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104 views12 pagesStrategy & Tactics 003 (From Book I Reprint)
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Giora MinorCopyright
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/ 12
Strategy & Cactics
A JOURNAL OF AMERICAN WARGAMING
Volume 1 Ne 3
S&T_GAME REVIEW
Box 65, Adelphia, N.J., 07710
‘April 1967,
EARTH DESTROYED IN NUCLEAR BLAST!
AH BLITZKRIEG
PART THREE: BOMBING
Perhaps the feature that makes BLITZKRIEG so
enjoyable is the air power provision; it certainly
makes the game much more realistic and complex.
Unfortunately, the air power rules are just those open.
to the most serious problems of ‘interpretation. In
many cases, AH has added fuel to the lames by
delivering “rulings” that conflict with others they
have given on exactly the same situations,
TACTICAL BOMBING AND AUTO-VICTORY
AH is pretty firm on this particular aspect of
play. In answer to the question on the back of the
Battle Manual, “May aircraft be used to achieve
automatic victory ?”, they state, ‘* Yes, however if
during the battle portion of the turn enemy FTRs
reduce the odds below automatic victory conditions,
then all of the units that moved adjacent to or over
the intended AV victims are eliminated”. This,
however, seems fairly unrealistic to us. If a battle
field commander miscalculates the enemy's capability
to intercept air units he is counting on to aid in a
breakthrough, the enemy may well stop the planned
attack, but we doubt that all the forces that were
to exploit the breakthrough would be eliminated
because of this. The allocated forces would simply
be held up when they could have been used else-
where. In order to duplicate this in play, we sug:
xest that forces which were to be moved through
fan auto-vietory that was stopped because of enemy
FTR action simply hold their starting position.
‘STRATEGIC BOMBING OF AIR BASES
Just what does occur when a city in which both
ground and air units are stationed is attacked by
SAC bombers? We have three separate answers
from AH on file. Since there are nine distinct ways
of handling this situation, let_us give you what
we consider to be the most realistic, and point out
the areas of disagreement along the way.
(Contd on page 4)
by M.G. Smedley, S@T Game Evaluater
To some, this headline may be somewhat start-
ling; but, as a matter of fact, this was exactly
what happened in one-half of the games of Nuclear
War played at S&T.
The Nuclear War Game, published by Douglas
Malewicki of Downey California, is essentially atomic
satire reduced to a card game format. The game
itself is extremely easy to learn and play; but it is
not a true wargame, at least not in the sense gen-
erally accepted. It is, however, a very relaxing,
‘fun’ game to play. We can heartily recommend
it to anyone who just wants to have a good time.
Each player receives a number of randomly dealt
cards, representing a given number of people (con-
veniently rounded off to the nearest million). The
object of the game is to eliminate the other play-
ers? population while retaining at least one million
people of your own. This may be done by entic-
ing the population of an opposing power to defect
(through the playing of propaganda cards) or by
‘‘annihilating” them (accomplished by playing, in
proper sequence, the appropriate nuclear weapon
and delivery system cards). Once nuclear war is
declared, propaganda is no longer effective. Woe
be to the man who, through the luck of the deal,
has only propaganda cards in his hand!
Should a player be eliminated during a nuclear
war, he may match all the weapons systems and
warheads he holds and direct his “final retaliation ”
against any or all other players before retiring from
the game. Herein lies the sincere destruction. Half
‘of the time, this player’s retaliation eliminates at
least one other player who, in turn, retaliates and
eliminates a third, etc, etc, etc. |‘ Thus there
may not bes winner in the Nuclear War Game
just losers!”
Of course, there are several other aspects of the
game: anti-missile missiles, deterent forces, secret
and top secret cards (which ‘may gain or lose popula-
tion for the holder), and a spinner which modifies
the effect of all nuclear explosions (** Explodes in a
nuclear stockpile! Triple the yield. Note: if the
100 megaton bomb explcdes a nuclear stockpile a
super chain reaction starts which destroys all coun-
tries, the earth itself, and the entire solar system.”)
(Cont'd on page 12) Page 2 STRATEGY AND TACTICS
— EDITORIAL —
In the last issue, we mentioned that TT Editor Bodenstedt was defeated as the Germans in a
Remagen Bridge game played at West Point. The winning Americans were commanded by Cadet Second-
classman Kenneth M. Day, Cadet Secondclassman Joseph P. O'Connor Jr., and Cadet Thirdclassman
Harold E. Hock. Cadet Firstclassman Thomas H. Jackson and Cadet Secondclassman Duncan F. Stewart
assisted Mr. Bodenstedt and Mr. Thresher in their defeat.
Cadet O'Connor, by the way, will be making the arrangements for the AHIKS convention to be
held at the U.S. Military Academy this fall. Planned for September, the convention looks to be the
most exciting event of the wargaming year. Hayward Thresher, who is an advertising executive in real
life, will be handling the publicity end of things, so a large turnout is expected. S&T will have a
display for this affair and your editor plans to make the long trip to ‘the Point” to cover the story
personally. We might even talk Ken Norris or Hans Brennecke into attending. Look for more details
here as plans are firmed up
Vol L Ne 3
‘There have been so many comments on our Bulge variant that we feel it’s about time we outlined
‘our philosophy on the subject (it seems to be mandatory to have a “philosophy” on something anyway).
We are not trying to redesign any game in our variant section. We are attempting to bring the game
closer to reality without destroying its “playability” and without reaching the point where almost all of
the original parts of the game are useless when playing the variant form. As Mark Goldberg put it in
a recent letter, we are trying to give you “‘two games in the same box". ‘The man who devises variants
has a big advantage over the man who designs original games. Mr. Berschig starts with games that are
already playable to one degree or another, and that have been played enough so that errors in design
are readily apparent. Alll he has to do is correct these errors without completely redesigning the game.
