From: Roberto Chiavini Subject: Three reviews Invasion Sicily (GMT Games) First in his announced series of games regarding the Italian Campaign in WWII, this Vance Von Borries 1998 design is an interesting operational simulation of the Allied invasion of Sicily during the summer of 1943, with several what-if options that consent invasions also in Calabria. The game use a particularly evoluted system (especially for the combat sequence) and it's not totally suited for beginners (in my opinion), as a few of the rules probably need better explanations and clarifications to be totally appreciated (and understood). The extremely colorful units (with Italians in a strange, but not unpleasant late Roman empire purple) are rated for attack and defense value, movement (with special rules for mechanized units, that get a second movement phase, after combat, with half value), stacking (each hex may accomodate up to 11 stacking points) and efficiency (an important value, used for several gaming functions, from combat itself - a differential in efficiency between the leading attacking and the leading defending units is used a DRM - to reaction movement). Artillery units are rated for support (both offensive and defensive) instead of attack, and have also a range value. Sequence of play starts with weather determination (important for several gaming functions, if a storm result or a mud/storm result is rolled), then you have to check supply (based on port supply values, for both sides - the Allies may use special Beach and Port units, until they have reached and liberated an enemy port). The Allies start then their operation phase, that is made of movement, combat and then motorized movement. During this phase, however, even the Axis player may intervene with combat refusal (only for motorized units of at least 5 Efficiency), reaction movement (possible for units not in enemy ZOCs no more than 2 hexes away from a friendly hex under attack) and so on. Combat is particularly complex, especially if made from several hexes at once, as you have to take in account the possibilities of several units not partecipating in combat, or using only half their combat values. But, other than for the initial impression, if you try a few combats you may able to evaluate the odds very fast with a little practice. I'm not sure if all this calculations and die rolls to see which units fight and which give their support is really important, or you may obtain the same effects with less mental fatigue, but it seems to work good. CRT is odd based, with results varying from step losses, to retreat, to total elimination. Retreat may be made through enemy ZOCs, possibly with following step losses for the unit involved. The most important part of the game is probably the Invasion planification, that unfortunately I haven't used in my scenario (I've tried the game with the Gela Beachhead scenario, to understand the basic rules - so you have to consider this in this review: it's more an initial impression, like most of my Grognard reviews, than a thorough, in deep examination of the game), and it's interesting to have more, different options than the one normally used in other Sicily games. All in all, the game seems to have a very good potential and I've liked very much the introductory scenario, as, even if in two game turns only, it seems to give both players chances to win (with the edge normally going to the Allied player, of course, but even the Axis has his chances). The only negative aspects are probably to be find in an unclear explanation of the various terrain features, as several hexes may be attribuited to different kinds of terrain. But that's nitpicking, probably. All in all, I enjoyed my first experience with the system and the game, and I rate it 7 1/2 in a 1-10 scale.