Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998

The
BOARDGAMER

Dedicated To
The Competitive Play Of
Avalon Hill / Victory Games
Board, Sports and Card Games
Featuring: Third Reich, War At Sea, Russian Front, Assassin, 1776,
Panzerblitz, March Madness, Victory In The Pacific and AREA Ratings
 2 The Boardgamer Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998

Current Specific Game AREA Ratings

War At Sea History Of The World Victory In The Pacific
87 Active Players Mar. 21, 1998 227 Active Players Apr. 2, 1998 128 Active Players May 15, 1998
1. Timothy Hitchings 1883 FI-D7 1. Timothy Greene 1609 CJ-C8 1. Alan Applebaum 2138 JMAG8
2. Philip Rennert 1800 DH-C6 2. Bruce Monnin 1604 BKCD7 2. Michael Kaye 1995 FFEC8
3. Stephen Packwood 1706 FI-E7 3. Gordon Bliss 1593 BF-B7 3. Ray Freeman 1921 HJDE8
4. Ray Freeman 1694 EICD7 4. William Crenshaw 1571 AE-A7 4. David Targonski 1913 IK-E7
5. Jon Lockwood 1688 DG-D8 5. Jim Fardette 1569 AE-A6 5. Edward O’Conner 1903 EF-C7
6. Glenn Petroski 1686 BC—6 6. George Young 1567 BIEB8 6. Tom Johnston 1865 GG-F7
7. Bruce Reiff 1679 BC-A6 7. James Rush 1566 AA—6 7. Thomas Gregario 1856 GIEE8
8. Patrick Richardson 1661 CF-B8 8. Keith Levy 1563 AG-A6 8. Stephen Packwood 1848 IK-G8
9. Vince Meconi 1651 EI-D7 9. Ross Edwards 1561 AG-A7 9. Michael Crowe 1841 DEI-8
10. Robert Mull 1647 BD-A6 10. Mark Giddings 1555 AE-B7 10. Chuck Kaplan 1766 EG-E8
11. Andy Gardner 1636 BD-A8 11. Andrew Kutzy 1554 AG-B7 11. Michael Ussery 1762 IJBF8
12. Bruce Monnin 1635 ILKF8 12. Olin Hentz 1553 AH-B6 12. John Pack 1755 GHED8
13. Johnny Carpenter 1623 BC—8 13. Thomas Scarborough 1547 AI-C7 13. Kevin Kinsel 1753 BCE-7
14. Scott Sirianna 1601 BD-A7 14. Paul McCarthy 1543 BH-B7 14. Daniel Henry 1749 KMDG8
15. Bryan Eshleman 1599 BD-A7 15. Lauren Hickok 1542 BJ-C7 15. Max Zavanelli 1742 DHBC8
16. Ron Artigues 1596 ADE-8 16. Kathy Stroh 1536 BJ-C7 16. Casey Adams 1718 DE-C8
17. Joseph Beard III 1588 BD-C7 17. Josh Johnson 1536 AD-A6 17. Timothy Proksch 1716 GHAE8
18. Frank Cunliffe 1584 BE-D6 18. Joe Gunderson 1536 AC-A7 18. Glenn Petroski 1709 OPEI8
19. John Pack 1571 GIFD8 19. Stefan Krzywicki 1535 BJ-C7 19. Bruce Kernan 1704 CB-B6
20. Jim Cavallari 1571 ABB-8 20. Carl Wilson 1535 AC-A7 20. Philip Rennert 1699 CEAC7
21. Rusty Pywtorak 1569 ABB-8 21. Greg Berry 1535 AC-A7 21. Joseph Dragan 1686 FFBD8
22. Mark Smith 1564 BC—8 22. Karsten Englemann 1535 AC-A7 22. Michael Knautz 1668 HJ-F8
23. Michael Kaye 1552 BDCB8 23. Laura Ehlers 1535 AC-A6 23. Andy Gardner 1660 BE-A8
24. Michael Peck 1548 AA-A7 24. David Metzger 1535 AC-A6 24. Vince Meconi 1659 FH-E7
25. Alan Applebaum 1547 BE-C7 25. Paul Bolduc 1535 AB—6 25. Jeff Miller 1626 ACAA7
26. Gary Moody 1547 BD-A6 26. Jeffrey Miller 1530 BKCC8 26. Alan Tomaszewski 1609 DF-D8
27. George Young 1537 ACE-8 27. Michael Hart 1529 BK-C7 27. Robert Kircher 1609 BD-B7
28. Thomas Walsh 1537 AAB-7 28. Mark McLaughlin 1529 AE-B7 28. Clifford Smith 1605 DF-D7
29. John Strand 1535 AAA-8 29. Michael Anchors 1528 AEB-8 29. Bruno Wolff III 1602 CF-B8
30. Ron Dietz 1535 AA-A7 30. Cliff Ackman 1528 AE-A6 30. Robert Kondracki 1598 DE-D7
31. David Rynkowski 1534 CF-D7 31. Michael Frey 1528 AE-A6 31. Karsten Engelmann 1591 BD-C7
32. Robert Kircher 1534 AC-A7 32. Ivan Lawson 1528 AE-A6 32. Gary Moody 1585 BDCA8
33. Andrew Maly 1534 ABC-8 33. Gary MacLellan 1528 AE-A6 33. David Rod 1582 CF-B8
34. Robert Croxdale 1532 BC—8 34. Eric Kirchner 1528 ACB-7 34. Stephen Resman 1582 BCD-6
35. Larry York 1528 AC-A7 35. Michael Newman 1527 AEB-6 35. Joel Klein 1581 CE-C8
36. Robert Fiorio 1525 AC-A6 36. James Pei 1522 AGAA7 36. Bill Thomson 1573 CEFA8
37. Michael Anchors 1523 AC-A7 37. Kirk Harris 1522 AGBA7 37. Louie Tokarz 1571 FFCC7
38. Ken Gole 1518 AB-B7 38. Patti Miller 1522 AGC-7 38. Peter Lerch 1563 AC-A6
39. Joseph Powell 1515 BE-B7 39. Michael Ehlers 1522 AG-A6 39. Philip Van Wiltenberg 1556 DGAC8
40. Michael Knautz 1514 DG-C7 40. William Navolis 1522 AG-A6 40. Jordi Carol I Perez 1546 ABB-8
41. Philip Van Wiltenberg 1514 BE-B7 41. Eric Jones 1522 ADC-8 41. Michael Pustilnik 1543 AC-A7
42. John Welage 1513 BD-C6 42. Philip Thomas Sr. 1522 AD-B7 42. Frank Gratke 1541 AC-A8
43. Bruno Sinigaglio 1511 AB-A7 43. Richard Trockel 1521 AG-B6 43. Steven Cooley 1541 AB-B7
44. Robert Destro 1521 AG-A7 44. Weldon Lee 1539 AAA-7
Acquire 45. Keith Altizer 1521 AF-B7 45. Bill Deaton 1535 AAA-8
13 Active Players Mar. 30, 1998 46. James Allaire 1521 AE-B7 46. John Ellsworth 1535 AA—8
47. Timothy Hitchings 1521 AE-B7 47. Richard Lake 1534 AA—8
1. James Campbell 1943 MH—8 48. Stephan Magnifico 1521 AEAA7 48. Jeffrey Crouch 1531 AA—8
2. George Gorrell 1623 JF—8 49. William Edwards 1521 ADAB7 49. Robert Beyma 1529 AA-A6
3. Ray Holland 1546 GF—8 50. Allen Kaplan 1521 AD-B7 50. John Sharp 1515 JNDF7
4. Jeff Neas 1535 DH—8 51. Eric Redstone 1520 AG-B7 51. Mike Robinson 1515 AB—7
5. Ralph May III 1523 AC—8 52. Christina Hancock 1520 AF-B7 52. James Skinner 1507 AC-A8
6. Alan Camp 1513 AD—8 53. Edward Wrobel 1519 AG-B7 53. John Bullis 1505 BE-A8
54. Jared Scarborough 1515 AH-C7 54. James Falling 1504 AB-A7
Cover Image 55. Nicholas Pei
56. Dennis Disney
1515
1514
AEAA7
AH-B6
55. Steve Mininger
56. John Vogel
1502
1502
ABA-6
AAA-8
Cover art from the box cover of Third
57. John Grant Jr. 1514 AHCA7 57. Keith Eriksen 1501 CF-B8
Reich, 4th Edition. Used by permission
58. Stephanie Hayes 1514 AG-C7 58. David Rynkowski 1501 BD-C7
of the Avalon Hill Game Company.
59. Jonathan Lockwood 1514 AE-A7
Third Reich, 4th Edition is available for
60. Daniel Case 1512 AC—8 Merchant Of Venus
$30 from The Avalon Hill Game 3 Active Players May 15, 1998
61. Dewayne Curry 1510 AF-B7
C om p an y , 4 5 1 7 H arf or d R o ad ,
62. Chris Sasso 1508 AH-C7
Baltimore, MD 21214. 1. Robert Hamel 1650 AB—8
63. Clifford Smith 1508 AE-A7
 The Boardgamer
It’s been a pretty good three months
here at the BOARDGAMER. The family
is doing well and my daughters are
staying healthy, so I haven’t had to use
any of my convention vacation days
playing Doctor Dad lately (of course, I
could always dip into my “days with the
in-laws over Christmas” supply).
Fortunately for me, the summer
convention season comes earlier in the
vacation year than Christmas, so the
conventions get first crack at my days
off before I have to commit to holiday
plans.
Also, I thought I’d let you know that a
good number of articles have been
rolling in. Those of you who visit the
BOARDGAMER’s area on the Virtual
Wargam er’s Headquart ers
(www.manzana.com/webx) know that I
even talked about expanding to 36
pages this issue. As you can see, it is
still just 32 pages long. I decided
instead to expand the next issue to 36
pages, that way I can include Origins
and Avaloncon coverage yet still provide
the regular non-convention related
game articles. If my article supply stays
high, the BOARDGAMER just may
expand to 36 pages full time after that.
Also, to those of you who have
submitted articles recently, I apologize if
I haven’t gotten back to you yet. Now
that this issue is out and I’ve had a
chance to prepare for Origins and
Avaloncon, I should be able to take an
in-depth look at all the submissions very
shortly.
And for more good news. Hopefully you
noticed that I have tried a little
something new on the cover of this
issue. I have requested and received
permission from Avalon Hill to use
images from their games from time to
time. The image from the Third Reich
game on the cover is just something of
a test this issue. I have planned an
article in the next issue or two which
includes a game mapboard image to
further amplify the point being made by
the author. Hopefully, you will be
seeing a lot more of this in the future.
Now, if I can just find a way to
incorporate color at a reasonable price, I
can really get this magazine a more
professional look.
Which leads us to the one bit of bad
news. My printing costs have steadily
risen since I started this enterprise, so
Volume 3, Issue 3
From The Editor
there is a need for a slight price
increase. Of course, potentially
expanding to 36 pages will also
compound this situation (although not
too greatly). So, starting on January
1st, 1999, the BOARDGAMER will
increase to $4.00 per issue. When
ordering back issues, the subsequent
issues will still be available for $3.00
apiece. And the cost of a subscription
will rise $1.00 to $14.00 for a year-long
of four issues ($13.00 for AHIKS
members).
Back to the summer convention season,
aside from my usual appearance at
Avaloncon running the War At Sea
tournament, I will also be putting in a full
weekend at Origins (you should get this
just before that convention starts). I will
be running three tournaments as part of
the Avalon Hill Ironman competition:
Circus Maximus, War At Sea and the
ever popular Wrasslin’ Battle Royal. I
can also probably be found playing
Atlantic Storm, Across Five Aprils, Naval
War, Kremlin, Greed, History Of The
World, Pro Golf, Enemy In Sight and
Slapshot there.
As for Avaloncon, I will again be running
War At Sea, and also playing Atlantic
Storm, Circus Maximus, Pro Golf, March
Madness, History Of The World,
Decathlon and Slapshot. A few early
round defeats could also land me in
Enemy In Sight, Auction, Win Place &
Show, Attack Sub and Wrasslin’ Battle
Royal.
Also, speaking of Avaloncon, I would
like to send along my congratulations to
Jim Doughan who has just been elected
to the player’s wing of the Avaloncon
Hall Of Fame. Jim has won 6
Avaloncon plaques in events with a total
of 208 entrants, including two wins in
1997 (Br eako ut Norm andy and
Hannibal: Rome vs Carthage) which
helped propel him over the top.
Congratulations also go to Kathy Stroh
who was elected into the gamemaster’s
wing. Kathy will be continuing her
award inning work by running the
Wizard’s Quest Junior event this year at
Avaloncon.
And as a quick reminder, those of you
who are Avaloncon gamemasters, soon
I will be sending you my annual request
for recaps of your events to be printed in
the BOARDGAMER. As coverage of
July 1998 3
The BOARDGAMER
The BOARDGAMER is published by Bruce
Monnin. The BOARDGAMER is intended to
be a compilation of quality articles on the
strategy, tactics, and variants for a variety of
board, sports and card games.
Articles from contributors are considered for
publication at the discretion of the editor.
Rejected articles will be returned whenever
possible. Potential authors should be
advised that all outside submissions may not
have previously been submitted to other
publications unless permission has been
granted and The BOARDGAMER has been
notified. Articles may be reprinted
elsewhere, although the editor’s permission
is requested (and will usually be freely
given).
Unless otherwise mentioned, all game titles
mentioned are trademark names of The
Avalon Hill Game Company/Victory Games,
as is the GENERAL and Avaloncon.
EDITOR: Bruce A. Monnin
ADDRESS: 177 South Lincoln Street
Minster, OH 45865-1240
E-MAIL: MONNINB@BRIGHT.NET
PHONE: (419) 628-3332
Copyright 1998
Subscriptions
To The
BOARDGAMER
The BOARDGAMER is to be
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The BOARDGAMER
177 South Lincoln Street
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(419) 628-3332
 4 The Boardgamer Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998

Inside This Issue

The Standard Michalski Opening 5
Opening Set-Ups in 4th Edition Third Reich by John Michalski

Why I’m A “Barents On One” Believer 11

Allied Opening Strategy At War At Sea by Jonathon Lockwood

Panzers On The Loose 13

A Strategy Article For Russian Front by James Pei

Day Of The Jackal 15

A Variant For Assassin by Alan Arvold

The British Receding 18

A New 1776 Scenario In The South - 1781 by Jim Lawler

1776 Revisited 21
A 1776 Scenario At Avaloncon by Steve Packwood

Deciphering The Panzerblitz Rules 22

Revised 7-17-97 by Dave Giordano

March Marness Series Replay 24

Ohio Schools vs Florida Schools by Keith Hunsinger & Bruce Monnin

1998 Midwest Open 29

Victory In The Pacific Tournament Recap by Glenn Petroski

From The Editor (Cont.)

Avaloncon continues to decrease in the
GENERAL, the BOARDGAMER will be
working harder than ever to be the
unofficial magazine of Avaloncon. And
for that I will need the continued
cooperation of the gamemasters.
Two narratives of Victory In The Pacific
games between Mike Crowe and Mike
Ussery, one of which was the
championship match at Navcon 1995.
An article detailing some proposed rules
An article on DYO (do your own)
scenarios for Panzerblitz / Panzer
Leader by Alan Arvold.

