VOL. 2 NO. 1

JAN. - FEB., 1982

FeaturesREWRITING HISTORY ON THE COMPUTER:

4Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig

By Robert BillingsNAPOLEON'S CAMPAIGNS 1813 & 1815:

10A Review of SSI's New Game

By Daniel WeitzTHE SWORDTHRUST SERIES:

12A Survey

By Deirdre L. MaloyGALAXY: DESIGNER'S NOTES

13The Designer Talks About His Game

By Tom CleaverCASTLE WOLFENSTEIN:

16The Way Out! Maybe!

By Graham Masters Jr. & Bob BoydTANKTICS:

17Review and Analysis

By Bob ProctorATARI ARCADE

22Three Games for the Atari Personal Computer

By John AndersonTHE GREATEST BASEBALL TEAM OF ALL TIME:

23Part Two of the GBTOAT Tournament

A COMPUTERIZED CROSSWORD PUZZLE

24OPERATION APOCALYPSE:

25A Review and Campaign Scenario

By Paul Todd & Russell Sipe

DepartmentsFrom the EditorHobby and Industry NewsInitial CommentsMicro-Reviews (Thirteen Reviews)

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From the Editor...The response to our first issue coupled with

discussions I have had with many of you convinceme beyond a doubt that the computer gaminghobby is a sleeping giant. The social and economicfabric of the baby boom generation, is such thatcomputer gaming cannot fail to be a tremendouslygrowing entity in the 1980 's.

As the growth continues some recurring subjectsseem to interest our readers and industry repre-sentatives. These subjects include (among others):

Tele-Communication GamingThe Coin-Operated Arcade PhenomenonThe History of Computer GamingThe Copyright Laws and Computer GamesHome Video GamesComputer Game Tournaments

CGW would be interested in reporting news andpublishing articles in these fields. If you wouldlike to write in any of these areas, please give us acall or drop us a line. COMPUTER GAMINGWORLD, 1919 E. Sycamore #203, Anaheim, Ca.,92805. Our phone number is (714) 776-4979.

Future plans for COMPUTER GAMINGWORLD include a column on coin-operatedarcades and a column on programming and gamedesign. We exist as a forum for our readers and for

the computer gaming industry. Let us know whatyou think.

CORRECTIONSThe following corrections relate to Vol. 1 No. 1 of

CGW.

Chris Crawford, author of "The Future ofComputer Wargaming" is an employee of Atari.The disclaimer as to Mr. Crawford's employer wasto have preceded the article but was mysteriouslymisplaced.

The article entitled "Political Apple" may havecaused some of our readers to wonder if CGWacknowledges the existence of the Democraticparty. The Republican candidates in the gamewere duly listed as well as the third partycandidates; but the Democrats were left out. Sorryabout that. The Democratic candidates in PRESI-DENT ELECT are: Bill Bradley, Jerry Brown,John Y. Brown, Robert Byrd, Jimmy Carter,Shirley Chisholm, Hubert Humphrey, HenryJackson, Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, RobertKennedy, Ted Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, GeorgeMcGovern, Walter Mondale, Patrick D. Moynihan,Ed Muskie, Jay Rockefeller, Mo Udall, GeorgeWallace, and Andrew Young.

HOBBY ANDINDUSTRY NEWS

According to John Williams ofOn-Line Systems, Atari has lost apreliminary injunction against thedistribution of JAWBREAKER.JAWBREAKER is still being ship-ped says Williams.

On-Line Systems has releasedMOUSKATTACK for the Atari400/800 computer. You play aplumber trying to fix the plumbingas well as trap giant rats whichchase you. The Apple version, byKen Williams, should be out in thesecond week of January. The Atariversion is by John Harris.

The long awaited TIME ZONEby On-Line is scheduled for aJanuary 5th release. The multi-disk-ed game will sell for $99.95.

Tom Hirschfeld (see the review ofhis book HOW TO MASTER THEVIDEO GAMES) is working on twosequels to HTMTVG. The tentativetitles are HOW TO MASTER THEVIDEO GAMES VOL. 2 and HOWTO MASTER THE HOME VIDEOGAMES.

Avalon Hill will be releasing atleast five games at this year'sHobby Industry of America show(March): COMPUTER STOCKSAND BONDS, CONTROLLER,COMPUTER FOREIGN EX-CHANGE, GUNS OF FORTDEFIANCE, and DNIEPERRIVER LINE. Long range plansinclude SHOOTOUT AT THE OKGALAXY and CLOSE ASSAULT(similar to AH's board game, SquadLeader).

Broderbund's newest release isDAVID'S MIDNIGHT MAGIC.DMD is a hi-res pinball action game.It runs on the Apple II (48K) andsells for $34.95.

Sirius Software has three gamesslated for early January release:TWERPS (a space rescue missiongame), BORG (maze game), SNAKEBYTE (you're the snake). All threewill run on the Apple II computer(48K and disk) and sell for $29.95. InFebruary Sirius plans to release asemi-real action game tentativelyentitled BROADSIDE (fightingsail).

SIRIUS SOFTWARE has a newaddress: 10364 Rockingham Dr.,Sacramento, Ca., 95827.

SSI's Paul Murray (WARP FAC-TOR) is working on two new spacecombat games. The first is a tacticalgame similar to WARP FACTOR;the second is a strategic spacegame that can be played withthe tactical game.

SSI is planning to releaseROAD TO GETTYSBURG in lateFebruary. RTG will cover the Gettys-burg campaign using the NAPO-LEON'S CAMPAIGNS 1813,1815 game system. In March SSIplans to release GRAF SPEE (usingthe COMPUTER BISMARCKsystem but with a better tacticalcombat resolution phase). Look for aBATTLE OF BRITAIN game thissummer.

SSI's delayed second edition ofCOMPUTER AMBUSH is tenta-tively set for a late February release.This one will be infinitely fasterthan the old version.

Atari user's will be able to pur-chase an Atari version of SSI'sSHATTERED ALLIANCE in lateJanuary.

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INITIALCOMMENTSIn addition to games mentionedelsewhere in this issue the followinggames have been received by CGW.Most but not all of these will receivemore detailed attention in futureissues.

Adventures InternationalBox 3435 Longwood, FL 32750

STAR FIGHTER: Space combatgame in which player controls aSC-78503 Star Fighter assignedto rid the galaxy of the dreadedPetro Resource Conglomeratespacecraft. A 32-page attractiverule book guides you through thischallenging game. This game ismore detailed than the averagespace combat game. The programruns on the TRS-80 models 1 or3 computer.

Horizon Simulations107 E. Main #2Medford, OR 97501

SHADOW HAWK ONE: A twomode space combat game. In thecombat mode you fight against3-D hi-resolution space ships(similar to Bill Budge space-ships). In the Solarmap mode youseek out the enemy in the galaxy.Capturing enemy ships gives youraw materials which can be usedto upgrade your ship. The programavailable for the Apple and Ataripersonal computers.

Softape10432 Burbank Blvd.North Hollywood, CA 91601

DRAW POKER: A well done hi-resolution Poker game for theApple II personal computer. Youplay against a computerizedopponent. Computer play can beset for "consistent and deliberate"or "a bit more capricious" .

Strategic Simulations, Inc.465 Fairchild Dr.Mountain View, CA 94043

COMPUTER BASEBALL 1980TEAM DISK: Contains all 26major league rosters for the 1980baseball season.COMPUTER QUARTERBACK1980 TEAM DISK: Containsall 28 NFL teams for the 1980season as well as some of thegreat teams of the past 20 years(e.g. 1968 Jets, 1975 Steelers, etc.)

SOUTHERN COMMAND: Strategygame of the Israeli CounterattackAcross the Suez Canal during theOctober War of 1973. A scrollingscreen allows the players to viewa map that is nine screens large.Look for a feature article onSOUTHERN COMMAND in ournext issue.

TIGERS IN THE SNOW: Ahistorical wargame for the AppleII computer based on the Battle ofthe Bulge.

Synergistic Software5221 120th Ave. S.E.Bellevue, Washington 98006

THE LINGUIST: A generalpurpose language translation andtutorial program for the Apple IIcomputer. THE LINGUIST hasproved to be a popular program ineducational programs across thecountry. The languages coveredare Hebrew, Russian, Greek,Japanese, Phonetic, English,French, German, Spanish, Por-tuguese, Italian, Danish, Icelan-dic, Swedish, Norwegian, Latin,Esperanto, Dutch, Polish,Czechoslovakian.

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REWRITING HISTORY ON THE COMPUTERNAPOLEON AT THE BATTLE OF LEIPZIG

Note: In the late summer of 1813,Napoleon was south of Berlin with anew army (replacing the one lost theprevious year in the long winterretreat from Russia). Although longaccustomed to being outnumbered,he seemed now in a desperatesituation. He was surrounded by avast array of armies from all thenations of central Europe--deter-mined to crush him once and for all.Bothered by health problems and nolonger possessing his former limit-less energy, Napoleon was no longerthe Napoleon of Austerlitz andBorodino. What would the Battle ofLeipzig have been like if fought by a"different" Napoleon? Two computergame players recently tried to findout using SSI's Napoleon's Campaigns1813 and 1815. What follows is arecreation of that battle as it wasfought out on a computer nearly twocenturies after it had taken place inhistory.

It was late afternoon on October14, 1813--a beautiful fall day withthe air crisp and fresh--whenNapoleon rode south toward Leipzig.He knew his enemies would be feelingthey once again had him in a bottlewaiting to be capped. Would theynever learn? He'd only been teachingthem now for nearly twenty yearsthat the old way of fighting battleshad gone with their pre-Revolutionaristocratic delusions.

He knew they would be thinkingthey had him surrounded and heavilyout-numbered. Trapped, they wouldbe thinking--with almost everyreigning monarch of Europe, eachwith his own army, out there readyto pounce. Well, he wasn't as young,as full of energy as he once had been.A sharp, familiar pain in his abdomengave sudden credence to the thought.Then in a moment it was over, andhis mind was back to his immediateproblem.

