
large areas in each square. As such I think it works,
and to alter i t may cause a great deal of work for
li t tle return. I detail some battles at the end of the
article for those who care to test th e likelihood of
these events recurring.
Overall then we have a very neat system to
represent the complex power-structure of Medieval
England. For a l i tt le more fun and some accuracy
one s hould possibly be allowed to remove titles and
offices in Parliament. Many nobles lost offices in
times of royal strength (Joh n Neville lost Nort hum -
berland, his brother George at various times had
York and the Chancello rship removed-with a
good deal more reason than his brother). Of course
no noble cards can be removed (outlawry), no
mercenaries or towns (neither give a damn for
Kings), but bishoprics could be removed (it was
nearly always possible to find some mistake in
installing a bishop, so some expenditure in Ro me
could result in the opposition faction's client being
ejected). Should you try this out I recommend it
should require a 213 vote as i t only happens when
one faction is clearly regarded as leader.
This point of royal strength leads one to the
greatest, init ial , problem in the gam e for the history
buff. That is the representation of the royal heirs as
pawns. This causes l i t tle trouble with Henry Vl w ho
was a born pawn, and Edw ard of Wales was (a) not
grow n up, an d (b ) a nasty little swine when he was.
Margaret of Anjou was nobody's fool however.
George of Clarence was easily led. Richard of
Gloucester seems to have had genuine regard fo r his
brother Edward and never opposed him (although
he did not extend this love to his broth
Woodville's children). Richard of York was simp
an average noble. Edward of March was both
good diplomat and a fine general, and almost
Renaissance Prince. Edmund of Rutland died t
young to matter, o r to make his mark. One certain
felt that York should have been a noble like h
enemies Suffolk and Somerset. Of course, Avalo
Hill has done much to repair this with their tw
Plantagenet nobles. I would think that the factio
should only be able to kill their pawn if they ca
overcome his personal troops (if they fail he join
another faction).
The more one looks at the game the more o
feels that wherever history seems t o be disregarde
the ac tual results came very close to reality, even
their workin g was not immediately obvious. It mu
be a sign of great skill to design a gam e to which
little can be added. The Avalon Hill version
recommended for its new rules and the excelle
notes and family trees. Oh yes and those new car
and faction mark ers are really splendid; a well do
to the Art Section.
The Thorns on the Roses
or
The attles of the War
First St. Alban s (E5) 22 May 1455-The Duk e
York, Earl of Salisbury and Earl of Warwick wit
3000 men attac k the Kingand the Earls of Somerse
Buckingham, Pembroke, Northumberland , Devo
Wiltshire (or almost the whole peerage) and 200
men. Fierce street-fighting was won by well-traine
Neville troops. Th e dead included Somerse
Northum berland, and Clifford, with Dorset (Som
erset Jn r) and Buckingh am feeling decidedly unwe
Blore Heath (E3) 23 Sept. 1459-Lord Audley wi
6000 men runs into the Earl of Sa lisbury with 30
and gets whipped Audley is killed and Joh n an
Tho mas Neville ar e taken while pursuing.
Nort ham pton 1 0 July 1460-Warwick assails
defended position and is only victorious when Lor
Grey deserts and lets him in. The dead includ
Buckingham and Shrewsbury. Henry VI is r
captured (freed by York after St. Albans).
Wakefield (C4) 30 December 1460-Actually
fought outside of Sandal castle. York attac
Lancastrian s who have twice as many men. Cliffo
holds this attack while Rosse and Wiltshi
surro und him. York an d To m Neville are kille
Rutland executed by Clifford, and Salisbu
executed by the Bastard of Exeter (no that's not a
office ).
Mo rtim ers Cross (E3 ) 2 Feb. 1461-Welsh forc
under Tudors (Pembroke) and Butler (Wiltshir
and Ormonde) attack Edward of March. Yorki
right is chased off but Edward holds the centr
Lancasrrian flanking action is itself flanked an
Owen Tu dor taken. Owen was father of the Earls
Richmond and Pembroke and grandfather o
Henry VII. His major claim to fam e was 'marrying
Henry V's widow Ka therine of Fran ce thus makin
his sons the uterine half-brothers of Henry VI.
Second St. Albans (E5) 17 Feb. 1461-Warwick
with 9000 is attacked in badly positioned entrenc
ments by the Que en with 12,000 men. Jo hn Neville
overwhelmed and Warwick pulls out. Th e Kingw
re-taken by the Lancastrian s. Neville was n
executed as his brother had Somerset 's broth
incarcerated in Calais. Reads like the Godfather
Towton (C4) 29 March 1461-Prior to this Lo
Clifford (Butcher) had been shot whilst taking
drink with his helmet off
Abo ut 30,000 Yo rkists were faced with slight
more Lancastrians. Edward, Warwick and Ke
(Neville) were being pushed back by Northumbe
land, Somerset and Exeter (Holland). Norfo
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THE GENERAL
PAGE
arrives and takes the L ancastrians in the flank and
rolls them up. A huge slaughter follows, Northum -
berland killed, Devo n and Wiltshire are executed.
Rest of Lancastrians ar e getting better at running.
Hedgely Mo or (A4 ) 25 April 1464-John Neville
thrashes some Northern Lancastrians including
killing Sir Ralph Percy.
Hexham (A4) 15 May 1464-The Lancastria narmy
breaks before the onset of John Neville. Somerset
finally stops running, Ro os and Hungerford ar e also
killed. Almost single-handed John Neville has
cleared the North.
Edgec ote (E4) 26 July 1469-Warwick and Clar-
ence move into England with 15,000 men-
ostensibly not as Edward's enemies. Yorkist clients
Herbert of Pembroke and Stafford of Devon march
to halt him. They argue and Devon m arches off with
6,000 men. Pembroke (14,000) is beaten and
executed. Devon is taken later and is also topped for
his pains.
Empingham (Loseco at Field)(ES) 12 Mar ch 1470-
A Neville provoked rebellion under some local
Lancastrians is stamped out by Edward who
discovers docum ents incriminating Warwick.
Barnet (E5) 14 April 1471-Edward is deposed but
returns with Burgundian money. 9,000 Lancastri-
an/Neville troops atta ck 8,000 Yorkists. O xford on
the Lancastrian right chases off Hastings, but
Richard of Gloucester does the same to the
Lancastrian left under Exeter. D ue to mutual
distrust Oxford flees the field and Edward and
Richard concentrate on Montague and Warwick.
Warwick and M ontague go down fighting, but
Oxford and Exeter show a clean pair of heels.
Yorkists lose Bouchier and Cromwell.
Tewkesbury (E3) 4 May 1471-6,000 men on each
side. Somerset launches a surprise attack on the
Yorkist left under Gloucester. Unfortunately he
falls in to another amb ush. Devon and Wenlock (a
Neville partisan ) refuse to support Som erset and are
driven off themselves by Hastings and Edward.
Somerset is captured and executed (the third of that
title to suffer this fate) but not before he bashes
Wenlock's brains out for not supporting him.
Margaret of Anjou is taken, as is her son who is
murderedlexecuted (depending on what you be-
lieve).
Bosworth (E4) 22 August 1485-The Tud or Earl of
Richmond invades at Milford Haven. Richard and
Howard, Earl of Norfolk, launch an attack but are
not supported by Northumberland o r the Stanely
brothers (Hit-men by appointment). Richard rides
straight at Henry but dies with his boots on, some
historians have suggested that the death of Ri-
chard's son had ma de him careless of life. Norfolk is
taken and executed, but his brother Surrey is
released (a typical Tu do r compromise-the iron fist
in the velvet glove).
Stok e Field (D5) 16 Jun e 1487-England having
nearly run out of nobles moves from the sublime to
the ridiculous. John de la Pole Earl of Lincoln
(grandson of Richard of York's arch-enemy
Suffolk) contrives to be declared Richard Ill's
successor as Richard was his uncle. As befits a
Lancas trian repr esenting the Yorkist cause( ) he
recruits an army of Germans and Irishmen (under
Fitzgerald) and some of his own retainers. To
complete the unlikely scenario he discovers a
pseudo-Warwick (George of Clarence's son). The
whole weird event comes to a complete end in a
violent battle with the Germ ans fighting to the
death .
Sto ke Field saw the end of the W ar of the Roses.
The last vestiges dying with Richard de la Pole
(called "White Rose") being killed fighting for
France a t Pavia. T heconclusion s of the list show the
game to be very accurate. Especially using the
advanced system which allows equal armies to
resolve matters. The loser seldom loses all leaders
but they often lost the mass of their armies-this
coincides nicely with the loyalty rule where the
noble is retained but his awards are lost. I somehow
doub t if one could accom odate BIore Heath with a
2:l defeat.
In conclusion can I recommend
Warwick the
Kingmaker and the Wars of the Roses
by Paul
Murray Kendall, a very fine American historian and
no mean storyteller. He lays bare the problems of
gaining power if one was not of the blood royal. Full
of the feel of the period and a good introd uction to
the "Great Earl" himself.
Q
****
KM By Mail
Continued from
Pg
Chichester in the first place to confer his Peace?
Should I have announ ced the prem ature calling of
Parliam ent a t all? And if I hadn't a nnou nced it at
that time, was the writ still effective the turn after?
All in all it seemed a pretty dreadful mess and there
was no way in which I could emerge smelling of
roses in all players' opinions. In the end I concluded
that th e trouble wouldn't have arisen if Parliament
had been called properly in the first place and I
didn't therefore thin k it was justified to bend the
rules in the favour of the player who, however
unintentionally, had made the original error. Mick
should have held his men in Chichester since there
alon e they w ere safe. But it is one thing to justify
decisions in a particular set of circumstances and
quite another to make a general ruling in advance
(particularly on the basis of an inadequate
rulebook). Before I start anoth er postal game I must
resolve the possible intricacies of Parliament.
Damn. I
see 1 have betrayed myself. 1 was pretty
vague in response to requests for another game
when the first was over, not because of the quality
and sheer fun of the game but with a wary eye to
other commitments. Now I have said I will start
another, a nd h ang othe r commitments. It is a very
seductive game, this
K I NGM A K E R ,
and o ne which
1 think will be with us for some years to come. M y
advice to aspiring gamesmasters should be pretty
obvious by now:
I
Keep it simple-avoid the tem ptati on to
complicate matters by trying to introduce 'realism,'
whatever that is;
2. Encourage the atmosphere by insisting on
named factions, stimulating the players into writing
press releases and using narrative style as much a s
possible in the reports;
3 Maintain the tempo by imposing short
deadlines on the players and short turnaround 'time
on yourself;
4. Keep careful account of the ownership of
castles, etc.-it's particularly easy to forget to make
the adjustments on the boa rd whe na noble is sent to
meet his maker;
5. Try if you can to introduce Michael von
Haag's 'evil precision,' perh aps in the form of a
modified zone of control ruling; and
6. Abov e all, enjoy yourself -this gam e is
infectious. Th e gamesmaster's job is fa r from a
routine slog; it is just as much fun as the players'
tasks-and that after all is why we play games .
You won't regret the venture.
*****
Q
Postal KM Mechanics
. Continued from Pg 14
name o r numbe r of place.
It
no path is given, then
the unit will be moved by the Herald, generally to
the player's disadvantage.
The Execution and ransom sub-rules, loyalty
tables and nobles killed provisions of Advanced
Battle shall be used. The latter shall be determined
by Herald die roll. Com bat shall only be initiated at
the request of one or more players, and upo
contact, tha t is both parties, attacker and attacke
shall occupy the same square simultaneously.
A player whose movement path is through
friendly tow n, city o r castle; that is one owned by h
faction or one through which he has permission
pass, shall be stopped within that place by t
Herald in the event that such place comes und
siege during the turn. O therwise, theat tack shall n
hinder his movement.
Neither battle or parliament shall prevent t
movement of other players not involved.
Parliament shall be run by the Herald,
accordance with the rules. Parliament shall b
initiated by a player, who shall notify the Herald
his intent an d furnish a list of proposed recipients
awards. All other players shall upon notificatio
also furnish a list of proposals.
Underlined moves printed in JJPwill mean th
the ord er is either impossible or th at due t o an eve
card, the noble in question has been summoned t o
place different from the intended final location.
Those squares named after a prominent fo
tification located within, such as: York; sha
henceforth be termed York (city)
York Commo
to mean the open area surrounding the nam
position. M oveme nt shall be counted a s befo
whether o r not the unit is moving to the comm ons
the fort; consequently an enemy may order
attack up on the nominal owner, before the latter h
entered the fort. T o do so, the attacker must
situated within the commons when the nob
travelling to the fort enters the commons squar
otherwise, th e defending noble is considered to ha
the opportun ity to gain sanctuary within.
Th e loyalty table shall not affect thedeat h of t
Dukes of York and Lancaster. Once dead they m
only be returned to play when the associated Ki
changes hands.
AREA
TOP
TWENTY
Ti m e s P r e v i o
Ra n k N a m e O n L is t Ra t i n g Ra n k
1 . W . D o b s o n 1 J EB 2 3 9 5
2 R. Chiang 7 FGN2156 1
3 . T O l e s o n
8 LM S1 9 4 5
3
4 .
J
Zajicek
2 CFI1930 2
5 . P . Huf fman 2 CCB1917 4
6. R. Wood 5 EFM1901 5
7
D. Cornel l 1 JE B1 852
8 . J Angioli l lo 1 CEH 1842
9 . S . Pa c k w o o d 6 D G E1 7 8 3
7
10 . R. Leach 1 CEH1761
11 . S . He inowsk i 6 DFJ17 46
8
12 . G. Kilbr ide
5
DE11744 6
13 . D. Barker 6 DFI1729 9
14 . E. Alexis
3
E H K 16 59 1 0
15 . K. Blanch 1 CDC 1645
16 . D. Agos ta 1 ECE1639
17 . C. Todoroff 1 EH J16 34
18 . F . Sma l l 1 DDF1594
1 9 . J . L e J e u n e 1 D E F 1 57 7
20 . D. Tie rney 1 CCH1534
Th e a b o v e p l a y e r s r e p r e s e n t t h e 2 0 h ig h
verified (11 r a te d g a m e s ) of t h e 3 , 0 0 0 m e m b
AREA pool . Players with a n oppon ent qual if
less
t h a n C w e r e n o t c a l cu l a te d a m o n g t h e
player ra t ings .
The following
AREA
memberships have been termina
No rating points can be awarded for games with th
~ndividuals s they are no longer members of the system
06109 01 58102 01
91 789 01
14037 01 60641 01
93555 01
45208 01 70601 04
CANAD 02
46556 01
731 39 01 OVERS 07
.
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P GE
1
THEGENER L
KINGM KER BY
M
Don TurnbuN has more qualifica tions for
discussing postal KI NG M AK ER than his British
heritage. Don has been an active postalpla.ver o f a
number ofgame s rom theyear One andhis exploits
among ,fellou. AHIK Sers with his ow n fan 'zine
ALBION were so w*eN hought of that editors hip of
the first (and on lv) 50 issues of that international
classic won him accolades as the winner of thefir st
Char1ie in
he 1974 voting or the Charles Roberts
Awards Hall of Fame. More importan t for our
purposes here howlever, is that Don was the
gamesmaster for the first game o f postal
KINGM A KER playe d in Britain-the birthplace o f
KINGMAKER. Don doesn't real1.v lay down the
law, as to how to proceed in a postal KM game but
his general advice on the subject should be
prerequisite reading for all potential gamem asters
interested in bridging the gap between postal
D I P L O M A C Y a n d K I N G M A K E R .
Fashions come and fashions go-but if a multi-
player gam e is to have an y chance of lasting success
in the UK it must lend itself to postal play.
Nowadays face-to-face meetings of kindred spirits
are quite common-the twice-yearly AH lK S
Europe weekends, Ian Livingstone's Games Day,
Malcolm Watson's 'Orgies' and a whole range of
othe rs including the drop-in-and-play service
operated by some specialist games outlets. But it
was not always so. In the bad old days, when Avalo n
Hill was the only 'proper ' games producer and
Baltimore the only Mecca, the few UK enthusiasts
were spread very thin across the country and face-
to-face meetings were rare. S o the arrival of a new
game (itself a rare occasion then) prompted
immediate appraisal of its postal possibilities; if
postal play proved impossible, or even merely
awkward. the game might well be put on the shelf
and forgotten after a few solitaire experiments.
The J U T L A N D postal team game-now sadly
without support: I wonder if it can be resurrected?-
was born in this way and proved a n exciting, thoug h
long-winded. battle of wits for 6-10 players. The
Gamescience BATTLE OF BRITAIN had more
success and I believe som e games (2 players with or
without a third party acting as mon itor) are stil l in
progress after 5 or more years. AH Management
had a brief, and unjustifiably inglorious, postal
career but th ere are hop es tha t it will see the light of
day again in its new guise of BUSINESS
STRA TEG Y. The multi-player postal game provid-
ed an interesting diversion from the two-player
STALINGRADS, BULGES and D - D A Y S which
reigned supreme.
UK magazines no w offer a wide range of postal
multi-player games including D I P L O M A C Y and
its variants, O R I G I N S O F W O R L D W A R 11,
ELECTION. David Watts' excellent R A I L W A Y
RIVALS, the AH S T O C K M A R K E T Game and
BUSINESS STRAT EGY, EN GA RD E
and a
pretty dreadful thing called SOCCERBOSS. Oh
yes-and K I N G M A K E R . Old habits have died
hard.
The first appearance of K I N G M A K E R was
something of a shock; excellent concept, excellent
playing board of which the AH version is rather a
pale imitation I'm afraid. excellent game equip-
ment. but lamentable rules with more holes than a
sieve. Those who have suffered at the hands of
Philmar's first edition rules will remem ber the light-
headed feeling they induced. But the game itself had
such poten tial and those were the only rules we had
to go on. S o after late-night battles at one of the
excellent AH l KS Ep ping meetings, and encourage d
by enthusiasts of like mind about the game. I set
about devising a postal version and asked for
volunteers. In April 1975 the first postal
K I N G M A K E R game was un der way star ring well-
known AHIKS-ers Alan Youde, Bob Stuart and
Robin Hood (he's not kidding-ed.), with Clive
Booth, Mick Bullock and Mic haelvon Haagjo ining
the fun from a background of D I P L O M A C Ygames
in my COURIER magazine. (Incidentally, I little
knew what I as starting-both Robin and Clive ar e
now running postal games in their magazines; like
any other self-respecting germ, the K I N G M A K E R
bug has started t o spread).
In divising postal rules it was important to pull
together views on how to fil l thegap s in the Philmar
rules. Unfortunately I didn't have the pleasure of
meeting the designer, Andrew McNeil, until the
game was under way, and I found that in fi l l ing
those gaps I had unwittingly lost the spirit of some
of his original intentions. Particula rly I had failed to
grasp that he had virtually ignored the time-space
facto r as a deliberate policy; his concept of a
variable length of turn was quite foreign to me-
brought up on zones of control and terrain effects
charts-and I regretted one or two of the rulings 1
had devised too late to change them. The main
difference was my ruling that a noble had to reach
the designated Parliamen t venue in his normal move
rathe rthan by the instantaneous transfer Andrew
had in mind. I think we agreed that the difference
was in practice unimpo rtant-but I wish I had met
him and read the second edition of the rulebook
before starting the game.
I made myself very unp opular in some quarters
with my 'anonymity' rule, anoth er rule devised
especially for the postal game; without being too
defensive, let me explain First, 1 am quite
convinced that a pos tal version of a game can differ
significantly from the face-to-face version without
detracting from the spirit of either game; I would
defend to the last ditch the right of a postal
gamesmaster to adapt the basic rules so as o permit
exploitation of the postaldimensions; simultaneous
movement is an obvious example. I t also seemed to
me imp ortant in a postal game to emphasize the
need for inter-player negotiation-the 'diplomacy
element'-since a multi-player postal game would
be pretty dull without it. In postal K I N G M A K E R
movement had to be simultaneous in order to keep
the game to a reasonable length anyway so players
would not have the complete information which is
available to face-to-face players and inter-player
negotiation would be vital if any cooperative play
was to take place (which it should ) In additio n the
period of history we were dealing with was a pretty
chaotic one; communications were difficult at the
best of times, plague (and other unmentionable
diseases) was rife, men would not tur n up for a battle
if they had some thing better t o do (e.g. the battle of
Barnet which was only partially attended, much to
the profit of local whoreho uses) and uncontrolla ble
events dominated a ny campaign. I later found I had
correctly guessed Andrew's 'feel' of the game in this
regard-a mixture of spice, gall, subtlety and chaos.
S o decided to keep secret the ownership of
nobles. Each player would know which nobles he
controlled and which title, office. gang of archers,
etc. each of his nobles had. Everyone else would
know that particular titles and offices had been
assigned to particular nobles, but would not know
who controlled those nobles. Everyonewould know
where each noble was at any given time but would
have incomplete information about other players'
hands. If player A wanted to know which nobles
were controlled by player B and how stron g those
nobles were. he had someho w to cajole player B into
giving up his secrets. and no dou bt player B would
IL
BY Don Turnbul l
put s ome sort of price on. the information . A
alliance would at best be an uncomforta bl
partnership and the opportun ities for deceit an
treachery were endless.
I suppose this was rather a selfish rul
since it made the game much mdre fun for me a
gamesmaster and gave me great delight in th
confusion it caused. At the end of the game som
players suggested its removal and the publishing o
more complete information; others wanted t o retai
the rule as ad ding desirable spice. Despite th
opposition, I still believe the anonymity rule is
good one in the context of this game and a m glad t
see that oth er gamesmasters agree. One might eve
call the rule vaguely realistic. It did have i
unexpected side-effects, though; if a noble staye
put for a while, either because the controlling playe
wanted it to or because he had forgotten he was i
control (which did happen) everyone was apt t
assume that the noble was their own lost sheep, an
for one game tu rn
1
had no fewer than four differe
players writing ord ers for the same noble. Se rves m
right since then had to d o some careful checkin
myself. Of course th ere was at least one player wh
felt it would be in the spirit of the game to try t
confuse me by deliberately or dering nobles belong
ing to other factions; in a way he was right-
amongst the game's attractions are uncertainty
mayhem and downright dishonesty-and it keptm
on my toes throughout.
The postal game required other rule adjustment
but many of these were later incorporated into th
second edition Philmar rules and the AH rule
anyway. Board coo rdinates were not used but area
were identified by place name (York,
2
west o
Masham , south of Chill ingham, etc.) Movemen
was broken down into five movement phases pe
turn so players had to order their nobles ' exac
routes and could pause in certain phases of thei
choice if they did not want to use full movemen
Battles took place when nobles of opposingfac tion
landed in the same place in the same movemen
phase, and survivors could continue their ordere
movement after the battle. Players kept m
informed on their 'friendship' an d 'trespass' inten
tions. Nobles of different factions entering the sam
space at the same time did not d o battle if a
controlling players had declared 'friendship' wit
each oth er (this led to some fine misunderstanding
ac d a lo t of deviousness). A noble could enter
town, castle, etc., co ntrolled by anoth er player if th
latter had permitted 'Trespass'to the former. Battle
were reported openly though factions were no
mentioned a nd the nobles ' total strengthswerekep
secret. Nobles' titles, offices and religious wer
anno unce d t o all but holdings of ships, mercenarie
and to wns were kept secret. Six events cards (one fo
each player) were drawn at the end of each turn a fte
new noble ca rds had been allocated; the results we
announce d openly (e.g., a noble called away to dea
with a revolt) o r secretly (e.g. a faction getting a fre
move card) as approp riate at the end of the repo
for that turn. If two or more events cards called th
same noble to two or moredifferent places I resolve
the conflicting demands on his t ime at random t
determine to which on e he would react. I wondere
whether it would be possible t o penalize a nob
unfortunate enough not t o be ab le to deal with a
the demands upon him-what would the goo
people of England think of a noble who let a coup
of riots proceed unchecked beause he was messin
aro und somew here else? But I could not see how
levy such penalties so had to let such a noble g
away with inefficient government.
