the general - volume 3, issue 6

7/23/2019 The General - Volume 3, Issue 6

1/16

~ ~ V LON HILL

@ENER


2/16

THE GENERAL

PAG

L :VAN mNEWW

.

h h p vtntuct published bi-monthly

prttrg

ctose

to

the

first

y

of January,

Mar&

May, July,

Scptcrnbrr

and Novtmbtr.

Tht General

is edited and published

by Tht

AvaIon Hill

Company

almost solely for t he cul-

tural edification

of

adult

gam p.

(It

also helps

to

sell Avdan Hill products tool)

Artidei from

subscribtrs

are

considered,

or

publication a ~ t i sontributory basis.

Such

articles

must

be typcwritttn

and

not exceed 7

words. Rzamplcs aud w m s hat accompany

such articles ust

be

drawn

in

Mack

ink,

ready

for

reproduction. No

notice can be given r t p r -

ding

neetptan of articles

for publication.

All back

issues

except Vol. Nos.

4

which

act ouc of stock, are

available

at

1.00pcr isaut.

Eull-ycnr subscriptions @

4.98.

olUU7

Th t Avalon

Hill

Company,

Baltimore

Maryland.

printed in

U.S.A.

COVER STORY

JUTLAND ao unusual that i ts dea ign

has been

a

year

in

preparation.

n

fact,

i t s t i l l i sn ' t complete a t this writing.

However, release date is scheduled

for

April 10th.

JUTLAND

ham been long in develop-

ment for se vera l reasons .

In

the main,

i t ' s de sign i s a rea l depar ture f rom the

normal

battle

game type. W e

had to

cut coats somewhere so eomething had

to go. Yes, you guessed it. We've

eliminated the battle board.

Obviously, your fir st thoughts are ,

"Where do

you

play it, in the N orth

Sea?

The answer

is

' 'Yes and

no.

The Nbrth Sea i s the loc ation

of

th i s

World War I epic between the British

Grand Flee t and the German High sea^

Flee t . And becau se the game includes

over 100 Counters rep resentin g capital

ships alone, it cannot be played

within

the confines uf

a

printed mapboard.

Thus,

JUTLAND

can literally be played

anywhere o n the kitchen floor, on a

pool tabl e, even in the middle of the

town plaza.

The ob ject of Jutland is d estructio n

(hah, what e lse ?

) of

enemy fleets. Hits

are

recorded in as accura te

a

fashion

a s possible . JUTLAND i s th ree games

in

one,

starting with a basic version

and graduating on

up

to the optioaal

tournament game. It's Avalon Hill's

f i r s t ship- to- ship combat game. . .com-

plete with everything except life rafts.

The

valon

Hill

The Search for Historical Accuracy

is

our subject. F o r enlightenment

on this topic, we went to the Research

and

Development Department (The

Men's Room) for random discussion

with Kenneth Johnson, Sales Manager,

Thomas Shaw, Marketing Director, and

Lindsley

J

Schutz, Research Design

Director. Mr. Johnson, was brought

into the dincussion because of

the

em-

phasis on his tor ica l accuracy a8 a sell-

ing tool in this highly competitive game

industry. Mr. J o h n s o a ' ~background

includes 31 years as distant nephew to

Pres ident Smith verydistant in light

of poor s ale s recently).

Coming t o AHwith agency experie nce

in advertising, Mr. Shaw i~ quite

f a -

mil iar with the linkage between the de-

sign and promotional aspects of

game

publishing. Absent fr om the discussion

was Mr. Schutz, cur rent ly on a ~ a b a t i -

c d a t

Iowa

University. Joining Avalon

Hill in 1961 Mr. Schutz contributed

greatly in the research and design of

earlier games vintage Waterloo, Stalin-

grad, Bismarck and Afrika Korps, and

Midway. The D i a c us ~ i on :

THE GENERAL:

If one were

to

de-

sign a battle game r ight f rom scra tch,

where would you begin?

JOHNSON:

You determine the sales

potential

of

the t i t le f i rs t . Many fine

g a m e s come

to

us for publication, but

because their title s don't have a sale

able

ring,

we reje ct them -even though

they may

be

excellent games.

SHAW:

Actually,

Ken

I

think

he is

referr ing to the st ep s after a title has

a l ready been de te rmined . In t h i ~vent,

the answe r is not a simple

one.

F o r

instance in resear chin g Gettysburg. one

of our f i r s t games , sources were easily

obtainable through our public library.

Stackpole publications, in Har risb urg ,

Penna. supplied excellent and accurate

data including the location

of

every hill

and gully

over

the battleground. e

even visited the ar ea ourselv es to get

a

proper perspective, especially t de-

termine what we re actually hills and

ridges.

THE

GENERAL:

Then historical re-

sea rch

was easy

fo r Gettysburg.. ut

I

bet you didn't do that for Stal ingrad .

JOHNSON:

This was a tough one..

and it alwaya s trik es me funny when

Lindsley would receive so-called ac-

cura te orders-of-ba t tle sent in

to

us on

this from game nuts. Why, Lindsley's

vailable fi r at i n Stores

research boys had

to

go down to the

Avalon Hill' s

fair

t rade prac t ice pre-

cludes the mail-ord er ale

of

this game

until all shipments have been made to

stores. Our regular mailing lis t people

will not be advised of th is ga me until

la te r .

ou know

about

i te heck

your dealer in April

L ibra ry

of

Congress

to

get accurate

data. G e r m a n nfo was easy. ut be-

cause Russian tati is tics

were prac t ic -

ally non-existence this

game

w s a

tough baby

to

design.

THE

GENERAL: C moa, now..

look

at

all the books published on Op er-

- .

h i l o ~ ~ p bPart

ation Barbar os sa.

JOHNSON: Who

says

they're ac

rate. Listen, I'm out in the field

I

know from experience that histor

authors take a lot of l iber t ies jus t

they can be the fi rs t to

g e t

their

counts in print. Believe me, the r

for commercia l ism is c rea t ing

>an

a

moral society when i t c o m e s to writi

SHAW:

All this Kennedy

and

War

Commission business ' is an excel

case in point, rig ht Ken?

JOHNSON: Exactly. fact s beco

distorted and often the true picture

comes clouded to prove an author

point, especially sin ce most

of

tk

have

a biased opinion on

the

subje

which is usually the reason they

writing in the fir st place.

THE GENERAL: So what's this

ta do with Stalingrad?

JOHNSON:

ust this. ccurate

d

on

the

Russian front just wasn't ava

able. And. I don't care which histor

you

are going to

quote from.

The

o

truly accura te da ta w a s aken off ofG

man M a p s that we were allowed

to

~ h

s ta t in the Library of Congress.

course, everything was printed in G

man..

THE

GENERAL: With a name l

Schutz, that was a problem

JOHNSON:

The problem was

m

keting.

As

fax a accuracy goes,

Germans have always been noted

careful attention to detail. That's w

we feel that Stdin grad is the most

curate

of

all

AH

games. Incidently.

point

up

this Ger man preoccupation w

detai l a s the Bismarck was head

towards i ts watery grave, it s cap

received a wire le s s

from

the Germ

High

Command

o "save the log book

THE

GENERAL:

Interesting. B

going back to your statemen t on Sta

grad's accuracy; this implies that A

lon Hill games ar e not completelv

curate. Won't this di stu rb manv

your fans?

SHAW: Disturb, Shmisturb.

be realimtic. We have found no

accounts

of

any battle

to e

identic

So

who

do

you believe? You sim

follow the consensus of the major

Lf

say.

4 out of five history bo

places the 1 s t Division at Tobruk

the 5th book places it at Knightsbrid

then you go by the majority.

THE GENERAL: What do you

when someone writes you saying

such Units should

be

at

Knightsbrid

SHAW:

Obviously, that person

consulted just one book. nd since

really a re nt t sure who's right

wrong, we will cro ss- ref ere nc e s

inf0rmatio.n if enough s imilar le t t

ar e received. F or the record, we

fewe

~t

let ter s on Stalingrad dispu


3/16

P GE

the historical d ata than for any other

game.

THE GENERAL:

For

what game do

you get themost?

SHAW:

I t ' s

a

toss-up between Bulge

and D-Day. With D-Day, you have a

game

of monumental proportions.

And

because it

w a s

designed back in the

ear ly days of Avalon Hill, we were

guilty of the innocent sin of naivety.

We

simply

regarded

one book a s the

ultimate source

and didn t

bother to

cross- reference i t s mater ia l wi th any

others, I won t say which book that

was because we sti ll reg ard it

as

fine

reference material ,

now

convinced that

m

reference material i s 100%accurate.

THE GENERAL: Then how could you

leave a game on the mark etyo u knew

to

be

lacking

7

JOHNSON:

We didn't. All along I

had insisted that the game be up-dated.

especially

after one of my best de ale rs

informed me that the B ritish 50th Divi-

sion. a mo st impor tant Unit. had

been

left out of the Troop Counter Sheet.

So we ca me up with D-Day '64 which

added Air Power, i t made a few cor-

rections to the Netherlands area on the

mapboard,

and

generally corrected a

few design blunders. Of co ur w, w e

sti l l get letters stating that specific

Units have been left out.

