Editor's Desk Issue Fifteen - C3i Ops Center

From the Editor-in-Chief's Desk
P500 Orders To Date as of 12/07/03
The following is a list of our current
P500 titles, the number of preorders
received and some details — RBM
Borodino, 1812:
Triumph and Glory, Vol II
Preorders = 671 (Made the cut)
Designed by Richard Berg
With renewed interest in the very
accessible and playable Triumph & Glory
Napoleonic game system (as seen in The
Lonato Battles in C3i Nr.14), we now
move forward with the classic Battle of
Borodino. Borodino will use the updated
T&G v.2.2 system, including new rules
eliminating all the micromanaging of
routed units, clarifications on cavalry
actions, and some new Square rules.
Brigade-level Orders of Battle; in addition
to the full Borodino there is a nice, short,
introductory mini-battle, the Attack on the
Schevardino Redoubt. 1-map, 1-&-1 /2
countersheets, rules & charts.
Busho
Preorders = 373
Designed by R. Borg & A. Moon
Award winning game designers Richard
Borg (Spiel Des Jahres winner for BLUFF)
and Alan R. Moon (Spiel Des Jahres winner
for ELFENLAND) have teamed up to
design Busho — a card game based on
medieval warfare in Japan. It is for 3-6
players, but is best with 4. An average
game lasts 60-minutes. There are 165
cards in the game: 110 Clan Cards and 55
Prize Cards. Most Clan Cards represent
one of the 42 provinces in six different
regions. The largest region has 11
provinces and the smallest just 4. Each
province card also has a symbol representing
either Infantry, Cavalry, or Archers.
There are also some special cards like
Samurai's, Ninja's, and Busho's.
Devil's Horsemen
The Mongol War Machine, Vol. X, GBoH
Preorders = 479
Designed by R. Berg & M. Herman
Great Battles of History (GBoH) is back, it's
back with battles in the 13th century, and
an examination of the military tactics of
steppe tribe warfare, as immortalized by
the mighty army of Genghis Khan and the
Mongols. Taking a page from what we
saw you enjoyed most with Cataphract/
Attila — lots of cavalry and lots of archery -
we've focused the GBoH camera on the
zenith of that form of warfare and some of
the major battles that illuminate how it
was fought. The Devil's Horsemen will
feature basic rules for both regular and
Simple GBoH. The four battles are:
The Indus (Genghis Khan vs. The
Khwarazmian Persians, 1221); The Kalka
by Rodger B. MacGowan
(Prince Subudei vs. The Armies of Rus,
1223); Liegnitz (Princes Baidan & Kaidan
vs. Henry the Pious, 1241); and Ayn Jalut
(Prince Ketbugha vs. The Mamluks, 1260).
TDH will contain 2-maps (backprinted)
apprx. 1000 counters, charts & player aids.
Downtown:
The Air War Over Hanoi, 1965 to 1972
Preorders = 517 (Made the cut)
Designed by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood
Downtown depicts the great air battles
above Hanoi during the Vietnam War. The
game covers the gamut of operations in the
deadly Route Package 6 operational zone,
from the RollingThunder campaign of 1965-
1968, to the hammer-blows of the 1972
Linebacker operations, culminating with the
Christmas bombing campaign. Downtown
is the first of a new genre of air
combat games that model entire air raids in
detail. The US player is the raid commander,
marshalling packages of 30-to-70+
Air Force or Navy aircraft, comprising
bombers, fighters, defense suppression,
jamming and recon planes. The North
Vietnamese player manages a network of
AAA and SAM anti-aircraft defenses,
supported by MiG fighters. Hex scale is
2.5 nautical miles, with game turns
representing 1-minute. Air units are flightsized
(1-4 planes) and casualties resolve
down to individual aircraft.
Manifest Destiny
Preorders = 611 (Made the cut)
Designed by Bill Crenshaw
Manifest Destiny (MD) is a card-driven
multi-player strategy game for 3-to-5
players set in North America from Colonial
times to the present. MD combines the
strategic components of earlier, longer
civilization-based games with the elegance
of streamlined Euro-gaming. Designed to
appeal to a wide range of garners, MD
combines several unique elements that
require strategic balancing to succeed.
