As Amiga Power's newly-appointed Really Complicated Strategy Games That No-one Else Wants To Review Because They Take Ages To Work Out And Then Turns Out To Be Crap Editor, I was delighted to be presented with SSG's Halls Of Montezuma. "This is all I need," were the words furthest from my mind as I cast aside my finals revision, cancelled all appointments and settled down beside the fire with the 824 (!) page manual.
At first glance it looks overwhelmingly similar to every other wargame (lots of flashing squares, movement phases, etc), the only major anomaly being the eight different scenarios to choose between. They all involve the US Marines, following their history through action in Mexico, WW1, WWII, Korea and Vietnam, which some people will no doubt find interesting.
Closer examination of the manual reveals, however, that what we've got here is really more of a wargame designer. The Marines scenarios are actually just sophisticated demos, and you can alter them at will or even design your own wargames from scratch. Nifty, eh? (Assuming you like this sort of thing, of course, which, let's face it, won't account for many people.)
At the heart of the package is the 'Battlefront' system, which encompasses just about everything a wargamer could hope for. Units can be ground-based, airborne and amphibious. There are the usual impenetrable lists of attributes for each one - more than I think I've ever seen before, in fact - which can all be set up from the editor. And you can even design your own maps with all sorts of colourful icons and things. It's yet another case of the only limit being your imagination.
The Australian-based company which has come up with all this has apparently produced a range of scenarios which you can purchase (probably a good idea, as even a minor skirmish would probably take years to set up by yourself) and a magazine full of hints and tips too.
So, um, it's up to you really. As wargames go this one's been professionally put together, and you can't fault it on value for money. But it is formidably complicated, as these things always are, and it would take a braver man than most to stick at it for very long.
1st August 1991