SHAW:

Let s

face it, Ken, we could

re-design these gamem forever and

still never satisfy everyone.

And,

you

talk about

a

flood

of

letters, Bulge is

the game

that

has evoked wide dtspari-

ties among our fanat ics. Here is

game that we knew was going to be the

most difficult

to

research. e decided

to sub-contract the research to a three-

man

team,

actually they were college

~tud ents , headed by Lawrence Pinsky

of Carnegie Tech.

He

spent days at

both the lib rar y of Cong ress and OCMH

(Office of

the

Chief of Mil itary His tory ).

More cross - r e f e r ences

w r

m a d e

then for any othe r battle game. And,

by the t ime Pins kyls group had come

up with a final order -of -battle, we were

convinced that Bulge would be the most

accurate

game

of all.

TH GENERAL: Unfortunately, it

isn't,.

SHAW Who

says?

Here again,

you re going

by

the amount of le tte rs

we get on the sub ject. And here again,

we

have made a lette r-to-l ette r com-

parisonJo find that no two people have

sent

us

an identical ord er -of-battle.

Therefore, none of them a re complete-

ly accurate, either. Furt her, what

most player B don't

know

i s that there

wee

much switching and re-naming of

Regiments going on a t preci sely this

time of the war . We have to take the

word of

OCMH,

not that of commercial

hirta rians . We ad mi t to this, however.

Our interpretation of data received

from OCMH s in er ro r in severa l in-

stances..

JOHNSON: Not to inte rrupt , Tom,

but haventt you received a more ac-

cura te order-of -batt le f rom Kampfl ' 7

SHAW:

Kampf s l ' ma te r i a l is

alao

baaed on

OCMH.

However, Schutz, who

has had

a

brief opportunity to digest

some of Kampf'sl ' ea rlie r mat erial ,

feels that they a re mostthorough.

They

go into g re at depth to rs-check their

histor ical mater ia l ,

even

taking the

trouble to question themse lves in pri nt

whenever they have uncovered new

sources . You know, of co urse , that

we

have sub-contracted res ear ch on

future games

to

this organization.

THE GENERAL: Off on another

sub-

ject, now, what got you fellow^ into

digging up t h e ~ ewar heroes such as

McCluaky, McAuliffe and Dic kso n?

JOHNSON: Believe i t or not, that 's

up m y alley. Er ic Dott, our behindthe

scen es vice-pres ident of

a

depar tment

entitled, How

to

sell gam es by wheel-

ing and dealing in personalit ies

c a m e

up

with the gimm ick of uning he roe s fo r

testimonials.

SHAW: chuckle) This actually m kes

Eri c president of vice..

JOHNSON:

I should have his vice

like gr i p on the successful-promotion

corner. At any rate, he had a fr iend

who knew that R ea r Adm iral C Wade

McClusky was somewhat the hero of

the battle of Midway. Wouldn't i t be

great

if the admiral

would

endorse

Midway

? ,

he mused. Gre at idea,

Eric, replied. I He'll be flattered

out of

his

mind for the chance

to

be

as ~ o c i a t e dwith

a

soph i~ t i ca t edoutfit

such as

Avalon

Hill.

Who

the

heck

is Avalon Hill, l 1 answered the admiral

over

the

phone.

THE

GENERAL:

You really had a

selling job to do then..

SHAW Wasnt t hard at

all

really.

Aa a mat ter

of

fact. Eric, Lindsley

and I convinced him that we

did

have an

unusual product here.

o

much so that

he not only approved of th whole thing,

but lent his knowledge to authe nticata

the whole thing. He eve n allowe d us to

publish his own personal eye-witness

account that he had typed out only days

after the actual event. This was quite

a wind-fall for u a

and

opened our eye s

to expanding on the use

of

military

f i g -

ure s to authenticate other games. W e

spend many fine hour s with McClusky,

re-living th actual episode l isten-

ing to his observations which proved

m ny historical accounts to b e i a e r r o r

one

nuch

account placed him on

seve ral bombing raids Gt er

his

initial

rai d when in fa ct he h d been so

shot

up during the f ir st raid that he was ac-

tually in sic k bay during the time s his-

torians place him i n

the

air .

THE GENERAL: Ge ne ral McAuliffe

was a tough one

to

crack though, wasn't

he?

THE

GENER

JOHNSON: I 'll say.

He

didn't wan

m have aqything

to

do with us at f i r s

But he became so enamore d with

th

educational asp ects that he thoroughl

checked much of

the

Bulge materia

He

m ds

one change

th t

n o h i ~ t o r

has taken

account

of. and that involve

the tra dsf er of gl ider

regiments

be

tween the lOl s t and 82rid airborne divi

sions.

SHAW:

The mo st helpful

of

all

w a

Colonel Donald Dickson.

Not only wa

he involved personally in the Guada

canal campaign, h is art ist ic leaning

re-captured

m u c h

of the personal f la

vor in addition to the historical data o

the

real

campaign.

His

Leatherneck

I l l u ~ t r a t e d booklet, assembled wit

Guadalcanal, i s the f ine st of it s Xia

anywhere.

JOHNSON: nd a great sale

promotional tool, too.

THE GENERAL: So how come th

game' s a bomb?

JOHNSON:

Bea ts me. But i t isn

because

it

isn't accurate.

SHAW: Say, Ken, rem emb er th

nut

who said the 3rd Pitchfork battalio

waB left out.. o you thin khe was kid

ing

7

THE GENERAL: Kidding or n

we'll end this interview

at

this poin

fully convinced that AvalonHill i~ dea

ly serio us about their historicaI

r

search. If there i s a better way to

about it, l et 's he ar fr om you.

We especially want to hear f r o m y

regarding the questions: 1) How d

you f ir st become interested in Avd o

Hill, 2) What the battle games

me n

you, 3)

What

improvements you fe

a r e

necessary

design-w ise. 4) Wh

convinces

you

to

obtain

one battle

g a m

over another.

Keep your answers brief, within

wor ds fo r each q uertion if po ssible,

addre

s

s them to: Avalon Hill

Philo

soph

in ca re of this magazine. Let ter s chos

at random will be the subjectma tter f

an up-coming a r t i c l e in t h i ~ er ies .

Wargame Magazines

Coming on Stron

One yea r ago one h d

to

look f ar a

wide

to

read anything concerning

growing cult of w ar games .

Sudden

today,

we find a good dozen o r

periodicals designed to bring the rea

e r a l l aspects of wargaming so

as

fur the r the hobby and the industry

a

produce the highest quality of skill

our

ar t . I

This

l a ~ tuote is the editorial p

losophy of Strategy & Tactics ,

brand new 12 page publication edited

Christopher Wagner,

an

Air Force S

geant stationed in Japan. Their ma


4/16

GENER L

i~ the development

of the

genera l

and i s not limited to pub-

ng news on commer cial wargames.

it s

ar t ic les dea l with a l l typer

f wargameB; com mer cial, a mat eur ,

dbox, and otherw ise. Our review

of

found a d e l i g h ~ u l

of

artic les ranging from war-

with minia tures to discu~aionlsof

warfare to a description

of a

brew

g a m e

entitled Remagen

by

the ir asso-

editor Henry

H.

Bodenstedt, him-

the edito r and pub lisher of anoth er

magazine entitled Kommandeur.

Because of i ts edi tor ia l broadness .

think that Strategy

and

Tactics1'

valon Hill1 5 star applaud.

comments

should

be

direc ted to

state side pubiishing house, Box

65,

New Je rs ey 07710.. uh-

ar e available for $5.00 pe r

a r back i s ~ u e s r iced a t . 60.

l Kommandeur, also avai lable a t

Adelphia. New J e r mey ad dr es s,

the

his tor ica l

of

many rea l battles. Bo-

of the

interested in military minia-

magazine, which actually i~

re of a newal etter, will hold gr ea t

rest for fanciers of the table

top

F o r h i ~ t o r i c a l c coun ts , and

of interes t you would not

f ind

Kommandeur is an excel-

publication.

Probably the most outstanding of

dl

the new mag azin es dealing with his -

backgrounds of gre at battle i s

by

James

Dunnigan,

ZFifth

Avenue, Brooklyn,

N e w

York.

mpf i s a r e r i e ~ f lucid , conc iae

its subject mat ter with the

a G-2 presenta-

f I t contains ord er s-of

-ba t t l e

s

t rengtha , charac ter is t ics

of

tact ics and an incisive n a r -

campaigns them-

Numerous maps, charts, dia-

am s and illulstrations also enhance

publication's value. Fro m pe rson-

l relationsh ip we find that Mr. Dunni-

quite

deeply for cor rec tness

n

Ris tor icd

data,

A

f iver

sent

to

his

New York address (almve)

to a six issue subscr ip-

n

The above three periodicals are

y printed publications. While

is na tural ly some over lap of in-

and despite the fact that

a r e somewhat competitive to The

tt, we neverth eless recommend

of them to the true battle g a m e

We also receive information reg ard-

ing sm aller, but int eresting publica-

tions, ranging fro m simple newsle tters

to mimeographed sheets.