As I did last issue, I will once again give

changes and clarifications for Guns Of
August by Alan Richbourg.
Current Specific
you a partial list of articles which may
well be appearing in the next two issues An article analyzing the initial defense of
Game
(since I once again have space to fill).
As of now, they are:
Italy at the start of the 1939 scenario or
the campaign game of Third Reich (4th
AREA Ratings
edition) by Steve Packwood.
An Russian Front variant article by Russian Front
James Pei to balance the June 1942 Also, still awaiting more detailed review 11 Active Players Mar. 5, 1998
scenario. are the following articles:
1. James Falling 1851 CCA-6
2. Timothy Greene 1846 HIM-7
Some additional Panzer Leader / A We The People strategy article by
3. Bobby Helbert 1713 BB—7
Panzerblitz scenarios involving western Andrew Morris.
4. James Eliason 1649 BDEA8
Lend Lease equipment in Russia written 5. Martin Roecker 1594 AA—7
by Les Geraty. A 1776 series replay by Jim Lawler and
Rod Coffey.
A history / variant article on Raid On St. Facts In Five
Nazaire by Andrew Morris. A Blackbeard player aid by Mike Crowe. 5 Active Players Mar. 31, 1998
1. Chris Ponder 1536 AC—8
 The Boardgamer
The Standard Michalski Opening
Opening Set-Ups In 4th Edition Third Reich
This article is the second in a series of
articles in the Third Reich Workshop.
In starting this series, I had a number of
topics in mind for the play of the 4th
edition Campaign game. Opening set-
ups were low on that list. However, a
player sent me copies of old GENERAL
articles from way back in the ancient
volumes numbered in the high teens
and low twenties, and I was appalled at
the atrocious level of material they were
putting out. I can only hope they were
all written by people who had the first or
second edition in mind. Suffice it to say,
it drove home the point to me that there
is an appalling dearth of 3R4 material in
print outside of the GAMER’S GUIDE
that isn’t absurd, grossly illegal, or both!
It is a trend that, sadly, we have seen
continue, and I won’t even comment on
the (mercifully, far fewer) errors in the
GUIDE itself. This results in a need to
revise the order of appearance of my
material.
Where does one go to find some nice
reference material on how to either get
started quickly, or get going again after
a number of years away from this
game? Where can you find a simple,
direct, down and dirty listing of decent
opening set-ups that will bypass the
experience of play of a few dozen
games against a variety of opponents,
and just give you the conclusions?
Why, right here in THE BOARDGAMER,
of course!
Poland and the O-34 Defense
One of the strengths of the game is that
people with no experience at all will
usually figure out the need to put the
two strongest units in the capital, and
circle the wagons with the rest. Here,
then, I will just explain the terminology
you will run across.
Poland has 3 nam ed defenses
(Reference the GUIDE) you will come
across; GameMasters will generally
accept the name alone, and your
designation of where you want the air
placed. I do. The names come from the
hole you select for your defense. Every
named defense starts with two 2-3s in
Warsaw and the last one on the only
non-river hexside adjacent. Around
Volume 3, Issue 3
by John Michalski
those two hexes lie eight others, and
Poland has seven 1-3s available. The
names come from which of those 8
hexes does NOT get a 1-3.
The BREST defense leaves that city
open. This defense is considered in the
Conventional Wisdom to be the best in
terms of mathematically calculated
German losses: since Brest is the only
hex of the 8 that cannot be reached by
German infantry on first impulse, all
exchange losses must come from
expensive armor or air units. It is the
most commonly seen opening set-up.
The O-34 (“oh-thirty-four”) defense
leaves that hex empty instead, and is
similar to the Brest defense above,
except that the first defender is now
tripled, and thus hit by one 3-3, one 4-6,
and 5 air at 12/6. Expected losses are
lower than the Brest Defense above by
a few one-hundredths of a factor.
Against an 0-34, however, Germany
must commit an additional air factor and
one additional ground unit; that last unit
and factor can be critical. Those of you
with the GAMER’S GUIDE can look up a
very interesting piece about how an Axis
player facing a Brest Defense can place
every single German ground unit and air
factor in such a way as to shoot for a
very bold but risky shot at going into
1940 with 240 BRPs after three key 2/1
attacks; it often tempts ME! Put an O-
34 defense out there, and those visions
of building 12 U-boats vanish instantly.
Thus, the standard opening I use is the
O-34.
The last defense is the RIVER Defense.
Both the city of Brest and hex O-34 are
covered; instead, one of the hexsides
adjacent to Warsaw is left open. This
permits a first-impulse 24/12 on the
tripled city garrison with only two ground
units and the entire Luftwaffe. It frees
up the rest of the German At-Start
forces to open with a 21-column Attrition
or better elsewhere. Chances of
German success are good: roughly
80% chance of success for very little
cost. The last 20%, though, can cost
you half the Luftwaffe! That’s half of
your 1939 production! This defense is
the least used, both because of the low
(on average) German losses, and the
fact that it frees up many first-turn
German units for opening action
July 1998 5
elsewhere. Perhaps the best reason to
try this opening, aside from feeling
lucky, might be to trick some less
experienced player into inadvertently
violating the East Front Garrison rule at
a convention sometime. (Pull it on a
local friend, and he won’t be very
friendly for at least a week!) An
inattentive or inexperienced player might
well commit two 3-3s and 18 air, plus
two factors of counter-air, along with the
automatic 3-3 in Finland. Unless there
are TWO airbase counters placed in
East Prussia, the 20 factor minimum is
not met at the end of the first Movement
Phase, because the air based at
Kolberg and Breslau no longer count!
With only one AB in Prussia, you count
those 10 air, plus 6 ground factors
outside Warsaw and 3 more in Finland,
and come up with 19! At a convention,
ask the GM to stop by at this point and
confirm the board, because your
opponent will howl when Russia
declares war later! If you should find
yourself facing a River Defense, use
one panzer along with the one infantry
unit in the attack. That will give you 20
factors with only the one AB. Reference
43.2. Other, more exotic reasons exist
for using this, or other defenses, but I’ll
go over that in an article on strategies
another time.
Before we move on to the next country
that sets up, let me comment a little on
pushing the envelope. THIRD REICH is
a g a m e wi t h a l m o s t e n d l e s s
possibilities; it is really more of a game
system than just a game. Take
advantage of this, and try something a
little different now and then! 3R4
doesn’t force you into a straightjacket
the way other games do. For instance,
set up the O-34 defense suggested
above. Then, take the 1-3 in Brest-
Litovsk and move it to Lvov. Next, take
the 1-3 that was above it, on M36, and
move it to K37. Result? No change to
Poland, really: it is still an O-34
defense. However, for the Allies, the
Russian center is now covered by the
Polish set-up, aiding them in the
(unlikely) event of an opening German
declaration of war. I would suggest this
as the standard opening set-up myself,
exc ept that even am ong GMs,
knowledge of the rules is so poor that
many think Rule 43.3, allowing Germany
 6 The Boardgamer
The Standard Michalski Opening (Cont.)
to cross the Partition Line in Poland, will
also permit her to violate international
boundaries as well, and loop around
through the neutral Baltic States! I’m
tired of trying to straighten them out
anymore, so I stick to the regular O-34
in monitored games. It IS a valid
suggestion, though.
Another option you might consider is
this: Do your opponents always set up,
and thus come to expect themselves,
nothing but perpetual Brest defenses?
If so, try setting up your Brest defense,
and then take a 1-3 from the northern or
western side of Warsaw, and place it on
top of the 2-3 outside Warsaw! If
attacking a River Defense is anathema
to them, as their historical play has
indicated, let them go ahead and treat
this set-up as they would a normal Brest
defense. (At this point, it is actually a
River Defense, despite Brest being
empty. But if, like Pavlov’s dogs, they
automatically respond to an empty Brest
every time, this will show them a new
trick!) After committing the 4 additional
air to get the initial 12/6 attack, they will
see Warsaw threatened by only a 2/1 on
exploitation now, not a safe and certain
3/1.
And these are only your possibilities for
poor Poland! What might a little
thoughtfulness and experimentation do
for a Major Power?
Italy
3-3s in Spezia and Tripoli; 1-3s on the
Egyptian frontier (3), Albania, S24, II15.
2-5 on II15. Air on Sicily, and all fleets
in Taranto.
Reasoning: Italy, like her leader, was
big on bark and small on bite. That is
reflected very well in this game. Italy,
like France and Russia, is rather fragile:
Italy cannot afford to imitate Germany,
tossing everyone out in all directions in
attacks, and count on builds to cover
them on defense. If the game’s
literature does one thing, it gives
disproportionate coverage to the Allied
chances of taking Italy out of the war
with a Fall-Winter 1939 double turn
against her. Despite the fact that Italy
can open against neutral Yugoslavia
with an eleven-column Attrition, she
really cannot afford to do so: you
cannot adequately defend Italy with the
paltry builds available in her force pool,
and an eleven column roll in Yugoslavia
Volume 3, Issue 3
is not going to release anything to send
back very often. Don’t even think about
it. Experienced veterans can run the
risk knowingly, but until that description
fits you, keep a couple of units at home
to supplement your maximum builds for
home defense.
This set-up provides you the best
amount of threat (bark) of taking
advantage of whatever opportunities the
Allies might give you, while giving you a
high probability that the homeland will
likely survive any Allied bite, and still be
around into 1940. The heavy unit in
Spezia can reach the French border to
supplement a possible German Attrition
in the West; the S24 unit likewise,
except that, should the French start their
motorized unit on the point Maginot hex
(P25), a first-turn DOW by Italy will
permit him to take up station on the
upper Rhine as well, which is a much
better spot for a unit as weak as this.
These are the things those fellows CAN
do; what they WILL do most often is, the
S24 1-3 goes into the port of Genoa,
while the 3-3 goes straight back into
Rome! Builds phase will see a static
unit appear on each hex around the 1-3,
another on the W24 beach, and the last
in Messina. Italy will put a 2-3 on both
mainland beaches, Rome, and one to
Libya.
In a similar vein, the forces in Libya are
in position to envelop or enter Tunis, if
offered; occupy the western quarter of
Egypt that some players will offer up
empty on opening; or could still Sea
Transport to Albania to attack Greece, if
you were foolish enough (or felt you
faced an opponent weak enough) to
someday run the very major risks
involved with that much initial spending
on a neutral. The first two opportunities
are often there: it appears that some
people actually believe all that hokey
stuff seen illustrated even in the
GAMER’S GUIDE, where the Allies will
start with their own 1-3 on the frontier
wire, a 2-3 in Tunis, and then
immediately SR them away the first
chance they get! Offer me an 11-
column to chance entering Tunis on
opening, and a free walk across the first
two hexrows of Egypt to face your short
line between Quattara and the sea, and
I’ll usually bite!
Again, though, this is what they threaten
to do. Most often, what they will do is,
the 2-5 retreats one hex southwest, the
July 1998
1-3 joins the 3-3 in Tripoli, and the
arriving 2-3 goes into either Tobruk or
relieves the coastal 1-3 to do so. The
air will COB (change of base) to Taranto
and Naples, or Taranto and Syracuse,
depending on whether you want to
provide a little extra cover to Tripoli or
the capital. It still provides for the
required (and unanswerable) 6 factors
of DAS over the Salerno beach (AA23),
making any Allied landing there no
better than a heads-up 1-1, if they get
past your unused fleets and do so
without significant losses. The second
2-5 sits on X23 shielding Rome, and can
still reach the French border if desired,
the next turn. In all cases shown here,
you threaten much; you are prepared to
pick up on opportunities that might be
offered; and in practice, you hunker
down and dig in! My usual opening will
be the DOW on Yugoslavia, letting the
Albanian go in for a lowest table
attrition; with luck, the Yugoslavs will hit
him with their free Offensive option, and
he may pull some of them down by
exchange on their mini-turn. If not, no
big deal. With an air unit in Taranto in
all cases, on top of all of the fleets, the
9s are protected from the very profitable
Yugoslav air attacks on Fleets-in-Port.
For Italy, the Conventional Wisdom is
the convention for a good reason: her
best course is to start neutral, set up for
what she can, build every ground unit,
and maintain her strongest position
possible in the homeland. Her Fall,
1939, goal is to be Germany’s ally in
1940. Buy an Intelligence roll, or save
the 5 BRPs for counter-intelligence if the
variant is worth anything, and send the
last 4 to Germany if you can spare the
SR. If you want both Intelligence,
Counter-Intel., AND Yugoslavia, you can
still do it by leaving one Replacement
Counter on the card.
Declare war on the West in the Winter,
lend the air to defend the German
Winter gains in the Low Countries from
the airbase you contribute to Essen, and
wait for the fall of France. Skip the
exotic and silly stuff written elsewhere
about esoteric strategies across the
Med; save that stuff for a throwaway
game sometime, or until you feel really
confident about handling both sides in
this game. Italy has a considerable
number of things she might try, but, she
runs more risks than any other major
power on the first turn of the game.
(France is a close competitor for that
 The Boardgamer
The Standard Michalski Opening (Cont.)
honor). This opening procedure will
contribute the most to the Axis cause,
by getting the DOW out of the way in
1939, yet not causing the severe drain
on Germany that a Fall DOW brings.
The air arrives on the Rhine just when it
is needed, hopefully to provide DAS
over two 4-6s that exploited one hex into
France. The Yugoslav DOW is paid for
out of expendable Italian BRPs instead
of German; German infantry built in
Austria will eventually crush Yugoslavia,
and put the 20 BRPs to good use in the
1941 Year Start Sequence. If Germany
feels she can afford them, those few
Austrian area 3-3 builds can come in the
Fall, and may put Italy’s opening
Attrition up to the 21+ or even 31+
column. But in the end, it doesn’t make
a lot of difference. What matters is, Italy
survives, and still holds much or all of
Libya. Try something a bit too esoteric
too soon, and you will demonstrate to
your opponent the advantages of using
my opening set-up for Britain and
France.
Above, I encouraged you to push the
envelope and try new things. Poland,
Britain, and Germany can; perhaps
Russia. But Italy and France need to
wait a turn or so: too much can be
irretrievably lost with a first-turn mistake.
France
2-3s: Calais to Metz, inclusive; O23,
Q23, P25, U20, GG14, GG15, Beirut. 3-
5: U20. Statics: P23 and Strasbourg.
5-4: Metz and Ajaccio. 9: Calais, two
in Marseilles.
Reasoning: To keep the Germans from
opening the game by triumphantly
entering Paris, you need the double line
shown. The heavy position in the Alps
make any Axis opening offensive there
unprofitable. France only has one unit
to spare on opening set-up: everyone
else is spoken for. This is a simple truth
that new players have trouble
comprehending. France, like Italy,
cannot afford to open with her troops
lined up along the Pyrenees, ready to
attrition Spain to death, any more than
Italy can send 6 of her opening 9 units
into Yugoslavia and expect to survive an
Allied double turn. And, if Italy starts her
2-5 in or west of Milan, even that one
spare unit is spoken for! (If Italy sets up
like that, a 2-3 from GG14 in Tunisia
comes home to Strasbourg, and that
static unit starts on V20. The Alpine 2-3
Volume 3, Issue 3
starts on S21 rather than U20. This is
necessary to keep the Italian from
walking the 2-5 to T20 in the rear of the
entire Alpine front on an opening
Attrition option. Conversely, the
opening threat to Tunis vanishes also.)
Some people would wonder why
Strasbourg holds a 1, while the hex
behind it holds a 2. The answer is the
same as to why an airfleet starts on
Ajaccio: France must not only defend
herself, but, must be prepared to aid in
the conquest of either Italy or Libya if
the Axis opening either falters, fails, or is
incredibly foolish. Strasbourg is hardly
worth an opening Western Offensive
option, even defended by a static unit.
But the unit behind it can march to the
northern alpine hex and aid in a first-turn
assault on Italy, if that becomes
possible; and, a lucky Axis opening
Attrition on the West, while strategically
costly, could well require immediate aid
if Axis armor gains a hex against the
southern line.
Much of the rest is fairly self-
explanatory. The Syrian 2-3 is in port,
available as an invasion unit. The
Calais fleet is to prevent Germany from
removing the Calais garrison by way of
a sacrificial invasion of the beach, which
coul d cl ear away t hat uni t
simultaneously with an attack on
Antwerp, whose exploiters could then
march first to Dieppe, and then into
Paris. The southern fleets are to
engage the Italian navy if possible, and
reinforce the colonies by SR the rest of
the time. The air on Corsica is
important: a change of base to an
airbase counter on EE17 threatens air
support for a first turn attack on Tripoli,
while still providing opening DAS over
the entire Alpine front. It could also
counter an Italian airfleet anywhere in
Sicily from there, or support an Allied
invasion. The Tunisian unit on the coast
cannot be isolated by an infantry unit; if
the Italian motorized unit is present,
there are two French infantry across the
waist of Tunisia, so that again, it cannot
get behind them to cut them off. Yet in
every case, at least one unit is in range
of moving adjacent to Tripoli, WITH air
support, forcing Italy to provide serious
defense here. (Or, if there are 11 Italian
factors in Yugoslavia, giving the Allies a
cake-walk conquest of North Africa in
one single turn, if not Italy itself over
two, if they want to try for it.) The
Ajaccio air can, in addition to the
July 1998 7
missions above, also change base into
Ragusa if possible, intervene, and
provide ground support over the
southern beach if the Italians failed to
occupy Ragusa themselves. Or lost it!
Many players start the French air in the
rear, just out of range of possible
counter-air, and then try to keep them
there throughout. That’s a fine strategy
for Russia — perhaps even a
necessary one in the East — but hardly
for France! The standard turn in the
West is, German Offensive answered by
Allied Attrition: that being true, why not
engage the Luftwaffe whenever
possible? Russia must conserve her air
force, because she can rarely afford to
replace it. That is hardly true of France!
Letting Germany counter the French air
force every turn until the imminent fall of
Paris is a great saving for France! She
engages the Luftwaffe without ever
having to buy the offensive, and can
much more easily buy back air losses
than her opponent, even on the short
end of a -1 nationality modifier. Thus
the 5-4 in Metz: it covers the entire
Western front; dares Germany to
counter it; and can even intervene via
base change as far away as Zagreb. (I
do not recommend the latter: better
Britain should intervene later. But
sometimes, Italy might be neutral and
Germany opened with an 11-column
against Yugoslavia. Take the city’s
garrison as your first attrition loss, and
then watch the German’s expression as
your 5-4 jumps in, and proceeds to
counter some inverted Nazi airfleet in
Vienna sometime!)
Sure, some of these are, individually,
unlikely long shots. But it doesn’t
matter. This set-up provides you with
the flexibility to do a lot, yet commits you
to nothing. Even the Ajaccio air can
readily hop straight back to Lyon, Vichy,
or even Metz: it can support an attack
on Frankfurt or Brussels as readily as on
Tripoli. So why not threaten Tripoli,
instead of just sitting on P21 and Q20
airbase counters and hiding from the
war? Get these people out there while
they last! They’ll be gone inside a year,
most likely; let’s get some use out of
them along the way.
Follow-up: double up the frontline units
from Calais through Sedan inclusive; the
Metz 2-3 occupies Luxembourg,
replaced by a 3-5 that will stay in Metz
until the turn before Paris falls; put
 8 The Boardgamer
The Standard Michalski Opening (Cont.)
British units on N23 and O23; and SR
two units to the colonies, particularly a
3-5 to southern Tunisia. Buy an
Intelligence roll every turn you can, and
counter Axis ones if necessary. The
homeland is set up for defense against
the German Winter offensive in the
west, while the Med is set up to greet an
Italian Winter DOW with a double
offensive that might well cripple Italy’s
position in North Africa. The Med is the
only front on which the Allies can hope
to make gains that will hold, and assist
their cause for the long haul: one weak
British unit SRed into Tripoli has a much
better chance of being there a year later
than two strong British units advancing
after combat into Brussels. Libya is the
easiest Axis territory for the Allies to
take, and the hardest for the Axis to get
back. The time to do so is while France
is still around, squeezing the pathetic
Italian units without air cover from two
sides. After that, the colonial die rolls
will go far to determine who will be doing
what. But you’ve laid the groundwork.
Britain
3-4s: Gibraltar, LL25, MM25. 1-3s:
Malta, NN24, Haifa. 4-5: Gibraltar.
Airfleets in Harwich and Yarmouth.
Egyptian air, naval, and armor in
Alexandria. Home fleets in Portsmouth.
(Optional: put one of the home 9s in
Gibraltar at start. See below.) Other 1-
4 garrisons as required.
Reasoning: What do we see here? The
set-up will look a bit strange to new
players, who might think you need to
start the infantry on the home beaches.
But to an experienced eye, this British
opening is something of a classic: it
threatens much, but commits you to
nothing at all. The infantry is in Egypt
for many reasons: they will be needed
there eventually, so why not start them
there? They threaten Tobruk now; what
would they threaten on a home and
beach? The concentration in Gibraltar
is probably the key: with both armor
loaded in port, not only is Italy
threatened with a landing, but with a
landing and potential exploitation as
well. (A French fleet would provide
supply). The air is in position to change
base to Lyon to support an attack on
Italy, but more often, it threatens to
cause quite a stir for a German player
who likes to open with an attrition
against Denmark and Holland. From
where the air sits, they can Intervene by
Volume 3, Issue 3
simple change of base into both the
Hague and Copenhagen, and threaten
to take 8 to 10 shots on fleets-in-port if
the Nazi fleets aren’t hiding in
Koenigsberg. Just this threat alone will
often waste German SRs to return them
to Kiel. Notice an important tactical note
here: If Germany tries to save SRs by
changing base back to Kiel in Winter,
the Danish air factor can intercept that
change at sea, taking her one-in-six
shot even as the German infantry
prepare to step into a Copenhagen
usually emptied by the earlier turn’s 11-
column attrition. If the German was
successful, and picked off BOTH minor
armies, notice that BOTH minor air
forces can take their parting Winter shot!
It is no longer the first turn of attack, so
the minors are not restricted anymore to
acting only against naval units attacking
them; they are already at war, and it is a
new season, so, here come some
enemy fleets into air range. Attack
them! Note too, that allied air that may
have intervened even on a free Attrition
Option, can still intercept the naval
change of base, although I don’t
recommend it. You might be countered
with a negative nationality modifier, or
worse, the German could let you take
your interception shots, then displace
your used air with ground movement,
and then follow it up with a CounterAir
mission against the hex your now-used
air could be displaced to. But the
minors face no such restriction alone.
With this set-up, the threat to him is
there, whether you exercise it or not.
Why not get the maximum use out of
these units? A German who gets
burned once or twice may learn to wait
for SR to move the fleets, wasting two of
them on this pointless shuffle. Or he
may just leave them in hiding an extra
turn, allowing allied Sea Transport
missions in the Atlantic to proceed
without threat. Or he may cut back on
his opening turn adventurism altogether,
just for this threat. (Personally, I think
the Allies are ahead by having 20 BRPs
fewer Nazi builds on the board for the
start of Winter, but a lot of Axis players
think that an opening move against
these two is virtually the automatic thing
to do with those last four or five spare
infantry corps.) Chopping off a chunk of
one of those two Nazi 9s will give them
pause to think. It’s a bit more costly in
