From: Chuck Lietz Subject: Re: More Game Opinions? >Avalon Hill >-------- >Alexander - The 2nd vs. the 3rd edition (I only have the 2nd) I am not a big ancient fan but this was my first no-ZOC game and it took us awhile to get the hang of it. Couple this with the sliding morale track, step losses, and the different defense factors for the direction of the attack and you ended up with something very unique at the time when Stalingrad and Afrika Korps were about the only other games I owned. The game play was a classic slugfest and the key was to try and get your units, particularly the Companion cavalry around for flank and rear attacks. On the one hand the game play did some things right in that large numbers of units (usually Persian) would get blown away and a whole line could just melt away in front of your eyes. The phalanx was virtually unstoppable but was slow and unwieldy. Most playings would come up with about the same initial tactics of the battle, at least in the early part of the game. The morale track though was a two edged sword. On the one hand, I think tracking an ancient army's morale based on both units lost AND enemy units killed makes a lot of sense. Seeing your comrades die is no fun but from a personal perspective seeing the enemy get whacked would do a lot for me if I was toting a big long spear and a flimsy shield staring at a bunch of guys wanting to me bodily harm; less of the bad guys to nail me. In practice though, as we got more comfortable with the system, it was generally too easy for the Macedonian player to kill the weak Persian units for easy favorable morale hits. The system also encouraged some rather "gamey" tactics of sending units haring off for a kill in the hopes of staying at a morale level. The chariots also seemed overally strong as every account I read was that these units were completely worthless once the battle began but you had to give the Persians something that had some attack value. Over time though, the game ultimately ended up playing like a giant teeter-totter. First I'd kill a bunch of Persians and go up on the morale track and push him down and then he'd return in kind probably evening things back up. This would go back and forth until one side or the other rolled poorly and didn't even up the score on the morale track. Then it was pretty much over in the bigger picture as once your army went down a morale level, it was about impossible to come back for a win. Still, for its time it was truly novel and in some ways, it has stood the test of time better than most of the AH "classics". I have a soft spot in my heart for this one and still try and play it every once in awhile. Chuck