(TR + 3) x2 = A3R
ADVANCED THIRD REICH, by
EVERYBODY IN VANCOUVER…BUT NOT JOHN PRADOS
from THE AVALON HILL GAME COMPANY
2 unmounted 30" x 22" mapsheets,
1040 counters, 64 page rulebook, 36 page appendices, 6 double-sided charts/play
aids, 6 scenario cards, 2 six-sided dice; boxed. Available in Retail outlets
for a mind-bending $60.
Reviewed by ROBIN D.
ROBERTS
When I first obtained a copy of Advanced Third Reich, the long-awaited, complete overhaul of
one of gaming's true classics, I was somewhat trepidatious. The original Third Reich was the subject of a long infatuation for me. However, over the years I had found myself
bothered more and more often both by its obvious design flaws and by the
tendency of even its strongest fanatics to ignore how far the game was removed
from reality and historicity. And yet,
the original TR had some enormous
strengths: it is still one of the best multi-player wargames around. No other game gives as rich an experience
for three or more players in a simulation of an entire war not only from a
political viewpoint, but also from simply conducting a war. It was therefore
with great
anticipation that I opened the rather bland box.
The counters are pretty much the same as in previous
versions. There do seem to be some new
counters which we will discuss later, but the main countries counters are
identical except in trivial ways - USSR units are now red, not brown. Unfortunately, this nod towards familiarity
puts them far behind other companies on the curve for graphical
presentation. The A3R
counters are 1970-redux.
The map is another story. It now comes as two unmounted
sheets - you wanted mounted? … $60 not high enough for you … you wanted to bid
$70?? - which are much larger than the
previous versions, mostly resulting from the use of larger hexes. In game terms, there are a few extra,
peripheral hexrows, and some new river hexsides have been added. The map has a
bit more color, but it is used
sparingly and it is, in no way, state of the art in graphical cartography. It
is obvious that one restriction on its creator was that it had to be functionally
identical to the previous editions maps.
However, the choice of colors results in certain terrain feature not
being clearly visible, and the overlapping hex columns of the two sheets are
not identical.
The 63 page rulebook - almost twice the length of the 4th
edition rulebook - plus[!!] a 35 page
"appendices" means that there will be a lot of new material to
digest. Of some curiosity-piquing interest is the very lengthy credits section,
in which I believe everyone
on Earth was credited except myself (rightfully so - I had
no part in it's publication) and, amazingly, the original designer, John Prados. The credit list does contain
some remarkable inclusions, almost 100 people - all overseen by Bruce Harper,
including the following partial list of notables: Key Contributors [did
these seven people attend a $100 a plate dinner?]; The Vancouver Playtest
Group; and Playtesters [evidently those 50 odd souls who were not privileged to
live in Vancouver].
Amazingly, the graphics, mapboard art and cover design are
all credited to but one human being, the estimable Charles Kibler. I soon
realized that John Prados was probably omitted because he wasn't a resident of
Vancouver. (Ed. Note: Actually, John was
inadvertently left off the list, an omission AH says will be corrected in the
next edition … NEXT edition??? Oh, my God, not another one ….)
So what we have here is an A3R
with twice the counters and twice the rules (and, it seems, twice the price) as its illustrious
ancestors. Do we end up with twice the
game?
I've played Third Reich
in all of its incarnations since it was first published in the mid-70's. It has always had a reputation as a neat
game with inherent rule ambiguities which hindered play. Indeed, for years, my fellow players would
rate a game in which no more than 50% of the time was spent in a rules argument
as a "fun time had by all."
The basic turn sequence of the game remains intact. Each three month turn has the two sides
alternating (if the USSR has not entered the war, it still moves with the
Allies). The phasing player Declares
options, deciding what type of offensives, if any, to conduct; he then Moves
and Resolve combat. After this comes Exploitation movement for armor units
participating in combat, then unit Construction - using the game's
"trademark", its Basic Resource Points (BRP) system, which sometimes
allows a side to move twice in succession because of a shift in the initiative
- followed by Strategic movement.
