BLEAK HOUSE

BASTOGNE, The Desperate Defense, and KASSERINE, Baptism of Fire by "NAMELESS but SHAMELESS"

from FRESNO GAMING ASSOCIATION

Each game contains one 17" x 22" map; 120 backprinted counters, Rules foldout; Folio Cover; from FGA, c/o C&M Hobbies, 8775 SW Maverick #903, Beaverton, OR 97005. $14.95 each.

Reviewed By ANDREW R. MALY

"Wherein The Lawyer Receives an Interesting Package"

My mother always told me to "… never speak ill of the dead." For those who subscribe to that thesis, read no further and just remember these two caveats: "Don't Buy 'Em" and "Save Your Money. To the less oedipally-restrained, read on.

"The Lawyer Feels Constrained to Reveal the Contents of the Mysterious Package"

Kasserine and Bastogne are operational level games covering the two battles of World War II. The maps are at a scale of one-half mile per hex, for Bastogne, and three miles per hex for Kasserine. Units are mostly battalions, with a few regiments and brigades

thrown in.

Both games are zip-lock, folio-packaged in pretty much the same fashion, with each featuring an FGA-esque cartoon rendering of the main scheme of maneuver for the battle. The title of the game is in large red letters, displaying that the boys from Fresno don't understand the concept of contrast. The reverse of the cover sheet is a bit better, as

it gives the potential buyer some clue as to what is inside. The key bullet to watch, though, is the first one, which states, "A remake of one of the classic SPI(tm) folio quad-games." (Hmmmm.) Tangentially, the listing of the scenarios is most annoying; the typeset is very crowded, making reading an arduous task.

Probably the nicest part of both games is the counters, and that's not saying much. Compared to, say, the old SPI folio versions (more of which, below), the counters are an improvement: readable, well cut, and colorful. The problem with all this riot of color is that FGA uses it somewhat inefficiently, primarily basing it on unit type. Unfortunately, this accomplishes little, if anything, towards serving any useful game function. An obvious use would have been to highlight the units in terms of victory conditions, such as color-coding German units that exit the board in "Bastogne" for victory points.

Another troubling aspect of the counter mix is that, while the game contains 120 counters, only 100 in each is applicable to the game you bought. The other 20 are replacement counters for Eagle in the Sun. This is the sort of ersatz philanthropy which we have grown to know and love from FGA. In order to get extra counters for Game "A", you have to buy a totally-unrelated Game "B". Welcome to the Bill Sykes Marketing Firm.

The maps are "…updated to FGA standards". Well, either you like these standards - which many of you seem to do - or you don't. Compared to, say, the old SPI folio games of the same name (again, that same reference … could it simply be the shaky hand Dickensian coincidence?) , the new map for Kasserine holds it own, while the map for Bastogne falls very short. So much for 16 years of advantage in graphics. When the counters for Bastogne are placed on the map, it's enough to stop even Ray Charles from saying, "… Uh-huh." In their eagerness to "colorize the classics", FGA seems to have overlooked two

major points: 1) the game turn track does not have any times or dates listed on it, and 2) there is no directional compass on either map!! (The latter is obviously symbolic of the lack of direction in FGA products.) If you don't think that issue #2 is a problem, check Kasserine rule 16.15, which states, "If an Axis unit exits the map through any Allied supply hex, that hex and all supply hexes east of that hex may no longer be used as Allied supply sources."

"Wherein The Lawyer Begins to Notice Some Strange Coincidences"

Well, what effect has all this "remaking" had on the rules? Very little. I'd be willing to wager that this is the best set of rules contained in an FGA game. Why? Quite simple. It doesn't appear that they wrote them! They just copied the originals, and it doesn't appear that they went to any lengths to even paraphrase them! As document in evidence #1, we submit the Rules indices for both the SPI/Westwall Quad's Bastogne and its FGA counterpart.

SPI Westwall FGA Bastogne

1.0 Introduction Introduction

2.0 Game Equipment Game Equipment

3.0 Setting Up The Game Setting Up the Game

4.0 Sequence of Play Sequence of Play

5.0 Movement Movement

6.0 Zones of Control Zones of Control

7.0 Combat Combat

8.0 Artillery Artillery

9.0 Ground Support Ground Support

"Wherein The Lawyer Suffers an Apoplectic Seizure"

A similar look at the subtopics for each rule will reveal a remarkable similarity. "Oh it's just coincidence," you say. "It's only an index, and they're all the same, anyway …" you're muttering. We submit, as Exhibit In Evidence #2, the following documents:

>>SPI "7.0 COMBAT. Combat between adjacent opposing units is mandatory. Artillery units (8.0) are the only units which may attack units to which they are not adjacent. See also Ground Support Rules (9.0). The Phasing Player is termed the attacker; the other player, the defender, regardless of the overall strategic situation."

