MGPRP: The Wargamer pocket reviews
Issues 10-19
· Wargamer #10: Chinese Civil War
· Wargamer #11: Simon de Montfort
· Wargamer #12: Aces High
· Wargamer #13: Forward to Richmond
· Wargamer #14: Assault on Leningrad
· Wargamer #15: Drive on Damascus
· Wargamer #16: Carrier Strike
· Wargamer #17: Napoleon at Austerlitz
· Wargamer #18: Birth of a Nation
· Wargamer #19: Sturm Nach Osten
Wargamer #10: Chinese Civil War
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“I really enjoyed the games "Bloody Buna" and "The Chinese Civil War," but have never seen the actual mags they originally came in.” JDC
"I remember it as boring with a slant towards the Japanese. (It's
been so long...) Atrocious map graphics." TES
Wargamer #11: Simon de Montfort
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“Pretty map, game play did not excite.” RKB
"Excellent game, good replay value" SBu
"Classic game on a 13th century baronial revolt in England. 1/2-size, full color,
fully illustrated map of England and Wales, 182 period-looking iconic counters.
Lots of sieges of castles and treachery, as you'd expect, but also a quite clever
combat system that differentiates between knights and men-at-arms. Simple but spot-on
mechanics for recruitment and attrition also add a lot of color. Excellent game and a
very rare operational/strategic look at Middle Ages warfare. It took some flak for the
predictability of defecting nobles, but the designer insists this was intentional Easily
fixed by a house rule for those who dislike it. The Royals will need a bit of luck, but def.
have a chance. never a dull game. Rating: A-" GF
Wargamer #12: Aces High
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“The boxed version of the magazine's Aces's High and Napoleon at Austerlitz were good games and worth playing
and keeping in your collection.” LR
"Also excellent - 'Ace movement' is particularly neat." SBu
Wargamer #13: Forward to Richmond
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“I have fond memories of Forward To Richmond... Not sure if 'Richmond' has aged too well.” AlS
“Forward to Richmond still remains interesting to myself and another opponent after about 20 playings over the years.
The activation die roll makes it a different game just about each time.” RJ
“Unusual system (units have 16 steps, but can disappear entirely in one series of failed morale checks),
fun and simple game of 1st Bull Run. Also exists as a boxed game with mounted maps.” RKB
“Keith's version of 1st Bull Run might have been a great game, Lot's of good ideas, but it used those terrible roster
systems for losses and it was hard to keep track of corps organization because of lack of color differeniation on the counters.” LR
"1st Bull Run. Excellent game. Well balanced." SBu
Wargamer #14: Assault on Leningrad
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“I have fond memories of Assualt On Leningrad” AlS
“I really liked (...) Assault on Leningrad” Ppa
”That was a good game.” DB
"Ok - bit dull, and I don't think the Russians have much chance with a competent German" SBu
Wargamer #15: Drive on Damascus
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"This was a Vance von Borries design; I'm almost
positive it is the Battles for North Africa system (Decision at Kasserine,
Patton Goes to War, etc.) applied to the situation of the British versus the
Vichy French and others in Syria. I don't know if the map is unique, but
it's different. Each hex has been replaced by a central black dot, in what
would be the center of a hex. So instead of a hex field, it's a field of
black dots, and you plunk yer guys down on them the best you can. For those
who have commented that the hex grid itself seems to be an intrusion in
various games, you might enjoy looking at this map. I thought that the
absence of the hex grid, in combination with the fact that the map was drawn
to (sort of) create a 3-D effect, added up to a very easy-on-the-eyes and
interesting appearance. I'll also say that the BNA system (if that's what
it is) is used to a very good effect here. The difficulty of the terrain
means that the battle is not at all linear, rather there are "blobs" of
enemies duking it out in unsupported mini-battles all over the place. Like
many VvB designs, there are almost too many options, variants, alt.-
scenarios etc., although each option that you pick does add to the funky
unit quotient (A Good Thing). I played this a lot way back when--I remember
liking it alot, so I'll give this one a gem rating." JB
"Never got into this" SBu
Wargamer #16: Carrier Strike
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“As I recall, too much work for little pay-off” SS
"Good ideas, but I found it too complex." SBu
Wargamer #17: Napoleon at Austerlitz
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“I enjoyed Austerlitz reissue in boxed format.” LR
“This one needed to be updated with the morale reductions used in later system games. Otherwise, you have Guard
units with "6" morales that never break, regardless of casualties.” NW
“I thought that the game system was kind of simplistic. I found that units tended to simply trade shots until
one was too weakened to stand.” RuK
"Disgusting map put me off this one. Game is OK." SBu
Wargamer #18: Birth of a Nation
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Wargamer #19: Sturm Nach Osten
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“I have fond memories of Sturm Nach Osten” AlS
“Abysmal graphics, but not a bad game on the Russian Front, Strategic level. Fair.” RC
“That was a good game, so was Sturm Nach Osten” DB
"Brilliant game - been played more than any other for the Wargamer. Best
est front game I've seen - just the right mix of complexity and ease of
play." SBu
"An ugly map, IMHO (a lot of it is hand-drawn; I hope I'm not disparaging
someone's artistic ability here), but a very good game, with a number of
imaginative design features. Did this one get noticed very much when it
came out? I never hear anything about it, but I always thought it deserved
more attention than it apparently got. I'd call it a gem." RFa
"Played it quite a bit when it first came out. I liked the basic game a
lot. When I prunned my gaming collection heavily back in '87 I got rid of
it, keeping Clash of Steel instead...same thing, only different." WS
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