Date of publication (as given): November/December 1973

Context

• November 1973: three Arab terrorists hijack KLM flight 861 over Iraq, forcing the plane to Damascus, Nicosia, Tripoli, Malta, and then Dubai, where the hijackers surrender. A bloodless military coup ousts Greek President George Papadopoulos. Reggie Jackson (Oakland A’s) unanimously wins the AL MVP award. Last of the Summer Wine debuts on the BBC; it goes on to become the longest running sitcom ever, airing for 31 seasons.
• December 1973: the American Psychiatric Association declares homosexuality is not a mental illness. Gulag Archipelago, an expose of the police-state of the USSR, is published by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Johan Cruyff is chosen to be European Football Player of the Year. Apple Records releases the Paul McCartney/Wings album Band on the Run in the UK and USA.

Game Included

KampfPanzer by James F. Dunnigan is a two-player game about early tank warfare (1937-40) with each unit representing five tanks, a platoon of infantry, or a battery of guns. Hexes represent 100 meters of real terrain and each game turn is three minutes and forty seconds of real time. One of several distinctive features of the game is that it uses pre-plotted simultaneous orders. For my view of the game, see here. For more information about the game, see here.

Articles

• Outgoing Mail – editors/publisher
• Mechanized Warfare – Albert A. Nofi

One of the curious things about the development of armored mobile warfare outside of Germany is the fact that the Germans never kept their work secret. They wrote articles in military journals, invited foreign military experts to observe armored maneuvers, and they even lectured in foreign military institutions. For all of this, no one paid them any attention. It was, and remains, an interesting comment on humanity that this occurred. So well entrenched were certain elements in certain armies that reality made no impact upon them.

• War in the East – Stephen B. Patrick
• Sackson on Games – Sid Sacksom
• Pass in Review (book reviews) – David C. Isby

SPI Games Advertised

• Desert War ($7)
• Sinai ($7)
• WW II ($7)

PC?

From page 46 of the editorial (Outgoing Mail):

You will notice an ad for the SPI DATABUS. This is for all you computer freaks out there. We’re starting to use our computer in the design of games and we’ve already had quite a few letters from computer people subscribers offersing suggestions and advice. SPI DATABUS is an attempt to give you all a forum to express yourselves in whatever language turns you on (COBOL, FORTRAN, BASIC, RPG II etc.). English won’t do. Most computer people seem to be only semi-literate.

On a Personal Note

The Yom Kippur War was close to my heart (and community) in 1973, but I never imagined there would be a game about the topic available so quickly. I added Sinai to my list of wanted games. Unfortunately, when I eventually got a hold of one, I discovered the game wasn’t to my liking.