A3R introduces
"Industrial Centers" for the USSR into the BRP mechanics,
representing factories which contribute to the USSR BRP total. I don't believe I've fully explored the net
result of this; however, at this point it appears that the vulnerability and
distribution of
the "IC's" make the USSR more vulnerable through
1941 and 1942, but beginning
in 1942, the USSR becomes stronger, depending on how well
the Soviet player has protected the IC counters. Together with the fact that
the force pool of the USSR
has been strengthened over the last edition (although it
builds more gradually than before), toward 1944-45, the combined Allied forces
should become quite impressive. At this point it is my impression that the
Soviet Union will be a bit easier to conquer.
But that may change as I watch the results of the new restrictions on
exploitations, which are now allowed on the eastern front only during Summer
and Fall turns.
Combat is little changed for ground units, although new
tables are introduced for air attacks and naval combat. It is a very bloody
CRT, on which an attacker can succeed (at great risk) at 1 to 1 odds and is
happy to attack at 2 to 1. The combat system was - and still is - one of the
game's great weaknesses, a fault, unfortunately, little improved by this new
edition. The A3R combat system rarely, if ever, reflects combat operations
at the theater level - either how they were organized or conducted. There are no restrictions beyond dividing
the ETO into three fronts ( West, East and Mediterranean ), for which separate
BRP expenditures must be made to perform offensive operations.
There have been changes made to the Supply system. The
earlier TR versions used a simple
concept that involved the tracing of supply lines of unlimited length to supply
sources, usually a countries own capital or other supply source. Advanced
Third Reich has layered on a slightly more complex model of supply
involving unlimited and limited supply sources. Units drawing from limited supply sources (such as capitals of
conquered countries) are limited to infantry movement rate and lose armor
effects, such as exploitation. In
addition, there is a significant change to when unsupplied units are
eliminated. In previous incarnations,
unsupplied units were eliminated after
the Construction phase.
Now, such elimination occurs before
that phase, making the eliminated unit eligible for immediate
construction. This, alone, is a subtle
but significant change that will cause
many previously favorite strategies to be discarded.
One of the greatest sources of TR enjoyment, however,
was its richly-layered diplomacy system, introduced in later editions of the
original. A3R makes the diplomacy
game even richer - allowing an even wider range of possibilities, so much so
that most of the Appendices is dedicated to the possible diplomatic
results. Diplomatic points, garnered
from a variety of mechanics, are applied to individual countries, along with other modifiers. Then, each turn, each side can pick a
country and roll a die against its diplomatic results chart.
The possible results can greatly affect the course of a
game. German minor allies could be activated earlier or even switch sides. Poland could even concede the Polish corridor and become an
inactive German minor ally. Then there are the results of an Italian surrender,
interesting in and of themselves, where a variety of units
can become available to either the Allies or to Germany. Diplomatic pressures
can change the neutrality and activities for many nations not involved - except
in "unofficial" variants - in
the old TR: Ireland,
Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Yugoslavia, Sweden, Greece, even
Japan, and many more.
The Diplomacy game is the area of Advanced Third Reich where the best work has been done. One certain result is that so much variation
is inherent from using the new diplomacy rules, that articles describing
overall game strategy are now useless. An interesting side effect of this
concerns all those "Variants" for which TR became famous. Many of the variants found in 4th Edition
remain; however several new ones have
been added. Other than producing some minor effects, the major purpose for
variants -
putting spice into Third
Reich - has been replaced by the diplomatic rules, and, although
they do little harm, I can see little value to them.
One interesting sidelight is the inclusion of a sample copy
of a newsletter dedicated to Advanced Third
Reich and titled "Ultra".
There are some good overviews in the newsletter, especially the one by
Joseph Brophy giving a good summary of all the rules changes needed for the
transition. Not surprisingly, there are
also some self-aggrandizing statements that can easily cause whiplash, of which
the most medically dangerous is the claim for how easy Advanced Third Reich is to learn. Make no
mistakes, gamers, A3R is Heavy
Sledding, 32a.