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THEGENERAL
PAGE
If the King were called away by eventsc ards , and
failing instructions to the contrary from the
controlling player, I took with him the strongest
noble from the grou p he was with; if that no ble was
also called aw ay I took th e next strongest, and so on
down the line. As a converse, if the most powerful
noble in a grou p controlling a Roy al was called
away, he took the Royal with him but no one else
could go along for the ride. This ruling caused great
fun or annoyance, depending on point of view. At
least twice during the game the King was called
away in one direction and all the nobles in thegr oup
he started with were called away in others, leaving
the King uncontrolled and up for grabs. (The later
version of the rulebook specifically prohibits this, I
think to the detriment of the postalgame). I ran into
some criticism in this respect, too-but would do it
again. As Alan Youde pointed out in his end-of-
game comments, one of K I N G M A K E R S many
attractions is the rapid and unexpected changes of
fortune of any one player-no one is out of the game
until the bitter end (and perh aps this justifies the
presence of so large a luck element in the conflict
mechanics). This rule contributed a great deal to
player-interest a nd though those who suffered from
it though t it a bit harsh, not unn aturally, 1 would
retain it in the future as an essential ingredient.
Finally, and omitting minor rule changes and
clarifications which will be obvious to anyo ne
running the game, I adopted my usual irri tating
habit of announcing that I would invent rules to
cover unforeseen situations as they arose, asking
players to trust my discretion. They did-they had
to: they had already paid the game fee Actually
there was only one such occasion-a complex
business involving a premature calling of Parlia-
ment and doub ts about the King's Peace. I will
return to this later.
The game itself lasted sixteen mo nths real t ime
and 29 turns were played. I rememb er it as a
fascinating and hilarious business and I was glad t o
see that the players agreed (despite the anony mity
rule) in retrospect. T he one problem whichem erged
in the postal game was the difficulty of bringing
enemies to com bat. As Michael von Haa g put i t:-
In face-to-face play one can d ecide to double-cross,
then s tab with accuracy (preferably while theenem y
is in any case lying down). In postal play it means
marching u p hill, down dale, snicker-snacking with
one's vorpal blade every which way-usually, in my
case, with no result or otherwise finding I had
inadvertently challenged so me mug with a shoe size
twice as large a s mine. How t o introduce a n evil
precision into the postal game I'm not sure, but I'd
like to see it done. As for the shoe size bit, I think
that is a risk a player must accept (and anyway the
outcome of a battle doesn't always depend on
relative strengths) but 1 wholehe artedly agree with
th e rest (and I like 'evil precision9-exactly right for
this game). So me sort of modified zon e of control
ruling. whereby a noble's influence extend s to all
squares bordering on the one he occupies, may be
the right answer. 1 must brood on this and w ould
welcome suggestions.
1 mad e several errors in gamesmaste ring, mainly
because of failure to keep track of who ow ned which
castle. As Bob Stu art characteristically puts i t : Was
it not by some wet-weather wizardry that you
prolonged the game? When you resurrected some
noble in one of my castles, did I complain? When
you dropped my best friend into the moat, did 1 not
accept? As it happens, I don't think my err ors
affected the course of the game or i ts outcom e, but
gamesmastering was quite a tr icky job and I would
advise aspiring gamesmasters to make sure they are
going to have plenty of time to give the task.
Incidentally, you musn't take Bob seriously-he
won the game and had noth ing really to complain
about anyway. I would not however commend to
players his early tactic of attacking unoccupied
castles: this may serve to blazon one's strength
abroad to other players but i t is a dangerous
business, particularly for a player who controls
relatively few nobles. Nor would agree with Bob's
supposed 'advice' to futu re players-by-mail, written
with tongue firmly in cheek: Do noth ing lads:
gradually all the flower of England will be yours-
dished out of that crown pack. It should be
recorded that Bob rarely does what he says he
does-strong men have been known to pale on
learning. usually the hard way and too late, the
extent of his craft and guile.
In my view, no postal report iscomple te without
good press releases; aspiring gamesmas ters should , I
believe, encourage them. From the mass of press
releases provided for the game I select but two-
they ar e of: little relevance to th e gam e itself, n or
need they be, but postal gamin g is an entertaining
business and gamesmasters should encourage press
releases of quality for the sake of sheer entertain-
ment. First some enigmatic Welsh stuff from Alan
Youde:
HARLECH:
Myfanwy and Daffyd. It isagreed,
then. Only when and where remains to be decided.
Bethan and lfor may come. lorweth. Second, a
dramat ic con t r ibu t ion f rom Bob S tuar t whose
nobles had failed to unite at Fotheringhay, as
planned, because 1 couldn't read Bob's orders:
Playlet- H e Does It Again'. Scene-
Fotheringhay Castle. Hastings, Earl of Essex, sits
with Berkeley, Archbishop of York, before the fire
in the Great Hall. Each s harpens his dagger.
Berkeley: What be that ringing noise?
Hastings: Bells, I expect.
Berkeley: It be that new-fangled invention the
telephone. (Berkeley, with knowing look, answers
the telephone).
Berkeley: Hello. This be rightful occupiers of
Fotheringhay.
Caller: This be Mowbray.
Berkeley: Where a r t thou?
M0wbra.v: Haven't a clue. B Wizard of
Wrong Directions has beenat i t again. I told Wizard
to fetch me up one west of Belvoir-silly b has
struck me in the middle of nowhere. West of
Nottingham? That be Tutbury oh b
Berkeley: Were you planning on coming to tea?
M0wbra.v: Nay-was com ing to belt thee one.
Now 1 be going to Camb ridge and belt him one.
H m m m m .
I think it adds to the atmo sphere too for players
to name their factions. The best name in my game
was Alan Youde's
Wigan Peers, but unfortunately
that is an English in-joke, and Michael von Haag's
La Belsize San Merci (he lives in Belsize Park ) is my
second favourite.
Wh at of the gam e itself? Well, others' ga mes can
be bor ing fo r the on looker , bu t anyone who wantsa
turn-by-turn account can obtain it (at a modest
price) from me at
5
Greenlands, Red Cross Lane,
Cambridge CB2 2 QY, England. The swing of
fortune in a postal game seems for some reason
more m arked t han in face-to-face games. Perhaps
this is because of the tempo generated by the
simultaneous movement and the simultaneous
effects of six events cards. But 1 for o ne enjoy the
postal version more than the face-to-face, par-
ticularly if there are four o r more players. Th e
problem with all sequential movem ent multi-player
games is for each player t o maintain interest while
awaiting his next turn; happily this problem is
absent in the postal version. I t is important to
maintain the pace of the game, first by insisting on
short periods between moves, during which time
players must conduct their diplomacy and plan
strategy, second by ensuring swift adjudication;
nothing kills a postal game more effectively than
lengthy delays by the gamemaster between t
deadline d ate and the mailing of reports to playe
T h e s h e e r m o m e n t u m o f a n o n -g o i
K I N G M A K E R keeps interest alive even in playe
whose fortunes are currently at low ebb, and that
the way it should be.
I believe there is still some unresolved confusi
abou t Parliament in the postal game and can be
dem onstr ate this by reference to one incident in m
game which nearly caused some harsh wor
between M ick Bullock and myself. Right at the sta
of the game (and working only from the first , ve
inadequate, rulebook) I had ruled that Parliame
could be called at the end of the turn in which t
King and the noble from the supporting factio
summo ned by writ, reached th e designated Parl
ment venue; the actual handing out of cards fro
Chancery would take place at the end of t
subsequent turn. This gave other nobles one turn
get to Parliament by normal movement if th
wanted a chance to get some goodies. Tw
Parliaments had been successfully held by th
method when o n turn 22 Mick Bullock, who had
long suit in nobles and who controlled the King b
who had little in the way of titles and offices, sent
six nobles with the King to Chichester a
summo ned Parliament there. The trouble was th
the writ was served on Bob Stuart's Bourchier w
wasn't in Chichester at'all but was somewhere dow
near Pevensey. This meant that Mick had beena b
premature in his announcement (and perhaps
shouldn't have printed it) so I pointed this ou t to t
players, saying that I would confirm in the report
turn 23 whether Parliament would be held or n
and that any cards would bedistributed at theen d
turn 24.
In turn 23 Mick compounded his error
moving his six nobles and the King away f ro
Chichester to Farnham, instead of awaiting t
promised arrival of Bourchier at the Parliame
venue. Bourchier arriv ed in due course, but findi
neither King nor King's peace in Chichester, sl
Talb ot (Clive Booth in possession-another
Clive's bad turns of fortune) who had arriv
expecting peace and goodies but finding only
untimely end at Bourchier's blood-stained hands
reported all this and said that Parliament would
held in Chichester on turn 24 as announced so lo
as the King returned there; if not there would be
Parliamen t and no King's Peace. My logic,
respect of turn 23 or turn 24 for that matte r, sa
that the King's Peace couldn't be in Chicheste r if t
King himself was elsewhere.
Tu rn 24 was, for Bob if no one else, the high sp
of the game. Having no intention of going
Parliamen t o r any othe r such silly business, B
ordered his force north out of Chichester to me
Mick's six nobles and the King who were du
heading south again. Despite having six nobl
Mick's tota l strength was only 120 against Bo
strength of 260 in three nobles. Th e outcome-six
dead nobles, Hastings in control of the King,
Parliament and no King's Peace again (whi
surprised the two nobles in Chichester in
attacking each o ther, this t ime with n o result) . O
of the bloodiest turns of the game, and the o
which almost certainly secured Bob's eventu
victory.
1 have pondered long and hard abou t this ser
of events and my rulings. Was the writ, despite
prem ature issue, effective enough to keep Bourch
waiting for the King in Chichester until the lat
decided to turn up-in othe r words was B
allowed to m ove his Bourchier, Hasting s and Per
out of Chichester to intercept the King? Was Mi
right to expect th e King's Peace on his way to t
Parliamen t tow n, on e turn late, if the King wasn't
Continued on Pg
9
Colum
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PAGE
2
THEGENER L
POST L KINGM KER M ECH NICS
Will McCullari7 goes Don Turnbull on e better
and s pe l ls ou t the pos ta l K I N GM A K E R r ules he
uses in his.fan zinc J P P . He even goes s o . far as to
provide us tcith a pos tal vers ion o f the map with
named areas and sea squares which should be o f
inter es t even to K Mp laver s w i th no p lans t o def :~ the
pos tnlan.
An undeservedly neglected masterpiece.
Huizinga's The Waning o f the Middle Ages is the
best source for background t o
K I N G M A K E R .
It is
the synthesis, the crystallization of a lifetime of
work at the University of Leyden in the field of
history of that period. ( Mo st public libraries have a
copy o r two). Huizinga's central thesis is the
contrasts in medieval life. In other words he believes
that peop le experienced life mo re intensely because
of the contrast between bodily cold and comfo rtable
warmth; hunger and well-fed; sickness and health;
love and rejection. Th e waning of th e middle ages is
seen as a process of erosion of the distinctions
between thos e extremes. C ertainly the return of the
summer sun and the exquisi te percept ion of spring
no longer move us as they once must have done.
At that time, society distinguished a superior
class known as the nobility or aristocracy. It is
comm only held th at this distinction is based on land
tenure, but it does not seem unfair to postulate that
the real basis for the distinction of nobility was
grou nded in the willingness of certain individuals to
facedeath. An aristocrat thu s is someone who is not
afraid of death for honor or loyal ty or even sport .
More t o the point , an aristocrat i s someone who, in
an age of violent extremes, is ready to exchange the
perception of life for the stone cold tomb.
The young Pole, Duke of Suffolk, wasted with
sickness, could barely stagger to the f ront line in his
bat t le ar mo ra t the batt le of Agincourt. Subsequent-
ly he was cut dow n in the first French onslaught. Yet
his place was with his King in the line. He was Duk e
of Suffo lk because he was in the line and died and he
died in the line because he was Duke of Suffolk. T o
our minds it is almost inconceivable that a man
would throw away his life in this fashion; it is no
longer chic; i t embarrasses the modern mind; yet
these are the rules of the game.
It is this boldness, resolve, confidence, or
willingness to accept risk which can make
K I N G M A K E R a really ex citing game, but which is
too often lacking. Postal games, at least in the
States, particularly suffer from timidity, some of
which may be due to unfamiliarity with the rules,
which a re different fro m most war games .
Hopefully this will change since now postal
K I N G M A K E R has about as much exci tement as
checkers matches between seven year olds. On e of
the seemingly least understood rules is the loyalty
tables for killed nobles. which allows their family to
replace subject noble, effectively returning the lost
unit to the player.
On the other hand, perhaps
K I N G M A
KERisn't
really a war gam e at all . Certainly there ar e a
multitude of alternative winning strategies. The
original form of each game is determined by the
distribution of Crown Cards in som e rand om
fashion. T hese card s represent nobles, t it les, offices,
ships, mercenaries, an d th e like. The possible mix of
12 random cards is practically infinite. Even
relatively weak nobles can be assigned a n enobling
title card, changing their characteristics and
opportunities. Essentially each 'hand' is played
differently.
In play the re is very little resem blan ce
between game s played in different 'zines since the re
By Will McCullam
is no convention yet on the distribution and h olding
of these Crown Cards. The big difference is in
whether the cards are held 'blind' or not . D on
Turnbull 's first postal game in the U.K. started the
convention of holding all crown cards blind, th at is,
no player knows who owns any nobles in play,
except fo r his own. M ost U.S. 'zines have followed
this practice, however,
J J P
identifies all cards in
play and only blinds crown cards held unassigned,
i.e. not in play. Also, it has been custom ary to
augment a n original dist ribut ion of say, 12cards , by
periodic distributions from the crown deck, but
Beaucoullon has recently initiated the practice of
dist ribut ing al l crown card s at the commencement
of play. There are only minor di fferencesamo ngthe
various 'zines apart from the above, such as
distribution of event cards, o r whether the earlier
English or newer Avalon Hill version is used.
Apparent ly there i s sti ll some sno bapp eal in owning
and even playing postally th e former, which is silly,
since the AH version is a much better game. In any
case, these are questions of detail compared with the
cited differences in crown card distribution and
holding; which have a really profound effect on the
course of the game.
Well. we have drawn a 'hand'; what nowa?
Som e cards, of course, are far st ronger than
others. The office: Chancellor of the Tower of
London , for example, not only confers contr ol of
London , and King Henry, but also an enormou s
army. However, all of these advantages do not of
themselves confer victory. Rather the contrary, for
the inheren t security one feels with this position is
more spurious than real. This relates to the other
players. F or face-to-face play, it seems that the ideal
number of players is four; five for postal play to
compen sate fo r missed moves. To o many players
results in impossibly weak factions. In this situation ,
the above becomes almost a n automat ic posi t ion.
At the same t ime, the above can become a most
dangerous position in postal play, since it will be
assumed that the Chancel lor i s in play and anyone
venturing near London will be suspect-and hence
ganged up on. It is vital to be aware of what your
opponents have; or what cards are in play;
frequently it is more useful to deny them oppor-
tuni t ies than to develop your own hand. For
example, i t is always better, when given the choice,
to capture a ci ty control led by an oppo nent , then to
capture a neutral ci ty. The form er not only gives you
four votes in parl iament , but almost as important
steals four away from the enemy. Even a card such
as the Warden of the Northern Marches, which is
considered a w eak card, since the holder is called to
the no rth freq uently by event cards can be the basis
for a strong position. The north is not favored; yet
there are four towns north of the Tees avai lable to
the Warden , that 's 12 votes, and a further four
towns and one ci ty north of the Trent . Agran d total
of 28 commons. This may be a unique advantage;
for the Chancellor of England really cannot be
risked besieging towns, w hereas o ther cards ar e well
adapted to this endeavor. The vital point is to suit
your strategy to the potential which exists within
your hand. For someone with a bunch of untitled
nobles, ambu shes may be particularly profitable; if
a 10 point noble ambushes anothe r worth 300; the
odds are either 6;1 by the die, or 10-1 against by the
event cards; whereas the payoff is 30-1.
Surprisingly few problems seem to have arisen in
postal play. Notably the seeming invincibility of the
Name
Grids
for
use
in
Postal
KM
HO ME COUNT IES NORT HUMB ERI.AN D (No. of R. Te
Widmerpool Otterburn
2 Gr~ms by 2 Hexham
2A Grimsby 3 Dunstanburgh
3 Wolverhampton 4 Flodden
4 Evesham 5 Solway Moss
5 Bosworth 6 Clif ton
6 Stamford
7 Wigton
6A Desborough 8 Alston
7 Marke t Deeping 9 Wetheral
8 Long Sulton 10 Brampton
9 Wisbech Bellingham
10 Ayl sha m 12 Peel Feel
Beverley 13 Sunderland
12 Rush den 14 Gateshead
13 Huntin gdon I5 Wolsingham
14 Peterb oroug h 16 Cons ett
15 Guyh~rn
16 Outwell
TH E M I D L AN D S (Tren t t o Tees)
17 Ely
Morecambe
18 S. lves
2 Newton
19 Lowestoft
3 C lapham
20 Ledbury
4 Settle
21 Banbury
5 Hellif ield
22 Buckingham
6 Buckden
23 Aylesbury
7 Pateley Br.
24 Bedford
8 Grassington
25 Dunstable
9 Ripon
26 Gloucester
10 Egremont
27 Newport
Borrow Dale
28 Cirencester
12 Shap
29 Bampton
13 Wiclif f (No./ Richmond)
30 Saffron-Walden
~~~f~~~
31 Mar lborough l6 Kendal
32 Reading
33 Chelmsford
17 Reeth
34 Southend
18 Darlington
35 Watcher
19 Yarm
36 Glastonbury y ~ ~ ~ o ~ u g h
37 Stonehenge
38 Basingstoke
::
?
39 Guildford
4 Wil t on
24 Bramham Moor
41 Yeovil
25 Leeds
42 Sherburne
26 Shipton
43 Blandford
27 Blackburn
Cashmere
28 Barup
45 Ringwood
29 Halifax
46 Lymington
30 Liverpool
47 Aldershot
31 Wigan
48 Petersfield
32 Manchester
49 Reigate
33 Ashton
50 Dorchester
34 Penistone
Lyme
Regis
35 Doncaster
52 Bognor Regis 36 Macclesfield
53 Brighton
37 Flash
54 Lewes
38 Sheffield
55 Tunbridge Wells :: ~ ~ ~
41 Ripley
SEA SQI I AR ES.
Nor th Channel WA LES
2 Morecambe Bay Colwyn Bay 31 Abergaven
3 Solway 2 Flint 32 Monm outh
4 Ballyleige Bay 3 Nevin 33 Haverfo rd
5 Irish Sea
4 Pen-Y-Groes 34 Bryn Mamm
6 Ribble
5 Bettws-Y-Coed 35 Armm Anfo
7 S. George s Channel 6 Bycchaw 36 Ponty pridd
8 Cardigan Bay 7 Mo ld 37 Caerphilly
9 S. David s Head 8 Bala 38 Raglan
10 Carmarthen Bay 9 Ruthin 39 Kidwelly
Lundy 10 Wrex ham 40 Lla n Tussa
12 Bristol Channel Dolgelley
13 Scilly Straights I2 Llannwchllyn DE VO N
14 Cornwall Bay
13 Cross Foxes lllfracom
15 Lyme Bay
14 Owswestry 2 Lyn ton
16 Guernsey
15 Mach ynnlle th 3 Buck s C
17 To r Bay 16 Newto n 4 Barnstap
18 Jersey 17 Welshpool 5 To rr~ ng
19 Solvent 18 Muc h Wenlock 6 Chulm lei
20 Eng. Channel 19 Abery stwyth 7 Tiverto n
21 Beachy Head 20 Pon terwyd 8 Boscastle
22 Bay of The Seine 21 Mon imer s Cross 9 Holswon
23 Straits of Dove r 22 Lampeter 10 Torqu ay
24 Dieppe 23 Llandovery Fraddou
25 The Down s 24 Llyswen 12 Liskeard
26 Hollesley Bay 25 Vowc hurch I3 Launcest
27 Aldeburgh
26 Fishguard 14 Bridestow
28 Yarmouth 27 Carmarthen I5 Tavistock
29 The Wash 28 Handyssul 16 Camborn
30 Nor th Sea 29 Merthy r 17 Falmouth
31 Firth of For th 30 Tyd fil 18 Lizard P
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THE GENERAL
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IRELAND
SCOTL ND
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P GE
4
Dukes of York and Lancaster cards. In JJP gam es.
neither is considered responsive to the loyalty table
and once killed. are considered t o remain dead until
the heir or King associated with them is killed. J J P
has published a map assigning names to all the
blank spaces. This is also used by Beaucoullion
however. the map is really more complicated than
necessary. and the number of squares could be
reduced by half without changing the character of
the game. Unfortunately the advanced battle rules
are not used much. No doub t they seemcomplicated
when compared with the easier s tacking and o dds;
KINGM KER RULES EXPL N TIONS
however, they are very reasonable and add a degree
of versimilitude that is otherwise lacking.
Hopefully a more aggressive spirit will soon
become evident in postal play; at least the thing
seems more enjoyable bashing heads.
The following is believed to be a co mplete list of
current publishers of KI NG M AK ER postal 'z ines
in the U.S.
The Ninth Circle-$4.50-David Bunke, 5512
Julm ar Drive, Cincinnati , Ohio 45238
AHIKS-must be 21 or over to join-Omar
DeW itt, 547 Riverside Drive. Elizabeth. N. J.072 08
Kha zad Dum-The oldest Kingm aker 'zine in
the U.S.-William A. Clum m. R.R. #I , Amesville,
Ohio 4571
Beaucouillion-$4-Dick Trtek, 2728 S E Main
St., Apt. I, Portland. Ore. 97214
JJP-$6-Will McCu llam, Fair mo unt Rd..
Newbury, Ohio 44065
Cant erbu ry Tales-Players only-Stephen
Hall, 4405 South 36th St.. Arlington, VA 22206
H O U S E R U L E S F O R P O S T A L K I N G M A K E R
Advanced battle rules will not be used. The
Gamesmaster. henceforth called Herald shall be the
sole arbiter of play
There shall be five players, each receiving 12
crown cards. which will be identified asbelon ging to
each player. Initial dispositons shall be published
separately and additional distr ibutions of crown
cards made throug hout the game. These latter may
be blind, that is held secretly by the players, however
once assigned or put into play, they shall be
published as belonging to the appropriate player.
Only one event card, applicable to all players
shall be drawn each tu rn. N on-event cards (such as
Free Move) shall be assigned to a player and
another drawn, until an event card is drawn.
Players who fail to submit moves shall forfeit
their turn, and any player who misses two
consecutive turns shall be liable to forfeit all crown
cards.
All play will be simultaneous, by phase: 1)
Ransom /Execution; 2) M ovement; 3) Com bat; 4)
Assignment of Crown Cards. If a parliament is
called. it shall substitute for the combat phase.
If two o r more players ord er their units t o a
fortified position or other identical objective then
theplayer whose units arecl oses t shall be considered
to have priority. If both players are equidistant from
identical objectives. then land m ovem ent shall have
priority over sea movement, and the larger force
over the smaller . Road movement shall be con-
sidered as one square distant. If tw o players order
their units to identical fortified objectives and the
priority forc e achieves his objective, then the second
player shall be placed in the open adjacent to the
objective. If, however, the first player fails in his
siege, then the second player shall be deemed t o have
an opportunity t o besiege the place, without having
to contest with the force of the first player.
