sysop - 09:39pm Aug 17, 1998 PST (#2 of 10) John Kranz (Phoenix, AZ) - Thanks to everyone for supporting ConsimWorld! Terry, while I have not played Remember The Maine myself, most folks I have spoken to or overheard have mentioned how enjoyable this game was. Can someone perhaps summarize the game system to get things rolling?... Terry Stibal - 11:42am Aug 18, 1998 PST (#4 of 10) Last game played: Perfidious Albion; if things worked out like they did in that game, Charles Vasey would be a snail vendor... Jeez, John, make it a little more rough for me, why don't you? The TRS -era SPI magazine game Remember The Maine! , designed by Vance Von Borries, is a one map 200-ish counter treatment of the Atlantic/Carribean theatres of the Spanish American War of 1898. I've still seen the magazine version on sale in some games stores, and I imagine that the aftermarket world of gaming has it avaiable as well. The players are the United States and Spain, and they manuever the naval and ground units of that war to (in the case of the United States) take Cuba and Puerto Rico from the dastardly Dons or (in the case of the Spanish) to administer a drubbing to the mercenary forces of the crass Yankees. (Nobody bothers to ask the Cubans and Puerto Ricans what they think about the whole matter.) Play is on two different types of map: area for naval and strategic movement, hex for operational (Puerto Rico only) and tactical movement. Units are individual ships down to gunboats, flotillas of smaller units and merchant shipping, regiments/battalions for ground units. Logistics are limited to restricting beachheads and imposing disease and other special rules, combined with the old line of hexes routine. Naval movement well depicts the coal problem that faced all early steam vessels (and was a driving force for both sides during the actual campaign). Whatever you do, don't let the area map used for strategic/operational naval movement put you off of the game; it works well for the naval movement and coal supply system here. Search is a chancy process (we are in the pre radio days, don't forget), and a lot of the naval game revolves around locating the opposing fleet (as did the real campaign). Naval combat is somewhat simplistic, but good enough for the era (we ain't talking rocket science here, just point and shoot as fast as possible, even with 13" battleship main armament). Torpedoes, mines, weather, speed and damage are all present. The US has a decided advantage here, even assuming that all of the Spanish Navy is healthy (a condition in which it does not start the game). Ground movement and combat on the operational and tactical boards is typical I go you go. Combat is with a CRT that accounts for both force exerted and troop quality. Artillery is ranged and Parker's Gatling guns are there for the using. Rules regulate surrender (for the Spanish) as well as a number of political conditions. The US again has the preponderance of force, but the wily Dons can fight an effective delaying action with the hope of yellow fever on the horizon. Spanish units are hidden until contacted, Cuban units are of unknown capability until first used in a combat. (Hint: don't count on them). Also, there's a random events table that triggers a lot of the stuff that regular rules wouldn't well account for (like US public opinion). The hooting and hollering that comes from using the table is one of the best things to come out of the game. Your results, of course, may differ. Post publication, there were two slugs of errata for the game, both published in S&T , along with a set of pretty lame (in my opinion, anyway) scenarios covering Manila Bay (a foregone conclusion if ever there was one) and some hypotheticals. Also included with the errata were some designer notes that cleared up a little of the confusion with some of the design elements. We've (Giefer and I) tweaked the rules a little (for example, modifying movement on the Puerto Rico operational map to more accurately reflect the map scale and providing squadron counters to overcome a printing error on the counter sheet that made the Spanish admirals a different back color than all of the other naval pieces (this is critical since most warships are restricted to being in a squadron with an admiral; as a result the Spanish fleet sticks out like a sore thumb with the original counters). Not too much else, though... Subsequent to my acquisition of the game, I redid the naval rosters (which in the original were full of omissions and errors, as well as poorly laid out) and created a "Naval Battle Board" that centralizes all of the tables on a placemat to help track distances and the like during the battle sequence. I'll provide a copy of the errata, one of the Naval Battle Boards (laminated for your gaming protection), and master copies of the two naval rosters, all sent out by Priority Mail (to keep them undamaged) for US residents who send me $5.00. Anyway, that's a summary. No strip searches of creole lovelies by leering Spanish officers, or trysts with Queen Regent Christina (although I do my best to add these to the games that we've played), but still a nice little game on a virtually ignored topic. You can get a full game done in a long day, all the while swaggering (in the case of the US player) or leering with fiery eyes (for the Spanish guy).