FRONTLINES

From our correspondent at the front Angus Ryall.

We have been conscious for some time that CRASH has had two weaknesses and these have been in the areas of adventure games and war/strategy games. The former problem was solved when Derek Brewster kindly agreed to write an adventure column and review the games. We are now able to overcome the second weakness - and this issue sees the start of our wargamers column put together for us by ANGUS RYALL. Angus is the Software Marketing Manager for Games Workshop Ltd. As such he brings with him his experience not only of software but also the over view of strategy games in general.

OVERVIEW OF STRATEGY GAMES

Everyone knows that wargamers thrive on 'complexity', and this is what has kept the hobby so elitist for so long. Traditional wargames/strategy games have been virtually impossible for mere mortals such as you or I to crack, and the small number of people playing them has also kept their prices ridiculously high. The arrival of home computers should have changed all that, by getting rid of the number-crunching and all those fiddly little card counters that always end up down the back of the settee. There should by now be as many decent strategy games available as adventures - but there aren't. Having just gone through a pile of strategy games I think I'm beginning to understand why. The people writing them for the Spectrum are giving the sector a bad name - it's the same old idea, of making the players bust a gut to play the game, that has kept traditional wargaming such a minority pastime. Most of these games have abominable graphics, laughable points systems, and unintelligible instructions. They tend to be long winded and very slow, and one or two are just plain idiotic. Only a couple here were actually enjoyable to play.

DODOS

These were the real pits - don't even waste your tope on copying them.

INVASION (ASP)

Another one from Argus. This one raised my hackles before it even started - You are the commander
of the Western Alliance' it says, the Reds are attacking'. Then it says Reds are stupid' - I think
this kind of thing is insulting the intelligence of the audience, like those badges which say Nuke
'em till they glow' - it's not really funny, just childish. Anyway, the game is played on the same
sort of grid as BISMARK, and the evil Reds come creeping down towards you. Each turn you are
given so many resource points, depending on how many cities you control, which you then use to buy
units and attack points. The Reds are given overwhelming force by the program, which tends to make
the game more an exercise in headbanging than a game of strategy and skill. Argus run away with
this month's mouldy cheeseburger; and I run like hell in the opposite direction.

48K Spectrum
£6.99
Argus Press Software

If you are fed up up with zapping aliens in real time with amazing graphics, sound the works, then here's something that might be more up your street. The Reds are coming and it's up to you to defend your homeland.

The invading hordes mvidini* hardts enter from the top of your 8-by-2 grid which represents the homeland. You have eight armies under your command with which to attempt to repel the foreign hordes. Scattered over the map are 14 cities which you mast defend, lose the lot and it's the firing squad for you. The unkindest cut of all is also meeted out if you allow any of the invaders to march off the bottom of the map presumably because they then threaten something vital, like the Presidential Country Retreat.

Each turn you are given 10 resource points per town under your control. These can be used to build new units or allow ones you already have to attack. Attacking seems to be a good idea in this game, so these supplies are vital. You can then give each army one command, either change its strength or move it. The effectiveness of an army is affected by its morale, if it gets badly mauled, its morale sinks; an easy victory and its morale and effectiveness rise.

All this leads to some tricky decisions for would-be Pattons. Trying to defend every inch tends to be an expensive and morale-sapping exercise.

However, the choices and strategies open to you seem somewhat limited and once the right mix the two mentioned above has been discovered, I doubt if the game has that much more to offer.