MGPRP: Strategy & Tactics pocket reviews



Issues 40-49


· S&T #40: PanzerArmee Afrika
· S&T #41: Kampfpanzer
· S&T #42: The East is Red
· S&T #43: American Civil War
· S&T #44: Tank!
· S&T #45: Operation Olympic
· S&T #46: Combined Arms
· S&T #47: Wolfpack
· S&T #48: Sixth Fleet
· S&T #49: Frederick the Great



#40: PanzerArmee Afrika
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"Good" LMo

"I had lot's of fun with this one when it came out. Haven't touched it in years, though." WEF

"I would put PAA clearly in the dud category" JB

"OK. 'Just another DAK game." DM

"Is just another DAK game." JiC

“Weird game with movement factors of 40 to 60. However, I liked it. Limited in that it just covered the middle of the campaign. B-“ BN
"PanzerArmee Afrika was my first subscription game. I found the high movement rates to be a perfect tool to ensure that one defended the flanks. It lent great fluidity for attack/counter- attack. B+" MK


#41: Kampfpanzer
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"I loved it. My brother and I played it a lot. There were also some additional scenarios in Moves. The neat thing was seeing how the different countries viewed armor. The si-move plot sheets took a bit of work, but the sheet that was essentially hexes made it somewhat easier. (And the panic rules were somewhat frustrating.)" RW

"I liked Kampfpanzer even with the weird si-move." LM

"Liked it. Loved the Moves expansion. Hated Si-Mov." TES

“Orginally I loved this game. SiMov, funky early war tanks, Odd battles (Mongolia, Spanish Civil War). However, I played it at a Con with a buddy two years ago and we both thought it was bad. Didn't age well vs. ASL. B downgraded to a D.” BN


#42: The East is Red
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"Uninteresting." RW

"Cute little game you could play over the usual beer and pretzels in about two hours or less." TES

“Good, solid game of a timely topic. B.” BN

"The East is Red' has a somewhat plain, even ugly map. But 34 years on it remains, IMO, perhaps the greatest game ever done on modern operational warfare. Just LOVE that game!" BrC


#43: American Civil War
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"Below Average." LMo

"Dud. If memory serves, this was about a 2nd ACW in the 30's." WEF

"I don't remember this as a killer." JiC

"OK, at strat level." DM

"Not bad for its time, but a little "gamey" in its mechanics. For Command/Control it disabled units based on their hex row on the map, and of course Washington was on one of the "bad" rows that got hit 4-5 times out of 6. Did a nice job on some aspects, such as riverines and general battles. Very strategic and not the best map in the world (how many shades of blue were in RAS' palette, anyway?)." BH

"The S&T 43 version is a classic. The latter version isn't worth the time to punch it out." MHe

“Again, learned a lot. Not my favourite subject, but fun. C+” BN


#44: Tank!
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"New idea, below average though" LMo

"Good game. The system's a little dated and uses the old si-move system. I've even got a copy of Super Tanks, a third-party expansion (probably not authorized by SPI)." WEF

"Tank! was a dog." TJ

"Tank was funky but fun" JiC

"I picked up Tank! as my first SPI flatpack and, being a typical 12 year old treadhead at the time, thought it was just great. It doesn't hold up very well today, though." DW

"Dud." DM

"Thought this was really cool at the time, but it was one of those intense approaches, where it took days to play out a few minutes of game time." BH

“Especially with the Expansion, this game was awesome! You control individual tanks and fight platoon company actions from WWI to modern times. A+” BN


#45: Operation Olympic
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"Average" LMo

"Dud." WEF

"I'm biased toward this because Dad was supposed to be in this. It's gruesome." JiC

"OK, solitaire." DM

"This was always one of my favorite games, mainly because it was fast and solitaire. Neat topic and a fair range of options." BH

“Much better than the amateurish Downfall that just came out. Good operation situation and fun. B.” BN

"I loved this one as a solitaire player. The untried Japanese infantry avoided nit pickiness, the chance of Kamikazes wreaking a landing, etc. I thought it even better face to face. Others have tried this campaign, but this is the king. A-" MK


#46: Combined Arms
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"I tried, but couldn't come up with anything . I suppose the idea of proving that the use of combined arms was the way to go was interesting; too bad the game components weren't better. The scenarios probably weren't too bad." RW

"Ahh, I actually got the missing charts and errata. If one played it, you would find a fun little game trying to breakout from a bad implementation. Keep in mind, that in order to cover so many time periods, the game had to keep its look and feel general. Think of it as a primitive Sands of War." TES

“First 'bad' S&T that I got. Generic counters and map. Boring and un-evocative of the situation. D.” BN


#47: Wolfpack
------------------------------
"Poor." LMo

"A lot of fun. I've always enjoyed this gem of a solo game." WEF

"Crude but fun, quite replayable." JiC

"Gem, the only boardgame on the campaign." DM

"Another of my favorites; guess I was into solitaire at the time. Did a decent job of the topic, and strategic sub warfare is one of those "tough" areas to game and make interesting." BH

“Solo submarine game. Fun. C+” BN


#48: Sixth Fleet
------------------------------
"Good." LMo

"Naval units with locking zones of control. Need more be said?" WEF

"I liked Sixth Fleet, it might be way too simple for a real naval aficionado. " JB

"I quite enjoyed Sixth Fleet despite its odd combat - movement sequence of play and ZOC rules. " DW

"Gem, after some tinkering." DM

"The rigid zones of control and shoot/move sequence put me off." BH

“Strange combat system with naval ships retreating. Otherwise, had lots of promise. Nicely covered the Eastern Med. B-.” BN

"As I recall, was this not the first attempt at modern naval gaming? I was enthralled by the variety of factors from one fleet to the next. Quirky combat, but fixable. It took VG to replace it with a MUCH more expensive and less playable version (though arguably more accurate.) B" MK


#49: Frederick the Great
------------------------------
"Great." LMo

"Fred and 5 will win every battle. Otherwise a good game." WEF

"I'm predicting that Fred the Great is going to appear on lots of folks gem lists. Particularly in retrospect, it seems radically different from the other games that were being produced 20 plus years ago. JB

"A classic." JiC

"#49 I never played, though I've heard nothing but good about it." DW

"Gem." DM

"Lots of fun. My friends the AH (i.e. "anti-command/control and supply) fans decided we should play without the supply rules...Freddy was all over everyone so fast they didn't even see the dust beforehand. Of course I was FtG..." BH
“Despite knowing next to nothing about the topic, I remember enjoying the smooth play and feel for the campaign. One of those designs that I appreciated more as time went on. B+” SC

“In spite of not having much interest in the period, I really enjoyed this game and played it a lot. A solid B” PB

“Elegant system that rewarded thought and manuver. Not great solo though. B.” BN


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