His troops were scattered fromLeipzig north to Dessau. Four corps

(Victor, Augereau, Lauriston, andPoniatowski) plus Murat with twocavalry corps were just south ofLeipzig--over 50,000 men). Manymiles north, near Dessau, were thecorps of Bertrand, Macdonald,Souham, and Reynier, plus the twocavalry corps of Latour-Maubourgand Sebastiani (approximately 74,000men). And in between, but closer toLeipzig, was Marmont 's reinforcedcorps and the crux of his power, theYoung and Old Guard--altogetherabout 66,000 men. So although hehad no more than 75,000 near anyone point on the map, he had 190,000men and 680 guns in the generalarea, ready for a quick concentration.

He knew he was heavily outnum-bered. First, some distance to thenorth and west of Halle was theArmy of the North under Bernadotte,with close to 50,000 men. Blucher,the doughty old Prussian, hadanother force, the Army of Silesia,with 55,000 men in Halle itself.Together they equalled more thanhalf Napoleon's entire army. Yetthey were only the northern splinterof the force he was opposing. Most ofthe Allied forces were south ofLeipzig, scattered over a large areabut containing so many corps fromso many countries (many of themwith their kings and czars present)that, though it was under the controlof Schwarzenberg, it was referred toas the "Army of the Monarchs. "Directly south of Napoleon's men atLeipzig were two Russian corps, aPrussian corps, an Austrian corps,and a cavalry corps totaling morethan 43,000 men. Perhaps not animpressive number against his own50,000 just north of them. But thiswas really only the advance guardof Schwarzenberg's force. To thewest were the Cossacks under Platow(8000); to their southeast were twocorps of Austrians (27,000); and nearAltenberg were Schwarzenberg'smain reserve, the Austrian ReserveCorps under Hesse-Homburg andthe Russian-Prussian Reserve Corpsunder Konstantin (altogether about43,000).

And there were more. Further tothe east but available as additionalreinforcements were two othergroups, Colloredo's Austrian I Corps(nearly 20,000) and the Army ofPoland under Benningsen (close to35,000). Taken all together, hisenemies could bring about 280,000men and 1,300 guns against him. Hewas indeed, in their minds, surroun-ded and out-numbered--cut adriftin a sea of powerful armies, foreignprinces and alien people.

Or so it must seem to them, theEmperor thought, smiling grimly.Well, they should have learned bynow he had changed all the rulesthey had been playing by. Hisdesperate condition (in their eyes)was, seen from his own, a greatopportunity.

The plan was simple. He wouldconcentrate the bulk of his force atLeipzig and fight a major battlewith Schwarzenberg 's Army of theMonarchs--before its separatepieces could all be assembled.Timing was the key point. ThereforeNapoleon's orders to his subordin-ates had been explicit. All troopswere to move immediately. Bertrand,Macdonald, Souham, and Reynierwere to march southward to join theLeipzig forces for a quick assault onthe 43,000-man advance force nearestthe city before they could be re-inforced by Schwarzenberg 's manypowerful corps to the south. Mar-mont's corps, reinforced by Arrighi 'scavalry, would be placed to protectLeipzig from Blucher. Marmont 's22,000 would be able to block thetough old Prussian 's 55,000--atleast long enough for the majorvictory to be won south of Leipzig.Finally, two cavalry corps were givenspecial duties. Latour-Maubourgwas to hurry to Leipzig to protect thecity itself from Cossack raidingparties while the battle was foughtfurther south. And Sebastiani 's IICavalry Corps should circle awayfrom the battle and toward the. northern armies ' supply lines--thus perhaps causing Bernadotte's50,000 (and even Blucher's 55,000--although this was far more doubtful)to scurry north to secure their supplylines.

The main thrust, then, was againstSchwarzenberg. Orders had beensent to Augereau to start his attackimmediately with the forces alreadythere. Now, late in the day, word hadalready come back that Augereauhad done well, causing 7,000 casual-ties while losing only about 5,000.The full attack would have to awaitthe arrival of Napoleon himself withthe powerful Old and Young Guard,as well as Bertrand 's and Macdonald's33,000 from far to the north. It wouldbe a footrace for the first twenty-fourhours--but the Emperor estimatedeverything could be in place byafternoon of the next day, October15.

To the south another leader of agrand army had been pouring overhis maps, estimating distances andpondering odds. Schwarzenberg haddecided to make a fight of it. By

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rushing his mass of reserves fromAltenburg, he felt he could muster113,000 against Napoleon's probable115,000. But in addition Blucher,with 55,000 more, would be marchingup from Napoleon's right rear. Berna-dotte should also be coming downfast from the north. But the clincherswere the two forces far to his right.Colloredo's Austrians should bethere the day after tomorrow, andBenningsen and the Army of Polanda day later. Yes, the odds were verygood.... Even the Cossacks (whocouldn't be depended on for too muchin hard fighting) had been orderedto stage a raid into Leipzig. Thatought to keep Napoleon a bit offbalance.

October 15The day dawned clear but soon

clouds were gathering. Napoleondidn't want rain. Most of his troopswere already on the field and hewanted an early attack. It was truehis troops were tired--but then,the enemy's must be equally tired. Ifhe was to win, Napoleon knew hehad to strike quickly, before Schwar-zenberg could gather all his far-flung forces.

Before nine o'clock the Emperorordered the assault. He could seeSchwarzenberg had brought up atleast some of his reinforcements. Heestimated his enemy would haveimmediately available about 88,000

men and another 27,000 moving up.Schwarzenberg, however, would soonoutnumber him in guns by two-toone. Still, it was close enough for theconfident commander. But he decidedto wait until Bertrand and Macdon-ald came up with their 33,000 beforelaunching his all-out attack. Mean-while, those on the field were sentinto the attack.

The Cossacks had threatenedLeipzig, but Latour-Maubourg's ICavalry Corps, riding through thenight from the far north, had arrivedright on schedule and fought themoff. But to the northwest of Leipzig,there was that major threat ofBlucher's army. Word had come thatthe aggressive Prussian was quicklypreparing to assault Marmont'sholding force.

By the middle of the day theEmperor had evidence that he hadwon a major victory in the first bigclash of major forces on the fieldsouth of Leipzig. For the loss of littlemore than 7,500 men, he had causedan estimated 15,000 loss to Schwar-zenberg's force. Because of troopsfatigued by the fierce fight after anight of marching, Napoleon decidednot to press the attack further untilthe arrival of Bertrand and Macdonald.

Schwarzenberg meanwhile, feltequally confident. His troops hadarrived from Altenburg in time tohold off Napoleon's main assault--

though the battle had been costly.His troops had fought well so far,against that living legend of militarygenius, Napoleon himself. And hehad a strong point in his favor inBlucher's force. However, he won-dered where Bernadotte and theArmy of the North were? Were theymoving up as ordered?

About the same time, Napoleonknew that he had trouble in themaking. He had received word thatMarmont was under hard attack byBlucher, had suffered heavy losses,and was close to breaking. TheEmperor, ever the realist, decided tocall off his afternoon attack eventhough Bertrand and Macdonald hadarrived on schedule. The troops, heknew, would not be ready for such amajor battle after their long march.

But there was good news fromLeipzig. The I Cavalry Corps hadrouted the Cossacks, destroyingperhaps half their entire force. Thatwould protect his rear from theclosest threat. But the bigger onefrom Blucher loomed larger everyminute. He sent orders to Marmontto make a planned withdrawal acrossthe Elster River.

The orders were given none toosoon. Blucher struck again with ablow so heavy Marmont's forces weresent back demoralized. Yet the with-drawal plans had proceeded farenough to save the force from a rout.

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Despite some heavy losses they wereable to retreat across the river.

But now more perilous news arrived.The Emperor's most remote force,the two corps under Souham andReynier, had been making good timesouthward. Napoleon had plannedto use them as a block to stop Blucherfrom taking Leipzig. Yet a late reportmade clear this would be impossible.Those two corps were being held upby--of all generals--the slow-moving Bernadotte. Somehow he hadgot his Army of the North movingfast enough to intercept them beforethey could reach Leipzig. Well, inwar there were no certainties.Napoleon would have to do what heliked least--draw two corps awayfrom the main battle and send themto protect Leipzig from Blucher. Hebegan to consider it possible that hewould not be able to destroy Schwar-zenberg's main force before the otherAllied reinforcements arrived. If so,the Emperor would have to be sureof an open retreat route for his armyto squeeze through. Considering hissituation, hemmed in by superiorforces on all sides, it would be thread-ing his entire army through anarrow-eyed needle, with disasterhovering close on either side. By theend of October 15, Napoleon knewhe was in for a genuine battle. Noquick and easy victories now.

October 16The next morning saw light rain

falling over the whole battle area.

Exhausted men struggling out oftheir brief, disturbed sleep prayedfor the rain to continue. But all toosoon it had stopped and preparationswere going forward for the day'smajor battles.

By five o'clock Schwarzenberg hadbeen informed of Bernadotte's colli-sion with the corps of Souham andReynier north of Leipzig. Well, hethought, that will hold up some ofNapoleon 's reinforcements, even ifit is doing the same to mine. Thenews from Blucher was good--Marmont routed. Yet Blucher's troopswere dead tired from the constantmarching and fighting. They had tobe given some rest. Schwarzenbergprayed for the rain to continue--at least long enough to hold offNapoleon's main attack south ofLeipzig until more Allied reinforce-ments had arrived.

Some miles to the north, theEmperor juggled troops to meet thedemands of the day. Souham andReynier, it was clear, would not beable to block Blucher--held up asthey were by Bernadotte. But Victor'sand Augereau's corps, hastily with-drawn from the main battle againstSchwarzenberg the previous night,had reached Leipzig. Now theyshould be able to move down theroad to Halle and stop the victoriousBlucher.

