From: peter.barrett@afp.gov.au Subject: Review of "Arriba Espagna" Arriba Espagna Arriba Espagna (AE) is a two player strategic game of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). It's produced by Microgame Co-op of Canada, for $8. The Spanish Civil War was the first military manifestation of the conflict between Fascism and Communism. The Nationalists, led by Franco, rebelled against the Socialist government (the Republicans). The Nationalists gained important support from Germany and Italy, while the Republicans were supported by the USSR, and by large numbers of foreign soldiers of the International Brigade. However, the Republicans were hindered by the factional nature of their forces, with four regional governments and two non-government political parties all clamouring for support. Summary A brilliant little game, incredibly cheap for what you get. It provides players with a very good insight into all aspects of the Spanish Civil War. Components Microgame sells its games cheaply because the map and counters are unmounted. However, both are extremely colourful. It only takes a short time to mount and cut out the counters, and you're ready to play. The rules are six pages long, with another page of optional rules. They're reasonably clear, though there are a few points which could've been explained better. Three more sheets contain game charts. The game Each turn represents two months in summer or three months in winter; five turns cover a year. The game starts immediately after the original uprising and ends after 14 turns at the time of the historical end of the war. There's only one scenario, with fixed deployment, but an optional rule allows you to dice for the loyalty of units before the start of the game. Playing time would be about 4 hours for players who know the rules. In a game turn, the sequence is: - Random events (not in the first turn); - Politics; - Equipment points and purchase of units; - Nationalists turn: - Form battlegroups; - Move; - Attack; - Republican counter-attacks; - Breakthrough attacks; - Rally disrupted units; - Republican turn, same as Nationalists; - Determine control of provinces. Random events are usually relatively minor things, but the usual story applies - random effects can always be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Politics involves measuring each player's level of political support, which is a reflection of the support at home for your faction. Political points are spent to gain support of foreign countries, and lost when a player loses troops or regions, or when the Republican player doesn't support or suppresses his minor factions. Points are gained for destruction of enemy forces and capture of regions, and for the fact of having international support. Players generate equipment points from home production and from international aid to build units. The extent of support that players receive also dictates what units the players can build. Asset points (artillery, tanks and aircraft) cost a random amount, reflecting variable nature of these products at a time of great technological improvement. If Italy is intervening for the Nationalists, then a number of Italian units become available. The movement and combat phase is traditional, despite the term battlegroup. This is merely a simple device for limiting the size of stacks in a game without hexes. The process of creating battlegroups also forces you to plan ahead. Movement stops when you enter an enemy occupied area (and is unlimited in your own territory), but combat is optional. Combat uses a traditional odd-based table with modifiers. Results are given in losses and disruptions (flipped units which can't move or attack). It's not hard to wipe out entire stacks. Once the moving player has made all his attacks, any enemy battlegroups in an area which weren't attacked can counter-attack. Breakthrough attacks are allowed to victorious battlegroups which destroy their opponents and which contain tanks (proto-blitzkrieg). Rallying from disruption requires a dice roll modified by the presence of enemy and the quality of the troops present. Control of regions is automatic if only one side has troops in it, and must be diced for if both sides are present. In the latter case, both players count up the number of cities they control in a region, and double the number, then try to roll <= on a d6. If both players succeed or if both fail, then control is disputed. If one succeeds, then he controls it. This check is done every turn, and may result in provinces changing hands without any fighting taking place. Changes in control affect your political points. And if your political points reach zero, you lose. Feel of the game The designer has crammed a lot into AE. It gives you a real feel for being the leader of the forces in the Civil War, having to deal with political, economic and diplomatic problems as well as the military ones. This is more the case with the faction-ridden Republicans. There are a couple of minor niggles. In some respects, the options available for players to build their armies are too broad. Presumably there's an optimal strategy in there somewhere, which smart players will work out and use regardless of history. Also, there's no link between production and morale, so demoralised factions produce as efficiently as winning factions, which doesn't seem quite right. However, in general, the great feel of AE comes from the fact that the designer has given appropriate weight to nearly all the factors which played a part in the war. And because the game is quite simple to learn, you don't get bogged down in minutiae - AE is a game of effect rather than process. Additionally, because the game includes non-military aspects, you learn that sometimes what makes sense from a military point of view can be mad from a political point of view (and vice versa). Historicity AE is remarkably historical in its general trends, though I wonder whether the number of units each side raises is historical. Also, the bulk of the increase in armies seems to occur in the game in late 1938, whereas I understand it historically occurred during 1937. Despite this, players are faced with the same decisions their historical counterparts faced. Comparisons I know of only three other games which deal with the Spanish Civil War in its entirety, and know about only two of them (Viva Espagna [VE] and For Whom The Bell Tolls [FWTBT]) in any detail. VE is a product of the 70s with little innovation to attract interest, and its results aren't that historical. FWTBT, however, is a far more substantial and recent game. It's also a lot more expensive. Unfortunately, I believe it compares poorly to AE. It takes a long time to learn, to set up and to play, and it focuses almost exclusively on the military aspects of the war. The political, economic and diplomatic aspects of the war are barely touched. After playing FWTBT, I believe you can come out the other side without having learnt anything much about the Spanish Civil War. After playing AE, you'll know a lot of the frustrations and elations of dealing with the political, economic, diplomatic and military aspects of a little known conflict. Conclusion I've been trying to design a game on the Spanish Civil War for years. I won't bother now - this is the game I would've wanted to design. Peter Barrett 16.6.98