All movement orders shall be specific and
referenced to attached map. stating place of
beginning, intended path, and final destination by
Cont inued on Pg 9 Column 2
By Mick Uhl
After a two year existence in America,
KINGMAKER sti l l retains a large popularity and
even cult statu s as evidenced by the large
reg is t ra t ion fo r the KING MA KER tournaments in
the last two O RIG IN S conventions. Being the
chairman of both tournam ents, as well as the
developer of the game, I began to discover several
comm on m isconceptions and misinterpretations of
the rules. In part, this is a result of the assump-
tions developed from the English version, and in
part due to the compromise nature of the rules,
which tend to be short for generalconsu mption, but
carefully worded for completeness. As a result, there
is too much emphasis on individual definitions of
key words and phrases. If one person's or club's
definition is incorrect, the eventual interpretatio n of
the rule is the same. This article hopes to clear up
most of these misinterpretations. O missions in the
rules will also be listed.
1. In two areas of the board, it is difficult to tell
whether a road is blocked by or bypasses a town.
These two locations are at Shrewsbury and Lond on.
Conside ring the effect of playability an d play
enjoyment ,
I
feel that both Shrewsbury and
London control all roads running into their square
and hence block all movement through the square
along these roads.
2.
a.
There has been som e difficulty determininga
noble's capabilities in alliance. T o clarify this, it is
extremely important to understand the sentence,
IMPO RTAN T: No coun te r (Noble , royal he i r o r
ship) can ever move or attack in more than one
round in a turn on page
9
of the rules. This sentence
means tha t a nob le who movesand /o ra t tacks in his
turn cannot d o either in anothe r player 's turn in the
same round, even if there has been an alliance
formed in between. A noble can defend in his turn,
then ally and defen d again with theallied noble(s) in
another turn of the same round, though. The
alliance must be made before the attack is
announced in order for the all iance to apply in
defense. In subsequen t rounds , the allied nobles can
move and attack together by choosing one overall
commander for each group operating together. A
com ma nder is not needed for allied nobles to defend
together. Unfortunately, a contradiction to this rule
appeared in my Development Notes in the
GENERAL 13.3, question 13, and should be
disregarded.
b. It is not necessary to choose an overall
com man der when makin g an alliance. It is necessary
to d o so, though, if any of the all ied nobles are to
move and attack together (not defend). A com-
mander, once chosen, can only be voluntarily
changed if a ll the nobles to operate under the
comm ander are present in the same square.
3.
To implement the Optional Victory Conditions,
it is essential to have a majority of the totalvote in
Comm ons, not just a m ajority of the vote in play or
in attendance. This is a fixed figure of 79 votes. This
is not tru e in the Lords, there it is only necessary to
have a m ajority of the vote in attendance .
4. Because of the cut of the map, it is difficult to
determine whether a ship can sail around Penzance
in the southwest tip of England. Of course. a ship
cannot sail around Scotland on the northernedge o
the board, but a ship can sail around Penzance
Consider the town enclosed in one sea square.
5. Ther e still seem s to be difficulty in determin in
from w hich sea square to enter a port . Consider eac
coastal sea square as a four-sided figure of whic
one o r more sides are coast. A port that is locate
alon g that section of coast can only be entered from
that sea square. Therefore the same section of coa
cannot fo rm the side of more th an one coastal se
square. Th e problem is in determining within whic
section of coast some ports are located. The se
square whose coastal border is closest to th eanc ho
symbo l of the port in question is the correct squar
There are two exceptions. Calais borders the se
square a t F 6 and Pevensy borders the sea squarea
(3-5. It is recomm ended, a s an aid, to take a re
ma rker and color a section of the whitecoa st close
to the p ort t o indicate i tsexact location. Note abov
the letter
R
of Rochester th at there is a black li
breaking the Thames estuary to London. Th
should be taken as a separation of the sea lane in
two squares. I t would therefore take a comple
move of 5 squares t o move o ut of the port of Caist
into the port of London. I t is appropriate to remin
you at this point that the town of Preston is a por
6. Som e question has also arisen as to whether a
attacking force is imm une to capture if i t a t tack
This is not true. If afor ceo f 50attack safo rceof 1
in batt le and a majority , 5 to 4,3 to 2 or 2 to 1 resu
is chosen the defender wins the battle and captur
the attac king force.
7.
Some people have questioned exactly wh
areas on the game board are defined as part
England. All islands and land masses except t
continent and Calais , Scotland and Ireland are pa
of England.
8.
Another frequently asked question is who ca
be forcibly summon ed to Parlia ment by a writ
Any noble on land or at sea as well as on th
mainland can be summoned. Passengers at sea ca
only ignore Raid and Revolt and Embassy
cards. A noble under siege or on an island witho
a ship cann ot respond to a writ . A ship can
loaned, voluntarily or involuntarily , to bring t
noble to Parliament only if that ship has n ot move
at a ny time previously during the ro und. This is
comply with the one move per round ruleasstate
in 2a above. I think an additional restriction is
order. A noble in refuge on the Continent or
Scotland (see Optional Event cards in this issu
cann ot be summ oned by writ whethe r a ship
available or not.
9.
Nobles summoned to a fortif ied city or town f
Parliament d o not have to be in the town or city (i
ignore Plague ) to attend . Any nobles in t
friendly faction may enter, though.
10.
One final question often arises. W hat happe
to a ship(s) carrying passengers which is forced in
an unfriendly o r neutral port, and a siege cann ot
conducted or is unsuccessful. The passengers e
the turn in the square in the open, but the ship
itself must rem ain in the po rt until the port becom
friendly.
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THE GENERAL
M OR E KINGMAKER
PAGE
S U R P R I S E S
NEW EVENT CA RD S FOR KINGM AKER
By Mick Uhl
Mick Uhl is the fellow who so ld the brass at
There are three types of "Treachery" cards; one
Avalon Hill on the merits of KINGMAKER- listing one Crown card to be removed; one listing
mainly by playing it night and da y nonsrop for
two Crown cards to be removed; and one listing
weeks until we agreed to publish ir hm mm
three Crown cards to be removed. One or two cards
do I see a pattern developing here-frsr of your choice should be shuffled into the Event
KINGMAK ER now RAIL BARON.
Who is thar
deck at the start of play.
masked man anyway? As developer of the
2 .
Gales at Sea card (Stephen P. Herchak)
American that is to say Avalon Hill version of the
When this card is drawn, all ships cu rr~n tl y t
game Mick is the logicalguy top as s udgement o n
sea are sunk and all nobles and Royal heirs aboard
add-ons and variations of the popular m ulti-player
are lost. The ship cards of the sunk ships are
game. Besides he has toanswer thenut mailanyw ay
returned to the Crown deck and their ships removed
from the board. The ships of the Warden and the
Admiral are not removed, but placed in their home
Across the table sits the last remaining varlet
port (listed on the card). The Admiral and Warden
between you and the throne of England. That is,
office cards are not lost . All noblesaboard and their
between your Royal heir and the throneof England.
awards are returned to the Crown deck or the
You, of course, will serve in an advisory capacity
Chancery and the Royal heirs are removed from
only. Little does this scurrilous cad know, but two
play. It is suggested that only one or two of these
months earlier you made a secret compact with cards should be placed in the Event deck.
Percy (i.e. you drew his noble card from the Crown
3.
Refuge card (Arnold Blumberg)
deck a couple of turns ago) to aid in the cause of
Rather than allow a noble and Royal heir in the
your claimant (i.e. you are about to play the card) in
Advanced game unlimited stay in Ireland and the
order to crush his faction (i.e. with Percy you'vegot
Continent, permit only the Lieutenant of Ireland
a 4 to 1 majority) and triumphantly enter London.
unlimited stay in Ireland. Any noble or nobles and
But wait You have analyzed your
plans to the
any accompanying Royal heirs may stay in Ireland,
last detail. Nothing can go wrong. So why is this
the Continent or Scotland only if they play a
pheasant (i.e. English turkey) smirking and "Refuge" card. On the "Refuge" card is listed the
laughing in your face? You just drew a "Treachery" number of turns that a noble(s) and Royal heir(s)
card from the Event deck and have lost Percy to the may stay in refuge. Once the time of refuge has
Crown deck. A "Treachery" card? Where did that expired, the nobles and Royal heirs must either
come from? leave or be lost. Nobles and their awards are
Hear Ye Hear Ye Are Y O U tired of seeing the returned to the Crown deck or Chancery and Royal
same old plagues? Does watching your best noble heirs are removed from play.
answer the same Raid and Revolt (don't those
When drawn, a "Refuge" card is retained in the
peasants ever take time out for a meal) provoke a
same manner as a "Free Move" card. It can be
strong desire to do some raiding and revolting of traded. It is played just like a "Free Move" card
your own on the Event deck. Well, your troubles are
during the movement portion of the player's turn.
over. Now available for the first time is an
Any number of nobles and Royal heirs in a faction
alternative. Try stuffing the Event deck with some
may take advantage of the refuge as long as they
new surprises.
move to the same location (i.e. Scotland, Ireland or
Presented herein are new Event cards that you
the Continent) in the same turn that the "Refuge"
can add to the Event deck to rejuvenate Your
card is played. Additional nobles and Royal heirs
K I N G M A K E R game. We suggest, however, that
cannot take advantage of the refuge after the turn
you warn'your opponents of these additions before
that the card is played or if in another location. Only
starting play or you may just find a sudden
one group may be in refuge in one place at one time.
escalation of the war to a more modern setting.
Combat cannot occur on the Continent or in
These new Event cards are a result of the
Scotland. It may occur in Ireland.
suggestions of three people, Stephen P. Herchak, There are three types of "Refuge" cards
Craig Ransom, and Arnold Blumberg. These cards available; one for three turns, one for five turns and
will be, basically, handmade although players may one for seven turns. Any number of each may be
adapt blank Event cards in their game or purchase placed in the Event deck at the players' discretion.
new sets of these special Event cards plus blank The number of turns of refuge should be kept secret
cards from AH. The new Event cards are shuffled and only revealed on the turn that the noble(s) and
into the Event deck and utilized like the others. The Royal heir(s) must leave. Afinger ort hum b overthe
number and type of each new Event card to be used number is sufficient to hide this information. When
is up to you. A recommended number of each type the time of refuge is up or when all of the nobles
has been included in the description. although it is prematurely leave the refuge, the card is returned to
not a mandatory figure. Feel free to experiment with the discard pile. Nobles in refuge cannot be
this and any new ideas Y O U might have. Write and summoned to Parliament although they may go
tell us how it goes and include any of your own ideas voluntarily. Scotland is considered a port in the
that have proved popular.
same manner as the Continent and Ireland. Once a
noble leaves refuge, he cannot return until another
1. Treachery card (Stephen P. Herchak)
"Refuge" card is played.
The player who draws this card must return one,
two or three Crown cards held in his hand he .
As an additional and optional function of the
unplayed cards in hand) to the Crown deck. ~ h e s e
"Refuge" card, include the islands of Anglesey
cards are chosen while face down by the player on
(Beaumaris), Wight (Carisbrooke), Man (Douglas)
the left and are not revealed to anyone. If the player
and the Calais square as places which can only be
holds less than the number to be removed, the excess
occupied with a "Refuge" card. Exceptions would
is ignored.
include unlimited refuge without use of a "Refuge"
card for Stanley in Man, for the Captain of Calais i
the Calais square, for the Treasurer of England
Anglesey and the noble awarded Carisbrooke f
Wight. Any other noble to enter one of these isla
squares would need a "Refuge" card. Nobles ca
enter one of the refuge location without a "Refuge
card in order to besiege the town or castle in th
square, to attack a force in the square (not allow
in Scotland or the Continent) or to capture a Roy
heir. They must leave the next turn after the sieg
battle or capture has been resolved. The force c
and must leave whether they control the port or no
A ship cannot voluntarily enter a refuge port due
storms at sea unless it is the only "closest" port.
Permit nobles the ability to cross from t
mainland into Anglesey (Beaumaris) if they sta
their turn adjacent to that square. (i.e. in t
Caernarvon square)
4.
Vacillating Allegiance card (Arno
Blumberg)
Any number of these cards may be placed in t
Event deck. The drawer of this card during t
Event Phase immediately loses the use of one nob
for one turn. The noble affected cannot attack
that turn. The noble affected must be determin
randomly. Any system may be utilized. A suggest
method would be to take all of the noble cards of t
player and mix them up. Have another play
choose one of the face down cards to determine t
vacillating noble. The noble cards are then return
to their awards.
If the card is drawn while determining the resu
of combat, one of the nobles of the weaker of t
two factions involved in the combat must eith
return home before the battle or siege, or im
mediately switch allegiance to the opposingfactio
After the noble is randomly determined, the od
are readjusted and a die is rolled utilizing the tab
below. A noble who is to return home mu
immediately be placed on one of his home castle(s
friendly, or the closest friendly town, city or castle
unfriendly. A noble who switches allegience s giv
to the opposing faction with all of his awards. T
noble now operates with and is part of the opposi
faction.
Majority
5 4 3 2
2-1
3 1 4
Return
Home
1 6
1-5 1-4 1-3 1 2 1
Switch
Allegiance 6 5-6 4-6 3-6 2 6
Combat must continue and after the disposit
of the vacillating noble is determined, a new Eve
card is drawn to determine combat. A noble w
switches allegiance may be added into its ne
faction's strength for the combat.
A "Vacillating Noble" card is ignored if t
affected faction has only one noble in play duri
the Event phase or one noble in combat during t
Combat phase.
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P GE
6
5 Catastrophe card
When d rawn , this card affects all nobles in play
and any wh o are subsequently put into play during
the period of its influence. While this card is in
effect, all strength given to a noble by office,
bishopric or title only is temporarily lost and not
counted for strength. W hen the period of itseffect is
over, the "Catastrophe" card is returned to the
Event deck and th e nobles immediately regain their
full troop strength. All garrisons (town, city and
castle) are not affected.
Titled nobles do not lose any strength due to
their t i t le . Only strengths awarded by a t i t lecard are
lost.
There are three types of "Catastrophe" cards;
one for one round duration. one for two rounds
dura t ion and one fo r th ree rounds dura t ion . The
round begins on the turn of the draw. If a
"Catastrophe" card is drawn while ano the r is in
effect, the card must still takeeffect on the tur n of its
draw. There is no additional penalty if two o r more
"Catastrophe" cards are concurrently in play. It is
suggested that one or two cards of the players '
choice should be placed in the Event deck.
The reasoning behind the inclusion of this type
of card is based on the overriding effect of
uncontrollable events on the course of history,
especially during medieval and early renaissance
periods. Any type of catastrophe, natural or
otherwise, could reduce a noble's power to the bare
minimum of his own personal entourage. These
cards represent catastrophes and events of such an
overriding nature to preclude the effective
maintena nce of large field arm ies by th e nobles. Of
course, as soon as the catastrop he o r event passed,
the war resumed a t full strength.
6
Royal Death card (Craig Ransom)
The player who draws this card rolls two dice
and consults the table below to determine the
natural o r accidental death of o ne Roy al heir . If the
Royal heir chosen has already been removed from
play, do not roll again. It is recomm ended t hat only
one card be placed in the Event deck.
Basic Game
2. George of Clarence
3. Richard of Glouceste r
4. Richard of Gloucester
5.
George of Clarence
6 Edward of Clarence
7. Henry VI
8 Margaret of Anjou
9 Edward of March
10. Richard of York
I. Richard of York
12. Edward of March
Advanced Gam e
2. Edmund of Rutland
3. Rich ard of Gloucester
4. Edm und of Rutland
5 Margaret of Anjou
6 Richard of York
7.
Henry VI
8
Edward of March
9 George of Clarence
10. Edward of Lancaster
1. Richard of Gloucester
12. Edward of Lancaster
Here are some points t o remember. Theeffect of
these new Event cards are ignored (except
"Vacillating Allegiance") if they ar e draw n durin g
combat resolution. All cards, once their effect is
over, are returned to the Discard Pile. All cards
which are returned at th e same time to the Crown
deck must be mixed when placed at the bottom of
the deck so that no one knows their order. Whe nany
of these cards are picked to resolve combat, utilize
the Advanced Nobles Killed table to determine the
nobles killed. Th e battle odds should be distributed
equally amo ng the card s; e.g. if you add 10 new
Event cards to the Event deck, two should have a4-I
majority. two should have a 3-1 majority. etc.
"Vacillating Noble", and "Refuge" Event cards
should not have any combat result printed on the
card.
N D STILL M ORE
KINGM KER
SURPRISES B y M i c k U h l
Ever wonder how the original descendants play
KIN GM AKE R? Here are some ideas that a British
games club used to put some variety into their
KIN GM AK ER games. Included, too, are
suggestions submitted by other garners. Try an y or
all of these suggestions, or some of your own.
Experiment. You may find the formula that will
aga in make KIN GMA KER the most popula r game
on your shelf.
Personally, I feel that experimenting is a healthy
approach to the type of game tha t KING MAK ER
represents. Although th e tour nam ent level, struc-
tured, one on one play that most AH wargamers
employ, precludes variation and variants; multi-
p l a y e r , d i p l o m a cy - t y p e g a m e s s u c h a s
K I N G M A K E R a n d D I P L O M A C Y , t h ri v e up o n i t.
If these new ideas show a definite increase in play
excitement, they could possibly be incorporated
into a future printing of the rules as "optionals". So
try any or all of them out and let us know how they
work f or you.
1 (Derek C arver an d the British games club) "We
have found tha t the game frequently lacked "drive"
due to insufficient men. Not enough mercenary
troops were around to encourage open coutry
battles for he sole purpose of strengthening one's
hand. It was assumed that anybod y owning a town
could raise som e form of force but with low morale.
So let the ownership of a town card provide 20
additional men. Bristol would give 30 men. Castles
would not have any troop bonus.
These men are
useful on119 in attack.
They have
no defense value.
From this i t can be seen that even the most
insignificant nob le can app ear strong. This en-
courages exciting contests because even if an attac k
fails or is delayed due to bad weather, a countera t-
tack will almost certainly succeed due to the low
defense of the assemblage. T he levies are not taken
into consider ation when calcu lating ship capacities.
The town forces, therefore, cannot be used on an
island, in Calais, the Continent, Ireland or Scotland
(see Optiona l Event cards article in this issue.). This
troop bonus is only associated with towns named on
town cards. Town cards gained by capture must be
awarded to one noble involved in the siege when
utilizing this rule."
2. (Derek Carver and the British games club) "Most
people agree that the regularity of PLAGUE is
unnatural. Therefore, we operate that each time an
Embassy card is drawn, the entire deck of Crown
card s are reshuffled (add ing the Discard Pile). This
does away with the predictability." You may also
wish to reshuffle the crown d eck afte r every
Parliament.
3 (Derek C arver and the British games club). One
of the most serious drawbacks in play is the
initiative to attack (or lack thereof). Therefore ,
allow a player whose faction successfully defeats
one o r more nobles in anothe r faction by battle or
siege to take the defeated player's next draw from
the Crown deck when it occurs. This reflects the
increase in power of the victorious faction and loss
of power of the defeated faction. It also is an
additional incentive to attack.
A future dra w from the Crow n deck can also be
an incentive in Ransom. Allow the defeated player
to trade on e or more of his future draws from the
Crown deck a s a bargain for Ransom . If i t is agreed
upon, the capturing nobles may hold on to the
ransomed noble or Royal heir until his ransom is
fulfilled (i.e. the Cro wn ca rds dra wn) and then,
must be freed. If the ransomed noble is recaptured
a subs equent battle before all of the ransom is pai
the rans om can be ignored (the defeated player,
an act of good faith and friendship, can sti l l g
through with the bargain). If the noble is n
executed on the turn of capture, he cannot
executed a t all (until recaptured after being set fre
A faction is not required t o hold the captured nob
o r royal heir, it is the controllin g player's choice.
noble left alone is immediately freed. A noble
Royal heir cannot be moved in more than one tu
in a roun d (i.e. a noble heir cannot be moved by t
capturing faction, freed, and then moved by t
controlling faction in the same round).
4. (Derek Carver, Arnold Blumberg, Stev
Herchak, and many others) Combat at sea h
probably been one of the most popular suggestio
sent in. Th e effect of this is obvious. N o longer c
ships and their passengers sit off shore for lo
periods, immune to Combat, Raids and Revo
(and in some games "Summons to Parliament"
Battles at sea can provide a n exciting alternative
land battles and it can permit a faction to increa
the size of his fleet.
Comba t at sea is fought ust l ike a battle on lan
Each ships' combat strength is represented by
passenger
capacity.
The strength of any passenge
are ignored. It is assumed that the differen
between a ship's capacity and the strength of
passengers is made up of sailors.
When o ne o r more ships of one faction enter
square occupied by one or more ships of anoth
faction (not in port) , the moving ships may
choo
to attack. Th e ratio of ship capacities of t
opposing fleets are compared an d an Event card
drawn to determine victory as in land battle. T
"nobles killed" section is still utilized. If one side
victorious, they capture all ships, nobles and Roy
heirs of the defeated faction. They may execute
ransom th em a s in normal combat. Ship(s) nam
on "Ship" crown ca rds are immediately plac
under the contro l of the capturing faction and t
"ship" card(s) given to on e or more of the no
passengers. A ship or ships of the Warden
Admiral remain under the control of the capturi
faction, but as soo n as i t touches port, i t immedia
ly reverts back to the control of the Admiral
Warden. A "Vacillating Noble" card (see Option
Event Cards in this issue) is ignored unless
"Vacillating Noble" for ms the majority of the shi
capacity. In this case, thes hipei ther goes toany po
(of oppo sing player's choice) and th e noble home,
the ship joins in with th e opposin g fleet. A ny oth
nobles on board are captured.
As an adjunct t o "Combat at Sea", a ship m
blockade a port by occupying a sea square adjac
to th e port an d naming the port being blockaded
a ship o r ships in th e port leave that port to sail, th
must stop in that hex and join battle with
blockading ship or ships.
Nobles and Royal heirs captured at sea a
subsequently ransomed, still retain control of
ships that they occupy. They must return t o a p
on their next turn. As soon as he
ship(s) touch po
the ransomed noble(s) relinquish control.
Continued on
P g 34
Colum
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THEGENERAL
PAGE
T h e booming of over two hundred cannon fill
the a i r a s both armies prepare for the Confederate
onslaught. Picketts' rugged Virginians a r e to
spearhead this final drive t o break the strong Union
position o n Cemetery Ridge, south of the Little
town of Gettysburg. Success means the probable
capture of Baltimore a n d Washington a n d final
victory for the Confederacy. Defeat will
mean. we'll let history finish the story.
GETTYS URG has been 18 months in the
making. Great care has been taken that all
informat ion presented in the game is the most
accurate available from primary sources. T h e order
of battle a n d appearance has been checked a n d
rechecked; the mapboard prepared from detailed
surveys of the battlefield; a n d the game system
designed so that you assume the same problems a n d
face the same decisions that confronted R.E. Lee,
George A. Meade, and their field commander s .
GET T Y S URG
has been divided into three
mutually exclusive games, each of different com-
plexities a n d play lengths, in order to give the player
the game he wants t o play, n o matter what his level
of expertise. As a result, each of the three games is
specifically designed for a par t icular audience. One
game system has not been needlessly modified to fit
v e r a ~ l e v e l sf complexity.
T h e Basic game is rated Introductory a n d is
excellent as a star ter game for newcomers t o
wargaming. T h e Confederate a r m y is composed of
25
unit counters a n d the Union a r m y is 27 counters
strong, representing all the infantry, cavalry a n d
artillery divisions a n d brigades which actually
fought. Each turn of play equates two hours of real
time. C o m b a t results between fighting units ar e
resolved by strength difference. C o m b a t can be
modified by the type of a t t ack a n d defense
format ions selected. Play is fast a n d fur ious a s the
Union player tries to stave off the Confederate
onslaught in time t o bring his greater rein-
forcements in to play.
