From: "Peter Barrett" Subject: Review of The Tigers are Burning (S&T 118) Folks Here's a review for you to post on the site. Peter Barrett (previously reviewed Viva Espagna) = = = = Review of "The Tigers are Burning" - Strategy & Tactics 118 Peter Barrett Summary "The Tigers are Burning" (TTAB) is an operational level simulation of the fighting in Ukraine from August 1943 to May 1944. It's an interesting game with a simple system and a lot of chrome, which I can highly recommend. Components TTAB is one of S&T's best magazine games. The map is clear and easy to understand, with a remarkably small playing area. It stretches from the southern half of the Kursk salient in the NE, to the southern tip of Poland in the NW, the edge of Bulgaria in the SW and the edge of the Caucasus in the SE. The Black Sea covers nearly a quarter of the hex map. Slicing the land from north to south is the massive Dnepr River. The small space dedicated to playing area means there's room for a deployment chart to be printed on the map. The 100 counters are clear and easy to read, using the traditional colour schemes. Unit sizes are Soviet armies and German and Axis corps (and some SS divisions). The rules are the tricky part. Although the basics are pretty straightforward (Igo-hugo), the massive amount of chrome in this game means that it can be hard to learn. Novices should perhaps avoid this game unless taught by an experienced player. It's not that the chrome makes the game difficult, so much as that TTAB tweaks a number of rules with which players would otherwise be familiar. Despite this, the rules are very complete; I haven't yet found any need for errata, which is something of a record in my experience. The game Each turn in TTAB represents a month. The sequence of play is: - Soviet replacements, reinforcements, withdrawals and conversions; - Soviet movement and mobile assaults; - Soviet combat; - German replacements, reinforcements and withdrawals; - German movement and mobile assaults; - German combat; and - Victory determination. Weather is fixed for the game: clear, mud or snow. The map is divided into north and south zones, which sometimes have different weather conditions. The game starts with the soviet combat phase of the first turn. Replacements are steps used to build up depleted or destroyed units, while replacements are new units. Both sides must withdraw units at various times during the game, as listed on a chart, while the Soviets are able to convert one of their infantry armies into the amphibious Independent Coastal Army. Movement is straightforward, except that there are no Zones of Control. This forces both sides to maintain continuous lines wherever possible, lest they get surrounded. During your movement phase, your armoured units can perform mobile assaults, at a high cost in movement points. However, this isn't possible in turns where the weather is muddy. Combat is also straightforward, except for the number and nature of modifiers. Natural terrain, such as rivers or forests, reduces the strength of attacking units by a variable percentage (depending on the weather), while man-made terrain reduces the defender's losses. A variety of factors can be used to increase the defender's losses (artillery, SS Panzers, aircraft, concentric attacks). Losses are expressed as a numeric result for attacker and defender, which can be taken as retreats in most cases. But due to the nature of the results, loss modifiers are necessary to increase the chance of victory in most combats. Victory determination is one point that this game really shines. Victory is determined solely by Soviet possession of towns and cities. The Soviet player can win on any turn, as long as he controls the required points value of towns and cities for that turn. And because the German player goes second on the turn, he can regain a town to push the Soviets back behind the victory target for that turn. The chrome Chrome is a vital part of TTAB and it's essential to give the game its feel. Some more examples are: - Axis units must retreat directly west, and Soviets directly east, unless terrain gets in the way. - Soviet units are supplied by 4 supply units which can move only 1 hex per turn. The further the Soviets are from their supply units, the worse they move and fight. - During non-snow turns, the Germans can cross the Dnepr at only a few points, while the Soviets can always cross it anywhere. - The Soviet player has a reserve box into which he can drop a number of units each turn, then place them on any Soviet controlled hex the following turn. How the game plays TTAB is a great game to play. For me, the rule is that if the game gives me a feeling of the frustrations that the historical commanders faced, then it's a good game. In the words of Murphy's Law as applied to warfare, when both sides think they're about to lose, they're both right. That's what TTAB is like. The Soviet player has a massive superiority in numbers and strength, but is often unable to effectively bring it to bear. The German player has the