BRPs than placing the French 3-5 on
P25 on opening set-up, but is a safer
move for the first turn integrity of
France.
July 1998
New players might think there is a
danger of a first turn invasion of Britain
this way: there is not. As with all of this
article, the proof of it will come from
repeated play: what can Germany DO?
Land one unit on a British beach? So
what? I’d be tempted to intercept the
thing with the French 9 in Calais, if not
the Home Fleet, just to incur casualties
on them. Germany can’t back the unit
up: her air was used in Poland; the two
British and one French 5-4 in the West
are available; and that 4-5, 3-4, 1-4 on
Gibraltar can always Sea Transport to
the homeland and crush the invader.
Who will stop them? Not the inverted
German Navy just used. No, the Allies
have the upper hand in crushing any
Nazi naval adventurism, even if they
faced and defeated the Home Fleet.
What if the British attempt to intercept
the invasion with Force H at Gibraltar as
well? Personally, I would suggest doing
so, if you select Britain instead of
France for the sea intercept. If you
succeed, you are rolling a net +2 against
the Kriegsmarine; if you fail to intercept
at that range (19-24), you can still use
them for the Sea Transport mission; and
if Germany manages to win the sea
battle even against the +2 modifier, the
Alexandria fleet can change base to
Gibraltar, and carry the 4-5 into Britain
by Sea Transport herself! True, one can
spin out some miracle scenario, where
the British fleets are defeated despite
the +2, Poland is hit with only a token
attack, Italy enters the war immediately
and lends her air, but look at it. If the
Axis opens with such a boneheaded
move, in anticipation of succeeding in a
long-shot, high-cost opening move,
you’ve already won the majority of the
time. And when all those planets line up
for Germany like that, go ahead and
attack Italy instead! Build in the British
rear (if a panzer landed), take the
double turn, and crush them over the
first turn of Winter instead! It will be a
long time before Germany ever gives up
so much, spends so much, and risks so
much, in the hope of having a unit
survive ashore in Great Britain. That
empty island is a lot tougher than it
appears!
Minor considerations: sometimes the
Italian 2-5 will be in eastern Libya on
opening. In that case, put the 1-3 in the
center instead of the south of the line on
the frontier wire, in case an opening
Attrition should gain a hex. (Without a
2-5 facing them in Tunisia, the two
French units in Tunisia now start side by
 The Boardgamer
The Standard Michalski Opening (Cont.)
side on the Libyan border itself, above).
The 1-3 in the center will allow you to
give up the cheapest unit, and leave no
one surrounded by a one-hex advance.
The Palestine 1-3 is in Haifa because it
is more flexible in a port than on an
unthreatened beach. There is no threat
because, unless Italy plays Variant 9 on
opening set-up, there is no possibility of
any landing in any case. The Med air
might also sea transport (ST) to Malta,
to support a French attack on a weak
Tripoli, or, when an Italian leaves weak
units on the Tunisian border, a ST
mission into Tunisia with both British
armor could, with the help of the French
infantry you started there, attack the
coastal border position, and then exploit
against (or into) Tripoli, with possible
French Ground Support flying from an
airbase counter placed on EE17.
Pulling off any of these things will teach
your Axis opponent to set up to protect
himself against all of the things you
might do, and could do, over time. And
yet, what do you risk? Nothing. Egypt
and Gibraltar are strongly held; a risky
and expensive Axis invasion of Britain
can almost certainly be crushed; but,
you don’t HAVE to do anything! It’s your
choice. In most games, the Gibraltar 3-
4 will SR into France, along with a newly
built 3-4 and 4-5 from the homeland; the
home airfleets will stack in Portsmouth/
Southampton; the Palestine 1-3 will walk
to Port Said; two London 3-4s and a
wave of static counters take over home
defense; and the Allies await an
expected Italian Winter DOW (her best
move, above), secure at home, and still
ready to pounce on any (likely)
weakness in Libya on their own Winter
turn. Britain gets the maximum use out
of her units, at no cost or irretrievable
commitment of her own.
I will usually take a base change with
one Gibraltar 9 to Malta, so that, on SR
phase, the Maltese 1-3 and the Gibraltar
3-4 mentioned earlier, SR into France,
plus a unit or two from the homeland, to
meet the necessary British commitment
to France. Britain has to assume the
defense of N23 and O23, the two hexes
between Paris and the border row. Four
factors per hex are needed, but 5 is
better still: five will permit three full
airfleets to be committed overhead as
DAS, and this is the mandatory basic
defensive tactic for a solid defense of
France. When Germany has made an
inroad into the 24 hexrow, the standard
and best method of finishing off France
Volume 3, Issue 3
the next turn is to attack one hex (N23
or O23) on first impulse of the next turn,
and then to stack the maximum number
of exploiting pan zers availabl e
(preferably about 6) for the exploitation
attack on the capital. Untriple Paris with
the airborne unit, and occupy the city
with the maximum 5 exploiters allowed
into the new bridgehead, with the
paratroops on top of that. Then just sit
tight, with any unused air in the Hague/
Bonn/Frankfurt, and wait for France to
drop out.
The most effective and least expensive
way to defend against this is to garrison
N23 and O23 with British, right up to the
time France falls. Back it up with two to
three airfleets in the homeland, so that
the German must counter the entire
RAF available, committed as DAS, while
Britain pays nothing for it. This way, the
German exploitation attack must also
contend with the possibility of having to
counter French DAS over Paris,
stretching his air resources to the limit,
even with lent help. If the first impulse
frontage is small, requiring lots of
ground support from the Luftwaffe, there
probably will not be enough air left to try
using against Paris. It can gain you a
season, which can be critical for Russia,
and important for long-term Allied
chances. At best, Germany will only just
be able to pull it off. (The French air
should NOT be committed if it is felt that
a counterattack will be possible, as it
usually will be; save them for Ground
Support for the counterattack itself.
Commit them only if it is obvious that a
counterstroke will be impossible). Then,
on the Allied turn after Paris is entered,
Britain has already made her primary
commitment; now, she need only
provide a supply fleet. If the Germans
came through N23, remove the British
on O23 by Voluntary Destruction; let
French take their place; commit the
French air as ground support; and let
France alone take the W estern
Offensive option. If the Germans
advanced through O23, or if available
French ground forces alone are
insufficient to achieve the one-to-two
attack, Britain might have to join the
offensive anyway, but it is still best to
force the Luftwaffe to engage the RAF
at Germany’s expense, not Britain’s.
Finally, if there is not already a token
British unit in Lorient, this Sea Transport
phase might be Britain’s last chance to
get someone in: after the counterattack
has failed, the hexes are German, and
July 1998 9
thus block SR into hexes not already
held by Britain. If the London garrison
was transported to France, it is now
replaced with rebuilt casualties from the
N23 or O23 battle. The RAF is rebuilt
and withdrawn further north; the colonial
die rolls determine who will get what;
and you proceed to Mid-Game.
The above outline provides you with the
best defense against the best offense.
Other, more exotic means of German
attack on France exist, but all are riskier
and less effective for the Axis cause.
The fate of France is generally decided
inside the triangle of Antwerp-Paris-
Frankfurt; the rest is a nuisance or
distraction at most. Britain plays a key
roll inside this triangle. After that, the
deactivation of a Vichy France with a
large army or empire will be her last
continental concern until the time for D-
Day rolls around, come Winter, 1942.
Russia
The largest country on the board
certainly has the smallest role in the
Early Game, but we make up for this
later. In competent play between two
honest players, the war is won or lost in
the East. Most articles seem to be
about some glamorous (and often
illegal) maneuverings in the Med, but
the Med is a sideshow. When playing
someone who is trying to emulate the
e xo t i c t h eo ri es pr in t ed i n ol d
GENERALs, Britain will hold them at
bay, and then Russia will declare war in
the Fall or Winter or 1941, and crush
Germany by 1943, with US aid.
Since Russia is inactive for the Early
Game, an opening line-up makes little
difference. Assuming you can place 5
units to enter all Eastern Europe cities
on one Attrition, I will limit my opening
commentary to the few immediate
matters that DO make a difference.
Someone once said that Leningrad is
the third most important hex on the
board, after London and Gibraltar. I
believe they were correct. When you
place your 5 1-3s, or whatever you want
for your advance into the Baltic States,
there should be at least two 1-3s across
the Narva gap at the north end of Lake
Peipus. A German opening against
Russia is always a mistake; however,
taking Leningrad on the opening turn
would go a long ways toward offsetting
that mistake. Don’t make it easy. Block
 10 The Boardgamer
The Standard Michalski Opening (Cont.)
that direct path. Don’t let two panzers
start from J37 in East Prussia and just
walk up to the city. If the 3-3 in Finland
starts above Lake Ladoga, one could
bring in additional air by change-of-
base, add naval gunfire, and put 20 or
more factors on the city right at start!
Thus, some basic precautions are in
order.
1. Always place a 3-3 on top of the
required Leningrad 2-3 at start.
2. Start at least two of the three 9s in
Leningrad. I usually place all 3 there:
supplying someone in the rear, at
Odessa or Sevastopol, is small potatoes
compared to engaging the Kreigsmarine
(KM) in the Baltic. The German gunfire
mission above would be met by an
automatic interception, and the two 9s
rolling at -4 for nationality would cripple
the KM even by losing to it! If the KM
will not put to sea to take you on, force
them to come out: with every offensive
option you take in the East, invade
Koenigsberg with the weakest unit
available from either Leningrad or
Parnu. Attack the German garrison with
gunfire and the token unit, even at 1/3.
Gunfire factors cost you nothing; they
can cost him use of a good corps for
three months. If Attritions in the east
are advisable, but the point total is not
critical, an invasion attempt against
Copenhagen can return 10 BRPs to you
in the next Year Start Sequence, and
shave 10 off Germany now. Few
Germans can afford a Western offensive
to retake the city immediately, but even
if they do, that Offensive Option they are
forced to buy is another victory in itself.
Finally, as Mid-Game eases into End-
Game, the Red Banner Fleet, if still
capable of SR, can be of great help in
surprising Germany. Say it is Winter,
1942. (Or 1943). Leningrad and
Estonia are yours, the air force is
essentially intact, and two airborne units
are in the area. A sudden DOW on
Sweden, hit by the 2-3s, 12 air, and one
factor of counter-air, give you an instant
2/1 on Stockholm. Come SR phase, the
country is friendly to you, and in supply
from Stockholm. Time for the Red
Banner Fleet to SR (via Sea Escort) a
unit or two right up to the Norwegian
border! Cheer up the Nazi commander
who thought that a 9 and a static unit in
Bergen would keep that theater a quiet
backwater forever!
While Russia cannot grant BRPs to her
allies, she can certainly aid them.
Volume 3, Issue 3
Engaging the Kreigsmarine often, even
losing every time, is the best aid she
can provide. 27 Red naval factors ought
to pull down a dozen German naval
factors overall, and a big loss early,
times 3 for 3 engaged fleets, can readily
gut a full 9 from the German line-up.
You don’t have to play many games to
know that replacing it is not an easy task
for the German player, and playing on
without it will make many Western Allied
naval tasks a lot easier and safer. Let
Odessa starve out.
Next is the one mandatory ground unit
placement Russia must do in 1939's
opening: placement of a 1-3 on hex
AA46. That is not a mis-print: I really
do place a 1-3 in the south Caucasus.
That unit is to take out Persia in 1939.
Russia has exactly 10 BRPs to spare,
after builds, the East Europe DOW, and
9 foreign aid to Hungary. Persia is a
very valuable piece of empty property to
hold, even with its zero BRP value. One
cannot send BRP grants across Iraq
(Rule 38), but units can SR across it. In
either direction. Come Summer of
1941, Britain is too poor and pinned to
try and send BRPs to Russia, but
Russia needs ground help then, a lot
more than she needs an extra 20 BRPs.
With Germany now deeply committed in
the East, Britain can now grant what
Russia needs most: two or three
armored units! Their ZOCs, stretched
out behind Russia’s scraggly line of 1-
3s, can provide a desperately needed
second line that covers the entire front
between Smolensk and the Black Sea
coast. (e.g.) A Russian whose own 5
available armored units often are
lessened by encirclement at this
desperate juncture, is not in any position
to offer serious resistance over anything
more than perhaps half the (now-
extensive) front line. Britain can help or
save the allied cause by committing as
close to the 10 allowed factors possible,
at this critical point in the game. After
the Fall, they can probably be
withdrawn, if Germany didn’t encircle or
destroy them already: their job is done.
But taking Persia early is the cheapest
way to provide the highway for these
savior units to appear.
A less often seen or planned use for this
SR path comes about when either
Gibraltar has been lost, or, when Vichy
deactivates, leaving a formerly Vichy
Syria empty and belonging to no one
(49.5). While Britain will immediately
enter Beirut, one can SR a Russian 1-3
July 1998
into Iraq, who will then take Aleppo on a
free Attrition: letting Russia help in the
conquest permits you to allocate all 5
BRPs to Russia next Year Start
Sequence, and every YSS after that. It
is a cheap and easy way of helping
Russia out.
The other use of this reverse path is
less desirable, but might be necessary:
if Gibraltar is lost, the crippling
restrictions of Rule 37 might mean that
Russia gets a chance, in 1942, of
returning the possible 1941 favor I listed
above. (Rule 37 was clarified in the
Q&A section of GENERAL 27-4, but
often Egypt is still left to be defended by
only 4 ground counters). An Axis player
who thinks that he can now batter down
Egypt even if Malta is still garrisoned,
can receive a nasty surprise when he
finds central Egypt covered by a double
line made up of 4 Russian 3-3s! Yes,
Russians in Egypt. There are no
restrictions on where Russians can go,
nor even how many; the only restriction
is, they must trace their own supply to a
Russian source (Rule 45). Any allied
unit can trace supply, just as they can
SR, over both British Iraq and Russian
Persia, even if Persia has not been
activated (Rule 40) as a Lend Lease
route. The number of allied units in
Russia is restricted to 10 factors, but
there are no restrictions on Russians
outside Russia. This is a desperation
measure only, of course: Russian units
are generally far more valuable on the
Eastern front than in the Western
Desert. But in a desperate situation, a
little help from Uncle Joe can go a long
way! And, in less desperate times, a
Britain entering End Game will be
shifting units to France, and be short of
shipping to provide ground defenders to
low priority beaches facing token
invasions from an Italy trying to stay in
the war one more season. You might
find it a lot easier to send three Russian
1s or 2s to the Libyan beaches
overland, than to allocate 3 fleets and 6
SRs to put three British junkers down
there as anti-invasion units. You are
capable of creating more inter-allied
cooperation in 3R4 than was the actual
case; and to win here, you really need
to!
In summary, all Russia need do on
opening is: occupy Eastern Europe and
Persia; cover Leningrad against a
potential 1/1; and place most, or even
all, of her fleets in the north. (The only
time a southern naval force is more
 The Boardgamer
The Standard Michalski Opening (Cont.)
helpful is against Turkey, but don’t
bother. Even a successful war against
Turkey early on, is a greater danger
than aid to allied victory chances.) Send
the maximum foreign aid to Hungary in
both 1939 (9) and 1940 (usually 11). In
Spring 1941, consider splitting your
possible 14 roughly half and half (6 and
8?) between Hungary and Bulgaria,
unless the situation at the front requires
all BRPs be kept at home. Britain
hopefully has placed 24 into Rumania/
Finland, so after countering that,
Hungary should be out of it until the
Summer of 1942.
Conclusion
No comments on Germany: everyone
likes to take the Axis for the fun of
making your own decisions, carving
those new frontiers, or maybe cutting
your own throat. What should Germany
do against The Standard Michalski
Opening? The general rule is, Take
what you’re given. This defense doesn’t
offer much, except at higher than normal
Why I’m A “Barents On One” Believer
Allied Opening Strategy At War At Sea
Having had a chance to survey the War
At Sea tournament scene at Avaloncons
1995 through 1997 after a 13-year
hiatus from wargaming (my Army
intelligence career got in the way of my
wargaming; an ironic twist, that was),
I’m providing my thoughts (or some
good filler material) on why I’ve been
such a fanatical devotee of the “Barents
on One” approach since 1981.
Several months before Origins ‘81, my
youngest brother Chris (then 14)
begged me to take him to a wargaming
convention. And oh, by the way, could I
teach him some really sneaky strategy
to play War At Sea like I had done with
“The Paleveda Gambit” for Afrika Korps
(Volume 12, Number 5 of the GENERAL
for you trivia buffs)? Being an obliging
big brother at the time, I promised him I
would come up with something for him
to use.
After having done my research of
available War At Sea series replays and
strategy articles at the time, I reached
the following conclusions:
Volume 3, Issue 3
risk. But go ahead and try. Germany
can do almost anything she wants in this
game. My point here is to let the other
powers set up, such that they too can
exercise a few options, even if, as in the
case of France and Italy, their primary
option is survival into 1940! All of the
above is within the printed rules and
rulings, and, unlike those old GENERAL
articles, come from years of play
experience against varied human
opponents, not from daydreaming. I
hope the above will save you some trial
and error, and get you more rapidly into
the realm of trying what you want with
this game, instead of trying to muddle
through and/or survive. I used to tell my
auditor-trainees that they could go out
and do whatever they thought best. But,
just in case their own Better Idea should
happen to blow up in their face, they
could always fall back on John’s plain
old clunky system, that works. I
encourage you to do the same: play
often; try new things; go to a convention
if you can, or sign up for some postal
play, so you’ll run up against someone
by Jonathan Lockwood
1. The consensus of War At Sea
tournament players at the time seemed
to hold that the Axis had the edge. (This
was later confirmed at Origins ‘81 when
every one of Chris’s opponents was
willing to let him be the Allies.)
2. If there was any room for innovation
or flexibility in opening setups and
strategy, it was on the Allied side, since
the Axis player is forced to react to what
the Allied player does and hope to
exploit his mistakes.
3. If Chris was to have any chance of
achieving “strategic surprise” in a War
At Sea tournament like I had with the
Paleveda Gambit in Afrika Korps, I
would have to come up with an
aggressive Allied setup.
After further examination of the available
forces, my final creation looked like this:
Barents Sea - All eight cruisers (1-1-
7s), fast battleship Hood (4-4-7), Ark
Royal (0-2-7 3 ), “almost as fast”
battleships Renown and Repulse (3-3-
6s using speed rolls).
July 1998 11
other than that same old neighbor/
cousin/kid brother. That way you will
learn the intricacies of this game system
far faster, and remember the lessons far
longer: especially after someone new
springs some of this stuff on you!
Then write an article about it. And when
you think you’ve gotten it down pat,
send in your own article here.
Let me add a minor correction to my
Workshop #1 article in the April 1998
(Volume 3, #2) issue. On page 6, the
middle column, second last sentence:
Please cross out the words “by
Germany”. Thanks!
Third Reich - 4th Ed.
7 Active Players May 15, 1998
1. Bill Thomson 1600 ABB-6
2. Bobby LaBoon 1557 AC-A8
3. Charles Synold 1535 AAA-7
North Sea - aircraft carrier Glorious
(0-1-62), 5 “slow” battleships (4-4-3s).
South Atlantic - aircraft carrier
Courageous (0-1-6 2 ), 5 “faster”
battleships (4-4-3s).
North Atlantic - battleships Rodney and
Nelson (5-5-3s), aircraft carrier Eagle
(1-2-41).
My reasoning for this type of “in your
face” defense was as follows:
1. War At Sea is won by the player who
has accumulated more POC by game’s
end. Sinking ships is only one means to
this end, and by itself does not
necessarily win you the game.
2. The fewer the ships the Axis player
has, the more difficult it becomes for him
to hold a sea area.
3. The Allied player has his strongest
relative position to the Axis on the first
turn, since the Axis has only seven of
his eventual total of eleven ships.
 12 The Boardgamer
Why I’m A “Barents On One” Believer (Cont.)
4. Therefore, any defense which can
force the Axis to fight on the first turn
and either take casualties or suffer a
positional disadvantage is the better
defense.
5. The Barents Sea is by far the most
critical area for the Allies to control,
since it holds the key to ramming
through up to nine POC in Murmansk
convoys on turns 4, 5, and 7, not to
mention preventing a three point POC
swing in favor of the Axis player if he
holds the area for even one turn.
6. If the Allies can hold the Barents Sea
and the North Sea on Turn One, they
establish a “blockade” of the Axis player
that enables the Allied player to dictate
to a greater degree where the battles
are to be fought.
7. The purpose of the North Atlantic
setup is to lure the Axis into coming out
and fighting there on the first turn. At
the least, the Allies should expect to
send 2-3 Axis ships either to the bottom
or back to Germany. In any case, the
Axis fleet is split, unless he wants to oil
at sea and chance getting one or two
ships trapped in the Neutral South
Atlantic port.
8. The purpose of the other three area
setups is straightforward: control of the
sea area, or at least the destruction of
the majority of the Axis navy if he tries to
take them.
Armed with this basic explanation of the
above setup, I taught the opening to
Chris. After he had reached the point
where he was kicking my butt with
regularity using it, I figured he was ready
for Origins.
Volume 3, Issue 3
At Origins ‘81, I played in the AH500
tournament, where my British defense in
Afrika Korps carried me to five straight
victories and a third place finish. Chris
entered the War At Sea tournament
(which, we must remember, was a 64
player single elimination tournament of
six rounds) with a gleeful look of
anticipation on his face. His first
opponent was a 12-year old newcomer,
whom he took on as the Allies and
easily dispatched. No one took any
notice of his game.
In his second round, however, Chris
faced his first real test, a 50-year old
“tournament favorite” who had been
playing wargames since 1957, and who
had brought his wife and kids with him
to the convention! Chris took him on as
the Allies, and the game was over on
turn 4, with Chris having sunk the entire
Axis fleet in the North Sea. Now people
started to pay attention to his games!
After reeling off two more victories as
the Allies, Chris was finally stopped in
Round Five by some really hot dice in
the South Atlantic, but he finished third
in his first wargaming tournament.
After the convention, Chris was
understandably excited, but not half so
much as I was. If this strategy worked
so well for my little brother, I thought,
imagine what havoc I can wreak with it!
I tested my theory in the War At Sea
tournaments at Origins ‘82 and ‘83,
finishing second both times (aaarrgh!).
At Avaloncon 1995, I was basically an
unknown coming into the War At Sea
tournament after a 12 year break, but I
managed to finish third, going 4-0 as the
Allies and 1-1 as the Axis, losing to Ray
Freeman in the semifinals. After going
“into the tank” at Avaloncon 1996 with
an 0-2 record, I bounced back at
Avaloncon 1997 with a 4-1 record and
5th place finish (3-1 as the
Allies, 1-0 as the Axis).
As you can tell, then, one
big reason I’m a “Barents on
One” believer is that it suits
my style of play better than
any other defense, enabling
me to finish well in most
War At Sea tournaments. I
stay away from the “Barents
on Two” and “Barents on
Three” strategies for that
reason, since they do not
achieve my objective of
forcing the Axis to fight on
July 1998
Turn One and take casualties. And
because I regard the Barents Sea as the
single most critical area for the Allies to
control (ranking just ahead of the north
Sea), I also do not view Mediterranean-
style strategies as viable, either. As
Bruce Monnin pointed out in his earlier
