From: Doug Murphy Subject: QuikReview: Global War Covering the entire Second World War, Global War was based on the WWIII game system which essentially was a game of production and resource allocation. Game turns represented annual quarters with each hex 300 miles across. Provisions were included for land, sea and air combat, including ASW and strat bombing, including nuclear weapons. Turns were sequential and include stages (with phases for each player) for naval, air, land and production. The standard scenario begins with Fall 1939 while the Axis High Water Mark scenario begins in Summer 42. A nice touch for such a grand strat game was the inclusion of reinforcements based on historical production (which simplifies the game for those who don't wish to spend so much time thinking about resource allocation...The two section 22x44 map included a neat twist: terrain both within hexes as well as hexsides open/closed to various types of units. 16 pages of rules and 4 pages of charts. Combined production and turn record charts for both players with arrival turns for equipment, changes in max ranges for bombers and ASW a/c, reinforcements, production modes and weather effects. 1,200 counters covered the land, sea, air forces, merchant fleets, amphibs and nukes. A wide variety of production options were included (to produce German a/c carriers, Russian merchant shipping, etc). Apart from counter problems (with some types in very short ahistorical supply or unavailable), the biggest problem with this game was the difficulty in achieving any sense of historical accuracy, especially in the early game turns when German strength was paramount. It was near impossible (at least from my notes) to duplicate Germany's subjugation of Europe either FtF or solitaire. And the entrance of Japan via a Pearl Harbor attack was also problematic as an automatic US counterattack usually absolutely devastated Japan. Our house rule forbade counterattacks in the first naval phase of the turn in which Japan initially attacked. An early monster...but I got the sense this game hadn't been playtested enough. Doug Murphy