The Panze r t i , . 15 per copy f rom

Panzer Publications, 194 Kottenger

Avenue, Pleasanton, Califoraia, deals

mostly with fac t s relating to battles

and,wars now published as Avalon Hill

games

o r

which might in the future be

added to the line. Their editor is

Douglas Amis.

tiTheAvalon Hera ldn1, . 2 per copy

f rom

423 Manor Gro s s s

Pointe F a r m s ,

Michigan, i s unique in that i t delves

s tr ic t ly with feudal wargaming. Mar-

shall Massey, their edi tor , s e a m s to

have a r e d fun thing going for him.

The Tank , dealing with grea t battle

campaigns, i s available f rom the MIT

Strategic Games

Society,

Room 401

-

Student Center

84

Massachusetts Ave.

Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.

Space l imitations preclude us f r om

reviewing

all periodicals that exist.

However,

future

i s s u e s will c a r r y r e -

v iews

and cr i t iques for your

interes t .

While such publications in essence a r e

competitive to

The General

w e

fee l in

the

best

interests

of wargaming per

se

to advise you of their existence. Of

course, anyone caught cancelling his

subscription to

The

General in pre fe r -

ence of one of the above, may expect

to be visited by our heavy

in Chicago,

Myron Mafiani.

Buyers Guide

by Donald Greenwood

After reverent ly wishing someone

had

done

this

befo re

me

several

t imes

ia the

past, I

am submitting

m y

ver-

sion of a buyer's guide for A.H. games.

As a player

vf

the games

for the l a s t

yea r s , an owner of a l l 15 A.H.

sports

and battle games,

a subscr iber to the

General since

its

s t a r t , and a gamer

wi th

s o m e

500 battles under his belt, I

fee l justly qualified to render such an

offering to the General 's r eade r s . This

ar t ic le will be devoted

to

the relatively

new wargamer who i s

mt

quite s u r e

-which

one

of A.H.

's

fine products to

invest in next.

I am s ur e it i s a recog

nized fact

that

different g a m e s

are

suited to different personalities.

So,

without fur ther explanation let 's get

into the mechanics of the char t . Fol-

lowing

is

a l is t of abbreviations which

w i l l enable you to understand the chart

more thoroughly: PT; playing time,

P B ;

play balance, E; enjoyment gener-

ated by am exciting finish, HA; his tor i -

cal accuracy,

C ;

complexity

o f

game,

B; whether game i s

good

for a beginner,

PBM; ability of game t be played by

mai l ,

S;

suggestions.

The games a r e l is ted in order

of

my personal preference , so

1, Football Stra t .

-

PT; 45 min. ,

PB; Even, E ; Excellent, HA; none,

C;

easily

understood yet challenging, B

ve ry good, PBMi poor but possible.

organizing of league^ and keeping

statistics

enrich

this game even mo

2 Midway PT; too long ta

a lmost a a long to s e t up as

i t does

play, PB; big edge to

Jap,

but

can

evened up, E; excellent, HA;ery go

C;

detailed

yet not complicated, B;

so, PBhi; impossible,

S;

even up w

B-

17

and

GutePkunsts

sub rules.

3

D-Day

-

PT;

dependent

an s

c e s s

of

a l l ied iavasion

1-4

hr., P

alight

edge

to German, E; excelle

C; easy mechanics, ;

good, BB

good, HA; excellent.

4.

Bismarck

-

PT;

112 hr . .

P

slight edge to German,

E;

excelle

m; GOO^, C;

Avg. PBM;

mpossib

5. Tact ics

L

- PT; h r . , PB;

e d ~ e o red, E; ve ry good,

HA;

no

c;Avg.

B;

xceuent. PBM; very go

6. Stalingrad PT; 2 hr . , P B ;

edge t o German,

E;

a vg . , HA; go

C; vg . B; good. PBM; excellent,

4-5-6 replacements .

7.

Baseball Strategy P T ; 1 h

PB; ven, E; very good, HA; none

avg.

B; ood, P B M ; poor bu t pos sib

S; organ ization of leag ues , keeping

sta ts ,

and

use

of

A.

H.

world ser

counters.

8.

Affika Korps P T ; 2-4hrs . , P

edge

t o

allies, E; p o o r

HA;

good,

fa i r , B; poor.

PBM;

ood,

S;

use s

ply table and A. H s other equali

rules .

9. Waterloo - PT; 2-3 hrs . , P

edge to French , E ; fair, HA; good,

fair, B; poor,

PBM;

a i r .

10,

Blitzkrieg

-

PT;

4-6

hrs., P

even, E;

good.

-;none, C;very , v

complex, B; very, very poor, PB

fa ir .

11. Guadalcanal

-

P T ; 2-4 h r s . , P

even, E; fa ir , HA; excellent, C; v

complex, B; very poor,

PBM;

oor

use

of optionals.

12. Gettyaburg '64

-

PT;

2 hrs.,

P

big edge to Union, HA; ery good.

fa ir ,

;

oor, PBM; oor.

13. Battle of Bulge

-

P T ; 2-4 h

PB; dependent

on

optionals used,

avg.

HA;

poor,

C ;

a l i t t le too

mu

B;

poor, PBM; fair .

14. U-Boat

-

PT; 10-30 min.,

P

favors U-Boat

E;

very good,

HA; f

C; a little confusing, B; sub-p ar, PB

impossible.

15. Lemans PT; dependent on l

run, too l o n ~ , B ;

good

between

right

cars,

E;

f a i r ,

C; easy but bori

B; mediocre. PBM; impossible,

could

be

improved by modernizing ca

adding t h i rd lane to trac k, and

limiting number o r kind

of

cars,

game requires many players ; the m

the mer r ie r . Happy Shopping.

AH

i s grateful f o r this

compact

b

ers' Guide. Comments should be

rec ted to the author ,

Donald

Greenwo

128 Warren St. , Sayre, Penna.


5/16

THE

GENER

to Sidi B a r ra n i . It hal ted there an

valon Hill

at

Hobby

Show

buil t seve ral strongpoints. The re wer

only sk i rmi she s unti l

December. O

AvalonHill ecent ly elec

ted

to m e m -

December 9th, the 7th Armore d and th

bership in

the

Hobby Industry Aesocia-

4th

hd ian and the Bri t i sh 16th Brigad

tion

of

Ame r i c a {HIAA), exhibited i t s

al together containing 25,000

men,

a

products for the f i r s t t i m e a t the an-

tacked

the camps

of

the Italian south

nual

week-long Chicago Tra de Show.

Sidi B a rra n i .

While

the two division

cut through a gap in the 10th Army

Part icipat ing with over 450

hobby

defenses, the 16th Brigade advanc

manufacturers,

the

t ravel ing sa l e s down the coast road. The

number

staff of

AH

was able to tel l i t s unique

pr i sone rs wa s tremendous. The Col

story

to 4500

d e a l e r s who had c o m e s t r e a m Guards actual ly re por t e d

ca

from every state in the

union

to se e tur ing 115acres

of

off icersand 2 0 0 a c r

what's new

at

thi s 30th annual

con-

of other ranks .

f O n

December l l t

vention. The bl izzard, a r r i v i ng in 4th Indiari was replaced by the 6th

AU

Chicago

this

s a m e week, did not de ter t ra l ian

Division.

Over 38, 000 Ital ia

the crowds determined to get a preview we re captured, while

the

Brit ish h

of new and exciting hobby merchandise. AH h e m y Christy Shaw gives hobby show only 528 casualt ies.

Actually, the exciting

part

was

getting

pit

to

J- J. S

during convention

in

the

re in the f i r s t place. nd having

c h w S

hermvlH- Sho-g a p v t n-t

3.

The capture of Bardia (Jan. 3r

c h o s e n r a i l t r a v e l a e the mode,playing ~ t h c g m , n e a r ~ y 4 ~ d * l ~ l i n g ~ a t b ~ ~ t hth, 1941)

Dispatcher a l l the way, The AvaIon

pdf

5 mkmfe

ach

which s

the

t

it

After advancing to the Libyanborde

Hill sa les team wa s among the f i r s t to

th

be r

aslp mm heit aukles

the Bri t i sh pre pa re d to a t tack Bardi

set

up

i t s

exhibit.

B a rd i a contained pa r t s of 4 Italian div

Ray

Johnson. J a m e s J. Stein, and sions, within a 14 mile pe r i me t e r w

Myron Brundage

manned

the 8'

x 8

The object of such

an

exhibi t was to w i r e and blockhouses. The 7th A r m o

booth as mhills. AC ually what they increase the availability of adult

games

ed Division blocked the north and nort

did was

to

block the a is le with ga me s in s tores . making it eas ie r f o r you to west s ides . The 6th Aust ra l ian,

M

In progre s s during the e n t i re length

purchase

them in

your

area , rather 16th Brigade,

and

he 7th Battalion RT

of the rhow. This gambit evoked i n t e r - than having go through the time-

w i t h

3 1 tanks,one machine gun ba

es t among the curiosity seeker s who consuming pro j e c t of order ing by mail t a l i o n , and the ar t i l l e ry regimen

lingered just

long

enough for our

se-

di re c t from the factory.