There are two types of cards, Destiny Cards
(events) and Progress Cards (leaders, events,
products). All cards must be played during
their historical era. Each game is unique —
there is no standard path to victory. A 5-
player game takes 3-4 hours. Key
components include a 22" x 32" map;
play money; and a 64 card deck.
Roads to Leningrad
Preorders = 336
Designed by Vance von Borries
Roads to Leningrad is a package consist

From the EiC's Desk: News, Information and P500 Titles
ing of two separate operational level games
on WW II —the Battle of Soltsy and the
Battle of Staraya Russa. Both games take
place on the road to Leningrad during July
and August 1941 and both simulate the
large-scale Soviet counterattacks that the
Germans encountered. This game
continues the tradition begun with the
popular GMT Operational Series of games,
and draws much from the recent GMT
Kasserine game. The game maps, at a
scale of 2.0 km per hex were developed
from a variety of Soviet maps with much
cross checking against period maps. Time
scale is half a day per turn. The OoBs were
developed from archival sources. Scenarios
include, The Battle of Soltsy, Counter-Blow
at Soltsy, Battle of Staraya Russa, and
Manstein Attacks. Includes two 22 x 34
inch map sheets (19mm hexes) 2 sheets of
5/8" & 1/2 sheet of 1/2" counters; Rules
book, set-up cards, and player aid cards.
Simple GBoH-C3i Battle Manual
Preorders = 302
Edited by A. Ray & R. MacGowan
Simple Great Battles of History has come
to the pages of C3i Magazine in force. This
special C3i publication contains Simple
GBoH versions of every GBoH battle that
has been included in the out of print back
issues of C3i Magazine, from issue Nr. 1-
to-14, plus the SPQR Player's Guide.
Nearly 60-GBoH battles are featured in this
publication. These scenarios run the gamut
from the early hoplite battles from the
Persian Wars (Marathon, Plataea) through
the Roman disaster at Teutoburg Forest
during the reign of Augustus Caesar. The
SimpleGBoH-C3i Battle Manual will
consist of a playbook in the same style as
the original SBGoH packet, plus a sheet of
280-counters will be included. As a special
bonus, the latest errata and clarifications
for SBGoH are included. (Please note that
the original SGBoH Rulebook and Scenario
packet is still available for the GBoH boxed
games, providing conversions for those boxed
games and their modules.)
The Sword of Rome:
Conquest of Italy
Preorders = 410
Designed by Wray Ferrell
The Sword of Rome is the latest in GMT's
acclaimed line of card-driven board games.
It uses the popular base system invented
by Mark Herman and featured in Ted
Raicer's Paths of Glory. This time, event
cards and point-to-point maneuver enable
up to four players to recreate the vicious
struggles among the peoples of Italy and
Sicily in 4th and 3rd Centuries BC. SoR
includes rules and events for city loyalty,
Roman colonies, tribal raids, Gallic
indiscipline, Greek siege craft, Indian war
elephants, Roman and Macedonian-style
infantry tactics, the mountain fastness of
Samnium, and much more. The game
covers over 100 years of classical history in
just 9-hands of cards. The interplay of each
power's special strengths, of the strategy
decks' 152 event cards, and of up to four
players' diplomatic acumen provides
unlimited variety. But the rules remain at
low-moderate complexity, and the familiar,
underlying system is easily mastered.
Winds of Plunder
Preorders = 120
Designed by Alan M. Newman
Winds of Plunder is a Euro-style board
game set at the close of the Golden Age of
Piracy. In this game, pirates have naught to
fear but each other as they plunder the
Caribbean. But peace has broken out in
Europe, and the clock is now ticking on the
days of easy piracy. Winds of Plunder is
for 3 to 5 players. It takes approximately
60-120 minutes to play, depending on the
number of players. The Quick Start sheet
provides all relevant rules on a single page,
allowing new players to start their first
game quickly. Key components include a
mounted game board depicting the map
and the shipboard tally areas; Instruction
booklet; Pictographic Reference sheet /
Card Text sheet; Wind arrow marker;
Victory Point tiles and 55 playing cards.
