Date of publication (as given): March/April 1974

Context

• March 1974: 29 years after World War II ended, the last Japanese soldier, a guerrilla operating in the Philippines, surrenders. In China, farmers discover 8,000 clay warrior statues (The Terracotta Army) buried to guard the tomb of China’s first emperor Qin Shi Huang. At the Grammys, Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” wins the Best Record award.
• April 1974: the Agranat Commission publishes its report on the Yom Kippur War. The Swedish Band Abba win Eurovision with their song “Waterloo”. Ray Kroc (San Diego Padres owner) tells fans “Ladies and gentlemen, I suffer with you… I’ve never seen such stupid ball playing in my life!”

Game Included

The American Civil War by James F. Dunnigan is a two-player strategic-level game about the whole civil war. There are ground and naval units backed up by forts and leaders. No unit nor ground scale is given. The map shows from New Jersey to the northern parts of Florida on the east coast and the southern part of Iowa down to Louisiana on the west coast. There are four turns in a year. One basic scenario covers the whole war with options available to adjust the historical setting to your tatste.

This game uses the (almost-standard) command control rule whereby certain of your units (occupying hexes whose last number matches a dice-generated number) will not contribute to the fight each turn. In this case, I would stick with the original rules as drafted. Why? Union reinforcements enter in Washington (6 Strength Points, hex 4507) , Cincinnati (3 Strength Points, hex 2607), and Cairo (2 Strength Points, hex 1513). While the Union Command Control Level is at 5 (which is where it starts), there is a 50% chance of Washington and Cincinnati being affected, and a 50% chance of Cairo being affected. It means the Union may struggle to get his troops into battle. It’s a nice wee design touch.

For more information about the game, see here.

Articles

• Outgoing Mail – editors
• The American Civil War – Albert A. Nofi

Between 1861 and 1865 the United States of America was almost torn apart in the bloodiest war in its history. In a strange conflict combining features of the Napoleonic Age with features of the Machine Age, fully 600,000 men perished fighting for sectional particularism, constitutional principle, economic self-interest and moral righteousness. And, in the end, vast changes were made in the nation, yet the nation remained unchanged. All with fateful implications for the present.

• The Soldier Kings 1550-1770 – Frank Davis and Ron Toelke

But perhaps the best measure of the horror and cost of the Thirty Year’s War can be seen in the actions of the generations born soon after the conflict. For a century and a half following the Peace of Westphalia [24 October 1648], war was conducted with a degree of civility and restraint which is umatched in the entire length of the rest of history.

• Sackson on Games – Sid Sackson
• For Your Eyes Only – editors

SPI Games Advertised

• Seelöwe ($7 rising to $8 on 1 July 1974)
• War in the East ($20)

Things That Never Happened

From page 42 of this issue’s Outgoing Mail referring to the then upcoming Tank! game:

Each tank is represented by two counters. A bottom one for the body of the tank and a top one representing the turret, which of course can be turned at various aspects.

On a Personal Note

This issue marked the end of my first year’s subscription. I remember looking back at the games received and thinking that renewing the subscription was a no-brainer.

The front page text is one of my favorite quotes. Perhaps that’s why this issue was also the tipping point for making the American Civil War one of my favorite historical periods – to read about and to game. The Gettysburg article in issue 38 was the spark and this issue converted it to a passion.