Salamanca: Maplay Games Limited's simulation / reviewed by Rob Gibson

This is the first Napoleonic battle simulation produced in Britain, as
far as I am aware (no doubt someone, somewhere will prove me wrong!) and
as such deserves special attention. Starting at the outside: the game
comes in a stout cardboard box, with unimaginative labelling. The
physical components are good quality: bright, clear map - small, neatly
printed rule folders - pre-cut counters. So far, so good.

The map has a unique hex identification system, using a letter coding
system for the horizontal rows and a diagonal (top left to bottom right)
vertical numbering system. It sounds complex, but it works as well as
the SPI 4-digit hex numbering system in practice .

The rules, however, are less satisfactory: a very concious effort has
been made to avoid the use of standard SPI terminology, making the
result very stilted and difficult to understand. No clear guide is given
as to how to set up the game or how to read the map codes given. No
examples are given (a la SPI) of movement or combat effects of terrain
although a barely comprehensible example of combat is given.

The counters are brightly coloured but poorly cut and not at all the
same square shape. They include "value counters" numbered from 1-9,
placed under the unit counter to give the Combat Strength, which is
concealed from one's opponent and reduced by a step-reduction combat
resolution system. Ingenious though it is, it does not work well in
practice because of stacking problems and irregular counter sizes: how
ever, the reviewer successfully used a table derived from the Order of
Battle with values 1 to 9 against each unit, covered by clear plastic
sheet, on which the current combat value was marked in chinagraph
pencil.

The Order of Battle given with the game will throw most Napoleonic fans:
the British foot regiments of Packenham's (3rd), Leith's (5th),
Clinton's (6th) and von Alten's ( Light) Divisions are wrongly brigaded,
not to mention the much-maligned Chasseurs Britannique. The 60th Foot
are listed as a Line regiment, when in fact six independent companies of
the 6th battalion only were present as skirmishers for four separate
brigades in four different divisions, as befitted their role as
Riflemen. The French suffer from an excess of value points and too much
artillery in Brennier's Division.

This can be amended as follows:
Foy's Division - all infantry units value '4'.
Clausel's Division - 59th Line ('51 L' counter) value '6'.
Ferey's Division - 31st Leger, 26th Line, value '4'.
Sarrut's Division - 2nd Leger, 36th Line, value '6';
4th Leger (473 men), value '1'.
Maucune's Division - 1st Line value '5'.
Bonnet's Division - '8 Company Cannon' (incidentally the only real
one-company divisional artillery unit on the French side!) value '1'.

The problem on the British/Portuguese side is not so easily resolved:
the fanatics will produce a fresh set of counters (Shire Publications'
"Discovering Famous Battles: The Peninsular War" has a first-class Order
of Battle for Salamanca which will help here). In fact, the existing
counters are quite adequate from the game point of view, given the above
modifications to the French unit values.

The CRT in the rules is one of the better features of the game:
particularly good is the automatic retreat resulting from a loss of two
points in excess of those lost by your opponent in any particular
combat.

To sum up then: an average game in its present form - if it wasn't
produced here, it probably wouldn't be imported. With better rules and
counters and more attention to historical details, this game could be a
winner.