article, “Admirals Raeder and Doenitz
W oul d’ve Been Pr oud” ( The
BOARDGAMER, preview issue), there
are ways that a good Axis player can
sidestep and counterpunch effectively
against a Mediterranean strategy that
the “Barents on One” strategy does not
give him.
Finally, insofar as “tactical hints” are
concerned, there is little that I can add
to previous War At Sea articles, except
for one little wrinkle that is peculiar to
my “Barents on One” approach.
Whenever I take on the Axis fleet, my
priority is always to maximize my
probability for sinking an Axis ship,
without regard to strength. Generally
speaking, the fewer ships the Axis
player has, the more difficult it is for him
to seize an area, regardless of how
strong the individual ships are. Because
I have a better probability of sinking a
ship with a defense factor of 2 following
a hit than one with a defense factor of 5
or 9, these ships are always my first
targets. For ships with a defense factor
greater than 2 (Scharnhorst, Gneisenau,
Bismarck, Tirpitz), I usually hit them first
with a single airstrike or cruiser shot,
hoping to disable them before the battle
(or early on during it) so that I can
concentrate my fire on the pocket
battleships (2-2-5s, my prime targets) or
the light cruisers (1-2-7s, my second
priority when there are no pocket
battleships left, along with the Graf
Zeppelin (1-2-8) if it makes itself a
target). Only when these light “support
ships” have all been destroyed do I think
about going after the heavy cruisers (3-
5-7) and battleships (4-9-6). Because
once all of the Axis player’s smaller
ships are put out of action, his staying
power in any subsequent surface battle
against a numerically superior Allied
fleet is sharply reduced.
And that’s why I’ve been a “Barents on
One” believer since 1981. (Sounds
almost like a personal Christian
testimony, doesn’t it?) Just look for me
at the Sunday morning service at the
1998 Avaloncon. I’ll be the one singing
“Onward Christian Soldiers.” Really
loud.
 The Boardgamer
Panzers On The Loose
A Strategy Article For Russian Front
AH’s Russian Front (RFT) has always
been one of my favorite wargames. It is
an elegantly designed game, with a
beautiful mapboard and detailed
representation of all the important
combatants. A system-oriented design
approach combined with unique combat
resolution make RFT a very interesting
and entertaining game. As the Soviet
side is easier to play (for the initial
months) , this article will focus on the
some of fundamental tips for the Axis
player during the opening drives of
Barbarossa.
On the first turn, Finnish units do not get
the +1 surprise bonus. Therefore,
conserve strength and attack only the
Hango garrison and the 3-2-4 armor
near Leningrad. The Finnish air and
navy should lay a minefield in Tallin to
engage the Soviet Baltic fleet. The
German 1st Fliegerkorps will also
provide escort duty since it will get the
+2 air/naval bonus and the +1 surprise
bonus. The Germans can afford
damages early in the game, but the
Finns cannot. Always remember to
garrison Helsinki with the 3-3-4 Finn.
Army Group North and Center should
punch several holes in the Baltic and
Western districts to form a shield along
the lines of Riga-Dvinsk-Minsk. Do not
attack every Soviet unit on the first turn.
Instead, attack just enough to suppress
the flanks of the two panzer blitz
markers, (generally, one in hex LL6 and
the other in FF6). Use air units to
perform air interdiction behind the blitz
attacks to block escape routes. Also,
force march a few 5-4-6 infantry to
sweep around the marsh hexes CC5,
CC6 to ensure complete annihilation of
the left flank of Western district.
The stage is set then for the
Schwerpunkt. Panzer units along with
reserve infantry in hexes GG5 and JJ4
will complete the encirclement from Riga
to Minsk. Make sure that infantry units
are sitting on the two supply lines linking
the panzer spearheads, one along the
rail hexes KK6 to LL7 and the other
along EE4 to FF6. No matter how many
Soviet units survive the encirclement,
the panzer spearheads will be in supply
and proceed to crack open the Vitebsk
corridor.
Volume 3, Issue 3
by James Pei
Once the corridor is breached, drive
straight to Smolensk. If it is defended
by a 6-5-4 Soviet infantry, bypass it.
Cut all rail lines in the vicinity and
surround the city. The most efficient
way is to starve the defenders. Peel off
a few infantry units north to try to cut off
Leningrad, but sending the bulk of the
army rolling towards Moscow. This will
put tremendous pressure on the Soviet
player on the allocation of his
r ein for c em ents . W h er ev er hi s
resistance is weakest, pound at it hard.
Let the panzers roar!
Army Group South and Romania should
coordinate the Schwerpunkt so as to
seal the fate of the Kiev district. The
three 7-5-6 panzers along with reserve
infantry and units from Romania should
form another shield along hexes T4 to
X6. Send one unit to occupy Vinnitsa
and another to hex K10, next to Odessa.
It’s not important to trap the Odessa
district since units in Romania are
neither strong nor plentiful. Just make
sure a Romanian infantry is guarding
Constanta and another guarding the
approaches to the oilfield. It is also a
good idea to fly a fliegerkorps to
Bukharest to provide air cover for the
southern sector. If there is combat near
hex Q5, so much the better. The
fliegerkorps can provide air support and
then return to Bukharest.
Slowly work you way towards Kiev,
isolating Odessa if possible. The
mission of the powerful 6-5-4 infantry is
to storm the gates of Kiev. Army Group
South needs Kiev as an air base in
order to advance further into Ukraine.
Once Kiev falls, nothing can stop the
panzers on the open steppes until the
Soviet defensive line forming along the
industrial cities of Kursk-Kharkov-
Dnepropetrovsk.
Depending on the Soviet resistance,
either link up with Army Group Center
for a final push to Moscow or
consolidate the industrial cities. Put
some pressure on Rostov sector, but
don’t over extend the spearhead as the
Axis armies will be stretched thin by the
huge conquered territories. Convert
necessary rails to provide precious air
bases in the south. If resources allow,
slowly squeeze the Soviet Black Sea
Fleet by minesweeping the ports of
Odessa and Sevastopol.
July 1998 13
It is within this framework of opening
moves that the following tips are
provided as a guide to grasp the
fundamentals of RFT.
1. Like all simulation of the Barbarossa
campaign, time is of the utmost
importance. Basically, the Axis player
has four months of good weather with
the fifth month, October, having a 50%
chance of being good, too. Given this
criteria, it is imperative to push the
Wehrmacht hard and furious. The Axis
player must grab as much territory as
possible, bypassing strong points. You
can always mop up the rear and blast
the stubborn defenders at your leisure
once the weather turns sour. Take a
page out of history, force march those
troops to grab strategic locations.
2. Drive the panzers relentlessly, deep
behind Soviet line, even if it means
some panzers will be out of supply. Just
make sure that that the Luftwaffe has
forward air bases within ten hexes to
provide defensive air cover. If the
Soviet air units want to suppress the
Luftwaffe, make them pay a heavy price.
If the Soviets want to challenge the
Luftwaffe, the odds are with the
Messerschmitts.
3. There is no need to convert every rail
hex. For Army Group Center, the main
rail line from hex II7 to Smolensk is a
must. A secondary line from Brest to
Minsk to Smolensk could help from turn
3 on. For Army Group North, the spur
from hex JJ12 thru Pskov is enough to
put pressure on Leningrad. Other units
can just use Tallin and the coastal
hexes to secure the northern flank. For
Army Group South, use the line from
Brest to hex S10, thru T11 to P15.
Make sure the city hexes of Kiev and
Vinnitsa are converted so as to provide
forward air bases.
4. Maximize the superior German
mobility and combined arms firepower.
A 6-4-6 panzer with air support is still a
+7 against most Soviet infantry or armor
in open terrain. A 8-6-6 panzer with air
is as good as the elite 6-5-6 infantry for
use in storming major cities and
fortresses. It’s a bit expensive, but use
it if have to. You can always use the
armor refit counters.
 14 The Boardgamer
Panzers On The Loose (Cont.)
5. Speaking of refit capability, maximize this
use. The Axis can refit two armor units per
turn. However, it is highly unlikely that the
panzers can be held out of action in the
opening months. So, refit the Romanian
armor, if damaged. As a rule of thumb, use
damaged panzers to attack instead of
rotating between fresh panzers. That way,
you can concentrate most of the damages
onto a few panzers and then refit them. By
the time they finish refitting, they can replace
their bloodied comrades on the front lines.
6. Use some panzers to convert forward rail
hexes. You only need a few panzer units to
attack, leaving the rest to convert all
necessary rails to link up with the main body
of the army. You still have the Exploitation
Phase to move again to encircle enemy
units, block rail junction, or form your lines.
The 3-2-6 infantry units are perfect for
converting the rear rail hexes, freeing the
main body of infantry for other critical tasks.
7. Depending on the weather and Soviet
defenses from turn 5 on, use the panzers not
only in offense, but in defense. Place
reserve markers on a few panzers to provide
a deterrent force and conduct counterattacks.
The best way to kill those Soviet shock
armies is to stay close to them and then blitz
attack them relentlessly. Conversely, the
shocks will stay away from the panzers as far
as possible. So, by placing panzers on
reserve, you can force the Soviet to make a
difficult decision. Attack with their best units,
the shocks, and risk annihilation, or use the
shocks somewhere else where the panzers
cannot get to them easily.
8. Do not worry if the Axis does not achieve
decisive victory by November 41. It is very
difficult to win in the first year given the vast
expanse of the steppes, the logistics
involved, and competent Soviet play. Abide
by your time and rebuild your strength. Form
a defense line against the Soviet winter
offensive. If you have to, retreat two hexes in
the sector where the Soviet firepower seems
the greatest. Given their slower movement
factors and rail conversions, two hexes per
turn will be enough to give the Axis armies
enough time to replace the damages and
form a more coherent line. Once the weather
turns fair, all those lost ground and Soviet
units will again be road kills. That’s another
reason for pushing the panzers hard during
the opening months, so that you can have
the territories to give up to lessen the
dreaded winter offensive.
To sum up, if enough effort is given in the
initial drives, the Axis armies should be able
to sweep deep into the Russian heartland. If
Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998
with careful play during the winter 4. No unit can respond into enemy air
months, the Axis armies should be interdiction hexes.
rebuilt and be powerful again. The
stage is then set to crush the vaulted 5. Reserve units can be moved in
Red Army and achieve a decisive either Exploitation Phase or Non-
victory. For one thing, there is less of Phasing Movement Phase.
Mother Russia to conquer as the
panzers are at least halfway to 6. Soviet reinforcements can appear
Moscow. on any hex adjacent to major cities
that is not in enemy zone of control.
Note: The following are important They can also appear on any red
reminders for players of RFT, some of partial edge hexes.
which are not clearly stated in the
official rules and errata. 7. Out of supply units can retreat into
and/or thru enemy controlled cities.
1. Air unit is out of supply if an enemy But for retreat due to combat, units
ground unit is adjacent to the airbase cannot retreat into enemy controlled
hex. cities.
2. Naval unit is still in supply even if 8. Unofficial: Air supply rule is
an enemy ground unit is adjacent to it. revised that an air unit can only air
supply two units in any two adjacent
3. An airbase is operational if the city hexes (ie. 50 mile corridor).
hex is connected by rail lines to a
supply source, or it is a supply source
port.
BOARDGAMER Back Issues
Each back issue is available at a cost of $3.50 apiece. If ordering in quantities
greater than one, each additional issue costs $3.00 each. Extra charges apply for
delivery outside of the United States.
Preview Issue - Circus Maximus (V), Candidate (S), War At Sea (R, S), 1830 (V),
Up Front (R), AREA News & Ratings (N)
Volume 1, Issue 1 - Avaloncon 1995 (N), Assassin (S), Panzer Leader (Sc),
AREA News & Ratings (N)
Volume 1, Issue 2 - Avaloncon 1995 (N), History Of The World (SR),
Panzerblitz/Leader (Sc, V), 1776 (Sc), AREA News & Ratings (N)
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Victory In The Pacific (N), Machiavelli (S), Starship Troopers (N),
Fortress Europa (SR), AREA News & Ratings (N)
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Attack Sub (S), Avaloncon 1996 (R & N), AREA News & Ratings (N)
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AREA News & Ratings (N)
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War At Sea (SR), AREA News & Ratings (N)
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Victory In The Pacific (N), AREA News & Ratings (N)
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Avaloncon 1997 (N), Pro Golf (SR), AREA News & Ratings (N)
Volume 3, Issue 1 - Squad Leader (N, S, Sc), We The People (S), Britannia (V),
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AREA News & Ratings (N)
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Title Bout (N), 1776 (V), Victory In The Pacific (V), AREA News (N)
Key: (H) = History; (N) = Narrative; (R) = Rules Clarifications; (S) = Strategy;
(Sc) = Scenario; (SR) = Series Replay; (V) = Variant
 The Boardgamer
Day Of The Jackal
ASSASSIN is a game where players
move their pawns all over the mapboard
trying to stay away from the assassin
while amassing a bunch of points from
their travels. In other words the basic
premise is one of flight. While this may
make for an exciting game for some
people, it does not for the more
wargame minded players of the hobby.
Then in the GENERAL Vol. 29, #3,
David Carry presented us with an
interesting variant for ASSASSIN where
every player is an assassin traveling
across Europe making hits, thus making
the game more competitive. However I
was not totally satisfied with this variant
and resolved to create another one
based on a different theme. After a brief
search I believe I found it in the story
"Day of the Jackal".
"Day of the Jackal", a novel by Frederich
Forsyth and a later motion picture based
on the same novel, is a story about an
assassination attempt on the life of
General Charles De Gaulle, a French
leader in World War Two and later
President of France. In the story an
assassin hired to kill De Gaulle is being
chased by the authorities as he slowly
makes his way to the assassination site
to complete his mission. Although the
story itself is fictional, it is based upon
facts from many of the real life
assassination attempts upon the French
leader in the latter part of his life. From
this story I got the concept for this new
variant.
Before going into the concept it would
be best explain the story line behind it.
As "Day of the Jackal" is set in the
1960's the background and setting for
the story is no longer relevant in the
present and therefore needs a little
updating which I will present here.
It is the 1990's and the Cold War has
been over for several years. Former
enemies are now friends and are
establishing closer ties and relations
than were possible just a few years
before. One major step in this process
is the application of membership in
NATO by many of the former East Bloc
European nations. There will be a
summit conference in the near future
Volume 3, Issue 3
A Variant For Assassin
by Alan Arvold
between the leaders of the NATO
member nations and the leaders of the
countries applying for membership.
During the time before and after this
meeting many of these leaders will be
making diplomatic tours throughout the
nations of Europe.
Many of the terrorist organizations that
have terrorized Europe for the past
several decades are now dissolving due
to the lack of funds and support which
they used to receive from the Eastern
Bloc. The few that are left are now
looking for prospective backers from
certain Middle East nations (i.e. Libya
and Iraq). One such organization has
conceived of a plan to assassinate one
of the world leaders who will be
attending the upcoming summit
conference in order to impress the
prospective backers. However as none
of its members have the training to pull
off such a hit, the organization has hired
a professional hit man, better known by
his code name of "Jackal", to do the job.
In a short amount of time Interpol
through its various intelligence nets has
pick up on this plot. However they do
not know who the intended target is nor
where the hit will take place. They have
little if any information on the Jackal and
they do not even know what he looks
like. Thus Interpol must spread its
agents all through out Europe in an
effort to catch the Jackal before he can
fulfill his mission. Thus in this variant
the players represent Interpol agents
who are searching for the Jackal.
1. New Concept of the Game
While ASSASSIN is still a game
primarily of travel, each player is now
moving with the mission of tracking
down and catching the Jackal before he
makes his hit.
2. Game Preparation
Game preparation follows the normal
rules with one exception. Starting with
one player (chosen randomly) and
moving clockwise around the board, one
player picks one city and places his
pawn in that city. No other player may
choose a city that has already been
chosen. These cities are merely the
July 1998 15
starting positions of each player and
serve no other function in the game.
(The presumption here is that Interpol
would start its search of the Jackal with
agents all over Europe in order to cover
more ground quickly.)
3. Using the Cards
DESTINATION, VEHICLE, DISTANCE,
and HAZARD Cards are used as
described in the original rules. (While
one would assume that Interpol would
always have the faster modes of
transportation available to their agents,
the slower VEHICLE and smaller
DISTANCE Cards could be looked at as
an abstract way of simulating the time
spent by agents following up leads,
conducting searches, and interrogating
witnesses in their search for the Jackal.)
The HIT Cards however should be used
in the following manner below and in the
following section.
ASSASSIN Card: The ASSASSIN Card
now has only one purpose, to identify
the player holding that card as the
Jackal. While in possession of this card
a player may not make any arrest
attempts (see below) on other players.
The player may however play cards in
response to arrest attempts on himself.
This card may be passed along to other
players as in the normal rules. (The
Jackal in this game is in the process of
making his way to the time and place of
the assassination attempt while trying to
shake the Interpol agents who are after
him. Therefore he will not be making
any hits along the way as this will draw
undue attention towards himself.)
ESPIONAGE AGENT Card: Any player,
including the one who is holding the
ASSASSIN Card, may play this card in
the same manner as in the normal rules.
There is one addition to the rules
though. If the inspected hand contains
the ASSASSIN Card, the inspecting
player announces to all the players in
the game that the player whose hand he
inspected is currently the Jackal. (It is
assumed that both Interpol and the
Jackal are using their underworld
connections to keep track of each
other's progress.)
 16 The Boardgamer
Day Of The Jackal (Cont.)
4. Making an Arrest
In this variant players do not make hits.
Instead they make arrest attempts
against other players in hopes of
catching the Jackal. An arrest attempt
follows the same rules as in making a hit
in the normal rules. When making an
arrest the arresting player must play
either a LEGITIMATE TARGET,
INTERPOL OFFICER, or a GUN Card.
Once played these cards are then
placed in the discard pile. The player
being arrested must now state truthfully
whether he has the ASSASSIN Card in
his hand or not. If the player being
arrested does not have the ASSASSIN
Card then the arrest attempt is null and
void and nobody scores any points.
(Interpol has made an arrest attempt
and has come up empty.) If the player
being arrested is the Jackal (i.e. has the
ASSASSIN Card) then that player may
play either a LEGITIMATE TARGET, an
I'M NOT HERE; I'M IN VIENNA, or and
INNOCENT BYSTANDER Card as a
response card to effect his escape and
void the arrest. If the player being
arrested does not play a card in
response to the arrest attempt then the
Jackal has been caught and the game
ends at that point.
LEGITIMATE TARGET Card: When a
player plays this card to make an arrest
attempt he scores 50 points if he
successfully arrests the Jackal. (In this
case the Jackal has been caught alive.)
The player who is the Jackal may play
this card in response to being arrested
and void the arrest. (This means that
the Jackal has managed to slip away
before Interpol could close in on him.)
In both cases the LEGITIMATE
TARGET Card is placed at the bottom of
the discard pile after being played.
INTERPOL OFFICER Card: This card
represents INTERPOL Hit Teams
whose mission is to take out the Jackal.
When a player plays this card to make
an arrest attempt he scores 100 points if
he successfully arrests the Jackal. (In
this case the Jackal has been shot.)
GUN Card: GUN Cards now have two
purposes:
A. You can hold on to them and play
them as an INTERPOL OFFICER Card
in an arrest attempt.
B. You can place them in the GUN
CARD boxes as soon as you draw them
to represent how much time is left in the
Volume 3, Issue 3
game. If a GUN Card is used for an
arrest attempt, after the attempt is over
the GUN Card is then placed in the
GUN CARD boxes. If the GUN Card is
drawn and you do not want to hold on to
it, you may immediately place it in the
GUN CARD boxes.
I'M NOT HERE; I'M IN VIENNA Card:
When a player who is the Jackal plays
this this card in response to being
arrested, not only is the arrest voided
but the player may move his pawn to
any city on the mapboard of his choice.
As in the regular game this card counts
as a DESTINATION Card for the player
at the end of the game.
INNOCENT BYSTANDER Card: The
player who is the Jackal may play this
card to void an arrest. If the arresting
player has played a LEGITIMATE
TARGET Card against the Jackal, then
that player subtracts 50 points from his
score. (Interpol has arrested the wrong
person thus causing it to get some bad
publicity as a result.) If the arresting
player has played an INTERPOL
OFFICER or a GUN Card against the
Jackal, then that player subtracts 100
points from his score. (Interpol has shot
the wrong person thus causing it to get
some very bad publicity as a result.)
5. Ending the Game
The game may end in one of three
ways:
A. When the Jackal has been arrested.
B. When the fourth GUN Card is placed
in the GUN CARD boxes.
C. When the last card is drawn from the
draw pile. As soon as one of these
conditions occur all play is stopped and
each player then tabulates his score.
6. Scoring
Score the game in this way:
A. Positive Points
+50 points for every DESTINATION a
player has visited.
+50 points if the player has
successfully arrested the Jackal.
+100 points if the player has
successfully shot the Jackal.
+200 points if the player has the
ASSASSIN Card and the game
ended under condition B or C listed
in the Ending the Game section
above. (This means that the Jackal
has made it and has carried out his
mission.)
July 1998
B. Negative Points
-50 points for every time a player
arrested the wrong person.
-100 points for every time a player has
shot the wrong person.
- All points if a player has the
ASSASSIN Card and the game
ended under condition A listed in the
Ending the Game section above. (As
the Jackal has been caught, he
obviously was not able to carry out
his mission.)
- The number of points equal to the
distance a player's pawn is away
from the city where the Jackal was at
the time the game ended divided by
ten. Obviously the Jackal himself
and any other player whose pawn is
in the same city as his will not have
to subtract any points.
C. No Points
*For holding any LEGITIMATE
TARGET Cards in your hand at the
end of the game.
The player with the highest number of
positive points is the winner of the
game.
Conclusion:
This variant will give ASSASSIN a
different point of view. Instead of
running from the assassin you are now
chasing him. You must stop him before
he carries out his mission. You know
what your mission is. Good luck.
AHIKS
International Wargamer’s
Society
The AHIKS International Wargamer’s
Society is a great resource for those
who do not have a good supply of FTF
opponents and desire quality PBM
competition.
AHIKS is an organization in transition.
It is still the best way to find reliable
opponents for Play-By-Mail. However,
it also is becoming an increasingly
better way to find quality, reliable
opponents for Play-By-Email.
For more information on AHIKS,
contact the BOARDGAMER. Or,
contact the AHIKS PBEM Coordinator
for the United States, Hank Burkhalter,
at the following email address:
ROLL_TIDE@mindspring.com
 The Boardgamer Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998 17
Advanced Squad Leader 2-Player Game
AREA Victory Claim Chit AREA Victory Claim Chit
_________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________
(winner’s name) (winner’s name)