There are some features of the new rules that annoy me. The author (Joe Committee??) continually
refers to terrain effects on combat as "+N DM". As an example defending
units get a "+2 DM". Unfortunately, this syntax describes a multiplication of the
combat strength of the unit, not an
addition or a die roll addition (die roll additions being noted
as "+2 DRM").
This results in some confusion.
Evidently the notation comes
from adding together the modifiers, and then multiplying the combat strength by the net modifier. Much of this can probably be laid at the
feet of the AH insistence on using acronymical notation for virtually all of
its dieroll systems, a notational usage that could warm the heart of only the
most febrile hacker.
And while most of the rules are well organized, not all
information related to initial deployment got into the Scenario Setup section
in the Appendices. As an example, the
fact that Britain has 5 submarine factors in Malta (itself a new bit of chrome)
is noted not in the setup description, but in the rules on Malta. Annoying also is that the table of contents
refers to page numbers, while the index, inadequate as it is, refers to section
numbers. Far from fatal, but it is organization problems such as
these that made the previous versions of Third
Reich a stolidly stultifying experience in rules assimilation and
application.
Ultimately, Advanced Third
Reich, even with all its admirable changes, still retains many of
the flaws of the original Third Reich's
in its best form. The scale of action
of the different arms do not match, and the basic design hasn't been
"state of the art" for over a decade. The order of battle doesn't represent historical forces, although
the new force
pools improve this.
The game was never really a
"simulation", despite Bruce Harper's claims to the contrary. It is
possible that the new, additional chrome will convince the less discerning
gamer that it is. Actually, so much
chrome has been varnished over such an obsolete, original design that A3R resembles nothing more than the
renovated '56 Chevy my brother-in-law used to drive. What is amazing is how
much of it still works!
To Bruce Harper's credit, most of the rules ambiguities that
plagued even the 4th Edition seemed to have been put to final rest, although at
quite a large cost in volume.
Mr. Harper asks the following rhetorical question in his
notes: "... has Third Reich
become something more than it is capable of being?" He answers his own question with an
unequivocal "no", but I assert that the answer is definitely in
doubt. The top-heaviness of the
resulting design is still obvious.
However, A3R retains the
basic tension among the various countries that made it such an enjoyable
multi-player wargame, a tension which
builds further with the now excellent diplomatic rules.
Advanced Third Reich is
definitely a must buy for all those TR
fanatics still out there. It presents a
much richer game for the experienced player who has blinded himself to its core
weaknesses as a simulation. But at its steep, $60 price, whether the
non-TR gamer will enjoy it is far less clear. This is a complex game that almost requires
assistance from a fellow gamer. A3R is definitely the product of a lot of
hard work, but it's still pretty much the old TR. I couldn't help wondering if we would have
been better served if all these resources had been devoted to creating a more modern
design. A3R may have lots of
chrome and some interesting gadgetry, but it's still a used car.
CAPSULE COMMENTS:
Graphic Presentation: Uninspired, but clear and functional.
Playability: The game's Complexity is rated "Very
High" ( which it is - and which may be one of the year's understatements);
Solitaire suitability is rated "High" ( which it definitely isn't).
This is a game best played by - and almost geared for - groups.
Replayability: For TR fans, probable quite high - a direct
result of the excellent Diplomacy rules. However, those of you not into this
sort of thing will most likely use it as a paper weight.
Historicity: The game's weakest point; everything is
there, but little of it seems to be at the right level. However, as a birds-eye,
overall view, acceptable.
Playing Time: From very long … through Endless … to Forget
It.
Comparisons: There are much better WWII/ETO simulations
available, such as TSR/SPI's ETO
and, certainly, the remarkably popular World
in Flames. All look and feel better, at least in terms of their
approach to history. What all of these do seem to lack is the Interaction
appeal A3R has, not an
insignificant feature when deciding what to play.
Overall: A must for the Third Reich fanatic or the AH-style, ASL
fan who wishes a strategic level multi-player game. For the rest of us, a lot of new shiny chrome on a rusty
chassis.