W e

urge attacked the we s t e rn pe r i me t e r .

T

ductive s e c r e t a r y to c lose the sale, to buy f r o m a de a l e r whenever po aaible. attack made swift p rogre s s . When

t

f o r t r e s s surrendered on 3anuary

5t

45,

000 men, 462 guns ,

115

light a

Major Battles

Campaigns:

Libya

Egypt,

1940-42 been0 mediumaptured.

anks7

and 7 5 0 trucks

By

Jamem Tribole t

2

12 guns.

Theas

forces

were command- 4. The capture

of

Tobruk (Jan. Z l

ed

by Maj.

General OtConaor in the

22nd

The

OIConnor

Campaign

(Dec.

1940-

field and Gen. Wavell in Cairo. On January bth, the

7th

Armor

Feb. 1941

2 .

The Batt le

of

Sidi B a r r a n i

Dec.

isolated Tobruk, which contained

9th- 12th)

division plum a m a s s of unorganiz

1 .

Disposition

of

Allied and Italian

In the autumn of 1940. the Italian ~ o l d i e r s . It had a 27 mile perimet

loth Army with

10

divisions advanced l ike that of Bardia .

The

6th Austral ia

On

June 10, 1940, the

date of

the

declaration of w a r by

Italy

she had in

THE BATTLE OF S D I BARRANI

Libya 15 divisions; in Tripoli tania, 6

regular

and

2 mili t ia divisions, in Cy-

renaica 2 re gu l a r and 2 militia divisions,

and a t the f ron t i e r ,

units

equivalent to

3 divisions. These divisions amounted

to 215,000 t roops , f i r ~ t nder

Marshal

BaIbo and l a t e r m d e r Marshal Grazani .

The B r i t i ~ h ad the 7th A r m o r e d Divi-

- t h i rds of the

4th

Indian Divi-

sion, one- thi rd

of

the New Zealand Divi-

8 4 ~

sion, 14 Bri t i sh battal ions, and

2

a r t i l -

l e r y regiments,

w h i ~ h amounted to

about 50,000 men. At f i r s t the British

guardsd,the front ie r with the 7th and

11th Hussa rs , motor battalions of the

60th Rifle Brigade and 2 ar t i l l e ry regi -

ments.

In

August

these

f o r c e s were

replaced

by

the

rd

Coldst ream Guards,

the 60th

and 2nd

Rl&lmlrBrigades and

Z

a c h a n & e d , Wttqrics. '

339

Witober the

Bri t ish had received, in addition to the

other forc e s , the 19th Aust ra l ian Bri-

gade and the Polish Brigade

plus

the

remainder of the 4th Indian Division.

N a J i q n ~.kli** CIIJ +

8d.)iA

Adu*rcar

This together totaled

5

6

000

men and

c**p

? o t d i r h

brf+l .h A+tra


6/16

GENER L

P G

the 16th Brigade,

and

the 7th Battal ion

with

12

t a n k s a ss a u l te d f o r f o r t r e s s

on

Zl st Janua ry. Immediately, an

brigade breached the south-

p e r i m e t e r

of

the for t res s . The

3

other br iga des swerved off into the for-

ress.

By the next day 3 2 , 0 0 0 men,

236 guns 45

l ight

and 25

medium

tapks

nd 200

trucks

had

gone into captivi ty.

The

B r i t i sh

now

had

a

port tha t was

ne

of

the

best

in North Afr ica .

5

The Battle of Beda

Fomm

(Feb.

4th-7th)

After the captur e of Tobruk, the r e -

I ta l ians in Cyrena ica began to

ea t down the coas t road. They w e r e

by the 6th Austr al ian.

Mean-

7th Arm ore d waa cutt ing

the

bulge of Cyr ena ica vi a

s, and Antelat. When the

Fomm hey cut off

men.

The I ta l ians t r ied

o

bre ak out wi th the

aid

of tanks, but

no avai l. This four th vic tory de-

A r m y

of

a l mos t

15,

000

and

numerous tank s and guns .

The ent i re campaignal toge ther ne t ted

130,

000 pr i so ner s , 400 tanks , 1 ,29 0

guns, and immen se

quantities

of sup-

al l at a cos t of

500

kil led, 1, 375

and

55

missing on

the

B ri t i sh

mide. The Brit ish had captu red al l of

Cyrenaica in about

Z

months. OIConnor

would

have

succeeded

in

captur ing Tripol i tania , if

units in the Near Eas t . However, Hit ler

might have given Mussolini sev eral

Panzsr Corps , which i f under the com-

mand

of

Rornmel, might

have

captured

the Suez Canal , and

even

gone on to the

oilfields of Arabia. In this cas e the

xis might have won the war . Any

c o m -

ments

?

Write: Jam es Tribo let , 5441

E.

9th St. Tucson, Arizo na 85711.

Phyrric Victory

he Doubled

Exchange

by J a m e s

J.

Stein

Click goes the dice. Hey, Hey An

excha nge Take off

one

Russian infan-

t ry unit

as

well

as

two

Ge rma n Pa nz e r

uni t s . Seconds la t e r

n

an accompany-

ing soak-off bat t le a G erman infantry

c orps

is

obli terated.

The Russ ian loss

amounts to approximate ly 2 0 000 men,

while

the

G e r m a n s l ose ove r 60 000.

a s w el l

as

hundreds of invaluable tanks .

Who ha s won? The

German

tha t f

a

who

His remaining uni t s can jump ac ro ss

the r ive r which the Russ ian uni twasde-

fending and thereby

break

a n i mpor ta n t

defensive l ine. At

least

tha t ' s how the

Avalon Hill game of Sral ingrad i s played.

Let us now take

a

look at how

such

a

hypothetical situation would be dealt

with in re a l

life.

The Situation:

Somewhere

i n

Rus s ia ,

Ger man General Ludwig von Blunder

a t tacks the 4th Russ ian infantry Arm y

(Corp s) with hi s powerful Fi rs t Panzer

Army.

The

R usai a na a r e dug

in

i nwe l l

defended posi t ions on the opposi te bank

of

the

wide

Bloodbath River. The bat-

tle r a g e s

for

thi r teen grue l ing

days

of

bit te r fighting and when the ac ri d

car

dite smoke

of

combat c lears , the Rus-

sian

unit is annhilated to

a

ma n ( t he

o d y man to escape i s the pol it i ca l com-

m is sa r, Yevgeny Gufow). Von Blunder

h a s l o s t the c r e a m of

hi^

P a n z e r A r m y ,

two ful l corp s in al l .

In addi t ion he ha s

l os t a crack infantry corps s laughter-

ed

outright , in

a

supporting

attack.

General von lunder has, however,

accomplished hi s missio n of forcing a

bridgehead acr os s the mighty3loodbath.

Is he t o be rewarded with the oak leaf

c l us t e r on his Knight 's C ros s ? Will he

be

promoted to Colonel Genera l? W i l l

he

be

perso nally congratulated by the

F u h r e r ? You bet te r be l ieve he won' t

Within minutes of the

battle

newa of the

disas te r wi l l trickle or t h

to

A r m y Group

he a dqua r t e r s whe re t he s t e rn , s c ho l a r l j ,

F i e ld Ma rsha l l

Gerd

von Bluster wil l

drop his monocle and have a coron ary.

His ard ent Nazi Chief of Staff, General

Heinrich Schkweeler wil l immediately

radio the word t o

OKW

he a dqua r t e r s

at Rastenburg. At

ast ten bur-g

a f t e r

decoding t he me a sage. SS Adjutant,

Colonel Wilhelm Meddler, will awaken

the Fuh rer a t one o 'c lock in the morn-

ing to inform

him

of the news.

Ten

minutes la t e r , a f te r careful ly

ecraped

t he Fuhre r

off

the

cei l ing of theb unke r,

al l presen t wil l be subjected to

a

two

hour t i rad e on the incom petancy o f the

Gen era l Staff, the Officer

Korps and

pa r t i c u l a r l y our f r i e nd Ge ne ra l von

Blunder.

Two days l a t e r , t he ha p l e s s

von Blun-

d e r

has

been re l ieved

of

his command,

s t r ipped of a l l rank, decorat ions

and

privi lege8 aad impri soned in Lands

bu r g Pris on, await ing t r ia l by court

mart ia l for dere l ic t ion

o f

duty

and High

Treaso n. At the subsequent execution

proceedings, von Blunder (an avid de-

votee of Avalon Hill wargaming), with

bewilderment n his

eyes

gasps out

his

final

halting

words, "But I won the

battle.

It

w s

a n exchange.

f

Incidentally, for tho se of you

who

w

to give

the erman

a chance in

Sta

grad, compel

the

a t tacker n double

fense si tuat ions to only r emo ve in

changes the value

which

the defend

uni t (s ) i s worth a t

basic

odds. A

you might t r y using

the

Basic G

Bl i tzkr ieg combat resu l t s t able . C

ments may be d i rec ted to

Jame

Stein, 3 11 W. 104th Placs, 'Chicag

Il l inois

60628.