_________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________
(AREA ID number) (AREA ID number)

_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
(signature) (signature)
HAS DEFEATED HAS DEFEATED

_________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________
(defeated player’s name) (defeated player’s name)

_________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________
(AREA ID number) (AREA ID number)

_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
(signature) (signature)

in a rated live pbm game of Advanced Squad Leader: in a rated live pbm game of:

_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
(Scenario Name and/or Number) (Name of Game)

_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
(Side of Winner) (Date) (Game Publishing Company)

_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________
(Play Balance Used - If Any) (Date)

Return this chit to: 1st Subsequent

Russ Gifford game vs. this opponent
Return this chit to: 1st Subsequent

320 E. 27th Street Glenn Petroski game vs. this opponent

South Sioux, NE 68776-3205 6829 23rd Avenue

SHANGRI@pionet.net Kenosha, WI 53143-1233
GELP@juno.com

Multi-Player Game AREA Victory Claim Chit

______________________________________ ______________________________________ _______________________________________
(Name of Winner #1) (AREA ID number) (Name of Defeated Player #1) (AREA ID Number) (Name of Defeated Player #4) (AREA ID Number)

______________________________________ ____________________________________ _______________________________________

(Number of opponents faced for first time) (Number of opponents faced for first time) (Number of opponents faced for first time)

______________________________________ ______________________________________ _______________________________________

(Signature) (Signature) (Signature)

______________________________________ ______________________________________ _______________________________________

(Name of Winner #2) (AREA ID number) (Name of Defeated Player #2) (AREA ID Number) (Name of Defeated Player #5) (AREA ID Number)

______________________________________ ______________________________________ _______________________________________

(Number of opponents faced for first time) (Number of opponents faced for first time) (Number of opponents faced for first time)

______________________________________ ______________________________________ _______________________________________

(Signature) (Signature) (Signature)

in a rated live pbm game of:

______________________________________
(Name of Game)
______________________________________
(Game Publishing Company)
______________________________________
(Date)
If more than 2 winners or 6 defeated
players, continue listing on another chit
and mark box in lower right corner.
______________________________________
(Name of Defeated Player #3) (AREA ID Number)
______________________________________
(Number of opponents faced for first time)
______________________________________
(Signature)
Return this chit to:
Glenn Petroski
6829 23rd Avenue
Kenosha, WI 53143-1233 (GELP@juno.com)
_______________________________________
(Name of Defeated Player #6) (AREA ID Number)
_______________________________________
(Number of opponents faced for first time)
_______________________________________
(Signature)
Check here if continued
on another chit.
 18 The Boardgamer
The British Receding
A New 1776 Scenario In The South - 1781
This is my new scenario for 1776 that
takes place in the Southernmost
colonies in 1781 at the same time the
Yorktown Campaign takes place in
Virginia. I think you will find it
challenging and exciting, with some
interesting innovations. I hope you all
dust off your copy of 1776 and give it a
try.
My next idea is to take The British
Receding from a stand alone scenario
and some time in the future figure a way
to combine it with the Yorktown
Campaign scenario as kind of a grand
scenario or a Short Campaign that will
include British and French Fleet action.
I am open to any suggestions that you
readers may have as to how to achieve
this combination.
I would like to take a moment to say
thank you to Rod Coffey for his
knowledge and patience in play testing
the scenario, and contributing his
valuable ideas in my writing of this
scenario.
The battles that took place during this
period included Guilford Courthouse,
Hobkirk Hill, Eutaw Spring, the sieges at
Ninety-Six and Augusta, and the many
smaller engagements that took place,
primarily small scale partisan attacks. If
you study this campaign, you will find
that the armies continued to shrink in
size both because troops were being
sent to a new theater in Virginia, and
that after four years of fighting the south
had reached its limits of both men and
resources in supporting both sides in
this war. Partisan activity was taking an
increasingly important role in the fighting
because a number of strong leaders had
developed and this type of fighting does
not need as many men as conventional
fighting. This type of fighting leads to a
more personal type of fighting. Families
were divides and there was little quarter
asked or given on either side.
For those who enjoy the unexpected,
yes, this is historically accurate, Augusta
was garrisoned by over 300 Tories and
300 Creek Indians. Marion, Sumter,
Pickins and Lee were very adept at
picking off small garrisons. Aside from
Augusta, the Americans swept up small
British or Tory garrisons at Georgetown,
Volume 3, Issue 3
by Jim Lawler
Fort Watson, Orangeburg, Fort Mott and
Granby and others in this campaign.
The problems faced by the British in the
southern colonies at this time, were that
they did not have enough men to both
garrison all the important and strategic
towns and still have a mobile force
capable in dealing with Greene’s army
of Continentals or the partisans. The
American primary problem was that they
couldn’t raise enough disciplined troops
to effectively assault British strongholds
or win an out right victory in battle.
Neither side had adequate supplies and
there is likely going to be a shortage of
leaders for both sides, particularly for
the British later in the scenario. By the
end of November, Greene and the
partisans had freed the better part of
three colonies from British control. The
British were clinging only to a couple of
coastal cities.
Historical Background
After the American disaster at Camden
in August of 1780, which saw the death
of General Baron Jean DeKalb, the
destruction of the American Army in the
South, and the disgrace of General
Horatio Gates, American fortunes in the
southern colonies were at their nadir.
All that remained of American resistance
in the South was a small demoralized
army and some very effective partisan
leaders like Francis Marion, Andrew
Pickins and Thomas Sumter. They
wer e ai ded by som e t ough
b a c k wo o d s m en i r r eg u l a r s f r om
Kentucky who won a surprising victory,
killing General Frasier and destroying
his entire force at Kings Mountain in
October of 1780.
Congress was now willing to listen to
General Washington and appointed
General Nathanael Greene as the head
of the Southern theater. To assist
Greene in rebuilding the Southern army,
W ashington gave Gr eene the
organizational services of General
Baron Friedrich Von Steuben and
Lighthorse Harry Lee and his Legion of
100 Dragoons and 180 light infantry.
As Greene headed south, Baron von
Steuben stayed in Virginia and with the
aid of Governor Thomas Jefferson,
started raising and training new
July 1998
Continental Army units. They also were
very busy collecting supplies and
sending these reinforcements to
Greene’s army in the Carolinas. In
December of 1780, Greene arrived in
Charlotte, relieved Gates, and took
command of an army with a paper
strength of 2,450 men but in reality
could field less than 1,500 men less
than half of which were Continentals.
Greene did receive one pleasant
surprise. Daniel Morgan had finally
been promoted to Brigadier General and
would act as his second in command.
After the disaster at Camden, Morgan
had put his serious maladies behind him
and forgot his feud with Congress and
offered his services to a grateful Gates.
Gates and Washington then strongly
petitioned Congress to grant the long
overdue promotion.
Greene’s first problem had to be getting
his supply situation in order and stop the
uncontrolled foraging and plundering
that was alienating the local populace.
Greene took a big gamble, taking over
half his troops to the supply rich area
around Cheraw. He sent Morgan with
the remainder, about 600 of the armies
best troops, to go to western South
Carolina, where he was to rally the
militia and threaten the important
fortified post at Ninety-Six.
To counter this move, General
Cornwallis detached Banister Tarleton
with 1,100 troops to destroy Morgan.
General Morgan’s army had grown to
about 1,100 men also with the addition
of about 500 local militia and partisans,
the best of which were led by Andrew
Pickens.
Morgan won a brilliant victory at
Cowpens destroying Tarleton’s force on
January 17. Morgan understood the
strengths and weaknesses of his militia
better than nearly any other commander
in the war. He knew they would run
when faced with a direct attack by
British regulars. He set up three lines of
troops. The first two were militia that
only had to fire three rounds and then
they could withdraw. This they were
willing to do.
Tarleton had thought things were going
well after he broke the second line of
 The Boardgamer
The British Receding (Cont.)
militia, although the Americans were
hitting an extraordinarily high percent of
his officers. Tarleton continued his
advance when disaster struck on both
flanks. Morgan took a calculated risk
when he chose his field of battle.
Placing a river behind his army forced
the retreating militia to stop behind a hill
where Morgan was able to rally them
and have them advance on the hotly
engaged British flank. Colonel
Washington’s Dragoons had scattered
the British cavalry and hit Tarlatan’s
other flank. The trap was sprung and
800 British were captured, over 200 of
which were wounded, to go with over
100 dead. Tarleton escaped with only
about 200 dragoons.
While Morgan had won a resounding
victory, he was well aware that he was
still in dire peril. He knew Cornwallis
would have to avenge this defeat. He
forced his tired men to gather their
wounded and booty and start moving
North as hour after the battle was over.
The army’s speed was slowed by the
800 prisoners. That foresight saved his
army as Cornwallis with over 3,000 men
was on the move at dawn on January
19th. The race was on. Greene joined
Morgan on the 30th at the Catawba
River. Greene, showing great foresight,
had ordered his engineers and
quartermaster to assemble all available
boats on the lower Dan River on the
23rd of January, assuming that he might
be chased by Cornwallis all the way to
Virginia.
To increase his speed, Cornwallis
burned all of his armies non essential
supplies, including his personal gear.
The Americans had a number of close
calls and some heavy rear guard
skirmishes but finally crossed the Dan
River on February 14th on boats
previously collected. Cornwallis was
now in big trouble. He was 300 miles
from his supply base in Camden and
250 miles from Wilmington. He
withdrew to Hillsboro.
Greene briefly rested his forces and
r ec ei ved som e m uch need ed
reinforcements and supplies. By March
14th, he was back at Guilford
Courthouse with an army of 4,300 men,
minus General Morgan who could not
continue to campaign due to his poor
health. Cornwallis with about 2,000
men marched to attack the Continentals
on the 15th. Greene tried to use the
Volume 3, Issue 3
same tactics that Morgan had used at
Cowpens, allowing the militia to retreat
after they fired three rounds. In a hard
fought battle, the British won the field
but sustained over 500 casualties.
Cornwallis with barely 1,400 men had to
retreat to Cross Creek and then to
Wilmington which he reached on April
7th. All of North Carolina except for the
coast was back in American hands.
Greene decided it was time to reinvade
South Carolina. The British had about
8,000 troops stationed there but most
were tied down in garrisons defending
towns. Rawdon’s entire mobile force
was only about 1,500 men. Cornwallis
looked at the situation and decided that
renewing the campaign against Greene
in South Carolina was too dangerous as
he was short on supplies and chasing
Greene around the Carolinas would
reestablish the same situation that led to
the disastrous Cowpens, Guilford Court
House campaign. He needed a decisive
battle and decided his best chance of
obtaining one would be to join Major
General William Phillips and Brigadier
General Benedict Arnold in the field in
Virginia. He thought that invading
Virginia might also draw Greene north.
Cornwallis left for Virginia from
Wilmington with 1.400 men on April 24th
to meet his destiny at Yorktown.
On April 25th as Greene was positioning
his army of 1,400 men to take Camden,
he was surprised by Lord Rawdon and
his army of about 1,000 men at his
position at Hobkirk’s Hill. In a bloody
battle that saw some of Greene’s best
troops break, Greene’s army was again
forced from the field. Rawdon’s small
army had received 260 casualties and
he now faced the same problem
Cornwallis had. He had won a battle but
could not hold the area he now held, or
take the offensive against the
Americans due to a lack of troops.
Rawdon abandoned Camden on May
10th. He also sent messages to the
garrisons at Fort Granby (Columbia) and
Ninety-Six to destroy their fortifications
and consolidate south and west of the
Santee River. The messages were
intercepted and the outposts remained
exposed.
While Greene kept pressuring Rawdon,
partisans like Sumter and Marion kept
picking off British garrisons. Fort Motte
was captured on May 12th by Harry
Lee’s Legion and Swamp Fox Marion
July 1998 19
while Thom as Sumter captured
Orangeburg on the 11th. Lee forced the
British withdrawal of Fort Granby on
May 15th. Andrew Pickins and Lee
captured Augusta, Georgia on June 6th
with the valuable aid of a siege tower
suggested by one of Marion’s men
Hezekiah Maham, where riflemen were
posted at the top of the tower to pick off
the garrison. Augusta was defended by
a garrison of 330 Tories and 300 Creeks
and was taken only after ten days of
very hard fighting.
W ith Rawdon retreating toward
Charleston and the partisans picking off
small garrisons, Greene moved to free
the entire western part of the state by
capturing the fort at Ninety-Six. Greene
reached the fort with about 1,000
Continentals and a small force of militia
and started regular siege operations
directed by his chief engineer Thaddeus
Kosciuszko on May 21. Ninety-Six was
defended by 350 Tory regulars and 200
experienced South Carolina militia
under the command of Colonel Cruger,
an extremely able Loyalist officer.
Cruger defeated American attempts of
building Mahem siege towers by raising
his own ramparts with sand bags and
firing flaming arrows at the roofs of the
buildings by removing the roofs.
Greene was forced to try conventional
siege techniques running parallels from
both the east and west of the fort and
cutting off their water supply.
Greene was under severe tim e
constraints. British reinforcements had
arrived in Charleston on June 3rd, and
Rawdon set out to relieve Ninety-Six on
June 7th with 2,000 good troops.
Greene tried an assault on the fort on
the 18th of June. It was only partially
successful after a hard fight. Greene
lifted the siege after he concluded he
could not take the fort before Rawdon
arrived. Rawdon arrived the next day,
his troops exhausted from force
marching across South Carolina in the
broiling sun. Rawdon was forced to rest
his troops and not pursue Greene. At
this time he ascertained the British could
no longer hold the fort. He had to
destroy the fort and returned to
Charleston in July. By August, Rawdon
became seriously ill and had to return to
England leaving command to Lieutenant
Colonel Alaxander Stewart.
After resting his army during the severe
summer heat at High Hills on the Santee
 20 The Boardgamer Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998

THE BRITISH RECEDING - 1781

AT START: MARCH 1781
BRITISH: AMERICAN:
Wilmington: Leader B, 2/BR Hillsboro: Greene, Leader A, 4/CA,
Ramsay’s Mill: Cornwallis, Leslie, 4/BR, 1/ 1/RMD, 6/RM, 1 Supply
TM, 1/TMD, 1 Supply M20 or M21: Marion, 1/RM
Orangeburg: Lord Rawdon, 3/BR Ramseur’s Mill: Sumner, 1/RM
Charleston: Leader A, 4/BR, 1 Supply, 1 Art. Within one hex of
Savannah: 2/BR Ft. Prince George: 1/RMD
Augusta: 1/TM, 1/I
Ninety Six: 1/BR
Camden: 1/BR
Cheraw: 1/TM
Ft. Watson: Watson, 1/TMD

REINFORCEMENT / TIME RECORD TRACK

1/BR
Charleston
BRITISH 1/BR 1/BR 1/BR
Charleston 1/TM * Charleston Charleston
South
Move First Carolina

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)

MAR. APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEP. OCT. NOV.
1781 1781 1781 1781 1781 1781 1781 1781 1781

1/RM **
AMERICA 1/RM ** 1/RM ** South 1/RM **
N 1 Supply ** Hillsboro Carolina Georgia
with Greene

* British Special Reinforcement Notes: ** American Special Reinforcement Notes:

1/TM in North Carolina any turn there is no CA in the state. This
event takes place twice during the scenario, but not during
succeeding months.
1/TM in South Carolina any turn there is no CA in the state, starting in
July. This event takes place twice, not during succeeding months.
Cornwallis, Leslie and 3/BR must cross into Virginia on the June turn
and may not return to North Carolina. If any of these units do not
leave on time, the American player removes them at the start of
his June turn and is awarded 2 VP’s.
1/RM in North Carolina in May only if the Americans control Hillsboro.
1/RM in July with Greene, only if Greene is present in South Carolina
at the start of the American turn.
1/RM in September with any Continental Regular force in Georgia
only if there are Continental Regulars in Georgia at the start of the
month.
1/RM when the Americans control 6 VP in towns at the end of turn.
1 Continental Supply after any three victory point towns are in the
hands of the Americans at the start of a turn.

