Games Computing


War 70

Publisher: Cases Computer Simulations
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Games Computing #7

War 70 (Cases Computer Simulations)

This is a Napoleonic wargame for two players. The game is part strategy, part tactics, as you each control armies within a campaign scenario, and when any of the opposing armies meet, battlefield combat ensues. The aim of the game is to capture your opponent's capital city.

The campaign map shows the positions of the two sets of armies - one red, one blue. You each start with nine armies of 167 men each, and you move these either individually or in tactical 'groups' of up to two armies. Each side has up to four moves in each turn at the campaign level.

When contact is made the Campaign map is replaced with a map of the battlefield of the location where contact was made. At this level your forces are split into various units comprised of a mixture of line infantry, cavalry, and an artillery unit. The geographical features are shown and consist of trees, rivers and lakes and buildings.

War 70

The instructions supplied are pretty comprehensive and are very much standard wargaming rules. Movement, firing, morale and mlee are all allowed for, and I would imagine that that was a strong reason for the game winning a second prize Cambridge award in 1983.

The game is rather let down by its own fairly high aims, it really tries to cram too much in. The graphics are fiddly and difficult to look at for any time, and all movement at the battlefield level is by way of inputting XY co-ordinates which is very laborious, and not helped by the fact that the program asks for XY input but actually expects YX input.

If you are patient, or a real wargame fan, then this would certainly be a useful addition to your software library but otherwise a bit disappointing.