TOO MUCH, TOO LATE

PHASELINE: SMASH by FRANK CHADWICK

from GDW

One 22" x 34" map, 528 counters, two 56-page rules books, various cards and charts galore, 10-sided die; boxed. From GDW, POB 1646, Bloomington IL 61702; $30

Reviewed by SCOTT JOHNSON

Before the Gulf War, it appeared that contemporary wargaming was crumbling faster than the Cold War. Then came the modern wargamer's messiah: Sadam Hussein, a one-man game series ready to happen. When the US decided to reduce the number of Iraqi "provinces" from 19 back to 18 by what Clausewitz blithely termed "other means", the wargaming industry shifted into high gear. Considering the rather one-sided nature of the fracas, the total output in Gulf War games - we can think of at least a half dozen - is approaching phenomenal.

Even now, two years after the war's conclusion, wargaming's pontiffs are still trying to ride the crest of marketability. And who better than to lead us in responsive reading, but the Pontifus Maximus of the Church of SAM's and Sand, Frank Chadwick, whose previous efforts on the subject - Battle for Basra, Sands of War, and the Ny Times Bestseller, "Desert Storm Fact Book" - were all beautiful works.

This time, Frank is intent on leading us through the Joint Forces' bloody "left hook" drive through the fortified Iraqi defenses to nail the Republican Guard in the north. To that extent he has designed Phaseline: Smash, a simulation in which the "good guys" have to breach fortified lines, set up forward bases, pocket ill-fated defenders, and then annihilate every Iraqi on the map without losing a single US/Brit unit. (Forget the Arab allies; their bodies don't seem to count here.) Sound like fun for the Iraqi player? Not unless his phone book includes 900 numbers for Mistress Melinda, which is why Frank chose to go solitaire. About the only chance the Iraqis have of "winning" would be to give them Godzilla, a few Nazi panzer units, and some Death Rays. Someone, though, had already thought of that clever idea.

Now, you'd think that a lop-sided, solitaire game would be easy to play. Boy, are you in for a surprise. After delaying production for six months to "flesh out" the game, Frank has come up with a set of rules so long and so involved they'll have you yearning for a bout of Campaign for North Africa! Granted, the rules books look great … but 51 pages of basic rules, half of which each have 2-3 "exceptions"! Rick Swan said he wanted solitaire … not six months in isolation! And what's worse, simply providing a lot of material does not mean the game will be good. I think Frank missed the point as to why people play solitaire. Who wants to go through hours of rule study and an extended set-up period just to kill some time? There better be an awful lot of gamers who really want some hard information, because Smash almost defies you to play it!

What Smash does give you is a definitive approach to utilizing a combined-arms army (mechanized infantry, armor, scouts, engineers, artillery, air wings, logistics people, etc.) to fight a modern battle to the best possible conclusion. This is Perfect Plan Land. If you have the tenacity - and the dearth of social life - to play this through the number of times necessary to reach that Schwartzkopfian Nirvana (avoiding the pitfall of bad dierolls), you've really achieved a hollow victory, because why would you play it again? Actually, after seeing the lay of the land, why would you play it more than once?

To start off, the set-up is long and tedious, with a quintessential GDW map, done in flea-market/Velvet ugly, staring you in the face. The counters, though, are magnificent, and you can revel in them as you place them all in their mandated hexes. No variants here, me hearties. Having done that, you then get to fill in all the informational tracks and charts with the formation counters, command postures (for the Iraqis), etc.

Play, when you get to it, is activated by the randomized, chit-pull system. Put the formation chits in the cup, and the one you pull gets to go. In and of itself, this is a good system which is coming into greater and greater use. The chit allows units to move, deploy scouts or engineers, conduct bombardments, make deliberate attacks, mobile attacks, hasty attacks, etc., etc. The Iraqis, of course, use a strict doctrine to react, but the game's mechanics for this, as well as artificial intelligence, are quite good. Although there are many dieroll adjustments, the combat system is still the old odds-ratio; here it is just so dressed up you'd almost never recognize it. None of the individual mechanics are overly difficult when approached individually. However, there is just so much to do, and so many exceptions and additions to the basic ways of doing them, that trying to remember exactly what you're supposed to be doing is like getting on Jeopardy and drawing the category, Victorian Wallpaper. No way you're going to get past the first box.

The system does have two rather interesting mechanics: Fatigue and Fratricide. Using units constantly move, fight, and conduct all sorts of operations in bad weather has a corrosive effect on their abilities. Smash simulates this with nine (9!!) levels of fatigue, each of which gradually slows a unit down and reduces its power. Players will find themselves having to pay strict attention to just how much their units have endured. As for Fratricide, that covers the tragedy of "friendly fire" accidents. Units must roll for disruption when entering the ZOC of a friendly unit from a different formation. It doesn't happen often, but some misdirected fire at a logistics unit can bring a drive to a screeching halt. To this extend, the system requires the player to be aggressive and careful at the same time.

Ultimately, though, unless you're fascinated by the minutiae and information pertaining to the recent war, this is all very heavy going. The rules are too long, the game is too complex, the mechanics too intricate for any but the hungriest Gulf War fanatic. It's just all too much.

CAPSULE COMMENTS:

Graphic Presentation: Except for the map, excellent.

Playability: The length and minutiae-driven complexity make this more solitary than solitaire. For any but the aficionado, or the Perfect Plan buff, Smash is almost agonizingly unplayable.

Replayability: Again unless you seek the Nirvana of Plan Perfection, this is a major dust-gatherer.

Creativity: There's lots of good system work here. But that plus is it's own worst enemy; there's just TOO much system here.

Historicity: If this game has a main selling point, this is it. As usual, Frankie C. is right on the money when it comes to insight into this area.

Comparisons: Aside from its deficiencies - and they are myriad - this is THE definitive treatment on the Central Front section of the Iraqi War. S&T's Arabian Nightmare and Command's Desert Storm were more operational in nature, so Smash is essentially the first game to examine the war at a "battle" level. If I were to compare it to another system, I would say that it's almost like another Next War (SPI), another entry in the Overwrought Stakes. Actually, Next War was somewhat better.

Overall: It's not that it's bad … it isn't, really. It's just too much. There are few people with the time and insightful nature willing to endure a rules book of Jupiterian proportions.