The Intermediate game is reminiscent of the
classic attack-counterattack type of game that
Avalon Hill popularized in the ear ly a n d mid-
sixties. Thebasi c unit for al l armies is the brigade.
Each a r m y has approximately 6 to 80 brigades
within its command. Losses are taken by steps. A
brigade which loses a step also loses its ability t o
at tack for the rest of the day.
A
fierce d a y of fighting
can find both armies exhausted a n d n o longer able
to at tack without proper rest. Strategic movement
permits units t o reach the same positions o n the
battlefield as their historic counterpar ts, yet
prevents mass flanking movements which dragged
earlier versions of GET T Y S URG i n to a who can
form the longer battleline syndrome.
The Advanced G a m e has it all. All important
aspects of Civil W a r tactics ar e reproduced t o play.
Brigades can form battlelines a n d columns of
different lengths depending upon their strength.
Commander s a r e rated a s to their ability to
coordinate at tacks a n d control units in movement
a s well a s their own personal leadership. Both
armies must take care to maintain sufficient suppo rt
for their f ront lines, otherwise they may find their
whole line in jeopardy due t o a successful assault.
C a n n o n composing each battery a r e divided into
three types; napoleon, rifled a n d howitzer, a n d rated
according to range a n d firepower. Each infantry
and cavalry brigade has a n experience level rat ing its
ability to give a n d receive a n at tack. T u r n s can vary
from 20 minute periods dur ing a n at tack to a n hour
Counter illustrationsactual size.
o r longer dur ing periods of inactivity. There a r e bat tal ion a n d battery involved in the battl
many what i f ' variants which can be employed to overprinted with colorful badges a n d states (actua
keep the other side guessing a s to the strength and ly used by the units in battle) for quick sor t ingan
time of arrival of your army. A special what i f ' h a s identification, plus rules and char ts to set up a n
been created to allow you t o return Stonewall refight the greatest battle of the North America
Jackson to command, a n d see if he could have given
continent.
the Confederate a r m y the impetus for victory.
GET T Y S URG is now available for $10 pl
GET T Y S URG is packaged with a 22 x 28 postage charges from Avalon Hill. Maryla
multi-colored mapboard of the battlefield, mul-
residents please a d d 5 state sales tax.
ticolored counters representing every brigade,
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P GE 8
THEGENER
SQUAD
LEADER
R u s s ~ a n .A m e r ~ c a n , nd German forces engage
In bloody street f ~ g h t s ,descend on enemy held
v~llages. ake key
hills.
o r cross open fields In the
quintessence of Infantry combat
Thls
IS
S Q U A D
LEADER- a game utlllzlng every aspect of
Infantry warfare f rom street
fighting
In Stallngrad
to armored advances across snow-covered roads In
the Ardennes S Q U A D L E A D E R 1s not just a
game-lt 1s a system e n a b l ~ n g he player who has
mastered ~t to replay v~r tua l l y ny b a t t a l ~ o n evel
actlon of W W 11 In Europe
Borrowing
heavily from mlnlatures rules, noted
game d e s ~ g n e r o h n Hill has d e s ~ g n e d n lngenlous
new game system whlch approaches the effects of
simultaneous movement w ~ t h l n a n elaborate 8
phase player turn Developer Don Greenwood has
streamlined
the system for the utmost In playabl l~ty
In what otherwise would be a n extremely com-
pl~ca t ed ame
S Q U A D L E A D E R ut l l~zesProgrammed In-
structlon to Introduce each of ~ t s 2 scenarlos
gradually so the player need read only a f r a c t ~ o n f
the overall rules to get started Once the player feels
comfortable w ~ t hhe game system he can g o o n to
other scenarlos, addlng more c o m p l e x ~ t y s he goes
The unlts are 10 man squads ,4-5 m a n c r e w s a n d
lndlv~dual leader counters They have a large
assortment of support weapons, lncludlng varlous
types of machlne guns, flamethrowers, d e m o l ~ t l o n
charges, smoke, panzerfausts, bazookas, r a d ~ o s ,
anti tank
guns and a n assortment of vehlcles a n d
AFVslnutes Eachach urnarge imulateshex thequalsassage0 metersf twof m J U&
~ . - - - J 2 8 2
actual terraln
Leaders play a major role In the game by
d ~ r e c t l n g ire, rallylng broken unlts, and generally
enhancing
the performances of t h e ~ r roops
T h e
underlying
theme of S Q U A D L E A D E R 1s one
hlnged o n morale T h e player who can ut l l~ze ~ s
leaders most effectively t o dlrect fire o n the
opposltlon whlle keeplng h ~ sw n forces under cover
& out of enemy f ~ r eanes
will
usually be the wlnner
Usual11 because nothlng 1s ever 100% certaln In
S Q U A D LEADER.1t 1s poss~ble , l though hlghly
unl~kely, hat a slngle leader could best three enemy
squads In close combat o r that a squad w ~ t h o u t nti
t ank weapons could knock out a t ank In one of o u r
playtest games a slngle German heavy machlnegun
crew pract~cal lyw ~ p e d ut slnglehandedly, a t long
range. a n entlre R u s s ~ a n at tal lon
advancing
across
open terraln In another, a squad In modera t e cover
w~ths tood he ent l re firepower (lncludlng a r m o r ) of
a
reinforced
company for
3
turns ' As In combat
nothlng IS certaln a n d w h ~ l e epulsing a R u s s ~ a r
human wave at tack, your machlnegun may jam o r
your squad may d e c ~ d e t ' s afer In the rear
T h e
unpred~ct ab l e ature of all unlts under fire 1s both
the blesslng and the bane of S Q U A D L E A D E R
commanders
In the advanced scenarlos, the game expands to
Incorporate Offboard Art~l l e ry , ~ g h t ules, barbed
1,Ilr
wlre, entrenchments, mlnefields, bunkers,
multi
level bulldlngs, rubble, f ~ r e , lver crossings snow,
roadblocks. mortar, etc Yet the b~gges t pt lon IS thc
very open-ended nature of the game Itself C o m p l e t ~
D e s ~ g nYour Own and C a m p a ~ g nG a m e systems
have been Included to allow players a n lnf ln~te
varlety of ~ndlv idual cenarlos and extended cam-
palgnsQ U A D L E A D E R comes boxed complete wlth
mmm
4
our 8
x
22 Interchangeable full color ~ s o m o r p h ~ c
boards. 716 two-s~dedcounters.
36
pp
rulebook,
S Q U A D L E A D E R 1s a v a ~ l a b l e nly by mall
S Q U A D L E A D E R I S ot for the u n ~ n ~ t ~ a t e d - r
scenarlo cards, two Qulck Reference Data Cards ,
from Avdlon H ~ l lorS12 00 plus postage Maryland
Tournament Level IV o n the Avalon H ~ l lomplex
and two d ~ c e resdent s add 5 state sales tax W A R N I N G ty scale
ounter llluatrdt~ons ctual size
roke
A8
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THEGENERAL PAGE
South Dakota
' 5
V IC T O R Y I N
THE P A C I F I C
December 7, 1941. . l n Pearl Harbor , the United
States fleet lies burning, a n d the overwhelming
fleets of the Imperial Japanese Navy a r e sweeping
forward all ac ross the Pacific. This is the start of the
most m a m m o t h naval war in history-the three
years ( f rom December 1941 t o late 1944)-when the
largest navies in the world collided across the
greatest ocean in the world--the Pacific. F r o m the
time when Japanese strength was overwhelming to
the point when the mushrooming United S ta tes
Navy surpassed the mighty Japanese fleets, it was a
war of cau t ious maneuvering and carefully planned
strategies-for even a t their weakest, b o t h sides
always had the power t o destroy.
VICTORY I N THE PACIFIC is a strategic
game of the naval war in the Pacific dur ing World
War 11. It is a simple game o n the strategic level, in
which ships and units a re assigned to areas where
they will fight, a t tempt ing to causeenemy casualties
and gain control there; combat resolution is
abstract, based o n a simple confrontation of
opposing ships in the same area, like Avalon Hill's
popu la r
WAR AT SEA game. However, in the
Pacific the ocean is large and the fleets a re
enormous , and the rising deadliness of a i r power
casts a shadow over the fleets that sail the
seas. . land-based air fleets a re present, and marine
divisions t o invade and cap tu re island bases. T h e
result is a subtle test of strategic skill, in which the
players must use ships, planes and marines to
cap tu re ports, bases a n d sea areas tha t lead t o the
heart of the enemy's war effort.
The game includes a coun te r for every capital
ship that fought in the Pacificduring the crucial first
Y a m a s h ~ r o
three years-each battleship, battlecruiser, fleet _LC
carrier and heavy cruiser has its own coun te r , a s well
as some of the front-l ine light cruisers. T h e
Japanese, United States, British, Australian a n d
5 5 4 4 4 4
Dutch navies a r e all represented. T h e land-based air
fleets that fought a r e also present, f rom the United
Yamato
States '5th Air Force that survived the Philippines t o
l r ~ s h ~ m a
lash back a t Guada lcana l t o the Japanese 25th Air
A
Flotilla that opposed it; each a i r fleet has its own
coun te r . There a re even marine divisions that invade 7 9 5 C36
islands, a n d garrison coun te rs that hold them.
Air strikes, gunnery duels, "night actions",
4 n~ r
invasions, island air bases a n d submar ines a r e all in
New Jersey Houston
the game. You must choose a n d develop the winning
strategy-whether t o fight for India, fo r Australia ,
o r for the Pacific island chains, o r whether to fight a
climactic battle a t Midway a n d the Hawaiian
L
Islands
But beware The Japanese fleet is overwhelming
a t the start-but the United States is building the
most m a m m o t h , powerful navy in the history o f t h e
world. .It is three years of skillful attacks, defense
and coun te ra t tacks by both sides that will determine
the final winner of VICTORY I N THE PACIFIC.
G a m e comes complete with full color 22" x 28"
mapboard , over
2
two-sided full color counters of
varying sizes and shapes, 8 pp. rule booklet, two
Order of Battle Charts , and four dice. Not just
a n o t h e r WAR AT SEA, VICTORY I N THE
PACIFIC
a d d s sophistication and simulation
missing in its sister game while maintaining the
former's ease of play. Playing time 2-3 hours.
VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC is available fo r
$9 plus postage from Avalon Hill. Maryland
Counter ~l lustrat~onsctual sire.
residents please add 5% state sales tax.
..
Arizona
4
4 4 3
Essex
1 3 7
Alaska
3 4 7
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PAGE 2
THEGENERAL
6 6 . I
I
DhRGW I
Boston6 Malne
-. in
en,
w
R IL
B R O N
uthless, cut throat compet~ t ion . .You ust
get your products to market, crossing and recross-
ing the continent f rom major clty to major c ~ t y . he
rewards are great-but the fines are enormous, if
you use a rail line that a n opponent owns. Can you
survive the ruthless competltlon and b u ~ l d ourself a
rail emplre that will squeeze your compet i tors out?
In the give and take of fines and payoffs, can you
make the money that entitles you to becomea
RAIL
BARON?
Formerly referred to a s BOXCARS In this
magazine, t h ~ s s the game which has been the
subject of more playtesting than any A H title of
recent vintage. Since we discovered this little gem
last summer, it has been the source of a n average of
three 7 PM-Midnight gaming sessions a week
A F T E R we've all punched out for the day. This
i4
ame got played because it was enjoyed-not
~8 2;
because it was anyone's assignment. It wasn't long
;- ~;w:
efore the Saturday af ternoon IGB sessions were
also dominated by multi-player games of BOX
CARS . This game has made previous fads such a s
WOODEN SH IP S IRON MEN a n d
KINGMAKER look trivial by comparison. A
simple game of luck a t first glance, it evolves into a n
amazing game of strategy for those deep into the
game system.
RAIL BARON is a friendly , family gamefor3-6
players. T h e game is simple to learn, but there are
subtle strategies involved-a perfect game for the
beginner and for the cunning strategist. T h e game
board portrays the 28 major rail lines in the United
States, f rom the tiny
Richmond,
Fredericksburg
and Potomac to the mighty Southern Pacific. Each
NP
player moves his token from city to city, collecting
money and buylng rail lines as he goes-and paying
UnionPacitle NorthernPaslllc
fines whenever he uses a rail line another player has
bought. If you d o not think you a r e going fast
enough, you can even buy a better locomotive-an
express, o r a
SUPERCHIEFl
Title cards (showing the logos of the 28 rail
lines); money, locomotive cards; movement, origin
I T
I
I
and dest~nat ion okens a n d a
16
x
33
full color C L O
CRILP
n
Q M 6 0
m a p of the United States rail net all come with the
numre
6
I
h . ~ aochw ~k GUII. wpbl
6
ohit
mm
game, along with char ts for selecting your next
destination and determining your payoff.
RAIL BARON
1s a n excellent game for clubs,
beginners, non-wargamers, a n d anyone w h o likes
good competition a n d a lot of fun. For 3-6 players;
playlng time 3-5 hours.
RAIL BARON
sells for $10 plus postage and is
available direct f rom Avalon Hill. Maryland N O ~ ~ O I ~WHI
S O U I ~ ~
.citic
residents please add 5 state sales tax.
M h C n l . ,
-
ard tllustrat~onseduced In stze
.
Atlantic Cout Line
Texas
6
Pacific
................. 111
-
SUPERCHIEF
MP I ~ m a t r P
MlUOUrI P.ClC
7
......................
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THE GENERAL
PAGE 2
WIN PLACE
SHOW
WIN, P L A C E S H O W , ano ther of the after
hours favorites of the design staff, is ano the r
resurrected, redeveloped 3M game which, together
with S P E E D CIRCUIT , formed the best 1-2 entry
in the 3M line. This unique game of thoroughbred
racing offers something for everyone, a s each player
simultaneously plays the role of owner, jockey, and
even the handicapper in the stands.
Before each race there's a n auction, in which
players compete for ownership of the horses
themselves. Then it's post t ime a n d dur ing the race
they serve a s their own jockeys, making split second
decisions on position, passing, sprinting, etc.
Ingenius order of movement innovations by the
designer gives every horse a genuine chance to make
it to the winner's circle, a l though each has very
different capabilities. S o m e are fast starters , o the rs
are mudders, and the favorites tend t o run
consistently well on both fast a n d slow tracks.
Each six race ca rd inc ludes 5 a n d 6 furlong and
1% mile races with a field of 6 individually rated
horses and appropriate posted odds. Post position,
running strength, speed, endurance , a n d jockey
classification all play a part in determining which
horse is the best bet a t the posted odds. You'll want a
veteran jockey if you've got a fast starter o n the
outside rail but that extra weight allowance f o r a n where players pick the winners of the first two of a
rating 36 different horses, betting slip pad, rule
Apprentice jockey often makes the difference too. six race slate fo r really big payoffs. The game even
money and two dice. For 3-6 players; playing tim
T h e real f u n comes in the betting. where each
includes special rules for Party and Fund Raisers 2 % hours. WIN, P L A C E S H O W is available b
player tries t o pick the top three finishers a n d then
versions guaranteed t o liven up any party.
mail f rom the Avalon Hill G a m e Co. for $10 pl
lays down his $1.000 to $5,000 wagers f o r better o r G a m e comes complete with full color 24 x 22
postage. Maryland residents please add 5% sta
worse (no pun). And there's even a Daily Double mapboard , six plastic horses, six racing programs
sales tax.
SPEED
CIRCUIT
S P E E D C I R C U I T i s o u r new release of the 3M
game featuring Grand Pr ix racing on three
championship courses-Monza, Monaco , and
Watkins Glen. We've tidied up the rules a bit, a n d
added a few componen ts , but basically it's the same
game.
One of the big attractions of S P E E D C I R C U I T
is that prior t o the game everybody secretly designs
his own racer to the specs he th inks a re best fo r each
individual course (or, in the alternative version,
designs one ca r for the whole circuit). Since winning
the game entails having the best total record on all
three, you've got t o be able to incorporate the
demands of each course into your racer.
Acceleration. deceleration, starting speed, max-
imum speed. and all- important ability t o sustain
engine and brake wear a re all decided by the player.
Each course will favor certain characteristics to t h e
exclusion of others, so there is a cons tan t trade-off
in the racer's design, as it is impossible to build
everything in to its severely limited confines.
Another big plus in S P E E D C I R C U I T is tha t
except fo r very rare occurrences (such a s whether o r
not a spinout becomes a crash, o r a n engine burns
ou t f rom being over taxed) dice a re totally absent
f rom the game.
In S P E E D C I R C U I T all races a re decided
totally a s a result of the players' skill (o r the lack
go t wha t in to make. Mistakes can be costly, a s a misjudged S P E E D C l R C U l T i s a g a m e f o r 2 - 6 players,an
designing and handling their machines.
move can lead t o spinouts, burned out brakes o r is sure to be popular with bo th casual and dedicate
Speeding up for straightaways, slowing down
engines. or even a race-ending crash. S P E E D garners alike. Now available
fo r curves ( o r taking chances by nut slowingdown).
C I R C U I T comes complete with a full color 32 x
slipstreaming, pushing the engine bove its safe
22
mapboard , six metal cars, Performance Log
Price is $10. Maryland residents add 5% sales
limit-these a re all tactical decisions each driver has
Pad rulebook, and die.
tax.
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THE GENER
ALEXANDER
G RE E K: RI CH AR D PL O CK
PE RS I AN: RO B E RT L I VE RM O RE
C O M M E N TA T O R : R I C H A R D H A M B L E N
ALEXANDER
is a ,ferocious attacking game.
Thanks to the .facing rules and the low
mo\~ement factors. forn~ard ovement is.faster than
lateral movetnent and is much.faster than retreats;
thus an attacker can attack much faster than a
defender can reinforce or flee, so that each
consecutive turn o f attack starts with a greater
advantage and does more damage. Also, most
powerful units are doubled on the attack-and
almost nobodv is ever doubled on defense. Best of
all, automatic breakthroughs are common-and
every unit in thegame is tremendously vulnerable to
rear attacks. An advancing attacker is aln8a.v~
threatening to break through or outflank a
defending line, which can bring on a catastrophic
rear attack .
So the attack is stronger than the defense-
which encourages both sides to attack and keep
attacking once the armies are in contact, rather than
try to fall back and regroup. This tendenc j is
enormous ,. magnified because a defeated player
does not have the time to regroup-his retreat is
slower than the enemy attack, and the defeat itself
permanent ,. weakens his army's fighting abilitjl.
causes other, unhurt units to desert and bolt from
the.field, and can even lead to his defeat even when
he has a substantial army Iefi-because every defeat
lowers his morale.
The effect on the game is clear-both pla.vers
attack, hammer and tongs, and ma.v the best attack
win. Games regularlv last two-mavbe three-turns
once battle begins; then it is over.
For both sides the tactical objective is clear;
when the battk begins, each side wishes to have a
good attack ready to go in. Also, it doesn't hurt at all
to make the
first good
attack of the game.
The elements o fagoodattack arealso clear. The
attacker needs a powerful attacking forceposition-
ed opposite a
vulnerable
defending force. For bot h
sides the cavalry (and other mobile units) are the
strongest andf astes t attacking orce, so they will be
the meat o f the attack. Missile units are very
powerful in the defense (thanks to defensive
support), so the attacking force will need enough
missile units t o negate the defending missile units by
pinning them; it is even better t o have missile
superiority
in the attack, since the ew extra attack
points can be crucial in getting a decisive
breakthrough on a constricted front. Most impor-
tant o f all, the attack ,force must contain a lot of
units, or
114 0
reasons:first, theattacker willhave to
commit a lot o f strength just to create the
breakthrough, and the attacker must have ad-
ditional units available with which ro make the
exploitation attack ^ that are tru ly devastating; and
second. the attack ,force must have enough strength
to survive the defender's counterattacks either b.v
having enough strength to wipe out the defenders
before they can counterattack, or hv havingenough
units to make a defensive line that can survive
attrition and prevent enemy breakthroughs.
The result i . ~hat the attacker must attack en
masse, with a marked superi0rit.v o f strength where
he attacks.
The peculiar nature o f the units in bo th armies
greatl~. ffects where each side can ind a vulnerable
defender. The Greek army is concentrated, which
means that it is small hut better able to maneuver
and attack in a small area; thus, the Greeks wish to
start a local battle and destr0.v rhe Persian in detail.
Converselr~, he Persian player, with his larger and
clumsier arm.,', needs to stretch the Greek line or
ou flank it; the Persians can then attack at the weak
point. The Persian attack is complicated, however,
by the presence o f the Greek Phalanxes, which are
invulnerable to,fronta l cava1r.v assault. As a result.
the Persian must maneuver their cavalry away rom
the phalanxes and attack on their f i n k s instead-
which are the vulnerable targets for the Persians,
especiallv since the clumsy phalanxes are eas.r, to
destroy once their .flank guards are gone. For the
Greeks, the vulnerable target is the weak Persian
infantry, rather than the dangerous swarm of
Persian cavalry.
With bo th armies advancing faster than they
retreat, time is litnited. Each side must rush to
deploy or the kind o f battle it needs-the Persians
hurrying to stretch or flank the Greek line with
cavalry while avoiding the phalanxes, the Greeks
rushing to start an earlv local battle, hopefully
against the Persian infantry. With the first attack
rushing down up on them, neither side has the time
to repair mistakes in placement-the most subtle
error can be an irremediable catastrophe.
Time
is the problern. An early battle is the
Greeks' aliv, delay is the Persians'-hut on v if the
Persians use the time to get into position.
The game shouldgo to the player who makes the
best use of
time
Creek Setup:
On the whole, this appears to be a reasonably
well balanced game. Th e Persians probably have an
overal l edge, but tend toascribe this to theabsolute
value of the Alexan der piece. Note that the Persian
can lose his entire army but win if the Greeks lose
Alexander and nothing else-admittedly improb-
able, bu t emphas izing the necessity for cautio n in
the use of Alexander.
The Greek advantages ar e in the greater st rength
of the individual pieces, the greater mobility of
many of them, the combined arm s capabil i ty, and
the com binat ion of set t ing up second and moving
fi rst . The Persian advantages ar e the greater num ber
of units (especially cavalry) and greater overall
st rength of the army, the importance of Alexander,
and the fact that morale i s determined after the
Persian move. Th us, as the Greek player, I must t ry
to fo rce the gam e into a p attern th at will nullify the
Persian advan tages. 1 think th at this requires that I
at tack a s quickly a s I can; to wai t for him to at tack
enables him to bring most of his army to bear upo n
me at o ne t ime, and I simply cannot afford such a
battle. I want to fight on a narrow front, hopefully
to on e side of the board where I only have one flank
to worry ab out . Also, by attackin g I make it possible
to threa ten his baggage
camp(s) in the event of a
breakthrough; waiting gives him that opportunity.
If I am able to keep the fight on a narrow front
shou ld win by virtue of the superior strength of m
units; if I am forced out in to the center of the board
probably lose. My flanks become too vulnerabl
and his greater numbers hit me from all direction
Except for minor details, his setup is probab
abou t a s flexible as he can make i t . This way he do
not co mmit himself until his sees where my units ar
I am set t ing up to advance my right wing whi
trying t o stall for time on my left. I have chosen
advance on my right because, while his units a
almost symmetrical, the board is not. I think t
eastern baggage cam p is a hai r more vulnerable th
the western one-assuming
I
can m ake i t that far
am planning a fast assault with my heavy caval
and Hypaspist infantry supp orted by javelins, wi
the ph alanxes following up to inhibit any countera
tacks. O n the left, 1 wan t to use the light cavalry
slow his cavalry advance there-he will almo
certainly make a st rong cavalry thrust on that wi
the m ainstay of his attack. T he longer 1 can del
this attack of his, the better my chanc esare . He mu
go slowly in the beginning;
I
can still shift my forc
to that side should he advance too rapidly aw
from his infantry. My 2nd Com panion and 2
Thessalian c avalry will function a s a mobile reserv
initially they will delay his cav alry adv ance , while
he waits too long they can join the attack on m
right . My Thracian G uard uni t may just a s well
that , guard the baggage camp. Soon er or later
will have cavalry units in that ar eao f the board, a
something has to protect the camp. My bagga
train probably belongs at W-I, however there ex
circumstances wherein it may be useful as a one-tu
block early in the ga me (no te that it is meaningle
to lose it before the Persian has m orale losses), and
can reach the back row rapidly enough from whe
it is.