AH

COMMENT: I3ut Comrade St

the Russ ians did

10s

e 20,000

men

that 'a e n o u g h ~ s s e so send the

r

nants of any Army re e l i ng in re t r

B u t

don't wo rr y about Gener al

Blunder 's court -marsha l l . Afte r l

ing 60,000 men, he and the rea t of

a r m y w i l l sure l y be wiped out firs

a counter-a t tack at a t t rac t ive odds

even Marshall Boobwitz would not p

up

n

essence breaking the

r i ve r l

ends up as a con-job

enabling

the R

s ian player

to

administer monumen

casual t ies

in

exchange for

a

l i t t le

of t e r r i t o r y . .

c e r t a i a l ywi t h i n t hs re a

of rea l i sm of

m y

battle campaign. Y

a r t i c l e on y ca rr ie s the subject: half-w

.and o u r c omme nt s a r e me a nt t o

a warning

to

Ge rma n ge ne ra l s

to

m o r e

cautious

in their select ion of

t a c ks a c ross r i ve r l i ne s . Always

f lec t f i rs t

on

how tenuous your posit

w i l l

be

when i t becomes the Russ

player ' s turn.

THE PRINCIPLES

OF WAR

Mass

Movement:

Defense

Retrograd

By

Capt. Mike Frankwicz

Myron Brundage, Editor

"Get

thar

fus tes t wi th the moste s t

the philosophy

o

the great Confeder

Genera l , Mathan Bedford For res t .

day

w e

talk

about Time-Distan

which i s another way

of

saying the s

thing.

A s

you may reca l l f rom a p

vious

ar t ic le of thi s se r ies , Tim

Distance equals the di s tance (numbe

squ ares ) divided by the movement r

in

number of square s per turn . T

te l l s you where to place your forcea

tha t you can do i t For res t ' s way.

Fo r r e s t ' s s t a te me nt a nd many si

l a r o n e s l i k e

it

put th e sound s of

the

tack er in our ear s. So why bring i

in an a r t ic le on defense?

Actual ly,

a r m i e s F o r r e s t s e rv e d e r e on

stra tegi c defense, though, they didlau

tact ical offensives quite frequently.

ac tua l ly phrased his method of ope

t ions f ro m a bas ica l ly defensive

si

tion.

DEF ENS E

W e

a s s u m e

he defense

t o

gain t

to ass i s t offens ive ac tions e l sewh


7/16

PAGE

or to

utilize the advantages of ter ra in

to compensate fo r weaknesses in our

forces. If you are

in

the habit

of

rotat-

ing your play among all sides of all AH

garnea then defensive play s hw ld be

no mtranger to you. Sharp defensive

play Iends greatly to your offensive

play, because

you

can greatly weaken

your

opponent while on the defense,

which

will

make your subsequent offen-

l ive thru s ts

easier.

One virtue that

you

must carry with you into the defense

however, is patience. You

must

have

the

patience to le t your opponent ba tte r

away,

l e t

him lose auni t here and there ,

and gradually let the balan ce of power

swing into your favor. There are two

basic fo rms of de fe n~ s : he a re a

of de-

fense and the mobile defens e. The basic

differences between these is in the dis-

position of your f or ce s, and the size

and

intended use of your reserves.

rea Defense

In

the

area

defense

you a re pri-

marily interested in t he hoIding of

specific terrain.

In

this type defense

forward positions are strongly held,

emphasis

is

upon stopping your opponent

forward of your main position and main-

taining contin uity of it. The

bulk

of your

combat power is committed in the for-

ward

defense a r e a . If your opponent

penetrates the area you either eliminate

or eject him by counterattack

to

regain

control of the ar ea . Lacking the strength

to do this, you should allow ourself to

be pushed

back

to maintain the control

and continuity of your defense, which

i s more important

t o

you than the ter -

rain.

AREA

I I

Mobile Defense

For those who prefer more fluid

action with opportunities fo r choice

counterattacks, there i~ the mobile

defense.

It

is based

pr imar i ly

upon

skillful use of mass movement, and

proper

timing to destroy your opponent.

To achieve m obile defense, you employ

a

minimum number of units on the best

terra in you can get in the forward de-

fense area .

Y o u

t ry to use these fo rces

THE

GEN

to canaliz e your opponent

into

le s s favor-

your combat power in strong mobile

able terrain by your holding of this ser ve s, positioned fo r offensive ac

selected cr it ical ter rain. You also to d e ~ t r o yyour opponent

at

the r

ha ras s, impede and disorganize him all moment within or forward of the

you can with your fo rward forc es. In ward defense area .

the m eantim e, you reta in th e bulk

of

L f FENSE

F I G U R E

In Figure

2,

your units marke d US,

have just given way

on

preplanned

bas i s to

your

opponent.

The small

a r -

rows show the direction youcarne from.

Aa yodware f a l l kg back you should have

hit him for as many losses aa possible.

ou

should have given him every im-

pression that he was beating you out

of

an area defenae, and because you a r e

stubborn and mayhe not BO smar t , you

a r e slow to reorga nize. Note however,

that

you

keep his thrust under control

by dropping

back

behind m ore defensible

te rra in and canalizing him.

The three

unit^

in fro nt offer him the path of l ea st

resis tanc e, indeed a carr ot on a stick,

offering him the scent

of

victory i

keeps driving. If you work it right

he does a t t h e m o m e n t when he o

extends himself som ewhe re, hopef

in hia f lanks or re ar ,

you

counterat

as shown. CAUTION YOU H D B

TER

BE SURE

THAT YOU

W L L H

ENOUGH

STRENGTH

TO

COUNTER

TACK

BEFORE

YOU LAUNCH

I

THlS

TYPE OF PLAN

Echelons

of

Defense

On the gameboard, defense cons

of t hre e echelons: the security a

the forward

defense

are a, and the

serve area.

he TYlree Eche lw of Pden e

It should be intende d th at the Forward

Defense Area will

be

the main battle

are a. This can be seen f rom the de-

U

fz

pkoyment

of

ehe

above

umlts.


8/16

TH

GENER L

The securi ty are a is located fro m

the for wa rd edge of th e so nes of con-

t ro l of your f orwa rd defense units out-

ward. It is held by smal l , u sud ly

highly mobile for ces that occupy cri ti-

cal terr ain featuree. These might be

rough te rr ai n dominating

a

road,

bridges, cities, or the like. Each level

of command usually deploys it^ own

forward security unite. A division, for

example, usually puts out i ts cavalry

squadron as

a

minimum. The net re -

sult of all these command echelons

putting out security

i s

that the enemy

haa succeseivs layers of forward ae-

curit y f or ce s to coatend with befor e he

can

reach yourrnain force.

A s

heover -

comes each line, your securi ty forces

involved gene rally fal l back through the

line to the rea r to become a part of the

reserve. What

you

a r e hoping to do s

to cauae the enemy to deploy fo r the

at tack a s fully a s possible a t each suc-

cessi ve se curit y echelon, thus

commit t -

ing himself. This is done either

by

fooling

him into

thinking

he has reached

your main battle positions, o r

by

skill-

ful deployment of your sec urity f or ce s

which force s him to deal

with

them.

In

r e a l

life

this cause s all manner of dis-

organization and control problems for

the aggressor that

only a

well equipped

and controlled for ce can cope

with. Jn

AH land

warfare games, because your

opponent can e asi ly ree your d isposition

on

the board, and because

of

the large

size units m o s t counters represent ,

you re often restricted in your use of a

security area. Still , certain game B of-

fe r some posaibilitisa. Small counters

in BLITZKRIEG

AFRIKA

KORPS

and

WATERLOO provide you with som e

re al delay, screening and disorganizing

capabilities, if you ar e willing to sac ri-

fice

them. Screening force s in re al life

take a beating, but they usually can be

p i l e d o ut

in

t ime to

be

reused.

In

AH

games they a re usually lost bec au ~e f

the way the g ames are designed.

How-

ever, one of the most mucceesful uses

we have seen of screening fo rc es

in

a

secur ity a re a took place in a WATER-

LOO game we had the pleasure of play-

ing some months ago. The French play-

e r

was

unable to progress effectively

against the Quatre-Bras ar ea . So he

lef t respectable forces there to main-

tain pressure and proceeded to attempt

a tur ning movement by thru sti ng down

the Tilly-Wavre road. PAA forces

covering that ar ea were w eak.

To es

cape

was

difficult, to hold

was

su re

promise of being eliminated, and head-

long flight would give the Fre nch player

h i s turning movement.

Thus the FAA

forces faced disorganization, 10s s of

control and losw of too muc h grou nd

too soon. He had however, a number

of 1-6 and

2 6

cavalry unit8 avaiIabls

fo r the threatened area . He used these

to effectively screen the French fro m

P G

his main battle force in the area while

it reinforced and raced behind the mor e

defensible riv er lines to the North and

Wemt. The Fren chm an was so delayed

and even somewhat disorganized, that

between h i s outraged oaths he bogged

down and loat The sa me thing was

ef-

fectively done

i n

the Nivelles area

in

another game.

