Frank Hakstege - 02:21pm Apr 17, 1997 PST (#77 of 80)

Hi Richard, 

Phew....well I can not give you a review like the ones you normally
would read. I do can give you my opinion about BAR and Zorndorf.

First of all, I think that BAR is one of the finest game systems around
these days. 

The Rules book is better readable and less confusing than La Bat.Ed 3. I
hope the 4th edition LaBat. rules will be something like the 2nd edition
BAR rules.

As you can see, there is now indeed a 2nd editon rule book. Only a few
minor changes: 2 big ones though ! The Strenght Point Recovery rule was
aborted and the Morale check Summary chart did not make sense
anymore....

I asked Paul Dangel why he removed the SP Recovery rule : "There was no
firm historical basis for it" was his reply. Ok, fair enough, although I
like that rule very much.

(Recently I've been reading a book about Frederick and his battles :
Paul is right, almost no regiment, after it was severely beaten,
recovered enough to take any further part in the battle. Notable
exception, at Kolin the Leibgarde Batallion was ridden over twice by
Austrian Cavalry, but each time recovered !)

The Morale check modifiers : In the 2nd edition rules some Morale Checks
had strange modifiers...these were corrected by way of an errata sheet.
Now the Morale Check Summary has the same modifiers again as the 1st
edition BAR rules. Causing this minor flaw, was the sequence in which
the modifiers were placed. Oh well, this can happen.

With the SP recovery rule gone alot of my fighting style changed.
Usually I though : Let the cavalry (severely depleted) charge again,
after that I hope to recover some SPs. Not anymore now ! If you choose
to fight you got to commit everything you got ! Almost no room anymore
for another try. This makes you more aware about the limited resources
you have to defeat an enemy. No more screw ups that you can correct
later on in the game. Once a regiment is broken it stays that way...

Well, the rest of the 2nd edition rules is almost the same as the 1st
edition. Some very minor changes. 

Now for Zorndorff : real tough fight ! Much tougher than those Austrians
at Kolin. 7 out of 10 times I swept the Austrians from the battlefield
of Kolin...at Zorndorff the record is 50/50. The terrain is very tough,
especially on the cavalry. there is alot of terrains which favors the
defender (Russians).

The Prussian Cavalry is less important now than at Kolin (I used them
now more to guard my flanks against Russian Cavalry/Cossacks, instead of
charging into enemy troops). This fight is a real infantry battle, a
slaughterhouse for the troops. Losses were very high on both sides (in
real as well on my game table). Artillery is powerfull when placed in
the right spots (for me, Prussians, artillery advanced along with the
infantry).

That is the main difference (for me at least) in these 2 games, plus the
frontline at Zornsdorff is rather narrow..the infantry attacks almost
all took place on the middle map.

I still prefer Kolin, wider frontline, cavalry is more used to attack
enemy troops instead of guarding the flanks. Basically the way one plays
Kolin and Zorndorff is very different. Zorndorff is more an infantry
battle and Kolin is more a combined arms battle.

But then again, Zorndorff is more exciting because it can go either way,
any moment...Zorndorff is worth the money it will cost you ! Guaranteed
!!

Hopefully this makes any sense, 

Frank