Hjalmar Gerber - 01:08pm Jun 23, 2000 PST (#430 of 430) As requested by some in the OOTW section, I'm posting the Player Notes for BITTEREINDER here. It's important to read them before playing the game in order to avoid a "sucker-punch" opening. Hjalmar ________ 16.0 Player Notes 16.1 Empire Player During the first few turns of the game you will probably be pre-occupied with survival and maintaining the Empire Morale Level. Once your copious reinforcements show up, the advised strategy should be offense. Attack! Attack! Attack! and get on with the job of occupying the Republican capitals and every Republican town at the earliest date possible. Occupation will not win you the war, but along with "Methods of Barbarism" and engaging the Republican forces in combat at every opportunity, even at unfavourable odds, it is the strategy that will contain and whittle down the Republican War Commitment. Maintaining the Empire Morale Level should still be an important, though secondary objective. It, too, will not win you the war, but you may ignore it at your peril. It is advisable not to lose garrisons or entire infantry brigades. When such units are defending an area with a town at unfavourable odds, they can avoid combat by opting for a siege. However, this is a double-edged sword. Having besieged units surrender can devastate the Empire's morale, and truncate the war in favour of the Republican player. So, relieve sieges with urgency, and, above all, keep those kommandos from controlling your towns. Keep up and improve the morale level, and face the "Khaki election" on Turn 13 with confidence. Guard your supply units at all times. Every time a supply unit is eliminated or forced to retreat, the Republican War Commitment pool will benefit. The later (guerrilla) stages of the game may be frustrating as you struggle to corner those elusive kommandos. This will be the time where your earlier efforts to keep the Republican War Commitment level in check, will bear fruit. Consolidate your hold over territory through the use of blockhouses and "Methods of Barbarism". You should always be torn between urgency and patience. 16.2 Republican Player At the start of the game you have a long shot at a quick victory - collapsing the Empire's morale. To pull it off, you will have to occupy and hold as many Empire towns as you can as soon as you can, and hope that your opponent suffers from bad luck compounded by some bone-headed decisions. It is usually unwise to rely on the latter conditions, but the choice is yours. The more attainable path to victory lies in survival. This calls for a defensive strategy, but more important than defending territory, as desirable as that may be, is preserving your War Commitment Points - your ability to wage war. Unlike the Empire player, your ability to co-ordinate multiple combat units for an attack, is limited. You may be seduced by the prospect of crushing Empire combat units with one of your armies, but that will ultimately be counter-productive. Firstly, large battles consume War Commitment Points at a prodigious rate - something that plays right into your opponent's hands. Secondly, a Republican army is a fragile beast, and its loss, with all the units and leaders attached to it, could be catastrophic. At some point an army will prove to be more of a liability than an asset, and besides, you may find the leadership skills of De Wet and Botha far more useful as the war drags on. When that point is, is your decision. The expansion of your War Commitment Points pool depends on your ability to delay the occupation and razing of your capitals and home areas by the Empire forces for as long as possible. Beware of sneaky raids by Empire mounted units [retreats into your territory]. Have some units on rails to guard against the unexpected. The preservation of your War Commitment Points pool depends on your ability to avoid those costly big battles, or any other unnecessary combat for that matter. A kommando unit that engages in combat in its unrazed home area does not consume War Commitment Points. You cannot avoid combat altogether, but you have to be smart in picking your battles. The sequence of play is on your side. Use it to your advantage. Your troops are largely a citizens' militia. Is it wise to go toe-to-toe with the might of the British Empire?