Operation Shoestring (GMT) Review by Alan Sharif This game covers the Guadalcanal campaign of 1942. Like many pacific front games there is a multitude of naval and air units. Meanwhile, the land campaign comprises of months of attrition fought in a dark and malarious jungle. In theory, this is the type of game a panzer pusher like me avoids the same way Elvis avoided health food. ln practice, im surprised to discover it,s actually rather good. Every odd numbered turn commences with an air and naval phase that I find very enjoyable. The sea around Guadalcanal is split into four zones. Players secretly place their naval units within these zones. A die roll is used, less satisfactorily, for solo play. Searches by air and naval forces are then resolved via a die roll to discover if opposing forces sharing the same zone have spotted one another. If so air to air, anti-aircraft, air to surface and surface to surface combat phases are resolved in that order. All are resolved by adding combat factors and adjusting die roll by a few modifications. Submarines may also account for some losses. The system is simple, highly abstract, and rather enjoyable, similar in feel to Commands Victory At Midway game. It is only fair to point out that I have no knowledge of, or interest in, naval actions and consequently cannot vouch for its accuracy in this area. Those looking for an in depth game of the naval campaign should not invest in this game. The naval phase closes with transports, represented by points rather than actual counters, attempting to land fresh units and supply. Supply is the most important as without it your units ashore lose steps to disease and suffer penalties during combat. Every game turn has a land phase that comprises of just movement and combat. During movement engineers may build improved positions or repair Henderson Field for use by friendly air units. Amphibious moves are also possible for outflanking your opponent. Hidden unit markers, some of which are dummies, represent the Japanese units. The US player may send out patrols to try and discover the true nature of these markers. As an alternative, he could just attack them, simultaneously discovering their true nature whilst making a firm commitment to his own defeat. The reality is that the US player's advance will be held up as much by his own caution as by the Japanese player's actions. This fog of war is much of the games appeal but has to be dropped for solo play. Once movement has been resolved there are three types of combat to play with. Artillery, air and off shore naval units may bombard enemy hexes. Other land unit types have a choice of either manoeuvre or assault combat. Manoeuvre is the traditional odds based combat resolved between adjacent units. As the title implies it leads to retreats, fatigue, with occasional step losses. Assault combat takes place within the defenders hex, is based on combat factors, and leads to heavy step losses. Prior to combat a defender may be able to withdraw from, or reinforce, a particular hex. It is possible for a defending hex to be subject to barrage, manoeuvre and assault combats all in the same turn through not by the same units. The victory conditions are variable as at games start each player draws five chits from a pool of ten. Each chit represents a different victory condition and four of the five must be achieved to win the game. This gives the game a high replay value and provides an air of suspense as you do not know your opponents intentions, another element lost in solo play. I like this game as it gives a good feel for the interaction between land, air and naval units. However, whilst this is a fairly simple game the interaction mentioned, plus the various land combat options also discussed, make it too complex for beginners. The game is also rated as being highly playable solo, but as you may have already gathered, this is not the case. Played solo this games loses much of its flavour, is less enjoyable as a result, and is unbalanced in favour of the US player. Between two experienced gamers this is an excellent game.