From: William Sariego Subject: Battle for Germany Comrades: If my scatterbrained self remembers correctly, one or more people asked for a comparison between the new and old versions of Battle for Germany. Here are my three cents (one must allow for inflation) on that subject. Graphically, the game is far prettier, but that should be a given. And as we well know, components do not neccessarily make the game any more than clothes make the man. The counters mirror the rainbow and the drab map has a new terrain symbol (marsh) that functions like rough. The Western Allies are unchanged, other than color differention between the different countries' armies. The West Germans have the three SS Panzer corps upgunned, and a former 3-5-5 on the Italian front is a monsterous 4-9-4 paratroop unit. Overall, a slight increase over the original in favor of the West Germans. I think they needed it. Major OoB changes for both sides on the eastern half of the board. Both sides have additional units; minor allies (Hungary and Rumania) being prominant. A few German units are upgunned (old 3-2-4 in Yugo is now 3-3-4, for example), but not many. The old game had some German infantry with a five movement factor; they are all four's now. This cuts down on the "run-away" strategy that is sometimes used in the old game. Two weird units pop up. A German Cav Korps (3-5-6) which can only be Vasslov's boys. Pardon my shaky history, but I believe the Italian Fascists contributed more in northern Italy than these guys did in the east. Also, a 3-2-5 Mtn unit in the old game is listed the same in the new rulesbook, but the counter reads 3-7-5! The errata says go with the counter value for all discrepencies...BS! (and that don't stand for Bill Sariego). Play with the old value. The big difference is the off board box for Courland. Four German and Two Soviet units begin there. The Soviets can't leave until the Germans are all evacuated by sea (one per turn, 2-6 arrive safe in Stettin or Rostok). Here is where balance gets skewed. A smart German will evacuate three, leaving one to pin the slow moving Soviet Fronts until the battle moves so far west the Soviet units will never catch up. All told, the eastern changes make it a wee bit harder on the Soviets to win, IMHO. But it is not imbalanced by any means. I like the new game...and the old. The new version is not a MUST BY if you have the original, but it is inexpensive and I'm glad I purchased it. William Thought for the day: One seventh of your life is spent on Monday.