· S&T #50 Battle for Germany
· S&T #51 World War I
· S&T #52 Oil War
· S&T #53 Punic Wars
· S&T #54 Dixie
· S&T #55 Breitenfeld
· S&T #56 Revolt in the East
· S&T #57 Panzergruppe Guderian
· S&T #58 Conquistador
· S&T #59 Plot to Assassinate Hitler
"To me, this was the Golden Time. I liked the all, even the quirky
‘DIXIE’ and ‘PLOT TO KILL DA DUDE WITH THE FUNNY MOUSTACHE.’" WS
"If I could subscribe for only 1 year, give or take, to S&T in its
entire history, this is the year I'd choose." EB
#50 Battle for Germany
----------------------
"Another JFD folio classic." EB
"Lots of folks on this list love it, and why not? It's a gooder." JB
"A good game. Unique in that you could play it 2 player (Western
Allies and Eastern Germany vs Soviet Union and western Germany), or
3-player (WA vs Germany vs SU). The 3 player game wasn't much fun
for the Germans except that the 2 Allied players were always trying
to get him to send his reinforcements to the opposite front ("Watch
out for that possible breakthrough, you'd be better sending those
Panzer divisions that way. Besides, What can my puny forces do to
you?")" WEF
"Fun game and innovative. Once you figured it out, the results were pre-ordained." MP
"I really like this game, even the DG reprint (despite the fact that
they couldn't manage to get a folio done without errata.) One of my
all time favorites." DW
"Loved it. Gem. Great three-player game, too." TES
"Good. Fairly simple, but elegant design." TMB
"Almost everybody liked it. It's a gem." JB
"Another all-time classic." DAV
"A novel solution to a difficult problem, and by and large it worked
pretty well. Many felt that the game suffers because of the folio
format production limitations but in this case I don't agree. The
situation was ideal for the folio format at the scale chosen. It is
a quick playing game with a reasonable feel for the problems facing
the collapsing axis and the mutually suspicious victors." JBB
#51 World War I
---------------
"Gem." EP
"Quick, playable, easy to learn, B+" JG
"Gem." LM
"Very good." JC
"Typical Jim Dunnigan most-bang-for-the-buck design. It's fun, and
it's a "game". The "Chickamauga" of WW1 games." EB
"I had only been actively playing for a couple of years when I got
this. It was a "riot of color" in the counters, for that period. As
I recall the map bore a superficial resemblance to Europe...but
yeah, I agree with EB, muy fun." JB
"Great game. Seemed to me to really simulate WWI, but you have to
like strategic scale games. (Don't be surprised if one or two units
represents all of Holland's armed forces, or something like that.)
Gem." RW
#52 Oil War
-----------
"Quick, playable, easy to learn. B" JG
"OK." LM
"Lousy." JC
"Loved it. The basis of my theory that readers who give a game high
pre-publication feedback are completely different than those who give
it post-pub high marks. But I'll never forget that MOVES convention
photo of everyone giving the thumb-down sign, and the caption reading,
"Let's hear it for Oil War!"" EB
"Another interesting issue: how many times have I thought, "I love
to see a game on xyz" but then it turns that I didn't want *that*
particular game on xyz. I liked Oil War too--one of the few times
that I've liked a differential CRT." JB
"A fun game to play; nothing serious here, but I've kept it." RW
#53 Punic Wars
--------------
"Solitaire, could never really get into it, D+" JG
"Dud." LM
"Clumsy." JC
"Can't win 'em all. Great games like the previous two can *generate*
interest in a topic. This didn't." EB
"I don't know EB, but I'm starting to think we're twins who were
separated at birth. Punic Wars wasn't a bad game; in fact it was
actually sort of a good game. But it wasn't pretty and it came
across as just kind of boring." JB
"Liked the period, never got to play the game, even after successive
read-throughs of the rules... but can't remember why." RW
"I had the game years ago and played it both ftf and solitaire. This
was one of those games that I really enjoyed a few times in college
but found it wanting when I played it recently. I have since sold
it. I wouldn't call it a dud, just not very exciting." MP
#54 Dixie
---------
"Dud." EP
"Too much territory for the units involved, C-" JG
"Super dud, yuk." LM
"Quirky, probably bad." JC
"Hypo '30s ACW. Not enough "historical" background. But it did
re-create, IMHO, what such a war would have been like." EB
"Yeah, they didn't even bother with trying to create the alt.hist
"story" that would have produced such a war. Not trolling, not
flaming, just commenting: The failure to include such a story may
reflect the difference between how SPI and XTR operate. For what
it's worth, I really liked Dixie. It needed a little bit more of a
variable administrative points arrival table (or something)." JB
"Great idea, bad execution; get Command's game." RW
#55 Breitenfeld
---------------
"Gem." EP
"Pretty good game, A" JG
"I recall folks liking Breitenfeld, but I wasn't one of them." JML