Grand Illusion
The 1914 Campaign in the West
Preorders = 192
Designed by Ted Raicer
The German invasion of France and
Belgium in 1914, the opening campaign of
World War One, is one of the most
dramatic in history: the famed German
Schlieffen Plan, the infamous French
Plan 17, the turn of the tide that was "the
Miracle of the Marne," the series of
outflanking moves in the" Race to the Sea,"
the death of the "old Contemptibles" of the
BEF at First Ypres. It was the campaign
that failed to end the First World War
"before the leaves fell," dooming the old
Europe of kings and emperors to slow
suicide in the trenches of the western front.
And leaving men to wonder ever aftercould
the outcome have been different
Grand Illusion presents a fresh look at this
oft-gamed topic, with deceptively simple
rules that allows players to concentrate on
the strategic opportunities and pitfalls)
faced by the generals in 1914. Two colorful
maps cover the western front, from
Switzerland to the English Channel,
with 107 extra-large hexes (at 30 miles to
the hex). Each six-day turn players spend
Command Administrative Points (or
CAPS) to activate their armies for movement
and combat. Combat takes place
within the hex, and is resolved using a
simple battle-board system. Victory is
determined by German control of hexes in
Belgium and France. The game comes
with both a long campaign game and
a shorter tourney version.
Men of Iron
Warfare in the Middle Ages
Preorders = 249
Designed by Richard Berg
Vold : The Rebirth of Infantry. 14th
Century Western Europe. The Battles of
Falkirk, Courtrai, Bannockburn, Crecy,
Poitiers, and Najera. Fast playing, easily
understandable rules, unusual battles, lots
of action, lots of color and fun. Not too
often gamers get to use those phrases for
one game. But now you have the chance to
do so with the first volume of GMT's
planned series on Warfare in the Middle
Ages, Men of Iron. Men of Iron's first
volume covers the re-emergence of
infantry in the early 14th century, along
with a more perceptive understanding of
the value of combined-arms warfare
especially with good use of defensive
terrain. The scenarios highlight the key
elements that made these battles so
fascinating: the defensive power of the
longbow, especially when used in
coordination with dismounted, or even
mounted, men-at-arms. Men of Iron is
designed for quick learning and easy play.
Game rules are short, there are no "turns" –
play is Continual, with ample opportunities
to steal play from your opponent – and
combat resolution is a single dieroll.
Playing time is about 1-hour per battle.
Really! Includes 2-full sheets of combat
units, plus a half sheet of markers, 6-battle
maps, on three mapsheets, backprinted.
GMT West Weekend 2003
Goleta, California, October 2-5
What follows are some After Action
Reports and Comments from players who
attended the 2003 event — RBM
Martin Scott - 10:03pm, Oct 2, 2003 —
The first night of the GMT West
Weekend is off to a good start. Rodger
showed up first and had things all
ready to go before anyone else arrived.
About ten guys or so (early arrivals)
showed up by 8pm tonight. Several
games were set-up, and are ready for
action first thing tomorrow morning...
11:48pm, Oct 3, 2003 — The GMTWest
Weekend got off to an official start
today, and with more than 30+ people
in attendance, it went very well
indeed. There were many different
games played, but The Napoleonic
Wars, Medieval, and the on-going,
never ending, Down in Flames aces
campaign were the stars for today.

News, Information and P500 Titles
Rodger has hinted that tomorrow's
Virtual Warehouse Sale will produce
some very juicy gems. He's certainly
gone to a lot of effort to make this
event great!
Steve Carey - 09:03am, Oct 4, 2003 —
"...what's the attendance figures for
GMT West this year..." I counted 32
guys yesterday, but that figure may
increase over the weekend. As Martin
mentioned, Medieval was very
popular. The Napoleonic Wars
produced some interesting 5-player
games, including a Turn-One British
win (Napoleon KIA) and in another
game, Rodger "Tsar" MacGowan
triumphing as Russia on Turn-4.