Of course, the process is much more complex than that, but we try to avoid getting so involved in realism
that it would be better to contract Ford to build a few Panthers, ship them to France, hire several thousand
“‘extras”” and fight the battle over again with live ammunition. Realism should be sought enthusiastically
by the game designer. After the game is published, we can only bring it closer to reality.
You will note two financial changes below. First, we've had to raise the single copy price to 60¢.
This is due to the amount of bookkeeping involved in processing an order for a single copy. Subscription
rates remain as before. We have also replaced our flat §5 rate for articles with a scale based on
circulation, length of the article, quality, and research involved. Our minimum rate is now $3 and there
is no maximum limit. This takes care of the obvious inequity that occurs when one man who spent
‘two months researching a 2000 word contribution, and another who had a good idea he was able to
present in 400 words after a few hours at the typewriter, both receive $5 for their contribution.
— Christopher Wagner —
Steategy and Tactics
A Journal of Americme Marguming
Vol I Nr 3—April 1967
Copyright © 1967 by Christopher R. Wagner
Printed in Tokyo, Japan.” All rights reserved. “Copy:
right under the international Copyright Convention.
Published 10 times a year at 4 to 6 week intervals
the Wagner Publishing Company, B-5, 2220
Musashino, Fussa-machi, Nishitama-gun, Tokyo-to,
Japan, Ail editorial, business, and general” mail
should be sent to Box 65, Adelphia, ‘N. J., 07710,
USA. Subsciton "are avaible hat adres
for $6,00 a year. Single copy price is G0¢.
issues 60¢. Overseas: add 104 an issue
Readers are invited to contribute articles. Authors
of published articles will receive a {ree one-year
subscription or cash at our current rates,
Christopher Wagner, Editor/Publisher
HENRY H, BODENSTEDT, TT Editor and U.S.
Representative. MYRON R. BRUNDAGE, Con:
tributing Editor. SCOTT C, BERSCHIG, Variants
and Design Editor” LYLE E. SMETHERS, Graphic
Arts and Research. JACK D. POULSON, Business
and Marketing Advisor.
IN THIS ISSUE.
S&T GAME REVIEW—
NUCLEAR WAR GAME--- page 1
DECEPTIVE MANOEUVRES IN POSTAL GAMES.
by Hans Brennecke vee page 4
VERTICAL ENVELOPMENT
by Michael Kohn (M. Brundage, editor) -----page 5
REMAGEN BRIDGE—PART THREE (FIRE)
by Henry H. Bodenstedt -. pege 9
THE RED ARMY ORDER OF BATTLE—JUNE 1941
by Scott Berschig and John Videtto page 7
WARFARE WITH MINIATURES.
by H.H. Bodenstedt page 3
BLITZKRIEG—PART THREE (BOMBING)~--~page 1
LETTERS, : soeepage 1
FUTURE FEATURES, ~page 12
ADS: Nuclear War Game Company « page 12
Kampf — page 8
Continental Hobby Supplies sopage 10, Vol LNe 3
STRATEGY AND TACTICS
Page 3
MINIATURES
Models of armored and motorized
vehicles are available from hobby
shops in great variety. Well known
manufacturers of plastic kits produce
many exquisitely detailed “blueprint”
models in the larger scales (1/25 to
1/32). While these are ideal for
collectors and builders of dioramas,
AIRFIX kits in 1/72 scale are better suited for
Table Top wargaming. The lowest priced plastic
lines are undoubtedly AHM and Rosskopf. ‘Their
models are close to the HO scale (1/87) and sold,
roughly assembled, in individual transparent boxes.
Finally, T would like to mention the models cast
from soft metal by Denzil Skinner, HR Products,
Superior Models and Authenticast, ail of which are
HO scale or smaller. These miniatures are a collec
tor’s delight, and, since many wargamers are also
collectors, I highly recommend acquiring at least a
few of these metal models, if only to increase the
variety of equipment in your army. The only draw.
back is that they cost about three to five times as
much as comparative plastic models.
Many pages could be written about all of these
fine products, but since we are at the present build-
ing the fighting forces for «: Remagen Bridge”, let
us take a more detailed look at the smaller scale
models first.
AIRFIX 1/72 models need to be assembled be-
fore they can be used in combat. This is fairly
easy, and a little patience will be rewarded with a
very realistic and minutely detailed replica of the
‘real thing”. Another advantage of the AIRFIX
equipment and figures is that they are well propor-
tioned to one another. But—and there is always a
2 BUT—the selection is limited. Unless you design
wargame around the available AIREIX models,
you will have to look further.
‘The majority of the equipment needed for ‘“Re-
magen Bridge” is readily available from AHM and
Rosskopf. Since these lines come already assembled,
all you would have to do is apply the identification
decals before rolling into battle. This, however, is
the easy way out. Remember, the main advantage
of Table Top games over map board games is eye
appeal. One who is satisfied with mass-produced,
uni-colored equipment might as well stick with card:
board unit markers. The more particular table-
topper will certainly want to add his personal touch
to his fighting forces. For armored vehicles, this
can be done in the following manner:
The first. step is to disassemble the model com-
pletely. Trim flash and protrusions from each in-
dividual section with a sharp hobby knife. The
turret should be removed by trimming the mush-
roomed end of the stem that connects it to the
body. The auxiliary wheels, usually found on
tracked vehicles, and the plastic holding clip should
be discarded. Now the entire body is carefully reas-
sembled, using cement-for-plastics. sparingly, for a
Permanent bond. Do not attach the turret to the
body until completion of painting,
oranancon