PERSIAN SETUP:
Besides having to setup first and move second
the first a disadva ntage, the second an advantage
the Persian player has several other differences
contend with. The Persian force is over
numerically larger: in particular, i t has mo
infantry, although fewer phalanxes, more caval
and three co mmand ers to the Greek s tw
moreover, the Persian force contains elephants a
horse arch ers whereas the Greek does not . S
alone does not, however, guarantee superiority.
large army-particularly an ancient army-can
an unwieldly and clumsy army. T he major proble
with the Persian Army is to keep the pieces fro
getting in each other s way.
The compactness of the Greek army makes
easier to maneuver. Moreover, all Greek fighti
pieces can coo rdina te attacks; the Persians can on
coordinate archers wi th the at tacks of infant
cavalry, elephants or chariots. Finally the Gre
cavalry is in general faster and heavier than t
Persian. These factors combine to give the Gre
army an overwhelming superiority in terms
maneuverabi l i ty. The Greek st rategy is thus
attack the P ersian force witha locally superior for
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THE GENERAL PAGE
while relying on the clumsinessand slowness o f he
Persian army to prevent the remaining Persian
forces from attacking the Greeks.
The Persian strategy requires him to buy time
for maneuver. The last thing desired by the Persian
commander is for the Greeks to engagea part o f his
forces in such a way that they have im ediate
suuerioritywhile the remainder o f he Persian forces
have to sort themselves and rush o f f toward the
emergency. The Persian strategy requires that his
whole army be deployed around the Greek army
before the armies get locked in combat. Experience
has shown that once the armiesengage they cannot
disengage until one has destroyed the other.
The longer it takes for the Persian to deploy for
full use, the greater the advantage for the Greek.
f
combat does begin before he is fully deployed, the
Persian player should try to keep it to a minimum
and try for exchanges. Exchangesare beneficialfor
the Persian, since his army is so much larger than
Alexander's.
The difference in size between the armies can,
however be used to the Persian's advantage in
delaying a major engagementof he two armies.The
Greeks cannot avoid having a flank hanging in
space. This isthe disadvantageimplicitin the army's
compactness. The threat o f attacking this un-
anchored flank imposes caution on any Greek
advance, and caution requires time. O f course the
Persian would not be dismayed by a swift advance
by the Greeks which was heedless o f its flank
problems.
My setup reflectsthe above considerations.The
cavalry isdeployed significantlyforward of he foot.
Both forcesstand centered on the East-West axis of
the board. do not know which side the Greeks will
attack. They musr attack on a side or risk two
exposed flanks My cavalry deploys and advances
forward as soon as the Greek dispositions and
movements are learned. The infantry can either
advance at some distance behind the mounted
forces,or hang back and set up adefensiveposition.
have also left infantry prepared to defend both
camps.The Greekscan only attack one camp or the
other. It would be foolhardy for them to attempt a
serious attack on both camps. The foot have
deployed forward o f the two camps: the force in
front o f he camp which the Greek finally threatens
have plenty o f time to go back to the camp and
deploy once the direction of hat threat isperceived;
the force guarding the other side is positioned far
enough forward to be moved into the battle before
the game is over.
The Persian player wants his army to be in a
position where it can 'embrace' the Greeks. To get
into this position he must avoid close contact for as
long as possible. Hopefully then the embrace will
turn into a death grip.
It
followsfrommy analysisthat the Greekplayer
must take the offensive, fheexpects to win. It isnot
merely advantageous for him to do so; it is
imperative for him to do so. The worst thing that
can happento the Greeks isfor the Persian to deploy
around and then engage in a slugfest o fexchanges.
In order to win you need the ability to force the
fight to occur when you are ready. For the Greeks
that means anytime the Persians are not. For the
Persians it is anytime that they can effectivelyuse
most o f their army. Much o f the pre-combat
maneuvers concern this crucial issue ofwho shall
have battle when and where he wants and not when
and where his opponent would have it.
SET U P
The Persianset up isexcellent. Setting up second
isamajor Greek advantage; hey canset up opposite
one winn of the Persian line and rush in to attack
and de&& it bqfore the other wing can swing
around. Here, the Persians have set up centeral ~
INITI L SETUP
and to 1herear;the.vhavegainedtime todeploy, and
shift my whole army in that direction. am still
they can bring their whole army to bear as a unit.
completely committed, and will not be until
The Persian cavalry isforward, where it has a head
right wing isclose enough to his forces to allow
start towards an outflanking move in either possible attacks. My light units are only a nuisa
direction. Excellent; the Greek set-up advantage is
but they are a dangerous one if ignored. expec
minimized.
will move a weak cavalryforce to block my adva
The Greekselect to
concentratetheirphalanxes
until his infantry can get there, which it will do
leaving the light infantr.vguarding heflanks and the rapidly as possible. Meanwhile he will organi
cavalryree to attack. All this isgood, but the exact powerful cavalry wing to attack my left. He m
placement o f the phalanx line is a problem. leave enough on my right to block my advance
Ordinarilv,the Greeks do best to rest oneflank on keep my units engaged, otherwise can go after
rough terrain, so the rough terrain can guard that baggage camp or even disengage and face my
flank; this leaves the infantryree toguard the other Thus expect cavalryon my extreme right,while
flank. Here. the Greeks have set up a little too ar phalanxes and light infantry hit my right cente
from therough terrain.They
willhave toguard both
flanks, which will force them to use cavalry in a
defensiverole-thqv just don't haveenough infantry PERSI N T U R N
I
to guard both flanks at once. He is making a major drive on my leftflank
Actuall~~,he Greeks don't have any reallygood course he can always change the direction of
choicesagainst this Persianset-up. The Greeksneed
attack, but this takes time and unless act on
to be close to the center of the board, in order to cut
assumption that he is attacking my left,
across the board and chase the Persian infantry i guarantee that he does attack there. h
the need arises. Also, a centralposition forces the responded by pulling infantry and phalanxes to
Persian cavalry to make a wider circuit to get right; have also advanced a largecavalry forc
around the Greek ,flank. The set up is good-the the right o f the former center of my ar
Greeks are closer to making their attack, and the threateningthe left o f hisarmy. have screened
Persians will be delayed ingetring aroundtheflank. East baggage camp with a smaller but still effec
Nonetheless, the Persians start with an advan- cavalry force.
tage.
He cannot continue in the direction o f
The cavalry screen on the left should also advance without exposing his left flank to mas
prevent an.v hasty Persian advance. attack from my cavalry. This will probably ca
Final note: the Thracian Guard is wasted where him to change the direction o f hisattack from no
it is. Having to guard borhflanks, the Greeks will to northwest. This change in direction leads
need all their light infantry on the front line. The away from my westernbaggagecampand delay
Greek cavalr,~senough to delaythe Persian cava1r.v attack; moreover, while this change relieves
advance against the Greek baggage camp. The acuteness o f my threat to his flank, it will
Thracians can't hold
out by themselves anyway, stretch him and thus increasethe extent o fhis fl
and ifthe Persians decide to ignoreit then it isjust a
problems.
wasted unit. The Greeks will wish they had it on think that hewill turn his Army northwest-a
their left ,flank. anchor his right flank on the western rough terr
while fading a bit on his left flank. doubt tha
reek
ove
:
will attack now. He might try and 'rip o f f som
make my move as planned. am keeping my
my heavy cavalry by attacking with his light fo
left out o f his reach,but if he hurries forward will
against an exposed flank, but have disposed
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PAGE
4
horse archers so that such a move on his part is open
to 3 to arrow fire before he can even try it. doubt
that he will waste even his light cavalry on 'rip o f f
trys.
The move have made gains me time in
disposing my cavalry around hisarmy. It forces him
to exchange type partial attacks, i f he chooses to
make any attacks at
all
T U R N
The Greeks begin their headlong rush to
combat. The , want to either take the baggagecamp
or orce the Persians into an earll*figh t o defend it.
The Persians withdraw their infantry, evidentlv
to gain time or their deployment. which the.y start
by advancing their cava1r.v in the long circuit around
the Greek
I q f r
flank. This is quite a good idea, but
technicallr the Persian move is l auvd . The Persian
infantry is clumsilv positioned to come about in to
position against the phalanx line-and the Persian
infantry will have to cotne about and enter the
action, since the Persian cava1r.v is not strong
enough to, face the whole Greek army b.v itselj: The
cavalry advance is also imperfect-i t is too slow.
The Persian horse could advanc,e another hex or
two. As it is, both the clumsy infan try placement
and the slow cavalry advance will slon, doun the
Persian deplo.vment. giving up some of the time h e
gained by his ext,ellent set up.
The Persian mobile troops could be a little closer
to the Greek Ieft, too, but this might precipitate an
earl, battle with the whole Greek army nearby. It is
probahlrl more prudent to hang back and wait until
the Greeks have comtnitted their forces, as the
Persians have done.
The Persian eastern flank is more of apro blem.
Withdrawing the infantry almost
certain ^
gives up
the baggage camp, which is not all that bad, since it
was either that or.fight an earlv battle. However, the
Persians can absolutelv not aff ord t o give up an.)'
additional morale in the for m of units.
So the question is, what are those seven cavalry
units doing going east? They are not strong enough
to attack or defend by thetnselves-the Greeks can
just streamroller them. They can't even create
enough of a delay to warrant the morale that willbe
lost with them, since morale looks like it will be a
Persian n~eakness.They are,just that much valuable
attack strength subtracted from the main Persian
attack force and placed where they cannot mak e a
good attack at all-a net loss in attack power.
It is eat-11. and these are subtle errors, but
A L E X A N D E R is an unforgiving game and the
clock is running towards the first battle.
Greek Move
2:
His move was
a
bit o fa shock. He appears to be
going to avoid combat with his infantry. One of us
must have misread the situation. While considered
the possibility o f his not making a full commitment
with his infantry on the first move, certainly did
not expect this type o f withdrawal. Th e cavalry
moves are about as expected, although the lack o f
infantrysupport o n his left wing makes tha t cavalry
force rather vulnerable. f he was planning to have
me engage him on my left,he should haveadvanced
his cavalry one or two hexes further-that might
have justified the infantry move . As it is, amgoing
to continue my advance with my right wing,
committing myself to making m y main thrust there.
Meanwhile, will withdraw my left out of danger, as
slowly as dare. The baggage train will head for W -
I, and the baggage camp guard will draw back to its
proper station. have advanced on my right far
enough to give him
a
couple o f argets, but he has no
breakthroughs and my counterattack would be
devastating. doubt i f he will launch such anat tack,
it does not pay. Had he added some infant ry
support, such an attack might be possible. Overall,
think his resistance here is much to o weak; may be
able to get his baggage camp.
An important consideration to always remem-
ber in playing AL EX AND ER is that an early
positional error can rarely be corrected; he morale
effectsare such as to cause a rapid disintegration o f
the weaker side once combat has begun. Hence, this
move will probably determine the winner o f the
game; if he is wrong, win; if am wrong, he does.
Since his infan try move was totally unexpected,
have no idea what he is planning and may be
walking into a trap.
P E R S I A N T U R N
2
He is definitely pressing the attack on m y le ft or
Eastern flank. am going to continue and try to
flank him on his l eft , and hold h im up long enough
on his advance toward my baggage camp so that
can hit him on his left flank before he takes the
camp. may have stripped my covering left flank in
front o f the baggage camp to o much ; perhaps
should have some infantry and some more cavalry.
will attack his force with a couple o f pieces o f
light infantry and hope for an exchange. will half
both my pieces and cost him his. Both o f hese pieces
are undoubtedly lost, but they can take something
with them and divert some o fhis forces by requiring
them to attack and destroy them.
T U R N
2
The Greeks commit themselves, splitting their
cavalry between their flanks. This gives up their
massed attackingpower, so it looks as ifth e Greeks
are planning a grinding battle of attrition-not an
easy task against the Persian host. The Greeks are
strong, but not t oo strong, on both flanks. This
means that theattacking wing (on the Greek right) is
weaker than it should be, while thedefending wing is
unusually strong. Both sides will have d~xficultyn
getting an overpowering attack. The result should
be a prolonged see-saw battle o f attrition-hardlv
an attractive prospect against the Persian horde.
The Persians continue their deplo.vrnent. The
infantry comes about, but it is clumsily arranged.
and the Persian cavalry again advances too slow[v.
The Persians have lost almost a full turn of their
deployment time.
This time the Persians should be a hex or t wo
closer to the Greek Ieft. The Greek cavalry is
divided-the Persians can
afford t o draw the Greek
left into battle if he Greeks were oolhardy enough
to advance into the teeth of th e Persian horse. Being
closer probahlv wouldn't gain that bonus, bu t it
would speed the j0urne.v towards the Greek left
flank-cutting across is the shortest route, and it
also would force the Greek left t o stop its advance-
the Greeks can hard112 aflord to advance their
vulnerable Ieft directly into the Persian cavalry
The Persians are just deploving to o much
cavalry against the Greek cavalry screen. Those
little units ,force the Persians to slow down and
deploy in line, but you don't need to send an army
after them
The Persian attack in.front o f he baggage camp
is ust wrong. Exchanges are a curious phenomenon
in
A L E X A N D E R .
UsuaN?, hey help the Persian,
on the grounds that he has more units to lose.
Actuaflv, ho~,ever,hey hurt the player with the
worst morale-and in this game it is the Persians,
with the baggage camnp,forfeit, who cannot afford
the exchange.
Even worse, the Persian attack cannot even gain an
even exchange-regardless of the results the Greeks
ll wipe out that cavalr~~flank-thePersians are
just positionedpoorl~~.he,forward units are orfeit.
and the Persian rear line is too close.
Greek Move :
More surprises. Now his infantry s headed ba
to where thought it belonged earlier, but it is
awkward formation. It takes an extra move for it
deploy into battle line. He must have expected
diff erent second move from me. Also, nev
anticipated the type o f attack he made; hejust do
not have enough strength on that wing to ta
chances with those units-there is nothing to ba
them up. am falling back on my left to keep t
units out o f danger; the odd positioning o f my lig
cavalry is to keep him from getting any automa
victories. Meanwhile, will start to shif t the faci
o f my phalanxes to his center; expect to clean
my right wing soon and will not require them there
have several easy automatic victories that do n
overextend me; will settle for that to cut h
numbers and gain a morale edge. His strong rig
wing has developed as anticipated; cannot stall t
onslaught much longer. It still ismy mjor worry, b
have been able to shift my reserves to that si
since do not need the m on the right. Had h
infantry been deployed o n L 23 to 4 2 3 at t
point, my task would be a lot harder. Asit is, thi
have achieved
a
distinct edge, and eased m
worries considerably. Meanwhile , must avo
giving him any automatic victories.
GREEK TURN
The Greeks get the first chance to demonstra
their attack, on a smallscale, and the Persian Ief
neat,v ridden down . The Greeks are stilljust a lit
roo weak on their right, however-they cou
actually A
V
the Indian cavalry this turn, too, b
they would have to leave just one hole open
riposte. Oh, or just one extra unit.
On their Iefi the Greeks demonstrate why t
Persian cavalry should have closed in. The best w
the Greeks have to refuse aflank is to pivot-to
drop back the end unit and change its acing by
degrees. In effec t, this forces the Persian cavalry
traverse another
6
degreesjust to stay even with t
retreating flank If thqv are four hexes away the
have to traverse 4 hexes-their entire moveme
factor-just to cover the 6 degrees ands tav even
they were three hexes away they could still ga
ground on the retreatingflank.
A nice Greek maneuver. The Greek play
continues t o scatter his cavalry, however; now
has left too many units out in his screening forc
Scattered cavalry cannot make an overpoweri
attack, and now the Greek cavalry is scattered
across the board. He should have a few of tho
units in with the main body-preferably with t
attacking right wing.
P E R S I A N T U R N
Ihe situation I S not good. He has me down
15% points on the morale table-one half point ov
the line. didn't get the exchange wanted and lo
four cavalry to his half . am now sure that t
covering force which started with was too wea
The problem is that his advance on my l eft towa
my baggage is much faster tha n my advance on h
left flank; he is winning the race.
cannot change strategies now, however; a
committed. must continue to try and flank him
the left. My race is both with his advance on m
baggage camp and m y decline on the morale tab
He is very effec tive ly eeping his left out o fmy rea
and doubt that can stay on table number ne
time. For these reasons am losing the race.
P E R S I A N T U R N
Time is running out The Persianplayer must b
delaying his cavalr,v unti l his infantry is in the lin
so he can attack aN across the line at once. He can
afford the time In the first place, his infant
deployment is slow-this is the turn the Persia
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TH GENERAL PAGE
Turn
:
Greekadvance s predictably turning intoan oblique rightwith the Persian horsemasslng
charge the Greek Odrys~anCavalry a 3-1. Although they t a n DEand succeed inendingTurn2 w
agalnst Alexander s left. But on the Persian 2nd turn twocavalry units will lnexpllcablyjump thegun and
sl~ghtmorale edge 20-19) it a not worth the p r m they ll soon pay.
must waste to straighten out their infantry screening units-as it is the Persians who are baggage camp; that would effectivelysettle thing
deployment-and in the secondplace his cavalry is
sacrificing two units, they have diverted major
the game stands now. Most of thegame to this po
not moving south and east fast enough to be at the
forces to guard rhat flank, and they will have to
has been just the preliminaryskirmishing yet h
right place when the battle starts. His main cavalry
divert even more forces next turn. All of this
a decided advantage as a result. won heavily on
strength should be concentratedfrom J17 to J21, weakens their attacking strength against the left
right and broke even on my left. His light cavalr
where it would be an immediate threat to attack or wing. A screen or evenan openflank would have at
badly cut up and his infantry.is only now gett
continue the outflanking movement. Instead, he least divertedfewer units.
ready for action.
moves less than maximurn,hestaysto thenorth and
awqvfrom the Greeks,and he has sent much of his
Greek Move
4:
GREEK TURN 4
force to his right,evem arther away, where it is two
Now my left wing has to retreat rapidly.
t
has
Exchanging the Allied horse units is a sm
turnsfrom catching up to the Greek lefr.
served its purpose; the delay of his cavalry advance.
move. The morale exchange hurts the Persians
Thismight be allright, except the Persiansarein
decided to use my two light cavalry units to attack
more,and rheplatrment,forceshe Persian to div
morale trouble and the Greeks are already in
with because it will be an even exchange of units on
additional forces to clean up the Greeks-mor
combat near the baggage camp.
an absolute scale but the positioning have used
unitssubtractedfromthe main Persian attack. (T
It almost seems rhat the Persians are holding up
forces him to use two units to eliminate them. This
Greekseven had a better move theycouldactual
the advanceso the elephants can catch up. Thisisa
means that two units will be late reaching the main
A V the two Persians and then advance in to orm
mistake, if true-the elephants are as slow as the
battle. effectivelygiving me four units in exchange
defensivehedgehog But this is very tricky,and
phalanxes-they can not get to theflank in time.
for two.
n
addition it guarantees that hewill fall to
Greek move is quire good as it is.)
In front of the baggage camp the Persians are
the second table on morale points-a critical matter
The baggage camp attack clears awav the ou
putting up a good.fighr. This is the type of defense
with the main battle at hand. think he is sweeping
defensesniceiv. The Greeksare(playitagain,Sa
they should have relied on from the start-a
too wide with his cavalry; time is running out for
still too weak on the right-now rheyaresending
hedgehog blocking the gap. //'aew more unitshad
him. He wants the cavalry and central infantry
Odrysian cavalry away?-hut they have mis
survived, they could do it again inside the gap, bur
about one hex closer than they are. Maybe should units nicelvplacedto oin the ray in thenorth [f
the Greeks,although pressed for units, will be able
have used the Agrianian Javelinsto give mea flank
need arises.
to clear the outer defense next turn.
attack on the third Bactrian cavalry. Instead am On the 4 he Greekspivot again,and now3
Again, along the western flank, the Persians
going for the sure easyvictories. have pretty much
see oneprohlem with thepivot tactic. Unitsthat
make asacr~j?cexchangeattack. Exchangesdo not
cleared up my right wing and can start to shift my
detached, farour on the,flank-like the Mercen
help them. they are in morale trouble Theyshould
emphasis. Hence the move of the Odrysian cavalry
Cavalryand the Luncers, in this case-also have
find another way to cope with the irritating Greek
to support my left. think will be able to take the
move 60 degrees to keep theirposition on thefla
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PAGE
6
THE GENERA
Creek urn The Greek riposte is swift and deadly.Odrysian attacks Saca from the rear gaininga 2
AV:
points while costing the Persians
4 .
The Persian response is far from overwhelming.The Indian
Sacesinianiseliminatedunder the hoofsof the Royal Companionsat 9-1 with theattackersmovingintoV20
Bactrian Cav will fall on the Paeoniansat 4-1 and get a DE. The Susian and Coelo-Syrianeavwillcha
after combat. Paeonian Thessalion
I
likewise AV the CadusianCavalry while the Agrianian Balacms
the Allied Light at 4-1 but succeed only in dislodgingthe Greeks
I
hex to the SE. Net Morale after tur
Javelinsfall on the ArachosianCav from the flank at 8-1. In their half the Greeks have gained 2 morale
G m k 20 Persian 16
Unfortunarelv, they have to move sideways, and
The Persians are down to 12% morale points,
attack both Darius and the baggage camp-a 1
'they can't Result? Theyhave tojly oflar anangle to and they still have the baggage camp and garrison chance of getting each-andstill becompletelysa
escape the advancing Persians.
This
was the real units to lose. Time is now on the
Greek
side-it is
The problem is, they would need to use Alexand
problem wirhpurring this cavalry out in the screen the Persians who must rush to battle. The Persians
to neutralize Darius, and they shouldput two un
last turn,insteadofkeeping it with the Royal Comp. will not be able to attack
if
they wait until their
with Alexander to make him safe-and they co
and Thess. 11:now thelight cavalryispractically out morale disintegrates.
up one unit short. Now they have.to choose
of p1a.v. Even in the north,whereall theyhave isthepoor
baggage camp or Darius, with the problem th
One more problem wirh thepivot-you'vgot to Persian infantry, the Persians should be units that deploy in one area cannot get back to
be
very careful about leaving light infantry in the advancing-the Greeks are short of units.
other or two turns-too longa delay with thecri
pivot position, because it can all back only onehex
Yet the Persians continue to deploy. Z%eyare
of the game impending.
and it is always vulnerable to attack. Usually,this
probably two turnsfrom attacking.