I participated in a marathon TNW that
incredibly came down to the last roll,
of the last combat, of the last card
play, on the last turn. Wellington (11
dice) versus Napoleon (14 dice) at the
outskirts of Paris....and my British
Riflemen prevailed for the victory!
Russia finished second, Prussia (in a
nice comeback after being conquered)
third, Austria took fourth, and France
(which was carved up on the final
turn) was last. Great game, Great fun.
John Amenta - 03:02pm, Oct 7, 2003 —
Excuse the poor grammar and my
choice of words...it is more important
for me, right now, to just write
something about the West Weekend
near Santa Barbara. I can think of one
word that sums it up pretty well right
now: Wow! Or maybe, Awesome!...
First, I want to say I was truly
impressed by the organization of the
event, and the amount of thought
(and class) that went into running the
show. Right from the start, walking
into the main playing room, where I
spent the next 3-days, and sometimes
nights, in a rabid frenzy of gaming
from WWII DiF dogfighting to being
excommunicated several times, and
forced to go on one profitless bloody
Crusadeafter another (in a game called
Medieval — and Medieval it was) there
was always coffee and sodas nearby, a
dazzling array of GMT games on
display and other wargaming
paraphenelia, and there was always
someone nearby to handhold you if
you had a question on any rule
obscura.
At center is Tony
Curtis (long white
sleeve ); clockwise,
Steven MacGowan,
Mark Kaczmarek
(back to us), an
unidenified player,
and John Amenta
playing in the
Formula Motor
Racing Tournament.
Note, behind them,
the other action at
West Weekend with
Mike Lam's DiF
Tournament in the
far corner.
But, most remarkable of all were the
people that helped run the event, like
Martin Scott and Mark Kaczmarek.
Rodger MacGowan seemed like the
Captain of the USS Enterprise, at the
helm of the entire West Weekend'03
journey extravaganza: confident,
polite, and generous to a fault, and
always on call to fight any Klingons
that appeared on the gaming room
radar. Martin Scott turned out to be
quite a friendly going dude (but a
particularly nasty dogfighter in DiF),
and was constantly taking photographs
with that new-fangled
technology (digital camera)...Mike
Lam really added a dimension to the
whole weekend by literally staking
out a corner of the entire gaming
room for his DiF tourney (a mini-con
is more like it)... My first day at the
conference started with a slam-down,
crack-down, humiliating defeat in a
game of Paths of Glory between moi
playing the Central Powers and Mark
Kazmarek the Allied Powers...
Overall - the whole 3-days were a
blast. I think a lot of people had a
great time, and many kudos goes to the
entire GMT crew for putting on a first
rate event. There are rumors that there
might be another GMT West Weekend
in about 6 months. If that's true, I
think given the success of this Santa
Barbara weekend (a beautiful city by
the way) I can only think of those
words of Roy Scheider in Jaws when
he first sees the great white shark:
"You're going to need a bigger boat."
(Continued on page 36)

Down in Flames Series: Daylight 1945 Campaign
comments or suggestions concerning
the magazine please email John at
JJCVanore@aol.com
I'm also pleased to announce that
Steve Carey has agreed to be my
Special Consultant for C3i. As many
of you know, Steve is wise and
insightful when it comes to our
hobby and I will be looking to him
for his views from the gamer's point-
of-view and perspective. Please feel free
to email Steve with your ideas,
articles, etc., at sacentaur@aol.com
John, Steve and I are currently
planning the next few issues. We are
always interested in your comments.
Enjoy the games and C3i,
Rodger
rbmstudio@aol.com
From the Editor in Chief's Desk
(Continued from page 5) Changes at
C3i Magazine
As of issue Nr.14, Stuart Tucker has
decided to leave the magazine as
Managing Editor & Layout
Designer. I very much appreciate all
his efforts and help on issues 11-14.
I have asked John Vanore to return as
my Managing Editor, and I'm pleased
to announce he has accepted my offer.
You may recall John held this post in
the early years of C3i and he did a
superb job. John and I are currently at
work gathering new articles for issues
Nr.16 and 17. If you have plans for
writing an article, or if you have any