AUTOMATIC VICTORY CONDITIONS SPECIAL RULES

BRITISH: If the British ever control all seven Red Star towns at the start 1) All units may start the scenario entrenched.
of one of their turns, they automatically win. 2) Forced March.
3) Partisan Rules must be used (See Boardgamer Vol. 2 Issue 1)
AMERICAN: If the Americans control Charleston at the start of one of 4) Bateaux.
their turns, they automatically win. 5) Place Commerce Counters in the non star victory point towns
of Orangeburg, Georgetown, Ft. Wilson, Cross Creek and
VICTORY CONDITIONS Cheraw.
6) Control of Red Star cities, at least one unit. Wilmington is
At the end of the scenario, the British win if they control 15 Victory Points
considered a red star city.
in cities or towns. The Americans win if they control 8 Victory Points in
7) If no units are presently stationed there, Control of Commerce
cities or towns. Anything else is a draw.
Counters town is determined by the last unit that ended their
Victory Points are awarded as follows: turn in the area.
Charleston 5 Points Cheraw 1 Point 8) When units from both sides are present in a victory point town,
Wilmington 3 Points Orangeburg 1 Point the unit that is inside a Fort or behind entrenchments is
Savannah 2 Points Hillsboro 1 Point considered to be in control. If there is no fort or
Camden 2 Points Augusta 1 Point entrenchment’s, then neither side controls the town.
Ft. Wilson 1 Point Ninety Six 1 Point 9) Commerce counters represent some of the many small
Georgetown 1 Point Cross Creek 1 Point garrisons placed around the state that were necessary to
. control the colony.
AREA OF PLAY: Southern Map, using all of North and South * Note: You need five Commerce counters for this scenario. You
Carolina and Georgia. will have to substitute another piece for the fifth Commerce
counter.
 The Boardgamer Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998 21

The British Receding (Cont.)

River, Greene was on the move again in
the beginning of September. On
September 8th, the two small armies
met at Eutaw Springs. Greene had
early success in this bitterly contested
battle and was on the brink of victory
when his troops lost their discipline and
started looting the British baggage
camp. Major Marjoribanks, Stewart’s
second in command, led a counter
attack that drove the Americans from
the field. As in other victories, the cost
to the British was too high, with more
than 40 percent of the troops involved
killed, wounded or missing. They had to
retreat to Charleston, never offering
battle again until the end of the war.
Greene, after giving his army a brief
rest, marched on Charleston and
established a blockade on the last
British strong hold in South Carolina.
Additional Variants
Leader Variant: For those who enjoy
playing with additional Leaders, you can
try the following. Banister Tarlatan’s
force had just been destroyed by Daniel
Morgan at Cowpens, which takes place
before the start of this scenario. Add
Tarlatan to Cornwallis at start of game.
He must exit Virginia with Cornwallis.
Add Morgan to Greene. Morgan had to
retire from active duty due to illness.
Roll one die at the start of the American
turn. Remove Morgan from the game
on a roll of 6.
Scoring Variant: For those of you who
do not like the way the last turn typically
leads to a scattering of forces in 1776,
here is an alternate method of gaining
victory points throughout the scenario.
Aside from the victory points awarded
on the last turn, the following VP’s will
be awarded at the end of July and
September. One victory point each will
be awarded in July for control of
Camden, Hillsboro, Cross Creek and
Cheraw. In September VP’s are
awarded for the control of Wilmington,
Augusta, Camden and Georgetown.
If this variant is used, the American
victory point total is raised to 12 VP’s
and the British victory point total is
raised to 19 VP’s.

A 1776 Scenario At Avaloncon
I could have entitled this “A New
Scenario for 1776”, but I was afraid that
would scare off people like me who are
not interested in scenarios that did not
come with the game. This scenario was
played the last two years at Avaloncon
in the final round.
The Saratoga Scenario has been played
for a few years now at Avaloncon in the
rounds up to the Championship game.
For the past two years that final round
was played using a suggestion from
Rob Beyma, one of the original play
testers of 1776. Right now there is not a
name for it; I’m open for suggestions.
This scenario uses all the rules of the
Campaign Game, but is shorter. At
Avaloncon we used only the first year of
the game, but we could have used 9
months or 15 months. The scenario is
very flexible. The rules are as follows.
Each player bids to be the British. This
could be a sealed bid, but at Avaloncon
we used an auction. The bids
correspond to the number of Strategic
Towns the British player contracts to
hold at the end of the scenario. These
bids may be modified. For instance, at
Avaloncon we say Montreal and Quebec
count, even though neither is a listed
Strategic Town. Some players may
want to assign more value to New York
1776 Revisited
by Steve Packwood
or to Philadelphia, or to controlling an hours for Saratoga, and I’m guessing
area. that not everyone would want to spend
more time on this tournament. I could
As long as it is agreed upon before be wrong.
bidding, these variations would just
affect how high people are willing to bid For the next Avaloncon (1998), 1776 will
to be the British. Optional rules work start at 5 PM Wednesday. It will be the
similarly. For instance, I would be same as the last two, the Saratoga
willing to bid higher without the Variable Scenario rounds until the championship
Garrison Rule (Optional Rule V) than game. Saratoga will have Bateau and
with it. I would bid higher with 12 MO, Force March Optional Rules and the
than with 9. Variable Transport Capacity Rule for
Bateau (Optional IV).
I like the Saratoga Scenario. It is
reasonably balanced and nice and Dust off those 1776 sets. I know there
short, but the Campaign Game adds so are a lot out there. Every time I play,
much more. Up until Rob’s suggestion someone comes by and says “I haven’t
(which I received through Mark Miklos, a played that in years”. Also, 1776 was
previous winner of 1776), I thought that #16 on the AH All-time Best Sellers List
the only good way to play 1776 was (in 1979). Try out this scenario at home
short and slightly unbalanced, or long. and tell me what you think.
This new scenario lets you play with all
the Campaign Game rules you want Steve Packwood
(including Optionals) but with maybe 2170 James St.
half the time invested. Eagan, MN 55122
The final round in the last two
Avaloncon 1776 tournaments used this 1776
scenario with the British bidding 12. 16 Active Players Nov. 20, 1997
They made their bids both times, playing
1. Stephen Packwood 2050 EG-D7
one year with all Optional rules except
2. Michael Sincavage 1863 DE-C6
inverted counters and Decoys. The
3. Mark Miklos 1821 EF-D6
participants enjoyed both games 4. Rod Coffey 1685 BC-B7
immensely. I wouldn’t mind if the whole 5. James McAden 1598 ABC-7
tournament was played this way, but the 6. Scott Bowling 1521 AB-A7
rounds would last longer than the 2-3 7. John Barrett 1508 AB-B7
 22 The Boardgamer
Deciphering The Panzerblitz Rules
As all players of Panzerblitz have
encountered, the rules are sometimes
unclear in meaning. I will attempt to
bring the ambiguities to light by
clarifying all such occurrences. This will
establish a precedence for rulings which
will be made at Avaloncon. These are
answers to questions which may or may
not appear on the rear page of the
Wargamer’s Guide. This guide is highly
recommended for all Panzerblitz
players.
MAPBOARD
#1: All half-hexes are playable and
count towards victory conditions in
situations which include terrain in the
victory conditions.
#2: When required to setup on a
specific board, a unit cannot be in a half-
hex of that board and an adjoining
board. The unit must start on a whole
hex or a half-hex of that particular board
alone.
#3: If victory conditions require units to
be on a particular board, they cannot be
on a half-hex of that board and an
adjoining board. They must be on a
whole hex or a half-hex of that particular
board alone.
#4: In scenarios which require units to
exit the mapboard, a unit must expend
the terrain movement cost of the last
hex on the board that it exited from.
Example: if a unit left board 2 at hex
EE1, it would need three additional
movement points to exit the board due
to exiting from a slope hex.
#5: No vehicular unit can move directly
from 1BB10 to 1AA10 or 1BB11, it must
first exit the swamp to 1AA9. Non-
vehicular units can make that move due
to them being allowed in the swamp
without the use of the road.
#6: Hex 2G10 is considered a full road
hex. When entering this hex from
another road or off board the MF cost is
1/2.
Volume 3, Issue 3
Revised 7-17-97
by Dave Giordano
#7: Vehicular units may not move from
hex 1DD9-1DD8, 1EE8-1DD8 or 1EE8-
1EE7. Vehicular units must first exit the
swamp at 1FF8.
UNIT COUNTERS
#1: Cavalry are classified as vehicles
for TEC purposes. They may, however,
cross green hex sides, unlike other
vehicles. They may not enter swamps
except on roads and they may not stack
with other vehicle units on swamp/road
hexes. They must move before any
non-vehicular units move. They may
not make Overrun attacks.
#2: Cavalry are classified as non-
armored targets on the WEC. The note
on the Unit Identification Table should
include Cavalry with Wagons & Trucks.
If Cavalry are in a town, they would then
be armored targets.
#3: Cavalry may never transport
another unit and a Cavalry unit cannot
be transported.
MOVING UNITS
#1: When moving units, all vehicular
units must move before moving any
non-vehicular units. This is only stated
in the Sequence of Play section of the
rules and not under ‘How to Move
Units’.
#2: Cavalry, Wagon and all units with a
movement factor of 1 may always move
1 hex regardless of terrain.
Example: A wagon unit can move
directly from a gully to a slope hex but
no further that turn.
#3: When entering the mapboard all
units enter a road hex at a MF cost of
1/2. This is due to all units being lined
up individually and unstacked off board.
This stays consistent with the rules
concerning exiting the mapboard.
TRANSPORTING UNITS
#1: If a passenger unit being
transported by an armored vehicle is
attacked and dispersed it must be
unloaded. If this causes the hex to be
overstacked, the passenger unit that
July 1998
was dispersed is eliminated. The
armored vehicle and other units in the
hex would be unaffected.
#2: A passenger unit being transported
by an armored vehicle in a town hex
cannot be attacked separately from the
armored vehicle due to town defense
which requires all units in a town hex to
be attacked together. In this case the
passenger will be ignored and the
armored vehicles defense factor will be
used.
ROAD MOVEMENT
#1: This is a major flaw in the game, so
I’m going to devote quite a bit of space
here covering it. First of all, under Road
Movem ent, paragraph D and E
contradict each other because ’D’ states
“units may not move through or ONTO
other units at the road movement rate”
then ‘E’ states”a unit could move ONTO
a unit on a swamp road hex and move
off in the next turn”. The problem here
is if two units were stacked on a swamp
road hex they would be off-road due to
being stacked, this is OK for non-
vehicular units, which are allowed in
swamps.
For vehicular units this is a problem, as
they are not allowed to stack with other
vehicular units on swamp/road hexes
because they would be off-road, so we
know that’s not possible.
Now how about vehicular units stacked
with non-vehicular units on swamp/road
hexes. When reading all of paragraph
‘E’ the answer is no because the other
terrain in the hex is a swamp and
vehicular units are not allowed in
swamps except on roads and being
stacked on a road is considered off-
road. Paragraph ‘F’ states they can
move at the non-road movement rate,
but this would not be allowed in a
swamp because again the vehicular unit
must be on a road moving at the road
movement rate to traverse a swamp.
So what do we do to straighten this
mess out? The first thing we have to
remember is this is a game we want to
be playable. So the rules are as follows:
 The Boardgamer
Deciphering The Panzerblitz Rules (Cont.)
A: Non-vehicular units may stack
together on a swamp/road hex, but not
travel at the road movement rate.
B: Vehicular units cannot stack with
other vehicular units on swamp/road
hexes at any time.
C: Vehicular units may stack with
non-vehicular units on swamp/road
hexes, but not travel at the road
movement rate. This rule is to allow
loading of non-vehicular units on
swamp/road hexes.
D: Vehicular units may move ONTO
but not THROUGH non-vehicular
units on swamp/road hexes.
#2: A unit can cross a green hexside to
enter a hex that has a unit in it when
using the road. Movement costs are 1
MP to enter that hex and the non-road
movement cost to enter the next hex;
this is the ‘passing maneuver’. The
reason for this is the road gets you
through the green hex side and into the
hex with the other unit. If the second
hex in the ‘passing maneuver’ has a
green hex side to cross in order to enter
that hex, then at that point the unit must
leave the road to get by that hexside.
A unit cannot cross a green hexside
from a hex with another unit in it. This is
due to units being stacked and
considered off-road. This is consistent
with the rules on Wrecks and Blocks on
road/woods hexes. In both cases it
states “a unit cannot cross a green
hexside from a road hex with a Block/
Wreck in it”.
Example: There are friendly units at
1V8 & 1W7, a unit travels down the road
to 1U8. The unit may enter 1V8 at a
cost of 1 MP but cannot enter 1W7
along the road due to being stacked and
off-road in 1V8.
#3: What is the cost of moving from a
town hex to a clear road hex? If you
start the turn in the hex unstacked, cost
is 1/2 MP. If moving from a town hex
with another unit in it, the cost is 1 MP
plus the non-road movement cost for the
next hex. This is because if the unit is
stacked it is considered off-road and
therefore must expend the full non-road
movement rate for the first road hex
Volume 3, Issue 3
entered after being stacked. This is
consistent with paragraph ‘E’ of the road
movement rules.
COMBAT
#1: To determine the ‘weakest’ unit in a
stack when making a selective or
multiple attack the actual odds are used.
Example: An Su152 attacks a hex with
two German rifles and a security, odds
are 8-1 vs security and 5-1 versus either
rifle. The Su152 must attack the
security unit first.
#2: A unit must have an exit hex to
make an Overrun attack. You cannot
Overrun a unit on a half hex that does
not join another board. The exception to
this is if victory conditions allow units to
exit the mapboard, you may execute the
Overrun and exit the mapboard,
provided the unit has enough MF to
execute the overrun and exit the board
at the clear terrain movement cost of 1.
#3: Units may not use the ROAD or
TOWN movement rate and execute a
CAT attack. A unit executing a CAT
attack may not move more than one hex
in that turn.
#4: The maximum increase in odds is
+1 regardless of how many engineers
are involved in the attack. The engineer
must be stacked with another type of
infantry or cavalry, not with another
engineer unit. If two engineers are
stacked without another infantry or
cavalry the odds do not increase.
#5: When executing a CAT attack all
units involved must attack the same
hex. Units are not allowed to split their
attack factor between two hexes.
Paragraph ‘A’ under CAT attack pertains
to the surrounding units which must be
in one or more of the six surrounding
hexes.
WEAPONS EFFECTIVENESS CHART
#1: If a unit’s attack factor is less than 1
due to terrain, weapon type, and/or
target type it may not execute the
attack.
Example: A German 81mm mortar tries
to execute an attack against a Soviet
halftrack on a slope 7 hexes away. The
July 1998 23
mortar is halved once to 1 due to the
slope and halved again to 0 due to an
‘M’ class weapon firing at an armored
target over half range. The attack is not
allowed. Remember fractions are lost
individually, so when halving 3 it drops
to 1, and halving 1 drops to zero.
LOS/LOF
#1: To determine the LOS/LOF players
should adopt the Optional Real Space
Line of Sight Determination as the
standard rule. All tournament play uses
this rule and it will benefit players to
become accustomed with it.
HILL & SLOPE DEFENSE
#1: Attacking units on slopes are halved
when firing at units on hilltops, even
when adjacent.
#2: Question #2 under Obstacles and
Elevation on the rear cover of the
Wargamer’s Guide is incorrect. When
firing from a slope hex to another slope
hex, brown hexsides do block the LOS,
except when the units are adjacent. In
this case the attack is halved due to the
brown hex side.
WRECKAGE
#1: A Wreck on a hex that has a road
crossing a ‘Ford” negates the road in
that hex, but the ‘Ford’ is still treated as
clear terrain.
FORTIFICATIONS
#1: Units with a MF of 0 may still be
repositioned to be under or on top of the
Fortification during the movement
portion of a player’s turn. There is no
movement cost to do this. Units may
not be repositioned in this way if they
have executed an attack during the
combat portion of the player’s turn.
QUESTIONS
#1: If you need an answer to any
Panzerblitz question that is unclear you
can send a SASE and contact me at:
Dave Giordano
4 Wade Avenue
Carney’s Point, NJ 08069
(609) 299-6725
 24 The Boardgamer Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998

