This review first appeared in IPW, the newsletter for all discount games club members. Contact colin@allusedgames.demon.co.uk for details. Stand & Die - board wargame (GDW) Stand & Die is a large game covering the battle for Borodino in October 1941. The battle occurred when a handful of Soviet units tried to hold up the Germans long enough for their comrades to form a coherent line. The game comprises of 650 large Command style counters and two large, fully mounted maps. Add a hefty rulebook together wilh numerous charts, tables and cards, place it all in a large box and you have the full package. You can also count on a fairly large price as well. So, should you allow yourself to be seduced by the games contents? Read on... A game turn commences with the air phase. The number of aircraft available to a player is determined by each player drawing two aircraft mission cards at random from a deck. Each player plays one card offensively during his own turn and the other defensively when non-phasing. The values on the card determine the air craft received, but are modified by losses up to that point in the game. Aircraft get up to their usual tricks of fighting each other and bombing ground units. They also add an extra dimension to the use of anti-aircraft units. The indirect fire phase follows, during which targets within line of sight may be bombarded. Targets must be sighted by units belonging to the same formation as the bombarding units. Units capable of indirect fire are split into four categories; Light, Field, Medium and Heavy types. You determine the type of unit making the barrage, find the correct column on the CRT and take into account any shifts caused by terrain before rolling the die. Next is the first direct fire phase. This is based on odds affected by terrain as in the majority of wargames. However, an attackers firepower is modified not just by range, but also the type of unit firing and the target unit. For instance, anti-personnel fire is fine against troops but useless against tanks. Movement commences after direct fire and is quite complex. While based on movement points and the cost to enter different types of terrain, there are six classes of units for movement purposes; Leg, Track, Wheel, Road Wheel, Static and Manhandled. Each have their own movement costs and prohibitions for each type of terrain. Add to this the requirement for the unit to be within command control and the result is constant reference to the movement cost chart provided. And as if all that isn't enough, units that have already fired or are planning to fire later in the turn may be unable to move, or at least be limited in some way. Having got all that under your belt - there's more! During movement, the non-phasing player may fire on units in line or sight whether they have moved, are moving (in which case the move is halted while this reaction combat takes place) or don’t move at all. It is also worth noting that units can enter enemy occupied hexes for hand to hand combat in the next phase. The entire process is long winded and, frankly, laborious particularly with a game this size. A game turn finishes off with the final fire phase, when further direct fire and in-hex combat is resolved. If playing the Campaign game, units can then regroup during night turns. Add rules for morale, which involves some record keeping, minefields, Soviet Katyushas and engineers and that's about it. In its favour, the game is very well researched and, I'm sure, quite accurate. It is not suitable for beginners nor for solo play. It is a game to admire and, possibly, to collect, but it is not, in my estimation, a game to try and play. Alan Sharif