FRONTLINES

From our correspondent at the front Angus Ryall.

We have been conscious for some time that CRASH has had two weaknesses and these have been in the areas of adventure games and war/strategy games. The former problem was solved when Derek Brewster kindly agreed to write an adventure column and review the games. We are now able to overcome the second weakness - and this issue sees the start of our wargamers column put together for us by ANGUS RYALL. Angus is the Software Marketing Manager for Games Workshop Ltd. As such he brings with him his experience not only of software but also the over view of strategy games in general.

OVERVIEW OF STRATEGY GAMES

Everyone knows that wargamers thrive on 'complexity', and this is what has kept the hobby so elitist for so long. Traditional wargames/strategy games have been virtually impossible for mere mortals such as you or I to crack, and the small number of people playing them has also kept their prices ridiculously high. The arrival of home computers should have changed all that, by getting rid of the number-crunching and all those fiddly little card counters that always end up down the back of the settee. There should by now be as many decent strategy games available as adventures - but there aren't. Having just gone through a pile of strategy games I think I'm beginning to understand why. The people writing them for the Spectrum are giving the sector a bad name - it's the same old idea, of making the players bust a gut to play the game, that has kept traditional wargaming such a minority pastime. Most of these games have abominable graphics, laughable points systems, and unintelligible instructions. They tend to be long winded and very slow, and one or two are just plain idiotic. Only a couple here were actually enjoyable to play.

DIEHARDS

Slightly better but still terrible.

REICHSWALD (MW GAMESWORLD)

The map supplied with CONFRONTATION, Twin River, is in fact amazingly similar to that in
REICHSWALD - only the Reichswald one is even more primitive. The only feature on this map which
bears any resemblance to what it's supposed to be is the river. Merry & Wallis Gamesworld is only
a small firm, so I can almost forgive them for that; but Big John Merry is a wargamer who goes
back years and years (and outwards yards and yards, my spies tell me) and it certainly shows.
They've managed to turn what could have been a nice, compact little exercise into a sprawling
numeric animal that keeps trippng over its fifteen legs. Each unit has three strength values, for
tank, anti-tank and infantry, which are determined by the computar and awarded randomly at the
beginning of the game. There don't seem to be any set movement values (I may be wrong about this
but this was one aspect of the game which proved impenetrable). There are terrain differences and
victory points, but again, you can't see the enemy (computer controlled this time, by the way) and
the combat just sort of happens when you move too close to the invisible huns. Definitely another
pencil and paper job, and very ssssslllllooooowwwww so only really recommended for those about to
embark on a term of life imprisonment. Generally about as action-packed as a bowl of semolina.

Memory: 48K
Price: £5.95

Reichswald simulates the crossing of the Rhine by the allied armies in 1945 and you are in control of units of the American Ninth Army. Your task is to capture one of the bridges or, alternatively, inflict serious damage on the enemy.

You have a number of armoured and infantry regiments, engineers and reconnaissance units; they move across a map laid out in squares; speed of movement depends on terrain. The fastest type of movement is what non-wargamers would call very slow.

Once the pieces have been moved you must wait for the computer to move the German forces and then conduct any battles. The computer takes several minutes to go through its moves and the resulting battle becomes a tedious war of attrition.

The surprise is that dedicated wargamers may enjoy the masochistic experience. We for our part cannot understand why M W Gamesworld has managed to transfer all the disadvantages of simulation wargaming to the Spectrum when computers are so clearly suited to writing complex games which can be played at speed.

MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
CONTROL: Keys
FROM: MW Gamesworld, £5.95

A strategy game in which you command the forces of the American 9th Army as they attempt to capture a bridgehead over the Rhine. You control tanks and infantry, reconnaissance, units and engineers.

Unfortunately for the allies, the graphics display is very dull and it's not at all clear where the strategy lies. Play this game and WWII is likely to have a slightly different result.

RHINE TEST

MICRO: Spectrum 48K
PRICE: £4.95
FORMAT: Cassette
SUPPLIER: Merry & Wallace, 12 Lawnswood Avenue, Chasetown, Walsall, WS7 8YD

Reichswald is a simulation of the American attempt to secure a bridgehead over the Rhine in 1945. As the American commander, you must capture the city areas within a certain time to win the game.

During loading you are presented with the symbols for the various units and the terrain. When ready, you type in 'y' if you want a saved game or 'n' if you want a new game. Then you sit back and wait. It takes a while for the cursor to appear, so don't unplug thinking you've got a dud cassette; just be patient.

The game is fairly simple to play, though you need to read the documentation beforehand, so that you know what you are looking at, and how to input commands and move units.

I found it difficult to become enthusiastic about this game, despite its interesting features, because of the slow responses. This is its one major drawback, and is likely to deter the novice wargamer. Once you have positioned the units on the map, there is nothing more you can do except grin and bear it. The computer moves the Germans about, and then goes into the combat phase. Eventually, you get a status report which indicates your strengths and weaknesses. Then the results of the combat appear.

If it wasn't for the excruciatingly long delay in presenting these feedbacks, I think I could have found this game quite addictive. As it is I've not made more than a few moves in one session, and I'm not sure whether I have the inclination to see the battle through to the bitter end.

Those who are chess fanatics, or enjoy similar games which require strategic planning rather than quick reactions, may well disagree. Personally, I'd rather play this sort of game with people, who don't always have the cold logic of a computer.