Christopher Hall - 12:22pm Oct 31, 1999 PST (#60 of 62) 
Now playing Lost Cities, RA and Fire in Mississippi
Notes from the field in Cornith: 

First off, I'd like to thank Scott for promptly getting me a replacement
sheet of counters for Fire in Mississippi. My cat worked the evil only
cats know, and destroyed a good portion of my first set. Grrr... 

After making up a second set of double sided counters (I can never get
the register on both sides to work, so I make them one at a time. More
work, but looks so much better), I set to the battle in earnest. 

Here are some thoughts after three solo play throughs. 

The game system is an interesting one. The turn sequence varies
depending on each army's posture. At the start of each 90 minute turn
both armies choose a posture (attack, ready or defend). The cross-index
of these choices produces one of four turn sequences, each of which
differ considerably. An attacking army may get to move and fight half
its' forces before the other army can even react, or, on the other hand,
each army may only get to fight one of its' divisions during the entire
turn. Learning the inter-relationships of the army postures is very
important to playing the game well.

Leader effectiveness for each side is also critical. The Confederates
have 3 division leaders, the Union has 4. At the start of each turn you
must roll for the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of each division
leader. Any of these fellows can go to sleep on you without warning.
Non-effective leaders cannot move their units, or attack. Makes for one
awful mess if one of your key leaders goes off line at the wrong moment. 

Each side gets 10 army modifer points (AMs) for the battle. AMs are used
to "wake-up" leaders who have become ineffective, and to push an attack
into a second consecutive turn or begin an attack from a cold start.
With bad dice, the AMs get used up very fast, forcing some serious
hording of AMs, especially at the start of the fight. 

Historically, the Confederates come at Cornith from the northwest,
crossing old rebel earthworks and then pressing thru thick woods toward
the town. The Union forces are trying to hang on against a superior
force, waiting for Stanley's division to reinforce their positions in
the fortifications just outside of town. (Optional set up rules are
included; especially interesting is the Rebel setup attacking from due
west, with better roads leading to town). 

The combat system uses step losses, comparative unit effectiveness and
leadership. A simple rout and rally mechanism keeps most units in the
fight. Artillery is of limited value in the trees (which are
everywhere), and cavalry is abstracted, but units are on the field and
able to charge once each day (it's a 2 day fight). 

Not suprisingly, battle tactics hinge on wise use of the withdraw before
combat rule (which allows high-effectiveness units to pull back from a
strong attack), together with judicious use of counterattacks for the
Union and well planned avenues of advance for the Confederates. With
unit effectiveness weakening as units take losses, careful use of
reserve forces can be the difference for either side as the fight wears
on. 

The game is easy to pick up and play, with the 8 pages of rules well
written and fairly well organized, imho. A solo game takes about 2-3
hours, depending how fast you roll dice. 

In my games, the Confederates had the advantage each time out. Twice
they rolled to auto victory (taking 4 of the 7 Cornith hexs), and once
stopped just short of the town when Price died (yes there are leader
casuality rules). FtF play should produce a closer match, given the
uncertainty involved in the choice of army posture and the always
present possiblilty of a Union counter-attack (which is highly
recommended for keeping the rebels out of the town). 

Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the quality of the
game components. The map is very professional, the counters are clean
and user friendly, and the play aids are well organized and useful. This
is a high end production, and if you didn't know it was DtP, you might
think there was a large cardboard box lying around somewhere. 

Overall, I think Scott has put together a fine game with Fire in
Mississippi. If you are looking for something fast and replayable, pick
up a copy. I for one look forward to the next Blue Guidon Games
installment. 

CJH