By noon the rain had stopped andNapoleon sent in his main attacksouth of Leipzig. His Guard Corps

was in the lead. In a short while theentire area was engulfed in smokeand flame, with hundreds of gunspouring fire into tens of thousandsof men. Napoleon was using some ofhis best troops, and they werehaving their effect. The reports weregood. The Allied troops were losingheavily. Schwarzenberg ' s troopsseemed ready to break. Yet still theyheld, taking heavy casualties butstanding firm.

By late afternoon Napoleon hadto reduce the scale of his attack. Theodds were shifting. Losses had beenmuch more nearly even in theafternoon. The Guard itself was wornout. Bertrand and Macdonald had tobe thrown in. His reserves wererapidly diminishing. Finally, aboutseven o'clock, he stopped the assaultaltogether.

Word came in from Victor andAugereau's battle with Blucher,who was now pushing harder thanever. The French troops, after thebitter fighting against Schwarzen-berg on the 15th and the hurriedmarch back to block Blucher duringthe night, were taking heavy casual-ties again and seemed ready to break.Napoleon saw what he had to do.

He sent word to authorize retreatfor the battered force. Could no onestop Blucher? The next day he wouldsend the recovered troops of Marmontas well as the Guard itself. But nowa new danger surfaced. He began toget reports of the Army of Poland's

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approach from the east. His originalplan was obviously not going towork. The French assault was notrouting the enemy. Small victorieswere not enough. He would have toretreat from Leipzig.

Orders went out for all troops notmoving toward Blucher to rest duringthe night. He would need theirfighting strength on the morrow.Then, just before midnight, came aglimmer of good news. AlthoughAugereau had begun his retreat overthe Elster, Blucher had discontin-ued the attack against him. Napoleondecided to take a chance. He orderedAugereau back across the river. TheFirst Cavalry Corps were now gettinginto position to help. Together theseforces might be able to hold Blucher.If they could, the new troops comingup--especially the Guard--wouldhave a chance of routing Blucher.This would both hold open the escaperoute for the army and make itpossible to salvage one claim forvictory out of the deteriorating sit-uation. Now it was Napoleon's turnto pray for rain the next day.

October 17In the early morning the rain began

to fall on the weary troops. Napoleon'sfirst feeling was one of relief. Thiswould mean a few hours more ofmuch-needed rest for his soldiers.His course was now clear. Let histroops get some rest, then getMarmont's recovering corps, Murat'scavalry corps, and the Guard intoposition for a devastating assaulton Blucher--blow him right out ofthe battle and open up a retreatroute to the west. But to do that therain would have to stop in time forhim to get his troops moving andready for the attack by the 18th. Andmost of all, the troops left behindfighting Schwarzenberg wouldhave to hang on in a bitter-end fightof desperation. To make mattersworse, it was becoming clear thatboth Benningsen's Army of Polandand Colloredo's Austrian Corps werebeginning to come into action. Ifthis were true the fat was really inthe fire. Now he would be even moredesperately out-numbered--espe-cially in the key area south of Leipzigwhere his troops were struggling intheir bitter rearguard action. TheEmperor could see it was going to bea close call, even if he were able topull off the miracle of threading hisarmy through the shrinking eye ofthe needle.

Further south Schwarzenberg,riding behind his battle lines, sensedhis position improving. At first itseemed that Benningsen was coming

into the battle in perfect position--to the left rear of the main Frenchtroops, with a chance of cuttingthem off from Leipzig. Then to his toLeipzig.

Late in the day, the rain havingstopped, Schwarzenberg called foran all-out assault. He was sure hewas dealing with only a rearguardnow. Yet to his dismay it maneuveredso well against his over-cautioussubordinates that he found his attackwas yielding him no real victory. Bythe end of the day he sensed themaster was still in control, despitethe mounting odds against the French.

October 18The day dawned slightly overcast

but soon cleared. Schwarzenberg hadbeen hoping again for rain for Blucher,whom he feared might soon rout.His other attacks seemed to begetting nowhere and his losses hadbeen heavy. He sent the Cossacksand 15,000 infantry to the west toblock the route of a possible retreat.Otherwise he ordered most of histroops to stand against what he feltwere still impending offensive moves.

Napoleon would have been glad toknow that Schwarzenberg wasworried. To him it was completelyotherwise. He had been pouring corpsafter corps against Blucher to thenorthwest, and that tough oldPrussian was still attacking. Bern-adotte to the north was being heldoff by Souham and Reynier--butthese troops, out-numbered

two-to-one at the start and taking heavylosses for some time now, might nothold much longer. He was tryinghard to keep his weary, exhaustedcorps together until a retreat routecould be established and its flankssecured. But in addition to all ofSchwarzenberg's other corps, he nowhad the Army of Poland working itsway around his eastern flank. Thismorning in particular the fieldseemed to be in a state of chaos, withcorps scattered all about the country-side, weary troops fighting equallyexhausted opponents, and neithersure which would rout first.

Finally at five in the afternoon thenews came to both commanders.Blucher, determined old soldier thathe was, having absorbed blow afterblow from Napoleon's corps stolenfrom other parts of the field, at lastrouted. The French had attackedfirst with Augereau, but after fiercefighting that force had routed.Augereau however, had been readywith the Guard Corps and had sentit in. At first the losses were heavy,but this most trusted body of

Napoleon's men persisted, andBlucher finally gave way, his troopsstreaming up the road toward Halle.

Napoleon knew this was his onlychance; the door to the west andsafety would now be open--for avery brief moment. He would haveperhaps one more day. Everythingwould have to be done by then.

Before him he had only the weakremnants of the Cossacks. Muratwas sent ahead to brush them aside.To his north, Bernadotte was closingin. Souham and Reynier had had tobe withdrawn south to the mainretreat rout. Now there was onlyLatour-Maubourg's small cavalrycorps to hold off this entire Army ofthe North. Behind him to the easttwo corps under Lauriston andPoniatowski, fighting off the Armyof Poland, had been shunted north-east and appeared lost, completelyout of contact with the main army.Still, they appeared to be holdingout. The main corps of Schwarzen-berg were pushing hard on the rearof the Emperor's retreat column,and he knew they would soon becoming round to cut him off from thesouth. The Emperor felt he wasrunning down a tight iron corridorwhose walls had suddenly started tocontract and close him in.

October 19Like a juggler with all his nine-

pins in the air at once, Napoleonmaneuvered his troops down thenarrow corridor. The corps ofBertrand and Macdonald and eventhe Guard Corps itself, all exhausted,had somehow managed to cross thePleisse in the night and were for themoment safe--but in very badshape. Napoleon ordered Marmont'sforce to take up the rearguard action.

One thing he could do to preservea shred of victory. He had Sebastiani'scavalry corps free near Halle--placed there to disrupt Blucher'ssupply line. He was in perfect positionto attack Blucher's troops streamingback up the road toward him--toharry them, give them no time toreform, push them until they werecompletely destroyed. For even onesmall cavalry corps would be enoughto continue the rout of that formerlypowerful army of 55,000 men.

Another small cavalry corps wasalso giving yeoman service. TheFirst Cavalry Corps was fightinggallantly, to hold Benardotte's armynorth of the Elster through the longdragging afternoon. Finally theygathered their remnants and launch-ed a last desperate charge. The Armyof the North quivered with the shock,

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were held momentarily, then absorb-ed it--shock, First Cavalry Corpsand all. They reached the river tofind they were too late. Napoleon'slast troops were passing safely onthe other shore. But the First CavalryCorps had simply disappeared intothe mass of its enemy.

For the main body of the army ithad been a hard day of fightingwhile running, holding off superiorforces from the left, the right, andthe rear, while pushing the Cossacksout of the way in the front. TheEmperor was rushing Souham's andReyniers corps forward to supportMurat--for he knew Schwarzen-berg would surely have a heavyforce take the place of the Cossacksbefore long. The rear was stillholding. Bertrand and Macdonaldwere finally routed after dark butwere able to retreat across the Elsterand keep up with the army. ForMarmont's troops, in spite of theirgallant fight all over the field fromthe opening battle against Blucher,it was too late. Caught at the end of thecolumn, unable to break loose fromtheir rear guard action, they werefinally cut off. Like Lauriston's andPoniatowski's men, from whom nowonly faint sounds came from far tothe east, they would have to be left totheir fate.

Napoleon was not through thegauntlet yet. Murat had defeated theCossacks before five o 'clock in theafternoon, but then was struck by a

much larger force. FortunatelyNapoleon had rushed forward withhis staff and headquarters--800strong--to be at the crucial point.Murat's men held at first-- thenfinally broke. For a few momentsthere was only Napoleon and hisheadquarters' troops to hold backthe waves of enemy about to engulfthe narrow retreat corridor from thesouth. The horses of the charging800 reared as their riders slashedabout them. A precious few momentswere bought. Then, just in the nickof time, Souham and Reynier appear-ed streaming forward through thenight's shadows to hold back thethreatening flood and keep theretreat route open.

October 20Schwarzenberg sensed that he had

done well--but the cost had beenterrible, and he knew that he hadalmost had the master in his clutches,only to let him escape.

Napoleon was riding with his re-treating troops, tired, sick, andphysically exhausted, but knowinghe had somehow once again heldeverything together and kept him-self from defeat. He knew he hadwon no great victory--though avictory could be claimed. Blucher'sarmy was now being rapidly des-troyed, still pursued by Sebastiani,Poniatowski, Lauriston, and all theirtroops were lost. And Marmont, cutoff and left behind in his last braverearguard action, must soon surren-

der too. Latour-Maubourg's FirstCavalry Corps, gallant defenderagainst the Army of the North, hadnow disappeared into the mass ithad held back. But except for thoseelements, the rest of the army's unitswere intact and in orderly retreat.Yet for every one of those 84,000 menretreating in his column, there layanother back there around Leipzig.Total French casualties had been80,000. And another 21,000 wouldsoon surrender. Well, he would returnto France and raise another grandarmy. And then....

But it was getting harder. Thistime his men and his own resourceshad held. Leipzig had not been theendgame for him. But he was older,more exhausted, sicker. Would therecome a time soon when the greatNapoleon would not be able to pull itoff? When he would ride out to meethis.... He wondered idly for a momentwhat would be the name of thatgreat city (or perhaps some small,unknown country town) that wouldring down through history as thesite of his final defeat.