Darius is worth more morale, but rhe Gre
just means that you keep one infantry unit in Incidenrly, examine the Persian defense of the
player is right to go afierthe baggage camp inste
reserve, to orm the end of the new pivot line; then baggage camp-it s excellent. The Greeks cannot
The cavalry units that remain thereare too much
the units who were trappedout in rhepivor can turn get 3-1 against either unit in the camp, despite their
a threat to ignore, and wirh the Persians deploy
around and run when the pivot drops back (next
strength advantage.
into the hills there is a chance that if the Greeks
turn they come back into the new pivot position).
not take the baggage camp soon they willnor ge
Here, however, the Greek player has only two units
Greek Move
5:
at all.
on his lefi and they are
both
in the pivot hex. They
think he is coming o n too slowly. Normally this
The rest of the Greek move
s
good also. T
will be hard to extract ifhe triestopivot next turn(I
would be all right, but his morale is too low. This
phalanx shifi getsfrom the cavalry and closes in
told you so Depr.: wouldn't it be nice to have the
move am committing myself to g o after the
the infantry, both of which are desirable. The o
Thracian Guard there.righr now*?).A subtle point.
baggage camp and engage his infantry. There
is
not
problems are at the endof the IefiJlank-the Gre
PERSIAN TURN 4
a lot for me to attack otherwise. If I get the camp, he
light infantrycannot withdrawfastenough andh
will have almost n o chance; if I fail,
1
still like my
0
Stay out where it is vulnerable,and the Greek li
he hit me pretty hard this time and I
game. His attack is finally on its way; the game
cavalry isstill circlingharmlesslyaway to thesou
can
hit
him
back
hard
enough
will be bloody from now on.
I
have s o far avoided
recover and remain o n table I He is still fading and
his stron forces, while maneuvering
my phalanxes
screening off his left flank very successfully. All that
DISCRESSION: A;
this point the Greeks h
UP to him.
I
am trying to keep my cavalry out of his
done well, but they are still in trouble. Th
can
do
is to
try
and defend my baggage
camp
and
way until after his attack, then use it for a
momentum depends on the attack
on
the rig
hope to win the race.
counterattack.
where they are short of units;on their left they
PERSIAN MOVE 4
failed to take the camp, but he is still in deep
just about out of time-andjust becausethe Pers
trouble.
attack is very very late does not mean rhat it wil
The Persians are still taking their time to deploy.
GREEK TURN 5
any less devastating.
The cavalry should be positioned up asfar as, say,
The Greek position is bad, but the mor
NI5-let the Greeks attack They only have five Ah, the chickens come home to roost. With ust
situation is beginning to dominate the game. It
cavalry units on that Jlank
a littlemorestrengthon their right, the Greekscould
race now-can the Persians exploit their go
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PAGE
HE
GENERAL
position before their morale breaks? With these the
stakes, the,failureo f he attack against the baggage
camp is a particularly harsh defeatfor the Greeks.
With the Greeks close, the Greek position bad
and the Persian morale collapsing, the Persian
choice is clear: the turn of battle s here.
PERSIAN TURN
Unfortunately, he got a meleefrom his attack on
the baggage camp; of course that is better than
elimination or retreat. 1can only hope that after my
counterattack, am still in possession of thecamp.
will certainly be lucky to be in possession of it by this
time next turn. 1must now rely on luck to save me;
this is aprima,facie ndication that have misjudged
the position and made a poor decision. The error
was in withdrawing too many forces from my left
flank.
1 am now fighting on the third table. Among
other things am now required to keep two of my
commanders with the two mercenary phalanxes.
Only half a point. My empire for half a point, we
can hear Darius crying. Time. Time is crucial. I am
definitely losing the race between my decline and
loss of the baggage camp and hitting his left flank.
PERSIAN TURN
5
The Persian cavalry is so far away that it must
attack a narrow ront frontally bur it is a start.
Department of strange opportunities: in the
north, the Persians actually have a 3 chance of
destroying Alexander with a rontalattack lnstecrd,
the Persians are deploying into the hills. They m
arrack Now They might even save the bagga
camp i they arrack the missile units-bur rhey
nor. Unfortunately, the Persians are
still
bringing up their units at full speed, and he s
even using all his strength in the attack-the ot
archers would bea considerablehelp in whittling
Greeks down for the next turn's attack, and r
would give the Persians additional chances
eliminate Greek units and raise the Persian mora
Finally, the Armenian Cavalry is left vulnera
to an A attack. The Greeks don't have enou
cavalry nearby to exploit it projirablv, but it i
placemenr error. The luck of the dice: So,far, he
rolls in the game have been remarkably even. T
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PAGE
8
THEGENERA
turn, houever , the rolling is remarkable. ant1has a
major effect o n hotc-t l~egutneonies out. Wi th hree
shots the Greek archers hit three Persian horse
archers-a in
8
chance The Persian counterfire is
also 1uck.v and wipes out one nzhok Greek missile
unit. However, the O d r p i a n cavalry escapes.
The overall result might seem t o be onlrv lightlv
in the Greek .favor, e.rcept for the Persian morale
situation. A mass e.rchange o f luckyfire is what the
Persians cannot a[;ford They will drop t o t a b k
3
A s a result, in theattacks in the north the Persian
desperately hopes t o cause Greek casualties without
taking any losses hitnself. S o , even though h e could
wipe out the Agetna H~wspis t s , e elects t o settle.for
a melee. His luck does not come in, however; there
are n o Greek casualties. The Persians are at
9 -
table
;
versus t a b k 1,for the Greeks.
Creek Move :
This move may be a mistake, but 1 think I see a
way t o end it quickly. 1 can punch a hole in his
cavalry front a n d wipe out some of his horse
archers. Then too, I want t o use the pha lanx
immunity a n d his being o n t h e
#3
mora le table t o
attack his heavy cavalry. I a m not a t all su re about
this; it might be better t o take my time a n d g o after
his infantry a n d phalanxes. If I get t h e baggage
camp and enough units, I may win this turn. It w a s a
disappointment no t t o get it o n his counterattack.
There is n o escaping the fact tha t were it no t fo r the
morale considerations he has a n overwhelming
position. 1 can put him in a double bind; if his
commanders leave the mercenary phalanxes, they
desert. If they stay with them, they may desert
anyway a n d leave the commanders unprotected. Of
course, I have t o be careful of a possible suicide
attack o n Alexander.
I used the Agrianian I1 Javelins in a direct a t tack
hoping that a n exchange would give me the chance
t o wipe o u t his a rchers completely, a n d failed. (A
melee would have been useful, too.) Overall, I was
not t o o lucky this tu rn , a l though 1 did get the
baggage camp. Now he has to scramble just t o get
his morale back above zero, a n d he faces t h e d o u b l e
bind mentioned. He will smash the cavalry o n the
left wing, of course; the question being whether tha t
will be enough.
CREEK TURN
With the Persians o n table and the baggage
camp about to.fal1, the Greek player is aced with a
hard choice. He can make a massive onslaughr-
concentrating o n the Armenian Heavy Cavalry-in
hopes o f destroying the Persian morale in one blow;
or he can fall back, rely o n the act that he is nearlv
invulnerable t o normal attacks, and try t o whittle
the Persian morale down t o table 4, followed b y
defeat over the next feu* turns.
The key to the solution is the act that the only
ejfective attacks the Persians can make now are A V
attacks. The Greeksshould maneuver t o avoid these
attacks above all, and t h e g a m e will almost all into
his hands.
But it is s o tetnpting to attack. . .
.And the Greeks charge. The attack is well
executed, except that the Greeks should have
retreated the surviving haljlcavalry units (Saca
Armored and the Persian Horse Guards)awayfrom
the Greek,flank and advanced the Odrysians into a
blocking position. Barring that, they should have
made sure Partnenion was guarded. The Agrianian
11 archers could have done that, instead o f being
sacrificed,for n o reason o n the ront line-after all.
every unit that could be saved is less morale or the
Persians. (Notice rhat the d e a d l ~ * drysian unit
would not have been available
if
it had not escaped
the Persian attack, incidentlv.)
In the north the Greeks should attack en
masse-after all, the point o f the suicide attack in
prrsian ~~~
:
he tireeks made three atlacks in their turn:
Archers. Th e Agrianian BalacrusJarsut ls
tuusc
2-1 v v ~ t ~ y
eliminating the Indian cav with Paeonian a t 2-1 a n d advancing t o its
Uxian infantry with n o effect.
present position. T h e 2nd Hypaspist. Agrianian a n d Balacms
All the Persian Horse Archers concentrate fire o n t h
javelins attacked sittacenian in the penian baggage
camp
at 2-1
Macedonian archers a n d eliminate them at 2-1. The Saca Armo
drawing a ~~l~~ result. A~~~~ the 3rd ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ i ~ tttacked the
Persian Horse Gds. Mardian archers eliminate the Thracian L
su s i a n infantry at 3-1 a n d sent it packing minus a step for t o a l g a i n
in a 7-1 charge forcing the Achian Mercenaries t o retreat t o Q19.
of I mora le point while costing the Persians two.
Bactrian forces back Odrysian t o 4 1 8 a t 5-1. Th e Persian Foot G
Gk Mercenary Arachosian infantry with Darius in tow man
Th e Persian right finally charges but the Macedonian missile
only a meleeCrom their 3-1 o n the Agema Hypaspist. Back in
forces take away much of t h e punch with lethal defensive fire. T h e
Persian baggage c a m p the Sittaccnian infantry manage t o pro
Cre t a n archers knock a step off the the Parth ian H o rse Archersa t 1-1
their melee with a 1-2. Mo ra l e a t end of t u rn 5: Greek 19 . Pers
a s d o he ~ a c e d o n i a n s a ~ a i n s the Persian Scythian N o m a d s Horse
9 .
I I I I I I I I I I I I
~~ ~
~
~ r s e ds--cost
right. Th e Dahae Horse Archers defensive fire t a k g a step out of the
both a step. ?he Greek I1 pha lanx a t tacks the Persian infantry at
charging Ca v I in a
1 1
missile attack-one of the few bright spots in
forcing it t o retreat t o N25. Th e Agema Hypaspist is repulsed in it
a n otherwise dismal turn for t h e Persians. The M acedonian archers
vs the Persian Foot G d s a n d retreats t o 0 2 2 with the Pers
eliminate the Scythian Nomads at 2-1. Charges from Lancers. Royal
Co m p a n i o n 11. Thessalion II A V t h e Armenian Hvy. TheOdrysian
cav then takes the Parth ian a n d Persian Horse Archers f ro m behind
in a n
AV
Elsewhere things go better fo r the Persians. Th e Agrianian
Javelins are repulsed in a
1-1 o n the Macedonian archersand retreats
t o M2I. Ca v I theThrac ian L t a t t a c k t h e Mediancava t2-I forcing
them to retreat t o L17. Th e attackers advance in to the vacated hex
a n d take u p a defensive posture. Th e phalanx'draw their first b lood in
advancing into the won ground. Royal c o m p a n i o n I charges
Arachosian infantry a t 6-1. inverting it. a n d forcing it t o withdra
N24. 3rd Hypaspist loses a step in its 1-2 vs Darius and the G
Mercenaries, but the clincher comes with the fall of the Per
Baggage Ca m p . 2nd Hypaspist. Agrianian and Balacrus Jave
force the Sittacenian infantry back 2 t o S24
with a 2-1 a t tack .
Hypaspistsadvance t o occupy thecamp. Th e Greek move hascost
Persian 13 mora le points forcing him to retaliate strongly in his
just t o stay o n the board.
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THE
GENERAL
PAGE
the south was to maximize casualties. Thephalanx-
es should bear down-bur 1he.v d o not. m e r e is even
another chance to get Darius-but the Greeks pass
it up.
A suicide attack in thesouth and weak attacks in
the north-the Greeks have almost given the game
awa.v on this turn. They have maximized the few
remaining Persian advantages, and now time is on
the Persian side again; how long before the Persian
cavalry will carry all before it?
Die rolls: But again, luck steps in or the Greeks:
the baggage camp falls. This might make up for all
the Greek problems .
PERSIAN TURN 6
Well, he got the baggagecamp; he would have to
be unlucky not to do so. I am now minus thirteen on
the temporary morale table It looks pretty
hopeless; nevertheless, I will execute the long
desired and always delayed attack on his left.
doubt that this attack will save the game for me,
given myhopelessmorale situation, but perhaps this
attack can show how devastating a solid attack
against an exposed flank can be. Most of the
victorieswill of coursebeautomatic; they have to be
given that 1am on table threewhile he isstill on table
one. If 1had won the race by one turn, then 1believe
that would have better than evenchancesgiven this
attack of winning. My opponents skill (certainly)
and possibly my own lack of it combined with slight
bad luck, however, prevented me from making this
attack a turn or two earlier than the time when my
camp falls and the bottom falls out of my morale.
As can be seen I destroyed nearly a third of the
Greek army on this turn. It is too late. He will kill
Darius on the next turn. am conceding.
PERSIAN TURN
Here come the Persians The attack wipes out
the Greek left in inspiredfashion. Despitesome bad
die rolling-none of the Persian conventional
attacks caused a casualty-the Persians claw
themselves back near table 3
Bur . . he left Darius on the front line, on top
of a mercenary? Oh-oh.
The Persian mercenaries desert.
Greek Move 7:
This does it. I almost threw the game away with
that last move of mine-not the idea, but the details.
There were two distinct blunde -first of all, there
was no need to leave Parmenion on the Mercenary
phalanx sincethere was no chance of desertion;then
I should have taken a step from my Achian infantry
and completelyeliminated his 2nd Bactrian cavalry.
That would have prevented the rear attack. came
out of it in good shape because of his morale
problems; attacks on table 3 are not good no
matter what the odds. Now he is down to table 4,
which gives me even better odds. And the desertion
of his mercenary phalanxes guarantees me the win.
He gambled (correctly, 1 think) on being able to
keep them; now his commanders are naked.
My move is by no means the best possible; it is
the obvious one. It wins the game this turn, so I did
not bother to look for beiter. Note that it assumes
that a lone commander does not even block entry
into a hex, being eliminated without preventing
other combat. The importantpoint is the elimina-
tion of DARIUS; the attack on the Persian phalanx
isjust added insurance. 1could probably get Bessus
instead of the phalanx. 1 am certain to cost him
more than a dozen morale points, while the
formation have set up prevents him from gaining
much back. Since he attacks on table 4, he needs
better than 5 1 on each battle to have a chance. My
defensivefire will probably cost him anothercouple
of morale points.
ersian
Turn
:
The Persian unleashes a flurry of
AV
attacks against
the Greek left but it may
be
too late. The victimsinclude:the Thracian
Light (8-1: 1st 2nd Chariot): Cav I(100. Albanian Mesopotami-
an); Lancers (8-1 Median): Royal Companion 11 (7-1: 1st Bactrian.
Caucasian Archers); Thessalion 11(10-1: Cappadocian Hvy);Cav I1
(64:
Saca Armored); Veteran Mercenary Parmenion (8-1: 2nd
Bactrian, Persian Horse Gds. Mardian Archers); Agrianian 11(12-1:
Arabian 11, Gedrosian. Median. Carian infantry); Odrysian (34:
Dahae); and the 3rd Hypaspist (7-1: Persian Ft Gd. Greek Mercenary
11. Casusian infantry).
In conventional attacks the Persians low morale prevents ma
gains. The Persian cav advancing over the AVed remnants of Ca
attack the Macedonian archers at 5-1 and force a retreat.
Hyrcanian cav's 3 1 attack on the Cretan archers is repulsed to R
The 3rd 4th chariots lox a step in their 3-1 on the Ach
Mercenary. In defensive missile fire the Balacrus Agriania
Javelins extract a step from the Cadusian Uxian infantry in
attacks. Turn ends with the Greek left nowhere in sight but
Persian morale reduced to 4 and the worst table while the Gr
morale remains high at 16. The Persian Mercenaries desert.
reek Turn 7: Alexander circles what's left of his center and rides down Darius on his right before the
Persian throws in the towel. The Greek 1st Phalanx eliminates the 2nd Bactrian Cav at 9-1; the Cadusian
infantry is AVed at 7-1. enabling the Thessalion Cav to take the Persian Ft Guards from the flank while the
Roval Comvanions attack frontallv-extractina a stev loss.
t h e ~ a i d i a nrchers take a sted loss in their;olley ;xchange with the Cretanarchers. Coenuseliminates
Gedrosian at 5-1. Craterouseliminates Coelo-Svrian
infant^
at 5-1. The lllvrian ahalanx takesa stea out of
the Babylonian infantry at 3-1. No other attacks result in losses.
GREEK TURN 7
PERSIAN TURN 7
The Greeks pull it out with a last, weak mass
Well, the Persians surrender anyway, so
attack-the Persians just cannot gain back rhat
doesn't matter. But, 1he.v did have one last
SO
much morale if 1he.v eliminate everybody in reach
chance
o
winning thegame (which ust goes to sho
Except.
you how strange a game ALEXANDER is-an
how close a game this was).
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PAGE 3
THEGENERA
Consider: i f the Dahae go t o P20 (which the
Greek pla.ver should have blocked, incident ,.) and
attack Craterous,frotn the,f lank, and the elephants
go to M22 and charge, aided b y two commanders,
and the Mardian archers,join in t o make it a 3-I-on
table 2 , because o f he cotnmanders. . then a 2 , 3 , or
4 die roll would win the game.
But the Persians surrendered.
Greek Summat ion:
T h e Persian player resigns without moving. T h e
results of my 7th turn combat cost him 19 morale
points, making it necessary t o gain a minimum of
15% points on his riposte in the game. This requires
the elimination of every combat unit I have, a n
obvious impossibility. T h e alternative. eliminating
Alexander, is not possible since the best he can
manage to get o n that phalanx is a 1-2 at t ack o n
table #2 (using both commander s) . This combat has
n o wins for him.
His first move pretty well set the stage for this
result. Once he has his infantry out of position, I was
able to gain enough of a morale advantage to make
it almost impossible for him. Even my blunder on
the sixth turn did n o more than give him a n outside
chance. It is a n interesting demonostrat ion of one of
the facets of the game; the fact that the early non-
combat turns a r e so important in deciding the
winner. It is also a clear demonstrat ion of the
importance of a morale advantage; a s shown by the
way this carried me through his sixth turn at tacks.
P E R S I A N S U M M A T I O N
My biggest er ror was made o n the first turn. I
undercommit ted to my own left f lank. 1 needed
more infantry and cavalry-two of each type in
order t o hold out . Possibly I should have remained
defensive a n d not at tacked him when I did, but
given the weakness of left flank 1 thought I could
delay him longer by at tacking rather than standing
and defending. He screened off my massive right
wing at tack by keeping his forces just o u t of my
reach, but close enough so that he could deliver a
heavy at tack if I pressed him t o o much. He knew
that 1 would not want to take the first heavy blow.
This was the key to his very successful screening of
my right flank. Perhaps another error was in not
being willing to take that first knock. Afterall, I
would probably have still been super ior to him a n d
thus could probably deliver just a s heavy a counter-
blow. T h e only fact which helps here is that the side I
played also lost a n d did not even kill off the Greek
sub-commander-Alexander did that later while
drunk. Thus I did d o better than Darius, but then
that isn't saying much.
S U M M A R Y
A L E X A N D E R is an unforgiving game, and
nobody ever plays a perfect game. The nice thing
about A L E X A N D E R (if y o u have strong nerves,
that is) is that every mistake, n o matter how subtle
or small, comes back to haunt you-there isjust not
enough t ime t o recover.
The Persians made their mistake with the little
cavalry expedition into the teeth o f the Greek
advance. It cost morale that , ulrimately, couldnever
be regained.
The Greek error was scattering their cavalry,
thereby reducing their attack potential. In the end
this did not destr0.v them-largely because the
Persians were so slow t o deploy. Of course, the
Greeks almost did give thegame away o n turn 6 but
he knew what he was trying t o gain, and he was
willing t o pay the price-and it might have won the
game right there, i f he had been just a little more
careful with hisplacement. A s it was, though, he was
lucky t o win-lucky at the baggage camp, lucky t o
get Darius.
It was a very close game.
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To qualify you must place a mail order for
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than once
Might-have-been department: during thegame both
sides had chances t o wipe our the other's leader-
ushich, the way things worked out , would have been
immediatelv decisive. Darius was vulnerable o n
turns 5 and
6 ,
and Alexander was vulnerable o n
turns
and
7
A n interesting point about ALEX-
A N D E R : guard your leader He is every inch the
King o chess bur
in A L E X A N D E R
no One
check.
Now let's look at the chancier decisions in the
game. The big Greek attack o n turn 6 was meant t o
drive the Persian morale down; actually, combined
with the Persian counterattack, the Persians gained
1 2 a morale point. Similarly, the Persians attacked
o n turn 5 to gain morale; they actually lost a point
even ignoring the immediate Greek counterattack.
Final v, it must be said thar the Greeks had
betrer luck, not
so
on their
own
bur in
the bad luck the Persians had. One or two extra
an?lwhere in the game have
kept the Persian morale o n a higher table-and in
the end, it was the morale drop-and the conse-
quent loss o f t h e Persian Mercenaries-that lost the
game.
OUT OF THE CLOSET
"Geez, it's stuffy in there, and besides, yo
can't even see the player cards in the dark. I wi
those mean old wargamers would let us play in th
C IU b rO O m like
H O W O F T E N H A S T H I S H A P P E N E D T
YO"? You're a sports gamer, and you want to b
recognized but you've got no place to go. We
good news Pretty soon Avalon Hill will have
magazine just for you, a n d you won't have to hid
in the closet a n y more. We haven't got a n a m e ye
but We've Ienty of
great
ideas'
O n e thing we could use, however, is YOU.
you consider yourself a n avid spor ts gamer , d r o
us a line. Maybe you'll just tell us what you'd lik
to See in the magazine' O r
us
about
your du
Or league' Who
knows' maybe you'11
have a
tha t we want
to
publish (and pay you for,
C o m e o n out of tha t closet, and get in touc
with
Write to me, B C Milligan,
T h e Avalon Hill G a m e Company, 4517 Harfor
Rd.. Baltimore. Md. 21214.
NEW KINGMAKER EVENT C A R D S
Are your K I N G M A K E R games getting a bit
well a s 23 blanks for use in your own variants. Th
dull? You can spice them u p with the new Event entire deck is backed by the same ric
Cards described elsewhere in this issue. Avalon Hill
K I N G M A K E R design which makes the game suc
is making available in a special expansion kit a new
a joy to play a n d cards from thc two decks will b
deck of 48 Events cards including 25 printed indistinguishable from the rear. This special car
Treachery, Gales At Sea, Refuge, Vacillating deck is available for $2.00 plus postage. Marylan
Allegiance, Catast rophe, and'Royal Death cards a s residents please add 5% sales tax.
GENERAL RETAIL DISTRIBUTION
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All dealers earn 50% discount o n orders of 6 o r
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THE
GENERAL
PAGE 3
A SQ U A D LEADER PREVIEW
THE BUILDING OF S Q U A D L E AD E R
Y
ohn Hill
We were quite pleased to ad d John Hill to our
generally agreed upon.
SQUAD LEADER
was to
corner hat l i tt le shed or that hedge o
stable o free lance designers as he practically
be a basically simple game that could be gotten
that l i tt le porch sticking out from the chateau. O
invented the breed of third world designers. His
into quickly. It had to have a high emphasis on
out in the country your soldiers will advanc
games V ERDUN, KASSE RlNE PASS , OVER-
playability with ready access to playingda ta . We
through rows of waving wheat. It will not b
LOR D, HUE, and JERUSAL EM have aN been would avoid the usual polyglot of different tables abstr acte d t will be there n the h
accepted in the realm ofprofessionalgam edesign as
and charts and confine ourselves to one basic country here are mountains and cliffs th
imagina tive efforts but he really set the scene for
systems char t tha t would calculate the effect of people can be cornered against all in a
"non-professional" designers with the publication
everything. All basic play erin fo would becon taine d
S Q U A D L E A D ER
will have the most beautiful
of BAR L EV-wid ely acclaimed as the best post
on on e sheet, printed both sides. Bookkee ping detailed, relevant terrain features of a board game
W W ll wargame by m any even now. He expects, as
would be kept to a minimum. Graphically, i t should date. On
TOBRUK
we spent a fortune researchin
do we, that the combination of his unique design
b e t h e m o s t
visuallydescriptive gameever
printed. the charts. On
SQUAD LEADER,
we spent it o
talents with AH graphics excellence and develop-
AN D within all these pre-set para mete rs of the boards. And counters, well, the individu
men aid will result in a new level of gaming
playability all the following effects of infantry NCO s and officers have been distinctly create
sophistication in the form of the soon to be released
combat must be portrayed:
Even their silhouettes o n th e c ounters have distin
SQUAD LEADER. personalities.
