Crimea

A review by Dave Mylie

Crimea is a Game Designers Workshop game that covers the Crimean War in
the tactical, operational and strategic levels from September 1854 to
October 1855. What you get for your money is considerable, a map sheet
consisting of five separate maps, a rules booklet, a lines of
communication chart, nine order of battle and order of appearance
charts, two combat results charts, a terrain effects chart, an errata
sheet, a bibliography, an introduction to the various battle games and
orders of battle for those games, a unit identification chart and a set
of excellent counters representing the Russian, French, British, Turkish
and Sardinian units. Physically the game is beyond criticism and
definitely value for money.

The rules are well written and clearly indexed, they contain designers
notes but as the game is so innovative I feel they should have been more
informative. Be warned, however, that the rules can be something of a
problem and the player may find he has to do a little rule writing
himself at times.

There are several scenarios in Crimea, the basic game uses only the
largest of the maps which is the area around Sevastopol, while the
campaign game uses all five maps, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Kertch,
Theodosia, and Eupatoria plus the lines of communi cation chart which
enables movement from map to map. There are also seven battle games
Alma, Balaclava, etc., each of which consists of one tactical turn.
Movement consists of two segments, a strategic segment during which
units move up to the limit of their movement allowance and a tactical
segment when a unit may move one hex per tactical turn. Tactical
movement takes place after all strategic movement and only if the moving
player has moved a unit adjacent to an enemy unit.

It is the tactical turns which give the game its unique flavour. Such a
turn consists of simultaneous fire, defender and attacker movement and
melee combat. Units have both a melee and a fire combat strength and
tactical turns continue until there has been no melee combat for three
successive turns. Immediately a tactical turn ends it can be started
again by the release of previously designated reserves. If the attacker
has several divisions in reserve and commits them one at a time this
process can be repeated. The play of a tactical segment can take several
hours and as there are twenty three strategic turns it can be a very,
very long game. Combat loss is by step reduction with a system of
replacements to build up depleted units. There are also extensive morale
and supply rules.

Whether a player is looking for a relatively simple, complex, long or
short game Crimea provides the answer with its battle, basic and
campaign games. It generates such a feel for the period that it must be
regarded as a classic.