March Madness Series Replays

Ohio State ‘62 vs Florida ‘94; Jacksonville ‘70 vs Cincinnati ‘63
by Keith Hunsinger and Bruce Monnin
When Keith and I decided to try a March Ohio State ‘62 vs Florida ‘94 UF Plays (D) Pressure Defense - LF
Madness series replay, the first UF Uses Coaches Move
questions were which teams should we Ohio State 1962 (OSU) UF Plays (D) Key Steal - RG
select and also what format should we C - Jerry Lucas - A
lose. We decided on a four team LF - John Havilcek - B Clock = 19
tournament, which will provide a nice RF - Douglas McDonald - E
best 2 out of 3 format. Next we had to LG - Mel Nowell - D OSU Discards (C) Injury
pick the teams. We decided to choose RG - Richard Reasbeck - E OSU Draws (O) Hot Shooter
four teams with the same rating. Bench - C
Although any veteran March Madness Defense - B UF Discards (C) Full Court Press
player can tell you that the rating is only Fred Taylor - 2 Coaches Moves UF Draws (D) Pressure Defense
a partial indicator of the quality of a
team, it is still a good place to start. Initial Card Draw: Clock = 18
(C) Injury
Since I am from Ohio (and a big (C) Four Corner Stall OSU Must Resolve LG Position
Cincinnati fan) and Keith is originally (C) Tight Man To Man Modifiers:
from Florida (and a South Florida fan, (C) Uptempo Game OSU: +1(Pick & Roll)
which is unfortunately not represented in (O) Pick & Roll Scoring Rolls:
the game) we were drawn to the teams (O) Back Door Mel Nowell (OSU) = 6+1 = 9 points
with a rating of 84. I chose Cincinnati (D) Double Team Craig Brown (UF) = 4 = 8 points
1963 and Ohio State 1962, while Keith
chose Jacksonville 1970 and Florida Since I believe the game should be Score: OSU 9, UF 8
1994. close with no obvious favorite, the
various tempo related cards are of no UF Must Resolve Bench
The first game will be Ohio State vs use to me. So, I will probably discard all No Modifiers - Scoring Rolls:
Florida. Ohio State has more offensive four coaching cards. Not a great hand Bench (OSU) = 4 = 7 points
firepower, but it is concentrated in the to start with. Bench (UF) = 2 = 7 points
Center and Left Forward positions,
which usually get resolved late. This Florida 1994 (UF) UF takes its Timeout:
gives the opponent plenty of time to C - Andrew DeClerq - E New Scoring Rolls:
place defensive cards opposite these LF - Dametri Hill - D Bench (OSU) = 4 = 7 points
players. Meanwhile, Florida’s offense is RF - Brian Thompson - F Bench (UF) = 1 = 4 points
in the Guard and Bench positions, which LG - Craig Brown - C
get resolved early. Florida also has an RG - Dan Cross - C Score: OSU 16, UF 12
‘A’ defense which is better than Ohio Bench - B
State’s “B” defense. Defense - A UF uses Coaches Move:
Lon Kruger - 2 Coaches Moves UF Plays (D) Pressure Defense - C
The second game is a matchup of
Jacksonville’s offensive firepower Initial Card Draw: Clock = 17
against Cincinnati’s ‘A’ defense, as well (C) Full Court Press
as Cincinnati’s comparatively anemic (C) Full Court Press OSU Plays (O) Hot Shooter - RG
offense against Jacksonville’s porous ‘C’ (O) Alley Oop OSU Uses Coaches Move
defense. Both teams’ top scorer is a big (D) Pressure Defense OSU Discards Four Corner Stall
man, so expect plenty of defensive (D) Key Steal OSU Draws Boxing Out
car ds t o be pl ayed on bot h (D) Forcing Turnovers
Jacksonville’s Artis Gilmore and (D) Controlling The Boards UF Must Resolve C Position
Cincinnati’s Ron Bonham. Modifiers:
Just what I need, two identical coaching OSU: -1 Letter Grade (Pressure Def.)
Only these two games will be played cards and four defensive cards. I’ll have Scoring Rolls:
now. Maybe we’ll kick out the to try to keep the score down. His big Jerry Lucas (OSU) = 4 = 10 points
championship game Tuesday night on scorers are his big men so I should be Andrew DeClerq (UF) = 4 = 4 points
the eve of Avaloncon. able to get cards against them.
Score: OSU 26, UF 16
The cards listed throughout the series Clock = 20
replays will have a (C) for a coaching Clock = 16
card, (O) for an offense card and a (D) OSU Plays (O) Pick & Roll - LG
for a defense card. OSU Uses Coaches Move
OSU Plays (O) Back Door - LF
 The Boardgamer
March Madness Series Replays (Cont.)
OSU Must Resolve RG Position
Modifiers:
OSU: -1 (Key Steal)
OSU: + Die Roll (Hot Shooter)
UF: +1 (Key Steal)
Scoring Rolls:
Richard Reasbeck (OSU):
Scoring Roll = 1-1 = 0 points
Bonus Roll = 2 points; 2 points total
Dan Cross (UF) = 3+1 = 8 points
Score: OSU 28, UF 24
UF Discards (C) Full Court Press
UF Draws (D) Dogging Opponent
Clock = 15
OSU Must Resolve LF Position
Modifiers:
OSU: -1 Letter Grade (Pressure Def.)
OSU: +1 (Back Door)
Scoring Rolls:
John Havilcek (OSU) = 5+1 = 11 points
Dametri Hill (UF) = 6 = 9 points
Score: OSU 39, UF 33
UF Discards (D) Controlling the Boards
UF Draws (O) Super Effort
Clock = 14
OSU Discards (C) Uptempo Game
OSU Draws (C) Zone Defense
UF Discards (D) Dogging Opponent
UF Draws (D) Boxing Out
Clock = 13
OSU Discards (D) Boxing Out
OSU Draws (O) Three Pointer
UF Discards (D) Boxing Out
UF Draws (D) Blocked Shot
Clock = 12
OSU Discards (C) Tight Man To Man
OSU Draws (D) Altered Shot
UF Discards (D) Blocked Shot
UF Draws (O) Posting Up
Clock = 11
OSU Chooses To Resolve RF Position
No Modifiers - Scoring Rolls:
Douglas McDonald (OSU) = 2 = 1 point
Brian Thompson (UF) = 2 = 2 points
Halftime Score: OSU 40, UF 35
Volume 3, Issue 3
Halftime Comments:
Fred Taylor (OSU): I got the better of
the die rolls this half. I decided since I
had the lead and that Keith was doing a
good job of replenishing his hand that I’d
be better to resolve the final position
and get the half over with. I still have a
decent hand for the second half, so my
confidence is good.
I had a nice bonus this half when I came
out better after Florida took its timeout. I
was also tempted to use my timeout
when the LG position was resolved in an
attempt to force a foul. Considering that
I never used the timeout, maybe it would
have been the wise decision.
I also discarded the Tight Man To Man
Defense coaches card. It is not a bad
card, but does not fit my team well
which has all its best scorers generally
being resolved last. The foul risk just
seems to great.
Lon Kruger (UF): I had a bad initial deal
and fair die rolls. Bruce’s cards and die
rolls were no better. I have three
offensive cards for the second half but
no coaching cards. Currently down 5
points but am still optimistic.
Cards Available For the Second Half:
Ohio State:
(C) Zone Defense
(O) Three Pointer
(D) Double Team
(D) Altered Shot
Florida:
(O) Alley Oop
(O) Super Effort
(O) Posting Up
(D) Forcing Turnovers
Clock = 20
UF Plays (O) Super Effort - Bench
UF Uses Coaches Move:
UF Plays (D) Posting Up - RG
OSU Plays (D) Double Team - Bench
OSU Uses Coaches Move:
OSU Plays (D) Altered Shot - RG
Clock = 19
UF Discards (D) Forcing Turnovers
UF Draws (O) Three Pointer
UF Uses Coaches Move:
UF Plays (O) Three Pointer - LG
July 1998 25
OSU Must Resolve LF Position
No Modifiers - Scoring Rolls:
John Havilcek (OSU) = 2 = 6 points
Dametri Hill (UF) = 6 = 9 points
OSU takes its Timeout:
New Scoring Rolls:
John Havilcek (OSU) = 5 = 11 points
Dametri Hill (UF) = 4 = 6 points
Score: OSU 51, UF 41
Clock = 18
UF Must Resolve RF Position
Modifiers:
Scoring Rolls:
Douglas McDonald (OSU) = 5 = 4 points
Brian Thompson (UF) = 1 = 1 point
Score: OSU 55, UF 42
OSU Plays (O) Three Pointer - LG
OSU Uses Coaches Move:
OSU Discards (C) Zone Defense
OSU Draws (O) Clutch Free Throws
Clock = 17
UF Discards (O) Alley Opp
UF Draws (D) Taking A Charge
OSU Discards (O) Clutch Free Throws
OSU Draws (D) Forcing Turnovers
Clock = 16
UF Plays (D) Taking A Charge - C
OSU Chooses To Resolve RG Position
Modifiers:
UF: -1 (Altered Shot)
UF: +1 (Posting Up)
Scoring Rolls:
Richard Reasbeck (OSU) = 3 = 2 points
Dan Cross (UF) = 5 = 8 points
UF Roll of 5 causes Foul on OSU
(Posting Up). Richard Reasbeck (OSU)
loses a letter grade. Scoring modified to
1 point.
Score: OSU 56, UF 50
Clock = 15
UF Rolls For Card = 3 = No
OSU Plays (D) Forcing Turnovers - LG
Clock = 14
UF Rolls For Card = 2 = No
 26 The Boardgamer Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998

March Madness Series Replays (Cont.)

OSU Rolls For Card = 4 = No UF takes its Timeout: LG - Rex Morgan - B
New Scoring Rolls: RG - Vaughn Wedeking - C
Clock = 13 Mel Nowell (OSU) = 2 = 4 points Bench - C
Craig Brown (UF) = 2-1 = 4 points Defense - C
UF Rolls For Card = 5 = Yes
Joe Williams - 2 Coaches Moves
UF Draws (D) Blocked Shot OSU Roll of 2 again causes Foul on
OSU (Forcing Turnovers). Mel Nowell Initial Card Draw:
OSU Rolls For Card = 5 = Yes (OSU) loses a letter grade. Scoring (C) Full Court Press
OSU Draws (O) Second Shots modified to 3 points. (O) Alley Oop
(O) Key 6th Man
Clock = 12 Final Score: OSU 78, UF 73 (O) Second Shots
(D) Boxing Out
UF Discards (D) Blocked Shot OHIO STATE: 78 points (D) Altered Shot
UF Draws (O) Second Shots Jerry Lucas: 21 points (D) Forcing Turnovers
John Havilcek: 22 points
OSU Plays (O) Second Shots - C
Douglas McDonald: 5 points This was a Final Four team my senior
Clock = 11 Mel Nowell: 12 points year in high school. It has always been
Richard Reasbeck: 3 points one of my favorite clubs. The great front
UF Must Resolve Bench Bench: 15 points court of Gilmore and Burrows were 7’2”
Modifiers: and 7’0” tall respectively. Off the bench
FLORIDA: 73 points was was a 6’11” C-F named McIntyre if
UF: +1 Letter Grade (Super Effort)
Andrew DeClercq: 10 points memory serves me.
UF: -2 Letter Grades (Double Team)
Dametri Hill: 15 points
UF: + Die Roll (Double Team)
Brian Thompson: 5 points Offensively we have some weapons but
Scoring Rolls:
Craig Brown: 11 points the “C” defense and only 2 coaches
Bench (OSU) = 5 = 8 points
Dan Cross: 16 points moves against Cincinnati’s “A” defense
Bench (UF) = 6 = 12 points
Bench: 16 points and 4 coaches moves will mean I’ll need
Bonus Roll:
Brian Thompson (UF) = 2 points to score big numbers. My card draw
Postgame Comments: seems average so it should be a real
Score: OSU 64, UF 64 dog fight.
Fred Taylor (OSU): The die rolls
OSU Chooses To Resolve C Position: evened out in the second half, with
Cincinnati 1963 (UC)
Modifiers: Florida enjoyed a similar advantage as
C - George Wilson - C
OSU: +2 (Second Shots) Ohio State enjoyed in the first half.
LF - Ron Bonham - B
Scoring Rolls: Three late fouls against us made the
RF - Tom Thacker - C
Jerry Lucas (OSU) = 3+2 = 15 points game a lot closer than I envisioned, and
LG - Larry Shingleton - F
Andrew DeClerq (UF) = 6 = 6 points I could not counter the fouls since I used
RG - Tony Yates - E
my timeout early in the half on the LF
Bench - E
UF Roll of 6 causes Foul on OSU position. Fortunately, both of us drew a
Defense - A
(Taking a Charge). Jerry Lucas (OSU) Second Shots card late in the game, but
Ed Jucker - 4 Coaches Moves
loses a letter grade. Scoring modified to my was usable on any position and his
11 points. was usable only on positions which had
Initial Card Draw:
already been resolved. That alone
(C) Four Corner Stall
Score: OSU 75, UF 70 could have been the difference in this
(C) Halfcourt Trap
game.
(O) Clutch Free Throws
Clock = 10 (O) Three Pointer
Lon Kruger (UF): Things never came
together for me. I think I played my (O) Three Pointer
UF Chooses To Resolve LG Position: (O) Good Ball Handling
Modifiers: cards well enough but OSU got a net +8
from their second half timeout while I got (O) Super Effort
OSU: +1 Letter Grade (Three Pointer)
UF: -2 (Forcing Turnovers) a net +1 from mine (and only a +3 from
the first half timeout). Since he won by A great initial card draw. Three cards
UF: +1 Letter Grade (Three Pointer) which raise my guys a letter grade.
Scoring Rolls: 5 you could say that made the
difference. Lucas and Havilcek were as Unfortunately, only one of the three
Mel Nowell (OSU) = 2 = 4 points pointer cards can be played on a C
Craig Brown (UF) = 2-2 = 3 points good as advertised.
rated player, the other will be used to
GAME #2 lesser effect on an E or F rated guard.
OSU Roll of 2 causes Foul on OSU That’s where Jacksonville’s advantage
(Forcing Turnovers). Mel Nowell (OSU) will lie. His higher rated players are
loses a letter grade. Scoring modified to Jacksonville ‘70, Cincinnati ‘63
guards which generally get resolved
3 points. Jacksonville 1970 (JAX) before many defense cards get played
C - Artis Gilmore - A on them. My inside players, on the
LF - Pembrook Burrows - D other hand, will see plenty of
RF - Greg Nelson - D Jacksonville defense.
 The Boardgamer
March Madness Series Replays (Cont.)
Clock = 20
JAX Must Resolve LF Position:
No Modifiers - Scoring Rolls:
Pembrooke Burrows (JAX): 2 = 3 points
Ron Bonham (UC): 1 = 5 points
Score: UC 5, JAX 3
UC Must Resolve RG Position:
No Modifiers - Scoring Rolls:
Vaughn Wedeking (JAX): 1 = 3 points
Tony Yates (UC): 6 = 7 points
JAX Takes Its Timeout:
New Scoring Rolls:
Vaughn Wedeking (JAX): 5 = 8 points
Tony Yates (UC): 5 = 6 points
Joe Williams (JAX): This is risky calling
a timeout so early but I’ve netted +6
points. I hope it is enough.
Score: JAX 11, UC 11
Clock = 19
JAX Plays (O) Alley Oop - C
JAX Takes Coaches Move:
JAX Plays (O) Second Shots - LG
UC Plays (O) Three Pointer - RF
UC Takes Coaches Move:
UC Plays Three Pointer - LG
Clock = 18
JAX Discards (C) Full Court Press
JAX Draws (D) Taking A Charge
UC Must Resolve Bench Position:
No Modifiers - Scoring Rolls:
Bench (JAX) = 4 = 7 points
Bench (UC) = 5 = 6 points
Score: JAX 18, UC 17
UC Takes Coaches Move:
UC Plays (O) Super Effort - C
Clock = 17
JAX Must Resolve LG Position
Modifiers:
JAX: +2 (Second Shots)
UC: +1 Letter Grade (Three Pointer)
Scoring Rolls:
Rex Morgan (JAX) = 3+2 = 11 points
Larry Shingleton (UC) = 6 = 7 points
Score: JAX 29, UC 24
Volume 3, Issue 3
UC Discard (C) Four Corner Stall
UC Draws (D) Altered Shot
UC Takes Coaches Move:
UC Plays (D) Altered Shot - C
Clock = 16
JAX Plays (O) Key Sixth Man - C
JAX Takes Coaches Move:
JAX Discards (D) Altered Shot
JAX Draws (O) Fast Break
UC Discards (O) Clutch Free Throws
UC Draws (D) Dogging Opponent
UC Takes Coaches Move:
UC Discards Good Ball Handling
UC Draws (C) Slow Tempo
Clock = 15
JAX Chooses To Resolve C Position
Modifiers:
JAX: +1 (Alley Oop)
JAX: -1 (Altered Shot)
UC: +1 Letter grade (Super Effort)
Scoring Rolls:
Artis Gilmore (JAX) = 3 = 10 points
George Wilson (UC) = 2 = 8 points
Score: JAX 39, UC 32
UC Discards (C) Slow Tempo
UC Draws (C) Tight Man To Man
Clock = 14
JAX Discards (D) Boxing Out
JAX Draws (D) Blocked Shot
UC Discards (C) Tight Man To Man
UC Draws (D) Boxing Out
Clock = 13
JAX Discards (D) Blocked Shot
JAX Draws (D) Controlling The Boards
UC Discards (D) Boxing Out
UC Draws (C) Zone Defense
Clock = 12
JAX Discards (D) Control The Boards
JAX Draws (O) Working It Inside
UC Chooses To Resolve RF
Modifiers:
UC: +1 Letter grade (Three Pointer)
Scoring Rolls:
Greg Nelson (JAX) = 2 = 3 points
Tom Thacker (UC) = 6 = 16 points
Halftime Score: UC 48, JAX 42
July 1998 27
Halftime Comments:
Joe Williams (JAX): And I was doing so
well. Thacker really bounced me hard
and I needed a bigger effort from
Gilmore. My six rolls averaged just over
3 while Bruce had better than 4. If we
balance that with the cards I have left I
should be OK.
Ed Jucker (UC): I only have a slight
lead despite having the better of the
scoring rolls and having used all of my
good offensive cards. I need to get
some cards to help the center and
forward positions. Despite my lead, I’d
guess Keith’s Jacksonville squad is in
better shape.
Cards Available For the Second Half:
Jacksonville:
(O) Fast Break
(O) Working It Inside
(D) Forcing Turnovers
(D) Taking A Charge
Cincinnati:
(C) Halfcourt Trap
(C) Zone Defense
(D) Dogging Opponent
Clock = 20
JAX Plays (O) Fast Break - LG
JAX Takes Coaches Move:
JAX Plays (D) Forcing Turnovers - RG
UC Discards (C) Halfcourt Trap
UC Draws (C) Technical Foul
UC Takes Coaches Move:
UC Plays (C) Technical Foul
UC Bench Scores 2 points
Score: UC 50, JAX 42
Clock = 19
JAX Plays (D) Taking A Charge - LF
UC Plays (D) Dogging Opponent - C
UC Takes Coaches Move:
UC Rolls For Card = 3 = No
Clock = 18
JAX Must Resolve Bench
No Modifiers - Scoring Rolls:
Bench (JAX) = 2 = 4 points
Bench (UC) = 5 = 6 points
Score: UC 56, JAX 46
 28 The Boardgamer Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998

March Madness Series Replays (Cont.)

UC Rolls For Card = 1 = No UC Rolls For Card = 1 = No Scoring Rolls:
Greg Nelson (JAX) = 6 = 8 points
Clock = 17 Clock = 12 Tom Thacker (UC) = 3+1 = 12 points

JAX Plays (O) Working It Inside - LF JAX Rolls For Card = 3 = No Score: UC 76, JAX 66

UC Rolls For Card = 5 = Yes UC Rolls For Card = 3 = No Clock = 5

UC Draws (C) Box and One
UC Takes Coaches Move:
UC Discards (C) Box and One
UC Draws (O) Great Pass
Clock = 16
JAX Rolls For Card = 3 = No
UC Plays (O) Great Pass - RF
UC Takes Coaches Move:
UC Rolls For Card = 1 = No
Clock = 15
JAX Must Resolve LF Position
Modifiers:
JAX: +1 (Working It Inside)
Scoring Rolls:
Pembrook Burrows (JAX) = 5+2 = 9 pts
Ron Bonham (UC) = 1 = 5 points
JAX Roll of 5 causes Foul on UC
(Taking A Charge) and a second Foul
(Working It Inside). Ron Bonham (UC)
fouls out, his rating replaced by the
Bench rating. Scoring modified to 2
points.
UC Takes Its Timeout:
Scoring Rolls:
Pembrook Burrows (JAX) = 4+1 = 6 pts
and Defensive Foul on UC
Ron Bonham (UC) = 2 = 8 points
JAX Roll of 4 causes Foul on UC
(Taking A Charge). Ron Bonham (UC)
loses a letter grade. Scoring modified to
6 points.
Score: UC 62, JAX 52
UC Rolls For Card = 6 = Yes
UC Draws Three Pointer
Clock = 11 JAX Chooses To Resolve C Position
Modifiers:
JAX Rolls For Card = 2 = No JAX: -1 (Dogging Opponent)
UC: -1 (Dogging Opponent)
UC Rolls For Card = 2 = No UC: -1 (Halfcourt Trap)
Scoring Rolls:
Clock = 10 Artis Gilmore (JAX) = 3-1 = 8 points
George Wilson (UC) = 2-2 = 3 points
JAX Must Resolve RG Position
Modifiers: Score: UC 79, JAX 74
UC: -2 (Forcing Turnovers)
Scoring Rolls: UC Plays (O) Fast Break - LG
Vaughn Wedeking (JAX) = 2 = 4 points
Tony Yates (UC) = 4-2 = 3 points Clock = 4
JAX Takes Its Timeout: JAX Rolls For Card = 2 = No
Scoring Rolls:
Vaughn Wedeking (JAX) = 2 = 4 points UC Discards (C) Zone Defense
Tony Yates (UC) = 3-2 = 2 points UC Draws (C) Injury
Score: UC 64, JAX 56 Clock = 3
UC Rolls For Card = 1 = No JAX Chooses To Resolve LG Position
Modifiers:
Clock = 9 JAX: + Die Roll (Fast Break)
UC: + Die Roll (Fast Break)
JAX Rolls For Card = 5 = Yes UC: -1 (Halfcourt Trap)
JAX Draws (C) Technical Foul Scoring Rolls:
Rex Morgan (JAX):
UC Rolls For Card = 4 = No Scoring Roll = 6 = 14 points
Bonus Roll = 4 pts = 18 points total
Clock = 8 Larry Shingeton (UC):
Scoring Roll = 4-1 = 3 points
JAX Withdraws (C) Halfcourt Trap Bonus Roll = 4 points = 7 points total
UC Rolls For Card = 1 = No Final Score: JAX 92, UC 86
JACKSONVILLE: 92 points
Clock = 7 Artis Gilmore: 18 points
Pembrook Burrows: 9 points
JAX Plays (C) Technical Foul Greg Nelson: 11 points
Vaughn Wedeking (JAX) scores 2 points Rex Morgan: 29 points
Vaughn Wedeking: 14 points
Score: UC 64, JAX 58 Bench: 11 points