As the GE NE RA L is not a full color magazine
1. Firepowe r diffe rentials between differe nt
We then had the nice clean system we ha
we cannot illustrate the board as we would like but
Squads'
demande d, and the total graphic presentation th
have included a sampling of the counters John refers
2. The effect of differing ability of individual
would bring the game to life. ~~d then we started
to. The difference in counter size is not only
NCOs a nd leaders.
build. After a few frictions as Do n and I got
attractive but functional as vehicular counters are
3. Effect differences between all main infantry
know each
game phi~osop hies and tec
not allow ed to stack and their increased sire makes
type
niques the building went faster and faster. But, w
4 A
system that would capture all the
always kept the programmed technique in min
hem
dflerentiated romh infantry
subtle psychological differences in different nation-
forced
attempt
to
perfect each separate segme
ounters. We hope you e njoy this sneak preview o f
SQU AD LEA DE R which is just now going into
alities, situations and types of cover.
before it was hun g o n the game skeleton it w
final playtesting.
5. The effects
of
in a n
infantry
presented individually. Each scenario was treated
ment must be realistically portrayed, b ut the effects
if
alone
was
the
game
and hence
we
focused
In many respects
S Q U A D L E A D E R
was not
of armor vs. armor could be simplified.
it . To help Do n and his playtesters focus on ea
designed but built. Th e difference is subtle, but
6 . Mechanical armament
na-
segment I developed each scenario in sets of thre
significant in term s of gam e evolution. Often, when tionality.
Hence, the American scenarios were not eve
a game is designed the designer knows fairly well
7 .
The
game show the concept
of
leader-
started until all the earlieron esalong with their ow
how everything is going to go before he even sits
ship as i t portray s pro bable tactical success.
special rules were de-bugged. This often led
down a t the typewriter. In his mind, he decided that
8. The
game must as leaders
impatience
as
both
of
us felt the urge to get o
this system would work for movement, this for
squads and platoons become casualties the overall
with it.
But, each brick, in the game
we we
combat a nd such an d such for supply. Mentally, he
performance of an entire battalion suffers.
building had to fit. All combat effects still had to
then simply plugs it all together and out comes
Now, all those nice realistic effects have been
back
the already defined F I R E
EFFE T
game . Unfortun ately, the vast majority of games
captured and portrayed before, BUT never under
TABLE, When it
came
time to introduce flam
aregenerally do ne that way. Then et result is that the
the very strict playability standards that wereclearly
throwers and demolition charges the
designer dum ps on the developer and playtest-
defined prior to listing the realism standards. And
temptation was to say, ..well, these
are
sorts spec
ers a complete new child. These folks then knock
both Don Greenwood and myself agreed that we
weapons ets look up the specs and make
off the rough edges, ad d a bit of polish and POP* would both become quit e strict if either I, a s the
special
table
for
That would have been to u t c o m e s a n o t h e r g a m e m a y b e , d es ig ne r, o r h e, a s h e de v el o pe r , a t te m pt ed t o w at er
easyway but soon we would've been
up
to
our
nec
good maybe bad. 1 have been designing games
dow n the playability and reference ease stand-
in ..special So, we forced ourselves
to
rela
for some time, most were good, an d on e was great.
ards that we originally set down. Compromises,
these weapons to what
we
had
already defined,
BUT, 1 rellly knew that ther e had to be a better way. could and would be made, only with great
terms of
game
system. In terms of work, it mea
And in S Q U A D L E A D ER we found it.
hesitation.
S Q U A D LEADERwould
pr imar i ly b ea
,
but
in terms
of
playability it was
a
mo
Looking back a bit at one of AVAL ON HILL'S players game.
worthwhile discipline. The basic structure wi
more successful games,
T O B R u K
we saw t he Very
And that 's how
it
began. For such strict
almost n o change accepted each new buildin
great advantage of the programmed appr oach to standards, the programmed design technique
brick
as the game progressed
This
was the who
guide the gam er a little at a time into wh at is a very would indeed be tested. The n bit by bit it w as
point,
every
new
wrinkle
whether it be Quad
complex game. By building up the complexity, not
constructed. A unique FIRE EFFEC TS table was
machine guns, a minefield or an artillery barra
just by rules, but by ascending scenarios, a person
set down that captured all the possible variety of
had
to plug in to
the
same
INFANTRY
FIR
soon had logically built an understanding. In the firepower intensity with its attendan t effect on
TABLE as a light machine gun. And it did.
wargamers mind, the und erstanding of TOBRUK
.soldiers' livesan d morale; it showed not just morale
Th e final crowning touc h of mod ular plu
was built , no t presented. Here, I felt was a good
checks but degree of morale checks. Th e effects of
ging
was
the
final little
effect of
buildings on fi
way not just to present a game, but to design it. A
all weapons from flamethower, to sub-machine gun,
having the fire
spread
to other
parts
of he buildin
very firm, solid game system would be created that
to a 150MM shell burst were able to be quickly
The question of
when
to roll
for
naturally cam
would have enough flexible
handles
that a ny resolved without chart shuffling or endless cross
com bat effect could be simply plugged in or out like references. Even the differing tactical ability of UP.
a replaceable module. In many respects even thou gh
individual leaders and better shots was easily
Way back in the beginning, when we creat
this would lend itself to a building technique the
plugged in. All these effects are portrayed in a
S Q U A D
L E A D E R S phase System we decid
overall constructio n techniques tha t were to be used
Combat Results Table no more complicated than
that all moving squads would fire in the ADVA
had to be thought out in advance though the that of AVAL ON HILL'S classic; BATTLE OF
CING FIRE PHASE.
~t was one of the ba
particulars c ould be left to a later date. Thi s idea of THE BULGE. Th e clearness of the system is a real
structural points of the S Q U A D L E A D E R syste
building a game through programmed design Whad
breakthroug h. T h ough, in all honesty, i t was only
And we now had come to the last little point. W
intrigued me quite a bit and I had developed a achieved after discarding roughly three dozen other
then simply said that to see if a fire in a buildi
number of systems that would lend themselves to attempts. S o this was the first step. advances oll in the ADVA NCING FIR
this methodology without really having a particular The next step was the very specific game boards
PH AS E. Hence, the last designed element of
game design problem in mind. So, the basic system
in terms of what it actually is . S Q U A D L E A D E R
gam e beautifully dovetails int o one of the first. T
vehicle for
S Q U A D L E A D E R
actually was fairly has a city, and what a city it is complete with
then, was how we designed
SQUAD LEADER
well done even before the idea of an infantry World sidewalks, sewers and rand om sized and structured
What can you expect when we unveil it
War I1 game was decided upon.
buildings all in full color. Hence Line of Sight
OR IGI NS We've already mentioded how
The first step was in defining what both definitions take on new meaning. Instead of hexes four isomorphic boards would be scenica
AVALON HIL L and I wanted in the game. After and hexside blocking fire the gamer will actually
som e discussion the following objectives were have his sight blocked by that building's
Continued on Pg 34. Colum
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PAGE 3 THEGENERAL
A.H.
Philosophy
. Continued rom
Pg 2
Col.
3
instances. This resulted i n the diagram on page
6 making lit tle sense. Try to visualize the red fire
lines on that page as % lower unti l we can get
you a revised 2nd edition. Don't worry-the
revised editions wil l be provided at no charge to
original purchasers of the game.
CAESAR-ALESIAhas been transferred to the
retail division due toa good sales record and fine
reviews. It is already in its second edition with
slightly amended rules, and should be arriving in
your outlets by September.
Making its debut as an Avalon Hi ll title thi s
fall will be Gamma Two's NAPOLEON.
NAPOLEON is the third and best of a three game
series of wargames by this Canadian company
which has pioneered one of the most innovative,
playable and enjoyable game systems the hobby
has yet seen. Put briefly, NAPOLEON utilizes
quality wooden playing pieces to incorporate
both step reduction and fog of war uncertainty
in regards of your opponent's move. The three
dimensional wooden blocks are stood on end
with the type (infantry, cavalry, artillery, horse
artillery) and strength visible only t o the owner.
The opponent sees only the standard blue, red or
green back of the un it un ti l he moves his pieces
into the same area for battle. Each time a unit
takes losses the square tile is flipped clockwise
to reveal its new strength. Combat resolution is
simple and faintly reminiscent of WARATSEA,
although more sophisticated and realistic. The
overall effect is hat of a short and very enjoyable
operational level game that even one's wife
could readily understand. We'll limit our
development of the game to minor cleansing of
the rules and addition of playing aids such as a
battle reso lution card and perhaps a roster pad.
Another outside design which will see AH
release this fall is Battleline's SUBMARINE
game which w e'll develop and re-dub U-BOAT.
The Battleline people are the ones who first
designed our WOODENSHIPS
&
IRONMENtitle
and SUBMARINE is a similar design approach
which is even more enjoyable due to the wide
variance in play created by WWll weaponry as
opposed to the age of sail. The wolfpack
scenarios have proved to be especially enter-
taining as a multi-player game. Mick Uhl wi ll
handle the AH development chores on this
release and t he revision could prove extensive.
For all of its enjoyable qualities, SUBMARINE
suffered from poor graphics, organization, and
more than a few historical inaccuracies due to
the original designer's haste. Our more leisurely
development of the same title should correct
Steve Peek's original faults and bring out the
true brilliance of his game system. We'll also be
adding extensive Campaign Game and Random
Scenario sections while improving the already
novel submarine hidden movement system.
Before the Rising Sun
proved to be our most
popular seminar at ORIGINS. Larry Pinsky
packed them in and held over 1 00 Pacific war
enthusiasts spellbound for two hours with an
ongoing description of his yet to be published
design. So eager was their anticipation that
many indicated a willingness to pay $25.00 and
up for the game. But you'll just have o be patient
a while longer. THE RISING SUN is as close as
we'll ever come to a monster game and has
scored the highest on our possible titles survey
so we're not about to botch it with a rushed
effort.
THE
RISIN
SUN has spent a relatively long
time in the preplaytest stage. The reason for the
long development process is the enormous
difficulty i n attempting to capture heessence of
a situation that spans the limits from the
extreme strategic to the extreme tactical. The
original motivation was to design a game that
accurately presented the strategic sparring in
the Pacific while still maintaining a strong
tactical flavor when
it came to combat. The game
as it now stands, at the beginning of it s
playtesting, has succeeded. It remains to be
seen just how playable the mechanics wind up,
and how long it takes to play a campaign
scenario.
The game turns represent two weeks of
actual time and each contain 2 identical Naval
Operations Phases. There is a very workable
hidden movement system that does not
require
any written record keeping. The strategic
movement is almost entirely exe cutedwi th Task
Force substi tute counters and wit h a Task Force
Organization Display, to keep the Task Force
Compositions straight. The game is strongly
slanted toward the use of substitute counters in
all aspects. All of the ships down through light
cruisers are included in the game as individual
units. Destroyers and transports are
represented as Divisions and Half Strength
Divisions, and are freely exchangable. There is a
Hit Record Pad to record damage suffered by
ships. The mapboard uses a scale of 150
nautica l miles per hex and extends from Hawaii
to India and Ceylon, and from the Aleutians to
New Zealand. The commonweal th and Chinese
unit s are included, and the Campaign games
contain the entire scene, inc luding land combat.
The in itial hope was to provide a Pearl Harbor
to Hiroshima game, but to keep the game to
reasonable size, the published version will only
run through early 1944. It is currently planned o
have a mail-order extension kit available
when the game is released that will contain
additional counters, rules and scenarios, taking
the game through 1945. The relatively un-
balanced situation duri ng the last year and a half
of the wa r means that there are relatively few
interesting scenarios excluded from the
published version. The game will contain
scenarios presenting mini-games that
recreate virtually all of the surface actions and
major carrier air battles of the war. These mini-
games wil l take anywhere from 10 to 6 0
minutes to play and will mostly involve the
tactical portion of the game system. If things
continue as now scheduled, the gameshould be
released in the spring of next year.
ARE A MULT I PLAY E R RAT I NG S
Over the past fewyearsAvalon Hil l hascome
up with several games which have the capacity
for being played as, and i n some cases are much
better as, a multiplayer game. Unfortunately for
those who prefer the multiplayer style of play
and happen to be interested i n the AREA rat ing
system, there has not been a method for
incorporating the rating of these games into the
AREA system due to the many irregularities
involved. The following narrative, however,
comprises a system for rating the multiplayer
game. It can be utilized either i n team competi-
tion, such as that found i n WSIM,or in he sole
winn er multiplay er game, suc h as
DIPLOMACY and KINGMAKER.
To have an AREA rated multiplayer game you
only need three ingredients: a suitable game, a
bunch of players, and someone who wi ll act as
the Qualified Moderator (OM) and record the
results. Oh yes, one must also have a system
that can handle the irregularities and present
the final results to the AREA technicians in
acceptable form. So here goes
Each player must know his AREA rating
the start of the match and submit it to the O
(Note: In his system a player's rating atthest a
of the game is used.) The OM then finds th
average player rating or tha t game by adding
players' ratings and dividing by the number
players in the game. Once this has be
accomplished, the OM establishes a poi
pool where each player contributes to the po
that number of points he would have given
had he ost to a player with the average rating.
the conclusion of the match the point pool
distributed evenly to all participants in a dr aw
given outright t o a sole winner. Simple yes, b
this system, as .you might expect, has th
inevitable exceptions.
The first i s that when compiling thescores
one of the par ticipants is a Verified player, the
points will be tabulated as if all of the playe
were verified, i.e., points contributed wi ll
halved. This policy may be circumvented if a
only if the OM receives i n writing a stateme
from the Verified player that he will waive th
Verified Player Stabilizer for this particu
game. (Note: this statement must be submitt
wit h the AREA rating sl ipswhen they are turn
in.) The second exception is that if there is
possibility of a sole winner then the number
points contributed wi ll be reduced by 40%. Th
reduction, however, wi ll not occur if thegame
question was already reduced once due to the
being a Verified player in the game; therecan
only one reduction per game. Finally, tocover
present and future situations there will be
minimum and maximum level imposedon ARE
points contributed and received. No player w
contribute less .than 2 0 points, and no play
may gain more than 300 points for any on
game.
All of the recording, verification, and mis
paperwork will be executed by the OM, who
the way wil l not be allowed to participate in o
of his own moderated games. OMS must
licensed, so to speak, before they wi ll be allowe
to perform this service. I n order to be licensed
prospective OM mus t come from the ranks of th
verified players and be familiar with at lea
three Avalon Hill games. Also, they must b
willing to contribute
1.
to the current
O
Coordinator to help him defray the cost of th
project. Once this has been done, one need on
follow the format laid out i n the followin
paragraph to have a rated multiplayer game.
(To prospective OMS)The participants i n th
game mu st give you, at th e start of the game,
victory cla im sheet tha t contains: (1) the
signature; (2) their AREA number; (3 ) the
current rating; (4) he name of the game; and
the date th e game was started. (Note: If the O
cannot establish a player's current rating, eith
he or the player should write Ron LaPorte, th
AREA technician, and request a rating check.)
a pbm game theOM Coordinator(N0TtheARE
technician) should be notified that a rated pb
multiplayer game has been started. This is
precautionary measure taken only for pb
games to protect the individual players shou
something happen to the moderator during th
course of the game. If this procedure for pb
games is not followed, it could cause your gam
not
to. be accepted. When the game is com
pleted, the OM should attach the victory claim
and any misc. informat ion to a sheet of 8 x 1
paper. Send this data sheet along wi th the nam
of wh o w on (or who particpated in a draw) an
how much should be added/subtracted fro
everyone's score to the O M Coordinator. (Y
should also include a stamped envelope.) Th
Continued on
Pg
34 Col.
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THE
GENERAL
Gentlemen:
I
ead with interest the article by Mark Saha
in TH E GEN ER AL 13-6. 1 was especially
interested in the TOBRUK-by-mail system
suggested. As a player o f a T OBR UK PBM game
using a similar system. would like to make a
suggestion regarding the fire system.
The simultaneousmove and fir e segmentsare
exceptionally good to use with the TOBRUK
system hut eel the fire system should he truly
simultaneous. To allow for such fire, each tur n
should hedivided nt o I5 wo-second intervals. In
two seconds, a she ll fro m a Pz 111J (for example)
should travel about 20 hexes (i.e.. muzzle velocity
=
825 mlsec, hex
=
75
m). Under norma l
conditions, therefore. any shell ired should affect
its targe t wit hin 2 seconds. This enables the
construction of a table of firing intervals for each
rate-of-fire in hegame. In hecomhat system,fire
is resolved n order for each weaponeligible to ire
in that interval and the damage is noted. Thus, if
Tank A K-kills Tank B in the first fire interval.
Tank B does not fire i n the second even if
scheduled to do so. Note that this eliminates the
dueling rule because each weapon fires when its
particular interval comes up. Using the stock
exchange CRT suggested by Mr. Saha requires
only listing the units in order, then resolving the
fire by that order in each interval.
X X X X
z
X X X X X X O
X X
C: X X X X X
X X X X X O
z X X X X X
0 X X X X X
X X X X X X X O
C X X X X X
0
X X X X X
X X X X O
Each weapon fires when an x is ndicated n ts
interval. The Bofors fires twice when a 2 is
indicated and three times for a 3. Of f hoard
artillery, smoke and infantry fir e is resolved on
interval 8 and is simultaneous.
I eel that thissystem will add much realism o
the TO BRUK P BM system and I lso recommend
that it also be tried FTF. I t s especially easy to
use with the fire fights.
Jim Burnett
Clinton, TN
Gentlemen:
T h e Avalon Hill GENERAL s dedicated o
the presentation of authoritative articles on
strategy, tactics. and variations of Aval on H il l
games o f strategy
Where have
I
eard the above quote before?
think it was printed in he last few GENERAL'S on
page 2 Note the italics, the word is'game'. Should
it not he WARgame?Inthethreeyears
I
ave been
reading THE GEN ERA L ave yet to see one
article complimenting the strategy or t actics of a
NONwargame. No, now that hink back, there
may have been one article on 'OUTDOOR
SURVIV AL', hut that was a 'HOW T O TUR N
THIS GAME INTO A WARGAME' type of
article.
With the additions of the 3M. Diplomacv.
.
.
ctc. companies you have, toquote yourow n words
'a huraconinp lane of a ll ouroose STRATEGY
GAMG-~O;2 strong and still growing."
(Avalon Hill Philosophy-Part
60
THE GE NER AL should include articles ike
WHAT ARE T HE BEST LINE-UPS IN
'BASKETBALL STRATEGY?
.T HE EASIEST WAY ACROSS THE
DESERT I N OUTDOOR SURVIVAL'.
Letters to the Editor ...
. .
'BUSINESS STRATEGY'-
PROBABILITIES AND PROFITS.
OPENING (M1DDL.E. OR END)
GAME MOVES IN TWIXT.
HOW NOT TO LOSE YOUR SHIRT IN A
'STOCK MA RK ET CRASH.
. . .
WHERE TO PIT YOUR PEBBLES I N
'OH-WAH-REE'
.
WINNING PLAY OFTHECA RDS N
'FOOTBALL STRATEGY'.
.
ETC., ETC.
now the very title of your magazine has
military connotations and that there may be a
minori ty o f readers who would be interested n one
or two articles of this type. But I hink that the
non-wargames are worth more than ust a passing
word in"THE AVALON HILLP HILOSOP HY
or a H page ad.
Jim Pulles
Dallas. TX
We agree and n his issue are announcing he
availability of a quarterly magazine similar to the
GENERA L dealing with A H non-wargames.
Current plans are to ma il the first issue free o
charge. later this year, to everyone ono ur mailing
list as a semi-catalog and special introductory
issue.
Dear Sir.
Now his is what all a good issue A
sensational cover (too had i t isn't on the game).
detailed game profile from several different
viewpoints, a wellsonsidered near-perfect plan
for the old Russian Front gang, the most
educational Series Replay yet on PAN-
ZERBLITZ, a very funny piece of science fiction
(sure it is, speculation on a trend). Reedanswering
several questions ad on SST and five shotgun
features to placate anyone who doesn't own
STARSHIP TROOPERS. Sensational, the best
GENERA L yet
If may be allowed a variant on a variant,
question Richard Hamhlen's use of neodogs n his
otherwise excellent "Saga o f the Bug War." He
adds them for their scouting abilities, but ignores
the drawbacks which kept the neos from being
effective. Often in the early days neos would
suicide at the sight of a Bug. Eventually this was
bred out of them, but neodog casualties were stil l
high, and when a neo was killed h is partner would
be so traumatized he would require months of
therapy to recover. Likewise he neo would he hurt
if anything happened o ts partner. To hrlng these
int o the variant, add the following:
I.The first time a neodog and a Bug occupy
the same hex (as a result of either's movement) roll
a die. 1-2 means the neo is KI A immediately.3-6
means the neo has a strong stomach and is not
rolled fo r again. The ro ll is made independently
for each neodog. This is not used for later-
generation neos. Decide be fore the game which
breed is i n use.
2. If a neodog suffers any combat result it is
KI A. When a neo suic~dcsors
killed
11s partner rr
cons~deredWIA for the remainder of the scenario.
though there is no ro ll o see if special weaponsare
lost. In the campaign game, dead neos and their
disabled partners are replaced with fresh teams,
the partner being a recruit.
3. If a partner is KIA his neodogsuicides. Ifa
partner is WI A or Heavy Damaged his neo ravels
to his hex by the fastest routeand will not leave his
side.
Phil Kosnett
North Bmnswick, NJ
Dear Sir,
To my astonishment and anger ave just
read n he GENERAL(V o1 14, No 1)that foreign
customers are forbidden to order directly from the
company.
vehemently protest against this case of
unfai r business-policy By outlawing direct orders
you force your customers in hese countriesto pay
exorbitantly high prices. you establish an un-
threatened monopoly-position for the dealer in
those countries, al lowing h im to charge whatever
he fancies.
In the meantime will inquire with the
Bundeskartelamt n Germany and theappropriate
Trade Commission in Washington what they
think of this very peculiar situation The fact
that you find it necessary to protect this kind of
policy proves that the business of your distributors
in these countries are not exactly
flourishing-
small wonder at prices like these
Didier DEMUYNCK
Volkmarsen, Germany
Your letter was one of many cries ofprotest
we receivedas a result oftheannouncement in 14.1
banning direct mail order sales to readers rom
countries in which we've granted exclusive
distributorships. While your ire s undersrondable
it doesn't show much regard or thepl ight of the
overseas pioneer game impor ters. These dealers
risk considerable sums in cash game purchases
(normal domestic dealer credit terms are not
available to them), shipping andimpo rt duties. On
top of this they have to lay out funds for init ial
tapping of the wargame hobby market in their
respective countries-such advertising of an
entirely new concept in consumer produ cts is
extremely expensive unt il he hobby has gotten ts
start in his countrv a nd his lor
is
made easier by
wordof mouth advertising and a eliable clientele.