A

surprising number of

screening un its were saved each time.

Use a ~e cu ri ty rea wherever you can.

You'll be s urp ris ed at how it will

in-

cr ea se the effectiveness of your ove r-

all defense.

The Forward Defense Area

The forwarddefense ar ea

is

actually

your main battle position where you at-

tempt to stop, slow, canalize, di sor -

ganize and d est roy your opponent de-

cisively. It consi sts of

your main

battle

counters and hei r zones of control.

The Reserve Area

The rese rve a rea i s where rese rve

force s ar e ~tat ioned. They may be

used to block, or to reinforce threaten-

ed areas ,

to

organize

new

li ne s of

de-

f

ense in advance, or to counterattack

to eliminate o r eje ct the enemy. They

a r e a l s o

used

to secure the -re ar ,

o r

perhaps an otherwise expoeed flank.

Skillful

use of the Time-Dist ance f act or

in their employment i s of vital im-

portance. Well placed res er ve s can

actually p erf orm many functions at the

same t ime, and thus serve many prin-

ciples of w ar . They can be placed just

behind forward defense force s, fa r to

the rea r , in ports , a i rd rome# o r a t

sea.

One of the gre at es t advantages of

these forces i s the threa t th at they pose

anywhere within thei r range, bec ause

they are relatively uncommitted.

THERETROGRADE

There is a big, fancy term used in

military ci rcle# for moving away f rom

the enemy or re tr eat hg. The ter m is

retro grade action. We'll

use

i t here

to stay in line with the prom. The only

explanationwe can offer for auch

a

t e r m

is that the word llrst reatj '

i s

considered

such

a

nasty sound in military cir cle s

and cauBes so many unfavorable emo-

tions,

that they chose the te rm retro -

grade actions. This way when forced

to discuss it. the bra ss causes the

l e ~ s e r f two evils, confusion rather

than panic, when they

say,

1lLetia re-

tro gra de the h.. out of her e. beside^

it

sounds better- to

the womenfolk

back

home and disturbs fewer egoes.

There are three basic type^ of re

tro gra de a ction which we can employ:

the delaying action, the withdrawal, and

the retirement.

In a delaying action, you trad e space

for time, and try to inflict a s

many

los-

s es on your opponent a s you can with

becoming decisively engaged.

W e

e ar li er t hat t h i ~ s a logical miss

fo r fo rces in the securi ty area .

On the other hand, in a withdra

your

main

battle force disengages fr

your opponent away fr om his zone

control. You a r e under enemy pre ss

in this situation and areLusually be

pushed back.

But in a retire ment youar e not un

direct enemy preBsure or in conta

and you move away fr om your oppon

freely, according to your own p

You may

for

example, want to s

fo rc es not being threatened to

a

m

dangerous aector.

Or you m a y wan

move back to a bet ter position.

Retrograde movementr, according

U . S Army doctrine, are made

these reasons:

1. To har ass , exhaust, re si st ,

lay and infli ct punishment on the enem

2 . To permit the uBe of element

your

forces elsewhere.

3.

To

draw

the enemy into an

favorable situation.

4. To avoid combat under und es

abl e conditions, it's gettin to hot.

5

To

gain ti me without fightin

decisive engagement.

6 . To disengage from combat.

7.

To place your for cs s involved

to

a mo re favorable

position

in relat

to other friendly forces.

There is lit tle doubt that cert

situations n AH games definitely

quire ski l l on your pa rt in bringing

re t~o gr ad e c tions . I t s often wise

retrograde in any game until

you

g

the balance of

Of course a s

French in WATERLOO, the Germ

in

STALlNGRAD

and

BULGE

and

Allies

in D-DAY,

you should be spa

th retro grade because you have

bala nce of power to begin with. In

opinion, we favor the retrogra de

TACTICS I1 and

BLITZKRIEG

in

opening move s for the seven reas

outlined above.

There are essentia l ly three w

that you have to achieve m ass .

f i r s t s by gaining reinforceme

through the ord er of appea rance ru

etc.

where they

exist

The second

by holding your own losses to a m

mum. And finally, by reducing the s

of your opponent's forc ea by attri ti

Conclusion

The defense and retr ogr ade acti

a r e

only

of value wherr they le ad us

the point where we can win In s

games this means mticking it out u

the time facto r bea ts our opponent.

others it means one must ultimat

take the offensive to win. Comm e

should be directed to Mr. Brunda

2437

W, Sunnyside, Chicago, Illin


9/16

by Lou

Zocchi

Northeast. En

a complete se t

t l s of

the

Bulge.

for sale to interested parties

per set.

His

l e t t e r

then

pro-

with a low

key

pitch

to

get me

his organization. I appreciate

es t reprssenbt ives of all the

War

ea

Clubs. The real loser at this

ereace will

be

the club which i s

ed t uae

m e

on their ride. This i s

e sort

of a handicap

which

enables

others to playon a m o r e e q d b a a i s .

Itaeems to me that l a t e ly I

have

run

fact. I have been a party

to

ae

myself. And, I suddenly

nious methods

simulate bat-

rounding6 and become thoroughly

esssd i n

the

tactical consideratione.

a

ocaaeion,

I s e e m to hear ia the dis-

m-ed rumble of Artillery

by

a stacato burst of machine

~ e r i e n c s d he exhilerating thrill of

ictory? And

when

the g a m e i s over

do

quletly

put the piece^

away

and say

more? -Of

course not. Now omer

critique where y ~ u

ave

the chance

to find out what your opponent would

have

done if

you

had chosen the al ter

nata course of action.

Now

you can

learn why

your

attempts to crea te a

diversion failed o r succeeded. nd

when i t s over, who among you baan't

wondered

what he could

have

done in

the real campaign if given the oppor-

tuni ty? Evidentally

many

of you are

no

longer

content to accept the g a m e s

as

they

are. Revisions take place that

reflect more realistic performance.

Re ~ e a r c h s

dons

to discover the true

balance of power. And, ultimately,

dis i l lu~ionmeatwith packaged g a m e s

arrives. Critical le t te r s a r e

sent

to

the factory. Discussion8 among friends

reveals that

you

a r e mt d o n e

in your

crusade for

r tore

realism. More let-

ters

are sent

out

and

still

you

feel

that

you a r e not

being

heard. Eventually,

minor addition^

are made to the stand-

ing a r m i e s

tn

bring them into line with

historical facts. Perhaps you've even

been

as successful a8 the A g g r s ~ ~ o r

Army

and

been able to standardize

your

departure f rom the issvea product.

But before we get car r ied away,

let'w go

back

and examine

t h i ~

a m e

f rom the producers standpoint.

He

haa

invested a terrific amount

of

manpower

for r e search, deaiga, and testing. Then

he gambsls that

the

game will sel l and

stops p~oduction n

an

item that i s al-

ready doing well.

He t ies up preese s,

s p e c i d i n o l ~ , nd advertising money

on

an

unlmown. And just what i s this un-

known?

It's

a

g a m e

dssigaed t0

be

sold

tn the general public. If the game i s

too historically acclttate,

we

might

find

that

one side

always wins.

Wou l d

we Gripe?

Y o u

bet we would1 That

woulda t be a fa i r test of our skill. So

the manufacturer can't afford

to

put out

a

game that isn't balanced because few

of us really

w nt

wbat.we c r y

b u d e s t

for. Do our le t te r s have

any

effect

upon Avalon

Hill?

Let s investigate

this qwstion further. Did

you

ever

hear

of a game called tactic^ or Tac-

tics I Most of you

aye

familiar with

Tactics II

but

how

m a n y

owuer of a

Tacticr

II

game can @hawyou Round

HQ units? Did

you

know that there

were a t least 4 versione of

Gettymburg?

Why did

they

bring out a

new varrrion

of D-Day which included Air P o w e r

Is

art i l lery med the same way

inGuad-

alcanal

as in

all of the other war games

?

Think about t h e ~ e

uestions

for a

min

ute a n d

you ll see what I m getting at.

The original tactics game w a s

improv-

ed

so much that theychangsdthe title to

Tactics

n. The original Gettysburg

was

selling

well,

but they thought they

could irrlprqve i t lq

hanging the squares

to Hexes. The g a m e didn ?

- b o

well

i n

this

f o r m because they forgot

to in-

crease the rhoyement of the pieces

in

direct proportiom

to

the increased numr

ber of squares

o

the b a r d . But they

THE GEMER

did

c ~ l a rode

l

of the squares so

was easy

to tell what was a

hill

what wasn't. This i s a feature I

w

they

would

have kept. They could h

gone

back to the original veraion,

they tr ied something new inatead. Th

m a d e

up a test

copy with

larger he

and

faster movement rate

which work

very well. I don't

know

why it

was

produced, but a 4th version m a d e

appearance.