Well... at least it wouldn't beLeipzig.

Note: The actual battle of Leipzigresulted in 110,000 French casual-ties, 90,000 Allied losses and theunseating of Napoleon in 1814. Thegame recounted in this article result-ed in 100,000 French losses, 145,000Allied losses, and a much less certainoutcome of the 1814 campaign.

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I've always been curious as to why generals hadso many aides-de-camp hanging around; havingplayed NAPOLEON'S CAMPAIGNS 1813 &1815 I now understand that their primary functionwas to convey information and to deliver orders.The game includes separate scenarios on Leipzig(1813) and Waterloo (1815). In the solo version ofthe Leipzig campaign you are Napoleon, andattempt to defend your supply depot at Leipzigagainst 300,000 Austrians, Prussians, Russiansand Swedes which are attacking from all points ofthe compass. In that of the Waterloo simulationyou are Wellington attempting to defend both

Liege and Brussels against Napoleon's last fling,while simultaneously trying to crush the Frenchwhich you outnumber two to one.

The game is a corps level simulation with theemphasis on limited intelligence and the problemsof command control. Although I've playedwargames for over twenty years I have neverencountered a simulation which handles the aboveso well. Through a series of dispatches your corpscommanders relay information to you based uponthe patrols of their light cavalry, the accuracy ofwhich depends upon the comparative strength ofthe various screens. This information is however,often quite out of date, and you might receive adispatch sent at 9:00 AM at 9:00 PM. In addition,you are bombarded with vast amounts of intelli-gence reports which may or may not be accurate.Having decided upon a plan of action (striking themap with your finger and shouting "We will crushthem here!"), it merely remains to order youreleven independent corps commanders to con-centrate their forces at the appropriate spot. Unlikecardboard counters on a paper map, they are oftenquite uncooperative. They may decide not to pushtheir troops too hard, or to attack at a secondarypoint, or to ignore you because your messengernever got through. If and when they show up atthe battlefield, and if you've discerned the enemy'sstrategy, a long and bloody "Napoleonic" battletakes place. Heavy and light cavalry; riflemen,grenadiers, light and line infantry; artillery; andthe historical tactical abilities of the various

commanders such as Kellerman, Uxbridge, Murat,and Blucher to name but a few, are factored intothe battle in different ways depending on yourtactics and the terrain. The horrendous casualtiescan often cripple the victorious army while dis-persing the vanquished. The above is handled inan exciting and challenging manner and showswhy even the Emperor had an occasional bad day.

All of this takes place on a nice high-res strategicmap. There is another map that is a disaster. Thegame comes with a hard-copy map of the campaignareas and a series of cardboard corps markers andestimated enemy strength chits, which seem toserve no really useful purpose other than as anattempt to discourage game pirates. The hard-copy map is both ugly and confusing. Instead ofusing the pseudo-antique style of the instructionbook, we are presented with hexes in variousshades of brown and grey, with a confusing arrayof little red dots that represent the highways. Themap on the screen (which is displayed in segments)could also be somewhat improved.

One of my other interests is wargaming with15mm Napoleonic miniatures, and I had hopedthat this game would be a useful tool when myfriends and I wished to play a campaign game. Toa certain extent this has been fulfilled, as in thetwo-player version of the game we can resolvetactically with our own miniatures the engagementwhich the computer describes as about to takeplace. Unfortunately, there is no way for me to tellthe computer the result of my tactical encounterwith miniatures. I had hoped that Mr. Billings andthe gentlemen at SSI would have made provisionfor this.

This game is a must for anyone interested in theproblems of army-level command or Napoleonicsimulations. If Napoleon had an Apple and thisgame at Leipzig, he would have seen the hand-writing on the screen and headed for the Rhine,kicking his aides-de-camp all the way.

NAPOLEON'S CAMPAIGNS: 1813 & 1815runs on the Apple II (48K) computer with Applesoftin ROM and sells for $60.

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Although there are many fantasy role-playingcomputer games on the market, the Swordthrustseries is very different from most. Most fantasygames I have seen use the Dungeons andDragons concept of character class--a characteris a magician, fighter, thief, or priest; he cannothave any abilities of another class. Swordthrust,however, uses a system more like another popularfantasy role playing system called

Runequest--that is a character can and should have skills in asmany areas as possible. Spells, armour, andweapons can be bought, and many things can befound while on an adventure.

Swordthrust is a mixture of a puzzle-typeadventure and a "hack-and-slash" game (such asUltima). This is the best role-playing I have seenin any computer game, and better than someDungeons and Dragons or Runequest scenar-ios I have played in. Currently, there are fiveSwordthrust scenarios available (with, hopefully,more to come), each sold separately. Each scenariohas a unique goal and most have time limits.

Swordthrust has some unique features. Auseful feature is an "auto-repeat" of the lastcommand by pressing return. This saves a lot oftyping (and errors). Also, there is the "suicideplan" which allows you the option of refusing less-than average characters. Armour, weapons, andshields are all subject to breakage, which is not myidea of fun--but it is fair.

Initially, the most useful skill is charisma.Someone with really high charisma (such as mycharacter Jordan's 22) will be able to start offinitially with chainmail, 4 good weapons, a Powerspell, and perhaps training too. However, nostatistic is useless, and hardiness is perhaps thesingle most important.

One thing to watch is fatigue. Every time youtake damage, it fatigues you . Fleeing and castingspells also fatigue you. If you lose consciousness,there is a chance you will die if there is a monsterin the room (or if a monster wanders by). Yourchance to hit is also lowered by fatigue, whichseems very reasonable.

In the first scenario, no provisions are made forsaving the game. This is a hassle because there isa lot to it, and even though I know most of thescenario, it is still difficult to complete it withoutdying. The next four scenarios, however, all havesave options. However, this is a different type ofsave--the next time you run that disk, the scenariowill be started at the saved point. This game doesnot (rats!) allow reusing characters that should besix feet under.

The first scenario seemed short at first. Later, Idiscovered how much there really is and drownedtrying to get all the treasure out. The best rule ofthumb is not to bother with anything unless youhave to and search everything as best you can.Some options are not immediately evident, butcareful thought will bring them to light. A Powerspell, all anyone can afford at the beginner level,may prove invaluable. However, it can throwfireballs back at the user as well as heal, so beCAREFUL!

In the Vampyre Caves (scenario 2), the rats willprobably like you, but neither the vampyre or hishunters will. The better you do finding treasure onthe first scenario, the better set up you will be forthis one. Spells are infinitely valuable--don'toverlook them. By this scenario (if you areattempting them in order), you should be able toafford at least a Heal spell, and possibly a blast aswell.

Kidnapper's Cove (third scenario), is where youget to play delivery boy and Errol Flynn in thesame scenario. The object is to rescue a kidnappedboy and get him his medicine. The time limit isdefinitely a factor in the game. Hint: water washesoff dust, but beware of tridents unless you are veryexperienced. If you flee from a trident, he (at leasteverytime I've tried) automatically follows you.

The Green Plague (fifth, and most recentlyreleased scenario) starts with your charactercontracting the disease, thus giving him a veryvalid reason for finding a cure. Don't make themistake I did. I spent so much time reading thegray book "Ringworld Engineers" that I ran out oftime and died of the plague.

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ED. NOTE - I was introduced to computer gamingby Tom Cleaver. A few years ago Tom showed mehis multi-player space warfare game entitled -GALACTIC EMPIRES (not to be confused withBroderbund's Galactic Saga series). It was thenand, I feel, still is the best multi-player gameavailable for the personal computer. Now thatAvalon Hill is distributing GALACTIC EMPIRES(under the name GALAXY) the game will get thekind of attention it deserves. It runs on the AppleII (48K) and Atari 800 (32K) personal computers.Here are Tom Cleaver's thoughts about thedevelopment of GALAXY.

HISTORYGALAXY did not spring forth full grown from

the head of Zeus. Like all things on this earth (andoff), GALAXY evolved from lower forms.

One Friday evening I was woolgathering whenthe idea for a computer game crossed my mind.Now, I want you to be aware that this was not thefirst time that a game idea had occurred to me.'But most of my ideas up to this time had led todead ends. However, this idea came to me withsuch clarity and detail that I knew it couldn't fail.That weekend I sat down before my Apple II andprogrammed the first version of what waseventually to become GALAXY.

I called it GALACTIC EMPIRES, and it wasan instant success with my friends at the Falls ofthe Ohio Wargame club. My ego inflated by theirenthusiasm, I got a bit of free publicity in some ofthe gaming magazines, and soon I was sellingprogram listings by mail for $2.00 each.

The next step was to find a company willing topublish my game. I sent samples to a few softwarehouses, but the only one really willing to publish itwas a small company on the East Coast. And theywanted revisions. So GALACTIC EMPIRESwas translated from Integer BASIC to Applesoft,modularized, polished and debugged, a processtaking about 100 hours of work. It was publishedin late 1979.

For several reasons which are best not explainedat this time, GALACTIC EMPIRES did not sellas well as I had hoped, in spite of quite favorablereviews by the critics. I therefore sought to have itpublished by a larger company.

On a whim, I sent the game to Avalon Hill, notreally expecting them to accept an "outside" design.But to my amazement and elation, AH wasimpressed with GALACTIC EMPIRES andauthorized me to do a rewrite of the game for theApple II, and to supervise the production ofversions for the Atari, TRS-80 and PET.

I began by hiring the best programmers

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(available) money could buy--students in electricalengineering and computer science at the Universityof Louisville. We worked together for four monthsto produce the pinnacle of the game's evolution:GALAXY.

Writing the first program in Integer BASIC waseasy, and the product of the programming was a"good" game. But it took two years of slow andoften painful evolution to advance that game to itspresent state. I think the effort was worth it. I hopeyou do too.

PHILOSOPHYThe typical computer game is a solitaire arcade-

style game with fancy high-resolution graphics. Itrequires lots of manual dexterity and good reactiontime. I like this kind of game. But not all the time.Where is the camaraderie of playing a game with afriend? Where is the intellectual challenge?

