From: Terry Rooker Subject: Re: Omega Games On Fri, 30 May 1997, James H. Jones wrote: > I recently received a flyer that offered some significant discounts on > Omega games. Just wondering if anyone could comment on these games--are > they worth getting? > > Ranger 9.95 This is a solitaire game about modern patrolling operations. You plan your mission, determine what skills you need, select the appropriate people for your squad/platoon, practice as much of the mission as you can, and then execute it. Like the other Omega modern games, Ranger is heavily based on actual doctrine and duplicates many of the concerns a real leader would have. The execution of the missions is done on a laminated map using a grease pencil to keep track of your location (so the game is neither hex-based nor area movement). Events can occur based on a die roll and are determined using a paragraph system. The outcome of an event is influenced by whether you practiced that part of the mission during your workup. It is a very good game and very educational. You could use it as a basis of a patrol leader's course. Since it is paragraph based play gets repetitive if you play it a lot. If you are interested in the topic then it is worth the discounted price. > Main Battle Area 9.95 MBA is a grand-tactical game on modern armored combat. It features US M-1s against Soviet T-80s. It is set in Germany. It used a written orders system before the TCS by The Gamers. This game was evolved from a training game used by the army so the written orders in this case are more involved. Order acceptance also has some elements of the TBS also by The Gamers. You have to select a delivery method which includes radio, field telephones, and messengers. Combat resolution is easily done with a few charts. Unlike Assault by GDW, MBA puts you in the position of the battalion commander and ammo selection is left to the tank commanders. The game uses the Omega layered style for rules with each of the 4 levels adding some complexity. MBA has some very interesting chemical warfare rules also. I think MBA was not as widely excepted as other games because it included only a small selection of armored vehicles and unit types. As we know, armored fanatics love their variety. Of course, the end of the Cold War killed a lot of interest in any hypothetical NATO-WP conflict. Again if you are interested in the topic, it is worth the discounted price. > AirLand Battle 9.95 This is a corps level game, again with the US facing off against the Soviets. It's most unusual feature is there are no ZoCs! The map area is small and the counter density somewhat high. The unusal part of having no ZoCs is that the units can occupy more than one hex! Their are extension counters, such as you would see in ACW or Napoleonic games with linear formations. ALB is very comprehensive and includes the full gamut of modern war from EW to chemicals. There are some doctirnal elements but not as strong as in other games. It is an interesting game and worth the price. > Carrier War 9.95 > Carrier War Expansion 4.95 Carrier War is a strategic simulation of the Pacific War. It is a one mapsheet game, but with very comprehensive rules. Most of the mainland Asia campaign is abstracted out. The designer considered this theater uninfluential in the long course of the war and simply deletes those resources from those available to the players. There is an option for Japanese capture of India which eliminates China-based bombers. There is a lot of detail in the naval and air operations. The code-breaking operations are represneted by intelligence rules. CW has one advantage over all Pacific theater games; it is worthwhile to attack Pearl Harbor. Because of the base repair rules if the Japanese make the second strike, which historically they didn't do, you can damage the port and airbase in Hawaii. Because of the flow of engineer units necessary for repairing bases it will be early 1943 before both the port and airbase are fully restored! That leaves the US West Coast more than 15 hexes away from the other US bases in the South Pacific! It effectively yields the Central Pacific to the IJN. It is worth picking up. Although it is one of the games Omega has slated for early conversion to their new graphics upgraded version. The Expansion just adds the units for the late war period. > Ranger Expansion-Sierra 4.95 > Ranger Expansion-Victor 4.95 Since Ranger was paragraphed based it can become somewhat repetitive. These exapnsions add new missions and other elements so they are worthwhile if you get into it. > Desert Victory 6.75 > This game is MBA moved to the Gulf War. This was one of the games that came out before the actual land war. It is based on some of the more optimistic appraisals of Iraqi capabitilites. So it is not the cakewalk that actually occured. It you want to see how the system works in the desert than it is worthwhile. As a historical sim it is useless. Terry