SPI Games: Mini-Reviews from Consim-L
- Compiled by Danny D. Holte
Numbered Titles
1812
John Young, Philip Orbanes
"We played it just last month (thanks for the responses to my
questions--you know who you are). Frustrating for French who watch forces
disipate. Frustrating for Russians who get blown away by French in battle. I
guess this is how its 'sposed to be but we here in Richmond just didn't have
a fun time." GG
1918
James F. Dunnigan
"This is the only one from this set that I own and have played. I have it in
a ziploc. The game is misnamed, because it doesn't cover the entire year,
or the entire Western Front either for that matter. What it covers is the
first of the German "Peace Offensives", Operation Michael. We've come a
long way in terms of design, but for 1971 (I didn't realize it was *that*
old), this is an incredible piece of design work, and yes, truly shows JFD
to be the Michael Jordan of his era among wargame designers. For me
personally, this is one of those games in which the relative crudity of the
components in no way whatsoever limits the immense enjoyment I get from
playing it. And this is a game that's never let me down--I feel like I
learn something new about this interesting situation in which the Germans
came within an ace of breaking the deadlock on the Western Front.
There are some problems: Like most of the rules-sets of that period,
there is a maddening or interesting silence (depending on your frame of
mind) on certain issues, and your interpretation can alter the balance of
the game dramatically. I'll mention one: The rules say nothing about
advance after combat, if a hex is cleared of defenders. So you assume you
can't, and then the game (imo) is pretty well balanced. But if you assume
you can, (because usually you can right?), you'll wonder how come the
Germans didn't win WWI without breaking a sweat. One other note: I didn't
check on this, but as I recall, the cover sheet of the ziploc, in one of the
most loopy departures from cover art to game topic I have ever seen, shows
*British* troops advancing, in the company of a Mark VI (female) tank. And
we tolerated it then because we didn't know any better, I guess." JB
"Played this many times over the years and still find it a fun, quick
game. One of the keepers." RM
Back to Etloh Technologies' Home Page
Back to the Reviews Main Page