When I set out to design a new computer game, Iwas looking for one which would be multi-playerand which could be played repeatedly withoutgrowing stale. What I ended up with was sort of acombination of STARTREK, DIPLOMACYand RISK. It can be played by up to 20 players,and no two games are ever alike.

I also wanted to take advantage of what thecomputer does best, not graphics and animation,but number crunching and bookkeeping. ThusGALAXY does some fairly sophisticated mathe-matics when calculating movement and combatresults, and it handles all the record keeping thatcan become so burdensome in a board game. Thecomputer also serves as a moderator, applying allgame rules impartially and allowing players toenter secret moves.

Don't expect to find gaudy graphics in GALAXY.What you will get is well-organized and "clean"text displays that provide all the information thegamer needs. Austere, you say? Perhaps; butfancy graphics would have been gratuitous, and Ihave made one concession to the arcade gamefreak--lots of sound effects in the form of phasers,explosions, sirens and more.

GAME MECHANICSAs the game begins, you will send fleets of ships

from your home planet to explore the unknownresources of the stars. The planets circling thestars may be barren worlds, or they may possessindustrial capacity and defensive ships to resistyour colonization efforts. If you should succeed inconquering a neutral planet, its industrial capacitywill be converted to producing new ships for yourcontinued expansion.

GALAXY allows from 1 to 20 players to competefor control of up to 40 star systems. The computerproduces a different galaxy every game.

You may play solitaire, in which case your taskis to colonize the entire galaxy before game's end.In my opinion, the multi-player game is muchmore exciting. Your task in this game is to controlthe most planets at game's end. The orders whichyou key into the computer are invisible, so no onecan tell what you are doing. This simulation of"the fog of war" makes it possible to launchsurprise attacks on your opponents.

GALAXY runs in 16K of free memory. A gamein progress may be saved to tape or disk.

INSIDE THE PROGRAMThis section discusses what only the program-

mer knows for sure--the algorithms that lie behindthe code.

The computer randomly assigns industry to theneutral worlds. There is a 25% chance that a worldwill have no industry, and thus be economicallyworthless (but still strategically valuable). If aworld does have industry, it is likely that it willhave only a small number of industry units,usually less than five, although there is notheoretical limit to the amount of industry aneutral planet may have.

Ships are assigned to players based on a complexalgorithm awarding extra ships for proximity toother players' worlds and taking away ships forproximity to neutral worlds. This tends to eventhings out so that, for example, there is no par-ticular advantage to having your home world inthe middle of the galaxy.

Ships are assigned to neutral worlds based onthe number of industry the world has and arandom factor. Neutral worlds with lots of industrycan be expected to have lots of ships. Keep this inmind when scouting the neutrals.

Fleets of ships move two light-years on the turnthey are released and three light-years on everyturn thereafter. Distances are computed accordingto the Pythagorean Theorem. Thus if the des-tination world is 4 light-years north and 5 light-years east of the origin world, the distance is 6.40light years, and the trip will take three years (timeis rounded up).

When ships arrive at a hostile planet, combatoccurs. First, each defending ship fires one shot.Then each surviving attacker fires one shot. Shotsare traded until one side is eliminated. The prob-ability that an attacker will hit its target is givenby the formula,

P=G D/(A+D)where G is the gunnery factor (a random numberwith a mean of 0.707), D is the number of defendingships, and A is the number of attackers. A similarformula applies to the defender's fire.

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A little mathematical manipulation will showthat, with equal gunnery factors, you have a 50/50chance of winning the battle if you come in with30% more ships than the defender has. If you comein with double the number of the defender's ships,you will have an excellent chance of winning, butit will cost you a number of ships equal to thedefender's force to capture the planet. To minimizeyour losses, come in at 5 to 1. Even at these odds,however, you still stand to lose a number of shipsequal to 65% of the defender's force. It is inadvis-able to attack at more than 5 to 1 odds because ifan unfavorable gunnery factor shouldoccur(gunnery factors for attacker and defender arerandomly determined at the beginning of eachinvasion) the victory could be Pyrrhic.HINTS ON PLAY

Diplomacy can be an important part of multi-player GALAXY. Some appropriate strategiesare given below.

1. Look dumb. If you don't appear to know what isgoing on, the other players may ignore you, think-ing that you are no threat.2. Acquire a reputation for vindictiveness. If youlet it be known that you are a badass, the timidplayers will be intimidated by your bluster. If yousingle-mindedly attack anyone who invades "yourspace," you will probably lose the first few games

you play. However, as your rep gets better known,people will learn to leave you alone. Obviously,this strategy works only if you play with the samepeople regularly.3. Establish a reputation as a loyal ally. Thisstrategy works best if there is someone else in thegame who is as trustworthy as you, and you canmake that person your ally. A rep for squaredealing will pay off in any other games you playwith the same individuals. You will find that thisidea carries over to the "real world" as well.4. Emulate Machiavelli. If you find yourself in agame with strangers, pretend to be the loyal allyas described above. Then when the game is drawingto a close, send ships to your partners weaklydefended worlds, all timed so that they arrive onthe last turn of the game. I personally eschew thisstrategy, but its success cannot be denied.

EPILOGUEThe above notes are intended to give you some

insight into the "guts" of GALAXY And theymay provide you with enough hints to give you anedge. But the only real way to become a winner atGALAXY is to play it.

1 Some of my other ideas have resulted in published non-computerized games, namely SWORDPLAY and THECONQUEST OF SPACE.

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Tanktics:Review and AnalysisBob Proctor

Your tank has stopped amid a group of smallhills; up ahead, through a thin screen of trees, youcan see the east-west road down which the Russiantanks were supposed to be coming. Where arethey? Sure, if they were coming this way, they'd behere by now. Could they have gotten by already?Are they about to open fire from behind? Thethought of a shot " up the tailpipe" is enough tomake you want to scout the territory. Before youcan act, your doubts are dispelled by the appear-ance of a tank on the road! It's not a T-34, it's aKV-85; no wonder they weren't here sooner! Well,there's no point in waiting for a side or rear aspectshot on a KV, the armor's the same all around, soyou take careful aim and fire! Good shot, it hitssquare on the front hull...and bounces! You slamthe hatch shut and reach for another round as thereturn fire screams overhead...

As you can guess, TANKTICS is a game aboutarmor battles between the Germans and Russians(the Eastern Front) during World War II. It isAvalon Hill's first historical microcomputer war-game since their original 4 computer games hit themarket last year. Like those games, TANKTICSis easy to play and fairly short, but it is a muchmore complex simulation than MIDWAY CAM-PAIGN or B-1 NUCLEAR BOMBER. It's afairly conventional board wargame with a com-puter as both referee and opponent. There is noprovision for two players to compete except toalternate games and compare scores. It is available

on cassette at $24 for Apple II, Atari, PET andTRS-80 or on disk at $29 for the Apple and TRS-80.

IS THIS A BOARD GAME?The first thing that catches your eye when you

open the box is a brightly colored mapboard.There are two of them and they lay side-by-side tomake a 16" by 18" map with forests, lakes, roadsand "rough" ground. It is a purely hypotheticalmap, not intended to represent any real place; theidea is simply to have a relatively flat area with afew bumps, dips, and trees where the tanks can"play around." The game is played in the computerbut it is impossible to visualize what is happeningwithout referring to the map. The map is coveredwith a grid of hexagons (known as "hexes") andeach hex is identified by "coordinates" (from Al toFF24) clearly printed on the board. The computertells you where things are by giving their coor-dinates; there are no graphics or pictures what-soever. At first, taking the graphics off the screenand putting them on a mapboard may seem like astep backward, but there are two big advantages.First, it means owners of Commodore PET's andTRS-80's can run the game too and, secondly, wecan all enjoy a larger, more complex game thisway.

There are about 240 half-inch square counters tomark the positions of the tanks on the map. Eachhas an accurate outline of the appropriate type oftank, the movement allowance, and a letter from Ato P to identify individual vehicles. German

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THE PROGRAMMER'S CORNERFor those of you who know BASIC, here are

some simple improvements for TANKTICS.These changes apply specifically to the Appleversion, but similar logic can be used with theothers.

Our first concern is to fix the problem thatoccurs when a Russian and German tankoccupy the same hex and it is not resolved asan overrun. If either shoots at the other, theprogram stops because it 's trying to divide bythe range which has a value of zero. The erroroccurs in line 20130 and it can be fixed just byadding line 20125:

20125 IF RG = 0 THEN RG = 1

Another worthwhile change will permitany number of Russian tanks (up to 16) nomatter how many tanks you choose foryourself. This is done by modifying line 120and adding line 125 so that they look like this:120 PRINT "HOW MANY TANKS FOR YOU? ":: Q=8: GOSUB 10000:

HN=Q: HL=0

125 PRINT "HOW MANY TANKS FOR ME? ": Q=16: GOSUB 10000:

CN=Q: CL=Q

Although only the speed is shown on the counter,each tank is rated for size of gun and three kinds ofarmor (front, side and rear). You can select fromfive different types of German tanks. The PanzerMark IIIJ and IVH are inferior to every type ofSoviet tank and won't get used much. The laterPanzers--the Panther, Tiger and King Tiger--areall useful though you will soon learn that thePanther has reduced side and rear armor danger-ously to obtain its 11 point movement allowance.There are 6 kinds of Russian tanks--2 T-34's, 2KV's, and 2 JS's. Both sides also have Anti-Tankguns which can be used on defense; they functionlike tanks with a movement allowance of zero.

PLAYING THE GAMEFirst you select one of the 5 scenario types (see

below) and choose how many tanks you will have.Then you pick the type of tanks that both sides willuse. You can mix types but the computer cannot.Then the computer determines the starting positionsand the location of the objective. Now you're readyto start.

