This review first appeared in IPW, the newsletter for all discount games club members. Contact colin@allusedgames.demon.co.uk for details. The Battle of the Alma (GDW) Alma was the first major battle of the Crimean War. The Allies (Britain, France & Turkey) were marching on the Russian naval base of Sevastopol. En route they found their way blocked by a Russian Army at the River Alma. The Russians held strong defensive positions across the River and were confident of victory. This proved ill founded when, after hard fighting, the Russians were routed. Leadership on both sides was poor. The Russian commander, Mentschikov, had been emasculated by a Turkish musket ball in an earlier conflict. He had a fierce hatred of the Turks, quite understandable under the circumstances I feel, and may well have been chosen to lead the Russian Army for this reason. On the Allied side there was Lord Raglan commanding the British & Marshal St. Arnaud, the French. St. Arnaud was a tragic figute, suffering from both terminal cancer & cholera, from which he died shortly after the battle. He did at least have the good sense to outflank the Russian position which is more than can be said for Raglan. He sent British troops to cross the Alma River, scale the heights opposite, (all under enemy fire), and then assault the Russian Redoubts at the top. It was only thanks to the quality of the troops he commanded that this was achieved and the battle won. Raglan had not seen service since Waterloo. nearly forty years earlier. Indeed. most Bntish commanders seem to have been selected from an old peoples home for this war. Raglan consideted his French Allies to be as big a thteat as the Russians. He could not bring himself to advise them of his plans and consequently, even in the same battle, each Army acted individually. It was the Allies' good fortune that Russian commanders were of an equally poor quality to their own. This is another of GDW's series 120 games which means a small quick playing and simple treatment of its subject. Despite this, the games system has a feel that I think will appeal to experienced gamers. The components are good and the rules clear and concise with a lack of errors that is as refreshing as it is rare. A game turn commences wlth movement and uses standard wargame practices throughout. Certain hexes on the west of the map are prohibited to Russian movement. This is due to the presence of the Allied fleet off shore. Next is what's called the Morale recovery phase in which routed units attempt to rally. There is nothing original about this phase either. A die is rolled for each unit and, if the result is equal or lower than the unit's morale factor, it rallies and is restored to good order. Those that fail move their full movement allowance towards a friendly map edge. Should they end their move in a hex with any friendly unrouted units, these units automatically rout also. Having moved and attempted to rally his units, the phasing player is obliged to declare any assaults, against adjacent enemy units, he will make later in the melee phase. Infantry and Cavalry cannot assault the same hex. Cavalry cannot attack defenders in river, bridge or village hexes, nor may it attack out of such hexes, with the addition of not attacking from slope hexes either. Cavalry to be assaulted by Infantry may retreat one hex, thereby avoiding the intended melee, during this phase. Offensive, then defensive fire, follow. Only unrouted Infantry and Artillery that have not moved, plus Horse Artillery that have moved up to half their movement allowance, may engage in offensive fire. Defensive fire can only be used by units that are to be assaulted in the melee phase and all artillery units. Targets must be adjacent for Infantry whilst Artillery units have a range of up to four hexes depending on type. A line of sight is required to fire at range and, in addition, firing strength is reduced. Results of fire combat are generally given as a figure. If the figure in question exceeds the target's morale factor it routs. However, the terrain the unit occupies affects its morale rating. As a result players use the terrain to give them the best approach to an assault. Not only is this realistic, it gives the terrain on the game map a whole new dimension. I like this rule. Assaulting units that have not been routed by enemy fire now resolve their melees. If Cavalry are assaulting, each attacking and defending unit checks its morale. Defending units that fail rout whilst attacking units that fail do not melee. If Infantry are assaulting then both players roll a die and add the average morale of the units involved. If one player's result exceeds the others by an amount higher than the morale factor of any of the lower scoring players units morale then those units rout. Got that? Then read it again, its really not as complex as it may sound. All morale factors are again modified by the terrain a unit occupies. Assuming both players still have units left in the fight it's time to melee. Each player totals his melee factors then subtracts the anacking from the defending total. The differential is found on the CRT and the player with the highest average morale gets favourable column shifts equal to the morale differential over his opponent. Morale is really important in this game and, once again, it's modified by terrain. If a unit is eliminated the remaining units in its formation take a morale check. The same die roll is used for all units with those that fail routing. Artillery units do not have a morale rating so a rout result via melee eliminates them instead. The Russian player then repeats the above sequence to conclude a turn. The game is ten turns long and victory is earned by the Allied player taking some victory hexes behind Russian lines by games end. So, a good game system is in place and it's time to go and look out for a copy of this game, right? Well, no actually. With the Russian line having weak points that can be exploited, and being easily outflankable any way, there's no way the Allied player can lose. There is just no point play ing the Russian and at best this is worth playing solo a couple of times if you have an interest in this battle. Alan Sharif