From: Roberto Chiavini Subject: Two more reviews Balkans 1941 (Strategy & Tactics) The setting for this operational game is the Axis attack against Yugoslavia and Greece during Spring 1941, the perfect blitzkrieg (and a situation non particularly interesting as a game). The Joseph Miranda's design try to give players a motif to play the campaign not only for historical sake, mixing different rules and obtaining a good ending result. Graphics, by Joe Youst, is adequate, while counters, by Beth Queman, are normal standards for a magazine game. Units, of several different types, are simply rated for combat and movement, with headquarters having also a support radius (for logistic points expenditures). There are also three kinds of air units (fighters, bombers and transports), while are of course in the game even German paratroopers for the Crete air invasion. Sequence of play starts with a mutual air units allocation phase, where both players secretly decides where to use their units (interdiction, superiority, ground strike or close combat support). Then, air superiority is resolved (with losses put out of play definitely or only for a time). Then, the Axis player, after having received reinforcements and replacements, start moving his units, then having combat, then moving again with his mechanized units; the Allied player repeat the same phases (other than the mechanized second combat phase, that is limited to British mechanized units that haven't moved before in the turn) and then check to see if Yugoslavia or Greece surrender (5 or 6 rolling a die, after the nation capital is taken). Combat uses three different CRTs, each bloodier than the other, while the other most significant rule is logistics, handled not totally in abstract, but even through the use of mobile supply units. The game flows well, the rules almost errata free. The really great weakness of the game is the situation, that it's almost unplayable for the Allied player. Even using Yugoslavian full mobilization (with the hypothetical scenario), Belgrade probably will fall in a couple of turns and the only interesting front is the Albanian one, with almost equal forces contending the mountains. The obvious historical limitation of the Allied units that cannot attack into any Axis nations (apart from the city of Zara or Albania) makes the game playable mostly in solitaire and for this it falls short to be really interesting, as the player is forced to find a way to use correctly both sides air units. Anyway, this S&T game is probably not as good as to be re-playable several time, but it's a demonstration, if needed, of the total lack of good reasons to try a reply of this campaign (at least at this scale). Probably, the only parts of the campaign that could be interesting are the already simulated air assault on Crete and, perhaps, the fight between Italian and Greek armies in Albania (probably abstracting a lot from the rest of the historical campaign, otherwise even this sideshow becomes totally irrelevant for players). All in all I rate this game 6 in a 1-10 scale.