The game is played in alternating turns and youalways get to go first. At the start of your turn, thecomputer displays the positions of all of yourtanks and the locations of any enemy tanks whichthey can see. Each turn, you can move each tankup to its maximum movement allowance unlessyou choose to have it shoot instead. The winner isdetermined by a point system which takes intoaccount how many tanks were destroyed, howlong the game took and how close to the objectivethe attacker got. All of this is explained in 5 pagesof the 12-page rulebook, which also covers loadingthe program and gives some examples of play. Therulebook lists the following 5 "scenarios":

1. MEETING ENGAGEMENT - Both sides startaway from the objective hex and must try tocapture (occupy) it.2. HEDGEHOG DEFENSE - You set up near theobjective and must keep the Soviets from capturingit.3. ARMOR ASSAULT - Same as #2 except that theRussians are defending and you must overrun theobjective.4. LINE DEFENSE - You set up in a line across theboard (in this one case, you get to choose whichhexes you will start in) and the Soviets try to breakthrough your line to reach the objective.5. LINE ASSAULT - The reverse of #4, with theGermans attacking a Soviet line defense.

In actual play, these are all the same game withdifferent starting positions. In spite of thegeographical "objective", victory is always deter-mined by points and all of the scenarios continue

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until one side or the other is eliminated. This gets alittle strange in the case of scenario #5, where youcan punch a hole in the Russian line and overrunthe objective only to find that the game doesn'tend until you go back and mop up every last unit.

In every game, the computer gets twice as manytanks as you do. This gives scenarios 2 and 4 anauthentic feel; the Russian "hordes" attempt toswamp the defenders by weight of numbers. Youhave an advantage being on defense because youcan sit and shoot while the attacker cannot bothmove and return your fire. When YOU must attackit ' s a tough row to hoe--you must give yourself verygood tanks and the Russians weak ones if youwant a reasonable chance of winning.

WINNING THE GAMEThe scoring system makes zero points a tie

game. Any plus score is a win for you, a minusscore is a loss. It is possible to capture yourobjective and still lose; it is even possible to wipeout the Russians and lose. You can't predict howmany points a tank will be worth--anywhere from10 to over a hundred! In any given game, though,each kill will be worth more than the last. Thismakes the last tank worth quite a bit and tre-mendous come-backs are common.

You lose 3 points per turn, so accomplishing thesame result in less time means a higher score. Theimportance of time-pressure varies with thenumber of tanks. Ten turns (30 points) representsa much bigger percentage of the total score in a2-tank game than it does in an 8-tank game.

Both sides also score points for each hex theymove toward the objective. Consider the differencebetween scenarios #1 and #2. In #2, your tanksbegin in position around the objective; you justfind good protective terrain and wait for theRussians to show. The further away they start, thelonger it takes and the more points they have bythe time you spot them. In scenario #1, you startaway from the objective too, and get points foryour approach to offset some of those the Russiansare getting. On the minus side, you don't knowwho was further away, who will get there first, orwhether the two forces will meet "in route." Thebottom line: #1 is more exciting and unpredictable,and not any harder to win.

A total disaster for you will often mean lesspoints for the computer (because you lose fewerpoints on time and the Soviets don't get as close tothe objective) than if you had lost a longer game.This makes "head-to-head" competition with afriend a bit frustrating but you can still accumulatepoints over many games to make a "campaign"game. One way I do this is to start with 8 tanksand play each of the scenarios starting with 5 and

working backwards. In each new scenario, giveyourself only the tanks that survived the previousround. Surviving all 5 rounds is proof that youhave mastered the game.

THE COMPUTER AS OPPONENTHow good an opponent is the computer? The

rulebook claims that it will make "very few stupidmoves" but I've seen it move tanks backwardsseveral times. It also gives up side and rear aspectshots more often than it should but does useprotective terrain pretty well. You'll find itdifficult to win at first, but as your tactical skillimproves you'll begin winning regularly. At thispoint, it 's time to start giving yourself poorertanks.

SOME COMPLAINTSThe Apple version of TANKTICS, which I was

using, suffers a little from program errors. This isnot the problem it might be thanks to AvalonHill's policy of selling programs that can bechanged (see the programmer's corner), however Ifeel uncomfortable with a product that doesn'tseem finished. Fortunately, the Apple versionseems to be the only one with problems.

My only complaint about the game system itselfconcerns lines of sight. TANKTICS handlessightings as probabilities. Beyond adjacent hexes,sighting is never certain, it is likely or unlikely. Ittakes a while to get used to seeing "through" hillsand forests, but I can visualize very low, roughground and thin forests and live with it. It certainlymakes programming easier. The problem is thatthe game has no memory of previous results. Thusit sometimes happens that you can see a tank onone turn but can't see it on the next, even though itcontinues to fire at you!

CONCLUSIONSThere are two types of people who might be

disappointed with TANKTICS. The first issomeone who buys it wanting an arcade-stylegame; this it obviously is not and was neverintended to be. The second is the serious wargamerwho expects the computerized equivalent ofPANZER or SQUAD LEADER. This game hasneither the complexity nor feel of these boardgames. In some areas (like combat resolution) itcomes close, but in other ways (lines of sight) it'smuch simpler. You don't have the sense of controlthat you do in a board game; average luck on anunlikely shot and poor luck on a likely shot allcome out the same: a miss! You can't tell thedifference and if you can't shrug that off,TANKTICS may irritate you. For those of us whoenjoy a little uncertainty and for all you readerswho now know what to expect, TANKTICS is justplain FUN! know why things are happening.

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When the ATARI first appeared in themarketplace, lack of software was cited as a majordisadvantage. Since that time, a veritable softwareexplosion has taken place. Dozens of qualityprograms from third party manufacturers havesurfaced as the expansion of Atari shelf space inlocal computer stores attests to this fact.

The ATARI Software Exchange, offeringprograms such as in-house genius Chris Crawford'sEASTERN FRONT, has added to this growth.And now, first rate graphics, of a kind formallyattainable only by ATARI programmers them-selves, have reached the marketplace.

Let's look at three excellent examples of qualitythird party game graphics, from three separatesources! JAWBREAKER, from On-Line Systems,GALACTIC CHASE, by Stedek Software, andPROTECTOR, from Crystal Computer andSoftware.

Please don't be misled by the name JAW-BREAKER. This is the arcade game known mostcommonly as"PACMAN"(R), though there area couple of amusing and original alterations. Youare a roving mouth with a voracious appetite,gobbling up all the candy in sight. You are pursuedjust as voraciously by a group of multicoloredsmiles, whom, you may incorrectly surmise, wantonly to wish you a nice day. Nothing of the sort.What they really want to do is corner you in themaze so they can knock your teeth out. I never didreally trust people who say "have a nice day."

In respect to the "theme" of this package, I thinkit holds together better than even the arcade gameitself. If you succeed in clearing a board, a manictoothbrush shoots across the screen for a quickgoing over before the next session. Even theinstructions reflect some wit and humor. This isnot merely an arcade game transplant.

As for the graphics and sound, when I first sawthe program, I could not bring myself to believethe game was not written by ATARI. It is not onlytruly addictive, but also "paced"--that is, you gettougher, the enemy gets tougher, Four stars to thisone.

by John AndersonFinally getting a little weary of Invaders? Try

GALACTIC CHASE on for size. I'd wager theauthor would have called this program"GALAXIAN" (R) if the name hadn't alreadybeen "coined." For those of you who save yourquarters for the laundry, Galaxian is Invaderswith a slight twist--every so often a formationbreaks off the pack to snuff you out. Graphics andsound are superlative, addictive qualities strong,and a frighteningly difficult advanced level awaitssurvivors. Also excellently paced, the insectoidaliens are deliciously hateful.

The real moments in this game come when youare attacked by formations on all sides--four, six,or more aliens bent on bombing or ramming youout of existence. The novice will not survive anassault like this. However, with much practice,you can learn to "spear" the enemy, vaporizingthem on the nosecone of your ship. This calls fornimble steering, needless to say, and all the whileyou must fire at your other attackers.

Perhaps the most ambitious game of the pack isPROTECTOR, from Crystal Software. Thoughthe game is somewhat flawed, it shows greatpotential.

The game is akin to the arcade game"DEFENDER"(R). Your job is to save the lastsurvivors of a lost city before they are tractorbeamed into a volcano by an alien ship. This gamemakes use of the Atari's horizontal scrolling ability.As you fly east or west, the terrain scrolls bygiving the exciting illusion of a "microworld."Atari's extraordinary capabilities in this area aresure to be exploited further in the future.

The game is very difficult at first, and on thataccount, is relatively addictive. Also, the scrollingterrain is fun to survey. Why then, is the gameultimately somewhat disappointing? First of all,it's got a number of quirky bugs in it--bugs that donot surface right away. A promised meteor storm

Continued on page 36

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THE GREATEST BASEBALL TEAMOF ALL TIME TOURNAMENT (PART 2)

In our last issue (Nov. - Dec. 1981) the staff atCGW proposed a baseball tournament to determinethe greatest baseball team of all time. UsingAvalon Hill's MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALLor Strategic Simulation's COMPUTER BASEBALLyou can set up a tournament which includes thepremier teams in baseball history. The statisticsfor the first four teams of the tournament (1927Yankees, 1931 Athletics, 1948 Indians, and 1961Yankees) were included in our last issue. Thestatistics for the remaining four teams are includedin this issue. The winner of the upper bracket (lastissue) should play the winner of the lower bracket(this issue) in a best of seven series to determinethe overall winner of the GBTOAT tournament.To guarantee that the results of your replay areincluded in CGW your tournament results shouldbe in our hands by MARCH 31, 1982 (PLEASENOTE THAT THIS DEADLINE IS CHANGEDFROM THE ORIGINAL). The results of thetournament will be published in our May - June1982 issue (not the Mar.-Apr. 1982 issue indicatedin our last issue). Important ground rules for thetournament can be found in the Nov. - Dec. 1981issue.

1955 BROOKLYN DODGERS

Name

Pos.

B

6

AB

R

H

2B 3B HR RBI BB 50 5B

BA

FA 6. HodgesJ.

GilliamP. ReeseJ.