"Gem; start of good system, fun to play." LM
"Quite nice." JC
"Still can't figure out why I like this one. Couldn't have been just
the colorful counters; I'm far too sophisticated for that..." EB
"It might be OK as a game, but if you know anything, and I mean
anything about the 30YW, playing Breitenfeld is like saying what if
Kursk took place on the Sea of Tranquillity." JB
"Played it once, and didn't seem impressed (but I don't like the
period)." RW
#56 Revolt in the East
----------------------
"Totally ridiculous topic: Eastern Europe throwing off the shackles
of Communism! So along about 1990, when it really started to happen,
I dusted it off, punched out the counters, and had a blast. One of
the most under-rated wargames of all time, IMHO. Worst S&T mag cover
in history." EB
"Your mentioning Revolt In the East as one of the most under-rated
wargames fits my opinion perfectly. I end up playing this game once
or twice a year and have never had less than a blast, even when I
lose. Most of the higher rated games of the period have long since
left my gaming table, but Revolt In the East keeps elbowing its way
back onto the table." RM
"I liked the Neo-art-deco cover. But I agree about the game--well
maybe not that it was one of the most under-rated of all time. But
yes, I had loads of fun with
it." JB
"Terrible game, couldn't possibly happen (then it almost did)." WEF
"Different and interesting." MP
"I really wanted to like this one, I thought it was a great topic,
but it was too abstract. Considering how quickly the Soviet military
has fallen apart, one wonders what a more detailed and realistic
treatment of this hypothetical topic might show." DW
"Remember wanting to like such an interesting subject, but it failed
to hold my attention. For some reason it reminded me of a more
complex Strike Force One! =:-o" TES
"Well, I wouldn't say gem, but it was fun for an evening or two." JB
"As others have said, fun, but a bit too simple." DAV
#57 - Panzergruppe Guderian
---------------------------
"Not being an Eastfrontnard, I didn't swoon over this one as most
wargamers did. It introduced many now-standard wargame concepts.
A true classic." EB
"It seemed so complicated at the time, I think because the concept
of an overrun was so radical in 1976 or whenever PGG came out. I
recall showing it to a guy who was finishing up his Ph.D. in computer
science at a major research university. His comment: This is
obviously way above me. I played it again a few years ago, and I
recall having a lot of fun all over again. I'm not an East front guy
at all, but I think PGG is about as close to perfect as a wargame
has ever gotten; it's our "Citizen Kane" imo." JB
"On of the best of all times (OK, I'm a bit of a tread head). I
really enjoyed this one and it's sister, Cobra." WEF
"One of the best S&Ts ever. Gave birth to a system that is durable
today." MP
"This is a great game that is still considered one of the best
magazine games ever." DW
"Gem. One of the best ever giving birth to a durable game
system." TES
"Excellent. For its time, very innovative design, and the game
was fun." TMB
"A clear gem. They hardly ever get any better IMO." JB
"The start of a whole game system. I actually liked Cobra better than this
one." DAV
"I started my subscription around this time and was very, very
impressed. What a great game." DDH
#58 Conquistador
----------------
"Gem." EP
"A little too much on non-military aspects, C+" JG
"I'd say the GEM [of the ‘50s] was Conquistador." JML
"GEM; yes." LM
"I love this game, and still play it from time to time. SPI was
really on a roll with Issues 57 & 58. Even playing a losing
strategy, this game can be a lot of fun. Lots of options. Luck is a
big factor, but it’s evened-out over the course of the game (which
admittedly can be quite long.)." DDH
"Splendid." JC
"IMHO, far and away the best multi-player interactive magazine game
ever. Ranks right up there with Diplomacy. Classic Richard Berg:
lots of different things to do, all of them fun, with historicity to
boot." EB
"One of the few fundamentally nonmilitary games that I'll play. " JB
"Found it to be very boring. Too little happening in the game
mechanics. Dud." RW
#59 Plot to Assassinate Hitler
-----------------------------
"Dud." EP
"Howls at the moon, F-" JG
"Plot-Hitler's one of the oddest designs they did, certainly not a
successful one." JML
"Really big dud." LM
"Truly, truly weird. A conversation piece. Think of Staufenberg as a
armor battalion." JC
"I enjoyed this one the first time through, just because it was so
different. Haven't played it since." EB
"Mine's unpunched and unloved. Bee-yoo-ti-ful counter set though.
I was always slightly tickled by the fact that one of the minor
plotters was named Best." JB
"Interesting to play a few times, just because of it's radical
ideas. Seem to recall the need for some house rules (sorry) regarding
a more equitable initial distribution of chits.... otherwise, one of
the players was at too much of a disadvantage." RW
