Download issue cgw_37 - Computer Gaming World Museum

It is a "solitaire-only" game, always your
Americans against the computer's Germans.
As a tactical game, actions center on little
pieces of the overall battles. For instance,
the "Aachen" scenario does not portray the
entire battle for the city, but rather shows
one of the small block clearing battles
necessary for the liberation of the city.
FOF contains eight scenarios (with eight
different maps). Each has the "feel" of one of
the actual battles that the First Infantry
fought (a raid in Tunisia, a road clearing in
the mountains of Sicily, and others). In each
case, you command a company (about
20 to 30 of the fireteam-sized units plus a couple of tanks) and
you face variable numbers of Germans depending on the scenario.
The scenarios can be played alone in any order or as a campaign
game where they are played in order and surviving units gain experience
and go on to the next scenario, while destroyed ones are
replaced with green troops.
FOF is, above all, easy to play. Each turn starts with an Observation
Phase where you can check your units. This phase is
followed by fire orders and movement orders, respectively. After
all orders have been given, comes the Execution Phase, where you
can watch your units and the computer's moving and firing around
the map.
Combat algorithms appear to be fairly true, but one is left
guessing because the rulebook contains very little detail about how
combat is actually resolved.
The graphics in FOF are both a blessing and a curse. The
eight individual scenario maps are done very nicely, with the various
terrain features easily discernible. However, the icons for the
units on the board are almost indistinguishable. It is very difficult
to tell whether a unit on the screen is a rifle team, a bazooka team,
an engineer team, or a forward observer (other units are fairly easy
to tell apart). This problem is compounded because units on screen
are only identified by the name of the team leader. In an effort to
personalize the game, Roger has given names and a significant
amount of descriptive prose to all of the units. The rules give no
clue to the importance of all of the verbiage about the various
units.
Further, the rulebook is short on explanations of how important
the various combat modifiers are. Obviously, being a target in
the woods or a building is better than being a target in the open,
but how much better? What chance do you have to do any damage
if you are firing any weapons at maximum range? Would you
be better off to hold your fire until the enemy gets a bit closer?
How is his chance of spotting your quiet units increasing as he approaches?
There is virtually no quantification in the rulebook.
That helps avoid scaring off the newcomers, but it also frustrates
experienced players who want to utilize their forces at maximum
efficiency.
UNDER FIRE
Under Fire (UF) was designed by Ralph Bosson and published
by The Avalon Hill Game Company in 1985 [Apple, $60]. It has
often been referred to as "Squad Leader on a disc," since the scale
is similar to that AH classic. This is an appellation that Ralph detests
and he will tell anyone that there is virtually no comparison.
UF is not Squad Leader. The scales ARE very similar, but the
mechanics are very different.
UF is a tactical game of World War II infantry combat. There
are vehicles in the game, but they generally take supporting roles
to the infantry. The game simulates generic engagements between
German and Russian or American troops (you can even design a
Russians vs. Americans scenario if you want). It can be played as a
two-player game or in solitaire mode with the computer playing
either side (the only game of the three where you can command
the Germans in a solitaire game). The units include infantry
squads (10 men) or "half squads," gun and mortar crews, individual
leaders, and individual vehicles.
For predesigned scenarios, UF has three maps with three different
types of scenario (attack/defend an objective, breakthrough,
and meeting engagement) available on each map. Beyond
that, and at the heart of the versatility of this game, limitless
"design your own" scenarios are available by designing your own
maps and by "buying" your own units for a scenario.
UF is played on a map representing a variable 12 to 72 meters
per square. The normative unit of maneuver is a squad or individual
and the time scale is described as "relative" (all units are
moving at the correct proportional rates). You play the game by
giving your units movement objectives at the beginning of each
turn (if you want them to go somewhere). The computer then begins
executing the movement pulses (of which there are 24 in each
turn), letting both players know as it goes along what units are
visible to the enemy at each pulse. After the proper number of
pulses, a combat interval ensues. Each player can check for targets
for each of his units and order any units currently spotting any
enemy units to fire at them. Units can also fire "indirect" or "area
fire" into locations where the enemy is not spotted but is thought
to be (such fire is much less effective, but you can always get
lucky!). After a combat interval, the cycles continue in the same
way. UF's documentation is extensive, and provides a real understanding
of the various units commanded. It is still a bit light on
explaining exactly how the combat algorithms are constructed, but
there is so much detail on the various weapons carried by your
troops that it is easier to make some educated guesses about the
effect that each of your units is likely to have on the enemy. The
graphics in UF are very good; the maps look more like photographs
than with either of the other games and the icons for the
various units are easy to differentiate (if not, cycling to identify
the unit gives a complete description of the number of men and
the weapons they carry).
Continued on pg. 42