RobinsonC.

FurilloD.

SniderS. AmorosR. CampanellaD.

HoakD.

ZimmerR.

Walker0. NewcombePitchersD. NewcombeC. Labine

C. ErskineB. LoesJ. PodresD. BessentK. Spooner

1B

2BSS3BRFCFLF

C3BIF

CP

THRRRRRLR L

R 150S

147R 145R 105

546

75 158 242029

624341620131059C6

17

1765I2

58423671310I

27 1027

4010

618

3626

9542 13610

5132 1075

1915

502

137

23IP

8070786143

1045556461915

6H

913760184387454150661118BB38556446572141

2 .28915 .2498 .282

12

.2564

.3149 .309

10 .2472

.3189 .2405 .2391

.2521

.359

.991.968.965.966.981.989.972.992.960.969

.907

538

110

134 553

99 156317

51

81523

83 164538 126 166388

59

96446

81

142279

50

67240

38

67103

6

26117

18

42L

6

655

34

315

60

8B

31

294

22

1910

27

241

24

26

29

14

R

140L

148L

119 R

123 RRLL

20131110

44884857

N

988

K143678485

1142978

ERA 234

222144

121195

185128

116159

16063

5199

79

3.193.253.783.593.962.713.64

1936 NEW YORK YANKEES FAName Pos. B

6 AB R

H

2B 38 HR RBI BB 50 SB

BA L. Gehrig 1B L 155 579 167 205 37 3 49 152 130 46 3 .354 .994T. Lazzeri 2B R 150 537 82 154 29 6 14

109 97 65 8 .287 .968F.

Crosetti SS R

151 632 137 182 35 7 15

78 90 83 18 .288 .948R.

Rolfe 3B L 135 568 116 181 39 15 10

70 68 38 3 .319 .9576.

Selkirk RF L 137 493 93 152 28 9 18 107 94 60 13 .308 .974J.

Powell CF R 87 324 62 99 13 3 7

48 33 30 16 .306 .976J. Maggio LF R

138 637 132 206 44 15 29 125 24 39 4 ,323 .978B.

Dickey C L

112 423 99 153 26 8 22 107 46 16 0 .362 .976M. Hoag OF R 45 156 23 47 9 4 3

34 7 16 3 .301 .955B. Chapman OF R 36 139 19 37 14 3 1

21 15 20 I .266 .965J.

Glenn C R 44 129 21 35 7 0 1

20 20 10 1 .271 .970R.

Ruffing P R 53 127 14 37 5 0 5

22 11 12 0 .291 .986Pitchers THR W L 6 65 C6 IP H BB K ERA R.

Ruffing R 20 12 33 33 25

271 274 90 102 3.85 M. Pearson R 19 7 33 31 15

223 191 135 118 3.71 B.

Hadley R 14 4 31 17 8

174 194 89 74 4.34 L. Gomez L 13 7 31 30 10

189 184 122 105 4.38 J.

Broaca R 12 7 37 27 12

206 235 66 84 4.24 P. Malone R 12 4 35 9 5

135 144 60 72 3.80 J.

Murphy R 9 3 27 5 2

88 90 36 34 3.38

1934 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS Name Pos. B 6 AB

R

H

2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB

BA FAR.

Collins 1B 5 154 600 116 200 40 12 35 128

57 50

2 .333 .991F.

Frisch 28 5 140 550

74 168 30 6 3

75

45

10 11 .305 .977L. Durocher 55 S146 500

62 130 26 5 3

70

33 40

2 .260 .957P.

Martin 3B R 110 454

76 131 25 11 5

49

32 41 23 .289 .936J.

Rothrock RF S 154 647 106 184 35 3 11

72

49 56 10 .284 .975E.

Orsatti CF L 105 337

39

101

14 4 0

31

27 31

6 .300 .986J. Medwick LF R 149 620 110 198 40 18 18 106

21 83

3 .319 .960S.

Davis C R 107 347

45 104 22 4 9

65

34 27

0 .300 .988B. Whitehead IF R 100 332

55

92 13 5 1

24

12

19

5 .277 .959B. Delancey C L 93 253

41

80 18 3 13

40

41

37

1 .316 .980C

Fullis OF R 69 199

21

52

9 I 0

26

14

11

4 .261 .969P.

Crawford IF L 61 70

3

19

2 0 0

16

5

3

0 .271B.

Mills OF R 29 72

7

17

4 1 1

8

4

11

0 .236Pitchers THR WL 6 6S

C6 IP

H BB K

ERA D

Dean R 30 7 50 33

24 312

288 75 195 2.65 P.

Dean R 19 11 39 26

16 233

225 52 150 3.44 T.

Carleton R 16 11 40 31

16 241

260 52 103 4.26 B. Walker L 12 4 24 19

10 153

160 66

76 3.12 B.

Hallahan L 8 12 32 26

10 163

195 66

70 4.25 J. Haines L 2 4 32 7 1 82

114 49

27 5.49 D. Vance R 1 1 19 4 1 59

62 14

33 3.66

Continued on page 3623

Operation Apocalypse: A Review and Campaign Scenarioby Paul Todd and Russell Sipe

OPERATION APOCALYPSE is the secondgame Strategic Simulations has put out by RodgerKeating, REBEL FORCE (hereafter RF) being hisfirst. The game simulates in an abstract fashionfour engagements between the Germans andAmericans in World War II. Operation Market-Garden (the Allied attempt to breach the SiegfriedLine through a combined airborne and regularinfantry assault) is represented by two scenarios,one being similar to the air drop at Arnhem andthe other being similar to XXX Corps advance upthe highway. There is an invasion scenario and ascenario that is a general advance to contactsituation with the winner holding the most towns.

When I say the simulation is abstract I onlymean that historic references like unit desig-nations and town names are not involved. Theactual tactical feel is very realistic. This game hasit all: off board artillery, bunkers, landing craft,engineers (they even build bridges), hidden units,infantry river assault, pseudo-random terrain setup, paratroop drops, panic movement, night turns,flak and anti-tank units and beautiful hi-resgraphics.

The physical components are standard SSIquality. You get two plastic covered player aidcards with a blank map board, turn record chart,command quick reference chart, and unit modechart. You also get a scenario selection card withreinforcement schedule and victory conditions foreach of the four scenarios. Also included is a verywell written rule book and four felt tip pens.

The program itself is great! It handles every-thing. You cannot make an illegal move. All thecombat and movement modifiers are calculated in

the blink of an eye (no speed problems with thisone like COMPUTER AMBUSH). For combatmodifiers the computer factors in terrain (forattacker and defender), unit type and mode, andadjacent friendly and enemy units. If after combata unit still has movement points left it cancontinue to move. Movement points are subtractedfor enemy zones of control (less is subtracted atnight). The program even has reinforcementsarriving pseudo-randomly and calculates thevictory conditions at the end of the scenario. Youcan play all the scenarios for many turns afterthey are officially over if you want.

The map contains six types of terrain as well asrivers, all in color. The units are black and whitewhich causes some difficulty in unit identificationbut facing is different for both sides so with a littlepractice there isn't much problem. Unlike RF youcan see the terrain under any unit at the stroke of akey. Another significant improvement over RF isthe ability, through the use of a pause function, toleave a unit temporarily in order to move anotherunit out of the way.

The use of unit modes is another improvementon the RF system. Units can be in one of six modes:attack, normal, transport, reorganization,defense, river (infantry), fire (tanks), or bridgebuilding (engineers). Each mode has it's specialeffects on movement and combat, which thecomputer keeps track of (and you better too if youwant to win). The different modes, especiallyreorganization, forces you to direct your army inan historically correct manner. (I lost severalunits to off-board artillery by reorganizing tooclose to the front).

25

OPERATION APOCALYPSE is a two playergame. But if you can't find someone with which toplay, the computer plays a good game. There areno less than four levels of solitaire play. Thecomputer can even play both sides. The gamecontains sufficient tactical problems andcomplexity to give it a realistic feel.

OPERATION APOCALYPSE runs on an AppleII computer (48K with Applesoft in ROM. $59.95.by P.7'.

The four scenarios of OPERATION APOCA-LYPSE can be linked together in a semi-historicalorder to create an interesting campaign for twoplayers or a player versus the computer.

The campaign involves playing the fourscenarios of OPERATION APOCALYPSE in thefollowing order: Invasion represents D-Day; Bridge-head represents Operation Market; Highway repre-sents Operation Garden; and Advance To Contactrepresents a general engagement in a valley some-where in France or Germany.

It is possible that the campaign will not requireall four scenarios to determine a winner. Thecampaign can be shortened by either player basedon the results of the battles actually fought.

The first scenario, Invasion, is critical to thewhole campaign, just as the events of D-Day andOperation Overlord were critical to any futurecampaign in France. If the German player scoresa Decisive Victory in the first scenario thecampaign is immediately concluded with a

MICRO - REVIEWS

HOW TO MASTER THE VIDEO GAMESHOW TO MASTER THE VIDEO GAMES is

a 177-page book that bills itself as the first completeguide to the 30 most popular coin-operated arcadegames. The book, written by Tom Hirschfeld, ispublished in paperback by Bantam Books ($2.95).

After a couple of short introductory chaptersHirschfeld lists "Seven Steps to Mastery" of thegames. They are: 1) Reconnaissance; 2) Teamwork;3) Concentration; 4) Tempo; 5) Observation; 6)Experimentation; and 7) Memorization. The firststep is obvious but often unheeded, observe thegame being played several times before playing it

GERMAN STRATEGIC VICTORY. If the Alliesscore a decisive victory then the second and thirdscenario, Advance to Contact, is played. Pointsare awarded the victor of a scenario according tothe Scenario Point Table. After playing thescenarios and adding up the points consult theCampaign Victory Table to determine the overallresults.

by R.S.