ability to launch powerful counter-attacks, but simply lacks the infantry to hold a coherent line. For the Soviet player, the early part of the game should be spent in a merciless sequence of mobile assaults (attack during movement) to break through the German line and surround as many German units as possible. These activities will cease when the mud strikes in turn 4, but will be able to recommence on a limited basis with the arrival of snow. Each following combat phase should be used to destroy the surrounded units. Because the rate of German replacements is so low, and because units can't be rebuilt if destroyed when surrounded, the effect of these attacks should be to reduce the number of units the German player has to construct a line. The slow, steady and even advance of your supply units means that you'll be restricted to a broad front advance. Once the mud sets in, the rotation of units through the reserve box becomes the next key to success, as it permits your units to virtually teleport across the map. Despite all these advantages, however, you can't afford many mistakes if you're to claim victory. The German player will be doing a lot of reacting throughout this game. The shortage of infantry means that armour will often be required to operate as line fillers, which is a waste of their offensive strength. Nonetheless, this game illustrates how the German defensive blitzkrieg works - the infantry are a screen (sacrificial if necessary) behind which the mobile armoured units strike back at Soviet thrusts. Because of the Soviet need to behave aggressively in order to win, there'll be many occasions when the Soviet armour pushes ahead of the supply units; far enough that they're vulnerable to a crushing counter-attack. Your first reprieve arrives with the mud. From this point on, the Soviet artillery will tend to get left behind, and often spend valuable turns cycling through the reserve box. Additionally, the Soviet armour will get fewer mobile assault opportunities. Still, losses will eventually force you to abandon any concept of a front, and rely instead on infantry strongholds based around victory point towns and cities, with the armour kept further to the rear to counter-attack. With any luck, you should be able to keep a month or two ahead of the Soviet's victory point target. Nonetheless, victory can be a pretty soul-destroying affair - at the start of the game you're outnumbered 3 to 1. By the end of the game it'll probably be more like 5 to 1. For both players, a full understanding of the game's chrome is vital. For the Soviet player in particular, knowledge of the mobile assault procedure, the reserve box and the nature of the combat table is vital. An example of understanding the combat system is provided by a Soviet attack on Kiev from a game I played. Because the attack was partly across the Dnepr River, the odds were 1 to 2, and the city terrain would reduce the losses of the Germans and increase those of the Soviets. Yet the attack succeeded as loss modifiers murdered the Germans: a concentric assault supported by artillery, paratroopers and massed aircraft meant that German losses were so high they could either die or retreat from Kiev. For the Germans, strategic movement, mobile assault and weather rules are vital. The Germans don't have the strength to seriously damage the Soviets, so they have to rely on blunting their armoured forces with their own tanks and sidestepping them with their infantry. If there's any weakness in the game, it may be a sense of sameness. There's only the one scenario, and because of the shaky Soviet logistics, they can't launch too many scything attacks of the sort they made in 1944 and 1945. Instead, they rely on smaller scale tactical envelopments with the intention of shoving the Germans back another few hexes. The greatest amount of strategic decision-making lies in where the Soviet player should deploy the units currently in the reserve box. Conclusion TTAB is an excellent game which shows how much you can cram into a small package, and how well-designed chrome can give a game real character. It gives both players plenty to think about, even if the overall strategic situation rarely changes. But at least it's one game of Soviet blitzkrieg, rather than German. ********************************************************************** WARNING This email message and any attached files may contain information that is confidential and subject of legal privilege intended only for use by the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or the person responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient be advised that you have received this message in error and that any use, copying, circulation, forwarding, printing or publication of this message or attached files is strictly forbidden, as is the disclosure of the information contained therein. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your InBox. AFP Web site: http://www.afp.gov.au **********************************************************************