>>FGA "7.0 COMBAT. Combat between adjacent opposing units is mandatory. Only artillery (see 8.0) may attack non-adjacent units; see also Ground Support (9.0). The phasing player is termed the attacker; the other player the defender, regardless of the overall

strategic situation."

FGA has made great play in print about how they are in the process of closing a deal with TSR (the owners of the applicable SPI trademarks and copyrights) to license the rights for these games. Know for certain that no such deal was ever struck; all FGA did was to make inquiries along those lines. (Ed. A fact verified by direct conversation with TSR.) Now, the laws on plagiarism are somewhat convoluted; given recent developments, they are also in a state of flux. They are, however, fairly specific on the issue of "paraphrasing". It don't float, bubba; just ask Arthur Haley. And if the above example is paraphrasing, then I'm Joe Biden.

"Wherein the Attorney is Constrained to Send a Letter"

It should be noted, however, that FGA did add a few personal touches to these "reprints".

First they threw in an overrun rule, which basically eliminates a defending unit at 7 - 1 odds while giving the attacker a 5% chance of taking casualties. Not bad. Secondly, they did nothing in the way of proof reading their work. For example, §19.0 (Weather) in Kasserine states, "There are three types of weather: good, fair and poor. Each game turn is assigned a weather condition on the Turn Record Track." Wanna bet? Or in Bastogne, "The following units arrive on game turn-one at the beginning of the German player's movement phase. The units start in the same hex, but none of these units may end their movement stacked with other units…". Which hex?

So how do the games play? The sequence of play is the very basic, Igo-Hugo, Move - Shoot, with combat expressed as a differential, rather than an odds ratio. Terrain dictates on which CRT line combat is resolved. FGA did "introduce" step loss into these games. However, all they did here was to double the "original" combat values, leaving those SPI numbers on the reverse, as the step loss side. This wouldn't be so bad, except that they did not take this effect into account on the "Integrated Combat Results Table." The player that originally had a combat advantage now really has an advantage, and the "update" changes a simple superiority into an unstoppable steamroller. (Why? Well if the original is 6 vs 3, for a '3' differential, the FGA Upgrade is a 12 vs 6, for a '6' differential!) The result is that none of either game's scenarios is particularly balanced.

Two aspects of the original SPI system which needed improvement remain unchanged. One is the mandatory combat rule, in which adjacent units MUST attack. This makes it very difficult for defenders to hold a position as the Americans did at Bastogne. (Obviously, the infamous McAuliffe reply, "Nuts!", now refers to the buyer of the game rather then the Germans.) A second shortcoming is that there is no provision for minimum attack odds, although there is a lower limit for a given terrain type. This results in the unrealistic effect of units attacking at atrociously low odds. The original SPI system did not really portray WW II operational level combat. The FGA "reprints" do nothing to correct these flaws.

"Having Received no Response, the Attorney Makes His Move"

Ted Turner bought the rights to old black and white films and then "colorized" them. People objected, but since Ted owns the copyright, he can be as tackily uncreative as he wishes. The key, however, is that ole Ted owned what he ruined, and, artistic morality aside, he's entitled to do whatever he wants with what is his. (Ed. FGA had no such legal rights. They certainly had the "right" to do a new version of either of these subjects. That, however, would have entailed doing some actual work, work of the sort FGA has, historically, been loathe to undertake. Quite simply, these two games are plagiarized, and TSR, upon viewing them, rightfully started the legal process to end such theft of creative services.)

"Wherein the Senders of the Mysterious Package Make Theirs"

In their latest issue of "Boardgame Journal", FGA does their best to imitate Captain Queeg, indulging in a rambling, paranoid litany along the lines of "… we're only borrowing, and any similarities are coincidence." The shibboleth of coincidence, however, is stretched farther than even Dickens ever contemplated. These two games are almost word-for-word re-hashes of the originals. So, if you really want a copy of either of these two games, hunt down an original SPI. Not only will you get the same product for about the same price, but you'll also get the authorized version.

Ed. As noted in the editorial, shortly after all this legal activity started, our two ersatz Fagins departed the scene.

CAPSULE COMMENTS:

Graphics: Bring your sunglasses, leave your morality at home.

Playability: Unsurprisingly, the same as the old SPI folio games. Playing Time is about 1 to 4 hours, but intelligent life forms would not spend that much time.

Solitaire: Probably the only way you'll ever play them.

Replayability: Very little.

Historicity: Fair.

Comparisons: Ahem.

Overall: Although FGA would have you think they're two Mr Micawbers, in reality, it's Fagin and Bill Sykes all over the place. Ultimately, your pet parrot would be insulted if you lined his cage with this trash.