From: Roberto Chiavini Subject: Two more reviews Tito (Strategy & Tactics) Amost universally blamed by his players, this old magazine game about partisan warfare in Yugoslavia during WWII it's probably more interesting than it could appear judging on the reviews. First of all, the game has a very peculiar zone map, with the various states of modern Yugoslavia plus a few other regions. Each zone has a tripartited display (for Yugoslavian partisan, Chetnik pro-Yugoslavian and Axis units) with another subdivision in mountains and hideaways. Inside each such zone (which is rated for garrison requirement, alignment (i.e., tendency to be pro-partisan, pro-Chetnik or neutral) and Uprising modifier), there are several objective zone subdivided in partisan/chetnik and Axis zone. Each such objective (a city, a town, a village, an industrial center or a market town) has a victory point value and a reinforcement multiplier (to be used by the Yugoslavian player). Units are rated only for combat strength and come in various size from guerrilla groups to corps. Even the flow of play is different from your usual wargame: each game turn starts (from turn 6 onward) with an Allied progress phase (important in determining the surrender of the Italian army and the fate of their units in the Balkans), when a weather phase (once every 4 turns to see if there is a drought - with effect on partisan recruitment), a Tito phase (with the Axis rolling to locate and identify the partisan leader), an Axis reinforcement phase, a Chetnik collaboration phase (you have to roll each turn for each Chetnik stack to see on which side, if any, it fights for that turn) and the Italian surrender phase. From turn 3 to turn 14 (before the arrival of the Soviet reinforcements for the Yugoslavian player), the Axis player may decide to launch an anti-guerrilla operation that gives him favorable modifiers in combat against the partisan, but these operations are limited by a chit draw before the start of the game. Then, the Yugoslavian player move and have combat with the units of his choice. Other than in the first two turns (which limit the movement of the combat units of both sides inside the zones they occupy at start), a partisan unit may move and have combat in each zone (and objectives inside) adjacent to the one they start (and in that zone too). After that, the Yugoslavian player calcolate his VPs for that turn; than, it's the time for the Axis player to make the same (with his units having a range of three consecutive zones of movement, but strong limitations regarding which Axis contingents may effectively move and in which zones). The turn ends with the Terminal stage, where the Yugoslavian player recruits new rebels, check for insurrections, builds greater formations, while the Axis player redeploys units used in anti-guerrilla actions. At the end of turn 17, the Yugoslavian player totals the VPs accumulated from turn to turn and sees if he has won. Normally, as he needs only 501 (601 with the errata published on Grognard) to achieve a marginal victory and 700 (800) to win a decisive victory, the game ends in a triumph for the partisans. And this is probably the greatest limitation (certainly, not a minor one) of a game really peculiar, fascinating in several of his aspects, but probably flawed in his basement. I haven't played many times, but from the start it seems clear enough that the Axis player has no choice other than trying to defend the most important objectives in the map and to hunt down the Chetnik units (as the Yugoslavian player suffer a deduction in VPs if there are no Chetnik units on the map), but it's almost impossible for him to limit the partisan player to less than 30 VPs each turns. In my first game, the Yugoslavian player, without building any units more consistent than a group, had 450 VPs after 8 turns. In my second game, he had 350 after 7 turns. In my third (and final) try, he had 280 VPs after 7 turns, with a terrible luck in several of his die rolls. If you consider, that the Axis player loses most of his units (the Italian army) between turn 6 and 10, it's clear that with a minimum progression of 40 VPs each turn it's impossible not to win for the Yugoslavian player. Probably, the game should be made totally solitaire (as the Axis player is limited to react to the events), with a few revisions, because I'm sure that inside this design there is a real little gem, needing more attention (and maybe a few corrections) in some cardinal points to have a very nice game of guerrilla warfare, a topic rarely touched by simulation wargames. I rate this game 5 1/2 in a 1-10 scale.