Now tbey

want

to sb

you the imporance of pornition. T

enfilade position gives more

value

the attacker. My p e r r o d opinion

this game as i t

stands

now

i

that

good southern

commande~

an be eas

defeated

by

amediocre union comman

der. Real ism? kE letter

s

could prom

them

to change the game 4 times, w

not

a

5th? When

arl Knabe

publish

hSs fantastic "Plan Redq7 id Avalon

notice that

the

g a m e was

now

definit

in

favor

of

the Germans? They m

have, becauae they introduced Ai r Pow

to the allied

side

in order

to

bring b

the balance

of

play.

The

way

Artill

i s

uaed in Guadalcaaal makes i t

s e

more l i h artillery.

Yet you

will f

this feature in ao othergame. Comp

the

combat

reaults t a b l e a

of BIitzlcr

to Bulge and you find an improveme

No longer

can an

entire unit be wip

out uuless

its

surrounded. Comp

the Bulge

re sultm

table with the Gett

burg table and you will find anot

improvement. If you have an old G

tysburg game, you ll f ind

the

attac

has

a

50-50 chance

of

winning

with

exchanges possible. I have o i

what i s going on a t Avalon Hill o r w

their intentions are, but

by

looking

what they have accomplished, I

amazed.

I'm sure that

a

good many

the NEW ideas

used

by

A.H.

in th

latest g a m e s have come f r o m peo

like you and I. We look a t a situat

and say, "It seems to me that the ea

iest'way to simulate thir ~ i t u a t i o a

o

be such and such,

wonder i

A.

thought of that?"

TeU

them what

y

think. Without le t te r s like

oura,

doubt

that they

would have attemp

something as qomplex as Blitzkrie

We a r e in a very forceful position.

can encourage

A.H.

to meet

ou?

nee

and ahow

them

that there i s an availa

market.

If

we t i re

o

the game as

designed, we can encourage Kampf

do

an

article on i t f rom which we c

get the basic data to make a mo

xealiatic wargams. Those Tig

among us who thrive on adversity c

a l w a y ~ e cormted

u p n

to try to win

lost cause. If the opponents wan

column of the General can be believe

there

are a t l++ast 2,

000

players in th

country

who have never been defeate

Pick any

one

of

them.

AB far .as I W w , almost every wa

game

produced by Avalon Hill hag

t

se t s

of

rules. They

have the

bas


10/16

THE GENER L

ule s and the tournament level rules.

hy should theygo toa l lof th is t roubl e?

The anawer s obvious. W e hard co re

be

satisfied with

simple

balanced game,

and the A.

H

esigners realize that they mus t make

grea te r

efforts

to simulate the actual

situations.

How

to

Change

a

Dull

lap

Victory

into a

Heartless

American

Win

by Richard A. Shagrin

Assum ption: You want to win, an d

ou don't much c ar e what happens to

l f r e a l i ~ m " r how many m e n your

strategy would really kill.

OK, now that we have established

that you are cruel nd heart less , you

a re ready to lea rn how to put on the

Arne ric an Banzai.

The Background--Midway is a point

accumulation

game.

It is not possible

to hold Midway Island

if

your Opponent

(the Jap) is cornpatent. This

means

that the Japs will

get

approximately 15

points for Midway,

and p u r

problem is

counterbalancing those points by

sink

ing

Jap ships.

This s the only way to

win- -l et none of you b e deceived- Mid-

way c n not be held The competent

Japs among you have discovered thi s

fact, and toavoid early losses, coward-

ly cringe along the e aste rn edge of the

board,

always

careful to keep more

than 7 squares away f r o m

the

American

Flee t, which charges heroicly acr o s a

the board at flank speed. It manages

to

get in

one

attack in the las t daylight

tur n of the fi rs t day, but only after four

Jap

crui sers have added their ~cr ee ni ng

power to the main battle fleet.

One

Jap and one American

s t r i k e i s

m a d e ,

and each side generally lose s one bar-

r i e r o r 80.

Then

the next day, once

the

Atago

comes in, the Jap grand

fleet steams nonchallantly to Midway,

beating off fu ti le a i r a t ta ch , launching

counter-attacks that often ink

up

to

80 of the Am erica n flee t, and captur-

ing Midway to boot.

Tokyo

Rose gloats

the next

day.

If

t hi s d o es n 't d e ~c r i b e

how your battles

go,

you

haven't been

laying the be s t possible strategy.

Now this i s pretty depr es aing I have

to admit,

and

if you scratkh your head

little you can see that the way to stop

this horr ib le resul t is to sink thos e

in it ia l Jap ca rr ie rs on the f i rs t

day,

pref erab le bef ore they Rave al l those

cruis ers andbatt leahips to screen them.

It would als o be nice to avoid the usual

ap

counter strik e by making th at tack

f rom an unknown position. his

is

obvious; unfortunately it is also hard to

do.

If

this was all I had to offer, I

doubt that anyone

would

c a re to l i ~ t e n .

I

can tell you the way to survive in bat-

tle i~ not to get killed, but tha t doe sn't

tell you the how- to-d o-it .

Now

analyze the situation

as

p r e -

sented above, and think what implicit

assumption it

make

Look at it again

and think like a cruel and heart less

(if slightly unreal istic ) winner. The Jap

is 'Icareful to keep more than 7 squareB

away fro m the American Flee t. I But

the range of your plane^

m

14 squares

IrSo wh at," you mi ght as k,

"I

have to

get my planea back to my c a r r i e r s ,

don't I?I1 Not if you

sink

everybody

worth sinking

in

the first attack--who

needs them?

You tranafer all attack planes to

your ca rr ie rs to the second turn . You

can choose to charge across the board

a t top speed, or to move slower and

try to escape the Jap search. You

ehould

catch the Jap with readied planes

on his deck,

in

the f i r s t game a t leas t ,

since he will not expect an atta ck that

will losetheAm ericans a l l plane^ c o m -

mitted to the attack. Three or all four

ca r r ie r s wi ll be a d , and the c ru ise r s

and Battlesh ips

too

if an all

out

attempt

is made to Bave one carrier (5 D

on

both Bat tles hips will sink them, if they

do not apply somethin g mo re than the 1

point additional, a ship which has ap-

plied its screening force i~ left with).

Since the Japs had no fighters

up,

ou

kept all yours at

home

(partly on Mid

way). With t h o ~ e ighters the great ly

reduced Japanese attack plane forc e can

not seriou sly threaten; even if you a r e

still staggering drunk after celebrating

your magnificent victory, they can not

ket more than one

1 0

point carrier.

Since you took

some 40

points down

with

your

atta ck planes, you can give

the Jap s Midway and a carr ier--even

two, i you're feeling generous, and

still win.

La ter , when this attack i s well known.

the Japs will try some kind of continu-

ous ca r r i e r a i r pa t ro l , using the H iryu

and Soryu alternately so only one car-

r i er has readied p lanes on it. Then you

will have to send some fi ght ers with

your one-way att ack. But, no ma tte r

what, you can take most of the sting

out of the Japanese punch while sinking

enough of hi s ship s to make up fo r

t h e

l o s s of

Midway.

Since it i s unlikely he

can sink ANY of your ship s, and al -

most ce rtain he can 't sink enough to

take all

of

your lea d away, even- with

Midway added in, you have won. COP-

gratulatio ns Bis mar ck, anyone

Comments, complaints, and kudos

to: Richard A. Shagrin, R o o m

356

Hagge tt Hall, Uni vers ity of Washington,

Seattle

Washington

98

105.

Realism for

Waterloo

by Michael Lazarin

In

several ar t ic le s I have

read

on

Waterloo s ta terne nt~ike 'Then Napoleon

P G

committed the fears ome Imperial Gu

oftea appears. This implies that

Imperial Guard was

a

unit of so me va

In the AH game the Im perial Guar

quite to the contrary of this. In

the

8-4

is a cumbersome misfit.

bring it up to 15 strength you hav

waste valuable cavalry. Usually

it e

u p as a 12 or it skirts around the

P

flank to pounce on English art ill

units and then

run

for Brussels . T

doesn't seem to be a worthy end for

finest Frenc h unit. Another prob

fs the frequency of battles. Yo

lucky to get twenty in during a ga

The French never attack at less t

3 -1

for

fe ar of lo sing 30 fac tors .

l a s t d if ficu lty i s the ab ~ en ce

f

bala

Napoleon had to defeat four arm

each equal to his own (Prusaian, E

list, Austrian, Hungarian). The P

sians and the f i rs t severa l corp

English should have been able to pu

a fair fight, but in the

game they

lucky i f they las t two hours

in a

fi

THREE

RULES:

The f i r s t

is

to

e

up

the

game by putting more unit

the field. The

15

rule is thrown

and the following substituted: Units

be stacked

a

maxim um of th re e h

two of which mu & be cava lry

o r

m a y

be two high-both may be

infan

Arti l lery ar e t rea ted aa infantry,

ho rse -a r t i l l e ry a re t rea ted as

cava

This rule

l imi t s

15's toone per s

It lowers the rest of the units to

for the French and 9-10's f or the

P

It

a lso c rea te s

a

surprising amoun

7 B 1 a .

The resul ts are twice as m

batt les, an inc rea sed importance of

individual unit, and a

decrease

in

importance

of

single battles.