Clock = 14 UC Rolls For Card = 6 = Yes FLORIDA: 73 points

UC Draws (O) Fast Break George Wilson: 11 points
JAX Rolls For Card = 5 = Yes Ron Bonham: 11 points
JAX Draws (C) Halfcourt Trap Clock = 6 Tom Thacker: 28 points
Larry Shingeton: 14 points
UC Plays (O) Three Pointer - RF JAX Plays (C) Halfcourt Trap Tony Yates: 8 points
Bench: 14 points
Clock = 13 UC Must Resolve RF Position
Modifiers:
JAX Plays (C) Halfcourt Trap UC: +1 Letter Grade (Three Pointer)
UC: +1 (Great Pass)
(Halfcourt Trap Voided)
 The Boardgamer
March Madness Series Replays (Cont.)
Postgame Comments:
Joe Williams (JAX): What a final roll!
Rex Morgan with 29 points is my vote
for tournament MVP though as a “B”
scorer he should have been expected to
do better than Thacker, a “C”, who got
28. The die rolls evened out in the
second half with Cincinnati holding a
slight edge for the game. But I got them
where I needed them and that did it.
Ed Jucker (UC): Looking at the scoring
rolls, you can see that I had a large first
1998 Midwest Open
Victory In The Pacific - Kenosha Junction, Wisconsin
The Midwest Open continues to grow!
1998 brought 31 contestants and 17
observers to our gallery.
I remember ’91. Five of us gathered in
the unfinished basement of a hobby
shop. We thrashed around in cramped
quarters and competed with Fantasy
Role Players for space. Still, in all, we
had a good time. Good enough to do it
again. I am so glad that we did!
That seems like a long time ago, or was
it yesterday?
We have developed a stable core group.
“Windy City Wargamers” (aka: The
Chicago Mob), and “First Minnesota”
from the Twin Cities, are always well
represented. However, another 10
states sent representatives and five
others had threatened to do so.
Alan Appl eba um , of Broo klin e,
Massachusetts, remains our reigning
champion. This comes as no surprise.
Alan is the top A.R.E.A. rated VITP
player in the country. He has won past
AvalonCons, as well as a number of
other tournament and convention titles.
Everyone else’s goal is to “Beat Alan.”.
This year Alan went all 6 rounds
undefeated as the Japanese player.
This also gave him the Nagumo award
for best Japanese play.
Max Zavanelli, of Orange City, Florida,
went home with the second place
plaque, and very real hopes of doing
“just a little bit better” next year.
Volume 3, Issue 3
half advantage and a large second half
disadvantage. I’m not certain that I
used all of my offensive cards to best
effect. I should have saved one for the
second half where it could have been
used more effectively.
One final note. Over half of the cards
were used in each game. That means
that any card there are two of has a
great chance of appearing each game.
Therefore, it might be wise to hang on to
a card which nullifies one of these twice
occurring cards if you have not yet seen
by Glenn Petroski
Joe Dragan, Mason, Michigan grabbed
third. Joe has been moving up thru the
ranks at a steady pace since he
appeared in ’95.
Dave Rod, Waverly, Iowa, matched Joe
Dragan’s tournament score. The
decision came down to a few points
difference in A.R.E.A. ranking. The
difference is even smaller at this point.
Dave did not go home empty handed.
He played to a 4-2 finish, all as the
Allied player. This earned him the
Halsey award for best Allied play of the
tournament.
Dave also stands with Joe as an
improving player. Dave is quite willing
to play the Allies “straight up”, without
the benefit of the bid. With an especially
strong Allied game, he poses a definite
threat to the competition in tournaments
to come.
No Sir Thomas Phillips Sportsmanship
award was presented this year. It is not
that there was no one deserving, but
consideration for the value of the award.
This award is bestowed solely on the
basis of consistent good sportsmanship
over an extended period of time. It is
meant to be that this award will be
issued “few and far between” to
particular players for bringing honor and
respectability to our hobby by their
consistent attitude and behavior. Even
as I write, a number of candidates being
watched and considered for the next
“Phillips”.
For the first time, outside weather
conditions contributed to the Midwest
July 1998 29
it in the second half. Two examples are
the Boxing Out cards to nullify Second
Shots, and the Great Pass cards which
nullify the Double Team cards.
ALL TOURNEY TEAM:
C - Jerry Lucas (OSU)
LF - John Havilcek (OSU)
RF - Tom Thacker (UC)
LG - Rex Morgan (JAX)
RG - Dan Cross (UF)
Bench - Florida
Open. Sunday afternoon it began
snowing with fluctuating temperatures.
The snow was enough to make things
interesting, but not up to “Wisconsin
standards” in itself. However, the up
and down temperatures iced in the
control tower at O’Hare airport. Most of
our players got out before the shut
down, but John Pack was more
fortunate! He called just before leaving
Kenosha Junction to catch his midnight
flight, to learn that it had been cancelled!
Joe Dragan was driving, but has no
inclination to drive around Lake
Michigan while it is snowing. Joe &
John were sharing a room, so this was
immensely compatible. Under the
circumstances, Day’s Inn extended the
discount rate for another nite.
As the dedicated Tournament Director
that I am, I took off work early on
Monday to make sure that Joe and John
were doing all right. With my son,
Aaron, we returned to Kenosha Junction
for “One more round.” (Joe & John
actually got in two more!)
Such are the hardships that we must
sometimes endure!
We are going to do it again, anyway!
We shall meet again! Same place!
Same time!
1999 Midwest Open
March 6 & 7, 1999
Kenosha Junction!
Be there!
 30 The Boardgamer Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998

Current Specific Game AREA Ratings

Panzer Leader Naval War Age Of Renaissance
53 Active Players Apr. 24, 1998 99 Active Players May 15, 1998 121 Active Players Mar. 24, 1998
1. James McAden 1877 FHM-8 1. Chris Covington 1719 DD—7 1. George Sauer III 1603 AG-A7
2. Robert Beyma 1825 CE-C7 2. Philip Petroski 1706 BD—6 2. Michael Neal 1570 AE-A7
3. Bruce Wright 1793 CCE-6 3. David Large 1595 GG—8 3. Joe Gunderson 1564 AG-A7
4. William Scott 1671 GH-C7 4. William Todd 1579 DH—8 4. Nicholas Anner 1562 AF-A7
5. Eduardo deNucci 1655 BE-A6 5. Lauren Hickok 1570 AF-A7 5. John Keating Jr. 1560 AG-A7
6. Martin Musella 1618 BC-B7 6. Stephen Scott 1563 AI-B7 6. Mike May 1556 AH-A7
7. Mark Murray-Brown 1615 BE-A7 7. Matthew Hamel 1551 BB—8 7. William Crenshaw 1549 AI-B8
8. Kevin Kinsel 1601 CCD-6 8. Marty Bryant 1550 DE—7 8. Ben Knight 1535 AC-A8
9. Danny Price 1596 EEEB7 9. Bobby Johnson 1544 DE—8 9. Marvin Birnbaum 1535 AC-A7
10. Eric Bonner 1593 FFM-6 10. Anesia Whitbourn 1544 AB—7 10. Sean Finnerty 1535 AC-A7
11. Jeff Wise 1582 CDE-6 11. James Fleckenstein 1536 AD—8 11. Randy Sands 1535 AC-A7
12. Jay Zollitsch 1573 BD-A6 12. Keith Blackwell 1536 AB—6 12. Dennis Mason 1528 BL-B8
13. Eric Redstone 1568 ABB-7 13. Jeff Boerger 1535 AF-A6 13. Mark Boone 1528 AE-A7
14. John Trotsky 1566 AAB-7 14. Kenneth Good 1535 AC-A7 14. Steve Cuccaro 1528 AE-A7
15. Todd Treadway 1542 AA-A6 15. Lind Pratt 1530 AF-A7 15. Marty Hoff 1528 AE-A7
16. Larry Felton 1534 AC-A7 16. Jim Bell 1530 AF-A7 16. Joseph Jaskiewicz 1528 AE-A7
17. Jeffrey Jenkins 1534 ABD-8 17. Jason Levine 1530 AF-A7 17. David Platnick 1528 AE-A7
18. Donald Webster 1530 AA-A7 18. Bruce Bernard 1530 AF-A7 18. Andrew Lewis 1526 AE-A8
19. Hans Frey 1525 ABA-6 19. Michael Hart 1528 AG-B7 19. Dennis Disney 1526 AE-A7
20. Kurt Kurtz 1516 AB-A7 20. Jimmy Fleckenstein 1528 AG-B7 20. Kenneth Good 1526 AE-A7
21. John Gibson 1512 BB-C7 21. Todd Giles 1524 DE—8 21. Stephen Koehler 1523 AG-A7
22. Michael Ellsworth 1510 AB-A6 22. Paul Richardson 1523 AI-B7 22. Bruce Reiff 1523 AE-A7
23. David Chilcote 1510 AA-A7 23. Daniel Case 1509 CE—7 23. John Ellmann II 1522 AG-A8
24. Stephen Andriakos 1509 BB-C7 24. James Stewart 1500 DE—7 24. William Lentz 1521 AG-A7
25. Bruno Sinigaglio 1508 BC-A6 25. Steve McCallum 1521 AG-A7
26. Charles Leonard
27. James Yen
1503
1500
AB-A6
CCC-6
Great Campaigns 26. Wray Farrell
27. Steven Katz
1519
1519
AG-A7
AF-A8
28. Phillip Price 1500 AA-A7 Of The American 28. Sean Cousins 1518 AG-A8
29. Micah Rabin 1514 AH-A7
Gangsters Civil War Series 30. Philip Mason 1513 AH-B8
51 Active Players Mar. 5, 1998 68 Active Players Apr. 24, 1998 31. Jeffrey Paull 1513 AH-B8
32. James Pei 1513 AH-B8
1. Jason Wagner 1604 AE-A7 1. Joseph Bellas 1939 GI-C7
33. Robert Kircher 1510 AH-B8
2. John Pack 1587 BHAA8 2. Raymond Rooks 1780 DF-C7
34. Kurt Miller 1503 AI-B8
3. Stephanie Mayes 1562 BG-A7 3. Paul Tisevich 1754 CE-A6
4. Dee Ann Gehring 1556 AE-A7 4. Paul Nied
5. Forest Speck
1734
1727
EH-B7
DG-C7
Titan: The Arena
5. Christopher Bodkin 1556 AC-A7 10 Active Players Mar. 31, 1998
6. Philip Thomas Sr. 1535 AB-A7 6. Mark Booth 1684 CE-B7
7. Mike Metcalf 1535 AB-A7 7. Patrick Duffy 1676 DG-B7 1. James Campbell 1578 AC—7
8. Michael Anchors 1533 AFAA8 8. Kenneth Lee 1675 CE-B7 2. Alan Camp 1572 CE—8
9. Scott Sirianna 1523 AD-A7 9. Edward Beach 1658 CE-C7 3. John Greene 1567 AB—7
10. Gordon Rodgers 1523 AC-A7 10. Trevor Bender 1643 DE-A6 4. Brian Stevenson 1505 AC—7
11. James Matt 1523 AC-A7 11. Marty Hogan 1628 BE-A7
12. Louis Gehring II 1511 AE-A7 12. Jeffrey Otto
13. Steven Katz
1624
1592
DF-B7
CE-C7
Fortress Europa
13. Douglas Broud 1511 AD-A7 18 Active Players May 9, 1998
14. Jack Jaeger 1508 AE-A7 14. Ed Connery 1587 AB-A6
15. Robert Jamelli 1576 CF-B7 1. Randy Heller 2077 DGCA8
Gettysburg 16. Charles Maines Sr. 1576 AB-A7 2. Michael Newman 1915 EF-B6
29 Active Players May 9, 1998 17. Scott Smith 1573 AB—6 3. James Eliason 1711 DGGD6
18. Mark Giddings 1566 AB-A6 4. Charles Jehlen Jr. 1684 BBF-7
1. Allen Kaplan 1781 CF-C6 19. Chris Withers 1566 AAB-8 5. Jerry Cecchin 1591 AB-A6
2. Vince Meconi 1779 DFDD8 20. Randall Borra 1557 BD-B7 6. Randy Schilb 1579 ACCA6
3. David Zimmerman 1718 FIBD6 21. Mark Bailey 1545 CF-C7 7. James Lorys 1559 AB-A6
4. John Poniske Sr. 1708 CEBC6 22. John Malaska Jr. 1535 AAA-7 8. Andy Watts 1555 BCE-7
5. Charles Hamm 1601 BDBB7 23. Jerry Martin 1534 AB-A7 9. Eric Seadale 1540 ABC-8
6. Robert Mull 1596 AC-A6 24. Rod Coffey 1533 BD-A7 10. Terrence Zuber 1535 AAB-6
7. Robert Croxdale 1574 BB—7 25. Michael Johnson 1533 AA-A6 11. Paul Koenig 1500 AB-A6
8. Andy Watts 1562 BBG-7 26. John Clere 1524 FI-C7
9. Michael Sims 1553 AB-A6 27. Clifford Hansen 1520 AB-A6 D-Day ‘91
10. Richard Haddaway 1535 AAA-6 28. Mark VanRoekel 1510 AB-A6 6 Active Players May 9, 1998
11. Michael Ellsworth 1510 AB-A6 29. Michael Arnold 1506 BD-C7
12. David Bible 1508 BB—7 30. Jerry Merbon 1504 AA-A6 1. Jeffrey Crouch 1616 BB—8
13. Randy Schilb 1508 AB-A6 31. John Leggat III 1502 AB-A6 2. Harry Tucker 1566 AAA-6
14. Pietro Cremola 1504 AAD-7 32. Jeffrey Martin 1501 AB-A6 3. J P Morgan 1554 BB—8
 The Boardgamer Volume 3, Issue 3 July 1998 31

Current Specific Game AREA Ratings

Breakout: Normandy Battle of the Bulge ‘81 Fleet Series
99 Active Players Apr. 21, 1998 41 Active Players May 9, 1998 15 Active Players Apr. 20, 1998
1. James Doughan 1925 FF-C7 1. Randy Heller 1935 GIHE8 1. James Eliason 1740 DD-C7
2. Don Greenwood 1768 DFAC7 2. John Grant, Jr. 1758 BDEB7 2. Andrew Maly 1636 BC-B6
3. William Edwards III 1746 CEDC7 3. Daniel Tierney 1745 BDE-7 3. James Fleckenstein 1587 CD-D7
4. Hank Burkhalter 1723 DEDB7 4. Bruno Sinigaglio 1686 CFBC7 4. Stuart Smart 1581 BC-A7
5. Paul Nied 1723 CDFB8 5. Henry Lowood 1679 BDE-7 5. Daniel Tierney 1572 AAA-8
6. Marvin Birnbaum 1717 BD-C7 6. Andrew Dlugolecki 1626 ABD-7 6. Stephen Koehler 1546 AB-A7
7. Byron Stingley 1695 CD-C7 7. Danny DeMello 1624 BB—8 7. Andy Watts 1519 BCF-8
8. Ron Fedin 1694 DE-C7 8. Philip Evans 1613 CDDC7 8. Jack Morrell 1517 CE-A7
9. Bryan Eshleman 1672 EGCC7 9. Forrest Pafenberg 1557 CECC7
10. Gene Padgett 1660 ACE-6
11. Robert O’Conner 1659 BEG-6
10. Philip Prichard
11. Jeffrey Crouch
1550
1546
AB-A7
BB—8
Enemy In Sight
12. Alan Applebaum 1641 BD-C7 17 Active Players May 15, 1998
12. Anthony Mulloy 1535 AA—7
13. Herbert Gratz 1631 BC-B6 13. Mike Kosloski 1535 AA—7 1. Robert Hamel 1658 GB—8
14. James Stanard 1596 BD-B6 14. Forrest Metz 1524 ABC-7 2. JP Morgan 1569 AB—7
15. Jeffrey Crouch 1595 CD-A7 15. John Koontz 1520 AB-A6 3. Philip Petroski 1548 AC—7
16. Stephen Andriakos 1591 BD-C7 16. Steve Likevich 1518 AB-A7 4. Timothy Greene 1536 AC—7
17. David Long 1590 BDEA6 17. Thomas Scharwark 1507 CEED7 5. Glenn Petroski 1523 AC—7
18. James Eliason 1589 AC-B7 6. Scott Moshier 1517 AB—7
19. George Young
20. Mark Gutfreund
1572
1567
BDDB7
EFEC8
Hannibal: Rome vs
21. Philip Barcafer 1563 CD-B7 Carthage Caesar At Alesia
22. Dave Tianen 1558 AA-A7 2 Active Players Apr. 1, 1998
5 Active Players Mar. 17, 1998
23. Jeffrey Miller 1556 ACE-6 1. Rod Coffey 1535 AAA-8
24. Matthew Ellison 1554 ABD-7 1. Michael Welker 1572 ABC-8
25. Michael Kaye 1549 ABAA8 2. Joseph DiCamillo 1535 AA—6
26. Timothy Greene 1546 CD-A7 Dune
11 Active Players Mar. 31, 1998
27. Murray Cowles
28. Rodney Robinson
1542
1540
CE-C7
DE-C7
The Russian Campaign
63 Active Players May 15, 1998 1. Alan Camp 1755 DG—8
29. Andrew Choptiany 1538 AC-A7
2. Roger Cox 1728 DG—8
30. Alex Kondas 1537 BC-B7 1. Edward O’Conner 2108 GIPA8 3. Keith Blackwell 1675 DG—8
31. Anthony Giarrizzo 1535 AA-A7 2. Robert Shurdut 2068 HHN-8 4. Mitch McMillian 1557 AE—8
32. Caleb Cousins 1534 AB-A6 3. Robert Beyma 2058 FFGD7 5. Charlie Corn 1542 AC—6
33. Donald Stone 1533 AB-A7 4. Gary Dickson 2031 DFFC8 6. Kenny Schultz 1522 AC—7
34. Mark Greenman 1532 ABC-7 5. Larry Earhart, Jr. 1901 EFL-7
35. Jeffrey Thomason 1532 ABC-6 6. Timothy Greene 1885 HJMB8
36. Jeffrey Martin 1527 BD-B7 7. Thomas Gregario 1872 GJIB6 Turning Point:
37. John Grant, Jr. 1524 BDFA8 8. Ed Druckman 1677 BBB-6
38. Paul Fletcher 1523 DFEC7 9. Bobby Helbert 1674 AA—8
Stalingrad
39. Charles Hawkins 1518 CD—7 10. David Ketchum 1644 BCF-8 20 Active Players May 15, 1998
40. Peter Brunken 1516 BD-A7 11. Jerry Cecchin 1632 AC-A6
41. Kenneth Nied 1514 AB-C7 1. James Doughan 1996 DE-B6
12. Allen Kaplan 1594 BD-C7 2. Byron Stingley 1886 CD-C7
42. Eric Kirchner 1513 BBAB7 13. Phillip Evans 1590 AC-A7
43. Clyde Longest Jr. 1509 BD-A7 3. Ron Fedin 1715 CC-C7
14. Martin Musella 1585 BC-B7 4. Christopher Bodkin 1648 BD-B7
15. Peter Pollard 1574 AC-B7 5. Michael Kaye 1583 BCAB8
Regatta 16. Forrest Pafenberg 1570 BC-C7 6. Hank Burkhalter 1576 ACAA6
5 Active Players Mar. 31, 1998 17. Steven Huskey 1570 ABAA7 7. Henry Jones 1566 BC-C7
18. Thomas Scharwark 1569 BC-B7 8. Dennis Nicholson 1507 AB-A6
1. Randy Cox 1529 AC—8 19. Barrington Beavis 1566 AAB-7 9. David Yoon 1505 AB-A7
2. Ben Goldstein 1519 AC—8 20. Andy Watts 1562 ABE-7 10. Chris Sturzillo 1502 AB-A6
21. Luigi Celada 1535 AAA-7
Storm Over Arnhem 22. James Pei 1532 AA—7
Guerrila
6 Active Players May 15, 1998 23. Harry Tucker 1531 AAB-8
24. William Scott 1530 AB-B7 6 Active Players Apr. 2, 1998
1. John Ellsworth 1566 AAB-8 25. Chuck Stapp 1528 AB-B7
1. David Large 1552 AC—8
2. Greg Dilbeck 1535 AAA-6 26. Larry Hollern 1522 ABE-8
2. Scott Moshier 1513 AC—8
3. Andy Watts 1535 AAA-7 27. Danny DeMello 1519 BC—8
3. Bobby Johnson 1508 AC—8
28. Murray Cowles 1505 ABAA6
Air Baron 29. Robert Powers 1503 AB-B7
8 Active Players Apr. 2, 1998 30. Randy Schilb 1503 AAAB7 Starship Troopers
31. Robert Croxdale 1501 CD-A8 3 Active Players Apr. 2, 1998
1. Robert Hamel 1546 BB—8 32. Michael Reffue 1500 ABC-7
2. Stu Basker 1536 AC—6 33. Michael Willhoff 1500 AAA-7 1. William Todd 1554 BB—8
3. Matthew Hamel 1518 BB—8 34. James Fardette 1500 AAA-7 2. Timothy Greene 1509 AA—8