SCENARIO POINT TABLE Allied

Allied

Allied German

German

GermanDecisive

Substantive Marginal Marginal Substantive Decisive

Victory

Victory

Victory Victory

Victory

Victory

1. Invasion +4

+3

+1 -1

-3

-6

2. Bridgehead Any Allied Victory +3 Any German Victory -2

3. Highway +4

+2

+1 -1

-2

-3

4. Advance +3

+2

+1 -1

-2

-3

CAMPAIGN VICTORY TABLE POINT TOTAL CAMPAIGN RESULT

+6 Allied Superior Victory; Allies win war in Dec. 44+5 to +3 Allied Strategic Victory; Allies win war in May 45+2 to +1 Allied Victory; Allies win war in Dec. 45

0 European Campaign Fails-1 to -2 German Victory; Peace with Germany intact-3 to -5 German Strategic Victory: Operation Sea Lion Revived-6 less German Superior Victory; Germans win the war

yourself. You can learn a lot faster and a lot lessexpensively by watching others. ED. NOTE Mr.Hirschfeld's first point is well taken. Howeverplease do your reconnaissance with style . Don'tcrowd a stranger to watch the game. Some playersresent close quarter observation of their play. Usegood sense and common courtesy while performingyour reconnaissance. By Teamwork, the secondstep, the author simply means that players shouldshare their ideas with one another. The other stepsare apparent. Following the chapters on the gamesthemselves, Hirschfeld even has a chapter onexercises for the video-gamer (hands, eyes, andfingers).

The games themselves are divided into fivecategories: Space Invaders-Type Games; Aster-

oids-Type Games; Maze Games; Reflex Games;and Miscellaneous Games. The Space-Invader-Types include Astro Blaster, Astro Fighter,Centipede, Galaxian, Gorf, Moon Cresta, Phoenix,Pleiades, Space Invaders and Space Invaders PartII. The Asteroids-Types include Asteroids, Aster-

26

oids Deluxe, Defender, Scramble, Space Fury,Space Odyssey, and Star Castle. Maze Gamesinclude Armor Attack, Berzerk, Pac-Man, Rally-X,Targ, Venture and Wizard of Wor. There are threegames in the Reflex cat-agory: Monaco GP, SkyRaider and Space Zap. The Miscellaneouscategory also has three games: Battlezone, CrazyClimber and Missile Command.

The book is just the ticket for the game playerwho wants to be more than a novice. If you reallywant to enjoy the coin-operated arcades take a fewof those spare quarters and pick up HOW TOMASTER THE VIDEO GAMES, you'll come outahead in the long run.

Stanley Greenlaw

WEBSTER'S MICROCOMPUTERBUYER'S GUIDE

Although most of us don't often buy $25.00books, here's one that you might find interesting.Webster's Microcomputer Buyer's Guide isover 300 pages of industry information. An eveningwith this book and you'll be an instant authority.The book documents almost every foreign anddomestic manufacturer and is also a primer onprogramming languages, memory storage systems,software, microprocessors, communications net-works and many other related products. All verywell done and interesting reading.Chapter 1.

Introduction Microcomputers and Systems.Chapter 2. Peripheral Devices for Microcomputers.Chapter 3. Introduction to Microcomputer Software.Chapter 4. A Summary of the Basic Language.Chapter 5. The Big Future for Desktop Personal Computers.Chapter 6.

Guidelines for Selection of Microcomputers.Chapter 7. Microcomputers and Word Processing.Chapter 8.

Future Trends in Microprocessing.Chapter 9. Communications and Networking with Computers.Chapter 10. Microcomputers in Education.Chapter 11. Independent Z80 & 8080 Based Software Products.Chapter 12. Independent TRS-80 Software Products.Chapter 13. Independent Apple Computer Software Products.Chapter 14. Independent Commodore Software Products.Chapter 15. Independent Motorola 68XX Software Products.Chapter 16. Microcobol for Microcomputers.

The book's only shortcoming is that some of theinformation is already out of date. The industry isjust changing too fast. For example, the new IBMpersonal computer is not included. But if you wantor need a rapid education about the microcomputerindustry, this book will help you at least know theright questions to ask. That in itself could be wortha great deal.

Gene Allen

GENETIC DRIFTGENETIC DRIFT has an original if not

realistic theme. At the center of the monitorsurrounded by drifting mutated life forms, yourmission is to turn them into friendly lifeforms. Since TV is such an important part of ourlives, the friendly life forms are represented by TVsets--shades of "My Favorite Martian" reruns.

At the start of the game you are surrounded bysixteen mutants; four in each of the cardinaldirections. As the mutant life forms drift from sideto side they sling genetic garbage at you. Threehits with that junk and you're gone. To defendyourself, and your precious genes, you have adiamond-shaped turret from which you fire yourmutation gun in an effort to change the unfriendlyforms into friendly ones. The mutants floatingaround you at the start of the game are aboutmidway through the evolution cycle. If you succeedin turning all four mutant forms on the same sideof the screen into friendly TV forms you will beginto be bombarded with hearts. Don't shoot thesesymbols of good will as hitting a heart will in mostcases cause the forms sending the heart todestabilize into a form more alien than the original.From time to time a group of friendly life formswill send their heart upside-down. These must beshot to invert the heart or the whole side destabilizes.

If you succeed in turning all sixteen mutantsinto friendly forms, the High Mutant (an oversizedTV set) congratulates you by sweeping the boardclean of mutants. Then follows the next roundwhich, of course is more deadly than the last.

Avoid going on a shooting spree. This game isnot for the over-zealous slash-and-hack player.You can't shoot wildly at anything that moves foryou might hit your friends, the TV sets, who will bedestabilized and revert to the lowest life form.

Starting at Level 3, as if you didn't have enough

27

problems, radioactive hunks of critical mass willbegin whirling around you. These must bedestroyed quickly as they are closer to you thanthe mutants, you might not see their missiles untilit is too late.

Level four has the critical mass still present, butnow when you shoot them, they evolve. Theymutate into things such as diamonds, spheres,and fiendishly grinning happy faces. As for what'sbeyond Level 4, your guess is as good as mine. Icannot imagine anyone getting so far exceptsomeone who is a mutant himself.

This is not a game for the pondering thoughtfulplayer. I would recommend this game to arcadeaddicts only. The game can become extremelyangering especially when you've got all but oneform turned into a TV set and while waiting for itto come back into range you notice the heartpeacefully drifting toward you from the rear isUPSIDE DOWN. Quickly you lunge at thekeyboard. Too late. "Well, I didn't care aboutseeing the next level anyhow. I don't know why Iplay this infuriating game. I could be doing moreproductive things with my life" you say, as youreach for the return key to start a new game.GENETIC DRIFT is definitely habit forming!definitely exciting! definitely fun!

GENETIC DRIFT by Broderbund Software,runs on the Apple II computer with 48K in RAM.The price is $29.95.

Bob Boyd

RED ALERTFlee for the hills! Here come the bareboned

thudputters! Can you imagine. Educated adultsstaying up all night to blast thudputters and spacemeanies? Of course you can, because you'veprobably spent a night or two blasting one alien-type or another yourself. Well, here's another inthe long line of aliens-dropping-from-the-skies-being

destroyed-by-your-weapons games. While manyversions of the ADFTSBDBYW type of game arevery similar to the coin arcade games that theywere based upon, this one has a flavor all it's own.The difference lies in the fact that you have avariety of weapons at your disposal rather thanthe ubiquitous missile firing ship. Your weaponsinclude two multi-barreled precision camberedmeanie blasters, one ultra-sensitive wide-rangemulti-frequency redar, one government surplusanti-thud rocket, and one Van Apple Rediation(sic) Belt repair kit.

Play involves blasting the invaders before theirbombs strike your defensive installations. One ofyour strategies, therefore, should be to be selectiveabout which bases you protect. If you lose yourradar your blasters become less effective. If youlose your missile launcher you can't fire yourrocket which will wipe out all the aliens on thescreen. If you lose your Van Apple Rediation Beltrepair kit you won't get a new Belt of protectionevery few thousand points. And if you lose bothblasters the game is over. It is very difficult todefend all of these and remember, to defend every-thing is to defend nothing. Try covering the centerand one blaster as the loss of one blaster will notgreatly effect the game.

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOUUSE A JOYSTICK TO PLAY THIS GAME. Therules proclaim that those who play the game withpaddles are "brazen" (i.e. marked by contemptuousboldness). Even with the joystick RED ALERTrequires the reflexes of a seasoned arcade player.

A good game for arcade players, RED ALERTruns on the Apple II computer with 48K in Integerbasic.

Luther Shaw

WALL STREETWALL STREET, by CE Software, is a stock

market game using the stock market as it's vehicle.In the designer's notes section of it's rulebookDonald Brown, the author, says "Any similaritiesbetween it (WALL STREET) and real life arelargely coincidental". While written with tonguein cheek the statement is, none the less, true.WALL STREET isn't much of a simulation of thestock market; rather it can better be described as agame which uses the stock market as it's vehicle.

The game involves buying and selling of stockson a simulated stock market made up of thirtystocks. The stocks are divided up into six areas:computer, entertainment, oil, automotive, retail,and appliance. The names of real companies areused. For example the computer stocks are Apple,

28

Tandy, IBM, DEC, and another of the giganticcomputer megacorporations, CE Software.

Most traditional stock market games are builtaround buying on margin or on selling short.WALL STREET uses the latter approach. Sellingshort involves selling stock that you don't own.They really do that on Wall Street folks! The trickin "selling short" is to sell the stock when it is highand deliver the stock when it is low. What theplayer is doing is trying to make money on a stockthat he feels is going down in value.

Another important element in the game is thebuying of information. There are five levels ofinformation gathering. Each level is five timesmore expensive than the previous level andincreases your chance of getting secret marketinformation by 10%. The highest level gives a 50%chance of picking up information and costs $6,250per week. The next lower level is 40% but the cost isonly $1,250 per week. Is the 10%, increase in chanceof getting information worth a five fold increase incost? Most of those with whom I have played thegame think not. The 40% level is the most popularlevel.

After playing the game several times I believethat the program sets up patterns for certainstocks. I am somewhat tentative in this statementbecause of the fact that if the patternexists, theya