Ad d to tha t the extreme expensefaced by these
importers in pr ovidin g native language
translations of the components and you
real1.v
can't complain about the nearly double prices
these companies must charge or their spade work
in getting Avalon Hillg amingentrenched n heir
respective countries. Wecan hardly expect them to
uncover new hobbyists n heir countries and hen
turn them over to us through direct mail order
sales when thqv've done all he work i ngetting the
hobbv started "over there". However, hosegames
and services not carried by any of our exclusive
distributors can still be acquired by mail rom
Avalon Hill n the nor mal manner.
Dear Sir.
been a subscriber to your magazine o r
over three years now and would hketogl;c you my
rmnrcsslonof vour latest ~ssueforMav-June 1977.
Although it contained some very interesting
articles, especially for Caesar, I ave it a mediocre
rating for tw o reasons. First of all, it lacked the
Series Replay article which is one of my favorites.
This was the first time in four years that there
hasn't been one so it was missed. However.
suspect there may have been extenuating cir-
cumstances involved that caused this. Secondly
and most importantly, ould have to give your
Infil trato r's Report a very poor mark for this issue
because, ound no mention whatsoever of one of
the country's biggest wargamingconventions. The
Cincinnati Games Convention. This was a
disappointment for me as TH E GENER AL s my
main source of such news. hope to see an
improvement in his department. Overall. must
say though that TH E GENERA L is still the best
deal for my money. Keep up the good work
Recently. ave seen many etters expressing
the desire to hear about games that are being
produced
by Avalon Hi ll way before they even
approach he finished product. ould like to take
the opposing side to this matter and say that
don't care to hear about a game that won't be out
for several months or over a year.
I
would have
you wait unt il you have a fir m date set for release
of the game to avoid thedisappointment ofhaving
the original idea changed or waiting after one
delay after another holds up the release of the
game. ealize that 1am probably in he minority
concerning this and should note that sually
don't buy brand new releases at all, hut wait for
reactions and opinions to be expressed before
deciding to buy one. As for the matter o f your
company's competition printing hings about you,
refer not t o see them mentioned at all i n TH E
GEN ERA L except in reference to something
important such as a convention.
Ronald Haas
Terre Haute, I N 47803
PAGE
hr Series Replay is our most dffr
feature to present due to both the grap
involved and the extreme
difficulfy of recor
such a game from start to finish without
mistakes--which also turns out to beagoodga
You can't p1a.v the game out an d say that w
great game-kt's do a Sereies Replay on it
short, it > hard o get a good one.
As to convention announcements-we p
no avorities: fsomeone takes the trouble to w
us with an announcement of a convention at ea
months i n advance of the convention date w
glad t o pass the information along.
Ij
howe
somebody waits ti ll the last minute o r send
scant? information or information whichdoes
spell out how the convention would be of inte
to our readers then we exercise our perogativ
letting such material go by unnoticed. This
seems like ag ood ime to mention that notice
gaming convention n he GENE RAL carries w
it no official A H sanction. We know no m
about them than the next guy andarejust pas
along the information we are provid ed with
fact, we feel many conventionsare over~rice
under orwnn ed and or that reason we officr
recommend onlv the Natronal ORIG INS ronv
tions (njhich are bonded for performa
obligations) to o w readers with any real c
fidence in the quality of what is being orered
Dear Sir:
***
o not know whether any one has, or e
will decide to submit an article on "Richthofe
War." hut believe that this game has so
outstanding features in it's design hat are wor
of discussion, and experimentation, namely
indiv idual maneuver schedules and the maxim
and minimu m speeds for each aircraft i n hega
as well as climbing and div ing speeds as presen
in the tournament rules, whereby movem
points of the aircraft are subtracted due to
process of climbing and are added on due
diving.
I
o not know to what purpose thedesign
incorporated these features Into the gam
composition, but
I
m certainly pleased that t
did.
I n my own experiments with the game,
discovered that it is possible for an aircraft
inferior firepower to come out best in battle w
another aircraft o f superior firepowerjust by
use of the climhingrule n he right way at the ri
point in time. For example-The Spad U7 vs.
Alhatros D2. The Alhatros D2 a two front g
alrcraft fires on Column A on the T.D.T. wh
makes orextremely hard hittingfirepower.0n
other hand, the Spad #7, a single front gun aircr
fires on Column C of the T.D.T. with j
mediocre firepower. Combat between these t
aircra ft at the same altitude level usually result
the Alhatros D 2 making short work of the Sp
117 But ave discovered that by climbi ng
Spad one hundred and f ifty meters or so hig
than the Alhatros, and also while climbi
maneuvering he Spad tightly and in close to
Alhatros gives the Alhatros one of two choices
a method of attacking the Spad: (I) Either atta
at a lower level than the Spad, which will resul
the Alhatros firing at a longer range, which wi
tur n weaken his firepower t o some degree or.
Climb the Alhatros t o the same level as the Sp
and attempt an attack from there. I f he Albat
trys toclimh , and attack, the enforced subtract
of his movement points will put a crimp in
maneuver schedule so that qurie often he ;s no
posttron o attack at theend of his cllmbrnemo
l f the A lbatros attacks at a lower level tlhan
Spad. he will either do only minor damage to t
Spad. or else miss completely (depending on
dice ro ll and his engthened range) hereby wast
his ammo. If he attempts to
climb to the sam
altitude level as the Spad, he usually does not ha
enough movement left to aim his guns wh
means that he is unable to fire at all.
Every now and then when the Spad play
feels a high dice rol l coming up for him, he c
drive the Spad down on the Albatros and st
chopping away hut always try to arrange it so th
the Spad is at a higher altitude when the Albatr
is doing the attacking.
o not imply that these methods could
used with any comhination of aircraft that mig
be matched against one another i n he course o
game. I t depends on the speed and the maneuv
schedule comhination. While the Spad U7 w
inferior i n firepower to the Albatros D2. I t w
superior to the Albatros D2 in Speed a
maneuverability in any flight attitude.
Robert Duncan
Ch~cago. L
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34
THEGENER L
r r n t w n s n nr
IiTlI: WAR AT SEA 6.00
SIUICT:
WW ll Strategic Naval Action for the European Theatre
W A R A T S E A was the32ndgameto undergo
healthy 2:1 victory ratio. In the next ed ition .
analysis in the REG. ranking a disappointing2S th changes will be made to solve these play balance
overall with a cumulative rating of3.2 1. The result problems by countlng all POC ties as Allied wins
reinforced ou r earlier suspicions that game ratings and addi ng I to all Allled reinforcement dice rolls.
are often a matter of how complex a game is. It has
been
a n
observation that
wargarners
tend to
0 the positive side of the ledger. the game
overrate complexi ty and detailed
when
rewarded o ur use of it asan introductory title, with
rating
games,
But maybe that.s
sour grapes
a 2nd best ever rating in the Easeof Understanding
category, and a
similarly
impressive(6th ) effort for
W A R
A
T S E A ranked in the bottom
of
Completion of R ules. Thls ease of play capability
the
REG
list in
four separate
categories, led by a
coupled with the quick playing time 0169 minutes
29th ranking in ~ ~ ~ l i ~ ~ .-he
game
is a n abstrat-
goes a long way towa rds explaining its popularity
ed'strategic system of capital ship employment and
in lerm s games played.
W A R A
T S E A may
as such, is
not
all that
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t l ~
e well thought of as a simulatio n, but it is played
many garners cannot equate any semblance of
by
hard newcomers
and
even
realism with an area movement system game in
lhe dist ff side of the
which no tactical maneuvering takes place. The
mapboard rating (27th) also did little to enhance
the game's cumulativescore-again weassume the
1
area movement system to be the main culprit.
2
although the small II x 14 size and lack of
3
realistic colors on the abstract board may have
4
played contributo ry roles. The last poorperform-
ance came in the area of Play Balance (24th)
5
where the Axis has a decided advantage despite 6
numerous changes to the Jedko version which
7
improved the Allied chances. Yet with top level
play, the ga me is still a tou gh win for th e British.
At the recent OR IGI NS 111 W A R A T S E A 9
tournament, the Axis had the better half of a 10
6 M 8
~n f lb
1h ~ . , min.
T H I R D R E I C H:
Q.
Assume a major p ower declares war on a
minor and uses an Att r i t ion Opt ion on the turn of
declaration. Can an opposing major power use its
own forces to satisfy any attrition losses of the
minor?
A Yes. if the opposing major power is both
a lready a t war and has uni ts adjacent to the
attacker on the front in question. The attacker in
an Attrition Option can not direct casualties
against a certain area or nationality-it is the
defender's c holce of which adjacent units will be
lost. After the initial invasion,
i
the opposing
major Intervenes it may satisfy attrition losses of
the minor merely by being on the same front.
Q.
May all 5 units o n a Beachhead counte r be
calculated in an Attrition Attack?
A Yes.
Q
An a irborne unl t may not move from the hex
on which it was dropped until the following turn.
but if it att ack s and eliminates an opposing unit
may it occupy the defenders vacated hex?
A. No. 4 7 takes precedence over 3.321.
Q.
e n o p e nh a g en b e a m p h ib i o us l y as sau lt ed
and ~f so fro m where?
A Yes. from an y East Fron t (8alt1c) base.
Q
If only partisans attack in a turn, does an
Offensive Option have t o be paid for by the
controlling players?
A Yes
Q.
Since Kiel isa tw o front port, do Germ an naval
units based there count toward the 25 factors
Germany must keep on the Eastern Front?
A
No-although fleets based at Kiel can execute
movement on either front, the port itself is in the
Western Front.
Q.
Does alr interception occur in a particular hex?
A No-the intercepting player may choose a
point of in te rcept~ on anywhere a long the op-
ponents path of movement within its range.
Q
Can a country taking a Pass Option fly
~ntercept ion , s the C apabi l it ies Tablea t theend of
the rules suggests?
A Yes-but only against enemy naval missions.
To intercept DAS requires that the interception be
In an Offensive Option.
COMING UP NEXT TIME
N OCTOBER
A.H.Phi losophy Continuedfrom Pg.
32
Col.
3
Coordina tor will r e c h e c k t h e re su l t s , w r i t e t h e m
in a s t a n d a r d fo rm , a n d f o r w a r d a l l p e r t i n e n t
informat ion o n t o t h e A REA t e c h n i c i a n fo r
overa l l t a b u l a t i o n . O n l y mult ip layer g a m e
r e s u l t s t h a t a r e ident i f ied a s b e i n g f r o m t h e QM
Co o rd i n a t o r will b e a c c e p t e d by t h e A REA
t e c h n i c i a n .
T h e official QM Co o rd i n a t o r is c u r r e n t l y
S t e v e Heinowski , 1 6 3 0 W . 2 8 t h S t . , Lorain, O h i o
4 4 0 5 2 . H i s g a m e z i n e . Ter-Ran is a v a i l a b l e t o
AREA m e m b e r s i n t e r e s t e d in p o s t a l r a t e d p l a y o f
AH mult ip layer g a m e s fo r 6 2 / 1 0 i s s u e s s u b -
scrip t ion . T h o s e i n t e r e s t e d in s t a r t i n g h e i r o w n
fa n ' z i n e a n d b e c o m i n g a n official AH Q M s h o u l d
c o n t a c t S t e v e ( w i t h a S A S E provided) a s o n l y
he-as t h e s o l e QM Coordina tor-can l i c e n se
O M S a n d re p o r t mult ip layer s c o r e s fo r A REA
tabula t ion .
Q
M o r e K M Surprises
Continued from g 16
5
(Steven Herchak) After the early turns of play,
siege tends t o become t o o powerful a tool fo r t h e
a t tacker a n d a s a result, t h e weaker faction prefers
t o fight in the open rather than hide in t o w n a n d risk
a siege. F o r example, a force of 200 a t tacked in the
open by a force
o f4 0 0 would have a
50-50
chanceof
survival in the basic g a m e but a force of 200 in a
t o w n besieged by a force of
400
would only have a I
in 6 chance fo r survival. Also sieges could, a n d did,
last years a s exemplified by the siege of Harlech. S o
a n a t tacking force confronted with the task of
capturing a town, city or castle h a sa c h o i c e of one of
t w o m e t h o d s t o t a k e it:
a
T h e at tacking nobles m a y at tempt t o storm
t h e town, city o r castle by conduct ing a battle
aga inst the garrison plus a n y defending nobles
within. If t h e battle is successful t h e t o w n a n d
occupants a re captured . If t h e battle is unsuccessful,
they may try again o r t u rn t o siege o n the next turn ,
o r
b. Th e a t tacking nobles m a y at tempt t o siege by
stating s o aloud. A siege is never resolved t h e t u rn it
is announced, but the town, city or castle is
considered under siege tha t turn exactly a s if a
Bad Weather Delays Attack card had beendrawn.
O n the next turn, a n Event card is d ra w n to resolve
t h e siege.
Of
course, within this period, thedefender
c a n a t tempt to lift the siege.
S q u a d Leader Preview. . Continued rom
beautiful. a n d h o w the counters, will
charac te r that will m a k e you remember d
Kirch a n d friends. But there is much more. S
L E A D E R is a very personal g a m e in which
become a n infantry
l eaderwi thacareerspan
of t h e major fronts of Europe. It is a career
rather t h a n a campaign game, in whic
personal counter sta r ts out a s a corpora l
experience a n d a t tempts t o maste r t h e
infantry leadership. If you blunder y
demotion o r t h e fa te tha t often accom
blunders in combat , but if y o u survive a n
significant points of e lan a n d skill your pro
could c o m e quite fast . As you advance
leadership a n d mora le ratings a lsoadvance a
each new scenario you face greater tasks a n
responsibility. Of course, if you are ki
captured , then, the career g a m e for y o u is ov
tha t is war, a n d war, a s has been said
cruelty, a n d cannot
be
refined.
With S Q U A D L E A D E R you will
be
fight f a m o u s battles, a s the d a sh over the R
Bridge o r t h e Stalingrad Tractor Works a n
not s o fa m o u s ones su c h a s a Hedgehog at P
t h e Bitchie Salient. You will partake in de
street fighting as The G u a r d Counteratt
y o u will a t tempt t o escape in the night with
de tachment f ro m the d o o m e d citadel of
Luki. T h e scenarios are all historical a n d a
different-each introducing a new segm
W W l l infantry combat .
Th e g a m e is not limited t o t h e hi
scenarios o r Ca m p a i g n Game.
S Q U A D L E
has a unique point system tha t enables you t
a balanced scenario with widely divergen
types, be it a special i n f a n t r y l a m o r task fo
hold a t a l l costs rear guard delaying
Decisions have t o be m a d e fast a n d right
with t h e complete isomorphicnessof the boa
the point system you can merge two, three
m o re g a m e boards together a n d create tota
encompassing whole brigades, a n d find
m a k i n g decisions o n many levels of
deployment. Yet t h e c o m m o n denomina tor
the infantry leader. You don't plot mov
map-you m a k e the decision where t o c
street. D o c s tha t overhanging balcony bl
MG's LO S ? You'll haveonly o n e c h a n c e t o f
O n e historian in writing a b o u t the
World W a r said tha t the tanksgot the headli
the infantry won t h e war. If this is so. then
S
L E A D E R may very well be t h e g a m e tha t p
t h e true heart and auts of World W a r 11. A
Q w i l l b e i n i t .
AVALON HILL RBG RATING CHART
5
RICH TH O F EN 'S
6 CA ES A R
-
ALE:
2 2 . BLITZK RIEG
29 TA CTICS
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THEGENER L
P GE 3
Vol. 14, No. 1 had a cumulative rating of
3.56-not one of our better efforts but that was
to be expected considering the emphasis on
CAESAR-ALESIA.Mail order games possessed
by a minority of the readership always fare
unfavorably when utilized as an issue's feature
content. Individually, the articles ranked as
follows on our 1200 point scoring system.
Red Options 7 4
Summer of 5 2 B.C.. 93
Competitional Afrika Korps 1 7 0
TRC The Second Time Around 57
ALESIA The Battle
...................................
11 2
Red Ball Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5
Roman Fort Deployment in Alesia 6
Avalon Hill Philosophy.. 45
ARAB ISRAELI WARS Programmed Instruction.. 4 2
Manning the Ramparts 0
Breaching the Ramparts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3
PBM Luftwaffe
........................................
1 8
We continue to make strides in the sports
game field. So much so that we have decided to
publish a bi-monthly gaming magazine similar
to the
GENERAL
devoted to sports and non-
battle games. Transformation of this idea into
reality should occur sometime prior to 1978.As
a consequence, we are looking or additional R
&
D personnel to work in the sportsgame field. If
you think you're qualified, drop us a sample of
your game playing expertise and literaryskills in
the form of an article dealing with an AH non-
battle game.
Many of you have no doubt noted the
emergence of Bruce Jenner as a promotional
figure for
WHEATIES.
AH wasalmost involved n
a 3-way connection with
WHEATIES
and
Jenner. TV promotion would have enabled us to
sell thousands of updated
TRACK MEET
games
with Jenner's statistics in a boxtop tie-in deal
with the popular breakfast food. The deal has
apparently fallen through, but we were close to
the bigtime for awhile. Itwould haveeasily been
the largest exposure of an adult simulation
game to date.
The Italians might not have fared too well in
WWll but you wouldn't know it by the success
enjoyed by our exclusive Italiandistributor Dott.
Alfredo Gentili. In only his second year of
operation Gentili has surpassed all our foreign
language distributors in volume. Prime reason
for their success-so far they've translated 30
AH titles into Italian.
Those interested in getting an early look at
the convention site for ORIGINS IV might want
to take in he University of Michigan Simulation
Players' 2nd Annual Convention on Sept. 9-1 1
at the Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. From
there it's just a hop, skip and a jump over to the
University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor
which will play host to ORIGINS 78. Further info
from John C. Finley, Room 4000 Michigan
Union, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.
Apparently one of the larger regional cons of
recent vintage is the Great Lakes Convention
presented by the Western NewYorkWargamers
Association scheduled for September 16-1
8
at
the Sheraton Lockport Inn in Lockport, NY.
Among the Avalon Hill events planned are
tournaments in
AFRIKA KORPS
and
KINGMAKER. More information is available
from Richard J. D'Angelo, 395 South Shore
Blvd., Lackawanna, NY 14218.
Northwest Indiana area gamers looking for a
place to congregate should contact Bradford
Enslen at 1527 Sheffield Ave., Dyer, IN 46311.
The Calumet Wargames Society meets every
three weeks in Calumet. IN.
Collectors may or may not be pleased to hear
that we are dropping two more games per-
manently from the line. The GETTYSBURG '64
edition has been replaced by the completely
different '77 game and is already out of stock.
KRIEGSPIEL will be finally retired this coming
fall when existing stocks are exhausted.
Laurence Gillespie of Nova Scotia reports
that wargames have made it to the TVscreen in
Halifax in he form of aweekly half hour program
entitled BROADSIDE, which is carried on the
local community cable channel there. The show
features game reviews, strategy tips, a "game of
the week", and coverage of wargaming news at
the local and national level. Laurence who
produces the show would be interested in
corresponding with anyone who hasexperience
in the field to exchange ideas, scripts,
videotapes, and perhaps entire shows. Sounds
like a good side program for ORIGINS IV.
Potential producers can reach Laurence at 23
Robert Allen Drive, Halifax. Nova Scotia B3M
3G9.
Congratulations to all the winners of the
many tournaments at ORIGINS 77. As the
largest tournaments of their kind they tendto be
recognized by us folks at AH as the national
championships. The biggest winner was local
talent Dale Garbutt of Baltimore who won the
prestigeous AH Classic 500 along with $100.
Phil Evans took 2nd. Peter Kemp 3rd, and Joe
Angiolillo 4th. Rounding out the top 16 winners
in the 112 player field were in order: L. Newbury,
F. Preissle,
J.
Zelinski, W. Mattern, G. Boden, G.
Dayton, L. Heydolph, B. Mundell, W. Rumph, C.
Adamec, K. Crocco, and D. Macminn. 17th
through 32nd place won free subscriptions to
the
GENERAL.
Robert J. Clifford of Arlington, VA took top
honors in the 110 player WAR ATSEA tourna-
ment. He was followed in order byprize winners
C. Olson, F. Cunliffe, L. Horne, D. Vigor and A.
Garnache.
KINGMAKER
was once again one of
the largest tournaments with 135 entrants. Tom
Filmore took top honors and was followed in
order by Tom Dougherty, Paul Bean and and
Noah Lerman.
W S I M
again drew over 100
participants and was won by Chris Raskopf of
Smithtown, NY. Other prize winners were T.
Schaap, B.Addison, J. Casazza, C. Morrison, and
G. Taylor. In
FOOTBALL STRATEGY,
designer
Tom Shaw finally reigned supreme with a 20-10
win over last year's winner Don Greenwood.
Coming in 3rd and 4th were traditional three
time runners-up Pat McNevin and John Strand.
The
RICHTHOFEN'S
Demo Derby again drew
over 150 pilots-the most successful of which
proved to be Anthony Becker of Bethesda, MD.
Coming in second with six kills was Jeff
Farrington followed by Roger Cooper and Pat
Carson.
DlPLOMACYwas
once again the largest
tournament held and was run under the
auspices of the I.D.A. drawing over 160 en-
trants. Dan Zablozki proved to bethe best double
dealer followed in order by Michael Perfit, Frank
Mcllvaine, and Alan Rowland.
Although we can't endorse it,
TRC
enthusiasts might be interested in an AREA
PBM tournament being sponsored by Kevin
Combs of 11225 Old Baltimore Pike, Beltsvil le,
MD 20705. Entrance fee for the RUSSIAN
CAMPAIGN
tournament has seen set at $4.00.
That'll teach us to think we're so smart W
got an enormous number of correct entries f
Contest 76 giving different solutions-it tur
out that our solution (from the last GENERA
was only the third most popular among t
possible answers, so we had to draw t
winners by lot from among the correct entri
(all variations were acceptable, as long as th
were correct). Our apologies for making t
contest so easy. we'll get you guys next tim
The winners in no particular order: V. Paxso
Orinda, CA; P. Owen, Va. Beach, VA; D. Smi
Myrtle Beach, SC; W. Bainbridge, Marion, IN;
Pollard, College, AK; P. Schulmeyer, Stuttga
W. Germany; A. Nilson, Oronoco, MN; A. Ba
China Lake, CA;A. Chiras, Northbridae, MA;a
T
Ehara, San Franciscn
CA
To solve Contest No. 77, it is necessary
take the British home base with the 21/3 Rec
unit (the only unit that can reach),which in tu
means that every British unit mustbeAV'd.A
of entries got that far; the problem is in t
implementation. There are four tricks to t
solution. The first one is that the Axis have o
58 attack factors and they need at least 55 to
all the British, so the Axis can afford to ma
only 3 attacks (maximum) at better than 5
odds; this is crucial because the Axis forc
contain only four of the 3 factor units that a
necessary to make up 5-1 attacks exactly. Th
the Axis must arrange their attacks so as to
multiple British units in the same attack.
The second problem is the three inter
British units, which have to be AV'd from t
escarpment side. This takes 15factors.Theth
problem is the 2SA/2 recce, which is doub
and unapproachable from the sea side until4
Motor is AV'd. Since there are not enough A
factors behind the escarpment, 4SA must
first. The final problem-and the lulu-is whe
to put the supply unit. The supply path for
attack cannot pass through the defender's ZO
even if the defender is AV'd by that attack (
path can go through units previously AV'd th
turn, of course). This means it can't be on t
seaward side of the British formation and s
supply the attacks on the British interior un
Plus the supply unit must end its turn within
hexes of all the attackers, which means it cann
end on either flank of the British formation.
Result: the supply unit must be on t
escarpment, and, due to the problem of getti
around 2SA/Motor (whose attacker must be
M42 due to the factor shortage behind t
escarpment), the supply must go to L44. T
attacks that result are executed count
clockwise from the eastern end; each AV clea
the supply path to the next group of attacke
The interior British units go first, in one ma
AV
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