The second rule s the autom

victory rule (odds of 7 -1 elim inat es

fenders zone

of

control). This sp

up the play

a n d

c rea te s a possi bil it

a fas tbre ak, p incer , and 'schwerpun

The third rule i s the use of allH

When a n Q is eliminated it s units

fect. If Napoleon is ca ptur ed he

renders ; DIErlon loses the f i rs t c

of Fre nch . The problem of

Ney

sh

be settled according to player abi

TACTICS: French Firs t forget Ni

le s except for

fakes.

Advance

for

Qu

Br as, Gennappe, and then Bru ss

The Pru ssi an will probably run ou

meet you, overcome

by

the

exces

troo ps. Move your tr oo ps in- a bul

the firs t turn--with a line in

front

the Guard and Cavalry reserves inba

If he attac ks f ir st launch your self at

part of his

line

trying for a 7 1.

your Guard and Cavalry'through the h

If

you attack f i r & hi t his ent ire l ine

ing the

Guard

on the

weakest

point

tr y for the hole.

If

you maneuver y

troops right and end u p in a better p

tion, form a schwerpunkt or

pincer

the

second turn and

go

for

'QB'

or

officers.

If by the

end of the third


11/16

THE GENER

are sti l l trying--give up- -heu s out-

you

and

wil l soon be afte r

If

he didn't

come

a t

you

a t

you can attack two

ins tea d of once.

PAA If you a r e better than the

read the French Tact ics

him what he i s t r ying to do to

If

you ar e equal stay back just in

of the elopes and Tilly so he will

and

then ret reat

to your lines . Keep pulling back

owly and when your Englis h t ro op s

e you s ufficien t power and co ura ge-

up

Napoleon. By re tre at I don't

n ru n but d rop back a t max

2

you

l o se

a

battle.

Final Hint

nder each H a

Keep

and

a t

k e e

l e a s t

or

p

them

t factor

with the

It only takes one Cavalry unit

get Napoleon when he is alone at

a arc hie-e

au

Pont

but i t t akes a t l eas t

15

points when he i s on the Imperial

rd. Comments to Michael Laz arin ,

Outlook Lane, Levittown, Pa. 19055.

D-Day:

1

he

'hing

The deploymentof theGermanforces

D DAY

as set for th

in

the May

6 6

u e , although itclaims to

be

historic-

ly accurate,

is in

my opinion not

correct. My own scheme

i s

ken rom Ches te r Wi l mot '~ he

S t r u g -

and

Ts op

t ics

t

thi

hat

s

i s

hH

As

f a x

a r e

SUE

i t goes:

as

I can

)posed

to

do what

se

the re,a re there. You can

want

with

the

3

19th (garrisoning

b e Channel Islands), ei ther throw i t

$way

or put i t

on Q-35

o r

R-35

(that 's

ss close as

youlL1

get to the Channel

[slands). Here's how the othere are

347 E-12

711

S-32

l6LW G-I4

716 5-33

719

G-15

709

R-34

165

J-17

243 Q-34

712

K-19

66 V-38

448

L-20

343 V-43

I B L W L-21

265 X-42

4 7

M-22

244 AA-41

182

M-20

158

DD-42

326 M-23 708 FF-41

44 N-24 159 H H 4 2

49

0 2 5

189 MM-43

245 R Z b

157 LL-27

348 7

338 TT-30

l l L W Q-28

24.2

TT-28

346 R-30

148

RR-26

INFANTRY:

place units od

I t ' s

I

the

rot nece

bard

bec

ssary

to

ause the

units supplied

in

thegame

f i t

veryn ice -

ly o n

it:

PARACHUTE

A R MOR HQ'S: The

mame as in

the

May article but with the

6 / 2 regiment on

o r

about W-37.

This ar rangement is somewhat san er

as fa r as the Nor th Sea

is

concerned.

For

you

Germans

who

sti l l want to t r y

out the Wehrmacht's positions a s they

real ly were,

we

now have five divisions

instea d of three. At lea st that will give

you

time

to get

some

Panzer units to

the invasion area. A tip:

lace

the

bulk

of your Panze r re se rve in the replace -

ment center near Hamburg to be ready

for a North Sea invasion.

Now

you will

be able to l a s t in the game m o r e than

six weeks, and youcan r e s t a s s u r ed t h at

Von R undstedt did not lock the

front

door (Cal ais) only to leave the window

next to i t open.. Michael Obole n~ky.

356 Ashiand Rd.

Summit,

N. J.

New

Look

at Blitzkrieg

By

Thomas

E.

White

Many

ar t ic les have

been

wri t ten

dre ss ing the impor tance of

an

aggres-

sive

st rategy

in

the game, Blitzkrieg.

While

Borne of

these ar t i c les appear to

be well thought out, some can eas ily be

recognized aa haatily thrown together

strategies, unadaptable to a succe snful

plan. Bold openings and daring expo-

su res of valuable units may lead to a

decisive victory over an inexperienced

player, but they may just a s easi ly lead

to a quick defea t if ample fighter protec-

tion

is

not available to the farthe reat

advanced units. Oftentimes a conaerva-

t i v e opening, followed by sweeping at-

t acks

on

unfriendly fo rce s which have

just completed the reduction of a minor

country, will prove to be the initial

victory which is vastly important in ally

effort to seize the init iative.

In

direct contra st to what has been

said in other arti cle s on this subject,

I

believe that the minor countxiea

may

be made to serve a purpose gre ater

than that of

a

graveyard for many in-

fantry factors lost in over-extended at -

tempts to

seize

strategi c cit ies. The

army that attacks the fewer minor

countries has a definite advantage over

the

opposjl3g

fo rces .

Not

only does

a

rapid expansion incur many casualties,

but

ther e is also gre at diff iculty in

holding the positions which have been

captured

at

such a high toll.

A minor

country left inviolate in the path of an

ear ly v icto r wil l su ~ e l y low his advance

t o

a crawl and weaken his forces. leav-

ing them clumped around the citi es of

the minor country and ex posed to an

i m -

mediate counter-attack.

Of cou rse th ere may be

extremism

in

a

conservative strategy just

a s in a

overam bitious strategy. The individu

player should decide

for

himself whe

dis cret ion should be the bet ter part o

valor . I

A e others have ass er te d befor

me, Bli tzkr ieg is a

g a m e of

offensiv

tact ics , for there a re so many di ffer

ent offensive technique8 which may

b

employed.

A

skilled wargamer mu

always be ready to face facts, howeve

and react to any given situation

wit

ei ther an offensive or

a

defensive

s t r a

e g y

Although the offensive

i s

the favore

and normally the most rewarding

posi

tion, the defensive i s far f r o m a n im

possible ~t an ce . Several technique

exist for making

the life

of

an

at tacke

very troublesome. Airpower i s the

ke

to a potent defense. Fighters a r e help

ful,

but st rat eg ic bombing of c itie s th

have been evacuated ren der s them

un

usable

t o

the enemy. By reducing ce

tain key cities

behind

an opponent

front l ine, an a rm y on the defensiv

gains control of the ai r space di rect

in front of i t s main l ine of resis tanc

When

such

a position ha s been mad

possible

by

the u se of stra teg ic bomb

ing. counter-attacks against an enem

spearhead which does not have any a

cover a r e often very effective.

In my

above mentioned plan, the

a re two i tems which I have failed

dis cus s. One i s the problem of supp

which

i s encountered if a conservativ

opening

is

used. However, most pla

e r s wi ll

ba

able to cope wi th this prob

l e m by a rapid sei zure of the mho

country (or countries) adjacent to the

home country. The second is the tr ic k

ie r of the two to ove rcome . f bo

players

us my

suggested strategy, th

g a m e

may

well become

a

stalemate

un

t i l a decision in the ai r i s reached.

this case

I

recommend chat one play

try des er t operat ions. These operatio

may be quicklyabandoned i f unsucce s

ful o r if the opposing commander h

shifted a large force to

counter the

thru sts , thereby leaving weakened forc

protecting other important sector

Deser t operat ions ar e most of ten mise

able f ailures a s major offensive s, b

they can

be

used a s ef fect ive feints .

Comments and/or cr i t ic ism s may

b

sent t o Thomas

33.

White, 3836 Millsa

Drive, Laurel, Mississippi.

Operation Sea Dragon

by Hans Kruger

Many ar t ic les ar e wr i t ten about ~ u

old stand-bys

as

Stalingrad,

D-Da

and now t he re a r e even a lot concer

ing various and sundrie perfect plans

However, very l i t t le has been said

co

cerning Guadalcanal. A f t e r a gre


12/16

THE

GENERA

PAGE

dea l

of-

time, I have c o m e up with

what

I think i s a pre t ty fa i r p lan for

the

U.S.

Army.

The following plan isn' t m e a n t

n

be a s t r i c t hard-and-fas t rulei',but

a general o r d e r

of

operat ions .

Because t h i ~

a

a gefieral plan, a few

assumptions m u s t be made. The f i r st

of these overa l l assumptions is that the

Jap/Labor and the

Jap lDB

a r e elirni-

natsd by the 14th. of August. This c a n

usually be accompl i shed wi

the general - volume 3, issue 6

Documents