From: Scott E Kullberg Subject: Re: Review of Peloponnesian War and Raid on St. Nazaire rbuchhol@unlinfo.unl.edu (roger buchholz) writes: > Its been a while since I've played Raid on St. Nazaire but I can tell > you its very fun. I've won overwhelmingly and I've gotten my butt > kicked. I'd give it a rousing thumbs up. I agree entirely- it's one of the most repeat-playable solitaire games I've ever played. There's a decent, although somewhat short, review at: http://www.macbroker.com/:cserve/lutz/nazaire1.html I haven't played terribly recently- here's what I remember: There are two very distinct sections of the game. The naval segment, before the commandos land, does have quite a bit of dice-rolling, but not to the B-17 level, and you do get do make some important decisions. Your boats and troops will get shot to ribbons by nigh-invunerable German gun positions, but your turn comes next. The land phase is rather more interesting; commando parties (two types- 'demolition' with light firepower and demo charges to destroy VP objectives, and 'assault' with heavy firepower and grenades) move across the (gorgeous) map point-to-point. German defense troops appear randomly throughout the area, gradually more over time, and just move towards the closest accessible commandos (no silly charts regulating them; they just home in on commandos.) Basic combat is simple: 1d6 (modified for cover & commando type) under the firer's strength points (commandos start at 6, Germans at 2, 4, or 6) to hit and 1d6 damage if a hit is scored. German shore guns also fire at commandos but are harder to kill with gunfire (use grenades). The game doesn't usually end by the clock- all British troops are eliminated or escaped long before time runs out, as the troops have limited charges & grenades, and the German troop arrival table starts to pick up some wicked upward modifiers. I'd recommend getting the General (#24-4) for designers' notes & tactical advice, & the book "The Greatest Raid Of All" (author escapes me at the moment) for detailed background & history- it's more interesting to push the commando parties (named after their historical leader) around when you know something about the men. I'd also second the recommendations of Tokyo Express and Carrier, and Thunderbolt/Apache Leader. T/A works particularly well because most of the work goes into the planning, and the system doesn't need to be complex or 'intelligent' so simulate the actions of ground forces under air attack (run for cover & shoot back a lot). Mayfair's "Rails" games also play well solitaire. It's probably best to play 2-3 trains than just the one- the competition is in the racing. -- Scott E Kullberg <*> sekullbe@newscorp.com <*> News Internet Services